THE COLOR OF THE SKY 
Tub color of the sky, at particular times, 
affords wonderfully good guidance. Not only 
does a rosy sunset presage good weather, and a 
ruddy suuriso bad weather, but there arc other 
tints which speak with equal clearness and accu¬ 
racy. A bright yellow sky in the evening indi¬ 
cates wind; a pale yellow, wot; a neutral gray 
color constitutes a favorable sign In the evening, 
and an unfavorable one In the morning. The 
clouds a^e again full of meaning la themselves. 
If their forms are soft, uudetlned, aud full feath¬ 
ery, the weather will bo flue; If their edges are 
hard, sharp, aud detlnite, It will he foul. Gen¬ 
erally speaking, any deep, unusual hues betoken 
wind or rain; while the more quiet and delicate 
tints bespeak fair weather. Those are simple 
maxims; and yet not so simple, but that the 
British Board of Trndo has thought lit to pub¬ 
lish them for the use of soalaring meu. 
Written for Moore's Rural New-Yorker 
A BACHELOR’S DRIFTING. 
BY OLOFFE VON KORTLAN'DT 
&c. Bv Colonel R B. Marct, 0. 8. A., Author of 
the “Prairie Traveler." With numerous Illustra¬ 
tions. [8vo. — pp. 442] New \ork: Harper «fc 
Brothers.—1S66. 
As will readily be Inferred from the title page, the 
volume here noticed is a sketchy one rather than a 
consecutive relation of events occurring in the life of 
a soldier during many years service on otir Western 
frontier. It gives, in a readable form, the more prom¬ 
inent incidents attending the several expeditions 
in which the Author participated, some of which 
were under his control; the prominent characteris¬ 
tics of the tribes of the plains; their domestic econ¬ 
omy ; their propensities to war, etoaling, lying and 
deception, and tbe general insecurity of anything 
within their reach, life not excepted, unless guarded | ranged just as 
by a sufficient, show of force to render chastisement 
certain in the event of hostile acts on the part of the 
several tribes. The hook is handsomely illustrated ; 
printed on good paper, and will prove interesting to 
the reader. 
as to say, “Time’s short, my boy.” So I cram 
a few things Into as small a compass as possible, 
and stand at my room door for a moment or 
two, wondering if I have forgotten anything. 
No! AH is in bachelor order,—the curtains, 
the books, the statuettes on the mantle,—ar- 
their owner pleases; for I have so 
long thought how many things there are,— 
memories, if you will,—which it would be al¬ 
most sacrilege should any one, he It even the 
tenderest woman, to meddle with, that I heartily 
believe it now. And all the furnishings of my qui¬ 
et room have 60 many memories which lie hidden 
beyond the vision of all save me, that they have 
become truly sacred. 
But it is only twenty minutes before the cars 
leave, and I must hurry: — that is, if the news¬ 
paper-time is right. Aud yet newspapers de¬ 
ceive so often that it alm#s 4 t. astonishes one to 
think how much, after all, they arc trusted. 
Perhaps it is because there are two shies to all 
they talk about, and although people read most 
of what they see in their daily journals, yet they 
are apt to believe only wliat would be likely to 
be their share of experience. 
Life’s holidays! Few and far between they 
come to most of us, tired out as we are with a 
perpetual weariness, but looked forward to, and 
looked back to, pure white milestones on 
the journey of which so much is cloudy and 
mysterious, yet, mirror-like, only the reflection 
I have wondered, sometimes, 
A Zoological Curiosity.— The Jardin d'Ac- 
climatatlon in Paris haa recently been enriched 
by a species of guinea hen from Australia, called 
the Weelat by the natives. It bears a stroug 
resemblance to the vulture, and procures the 
hatching of its egg by what may be ealled artifi¬ 
cial heat, in a curious way. In the beginning of 
spring It collects all the vegetable refuse it can 
get into a heap, for the site of which it generally 
selects the shady side of a hilL Round this 
heap it lays its eggs, each five or six iucliea 
apart from its neighbor, with the big extremity 
turned upward; it then buries them under tee 
refuse three feet deep, and lets the heat gene¬ 
rated by the putrefaction of the vegetable matter 
hatch them. It has never been ascertained how 
the little ones get out of their strange prison, 
but when they do they are ready fledged and 
able to fly. 
For sale by Steele & Avery, 
The Conversion of the Northern Nations. The 
Boyle Lectures for tbo Year 1865, delivered at t.he 
Chapel Royal, Whitehall. By Charles Merivai.e, 
B. I>., Rector of Lawford ; Chaplain to the Speaker 
of the House of Commons; Author of “A History 
of the Romans under the Empire." [12mo.— pp. 
231.] New York: I). Appleton As Co. 
The author, in his prefatory remarks, announces 
the main object of the course of lectures embodied In 
this volume to have been to impress on the mind of 
the bearer and reader a conviction of thegradnal and 
constant preparation of mankind, from the earliest 
periods known to history, for the full development of 
the religions life under the revelation of Jesus 
Cubist. To the Lectures are appended copious notes 
and illustrations, coucerniug the subjects treated of, 
which will prove attractive to the biblical student. 
Steele & Avery. 
Tub Canary Bird.— Mr. Ii. E. Alison, in a 
contribution to the Quarterly Journal of Agri¬ 
culture ou Teneriffo, says of the canary bird:— 
“ When I saw it first in its native woods I could 
scarcely recognize it as the same species as our 
domestic yellow warbler, so much is the latter 
altered by domestication and repeated crosses. 
The native bird is gray on the wings, the belly 
is green, aud the back a very dark gray. It 
builds on bushy trees or high shrubs, lays from 
four to six pale blue eggs, and sometimes hatch¬ 
es six times in a season. I was surprised to tiud 
that each flock has a different song. The note 
is between that of the skylark and nightingale. 
The natives assert that the bird is very difficult to 
rear, and generally dies in a couple of years if 
kept iu a cage.” 
Mackenzie's Ten Thousand Receipts, in all the 
Useful and Domestic Arts: Constituting a Complete 
Practical Librarv. Relating to Agriculture, Angling, 
Bees, ®C,, Ac. ‘Being an entirely new edition care¬ 
fully revised aud re-written, aud containing the 
Improvements and Discoveries up to date of publi¬ 
cation, Oct.. 18(16. Filth Editiou. Philadelphia: 
T. Ell wood Zell.-1836. 
This Is a volume or nearly five huudred pages em¬ 
bracing a vast amount of Information on a multitude 
of topics connected with domestic and rural ecouo- 
mjr. In other words It la a practical library of usefbi 
information for all classes of people. It contains a 
succinct statement concerning the cattle plague; Its 
symptoms, progress of the disease and mode of treat¬ 
ment. Also a notice of the Trichina or swine dis¬ 
ease, with directions for its management. 
of ourselves, 
whether if we could work hardest without feel¬ 
ing it, we should need any respite,—whether we 
should then realize the giorionsness of rest. 
But the train has started. It is a Lightning 
Express, and stops only once on its journey of 
It seems darker than dark to 
seventy miles, 
look out through the window, where nothing 
can be distinguished but the heaviest shadow; 
yet sometimes it accords better with our feel¬ 
ings to look on these dark spots of the world, 
specially when the bright parts are like the sin¬ 
gle kerosene lamp of the eat-, —doubtfully gay, 
maybe, but never gaudy, with the brakeroan’s 
trimming. So I snooze or dream or think the 
two hours away, roused only by the harsh 
“ Tickets! ” Strange that such little pieces of 
pasteboard should make 60 much disturbance! 
At last we have a change—of cars. It seems 
near enough to midnight to listlessly call it so, 
and with the rest of the cross travelers who have 
not yet reached their journey’s end, I stumble 
into a dark seat iu a shadowy car, and preparing 
for the worst, drop off to sleep. 
It is queer enough, this railroad traveling, to 
one who only ocea&lonlly has a chance to try it, 
aud he is apt to indulge In all &orts of mental 
dissipation—let us hope nothing worse—and to 
bring up before him (he subjects of his mind’B 
despotic kingdom, to dispose of them in any 
way that Fancy, the prime minister, may dictate. 
There are two women sitting opposite me, 
and I cannot help looking at them, every now 
and then in the dim light of the morning. They 
do not resemble each other; — one is of middle 
ft g er _the other a decade younger, perhaps, and 
both bear the marks of trouble and trial. On 
the older face there is a look of quiet patience, 
ou the other only a semblance of resignation. I 
catch myself imagining all sorts of stories about 
them,—wondering, — for when the Conductor 
comes round, 1 notice their tickets are heavily 
couponed,—whether they arc going to some far 
distant State, to join some that have goue on be¬ 
fore to build up a new home. And yet they do 
not look as- If enjoyment was before them,— 
rather something ’to bo endured or suffered. 
Perhaps they have forever broken off some life, 
hard though it may have been, which has inter¬ 
woven itself with every hoping and yearning 
and aspiration, to take up a new one which ib to 
; stretch itself as far into eternity as our influence 
on each other. Well, no doubt I am all wrong: 
real life is seldom romance’s: shadow always 
broods over it, and as the author of “ John Hali¬ 
fax” says, "the chorus and comment of it all 
may be included In two brief sentences given by 
our friend Will Shaksueakk, one to Hamlet, 
the other to Othello, — "tin very strange aud 
TnK Falls of Tauoua.nxock : Containing a Com¬ 
plete Description of the Highest Fall In the State 
of New York. With Historical and Descriptive 
Sketches. By Lewis Halsey. Illustrated with a 
a View of the Fails. 
Tims is a siuaLl volume devoted to a description of 
one of the many attractive points embraced within 
the limits of this State, prepared by an old friend of 
and contributor to the Rural, and for wlfich ho will 
pltu-e accept our thanks. The fall of Taughannock 
is situated on a small stream In Tompkins county, 
three-fourths of a mile from Cayuga Lake, and ten 
miles from Ithaca, and is euvironod with scenery of 
the most att rue live character. The book will prove 
a welcome companion to the tourist In Boarch of the 
wild and picturesque in rural scenery. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
GEOGRAPHICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 60 letters. 
My 60, 4, 66, 47 is a county in Iowa. 
My 64,12, 8, 01 is a county iu North Carolina. 
My 2, 3,11, 59, 41, 42 is a county in Virginia. 
My 5,7,1, 57 la a county in Florida. 
My 50, 49, 12, 02, 60 Is a county In Tennessee. 
My 10, 23,49, 9, 11 la a county In Georgia. 
My 13, IS, 18, 20, 83 Is a couuty in Iudiaua. 
My 87,4, 21, 39,17, 31,3,10 la a comity in Minnesota. 
My 44, 21, 12, 48 la a county in Virginia. 
My 20,65, 10, 60,30, 25,40 Is a county in North Caro¬ 
lina. 
My 06, 40,19,45, 1, 0 la a county In Florida. 
My 43, 51, 40, 42, 62 la a county In Kentucky. 
My 58, 4, 29, 23, 80 ts a county in Texas. 
My 80, 64, 53,11,11 is a county in Michigan. 
My 13,18, 42, 82,18, 06 is a county In New Jersey. 
My 27, 31, 63, 33, 31, 41 is a county in Pennsylvania. 
My 35,08,67, 61, 20 ts a county in Virginia. 
My 49, 1(5, 40, 33, 63, 50, 10, 01 is a county in South 
Corollna. 
My whole Is a saying of Washington. 
Constantia, Ohio. O. W. TnosirsoN. 
Answer in two weeks. 
EL LIGHT. 
intervals, rays of the brightest and purest light. 
In all civilized countries various devices are 
resorted to for the purpose of warniug vessels of 
sunken rocks, andjdirecting 11 idr courses iu the 
safest channels, along the coasts of the oceau 
and inland seas. Among the most efficient and 
common of these is the light-house, usually 
orcctcd upon pointB of land stretching outward 
from the shore and perched upon high eleva¬ 
tions, so tkat the rays of light may be thrown as 
far out over the waters as possible. Among the 
many lanthoids used iu light-houses is that rep¬ 
resented above. It was invented by M. Fres¬ 
nel, a French philosopher, in 1819, and is 
composed of glass plates and prisms, which 
collect all the rays of light and perfectly reflect 
them in a narrow belt of Intense brightness— 
such as can be seen at a great distance out at 
sea. One of these Fresnel lights was on exhi¬ 
bition in New York, some years ago, and is 
thus described: 
“ Its exterior, composed of clear and polished 
crystal, supported on a small base, and rising to 
a height of about twenty feet, presents the sin¬ 
gular appearance of a tall monument, revolving 
continually upon its base, and flashing out at 
It is denominated a revolving Fresnel light, of 
the lirst order, and was manufactured by Le- 
pante of Paris, for the United States Govern¬ 
ment. It is designed to be placed Oil a light¬ 
house at Cape Hatteras, which is now erecting. 
“The principal part consists of a cylindrical 
belt of glass, which surrounds the flame in the 
center, and by its action refracts the light in a 
vertical direction upwards and downwards, so 
as to be parallel with the focal plane of the sys¬ 
tem. To near observers, this aetlon presents a 
narrow vertical baud of light depending for its 
breadth on the extent of the horizontal angle 
embraced by the eye. This arrangement, there¬ 
fore, fulfills all the conditions of a fixed light, 
Sukkuuooke. By il.B. G., Author of “Madge." [12 
mo.— pp. 456.] New York: D. Appleton & Co. 
A keauaule description of country life; its sun¬ 
shine and its storms; its petty rivalries and Its unoe- 
tcntatiouB efforts to carry sunshine to the homes of 
the poor and afflicted, and to reclaim the wayward. 
It has the nie.lt of coming boldly up to the defence 
of that much abused class, “step-mothers," by giving 
a portraiture of one every way loving and lovable. 
Of course there is a hero and heroine, In an humble 
way, who perform their parts iu the progress of the 
story, each acting bo as to commend virtue aud re¬ 
prove heartleeBUOBB and vice, reaching a pleasant 
understanding at last. A hcalthfkl Spirit pervades 
its pages. Steele <k Avery have it. 
A Brief Treatise on Constitutional and Party 
Questions, aud the History of Political Parties: 
as I received it orally from the late Senator Ste- 
rjiEN A. Douolas of Illinois. By J. Madison 
Cutts. Brevet Lieutenant Colonel U. S. A. [pp. 
221.] New York: D. Appleton & Co. 
This volume embraces the viewe of the late Senator 
Stephen A. Douolas on various constitutional, aud 
the more prominent party questions which have divi¬ 
ded the people of the country for a series of years. 
The views were derived, by frequent consultations 
for this purpose, during the year 1859, and were com¬ 
mitted to paper at the time the conversations took 
place. The volume will be fouud especially interest¬ 
ing to the statesman and politician. For sale by 
Steele & Avery. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker, 
A RIDDLE. 
My name begins with K, 
But I’m neither knave nor knight, 
And oft in times of darkness 
I give the people light. 
Aud though I stand the long day 
Neglected and alone, 
Yet when the night approaches 
I am the sunshine of the home. 
And oft in days of end ness 
When all is grief and gloom, 
I help to scatter gladness 
By my presence in the room. 
Enterprise, Wis. Charley L. Wood, 
Answer in two weeks. 
»essea the great advantage oi pruuumug ™ 
smoke, and of leaving no residuum. Another 
advantage of no less importance Is the safety 
with which it may be manufactured and stored; 
for it cuu be wetted and rendered incombustible, 
and its explosive properties are restored without 
injury when dried. Among other applications 
of which gun-cotton is susceptible is that of 
fire-worka, which might be exhibited in a room 
without nuisance, and he concluded the lecture, 
which was illustrated with numerous experi¬ 
ments, by giving a brilliant pyrotechnic display. 
GUNPOWDER AND ITS SUBSTITUTES, 
Brevity and Brilliancy in Chess. A collection of 
Games at this “Royal Pastime," ingeniously con¬ 
tested, and ending with scientific problems. Cull¬ 
ed from the whole Range of Chess Literature. By 
.MIRON J. IUzLKTtNE, 'Esq., Chess Editor “New 
York Clipper," &c., &c. [pp.249.j New York: D. 
Appleton & Co.—1866. 
This is a neatly printed volume, and contains one 
hundred and twenty-five illustrated games, to which 
iaappended “Miron’s Problem Journey,” with fifteen 
illustrations. To those who understand chess play¬ 
ing aud indulge in the amusement It affords, this vol¬ 
ume can scarcely fall of proving a welcome acqui¬ 
sition to their stock of chese literature. Sold by 
Steele & Avery. 
For Moore's F.ural New-Yorker. 
MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM. 
What velocity per second must a ball be projected 
vertically that it may never return [to the earth, the 
radius of the earth being 4,000 miles ? 
New London, N. Y. S. G. Cagwin. 
Answer in two weeks. 
PRINTING IN CHINA, 
Tub Chinese have bad a great start over all the 
nations of the West. It Is difficult to say when 
*the art of printing was first introduced. It is 
and somebody shrieks "Cleveland!" 
It is raining fast, and everything is misty aud 
murky, and I think that it will be decidedly un¬ 
pleasant poking about much, but then, it’s an ill 
wind, etc., and the lady-folks will most likely 
be at home,—much more important of course. 
I find something which has “ Omnibus ” on its 
outside, and got out of the neighborhood of the 
ringing and jostling and bustle of the depot. 
One is apt to experience internally all sorts of 
curious feelings on a first entrance into a strange 
place of any kind. But alter a night’s " riding 
on a rail,” there are likely to arise q uite a number 
of curious external feelings, 6uch, for instance, as 
occur subsequent to a lengthened period of jolt¬ 
ing iu a lumber wagon without springs, giving 
occasion to a somewhat extensive collection of 
pugilistic ideas, at least until after haviug been 
filled up with something encouraging. At any 
rate, I have forgotten all but the present,—fairly 
in the Forest City,—and rather upset to look at 
anything in a philosophical light: yet as I gain 
■' are t q ie hotel piazza, I notice, a little relentlngly, 
atiety of | that the clouds arc dispersing, and the promise 
plainly presenting itself of a pleasant day after all. 
provemente, have, however, been made iu*the # 
proportions oi those substances, and in the 
mode of manufacture, so as to render the explo¬ 
sive action more or less rapid, according to 
the various objects for which it is used. For 
&mail arms and shells a rapid action Is required, 
but for large ordnance and for blasting a much 
slower combustion is uecessary to produce the 
required effects. Professor Abel mentioned nu¬ 
merous substances that had been tried as substi¬ 
tutes for charcoal and for saltpeter, including 
that of uitro-glycerine, which explodes by per¬ 
cussion, and the dangerouB nature of which, he 
said, had been proved by a disastrous explosion 
at AspSnwali. After having mentioned some 
other proposed substitutes, Professor Abel pro¬ 
ceeded to notice gun-cotton, and to state some 
of the improvements that have been made in its 
manufacture during the last two years. Gun¬ 
cotton, indeed, seems to bo susceptible of beiDg 
made to suit all explosive purposes, and it pos- 
known to have been practiced in China, from 
plates of wood, at the end of the sixth century 
of the Christian era. In A. D. 598, there is a 
decree for the collection of “old designs” and 
“ text,” and for their cutting in wood for publi¬ 
cation ; but it is not then spoken of rb a novel 
invention, In 932 the canonical books were 
ordered to be engraved on wood and printed for 
general sale ? and in 982 the work was completed 
and the books “ were circulated over all the 
Empire.” Movable types were first employud 
iu the middle of the eleventh century. The Im¬ 
perial arrangements for printing have been car¬ 
ried out in China on a most magnificent scale. 
The Emperor Khanghl, whose reign began in 
HH52, bad 250,000 movable types, engraved in 
copper, and printed no less than G,00(1 volumes. 
Kienluug, 1* 1778, ordered 10,412 works to be 
published, covering the whole field of Chinese 
literature. 
For Moore’B Rural New-Yorker, 
AN ANAGRAM. 
Medical Recollections of the Army or the Poto¬ 
mac. By Jonathan Letterman, M. D.. late Surgeon 
United States Army, aud Medical Director of the 
Army of the Potomac, [pp. 194.] New York: D. 
Appleton & Co.—1866. 
To the general reader this will probably prove 
rather a dry volume, but. to the medical and surgical 
fraternity it will possess points of much Interest. 
The declared object of the publication is to make 
known to an intelligent people the labors and priva¬ 
tions of the medical and surgical staff of the army of 
the Potomac. Steele & Avert. 
“ Het lyon rpictvy htta ateso on rates 
luoeap, “ si hatt rove rogeeanin.” 
Lyndon, Vt. 
Answer in two weeks. 
ANSWERS TO ENIGMAS, &c., IN No. 861 
Answer to Miscellaneous Enigma:—The welfare of 
the people Is the first great law. 
Answer to Geographical Enigma:—Tasmania or 
Vandiemans Loud. 
Answer to Charade:—Rebus. 
Answer to Anagram: 
We should try to care for others, 
Nor suppose ourselves the best; 
Let us all be friend* and brothers, 
