22 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[February, 



The octopus has a gland which secretes an 

 inky fluid, and this be squirts out, making a 

 thick, dark cloud behind him which baflles 

 his pursuer at the same time that it helps 

 himself to dart away. Mr. Darwin asserts 

 that the octopus often takes deliberate aim at 

 an enemy when it squirts out this unpleasant 

 fountain. 



Ostriches, when the full number of eggs 

 have been laid, invariably place one of them 

 outside the nest — the nest consisting natur- 

 ally of a hollow scooped out of the land by 

 the action of the wings and legs of the birds. 

 It has been found that these eggs are reserved 

 as food for the chicks, which are often reared 

 in a natural stall, miles away from a blade of 

 grass or other food. 



MORAL ECONOMY. 



iNDtTSTET need not wish. 



Truth is the basis of every virtue. 



Ataeice is the mother of many vices. 



The path of truth is a plain and safe path. 



Old injuries are seldom canceled by new 

 benefits. 



He that cannot live well to-day cannot to- 

 morrow. 



The fountain of content must spring up in 

 the mind. 



Falsehood sinks us into contempt with 

 God and man. 



The road to home and happiness lies over 

 small stepping stones. 



The touchstone by which men try us is 

 most often their own vanity. 



Theee is a long and wearisome step be- 

 tween admiration and imitation. 



A MAN explodes with indignation when a 

 woman ceases to love him, yet he soon finds 

 consolation ; a woman is less demonstrative 

 when deserted, and remains longer incon- 

 solable. 



It is hard to personate and act a part long, 

 for where trutli is not at the bottom nature 

 will always be endeavoring to return, and will 

 peep out and betray itself one time or another. 



histoeical. 



Libraries existed in Egypt contempor- 

 aneously with the Trojan war. 



The earliest account of a diving bell in 

 Europe is at Nuremburg, 1064. " . - 



CHAucEEr eceived a pitcher of wine every 

 day from the cellar of Edward III. 



The tine Syrian sponge is usually employed 

 for the toilet, owing to its texture. 



On account of the scarcity of wood in India 

 the people burn manure for fuel. 



The first normal school in America was 

 established in Concord, Vt., in -182.'!. 



Cloves have been brought into the Europe- 

 an market for more than 2,000 years. 



The Egyptians placed a mummy at their 

 festal boards to remind them of immortality. 



STATISTICAL. 



The value of property, as assessed, for pur- 

 poses of taxation, in the United States, is 

 $16,897,1.35,567, or $330.80 per capita for a 

 population of 50,155,783. The New England 

 States, with 4,010,529 of the population, hold 

 $2,652,070,586 of the property, or 8601.27 



per capita; that is to say, with considerably 

 less than one-twelfth of the population they 

 have about two-thirteenths of the wealth of 

 the country. The Middle States have $5,- 

 507,073,848 of property to 11,7.56,055 inhabi- 

 tants, or $473.55 per capita; the Western 

 States have $6,180,524,614 to 18,.524,989 

 people, or $33.5.63 per capita; and the South, 

 with 15,257,393 people, assesses its own pro- 

 perty at $2,360,246,890, or only $1.55.29 for 

 each person. The States which have the 

 most wealth have also the heaviest debts. In 

 New England the .state, county and town in- 

 debtedness amounts to .$44.54 per capita; in 

 the Middle States, $41.57: in the West, 

 $13.17, and in the South, $13.43. The dif- 

 ference does not exactly correspond with the 

 difference in wealth, but it does approxi- 

 mately. 



Contributions, 



For The Lanoasteu Farmer, 

 THE EGG— ITS CONTENTS AND HOW 

 IT IS MADE. 

 My friend, as you are a close observer of 

 nature, I should like you to explain to me the 

 contents of this egg, and how it is made. 

 It is composed of the ova, or yolk; and 

 the albumen, or white, and a thin skin 

 covering the same, and a shell enclosing the 

 whole. What is the yolk composed of? It is 

 composed of blood, assimilated through the 

 working power of the hen; it also contains a 

 portion of oil, derived from the grain that she 

 may eat. What is the white composed of? 

 It is a thick mucilage, made from any green 

 substance that she may eat; young growing 

 grass is preferable. Hens do not lay so well 

 in winter, as the material for this purpose is 

 in its dry state; the skin is made from the 

 refuse of the woody, fibrous substance of the 

 grass. The shell is composed of lime, or any 

 hard substance easy to decompose; oyster 

 shell, broken in small bits, is the best. Where 

 are those ovas or yolks first formed 'f They 

 grow in a cluster on the spine, coming through 

 a tuft of soft skin, perforated with small 

 holes, and between the lungs and the kidney 

 (fowls having but one), there is one forming 

 every twenty-four or thirty-six hours, so long 

 as they are in tlie laying mood. How long 

 after the first appearance of tlie ova, before 

 the egg is laid? From fifteen to twenty 

 days; the ova, or yolk, is enclosed in a 

 thin skin; as it grows the skin stretches; 

 and when matured, the skin breaks, and 

 it drops out into the mouth of the ova 

 duct, which is somewhat of a funnel sha))e. 

 The mouth then closes, and the yolk is swal- 

 lowed into the first division of the duct ; it 

 then opens again, ready for the next, always 

 on the 'alert. When two drop at the same 

 time, it forms a double yolk ; this is only a 

 freak of nature, and the good condition of 

 the hen. The first division of the duct is 

 about five inches in length ; and in passing 

 this division it makes three revolutions, and 

 the white is put on in three separate layers. 

 The next division is of the same length, and 

 passing in a rotary motion, turning to the 

 left with the small end first, opening the way 

 as it passes, the same as swallowing. In this 

 division is where the skinning process is per- 

 formed ; and also in this is where it gets its 



shape, depending on the freeness of the duct 

 to yield to its passage. The next division is 

 six inches long ; in this it receives the shell, 

 which is a thin fluid, in color to suit the 

 breed that is laying it, as it is the color of the 

 egg that proves the genuineness of a thorough- 

 bred fowl. At the terminus of the third divi- 

 sion the duct is of a globe shape ; here the 

 egg turns over, and passes big end first, which 

 is head first, according to nature. How long 

 is the ova duct ? It is from fifteen to twenty 

 inches. This ova duct must be a curiously con- 

 structed affair. It is. At the terminus of 

 each division there is an elbow, and the inner 

 side is very soft, with a silk-like feel, and is 

 composed of folds, each one lapping partially 

 over the other, and soft and pliable ; the first 

 division being the coar-ser, and increasing 

 in fineness of folds, and more numerous ; 

 and as the egg passes each division, it 

 presses from beneath them the amouut 

 necessary for the make-up of the same, and 

 no more. How is this egg fertilized, and 

 when? Through the influence of the male 

 bird, which passes through a small tube or 

 duet, lying along the spine and making a con- 

 nection with the cluster of small undevelop- 

 ed ovas. How long will this egg keep, that 

 I may rely upon its hatching, providing I 

 turn it over every day ? You can't turn it 

 over ; you may turn the shell, but not the 

 inner portion of the egg, as it is hung in the 

 centre by two spiral cords, one being attach- 

 ed to each end of the yolk made fast to a 

 thin net-work covering the yolk, and passes 

 through the white and is fastened to the 

 membrane or skin lining the shell. Each one 

 of those cords is twisted the contrary way 

 from the other, holding it the heavy side 

 down all the time. This proves that the egg 

 is growing and forming into its proper state, 

 whilst passing the duct, as well as taking on 

 its outward coating at the same time. Why 

 is the head of the chick in the larger end of 

 the egg? Because, when it is ready to extri- 

 cate itself it has a greater distance to draw 

 back its head and propel forward again with 

 a heavy stroke, until the shell is cracked to 

 admit air. This is its first breathing. How 

 is it that it strikes the place every time ? 

 Because ils head and neck is under the left 

 wing ; therefore it is supported by the same, 

 and kept on a level. By this means it strikes 

 the same place every time ; it soon gains 

 strength and knocks a hole through the shell. 

 What is its mode of growth in the shell? It is 

 made up entirely of the albumen or white; 

 the first coating, or layer, forms the bone and 

 sinews; the second the flesh, the third the skin; 

 the first formation are two black specks, 

 which are the eyes, one on each side of the 

 spiral cord at the larger end; next the skull 

 bone between, the neck and spiue, legs and 

 wings attaching; at nine days there is life; 

 at the end of two weeks the white is consum- 

 ed; the two spiral cords make a connection 

 in the stomach and protrude from the navel; 

 now being formed into blood veins, and en- 

 closing the yolk in a network of small ones; 

 through these the chick derives its nourish- 

 ment from the yolk; transforming back to its 

 former substance, blood, after cracking the 

 shell, it gains strength very fast, and those 

 two blood veins commence drawing into the 

 belly, and lifting what remains of the yolk,. 



