pcnsable. If we have any difficult or obstinate 

 subjects to strike, we use artificial bottom beat. 

 When we put in the cuttings of gooseberries, 

 currants, vines, and shrubs in autumn, and take 

 no notice of them till they strike, it will seem to 

 some people that our theory is upset. But these 

 cuttings enjoy a fine genial bottom heat, be the 

 weather above what it may. The earth has in 

 it the heat it has accumulated in the summer; 

 hence autumn is recommended for all out of 

 door propagations. There is bottom heat all 

 the winter, and the cooler the air above, the 

 greater the contrast; whereas, in the spring and 

 summer, if we do not prevent the sun from 

 warming the atmosphere about the cuttings, 

 they will fail. So that, although we do not give 

 credit to bottom heat for all kinds of cuttings, 

 that is the main agent. In a slip or cutting, 

 the supply from the plant is cut off. If the sun 

 and air be allowed to exercise their influence on 

 it, and take as much from it as it would were 

 it on the plant, death would be inevitable. 

 But we place it in the shade, and cover with 

 hand glasses, to prevent evaporation ; so that 

 the soil in which the cutting is plunged, is 

 warmer than the air above it; and roots are pro- 

 moted by the difference. There is, in fact, no 

 mystery in striking cuttings, but there arc some 

 plants more difficult to manage than others. 

 Some are so hard in the wood, that the roots 

 cannot come through unless we take the 

 last growth before the wood is matured; others 

 are so soft that they bleed to death if inserted in 

 the ground before the wound dries. But, in all 

 cases, bottom heat is necessary. Autumn cut- 

 tings out of doors do better than they do in 

 the spring, because all the autumn, and greater 

 part of the winter, the earth is warmer than 

 the atmosphere. We should never be able to 

 strike cuttings in summer if we were not to 

 choose a shady place, or cover with a glass, or 

 shade them from the sun; for, while the tem- 

 perature above is higher than that below, few 

 cuttings will strike root. To promote, there- 

 fore, the striking of cuttings, several points 

 should be attended to. First: the soil should 

 be light, rich and porous. Secondly : it should 

 be kept warmer than the atmosphere sur- 

 rounding it. Thirdly: a cutting should be cut 

 to the bottom, close up to a joint. Fourthly: 

 it should be covered from atmospheric influence 

 to prevent evaporation. Fifthly : if a hard- 

 wooded subject, young wood should be selected. 

 In general, the simplest and safest way to strike 

 cuttings is to fill a pot within half an inch of the 

 rim with light and rich soil, and put silver sand 

 half an inch thick on the top. Saturate this 

 with water, and plunge the cuttings to the 

 bottom of the sand; but not into the soil. Cover 

 with a bell glass to keep out the air; wipe out 

 every morning; keep it plunged in tan, with a 

 genial heat, and keep off the sun. — G. Glenny. 



Irradiation of Light. — It is a curious fact, Mr. 

 Editor, that if the same letters, of the same size 

 precisely, are painted on two boards, the one 

 white on a black ground, and the other black on 

 a white ground, the white letters will appear 

 larger, and be read at a greater distance than the 

 black. This is owing to what is called the ir- 



radiation of light. It depends on this, that the 

 impression made on the bottom of the eye by 

 bright objects, extends a little wider than the 

 actual portion of the organ struck by the light. 

 Invading the space occupied by the darker 

 objects, it makes the brighter appear larger than 

 they really are. — J. O. 



To obtain exquisite Skeletons of Small Animals. 

 — Put any subject, such as a mouse, frog (if a 

 bird, strip it of its feathers), in a box perforated 

 with a number of holes. Let it be properly dis- 

 tended, to prevent the parts from collapsing, or 

 being crushed together by the pressure of the 

 earth. Then place the box and its contents in 

 an ant-hole; and in a few days it will have 

 become an exquisitely-beautiful and perfect 

 skeleton. The ants will have consumed every 

 part of it except the bones and ligaments. — Anna. 



Utility of Iron. — This truly precious metal is 

 capable of being cast in moulds of any form ; of 

 being drawn outinto wires of any required strength 

 or firmness; of being extended into plates or 

 sheets; of being bent in every direction; of being- 

 sharpened, hardened, and softened, at pleasure. 

 Iron accommodates itself to all our wants, our 

 desires, and even our caprices; it is equally 

 serviceable to the arts, the sciences, to agriculture 

 and war; the same ore furnishes the sword, the 

 ploughshare, the spring of a watch or of a car- 

 riage, the chisel, the chain, the anchor, the 

 compass, the cannon, and the bomb. It is a 

 medicine of much virtue, and the only metal 

 friendly to the human frame. The ores of iron 

 are scattered over the crust of the globe with a 

 beneficent profusion proportioned to the utility 

 of the metal; they are found under every latitude 

 and every zone, in every mineral formation; and 

 are disseminated in every soil. — Lector. 



' The Dolphin. — Marvellous stones are related 

 of the dolphin, which, though not so formidable, 

 is scarcely less voracious than the shark, and, 

 from the extent of its depredations, is called the 

 plunderer of the deep. By a wise providence, 

 however, both the dolphin and the shark seize 

 their food witli difficulty, being obliged, from the 

 peculiar situation of the mouth, directly under 

 the head, to turn on their backs to bite — thus 

 allowing the prey time to escape. But for this 

 check, their united ravages would speedily de- 

 populate the ocean. I must not omit to mention 

 the varieties of color in the dolphin, which, spite 

 of the declarations of travellers, many naturalists 

 still consider fabulous. That this finny cha- 

 meleon, however, does actually change his hue, 

 and in his dying hour glow with a hundred beau- 

 tiful tints, ought not to be disputed , and I must 

 add my testimony that the statement is strictly 

 and literally true. — W. S. Fullom. 



How to tnj the Speed of Pigs.— Pigs are 

 perverse, very; and it is difficult sometimes to 

 make them do what you want them to do, or to 

 go where you want them to go,. However, if 

 you will occasionally herd them together for a 

 race, you may accomplish your point. Collect 

 as many as you please; keep them in the first 

 instance long without food, and then drive them 



