NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



269 



ures. It is true, much of this advantage and im- 

 provement is predicated on the judicious selection 

 of books If this be neglected, they may be the 

 instruments to minister to a diseased imagination 

 and a depraved taste, and afford as little benefit to 

 the reader as deadly poison would to him who used 

 it instead of healthful aliment. — Common School 

 Advocate. 



fjealtl). 



Pure Water the hest Drink. — There is no 

 axiom of health more just than that "men never 

 have a true appetite till they cat with relish any or- 

 dinary food." It is told of John Bailes, who lived to 

 the age of one hundred and twenty-eight, that his 

 food for the most i)art consisted of brown bread and 

 cheese, and his drink water and milk. lie had 

 buried the town of Northampton twenty times over, 

 excepting three or four ; and it is said strong drink 

 killed them .all. Water manifestly is the natm-al 

 beverage of all animals ; whole nations, as the Ma- 

 hometans and the Hindoos, use it alone as a bever- 

 age ; and, unlike other drink, it will not sate the 

 appetite, but the contrary ; indeed, it Avas observed 

 by Hypocrates, above two thousand years ago, that 

 water-drinkers have generally keen appetites. It is 

 a fluid that requii-es no digestion, for it is not neces- 

 sary that it should undergo any changes ; it is the 

 natural menstruum that holds in solution both what 

 is essential for the healthy functions of the body, 

 and what has become a refuse, after serving its 

 destined office and intention in the animal kingdom. 

 Water, therefore, from its congenial qualities, can 

 never much disturb the system ; and when it does, 

 it is speedily expelled by its natural outlets, the skin 

 and kidneys. It is told of Lord Ileathfield, so well 

 known for his hardy habits of military discipline and 

 watchfulness, that his food was vegetable and his 

 drink water, never indulging himself in animal food 

 or wine. And Sir John Sinclair, in his work on 

 longevity, says, in his account of Mary Campbell, 

 then aged one hundred and five, that she preferred 

 pure water to any other drink. — Selected, 



Expanding the Chest. — Those in wealthy cir- 

 cumstances, or who pursue sedentary employments 

 within doors, generally use their lungs but very 

 little, — breathe but very little air into the chest, 

 and thus, independently of positions, contract a 

 wretchedly narrow, small chest, and lay the founda- 

 tion for the loss of health and beauty. All this can 

 be perfectly obviated by a little attention to the 

 manner of breathing. llccoUect the lungs are like 

 a bladder in their structure, and can bo stretched 

 open to double their ordinary size, with perfect 

 safety, giving a noble chest, and jierfect immunity 

 from consumption. The agent, and the only agent 

 required, is the common air we breathe, supposing, 

 however, that no obstacle exist, external to the 

 chest, such as lacing, or tying it around with stays, 

 or tight dress, or having shoulders lay upon it. On 

 rising from the bed in the morning, place yourself 

 in an erect postiire, your chest thrown back, and 

 shoulders entirely off the chest ; now inhale or suck 

 in all the air you can, so as to fill the chest to the 

 very bottom of it, so that no more air can be got in ; 

 now hold your breath, and throw your arms off 

 behind, holding in your breath as long as possible. 

 Repeat these long breaths as many times as j'ou 

 please. Done in a cold room is much better, because 

 the air is much denser, and Avill act much more 

 powerfully in expanding the chest. Exercising the 



chest in this manner, it will become very flexible 

 and expansible, and will enlarge the capacity and 

 size of the lungs. — Common School Advocate. 



Exercise. — Exercise gives strength to every fibre, 

 and energy to all the vital powers. But exercise, 

 like most good practices and habits, may be carried 

 to excess. Extreme toil not only shortens life, but 

 brings less to pass than steady but moderate labor. 

 It is not, therefore, often advisable for farmers to 

 undertake to jierforra what are called " groat daj's' 

 works ; " for one day of over-exertion may cause 

 weeks of debility, if not months of sickness. 



iHcrljanics' JBepartnunt, ^rts, $Ct. 



New Process of Tanning. — The London Wes- 

 leyan Times speaks of a new process of tanning, 

 recently patented by Dr. TurnbuU, and successfully 

 brought into operation by a company in Paris. The 

 same principle, it appears, has been successfully 

 worked by the London Leather Company, and a 

 company has also been working under the same 

 patent at Ivybridge, Devonshire. The most satis- 

 factory testimony to the excellent quality of the arti- 

 cle is borne by those who have constantly and for a 

 very considerable period been wearing boots and 

 shoes made of patent leather, and whose daily occu- 

 pations subjected it to the severest test ; and it was 

 pronounced to be perfectly impervious to moisture, 

 and decidedly the most serviceable as well as the 

 most durable they had ever worn. It appears that 

 the most important part of Dr. TurnbuU's process is 

 the dissolving and entirely extracting the lime from 

 the skins by the use of sugar, and, at the same time, 

 preserving the skins from the slightest amount of 

 decomposition ; whilst, by the old process, in the use 

 of mastering pits, (made with the ordure of pigeons, 

 dogs, &c.,) a considerable loss is the unavoidable 

 result. The next is the complete tanning in a few 

 daj's, thereby fully meeting the point so long sought 

 for by the government prior to the removal of the 

 duty on leather, in order that the large amount of 

 capital necessarily locked up for so long a period 

 should now be set at liberty, and for which purpose 

 they had emjiloyed the most scientific men of the 

 day, and at very considerable expense. This extra- 

 ordinary and beautiful law of nature, the principle 

 of endosmos and exosmos, was first discovered by 

 Dutrochett, and afterwards applied to the arts by 

 Dr. TurnbuU, who made it applicable to the purpose 

 of tanning by placing solutions of oak bark of une- 

 qual density within and without the skins and hides, 

 and thereby combining nature and art in producing 

 the most successful and valuable results. — Farmer 

 and Mechanic. 



Fire-Proof Wood. — The following recipe for 

 attaining this object, emanates from a distinguished 

 French chemist. Its efficiency can be easily tested. 



" Doctor Fuehs, member of the Academy of Mu- 

 nich, has discovered a composition made of granu- 

 lated earth and alkali. To obtain it, the inventor 

 says, you must dissolve some moist gravelly earth, 

 which has been previously well washed, and cleansed 

 from any heterogeneous matter, in a solution of caus- 

 tic alkali. This mixture has the property of not be- 

 coming decomposed by fire or water. When spread 

 upon wood, it forms a vitreous coat, and is proof 

 against the two elements. The building committee 

 of the Royal Theatre have twice publicly tried the 

 composition on two small buildings ; the one which 



