4r 78 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[November, 
HOTS <fe (BUHLS’ 
The Boctor’s Talks. 
An old negro, it has been said, replied when asked: 
which is of the most value to man, the sun or the moon ? 
“ Why I de moon, caise it shines ob de night 1 ” Like 
the colored man many of us are apt to forget the value of 
blessings when they come to us regularly and silently as 
does the light of day from the sun. The day is day because 
the great orb of light and heat, situated so far away in 
space, makes it 
so. And tiie moon 
which in its ful¬ 
ness lights up the 
night does it with 
rays which are 
borrowed from 
the sun. Moon¬ 
shine is sunshine, 
and may be ex¬ 
plained in much 
the same way that 
the mischief-lov¬ 
ing boy makes 
the bright sun to 
shine in his class¬ 
mates eyes across 
the schoolroom, 
by means of a 
small looking 
glass or a bright piece of tin. The sun shines on the tin 
and the light is changed in its course, and can be di¬ 
rected this or that way by turning the tin. 
In like manner the sun, after it has gone down out of our 
sight, shines on the great face of the moon, and the rays 
of light are changed in their course, and some of them 
fall upon the earth and make the pleasant moonshine or 
moonlight. The sun then gives us both the light by day, 
and the light by night. We must not therefore think any 
the less of the moon, because were it not in the heavens, 
we should have no pleasant moonlight nights. Besides 
giving us light and heat the sun does a great many other 
things; or I should say, because it gives us light and 
heat it is able to do much for us that may at first sight 
seem to have no relation to the sunshine. 
THE SUN IS THE SOURCE OP OUR WATER-POWER. 
But what is Water-Power ? a thousand readers may ask. 
It is the force exerted by falling or rising water—running 
water is falling water. You have been told in previous 
Talks that all bodies fall because acted upon by the force 
called Gravitation, and from this you might conclude that 
water-power was due entirely to gravitation. What is 
water doing or trying to do when it falls? It is trying its 
best to get to the center of the earth, the center of the 
action of gravitation, and comes to rest only when it can¬ 
not get any nearer that center. But why does not all the 
water soon come to a state of rest? It is here that the sun 
comes in, it making the rain to fall and the rivers to run. 
The warm rays of the sun, shining on sea and land, 
silently change the water into vapor and lift it up into 
the clouds, or rather lift it up and clouds are made out 
of it, which after a time give up the water, and it falls on 
hill and plain as rain. The rain fills the spring, away up 
on the mountain, and feeds the brook as it flows down the 
valley, turning here a mill, and there a factory, until it, 
joined by other streams, becomes a river and flows on to 
the ocean. The sun makes the rivers run, and the run¬ 
ning rivers give us much of our best water-power. 
SOME DIFFERENT KINDS OF WATER-WHEELS. 
The power that is in falling water is applied to various 
uses by means of water-wheels, which are turned by the 
stream, and these wheels turn other wheels in the ma¬ 
chinery of the mill or factory, and thus the grain is 
ground or the cloth made. These water-wheels are of 
various kinds, and are either those that turn “ over and 
over” or vertical wheels, or horizontal, which turn “round 
and round.” Of the vertical ones there are three kinds, 
the over-shot the under-shot and the breast-wheel. In the 
over-shot the stream of water falls into “buckets” at the 
top of the wheel and acts principally by the weight of the 
water. An over-shot wheel is shown in fig. 1, where it 
will be seen that one side of the wheel is made much 
heavier than the other by the water, and that side is con¬ 
stantly made to go dwu, when the water flows out, while 
fresh buckets are filled at the top and the wheel is kept in 
motion. In the second kind of vertical wheels the stream 
strikes against the boards or paddles at the bottom, and 
acts entirely by the force of the current. This kind of 
water wheel is placed directly in a running stream where 
the current is swift enough, otherwise a dam, and a “race 
way” is provided, with sufficient fall to give the required 
force. In figure 2 is shown an under-shot wheel, used 
for raising water. The running stream turns the wheel, to 
which a number of cups or buckets are attached, and are 
carried up and emptied into a trough as the wheel re¬ 
volves. In the third kind, the breast-wheel, the water 
rushes against the side of the wheel, fig. 3, about midway 
between the top and bottom, and the work is done by a 
combined force of the flowing water and its weight when 
falling. The under-shot wheel is the one most commonly 
made by children in their play in the little streams in 
spring time. The over-shot, for the same amount of 
water flowing, is the most powerful of the three. The 
horizontal or turbine wheels, those that go “ round 
and round,” must be treated at another time. 
SEALS AND THEIR WAYS. 
Did many of my young readers ever see any Seals ? 
Yes, doubtless, a good many of you. The showmen 
sometimes have one in their travelling menagerie ; and 
many of the larger cities, as Philadelphia with its Zoo, 
and Central Park in New York, have Seals, 
and their cousins—the Walrns, Sea Lion, 
etc., on exhibition. A few weeks ago the 
writer was out in a boat in Boston Bay— 
“down the Bay”—as they call it at the 
“Hub,” and what did he see but a lot of 
seals ! The first ones that I saw were a con¬ 
siderable distance away, and were upon 
some low rocks just above the water. With 
the aid of a spy-glass they could be distinct¬ 
ly seen, and were at play, having a real good 
time. Those of you who have not seen these 
strange-looking sea animals, will get a pretty 
good idea of how they look from the picture 
here given of one, which is very common in 
Greenland and the other cold regions of the 
Arctic Ocean. The common seal, the one I 
saw, when full grown, is about six feet in 
length, brownish on the back and yellowish 
below. The head is much like that of a dog, 
and the voice also like that of a dog—a sort 
of a bark. The seal can close his ears and 
nostrils water-tight, which it does when it 
dives, and remains under the water for a 
quarter of an hour or so. The seal has four 
legs, but they are odd-shaped ones, and not 
of much good for travelling on land. A seal 
on land is very awkward. They are easily 
tamed, are docile, and can be taught many things, as to 
to sit erect, bow, kiss the hand, shoulder a gun, shake 
hands (1), turn a hand organ, and many such other amus¬ 
ing things. Seals are very valuable for tbeir skins, also 
for the oil which they furnish. The Esquimaux live 
very largely upon the seals, which they catch in great 
numbers in their cold, northern homes. It is told—and 
with good'reason for believing it—that a fisherman on 
the coast of France acquired the knack of calling the 
Fig. 2. —AN UNDER-SHOT WHEEL FOR RAISING WATER. 
the young seals to the side of his fishing boat. “ One of 
them so small and plump in its baby sealskin, and large 
wondering eyes, templed him to steal it from its mother, 
and take it home to his children to raise as a household 
pet. In course of time the young seal was weaned from 
the nursing bottle and placed on a diet of young herrings. 
This seal became greatly attached to all members of the 
family, particularly the children, aud would show 
Fig. 4.—A GREENLAND SEAL. 
great distress when not allowed to go with them in their 
boats. He always accompanied his master when tending 
the herring weirs, either swimming alongside the boat, 
or sitting upright on one of the seats. It would lie for 
hours stretched out under the kitchen stove. On warm 
sunny days it would swim off to the neighboring ledges 
of rocks, and mix with its friendly relatives, returning at 
evening to have a romp with the children in the water.” 
©>«r I»mz.*1o-HSox. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
1. I am composed of 28 letters: 
My 5, 18,16, 11, is one of Cowper’s poems. 
My 17, 6. 19, 20, is a means of security. 
My 26, 27, 8, 12, follows the sun. 
My 5, 13, 11, 15, 20, is a fish. 
My 1, 11, 21, 25, 17, 10, is a deadly conflict. 
My 3, 2, 4, 14, is obtained on Broadway for five cents. 
My 9, 22, 28, 23, 24, is in every blacksmith shop. 
My whole is a proverb. Goody Two Shoes. 
2. I am composed of 19 letters: 
My 8, 9, 2, 10, 11, is what an elephant is. 
My 3, 16. 17, 18, is a title. 
My 13, 2, 17,18,19, are what dogs and rattlesnakes have. _ 
My 15, 4, 1, is a sort of margin. 
My 1, 7. 2, 5, is an article of food. 
My 19, 6, 12, 14, sometimes kills things. 
My whole is excellent advice. Eddie G. W. 
CONCEALED ANIMALS. 
1. Do you admire that statue of Rogers ? 
2. I think that tub a trifle too small. 
3. I would rather have a larger one. 
4. Let me know, briefly, what you do want. 
5. Jim, are all the doors locked? 
6. Did you ever probe a ripe watermelon? 
7. Yes, with a real sharp knife. 
8. Tell the farmer to bring oats and hay. 
9. Lend me your knife, Will, I only want it for a 
minute. 
10. Jones lost a great deal of money. 
11. I was able to give him a little help. 
12. You always do good if you can. 
METAGRAM. 
Find a word of five letters, from which make ten 
nouns, six verbs, an adverb, and a preposition. 
ANAGRAMS. 
1. Second credit. 
2. Give a net. 
3. Decent shrews. 
4. O Tom spent pen 
5. Do rub seven. 
6. O yes 1 grunt. 
7. Saul got lace. 
8. Sha’n’t miss tape. 
9. Ruin at last. 
10. Dive at tunnel. 
POSITIVES AND COMPARATIVES. 
1. The bark of a tree ; one who puts sharp points on 
a horse’s shoe. 
2. A parting visit; a great power. 
3. A willow twig; to dry up. 
4. To walk ; to wound with a horn. 
5. A disease ; a place for food. 
6. Exalted ; to bribe. 
7. Need; varnish. Bessie. 
SCATTERED SQUARE. 
( Explained in the August number , page 318.) 
O black are the clouds, 
I fear it will rain ; 
Let us stay near the house 
Till the stars shine again. 
DIAMOND. 
1. Found in a church. 5. Uproars. 
2. A title. 6. What we all do. 
3. A girl’s nickname. 7. Part of a cherry. 
4. A study. xeryion. 
CROSS-WORD. 
My first is in laughter but not in joy, 
My next is in youngster but not in boy, 
My third is in letter but not in book. 
My fourth is is river but not in brook, 
My fifth is in lantern but not in light, 
My sixth is in scuffle but not in fight, 
My seventh is in narrow but not in thin, 
My eighth is in brandy but not in gin, 
My ninth is in market but not in shop. 
My tenth is in dandy but not in fop : 
My whole is where the children love to play, 
Aud sportive pass the merry hours away. Eitie. 
