flic i’cricivcv 
Our engraving represents a ves- i 
sel amidst the icc of the Arctic \ 
\ Ocean, and Illustrates one of the ^ 
many dangers to which whalers iu r 
extreme northern latitudes arc fre- ' 
quently ?ubjected, Nnniherless are 
: \ tire ships which have been destroy- 
r ed by the immense icebergs which 
/' i form in the Arctic Occuu and float 
- 7] occasionally southward until they 
= - • - dissolve under the rays of our sum¬ 
mer suns. The vessel in our illus¬ 
tration appears to ha.ve.just escaped 
- . from being crushed between two 
~ -■• 7 large moutitahis of ion which were 
SSigjSlP — bearing down upon it. 
~ A vivid picture like this gives 
SUHl us a better idea of the perils to 
. - • which polar navigators are subject 
"■ than can any attempt at mere dc- 
seription. It would hardly seem 
: ~ - j that men could be found, willing 
- - ~| to engage in any undertaking so 
- , hazardous as exploring for an Open 
Polar Sea; and we cannot too 
~ - heartily admire the courage of 
_ those who have repeatedly braved 
_ ^ m .- all terrors in voyages of discovery. 
. 3 Their stern hardihood deserves 
. . BsjLf warmest praise. American whalers 
have done good service in the 
: Held of exploration. To them the 
£ * world Is indebted for recent dis- 
-Js ggffeg, A: coveries of a new Polar Continent. 
ajsdMgpg Jp The existence of this had long been 
s- — -fe -V surmised, but it was first actually 
3j 333333 S,: '-'U on August 14, 1867, from the 
jSaSgggB gigli bark “Nile,” and subsequently 
JUg 81® that vessel sailed for one hundred 
j|pHK-jgpby.cj] miles along its coast. The Captain 
of the 11 Nile” named it Wrangell’s 
~~ Laud, (after the noted Russian ex- 
plorer, Baron Wrangell,) and it 
adds considerably to the world’s 
known snrface. It lies nearly with- 
- Lllst AAi ] In sight of the northern shore of 
-jj ji SS the most eastern province of Sibe- 
j|^^l!j§jjS5!j ria, but is unapproachable. The 
southeastern cape of the new terri- 
tory is in north latitude 71 10', 
_ and west longitude 176° 46'. The 
southwestern cape is in north lati- 
~ , tttde 70° 60', and west longitude 
3_L . - ' 17h u 15'. From these points and 
——- = “ ‘ this southern coast it stretches in¬ 
definitely northward. Along the 
south coast It looks quite elevated, 
and near the center has an extinct 
crater cone, which is estimated to be 2,480 feet high. 
This coast appears to be nearly straight, with high, 
rugged cliffs, and entirely barren. 
D O, L.. Corresponding Member uf 
the militate of Prance. Author of 
‘•The Rise of ihoDntch Republic, 
in Four Volumes. With portraits. 
Vo Is II (. anti 1V [Svo. —pp 5JK> and 
632 ] New V ork: Harper & BroV 
“The Rise of the Dutch Republic” 
won for Mr. Motley an enviable repu- 
utation as a historian. The w ork now 
before ns cannot lail ro add to that rep 
utation. It D. iu fact, a supplement to 
the preceding hi-tory, and the two 
works arc to lie complemented by 
another--the history of the Thirty 
Years V ur. Upon this Mr. Motley 
is now vi ( LS-cd. The present volumes 
p. -see 1 a 1 ascination rarely wet with 
in bi• -irii'. c 1 paees. They are written 
in a 1 ' Ur and forcible, yet very pictur- 
esqu’- .In, that never wearies; and 
abofi: 1! mi irraphic word-pictures and 
bril'ii it i!i , -criptinns. Though often 
dramatic, w*> feel that they are always 
tr nhi'u: And irnthfulness in a histo¬ 
rian is : he. one great essential. Wo 
never crave brilliancy at the sacrifice 
of truth. Volume 111 covers a period 
of ten years, into which were crowded 
event of (immentous importance to 
the Netherlands, and iutense interest 
The central 
to the -tudeut of history. 
,1 iimi ii - he voting Prince 
and the grand theme of the 
is his advaucement in the art \ : ». 
oi war. his splendid generalship and 
daring achievements. The character _-V 
of this Prince is an admirable one for 
the author's pen to portray, and his J 
hemic. ih-eds are recounted in eloquent 
paragraphs. Philip IT, of Spain, is , •_ • ~ - 
also » marked figure, and is strongly 3j3^j35yS=|R 
delineated, He was a notable illustra- . . 
tiiin uf bigotry, and arrogance, and |y % 3 r : . 
depravity; and his personal Character, j~~r— 
and the characteristics of his forty- ; 
thtee years’ reign, are limned in bold . - 
Jinn- He was the great enemy of the j 
Netherlands, as ho yvas of Justice and ■ y-. 
Freedom everywhere. He held abso- gg L-TA - ■ ~ A 
lute power over his subjects, and exer- , 
ciseil it iu the most, unwarrantable j jP^_. :- i- 
manner, at the dictates' of a perverted 
chapters of this volume is devoted to 
an elaborate resume of the debased 
monarch » reign, In which the histo- k - . — HI 
rlan says:—“if Philtp possessed a 
single virtue it has eluded the consci¬ 
entious research of the writer of these — 
pages. If there are vices—as possi¬ 
bly there are—from which he was exempt, it is because 
it is not permitted to human nature to attain perfection 
even in evil." Such was the tyrant who wielded 
the moic than diabolical power of the Holy Inquisi¬ 
tion. And yet —strange anomaly!—it is said he eu- 
dured the martyrdom of his last illness with the heroism 
of a saint, and died in the certainty of immortal bliss 
as the reward of his life of evil. Volume IV concludes 
with the Twelve Years' Truce. The Netherlands have 
become a Republic, at last, despite Spanish intrigues and 
arms. The terrors of the Inquisition are not planted in 
the Provinces, and religious peace prevails in Hungary, 
in Austria, in Bohemia, iu France, in Great Britain, and 
in the Netherlands. The forty years’ war is iu the past, 
— the thirty years’war in the not distant future, —and 
we await the historian's further labors with much in¬ 
terest. For sale pt. Dewey's. 
figure oi 
Mauuii'. 
Volume : 
Poor bird-MABEL! She concluded bird-life was 
not so pleasant after all; and then she thought of 
the nice, white bed at home, where she could sleep 
without once thinking Of harm. Now she was not 
safe at all. She did not dare to stir,—for the old 
owl was watching for her, and she expected his 
great eyes would hunt her out as she crouched down 
in the wet grass. 
After a while morning came. When she dared to 
flutter up from the grass all the rest of the birds 
were singing, ami she supposed she must, too, But 
alas 1 sitting in the dew had given her a cold iu her 
head, and her voice was not as musical as it had 
been. She flew about searching for food as she saw 
other birds do. Once in awhilii she found a worm 
or a berry,—but when uoon came she was very bun 
gry. She heard the horn blow aud wished she could 
be a girl again, for a little while, any way, and eat a 
good, hearty dinner, such as she used to before she 
got to be a bird. But birds never could do as peo¬ 
ple did, and so she had to go hungry. 
After flying about for a long time she saw a few 
crumbs of bread scattered about on the ground 
below her, aud, with a chirp of delight, flew down 
and commenced to eat. When she had satisfied her 
hunger she spread her wings to flyaway; but alas! 
she could not! She was caught fast in a large net 
that had falleu over her unnoticed, while she was 
eating. She remembered hearing her mother teLl of 
boys who caught birds aud sold them to be kept 
in cages. What if she should be con lined all her 
life in a little wire prison, scarcely large euough for 
her to stretch her wiugs in ? Oh, the thought was 
terrible! How could she live shut away from the 
blue sky and the sunshine ? She heat her wingB 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
GOOD EFFECTS OF MANUAL LAEOFv 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker 
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT WATER, 
The exteut to which water mingles with bodies, 
apparently the most solid, is wonderful. Of every 
1,200 tons of earth which a landlord has in his estate, 
400 are water. In every plaster-paris statue, which 
an Italian carries through our streets for sale, there 
is one pound of water to four pounds of chalk. The 
potatoes and turnips which are boiled for our dinner, 
have, in their raw state, the one seventy-five per cent, 
and the other ninety per cent of water. If a man 
weighing otie hundred and forty pounds were 
squeezed in a hydraulic press, one hundred and five 
pounds of water would run out, and only thirty-five 
of dry residue remain. A man is, chemically speak¬ 
ing, forty-five pounds of carbon aud nitrogen diffus¬ 
ed through five and a half pails full of water. In 
plants we find water mingling no less wonderfully. 
A sun-flower evaporates one and a quarter pints of 
water a day, aud a cabbage about the same quantity. 
An acre of growing wheat draws aud passes out ten 
tons of water per day. The pore of the plant is the 
medium through which the mass of fluid is conveyed. 
It forms a delicate pump, up which it flows with the 
rapidity of a swift stream. By the action of the sap, 
I various properties may be assimilated to the grow- 
1 ing plant. Timber iu France is, for instance, dyed 
by various colors being mixed with water, and 
siirinkled over the roots of the tree. Dahlias are 
BY EBEN E. REXFORD, 
Mabel sat down in the nook by the window to 
It was a warm, sunshiny day, and 
study her lesson 
the yellow and brown butterflies slept in the sun, I 
and the breezes went and came in a lazy sort of a j 
way. By-aud-by she began to tire of ber book, and | 
laid it down ou the window-sill and fell to watching 
the clouds in the sky and the men at work in the 
meadow making hay; and then her eyes wandered 
to a bird on the cherry tree by the gate, a yellow- 
coated, gay-looking fellow, who was singing a very! 
blithe little song that had the music of the waterfall 
in it, and seemed to be as full of sweetness as the 
flowers were full of delicate odors. 
“ Oh dear! ” sighed Mabel, as she thought of the J 
half-learned lesson, “how 1 wish I was a bird! 
Birds never have to study, aud they are always 
happy as they can be!" 
Mabel’s head kept sinking lower and lower, and 
at last it rested ou the window-sill, and in a moment 
she wgs fast asleep. Aud when site fell asleep she 
dreamed that an old woman with a queer, brown 
face came to her, aud asked her if she would like to 
be a bird. And when she answered that she should, 
very much, the queer old woman touched her with 
a little stick she carried, aud iu less time than it 
takes me to write it, Mabei. was a gay little yellow- 
bird, aud the woman was gone. 
It was several moments before she could really 
believe that she was indeed a bird. She shook her 
wings, aud looked at her feet, and examined her 
bright plumage, and at lust came to the conclusion 
that she really was a bird, and no longer Mabel. 
“ Oh how nice!” 6he thought. “No more books 
for me now! If I don’t enjoy myself it won’t be 
DureA Bookkeeping, By Single and Double Entry. 
Practically Illustrating Merchants’, .Manufacturers’, Pri¬ 
vate Bankers’, Railroad and National Bank Accounts, 
including all the late Improvements in the Science. 
With a copious Index. 
formerly Mar- 
_ __J's Mercantile 
Twentieth Edition. En¬ 
larged aud Revised. {#Vo.— pp. 400.J New York: Har¬ 
per & Brothers. 
In his prerace the author of this very handsomely 
gotten up work says it ‘■includes all the improvements 
for assisting the teacher and perfecting the education of 
the Commercial Student, suggested by upwards ol 
twenty-seven years’ daily experience iu instructing large 
classes in this branch of education.” The present edition 
has nearly two hundred pages of new matter, including a 
full set of Joiut Stock Bank Books, for conducting hank 
accounts under the new National Bank law; also a set for 
Private Bankers and Railroads. Sold by Dewey. 
In the Agricultural Department was a self-regulat¬ 
ing and alarm thermometer, constructed upon a 
plan similar to the one adopted by Secchi. A pla¬ 
tinum wire is fused Into the bulb, and a second wire 
inserted at the degree to which it was proposed to 
raise the temperature in a hot-house or other build¬ 
ing, aud both wires were connected with a battery 
which drove a magneto-electric machine so situated 
that it could be seen at all times by the director of 
the establishment. Iu tills way control was kept of 
the temperature, and any neglect ou the part of the 
servants at once noted. 
Electric signals of all kinds were exhibited. To 
announce that a switch was wrong, that the draw 
was open, that the down train had not started, that 
there was danger ahead, was all practically arranged. 
For use in the house, there was no end to contriv¬ 
ance. If the servant did not answer the bell, the hell 
would keep ou ringing all day and all night until it 
was attended to. If a burglar entered a door or 
window, his approach would be announced by a 
lusty ringing of bells. If the water was too low In 
the boiler, ding-dong would go the bell. If the 
house was growing cold, the mercury would sink in 
the thermometer, and again the bell would ring. • 
The Natirn. 
amusing and suggestive or interesting.rcuectioiis. 
lie stood before me,—straight as uu arrow, full six 
feet high, with a well-developed, heavy chest aud 
broad shoulders,—a perfect specimen of an athletic, 
vigorous, healthy' manhood. Like the youngest son 
0/ Jesse, “he was ruddy, aud withal of beautiful 
countenance and good to look to.” Yet like thou¬ 
sands of our youth, who wish to gain a livelihood 
without work, he knew not these endowments were 
the compensation for the toil, early and late, upon 
his paternal domain,—endowments that can be se¬ 
cured only by long continued exercise In the open 
air, and which are of the highest importance to 
young men, being in themselves a fortune, aud the 
Wavehi.t; Oh, 'Tts Sixty Years Since. By Sir Wal¬ 
ter Scott, Bart. [l2ino.—paper, pp. 4U1.J New York: 
D. Appleton & Co. 
The efforts of publishers to popularize standard au¬ 
thors by bringing their works within the reach of all, are 
to be heartily commended. Appleton & Co., having pro¬ 
duced an-execllant cheap edition of Dickens, are follow¬ 
ing that with a similar edition of Scott. The Waverly 
Novels are to he given in twenty-five volumes, price 
twenty-five cents each, or six dollars for the entire set. 
We have No. 1 of the series before us. It is clearly 
printed, two columns to the page, and pleases the eye as 
much as it gratifies the pocket, bold by Adams A Ellis. 
WISDOM IN BRIEF 
In prosperity, prepare for a change. In adversity, I 
hope for one. 
Keep yourself from opportunities and God will 
keep you from sins. 
Whatever is lovely changes; the sea and the bar¬ 
ren rocks will remain forever as they are. 
Dull men are to be closely studied. Their quali¬ 
ties, like pearls, lie out of eight, and must be dived 
for. 
Cicero gives expression to a beautiful thought 
when he says, “ I go from life as from an inn, not as 
from home.” 
Benefit your friends that they may love you still 
more dearly; benefit your enemies that they may 
become your friends. 
The Chinese have a saying that an unlucky word 
dropped from the tongue can aot be brought back 
by a coach aud six homes. 
Margaret’s Engagement. A Novel. [$vo.—pp. 112.] 
New York: Harper & Brothers. 
Hebe we have No. 307of the Library of Select Novels. 
It is superior to some of the series, and does not come 
up to the level of others. The author is not announced. 
He (or she, we suspect.) writes in rather a graceful style, 
though sometimes carelessly, and occasionally in a man¬ 
ner too flippant to be wholly plecsing. The story hinges 
upon the will of a rich man childless, and, as is the case 
always where wills are concerned, the plot develops con¬ 
siderable intrigue. Sold by Dewey. 
One of the last uses of paper is its application in 
the manufacture of pails, wash-basins, pans, spit¬ 
toons, Ac.; and, strange as it may seem, it is never¬ 
theless true, that the above articles—as. made by the 
American papier-mache Manufacturing Company of 
Greenpoiat, L. I., from a chemically prepared paper 
_are superior in many respects to any others ever 
before made. The paper from which these articles 
arc manufactured Is rendered impervious to the ac- 
tiou of water or acids; the utensils can be placed in 
Persons suffering from dyspepsia or any other 
malady, must take care of their eyes. Auy disease 
impairs the strength, and the nervous system is de¬ 
pressed; aud when laboring under this form of de¬ 
pression, the eye is particularly liable to become 
weak. The reason of this is, that “of the ten 
nerves which go oil from the brain, six arc distrib¬ 
uted wholly, and the other four partially to the 
eye.” Througti the great sympathetic nerve, the 
disturbed stomach, or liver, or intestiues, commu¬ 
nicates with telegraphic speed with the brain, and 
so with the eye. The first advice to be given with 
reference to the comfortable use of the eyes, un¬ 
doubtedly is — to keep intestines and liver and 
stomach In a healthy condition, or in other words 
do everything to confirm the general health. If this 
be impaired, clo not read, and especially do not 
write long without giving the eye a rest. The great 
remedy for an eye whose disease depends upon the 
nerve and not the muscle, is Rest! Rest! ! Rest!!! 
United States Musical Review. A Monthly Magazine. 
New York: J. L. Peters. 
Tuis large journal of music comes to us now in covers, 
and comprises 33 pages (sheet music size) of musical 
matter. The number for February, now ou our table, has 
two songs—"Ally Kay” and “Maribell"— and two in¬ 
strumental pieces—“Red Bird Waltz" aud "Damask 
Rose March,"—beside a fine variety of reading matter ou 
interesting and instructive musical subjects, reviews, 
musical news, &c. It should find a welcome in every 
music-loving family.—$3 per nnum; single copies 20 cts. 
know that she had turned into a bird, All at once 
she heard a hoarse croak, and awoke to find that an 
old owl was sitting just above her on a limb, watch¬ 
ing her with a very wicked look in his round, blink¬ 
ing eyes. He had just discovered her, and she 
looked so fat and plump that he could uot help 
giving a croak of delight to think that he stood iu 
such a fair way to have a nice supper, it was un¬ 
lucky for him, aud very lucky for the poor bird, 
that he did so,—for she was so much frightened 
that she dropped from her perch as though she had 
UP. 
The oak-tree boughs once tiuched the grass; 
But every year they grew 
A little further from the ground, 
And nearer toward the bite. 
So live that you each year mty be, 
While time glides swiftly by, 
A little further from the earta, 
And nearer to the sky. Our Boys and Girls. 
Dombey A Son. By Charles Dickens. [12 mo.—pp. 
356.] New York: D. Appleton & Co, 
For thirty-five cents, the enterprising publishers of the 
"Popular Edition” of Dickens give to the public one 
of that author’s be-t works. There is a great deal of mat¬ 
ter In “ Dombey & Son," and it is here produced hand¬ 
somely, though cheaply. Sold by Adams & Ellis. 
