100 



^[)t iTarmcr's illcintl)li) llieitor. 



saw it practised by llic Portuguese, they inquired 

 if it was for medical [)ur|)oses! 



After some remarks concerning ilie iitlain- 

 mciits of ilie Chinese in mathematics, astronomy 

 and geography— stalements respecting their chro- 

 nology, which Mr. Williams is inclined to credit, 

 and which is not discordant with that of the Bi- 

 ble — and an account of their theatres and festi- 

 vals — he concluded with a description of their 

 social system, with its attendant evils — slavery, 

 polygamy and infanticide. 



The difficulty of conveying a right idea of the 

 Chinese character, arises from the strange blend- 

 ing of intellectual attainments with debased mor- 

 als. On the whole they are beyond the Asiatics, 

 far beyond their neighbors, and yet not to be com- 

 pared with the lowest Cliristian countries. .They 

 are educated, but tlieir education is founded whol- 

 ly on ambition. They are civilized, but their so- 

 cial system rests on selfishness alone. Yet, though 

 lights and shadows are strangely mingled, society 

 is, externally, courteous and pleasant. 



But, with all their civilization, the Chinese are 

 heathen still. The moral pollution of the nation 

 is indescribable. They are, moreover, dishonest, 

 cruel and cowardly ; and these traits, with their 

 difficult language, are the great obstacles to their 

 Christianizatioji. 



Electric Clock. — The public are aware of 

 Mr. Bain's invention of the electric clock, which 

 derives its motive power from currents of elec- 

 tricity in the eartli. Mr. Bain has invented and 

 patented another kind of electric clock, which 

 was exhibited here recently, by the inventor, to 

 a few scientific gentlemen — the clock being in 

 Glasgow, and the pendulum in Edinburgh. By 

 means of the telegraph along the railway, con- 

 structed by Mr. Bain, he intimated his wish that 

 the pendulum at the other end of the line should 

 be put in motion. The answer was given with 

 the rapidity of thought ; for the machinery in the 

 clock instantly began to move. To be more par- 

 ticular : the clock was placed in the station house 

 in Glasgow, the pendulnm belonging to it in the 

 station house in Edinbmgh — the two being 46 

 miles apart. 'I'hey were joined by means of the 

 wire of the telegraph, in such a manner as that, 

 by the current of electricity, the machinery in the 

 clock in Glasgow was made to move correctly 

 according to the vibrations of the electrical pen- 

 dulum in EdinburgI). Thus when the pendulum 

 in Edinburgh moved to the left, a magnet in the 

 clock in Glasgow moved to the left; and when 

 the pendulum moved to the right, the magnet 

 likewise moved to the right, the movement being 

 produced instantaneously by the rush of the elec- 

 tric current along the wire. The motions of the 

 pendulum in Edinburgh being thus faithfully rep- 

 resented by the magnet in the clock, time was 

 accurately kept, and indicated on the dial in the 

 usual way. The sanje result could, at one and 

 the same time, have been produced in a clock at 

 the Linlithgow, and another at the Falkirk sta- 

 tion, as well as at the Glasgow terminus ; that is 

 to say, the Edinburgh pendulum could have 

 equally regulated all the three, which would thus 

 have moved together like one machine. In like 

 manner, Mr. Bain infoiined us, were the tele- 

 graphic wires extended over the whole of Scot- 

 land, and every railway station or town on the 

 line had its own electric clock, the pendulum ai 

 Edinburgh would propel and regulate them all. 

 And still fiuther, wer<> England and Scotland 

 united in one grand chionomelrical alliance, a 

 single electrical pendulum of this description, 

 placed in the observatory at Greenwich, would 

 give the astronomical lime correclly throughout 

 the whole r.oumry.— Glasgow Constitutional. 



Clover Hay.— K, owing to the backwardness 

 of the season, you have Ijeen prevented in cutting 

 your clover, and have that still to do, we would 

 advise you to cure it by cocking it so soon as it 

 becomes wilted. By curing it in cocks you pre- 

 vent lo^^3 from the fulling off of the leaves, and 

 retain that delighifiil fragrance which is so accept- 

 able to slock. In .sijuliiiig it away sprinkle on 

 every ton of it a peck of salt. The salt will pre- 

 vent Its firing and becoming mouldy, besides it 

 will enable you to stack it away much earlier 

 than if it bo not salteil. 



A female Daniel Lambert, weighing nearly 500 

 pounds, has been cxhibiling in Lomlon. 



From the N. Y. Evening Post. 

 The Laboring Man. 



I walked beyond the city's bounds, 



Along an unfrequented way — 

 The small, uncultivated grounds 



OC poverty, before me lay. 

 A fence of turf the spot surrounds, 



The poor lone cabin was of cl.iy. 



'Twas sunset, and its parting light, 

 With golden lustre, bathed the west. 



But seemed to linger in its flight, 

 To cheer the summer day to rest. 



To gladden labor's weary sight, 



Like hope within a darkened breast. 



It melted till the twilight crept 

 With gentle step to kiss the scene, 



And the soft breath of evening swe^l 

 Its incense thro' the fnliagc green. 



The bird had ceased its note, and slept, 

 And all was silent and serene. 



A form within that cabin door. 



In poor and simple garb arrayed, 

 With face of care, deep furrowed o'er, 



Look'd out upon the gath'ring shade. 

 " He never lingered thus before," 



She sighed, and bitter grief displayed. 



A moment more, that face o'ercast, 

 Grew radiant with joy's brighter ray. 



The cloud had gaiher'd — burst— and passed, 

 .For he, her only hope and stay, 



Came hurrying to his home at last, 

 Far down the solitary way. 



He came, the man of toil and care, 

 With brow o'ershadowed by distress — 



And met, with sad, dejected air. 

 The wife's affectionate caress! 



His heart seemed full ! Whatstorm was there, 

 To cause him so much wretchedness ? 



A word sufficed to tell the tale ; 



A ship, from foreign lands away. 

 Had yielded to the swelling sail. 



And now was anchored in the bay 

 The eye was moist, the cheek was pale, 



Th:it listened to the laborer's lay. 



" Oh I I am broken-hearted, and my tongue 

 Refuses utterance of what 1 know j 



My brain is inadilened, and my spirit wrung. 



While sinks my form beneath this dreadful blow. 



Bear wiih me, luithful one, while 1 impart 



The heavy sorrows of my troubled heart. 



" On that far isle, where our young days were passed, 

 A bolt has fallen, from God's mighty hand ! 



Upon the I'urms of men disease is cast. 

 And blight and desolation sear the lend 3 



On every side the wailings of despair 



Rise from the lips of those who loved us there. 



'' Dost thou remember where the silver stream 

 Leaps in its wild career the vale along, 



Where oft we've lingered in our summer dream, 

 And filled the air with hope's expectant song ? 



In every cottage on the old hill's side 



Some of pur well beloved friends have died. 



" Oh I I can see the pale and haggard face 

 Of her whose last fare^veII is ne'er lorgol, 



Who, when she held me in her last embrace. 

 Invoked a blessing on the laborer's lot. 



How little dreamed she when those tear drops fell, 



That she would starve, and i midst plenty dwell. 



" To-d«y these dreadful tidings met mine ear. 

 And quick 1 turned my weekly earning o'er ; 



'TiB gone, 'midst choking prayers and burning tears. 

 And oh ! 1 would to God it had been morel 



'Tis gime — and in the thought 1 find reliefj 



It checks the swelling torrent of ray grief." 



The laborer ceased ; his tale was o'er, 

 His heart unburlhened of its carej 



And, passing in his humble door. 

 He bent his weary form in prayer. 



The anguish tfiat his features wore 



Was passed, and hope sat smiling there. 



God bless the laboring man ; '• thy bread 



Is on the far-ofT waters cast j" 

 And He who came to save has said, 



" It shall return to thee at last." 

 The rich shall find no softer bed 



Or happier mem'ries in the past. 



The future. It is full of flowers 

 To Christian hearts, so puie as thine — 



And may the knowledge of these hours 

 Shed such a blessing upon mine. 



That 1 may seek those joyous bowers, 

 Where spirits like to thee incline. 



Food ok the Mastodo.n. — Prof A. Gray, in 

 the Boston Society of Natural History, stated 

 that there had been recently placed in his hands 

 specimens of earthy matter tilled willi finely bro- 

 ken fragiiK'iits of liranclies of Irees, which were 

 said to have been found occupying ihe place of 

 the stomach in the skeleton of the mastodon ex- 



humed on Schooley's mountain. New Jersey, and 

 lately exhibited in Boston. As similar observa- 

 tions are saiil to have been made in several in- 

 siances, Prof Gray was induced to examine the 

 substance brought to him. The wood evidently 

 consisted of branchlets of one, two and lliree 

 years old, broken qiii:e uniformly into bits of half 

 an inch or so in length, with only now and then 

 traces of the bark remaining on the wood. The 

 wood was not at all fossilized, and was hut slightly 

 decayed. From the appearance of the branch- 

 lets examined. Prof Gray inferred that they be- 

 longed to some coniferous tree or slirnb,and prob- 

 ably to a kind of spruce or fir, rather than to a 

 true pine. This inference was borne out by the 

 examination of thin slices of the wood by the 

 microscope. The woody fibre was vei} heaiiti- 

 fnlly and distinctly marked with the circular ilisks 

 that are characteristic of all coniferous wood. — 

 The structure agreed quite perfectly with that in 

 similar branchlets of the common hemlock spruce. 



From the Albany Cultivator. 

 Sowiug Flower Seeds. 



Complaints are very frequent of failure in the 

 vegetation of flower seeds, and the seedsmen of- 

 ten receive abundant censure, when the fault is 

 in the mode of sowing. Minute or rare seeds, 

 if merely buried beneath common soil, can hard- 

 ly be expected to grow. An experienced culti- 

 vator .says, "tlieir failure to grow in common gar- 

 dens, I shouhl scarcely consider as any proof that 

 the seeds were bad." 



"But," asks the inquirer, "if seeds are not to 

 be buried beneath the soil, in what possible way 

 are they to he treated .'" Follow nattiie — not 

 servilely, but rationally - imitate her successful 

 operations, not her failures — adopt such points 

 of treatment as are essential, — without blindly 

 copying every thing, as the Chinese tailor diil, 

 when he made a new coat with a patch on the 

 sleeve from the worn pattern given him. 



Seeds which drop in the forest are never cov- 

 ered deeply, but they are dejiosited on the. sur- 

 face of a bed of very fine nioiild, and afterwards 

 covered with a very thin coat of (.arlially decay-] 

 ed vegetable matter. Flower seeds should liaii, 

 ouly a thin sprinkling of fine mould upon them. 

 The seeds in the forest are kept moist by a shade. 

 Fine seeds must be protected from the scorching 

 rays of the sun, till they have obtained sufficient 

 fiiothold. 



A friend is very successful with such seeds, by 

 screening them, after sown, with small boxes open 

 at the botlom and top, across which a piece of 

 fine muslin is stretched, like a seive. Light is 

 thus admitted, the drying of winds is prevented, 

 the hot .solar rays are much softened, and insects 

 excluded. This ireatment will ensure success 

 with many delicate ^eeds w here ordinary modes 

 would tail. 



The watering of coininon soils, by rain or by 

 artificial means, soon forms a thin crust on the 

 surface, unless such soils are of the lightest char- 

 acter, and delicate young plants cannot push 

 through it. The difficulty is obviated by the sub- 

 stitution of peat or fine mould, sifted over Ihe sur- 

 face when the seeds are sown. 



Dr. Lindley says, " When the acorn falls, it liai> 

 no power of wriggling into a hole in the ground, 

 and when the chickweed scatters its tiny seeds, 

 they lie and grow where they fall." This emi- 

 nent horticulturist describes a method which can 

 hardly fiiil with any seeds of temperate climates, 

 which retain vitalily. First, provide a good soil, 

 fine and dry; sinooih the surliice ; sift over it a 

 coat of fine mould or peat if the seeds are very 

 small ; or mix them with the same material he- 

 fore sowing, if excessively minute. Then press 

 the whole surface gently and evenly. Next sprin- 

 kle over the surface some coarse moss, previoust, 

 ly soaked in boiling water to kill insects oreg.^s, 

 and with the superabundant water pressed oin. 

 Cover the whole with a common garden pot, and 

 lay a tile on the hole. Theseedsare then plant- 

 ed — the moss answering the purpose of the scat- 

 tered forest leaves in nature, and the pot supply- 

 ing the shade. 



Then, judging fromailuily inspection by look- 

 ing under the pot and moss coating, — open the 

 hole in the pot when the seeds begin to grow ; 

 ihe next day, perhaps, remove a part of the mo.ss ; 

 the next, raise the pot by a stone under il.s edge; 

 then gradually raise the pot higher, remove the 

 rest of the moss, and finally take the pot awayr* 



