NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



397 



requcstinsi: her to feed and call thom, she did so, and 

 called, "Tutc, tuto, tutc," several times. Directly we 

 could see the turtle popping their heads up over the 

 pond, then swini to her, and take the bread from her 

 hands. The fish did the same ; several hundred of 

 which consistinn; of large black pouts, six to eigh t inches 

 long, shiners and minnows of all sizes, flocked around 

 her, perfcctlj- tame. The turtles were of two kinds, 

 "snappers" and the common yellow spotted ones. 

 This was a most interesting sight, and well worth a 

 long ride to see it. The distance is but half a mile 

 from the Old Colony House, and depot of the rail- 

 road near it. The taming of these fishes shows what 

 kindness and regular treatment will do, aided by a 

 gentle voice, in taming animals which have been con- 

 sidered stupid. AV'e promised to send Miss T. sonie 

 gold fish to add to her pets. She, by the way, allows 

 no one to feed the fishes but herself, and no one to 

 catch them. — Selected. 



Cjealtl). 



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 foundation for the 

 loss of health and beauty. All this can be perfectly 

 obviated by a Uttle attention to the manner of breath- 

 ing. Recollect the lungs are like a bladder in their 

 structure, and can be stretched open to double their 

 ordinary size, with perfect safety, giving a noble 

 chest, and perfect 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 shoul- 

 ders lay upon it. On rising from the bed in the 

 morning, place yourself in an erect posture, 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 you please. Done in a cold room 

 is much better, because the air is much denser, and 

 will act much more powerfully in expanding the 

 chest. Exercising the chest in this manner, it will 

 become very flexible and expansible, and will en- 

 large the capacity and size of the lungs. — Common 

 School Advocate. 



The Force of Imagination. — A Lucchese peas- 

 ant, shooting sparrows, saw his dog attacked by a 

 Strange and ferocious mastiff. He tried to separate 

 the animals, and received a bite from his own dog, 

 which instantly ran off through the fields. The 

 wound was healed in a few days, and the dog was 

 not to be found ; and the peasant, after some time, 

 began to feci symptoms of nervous agitation. He 

 conceived that the dog, from disappearing, was mad ; 

 and within a day or two after this idea had struck 

 him, he began to feel symptoms of hydrophobia. 

 They grew hourly more violent ; he raved, and had 

 all the evidences of the most violent distemper. As 

 he was lying, with the door open, to let in the last 

 air that he was to breathe, he heard his dog bark. 

 The animal ran up to the bed-side, and frolicked 

 about the room. It was clear that he, at least, Avas 

 in perfect health. The peasant's mind was relieved 

 at the instant ; he got up with renewed strength, 

 dressed himself, plunged his head into a basin of 



water, and thus refreshed walked into the ro;)m to 

 his astonished family. Tire statement is made in a 

 memoir by Professor Barbantini ; and it is not im- 

 probable that many attacks of a disease so strongly 

 dependent on the imagination, might be Ci|ua!ly 

 cured by ascertaining the state of the animal by which 

 the bite was given. 



An Artificial Leech. — We learn from an arti- 

 cle in the Paris Journal des Debats, quoted in Tues- 

 day's Courrier des Etats Unis, that an imj-ortant 

 discovery, which is likely to be of the greatest ser- 

 vice to humanity, occujjics at this moment the atten- 

 tion of the French scientific world. It is a mechan- 

 ical leech, {sawisue mecanique,) which M. Alexander, 

 civil engineer, already celebrated for his useful dis- 

 coveries, has submitted to the judgment of all the 

 scientific bodies, which, after satisfactory trials, have 

 caused this san(/sue to be adopted in all the hospitals, 

 after having proved, not only the immense economy 

 of its use, but, what is better, the decided advan- 

 tages which it has over the natural leech, often so 

 rare, always repugnant to the patient, and sometin^es 

 dangerous. The president of the French republic 

 has given orders for the supply of the apparatus in 

 every commune where it may be found serviceable 

 by indigent patients. 



illecljamcs' ^Department, ;^rt3, ^^c. 



A DRY Clay Brick Press. — We recently ex- 

 amined, in the hall of the Franklin Hotel, Chestnut 

 Street, a model of one of the most ingenious and suc- 

 cessful machines for brick making, that has ever yet 

 been produced. It is the invention of Mr. T. Cul- 

 bertson, and is patented by Messrs. Culbertsou & 

 Scott, of this city. Already one of these presses is 

 in full action near New Orleans, where the Biloxi 

 Steam Brick Company have entered into contract to 

 supply thirty millions of bricks — chiefly for the 

 building of the new custom-house in the great 

 southern capital and port. The machine is very 

 strong, simple in its construction, has but few wear- 

 ing surfaces, requires but little power to drive it, and 

 but a few hands to attend it. It is self-feeding and 

 self-delivering, and operates with great certainty 

 and accuracy, and will make with ease 25,000 brick 

 per day, requiring no preparation of the clay other 

 than pulverizing or running through rollers attached 

 to the machine, and no yard room for drying, as the 

 bricks are sufficiently hard to stack up in the kiln at 

 once. The brick are of a uniform size and shape, 

 are harder, smoother, and stronger, and, being less 

 porous, will absorb much less water ; and (it is also a 

 well-established fact) will stand fire better than those 

 made in the ordinary way. The pressure, being grad- 

 ual and continuous, allows the air to escape freely 

 as the clay is forced into the moulds ; and as each 

 mould passes twice under the cylinder, first in one 

 and then in the other direction, receiving clay from 

 the hoppers each way, the brick is not only full and 

 perfect in all the corners and edges, but the dirf'erent 

 particles of clay are by this rolling or kneading pro- 

 cess completely united. By a slight alteration of 

 the moulds alone, brick of any desired size or shape 

 may be made for paving, lining cisterns, building 

 arches, &c. As the works will all be under cover, 

 brick can be made as well in wet as in dry weather ; 

 they can also be made earlier in the spring and later 

 in the fall than in the ordinary way. 



A large " brick press " is about to be erected im- 

 mediately at the extensive brick fields of Messrs. C. 

 & S., at Pea Shore, four miles from Camden, N. J., 

 in which we learn that the enormous pressure of 



