of outline,—a pair of small beads, for eyes, 
only seemed wanting. 
I deem the growth of this excrescence too 
curious to be confined to my manuscript 
collection alone. The original is yet with 
the Rev. D. P. Rosenmiller. 
J. Stauffer. 
Lancaster, Pa. 
in an operation of this sort, those who are so 
inclined, may reserve their best half-breed 
ewe lambs as the basis of a flock. It will be 
easy, in this manner, to obtain any desirable 
number of sheep, whose wool will be more 
valuable than a finer staple, and whose car¬ 
casses will always command full rates in the 
market. 
To those farmers to whom the principal 
markets arc easy of access, we know of no 
disposition they can make of a portion of the 
surplus corn crop, promising better remu¬ 
neration than feeding it to ewes in lamb to 
mutton rams. 
With all the rush of sheep on the markets 
of the country, for the past three years, good 
muttou has been uniformly scarce aud dear.— 
National Live, Stock Journal. 
cirntific anb 
itsbanbnt 
POISONOUS MARKING INK 
DEATH OF MR HAMMOND, 
HOG CHOLERA, 
The Gewerbe-Blatter contains an account 
of two very peculiar cases of poisoning, pro¬ 
duced by contact of the hand with letters 
put on gloves by means of a certain marking 
ink, and the editor takes occasion to warn 
his readers against this apparently innocent 
article. 
A lieutenant in Berlin marked the iuside 
of his gloves with the ink under discussion, 
and put them on three days after. Very soon 
Ulcers were formed on the wrist, and at the 
exact spot where the letters had touched the 
hand, and although they disappeared again, 
they formed the beginning of a very painful 
cutaneous eruption, that alternately covered 
large parts of the hotly. Upon this, Ihclieu- 
tenant gave the ink to a young chemist for 
examination, who also, for a trial, put a little 
upon his hand. Ulcers appeared also in this 
case, and ten days later, the entire lower 
arm became covered with a burning, rosy 
abscess. The young chemist now delivered 
the ink to Drs. Ilager and Jacobsen, who 
publish the following in regard to it.: 
The marking ink in question distinguishes 
itself from all others, by its smell of ether. 
Therefore, an ink exhibiting this smell ought 
never to be used. The liquid is brown, and 
turns black soon when spread upon linen, 
leather, or paper. It consists of a solution 
of an oily resinous substance, extracted from 
thu anacardium nuts, by means of ether and 
alcohol. 
There are two kinds of these nuts. The 
acajou nuts, culled elephant lice by the Ger¬ 
man peasant, are often used by him for 
sympathetic cures. They originate from a 
Brazilian tree and are kidney shaped, while 
those from the East Indies are heart shaped. 
These latter (the oriental anacardium nuts) 
are the material furnishing the marking ink. 
They contain in their capsules a blackish, 
semi-liquid resin, which, by means of the 
above named solvents, may readily be made 
suitable as a writing and marking ink. 
This resin is, however, exceedingly pun¬ 
gent and caustic. A small amount only, it 
taken internally,suffices to produce a violent 
inflammation of the mouth, throat, and 
stomach, accompanied by fever and some¬ 
times delirium. Fatal poisonings have not 
yet been observed. In contact with the skin 
it also produces inflammat ion, which extends 
far beyond the spot of contact, and some¬ 
times spreads over the entires surface of the 
body; or it produces a disposition to dis¬ 
eases of the skin of an erysipelatous charac¬ 
ter. The Brazilian auacardium nuts contain 
a simular brownish resin of great pungency, 
which was formerly used by doctors in place 
of the Spanish fly plaster, but on account of 
its disagreeable sympathetic effects, it has 
now been entirely discarded.— Manufacturer 
and Builder. 
A truly good man, and, in his depart¬ 
ment of human endeavor, a great, man has 
fallen. lion. Edwin IIawmond died at his 
residence near Middlfebnry, Vt., December 
31st, in the seventy-first year of his age. 
His malady was heart disease. He bore his 
sufferings with Christian fortitude, and died 
in the full hope of a blessed immortality. 
To say nothing of the benefit of preserv¬ 
ing so bright an example of well discharged 
duties as a man and a citizen, it would he 
equally unjust to the dead and the living to 
permit Mr. Hammond's eminent achieve¬ 
ments as an improver and as an instructor 
of his countrymen, iu one of the important 
departments of agricultural husbandry, to 
go unrecorded except in the usual brief lim¬ 
its of an obituary notice, and in the passing 
away recollections of personal friends. Hav¬ 
ing long employed our pen in attempting to 
advance the interests of the particular hus¬ 
bandry in which Mr. Hammond so greatly 
excelled—having fora number of years been 
engaged in a habitual and almost constant 
interchange of experiences aud views witli 
him on that subject—haviug known him 
most intimately, and, wo may be allowed to 
say, enjoyed his friendship most unreserved¬ 
ly—it will he on our part not, only a labor of 
love, but the discharge of what we regard as 
a duty, to join his other frieuds in com¬ 
memorating his life and public services. It. 
is, accordingly, our purpose, as soon as 
health and official labor permit, to collect, 
the materials for and lay before our readers 
a brief memoir of his life. 
The following is extracted from a report 
of the proceedings of the Lexington, Ky., 
Farmers’ Club: — “ Dr. Sfuhr, from the 
Committee ou Hog Cholera, appointed some 
time ago, stated that, after the investigation 
had been prosecuted for some time, the Com¬ 
mittee recommeuded to the public a remedy, 
based upon the knowledge they had acquired 
of the cause and ■workings of the disease. 
Tliis remedy has proven effective in a num¬ 
ber of cases, and from his own observations 
during several months past, and more re¬ 
cently from the application of it to his own 
hogs, he was convinced that it was the reme¬ 
dy so much needed. A lot of his hogs that 
were diseased some lime before the remedy 
was suggested, all died, notwithstanding lie 
did all he could for them 
A Gopher Inclosed in a Turnip. 
The California Scientific Press says: 
“ A farmer’s wife, in Contra Costa, cut open 
a turnip and found a gopher dead iu its cen¬ 
ter. The little fellow bad eatenits way into 
the turnip, which had taken new life and 
closed the hole, or else he laid in its way 
and it grew around him—one of the two— 
the farmer's wife says. At all events, that 
gopher won’t go for any more turnips.” 
llU|ii|r|cH for rVnliirnlliiln.^L. p, W., writes:— 
“I should like to have some of yourlcoiTospoiul- 
ents write about aquariums and the care of fish 
in them, with the mode of making a tank, and 
the kind of cement for the same.” 
Grow more Sheep. 
Now, I do not insist that every farmer 
should grow sheep; for I know that many 
are so situated that they cannot. In stony 
regions, where walls are very generally re¬ 
lied on for fences, I am aware that sheep are 
with difficulty kept within hounds ; and this 
is a serious objection. In the neighborhood 
of cities and large villages, where fresh meat, 
may lie bought from day to day, one valid 
reason for keeping them has no application ; 
yet I hold that twice as many of our farm¬ 
ers as now have flocks ought to have them, 
and would thereby increase their profits as 
well as the comfort of their families.— IT. 
Greeley . 
Mull esc ikliecp. 
A paper communicated to the Agricul¬ 
tural Society of France, describes the Mal¬ 
tese sheep, which it, seems, is a well marked 
and peculiar variety. Some of the breed 1ms 
been introduced in Algeria, and M. de Bray, 
an agriculturalist of that colony, is of opin¬ 
ion that this curious race has arisen from a 
cross between a ram anil a she-goat,— Ex¬ 
change. 
Subsequently, 
others Were taken sick, and alter applying 
the remedy mentioned, all recovered. Re¬ 
cently, he said, he discovered that, a number 
of 1 1 is hogs were so badly affected that, none 
of them would eat.. He gave the remedy, 
and next morning all seemed to he lively and 
to eat heartily. He used only the carbolic 
acid, without the sulphite of lime, and ad¬ 
vised farmers to supply themselves witli what 
he was convinced would prove au effective 
remedy. 
“ He used the crystallzed carbolic acid, 
costing $3 per pound, and recommended 
others to procure the same, as it is cheaper 
than the concentrated solution, and can 
readily be dissolved. To one pound of 
crystalized carbolic acid he added half a 
pint, of min water. A dose of this solution 
for each hog every day is twenty-live drops, 
or a teaspoonfnl to four hogs, administered 
in milk or thin slops stirred up well. 
“ The symtoms of the disease wore given 
by Dr. fcjpURR, as follows:—The first indi¬ 
cation that will be noticed, is tears flowing 
from the inner corner of the eye, and moist¬ 
ening the face some distance down. In n 
short time, if tiic eye is closely noticed, it 
will he seen to have white matter in the in¬ 
ner corner, with the hall considerably in¬ 
flamed. In a majority of cases it, will be 
seen that the ears are not symmetrically 
carried, one being more drooping than the 
other. In some few eases, the head will ho 
slightly inclined to one side, and the hog 
will appear gaunt, indisposed to take exer¬ 
cise, lying around and eating mincingly. 
“ This carbolic acid is of incalculable 
value, aud should be found in every house. 
It, is the best disinfectant known, and Dr. 
SFURn, bavin 
pitman 
ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 
In the Rural NKW-YoRKF.uof Nov. 26th, 
I notice Frank Swain’s queries relative to 
making artificial swarms of hoes. My expe¬ 
rience in bee culture during 1870 will doubt¬ 
less sufficiently answer all his questions, and 
perhaps be interesting to tlio host of Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker readers, and useful to be¬ 
ginners in apiaculturo. Iu the spring I Imd 
seven colonies in a fair average condition; 
five, of these were in frame hives; the other 
two in box hives. When fruit blossoms were 
in full bloom, from May 26th to May 301 li, I 
made artificial swarms from each of these. 
First, L divided a frame hive equally, as 
regards bees, brood, and honey, I ho queenless 
half of which cast a fair swarm Jnnel2lh, 
which were, duly hived and strengthened by 
giving them choice frames of old dry comb. 
The other frame hives wove divided by se¬ 
lecting the frame on which was found the 
old queen, and placing it in an empty hive 
upon the old stand. The latter method is 
doubtless superior. 
From the old box hives the bees were 
thoroughly driven, hived, aud placed upon 
the old stand. It. is all important, to secure 
the old queen with the new swarm, else a 
failure. 
The olcl hives now contain brood in all 
stages, and the infant bees remaining at once 
start, queen cells, and in due time have 
reared a queen, which was fertilized and 
laying at the end of twenty-one days. 
At that time I drove a second swarm 
from the okl hives, the brood being how all 
hatched and old enough to drive. The 
combs filled with honey were emptied with 
a honey emptying machine and transferred 
to frames and given to the new swarms. 
These old hives yielded ninety-four pounds 
of nice extracted honey, and the new swarms 
stored sufficient for winter use. 
I now lmcl fifteen swarms o*’ bees that 
were emptied three times and boxed to a 
five hundred and 
00TSW0LD SHEEP. 
This breed of sheep took its name from 
the Cots wold district of Gloucestershire, Eng¬ 
land, called so from the sheds or cots for shel¬ 
tering the sheep during the night or perma¬ 
nently in winter, and the wolds,or open, hil¬ 
ly grounds, which served as pasturage in sum¬ 
mer. In 1 he earliest records of domesticated 
animals, mention is made of a kind of sheep 
in that district, valued for bulk of carcass 
and heavy fleece and of long wool. They are 
described as tall, and long and full in the 
hind quarters. They are of the larger class 
of British sheep, belonging to the rich low¬ 
lands. Whether they had always occupied 
that country or were introduced at the period 
of improved cultivation, is uncertain, says a 
late English writer. The Cotswold was 
crossed with the new Leicester breed, which 
decreased the size and diminished the pro¬ 
duct of wool. This displeased the Cotswold 
breeders, and they reverted to, and se lected 
from, the native stock for breeding. 
In size, the Cotswold exceeds the Leices¬ 
ter, and the wool is closer on the body, the 
fleece weighing from 6 to 8 lbs. per sheep, 
with a length of wool from 6 to 8 inches; the 
quality is mellow, color good, and fiber 
strong, though rather coarse. Constitution 
sound and hardy, females prolific and good 
nurses. The medium weight of fattened 
Cots wolds, of two years old, ranges from 20 
to 30 lbs. a quarter; from 12 to 15 months 
old, from 16 to 24 lbs. a quarter. The new 
Leicester breed encroached upon the domain 
of the Cotswold, as upon other long wooled 
breeds, but within the last twenty-five years 
the Cotswold breed has attracted general at¬ 
tention, and is contesting the ground with 
the improved breeds in many parts of Great 
Britain. The reasons for this are hardiness, 
and the quality of thriving under common 
treatment, and the prolific and nursing quali¬ 
ties of the females. The most eminent breed¬ 
ers in England are Wm. Lane of Broad fields 
Farm, Nortbleach, Gloucestershire,and Win. 
Hewer, Hill House, near Northleacli,Glou¬ 
cester .—Boston Cultivator. 
c part m rat 
THE ALKALI PLAINS, 
ig been stung by a bee, stuck 
his finger in the solution, and no swelling or 
pain ensued.” 
In dlufuntltst 
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 
FUNGOID 
To Meml Rubber Hone. 
William Hunt, New York city, writes 
in the “ Hub : — “ The inclosed method of 
mending rubber hose ought to he known to 
everybody. I mended mine in several places 
two or three years ago, ami it is yet strong 
and good. The plumbers said there was no 
other way but to use couplings costing a 
dollar each. I used iron pipe, cut to order, 
three inches long, costing three cents each. 
Cut the hose apart where it, is defective; ob- 
tain, from any gas-fitter, a piece ofiron pipe 
two or three inches long; twist the hose 
over it until the ends meet., wrap with strong 
twine, well waxed, and it will last a long 
time. 
How Meat is Preserved (it Monte Video. 
At Monte Video, meat, is now preserved 
in large quantities for export, by a process 
which is thus described:—A pickle is made 
containing eighty-five per cent, of water, 
with hydrochloric acid, glycerine, and bi¬ 
sulphite of soda, and in this the meat, cut 
into lumps of from fire to filly pounds 
weight, is soaked for some days. When 
taken out, if. is dusted over with dry bisul¬ 
phite of soda, and is closely packed in air¬ 
tight boxes, in which it will keep sweet for 
years, and can he rendered fit for use at any 
time by soaking in a bath of cold water in 
which a small quantify of vinegar is mixed. 
Tiie Anion of Horn on Diamonds. 
A very curious influence exerted by heat 
upon diamonds, has been jotioed at tho 
works at 8t. Helen’s, recently visited by the 
British Association. When a diamond is 
used to cut lioi glass, the diamond will only 
last for one day, and it assumes a milky ap¬ 
pearance. The diamonds in constaiv t;sc 
for cutting cold glass, last about three moulds. 
Each diamond costs from 35s. to 45s., and is 
about three times the size of an ordinary 
glazier’s diamond. Hot glass is cut more 
readily than cold glass. 
Rev. D. P. Rozenmillkr of this city, 
brought me one of the most singular natural 
productions I have yet seen, of which I took 
a correct colored drawing, and furnish you 
a pcn-sketch of the same. This is a fungoid 
limited extent, yielding 
thirty-five pounds of extracted honey and 
two hundred pounds in boxes. This 
honey found a ready sale at, twenty-five 
cents per pound, many pre- 
r . ferring the extracted to the 
box. The average net weight, 
of my bees the last of Oc¬ 
tober was a trifle over forty 
With all this division and 
management, care and dis¬ 
cretion must lie used. To 
subdue bees, I use smoke 
from burning cotton rags. 
I use the Sisson’s patent 
frame hive, which, for ease of 
management and for the pur¬ 
pose of observing and studying the hab¬ 
its and instincts of the honey bee, is rarely 
excelled. IIollum Lanoworthy. 
Otsego Co., N. Y. 
PROFITABLE GROSSING. 
excrescence found growing on a stump in 
Hubley township,Schuylkilcounty, Pa.,last 
spring, by Master Emanuel Dei hurt, from 
whom Mr. Rozenmillek obtained it. 
Tills was so perfect in its shape aud color¬ 
ing as t<* lead any one to consider it a work 
of art, and 1 could only be satisfied that it 
was a real natural production, after the 
closest scrutiny. 
I have met with certain species of Polyporw 
Lycoprrdons , Pezizas, &e., similar in color and 
texture, and of various odd shapes, covered 
in some cases with a finely polished cuticle, 
in which the spores could not be seen with 
tiic naked eye, and know that they germi¬ 
nate by the protrusion of Iheir inner mem¬ 
brane, so as to lie elongated in various direc¬ 
tions, and convolutions, by no means con¬ 
stant in size or form. Yet I was not pre¬ 
pared to meet, wilh such a perfect fac simile 
of a duck, with broad bill, ami fan-tail of a 
cream white color, the, back of asnuff brown 
somewhat granulated, and the breast, abdo¬ 
men and pedestal or foot, of a smootbe, 
glossy texture, and of a mahogany brown 
color. It would require the skill of a Ger¬ 
man maker of toys, to excel it, in accuracy 
It is known to most, if not all our readers, 
that the farmers in the eastern counties of 
New York have long derived a handsome 
profit from the purchase of strong, healthy, 
common ewes iu the full; breeding them 
early to the South Down or long wool mut¬ 
ton rams, aud selling the following season in 
the New York market, the lambs and such 
of the ewes as reach a marketable condition. 
There seems to be nothing to prevent West¬ 
ern farmers, large or small, doing the same 
thing. A South Down or Cotswold ram to 
a grade Merino, or common ewe, will give 
a lamb, which, dropped in April, may he 
sold in the Chicago, St. Louis, or Cincinnati 
market, in July or August, for four to six 
dollars. 
Corn, of which the West never produced 
so much in any previous year, must rule low. 
Twenty to thirty cents per bushel, within 200 
miles of Chicago, is now the range of price 
for this great staple; and unless the distillers 
double their capacity and run full time, there 
is not likely to he any great improvement 
in price. 
Aside from the direct profit to he realized 
A Substitute for Bee Bread Wanted. 
Can you, or some of your correspondents, 
inform me whether there is any article used 
successfully as a substitute for bee bread for 
bees? Bee bread seems to be scarce this 
season, and the prospect is a heavy loss un¬ 
less its place is filled by a substitute.—H. L. 
Lankton. 
Preventiuu Been Swarming. 
Mu. Qcinby, at the Northeastern Bee 
Keepers’ Convention is reported as saying; 
If we could prevent the issue of swarms 
until alter we had secured the surplus honey 
with the extractor, (or if in boxes they 
would be filled more rapidly, and the honey 
would lie whiter,) I hen make new colonies 
just in time to secure winter stores, we 
would obtain more honey, and the stocks 
would he more valuable in the spring. Late 
zvvarma work, and breed late, hence the bees 
are young and the colonies more valuable 
the next spring. He had got his box honey 
before swarming, apt! bees will finish boxes 
after swarming if partly filled before. 
Scientific Inmilrlci*.—A correspondent of tho 
Rural New-Yorker asks its jreuders to toll 
why, when we ascend towards the sun, it arrows 
cooler and darker? 
