NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



389 



be the Water Hemlock, (Cicula Maculala.) At 

 this 'ime she was cold, pale, and horribly sick, 

 and distressed at stomach, vomiting every five 

 ^1 ten minutes, which continued six or eight 

 hours. Her lirabs were extremely painful, es- 

 pecially the large joints; her pulse was sixlv 

 in a minute, small and soft ; pupils dilated and 

 Vision indistinct. She soon got relief hy the 

 HO of remadies, and with the exception ol pros- 

 IratioD of strength, and a degree of difficulty of 

 H'^^ing. she was well in three or four days. 



in the morning succeeding the day on which 

 il. •; took the poison, she had a weakness, wea- 

 ri'iess, and sense of weight in her lirabs, which 

 H- \> indescribable and very distressing. 



The Water Hemlock, sometimes called Muskrat 

 Kr.ot, Wild Fennel, Water Fennel, Wild I'arsley, 

 Snake Weed, &c. Is the Cicuta Maculala of the 

 Botanists, and not the Conium Maculatuin, as is 

 generally supposed. It is an umbeliferous plant, 

 jrowing principally in meadows and low grounds; 

 m its general habit, it resembles Sweet Sicily, 

 foe which it is most frequently mistaken. The , 

 5tem is smooth, round, and hollow, striated, 

 (streaked,) on its external surface, and lined 

 with a white membranous substance within. It 

 rises to the height of three or fo\;r feet,.and is 

 usually surrounded by two or three smaller 

 <taiks, with which it is connected at the roots, 

 The joints oi" the stem are about ten or 

 twelve inches apart, each joiot sending off a 

 branch ; the branches enclose the stem at the 

 base, and at the distance of one foot from the 

 stalk, send off smaller, opposite branches. — 

 These are again divided into leaves and 

 branchlets usually in threes, sometimes in 

 fives. The leafets are from one to two 

 and a half inches in length ; the middle one 

 ibout twice as long as the lateral ones. They 

 ;\re from half an inch to an inch in width, 

 taperlog to both ends and very regularly 

 notched ; from each notch, a vein runs to the 

 rind rib. The plant flowers from the middle 

 of June to the middle of .July, leaving umbels 

 of small, white flowers, resembling the com- 

 mon Caraway. The root is composed of six 

 or eight short, thick branches, of a yellow 

 color and sweet taste. 

 IVethersficld, June, 1824. 



From the Columbian Centiuel. 



I\rr. Russell, — T saw in your paper a few 

 weeks since, a notice from South Reading, re- 

 specting the injurious effects of cheese, which 

 had been dressed with White Lead. The pub- 

 lic should be apprized that this is not the only 

 instance of persons having been poisoned with 

 cheese. A similar one happened in my family 

 r.bout three year? ago. The cheese was in its 

 appearance and taste of the first quality. The 

 first time it was used, was when a number of 

 friends called to spend the evening. — Most of 

 (hose who ate of the cheese were sick, some of 

 Ihem very sick through the night. The family 

 not knowing that it was occasioned by the^ 

 cheese, ate of it again, and were sick. — About 

 the same time, others in the neighborhood were 

 made sick from eating other cheese, probably 

 from the same lot. Whether it was from lead 

 upon the outside, or from something put into 

 the milk to color it, 1 am imable to say. From 

 the appearance of the cheese, it was thought to 

 be the latter. 



I fully accord with the writer of the artiEle 



above nlhided to, that something should be 

 done, i( (PiMcticable, to prevent the sale of 

 »uch c!:se?' At least the nami;s of the fami- 

 lies where mich lot of cheese is made, should be 

 Ic^iown hy the venders, that those who will thus 

 I'lidanger the he;ilth and lives of their fellow 

 '■itizeii'i, may themselves sutler the consequen- 

 ces of being publirly exposed. W. P. 



N. B. The Philadelphia papers mention that 

 several persons in that city had sickened after 

 eating cheese supposed to have been rendered 

 deleterious by the use of the acet;ite of lead in 

 its production. 



Cheese sometimes dangerous. — Last weelv a num- 

 ber of persons in Frankfort, Pa. were seriously 

 indisposed, and one of them left dangerously ill 

 by eating of a cheese, bought in Philadelphia. 

 It is supposed the cheese had been covered with 

 lead, the acetate of which is known to be dan- 

 gerous. A portion of the article was sent to 

 Philadelphia to be analyzed. — A. Y. Statesman- 

 Important Invention. — The greatest improve- 

 ment, says a correspondent, we have seen for 

 many years in carriages, is a piece of mechan- 

 ism called the Safety Drag. On inquiry we find 

 this drag may be applied, in a very simple way, 

 to any carriage, at little expense, and used at 

 pleasure by any person on or in the carriage, 

 without stopping, and taken off ia a moment. 

 This drag is to be used when descending a steep 

 hill, or at any time, should the horse run away, 

 two-thirds of the weight of any carriage may be 

 placed on it in a moment. Should a horse fall, 

 pole or reins break, the progress of the carriage 

 may be stopped in a moment. How frequently 

 we read of limbs being broken, lives lost. Sic. 

 by stage and other horses running away in the 

 absence of the driver, carriages upsetting thro' 

 the pole breaking, and also from reins giving 

 way, restive horses, &c. What would those 

 whose lives are in such danger give at the mo- 

 ment for the Safety Drag ? And how frequent- 

 ly we hear of heavy damages being given 

 against stage coach proprietors after such mis- 

 fortunes. We hope soon to hear of their being 

 in general use, as they are not heavier than a 

 common drag, and the appearance no way 

 against them. — Scotch paper. 



A Mr. Cook has taken out a patent for a mix- 

 ture to render all sorts of timbers, cottons, silks, 

 &c. incombustible. A solution of pure fixed 

 vegetable alkali is what he has found most pro- 

 per for the purpose. He observes that ship 

 timbers prepared in the manner directed, will 

 not only be incombustible, but aLso effectually 

 preserved from the dry rot. He thus concludes, 

 " there are thus three great principles in the 

 application of my discovery, of which I claim 

 the exelusive pririlege : — 



1st. The application of the alkaline solution 

 in preventing any accidents from calicoes, cot- 

 tons, muslins, cloths, and linen of every de- 

 scription, bed and window curtains, and sail 

 cloths. 



2d. Its application to prevent eflTectually all 

 wood-work of all sorts, either in buildings or 

 vessels of any description, from being destroy- 

 ed by fire, either by accident or intention. 



3d. The process used to render timber in- 

 combustible willj at the saiae time, completely 



prevent the dry rot from ever afiecting such 

 timber so prepared under my patent. — ReperJo- 

 rij of Arts, JVo. 263. 



Valuable Improvement. — A m;ichine U>x mak- 

 ing shingles was invented a few vears since bv 

 Willard Earle, of Athol, in this County, which 

 he has so far improved that it bids fair", soon, to 

 entirely supersede the present mode. The 

 machinery, which is propelled by water, is ea- 

 sily kept in repair, and mny be managed by 

 boys, as no part of the work is laborious. By 

 it one person will easily make 3 M. shingles 

 per day. But the greatest advantages to be de- 

 rived from this improvemnt, consist in the bet- 

 ter quality of the work and in the great saving 

 of timber. The shingles made by these ma- 

 chines are all of an uniform thickness, and are 

 made so perfectly true that a man will lay at 

 least a third more, per day, than of the com- 

 mon kind, and the work, when done, is better 

 and more uniform. We understand the ordina- 

 ry lots of timber will make twice as many shin- 

 gles in this, as in the common way, there being 

 no waste made, and timber which cannot be 

 worked in the old way, such as bass wood, pine 

 that »vill not split, kc. may be wrought by these 

 machines to equal advantage with the best of 

 timber. A single machine requires less than a 

 fourth part of the power usually applied to a 

 grist mill. 



The inventor has taken a patent for his im- 

 provement, and, we are informed, has orders 

 for machines faster than he can supply them. 

 A considerable number are in operation, and 

 give universal satisfaction. — Mass. Spy. 



Spontaneous Combustion. — The late destruC' 

 tioo of a Manufactory near Germantown, Penn. 

 was caused by spontaneous combustion in waste 

 wool. Though but twenty to fifty pounds had 

 accumulated, yet it produced a most dense 

 smoke, and a gas which took fire like gunpow- 

 der. The building was instantaneously in a 

 blaze, and not an article could be saved. The 

 oils used in the waste wool were olive and sper- 

 maceti — each kind had been so repeatedly used 

 before without any injury, that no danger was 

 apprehended. Repeated experiments that have 

 been made, prove that linseed oil will regularly 

 ignite with waste wool in twenty-four hours. 

 == [JV. Y. paper. 



St. Francisville, S. C.May 15. 



The Crops. — The Cotton and Com look ex- 

 tremely well. Owing to the prevalence of 

 cold weather at the commencement of the plant- 

 ing season, it was feared that the Cotton crop 

 would be very short; but the fine weather that 

 has prevailed for the last ten or twelve days, 

 has wrought an efi"ectual change in the appear- 

 ance of the fields : Cotton has turned from the 

 sickly, sallow hue it wore, to a lively green ; 

 and the stunted fields of corn, from which the 

 disconsolate planter but lately calculated on 

 plucking nothing better than a beggarly crop of 

 nubbins, have sprung into new life, ftnd flatter 

 the eyes of a hungry observer with a fair pro- 

 mise of an ample yield. — Charleston Courier. 



Col. Levi Finney, of Shrewsbury, Vt. sheared 

 from a four year old Native Wether, a few days 

 since, eleven pounds and one ounce ot wool 

 The wool was about ten inches long— two years' 

 growth, and of an excellent texture. 



