802 
DEC. U 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
l^atintg far i\t 1 unrig. 
BILLY-BOY AND BILLY-GOAT. 
“Stop, Tommy, you oan’t catch him that way, and it 
you fool wld him, Old Bill, 
The ins' thin? you know, he will butt you clear down 
the foot of the hill 1 
You don’t unneratan’ it yet, Tommy ; Jus’ wait till I 
pulls off nay coat— 
Now ;nmme the halter—I’ll show you the way for to 
bridle a goat I 
“ You’b so young and so little, Old Billy, he don’t eben 
know who you are, 
I's goin’ on seven years, 1 is—I’s mighty near old as 
Papa, 
A goat’s like the show people’s lions—needs a fellow to 
tame him, you see, 
W if a ’ticular kind of a voice and a eye and—a fellow 
like me I 
** I carries the halter Jus’ this way, and marches up 
steady. Jin’ so ; 
Look at him ! how yuiethe’s standin’—he knows who’s 
a talkin'. Bill, whoa. 
Now watch me, Tom! S-t-e-a-d-y—s-t-e-a-d—WHOAP! ” 
The billy-goat standeth there still. 
Gazing calmly on Billy-boy rolling “ clear down to the 
foot of the hill.’’ [Courier-Journal. 
• - ■ ■ 
THE CHEMISTRY OF METALS, 
W. H. WALSNN. 
Copper. 
Keeping in full view the benefit of “leading 
the m'.nd of the young chemist from what Is 
known to what is unknown," I have selected the 
metal copper to commence with, as the one most 
likely to be known by every boy. 
Until very recently, copper was employed—in 
Its pure, or “ virgin ” form, it Is much used now 
In culinary vessels, such as tea-kettles and sauce¬ 
pans, also for certain chemical vessels and ap¬ 
paratus. 
Copper Is distinguished from all the other 
metals (exceptthe rare metolcalled “titanium ”), 
by Its red color; bismuth also has a slightly red 
tint, but It Is never likely to be confounded with 
copper on that account, for It Is nearly white. 
The weight of a metal in proportion to its vol¬ 
ume, or bulk, is a very important item amongst 
Its peculiarities. Tuts relative weight Is called 
Its “ specific gravity." and Is always expressed In 
proportion to the weight of exactly the same 
bulk of pure water. 
The discovery of the law of loss of weight, 
equal to that of the bulk of water displaced, by 
an Immersed body, was made by the Syracusan 
philosopher Archimedes, about 800 years before 
Christ, w no, being latent upon finding the pro¬ 
portion of silver Id the so-called “golden " crown 
of Hiero, king of Syracuse, and entering a bath 
that was fall of water, observed that a quantity 
of water flowed over; this quantity he rightly 
estimated as the hulk of his own body, and theuee 
thought of the application of the principle to 
finding the proportion of silver that was alloyed 
with the gold Ln the crown. So delighted was he 
with the discovery that he Jumped out of the 
water, ran through the streets, naked as he was, 
crying “Eureka” (t have found it!) To carry 
out his idea, he obtained a mass of gold and an¬ 
other or sliver, each equal In weight to the 
crown, and observed the quantities of water dis¬ 
placed by each. Alloys are very seldom of the 
exact specific gravity related to that of their 
component metals ln proportion to the amount of 
each metal existing In the alloy; but, doubtless, 
some near approach to the relative weights of 
silver ana gold in the crown was made by Archi¬ 
medes, when he compared the specific gravities 
of the gold and silver masses thus obtained with 
the specific gravity or the crown, obtained by 
means or a like Immersion, ir tils plan could 
have given truly the relative proportions of the 
gold and silver, It would have been remarkable, 
on account of its being totally Independent of the 
abstraction of metal, however small, from the 
crown to he tested. 
Fure copper Is less easily melted than sliver 
and more easily than gold; Its point of fusion is 
said to be me* Fahrenheit, it is melted ln a 
“crucible”—a vessel made of some substance, 
such as fire-clay, which stands the requisite 
heat—by the aid of a material called a flux. This 
portion of the subject will be illustrated by 
means of one or the more fusible metals. 
The hlstorv attached to this metal is interest¬ 
ing from its being one or the oldest known metals. 
It was discovered before Iron, and in the time of 
the Pharaohs, Nubu and Ethiopia were its chief 
sources. The discovery of brass—an alloy or 
copper and zinc—was clearly subsequent to that 
of copper and before that of zinc, an ore that 
contained zinc being formerly used ln the smelt¬ 
ing of the copper; brass was, most probably, not 
known more than a few hundred years before the 
Christian era. Zinc was known to be a separate 
metal ln the sixteenth century, The probability 
follows that when “ brass ” is mentioned ln Holy 
Wilt, the metal copper Is really meant. The 
earliest mention of “ brass " (or copper), accord¬ 
ing to the chronoiogists, refers to ssiw years be¬ 
fore the birth of our Sat lour. and occurs ln the 
twenty-second verse or the fourth chapter of 
Genesis, lu which Tubal Cain is said to be “ an 
Instructor of every artificer ln brass and Iron.” 
In relation to the Latin name for the metal— 
the name by which It la known m chemistry, 
Cuprum -It is to be derived from the name or an 
Island ln the Mediterranean sea called Cyprus, 
where the metal was found in great abundance 
and purity in the time of Pliny (A. D. 100). The 
ancients—the Egyptians, the Hindoos, Greeks, 
and Arabians—had a great fancy for establishing 
relationships, or harmonies, bet ween the various 
parts of the created universe: this they carried 
to such an extent, that various kinds of men and 
women, planets and other astronomical realities 
and non-realities, animals, plants, minerals, 
places and things, were supposed to be Influenced 
by them. 
According to this harmonic and pleasant—be¬ 
cause highly amicable—arrangement, copper (or 
cuprum) was said to be Intimately related to the 
planet Venus. Some discussion has arisen be¬ 
tween philosophical historians ns to whether the 
metals then known were named first and the 
planets from them, or whether the planets were 
named first, and then the metals. T am strongly 
Inclined to believe that the metals took their 
mythological names from the planets, for the 
planets are visible to many people many times in 
the year, merely for the trouble of looking for ; 
but the metals are, for the most part, found only 
by patient Industry and uard physical labor, ln 
separating the solid crust of the earth. 
It Is a singular fact that, in the harmonic ar¬ 
rangement above described, the Island of Cyprus, 
where copper was discovered, or re-dlscovered by 
the Greeks, was placed under the guardianship of 
the goddess Venus, named after the planet Venus 
by a star-worshipping community, and that those 
who give the stars a language, place Cyprus, as 
well as the metal copper, under the Influence of 
the planet Venus. Those who are curious in the 
matter may trace other coincidences; or, to say 
the least of It, related peculiarities. The planet 
Venus Is said, by the above ancient people, to 
preside over everything relating to beauty or 
form of color, over the polite arts and all things, 
such as music, pilntlng and poetry, that admin¬ 
ister to the outward luxury and enjoyment of 
fife; It la also certain that either copper or Its 
alloys make a very strong appearance ln the ad¬ 
juncts to a refined life; It lurntshes reeds, and 
sometimes strings to musical instruments, its 
chemical combinations with other substances 
form magnificent paints of a bluish or greenish 
tint, and the metal itself renders further assist¬ 
ance to the artist In the shape of copper plates 
for printing from. Bronze sLatues and statuettes 
enable us to realize the beauty of form in all Its 
wondrous details, and the colors displayed by the 
metal Itself, and by its chemical combinations, 
are of a varied and vivid kind. The particular 
Color which the planet Venus was said to favor 
most was a glistening or brilliant tint of blue or 
purple, and It Is remarkable that the great ma¬ 
jority of Che colors of the chemicals formed from 
oopper are of a bluish tint; indeed, the most 
beautiful purple that chemistry affords—unable 
to be fixed, we regret to say—produced when am¬ 
monia la added to the solution ot a salt of copper, 
is one of the surest means of telling the presence 
of copper in a solution. 
To proceed with the history of the metal. The 
Grecians and Romans used copper and its alloys 
with tin for weapons and for their coinage. Since 
then, Its non-liabliuy to rust, Its malleability, 
and Its other properties have brought It Into use 
for a great n umber ol purposes. 
The metal copper, doubtless—ln common with 
Its nobler companions, gold and stiver—owes Its 
ancient birth to the fact ol Its being sometimes 
found ln the metallic rorm, or “native"In the 
earth; Iron, zinc, and the more recently dis¬ 
covered metals nod being found lu the pure state, 
out requiring some chemical knowledge to evolve 
them from their ores. Its mineralogy is, how¬ 
ever, exceedingly Interesting; for ln form, color 
and beauty (withfew exceptions) its ores all bear 
out with Venus-Uke attributes. Native copper 
occurs .In veins, also crystallzed ln the form of 
“cubes,” or dice, and other forma. The only red 
copper ore Is the “ dln-oxtde ” of copper, which Is 
found ln beautiful ruby-red cubes. Black oxide 
ol copper Is sometimes met with. Copper pyrites 
coutalns sulphur and Iron aa well as copper, and 
Is of a deep-yellow color. The green carbonate of 
copper (malachite) Is the most abundant as well 
as one of the most beautirul of all the copper 
ores. 
Just as wo like to know the character of a man, 
or of a boy, and. if possible, the kind of company 
he keeps, before being Intimate with him, so the 
previous description will go to unfold the charac¬ 
ter and natural tendencies of our first metal that 
wo have taken for examination and temporary 
companionship. We have found that he Is of 
ancient lineage, and that by himself, as well as 
In company with less venerable metals, he has 
done much service to mankind, and continues to 
be a useful and ornamental member of society. 
He Is of so friendly a nature that he forms ac¬ 
quaintance with manj other substances besides 
those already mentioned. A very energetic olass 
of bodies, called acids, are exceedingly eager to 
detain him when they get hold of him ln the 
right mood. One, nitric acid, detains him under 
all circumstances; the othors require the spur of 
warmth, or of an electric shock, to persuade them 
to establish their power over our metallic trleud, 
Mr. Cuprum Coppar. Another set of energetic 
bodies, known us alkalies, will sometimes, under 
pressure, enter Into comhluatlou with o«r friend— 
especially Mr. Liquor Ammonlm; but the general 
tendency of the caustic gentlemen Is to dissolve 
the union between any acid that may have taken 
Mr. Cuprum ln tow, and reduce him to the ne¬ 
cessity of putting up with the bare company of 
any such airy individuals—we might almost say 
“light characters’’—as Mr. Oxygen. To deseend 
from our poetic pinnacle of personification, we 
wish to Impress oar readers strongly with the fact 
that the business of chemistry ln relation to cop¬ 
per Is to bring out the properties of the various 
combinations that we have hinted at above, and 
to Investigate the uses to which they can be ap¬ 
plied. Although these substances have one ele¬ 
ment., copper, in common with all of them, their 
properties are entirely different, and make them 
totally independent ol each other as workers for 
the bent fit of those who will only diligently 
search out their secrets. One substance forms a 
good paint, another furnishes a serviceable dye, a 
third gives up its copper to iron or zinc by the 
simple Immersion of those metals, and a rourth 
will only give up Its copper upon the application 
of the current from a galvanic battery.—[Conclu¬ 
sion next week. 
PARENTAL AFFECTION IN SPARROWS. 
I saw a touching little Incident showing the 
affection or sparrows for their young on the 
KennlDgton Oval cricket-ground last Thursday 
afternoon, a description of which you may, per¬ 
haps, think It worth while to record. 
The afternoon was One and the ground was 
surrounded by a dense ring of spectators, when 
a young pale-colored sparrow, under the guld- 
of both Its parents, was trying to acquire the use 
of Its wings. A slight wind was blowing towards 
the spectators, and the poor little bird, ln ite 
weak attempt to fly, was, to the evident con¬ 
sternation of Its parents, carried straight into 
the laps of the lnuer ring of spectators, one of 
whom caught It gently ln his hand and held It. 
When taken hold of, the young bird gave two 
or three chirps or calls ror help, and the old birds 
flew to within a few feet or the ring of specta¬ 
tors, and, alighting on the grass In rront of them 
all, began to “ beg” for the young bird In the 
most touching and beseeching manner. This 
they did by lowering their heads and making the 
peculiar flutter of the wings by which young 
birds beg for food from the old ones. This sing¬ 
ularly touching appeal moved the hearts of 
many In the crowd, who called out, " Look! 
look at the old birds I Don’t hurt the young 
bled!"—“Give It back to them," etc. The anx¬ 
iety and the boldness of the old birds, and their 
humble beseeching for the young were so evident 
as to come home to the hearts or these some¬ 
what rough spectators. 
My own feeling certainly was that I could not 
have believed that a pair of sparrows could pos¬ 
sibly have “ begged" with such touching humil¬ 
ity and tenderness for the safety or the young 
bird. Their manner clearly displayed their 
sense of their own wane of power to help the 
object of their affection, they therefore prayed 
for mercy ln their own way, and with so much 
feeling, a3 to excite the full sympathy of the 
crowd looking on, and to make them, for the 
time, forget the game of cricket they had come 
there to see. c R 
Bristol. August IT. 
®|f fitglfr. 
HIDDEN KINDS OF RHYME. 
1. Below zenith Is the nadir, Gerald. 
2. Did he flay the horse ? 
3. At our ball Ada fell 111, 
4. T’ls treason, Gregory. 
8. Where's papa, E., and Dick ? 
o. The pig rammed its root ln the fox trap. 
T. Is our equi umbelliferous ? 
s. E. A. Poe made “ The Raven.” 
9. The Pope ends each day In prayer. 
10 . The code of honor. 
11. He picked a thornless rose. 
12. Can’t a tape be found ? 
is. Steparo dyes his hair. 
14. The leg Young showed me. 
is. Give shy M. nothing. 
18. Can’t I clean my Jewels? 
If. What a mad rig Ally wore I 
15. The thumb lank Versella has! 
iv. Pa, Lino denies it. 
so. Bee the dog Gerelia pets. 
2 1, S eronn, delay no more. 
tr Answer ln two weeks. Little one. 
-HI 
CENTRAL PUZZLE. 
l. Humldity, 2. An old soldier. 8. Part of a 
ship’s side. 4. Flowing violently. 6. A fortress 
in or near a city. a. To whine. 7. Chimerical, 
s. A liquor. 9. Thrusting. 10 . Brave, li. a 
tramp. 12. importunity. Words of seven ietters 
form the answer, and the centrals form one of 
the United States. . 
tsr Answer In two weeks. Floridian. 
-■ 
FRACTIONAL PUZZLE. 
Take one-ninth of carbuncle; one-flfth of coral • 
one-sixth of garnet; one-seventh of diamond ; 
one-seventh of sapphire; one-flfth of agate; one- 
eighth of sardonyx. Take one from each and 
form a gem. 
tar- Answer ln two weeks. Dr. 
-H«-- 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
l. Light. 2. A man’s name. 8. To hug. 4 . To 
shake. 6. A man’s name. e. Mournful. 7. Ex¬ 
tempore. 8. Anything woven. 9. Acid. 10. A 
mountain or Palestine, li. An acid. 12. A cosy 
recess. Prlmals form a novel by Mrs. South- 
worth ; finals a novel by Mrs. Stephens. 
Answer lu two weeks. Balto. 
-- 
PUZZLER ANSWER8.—Nov. 30. 
I Grammatical Enigma .—If a gentleman be to 
study any language. It ought to be that of hla own 
country. 
Acrostic.— To-day the key of to-morrow. 
diamond Puzaxg.— 
M 
KEN 
PADDY 
P A n I M N 8 
WAISTCOAT 
RESPLENDENT 
ME DIIB R K A N K A N 
RESPIRATION 
LOQUACITY 
GRANARY 
EVERY 
MAO 
N 
TRIPLE Acrosiio. - Primal*, Sword ; central*, 
Sabre; final*, Spear. 
wobjd-«quarx Enigma.— 
lout 
O I C U 
O C Ijfi 
ICC1 
Saturday Dec. 7th, 1878. 
POLITICAL. 
The forty-seventh Congress opened at noon, 
sharp, last Monday. The President’s message 
read thereat, was the chief matter of public in¬ 
terest, although he luul permitted so much of 
its contents to drlbole out before, that the im¬ 
portance of It had been greatiy discounted. It 
deals first with yellow fever, putting the num¬ 
ber of deaths at 20,000 and ot cases at 100 , 000 , and 
U Is to be hoped his data tor the remainder of 
his statements were a trifle less exaggerated. 
He very prudently estimates the money loss 
through it, Indefinitely at “ millions of dollars.” 
and recommends a national quarantine as a 
guard against the calamity In future. He next 
mildly but firmly denounces the manner ln which 
negroes at tho South were deprived of the fran¬ 
chise, instancing especially the States of South 
Carolina and Loulslanla; suggests that Congress 
should Investigate the validity of elections held ln 
the bulldozed districts, and declares that, for his 
part, he will ubo all the legal powers now vested 
ln hi in, to prosecute the offenders, and that he will 
appeal to local Executives, legislatures and courts 
to prevent a repetition of the out rages, and asks for 
money to defray the expenses of legal proceedings. 
He refers to what everybody knows, namely, the 
great Importance to a republic that the right 
of suffrage should be free and its practice un¬ 
pointed, and winds up this part of his address by 
saying that he Is pretty certain that things are 
Improving ln the South. Oue of the best things 
that can be said ln ravor of this portion of the 
message is that it Is assailed by republic an and 
democratic “ stalwarts ” with equal bitterness; 
the former stlgmattzlng it as mllk-and-watery, and 
and the latter vllllfylng It as an attempt to raise 
once more the “bloody shirt.” lie delights 
Frenchmen by approving of the Paris Exposition, 
and completes the Joy of American prize-winners 
by commending their share lu it. He then tells 
the country the twice-told tale about the Silver 
Conference lately held at Paris, describes our 
foreign relations and speaks hope! ully about diffi¬ 
culties on the Mexican frontier—which, by the 
way.have lately entirely vanished. He expresses a 
hope that no new financial legislation will be at¬ 
tempted, so that the present laws on the matter 
may have a chance of trial, and he Is quite elo¬ 
quent on Civil Service Reform—by saying abso¬ 
lutely nothing about It. 
The Secretary of the Treasury promises a sur¬ 
plus of the national revenue on thesothof next 
June, amounting to upwards of $24,000,000, and a 
contribution of more than $38, 000,000 to the fund 
for paying of the National Debt. He gives a brief 
statement of his preparations to resumo specie 
payment immediately after next Now-Year’s Day, 
—he can’t begin that (lay as it is a legal holiday— 
advises that the ratio or the relative value of 
gold and silver should be changed so as to make 
it 1 to 16 Instead or 1 to lex as at present; and, to 
prevent the depreciation of silver coinage, he re¬ 
commends that no more of it than $30,000,000 
should be permitted to remain outstanding at 
any time. Sliver men, however, insist that $ 300 ,- 
000,000 of the bright metal would not be a dollar 
too much for them. He asks tor means to pay 
more liberally those informers who may report 
frauds upon the revenue, and he, alone Of the 
Cabinet, refers to Civil Service Reform, by urging, 
lnvlew of tUe varied and important dutl-a of 
revenue officers and the skill required to perform 
them properly, that they should be removable 
only for cause, like army and navy officers, and 
that their pay should bo Increased for long and 
faltbtul services. 
The Secretary of the Inteilor gives agiowing 
account ot the labors of hla department In behalf 
of the Indians, taking all the credit for praise¬ 
worthy results and throw ing on Congress and the 
Army the responsibility for starvation, discon¬ 
tent, outrage and pillage among the red-skins. 
If there Is one thing for which Mr. Sehurz de¬ 
serves credit, It is fits mastery of the English 
language, and this deftness with words certainly 
enables him here to make a fair show. He Is 
strongly opposed to the transfer of the Indian 
Bureau to the War Department, while Sherman, 
Sheridan, and all the chief officers who feel most 
heavily the results of Indian mismanagement and 
consequent hostility, favor the change, and the 
incompatibility thus engendered between the two 
branches ot the government, crops out In their re¬ 
ports. Proofs of the allegations made by the mil¬ 
itary with regard to the misconduct of agents,are 
demanded, and will doubtless be soon forthcom¬ 
ing. 
The Secretary of the Navy, of course, claims a 
great deal of Improvement ln his department 
during the post year, and urges the imprudence 
of a great commercial nation maintaining a 
weak navy. The Secretary of war, besides ad¬ 
vocating the transfer to his Department of the 
Indian Bureau, and taking glory for the five or 
six weeks of tranquillity on the Rto Grande, de¬ 
mands the repeal of the posse eomUatus law on- 
acted by tho last Congress, forbidding the 
army from Interfering lu civil matters, if 
the law shall not he repealed, he asks for au¬ 
thority to employ the army ln a greater number 
of cases; and Instances, ln support or his request, 
many outrages which the armycouU have pre¬ 
vented. 
miscellaneous. 
In 1872 the bonds ol the United States held 
abroad, were estimated at $ 9000 , 000 , 000 . Inquiries 
relative to the Interest to be paid to foreign hold¬ 
ers on the first or January, show the very re¬ 
markable fact that only about $ 0 , 000,000 will go to 
such holders and that, this sum will be paid on 
about $ 100 , 000,000 of principal. This exhibit, If 
accurate, Indicates a more rapid growth In wealth 
on the part of our own people than has been cal¬ 
culated ln any quarter. A great deal of our 
money, however, goes abroad as interest on 
foreign capital invested lu railroads and other In¬ 
dustrial enterprises In this country. The amount 
of this, however, It is almost impossible to ascer¬ 
tain, 
