Jttne 2}, :s6S. ] 



JOCENAL OP nORTIC0IiT0EE AND COTTAGE GABX)EinEE. 



471 



gallant crew of a weather-beaten boat, or to read of the 

 glorious struggle of men and bark, both fighting the fight 

 of the winds and the waves, and of their timely deliverance, 

 of the cheer of welcome and "thank God" feeling which 

 greeted the well-nigh failing hearts and hands as they 

 quitted theu- boat for the friendly shore. It is a different 

 thing, I say, to picture all this in one's mind's eye, and to 

 experience the same yourself. I had made np my mind to 

 eschew all threatenings of such a vulgar attack as sea-sick- 

 nesB. I have a great opinion of the superiority of mind 

 over matter, and of the influence which a strong and well- 

 regulated wOl has over our physical infirmities ; so much 

 do I feel satisfied of the truth of this theory, that were this 

 the place for such a discussion I would strenuously urge 

 upon young mothers to act upon this suggestion themselves, 

 for the future well-being of those who have not as yet seen 

 the light. If children naturally inherit the hasty temper, 

 the untidy habits, the loose principles, &c., of the jjarents, 

 surely by the mother's strict watchfulness to curb her own 

 temper, to be exact, methodical, kind-hearted, checking in 

 herself frivolous thoughts and actions, she has done miich 

 to make her offspring a great and good man or woman. 



But I am moralising instead of pursuing my account of 

 the bodily sufferings which we underwent. Pain certainly 

 can be borne with courage and a certain amount of placidity ; 

 but as the Staffordshire people would say, "My word!" it 

 might be " a caution to the Greeks," when sailors who have 

 been inured to all weathers from childhood begin to make 

 preparations for a hiu'ricane in the Channel, and to wonder 

 and speculate upon how many hours the mails will be de- 

 layed. It considerably lessens the firmness with which you 

 entered your cabin — queer feelings and qualms come over 

 you ; and in spite of your sternly-believed theory with re- 

 gard to the mental powers, you are helplessly engulphed in 

 that horror of horrors — sea-sickness. I must do the stew- 

 ardesses of the Channel-island boats the justice to say that 

 on all subsequent occasions I found them civU and atten- 

 tive ; but in the present instance we fell into the hands of 

 a cold-blooded ogress, who evidently thought that all possible 

 discomforts and illnesses were the proper accompaniments 

 to a trip to the islands, and all the fees she could get her 

 own just due for the pleasure which her society might afford 

 us. The children she treated like trespassing dogs or cats, 

 and disposed of them as quickly as i^ossible in the various 

 little snuggeries within her den. This done, and a basin 

 given to each lady, she seemed to consider her duty accom- 

 plished, and immediately solaced herself with something, to 

 which, assisted by our olfactory nerves and the vision of a 

 black bottle, we gave a deep meaning. I have no doubt 

 she herself became painfully aware of the all-powerful influ- 

 ence of this dark spirit upon her when, about a fortnight 

 after the date of which I am writing, she fell from the com- 

 panion ladder and broke her leg. Be still, revengeful heart 

 of mine ! What if she did take your baby ot two months 

 old from you, and, stowing it away as if it were some part 

 of the luggage, lay it in its narrow quarters at the side of 

 the ship, and in spite of your entreaties and helpless con- 

 dition, refuse to bring it to you ! What if in that fearful 

 storm you vainly asked her to see to the safety of the child ! 

 What if her reply still rings ia your motherly ears — "What 

 business had ladies to bring babies at all out on such a 

 night as this for? She'd answer for it, it wouldn't want 

 rocking — the ship'd do that for it. Babies never came to 

 any harm!" Do you feel a smack of pleasure that retri- 

 bution so quickly followed her ? Be still, revengeful heart 

 of mine ! An officer's lady threw herself just before the 

 entrance to the place whei-e " my darling lay sleeping," and 

 I saw no more of it until the day dawned. 



Prostrate and helpless I lay upon the floor of the ladies' 

 cabin with a pillow for my head. My husband, although a 

 medical man, was not allowed to enter this sanctorum, 

 although he several times offered his services. For the first 

 two hours after going on hoard I could manage to get into 

 the saloon, but I soon got past that. Upon making some 

 remark as to the roughness of the weather, his answer was 

 very short — "Yes, it's blowing hard ; it's what the sailors 

 call a ' stinker.' " This last inelegant but expressive word 

 awoke all my fears. The ship creaked, and strained, and 

 creaked again. Boom went a wave on the right side, and 

 down went the ship on the left ; up she came again, and ■ 



creak went the planks. I began to think of all my relations, 

 and to wish I had taken leave of them before joining the 

 shrimps and mermaids. Just as I was thus pondering, 

 away went all the basins to the other side of the vessel, and 

 in an instant after back they rolled again. The cabin lamp 

 went out, and we were all left in perfect darkness. A noise 

 overhead reminded us that we were still in the land of the 

 living, and not in the shades of which Dante speaks. The 

 cabin door had been closed, but the stem stewardess entered 

 — she whose heart relented only before the black bottle and 

 its attendant spirits. Commenting upon the weather in no 

 very choice terms, she relit the lamp. I asked what they 

 were doing up above. " Oh, only covering the skylight, 

 because the sea washed over it, and it might come into the 

 cabin." Might come into the cabin ! "rhen there was a 

 possibility of our going to the bottom. I felt already as if 

 I were slowly, slowly sinking. I thought of Miss Edith, 

 and of Uncle 'Zekiel's speech to her when in much the same 

 predicament : " I'm everlasting sorry I took you away from 

 your father. You'd been a sleepin' safe and sound in your 

 silk coverlids there instid of being pitched about by this 

 infernal tempest." — Alice. 



NEW BOOK. 



A Handbook of B-ritish Plants, dedgned especially for Schools, 

 Science classes, and Excursionists. By W. Lowndes N'oKcnTT. 

 London : Longman & Co. 



This is a very well planned, correct, small, and cheap 

 hook. It is a good teacher how to recognise a plant, yet 

 may be found useful even by a professed botanist, if he has 

 it in his pocket during his rambles after plants. We re- 

 commend it to our readers, and the only improvement we 

 can suggest is the addition of those great facilitators of re- 

 ference, an index of the generic names, and another of the 

 English names. 



zijstc labels and ink. 



The French chemist Bracounot made the recipe of an 

 indelible ink, known to write on zinc. It consists of one part 

 crystallised verdigris, one part of sal ammoniac, and half 

 a part of lamp-black, thoroughly mixed and pulverised. To 

 this powder must be added ten parts by weight of distilled 

 or rain water. It is the ink recommended in poraological 

 books and journals. Sometimes the direction is given to keep 

 the bottle always inverted, in order to prevent the ammonia 

 from escaping. Any one who understands the alphabet of 

 chemistry knows that this is poor advice, based on igno- 

 rance; there is no gas in the mixture ready to escape. 



Dr. Rudolph Boettger, of Frankfort, of gun cotton 

 notoriety (Boettger and Schoenbein), was the first in Ger- 

 many that called the attention of nurserymen and pomolo- 

 gists to it, in his contributions to natural philosophy. This 

 took place as early as 1837. The author showed that lamp- 

 black is of no use whatever in the mixture ; it ought, there- 

 fore to be omitted, being unfit to be incorporated in it, and 

 having nothing to do with the colour of the ink. This was 

 in 1841. 



It is true that the ink is indelible, but it is grey instead 

 of black. It requires, besides, if not much at least some 

 skill in chemical manipulations, and a mortar for trituration ; 

 it is also somewhat expensive. 



Being very fond of both natural philosophy and chemis- 

 try, I was, a number of years ago, engaged in some gal- 

 vanoplastic experiments, when I had occasion to prepare 

 Braconnot's ink. I disliked its colour, and, after some 

 reflection on the cause of its action on the zinc, I concluded 

 to try solutions of other salts of copper-, and it was natural 

 that I should dip my pen immediately in the solution of 

 sulphate of copper used for my galvanoplastic experiments. 

 Those conversant with such experiments will know that the 

 solution contained a small quantity of free sulphuric acid. 

 I was not a little astonished to behold the jet black colour 

 of the letters written with it. After it was dry I soaked the 

 piece of zinc for twenty-four hours in water, I kept it for 

 three hours in boiling water, and exposed it to the action of 

 a violent rain and snow storm, then raging ; I then gave it 



