NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



221 



feeds the love of htron<^ drinks in two ways — first, 

 by creating a morbid thirst ; and second, by impair- 

 ing the appetite for food, and indiroftly oncouraj;ing 

 him who uses it to seek for that strength which food 

 should give him, in the use of extra stimulus. Let 

 the friends of tcmpcvancc — temperance men above 

 all the rest — beware of tobacco in every form.' Take 

 care, then, temperance boys, how you get that filthy 

 thing, a cigar, in your mouths. Abhor and detest it, 

 for it is poison and death." — Wdl-Spring. 



t^ealtl). 



How TO PRESERVE Healtii. — " Kccp thc bowcls 

 open, the feet warm, the head cool, and a fig for the 

 physicians." 



" Eat in measure, and defy the doctor." 



llise early in thc morning, wash the whole body, 

 that you may be clean, vigorous, elastic, and joyous. 

 Take a draught of jiure water, and then walk, ride, ex- 

 ercise, or, better, labor in the open air, at least for a 

 short time. Afterwards go to a plain meal of brown 

 bread, milk, potatoes, and the like healthful articles, 

 such as a king should be thankful to partake of. Do 

 not cat in a hurry ; better to take water, and omit 

 the meal altogether, than eat in haste. "Haste 

 makes waste," here as elsewhere ; waste, not only of 

 the food, but of that which is far more important, of 

 that which is better than riches and tine gold — 

 hualth. 



Alter your meal, go not too rapidly to work — 

 neither with the head nor the hand. It is better not 

 to read immediately after eating. The literary or 

 sedentary man si.ould not go immediately to his 

 books. Moderate exercise (not in tlie hot sun) it 

 ■would be well to practise. Moderate exercise (phys- 

 ical) promotes digestion : this is the rule. And in 

 all cases remember the good old maxim, "£«< to live, 

 not Uoe to eat." 



If you would " keep the bowels open, the feet 

 wai-m, and the head cool," avoid superfine articles 

 of every kind ; avoid all rich, and concentrated, and 

 stimulating articles ; avoid especially tea and coffee, 

 which are always astringent, binding, to the mucous 

 membrane internally, and exert also a pernicious 

 effect on the nervous system. Especially avoid to- 

 bacco, the most hateful of all drugs. Avoid laziness 

 above all things. Let temperance and moderation bo 

 the watchwords in all you do. Thus may you in- 

 sure that best of earthly blessings — Jirm and endur- 

 in// health. — Water-Care Journal. 



ilTctljanics' Ocfiartmcnt, CHrts, ^c. 



Elasticity, oit Spuing Temper of Metals. — The 

 proi)ertics of metals are but just beginning to be 

 known. This remark may startle some of the old 

 ^\orkers in metals who conceive that they know all 

 about them. They may indeed know all that, in the 

 present state of knowledge, in regard to them, can be 

 known. But with all their knowledge they will 

 confess that there are many things in reference to 

 the natures and projjerties of the several metals, 

 whether in their simple states, or wlicn alloyed with 

 other metals, which they cannot explain, but would 

 like to know. An expert worker of iron once said 

 to us, in reference to some operations in working it in 

 various conditions, "There is a great mystery, sir, 

 in iron ; " and then went on to state several things, 

 the causes of which he could not explain. " Your 

 • mystery,' we answered, is only another word for 

 ignorance. Instead of there being a mystery in iron, 



there is ignorance in yourself. There arc causes for 

 all the appearances and changes you speak of under 

 the operations you mention ; l)Ut being ignorant of 

 them, you consider them mysteries. They will ono 

 day be discovered, and then the mysteries will van- 

 ish ." 



There are many things yet to be discovered, not 

 only in the natures of thc several simple metals, but 

 also in their state of combination with other metals. 

 One characteristic, not much understood, is the na- 

 ture and cause of elasticity of metals. fSomc metals 

 can be made highly clastic by being tempered at a 

 given degree of heat. Others, again, which, in a 

 separate state, are perfectly non-elastic, when alloyed 

 together become highly elastic : thus, fifteen parts 

 of pure gold and one part of iilatinum, the platinum 

 added when the gold is perfectly melted, combine 

 intimately, and become remarkably elastic, although 

 before their union they exhibit nothing of the kind. 



We perceive that the latest emission of those neat 

 mantel clocks so abundantly made in Connecticut, 

 instead of weights, have a spiral spring, like the 

 main-spring of a watch, which moves the wheels, a 

 Aveek or more, without being wound oftoner than 

 that. These springs are made of some sort of alloy 

 resembling brass. No doubt many other combina- 

 tions of metals might be maile that would exhibit 

 similar properties, and which will form a cheap and 

 ready mode of obtaining springs. 



The combinations of the several metals might be 

 made almost ad infinitum, and this branch of metal- 

 lurgy aff'ords a fine* field to those who have the means 

 and the time and desire to pursue it. Indeed, as wo 

 said in the beginning, the whole science, art, and 

 practice of metallurgy is in its infancy, although 

 metals have been wrought ever since the days of 

 Tubal Cain. The different societies for encouraging 

 scientific researches, and even government itself, 

 ought to promote, in every prudent way, these re- 

 searches. — Maine Farmer. 



RURAL LIFE. 



This primeval employment of man is the most 

 healthful of all occupations ; healthful for the body, 

 thc mind, and the soul. What other pursuit by 

 which men obtain honest bread affords such vigor- 

 ous training for the physical powers, such various 

 and extensive ranges of mental exercises ? 



And where may thc moral nature of man be pro- 

 served unsullied from vice, and grow, and expand 

 more, than amid rural scenes and beneath the purest 

 air of heaven ? 



The farmer's life is not scratch, scratch, with the 

 pen — rap, rap, Avith the hammer — nor an evcrhist- 

 ing unpacking and repacking of the product of 

 another's labor. Ho walks Ibrth under the open 

 sky, his broad acres spread out beneath his feet ; the 

 blue concave, sunlit or starlit, or shrouded in clouds, 

 is still above him. Health claims him as her favor- 

 ite child, and the glorious sun loves to kiss a cheek 

 that is not ashamed to wear the ruddy imprint of such 

 att'ection. Nature's own inimitable musie of bab- 

 bling brooks, birds, breeze, or rustling foliage, enters 

 his ear on its glad mission to his heart. He listens 

 to instructive voices, continually sj;eaking from the 

 universe around him. His eye gathers truth from 

 unwritten pages of wisdom, every where open beforo 

 him. Each day, each month, season after season, 

 year after year, these teaidiings are given to him, 

 infinite in variety, and endless in extent. 



When, toward the close of a sultry day, the sum- 

 mer's blessing comes pouring down, and as, in the 

 beautiful poetry of the sacred volume, "the trees of 

 thc field clap their hands," and " the valleys, covered 

 with corn, shout for joy." thc farmer, retiring from 

 his labors to the friendly shelter of his cottage roo;^ 



