1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
471 
mand a plain diet. The natural food of the 
Canaries is seeds and green herbage, and a mixture 
of Rape, Canary, and Hemp seed, together with 
Chickweed, Cress, Cabbage, etc., is found to be the 
most healthful. A Cuttle-fish Bone (sold at the 
drug stores) hung in the cage will furnish the lime 
they need, and which they find in the wild state. 
Perhaps the most important point is to know 
what to do when the bird is sick. With proper 
care they seldom sicken, but sometimes illness is 
unavoidable. Birds will, without any apparent 
reason, take colds followed by sneezing and hoarse¬ 
ness. • For this a bit of Liquorice, put in the drink¬ 
ing water, proves beneficial. In case of loss of ap¬ 
petite, shedding of feathers, and general decline, a 
plenty of Water-cress is valuable. Young birds are 
frequently troubled with “Gapes,”, and should 
have an abundance of green food and be kept in a 
warm place. Canaries that are not properly cared 
for will be infested with lice, for which a little 
Aniseed mixed with the gravel on the floor is a 
preventive. Epilepsy is caused by too rich food; 
the cure is in quiet and a simpler diet. In Cases of 
diarrhoea put a rusty nail in the drinking water and 
chalk, broken fine, on the floor, omitting all green 
food. A bird well cared for—and the care is by no 
means great—is a cheerful and cheering companion. 
If one loves such a pet—and most people do—the 
care is more than repaid in bright plumage, grace¬ 
ful actions, and sweet music of these little birds. 
Wild Autumn Berries. 
There are several wild berries and other fruits 
which ripen in the fall, aud are very pleasing when 
employed for home decoration. The ripe fruit of 
The Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is gathered 
quite largely for preserving; but it is also useful 
in an ornamental point of view. A long branch 
of the Barberry, with its graceful curve (it has 
its prickers, which are to be avoided in gather¬ 
ing—and so has the Rose), and clusters of bright 
red berries hanging upon their long stalks, is a 
thing of beauty, aud when arranged with autumn 
leaves and dried grasses, is a joy through the win¬ 
ter to every eye that sees it. In pleasing contrast 
with the dark-searlet fruit of the Barberry is the 
Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana), with its dark 
evergreen branches, sprigs of which, when full of 
its lead-colored berries, may form a pleasing ele¬ 
ment in house decoration. For red, again, the 
Winter Berry, or perhaps better known as 
Black Alder (Ilex verticillala), is one of the most 
Fig. 1.— BRANCH OF WINTER BERRY. 
attractive shrubs, with its profusion of intensely 
bright scarlet berries, which cling tightly to the 
slender branches. See the engraving. The common 
Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa), and other Wild 
Roses, will furnish bright and attractive scarlet 
hips —they are not properly berries, which are well 
worth the gathering, as are those of Garden Roses. 
The Sumachs have large dense clusters of small 
scarlet, crimson, or purplish berries. The Stag’s- 
horn Sumach (Rhus lyphina), and the Smooth 
Sumach (Rhusglabra), are both common, and their 
berries differ in color with their degree of ripeness. 
A few of these clusters help to set off the green of 
the Cedar. Among many others, there still re¬ 
main two kinds which should not be overlooked. 
The Burning-bush or Spindle-tree (Euouymus 
atropurprurea) is a tall shrub which bears deeply 
four-lobed, light-red capsules (shown in figure 2), 
peculiarly attractive, as they hang on the long 
slender stems. These soon open and expose several 
seeds, each of which is enveloped in a dark red 
pulp. More brilliant than either of the above is the 
Wax-work or Climbing Bitter-sweet (Celas- 
trm scandens), a woody climber, which is beautiful 
for its foliage, but in autumn, when the orange- 
colored pods throw' open their three valves or parts, 
and expose the scarlet pulp which surrounds the 
seeds, they are exceedingly attractive. In the 
vicinity of villages and cities, scarcely a pod is 
allowed to ripen ; they are gathered by boys and 
others, who sell them in little bunches on the streets. 
Useful Bridal Gifts. 
[The following very sensible article comes from 
“M. A. 0.,” Hartford, Ct., and we have no doubt 
that its suggestions will be as welcome to those 
who are puzzled “ what to give,” as the gifts them¬ 
selves will be to the young housekeeper. —Ed.] — 
Having obtained much credit for the “ Bridal 
Gifts ” that I have for many years been accustomed 
to make, (which I call “ Housekeeper’s Outfits,”) 
and being requested by a friend,who had heard much 
of them, to give her a list of the articles comprising 
them, I thought it might be well to send you a copy 
for your excellent paper (from which I have gained 
many valuable hints and recipes), that others in all 
parts of the country might have the benefit of it: 
I would remark that the articles made of old ma¬ 
terials, such as sheets, pillow-slips, table-cloths, 
towels, etc., are the most valued by young house¬ 
keepers, but my list comprises: One doz. new 
brown dish-towels ; one doz. new brown hand- 
towels for the kitchen. For dining-room use : One 
doz. good towelling, for china; one doz. linen 
tumbler napkins ; one doz. cotton diaper, or tow¬ 
elling, for silver—these last two to be made square ; 
one doz. window cloths, made from old sheets, 25 
inches or more square, according to the size of the 
sheet (marked with Indelible Ink “W. C.”); one 
doz. wash-stand napkins, for wiping the dishes on 
the stand, made of old table-cloths, 20 inches or 
more square (marked “ W. S.”) These last two ar¬ 
ticles to be slightly hemmed. One doz. dusters, 
made double, of old Paper Cambric ; oue doz. dish¬ 
cloths, or washers, made of towels, worn very thin, 
doubled twice, run together on the edges, and 
quilted from corner to corner; one doz. China and 
window-washers, made in the same way, of old 
damask or linen towels, and table, napkins. One 
dozen iron holders and wipers—these last two made 
of old ironing sheets, and one doz. scrubbing 
cloths, made of new or old bagging, or any coarse 
brown stuff. These articles I do up neatly, in sep¬ 
arate packages of a dozen each ; tie them up with 
red tape, which I procure from the merchants’ 
string drawers ; label them with visiting cards, ac¬ 
cording to their uses, and they always make a good 
show among the other “ Bridal Gifts ;” and I have 
had young housekeepers that I had fitted out in this 
way, after they had been keeping house for several 
years, tell me that their stock of conveniences was 
not yet exhausted, and that they had found these 
things among their greatest household comforts. 
iSOYS <k mmw (S©3L'OTMo 
The Boctor’s Talks. 
In this Talk I wish to “catch up,”’so that we may go 
on regularly. If, when I began, in March last, I had 
thought of beginning to talk about Matter aud its proper¬ 
ties, I should have arranged the subjects differently. I 
like, always, to begin at the beginning, so that each step 
will lead to the one beyond, and there will be no going 
back to explain things. When some one of you wished 
to know about the Center of Gravity , I found that I was 
obliged to say something ns to Gravity and its effects 
upon Matter, and this made it necessary to talk about 
Mattel-, as these Talks for the months just past show. 
Now that we have for several months talked about 
THE INTERNAL FORCES, 
those which act within a body, such as cohesion, and the 
elasticity, hardness, and other properties due to jt, as I 
have tried to show for the past five mouths, I would go 
on with the External Fcrrces. Properly, Ch'avity or the 
Attraction of Gravitation would come next, but I said 
about that nearly all that you need to know at present— 
but not quite. Let us now go back .in our review to 
GRAVITY OR ATTRACTION OF GRAVITATION, 
which you will remember was described ns the force that 
causes all bodies to attract each other, and that it acts iu 
proportion to the size of the mass, and that the earth, be¬ 
ing thdMargcst mass of matter near us, attracts to itself 
all other bodies. The measure of the force of this attrac¬ 
tion we call weight. Wc measure the force of this at¬ 
traction in ordinary weighing. If we buy sugar, we get 
as much sugar as will be attracted towards the earth with 
the same force as a piece of iron, or weight which it is 
agreed to call a pound. Then wc have also considered 
THE SPECIFIC WEIGHT, 
or the Specific Gravity of bodies, in which they are com¬ 
pared with the same bulk of another body—water—as I 
tried to show you last month. Still there is something 
more to say about Gravity. When a body is raised above 
the surface of the earth, and its support is taken away, 
tlie earth attracts it, and it will fall. Some of you may 
have climbed a tree, and trusting to a decayed limb, havo 
obeyed a natural law, and came down to the earth. At 
such a time you did not naturally stop to think much of 
THE LAWS OF FALLING BODIES. 
You did not then think that a boy of half your size, 
would have reached the earth just as quick, that ono 
twice as large would have reached it no sooner. Yet it 
is one of the laws of falling bodies, that all bodies, large 
or small, fall with the same velocity—reach the earth in 
the same time, when dropped from the same bight, a3 
described in May last (body, you will recollect, is a term 
for any mass of matter, aud does not refer to your par¬ 
ticular body). Another law which you should know is, 
that bodies, in going towards the earth, fall 
WITH ACCELERATED MOTION. 
That is, if we drop a stone from an upper window, it will 
fall a certain number of feet in the first second of time, 
and in the next second, twice as far as in the first, 
in the third second, five times the distance. This rule is 
stated thus: The space passed through by a falling body, 
is as the square of the time. Careful experiments have 
shown that a body falls 1G feet in the first second of time. 
When a stone is five seconds iu falling from a precipice, 
we say 5x5 is 25, the square of the time, aud 1G feet, (the 
distance for one second) 25X16=400, the distance the 
body fell, and consequently the bight of the precipice. 
As space is scarce, aud ns you may think the subject dry 
without engravings, I make this Talk a short one. 
An interesting and useful application of another law of 
falling bodies is seen in the pendulum, hut I must leave 
this important subject until next month. The Doctor. 
Tlae Doctor’s Correspondence. 
“are gold-fish found in this country?" 
Yes, they are found here, but are not natives. I can 
recollect when these Golden Carp, or Gold-fishes, were 
great curiosities. When I was a youngster, an uncle, who 
was a sea captain, and sailed to China, brought us home 
a couple of Gold-fishes in a glass globe, and I can recol¬ 
lect what a curiosity they were, and how people used to 
call and sec and wonder at them. Now they are very 
abundant, and being perfectly hardy, have been placed 
in ponds in various parts of the country, where they havo 
multiplied at a great rate. Many years ago the bank of a 
pond somewhere along the Hudson River, that was 
stocked with Gold-fish, broke away, and allowed the fish 
to enter the river. Now they are very abundant in tiio 
Hudson and the waters running into it. I have even seen 
boys catcli them in New York City. In the upper part of 
tlie island there are whole blocks of sunken lots, many 
feet below the level of the streets; those connect with 
