editor's table. 
26 1 
as the best primary and elementary treatise on drawing 
that has ever been" published. Professor Durand says, 
“ It is admirably calculated, by introduction into our 
common schools, easily to incorporate the knowledge 
of this interesting art into the most ordinary education.” 
Another says, “I can truly say, that the benefit of such 
a work would have saved me many a year of toil, spent 
in misapplied labor, to obtain, the knowledge conveyed 
by it in its pages.” 
American History ; comprising Historical Sketches 
of the Indian Tribes ; a Description of American An¬ 
tiquities, with an Inquiry into their Origin, &c. By 
Marcius Willson, Author of School Plistory of the Uni¬ 
ted States, comprising a Chart of American History, 
etc. New York: Mark H. Newman & Co., pp. 672 
octavo. Price $2.50. We have long wanted such a 
work in our library for reference, for which purpose it 
is the very best of the kind yet published. It embraces 
a short account of all the principal events in the History 
of North America, from the discoveries by Columbus 
down to the present time, with the highly useful ap¬ 
pendage of marginal dates, analyses, notes, and a va¬ 
riety of maps and Illustrations. 
Picciola.— The Prisoner of Fenestrella, or Cap¬ 
tivity Captive. By X. B. Saintine, A New Edition, 
with Illustrations. Philadelphia : Lea and Blanchard, 
pp. 154, 12mo. Price 75 cents. This beautiful little 
work, which has assumed the position of a classic in 
several languages, has universally been read with sat¬ 
isfaction. It embraces a pleasing tale, not a romance, 
nor a drama, the scene of which is laid in Italy under the 
reign of Napoleon. For some, it will possess a charm, for 
others, utility, and for all its moral bearing is excellent. 
Memoirs of Madame De StaEl. and of Madame 
Roland. By L. Maria Child. A New Edition revise 
ed and enlarged. New York: C. S. Francis & Co., 
pp. 248, 18mo. Price 50 cents. No women have com¬ 
manded more admiration among their contemporaries 
than those celebrated in these memoirs. Both were of 
surpassing genius, differing in its kind; yet both were 
alike amiable and the centre of domestic affections. 
We rejoice in the good fortune of the one, and mourn 
over the tragic fate of the other. Perhaps it is on this 
account that we more admire Madame de Stael, and 
better love and more deeply sympathize with Madame 
Roland. The biographical sketches, in common with 
Mrs. Child’s productions, are spirited and poetical, and 
we heartily commend them to the perusal of the fe¬ 
males of America. 
The Horse and His Rider; or, Sketches and An¬ 
ecdotes of this Noble Gluadruped, and of Equestrian 
Nations. By Rollo Springfield. New York: Wiley 
& Putnam, pp. 203, 16mo. Price 75 cents. This is 
a pleasing little book, beautifully illustrated, and is 
worthy of the subject of which it treats. 
The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas 
Campbell, with a Memoir of his Life and an Essay 
on his Genius and Writings. Illustrated with Fine 
Steel Engravings. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 
pp. 330, 18mo. Price $1.50. To those who wish a 
handsome, neat, and cheap edition of the life and writ¬ 
ings of this immortal poet, their wants will be sup¬ 
plied by the present edition. 
Tower’s Kiln-Drying Apparatus.— This inven¬ 
tion consists of a frame-work built of brick, arched at 
the top, enclosing a sheet iron cylinder, made up of 
separate tubes about two inches square, coupled together 
by iron castings. An iron shaft passes through the 
cylinder, sustained by a support at each end, and over 
a pulley at one end of this shaft runs a belt from some 
of the machinery of the mill, which thus furnishes the 
motive power of the machine. The grain runs from 
a feeder into the head of the cylinder, thence into the 
tubes, and as the cylinder revolves, one end of it being 
elevated, the grain has a revolving motion, gradually 
passes forward, and through, into a receiver at the other 
end. A small furnace or common stove in the bottom 
of the kiln, with pipes passing from it under the cylin¬ 
der, furnishes the heat, and the rapidity of the drying 
rocess depends upon the fire and the elevation of the 
ead of the cylinder, both of which can be regulated at 
pleasure. 
A kiln of this description with a cylinder 13 feet 
long and 1G inches in diameter (which will require 
about twenty tubes), will readily dry from three to four 
hundred bushels per day, consuming not over half a 
cord of wood, requiring no attention except to regulate 
the heat; and the whole cost of the machine cannot ex¬ 
ceed one hundred dollars. 
Its capacity can readily be increased by increasing 
the size of the cylinder, or what probably would be 
preferable, by placing several in the same arch, and a 
trifling increase of expense will furnish a machine 
which will dry one thousand bushels per day. 
The great advantage of the invention is that the corn 
(and other grain can be dried in the same manner) has 
a constant rotary motion, and therefore is not burned 
on one side before it is dry on the other; thus the corn 
comes out as bright and yellow as when it left the ear, 
and an article of meal is furnished for market alto¬ 
gether superior in appearance and value. 
From the accounts received from gentlemen who 
have witnessed the operation of Col. Tower’s method of 
kiln drying, we have no doubt -of its entire success. It 
will prove of great advantage not only to the enterpris¬ 
ing farmers of the West, but to the corn-growers of 
our country at large. 
Price of Flour.— W'e are indebted to a friend for 
the following average of prices of flour in this city from 
the year 1824 to 1846 inclusive. It is an interesting 
and we believe a reliable statement. The averages 
have been taken on the prices during the season ot 
canal navigation. 
Years. 
Av. Price. 
High. Price. 
Lowest Price. Dlf. 
in 
Price. 
1824*. 
• ..$5 38 
$5 50 
$5 25 : 
$ 
25 
1825 • • 
....4 77 
4 87 
4 64 
24 
1826 • • 
....4 61 
5 13 
3- 88 
1 
25 
1827-• 
...•4 72 
5 75 
4 63 
1 
12 
1828.. 
7 50 
4 50 
3 
00 
1829-. 
7 00 
4 50 
2 
50 
1830*. 
...*5 19 
5 25 
4 88 
37 
1831.. 
6 25 
5 19 
1 
06 
1832.. 
6 25 
5 75 
50 
1833.. 
...5 55 
5 75 
5 38 
37 
1834- • 
..••5 01 
5 31 
4 81 
50 
1835*. 
...•6 34 
6 94 
5 75 
1 
19 
1836*. 
...•8 19 
10 00 
7 00 
3 
00 
1837- • 
...•9 64 
12 00 
8 50 
3 
50 
1838- • 
....8 09 
9 00 
7 00 
2 
00 
1839-. 
•<••6 99 
8 75 
6 00 
2 
75 
1840-. 
•.• -4 94 
5 63 
4 75 
88 
1841. • 
....5 61 
6 75 
4 88 
1 
87 
1842- . 
....5 36 
6 50 
4 13 
2 
37 
1843-. 
...4 93 
5 38 
4 50 
88- 
1844*. 
....4 53 
4 88 
4 13 
75 
1845-. 
....5 00 
6 88 
4 25 
2 
63 
1846-. 
...•4 90 
6 00 
3 75 
2 
25 
Highest average 
price $9.04 was in 1837; 
lowest 
average price $4.53 was in 1844. Highest price $12 
was in 1837; lowest price $3.75 was in 1846 .—Albany 
Argus. 
Show of the N. Y. State Ag. Society at Sara¬ 
toga. —Those w^ho intend to compete for premiums 
should remember that all the animals and articles must 
be ready for examination on Tuesday the 14th of Sep¬ 
tember. The first day will be devoted exclusively to the 
examination by the judges of the animals and articles 
exhibited, and no person will be admitted within the en¬ 
closure on that day but the officers, judges, and exhibi¬ 
tors. 
