NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



253 



Evil CoNSEauENCEs op Smoking. — The wide- 

 spread hahit of smokins^ has not yet had dvie medical 

 attention paid to it and its consequences. It is only 

 by two or three years' observation that Dr. Laycock 

 has become fully aware of the great changes induced 

 in the system by the abuse of tobacco, and of the 

 varied and obscure forms of disease to which espe- 

 cially excessive smoking; gjave origin. He proceeded 

 to state some of them as they were met M'ith in the 

 pharyngeal mucous membrane, the stomach, the 

 lungs, the heart, the brain, and the nervous system. 

 The tobacco consumed by habitual smokers varies 

 from half an ounce to twelve ounces per week ; the 

 usual quantity from two to three ounces. Inveterate 

 cigar smokei's will consume from four to five dozen 

 per week. The first morbid result is an inflamma- 

 tory condition of the mucous membrane, of the lips 

 and tongue, then the tonsils and pharynx suffer, the 

 mucous membrane becoming dry and congested. If 

 the thorax be examined well, it will be found slightly 

 swollen, with congested veins meandering over the 

 surface, and here and there a streak of mucus. The 

 aetion of tobacco smoking on the heart is depressing, 

 and some individuals, who feel it in this organ more 

 than others, complain of an uneasy sensation about 

 the left nij)ple, a distressed feeling, not amounting 

 to faintness, but allied to it. The action of the 

 heart is observed to be feeble and irregular. An un- 

 easy feeling is also experienced in or beneath the 

 pectoral muscles, and oftener on the right side than 

 the left. On the brain, the use of tobacco appears to 

 diminish the rapidity of cerebral action, and check 

 the flow of ideas through the mind. It differs from 

 opium and henbane, and rather excites to wakeful- 

 ness, like green tea, than composes to sleep ; induces 

 a dreaminess which leaves no impression on the 

 memorj% leaving a great susceptibility, indicated by 

 a trembling of the hands and irritability of temper. 

 Such are secondary results of smoking. So are 

 blackness of teeth and gum-boils. There is also a 

 sallow paleness of the complexion, an irresoluteness 

 of disposition, a want of life and energy, and in con- 

 stant smokers, who do not drink, a tendency to pul- 

 monary phthisic. Dr. Wright, of Birmingham, in a 

 communication to the author, fully corroborates his 

 opinions ; and both agree that smoking produces 

 gastric disorders, coughs, and inflammatory affections 

 of the larynx and pharynx, diseases of the heart, 

 and lowness of the spirits, and, in short, is very 

 injurious to the respiratory, alimentary, and nervous 

 systems. — English Literary Gazette, 



ilTccljanics' department, 2lrt0, ^c. 



A New and Important Invention. — A few days 

 since, we had the satisfaction of witnessing the oper- 

 ation of a new machine for spinning wool, the inven- 

 tion of Mr. \Vm. C. Bates and Mr. S. B. Tucker, of 

 this town, which is a very great and important im- 

 provement in this department of woollen manufac- 

 ture. Mr. Bates is a practical machinist, and Mr. 

 Tucker a wool spinner and manufacturer. And in 

 the construction of this machine they have displayed 

 great ingenuity and remarkable skill. 



It is well known to those who are acquainted with 

 this kind of manufacture, that wool cannot, like 

 cotton, be draAvn out and then twisted, but that both 

 must be done at the same time, and with the same 

 operation. The present mode of performing this 

 work is by means of "jacks," which take the wool 

 or roping, which has previously been prepared by the 



cards, and draw and spin it into thread for warj:) or 

 filling. The jacks occupy a large space, and require 

 a great amount of labor and care to M'ork them. But 

 this new invention is so constructed that the jacks 

 may be wholly dispensed with, and the thread is 

 drawn out and twisted by the unaided operations of 

 this ingenious machine, which is called the " Bates 

 and Tucker Revolving Draft and Wool-Spinner." 



The spinner which we saw, occupies a length of 

 four feet six inches, by a Avidth of three feet, and 

 contains twenty spindles. We were told that it 

 would do the work of fifty spindles on a jack, which 

 would occupy a space of ten feet by seven feet eight 

 inches. In other words, fifty spindles of the jack 

 occupy seventy-eight square feet, while the spinner 

 occupies thirteen and one half square feet — a frac- 

 tion over one sixth of the same space ! 



This machine possesses several imj^ortant advan- 

 tages over the jack. 1. There is a great saving of 

 room, as seen above. 2. A great saving of labor, 

 performing a much greater amount of work with 

 much less manual assistance. 3. It requires much 

 less power in its operations. 4. By this method there 

 will be no small saving in using the yarn, as bobbins 

 wound by machinery will contain a greater quantity 

 of yarn, and, it being wound more even, can be wove 

 or warped off with less delay. 



As we witnessed the operation of both methods, 

 we noticed that the yarn spun by the revolving draft 

 was much more even, both in size and tM'ist, than 

 that spun by the jack ; and it makes a soft, elastic, 

 and strong thread. It will spin coarse as well as fine 

 stock. The machine is very simple in its arrange- 

 ment, and it is so constructed as to give great strength 

 to each part, while but little strength is required to 

 do the work. Its motions are easy and natural, — 

 which must render it a very durable, still, and beau- 

 tifully operating machine. 



Public attention was first called to this great inven- 

 tion by the Maine Farmer, last November ; but since 

 that time, important improvements have been made 

 by the inventors, and its powers more fully tested. 

 The proprietors now feel the utmost confidence in its 

 success, and they are taking measures to secure a 

 patent and bring it before the public. We have no 

 doubt that this wool-spinner will go into general use, 

 and be of great utility in woollen manufacture. We 

 hope that the ingenious inventors wiU meet with 

 that success which their skill and enterprise so richly 

 deserve. — Gardiner, (.1/e.) Cold Water Fountain, 



REARING, KEEPING, AND FATTENING 

 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



The science of breeding, keeping, and fattening 

 domestic anim.ils is too much neglected in the United 

 States. Few practical farmers have the courage to 

 take hold of the somewhat forbidding subjects of 

 comparative anatomy, physiology, and organic chem- 

 istry, with a resolute purpose to understand the liv- 

 ing organism by which grass, hay, grain, and roots 

 are transformed into beef, mutton, pork, butter, 

 cheese, and wool. The natural machinery for eflect- 

 ing these important changes of vegetable into animal 

 substances, deserves to be studied with great care, in 

 order to make the most of the food consumed by 

 every animal kept on the farm. There is no class 

 that has reached perfection in yielding the largest 

 product in flesh, milk, or wool, for the aliment con- 

 sumed, in the course of its lifetime. All are fed un- 

 equally — sometimes too much and sometimes too 

 little ; and, again, they suffer from food more defec- 

 tive in quality than deficient in quantity. One often 

 sees store pigs eat the dung of over-fed fatting hogs ; 

 and in this city, half-starved cows voraciously devour 

 the solid excietions of corn-fed carriage horses. In 



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