THE FARMER AT HOME. 



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i reddish brown color, and strong peculiar smell : its taste at first is 

 i auseous and bitter, but this soon becomes acrid, and produces a slight 

 1 /armth in the mouth. A peculiar substance has been detected in 

 ( pium, to which it is supposed the properties it possesses of producing 



leep are owing. On account of this property, this substance has re- 

 ( eived the name of narcotic matter. Is is obtained from the milky 

 j uices of some plants, as those of the poppy, lettuce, and some others. 



)pium, which is extracted from the poppy, is prepared by the follow- 

 ing process : The heads of the white poppy, which is cultivated in 



lifferent countries of the east for this purpose, are wounded with a 

 i.harp instrument: a milky juice flows out, which concretes, and is 

 collected and formed into cakes. In this state opium is a tenacious 

 substance, of a brownish color ; has a peculiar smell, and a disagree- 

 ible bitter taste. It becomes soft with a moderate heat. It readily 

 ;akes fire, and burns rapidly. 



ORANG OUTANG. Cuvier thus describes this animal. The 

 average height of the species is from three to four feet. The body is 

 covered with coarse red hairs. The forehead equals in height one-half 

 of the rest of the visage. The face is bluish. There are neither 

 pouches in the cheeks, nor callosities on the posteriors. The hinder 

 thumbs are remarkably short. This celebrated ape resembles man 

 more nearly than any other animal, in the form of the head and the 

 volume of the brain. The natural history of the orang outang has 

 been miserably disfigured by the mixture of it with that of other apes 

 of the larger size, more especially with that of the Chimpanse. Upon 

 a critical examination, it is ascertained that he inhabits the most ori- 

 ental countries only, as Malacca, Cochin China, and particularly the 

 great island of Borneo, whence he has been brought to Europe by way 

 of Java, though but rarely. He is gentle, easily tamed, and capable 

 of attachment. From the character of his physical conformation, he 

 can arrive at some facility in the imitation of several human actions ; 

 but his intelligence by no means equals the exaggerated accounts we 

 have received of it, nor does it appear to surpass much that of the 

 canine species. Camper has discovered and ably described two mem- 

 branous sacks, which produce a thickness and hoarseness in the voice ; 

 but he was wrong in believing that the nails are always wanting on 

 the hinder thumbs. 



ORANGE. A low, evergreen, branching tree, bearing oblong 

 oval, acute, smooth and shining leaves, inserted on winged leaf stalks, 

 by which character it is easily distinguished from the lemon. The 

 flowers are white, containing about twenty stamens, and are disposed 

 in clusters of from two to six upon a common peduncle. The fruit is 

 globose, bright yellow, and contains a pulp, which consists of a col- 

 lection of oblong vesicles, filled with a sugary and refreshing juice : 

 it is, besides, divided into eight or ten compartments, each containing 

 several seeds. The principal varieties are the sweet or China, and 



