Vol. XL-No. 18. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL, 



141 



that other bodies conduct it with greater expedi- 

 tion; as in the instance of vibrating a tuning fork, 

 to the stem of wliich is attached a pack-thread 

 string; on the other end being wrapped round the 

 little linger, and placed in the chamber of the ear, 

 the sound will be audibly conveyed to the distance 

 of two hundred yards, though not perceptible to 

 any bystander. Miners, in boring for coal, can 

 tell by the sound what substance they arc pene- 

 trating ; and a recent discovery is that of applying 

 a listening-tube to the breast, to detect the motions 

 of the heart. The quickness which some persons 

 possess in distinguishing the smaller sounds is very 

 remarkable. A friend of the writer has declared, 

 he could readily perceive the motion of a flea, 

 when on his night-cap, by the sound emitted by 

 the machinery of his leaping powers. However 

 extraordinary this may appear, we find a similar 

 statement is given in the ingenious work upon in- 

 sects, by Kirby and Spence, who say, " I knoin of 

 no other insect, the tread of which is accompa- 

 nied by sound, except, indeed, the flea, whose steps 

 a lady assured me she alway shears when it pass- 

 es over her night-cap, and that it clacks as if it 

 was walking in pattens!" If we can suppose the 

 ear to be alive to such delicate vibrations, certain- 

 ly there is nothing in the way of sound too diffi- 

 cult for it to achieve. To accustom ourselves to 

 listen with attention is the first step to improve- 

 ment. — Gardiner's Music of JVature. 



From the Boston Courier. 



FLANNEL. 



•'Odious! in woollen? 'twould a saint provoke — 

 Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke." 



Some persons there are, and well esteemed ini 

 the world, who like not the sensation produced by' 

 the contact of flannel and their own skin ; mon of 

 prudence in worldly affairs, who yet do not calcu- 

 late the chances in matters of health or of life and 

 death ; men, who having jn-csent health, seem to 

 have a lease of life for three score years and ten, 

 of which may be not half the term has expired. 

 •These sages express wonder, perhaps, that men 

 will peril life on the high seas, or that they will 

 venture to dwell in cities under the line, where 

 plague and fever slay their thousands. 



Yet at various seasons of the year, in this hard 

 and changeable climate, are men in more peril 

 than from wind and wave, from the want of that 

 rare virtue, common prudence. In a climate that 

 varies in the twcntyfour hours from a degree of 

 heat that will roast an egg in the sun, to a grade 

 of cold that congeals, people wear a dress adapted 

 to the heat, and trust to keep themselves warm in 

 the cold by the exercise of shivering — this man- 

 ner of dressing is more advantageous to the doc- 

 tors and the undertakers than to the i)atient him- 

 self. Rheumatism, the worst of all bad things that 

 end in ism, is the least troublesome thus engend- 

 ered. 



Influenza, with its soft name and hard nature 



consumption, that if personified would make the 

 most hideous spectre that ever stood at the bedside 

 of sickness, .and cholera, that mysterious, insiclii- 

 ous and terrible agent, are often brought on by the 

 same negligence which produces a simple rheu- 

 matism. 



At this season, comfort alone, if it could be fair- 

 ly heard, would induce mon to be cased from neck 

 to foot, in armor of woollen. Men going into bat- 

 tle are wiUing enough to wear a breastplate be- 



cause the danger is visible ; but in greater, and 

 more invisible dangers, they will wear no defen- 

 sive armor. Some months ago, camphor rose, in 

 the distant apprehension of cholera, 200 per cent 

 in value, because it was thought to be a cure ; but 

 fannel remains at the old price on the draper's 

 shelf, though it is a preventive. O, that men 

 would grow wise and take the most simple way of 

 .'voiding an evil ! We owe it to ourselves, to our 

 lunilies, to the wool growers, and to the Amcri- 

 <an system, to forswear thin pantaloons and addict 

 ourselves to under garments of flannel. 



From the Daily National Republican. 



PURE WATER. 



JIr Pri.nter — Will you publish for the benefit 

 )f your readers and the public generally, the fol- 

 owing receipt for the procuring of pure drinking 

 ivater. Among the means of preserving health, at 

 this fearful period, pure water may not be consid- 

 ered the least ; and though it is generally known to 

 he people of the west, that alum will clear muddy 

 water, the fact, that the mixing about a common 

 sized table spoonful of this s,a\\. finely poiodered with 

 J barrel of water, will free it of all impurities, I ap- 

 prehend, is either not known by them, or they 

 liave not convinced themselves of this important 

 ti-uth. I hazard this opinion, because I do not 

 Inow any but my own family in this city, who 

 fiijoy the delightful beverage of river water, freed 

 from all impurities, and transparent as crystal. 

 Vot being selfish, I have, therefore, taken the lib- 

 erty of offering to the public, with your leave, the 

 means of participating in this salutary beverage ; 

 merely adding, that it is the result of a series of 

 experiments instituted at Paris a few years ago 

 for the express purpose of ascertaining the best 

 and most certain mode of procuring pure water. 



" Into a wooden cask, set upright upon a stand, 

 place two faucets, one near the bottom, the other 

 about G inches above it. Fill the cask with wa- 

 ter, and add powdered alum in the proportion of 

 less than half a drachm to the gallon, which is to 

 be stirred into the water, and allowed 24 hours to 

 settle. Should any acidity be perceived, an equal 

 quantity of subcarbonate of soda will neutralize it. 

 For use, draw the water from the upper faucet ; 

 and always he careful to wash the barrel well be- 

 fore refilling it." 



If, as has been conjectured in Europe, the pre- 

 vailing epidemic is " entirely telluric, and created 

 bymephitic vapors, which are formed in the earth, 

 and first communicated to the water," (and the 

 conjecture is certainly favored by the deranged 

 condition of the digestive fimctions, which most 

 generally precedes the severe attack of Cholera,) 

 you will see in this, a strong argument for the 

 immediate and general adoption of the means here 

 recommended for freeing the water used for drink, 

 at least, of the animal or vegetable poisons whh 

 which it may abound. p. 



Cincinnati, October 15. 



CROPS IN NOVA SCOTIA. 



The farmers in the Eastern Townships have 

 had a very pleasant and favorable harvest season. 

 For a few days past, the weather has been rather 

 unsettled, but for three or four weeks before that 

 time, it was unusually fine. We believe the crops 

 generally have been remarkably well secured. 

 For this, we cannot be too thankful. If the har- 

 vest season had been as unpropitious as the sum- 



mer was unpromising and discouraging, we know 

 not what would have become of us all, before this 

 time another year. Nothing is now out, except- 

 ing potatoes, and these nre being fast got in. Du- 

 ring the session of the Court in this place we have 

 taken some pains to asceitain how the crops came 

 in, and we have been informed on all hands that 

 there will be a great abundance for all purposes. 

 There is a failure of the corn crop ; but even of 

 this, there will be considerably more than most 

 people have anticipated. Wheat was never bet- 

 ter, and oats are good ; potatoes yield a fair crop. 

 There was but little rye sown, on account of its 

 poor return last year. Accounts represent the 

 crops as having been very good throughout this 

 and the Upper Province, and also throughout New 

 Brunswick and Nova Scotia. — Sherbrooke Con. 



Absence of Mind. — A ludicrous example of this 

 kind of absurdity is told of Mr K , a cour- 

 tier in the reign of George III. This person- 

 age, who is said to have been the most absent man 

 in the three kingdoms, went one birth-night, to 

 White's Coffee House, St James's, full dressed, 

 except his stockings, which he had forgotten, as 

 he accidentally discovered in consequence of spill- 

 ing some hot coftee upon his legs; he immediate- 

 ly sent the waiter to bring a pair of white siUi 

 stockings, expressing his astonishment at the in- 

 advertence he had committed, and congratulating 

 himself on having so fortunately found it out. 

 The stockings being brought to him, lie put them 

 both on one leg and went to court. 



JVbtieZ Bank M'otes. — The Bank of France hag 

 issued new notes of 1,000 francs. The size, the 

 form, the arrangement, the vignette border, the 

 stamp, and the water marks, are precisely the 

 same as the old notes ; but from some pecuhar 

 preparation of the paper and the ink, the impress- 

 ion appears through the note with the same dis- 

 tinctness as on the face, though the letters and fig- 

 ures are reversed. On holding the back of the 

 note to a looking glass, it presents a perfect fac 

 simile of the impression, except that the signature 

 of the cashier, or registering clerk, does not ap- 

 pear. 



Cure for Painter's Cholic. — The bulletin of the 

 Society for the Encouragement of National Indus- 

 try, states that this disorder may be cured in the 

 space of from three to five days, without in the 

 least weakening the digestive organs, by the acid 

 sulphate of alumina and polassa, or common alum, 

 dissolved in a sufficient quantity of water, and giv- 

 en in a dose of from one to three grains a day. 



Raw Silk. — Mr Starkweather, of this town, sold 

 his raw silk the present season at $4,00 per lb., 

 but thinks he might have obtained 84,50. He says 

 so much of the work is pertbrmed by women and 

 children, that producing raw silk at $4,00 or 4,50, 

 may be considered fair business, though not very 

 ucrative. — A'orthampton Gazette. 



The vineyards of Mr A. Geiger, of Lexington 

 district, S. C. have produced the present season 

 upward of (ioOO gallons of wine, from the Bland 

 Virginia and Madeira grapes. 



The flour of the country bordering on the Ohio 

 river, is beginning to find its way to Baltimore by 

 the rail road. A quantity, manufactured at Wheel- 

 ing, has been forwarded to the former city. 



