No. 2. 



Handling. 



51 



Heat rarities air to such an extent, that it 

 may be made to occupy 5 or 600 times the 

 space it did before. 



The violence of the expansion of water 

 when freezing, is sufficient to cleave a globe 

 of copper of such thickness as to require a 

 force of 28,000 pounds to produce the same 

 eflect. 



During the conversion of ice into water, 

 140 degrees of heat are absorbed. 



Water when converted into steam, in- 

 creases in bulk 1800 times. 



One hundred pounds of water of the Dead 

 Sea, contains 45 pounds of salt. 



The mean annual depth of rain that falls 

 at the equator, is 96 inches. 



Assuming the temperature of the interior 

 of the earth to increase uniformly as we de- 

 scend at the rate of 1 degree in 46 feet, at 

 the depth of 60 miles it will amount to 480,000 

 degrees Fahrenheit — a degree of heat suffi- 

 cient to fuse all known substances. 



The explosive force of closely confined 

 gunpowder is six and a half tons to the square 

 inch. 



Hail stones sometimes fall with a velocity 

 of 113 feet in a second — rain, 34 feet in a 

 second. 



The greatest artificial cold ever produced 

 is 91 degrees Fahrenheit. 



Electricity moves with a greater velocity 

 than light, which traverses 200,000 miles of 

 space in a second of time. 



Thunder can be heard at the distance of 

 30 miles. 



Lightning can be seen by reflection at the 

 distance of 200 miles. — Selected. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Handling. 



How few of us ever think any thing about 

 the quality of an animal, if it only please the 

 eye, and how little did I myself know or care 

 for this distinctive property until the perusal 

 of the excellent article at page 363, Cabinet, 

 vol. 5, by that spirited and first-rate judge of 

 cattle, W. H. Sotham, to whom I consider 

 we are indebted, more than to any other, for 

 a fearless independence of character in his 

 profession that will be of the first importance 

 in our race for pre-eminence in the all-im- 

 portant science of stock-breeding. A man 

 who has the temerity, at this time of day, to 

 declare that his idea of name and colour of 

 any cattle is, that it weighs but little in the 

 scale of profit, is worthy a high stand as a 

 judge, and I for one am content to bow to his 

 decision, if he ivill allow me the liberty lohich 

 he claims for himself. In the article above 

 alluded to, Mr. Sotham has said, very pro- 

 perly, it is absurd for a man to form a correct 

 idea of the quality of an animal by the eye 



alone — that is ascertained by the hand — and 

 as the handling is the governing point in pur- 

 chasing with all graziers and butchers, breed- 

 ers also should look to that point. I find some 

 excellent observations in Culley on this very 

 important subject, although he admits that 

 the sensation which is experienced on the 

 touch of an animal is not to be described by 

 words — it is only to be attained hy practice. 

 He says : 



" VVe undoubtedly first judge by the sight, 

 which, being pleased, we then bring the sense 

 of feeling to its aid, and if this also approves, 

 we then conclude that the animal suits our 

 purpose, or is answerable to the idea that we 

 have formed of it. A nice or good judge of 

 cattle or sheep, with a slight touch of the 

 finger upon the fattening points — the iiips, 

 rump, ribs, flank, breast, twist, shoulders, 

 core, &c., will know in an instant whether 

 the animal will make fat or not, and in what 

 part he will make fattest. I liave often wished 

 that I could convey in language that idea or 

 sensation we acquire by the touch or feel of 

 our fingers, which enables us to form a judg- 

 ment when we are handling an animal in- 

 tended to be fattened, but I have as often 

 found myself unequal to fulfil that wish. It 

 is very easy to know where an animal is fat- 

 test that is already made fat, because we can 

 feel a substance or quantity of fat upon all 

 those parts which are denominated fatting 

 points; but the difficulty is, to explain how 

 we know or distinguish animals in a lean 

 state which will make fat, and those which 

 will not; or rather, which will make fat in 

 such and such points or parts, and not in 

 others, which a person of judgment and in 

 practice can tell instantly — I say in practice, 

 because I believe that the best judges out of 

 practice are not able to judge with precision. 

 We say, 'this beast touches nicely on the 

 ribs, hips, &,c.,' because we find a mellow, 

 pleasant feel on those parts, but we do not 

 say soft, because there are some of the same 

 sort of animals which have a soft, loose han- 

 dle, of which we do not approve, because, al- 

 though soft and loose, they have not that 7nel- 

 Inv) feel above-mentioned, for although they 

 both handle loose and soft, yet we knew that 

 the one will make fat and the other will not; 

 and in this lies the difficulty of the explana- 

 tion ; — we clearly find a particular kindliness 

 or pleasantness in the feel of the one, much 

 superior to the other, by which we immedi- 

 ately conclude that this will make fat, and 

 the other not, and in this a person of judg- 

 ment and in practice, is very seldom mis- 

 taken." P. 



It is calculated that if the harvests of a 

 single year should fail, the whole of the hu- 

 man race must perish ! 



