1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



343 



to be disappointed. Hast thou nothing to do, O 

 man ! but to throw thj'self upon a sofa, or monop- 

 olize the easiest chair, and, holding back all thine 

 own information, demand that wife and chihh-en 

 amuse thee ? or wilt thou go moodily out to club 

 or store, declaring that thou wilt not stay where 

 so little is done for thee ? And shall the young 

 man say, "My sisters do nothing to make home 

 pleasant to me," when he has done nothing to 

 make home pleasant to them ? I do not think the 

 different members of a home realize how much the 

 pleasant, profitable intercourse of home depends 

 on each, or how hard it is when one and another 

 hang back for the rest to supply the deficiency. — 

 Eev. J. F. W. Ware. 



Coal Oil is said to be a sure destroyer of bed- 

 bugs. Apply plentifully with a small brush or 

 feather to the places where they most do congre- 

 gate. The cure is effectual and permanent. Gilt 

 frames, cliandeliers, &c., rubbed slightly over with 

 coal oil, Vv'ill not be disturbed by flies. 



YOUTH'S DEPARTMENT. 



PKINCIPLE OF THE STEREOSCOPE. 



It is generally known that, by means of the 

 stereoscope, the idea of solidity is given to the 

 eye from pictures on flat surfaces. The principle 

 upon which this instrument depends, so as to pro- 

 duce the effect in question, is thus explicable. 

 When a house or a landscape is looked at, it is 

 found to possess a quality which no copy on a flat 

 surface by the best artist can produce ; this is so- 

 lidity or distance, the appearance of objects stand- 

 ing immediately behind each other. In using the 

 term solidity it should be borne in mind that dis- 

 tance is the same thing, since solids are made up 

 of the relative distances of parts of a single ob- 

 ject. In perceiving this quality, the eye separate- 

 ly receives a picture of the same objects, the one 

 picture being a little diflercnt in perspective from 

 the other, in consequence of the difterence in the 

 relative position of the two eyes. One eye, in 

 fact, sees a little more round one side of an ob- 

 ject, while the other sees a little more round the 

 other side ; and it is the combination of these 

 two pictures by the faculty of sight that gives to 

 objects theu' solid appearance. Now, in order to 

 obtain the same effect from a picture, the stereo- 

 scope is so arranged that tv/o representations of 

 the same object, the one slightly differing from 

 the other in perspective, are placed at the bottom 

 of a small box, where an opening is made, through 

 which they are illuminated. At the upper part 

 of the box are two small eye-pieces, adapted one 

 for each of the observer's eyes. Through these 

 he looks at the pictures, and the appearance of 

 solidity is received in a very remarkable manner. 

 It was found very difficult to drav/ pictures with 

 sufficient accuracy to give good stereoscopic views 

 since a slight error in perspective would, to a cer- 

 tain extent, vitiate the resulting impression on the 

 eye. But the photographic art supplied this want, 

 for by taking two pictures with the camera, first 

 in the position of one eye and then removed to a 

 little distance to that of the other this result is 

 perfectly obtained, without any risk of error. 



THE MAY QtTEEN. 



Little Bessie awoke one morning. 



And drowsily opening her eyes. 

 She hastily threw back the shutters, 



To take a short peep at tiac skies. 

 But sad disappointment aw-aited 



The expectant Queen of the May, 

 For the sky was so black and so lowering, 



She knew 'twas a rainy day. 



No sooner did Bessie discover 



The prospect so gloomy without, 

 Thun, throwing herself on the pillow. 



She began the day in a pout. 

 Soon the breakfast bell tinkled to call her 



To join the kind circle below. 

 But she scarcely heeded its suiDmons, 



So wrapped up was she in her woe. 



For she and her schoolmates so joyous, 



Had long been awaiting the day 

 When the buds, unfolding in beauty. 



Should crown her the Queen of May. 

 And now they had found that the forest 



Was arrayed in most beautiful green ; 

 So, with hearts overflowing in gladness, 



They erected a throne for their Queen, 



They had planted the May-pole so stately, 



And twined it witli leaves and wild flowers, 

 They had said— "Kound tliis let us circle. 



And dance through the soft morning hours," 

 'Twas sad tlius to lose all their pleasure — 



Have their plans all spoilt by the rain ; 

 But, sadder by far that Queen Bessie 



Should her sorrow so poorly restrain. 



But not long did she nurse her repining 



At the desolate scene out of doors. 

 For she knew that the raindrops descending. 



Would brighten and cheer up the flowers. 

 A week from that Saturday morning 



Was Bessie crowned Queen of the 3fay, 

 And the woods were more fresh and more charming. 



Because of that one rainy day. Little Pilfrim, 



KEEPING A DIARY. 



K a man keeps no diary, the path crumbles 

 away behind him as his feet leave it ; and days 

 gone by are but little more than a blank, broken 

 by a few distorted shadows. His life is all con- 

 fined Avithin the limits of to-day. Who does not 

 know how imperfect a thing memory is ? It not 

 merely forgets ; it misleads. Things in memory 

 do not merely fade away, preserving as they fade, 

 their own lineaments so long as they can be seen ; 

 they change their aspect, they change their place, 

 they turn to something quite different from the 

 fact. In the picture of the past, which memory, 

 unaided by any written record, sets before us, the 

 perspective is entirely_Avrong. How capriciously 

 some events seem, quite recent, vs^hich the diary 

 shows are really far away ; and how unaccounta- 

 bly many things look far away, which in truth, are 

 not left many weeks behind us ! A man might 

 almost as well not have lived at all, as entirely to 

 forget that he has lived, and entirely forget what 

 he did on those departed days. But I think that 

 almost every person would feci a great interest in 

 looking back, day by day, upon what he did and 

 thought upon that day twelvemonths, that day 

 three or five years. The trouble of writing the 

 diary is very small. A few lines, a few Avords, 

 vvritten at the time, suffice, when you look at 



