1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



87 



sensitiveness of these little beings. In some cas- 

 es manifesting tlieir sense of neglect on the part 

 of their owners by grief, as in the above instance, i 

 and at other times by exhibitions of anger, and 

 even of revenge. 



While we are upon the subject, we may state 

 that tlie naturalist to whom we have referred, 

 strongly condemned the practice of keeping sin- 

 gle birds, both as cruel, and as injurious to their 

 health. He gave it as hii? opinion, drawn from 

 much observation, that there was no cruelty in 

 coniining certain species of birds in cages, if the 

 cages were roasonal)ly spacious, and they were 

 not deprived of tliose social pleasures which con- 

 stitute so large a proportion of the enjoyment 

 which t'.ie Creator designed for them. The sjic- 

 cies from wbicli pet-birds are generally taken, he 

 considers naturally litted to enjoy companionship 

 with man; and like the dog and the horse, hap- 

 pier in a restricted sphere with liim, than in a 

 state of absolute freedom without him. But to 

 separate the male and female bird, he considers, 

 as we have said, both injurious to the health and 

 happiness of these floating remnants of the van- 

 ished Eden. — Saturday Eccninrj Post. 



TELESCOPE GLASSES. 



The manufacture of telescope glasses is one of 

 the most intricate and nice undertakings in mech- 

 anism. The risk of securing good glasses even 

 after months of labor, is very great, and conse- 

 D[uently gives great value to a perfect one. 



The manufacturers first take about 300 lbs. of 

 flint glass and fuse it )iy a very hot fire. While 

 in a liquid state in the furnace, the vessel con- 

 taining it is walled completely up, and suffered 

 to cool very slowly, sometimes occupying two 

 months in the process. When perfectly cool the 

 mass is fractured by a process which is retained 

 a secret among manufacturers. The fragments 

 being of various sizes are of different power of re- 

 flection, and are worked into glasses proportioned 

 to their powers. In working them into form, 

 the edges are first ground so that they can be 

 looked til rough in every direction, in order that 

 it may be ascertained if they contain any imper- 

 fections, such as cracks, specks of dirt, or bubbles 

 of air. In case anything of this kind is discov- 

 ered, thej' are cut into smaller size, but if perfect, 

 then they are ground into size and form to suit 

 the design of the manufacturer. When this la- 

 bor is coinp]'>ted, they are annealed or heated al- 

 most to fusing, in order to give them a perfect 

 polish and sluipe, and also to free them from 

 brittleness. The process is slow and tedious, and 

 requires great skill to make them perfect. An 

 object glass which was found in tiie streets of 

 Munich, when cleaned up and annealed, was sold 

 for }i5;5,()()0, and was only si.\ inches in diameter. 



The glass which is being manufactured for the 

 observatory at Ann Arbor, is to be seven inches 

 in diameter, and the whole telescope will cost on- 

 ly about twice that sum, so that it will bo seen 

 that nearly as much value is placed upon the 

 snuiU object glass, as upon the whole complicated 

 machinery of the telescope. — Detroit Adv. 



Wood FrRES. — In many a green valley of New 

 England then; are cliildren yet ; boys and girls 



are still to be found not quite overtaken by the 

 march of mind. There, too, are huskings, and 

 apple-bees, and quilting-parties, and huge idd- 

 fashioned fire-places piled with crackling walnut, 

 flinging its rosy light over many countenances of 

 youth, and scarcely less happy age. If it be 

 true that, according to Cornelius Agrippa, "a 

 wood tire doth drive away dark spirits," it is 

 nevertheless also true that around it the simple 

 superstitions of ancestors still love to linger ; 

 and there the half-sportful, half-serious charms 

 of which I have spoken are oftenest resorted to. 

 It would be altogether out of place to think of 

 them by our black, unsightly stoves, or in the 

 dull and dark nu)notony of our furnace-heated 

 rooms. AVithin the circle of the light of the 

 open fire safely might the j'oung conjurers ques- 

 tion destiny ; for none but kindly and gentle 

 messengers from wonder land should venture 

 among them. — J. G: Whittier. 



SAMUEL APPLETOH. 



Once at the exhibition of a menagerie, the at- 

 tention of the kind-hearted old nuxn was attracted 

 by a crowd of boys, trying to look at the ani- 

 mals thi-ough the seams of the tent. "IIow 

 much," he asked of the door-keeper, "will you 

 take to let them all in ?" A bargain was imme- 

 diately made, and by this wholesome operation, 

 the happiness of a hundred or more penniless boys 

 was secured for the afternoon. With the bluff 

 heartiness that marked his deportment, there 

 was not only a general benevolence, but some- 

 times a peculiar delicacy of conduct, which 

 showed that his natnre was marked by the finer 

 shades of sentiment. By his will he had left a 

 large amount of property to a favorite nepiiew. 

 The nephew died, and it was represented to Mr. 

 Appleton by his legal adviser, that, if he left his 

 will as it was, that part of his (estate would go to 

 persons who were not at all related to him, and 

 in whom he could be supposed to have no par- 

 ticular interest. Mr. Appleton, after maturely 

 considering the matter, repli(Ml tliat he had con- 

 cluded not to alter Iiis will ; that he })elievcd his 

 friends in another world knew what he was doing 

 here ; and he should be sorry to have his nephew 

 see that the first act relating to him after Ms 

 death was to divert from his n(>arest itdations the 

 legacy intended for him. — North American Re- 

 view. 



ESSEX COUKTY SOCIETY. 

 Through the polite attentions of the lion. J. 

 W. Proctor, of Danvers, we have the satisfac- 

 tion to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the 

 Transactions of the Essex County Society for the 

 year 1854. The publications l)y this society have 

 ever taken a high comparative posititm with those 

 of other societies in the Commonwealth, and, if 

 we do not mistake, the present will fully sustain 

 this chai'acter. We have not had opportunity to 

 examine all the details. We have before spoken 

 of the excellent instruction in the address, by 

 Mr. Fay. The reports on the dairy, on fruits, 

 on vegetables, on swine, on horses, on milch cows, 

 on slurp, on introduction of new plants, on farm 



