392 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUNE y, 1843. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



The Rallle-snake — « rcmarliaUt siory respecting 

 Us poison. — To give you an idea of ihe long time 

 this poison retains its proprrty, I sIkiII relate a cu- 

 rious but well authenticated series of facts, which 

 took place in a central district of the State of 

 Pennsylvania, some tweve or fifteen years ngo. 



A farmer was so slightly liit through the boot, 

 by a rnttlesnake, as he was walking to view his 

 ripening cornfields, that the pain felt was thought 

 by him to have been a scratch of a thorn, not hav- 

 ing seen or heard the reptile. Upon his return 

 home, ho felt on a sudden, violently sick at the 

 Blomnch, vomited with great pain, and died within 

 a few liours. 



Twelve months after this, the eldest son, who 

 had taken his fatlier's hoots, put them on, and went 

 to church at some distance. On his going to bed 

 that night, whilst drawing off his boots, he felt 

 slightly scratched on the leg, but merely mentioned 

 it to his wife, and rubbed the place with his hand. 

 In a few hours afterwards, he was awakened by 

 violent pain ; complained of a general giddiness, 

 frequently, and expired before any succor could be 

 applied with success. The cause of his illness 

 was also quite a mystery. 



In the course of lime his efTects were sold, and 

 a second brother, through filial affection, purchased 

 the boots, and if I remember rightly, put them on 

 about two years after. As he drew them on, lie 

 felt a scratch, and complained of it, when the wid- 

 owed sister being present, recollected that the 

 same pain liad been felt by her husband on the 

 like occasion. The youth suffered and died in 

 the same way that his father and brother died be- 

 fore him. I 



These repeated and singular deaths being ru- 

 mored in the country, a medical gentleman called 

 on the friends of the deceased, to inquire into the 

 particulars, and at once pronounced their deaths to 

 to have been occasioned by venom. The boots 

 that had been the cause of complaint, were brought 

 to him, when ho cut one of them open with care, 

 and discovered the e.xtreme point of the fang of a 

 rattlesnake issuing from the leather, and assured 

 the people that this had done all the mischief. To 

 prove this satisfactorily, he scratched with it the 

 nose of a dog, and the dog died in a few hours, 

 from the poisonous effects it was etill able to con- 

 vey. In confirmation of these facts, I am told by 

 native Americans, thatarrows dipped in rattlesnake 

 venom, would carry death for ages after. — Audu- 

 Inn's A'b/f5 on ihe Rattlesnake. 



Castilione. There you will seo no pinched and 

 mean looking shoulders overlooking a sunken breast. I 



As for the French women, a constant attention 

 to the quantity and quality of their food; and 

 bathing and exercise are as regular as their meals. 

 When children they play abroad in their gardens ; 

 they have their gymnastic exercises, their dancing, 

 and other social amusements, to keep up a health- 

 ful temperament through life. Hosides, a young 

 lady here does not deform and injure herself by 

 tight lacing. Fashion, usually insane, and an ene- 

 my to health, has grown sensible in this ; she re- 

 gards a very small waist as a defect, and points to 

 the Venus de Medici, who stands out boldly in the 

 Tuillcries, in vindication and testimony of the hu- 

 man sha|!0 ; and now among ladies of good breed- 

 ing, a waist which cannot dispense with tight lac- 

 ing is thought not worth the squeezing. 



When I left America, the more a woman looked 

 like an hourglass, the more she was pretty; and 

 the waist most in esteem by ladies and ladies' men, 

 was one you could span wiih your hands — giving 

 its possessor a withered complexion, diseased lungs, 

 and sickly children. If this is not reformed, alas 

 for the republic ! A French woman's beauty, such 

 as it is, lasts her lifetime, by the care she takes of 

 it. Her limbs are vigorous, her bosom well devel- 

 oped, her color healthy, lier offspring robust, and 

 she has a greater moral courage, and is a hundred 

 times better fitted for dashing enterprises than the 

 women of our cities. — Letters from Paris. 



A Scotch blacksmith thus defined metaphysics : 

 " Whrn the party who listens disna ken what the 

 party^wi.o speaks means ; and when the party who 

 speaks, disna ken what he means hiinsel — that is 

 metaphysics." 



In marriage, prefer vitue before beauty, and the 

 mind before wealth. 



Fi-ench Ladies. — Our climate is noted for three 

 eminent qualities — extreme heat and cold, and the 

 e.ilrome suddenness of change. If a lady has bad 

 teeth, or a bad complexion, or a comsumptive hab- 

 it, she blames it conveniently on the climate ; if 

 her beauty, like a tender flower, fades before noon, 

 it is the climate. But our climate sustains the in- 

 fancy, and why not its maturity ? It spares the 

 bud, and why not the opened blossoms, or the ri- 

 pened fruit ? Our negroes at the south are perfect 

 in teeth, and why not the whites ? The chief pre- 

 servative of beauty in any country is health, and 

 there is no place in which this great interest is bo 

 little attended to, as in the United States. To be 

 ienaible of this, you must visit F.nrope. Vou must 

 aee the deep bosomed maids of England, and the 

 females upon the Place Vendome and the Rue 



HOWARD 3 IMPROVED EASY DRAUGHT PLOUGH. 



Great improvements hare lieen made the past year in the 

 form and workmanship o( these Ploughs; ihe miiuld tu aril 

 has been so formed as to lai/ the furrmt covtplctehj oner, 

 turninff in every particle nf grass or sl\d'l>le, and lear'ing the 

 gronmt in the best possible maimer. The length ^I the 

 mould hoard has he n very much increased, so that the 

 Plough works wilh Ihe greatest ease, holli with respect to 

 the holding and the team. The Committee at the late trial 

 of Ploughs at Worcester, say, 



" Should our opinion he asked as to which of the Ploughs 

 we should prefer for use on a farm, we inight perhaps say to 

 the inquirer, if your land is mostly light and easy to woik, 

 try Prouty & Mears, Iput if your land is heavy, hard orrocl.y, 

 BEGIN WITH Mn. Howard's.'' 



At the ahnve mer.f.oned trial the Howard Plough did 

 wore icor/r, ^rith the same prrwcr of team, than any other 

 plougli extiibited. No other turned more than Iwentyse/en 

 and one half inches, to the 112 Ihs. draught, while Ihe 

 Howard Plough turned ttcenti/nine and one half inches, to 

 the same power of team .' All acknowledge that Howard's 

 Ploughs are much the strongest and most substantially 

 made. 



There has been quite an improvement made on the shoe, 

 or land side of this Plough, which can be renewed without 

 having to furnish a new landside: this shoe likewise secures 

 the mould hoard and landside together, and strengthens the 

 Plough very much. 



The price of the Plonghs is from $6 to $15. A Plough, 

 sufficient for breaking up with four catlle, will cost ahout 

 SlO 50, and with cutter Si, with wheel and cutter, $2 50 

 extra. 



The above Ploughs are for sale, wholesale and retail, at 

 the New England Agricultural Warehouse and Seed Store, 

 Nos. 51 & 52 North Market Street, hy 



JO.SKPH URECK & CO. 



CHEESE PRESSES. 



SELF-ROVERNING CHEESE PRESSES— two kinds 

 — lately iinpro\ed by the Shakers. These are so construct- 

 ed tlialthey goVern and regulate themselves without weights, 

 and are hy far the best presses now in uso. 



Knrsale at the N. E. Agricultural Warehouse, 51 and 52 

 North Market street. JOS. BRECK & CO. 



June 7, 1843. 



GRINDSTONES ON FRICTION ROl.L,ERS. 



Grindstones of different sizes, hung on friction rollers and 

 moved wiih a foot trcader, is found to lie a great improve- 

 ment on the old mode of hanging grindstones. Stones hung 

 iu this manner are hecoming daily more in use, and wherever 

 used, give universal satisfaclion. The rollers can be attach- 

 ed to stones hung in the common way. For sale by J. 

 BRECK &. Co., No. 51 North Market street. 



LACTOMETERS— a simple instrument for testing 

 the quality of milk. For sale by J. BRECK & CO. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



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TUTTLE AND DElfl»ETT, PRIMTER81 



21 School Street. 



