NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



>05 



lijons scent the apy, roach of wolves, the herd throw 

 themselves into the ibrra of a circle, placing the 

 weakest in the middle and the strongest outside, and 

 thus ])resent an impenetrable forest of horns. The 

 black bear's method of fishing is as dexterous as any 

 schoolboy's could be. .Setting on his hind paws on 

 the bank of a river or lake, he continues so motion- 

 less that he might be mistaken for the burnt stump 

 of a tree. He has sometimes deceived even the 

 practised eye of an Indian. "With incredible celerity, 

 he seizes with his right paw the fish that pass by 

 him. He seems to know that morning and evening 

 are the time for fishing. The following is Mad'llo 

 De Laistre's account of her weasel. " It plays with 

 my fingers like a kitten, jumps on my head and neck, 

 and if I present my hands at the distance of tlircc 

 feet, it jumps into them without ever missing. But 

 it is impossible to open a drawer, or a box, or even to 

 look at a paper, but he will look at it also." Build- 

 ing skill appears in the beaver's construction as in 

 any human fabrication of a cottage. Foreseeing 

 caution is shown by many animals by their placing 

 sentinels to watch and give alarm of danger. The 

 bobac, which inhabits the dry and sunny places of 

 the mountains, go in search of food in the morning 

 and middle of the day, placing a sentinel to give 

 warning of approaching danger. The mountain 

 marmots place sentinels upon a rock while the rest 

 make hay. If the sentinel sees a man, an eagle, or 

 a dog, he alarms his companions by a loud whistle, 

 and is the last to enter his hole. AVild asses, llamas, 

 Siberian horses, and antelopes place sentinels. The 

 sheep on the Welsh mountains feed in companies, 

 and one is set as sentinel. If this sees any one ad- 

 vancing, it looks at him till he comes Avithin eighty 

 or one hundred yards ; and if he still approaches, he 

 alarms his comrades by a loud whistle, two or three 

 times repeated, and all scamper off to the steepest 

 parts. The Alpine marmots lodge together in sub- 

 terranean apartments, and their labor for collecting 

 materials for these is carried on in common. Some 

 cat the finest herbage, and others collect it. To 

 transport this, one lies down on his back, and ex- 

 tending his limbs for that purpose, allows himself to 

 be loaded. Others trail him, thus loaded, by his tail 

 to the place. All the instances which occur, in these 

 classes of beings, of cooperating action for some 

 common end, show the intention and desire to unite 

 their efforts for that purpose, and, therefore, a mind 

 that designs, perceives, comprehends, wills, operates, 

 to produce it. This quality is shown by the rat 

 leading a blind one by a straw wliich he puts into 

 his companion's mouth. The migrating squirrels, 

 when they come to a river which they wish to cross, 

 draw a piece of birch bark to the edge of the 

 water, mount on it, abandon themselves to the waves, 

 raising their tails to catch the wind. The Cayenne 

 opossum shows it ; when it cannot reach the crab, 

 upon which it lives, with its paw, it thrusts in its 

 long, prehensile tail, to hook them out. The honey 

 weasel shows it. Towards sunset he issues from his 

 hole. Near this he sits upright, and holds one of his 

 pav.s before his eyes, in order to modify the rays of 

 the sun. "When he sees the bees he is looking for, 

 he knows they are going home, and he takes care to 

 keep in the same direction, in order to find them. 

 When Messrs. Condamnie and Bouger were meas- 

 uring the length of a degree in Peru, some large 

 monkeys were admitted into their rooms, during the 

 time they were making their observations on the 

 mountains. These animals, of their own accord, went 

 through a series of imitations of their actions. They 

 planted the signals, ran to the pendulum, and then 

 to the table, as if to commit their remarks to paper. 

 They occasionally pointed the telescope to the skies, 

 as if to survey the stars. It is related of an orang 

 that belonged to Mr. Grant, that, after a lady had 



given him cold water instead of tea for several times, 

 he showed great vexation at it, and, to know whether 

 it was so, put in his finger. Observing this, she 

 gave him hot water, which scalded him. After that, 

 he always put in a spoon or a piece of wood first, 

 and touched the spoon. Tliis action was very like 

 human reflection. — Valley Farmer. 



fjcaltl). 



The Laws of Health. — Let us learn from prize- 

 fighters. In the regimen that the prize-fighters sub- 

 mit themselves to, we may see the secret of acquir- 

 ing the greatest strength and power of endurance. 

 It is to be strictly temperate in all things ; to avoid 

 all debilitating stimulants, such as alcoholic drinks, 

 tea, coffee, tobacco, &c. ; to rise early ; to take abun- 

 dance of exercise in the open air ; to bathe often, 

 and observe the most rigid system of cleanliness, 

 and abstain from all licentious practices. Those 

 noted for pedestrian feats subject themselves to the 

 same regimen. If it may be done from such igno- 

 ble motives, how much easier should it be to prac- 

 tise the same system for the greatest of blessings — 

 health ! — Philadeljihia Ledger. 



IxjuRY FROM Bleedixg. — The too free use of the 

 lancet, which Dr. Rcid called a " minute instru- 

 ment of mighty mischief," is thus condensed by 

 Dr. Brigham in his report of the "Utica Lunatic 

 Asylum to the New York legislature : — 



" Many of the patients sent to this institution 

 have been injured by too much bleeding and deple- 

 tion before they were committed to our care. Some, 

 we think, have been rendered incurable by this treat- 

 ment ; and we cannot forbear remarking, that in our 

 opinion the work of Dr. Rush on the " Diseases of 

 the Mind," in which directions are given to bleed 

 copiously in maniacal excitement, has done much 

 harm, and we fear is still exercising a bad influence ; 

 and we hope no future edition will be issued without 

 notes appended to correct the errors into Avhich the 

 distinguished author has fallen for want of the numer- 

 ous facts which have been furnished since his time, 

 and which enable us to sec the errors of our prede- 

 cessors." 



illcdjanics' ?I)cpartmcnt, ^rts, $^t. 



PllESERVATIOX OF TiMBER FOR SleEPERS. McSSrS. 



Hutin and Bovitighy have obtained a j)atent in France 

 for the preser\-ation of wood intended for railway 

 sleepers ; the process of which depends on tilling 

 the pores at each end with a bituminous cement, 

 after the ends have been previously charred. The 

 process is thus described: "Immerse the ends of a 

 piece of wood in some liquid carburetted hydrogen, 

 such, for instance, as the oil of schist, which pene- 

 trates quickly some distance into the wood. 2. Set 

 this carburetted hydrogen on fire, and at the mo- 

 ment the flame has burnt out, plunge the wood, to 

 the height of a few mchcs, into a hot mixture of 

 pitch, tar, and shellac, which will be slightly drawn 

 up between the fibres, and form, at each extremity 

 of the wood, a kind of hermetical seal, unalterable 

 by moisture and air. 3. Coat the wood with tar 

 over its whole surface by the ordinary methods." A 

 process nearly similar was not long since communi- 

 cated to the I*aris Academy of Sciences, by M. 

 Gemmi. In his plan, tar is used for the purpose of 

 fi.lling the pores of the wood, without the addition 



