208 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
The Travels of a Letter. 
Some time since Mr. Edwin James, of New-York, 
sent to the office of the American Agriculturist a very 
odd looking letter envelope. .Above is an engraving of it. 
It was placed in a Post Office in England, by Mr. James, 
directed to “ Mr. John Sherriff, East Buckland, Thurles- 
ton.” The Postmaster at that place could not find Mr. 
Sherriff. but thinking he might be at Derby, forwarded 
the letter there. The Postmaster at Derby had no better 
success, and tried another place, and so the letter travel- 
e I on in search of Mr. Sherriff, in every place where it 
'w as thought he might be found, and failing to reach him, 
it w as finally sent back to its writer, Mr. James, contain¬ 
ing the marks of fourteen Post Offices, through which it 
had passed, and all this trouble cost but one penny. This 
shows how much care is taken in England to have letters 
properly delivered, or returned to their writers, if the 
persons addressed can not be found. We hope our own 
Post Office system may soon be as complete as this. 
A Wealthy Sentinel. 
The following anecdote is related of a soldier in the 
English army in 1774, who was called out with his Com¬ 
pany to resist an expected invasion. He was of German 
birth and very rich. It fell to his lot one cold wet night 
to be stationed as sentinel over a baggage wagon. In 
about half an hour after taking his place, he called out, 
“ Corporal of de guard !” The corporal came and in¬ 
quired what he wanted. He asked to be relieved a few 
moments while he spoke to the commanding officer of the 
regiment. Ilis request was granted and soon he stood 
before the general. “ I wish to know,” said he, making 
his salute, “ what that wagon is worth which I was 
placed to guard.” “ I can not say exactly,” was the re¬ 
ply. “ Never mind the exact amount, come somewhere 
near it.” “A thousand dollars,” said the general. “Well 
then general;” said the comfort-loving soldier, “ I will 
write a check for the money, and then I will go to bed.” 
He was very much astonished and highly indignant, 
when told the rules of the camp admitted no such trans¬ 
action, but-he must do his duty until regularly relieved. 
Carious Freak of si Men. 
Mrs. S. A. Smith, Green Lake Co., Wis., writes to the 
American Agriculturist describing the singular conduct 
of a hen in her neighborhood. She was determined to 
sit. but her eggs were taken away and she driven off sev¬ 
eral times. Finding no prospect of securing a family in 
the natural way, she adopted oilier and rather extraordi¬ 
nary means to accomplish her object. She came across 
an old cat with a litter of kittens in the barn, drove away 
the mother, and took the little ones under her own pro¬ 
tection. Two of them were dark colored, and one yel¬ 
low ; the latter she would not own at first, but finally ad¬ 
mitted her under her wings with the rest. How she pro- 
posed.to nourish her strange brood does not appear, but 
when she was driven away from them, she fought as de¬ 
terminedly as though they had been her own chickens. 
Such perseverance deserved a nestful of eggs over which 
her maternal instincts could have been fully satisfied. 
Use Plenty of Fresli Air. 
The earth is surrounded with an ocean of air, forty-five 
miles deep. There is plenty of it for every living crea¬ 
ture, for all time to come, and ample provision has been 
made by the Creator to keep it pure and fit to be breathed 
and sustain life. It is well for us that this is so ; without 
it all must soon die. How does breathing keep us alive ? 
To understand the matter it is necessary first to know 
something about the blood and its circulation in the 
body. This fluid is made up of particles taken from the 
food. By means of the heart, and small tubes ( arteries) 
leading from it, it is carried to every part of the body, 
and from it ate taken materials for flesh, bone, skin, 
hair, etc., to increase the growth, or to supply the place 
of those parts which have been worn out by use. The 
blood having been distributed to every part of the body 
through the arteries, passes into another set of tubes 
(veins,) which conduct it back towards the heart, going 
through the lungs on its way. On its way thither it re¬ 
ceives into its current, the waste or worn out particles 
which are no longer fit to sustain the system. These are 
largely made up of a substance called carbon, which you 
often see in the form of charcoal, or nearly pure carbon. 
When the blood reaches the lungs, it is there divided 
through myraids of minute veins, each one of which 
passes around an exceedingly small sac or cell of very 
thin membrane or skin, which is filled with the air drawn 
in by taking breath. While passing around these cells, 
a surprising change takes place in the blood. One part 
of the air called oxygen, passes through the membrane, 
unites with the carbon, forming a new compound called 
carbonic acid gas, and this is expelled from the lungs and 
through the mouth and nose by expiration or breathing 
out. This gas is poisonous; any animal confined in it 
very soon dies. Thus you see breathing keeps us alive 
by bringing in air to purify the blood. If the waste par¬ 
ticles were not thus separated, they would soon poison 
the whole system. If this process is stopped by any 
means, death very speedily follows, as in the case of 
choking or drowning, which prevent the air from enter¬ 
ing the lungs. If the air itself is impure from having 
been breathed once or twice and thus partly changed into 
carbonic acid gas, it can not purify the blood, but will 
poison it, and if this be continued, disease and death will 
be the consequence. From this it is easy to see the ne¬ 
cessity of having plenty of fresh air in houses ; of venti¬ 
lating them, to allow the impure atmosphere to escape, 
and the pure air to enter. An equally important lesson 
to be learned, is to allow the lungs to draw in all the air 
possible, that the blood may be thoroughly purified. 
This is often prevented by wearing tight clothing, but 
more frequently by sitting or standing with the shoulders, 
thrown forward and the body half bent. Such a position 
prevents the lungs from expanding fully, they grow 
smaller, the shoulders become rounded, the chest narrow, 
and thousands become consumptive and die from disease 
brought on in this way. Throw back the shoulders, 
hold up the head, sit and stand erect, and give the lungs 
full play. This gives a finer form more vigorous health, 
and longer life. The habit of doing this, or of neglecting 
it will be formed in youth, and we desire that every girl 
and boy who reads the American Agriculturist should 
grow up strong in body, in intellect, and pure in heart. 
New Puzzles to be Answered. 
U M/A 
No. 100. Illustrated Rebus .—Good advice for the times. 
No. 101. Geographical Questions proposed by “Harry 
Greenwood,” Belchertown, Mass. 1. How many “ Uni¬ 
on Counties,” are there in the Southern States ? 2. How 
many “Lincoln” Counties ? 3. In what State is McClel¬ 
lan County ? 4. How many “ Coffee ” Counties in the 
Southern States ? 5. In which States are Sampson and 
Sunflower Counties?—The studying out of such ques¬ 
tions will add to one’s geographical knowledge. 
No. 102. Transposed Poetry. —Contributed to the Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist by L. E. Hewins, Norfolk Co., Mass.: 
How will it read, if rightly arranged ? 
' Nowebotdrahebtsum,ezirpewerusaerteht 
Nuhsylsuoiditsafew,tegotysaesitahw. 
No. 103. Mathematical Problem. —A and B, with C 
working half the time can do a piece of work in 21 days ; 
B and C, with D half the time can do it in 24 days; C 
and D, with A half the time, in 28 days ; D and A, with 
B half the time, in 32 days. In how many days can each 
do it alone ; how long will it take when all work together ? 
XXB 
ABED 
No. 104. Illustrated Reins.—Worth remembering by all. 
Answers to Problems and Puzzles. 
The following are answers to the puzzles in the Sep¬ 
tember number, page 274. No. 96. Illustrated Rebus .— 
C on st ant drop in g wares a stone; or, Constant dropping 
wears a stone. No. 97. Word Puzzle. —The seven nouns 
are the names of the days of the week. No. 98. Illus¬ 
trated Rebus.—A still tongues peak saw eyes head; ora 
still tongue speaks a wise head. No. 99. Double Geograph¬ 
ical Acrostic. —First, Augusta; Second, Trenton. 1, 
Ararat; 2, Ulster ; 3, Greece ; 4, Union ; 5, Scheldt; 6, 
Toronto: 7, Androscoggin. 
The following have sent in correct answers up to Sep¬ 
tember 19th. Henry H. Osgood, 93, 95 ; Mrs. Mary Neu- 
som, 93; William Scott Holland, 93; E. P. Harnish, 96, 
98, 99 ; George G. Parker, 99; Frederick E. Parker, 99. 
(Business Notices, $1.25 Cents per Line of Space.) 
The Best and Cheapest Farming 
LANDS IN THE WHOLE WEST, ARE THOSE OF 
NORTHERN MISSOURI. 
Rebels are moving away and are selling for whatever they 
can get. An extensive immigration from the Northern 
States and from Europe already begun, will soon occupy that 
part or the State and develope its immense natural wealth. 
Free and full information given on application to 
ELI TH AYER, 1 Park Place, New-York. 
Hot Water Farfiiaces 
for Wanning Grecn-liouses, Conservato¬ 
ries, Graperies, Are. 
WEATHERED & CHEREVOY, ’.17 Prince-st,, New-York. 
Win. 99. BE VNB.Dri'T, Architect. 
Hohokus, Bergen County, N. J. 
ke’'TIE TRUE CAPE COD CRANBERRY for Octo- 
La her planting, for Upland and garden culture, and for 
swamps, tinder my method of cultivation the yield last sea¬ 
son on Upland was over 400 bushels per acre. Explicit di¬ 
rections for cultivation with prices of plants, with nursery 
catalogue complete, will he sent to any address. 
B. M. WATSON, (Old Colony Nurseries, Plymouth, Mass. 
