FAMILIAR ARTICLES ON CHEMISTRY. 
NEW YORK STATE TEMPERANCE SOC’Y. 
CHRISTMAS IN GERMANY. 
THE L V R b: BIRD. 
feet, is peculiarly graceful; tfoelr color Is amber 
Under the above heading we purpose to 
discuss, in a plain and simple manner, some 
matters connected with Chemistry which are, or 
should be, interesting to both old and young. 
In the accomplishment of our object various 
illustrations will be used, and for these, as well 
as for many facts upon which our remarks are 
based, we are indebted to Johnston’s “Chem¬ 
istry of Common Life.” Our first series of 
articles (two or three) will be devoted to The 
Air m Breath , —or rather to a discussion of its 
component parts. The present article is mainly 
about oxygen. 
Though apparently pure and elementary, the 
air is by no means a simple or pare substance. 
It is composed <>f several different kinds of mat¬ 
ter, each of which performs a beautiful and use¬ 
ful part in relation to animal and vegetable life. 
Four substances are known to be necessary to 
its composition. Two of these, Oxygen and 
Nitrogen, form nearly Its entire bulk; the two 
others. Carbonic Acid and Watery Vapor, being 
present only in small quantities. Johnston 
says:—“These four substances tho air every¬ 
where and always contains. They are all neces¬ 
sary to the daily wants Of animal and vegetable 
life*; but the two gasses, oxygen and nitrogen, 
form so large a proportion of the whole, that we 
are accustomed to say of dry air, that it consists 
of nitrogen and oxygen only, in the ratio of four 
of the former to one of the latter. More cor- 
rcctly, however, air, when deprived of the wa¬ 
tery vapor and carbonic acid which it contains, 
consists, in 100 gallons, of 79 of nitrogen mixed 
with21 of oxygen.” 
Oxygen, like the atmosphere, is devoid of 
color, taste or smell. It can be easily prepared 
by mixing cholorate of potash with a little sand, 
powdered glass, or oxide of manganese, and 
heating the mixture in a flask over a spirit lamp, 
as seen in the engraving. When these melt the 
gas is given off, and will soon fill the flask. Its 
presence will be readily shown by introducing a 
candle, a bit of red-hot charcoal, or of kindled 
phosphorus, ail of which will burn with much 
greater brilliancy and rapidity thus placed, thau 
in common air. This gas may be properly 
termed the great incendiary —without it, neither 
light nor heat could be produced from coal, wood 
or other cAnbustlble subBtancc. Did the atmos¬ 
phere consist entirely of oxygen, bodies once 
in flames would burn so fast as to be absolutely 
beyond control. Animal life, too, would soon 
wear out in an atmosphere composed entirely of 
this gas. We would breathe it with pleasure— 
it excites and qulckeus circulation, but a fever 
would result, and death ensue, from the excess 
of excitement We would live too rapidly— 
away in it like the fast-flaming candle. In its 
present condition it, is one of the absolute neces¬ 
sities to the sustaining of life. Every breath 
we take into the lungs extracts a portion of it— 
it is taken up by the blood and becomes food 
for the system. We can obtain It from no other 
source, and new supplies are wanted at every 
moment. From this fact arises the necessity of 
ventilation of our houses and public halls. 
Prof. Yocman, in a learned lecture ou this sub¬ 
ject, said:—“What is the reiation of oxygeu to 
the living body ? Every animal Is busy drawing 
in and thowing oat air—an increasing tidal ebb 
and flow. The oxygen of the air passes t hrough 
the membranes ot the lungs, is taken up by the 
blood, and carried to all parts of the body. It 
does here what it does everywhere—it burns. 
Slow combustion goes ou in tho body, and car¬ 
bonic acid and water are produced. This com¬ 
bustion is necessary to keep up heat and fever, 
and the oxygen of the air must have carbon and 
hydrogen, in the form of food and drink, to feed 
upon. Cut off a man from everything but air, 
and the oxygen at every breath will cut away a 
portion of his own frame. The most combusti¬ 
ble parts are first consumed: he grows lighter 
and more emaciated every hour. First, the fat 
disappears, then the muscles are assailed, 
and lastly, the devouring giant, oxygen, attacks 
the brain and nerves, delirium ensues and death 
closes the scene. Men say he has starved to 
death, but the scientific truth is that he has been 
burned to cinders/' 
A Beautiful Experiment. —If an acorn be 
suspended by a piece of thread to within half an 
inch of some water, contained in a hyacinth 
glass, and so permitted to remain without being 
disturbed, it will in a few months burst and 
throw a root down into the water, and shoot 
upward its tapering stem, with beautiful little 
green leaves. A young oak tree, growing in this 
way on the mantle shelf of a room, is a very inte¬ 
resting object. 
A ne w material for paper making has just been 
discovered in Franee. With the root of lucernes 
M. Caminade ha3 succeeded in making a palp 
which can be employed jointly with rags in. the 
manufacture of paper, and even separately. 
A meeting of persons named in the Act for 
the Incorporation of the New York State Tem¬ 
perance Society, passed by the Legislature of the 
State of New York, March 27th, 1S65, was held 
at the Gregory Temperance House, Poughkeep¬ 
sie, Dec. 20, 1805. Gen. J. S. Smith was ap¬ 
pointed Chairman, and Rev. W. E. Knox, D.D., 
Secretary. Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. G. A. 
Lintner. A Constitution was presented, and 
considered by sections. Recess was taken until 
two o’clock P. M. 
After recess, the consideration of the Constitu¬ 
tion was resumed. After due discussion and 
amendment, said Constitution was unanimously 
adopted,. 
The officers of the State Society were then 
unanimously elected as follows; 
President —General Joseph S. Smith. Vice- 
Pr&tidente —Rev. A. A. Wlllets, D D., Rev. George 
O. Curtis, D.D., Rev. A. B. Lambert, D.D., Johu 
Foote, John Sherry, Edmund Eltingc, Peter Os- 
terhout, Theodorous Gregory, White Griswold, 
Samuel Harris, Frederick Starr, Rev. Horace 
Eaton, Rev.- Brigham, Rev. Mason Galla¬ 
gher, Rev. F. N. Zabrlskie, A. W, Riley, Rev. 
-Olin, Wtn. McElroy, Henry Hagner. Mana¬ 
gers—one year: G. A. Lintner, D.D., Rev. W. E. 
Knox, D.D., Rev. P. H. Fowler, D.D., Benjamin 
Joy, Rev. R. R. Meridith, George W. Sterling, S. 
D Porter, N T. Clark, John Reid, Rev. D. K. 
Bartlett. Two years: Rev. D. G. Corey, D.D., L. 
P. Perkins, Rev, W. C. Steel, J. N. Stearns, E. 
Remington, D. D. T. Moore, J. C. Gallup, - 
Searle, A. F. Bartow, L. H. Ailing. Three years: 
A. L Allen, Edgar Thome, Rev. E. W. Bentley, 
Rev. M. D. C. Crawford, Rev. A. Cookman, Geo. 
W. Heatou, Rev. C. W. Robinson, G. G. Jessup, 
Rev. L. M. Merrill, D.D., T. L. Jackson. 
A meeting of the Board of Managers of the 
New York State Temperance Society was held 
the same day. Gen. J. S. Smith ■was chosen 
Temporary Chairman. Rev. B L Ive9, Auburn, 
was appointed Corresponding Secretary of the 
State Temperance Society. A. W. Bostwlck, 
New York, Recording Secretary and Editor. 
Robert 8. Williams, Utica, Treasurer. Benjamin 
Joy, E. Remington, G. G. Jessup, L. H. Ailing, 
D. D. T. Moore, were constituted a Finance 
Committee. Rev. Drs. P. H. Fowler, D. G. 
Corey, and W. E. Knox, were constituted a Pub¬ 
lishing Committee. These two Committees, 
with the President, by tbe Constitution, are tho 
Executive Committee, aud Rev. -W. E. Knox, 
D.D., was chosen Chairman. It was voted that 
the first meeting of the State Temperance So¬ 
ciety be held in the First Baptist Church, Roch¬ 
ester, on the 17th and 18th of January, 1806, 
comuieucing at ten o’clock a. m<; and D. D. T. 
Moore, Frederick Starr, A W. Riley, L. H. 
Ailing, D. K Bartlett, were appointed a Com¬ 
mittee to make all necessary arrangements for 
the meeting. Adjourned to meet at Rochester, 
Tuesday evening, at seven o’clock p. m., Janu¬ 
ary sixteenth, I860. W. E. Knox, Sec’y. 
THE POET BRYANT. 
Mu. Bryant was 71 years old on the 3d of 
November, 1865. He bears his age well. Frost 
lies white upon his ample beard, but the fire of 
youth is in his eye, and his heart beats strongly 
aud steadily, with a vital force that shows no 
sign of serious physical decay. His miud, work¬ 
ing alertly and clearly, Is quick in perception and 
as logical in deduction as it was 20 years ago. 
Hla slight and agile figure, passing rapidly among 
the crowds of the street, is that of a man of 30 
years rather than the frame which men usually 
associate with a septuagenarian’s weight of years. 
He uses no glasses to aid his vision. The nearest 
approach he w t as ever known to make to a con¬ 
fession of imperfect sight was in ray hearing 
about a year ago. Going to a window to read 
a newspaper, he uttered a good natured remon¬ 
strance agaiust the fineness of the print, observing 
that he “ didn’t intend to wear spectacles so long 
as he could help it, but wished the papers would 
not use such small type.” 
lu the matter of dress, Mr. Bryant is neither a 
Count D’Orsaynoi a Horace Greeley. Hegreatly 
prefers cleanliness to style; is always tidy, but 
blissfully unconscious of the requirements of 
fashion, and like Domiuie Sampson," would be 
quite likely to attribute to the preservative quali¬ 
ties of the atmosphere the exceeding glossiness 
of aoy new garment surreptitiously introduced 
into his apartment over uight. Yet he is orderly 
and precise in his intellect life—almost to the 
extreme of fastidiousness and hypercriticism, as 
if Nature’s principle of compensation were 
specially illustrated in his case. He has a hearty 
contempt for shams, gnobs, and silliness; ad¬ 
mires pluck, perseverance and industry; adores 
Nature, and works hard for the love of work, 
aud readily recognizes a worker when he 6ees 
him; finds his recreation in recondite studies, in 
green fields, babbling brooks, and the study of 
natural forms — in digging among the roots 
of language, In planting trees, making newspa¬ 
pers, and observing mankind—in the prattle of 
children and the wisdom of the school—in short, 
in everything that the world does and men think. 
He has pleasant ways. At odd moments he 
invites his friends to little trials of gymnastic ex¬ 
ercise. “Can you do that ?" he said once to a 
much younger man, suiting the action to the 
word by lifting himself to the top of the door by 
his hands, and swinging up aud down and side- 
wise, varying the sport by grasping the door-eas¬ 
ing, and repeating the feat in a more difficult 
position. The junior tried it, but failed; he had 
not leaped so many high rail-fcuees in the coun¬ 
try as Mr. Bryant had leaped, and the brown 
beard could not wag in air as the white one 
wagged. Rarely, if a fence or a gate is in the way 
at Roslyn, does its owner stop to dodge it or 
The Lyre Bird Is a native of New South 
Wales. It resembles the common pheasant in 
size, but its limbs are longer iu proportion, and 
there are other considerable points of difference. 
The wings are short, concave and rounded, and 
the quill feathers arc lax and feeble; tho general 
plumage Is full, deep, soft aud downy. The tall, 
however, is very remarkable; it is modified Into 
a beautiful, long, plumc-Uke ornament, repre¬ 
senting, when erect and expanded, tho figure of 
a lyre; hence its name,—the Lyre Bird,—while, 
as the type of a new genus, It has received the 
appellation of mmura tuperba. 
The ornamented tail is restricted to tho male 
bird. It consists of sixteen feathers; of these the 
outer one on each side is broadly but loosely 
webbed within, its outer web being narrow; as it 
proceeds it curves outwards, bends la, and again 
turns boldly outwards and downwards, both to¬ 
gether resembliug the framework of an ancient 
lyre, of which the intermediate feathers arc the 
strings; these feathers, except the two central, 
which are truly but narrowly webbed on the 
outer side, consists each of a slender shaft, with 
long filaments, at adistanco from each other, and 
springing out alternately. The appearance of 
these feathers, the length of which is about two 
open it. Ho leaps It, If a horse Is not harnessed, 
he walks. If a storm howls and a valued friend 
is lonely in a distant house, he trudges off with 
an umbrella lu one hand and a bouquet of flowers 
in the other; offering the latter and his company 
where he knows that both will be welcome.— 
Examiner and Chronicle. 
THE MOUNTAINS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
A grand mountain scene of Puget’s Sound is 
well described by a tourist writing from Victoria, 
Vancouver’s Island, as follows: 
“Besides the beautiful shore line of the 
sound, fringed as It is by a dense forest of pine, 
the clear, bracing atmosphere affords us the finest 
mountain views it has yet been our good fortune 
to witness. We had seen Slmata aud Hood, each 
with its brow aolemu audaloue, rising far up into 
the regions of perpetual frosts, and here, on 
rounding a point, we stand face to face with 
Mount Rainier, while to the right, in the dis¬ 
tance, are Mount Adams and Mount, St. Helen’s; 
all looking down iu siieut graudeur upon moun¬ 
tains, that elsewhere would excite admiration, 
but here are dwarfed iuto insignificance before 
the awful majesty that towers above them. It is 
claimed that neither of the last three are as high 
as Mount Hood, but certainly the glitteriug 
snowy robe Is wrapped around Mount Rainier 
much more completely than it is about Hood, 
and Rainier impresses one more deeply than either 
of Its fellows. Frora the steamer the three sides 
of a tremendous crater are distinctly visible, 
now filled with snow and ice, the steady accumu¬ 
lation of untold ages, aud opening to the west a 
vast glacier extends far down the side of the 
mountain. It is an object well worth the inves¬ 
tigation of an Agassiz, if indeed he, or any one 
else can reach the sublime height from which it 
issues. Down the sound steadily glides our gal¬ 
lant steamer for two or three hours, and Mount 
Baker, the worthy competitor of Mount Rainier 
and Hood flashes upon the sight far away lu the 
distant north, just inside the line that separates 
Washington from British Columbia. But why 
Unger here to attempt to describe what must be 
seen to be appreciated. When the Pacific rail¬ 
way is completed, thousands of searchers for 
adventure aud novelty from the Atlantic States, 
and the lovers of science and of nature iu her 
beauty aud magnificence, will explore the icy 
brown, but the two outer tail feathers are gray 
tipped with black, edged with rufous, and trans¬ 
versely marked on the inner web with transpa¬ 
rent triangular bars. In the female the tall Is 
long and graduated, and tbe feathers are per¬ 
fectly webbed on both sides of the 3haft, although 
their texture is soft aud flowing. The general 
plumage of the mennra is amber brown above 
tinged with olive, merging into rufous on the 
wings and also on the throat. The under parts 
are ashy gray. Mr. Gould says that, were he 
requested to suggest an emblem for Australia 
among its birds, ho would select the tmnura , or 
Lyre Bird, as being the most appropriate, being 
uot ouly strictly peculiar to Australia,but, as far as 
Is yet known, to the Colony of New South Wales. 
The Lyre Bird is of a wandering disposition, 
and though keeping probably to the same brash, 
It constantly t raverses from one end to the other, 
from the mountain top to the bottom of tho gul¬ 
lies. It Is said to be able at one leap to pass over 
as much as ten feet iu a perpendicular direction 
from the ground. It seldom takes wing, but Is 
fond of traversing trunks of fallen trees and fre¬ 
quently reaches a considerable height by leaping 
from branch to branch. 
recesses of those vast mountains, and stand in 
awe of Him whose hand planted them there on 
the morning of the creation; clothed them in 
the emblems of His own matchless purity, and 
made them the symbols of His power.” 
CURE FOR CHOLERA. 
A. M. Akanson has arrived at Marseilles with 
a letter of recommendation to the doctors of 
the hospital from imperial quarters, and he 
has consequently been allowed to practice the 
system of cure for cholera, which seems to have 
been marvellously successful. The principle, as 
far as it can be stated in a few words, is, that M. 
Aranson believes that cholera produces a supera¬ 
bundance of oxalic acid in the system. The ef¬ 
fort is, then, to prevent the production of these 
soluble oxalates—to do which he administers 
alkaline salts, such as bi-carbonate of soda, 
which, comlug into contact with oxalic acid, 
decomposes it, forming an oxalate of soda—an 
Insoluble salt, which is innoxious to the suf¬ 
ferer. Something of the same idea was hinted 
at by au eminent English physician a few years 
since; and as it is simple, and there is no harm 
in bi-carbonate of soda lu any condition, it is 
not a dangerous thing to have the remedy at 
hand, in travel or at home, in case of eventual¬ 
ities.— Ex. 
Russian Railroad Cars.— The Nord con¬ 
tains a description of the railroad carriages now 
running on the Moscow and St. Petersburg line. 
It appears that for the trifling addition of two 
roubles to the usual fare, travelers are received 
in brilliantly lighted saloons, around which lux¬ 
urious sofas aud arm chairs invite the weary to 
repose, while perusing the] latest periodicals 
aud newest novels which are scattered on the 
tables. When the hour of retiring arrives, the 
valet dc chambre conducts the gentlemen passen¬ 
gers to their sleeping apartments, while smart 
chambermaids point out to the lady travelers 
their bedrooms and boudoirs, fitted up, as the 
advertisment says, “with every modern luxury, 
including baths,” <fce, The smoking-room has 
perfect contrivances for ventilation aud the thor¬ 
ough enjoyment of the cigar, pipe or hookah. 
Dean Swift once said tnat Providence showed 
how little it thought of riches by the fools whom 
it permitted to possess wealth. 
One afternoon In Christmas week a clerk lu the 
Leipzig post-office in Germany, whose duty it Is 
to sort the letters, discovering a tawdry little 
epistle, had no compunction la puttiug it iu the 
dead-letter-box. The letter went the usual way 
to the black cabinet, where serious, silent men 
are seated, endowed with the power to decide 
upon the fate of missives unclaimed and uuad- 
dressed. Thelettor bore tho direction to “Jesus 
Christ, at Leipzig,” and being opened, displayed 
the following contents: 
“Dear Holy Christ—Christmas is drawing 
near, and, as T full well know, Thou art now 
going about aud presenting good children with 
bon-bous and nice little toys. 0 dear, Holy 
Christ, I wish Thou wouldst come to ua. We 
are anxious to see Thee, and I more than my 
sister, as l want u satchel to put my books in. 
But 1 believe that my sister Selina \vanls one 
also. We should also like to have a pair of shoes, 
each of us, as tbe weather is very bad. To rny 
brother Curt, please bring a box of tlu soldiers. 
He is ill, and must not go out of t he room. But, 
above all, Thou sliouldst look after the health of 
my mamma, who U worse than Curt, and cannot 
move except on crutches. Dear Holy Christ, I 
pray Thee do uot forget as. I am a good chiLd, 
and shall be very o boo leu t to my mother; aud I 
live at Green street, No. —, in thu court yard. 
“Marie. Selma. Curt.” 
The letter, as appears from the signatures, al¬ 
though originally iudited by the eldest sister, had 
gained the subsequent approval of the younger 
children, who attached their names iu tokou of 
assent. Some few days elapsed. At last it was 
Christmas eve. A knock came to the door of tho 
mother of tho three little children, and a geutie- 
mau, with a lady, entered, and put the satchel, 
the shoes, aud a great many other things on the 
table. The German Christmas-tree was lighted, 
and merriment filled the house. For the once, 
official secrecy had been violated, and the dead 
letter, being communicated to a charitable Sama¬ 
ritan, caused more joy and gladness than t he pen 
can describe .—Christian Enquirer. 
HARRY’S SERMON. 
“Eddie,” said Harry, “lets go to church, and 
I’ll be the minister, and preach you a sermon.” 
“ Well,” said Eddie,“arid I’ll be the peoples.” So 
Harry led him away, and they went up stairs to¬ 
gether. Ho set an old fire-screen In front of him, 
by way of pulpit, aud thus began: 
My text is a very short and easy one—” Be, 
kind." There are some little texts in the Bible 
on purpose for little children, and this is one of 
them. These are the heads of my sermon: 
Firstly. Be kind to papa, and don’t make a 
uolse when he ha» a headache. I don’t believe 
you know what a headache is, but I do, I had one 
once, and I didn’t want to hear any one speak a 
word. 
Secondly. Be kind to mamma, and don’t make 
her tell you to do a thing more thau ouce. It la 
very tiresome t.o say, “ It is time for you to go 
to bed" half a dozen times over. 
Thirdly. Be kind to baby. 
“ You have leaved out, Be kind to Harry,” in¬ 
terrupted Eddie. 
“Yes,” said Harry, “I didn’t mean to men¬ 
tion my own name In my sermon. I was say¬ 
ing, Be kind to little Minnie, and let her have 
your red soldier to play with, when she wants it. 
Fourthly. Be kiud to Jane, and don’t scream 
and kick when she washes and dresses you. 
Here Eddie looked a little ashamed, and said, 
“ But she pulled my hair with the comb." 
“People mustn’t talk in meeting,” said 
Harry.” 
Fifthly. Be kind to kitty. Do what will 
make her purr, aud don’t do what will .make 
her cry. 
“Isn’t the sermon most done?” asked Eddie, 
“I want to sing;” and without waiting for 
Harry to finish his discourse, or give out a hymn, 
he began to sing; and so Harry had to stop; but 
It. was a very good sermon. Don’t you think so ? 
— Freedman's Journal. 
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
An old author thus rhymes a divine truth: 
In heaven shall dwell all Christian men 
That know and keep Ills biddings ten. 
To aid our young readers to remember these 
sacred “ biddings ten,” we transcribe for their 
use the lines following, originally writteu in one- 
of the registers of an old parish in England, by 
one Richard Christian, the vicar. They belong 
to the year 1689, and are written in the quaint 
spelling of the time, which, modernized, reads: 
Have thou no other God but me; 
Unto no imago bow thy knee. 
Take not tho name of God In vain; 
Do not tho Sabbath day profane. 
Honor thy father and mother, too; 
And see that thou no murder do. 
From vile adultery koep the clean; 
And steal not, though thy state be mean. 
Bear no falsa witness, shun that blot; 
What is thy neighbor’s covet not. 
Write these thy laws, Lord, in my heart, 
And let me not from them depart. 
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. 
The Little Corporal, a new j uvenile monthly 
commenced in Chicago, III., by Alfred L. Se¬ 
well, is talcing tho lead in its line. The papers, 
both East and West, arc delighted with it. Read 
tho following; 
Certainly, we have soon nothing in the shape 
of a child’s paper which could compare with this, 
which comes to us from over the prairies.— 
Portland \Malne] Daily Press. j 
We cannot say too much in favor of this beauti¬ 
ful paper .—Bryan [O.] Lnion Press. 
Terms, 81 a year. Sample copies ten cents. 
Happiness can be made quite as well of cheap 
materials as of dear ones. 
