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1.You all know what a savings-bank is.Many schools have savings-banks，where the boys and girls can take their spare pennies instead of spending them on sweets；and almost every post-office is also a savings-bank，where pennies and shillings can be put away safely until they are needed.You have also been told many times，no doubt，about the use of saving-“laying by something for a rainy day，”as we call it；and you know the meaning of the proverb，“Take care of the pence，and the pounds will take care of themselves.”
2.Still there are many people who do not see the use of saving something to make provision for“hard times；”and when hard times come，they have to depend on their neighbours for help，or starve.You remember the fable of the ant and the cricket.A cricket called on an ant one cold winter morning to beg for help.When he was asked how he had passed the summer，he confessed that he had spent his time in singing；so the ant advised him to spend the winter in dancing，and then shutthe door in his face.The ant had evidentlysaved justenough for himself and no more；but one of the good points about our saving is that it enables us to help a poorer neighbour out of our own store.
3.This fable reminds us，however，that there are many strange savings-banks in the world，very different from our school or post-office banks.Certain kinds of ants store up grain for the winter，but the best-known insect savings-bankis the honey-comb.The beeis so much in earnest over his saving that we might callhim a miser；but then he might retortby calling usrobbers，so that we had better not call him names.
4.It is a great matter that a savings-bank should be perfectly safe，but the bee often suffers from his bankbeing plundered.The squirrel finds his store of nutsmuch safer，no doubt，because we do not think them worth stealing.But there are some animals whose savings are still less likely to be taken away from them.The camel is an example of this class.Everybody hasread about his power of carrying several days‘supply of water in his stomach when travelling over the sandy deserts；but he has his best savings-bank in his hump we should perhaps say humps ，for the camel has two of them，and the animal with the single hump is more properly called the dromedary.
5.This hump is formed almost entirel y of fat.When the animal has plenty to eat a n d d r i n k ，t h e hump becomes large and ful l.But after a long，the hump is much smaller，and the skin is loose and flabby，as you often see it inthe poor，ill-fed animals in our travelling menageries .
The fat of the hump is a store of nourishment which the camel’s body provides for itself when it has the opportunity，to be gradually used up in times of want.
6.Animals often store up strength and nourishment in the form of fat at certain seasons.Some animals，such as the bear，which spend the winter in sleep，become very fat in the autumn.Their bodies are thus provided with a sufficient store of nourishment and w a r m t h f o r t h eDROMEDARY.
winter.When the animal wakes up in spring，it is leanand starved-looking.It has used up all its savings，andmay be regarded as “hard up，”if not bankrupt .
7.People sometimes put money in the savings-bank not for themselves，but for the benefit of their children；and we find also that many animals and even plants are in the habit of saving for their young ones.Next time you are enjoying a fresh egg for breakfast，be sure you remember that the golden yolk which you like so well is really a store of nourish ment，placed there for the use of the chick which would have grown inside the egg.
