1S58. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



229 



HUMBOLDT ON "SYMMES' HOLE." 



It has been computed at Avhat depths liquid 

 and even gaseous substances, from the pressure 

 of their own superimposed strata, would attain a 

 densitj' exceeding that of platinum, or of iridium ; 

 and in order to bring the actual degree of ellip- 

 ticity, which Mas known within very narrow lim- 

 its, into harmony with the hypothesis of the in- 

 finite compressibility of matter, Leslie conceived 

 the interior of the earth to be a hollow sphere, 

 filled with "an imponderable fluid of enormous 

 expansive force." Such rash and arbitrary con- 

 jectures have given rise,in wholly unscientific cir- 

 cles, to still more fantastic notions. The hollow 

 sphere has been peopled with plants and animals, 

 on which two small subterranean planets, Pluto 

 and Proserpine, were supposed to shed a mild 

 light. A constantly uniform temperature is sup- 

 jjosed to prevail in these inner regions, and the 

 air being rendered self-luminous by compression, 

 might well render the planets of this lower world 

 unnecessary. Near the North Pole, in 82 degree 

 of latitude, an enormous opening is imagined, 

 from which the polar light visible in Aurora 

 streams forth, and by which a descent into the 

 hollow sphere may be made. Sir Humphrey 

 Davy and myself were repeatedly and publicly 

 invited by Capt. Symmes to undertake this sub- 

 terranean expedition ; so powerful is the morbid 

 inclination of men to fill unseen spaces with 

 shapes of wonder, regardless of the counter-evi- 

 dence of well-established facts, or universally 

 recognized natural laws. Even the celebrated 

 Halley, at the end of the 17th century, hollowed 

 out the earth in his magnetic speculation ; a freely 

 rotating subterranean nucleus was supposed to 

 occasion, by its varying positions, the diurnal and 

 annual changes of the magnetic declination. It 

 has been attempted, in our own day, in tedious 

 earnest, to invest with a scientific garb that which 

 in the pages of the ingenious Holberg was an 

 amusing fiction. — Ilumholdt^s Cosmos, 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SHOEING HENS. 



A friend of ours, boarding in the country, 

 found his hostess one morning busily engaged 

 in making numerous small woolen bags, of sin- 

 gular shape. Upon inquiry he was informed that 

 they were shoes for hens, to prevent them from 

 scratching. The lady stated that it had been her 

 practice for years to shoe her hens, and so save 

 her garden. These "shoes," (I believe they are 

 not yet patented,) were of woolen, made some- 

 what of the shape of a fowl's foot, having an 

 opening left sufficiently large to thrust in the 

 foot with ease, after which it is closed with a 

 needle and sewed tightly on, extending about an 

 inch up the leg. Our friend observed that some 

 of the biddies, possibly conceited with their new 

 honors, appeared to tread as though walking on 

 eggs — particularly was this the case when from 

 the width of the shoe one would conceive that 

 their toes might be a little pinched. 



Thus, Mr. Editor, you see the progress of civ- 

 ilization ; another class of bipeds has stepped into 

 shoes ! how far in the future pantalettes and boa- 

 nets lie hid let no scoffer dare say. "Puss in 

 boots," as every one knoM's, was all a sham ; but. 



for a certainty, biddy in shoes is no longer a 

 fable. When snarling Diogenes hurried into the 

 academy with "Plato's man," we all know what 

 very naturally followed, for in his haste he had 

 forgotten even to put his shoes on ! 



The original idea of this lady may be of value 

 to those amateurs who desire at the same time 

 a fancy garden and fancy fowls ; for it is gener- 

 ally agreed that, baring their scratching propen- 

 sities, fowls are of gi-eat advantage to grounds, 

 from the immense quantity of vermin which they 

 destroy. If, then, by this contrivance of bagging 

 their toes, they can be prevented from scratching, 

 we may thus secure, on a barn-yard scale, the 

 political desideratum, the largest liberty compati- 

 ble with the greatest safety. 



Yours respectfully, J. J. H. Gregory. 



Marblehead, Mass. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SUG-AK MAKING. 

 "SUGARING OFF." 



Be sure first that your syrup is thoroughly set- 

 tled, so that it is translucent and wholly free from 

 impurities. If made too thick for this, it can be 

 reduced with sap or water ; but make no sugar 

 from it, till you have given a fair cliance for the 

 fine particles of dirt that will unavoidably get in, 

 to deposit themselves. 



A pan is the best thing to sugar off" with. For 

 a batch of 100 or 120 pounds, use the front pan 

 over the arch you boil sap in. A small pan, two 

 feet square, and nine inches high, is very conve- 

 nient for a batch of forty pounds, (or less) to be 

 made into small cakes. This may be set in a tem- 

 porary arch of brick, in your back kitchen, (if 

 you have one with a fire-place and a wide hearth 

 before it.) Now, if you have such syrup as you 

 can easily make, and ought to make, boil it down ; 

 but save your eggs to go with your bacon, your 

 skimmed milk for the pig, the saleratus for bis- 

 cuit and batter-cakes, and your lime for mortar, 

 but keep them all out of such syrup as should 

 and can be made until late in the season. When 

 the syrup is just commencing to boil, remove 

 carefully all the skum, &c., which rises to the 

 surface. If it will not stand fire well, and threat- 

 ens to run over, a bit of fresh butter will at once 

 cure it of this propensity, unless your sap was 

 sour. You can use snow to tell Avhen it is done ; 

 but it is best tried with a bow tied in the end of 

 a green twig, or in a small wire with a handle of 

 wood. Let this bow or ring be about three-fourths 

 of an inch in diameter. When the syrup is suf- 

 ficiently reduced for wet sugar, if this be dipped 

 in, it will fill, and you can blow "feathers" from 

 it, that will collapse as soon as formed. If they 

 retain their shape, and will fly, or crimible when 

 struck by the feathering stick, it is dry enough to 

 be made into small cakes that Avill not drain at 

 all. A little practice is needful to determine when 

 it is in just the right condition ; and regard must 

 be had, too, to the temperature and dryness of 

 the air in which you blow these sugar-feathc" - 

 When done to suit you, lift off" the fire, and tur ,. 

 it into a brass or copper kettle. Stir it briskly 

 until it granulates sufficiently, but be careful not 

 to wait too long, if you wish to put it into small 

 moidds. This requires rapid and skilful fingers. 



