338 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
THE ORPHANS.— From a Paisting by C 
The kids have had their morning frolic, chasing each 
other round and round the hill, skipping from rock to 
rock, rearing and butting, jumping with all-fours off the 
ground and giving an extra kick when in the air by way 
of flourish, and capering as only kids can — By the way, 
our English word caper conies from the Latin, capra, 
which means a goat. — These little fellows having finished 
their play and taken a nibble at the grass and weeds, are 
now dozing in the sunshine, and enjoying such rest, as only 
exercise, innocence, contentment, and peace, can give. 
The kid makes a very amusing pet, and can be trained 
almost as easily as a dog. Being docile and very strong 
and active, he may be broken to harness and made to 
draw a little wagon nicely We have frequently seen a 
double team of young goats before a small cart, with a 
boy for driver, going at a merry rate, and obeying the bit 
like well-broken horses. They are very mischievous ; 
no tree or plant is safe where they are kept They seem 
very fond of nibbling the bark from the trunks of young 
trees. Here in the city they are often seen tearing down 
the show-bills posted on fences, and munching them like 
hay or straw The feet of the goat are curiously formed, 
to fit it to climb aiiiwng the rocks where it lives in a wild 
state. They are bordered with a sharp edge of horn, 
which keeps them from slipping easily, and they bound 
fearlessly over cra^s inaccessible to most other animals. 
A Snalte Story. 
A foreign paper relates that a large case containing two 
huge serpents was deposited in a warehouse in Algeria, 
for shipment to the Zoological Gardens in Marseilles, 
France. While there, a cat found her way into the case, 
and was instantly enveloped in the coils of the reptiles, 
whose appetites were sharp from long abstinence. She 
was soon crushed to death, and both snakes commenced 
the process of swallowing her, one beginning at the 
head, the other at the tail. The teeth of such creatures 
are so placed, hooking backward, that they cannot let go 
when once they have commenced to swallow, and so the 
two serpents soon were brought face to face, and quite a 
struggle ensued. Finally, the larger of the two made a 
desperate attempt to swallow the other, was choked in the 
endeavor, and both died. The whole three unfortunates 
are on exhibition, preserved in alcohol. The directors of 
the Zoological Garden intend to bring a suit against the 
parties who were to forward the serpents, for having 
allowed the cat to enter the cage, and the owner of the 
cat, it is said, claims her skin, to keep as a curiosity. 
Ricli as Croesus. 
the 
Who was Crcesus ? How rich was he ? 
last king of Lydia, in Asia Minor. He reigned 500 years 
before Christ. He was successful in wars with surround- 
ing countries, and captured immense treasures. The 
river Pactolus which flowed through his lands yielded 
abundance of gold dust from the sands of its bed, and he 
accumulated vast wealth. His riches are reported to 
have been seven or eight millions of dollars. At that 
period of the world's history, money would buy many 
times more than now, so that we may estimate him to 
have been worth a great many millions of dollars accord- 
ing to present standards. A number of men living in 
the United States are reputed to be worth more than Crce- 
sus. lie did not find money a sure support, although for a 
time it surrounded him with all his extravagant desires 
craved. While enjoying luxurious abundance, he thought 
himself the happiest man living ; and lie was quite 
offended when Solon, one of the wise men of Greece, 
told him that no man should consider himself happy un- 
til his death. Not long after this, Croesus lost his favor- 
ite son, Atys, who was killed while hunting, and only a 
son who was dumb was left. Misfortune followed him. 
Having engaged in war with Cyrus, the Persian monarch, 
he was defeated, his kingdom taken from him, and him- 
self condemned to be burned. As the sentence was about 
to be executed, he exclaimed, "Oh, Solon"! Cyrus in- 
quired the reason of this, and Croesus related what Solon 
had previously told him ; whereupon his life was spared. 
"The Old Oaken Bsielcet." 
A fine picture representing the scene of this beautiful 
and familiar poem, which is now on exhibition, recalls 
the circumstances under which the lines were written. 
The author, Samuel B. Woodworth, was a printer in this 
cily. Near the office where he worked was a drinking 
bouse to which he often resorted in company with his 
friends. One afternoon, Woodworth, after taking a drink 
of brandy, declared it was superior to anything he had 
ever tasted. " No," said one of his friends, " you are mis- 
taken ; there was one which we used to think was far 
better than this." "What was it?" asked Woodworth. 
" The pure, fresh spring water, that we used to drink 
from the old bucket that hung in the well, on our return 
from bard work in the fields on a hot day," was the reply. 
Woodworth sat for a moment much affected. "True, true," 
said he, and shortly after left the place. He immediate- 
ly returned to the office, and under the inspiration of 
the recollections of his happy childhood, wrote the 
lines that have become familiar as household words. 
Quite a DlfTerence.— A little conversation between 
two boys, overheard at Central Park by one of our editors, 
is worth repeating. They were in the building where the 
animals are kept. '' Come, let's go on and out into the 
Park," said the first boy. " Oh, you go on if you want 
to," was the reply ; " you only want to look at the animals, 
J want to see them." Twenty years from now, which 
of these boys will be likely to know the most f 
Tlic BiivenSion of Envelopes. 
It is related in the Stationer, that these conveniences 
were first introduced as follows: About forty years ago 
there lived at Brighton, in England, a bookseller and sta- 
tioner of the name of S. K. Brewer, and he used to place 
in his shop window piles of paper, beginning at the 
largest up to the then smallest size, 1G mo. ; but to finish 
off the pile he cut cards, so as to bring them up to a point. 
Ladies used to go in and ask for that " dear little paper," 
which induced him to cut paper in small sizes. Then 
came the difficulty of the place for address ; and the re 
suit was he invented the envelope, and had metal plates 
made for cutting them to shapes and sizes. This just 
pleased the ladies, and orders came to him for the little 
paper and envelopes from all parts. This at length be- 
came such a demand upon his time that he got Dobbs & 
Co., of London, to make them for him. Such was the 
beginning of the envelope trade, now extending over 
the world, and in which millions of dollars are invested. 
