FESSENDEN'S 



AND 



DeToted to the Culture of ISilk, Ag^riculture, and Rural Economy. 



VOL. 1. 



BOSTON, SEPTEMBER, 1835. 



NO. 5. 



PUBLISHED BIONTHLY BT 



GEORGE C. BARRETT, 



51 S,- 52 JVorth Market St., at the JV. E. Farmer Office. 



T. G. FESSEN DEN— Editor. 



Fifty cents per year — twelve copies for five dollars 

 — always in advance. 



[13= Postmasters and Agents allowed 10 per cent on 

 all subscribers. 



BOSTON, SEPTEMBER, 1835. 



facts and observations kelative to 

 the culture of silk. 



Silk as a non'-co\ductor of f.lectricity and 



A HEALTHY ARTICLE OF APPAREL. It IS Well knOWIl 



that electricity is a very powerful as well as mys- 

 terious agent ; and it is believed to be true that a 

 certain proportion of that extremely subtle, and 

 generally invisible fluid, is as necessary to good 

 liealth as air to animal life. When there is a 

 want of a due supply of electricity in our bodies, 

 we are languid, low spirited, and suffer under a 

 sort of tedium vitae, (weariness of life,) which is 

 quite as insupportable as actual and acute pain. 

 When these feelings occur, we complain of hypo- 

 chondria, aud a want of energy, mental and cor- 

 poreal — the world seems a blank, and existence 

 a burthen. We do not suspect, what is most com- 

 monly the case, that a damp atmosphere is every 

 moment robbing us of electricity, l)y virtue of its 

 powers as a conductor or carrier of that indisj)en- 

 sable requisite to health and enjoyment. 



In dry weather, whether the air be warm, or 

 cold, we feel ligiit and vigorous, because dry air 

 being a slow conductor of electricity leaves us to 

 enjoy its luxuries, and wo are in what is called 

 good spirits. But in wet weather, when 



" Steep'd in continual rains, or with raw f^)g3 

 Bedew'd, our seasons droop ; incumbered still 

 A pond'rous heav'n o'erwhelma tho sinking soul; " 



we feel oppressed and heavy as if w^e had sudden- 

 ly become inmat{!S of the " Castle of Indolence," 

 where 



" Lethargy, with deadly sleep opprest, 



Stretc.'ied on iiis back, a mighty iubbard, lies 

 Heaving his sides, and snoring night and day." 



•If, however, we can retain in tlie corporeal system 

 in wet weather, the electricity which is the source, 

 if not identical with animal spirits, that indescri- 

 bable feeling of enjoyment which flows from vig- 

 orous health is ours in full extent. This can only 

 be accomplished by keeping our bodies enclosed 

 by non-conductors of the electric fluid. And the 

 licst non-conducting substance is silk, which is so 

 excellent a barrier against the transmission of that 

 subtle but mighty agent, that the most vivid and 

 powerful discharge which ever emanated from 

 Heaven's electrical apparatus, in the flash of light- 

 ning and the roar of thunder, cannot pass through 

 a silk handkerchief of the slightest texture, provi- 

 ded it be thoroughly dry. Persons, therefore, of 

 feeble animation, who are apt to become listless 

 and low-spirited in damp weather, will find silk 

 waistcoats, drawers, and stockings, the most per- 

 fect, powerful and innocent of all cordials. Flan- 

 nel will answer a similar purpose, but in a smaller 

 degree. Wash-leather is also a non-conductor of 

 electricity, and may be used by those who prefer 

 it, but is more apt to be clogged by perspirable 

 matter, issuing fiom the pores. Silk is, however, 

 on every account the best ; and those who are 

 averse to the wearing of flannel next to the skin 

 will find equal benefit by substituting cotton shins> 

 drawers and stockings, with silk over thein ; or 

 where more heat is required, flannel between the 

 cotton and silk, for the silk should always be out- 

 ermost. 



An English writer says — " Silk should be used 

 ill every possible way by the weak, in the linings 



