

THE FARMER AT HOME. 375 



i re furnished with three strings made of twisted straw, with which 

 1 ley are tied to the legs and feet, to prevent them from falling off. 

 Some people carry one or more pairs of shoes with them on their 



ourneys, in order to put on new, when the old ones are worn out. 



Vhen it rains, or the roads are very dirty, these shoes are soon wetted 



hrough, and one continually sees a great number of worn-out shoes 

 ~ying on the roads, especially near the brooks, where travellers have 



hanged their shoes after washing their feet. Instead of these, in 

 ainy or dirty weather, they wear high wooden clogs, which under- 

 leath are hollowed out in the middle, and at top have a band across 

 ike a stirrup, and a string for the great toe ; so that they can walk 

 without soiling their feet. Some of them have their straw shoes fas- 

 cened to these wooden clogs. The Japanese never enter their houses 

 with their shoes on ; but leave them in the entry, or place them on 

 the bench near the door, and thus are always barefooted in their 

 houses, so as not to dirty their neat mats. During the time that the 

 Dutch live at Japan, when they are sometimes under- an obligation of 

 paying visits at the houses of the Japanese, their own rooms at the 

 factory being likewise covered with mats of this kind, they wear, 

 instead of the usual shoes, red, green, or black slippers, which on 

 entering the house they pull off; however, they have stockings on, 

 and shoes made of cotton stuff with buckles in them, which shoes are 

 made at Japan, and can be washed when dirty. Some have them of 

 Mack satin, to avoid washing them. 



SHOOTING- STARS, or METEORS. The luminous appear- 

 inces, known by the name of shooting stars, are too common not to 

 *ave been seen by most of the persons for whom this book is designed. 

 But as frequent as they are, the phenomenon is not well understood. 

 Some imagine that they are occasioned by electricity, and others that 

 they are nothing but luminous gas, perhaps phosphureted hydrogen. 

 Others have again supposed, that some of them are luminous bodies 

 which accompany our planet in its revolution about the sun, and that 

 their return to certain places might be calculated with as much cer- 

 tainty and exactness as that of any of the comets. 



Signior Baccaria supposed they are occasioned by electricity. His 

 opinion is confirmed by the following observations. About an hour 

 after sunset, he and some friends that were with him, observed a fall- 

 ing star, directing its course directly towards them, and apparently 

 growing larger and larger, but just before it reached them it disap- 

 peared. On vanishing, their faces, hands, and clothes, with the earth 

 and all the neighboring objects, became suddenly illuminated with a 

 diffused 'and lambent light. It was attended with no noise. During 

 their surprise at this appearance, a servant informed them that he 

 had seen a light shine suddenly in the garden, and especially upon 

 the streams which he was throwing to water it. 



On the 12th of November, 799, there was seen a very remark- 



