NEW ENGLAND FARxMER 



JULY 13, 18*8. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



CAPACITY OP MAN TO BEAR HEAT, &c. 



An experiment to ascertain the degree of heat 

 it is possible for a man to bear, was made in the 

 month of July, 182S, at the New Tivoli, at Paris, 

 in the presence of a company of about two hun- 

 dred persons, amongst whom were many pro- 

 fessors, savans, and physiologists, who had been 

 especially invited to attend, by the physician 

 Robertson, director of that establishment. The 

 man on whom this experiment was made was a 

 Spaniard of Andalusia, named Martenez, aged 

 forty-three. A cylindrical oven, constructed in 

 the shape of a dome, had been heated, for four 

 hours, by a very powerful fire. At ten minutes 

 past eight, the Spaniard, having on large pan- 

 taloons of red flannel, and a large felt, after the 

 fashion of a straw hat, went into the oven, 

 ■where he remained, seated on a foot-stool, du- 

 ring fourteen minutes, exposed to a heat of from 

 forty-five to fifty degrees of a metallic thermom- 

 eter, the gradation of which did not go higher 

 than fifty. He sang a Spanish song while a 

 fowl was roasted by his side. At his coming 

 out of the oven, the physicians found that his 

 pulse beat one hundred and thirty-four pulsa- 

 tions a minute, though it was but seventy-two 

 at his going in. The oven being heated anew 

 for a second experiment, the Spaniard re-entered 

 and seated himself in the same attitude, at three- 

 quarters past eight, eat the fowl and drank a 

 bottle of wine to 'the health of the spectators. 

 At coming out his pulse was a hundred and sev- 

 enty-six, and indicated a heat of one hundred 

 and ten degrees of Reaumer. Finally for the 

 third and last experiment, which almost imme- 

 diately followed the second, he was stretched on 

 a plank, surrounded with lighted candles, and 

 thus put into the oven, the mouth of which was 

 this time closed : he was there nearly five min- 

 utes, when all the spectators cried out " Enough, 

 enough!" and anxiously hastened to take him 

 out. A noxious and suffocating vapor of tallow 

 filled the inside of the oven, and all the can- 

 dles were extinguished and melted. The Span- 

 iard, whose pulse was two hundred at coming 

 out of this gulf of heat, immediately threw him- 

 self into a cold bath, and, in two or three min- 

 utes after, was on his feet, safe and sound. 



About the year 1809, one Lionetto, also a 

 Spaniard, astonished not only the ignorant, but 

 chemists and other men of science, in France, 

 Germany, Italy, and England, by his insensibil 

 ity to the power of fire. He handled, with im- 

 punity, red hot iron and molten lead, drank boil- 

 ing oil, and performed other feats equally mirac- 

 ulous. While he was at Naples, he attracted 

 the notice of Professor Sementeni who narrowly 

 watched all his operations, and endeavored to 

 discover his secret. He observed, in the first 

 place, that when Lionetto applied a piece of red 

 hot iron to his hair, dense fumes immediately 

 rose from it ; that when he touched his foot with 

 the iron, similar vapors ascended, which affected 

 both the organs of sight and smell. He also 

 saw him place a rod of iron, nearly red hot, be- 

 tween his teeth, without burning himself; drink 

 the third of a table-spoonful of boiling oil ; and 

 taking up molten lead with his fingers, place it 

 on his tongue without apparent inconvenience. 

 Anxious to discover the means used by Lion- 



etto to render himself capable of thus enduring 

 the application of heat, Sementeni performed 

 several experiments upon himself, and made 

 many important discoveries. He found, that by 

 friction with sulphuric acid diluted with water, 

 ihe skin might be made insensible to the action 

 of the heat of red-hot iron : a solution of alum, 

 evaporated until it became spongy, appeared to 

 be more effectual in those frictions. After hav- 

 ing rubbed the parts, which were thus rendered, 

 in some degree, incombustible, with hard soap, 

 he discovered, on the application of hot iron, 

 that their insensibility was increased. He then 

 determined on again rubbing the parts with soap, 

 and after this, found that the hot irori not only 

 occcasioned no pain, but that it actually did not 

 burn the hair. Being thus far satisfied, the Pro- 

 fessor applied hard soap to his tongue, until it 

 became insensible to the heat of the iron ; and 

 after having placed an ointment, composed of 

 soap mixed with a solution of alum, upon it, 

 boiling oil did not burn it: while the oil remain- 

 ed on the tongue a slight hissing was heard, 

 similar to that of hot iron when thrust into wa- 

 ter; the oil soon cooled, and might then be swal- 

 lowed without danger. 



[./Irt of Legerdemain. 



grant Richardson Hulcliinson twenty acres of land 

 in addition to tiis share, on condition " he get up 

 ploughing." 



1643. The Court order, that at tTie election of , 

 assistants, Indian beans should be used instead of 

 paper, the while to be affirmative, and the black K 

 negative. W' 



1C47. The Court order that if any young manf* 

 attempt to address a young woman without the con 

 sent of her parents, or in the case of their absence, _; 

 of the County Court, he sliall be fined .5/. for the 

 first offence, 10/. for the second, and be imprisoned 

 for the third. 



16-1!). Matthew Stanley was tried for drawing 

 in the affections of John Tarbox's daughter, with- 

 out the consent of her parents : convicted, and fined 

 5/ — fees, 2s. 6rf. Three married women were 

 fined 5s. each for scolding. (Good.) 



1653. Jonas Fairbanks was tried for wearing 

 great boots, but was acquitted — JVational Slgis. i. 



A WITTY PARSON. 



A Scotcli clergyman by the name of Watty Mor- 

 rison, was a man of great laughter and humor. On 

 one occasion a young officer scoffed at the idea 

 that it required so much time and study to write a 

 sermon, as ministers pretend, and offered a bet that 

 he would preach half an hour on any passage in 

 the Old Testament, without the slightest prepara- 

 tion. Mr Morrisim took the bet and gave him for 

 a text, " And the ass opened his mouth and he 

 spake." The parson won the wager, the officer 

 being rather disinclined to employ his eloquence 

 upon that text. 



On another occasion, Morrison entreated an offi- 

 cer to pardon a poor soldier for some offence he 

 had committed. The officer agreed to do so, if he 

 would, in return, grant him the first favor he should 

 ask. Mr Morrison agreed to this. In a day or 

 two, the officer demanded that the ceremony of 

 baptism should be performed on a young puppy. 

 The clergyman anreed to it; and a party of many 

 gentlemen assembled to witness the novel baptism. 



Mr Morrison desired the officer to hold up the 

 do?, as was customary in the baptism of children, 

 and said, "As 1 am a minister of the church of 

 Scotland, I must proceed according to the ceremo- 

 nies of the church." 



" Certainly," said the major, '■ I expect all the 

 ceremony." 



" Well, then, major, I begin by the usual ques- 

 tion : — You. acknowledge yourself the Jather of this 



puppy r 



A roar of laughter burst from the crowd, the offi- 

 cer threw the candidate for baptism away. Thus 

 the witty minister turned the laugh against the in- 

 fidel, wiio intended to deride the sacred ordinance. 

 —Ibid. 



In the thirtyfifth chapter of Jeremiah, is the fol 

 lowing account of a temperance society established it 

 some thousands of years ago 



5. " And I set before the sons of the house ol 

 the Rechabites, pots full of wine, and cups, and I 

 said unto them, drink ye wine. 



C. liut they said, We will drink no wine; foi 

 Jonadab tlie son of Rechab our father, commanded 

 us saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, noi 

 your sons forever: 



8. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab 

 the son of Rechab our father, in all that he hath 

 charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, oui 

 ,wives, our sons, nor our daughters." 



Old Times. — In IG'27, there were but thirty- 

 seven plows in all Massachusetts, and the use of 

 these agricultural implements was not familiar to 

 all the planters. From the annals of Salem, it ap- 

 pears in that year it was ^agreed by the town to 



GREEN'S PATENT STRAW CUTTER. 



.TOSKPH BREGK & CO. atlKeNew England A^ncnl 

 tural Warehouse and Seed Store Nos. 61 and 52 North Mat 

 kel Street, have lor sale, Green's Patent Straw, Hay am 

 Stalk Cutler, operating on a mechanical principle noi heloi' 

 applied to»Byimplerr>ent lorthis purpose. The most prom ^i 

 inent eUects of lliis application, and some of the consequen 

 peculiarities of the machine are : ^ 



1. So great a reduction of the quantum of power requisil 

 to use it, that the slienglh of a half grown boy is suflicieii 

 to work it efficiently. 



2. With even this moderate power, it easily cuts two huso 

 el.s a minute, which is full twice as last as has been claimw 

 l>y any other machine even when worked by horse or steao 

 power. . |. 



3. The knives, owing to the peculiar manner in which tlir J 

 cut, require sharpening less often than those of any othe| 

 straw cutler. 



4. The machine is simple inits construction, made and puj 

 together very strongly. It is therefore not so liable as lb| 

 complicated machines in general use to get nut of order. 



WEW KNGLAND FARMER. 



A WEKKLT PAPER. 



Terms, $2 per year in advance, or$ii 50 if not jir 

 within thirty days. 



N. B. — Postmasters are permitted by law to franl 

 subscriptions and reniittancfcs for newspapers, will 

 expense to subscribers. 



TUTTLE AND DENNETT, PKINTERS. 



