boys’ department. 
99 
It has often been asked why the women of Eng¬ 
land have better complexions, and more health¬ 
ful looks than those of the United States. The 
humidity of the climate is doubtless one cause of 
the greater, and more lasting delicacy of the skin ; 
but the bright bloom of their cheeks is the effect of 
regular, systematic exercise. English ladies of 
even the highest rank, wear thick leather shoes, 
and walk every day six or eight miles without re¬ 
gard to the weather, and with no other object than 
the preservation of health. 
1 will close with the assurance, affectionately 
urged upon all who may have had patience to read 
thus far, that early rising, cold-water bathing, and 
daily exercise in the open air, as they promote 
health and cheerfulness, are the only cosmetics an 
American woman should dare employ. E. S. 
Eutawah , January 5th, 1848. 
Bobs* ^Department. 
TECHNICAL WORDS A DETRIMENT TO AGRI¬ 
CULTURAL SCIENCE. 
Soon after receiving the Agriculturist for No¬ 
vember, 1847, my eldest son, an inquisitive lad in 
his seventeenth year, came to me with the follow¬ 
ing complaint:—‘f I wish the printers of papers 
wouldn’t use so many hard words that nobody but 
doctors and professors can understand. Here’s an 
article in the Agriculturist on the ‘ Effects of Azo- 
tized Manures,’ by the use of which it is stated, 
that grain, grass, and turnips will grow to double 
their ordinary size, and by which many poor, sandy 
soils can be made rich. Now if this be true, 1 
should like to know what this manure is, where 
and how it is obtained, and of what substances it is 
composed.” 
I bid him look in the works of Chaptal, Liebig, 
and Johnson, under the head of “Azote,” where he 
would probably find the manure in question de¬ 
scribed. The disheartened boy replied that he had 
searched all these works, and had read all about 
azote, but at every few lines he had been “ bam¬ 
boozled by some bog-like phrase, or hard-mouthed, 
crack-jawed word, which would puzzle Noah 
Webster himself to understand.” 
Now, Mr. Editor, I will admit that technicalities 
are very proper in some cases, as, for instance, the 
Latin names of animals and plants, in works treat¬ 
ing on Natural History : for, in order to avoid con¬ 
fusion, it is necessary that there should be a univer¬ 
sal language in which to express these names, in a 
manner to be understood by all civilized nations of 
the globe; but the abstruse, no-meaning terms, or 
bastard words, half Greek, half Latin, with which 
many works are filled, appear to me to be a stum¬ 
bling block in the road to knowledge, and are un¬ 
worthy of the age in which we live. Perspicuity, 
in works of science, is as essential as in those of 
general literature 5 and it may truly be said, that 
the progress of discovery teaches us that the sub- 
limest phenomena are dependent on the most simple 
principles, so that we may be assured that there is 
no truth in nature which may not be communicated 
in language so plain and intelligible that it can be 
comprehended by all. 
I would suggest, therefore, Mr. Editor, that you 
or some other one, well acquainted with the subject, 
would write a series of articles for the Boys’ Depart¬ 
ment on “Agricultural Chemistry,” expressed in 
popular language, with such explanations or illus¬ 
trations that they may be clearly understood by the 
most ordinary capacity, who will give them a care¬ 
ful perusal. G. 
Hartford, Ct., January 28th , 1848. 
The suggestion of our correspondent, we think a 
good one. We can readily conceive the perplex¬ 
ing situation in which one is placed, with an array 
of hard words before him, the meaning of which he 
cannot understand. We do not fully agree with 
our friend, however, in supposing that any of the 
natural sciences or their collateral branches, can be 
properly treated of without the use of technical lan¬ 
guage to some extent. For we contend that there is 
nothing in nature, whether material or immaterial, or¬ 
ganic, or inorganic—whether dead or alive, or ex¬ 
ists in fire, air, earth, or water, but necessarily, 
must have a name, and requires appropriate, though 
simple language to describe its properties, actions, 
and manner of being acted upon. 
How, for instance, are we to express ourselves 
when we wish to speak of any of the 55 simple 
substances, forming, according to the present state 
of our knowledge, the elements of the whole mass 
of the material creation 1 Among these, there are 
Five gases, or vapors, namely, oxygen, hydrogen, 
nitrogen or azote, chlorine, and fluorine. 
Eight non-metallic solids and fluids— sulphur , 
phosphorus, selenium, iodine, bromine, boron, carbon , 
and silicon. 
Three metallic bases of the alkalies— potassium , 
sodium , and lithium. 
Four metallic bases of the alkaline earths— bari¬ 
um, strontium, calcium, and magnesium . 
Five metallic bases of the earths— aluminum, 
yttrium, glucinum , zirconium, and thorium. 
And thirty metals, such as gold, silver, iron, cop¬ 
per, lead, tin, zinc, platinum, and others, the 
names of which it is unnecessary here to repeat, as, 
with the exception of those enumerated above, they 
are not of much importance in the common con¬ 
cerns of life. 
We wish that some practical agriculturist, or 
chemist, who well understands the subject, would 
furnish our youthful readers with a series of arti¬ 
cles, as proposed by our friend above. We see no 
reason why it cannot be done, if the young tyros 
will well act their part, and turn to their dictiona¬ 
ries whenever they meet with a word, the meaning 
of which they cannot comprehend. 
A Lesson for the Boys. —Seven classes of 
company all boys should avoid:— 1 . Those who 
ridicule their parents and disobey their commands. 
2 . Those who profane the Sa,bbath, or scoff at re¬ 
ligion. 3. Those who use profane or filthy lan¬ 
guage. 4. Those who are unfaithful, play truant, 
and waste their time in idleness. 5. Those who 
are of quarrelsome temper and apt to get into diffi¬ 
culty with others. 6 . Those who are addicted to 
lying and stealing. 7. Those who are of a cruel 
disposition ; who take pleasure in torturing and 
maiming animals and insects, and robbing - birds 
of their young .—Exchange Paper. 
