28 
AMERICAN . AGRICULTURIST. 
CREEPING THINGS-THE SPIDER. 
Let me put a spider into any lady’s hand. 
She is aghast. She shrieks. The nasty ugly 
thing! Madam, the spider is, perhaps, shocked 
at your Brussels laces; and although you may 
be the most exquisite miniature painter living, 
the spider has a right to laugh at your coarse 
daubs as she runs over them. Just show her 
your crochet work when you shriek at her. 
“ Have you spent half your days,” the spider, 
if he be spiteful, may remark—“ have you 
spent half your days upon the clumsy anti-ma¬ 
cassars and these ottoman covers? My dear 
lady, is that your web ? If I were big enough, 
I might with reason drop you and cry out at 
you. Let me spend a day with you and bring 
my work. I have four little bags of thread—- 
such little bags! In every bag there are more 
than a thousand holes—such tiny, tiny holes! 
Out of each hole thread runs, and all the threads 
—more than four thousand threads—I spin to¬ 
gether as they run, and when they are all spun, 
they make but one thread of the web I weave. 
I have a member of my family who is herself 
no bigger than a grain of sand. Imagine what 
a slender web she makes, and of that, too, each 
thread is made of four or five thousand threads 
that have passed out of her four bags through 
four or five thousand little holes. Would you 
drop her too, crying out about your delicacy? 
A pretty thing indeed for you to plume your¬ 
self on your delicacy, and scream at us.” Hav¬ 
ing made such a speech, we may suppose that 
the indignant creature fastens a rope round one 
of the rough points of the lady’s hand, and lets 
herself down lightly to the floor. Coming down 
stairs is noisy, clumsy work, compared with 
such a way of locomotion. The creeping things 
we scorn are miracles of beauty. They are 
more delicate than any ormolu clock or any 
lady’s watch made for pleasure’s sake no bigger 
than a shilling. Lyonnet counted four thou¬ 
sand and forty-one muscles in a single caterpillar 
and these are a small part only of its works. 
Hooke found fourteen thousand mirrors in the 
eye of a bluebottle, and there are thirteen thou¬ 
sand three hundred separate bits, that go to 
provide for nothing but the act of breathing, in 
a carp.— Diclceyis' Household Words. 
-• c •-- 
BARBARITY OF EXPOSING CHILDREN’S LIMBS, 
I cannot pass without a word the barbarous 
regimen which custom and the ighorant con¬ 
victions of many parents, have prescribed for in¬ 
fants and young children. I allude to the prac¬ 
tice of half-dressing children, which is adopted 
in almost all weathers—sometimes with a view 
to show off; sometimes, as is said, to invigor¬ 
ate and harden the child. The continued im¬ 
pression of cold thus allowed to be made on the 
arms, shoulders, legs, and often the bodies of 
young children, must result, unless the power 
of the system bo very great, in gradually estab¬ 
lishing a congestive circulation that will favour 
the development of tubercles in the lungs, or 
mesenteric glands, of dropsy of the brain, of 
chronic diarrhoea, bronchitis, catarrh, and so 
on; to sa}^ nothing of the multitudes of the lit¬ 
tle sufferers cut off by croup and other acute 
inflammations. Parents should know, and not 
forget, that children have less power of gener¬ 
ating heat than adults; and that, consequently, 
in cool or cold weather their bodies and limbs 
should receive as careful an envelopment and 
protection as those of grown persons liable to 
the same degree of exposure; for a more care¬ 
ful and selfish attention of the latter to their 
own comfort and health will hardly admit of. 
One Thousand Horses and a Wife for an 
Agriculturist. — The Ilaeuse chief offers one 
thousand horses to any respectable white young 
mar, well recommended, who will marry his 
daughter—a girl of about eighteen—settle down 
among them, and teach them agriculture. The 
horses are worth from fifty to eighty thousand 
dollars. “ I have seen this valuable squaw,” 
says the editor of the Prairie Journal. “She 
is about the medium size, with tolerably regu¬ 
lar features, high cheek-bones, sloping forehead, 
black-eyed and darlrfhair. Her form is square 
and stout. Her long hair fell over her shoulders 
profusely ornamented with beads and shells. 
Her step is light and proud, her gait easy and 
graceful.” 
-- 
Boston and New-England. —From recent 
statistics published, it appears that Boston has 
a valuation at the present, time of nearly three 
times that of the State of Maine, and about as 
much as the States of Vermont, New-Harnp- 
shire, and Rhode Island combined. The ex¬ 
penses of the city government of Boston ex¬ 
ceed those of the six State governments of New- 
England ! The banking capital of Boston, with 
the recent and contemplated additions, will be 
only one-fourth less than that of New-York 
city, twice that of Philadelphia and Baltimore 
combined, and probably more than the aggre¬ 
gate capital of Maine, Nevv-Hampshire, Ver¬ 
mont, and Rhode Island.— Boston Traveller. 
Size of the West. —Illinois would make 
forty such States as Rhode Island, and Min¬ 
nesota sixty. Missouri is larger than all New- 
England. Ohio exceeds either Ireland, or 
Scotland, or Portugal, and equals Belgium, 
Scotland, and Switzerland together. Missouri 
is more than half as large as Italy, and larger 
than Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Swit¬ 
zerland. Missouri and Illinois are larger than 
Englaud, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. 
- • ® • - 
The Rochester American says that the day 
before Prof. Agassiz’s departure, he bought a 
“string of fish” of a boy in the street, which 
contained ten specimens of a species never de¬ 
scribed by nny naturalist. The fish were 
caught in Irondequoit Bay, and come under 
the general designation of “ sun-fish” among 
anglers. 
A CHAP walking with a lady, stumbled, and 
accidently fell. The lady, thinking to com¬ 
miserate his mishap, observed that she regretted 
his “unlucky faux pas.” “I didn’t hurt my 
fore paws,” replied he, “ it was my knee.” 
“Don’t touch me, or I’ll scream !” as the en¬ 
gine-whistle said to the stoker. 
Mrs. Partington says that she has noticed 
that whether flour was dear or cheap, she had 
invariably to pay the same amount of money 
for fifty cents’ worth. 
-© Q ©- 
SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS. 
We find that by using such good paper, our 
volume of 832 pages will be quite large to bind, 
and especially large for those who wish to stitch 
their paper together with an index, without be¬ 
ing at the expense of binding. To obviate this, 
we have concluded to be at the expense and 
trouble of making out an extra index with No. 
26, so as to form a complete volume of the first 
26 numbers. The index for the next 26 num¬ 
bers will be given at the end of the year, or with 
No. 52. This arrangement will make it conve¬ 
nient for all, as the 52 numbers can be stitched 
or bound in two volumes with an index for each, 
or in one volume with the double index at the 
close. 
We hope all will preserve their numbers, for 
there are many single articles each of which will 
be worth the price of the volume, for future ref¬ 
erence. When the paper arrives from the post- 
office, a good plan is to see that it is properly 
folded, and then pin or sew it through the mid¬ 
dle and cut open the leaves. It is very easy to 
stitch 26 numbers together. To do this, arrange 
them in regular order, and with an awl punch 
several holes about one-fourth of an inch from 
the back, and through these run a strong thread 
two or three times with a darning-needle, and 
the work is done. We have scores of volumes 
of papers, pamphlets, and addresses, thus pre¬ 
pared, which serve all the purposes of a bound 
volume, and occupy less room in storing and 
carrying. We would, however, prefer to see 
volumes of agricultural papers neatly bound and 
laid upon the book-shelves or tables of farmers. 
They are much better and more appropriate or¬ 
naments, than gilded volumes of trashy maga¬ 
zines or novels. 
ONE WORD MORE.—We thank our friends 
for the liberal aid they have afforded us in ex¬ 
tending the circulation of the Agriculturist. 
Our list has increased beyond our expectation, 
and we are daily encouraged to labor with the 
utmost diligence, to make our paper worthy of 
the confidence and admiration of our largely in¬ 
creasing list of readers. Our reliance for the 
continuance and increase of our list is upon 
those who are already readers. As stated above, 
we now divide the year so as to give either one 
or two complete volumes of the 52 numbers. 
This number begins the second volume or half 
of the year. We respectfully request all our 
present subscribers to make a little exertion at 
this time, and each send us on at least one new 
name. If you cannot get your neighbors to 
send on for a year, ask them to try the paper 
for six months, as in that time they will get a 
complete volume of 416 pages with index for $1, 
or less if clubs are formed. Where clubs al¬ 
ready exist new names may be added at the 
same rate, and these names may be at differ¬ 
ent post-offices. See the last page for terms, 
special notices to subscribers, &c. 
To Correspondents. —We have several com¬ 
munications on hand which we will look over 
as soon as we have time, and some of them will 
be published. It is no trifling labor to prepare 
for the printer many communications which we 
receive. Some are written so closely that there 
is not room to put in corrections, without re¬ 
writing the whole. We cheerfully prepare ar¬ 
ticles, unless there is manifest want of care on 
the part of the writer. If he does as well as he 
can, we make all needful changes and correc¬ 
tions. 
As most writers doubtless wish to improve 
their own style, we suggest to them to keep an 
exact copy of their communications, and then 
compare this copy with the printed sheet. They 
may often learn something in this way. 
We are not anxious to receive original poetry. 
We have little space for rhyme, and we have 
good selections enough to last us a year at least. 
Good poetry, however, will not be rejected; but 
we advise all who attempt to write in verse to 
remember, that good rhyme does not constitute 
good poetry ; on the contrary, some of the best 
poetry we have ever seen does not “ rhyme" at 
all, while some of the best rhyme contains not a 
single poetic sentiment. 
IJarluk 
Remarks.— There has been quite a panic in 
Flour the past week, and a much greater fall in 
the price than any week for a long time past. 
The fall has been at least 62-J- to 75 cts. perbbl.; 
and if the articles were pressed hard upon pur¬ 
chasers, it would be still lower. Some think 
there will be a reaction soon; but with the 
large arrivals that are now expected on the open¬ 
ing of Lake, River, and Canal navigation, noth¬ 
ing save a great advance in Europe will ever 
keep Flour up to its present price. Wheat has 
given way 10 to 12 cts. per bushel. Corn is 3 
to 5 cts. per bushel less. Rye and Barley have 
fallen but little, while Oats remain nearly the 
same. Provisions about the same. Clover not 
high by one cent per lb. Wool, nothing 
rth noting. 
