XXV111 



RECREATION. 



THE WISDOM OF SIEUR LEMERY. 

 From a book printed in 1711. 



To catch partridges steep wheat in Aqua 

 Vitae, place it where the partridges repair, 

 and they will fall down drunk. 



To make rabbits come out of their Berries 

 without a ferrit: 



Take powder of orpiment, sulphur and 

 an old shoe, or parchment, or cloth, which 

 burn at the mouth of the berry, upon which 

 the wind blows, and spread your bags un- 

 der the wind. 



Another way : 



Put one or 2 cray fishes into the mouth 

 of the berry, and they will certainly make 

 the conies come out. 



To gather together a great number of 

 hares : 



Take juice of henbane mixed with the 

 blood of a young hare, and sew it in a 

 hare's skin, which bury in the earth. 



An admirable way to prevent arms from 

 rusting, and to take off the rust : 



Take a pound and a half of beef suet, a 

 pound and a half of oil of sweet almonds, 

 extracted without fire, one pound of 

 fresh olive oil, 4 ounces of camphor, 12 

 ounces of lead, burnt with sulphur, make 

 a composition of them, and boil it to the 

 substance of an ointment, with which rub 

 the arms to prevent rusting. 



A Pleasant way to catch crows : 



You must mince some ox liver or lights 

 with some Nux Vomica, which make up 

 into little balls as big as small nuts and 

 spread them in any field ; as soon as the 

 crows eat them they fall down and you 

 may easily catch them with your hands. 



To catch fish : 



Put oil of camomile into a vial, and 

 when you would fish you must have some 

 worms, and kill them in the said vial of 

 o.l, and bait your hooks with those worms. 



A wonderful secret to bring the fish to 

 the places you desire : 



Boil barley in water till it bursts, and 

 boil it with licorice, a little mummy and 

 honev, beat all together in a mortar till it 

 is stiff as a paste, which put into boxes 

 close stopped; when you would fish in any 

 place take about the quantity of a walnut 

 of it, and boil it in any earthen pot, with 

 2 handfuls of fresh barley, with a little 

 licorice, leaving it till it is almost dry; then 

 tiirow it into the place whither you would 

 have the fish come, and they will gather 

 there. 



The above valuable information is found 

 in a volume entitled; "New Curiosities in 

 Art and Nature ; or a Collection of the 

 Most Valuable Secrets in all Arts and 

 Sciences." The faded brown fly leaf of 

 this book states that the contents are 

 "Copied and Experimented by the Sieur 

 Lemery, Apothecary to the French King." 

 It was printed in the year 171 1 and in his 

 preface the English translator says: "It 

 will be far from being a Burthen to the 

 Reader to let him at once into the following 



secrets, many of which, I can assure him, 

 if he maken a Right Choice of, have been 

 lock'd up in the Closets of the Best Fami- 

 lies of Europe, as Rarities too valuable to be 

 exposed to the Publick." 



Le Roy Thomas, Washington, D. C. 



A TWO-SIDED STORY. 



Four of us were sitting around a fire- 

 place watching the embers and swapping 

 yarns when Browne joined the group. 



"Hello, boys.!" 



"Hello, Browne!" 



"Say, fellows, I have just returned from 

 the greatest trip on record." 



"Tell us about it." 



"Well, Maitland and I went, as we told 

 you, up in the Maine woods, and although 

 we were disappointed in not getting any big 

 game, we were more than repaid for our 

 trouble. 



"There war ^n old farmer whom we se- 

 cured as guide «iid he certainly knew the 

 country. I never saw grouse so thick. I 

 wish we could have stayed a month, but 3 

 days was the limit. You ought to hear 

 Maitland talk. Where is he? Oh, he 

 had to go West on business just after 

 we got back. But we certainly had great 

 sport. He and I shot all the game. Jake, 

 the guide, didn't own a gun, I guess. 

 What did we get? Between us our bag 

 amounted to 18 grouse, 22 quail and 17 

 gray squirrels. We could have shot 4 

 times as many, but we didn't want to act 

 like hogs." 



"Did I ever tell you chaps about them 

 2 city dudes thet come up here and wanted 

 me to guide 'em raound?" said Jake to 

 the loungers in the country store. "They 

 were the all firedest rottenest shots I most 

 ever see. They hed all the fancy, new- 

 fangled idees in shootin' traps thet you 

 ever thought of an' a durned sight more. 



"One of 'em, Maitland, did happen to 

 hit a squirrel, but thet Browne, say, he 

 had the purtiest gun you ever see, but. 

 by grabs, he couldn't hev hit a flock of 

 barns. I was a sellin' 'em pat'iges an' 

 quails at $2.50 a dozen and gray squir'ls 

 at 25 cents apiece, an', by gosh, they bought 

 every last one, too." 



' S. L. J., New York City. 



We have many rabbits here, a few quails, 

 some grouse, green wing teal, minks, 

 woodchucks, squirrels, etc. I should like 

 to hear about hunting quails. I like the 

 way you roast the game hogs. 



Arnold N. Holmes, Greenland, N. H. 



Quails are abundant here and we have 

 some ruffed grouse and prairie chickens. 

 Grey and fox squirrels are numerous, with 

 an occasional black. We have also wolves 

 and red foxes. 



Z. A. Rickman, Knoxville, la. 



