1807.' 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
37f 
3B©Y^ <k (SIMS 3 (BSJlfTDTECHSo 
About Perpetual Motion.. 
Men have spent fortunes trying to invent a machine 
that would run of itself, without winding up or any other 
help when it had once been started. Probably some arc 
now trying to put wheels and springs and levers togeth- 
er, so that they will make their own power, and some- 
body will be likely to succeed when he can take hold of 
his boot straps and lift himself over a fence. If this 
seems too discouraging to hopeful but inexperienced iu- 
ventors, we will say they may expect to make a "per- 
petual motion " machine, when they first discover some- 
thing which is not already in motion, or when they learn 
how to keep anything from perpetual motion. "Why, 
everything keeps still if nobody moves it," says a young 
friend whose tongue is always ready to move. What will 
you show us to prove it ? Take that stone lying by 
the roadside. It has lain there, you say, ever since you 
can remember ; it has not moved a single inch. We 
know it looks so, but when we are seeking to know the 
exact truth, wo have sometimes to use other instruments 
as well as our eyes. First, we will take the microscope. 
All over the rough surface we discover that small parti- 
cles of that stone are missing. They have left marks in 
the places which they once occupied, but they have gone 
ou their travels. Some have mounted into the air and 
gone flying through space as dust ; some have escaped in 
the drops of water which fell from the clouds, and car- 
ried them down to the ground, where hungry roots of 
grass and other plants were waiting to draw them in and 
send them circulating through their veins. If the stone 
had been accurately measured many years ago, an exact 
measure of it now would show that many particles on the 
outside had moved or been carried away. Another exam- 
ination many years hence would show more to be miss- 
ing ; so we must conclude that they are now in motion, 
very slowly perhaps, but yet moving. "We will apply 
another test. During a hot day hold the thermometer 
against the stone ; the mercury rises in the tube ; the 
stone is heated more than the air around it. Now we 
know that heat makes stone as well as other things ex- 
pand. The little particles of which it is made separate 
slightly— they move when heat is applied from the sun, 
or anything else. When the air around the stone grows 
cooler, then the heat will pass out, the stone will con- 
tract, its particles will move up closer together. Now, 
as the temperature of the air is continually changing 
from hour to hour, the stone keeps moving, and its par- 
ticles are never wholly at rest ; there is perpetual motion 
in it. Shall we examine some other object ? Do so 
for yourself, until we have space to say something more 
about this subject in the Agriculturist. 
Rats. 
Gnaw, gnaw,— nibble, nibble,— day and night, in sheds, 
cellars and garrets ! Surely there are no creatures so 
greedy as rats ; bread, cheese and meat, or books, pa- 
pers and clothes carefully packed away— nothing comes 
amiss. Even the hard wood of boxes, floors and doors 
is not safe from their sharp teeth. This gnawing pro- 
pensity is therefore very troublesome to us, but perhaps 
if we could change mouths with the rats we should be 
quite as greedy ; for in truth, this propensity is not only 
excusable in a rat but actually necessary to his existence. 
And this is true of many other animals besides rats and 
mice, namely: rabbits, squirrels, and all the "gnawers," 
or "rodents," as they are allied scientifically. 
Instead of chewing on side teeth as we do, the gnawers 
use four little front teeth with bevelled edges— that is, 
with one side sharper than the other, like a chisel, and so 
they file or nibble their food. 
The teeth of most animals, once grown, remain of a 
certain size ; but the teeth of rats and other rodents con- 
tinue to grow like our finger nails, so that constant gnaw- 
ing is necessary to keep them down to the right length. 
We cannot, therefore, blame a rat for spoiling our papers 
and wood, since his comfort, and even life, depends upon 
it. We arc always sorry enough to lose a tooth, but to a 
rat such a loss is a far more serious misfortune, for the 
opposite tooth, having nothing to file against, grows 
longer until it bars the mouth. If both upper or under 
teeth were lost, the poor creature could not eat, and in 
a very short time would certainly die of starvation. 
A Wcaiderinl Pump. 
The heart of an animal is a miniature force-pump, hav- 
ing supply and discharge pipes, and complete sets of 
valves. It has a world of work to do during a lifetime of 
seventy years. Each minute the human heart beats about 
seventy times, at each beat receiving and discharging two 
and one half ounces of blood. Thus, it must distribute 
175 ounces per minute, 650 pounds per hour, 1% tons per 
day ; and in 70 years about 200,000 tons. No pump ever 
constructed by man has continued to work so steadily, 
without derangement, and without repairs — though that 
is saying too much ; for, by its wonderful mechanism, it 
repairs its own wear, until the end of life, 
"ELTse Plain Words, 
Little boys sometimes put on their fathers' boots or 
their big brothers 1 clothes, and act as though that had 
made them larger and more important; but nobody is 
deceived, and they are only laughed at. Young writers 
and speakers should remember this when clothing their 
thoughts with language. Never try to find large or high 
sounding words. They are not natural, they will be 
awkwardlyused, will often show miss-fits, and expose the 
author to ridicule. An ambitious young student, in writ- 
ing his composition, thus attempted to describe a very 
dark night ; " tenebrious gloom obscured the darkening 
shade." The teacher, on reading it, remarked, " this be- 
ing translated into plain English, means l dark darkness 
darkened the darkening dark ;' that is, I suppose, it was 
very dark." A young lady thus expressed the idea of a 
fine sunrise ; "the royal king of day, clad in glorious 
golden panoply of dazzling effulgence, flooded the earth 
with gorgeous brightness." "It is easier to swallow a 
dictionary than to digest it," remarked the teacher, on 
reading that outburst. In all writing, strive to express 
the thought most clearly. Nobody cares to unwrap a 
dozen or more coverings to get at a small parcel of candy. 
If you have a pleasant idea, out with it in as few and 
plain words as possible, and not oblige the reader to strip 
off a pile of waste word wrappers. Use the language in 
which you think and converse; that will be entirely nat- 
ural. In time you may learn to make it elegant. Strive 
for excellent thoughts, and to express them dearly ; they 
will be valuable even in the homeliest words, just 
aa a beautiful face is attractive in the plainest garb 
3few Swizzles to be Answered. 
-What order of nobility is 
No. 2S4. 
No. 2S0. Illustrated Rebus.— This is a difficult puzzle ; It will require considerable study to solve It 
No. 281. Illustrated Rebus. 
here represented ? 
No. 2S2. Mddle.— With two hands, no linger or thumb, 
I speak plainly, yet 
have no tongue ; my 
face is attractive, 
much looked at, yet 
has neither mouth, 
nose, or eyes. I go 
almost constantly, 
having neither feet 
nor wings, but never 
advance a step with- 
out company. 
No. 283. What way No. 283. 
of cooking bivalves is shown in the above engraving? 
No. 284. How docs the foot in the engraving below 
represent that its owner is determined on success ? 
Answers to JProMcuas and Puzzles. 
The following are answers to the puzzles, etc., in the 
September number, page 333. 
No. 275. Figure Puzzle— Ivy 
(TV). . .No. 27G. Double Puzzle. 
— A cat may be found con- 
cealed over the bird's nest. 
She has the old bird in her 
mouth. The rebus is " Cat- 
acombs."" The combs in the 
beehives, on the fowls, mak- 
ing the fence, and the cur- 
ry-comb on the ground, ful- 
ly supply the latter part of 
the word No. 277. Enig- 
ma.— A. Shoe, {understand- 
ing is a well-spring of life.) No. 278. Study in Horse- 
manship.— Tarn the picture sidewise and the boys will 
evidently be thrown No. 279. Illustrated Rebus.— As 
twigs are bent, trees arc inclined... No. 273. Arithmeti- 
cal Problem.— (August number, page 270.) 45.35 yds. 
The Catacombs. 
In the September Agriculturist, page 333, it was staled 
that the word formed in the puzzle picture was of histor- 
ical interest, and our young readers were requested to 
find out what, they could about the " Catacombs." As 
many of them may have no books at hand containing tho 
information, wc give the following brief sketch. They 
were rooms cut under ground in tho rocks for the recep- 
tion of bodies of the dead. The first Catacombs were 
probably made in Egypt. In that country it was custom- 
ary to embalm the dead, and the "mummies," as the em- 
balmed remains were called, were then placed in the Cat- 
acombs. An entire chain of mountains in the neighbor- 
hood of Thebes, is mined by these chambers for the dead. 
Those belonging to the royal families and wealthy classes 
were splendidly decorated with costly paintings. Valua- 
ble ornaments of gold and silver were also used to adorn 
the mummies, but these have been despoiled long since 
by hostile invaders. Many of the paintings yet remain, 
their colors as bright ;ts when first put on. These paint- 
ings represent scones in the daily lives of thfl Ancient 
Egyptians, and give a complete history of their manners 
and customs. It is estimated that not less than 400,000 
mummies were entombed in the Catacombs of Egypt, 
which gives some idea of thcirvast extent. The most. 
interesting Catacombs are those of Home, which arc also 
immensely large, running under ground for miles. In 
the times of persecution, the early Christians (bund 
refuge in their Intricate windings, and lived aud wor- 
shipped unmolested by the enemies of Christ On this 
account, these places are held in great revorence by the 
Catholic population of Rome. The Catacombs of Naples 
arc of still greater extent titan those of Rome. M Paris; 
a largo part of tho city had been undermined in quarrying 
stone for building purposes, leaving extended galleries 
and rooms. They wore not \\<vA for burial places until 
1784, when tho remains taken from a cemetery were de- 
posited there. Frequent additions have been made from 
other burial grounds, until it is computed by good author- 
ities that thebouesof at least 3.000.000 people rest there 
