KER 
Spice from Jfnw Books 
osititx of the Arctic Regions," by uapt. muolintuuk. 
How to Secure Progress. 
National progress is the sura of individual 
industry, energy, and uprightness, as national de¬ 
cay is of individual idleness, selfishness, and vice. 
What are we accustomed to decry ns great social 
evils will, for the most part, be found to he only 
the outgrowth of our own perverted life; and tho’ 
we may endeavor to cat them down and extirpate 
them by means of law, they will only spring up 
again with fresh luxuriance in some other form, 
unless the individual conditions of human life 
and character are radically improved. If this 
bo correct, then it follows that the highest 
The Grinders of Sheffield. 
The Edinburgh Review, for January, furnishes 
an exceedingly interesting article upon the “Mor¬ 
tality in Trades and Professions," drawn out be¬ 
cause of the recent appearance of several works 
treating upon this important topic. Foremost 
among those artisans who suffer from the inhala¬ 
tion of dust and other gritty particles given off in 
the pursuit of their employment, are tho grinders 
of Sheffield, 3nd Hr. J. C. Hall, in a series of pa¬ 
pers, recently published, draws a picture of the 
condition of these unfortunate men, which is, in¬ 
deed, appalling: 
“Grinding is divided into dry, wet, and mixed; 
that is, the various articles of steel turned out of 
the cutlers' shops of Sheffield, are subjected to the 
stone entirely dry, revolving in water, or to pro¬ 
cesses involving both methods. Of the three, the 
former is by far the most deadly; forks, needles, 
brace-hits, etc., are ground entirely on the dry 
stone, and the amount of finely divided metal dust 
and siliciona grit given out in tho process may he 
imagined, when we state that a dozen of razors, 
weighing two pounds four ounces as they come 
from the forge in the rough, lose, in the process 
of‘shaping' on the dry stone upward of five 
ounces, and the stone itself, seven inches in dima- 
eter, would be reduced one inch. To receive the 
mixture of stone and steel dust thus rapidly given 
off, the position of the grinder is but too conven¬ 
ient; straddled across his ‘horsing,’ as the framo 
in which the grindstone revolves is called, with 
his knees bent in an acute angle, his body inclined 
forward, and his head hanging over the work, 
his mouth is bronchi into fatal contact with the 
poisonous dust, and his eyes with the rush of the 
sparks. Pork-grinding is performed entirely on 
the dry stone, and consequently it is tho most 
deadly occupation pursued In Sheffield. About 
500 men and boys are at present devoting them¬ 
selves to destruction during tho period of early 
manhood, for the benefit of the users of steel 
forks. ‘The silver fork school’ imagines, per¬ 
haps, that these vile appliances have long been 
banished to the same limbo as snuffers, and will 
he surprised to learn that more steel forks than 
ever are thus fashioned in Sheffield, and the poor 
WEALTH AND POVERTY, 
In the Rural of the 21st Jan., A. W., of Ken¬ 
tucky, writes on the “Advantages of Wealth.” 
He says:—“When a young man is born poor, he 
should not thank God for it.” Now, T would ask, 
if ho is not to thank God for it, what is ho to do? 
not to curse him, surely. If ho is poor — if he 
has a strong body and sound mind—he is in pos¬ 
session of two Inestimable blessings, of which 
many are deprived; and is ho not to thank Gon 
for these ? Secondly, he quotes approvingly 
Lockk, who says "that the middle-aged plowman 
will scarce ever be brought to the carriage and 
language of a gentleman,” Ac. Now, 1 firmly 
believe that gold docs not bring good manuers 
with it. We often see, or have seen, young of 
the poorer class move with all tho “conscious 
case of those of the best breeding,” while some 
of tho young of upper-toudoru, not knowing 
what good manners are, have so much of ftffeota- 
tion about them as to render themselves disgust¬ 
ing to every well-brod person. Again, ho says, 
that those roared in poverty carry with them to 
the grave “the insatiable love of acquisition.” 
Now, who is it that “shaves tho poor man's 
notc.B?” Who is it that turns the poor man out 
in tho street, in a cold wintry night, simply be¬ 
cause he has not been able to pay the rent at the 
precise stated time? Who is it that will ride all 
over town to find a man that.will do his work for 
half of the ordinary wages? I say, who is it 
that does these, and more than these ? The 
answer is, the wealthy man. And what instigates 
him to do these things? “The insatiable love of 
acquisition.” Again, before this, A. W. asks if 
those whose “hands are rough and unshapely 
from toll ” should thank God. T say again, as 
I did before, that they surely should not curse 
Him, hill, rather invoke divine blessings upon 
themselves and upon the labor done by those 
“rough, unshapely hands,” at the same time. 
A. W. speaks of the golden hours of youth irro- 
. triovably lost for study. We believe in the good 
old adage, “ that where there is a will there is a 
way;” and I believe that when a young man or 
young woman takes tho ground and says, I mil 
have an education— 1 will till a high and noble 
position in life—I will not ho a mere “drone in 
( the hive”—they will surely succeed, and thus be- 
C come an honor to their country and a blessing to 
mankind. Young persons can realize all of the 
view 
patriotism and philanthropy consist, not so much 
in altering laws and modifying institutions, as in 
helping and stimulating men to elevate and im¬ 
prove themselves by their own free and independ¬ 
ent action as individuals.— Self-Help, by Samuel 
Smiles. 
Help Yourself. 
“ Heaven helps those who help themselves” is 
a well-worn maxim, embodying in a small com¬ 
pass the results of vast human experience. The 
spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine 
growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the 
lives of many, it constitutes the true source of 
national vigor and strength. Help from without 
is often enfeebling in its effects, but help from 
within invariably invigorates. Whatever is done 
for men or classes, to a certain extent takes away 
the stimulus and necessity of doing for them¬ 
selves; and where inon are subjected to over- 
government, the.inevitable tendency is to render 
them comparatively helpless.— Ibid- 
Self-Improvement. 
The greatest results in life are usually attained 
by simple means and the exercise of ordinary 
qualities. The common life of every day, with 
its cares, necessities, and duties, affords ample op¬ 
portunity for acquiring experience of the best 
kind, and its most beaten paths provide tho true 
worker with ample scope for effort and room for 
self-improvement. The great high-road of human 
welfare lies along the old highway of steadfast 
well-doing, and they who are the most persistent, 
and work in the truest spirit, will invariably be 
the most successful.— Ibid. 
DIVISIONS OF TIME, 
Morphy's Games: A Selection of the Host Games Played 
by the Distinguished Champion, in Europe and America. 
With Analytical and Critical Notes by .1. Lowexthal. 
[16mo.—pp, 473.] Ne w York: D. Appleton At Co. 
[16mo.—pp. 473.] 
In tho beautiful stylo so characteristic of the publish¬ 
ing house from which tills volume emanates, we are 
presented with more than ono hundred and fifty games 
contested by PAUL Morphy against the best players of 
Europe and America. A collection like this cannot but 
be welcomed by all those who delight in the intricacies 
of chess, especially when it Is remembered that the task 
of analyzing and preparing was allotted to the masterly 
mind of Lowentual, The reputation gained by Mr. I,, 
in his former labors for the honor of Crush, is sufficient 
guarantee for the faithfulness and energy brought to bear 
in tho production of tho work before us. The copions 
notes which the volume contains are. a portion of this 
gentleman's labors, and w ill well repay every votary of 
the game. Mr. Mounter's best games, as a general thing, 
are those brought to the eye of tho reader; those played 
blindfolded, and his matches, however, ate given entire. 
A brief and well-written sketch of the youthful champion 
prefaces the description of the fields he has entered, and 
the battles in which he came off victor. For sale by 
Adams A Daunky. 
CURIOSITIES OF THE SUNBEAM. 
Simple as tho white ray of the sun's light 
appears, it is found, on dose observation, to be 
composed of at least three distinct elements, and 
to possess many curious and wonderful properties. 
The three elements of wl' wo speak, are light, 
heat, and chemical force; and they may be sepa¬ 
rated from each other by means of a very simple 
instrument. Darken a room, and bore a small 
hole through ono of tho window-shutters, so as to 
admit n ray of light from the sun. Place a tri¬ 
angular prism of glass horizontally across tho ray, 
with one edge down, so that tho light may pass 
through it,. The ray will be bent upward, and 
will strike the wall at a higher point than before 
the prism was interposed. Tt will not, however, 
all be bent equally, so as to muke the round spot 
it did before, but will form an elongated image of 
brilliant and moat delicate colors, which 
GRASSHOPPERS, 
Eds. Rural New-Yokkek:—I notice in your 
paper of .January 14th, some inquiries, made by 
it. G. H., of Oswego county, N, Y., about Grass¬ 
hoppers. Not presuming to impart “any posi¬ 
tive knowledge,” I will simply give what I have 
seen. About tho beginning of August, 1850, on re¬ 
turning to my work, after dinner, my attention 
was attracted by the great number of grasshop¬ 
pers flying from the path before mo. I looked to 
bcc where they alighed, and to my astonishment, 
there were as many beside tho path as in it; and, 
not only this, hut the atmosphere was filled with 
them, coming from the northwest and descend¬ 
ing to the ground. They alighted among us, 
and the result was, our crops wore cut short, and 
in many places the corn and potatoes were en¬ 
tirely stripped of their leaves. They devoured 
everything before thorn—even eating bits of wood, 
gnawing the fences, clothes-lines and clothes.— 
They would couie into our houses, eat our bed¬ 
clothes, &c. 
“Their wings becoming affected bo that they 
are unable to injure the crops,” I am inclined 
to think is an erroneous idea, for they can hop 
and crawl without wings. 
It was about the beginning of August they first 
appeared among us, uud during that and the fol¬ 
lowing month, they were very much engaged in 
depositing their eggs In the ground, which they 
did by means of a sword-shaped bone, or protu¬ 
berance, similar to that with which tho locusts 
splits the twig of trees to deposit their eggs. I 
am unable to say how many eggs a single female 
will deposit, yet it is certainly very great In pro¬ 
portion to the size of the Insect. The eggs are 
about the size of a small radish seed and very 
similar In shape, of a dirty whitish color.— 
The latter part of September and October, 
the old ones were all dead. The eggs remained 
in the ground, (thermometer ranged to 4;V below 
zero.) and in the month of May the tiny grasshop¬ 
per.^ made their appearance. In many instances 
the plow would turn up the eggs, and when they 
came in contact with the rays of the sun, the little 
black things would pop out, completely lining the 
ground. Impelled by some, to me unkunwu, mo¬ 
tive, they immediately commenced their march 
from the northwest, devouring fields of winter 
grain, oats, potatoes, onions, Ac,, and this, too, be¬ 
fore there was any sign of wings. By the latter 
part of July their wings were sufficiently dcvel- 
seven 
shade into each other and fade away indefinitely 
at the ends of the image. The lowest of these 
colors, when the prism is placed as directed, is 
always red; and the others, in the order as wo 
ascend, arc orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, 
and violet. Suspend a delicate thermometer in 
each of the colored rays, and it will be found that 
the violet ray imparts the least heat, and that the 
heat increases as we pass down through the seve¬ 
ral colors. If we continue our observations with 
the thermometer down beyond the red ray, wc 
find a point, where no light falls, where the ther¬ 
mometer receives more heat than it does any¬ 
where within tho light. The rays of light are 
separated by the prism from those of heat. 
Another curious fact which has been observed, 
also proves that the light and heat, of the sunbeum 
are distinct elements. If wc suspend a thermom¬ 
eter in the vicinity of a close stove, which emits 
heat but not light, the heat radiating from the 
stove will raise the mercury in the thermometer. 
But if we interpose a plate of transparent glass, 
none of these dark rays of heat can pass through 
if we now 
The Compel in Burmah; The Story of its Introduction 
and Marvelous Progress among the Burmese and 
Karens. By Mrs. Maci.kod Wylie, (pp, 332.] 
This volume breathes such a true Christian spirit, and 
exhibits so much fervor iti enterprises of a missionary 
Character, that it cannot but aid In developing, among 
those who peruse it, a feeling of interest iu all kindred 
endeavors, Mrs, Maci.kod Wylik heing a resident of 
Calcutta, enjoying a perfect knowledge of the history of 
events connected with tho labors of missionaries on the 
field, and with very runny of the laborers themselves, she 
is, therefore, well qualified for the work of giving a 
succinct history of the efforts put forth, and privations 
endured by those who have devoted their lives to the 
spread of the “ Story of the Cross ” among the heathen. 
Rochester— Steele, Avery & Co. 
Edinburgh Review. Re-printed by Leonard Scott & 
Co., New York. 
A very interesting number of the old “ Scotch Quar¬ 
terly” is the one now before us. Ten standard articles 
fill its pages, as follows:—Mortality in Trades and Profes¬ 
sions; Rawlinson's Herodotus; Rogers on the Coal Fields 
of North America and Great Britaiu; Lord Elgin's Mis. 
sion to Chiua and Japan; Alison's History of Europe; 
Acclimatization of Animals; Progress of Legal Reform; 
Souvenirs and Correspondence of Madame Reeamier; 
British Taxation; Lord Macaulay, etc., ete. A3 the vol¬ 
ume begins with the present issue, those who may wish 
to supply themselves with solid literature, have now an 
excellent opportunity for so doing. Dkwey, Agent. 
set till sun-riso. Thu Chiuese begin theirs an 
hour before midnight, and divide the rotation into 
12 parts of 2 of our hours, and give a name to 
each division. The Hindoos divide their days 
Into four watches, aud each watch into guhrees of 
twenty-four minutes each. 
it; it is entirely opaque to them 
increase the temperature of the stove until it 
becomes red-hot, the mys of heat begin to pass 
through the glass and affect the thermometer; 
and if we raise the temperature to a white heat, 
the rays pass freely through the glass. If we 
vary the experiment, and use crystals of rock 
salt, in-tead of glass, we find that the dark rays 
of heat pass out as freely through the salt as do 
those which are accompanied with light. 
Some of the alchemists discovered, centuries 
ago, that the chloride of silver, which Is as white 
as snow, turns black on exposure to the light; 
ami more recently it has been found that a large 
number of bodies are thus affected by light, it is 
this power of light which is used in the daguer¬ 
reotype and photograph process. By more than 
one means, the force of thi3 element can he mea¬ 
sured in the several parts of the spectrum, and it 
is found to be most powerful in the violet ray, and 
to extend entirely beyond the light, it is not 
visible to the eye; and it is, therefore, neither 
light nor heat. It is easy, after thus dividing the 
sunbeam, to re-combine its iiarts, when the white 
ray will prodnee the several effects of light, of 
heat, and of chemical change, which are pro¬ 
duced separately by its several elements.— Scien¬ 
tific American. 
-- 
One watch, set right, will do to try many by; 
but, on the other hand, one that goes wrong may 
be the means of misleading a whole neighbor¬ 
hood; and the same may be said of the example 
we individually set to those around us. 
ACTIVITY OF BIRDS. 
Oriental and Western Siberia: A Narrative of Seven 
Year’s Explorations and Adventures in Siberia, Mon¬ 
golia, The Ivirghis Steppes, Chinese Tartary, and part 
of Central Asia. By Thomas Witlam ATKINSON. 
Witii Nuineronililustrationg. [pp. tSJ ] Philadelphia: 
J. W. Bradley. From the Publishers. 
The Teacher’s Assistant, Oi Hint- and Methods in 
School Discipline uud Instruction; Being a Scries of 
Familiar Letters to one entering upon the Teacher's 
Work. By Charles Noktuknd, A. M,,author of -The 
Teacher and Parent,” etc. [pp. 358 ] Boston: Crosby, 
Nichols & Co. 
Homeward Bound: or. The Chase. A Tale of the Sea. 
Bv J. Fesimoke Cooper. Illustrated from Drawings 
by F. 0. C. Baulky. [12mo.— pp. 532] New York: 
W. A. Tow use ml & Co. Rochester—E. K Hall, Athen¬ 
aeum Bookstore, No. 2 Athenaeum Building. 
Notes on Nursing: What it is and What it is Not. By 
Florence Nightingale, [pp, 140.] New York: D. 
Appleton A Co. 
The Manual op Phonography. By Benn Pitman. 
Cincinnati Phonographic Institute. From the Author. 
Twenty Years Ago. and Now. By T. S. Arthur 
[pp. 307.] Philadelphia: (LG. Evans. 
ATUEX.r.uM Bookstore—M r. E. R. Hall, the popular 
ageDt for the sale of the new edition of Cooper’s Novels, 
and many fine illustrated works, has opened a Bookstore 
and Periodical Depot at No. 2 Athenajum Building, Ex¬ 
change Place, Rochester. We have no doubt he will 
merit, as we trust he will achieve, success in this new 
enterprise. 
