48 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jam. 



conduct, that he "was tired of guessing. But it 

 is this very circumstance that elevates the science 

 of medicine above the exact sciences, because it 

 requires the highest exercise of the human intel- 

 lect, while the exact sciences can be attained by a 

 dunce who has a good technical memory. There 

 is such a thing as enlightened "guess work," 

 ■which maybe defined, Ihe exercise of the judgment 

 in applying certain rules to tmce^iain cases. The 

 navigator is obliged to use a great deal of this 

 guess-work ; yet there can be no doubt that an 

 intelligent and well educated navigator, with the 

 aid of science, the compass and the barome- 

 ter, would in the majority of cases guess more 

 accurately than one who was ill educated and 

 without these aids. 



The effects of a stimulant or narcotic, o^ any 

 other medicine, vary according to the suscepti- 

 bility of the patient to its influence. A frequent 

 and constant use of opium, of ardent spirits or 

 cayenne pepper, may so harden one to their ef- 

 fects, as to enable one who is accustomed to the 

 use of them to bear a dose without any appar- 

 ent effect, which would destroy the life of anoth- 

 er person. "This principle, (says Dr. Paris,) may 

 be illustrated in a clear and forcible manner, by 

 the different sensations which the same tempera- 

 ture will produce under different circumstances. 

 In the road over the Andes, at about half way 

 between the foot and the summit of the moun- 

 tain, there is a cottage, at which the ascending 

 and descending travellers meet. The former, 

 who have just quitted the sultry valleys at the 

 base, are so relaxed, that the sudden diminution 

 of temperature produces in them the feeling of 

 intense cold ; while those who have just left the 

 frozen summits of the mountain, are overcome 

 with the sensation of extreme heat. 



"But we need not climb the Andes for an il- 

 lustration. If we plunge one hand into a basin 

 of hot water and the other into one of cold 

 water, and then mix the contents of each vessel, 

 and replace both hands into the mixture, we 

 should experience the sensation of heat and cold, 

 at the same time by the same fluid." 



The hand Avliich had been in the hot water 

 will feel cold, and that which had been in the 

 cold water will feel warm. The physician is ob- 

 liged to take all such circumstances into his cal- 

 culation before he prescribes for his patient ; a 

 little false information given him by the attend- 

 ants may lead to consequences which^ would be 

 attributed to an error of judgment on the part of 

 the physician. The puldic is not generally aware 

 how frequently the reputation of a physician suf- 

 fers, on account of the ignorance, carelessness 

 or stupidity of the attendants of the patient. 



Our common aliments may in certain states of 

 the constitution act upon one as powerful stimu- 

 lants. In an old volume of Medical Reports is 

 recorded the case of a minor, who after remain- 

 ing eight days without food, was killed by being 

 placed on a warm bed and fed on chicken broth. 

 There is no end to the influences to which we are 

 constantly exposed, that serve to increase or di- 

 minish our susceptibility to the operation of med- 

 icines. All these circumstances involve the prac- 

 tice of physic in so much uncertainty, that the 

 best inteHect must be entirely devoted to the 

 study and practice of it, to insure success. Vol- 

 taii-e, who excelled almost all men in the sagacity 



of his observations, remarked that "those men 

 who are occupied in the restoration of health to 

 other men, are, when honest, above all the great 

 of the earth. They even partake of divinity. No 

 man is more estimable than a physician, who 

 having studied nature from his youth, knows the 

 properties of the human system, the diseases that 

 assail it, the remedies that will benefit or heal it, 

 who exercises his art loith caution, and pays equal 

 attention to the rich and the poor." 



WILLAKD'S PATENT SEED PIjAI«"TEB. 



This machine, the invention of Hosea Willard, 

 Esq., of Vergennes, Vt., and for which letters 

 patent were granted Oct. 6, 18o7, is for planting 

 all Idnds of grain in di'ills or hills, covering and 

 compressing at the same time. The gi-ain is 

 placed in the two cylinder holders, D D. These 

 holders are made to revolve by means of the 

 wheel E. In the inside of each holder is a reel, 

 as seen in fig. 2, which is made to revolve in the 

 opposite direction from the motion of the hold- 

 ers. Each holder is divided into two apartments, 

 one to contain the grain, and the other to contain 

 plaster or any other kind of fertilizer. The ma- 

 chine can be regulated to drop any given number 

 of seeds, or amount of the fertilizer, into each 

 hill, and to make the drills any distance apart 

 that may be desired. The grain is covered by 

 the shoe, as seen in fig. 3, and the drills com- 

 pressed by the rollers, H H. It will be perceived 

 that the coverer is so constructed as to render it 

 impossible for large lumps or stones to get upon 

 the grain. The position of the coverer can be 

 regulated so as to make the drills as much below 

 the surface, and to cover as deep or shallow, as 

 may be desired. The dropping of the seed into 

 each hill bSing directly in sight of the driver, it 

 is impossible for any hill to escape being seeded 

 without being observed by him, which is an ad- 

 vantage over all other machines. The chain, I, is 

 to mark out a track to guide the driver, thus ena- 

 bling him to make the drills all of the same dis- 

 tance apart. As will be seen the machine plants 

 two rows at a time, and as much during a given 

 time as a horse can walk over, from 15 to 25 

 acres per day. 



The machine is now on exhibition at the Crys- 

 tal Palace, and commands the attention of agri- 

 culturists in all sections of the country. It is 

 examined by thousands every day. 



The above Planter is manufactured by the Pa- 

 tentee, at Vergennes, Vt. Price of Planter, $30. 

 Weight of machine, 230 pounds. County and 

 State rights for sale at prices which will enable 

 purchasers to realize very large profits. Apply 

 to IIosEA Willard, Patentee, Vergennes, Vt. 



l^^In Rockville, Ct., 1300 frogs have been 

 found in a spring only four feet in diameter. 



