ee 
AMERICAN" AG-RICLTLTURIST. 
[FEBnUARY, 
laugh at them. Thcpc pictures are what artipts call 
eilfioueltes. May bu you woukl like to know what sil- 
houettes arc, and wliy tlu'y arc eo called. They are gen- 
erally solid black drawings upon a light ground, and in 
modern times were first made known by Eticnnc 
de Silhouette, who was in 1759 the Frcncii Miniplcr 
of Finance, or what we call in this country the 
Secretary of the Treasury. But tliisstyleof draw- 
ing was known in very early times, and long be- 
fore the Christian Era, vases and other pieces of 
pottery were ornamented in the most beautiful 
manner with drawings, made in this way. So after 
this bit of history, lot ns look at our nonsense 
silhouettes, which quite explain tlicrasdves. The 
early bird who found the worm, did not happen 
to be the cockerel. The progress of the story 
is well told, but there docs not seem an end to it — 
perhaps you will say that, so far as the woim is 
concerned, the last picture shows that there arc ticoends. 
hihitors do not pretend that their tricks are anything bat 
tricks, and claim no relations with anything but their 
own ingenuity. There arc stores in New York, where 
the apparatus for pcrfonning these tricks is sold, and iu- 
'*Cireon Boys,*' 
We have seen a lot of city or village boys gather around 
a boy from the hack country, and make fun of liim. and 
talk about his "greenness," because he was not up to 
all their waj's of acting, and very often ways of miscUiof. 
And very often the country-boy feels chagrined about it, 
and goes home quite sad Yesterday we were having a 
chat with some city hoys, sons of wealthy parents, and in 
our conversation the word buckwheat was mentioned. 
We asked the hoys when it was sown, how the plants 
looked, how they get the buckwheat flour out of it, which 
makes their nice morning's " flat-jacks " — or '■ flap- 
jacks," as some call them. Our country friends would 
have laughed at the answers. One large hoy said they 
sowed buckwheat in the fall, and cut it the next summer, 
he believed. Another said, he supposed they sowed it the 
same as any wheat, and cut it and ground it the same, 
and he supposed it was only so called, because it was a 
kind first raised by a Mr. Buck. None of these boys 
could tell anything about tlic appearance of the plant or 
grain — though one thought it'lookcd more like oats than 
]ike wheat. (They had all seen oats fed to horses, and 
seen wheat at the city grist-mill.) Now, were not these 
boys just as '•green'" as any countr3'-lad that ever visited 
the city f The truth is, city boys are fully as *' green" 
about things in the count ly. as country boys are about 
things in the city, and the country b03-s have the advan- 
tage of knowing less about mischief. It's all nonsense, 
for city boys to put on airs, and langh at country boys, 
for the latter know a great many useful things which the 
former do not know, and if one of Cvich class should be 
left a homeless, friendless orphan, the farmer boy, with 
his strong frame, his practical skill, and self -relinnce, 
would stand the best chance of taking care of himself. 
Let the city boy and t!ic country boy each have a ma- 
lual respect for what the other knows that he him- 
self docs not know— and remember that one is just as 
"green " as the other, when he gets into the other's ter- 
ritory. By the way, we know of a city boy who is col- 
lecting a cabinet of all kinds of grains and seeds, used in 
agriculture and horticultui'c, and is studying the habits 
of the plants. lie takes two copies of the Ainerican AffH- 
fw/^KW^, one of which he keeps, and from the other he 
cuts out all engravings and descriptions of plants, and 
keeps them with the appropriate seeds. That boy will 
not be so "green'" when he goes out to see his country 
friends. This is a good example for many other city boys. 
IVfa^ic nn<l Magicians, 
In olden times there were certain persons called inagi^ 
who professed to have relations with genii, and all sorts 
of supernatural beings, the existence of which very few 
persons now believe in. Their performances were called 
magic, and now-a-days those who exhibit very clever and 
astonishing tricks,call themselves magicians. Tliese tricks 
I'ig. 1. — M.VG 
aro sometimes called Ltgfrdtm'ii.i, which is a French 
word for light of hand, and also sleight of hand. In most 
of the tricks of these performers of " magic,'" there is very 
little "sleight of hand," but they depend for the most 
part upon the implements used. Some of the performers 
are exceedingly clever, and at first sight quite bewilder- 
ing ; but if <jne knows how some of the tricks are done, 
and watches closely, he can gcneially find out how even 
the most mysterious of them are performed. These ex- 
Fi:^. 2. — THE WAT THE PLATE IS US1?D. 
etruction given, from the simplest to the most difllcult, 
and it is astonishing how very simple some of them are, 
when you know how they arc done. Two very simple 
tricks are here shown, to give you an idea of the way 
others are done ; one is the multiplying balls. A paper- 
box is shown, into which three small halls are put ; the 
cover is put in its pl:tce, the performer shakes the box, 
and says "horum quorum sunt divoram," or any other 
nonsense, then he asks one of the company to blow hard 
upon the box, and at length opens it, and to the surprise 
of the bystanders Ilic balls will 
be six instead of three. By a 
similar process he turns the six 
back to three again. Another 
of these tricks is the magic 
plate, which appears to be only 
a tin i)ie-plate. One of the com- 
pany is asked for three cents, 
which are put into the plate ; 
the performor then shakes thera 
about, and perhaps holds the 
plate cvci- the ian^.p. sa^-ing, "hokey, pokey, winkey, 
fum/' or "hobbelnm, gobbelura, sunt, rantobulum," or 
whatever such jargon be cliooses, and then he asks the 
one who has placed the cents in the plate, to hold out his 
hand, and instead of three, he receives six or a dozen. 
These are the simplest possible tricks, and when one 
icarns how they arc done, he wonders why he did not see 
it all before. In the first trick, that of the balls, the bos 
consists of a paste-board ring with two covers. Either 
Fig. 3.— Boz. 
Figs. 4 and 5. — the box tkick. 
cover may be made to appear as the top. by holding the 
other tight, so that the ring will remain with that. Upon 
the inside of one of these covers three balls arc glued 
fast, and In opening the box, this cover is uppermost, 
and must not be turned to show what is in it— three balls 
are placed loosely in the box, and after the talk already 
mentioned, the performer having in his movements 
turned the box completely over, what was the top, be- 
comes the bottom, and on opening, six balls are seen 
instead of three, and as three of the balls are loose, it 
will not be noticed that the three others will not move. 
So the performer can repeat this as often as he chooses, 
provided he docs not expose the three balls fastened to one 
of the covers. Fig. 3 shows the box closed, fig. 4 open, 
with the three balls put in ; the others fastened in the 
other half; fig. 5 shows the balls at the second opening 
of the box. The moncj'-platc is equally simple ; it 
has a double bottom, and between the two bottoms there 
is room for the coin, which is pnt iu at the hole shown in 
fig. 1. "When the performer holds out the plate to re- 
ceive the cents, he covers tills opening with his hand, 
and while going through with his talk, he changes the 
position of his hand, as in fig. 9, so that when the coin is 
poured out, that beneath and that above the fiilse bottom 
will a!! run out at the same place. Such simple tricks 
are capable of afi'ord;ng much amusement in a party of 
young folks, provided the one who shows them is skill- 
ful. A bungler should not undertake thera. In perform- 
ing snch feats for the entertainment of your friends, al- 
ways rehearse them, so that they will go otT smoothly, 
and have on hand plenty (Jf small talk, for one of the se- 
crets of success in these tricks, is to occupy the attention 
of the spectators, and not allow them to examine your 
movements too closclj*. After you have created great 
wonderment in a party, you can make still more amnse- 
ment, by showing them how readily they were deceived. 
Aunt SBac*!* S*iizzlc-I3o!C« 
■WHAT CITIES AXD RITErvS KCAN", TRAXSrOSED.* 
1. A planet. 2. A tree. 3. A vessel. 4. An animal. 
G. A garment. G. A hard eubstaiice. IIerbert J. KL 
ANAGRAMS OF SCOTT'S CirAR-VCTEnS. 
1. Bine sane Jane. C. Fie ! Gilbcrl B. Tibb. 
2. 'J'ull Tom Idryo. T. Mr. B-.tsy— a tar. 
3. Hob O'Dorin. K Mr. George H. Clen. 
4. Fruit rack. 0. Thadey Uewlit. 
5. Lean elf. 10. Drive on, Anna. 
Eli.::n SI. 
Cn.\TIAT>E. 
■^^'hen Rome was in her palmiest day, 
And held an universal j^w:iy, 
■ 5Iy first was not. 
.Aid now in this dogeucrate age, 
— So say the learned and the sage, — 
My next Js not. 
And yet 'tis often found in mint, 
(I don't refer to juK-ps.) 
It comes from biuls of roses too ; 
My whole more oft from tulips. O. U. I. 
SQITARE TVORDS. 
1.— 1. A mineral. 2. A tree. 3.' Erudition. 4. To 
produce. :Mocking-bird. 
2.— 1. Expanded. 5. Colorless. 3. A girl's name. 4. 
Approximate. IIallt B. P. 
CROSS "WORD. 
My first is in silver but not in gold. 
My next is in hoary but not in old. 
My third Is in llLrht but not in dark, 
My fourth is in Matthew but not in Mark, 
My fifth is in pull but not in jerk. 
My sixth is in smile but not in smirk. 
My seventh is in stafi" but not In crook. 
My eight is in volume but not in book, 
My ninth is in warrior but not in fame, 
In my whole you will find the composer's name. 
numerical enigmas. 
1. I am composed of 13 letters : 
My 1. 11, 12, 2. it is sad to need. 
My 10, 3, 8, 9. is a wonderful instrument. 
My C, 13. 7, 4, 3, is needed to give it motion. 
My whole is the name of a periodical. Jomr C. C. 
(A vei-y easy one.) 
2. I am composed of 11 letters : 
My 7, 6, 9, (i, 8, 6. 11, is a cape on the coast of Europe. 
My 11, 6, 1, 5, 3, G, is a city in one of the EasterR 
States. 
My 8, 10, is a river in Europe. 
Ny 4, 10, 7. is a mountain in the United St.ates. 
My 2, 7, fi, 5, 6, is a Wc=tcrn city. 
My whole is a city in England. Vau. 
VI. 
Lapin vilgin nad ghih gnikhint ear on omer, 
Hct meyloh yeatub fo eth dogo dol sauce 
Si noge : ron capee uro Infiarc cinnecone, 
Dan riipe glinorie hintbesrar shoelobud slaw. 
Wordsworth, Sep. 1802. 
DIAMOND PVZZLE. 
1. Part of an apple. 2. A conjunction. 3. A Poet. 
4. A ve^-etable. 5. A builder. 6. A pronoun. 7. One 
third of ten. 
The central letters, perpendicular and horizontal, form 
a vegetable. Yankee Doodle. 
Alphabetical Arithmetic. 
OEY)ANTYEAKfODDET 
ANO 
Kip. 
UOO 
CONCEALED RIVERS. 
1. Oh ! Tom, Mabel kicked poor Carlo. 
2. The poor dog ran down into the cellar. 
8. I don't want to go 1 O ! send Jim. won't you ? 
4. What is the matter ? cion't von feel well ? " 
5. The co-v hit Effic with her "tail. 
6. Mother. O ! guess who is coming to tea. 
7. Either Dan or Thomas Smith. 
S. No, it is Dick Marshell. 
9. Let ns have some ale on the table. 
10. There are dozens of bottles in the closet. 
11. Dick and I said we would agree never to drink an- 
other drop of spirits. 
RIDDLE. 
I have no feet, and yet I'm ever going 
From early dawrrtiU setting of the sun. 
And when the stars with silvery light are glowing, 
My onward course as steadily I run. 
My pallid face, devoid of all expression. 
Yet bears full manya mark of "Father Time,'* 
My voice, my richest, best possession. 
Ofitimes rings out with merry, cheerful chime. 
The busy housewife with her cares perplexing. 
Looks on me as a counsellor and friend ; 
For when the days are hurrying and vexing, 
Eflicient aid my regulations lend. 
I haste the traveller to the intended station, 
Before the headlong train comes steaming in, 
Ah ! many a son and dauirhter of creation, 
Througli me aro saved the sad " It m'.gljt have been.'* 
Mine is a life of busy, ceaseless motion, 
Xo recompense for services I claim. 
In this fair land— in climes beyond Ihj ocean 
Vm known ; dear chWdrcn, can yo-: guess mv name ? 
M;:,. Lizzie JiToore. 
