452 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



into boiling water ; which, after passing through fine strainers, pre- 

 serves the most oily part of the liquid ; this they call by a name 

 which signifies hickory milk. It is as sweet arid rich as fresh cream, 

 and is an ingredient in most of their cookery, especially hominy and 

 corn cakes. 



WALRUS. A marine quadruped, resembling the seal in the 

 structure of the feet, but differing in the teeth and digestive system. 

 It is large and unwieldy, sometimes attaining the weight of two 

 thousand pounds, and inhabits unfrequented coasts in the Arctic seas. 

 The head is oval, short, small, and flat in front ; the flat portion of 

 the face is set with very strong bristles, which are pellucid, about a 

 span in length, and twisted ; the orifices of the ears are very small, 

 but the sense of smelling seems to be exceedingly acute ; the incisors 

 are four in the upper jaw, but the two middle ones are shed as the 

 animal advances in age ; the upper canines are large, elephant-like 

 tusks, directed downwards ; the feet are very short, and the toes are 

 connected by a membrane, and armed with strong nails ; the tail is 

 short. Formerly, vast herds of these animals frequented the shores 

 of the islands between Northern Asia and America, Davis's Straits, 

 and Hudson's Bay, in latitude sixty-two degrees, and even as far south 

 as the Magdalen Islands, in the gulf of St. Lawrence, between lati- 

 tude forty-seven and forty-eight degrees ; but at present, the walrus 

 is nowhere numerous, except on the icy shores of Spitzbergen and the 

 remotest northern coasts of America. Voyages were once made to 

 procure its tusks and oil, and it is said that 1200 or 1500 individuals 

 have been sometimes killed at once out of a herd. 



The walrus is slow and clumsy while on land, but quick and ac- 

 tive in the water. It often comes on shore, and the female brings 

 forth her young there in the spring. It is fearless and inoffensive, 

 unless disturbed, and strongly attached to its mate and young, but 

 becomes fierce and formidable when attacked, especially if the young 

 are present, furiously endeavoring to sink the boats by rising and 

 hooking their tusks over their sides ; and frequently the violence of 

 its blows is sufficient to stave the. planks of small boats. Its princi- 

 pal food, it is said, consists of shell-fish. The tusks grow to the length 

 of ten or twenty inches, or sometimes even three feet, weighing from 

 five to ten pounds. Tht_y are worked like ivory, but turn yellow in 

 a short time. The skin is about an inch in thickness, and is used for 

 a variety of purposes. 



WASHING or BATHING. This operation, so essential to good 

 health, is so little practised in winter, that the very naming of the 

 subject will send a thrill through the sensitive frame of many of our 

 readers, and they will draw their garments close around them, and 

 move nearer the fire, to save them from taking cold while reading 

 this article. There is but little trouble in bathing in hot weather, 

 when the application of cold water to the system is often grateful. 



