1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



551 



For the Neic England Farmer, 



DISIN-FEOTANT IN CASES OP TYPHOID 

 FEVER. 



Messrs. Editors : — Typhus or typhoid fever, 

 as you may perhaps be awaie, is quite prevalent at 

 this time in various portions of the country, and 

 doubtless will continue so to be, until a severe 

 cold and frosty weather shall set in. As a disin- 

 fectant in such cases, "Chloride of Lime" is very 

 frequently employed, but never with half the ben- 

 efit arising from the use of common lime slaked 

 in generous quantity in the several apartments, 

 the windows and doors being temporarily closed, 

 while th"=i slakening process is progressing. I 

 would, however, offer you the following form, for 

 producing a most reliable disinfecting agent, as 

 recently discovered by me in an English work 

 printed some years ago, and which comes accred- 

 ited under most assured testimonials. Should 

 you think it of any use, freely is it offered to your 

 valued columns. Edward Bkinley. 



Oak Hill, Pepperell, Mass. 



preventive of infection from typhus or ty- 

 phoid FEVER. 



Dr. H. C. Smith, of the "London Medical Col- 

 lege," recently received £500 or $2000 from Par- 

 liament for the following most invaluable recipe. 



"Take six drachms of powdered nitre (salt- 

 petre) and six drachms of sulphuric acid (oil of 

 vitriol,) and mix them in a bowl or tea-cup. By 

 adding about one drachm of the vitriolic acid at 

 a time, a most copious discharge of "Nitrous acid 

 gas" will be evolved. The cup or vessel is to be 

 placed, during the preparation on a hot iron or 

 brick, with the room closed, and the mixture 

 stirred with a tobacco-pipe. The quantity of gas 

 may be regulated by lessening or increasing the 

 quantity of the ingredients. The above is for a 

 moderate-sized room. Avoid as much as possible 

 breathing the gas when it first rises from the ves- 

 sel. No injury to the lungs will happen when 

 the air is fully impregnated with the gas, which is 

 called "Nitrous acid gas," and it cannot be too 

 widely known that it possesses the wonderful 

 property of preventing the spread of fever." 



CURIOUS INSTINCT OP THE HOO. 



It is common for farmers who reside in the 

 thinly settled tracts of the United States, to suf- 

 fer their hogs to run at large. These animals 

 feed upon acorns, which are very abundant in our 

 extensive forests, and in this situation they often 

 become wild and ferocious. A gentleman, while 

 travelling some years ago, through the wilds of 

 Vermont, perceived at a little distance before him 

 a herd of swine, and his attention was arrested 

 by the agitation they exhibited. He quickly per- 

 ceived a number of young pigs in the centre of 

 the herd, and that the hogs were arranged about 

 them in a conical form, having their heads all 

 turned outwards. At the apex of this singular 

 cone a huge boar had placed himself, who, from 

 his size, seemed to be the master of the herd. The 

 traveller now observed that a famished wolf was 

 attempting, by various manoeuvers, to seize on 

 the pigs in the middle ; but, wherever he made 

 an attack, the huge boar at the apex of the cone 

 presented himself — the hogs dexterously arrang- 



ing themselves on each side of him, so as to pre- 

 serve the position of defence just mentioned. The 

 attention of the traveller was for a moment with- 

 drawn, and upon turning to view the combatants, 

 he was surprised to find the herd of swine dis- 

 persed, and the wolf no longer to be seen. On 

 riding up to the spot, the wolf was discovered 

 dead on the ground, a rent being made in his side 

 more than a foot in length — the boar, no doubt, 

 having seized a favorable opportunity, and with 

 a sudden plunge dispatched his adversary with 

 his formidable tusks. It is a little remarkable 

 that the ancient Romans, among the various meth- 

 ods they devised for drawing up their armies in 

 battle, had one exactly resembling the posture 

 assumed by the swine above mentioned. The 

 mode of attack was called Cimeus, or Caput por- 

 cinum. — Sillimaii's Journal. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



This island is one of the British colonies of 

 North America, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 mostly between latitude 46° and 47"^ north, and 

 longitude 62° and 64° 30' west, separated south 

 and west from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 

 by Northumberland Strait. Its area is 2,134 

 square miles. 



We clip the following interesting extracts from 

 a series of letters published in the Morning 

 Journal — an agricultural paper, printed at Hal- 

 ifax, Nova Scotia. 



"Few can conceive the extent, beauty and fer- 

 tility of Prince Edward Island, until they travel 

 over its verdant fields, or sail upon its nourishing 

 rivers. Few are aware that cheap, comfortable 

 homes can be reared, by a short season of indus- 

 try ; which in other countries, would take years 

 of toil. 



Although a goodly portion of the Island is 

 owned by non-residents, who are represented by 

 their agents, land is by no means dear. Settlers 

 have and still can obtain grants of arable land at 

 the low rental of one shilling per acre. The soil 

 is of reddish clay, having a rich layer of blackish 

 mould. In some places the soil is very sandy, 

 and not considered productive. There being no 

 surface stones, of any kind, or size, upon the 

 Island, the land is easily cleared, and tilled ; the 

 horse and plow perform the most laborious part 

 of the labor. 



A new settler, having obtained a grant of land, 

 fires the woods, clears a space for building a log- 

 cabin, then commences farming, at first of a rude 

 description. While he is clearing and stumping 

 a portion for grain, he plants potatoes amongst 

 the debris. In a short time he transforms the 

 scenery around his domicile ! In many instances, 

 we passed by luxuriant farms, which we were 

 told, two or three years ago, were impenetrable 

 forests. 



The scenery of the Island, is rather tame, pre- 

 senting none of the bold, rugged scenery of Nova 

 Scotia, yet the e3-e never tires in gazing upon the 

 changing beauties of hill and dale. If the reader 

 delights in rural loveliness, let him go to the 

 Island. Let him ride through its green forests, 

 and ramble over its mounds, and its plains, inter- 



