No. 4. 



Human foot-prints. — Bees. — Numbers, SfC. 



119 



about opposite the residence of Mr. Pierre 

 Choteau, Esq., but nearer the low-water 

 mark. The stratum was about 10 or 12 

 inches thick, 8 feet long, 3 feet six inches 

 broad; and on its face, which was very 

 smooth, it bore the impression of two human 

 foot-prints, about in the position a man would 

 stand in taking aim at an object with a gun 

 or bow and arrow, and facing up the river. 

 I afterwards sold this same stone to the 

 agent of Frederick Rapp, of Harmony, In- 

 diana, and received for it one hundred and 

 fifty dollars. This is the same stone which 

 is described by Colonel Long, in his Expedi- 

 tion, as being used for a platform, or step at 

 the church door in Harmony. (This stone 

 Ought not to have been used as a step, but 

 on the contrary, should have been set on 

 edge in the building, where the foot-prints 

 and other marks could have been preserved. 

 As they are now used, the whole prints will 

 soon be obliterated. Will the present pro- 

 prietor not attend to their preservation'!)* 



This last stone when first discovered by 

 me, I thought a very great curiosity; but 

 after the discovery of the sword, I thought 

 this but a small affair, as it was but a petri- 

 faction, thousands of which, of different 

 kinds, may be found on the shores of the 

 Ohio, in all shapes and forms; while the 

 other — the sword, shows the work of art 

 and civilization. 



The facts are here stated in both cases, — 

 I will leave it for antiquaries to decide, by 

 what people, and at what age, that sword 

 was constructed ; and what was then the 

 situation of the country above the Grand 

 Tower, embracing all the flat country above, 

 or within the high-water mark, as indicated 

 by the appearance of the bluff on either side 

 of the Mississippi, at that place. These in- 

 dications plainly show that high-water mark 

 at the Grand Tower, was once some hun- 

 dred feet higher than it now is. 



John Jones. 



Neatness in Agriculture. — The remark 

 that agriculture and civilization keep pace 

 with eacli other, may be applied to individu- 

 als as well as nations. If in passing through 

 a country, we were to discover a miserable 

 and wretched system of agriculture, we 

 should not expect to find an educated and 

 intelligent people; nor in passing a farm, 

 characterized by every mark of neglect 

 and indolence, should we expect to see in 

 the owner, an industrious and intelligent 

 man. 



* It will, doubtless, b?. gratifying to the writer of the 

 above, to learn that the slab is now preserved in Dr. 

 Owen's Museum of objects of natural history, at New 

 Harmony.— Ed. 



Bees. — We take the following from the 

 Massachusetts Ploughman : "There is much 

 in the history and economy of the bee, that 

 is both interesting and delightful. The cir- 

 cumstance related below, seems to be one 

 of its freaks for which it is hard to account. 



" A swarm of bees was lately found in 

 this town, occupying a bush on which they 

 had located themselves, and built their comb 

 to the size and shape of a horse basket. The 

 comb was attached to the leaves, limbs, &c, 

 of the bush, and was of all shapes to corres- 

 pond with the bush to which it was attached. 

 When found, the comb was stored with ho- 

 ney and well filled with young bees in every 

 stage of perfection, presenting the appear- 

 ance of a healthy and prosperous swarm. 



" The bush which they had chosen for their 

 residence, was of the kind called shrub oak, 

 and was not sheltered from wind or rain. 

 They were transferred to a hive, and are now 

 in the possession of the writer, apparently 

 well pleased with their new habitation, and 

 are doing well. The comb which they had 

 built in their out door residence, is preserved 

 for the examination of the curious, it being 

 a circumstance beyond our limited experi- 

 ence in the history and habits of the honey 

 bee. J. B. F. 



"Seekonk, August 5th, 1842." 



Numbers. — How easy it is to speak of 

 millions and billions, yet how difficult to 

 conceive what even a million is ! But still 

 we should endeavour to obtain some idea of 

 that mighty number. Suppose we speak of 

 the national debt of England ; the words 

 expressing the round sum of eight hundred 

 millions sterling, are already spoken: but 

 who can form a conception of that amount 1 

 We know, however, what a dollar is; and 

 we may, for convenience, consider its value 

 equal to a crown piece, or five shillings. 

 We know, too, what are minutes, hours and 

 years. Then we may form some idea of the 

 amount, though a remote one, when we dis- 

 cover by calculation, that the debt is consi- 

 derably more than a dollar per minute, from 

 the time our first parents were in paradise, 

 to the present day! — more than fifteen 

 pounds sterling, per hour, throug-h all the 

 ages of man's existence ! A billion how- 

 ever — a million of millions — is a far more 

 comprehensive term; so much so, as to be, 

 perhaps beyond all conception. Taking the 

 Mosaic date, as nearly as can be computed, 

 the world has not yet existed, even one fifth 

 part of one billion of seconds ! — Extract. 



Appi.es. — A gentleman at Red Hook, on 

 the Hudson river, recently sold twenty-four 

 hundred barrels of apples, all of his own 

 raising, for $3,600. 



