1881. 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



117 



On the other hand, we are told that the re- 

 ports are printed by the State, and in these 

 the information luay be found. We are 

 further told that tliese reports may be had by 

 nuikins; aiTjilication to Secretary Edge, but 

 on making such application are met by ihe 

 reply that the supply is exhausted, and that a 

 copy of it may be probably sott^n from your 

 Representative. TVe now find that the copies 

 have mostly been distributed to the Repre- 

 senUitives, by them to be distributed among 

 their friends and constituents. Now this 

 plan might work tolerably well providing all 

 the constituents were farmers, but in this 

 State I suppose more than one-fourth of the 

 Representatives are elected by large cities, 

 and as reports are usually distributed pro 

 rata, many of the agricultural reports are lost 

 to the community they were intended to 

 benefit; and then, too, we have such ugly 

 stories afloat in the wide-awake daily papers 

 of the hundreds of reports found in second- 

 hand book stores and junk shops. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I have had my growl 

 about out, but as you probably have received 

 the reports in which is the desired informa- 

 tion, can you not give j'our readers some of 

 it ?— Yours respectfully, A. B. K. 



[The appearance of the article alluded to in 

 two consecutive numbers of The Farmer 

 was, of course, inadvertent, and if it were 

 otherwise unexceptionable, it might not be 

 amiss to insert it oftener. Church services 

 are read every Sunday ''year in and year 

 out," and yet people do not heed and prac- 

 tice more of them "than the law allows." 

 We read the article once, and noticed' the very 

 defect that A. B. K. speaks of, and possibly 

 we may have thought, on meeting it again, 

 under a different title, that it was a more 

 lucid continuation of the same subject, or, we 

 may have forgotten all about it.] 



Essays. 



AMERICAN ARCH.ffiOLOGY.^ 



During the recent excursion of the Tucquan 

 Club, it was evident that its members had not 

 lost their ancient fondness for scientilic pur- 

 suits. While some of the party were engaged 

 in catching bass, others found as much jileas- 

 ure in capturing insects, or in collecting the 

 beautiful ferns for which the locality is fa- 

 mous. Heedless of the burning rays of the 

 July sun, several of the company took long 

 walks to places which are believed to have 

 been, at some remote period, favorite hatmts 

 of tUfe aborigines, and drew from their an- 

 cient resting places celts, arrow-heads and 

 pieces of broken pottery. 



On the evening which was memora,ble for 

 its terrific thunder storm, the writer was not 

 in camp, having accepted an invitation to ac- 

 company J.L-. Robert C. Bair to examine his 

 large collection of archaeological sjieeimens. 

 It was late at night when we arrived at the 

 charming residence of our host ; but the an- 

 tiquarian fever ran too high to permit us to 

 retire without having first examined a portion 

 of his cabinet. Next morning we completed 



•Read before the meeting of the Linnffiaa Society, July 

 30, 18&1, by Prof. J. Henry Dubbs, D. D. 



our delightful task, and in due time returned 

 to the encampment of our confreres on the 

 other side of the river. 



Mr. Bair's collection is extensive and pos- 

 sesses peculiar inti'rcsl. Most of the speci- 

 mens were gathered in his immediate neigh- 

 borhood, and they, therefore, furnish a very 

 complete representation of the rudimentary 

 arts of the Indian tribes which once occupied 

 the region now included in the counties of 

 Lancaster and York. . In some respects it 

 mil;ht be well to increase the collection by a 

 judicious system of exchanges ; hut some- 

 times the cabinet which many be regarded as 

 almost complete, so long as its field is purely 

 local, becomes imperfect when it attempts to 

 embrace a continent. 



A local collection also possesses a special 

 interest for the original collector, which he is 

 loth to sacrifice to extent and variety. The 

 specimens which he has personally gathered 

 appear to be peculiarly his own, and every 

 one of them reminds him of the delight which 

 accompanied its original discovery. 



Mr. Bair's collection contains a vast num- 

 ber of interesting objects, the souvenirs of 

 years of research. There arc about three 

 thousand so-called arrow-heads and spear- 

 heads. Some of tliese were possibly origi- 

 nally aflixed to wooden war-clubs, somewhat 

 after the fashion in which the ancient Swiss 

 garnished, with sharp spikes, the battle-mace 

 which they called "Morgenstern," or morn- 

 ing star, probably because it let daylight into 

 the heads of their enemies. 



In looking over so large a collection of 

 arrow-heads, the observer is struck with their 

 immense variety, both in fori^ and material. 

 The stone was evidently selected with much 

 care, and often broug it from a great distance. 

 Is it not likely that these "arrow-heads" were 

 sometimes employed as a kind of currency, so 

 that, passing from hand to hand, they are 

 now found hundreds of miles from the place 

 of their manufacture ? 



Not to speak of curious beads, fragments of 

 pottery, and other interesting objects, there 

 is one department of Mr. Bair's collection 

 which is especially remarkable for its com- 

 pleteness. There are nearly one hundred 

 grooved axes, and these are found in every 

 stage of completeness, from the rude palseo- 

 Uth to the most highly polished specimen. 

 Among the most interesting specimens are 

 those in which the workman, after carrying 

 the groove half way round the stone, evi- 

 dently found the material unsatisfactory, and 

 east away his work unfinished. I'he amount 

 of labor bestowed on these implements must 

 have been enormous, and it is remarkable 

 that they should still be so frequently dis- 

 covered. 



Among the most interesting specimens in 

 Mr. Bair's cabinet are tlie "polishing stones." 

 These, at first sight, appear rude and shape- 

 less, but they were pdlectly adapted to their 

 original purpose, and are so extremely hard 

 that to polish them would ta.x the resources 

 of a modern lapidary. There, also, is a series 

 of the polished "fleshers," which the South- 

 ern negroes call "thunderbolts," under a 

 firm conviction of their celestial origin. Nor 

 can we fail to observe an extremely fine stone 

 mortar, and various specimens of steatite 

 pottery. In short, the collection contains so 



many interesting objects that we cannot ven- 

 ture to attempt a detailed description. 



The careful examination of a cabinet of 

 archajological specimens leads the observer to 

 do justice, first, to the skill of the aboriginal 

 cr.aftsraan, and then to the enthusiasm of the 

 modern collector. Let no one undervalue the 

 patient toil which is devoted to the accumula- 

 tion of a collection of the, rude imjilcments of 

 a prehistoric age. It is of such materials that 

 S( ience builds her stateliest temples, and the 

 humblest collector may enjoy the privilege of 

 contributing to a structure that will prove the 

 delight of succeeding generations. 



Selections. 



WORTH KNOWING. 



Some Tilings for Housewives to Put in 

 Scrap Books. 



A poultice of fresh tea leaves, moistened 

 with water, will cure a stye on the eyelid. 



For earache, dissolve asafcetida in water ; 

 warm a few drops and drop in the ear, then 

 cork the ear with wool. 



The true physiological way of treating 

 burns and scalds is to at once exclude the air, 

 with cotton batting, flour, scraped potato or 

 anything that is handiest. . 



Use fresh water. Water which has stood 

 in an open dish over night should not be used 

 for cooking or drinking, as it will have ab- 

 sorbed many foul gases. 



Mix a little carbonate of soda with the 

 water in which flowers are immersed, and it 

 will preserve them for a fortnight. Common 

 saltpetre is also a very good preservative. 



Take a new flower pot, wash it clean, wrap 

 it in a wet cloth, and set over butter, it will 

 keep it as hard as if on ice. Milk, if put into 

 an earthen can, or even a tin one, will keep 

 sweet for a long time, if well wrapped in a 

 wet cloth. 



Common soda is excellent for scouring tin, 

 as it will not scratch the tin, and will make it 

 look like new. Apply with a piece of mois- 

 ne wspaper and polish with a dry |)iece. Wood 

 aslies are a good substitute. 



To cure bunions use pulverized saltpetre 

 and sweet oil. Obtain at a druggist's five or 

 six cents' worth of saltpetre ; put it into a 

 bottle with sufficient olive oil to dissolve it, 

 shake up well, and rub the inflamed joints 

 night and morning, and more frequently if 

 painful. 



Flies may be effectually disposed of without 

 the use of poison. Take half a teaspoonful of 

 black pepper in powder and one teaspoonful 

 of cream. Mix them well together, and place 

 them in a room on a plate where the fliea are 

 troublesome, and they will soon disappear. 



Red ants may be banished from a pantry or 

 storeroom by strewing the shelves with a 

 small quantity of cloves, either whole or 

 ground. Some use the former, as not being 

 so likely to get into food placed upon the 

 shelves. The cloves should be renewed occa- 

 sionally, as after a time they lose their 

 strength and efficacy. 



The following drink for relieving sickness 

 of the stomach is said to very palatable and 

 agreeable : Beat up one egg very well, say for 

 twenty minutes, then add fresh milk one pint, 

 water one pint, sugar to make it palatable ; 

 boil, and get it cool ; drink when cool. If it 

 becomes curds and whey it is useless. 



