

56 
hitherto quite neglected as a branch of edu- 
cation.] 
The Use of White Wax —If you wish to keep 
certain articles from becoming yellow (such as 
white muslin, white satin, white silk dresses, 
bonnets, shoes, &c.), place white wax in imme- 
diate contact with them.—HonrYsUCKLE. 

Mushrooms.—The greatest caution is requisite 
in selecting any kinds for tood ; and it is advisable 
merely to eat the common sort. Wild mush- 
rooms from old pastures are considered more de- 
licate in flavor, and more tender in flesh, than 
those raised in artificial beds. But the young or 
button mushrooms, of the cultivated sort, are 
firmer and better for pickling ; and in using cul- 
tivated mushrooms, there is much less risk of 
poisonous kinds being employed. The following 
is a description of the unsuspected sorts :—I1he 
eatable mushrooms first appear very small, and 
of a round form, on a little stalk ; they grow very 
fast, and the upper part and stalk are white; as 
the size increases, the under part gradually opens, 
and shows a fringy fur, of a very fine salmon- 
color, which continues more or less till the mush- 
room is a tolerable size, when it turns to a dark 
brown. ‘These marks should be attended to, and 
likewise whether the skin can be easily parted 
from the edges and middle. ‘Those which have 
a white or yellow fur should be carefully avoided. 
The wholesome kinds have a grateful rich scent : 
it is, however, safest not to eat any of the good 
but less common sort until they have been soaked 
in vinegar.—Joun T., Windsor. 
[The “safest”? way is, to imagine mushrooms 
to be unwholesome, and never to eat them. WE 
never do, although we are particularly fond of 
them.] 

Lunatics.—Of the influence of the planets and 
the moon—notwithstanding the name of Lunatics, 
and the vulgar impressions—no proof whatever 
exists. Yet physicians of eminence—Mead even 
—have said, “the ravings of mad people kept lunar 
periods, accompanied by epileptic fits.” The moon 
apparently is equally innocent of the thousand 
things ascribed to her. When the paroxysms of 
mad people do occur at the full of the moon, 
Dr. Burrowes inclines to explain the matter 
thus :—‘‘ Maniacs are in general light sleepers ; 
therefore, like the dog which bays the moon, and 
many other animals, remarked as being always 
uneasy when it is at the full, they are disturbed 
by the flitting shadows of clouds which are re- 
flected on the earth and surrounding objects. Thus 
the lunatic converts shadows into images of terror, 
and, equally with all ‘ whom reason lights not,’ is 
filled with alarm, and becomes distressed and 
noisy.” —E. W. T. 

How to drive away Moles.—Take one pound of 
bean-meal, three ounces of slacked lime in powder, 
half an ounce of powdered verdigris, and four 
ounces of essential oil of lavender. After mixing 
thoroughly the powdery part of this composition, 
incorporate the oil. With a little water, work the 
mixture into a dough. With this form balls the 
size of hazel-nuts ; they will harden after having 
KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 
Introduce them twenty or thirty feet apart into 
the moles’ runs; or one ball may be dropped into 
the hole of each mole-hill, taking care to cover it 
up immediately. The smell of these ingredients is 
so offensive to the mole, that he immediately de- 
serts his ground. The mixture is, at the same 
time, a violent poison for moles, rats, and all such 
vermin.—Llore des Serres. 

The Earth an Ocean of Melted Rock.—Pro- 
fessor Silliman mentions the fact, that in boring 
the Artesian wells in Paris, the temperature of the 
earth increased at the rate of one degree for every 
fifty feet towards the centre. Reasoning from 
causes known to exist, he says— That the whole 
interior portion of the earth, or, at least a great 
part of it, is an ocean of melted rock, agitated by 
violent winds, though I dare not affirm it, is still 
rendered highly probable by the phenomena of vol- 
canoes. The facts connected with their eruption 
have been ascertained and placed beyond a doubt. 
How then are they to be accounted for? The 
theory, prevalent some years since, that they are 
caused by the combustion of immense coal-beds, is 
perfectly puerile, and is entirely abandoned. All 
the coal in the world could not afford fuel enough 
for a single capital exhibition of Vesuvius. We 
must look higher than this; and I have but little 
doubt that the whole rests on the action of electric 
and galvanic principles which are constantly m 
operation in the earth.”—Hrten W. 

Botany of “ the Camp.”—All who go to see 
the camp at Chobham, should be told that the 
following plants are to be met with in tolerable 
numbers, on the common :—Hrica tetralix, Poly- 
trichum commune, Narthecium ossifraga, Ranun- 
culus lingua, Blechnum boreale, male and female, 
Galium palustre, Orchis bifolia and maculata, 
Cnicus heterophyllus, Triglochin palustre, Eriopho- 
rum, augustifolium and Lycopodium clavatum. 
There is no doubt that a stricter search would dis- 
'cover many other plants; but neither time nor 
the state of the weather would permit any but a 
cursory examination. The bog in question lies at 
the back of the cavalry quarters, and can be easily 
known by the great abundance of the white spikes 
of the Cotton Grass, which may be seen for a con- 
siderable distance.—Wwu. Inorr, Bromley, Kent. 

Right of Claiming Bees.—You called attention, 
my dear sir, some short time since, to the existing 
practice of “ringing ”’ bees during a swarm ; and 
said that the only benefit resulting therefrom was 
the constituting a “right” to the swarm so 
“rung” for. In connection with this, I observe 
the following in the Oxford Herald, of June 25 :— 
‘“‘ A custom prevails in some places, to the effect 
that bees leaving the hive, and being followed and 
not lost sight of, by the owner or some person on 
his behalf, atin kettle, frying-pan, or other like 
instrument being beaten to ‘‘ring” the bees, may 
be claimed from the person on whose property they 
alight. A short time since, a swarm belonging to 
Mr. Corbutt, at Appleton, left a hive in his garden. 
Miss Corbutt immediately procured a “ ringer,” 
and followed the bees to a garden occupied by 
Mr. W. Spiers (of the above village). Mr. Spiers 
attempted to make them his own, and accordingly 
been exposed to the air for twenty-four hours.; proceeded to hive them. Having done so, he set 

