206 



THE ILLINOIS F^HMER. 



lUicroseopie Wonders. 



Among the most remirkable of those 

 myriads of animals which exist in every 

 drop of water, is the navicula — a little 

 creature which has some twenty or thirty 

 legs, and is endowed by Nature with an 

 armor of flint. In a paper which was 

 recently laid before one of the scientific 

 societies of London, some curious facts 

 concerning this diminutive animal were 

 stated. Among other things it was 

 mentioned that if an observer watches 

 narrowly for five or six hours, he will 

 note a tbin transparent line spreading 

 across it in some direction. After the 

 line makes its first appearance it becomes 

 every moment more distinct, and rapidly 

 increases in width. At length the crea- 

 ture begins wriggling its limbs violently 

 the body splits asunder, and two new 

 naviculie are made out of one old one. 

 The animal has something like a hundred 

 stomachs, and its mouth, which is situa- 

 ted, near one extremity, is surrounded by 

 a number of almost invisible tentacula, 

 with which it grasps its food; but as soon 

 as the transparent line appears, which 

 denotes its approaching division into two 

 as another mouth will be wanted, another 

 is seen sprouting from the other extremi- 

 ty, and is ready to perform its functions 

 as soon as the separation is effected. — 

 The navicula divides itself in two, once 

 in twelve hours, under ordinary circum- 

 stances. But there are some kinds of 

 naviculrc which split themselves into six- 

 teen instead of two in the same space of 

 time. Were there no checks to the in- 

 crease, a single ona of the the tribe would 

 become the producer of many hundied 

 millions or creatures in a month. — Port- 

 folio. 



The Gold Fever. — There is likely to be 

 a malignant, contagious gold fever the coming 

 year. The average of the news from the 

 neighborhood of Pike's Peak is, that gold is 

 found there, and that persons engaged in 

 washing earth for it, can make fair wages. 

 We notice that companies are being organiz- 

 ed in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, 

 to go out in the spring to the diggings. We 



shall be disappointed if twenty thousand or 

 more of the excitable popiilatiou of the States 

 i and Territories named, do not take up the 

 line of march for the regions of the setting 

 sun as soon as spring opens. If thisisdnoe, 

 farm hands will be in demand next summer. 



United States vs. Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Society. — The following are the 

 entries made at the fairs of these societies 

 last fall : 



United States Society. 



Ci»ttlo no 



IIuraeR, Jacki), Ac 191 



Sheep 51 



SwiTio "24 



Poultry 39 



Farm dupartmeiit .368 



Mechanical articles 134 



Art and utility 74 



Entrioa 991 



Illinois Society. 



Cattlp 186 



Iloraes, Ac 373 



?heep 148 



Swiue 69 



Poultry 21 



Farm departmenl 376 



Mechanical articleB 423 



Art and utUity 97 



Textile fiihrics 92 



Plowing match 13 



Entriea 1,788 



-«••- 



Fattening Sheep. — About the begin- 

 ning of October, I set apart the sheep that 

 I intend to make fat, put them into good 

 pastures, and give them a little grain once 

 or twice a day; one bushel of grain at 

 this season is better than two bushels in 

 cold weather. When winter begins to 

 set in, I prefer a shed open to the south, 

 with cribs to hold their food. In the 

 morning I give them peas in the straw, 

 cut green, and turnips after; a couple of 

 sheaves of oats at noon, and turnips and 

 peas at night. Common sheep, fed in 

 this way, can be made in the spring worth 

 $8 or $10. Those that are disposed to 

 feed sheep or cattle, ought to raise th ee 

 or four acrss of Swedish turnips; feeding 

 on grain is expensive, and sometimes 

 does not pay very well. Give them 

 plenty of litter, and as many turnips as 

 they can eat, and you will have a^ heap 

 of manure that will pay you for your 

 trouble, and of far more value than all 

 the composts of all leaves, old shoes and 

 old trash, that you can scrape together — 

 Gcnessc Farmer. 



This is a good exhibit for Illinois. 

 «•• 



Editor Farmer : — Do you know of any- 

 body in this section of the country who has 

 succeeded well with dwarf pears. 



[Professor Turner, of Jacksonville, ias 



succeeded well with with the Bartlett on 



quince stocks. They grow in his garden — 



warm, dry ground, and are unquestionably 



well taken care of] 



«•• 



Rich Milk. — Mr. Prentice, of Alba- 

 ny, states, that his Ayrshire cows pro- 

 duce one pound of butter from six quarts 

 of milk. Mr. Norton, of Connecticut, 

 has Alderneys which do better than 

 this. The general average in dairies is 

 said to be one pound of butter from fif- 

 teen quarts of milk. 



-«•. 



Duration of Life of Animals. — The follow- 

 ing table of the duration of life in certain ani,^ 

 mals is transluted frum an old German work ; 

 The cricket, ten years; spider, one; CJtrp, one 

 huridrel to one hundied and fifty; pike, forty; 

 iTocodile, one hundred ; tortoise, one huneied : 

 hen ten ; pencock, twenty four : ninhtinjjdle 

 and lark, tsizteen to eighteen; canary, (if it does 

 not couple), twenty four ; canary, (if it breeds 

 anually), ten; sparrow hawk, forty; goose, 

 fifty ; swan, one hundred ; eagle, one hundred ; 

 paiTot, one hundred and ten : rabbit, from 

 eight to nine; goat, ten; sheep, ten; hog, 

 twenty; cat, eighteen ; squirrel, seven ; hare, 

 from seven to eight ; dog, from twenty three to 

 twenty-eight; wolf, twet.ty ; bear, twenty ; fox, 

 fifteen ; lion, sixty ; cow, twenty : bull, thirty: 

 ox, (druughi), nineteen; deer, twenty ; horse, 

 from twentj'five to thirty ; ass, from twenty- 

 five to fifty ; camtl, from filty to sixty ; ele- 

 phant, one hundred and fifty to two hundred. 

 *•. 



American Enterprise in tue East. — S«ve 

 ral new fields for American enterprise in Asia 

 apr>enr t) be opening at once. Japtin and 

 China are not the only ones. "While Europe 



has been either ignorant or doubtful of the im- 

 mense importance of the River Amoor, (a 

 stream hardly inferior to the Mississippi.) run- 

 ning between the Russian and the Chinese pos- 

 sessions, quite a number of Yankee merchants 

 and sea captains h..ve found it out, and have 

 been taking advantage of it. Several cargoes 

 of sugar were the first consignment ventured 

 to this region. The Central Asiatics were not 

 only surprised, but greatly gratified by the un- 

 expected HU). plies, ut a much cheaper rate than 

 their previous overland supplies had ever been 

 nifjrded. Sugar fell in price 30 per cent, at 

 Novgorod, and the Americans made a hand« 

 soaie speculation out of their undertaking. 



1 his ia only an ezanmle of what can be done 

 with numerous other commodities, manufac- 

 tured and agricultural. A large and increas- 

 inn population along the river, oS'ers a steady 

 and profitable market for our productions. By 

 way of Panama and California, we can contend 

 successfully with England for the control of the 

 greater part of it. — Albany Juunial 

 .•• 



Will of an Earl of Pembroke- — Imprimis — 

 For my soul, I confess I have heard very much 

 of souls, but what they. are, or whom they are, 

 or whal they are for. God knowb-; I know not; 

 they tell me now of another world, where I 

 never wa?; nor do I know one foot of the way 

 thither. While the King stood, I was of his re 

 ligion, made my son wear a cassock, and thought 

 to make hiui a bi;>hop; then came the Scots and 

 maae him a Presbyterian; and since Cromwell 

 entered 1 have been an Independent. These, 

 1 believe, are the kingdom's three estates, and 

 if any of these can have a soul, I may claim 

 one: therefore, if my executors find that I have 

 a soul, I give it to him who gave it to me. — 

 Jletn. I give my deer to the Earl of Salisbury, 

 who I know will preserve ihem, because he de- 

 nied the King a buck out of his own parks. — 

 Item. I give nothing to Lord Say; which lega- 

 cy I give him, becaut^e I know he will bequeath 

 it on the poor. — Item. To Tom May i give 

 five shillings: I intended him more; but who- 

 ever has seen his 'History of Parliament," 

 thinks five shillings too much. — Item. 1 give 

 Lieutenant Cromwell one word of mine, because 

 hitherto he never kept his own. — Iie7n. I give 

 up the ghost. 



-.*> 



Effects of Late llourtt. 



From a recent trial we learn that a new wo- 

 man's profession is known in England — that of 

 a "face painter," or "ladies' decorator." The 

 mistress of this art attends ladies who go to 

 balls, &a., beautifies their complexion, and ar« 

 ranges their teeth, besides dressing their hair, 

 and attending to the making up of their per- 

 sons generally. Some who pursue this business 

 can produce the required qunlity of paleness 

 or color to suit various times and circumstances, 

 and can make the subject languidly interesting 

 or billiahtly handsome, from the contents of a 

 small box. It prob-vbly will not be long ere 

 some such profession is in practice in New York 

 — Inte hours and dissipation maldng sad rava 

 ges on the health and beauty of our lasbionable 

 wjmen. 



There is one custom which, though univer- 

 sally prevalent, is advocated by none, and is 

 complained of by all — most bitterly by those 

 who are most the slaves to it — viz: that of turn- 

 ing nig" t into day at parties. The necessity of 

 goi g at ten o'clock, when the powers of na'ure 

 require rest instead of further taxation, draws 

 fatally on the constitutional strength of the in- 

 dividual. All the vivacity and gaiety requisite 

 for making a brilliant appearance, must, after 

 that hour, be derived from artificial stimulus 

 ot some kind ; and if the b dy bo not fed with 

 exciting food or drink to supply the fount of 

 vigor, the brain and the emotional nature must 

 be taxed for thiit purpose. This unnatural con- 

 dition continties during the hours given to social 

 assemblies of the kind — perhaps from ten to 



