iill)c .farmer's ittontljlij Visitor. 



127 



Franklin conceived the beautiful theory of 

 drawing lightning from the heavens hy his phi- 

 losophical researches, and now lie will be re- 

 membered so long as the fiery darts of Jupiter 

 shall hiss through the heavens and the bellowing 

 thunder echo along our hills. And thus it is the 

 world over; the influential men are thn educated 

 men. Earlier days were different; then the 

 most mighty were the most influential, for might 

 made right. The king sits upon his throne, not 

 because he has merited ii by his philosophical 

 researches, but from hereditary right, lint all 

 such customs are becoming forceless, and know- 

 ledge, that main-spring of national glory and 

 prosperity, will be the only criterion hy which 

 to judge of true greatness. Some of the coun- 

 tries of Europe have already adopted our com- 

 mon school system, and soon that spark which 

 was manifest when the pilgrim banner first 

 waved on Columbia's shore will be fanned into 

 a mighty flame, and ignorance he banished from 

 the world. 



The sovereignty of knowledge cannot be dis- 

 puted ; then why not proclaim its worth from 

 the mountain-tops and through all the. valleys of 

 the earth ? Let New Hampshire not be behind 

 in the cause of education. She is manifestly 

 taking a high stand, and will, we trust, ere long, 

 be equal if not superior to any State in the 

 Union. 



A high standard of education cannot he speed- 

 ily effected; it must he gradual. It is with you, 

 parents, to commence this great work — to set in 

 operation a train of influences in yotir tender 

 charge, which will eventually accomplish this 

 noble object. Nothing is gained, however, by 

 urging the infant mind too fast. As the tiny in- 

 sect in the South Sea adds cell after cell to his 

 structure until a mighty fabric is reared and a 

 green island emerges from the ocean, so mind 

 should be increased little by little until it can 

 grasp the largest ideas. Many an intellect that 

 promised much and would have shone with un- 

 surpassed splendor, has by improper culture 

 fallen far short of that high point to which it 

 might have attained, and thus been a curse ra- 

 ther than a blessing to the community. 



Finally, reader, would you be remenrbered 

 when the march of life is over — would you tie- 

 sire a fame " as bright and durable as the stars ?" 

 improve your mind while here, and with this 

 knowledge uuntire others. This is worth more 

 titan the polished marble and the monumental 

 pile — this shall endure till 



"The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, 

 The solemn temple, the greal globe itself, 

 Sea, all thai it inhabits, shall dissolve ; 

 And, like the baseless fabric of a vision, 

 Leave not a wreck behind.'' 



DON CARLOS. 



A Cautio.v.— Many a sensitive mind has been 

 destroyed hy unjust suspicion and false accusa- 

 tion — anil many a servant has been made a thief 

 by having been wrongfully charged with thiev- 

 ing.^ We were impressed u ith the obligation 

 resting upon masters and mistresses, by observ- 

 ing the other day that a poor girl hail been com- 

 mitted to the bands of the police, charged with 

 stealing a gold thimble; anil nftei the poor crea- 

 ture hail suffered for many hours the distress ol 

 her situation, the thimble was found by the lady 

 where she herself had dropped it. Any thing 

 which concerns the feelings and characters ol' 

 these often friendless ones, is worthy of reflec- 

 tion and caution, and we commend this incident 

 to all house-keepers. 



Tart words make no friends: a spoonful of 

 honey will catch more flies than a gallon of 

 vinegar. 



Geology for Schools ntid Families— No. 2. 



BY JOSIAH HOLBRDOK. 



Feldspar and mica are two letiers of the "Ge- 

 ojogicnl Alphabet." They are commonly com- 

 bined with each other, and united with quartz, 

 already named. The three, when combined, 

 form granite — the rock formed when it was said, 

 " Let dry land appear." These three ingredients 

 of granite are sometimes found in separate 

 masses of a large size, and sometimes in line 

 grains or scales. Quartz frequently exists in 



large rucks, and even mountains. Sand-hanks 

 are commonly pure quartz; essentially so, in the 

 manufacture of glass. The slightest quantity 

 ol' feldspar, mica, or any foreign substance, un- 

 fits it for this useful manufacture. 



Large rocks of pure feldspar seldom appear ; 

 mountains never: though large deposites of (eld- 

 spar, interspersed with small quantities of quartz 

 ami mica, are sometimes found. Mica, com- 

 monly called isinglass, is sometimes found in 

 plates, two or three feet in diameter, but not 

 often over a lew inches, and commonly in small 



scales. 



Quartz may be distinguished from feldspar by 

 iis hardness and fracture. Quartz scratches 

 feldspar slightly, and is of course harder, lis 

 fracture is more irregular, commonly bieaking 

 in no one determinate direction more than an- 

 other. Feldspar breaks ill small tallies or plates 

 — more properly, perhaps, sups — the surface in 

 short distances being smooth and flat, then 

 breaking suddenly in nearly a perpendicular di- 

 rection 10 the general surface. Quartz has al- 

 most an endless variely of colors and shades of 

 color. It is sometimes nearly a pure while, 

 when it is called milk quartz, it is also black, 

 blue, yellow, green, gray, clouded, and striped, 

 with an endless variety of shades in each. It is 

 frequently strongly colored with iron, and is 

 hence called ferruginous quartz. Sometimes 

 the iron appears in the form of an oxide or rust 

 on the surface, giving it the appearance of yel- 

 low paint, 



It has already been mentioned that quartz crys- 

 tallizes in six-sided prisms, ending in six-sided 

 pyramids. A quartz crystal can he seen in the 

 American Museum ai New York, about the size 

 of a man's body, flinch the greatest quantity 

 are smaller than one's ringer; frequently much 

 smaller than a pea; though the crystals are reg- 

 ular and beautiful. Quartz, especially when 

 crystallized, is sometimes almost entirely trans- 

 parent, even more so than glass. It may then 

 be used for spectacles of superior value, as they 

 are not liable to he scratched. 



Quartz, in the form of rounded pebbles, is not 

 unfrequently cemented into rocks of many miles 

 in extent, and of a great depth. Such deposiles 

 arc common and extensive in coal fields, furnish- 

 ing some of the greatest curiosities in ihe "Won- 

 ders of Geology." 



Feldspar varies in color very little compared 

 with quartz, its most intimate associate, lis 

 most common color is yellowish white, some- 

 times almost pure white; also reddish, or flesh 

 color; especially so in Egyptian granite, exten- 

 sively used for pyramids, monuments, and vari- 

 ous kinds of architecture. The material in 

 "Cleopatra's Needle" and Pompey's Pillar, in 

 Alexandria, is principally flesh-colored feldspar, 

 ft is sometimes opalescent, having a plav of col- 

 ors. Opalescent feldspar is said 10 exist in large 

 quantities in Essex county, New York. Ii is al- 

 so abundant in Labrador, ami is hence called 

 Labradorite. 



Thousands of buys in and about New York 

 are exploring ihe whole region in the neighbor- 

 hood of tin: ci.y, and are making large calcula- 

 tions for extending tin ir researches into the 

 country during the fall vacation, where, it may 

 be h iped, still more thousands will be ready to 

 join them. A lew days since, one ol' these 

 young bin efficient explorers discovered a mass 

 of granite, filled with line garnets, about ihe size 

 ol' a pin's head. They at once brought bushels 

 of this beautiful mineral to the city, though seve- 

 ral miles distant, when it became "stock in 

 trade," and by "exchanges'" brought a great vari- 

 ely of other minerals. It is hoped all boys, every- 

 where, will go ami do likewise. 



Why are many of the small children in our 

 schools like Noah's dove ? Because they have no 

 place for the sole of their feet. 



It is said that when the mother of Washington 

 was asked how she had formed ihe character of 



her son, she replied that she had endea\ d 



early to leach him three things— obedience, dili- 

 gence and truth. No better advice can be given 

 by any parent. 



leach jour children to obey. Let it be the 

 first lesson, It requires constant care to keep 

 the habit of obedience, and especially to do it in 

 such a way as not to break down the strength of 

 a child's character. 



Teach your child to he diligent. The habit of 

 being always employed is a safeguard through 

 life, as well ,is osi ■ 1 1 1 i:i I lo tl.e culture of almost 

 every virtue. Nothing can he more foolish than 

 an idea which parents have that it is not respec- 

 table to set their children to work. Play is a 

 good thing, innocent recreation is an employ- 

 ment, and a child may learn to be diligent in 

 that us in other things. But let them learn early 

 to be useful. 



As to truth, it is the one essential thing. Let 

 every thing else be sacrificed rather than that. 

 Without it, wjiat dependence can you place in 

 your child ? And be sure to do nothing yourself 

 which may countenance any species of prevari- 

 cation or falsehood. Yet how many parents do 

 teach their children the first lesson of deception. 



Ma. Mann. — The Boston correspondent of the 

 Newburyport Herald stales that the Hon. Horace 

 Mann is employed in writing a history of the 

 Common Schools in Massachusetts. No citizen of 

 the Commonwealth is so competent to the task, 

 and no work is more needed, I ban a full and 

 complete history of our " peculiar institutions." 

 Nor are the people of this Slate alone interested 

 in this work. Our brethren on both sides of the 

 Atlantic are watching ns, and by our zeal and 

 devotion lo this subject, we are exerting an in- 

 fluence deep, broad and diffusive. 



The Hon. Henry Barnard of Connecticut, late 

 Stale Commissioner of Common Schools in 

 Rhode Island, is engaged in writing u history of 

 Common Schools, and oilier means of popular 

 education in the United Slates. He is admirably 

 adapted to the task. We predict that it will be 

 an tilde, and an impartial wmk. He is a pioneer 

 in the cause of educational reform, and has sac- 

 rificed a fortune to its advancement. 



A poet finds in ihe simplest flower that blows, 

 a volume of contemplation ; the scattered leaves 

 present bun with lessons of morality : he hears 

 the voice of (iod in the wind. He penetrates to 

 the mysterious meanings of all that meets ihe 

 mortal sense, and has sympathies of thought 

 which never yet were uttered in words. 



Floating Bee-Houses. 



In Lower Egypt, where the flower harvest is 

 not so early by several weeks as in the upper 

 districts of that country, the practice of transpor- 

 tation is rarried on to a considerable extent. 

 About the end of October, the hives, after being 

 collected together from ihe different villages, 

 and conveyed up the Nile, marked and number- 

 ed by the individuals to whom they belong, are 

 heaped pvramidically upon the boats prepared 

 to receive them, which, floating down the river, 

 and stopping at certain stages of their passage, 

 remain there a longer or shorter lime, according 

 to the produce which is afforded by the sur- 

 rounding country. After travelling three months 

 in this manner, the bees having culled the per- 

 fumes of the orange flowers of the Said, the es- 

 sence of roses of the Fannin, the treasures of 

 the Arabian jessamine, ami a variety of flowers, 

 are brought back, about ihe beginning of Febru- 

 ary, to the places from which they have been 

 earned. The productiveness of Ihe flowers at 

 each respective stage is ascertained by the grad- 

 ual descent of the beats in the water, and which 

 is probably noted by a scale of measurement. 

 This industry produces for iheEgyptiaus delicious 

 honey and abundance of beeswax. — Dr. Bevan. 



