1858. 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



391 



Apoplexy. — Persons below the middle height, 

 robust, with large heads and short, thick necks, 

 are generally recognized as apoplectic subjects ; 

 but a foreign medical author asserts that it is 

 confined to no particular conformation of the 

 body, all persons being alike liable to be attacked 

 by it. The predisposing causes are the habitual 

 indulgence of the appetite in rich and gross food, 

 or stimulating drinks, coupled with luxurious and 

 indolent habits ; sedentary employments carried 

 to an undue length ; the habit of sleeping, es- 

 pecially in a recumbent posture, after a full meal ; 

 and lying too long in bed. Persons, however, 

 who are predisposed to this disease should not 

 fail to profit by the warnings of its approach, 

 such as giddiness, drowsiness, loss of memory, 

 twitching of the muscles, faltering of the speech, 

 &c. Their diet should be light and nutritious ; 

 and luxurious habits should be abandoned, and 

 moderate exercise should be taken. Above all, 

 they should avoid giving way to their passions, 

 as it is well known that many persons have been 

 struck with death in the midst of a fit of anger. 

 — Scientific American. 



BoAKD OF Agriculture. — At the quarterly 

 meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Agricul- 

 ture, held at Westboro' on Wednesday, Messrs. 

 Fay, Lathrop and Grinnell were appointed dele- 

 gates to the National Horse Show, at Springfield, 

 on the 14th, loth, 16th and 17th of September. 

 Gov. Banks, Chairman of the Board, and Messrs. 

 Marston, Wilder, Atwater, Sutton, Flint, Brooks 

 and French, were appointed delegates to the Na- 

 tional Exhibition at Richmond, Oct. 2Gth, 27th, 

 28th, 29th and 30th. 



Eddy on Bee-Culture, and the Protective 

 Bee-Hive. By Henry Eddy, M. D., North 

 Bridgewater, Mass. This is a- neatly-printed 

 pamphlet of 60 pages, containing a good deal of 

 valuable information on the subject of Bee-Cul- 

 ture. Dr. Eddy's Hive is a good one, and he is 

 doing his fellow-men much service in disseminat- 

 ing the knowledge he has acquired by long prac- 

 tice and earnest zeal, in this interesting branch 

 of rural economy. 



BOYS' DEPARTMENT. 



IS HEALTH PKOPEB FOK YOUNG 

 LADIES? 



Enter Mrs. Fluster and Miss Mendum, meeting. 



Mrs. Fluster. — This is Miss Mendum, I believe. 



Miss Mendum. — The same, madam. 



Mrs. F. — And I am Mrs. Fluster. 



Miss M. — The aunt of my little pupil, Ruth 

 Fenway ? 



Mrs. F. — The same. 



Miss M. — Be seated, madam. (They sit.) 



Mrs. F. — I have come, Miss Mendum, to ex- 

 postulate with you on the course you are pursu- 

 ing in regard to my niece's education. 



Miss M. — I shall be happy to receive your sug- 

 gestions. You are aware that Mr. Penway, on 



going to Europe, confided his daughter to my 

 charge, making me promise that I Avould bring 

 her up as I would my own child. I assure you I 

 feel the responsibility of the office. 



Mrs. F. — Ah ! if you had had my maternal ex- 

 pedience, you would have been more careful in 

 guarding her from the coarse, vulgar habits into 

 which she has fallen. 



Miss M. — Coarse, vulgar habits ! There is no 

 more lady-like girl in my school. What do you 

 mean, madam ? 



Mrs. F. — I mean what I say. You need not 

 put on that dignified air, miss. I know who your 

 father was ! 



Miss M. — All the world may know that, mad- 

 am. He was a good carpenter, and an honest, in- 

 telligent man. But let us keep to the point. 

 What are these coarse, vulgar habits of which 

 you speak ? 



Mrs. F. — Why, miss, when my brother-in-law 

 sent Ruth to you, three years ago, she was as 

 delicate, refined, pale-faced a child as one would 

 wish to see. She could not have weighed more 

 than fifty pounds. Now she has doubled in weight 

 — has a brown, ruddy complexion, a robust fig- 

 ure, and stands erect as a May-pole. The poor 

 child has altogether lost that graceful stoop which 

 I used to admire. 



Miss M. — But are not all these facts an evi- 

 dence that she has improved in health ? 



Mrs. F. — Health, indeed ! Who wants to see 

 a coarse, exuberant state of health in an heiress 

 and a belle ? It may do very well in a Avasher- 

 woman ; but, let me tell you, it is very uninterest- 

 ing in Ruth Penway. 



Miss M. — I ditl'er from you so entirely that it 

 seems absurd for me to argue against your opin- 

 ion. 



Mrs. F. — Did you say my opinion was absurd, 

 miss ? Did you dare to say that ? 



Miss M. — I said no such thing. All that you 

 have told me of Ruth's health gratifies me ex- 

 tremely. My training has been directed to pro- 

 duce the very result which you seem to disap- 

 prove. 



Mrs. F. — Your training has made her a romp 

 — a great, strong, masculine girl, as brown as 

 one of those German women who spend their 

 summers in picking berries. 



Miss M. — What has she done to offend your 

 sense of propriety ? 



Mrs. F. — Wasn't she seen last Wednesday 

 morning, when the thermometer was at zero, ac- 

 tually shoveling snow from the sidewalk before 

 your house ? 



Miss M. — I saw it, madam, and delighted I 

 was to see it. When I thought of the poor, puny 

 little thing, who came to me three winters ago, 

 weak and shivering, — and when I looked upon 

 the active, graceful girl, her cheeks glowing with 

 health, her limbs warm with exercise, braving the 

 cold and the sleet, tears of pleasure sprang to 

 my eyes, and I felt proud of my work. 



Mrs. F. — What will you say, m.iss, to her be- 

 ing seen on Hacmetac Pond, with skates on her 

 feet, moving at most unbecoming speed over the 

 ice, and carrying a stick bent at the end in her 

 hand? 



Miss M. — I gave her the skates and the stick, 

 and taught her the use of them. 



Mrs. F — And vou sit there and confess it! 



