tl)e lanntfs illontl)hj! bisifor. 



21 



■creatures, in one apartment; they became so 

 tame, that whenever he came with Ws dish of 

 flies, they descended to take tlieir food. Tliis 

 «tory, related in the French Dictionary e>f Natn- 

 ral History, il" true, proves, tliat even "these soli- 

 tary and cruel creatines may in some degree Ire 

 tamed, and lose their natural propensities to' at- 

 tack and cat each other. 



Another instance is mentioned hy Ltitreilfe, in 

 which a spider appears to have acquired tame 

 habits. A Frenchman of the name of Pelisson, 

 being imprisoned in the Bastile, was depriTed of 

 pen, iiik, and paper, and reduced to the society 

 of an ignorant and sullen Basque, whosfe only 

 occupation was playing on the musette. A spi- 

 der made its web at the edge of the window 

 which lighteil the prison : and to relieve the 

 dreadful ennui of his situation, Pelisson under- 

 took to tame it by [ilacing flies in its way, while 

 the Basque played on his instrument. "By de- 

 grees the spider became accustomed to tlie sound, 

 and run from his hole to receive its prey. Thus 

 by being always summoned by the sound, and 

 having its fond placed gradually at a ftrther dis- 

 tance from the web, the insect in a few months 

 became so well disciplined, that at the first sig- 

 nal, it would leave its hiding place, and come 

 and take its flies at the bottom of the chamber 

 ini'Jer Pelisson's eyes. ' 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Mr. Editor:— Though your paper is almost 

 exclusively confined to information upon Agri- 

 culture, yet I notice that you occasionally giv'e a 

 corner to the Antiquarian. Being something of 

 that turn, I occasionally get hold of some old 

 book which interests me not a little. Recently I 

 met with a book at Mr. Samuel Leach's, in Dun- 

 barton, of rather ancient date, and which is as 

 curious as it is ancient. Mr. Leach came into 

 possession of it in the following manner: 



Capt. Joseph Leach, his lather, belomred in 

 Manchesler, Ma.ss., and for thirty years led a sea- 

 faring life. In the Revolution he "used to go pri- 

 vateering. Sometimes he would take a prize 

 and sometimes iie would be taken. In one of 

 his prizes was a library of books,an(l the book to 

 which I have referred was one of the number. 

 The title of the book runs thus: "The Danish 

 Laws : or the Code of Christian the Fifth. Faith- 

 fully translated for the use of the Fwi'^lisli In- 

 habitants of the Danish Settlements in America 

 London: Printed for N. Gibson, in Charles- 

 Street, 1756. 



With your permission, Mr. Editor, I wish to 

 make a few extracts from this book for the Vis- 

 itor. Your readers will probably laugh at some 

 ot the Danish laws. They are almost equal to 

 the famous Blue Laws. 



Of Oalhs and Imprecations. 

 1. Whoever is addicted to frequent 

 swearing and rash invocation of the D 

 Name, shall be deemed a publick 

 one to whom no credit can be 

 oath. 



iinpreeations, and severely punish and chastise 

 them for every such offence; and tite kjw em- 

 powers them so to do. 



" Art. ,5. If Prjests, or others in holy orders, 

 whose life oifght to be an example of virtue to 

 laity, arc found guilty of unnecessary and pro- 

 fime swearing,(!) to (he scandal of the weak, or 

 permit their wives, children, or domesticks, to 

 practice it unpunished, they shall suffer double 

 punishment." 



The foregoing is rather a curiosily. Some 

 |mr(3 o{ it, if put in practice at ihe present day, 

 might check profanity a little. Art. 2. might 

 throw a restraint upon the tongues of some'of 

 our Congress men now at the Capital. Art. I. 

 is a very good one, hitting the nail on the bead 

 exactly. But the last Article sounds oddly. 

 Swearing Priests ! 



Well, wiiat is the punishment for such an of- 

 fence ? Not to degra'de the oflender from otiice, 

 but give him ' double punishment.' Whether his 

 punishment is to be like that in Art 3, or Art. 4, 

 it does not say. 



If you like these selections, Mr. Editor, I can 

 give you some more from the same book. 



ANTIQUE. 



signs of that putrid fermentation which takes 

 place in animal bodies when the humors become 

 stagnant. These accidents are to be avoided by 

 stopping the nose and mouth with handkerchiefs ; 

 an efficacious method is that likewise praclised 

 by the cainel.s, who bury their noses in the sand, 

 and keep them there till the slorm is over. 



Another quality of this wind is extreme aridi- 

 ty ; which is such, tha,t water sprinkled on the 

 floor evaporates in a few minutes. By ibis ex- 

 treme dryness, it withers and strips all llie plants; 

 and by exhaling too suddenly the emanations 

 from animal bodies cris|)s the skin, closes the 

 pores, and causes that feverish heat, which is the 

 invariable eflfect of suppressed perspiration. 



'Art. 



Jivine 

 lyar, and as 

 liven without an 



"Art. 2. If any in 



. iuliabitants of towns, in spile 

 of the admonilion of the Clei ev, continue stub- 

 born anil obstinate in the habit of swearin", they 

 shall be admitted to no office of luofit and honor 

 nor shall the complaints of such, in regard to 

 taxes, burthens, and grievances, be heeded or 

 redressed, unless they can prove their reforma- 

 tion by the testimonials of their Pastors; and, if 

 these means avail not to their amendment, they 

 shall be banished from the town. And, to the 

 end that this ab.iminable vice may be the more 

 effectually restrained, the Magistrate shall set ui) 

 I illories in the market, and other places, and 

 .strict charge shall be given to the constables to 

 put therein such as they find guilty of sweariii<r • 

 all such as are put into such pillories, shall " 

 four shillings Danish to the Constable for 

 tee. 



i"»y 



his 



" Art. 3. In the 

 found obstinately i 



coimtry where .-i person is 

 , . , . addicted to this vice, iho' often 



admonished seriously by his Pastor, the lord* 



shall commit him to close coufineincni for some 



Uayson bread and water. 



"Art. 4. The fathers and mnlhers of families 



shall not only themselves abstain fi 



swearing, but shall restrain 



servants fi-uii 



tlieii 

 all unnecessary and 



lom all proliine 



i:hi!dri'ii and 



rash oaths and 



in ihT,h/i T '' ""'' 'P<=^s^"t".ii-e froquently used 

 inlhisbook. It is presumed that the formci ' ' 



soil, and the latter were lahorcrr. 



owned the 



The Simoon. 



The effects of the Simoon are instant suffoca- 

 tion to every living creature that happens to be 

 within the sphere of its activity, and immediate 

 putrefaction of the carcases of the dead. The 

 Arabians di.^cern its approach by an unusual red- 

 ness in the air, and they say that they feel and 

 smell of sulphur as it passes. The only means 

 by which any person can preserve himself from 

 suffering by these noxious blasts, is by throwing 

 himself' down, with his face upon the earth, till 

 this whirlwind of poisonous exhalation has blown 

 over, which always moves at a certain height in 

 the atmosphere. Instinct even teaches the brutes 

 to incline iheir lie.ids to the ground on these oc- 

 casions. 



The Arabs of the desert call these winds Se- 

 inoum, or poison, and the Turks, S/iamyewla, or 

 wind of Syria, from which it fbrmed the Samiel. 

 Iheir heat is sometimes so excessive, that it is 

 difficult to form any idea of its violence, without 

 having experienced it; but it maybe compared 

 to the iieat of a large oven at t"lie moment of 

 drawing out the bread. When these winds be- 

 gin to blow, the atmosphere assumes an alarm- 

 ing aspect. The sky, at other times so clear in 

 this cliinale, becomes dark and heavy; the sun 

 loses his splendor, and appears of a vi'olet color. 

 The air is not cloudy, but grey and thick, and is 

 in fact filled with an extremely subtile dust which 

 penetrates everywhere. This wind, always light 

 iind rapid, is not at first remarkably hot", but it 

 increases in heat in proportion as i't continues. 

 All animated bodies soon discover it, by the 

 change it produces in them. The lungs, which a 

 too refined air no longer expands, are contracted, 

 and become painful. Respiration is short and 

 diflicult, the skin parclieil and dry, and the body 

 consumed by an internal heat, "in vain is re- 

 course had to large draughts of water; nothing 

 can restore perspiration. In vain is coolness 

 .sought for; all bodies in which it is usual to find 

 it, deceive the hand that touches them. Marble, 

 iron, water, notwithstanding the sun no longer 

 appears, are hot. The streets are deserted, .-nid 

 the dead silence of night reigns everywhere. The 

 inhabitaiils of houses and villages sb'ut themselves 

 up in their houses, and those of the desert in their 

 teiiLs, or in pits they dig in the earth, where they 

 wait the termination of the destructive heat. It 

 usually lasts three days, but if it exceeds that 

 lime it becomes insupportable. Wo to the trav- 

 eller whom Ibis wind surprises remote from shel- 

 ter! he must suffer all its dreadliil consequences, 

 which sometimes are mortal. The danger is 

 most imminent when it blows in squalls, for the 

 rapidity of the wind increases the beat to such a 

 degree as to cause sudden death. This death is 

 a real snftbcation ; the lungs being empty, are 

 convulsed, ilie circulation disordered, aiid the 

 whole mass of blood driven by the heat towards 

 the head and breast ; whence that ha-morrage 

 at the nose and mouth which happens after death. 

 Tliis wind is especially fatal to persons of a ple- 

 thoric habit, and those in whom liitigue has des- 

 troyed the tone of (be muscles and ihe vessels. 

 The corpse remains a long lime warm, swells, 

 turns blue, and is easily separated ; all which arc 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Line upon line, and precept upon precept. 



Smalj, Farms. We can hardly urge too much 

 or loo often the advantages of small farms. How 

 inany of our fanners would be benefitted by sell- 

 ing one half of their land, and applying the pro- 

 ceeds to the improvement of the other half.' A 

 farm of suflicient size to deserve the name can 

 scarcely be too small. An acre of land well till- 

 ed, and with plenty of manure,will produce more 

 than four of poor land, and takes less labor. A 

 small tract takes less fence, and hence they can 

 be better made, which kee|)s out brenchy cattle, 

 effecting another saving. All the labor on a small 

 finin is accomplished with a saying of time; and 

 he who saves time saves money also. Thegoin" 

 and returning from work, the hauling of manure', 

 and produce, each and all is quicker done. The 

 owner too can always be in sight on a small 

 farm; and his hat in the field, will sometimes do 

 more than both his liands. No greater mistake 

 can be made, and perhaps no one oftener as we 

 think, than that of buying more land, ex- 

 tending our domains while our lands are not half 

 equal to what they are capable of 



This buying land is a sort of inherent vice of 

 our nature. It existed among the Romans, as is 

 believed from the instructive lesson of the Fa- 

 ther and his two Daughters. One was married, 

 and be gave her one third of his farm ; the two 

 remaining thirds was equal to the whole. The 

 other daughter also became a wife, and he grant- 

 ed her an equal portion to her sister ; and the, 

 one third that was left to the father was still 

 e(|ual in its productions. 



Is it not best to live for ourselves also as well 

 as for our children ? How many of us do and 

 have foregone the comforts and to some extent 

 the conveniences of life to obtain more land and 

 portion out our children .' The same money 

 laid out in completing and rendering our dwell- 

 ings convenient, in a good carriage in which to 

 altend meeting and visit our relatives and neigh- 

 bors during the leisure that isoftenest found with 

 a small farm, would keep our wives and daugh- 

 ters In better humor. Many id' our liirmeis also 

 are deficient in shelter lor their fuel, and have so 

 much to attend to on their large fiirins, always 

 driven for time, Ihat it is not laid in beforehand, 

 and cut and split and dry ready lor use. A good 

 wood house is built for the price of one or two 

 acres of land. In bad weather the uuodcaiibe 

 cut and split and left to season. The cooking is 

 better; and when we return home from our busi- 

 ness or labor we are met with a good meal, a 

 cheerful fiice and a comfortable fire in cold 

 Nveather. These things go home to our aft'ec- 

 tions: we nre happier, and are more prone io be 

 grateful to the Dispenser of all good. 



Hence, by restraining oiir desire for more, and 

 applying what we iiiighl thus spend in bettering 

 onr condition, we insure peace and cheerfulness 

 at our firesides, and improve our moral condition 

 also. Charily and the blessings of life begin at 

 home. Hardly a house or tlie buildings near it 

 are as convenient and comfortable as they might 

 lie made. 



If we sometimes meet with fretfulness where 

 we would have smiles, let ns see if there is not 

 cause. I am somelliing of a farmer, and have 

 always noticed that the best farmers and ivi.sest 

 men, listened to the women within doors. Many 

 of our farms are sufficient for three or four, and 

 instead of our sons going to the South and West 

 to seek their fortunes, would not they and we, be 

 fill-, far, happier in marrying and selllimr iironnd 

 mid near us .= A FARMER. 



