1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



151 



the stars and fires burned more brightly therefor 

 — Christmas, Avith its gifts and its cheer, its carol 

 and charm, its evergreen branch and its bright 

 morning dreams ; Christmas, when there were 

 prints upon the chimney-tops, if we were only 

 there to see them, where Santa Claus set his foot 

 as the clock struck twelve ; Christmas, when stock- 

 ings were suspended by hearth and by pillow, all 

 over the land — stockings silken and Avhite — stock- 

 ings homely and blue, and even the Httle red sock, 

 with a hole in the toe ? Blessed forever be Beth- 

 lehem's star ! — Chicago Journal. 



THE SICK IN BED. 



With a proper supply of windows, and a proper 

 supply of fuel in open fireplaces, fresh air is com- 

 paratively easy to secure when your patient or 

 patients are in bed. Never be afraid of open 

 windows, then. People don't catch cold in bed. 

 With proper bed-clothes, and hot bottles, if ne- 

 cessarj-, you can always keep a patient warm in 

 bed. Never to allow a patient to be waked inten- 

 tionally or accidentally, is a sine qua non of all 

 good nursing. If he is roused out of his first 

 sleep, he is almost certain to have no more sleep. 

 It is a curious but quite intelligible fact, that if a 

 patient is Avaked after a few hours' instead of a 

 \q\x minutes' sleep, he is much more likely to sleep 

 again ; because pain, like irritability of brain, per- 

 petuates and intensifies itself. If you have gained 

 a respite of cither in sleep, you have gained more 

 than the mere respite. Both the probability of 

 recurrence and of the same intensity Mill be di- 

 minished, whereas both will be terribly increased 

 by want of sleep. This is the reason why a pa- 

 tient waked in the early part of his sleep, loses 

 not only his sleep, but his power to sleep. The 

 more the sick sleep, the better will they be able 

 to sleep. A good nurse will always make sure 

 that no door or window in her patient's room shall 

 rattle or creak ; that no blind or curtain shall, by 

 any change of wind through the open window, be 

 made to tlap ; especially will she be careful of all 

 this before she leaves her patient for the night. If 

 you wait till your patient tells yovi or reminds you 

 of these things, where is the use of his having a 

 uurse ? — Florence Nightimjale. 



A Hint or Two. — To keep ice from windows, 

 take an ordinary paint brush or sponge, and rub 

 over the j^dass once or twice a day a little alcohol, 

 and it will keep the glass as free from ice as in the 

 middle of summer ; and it will also give as good 

 a i)olish as can be got in any other way. 



Isinglass is a most delicate starch for muslins. 

 When boiling common starch, sprinkle in a little 

 fine salt ; it will prevent it sticking. 



For fruit and wine stains, mix two teaspoonfuls 

 of water and one of spirit of salt, and let the 

 stained part lie in this for two minutes ; then rinse 

 in cold water ; or wet the stain with hartshorn. 



Careful Reading. — It is not unusual that the 

 second reading of any work is more profitable than 

 the first ; and the third or fourth often results in 

 new discoveries of much value and profit. The 

 truth is, most of us read too superficially. We 

 study and analyze too little — in other words, we 

 tliink too little — don't we ? Let us reform in this 

 respect. — Rural New- Yorker. 



How TO Cook Eggs in the Shell. — A cor- 

 respondent of the AgricuUurist writes : 



One way to cook eggs is to drop them into boil- 

 ing Avater, and let them remain there three min- 

 utes — the water all the time boiling. This hard- 

 ens the white next the shell to almost leathery 

 toughness, Avhile Avithin it is still not cooked. 

 Another and preferable mode is, to pour boiling 

 Avater upon the eggs ; let them stand in this five 

 minutes ; pour off this, and add more boiling Ava- 

 ter, and immediately bring them to tlfe tai)le in 

 the ivater. Those taken out at once Aviil l)e some- 

 what cooked through ; and those left in five min- 

 utes Avill be "hard boiled," or nearly so, and thus 

 the taste of eveiy one may be suited, and no tough- 

 ness of the Avhites be observed. 



YOUTirS DEPARTMENT. 



LITTLE CHILDREN-. 



The scattered cnimbs upon the floor ; 

 The rattliag playthinfrs by the door ; 

 The finger-marks on point and pane — 

 All are signals showing plain 



There are little children here. 



The tongs outstretched upon the floor ; 

 A broken ark, and shipwrecked Noah ; 

 A horse with tail, nor ears, nor mane — 

 All are signals showing plain 



There are little children here. 



The high chairs ranged against the wall ; 

 The small coat hanging in the hall ; 

 The little shoes, and little cane, 

 Add to the signals showing plain 



There are little children here. 



But now I must resign my pen ; 

 The children have come back again ; 

 They but ran out in mud and rain, 

 To bring new signals, shovring plain 

 There are little cliildren here. 



PLAYING FOR KEEPS. 



We are told that this story is real, as children 

 say. There are a great many little boys Avho are 

 in the habit of playing for keeps. We hope they 

 Avill not only read tliis story, but that they Avill re- 

 solve never to take tliis then' fii-st lesson in gam- 

 bling : 



"See, mother, AA'hat a lot of marbles I've got !" 

 said John. "I Avant you to make me a great big 

 bag to put them in." 



"Why, Avhere did you get so many, my son ?" 

 asked his mother. 



"I Avon them from Pete Jones. See, I got his 

 glass taAV, too. I loaned him one of mine to jilay 

 Avith Avhile he put that in the ring. Isn't it pret- 

 ty ?" ' 



"HoAV much did you pay him for them ?" 



"Pay him ! Nothing. He and I played for 

 'keeps,' and I Avas the best player, and won all his." 



"How much did they cost, Peter, do you sup- 

 pose ?" 



"If he bought them, they must have cost him 

 about a dollar." 



"And you got them for nothing ?" 



"I plaved 'upon the square,' and Pete said I got 

 them all'fair." 



