thirsty, with a dullness and confusion of 
thought which last for some time. 
A moderate degree of cold prevents sleep, 
while excessive cold has not uu frequently 
been known to induce sleep ending in death. 
In some cases, the drowsy tendency from cold 
is so irresistible that It is indulged in with tho 
full consequences before the mind. Travelers 
in the Rocky Mountains aro sometimes over¬ 
taken by storms far from shelter, and exposed 
to a very low temperature while crossing- this 
bleak and elevated range. In such a situa¬ 
tion to sleep is to die. 
Cniist-H of HleeplcsHUKHS. 
So far as this has been ascertained, a les¬ 
sened flow of blood through the brain is the 
cause of that total obliteration of conscious¬ 
ness and of all voluntary motion known to 
11 s as perfect sleep. When the brain is most 
in action, it attracts to itself most blood. 
Every one who has spent many consecutive 
hours in literary composition, or in abstruse 
calculation, will be able to recall the sensa¬ 
tion of fullness and of throbbing in the head, 
and, if the work still be persisted in, the 
headache which such close application often 
induces. Provided that external circum¬ 
stances are favorable, sleep usually comes on 
when that power of the brain through which 
the mind and the senses act requires restora¬ 
tion. It is usually requisite that access of 
light and of sound be prevented, and that the 
body be placed in an easy position. 
The simplest form of wakefulness, then, is 
that which occurs from violation of one or 
more of the conditions appropriate to sleep. 
Thus, a bright light in the. room, an unac¬ 
customed noise, or an uncomfortable bed, 
suflico to keep most persons awake. An 
excess in the very causes which induce Sleep 
also Commonly prevents it. Over-fatigue is 
usually followed by vigilance, and some per¬ 
sons are unable to sleep if they remain long 
out of bed beyond their usual time of retir¬ 
ing to rest; or, on the other band, if they go 
to bed unusually early, feel restless and un¬ 
comfortable. 
When the brain has been once stimulated 
to activity, it requires, in, most cases, time 
before the circulation of blood through it 
regains the balance which is maintained in 
the waking state. When In this latter con¬ 
dition, most persons easily fall asleep if other 
circumstances are favorable. Many people, 
indeed, possess the faculty of sleeping at will, 
by merely closing the eyes and otherwise 
shutting out external impressions. A great 
many persons, on the other hand, and par¬ 
ticularly those of nervous temperament, 
sleep with difficulty, and some may be said 
to obtain repose only by stratagem. 
Many articles cause wakefulness when 
taken Internally. Of these, ten and coffee 
ggtrntr J'nfcrrmatitm 
oiucstic 
ratio mu 
CONDUCTED BY MARY A. E. WAGER, 
AiiOUT SLfcjliiP, 
There is a great amount of popular misap¬ 
prehension as to the amount of sleep required 
by different individuals at different ages and 
having different physical and mental habits. 
Our experience and observation have taught 
us to think very differently from the tradi¬ 
tions and theories we were compelled to be¬ 
lieve and practice in our earlier years. 
Whatever will help to correct false notions 
upon this subject and thereby benefit the 
health, increase the comfort and enhance 
the happiness of people, should bo widely 
disseminated. A publication comes to us 
monthly entitled 11 Good Health,” which 
contains some sensible talk upon this sub¬ 
ject of “ sleep,” and from which we propose 
to quote. 
Amount of Sleep. 
The publication named above says:—The 
proper duration of sleep cannot be absolutely 
fixed; some men require much more than 
others; and age, the amount ot work per¬ 
formed during the day, whether physical or 
FERMENTATION, BREAD, ETC 
not readily classified. I do not think I said, 
or intimated, or was reported to say, that 
cabbage, &c., Ac., were good for a weak 
stomach. But I did say that roots and leaves 
•were not so high an order of fond as fruits 
and grains. 
His most pretentious assertion is that 
“fermentation is life, literally and philo¬ 
sophically speaking.” Webster says that 
it is “ that change of organic substances by 
which their starch, sugar,gluten, Ac., are de¬ 
composed, and t heir elements are re-combined 
in new compounds;” but these new com¬ 
pounds aro inorganic and lifeless. You- 
mans, one, of tlio best authorities in this 
country, calls it putrefaction, mentioning 
also the same resulting lifeless compounds. 
Liebig, perhaps the beat in Europe, talks of 
it in page after page as decay, putrefaction 
and decomposition, but never says a word 
of its producing life, lie also takes no little 
pains to prove that the ferment called yeast 
does not reproduce itself “ ns seeds repro¬ 
duce seeds,” and therefore it is not a plant— 
it has no life. 
P. D. calls fermentation a “progenitor of 
life." Now a progenitor is a parent, and by 
an invariable law of nature the children are 
like the parents. Perhaps be can tell us 
wliat larva* and chickens are like fermenta¬ 
tion. lie quotes Wood’s description of it. 
In my edition of Wood that same passage is 
given us a description of the process of ger¬ 
mination or growth, and it says nothing 
about fermentation. How could P. I) make 
such a mistake ? As to the practical part, 
Miss C’olman has made many a loaf of what 
be calls “good, sweet, delicious tormented 
bread,” and, what is better, she cooked 
every one of the somewhere towards one 
hundred dishes that Miss Wager saw on 
her lecture tables. She scarcely mentioned 
a recipe but of such dishes as she had tried 
and proved, some of them for years, and 
many of which she devised. Now she 
would modestly ask whether a woman 
might not be supposed to oook well and 
write well too. She would like to inquire 
whether it is not quite as allowable for a 
woman to write about her own proper busi¬ 
ness as it is for a man to write about it. 
We should think P. D. would blush scarlet 
to sec his own ungallaut sneer in print in 
columns edited by a woman, only that wo 
doubt whether be lias sufficient wit to dis¬ 
cover her magnanimity in giving it publica¬ 
tion. Julia Colman. 
The foregoing has been to Kansas and re¬ 
turned, else it would have received earlier 
attention.— [Eds. Rural. 
late the demand. Infants sleep the greater 
part of their time. Children require more 
than adults, and, as a rule, the middle-aged 
more than the old. It is no uncommon 
thing to see old men pointed out. as models 
of early rising to tlu ir younger friends. This 
is a mistake; for, in truth, the old get, up 
early because they are unable to rest in bed. 
But there are exceptions to this. Old Parr 
slumbered away much of bis later life; and 
Die Moivre, when past eighty years of age, 
slept twenty out of Ihe twenty-four hours. 
It has also been observed that in the dotage 
of old age, as if to complete the parallel be¬ 
tween the first and second childhood, sleep 
again predominates. Sleep in the aged is 
most apt to occur after taking their meals. 
Perhaps no better division of time can be 
made than that of Alfred the Great. He 
assigned eight out of the twenty-four hours 
to work, eight to amusement, and eight to 
sleep. The demands of modern life, in most 
instances, sadly disturb such a relation be¬ 
tween work and play; but, the period he 
assigned for sleep seems to accord with gen¬ 
eral experience. Less than eight hours’ sleep 
is insufficient for most men and women 
when in health, and more is unnecessary, el¬ 
even injurious. In this matter, too, there aro 
exceptions. Jeremy Taylor trained him¬ 
self to exist on three hours’ sleep out of the 
twenty-four. Frederick the Great and 
John Hunter slept only four or live hours 
in the same, time. Wi: vh. lays down the 
proper duration of sleep at six hours, and 
To Make ihe Dost Cake, it Is Indispensable to 
have tho different, ingredients of the best qual¬ 
ity. One poor article umy spoil the whole; and 
tho flour, butter, sugar, eggs, &c., besides being 
of the best, shoulil boa little warmer than when 
in a strictly natural state. They should stand 
by tho tiro some time before using. He careful, 
however, not to molt the butter, as it will make 
the cake heavy. All dampness should ho dried 
from currants, and It is well to dust them with 
flour and shako before stirring. Lemon peel 
nud almonds can bo made into a smooth paste 
which mixes well, by beating them In u mor¬ 
tar, and adding a little wine or water. Lemon 
juice, vinegar, or salemtus, when used, should 
bo added the Inst thing. Of the various kinds of 
oulerntua, soda, baking powders, &c., 1 prefer 
the ehc.mlad mkratm made by D- B. De Land A 
Co., us It ta always reliable and pure.—C ele. 
-—- 
Elderberry Wine.—Get ripe berries, put them 
in something to scald thorn, as the Juice cau bo 
got easier and quicker. Put ft little water in to 
keep the berries from burning; then extract the 
juice and put one pound of granulated sugar to 
a quart, and set it near the stove to keep warm 
and work; it will work in two or three weeks. 
Put in nothing but the sugar and a ill tie water. 
After it Is ready for the sugar, heat some of the 
juice and stir tho sugar in so that it will bo all 
dissolved ; it will work itseir. The scum should 
be taken off, and when it Is done working, turn 
it off carefully and bottle. For twenty quarts of 
juice, two or three quarts of water shoulil be 
used.— e. v. 
-««» 
To Make Pickles.—Get tho best alcohol and 
use one quart of alcohol and three quarts of wa¬ 
ter. Pur, iu the cucumbers and set thorn near 
llie stove; stir them often ; till up the dish on 
the same rule, and they will work, and use no 
spices. Bettor pickles never were made; they 
will make iu three or four months and keep 
three or four years, always ready. If there Is a 
mold rises on the top, it should be stirred in, not 
taken off. They are good to spend, as they are 
keen, and no one will use as many. They aro 
always hard and nice.— e. p. 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC ITEMS, 
early, and vice xersa. MubU lias been written 
in praise of early rising, and with some truth. 
There is ati undoubted relation between 
sleep and night, when, with few exceptions, 
all animated nature reposes. It is also a 
good, though not an indispensable, rule ot 
health to retire to rest early; the real point 
being to obtain, sooner or later, the requisite 
eight hours’ sleep. It is the open state of 
the skin-pores which makes sleeping iu the 
open air hazardous. There is an unfounded 
belief that the moonbeams exercise a pecu¬ 
liarly noxious influence on a sleeper who is 
exposed to them. 
Tlio Powiiiou in Sleeping. 
Most people sleep best on the right side ; 
the chief reason for this is that the heart lies 
towards the left side. When, therefore, a per¬ 
son lies on the right side, greater freedom is 
given to its motions. In many countries it 
is the habit to sleep on hard hoards, or, at 
most, with a mat thrown over thorn. The 
ancient Egyptians slept with the head sup¬ 
ported on an iron bar bent to its shape. This 
one thing only seems to belong to all times 
ami to all countries—that, when possible, 
people always sleep lying down. But, in 
cases of great fatigue, neither this, nor even 
a state of rest, is indispensable. People have 
often slept while riding on horseback. In 
the retreat of Sir John Moore during the 
Peninsular IVar, many of the soldiers were 
found to be fast asleep while they were 
marching. It is, indeed, astonishing how 
well sleep can be indulged in under difficul¬ 
ties. Men worn out hy fatigue and loss of 
rest at the siege of Sebastopol slept soundly 
in the batteries during a bombardment. Coy 
and fugitive when sought after, sleep is often 
an irresistible influence when unsought. 
Influence of Temperature. 
A high temperature strongly induces sleep. 
In some warm climates the siesta, or mid¬ 
day sleep, is an established usage. Sleep 
from heat is preceded by great lassitude and 
indisposition to exertion of either body or 
mind. If a person gives way to it he drops 
into slumber quite suddenly, but it is not 
attended by the refreshing effects of ordi¬ 
nary sleep. He is uut to awake feverish and 
Astronomy in the South .—The large reflect¬ 
ing telescope, to purchase which the Legis¬ 
lature of the English colony of Victoria 
appropriated $25,000 gold, has arrived at 
Melbourne, the capital, and is hereafter to he 
known as the Great Melbourne Telescope. 
A fine building is being erected for it. One 
of its first achievements will he the examina¬ 
tion of the nebulae of the Southern hemis¬ 
phere. Nothing of any account has been 
done in the study or astronomy south of the 
equator since Sir John F. W. Ilerschcl left 
the Cape of Good Hope thirty-one years ago. 
Wooden Railways are attracting no little 
attention. In places where a high rate of 
speed is not desired, it is found entirely 
practicable to build these roads of wood, and 
at a much more economical rate than iron 
roads are built. In Canada especially, many 
movements are on foot for the construction 
of such roads. 
Miinuf'artare of Wooden Toothpicks .—These 
useful little articles are made by patent 
machinery, and the manufacture of the 
same is principally, if not wholly, earned 
on at an establishment near Boston, which 
has been in operation for four years. The 
aggregate number sold is quite large, some¬ 
times amounting to five millions a day. 
Meteorological. —At, Hamburg a Meteorolog¬ 
ical institute has been formed, whose objects 
are to make navigation safe, to shorten sea 
voyages, and, as a means thereto, to eolleet 
systematic meteorological observations, give 
storm warnings and to establish as speedily 
as possible uniformity iu the instruments 
employed in the observations. 
Cable Telegraphy. —Tiie Atlantic cable i3 
worked in a very peculiar manner, smaller 
batteries being used than on many of our land 
lines. Very delicate instruments are made 
to deflect a small ray of light, which forms 
tlie letters, and is easily read by the practiced 
eye of the operators. 
State of the Moon .—An English physician 
lias just discovered that the moon passes 
successively, during its different phases, from 
a temperature of molten lead to that of the 
congelation of mercury. 
Cracknels.—Sotnc one asks for a recipe for 
cracknels. If oatmeal cracknels are meant, 
take the following:—Add just sufficient water to 
the oatmeal to wet it through; let it stand ten 
minutes to “set," then knead it with a little 
flour, and roll out, with a well floured pin and 
board, to the thickness of a wheat kernel; cut 
with u knife oi a small biscuit-cutter, and bake 
in a quick oven ten minutes, or until they will 
snap between the thumb and fingers. Do not 
let them brown. Good with soup or alone,—less 
trouble to make than crackers.— Julia Colman. 
PREPARING PEACHES, 
We copy, as seasonable, the following 
from Arthur’s Home Magazine for August: 
To Preserve Peaches. — Pare, halve and 
weigh the peaches; put them into a preserv¬ 
ing kettle full of boiling water, and to every 
six pounds of fruit put, a teaspoonful of soda; 
boil one minute, take them off, and throw 
them into cold water, removing any dark 
scum which may adhere to them. Make the 
sirup of half a pound of sugar and a gill of 
water to every pound of fruit; boil and clari¬ 
fy it, and when well skimmed put in the 
fruit, and when half done take the peaches 
from the sirup, and lay on dishes so that 
each piece shall be separate, and let them 
get entirely cold ; then return to the boiling 
sirup and cook until done; boil the sirup 
until it is rich. It is best to warm the jars 
and put the preserves in hot. If the jars are 
of glass, they will break unless heated quite 
hot before filling them. 
Peaches for Family Use. — Ripe peaches, 
pared, stoned and quartered. To twelve 
pounds of the cut peaches, add six pounds of 
the best brown sugar; stew the sugar among 
the peaches, and let them stand twelve hours; 
then add the kernels of the stones, and put 
the whole in a preserving kettle and boil 
slowly for about two hours, skimming well. 
When cold, put it up in jars. 
Sweet Pickle Peaches .—Pare and halve the 
peaches. To two pounds of fruit take one 
quart of vinegar and one pound of sugar ; 
put the sugar and vinegar on the fire, skim, 
and when they have simmered fifteen min- 
Removlng Crease Spots from Silk.—TelL “A 
Subscriber," who inquires how to remove grease 
spots from silk without injury to the goods, to 
get a piece of " tailors’ chalk " (to be had of any 
tuilor, and with a knire scrape some and apply 
to the wrong side of her goods, wherever there 
are any grease spots, and hang it away for a few 
days; then brush off the powder. If any trace 
still remain, make u second application. It will 
not InJu re the most dtUoate colors, and is sure, It 
thoroughly tried.— U. A. S, Lawrence. 
Shoe Tie*,— Tf you want to make your shoe 
tics last as long again as they would, naturally, 
run two or three linen threads through them 
longitudinally. 
Use u Saddler'* \ee3le if you are so economi¬ 
cal as to mond your little girl’s shoes or Tom¬ 
my’s leather mittens; but take care that the 
angular sides do not cut your lingers.—A nony¬ 
mous. 
Parent Loom*. Mrs. H. W. D. asks where 
patent looms adapted to tho various kinds of 
country weaving can be obtained, and their 
cost. If the lady attends any of the State Fairs, 
she will probably learn, as they are usually on 
exhibition thereat, and In operation. Meantime 
1L’ any proprietor of such an invention is wise, 
he will advertise in the Rural. 
Inquiry.—Will some of you give through the 
Rural, a recipe for preserving Damson Plums 
go that they will remain hard?—L ucy H. 
