108 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
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[COPYRIGHT SECUKED.] 
SUSPENSE . — FROM A PAINTING BY Sm EDWIN Landseer.— Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Perhaps the artist, in painting this picture, had in mind 
the story of the dog that was his master's constant com- 
panion, until the death of the latter. Then it "was 
found impossible to console the poor "brute. When 
driven from the room where the body lay, the dog took 
refuge outside, under the window, and remained there 
night and day, until the funeral ; and when the grave re- 
ceived his master, he refused to leave the spot, and actu- 
ally died there of grief and starvation. Such cases are no 
doubt very rare, but one would expect it from a dog like 
this, if from any. The character of an animal, like that 
of a child, wall depend much upon training. By land 
treatment you may make your pets confiding, faithful, 
and almost every way agreeable ; by abuse, they will be- 
come cowardly, sneaking, cross, and it maybe dangerous. 
The picture will bear studying a long time, so well has the 
artist filled it with expression, and we are happy to be 
able to aid in improving the taste of our young friends, 
by presenting to them so fine a work of art. Every boy 
and girl can see what the dog in the picture is thinking 
of. — "Do dogs t hin k?" Yes, in their own way. How 
plainly this one says by his look, tl I wish master would 
come." A human face could not express feelings more 
plainly. He is a faithful creature ; no sneaking, sheep- 
killing cur ever gave such a look as that. 
A BSat at th.e Editors. 
" Sheridan " pleasantly writes to the Editors : "In your 
Jan. number, under your ' Study of Physiognomy,' you 
charge your artist with childishly amusing himself by 
'making fr.ee>. 1 My'man 'Dan' questions your ingenuous- 
ness, and gives it as his 'notion' 1 that you all k put your 
heads together"* to produce that picture.' 1 Some of the 
Editors feel flattered by the above. One of them sug- 
gests that "Dan" probably got his idea from the fact 
that the faces were certainly members of a press* 
How Large is tSae Earflli ? 
" Twenty-five thousand miles in circumference,'" 
promptly answer thousands of our young readers. How 
do you know? "The geography says so." "How did 
the geographers find it out ?" v - Perhaps they measured 
it," suggests some thoughtful little girl. Yes, that is 
true ; but perhaps in a different way from what yon may 
suppose. Let us see if we can make it plain. Here is a 
round ball, E, repre- 
senting the earth. P, 
is a point, at a dis- 
tance above it. Now, 
suppose a fly to be 
at E. He could not 
see the point P, be- 
cause it would be hid- 
den from him by the 
circumference of the 
bodyE. If he crawls 
np over the surface, 
when he arrives at 
Q. the point P, will 
be just in sight above the horizon. The point 0, will be 
over his head. "When he arrives at D, Z. will be exactly 
overheard, and P, will appear to be half way up to over his 
head. When he arrives at N, the point P will be direct- 
ly above him. Now, suppose the circumference of the body 
E, to be divided into 360 parts, or degrees, and suppose 
another circle to be drawn around E, passing through the 
point P, and this also to be divided into 300 parts, or de- 
grees. Then as the fly crawls from Q, towards N. the point 
P will appear one degree nearer over his head, every time 
he passes over a degree of the circumference of E. Now, 
suppose E to be the earth, N, the North Pole, P, the 
North Star (which is directly over the North Pole), and Q, 
a point near the Equator. Let a man start from Q. where 
he could see the North Star just above the horizon, and 
travel toward the North Pole, then each degree north he 
traveled, the star would seem to rise one degree above 
the horizon, until he came to the North Pole, when the 
star would be directly above his head. If, when he has 
traveled one degree, he measures the space he has passed 
over, and multiplies the distance by 360, it will give the 
entire distance around the globe ; and this is just the 
way it has been ascertained, except that it was not nec- 
essary to start from the equator — any point will answer 
equally well, as by traveling north until the North Star 
appears to have risen one degree higher, a degree on the 
earth's surface can be ascertained. 
""Uncle S*aial 9 '* whose first sketch appears 
in another column, will be readily recognized by thous- 
ands of girls and boys, who have often enjoyed his writ- 
ings in the " Child at nome." He is " our " Uncle Paul 
now, and appears very happy to find himself with so nu- 
merous and so bright a company of children as belong to 
the Agriculturist family. Give him a hearty welcome. 
