Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1877 — Page 3

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The Extension of Sense.

£mm% :^fd- wftjTthe bero ofLockaley flail* that the thoughts- of mes are widened with l the process of the »s«SSS?IS!!; Mozart, Michael Angsfa, And other men of great genius enjoyed shall be the coms£stwQ&SfaSSß highest men of to-stay itt moral and intellectual Mksrfts the hrturfflo the lowett savages or,tha.mQptbrutal qf our prehistoric anuefitorsIn hfa-tauggepfave address before the Ameridbt OimlfidL Society,, fly. Draper touched another aspect of the question, the extension of naan's faculties of settee. Referring to the two well-known classes of nerrotfc. fibers-—tbo*e which gather ,the impression* of external things andcoavey them to” the nerve centers; and: those whichdictates of the will from vi&hia outwards—he obsenred that, in the improvement of the capabilities of one of m 6 furtnelr by telescopes,’ microscropes ,sod other sight-aid big contrivances, we hare an earnest Qf what may hereafter be done at respects the four other special organs of sense; While as. concerns the second class, die increase of man’s pant Is ant lbs* remarkable. The resolve#* fig l ' file will may, already be transmfttedbeypnd ua w;ih seven a greater velocity ttsia in the living system itself, and thdtjtchose vast terrestrikl distances and beiffifcth Jfiie s pa, /“ Telegraphic wires are, stactfy>i.«peakiitg, continuations of the centrifugal nerves, aqd we are not without retajtoh for belying that it is the same ihStufoce which is active in both cases.”;: ■ j-‘- » w The learned lecturer tnjght have added that the’elf tension or sight by no means exhausts the improvements of special sense already arrived at. In range and delicacy of action, the aural apparatus of the skilled musician surpasses that of the savage even- mere than his VigUal organs do; while the extension of sight by means of lenses is all but paralleled in hearing by means of modem acoustic apparatus. Already we may hear by telegraph the intonation pf a speaker, or the notes of an instrument many miles away; the entanglements of sound are Analyzed by the inventions of Helmholtz at completely as those of light are by means of the prism; while by Koenig's apparatus the eye is constrained to do toe work of the ear, sounds iqaudihleby the ear are,, so to speak, heard by the eye, and the range of human knowledge ana capacity lor Investigating oattfpe are thereby vastly extended. In a scientific point of view, Dr. Draper goes on to say, such improvements iotho capabilities of the organs for receiving exthmyi impressions, such extensions of the distances to which the results of Intellectual acts and the dictates of the willjSuety be conveyed, constitute a true development, an evolution' none ths less real plough if may be of an artificial kind. “If we reflect carefully on these things,” S6~tadd§-, 11 bearing In mina what is now known pf .the ‘course qf development iu the aaimaft series, we shall not fail to remark what a singular interest gathers rouhd ' these artificial developmeats—artificial they ; can scarcely be oalled, since th6y themselves' have' arisen interiorly.' 11 They afe'the results of intellectual acts. Man has been developing himself.’He) so far as the earth is concerned, is* becoming - ohmipresent. The electrical itefves of HotJfety are Spread to a plexus all over Europe and" America; their commissiiral strands run under the Atlantic and Pacific.*’' 1 ; 1 When shall this line of development have an end? ImhiSp-eifchjo&Bejlfe-per-ception, his mastwy-fir time ana spade, his ability to foresee and oontrolthe course ding, tha min iEf gods of yesterday. Who shall, say what the man of to-morrow 1 Inky hot bet. degeneracy Those who spend their , lives among, the dreams oPtheanOlentif, knhtving -hothlng of the powers and achievements of modem man, «f*y pvdolilmr ing their Own iriferibrity: but they have no call to' speak for the real' men of the real world aboui 'them) the nfan Who are doing the'world’b work,'at the same time steadily ItftmgA humanity'to higher and yet higher planes of capacity and power. In spite df ,J thdse 4 'Whb'persistlh facing backwards; 3 denying that scientific progress is any measure of human 'evolution, the progressive development of human force and faculty is a reality. Where the ancient athlijtooOanid Striae* blow- of a hundred fhq jnqdern mechanic can deal one of as many tuns; the steam hammer, the rifled .crnin am the rock-rand-ing as arUMimter as tie muscle on*m» snomder: wealing them man has added to his personal power as truly as if he had incrcased by so much the forces flight arm. The tele^ scope, the .flafopsqppaaud the Bpoctroscope are of his eye. The resoqator, the m,ai>9,metric C4’il,w»d the electric sounder am Additional ear*. .The to be and to act in a thousand places afonce rt Indeed all that science and art have done to make man master of the conditions and farces of Nature ffS3fijjirtLJaS.u£2y extensions of his organic endowments. Yet, muofi as has been accomplished in this dircottab, touch tas the fcivliized man excels the unhgn in scope and reach of faculty andifewee, the amentific development of hnmab capabilities has but just begun. As Dr. Draper happiiy espresbee it, we havoita«rtfl(*as bfcdi done merely an earnest .of what the future has in store. Properly disciplined and aided by mechanical and other meqaa oWnpawing their range and acutenbsi), mSe senses may prove as efficient in die exploration shamKalß^ as either sight or hearing. Already we quisito lacjyyiq,sensibility of some blind and even held out by sa pi d odorry ujj» produced bv,, drugs as -dmastiespectaltyj that condition Of* ’••dfchtWfi *Sebgft,mty known as hyperesthesia. And it is quite

pQWibfa that, as . the microsospe, acting externally, increases the natural aooUmess qf vision, no the range and sentences of the senses exalted by contact may be eorrottpondiiigly increased by substances acting interiorly through the nervous system. ,Jt is true that such exaltations of sense Exception are apt to be attended with ental disturbances more or less disqualifying the subject for logical thinking; bat we cannot pronounce it impossible for chemistry to discover or prodnoe compounds capable of bringing about the one state unattended by the other; in other words, capable of heightening in any dasired degred * the acuteness Of any sense without deranging at the same time the proper balance of the purely mental faculties. Besides, a telescope or a microscope in the hands of an untrained savage is quite as puzzling in its notion, as con fusing; in ito results, as the direct'testimony 6f our senses is under hyperpsthesia. And it seems not less reasonable to suppose that the mind may learn to adjust itself to (the new conditions of perception as readuy in the one case a# in the other. In eithM’ event—the discovery of other means of exalted sense, or the fcdhcation of the tnind to act normally under such neW conditions—an enormous extension of human faculty must result; and the coming man ’ may find therein tha means of surpassing u# te sitoftlly as we do (he most bhitfsh Of barbarians iq our power of penetrating the secrets of nature, and turning them to our advantage.— American.

A Wonder of the Deep-A Marine Frog Fifty Feet Long.

In tne month of October last the British steamship Nestor arrived at Shanghai from the Straits qf Malacca. : Shortly alter the anchoring of the vessel at Shagh&i, Jdhn K. Webster, the master, and James Anderson, the ship's surgeon, appeared before Mr. Donald Spence, acting law secretary in her Britannic Majesty’s Snprepie Court, end made affidavit to the following marvelous statement of facts: We, John Keller Webster, of Liverpool, and James Anderson, surgeon, of Liverpool, do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows : And, first, I, the sold John Keller Webster, in command of the steamship Nestor, do deelar.e that on Monday, the 11th day of September, at 10:30 a. m., fifteen miles northwest of North Sand light-house, in the Malacca Straits, the weather being fine and the sen smooth, the air also perfectly clear, 1 saw a little forward of the beam, on the starboard side, about 200 yards distant from the ship, an object firet pointed out to me by my third officer, who remaraed- “Thore is a shoal.” Surprised at finding a shoal in such a well-known track, I watched the object and found it was in movement, keeping up the same speed with the ship and retaining about the same distance as first seen. The speed of the ship was nine and three-quarters knots, ana the object was moving parallel with us daring six minutes. Just after I observed it the Chinese deck-passengers discovered it, and raised a great outcry, and about the same moment it was descried by three saloon passengers and the surgeon The shapa'of the creature, for that ft was alive there is no dpubt, I would compare to that of a gigantic frog. Referring to the 'head and body, as far as they were apparent above the water, the head, of a pale, yellowish color, was about twelve feet in length, and six feet of the crown was above the water; occasionally the head subsided until only a foot or a foot and a half remained above the water. I tried in vein to make oat the eyes and month; the mouth, however, may have been below water. The head was immediately connected with the body, without any Indication of a nock. The body was about forty-five or fifty feet in length, and of an oval shape, perfectly smooth, but there may have been a slight ridge along the spine. The back rose some five feet above the surface. An immense tail, fully ISO feet in length, rose a few inches above the water. This tail I saw distinctly from its junction with the body to its extremity; it seemed cylindrical, with a very slight taper, and I estimated its diameter at four feet. The body and tail were marked with alternate bands of stripes, black and pale yellow in color. 'Th(s stripes were distinct to the very extremity pf the tail. ; I cannot say whether the tail terminated in a fin or not. I examined, it carefully at the above-men-tifmed distance, but could not satisfy myseif how the tail terminated. The creature possessed no fins or paddles as far as we could perceive, never having seen any I>art of its belly. I cannot say if it had egs. It is very possible that the creature was mtlch broader and more massive than the dimensions above given, for the greater pan of it was evidently under water, ana we never caught a glimpse of any but the extreme upper parts. It appeared to me to progress by means of an undulatory motion of the tail in a vertical plane. The tail seemed to have an independent motion; that is to say, a quicker and a different one from the body. - The head yvould gise slowly and the body become simultaneously lower, and vice vena. Thp undulations es the tail were brisker and very distinct, and 1 closely watched them through good nigsSea; I had for some moments pie Idea of running the creature down, but 1 shortly dismissed the intention on account of the danger of breaking the screw blades. The creature showed no Sign of tear. I cannot even say it it was conscious of our presence. It finally dropped under our stern and passed over to the port side, somewhat slackening its Speed. Some time afterward, however, it increased its pace, and when last seen was on our port beam, at about one and one-balf !to two miles distance. The creature formed a distinct wake, and Afeemed to exude an oHy matter as be moved. And, secondly, I, the said James Anderson, do solemnly and sincerely declare aS follows, namely: That the shape knd color of as much as was distinguishable of the creature bore an almost exact resemblance to the upper part of a salamander; the stripes, however, were rather moire definite, yellow (the peculiar yellow of a salamander) alternating with black. There were eight to ten sfripes on the back. I almost immediately said, “.It .is an enormous salamander,” and the more 1 examined it the more I was satisfied of the resemblance. The back was much higher, some eight or’tfn feet at times, than the head and standing ,on the deck, and from my position I could not form any Aflinion of its’'mode of progression. It was apparently of a gelatinous (i. flabby! substance. .Though keeping up with us, its movements seemed lethargic. I saw no eyes or fins, and am certain mat thecreature did not blow or spout in the manner of a whale. I should not for a Unoffient compare it to a snake. The only | creatures it could he,compared, with are fyitie nawt or frog tribe. . ■ ■HW •U ■ rinMfi : , less than *#,000,000 pet-sobs visited ‘AifcfWkl feting* lit America during the past summer, and the property used for these purposes was worth $6,000,000.

Matching a Pattern.

One o t the fascinating young men hi an up lowndry goods store is in trouble: It Uttie custom in the establishment from which he has Just been dismissed to discharge a man who fails to sell to Onb of three successive customers. “ Swapping” is the technical term by which this failure is known In the thy goods business. The ‘ rule is not universal.hut it is by no means exceptional in dry goods stores. However unjust it may Mr, it lhis a wonderful stimulating effect on ths elegant young men amenable to it, and when they, cannot sell goods His a safe Inference that the customer ta supernatnraUjr obdurate, impecunious, or miserly. The young man referred to had “first Call" Ism Friday morning; that is, the first customer Who entered the store was, by the rules of rotation, his exclusive victim. Next morning, this privilege would fall! to the lot of some other clerk, knd. so on to the end of the list. The first customer “swapped” him and went out Without investing a cent The. second, was in ’an equally unpropitious state qf mind, and retired without effecting a purchase. On the decision’ of the third hung his fate. His ample cheek blanched as she darkened the doorway, for a more unlikely: purchaser oould with difficulty have been found. An 61d striped shawl was thrown carelessly over her shoulders and partially concealed a roll of calk» which the palpitatory heart qf the clerk instinctively felt that she came to have matched. Now, if there is anything in the diy goods business more soul-harrowing than another it is to match goods. The exact shade and texture have to be found, and last, but not least, the price must correspond- A feeling of sickening despair permeated the heaving breast of the unfortunate clerk as he asked: “ Well, ma’am T” She laid down five yards and a half of calico of an eccentric pattern, and intimated that the success of a great dressmaking enterprise hinged on her fortune in finding another yard and a half of the same material. The eyes of six expectant clerks were upon the doomed man. He felt that the crisis of his peril had come. With an ap T pearance of calmness that belied the turmoil of his feelings, he dived under the counter and handed out endless rolls of calico, varying from the radiant strawberry and moes rose marked to the soberest gray. But he came not within thirteen supplementary colors of the required Sattern. He burrowed In the cavernous epths of lower shelves, and ransacked upper ones from the top round of a giddy step-ladder, but he found it not. An hour and a half had gone by, and his stock was nearly exhausted. The proprietor of the store and the bookkeeper and porter had come out to witness the death struggle. Six times the wearied lady started for the door, and six times ha called her back and resumed his frenzied search. The last calico was unrolled, and ha was about to drop his hat and gracefully step down and out, when a happy thought struck him. “Excuse me. madam,” said he; “there’s one piece 1 overlooked. Let me see that goods;” and he took her bundle, and, diving under the counter, hacked off a yard and a half with the energy and promptness of a rekindled hope. “ Here ’tis, madam, exactly what you required,” said he, confidently spreading out the purloined goods. She looked at it attentively for five minutes. “ It does look like the pattern,” said she, “but still I think Us not what I •want. It’s a good deal coarser than mine. If I can’t get anything nearer to the pattern I’ll come back and take it. Good morning.” She aid come back in an hour, but not to buy the goods. He tried to dodge behind the counter, bnt with the keensiglitedness of womanly revenge she spotted him, and he was ignominioualy hauled out and arraigned before his employer. The worst of it was that the latter, in view of the unprofitable energy Shown in his attempt to effect a sale, had concluded not to discharge him. With the evidence of his guilt so unmistakable, however, it would be fatal to the discipline of the house tofkeep him, and he was promptly dismissed. Until the lady succeeds in getting a warrant for his arrest his name iB charitably suppressed.— San Francisco Post.

An Incident of Gen. McClellan’s Nile Trip.

As an instance of the dread inspired by the authorities, I will mention a circumstance that occurred to us. Between Gebel el Tayr and Minieh, we were sailing rapidly, with a strong north wind that made the river very rough, when Achmet called me to the deck. The river in front was covered with native vessels, and some 400 or 500 yards ahead was a group floating down the river, standing on and clinging to something just below the surface. As some native boats were close to these people, and heading toward them, we did pot doubt that they would relieve them, when, to our surprise and horror, they passed on without an effort to aid them, and the poor wretches floated past, shrieking and imploring help. Of course, we at once, let go the sheet, and sent our sandal after the drowning men. Opr sandal and that of the “ Zarifa” succeeded in rescuing all, after they had floated down about a.mile further, and we soon had them on board. There were thirteen, of various colors and conditions—among them a woman. They had been three hours in the water, and were nearly dead with cold and fright. From all that we could learn more than that number had perished before we saw them. Borne of them were merchants en route to Cairo to make purcha es, and, iu their alarm, had thrown away considerable sums of money. Our sailors were very prompt in saving them, and, when we haa them on board, were as kind as possible in giving them food, diying their clothes, etc. Scores of native boats must have passed close by them without an attempt at rescoe. Boon after they were safely on oar boat, Achmet told me that the crew were anxious that I should shield them from any harm for their good, action. Naturally, I was astonished, when it at length appeared that the* cause of apprehension was the same that had prevented the native boats from rendering assistance, it was fear that, had any perished, all who took part in tbe deliverance would be thrown Into prison as witnesses; and once get a man Into prison, no matter for what cause, his chances of egress are faint indeed. The spar of the authorities is so great, that these naturally kind-hearted tflen will see a fellow-creature die nttber than incur the risk of saving him. It'appeared that the woman had been to Minieh to visit her son, a mere lad, who was in prison. Her story was, that the Sheik otter tillage had given him some order which he had forgotten to execute, whereupon, as the readiest method of improving his memory for the future, the aheik choked him uutil he fell senseless. Therefore, his numerous brothers and sisters, thinking

• nr ■#**■ ■*PB || « ■ «**■ film dead, howled as .Orientals only dan;! an, by way of teaching the family not to make a fan aboiUtrifles, the Sheik sent the boy to prison far two mouths. When evening l , and expri rescue of the people, I askfldtthe favor of story were true. Next day he Was released, and I was informed that his sent tepee of two months’ imprisonment had been for feigning death l—Scribner’s Monthly. *

Glittering Misery.

What a sad thing it is to see one gazing on a contest where only her heart is, unable to assist save in the sympathy that consoles defeat. I have seen many such sitting in the poisoned air of the gallery, long, weanr hours, witnessing the struggle In the hear pit below, where ahetboulu give no help, and when at last defeat came to one so near and dear to her, to see her sad, despondent face suddenly light up with smiles in the presence of tier' husband, as she crowded-down her own suffering and sought only to soothe by making light of hfa, was very pitiful. The life of a statesman’s Wife at the capital is not strewn with flowers. I was returning from the opera \ one night, pr- rather one morning, when, a friend who was with me suddenly twitched' my elbow. “ Come here,” he whispered, “ and I wMI show you something.” The show consisted of a heck drawn up near the curb, the driver and horses of which seemed asleep. “Well?” I asked. „ That hack,” continued my friend, in an undertone, “ holds Mrs. -—She comes here every night, almost, to wait for her husband, who is in the hall, fonder, drinking and gambling. It is said that she waits here hour after hour, and, meeting, takes him home without a word of reproach.”-—<7tn. Eng.

The Military Strength of Russia.

In the event of an outbreak of hostilities in Europe, which must be reckoned among the possibilities of the near future, everything relating to the military strength and material resources of the combatants becomes a matter of great interest. The immense population of Russia—ranging, according to different estimates, from 82,000,000 to 94,000,000, gives her a tremendous, advantage In recruiting for her army. Germany has but 41,000,000; Austria and France each and Great Britain 32,000,tXX). The Russians are a hardy people also, and have been for some years past under so rigorous a discipline that they may be regarded as a nation of soldiers. Russia has learned the necessity of intelligence and good discipline in an army, and has spared no pains to edueate her officers of every grade, and to give her soldiers the best of training. Every Russian over twenty-one years of age is liable to military duty, though there are some local exceptions to these provisions, and some classes of the population are exempt. The term of service in European Russia is fifteen years; six years under the flag and the reserve. In Asia the term is only ten years, of which seven are passed ip active duty. From 1803 to 1874 an annual draft of 100,000 men was made,.leaving a reserve force of about 1,200,000. The first enrolment : under the neW law, 'calling for 160,000 men, took place in the autumn of 1784; the sec : ond, calling for 180,000, in the autumn of 1876; and the contingent for this year is 190,000. Last year foe strength of the army was announced officially as follows: Regular army on the peace rooting, 457,872; on the war footing, 808,670; army of the first reserve on the peace footing, 180,740; on the war footing, “227,928; army of second reserve on the peace footing, 207,812; on the war footing. 276,664. This would give as the total or the Russian army proper, on the war footing, 1,213,267 men. But in addition to these there are in military service 129,000 Cossacks of the Don, 200,000 Cossacks of the Orenburg and Siberian lines, and a small contingent which Finland is required to furnish, making altogether an artny of 1,690,000 men. Russia is well supplied with horsrs, the number being Computed in 1871 at 19,266,00 d, or 225 to every 1,000 of the population, whereas Austria has only ninetynine, Germany ninety-two, and France eighty. The infantry is to use the Berdan rifle, but is only partially supplied with it, the remainder of the troops having old muskets altered into breech-load-ers. The artillery is supplied with four to nine pounder breech-loading steel and bronze cannon. The army budget has increased from 50,000,000 rubles in 1832 to 179,000,000 rubles in 1875, or about thir-S-flve per cent, of the entire expenses of e Empire* and the amount appropriated for the navy in the latter year was 25,000,000 rubles. The Russian navy is in two • principal divisions, the fleet of the Baltic and that of the Black Seas; and there are smaller fleets in the Caspian, Aral, Siberian and White Sea waters. The total comprises 108 men-of-wai-, 1,477 officers and 7,217 seamen. The iron-clad fleet of war comprises the,powerful turret-ship Peter the Great, eight frigates, three corvettes, fourteen turret monitors and three floating batteries. The entire fleet nbw consists of 225 steam vessels, with 521 guns, and a total tonnage of 172,501. As to the direction which the Russian military movements will take, the following statement is probably nearly correct: “The main strength of this vast military force will be concentrated at two points. The first army is already gathering about Kichiney, in the vicinity of the Pruth, which divides Bessarabia from Roumania. Across the river her forces ’ will sweep down through Roumania into Bulgaria, threatening Constantinople on the left. To meet this force the Turks are abopt concentrating 2X),000 men in Bulgaria- They are also strengthening Wldaut and other Dauubian fortresses ana reinforcing the fleet on that river. The second army will have Tiflis as ifs base, on the trans-Caucasian side, and operate in Armenia, which is friendly to Russia, Trebizond and Siva, threaten* tag Constantinople on the right. A powerful army ta already concentrated at Tiflis, With so corresponding Turkish' army, to meet it, so that the principal fighting, if war should be declared, wonld_ be la European Turkey.”—Boston Journal. “;< ; ' S —... i ii— -M-Rif Crawford County, Pennsylvania, has sixly eight factories, producing 6,810,000 pounds of cheese; Erie County, twentytwo factories, producing 2,610,000 pounds; Mercer and Venango counties, eleven factories, producing 647,700 ponuds. Total, 101 factories, producine 1,557,300p00ud5* Nine-ton ths of these factories jmaaufacturc striotly ftill-inlfk Cheese. ;) , v , Firrt thousand pe iple in Brooklyn will have to be fed on the crumbs of charity this winter.

Our Young Readers.

' IF I WEM AMI lUU. a boy again: some of the too often neglected acta I would strive to accomplish if It were tn nty ppwer to begj# fll, Oyer When we are ho 1 longer young,' we look hack and ase where We might h#Vh, done bettor and learned tnore, and* the things palate neglected rise up and mortify ps eMspy d *3* <H our lives. May remunerate some of the important matters large and small, that, if I were a boy again, 1 would be more particular about. I think I would learn to use the left hand just ss freely as my right one, so anything Uppeited ty lame either of them, the. other would be all ready to write and *• handle thlhgta,” l lust as if nothing had occurred There is no re atom in the world why both hands should not be educated alike. A little practice would soon render one set of fingers just as' etpert as (ho Other, and I have known peopie who nfcver thought, when a thing waa to be done, which particular band Ought I would accustom myself to go about in the dark, and not be obliged to have a: lamp or candle on every occasion. Too many of us are slaves to the daylight, and decline to move forward an inch without everything so visible. One of the most cheerful persons I ever knew was a blind old man, who had lostirirslgiitby an accident at sea, during his early manhood. He went everywhere, and could fled 'things more, easily than I could. When hfa #ife wanted a spool of cotton, or a pair, of scissors, from Mp-stairs, the gallant old gentleman went, without saying a word, and brought it. Ha never asked any one to reach • him this or that object, but seemed to have the instinct of kndwihg just where it was aqd how to get at it i* Surprised at his power of finding things, I asked him otae day for an explanation, and he told me that when he was a boy on board a vessel it occurred to him that he might some time or other be deprived of sight, and he resolved to begin early in life, to rely more on a sense of fasting than he had ever done before. And so he used to wander, by way of practice, all over the ship in black midnight,, going down below, and climbing around anywhere and everywhere, that he might in case of bHndqesfnot become wholly helpless and of no account in the world In this way he had educated himself to' dt> without eyes when it became his lot to live a Sightless man. I would learn the art of using tools of various scuts. I think I would insist on learning some trade, even if I knew there would be no occasion to follow it when I grew up. i..' * - • What a pleasure it is in after life to be able to make something, as the saying is; to construct a neat box to hold one’s pen and paper; or a, pretty cabinet for a sister’s library; or to frame a favorite engraving for a Christmas present to a dear, kina mother. What a low not to know how to mend aebftir that, refuses fa staqd up strong only because it needs a few tacks and a bit of leather heto tifid 1 there! dome of us cannot even -a nqil straight, and should we attempt to saw on an obtrusive piece of wood) Wtar to odd wc should lose a finger in the operation. ~ It is & pleasant relaxation from book# and study to work an hour CVery day in a tool-shop; and my friend, the learned and lovable Prof. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Anils such a comfort in “ mending things,” when his active brain needs repose, that he sometimes breaks a piece of furniture on purpose that hp may have the relief of putting it'together again' mnCh better than it was before. He is as good a mechanic as he is a poet; but, (here is nothing mechanical about his pbetty, as you all know who have read hfa delightful pieces. An English author of grpat repute said to me not long ago. “Prof. Holmes is writing the' best English of our time.” And; I oould not kelp adding, “ Yes, and inventing the best stereoscopes, too!’’;- ; . . -■ v v I think. 1 would ask perpissioutnif l had happened so be born in a city—to have the opportunity of passing all my vacations in the country, that I might learn the names of trees, andfiowera, and birds. We are, as a people, sadly ignorant of all accurate rural knowledge. We guess at many country things, but we are certain of very few. It is inexcusable in a grown-up person, like my amiable neighbor Simpkins, who lives from May to November on a farm Of sixty acres, in a beautiful wooded country, not to know a maple from a beech, or abob-o-link from a oat-bird. He once handed me a bunch of pausing, and called them violets, and on another occasion he mistook sweet peas foe geraBiUmß ’ V..UA'-' . What right has a human being; while the air is full of bird-music, to be wholly ignorant of the performer’s name ? When we go to the opera, we are fulty posted up with regard’to all the principal singers, and -whyushould we know nothing of the owners of voices that far transcend the vocal powers of Jenny Lind and Christine Neiteon? A boy ought also to be at home in a barn, and lqarn how to harness a horse; tinker up a wagon, feed the animals, ana do * hundred useful filings, the expfiritnee of, which may be of special service to him In after life as an explorer or a traveler, when unlooked-for emergencies befall him. I have seen an ex-President of The United Btates, when an old man, .descend from his carriage and re-arrange buckles and straps about bis horses when an iadefi-' dent occurred, while tbp clnmgy coachman stood bv in a kind of hopeless inactivity, not knowing the best tnlng to be done. The ex-President told me he had learned about such matters on qf arm.fa his boyhood, and so he was never at aJLoss for remedies on theread when ids dkrmgo 1 roke down. - rassr. a r If I were a . boy would learn to row a boat and handle a sail, aqd above all, to become proof againtat sea-sickness. I would conquer that malady before X. gfiew to be fifteen years. oicL_lt eoa be done; and ought to be done in youth, for aft of ns are more or lesa'ineUned to visit foreign countries, cither in tpo way of ■ business of mental Improvement, to say nothing bf pleasure. Fidht-thh malady loog enough, and fa can be come quefeo nt a very early age. j . U iu • u Chafes Dickens, swing; hew ill hfa first voyage to America made Mm, resolved after he got back to England ingo imo a ' regular battle with the winds Md waves, -and newer left off crossing the. British Channel, between Dover and Calais, i* -Severe weather, until he was victor pver his own tauamciu- aml could amfetafrgiEiMiSi l Ii fatil JlMre’s a way,” StoOTNM troubles; but it is well to begin early to assert supremacy over salt-water difficulties. “ When Caesar undertook a thing,”

i—m r - , —p otwtacla,” **** days, male or female, taarns to strim. and HO no advice on that shore need be fertd; but if Lyrer* * boy again, I wodld learn to float half a day, if necessary, In as tough h bit of Water as I could find oq izircisra sn£ a Stiff sea ought to—try trofithe «Kn. No I would keep d beftertfours,” If I *erfe' abov again; that fa, I tarould pt tp bed rsr-awHWK sound rest when properly applied.. Sleep Ssgs EttSfoaSueat the worse for, us when we- grow-’isb,’ If ss contract a disease called; insomnia, aUoWVMWMMS * youth. Late hours are shadow* from the grave., ~ . If r Wert d t)oy'again, ‘i would have a blank-book in which I eotild teeord, be* began by writing only tom* 1 lines % day to mals as I saw them, aad if the horse fell ill* down should go hfa malady in my book, and whjat, cured, him should go there, too. If the cat or the dog: showed any peculiar traits, they Should ,ali he chronicled, Ta .my ataxy, endsnothing worth recording should eecapqme. ri» ‘ ’ There ar* hundreds of things T would would be more careful of my teeth, geestantly eating candies and other sWeet nuisances. I woqld shut,mymoutb to all allurements of that soft, very hot and very cold substances I would studiously avoid. Toothache in our country is one es the national crimes. Half the people we on. this planet, and it. fa because we begin * to spoil OW teeth aMhp aqe <rf five or six years. A child, elglityears old, asked me not long ago if I could recommend him to a dentist “who didn’t hortw I pitied him, but I was unacquainted with such an artist. Thev all hurt, and they Cannot I would have no dearlbtgs wfth tobacco, ’ in any farm, if I wore * boy again,. My friend Pipes tells me he is stnh a martyr to cigar-boxes that' hfa life ft # burden. ' The habjt of smoking,has become such a tyrant bver him that he carries a tobacco bowsprit at hfa damp; ’ discolored every hour of the day, and he bags me to warn all the boys of my acquaintance, and„ say to them emphatically V 1 * Don't leant to smok#!”- He tells me, sadly, that hi* - head ta sometimes in such a di*zy whirl, and his brathab foul from long habits of smoking,-hp cannot break off, that he fas compelled to forego much that is pleasant, in existence, and Hve a tobacco-torthreal rife from, year to year. Poor Pipes! ire is ig}£aifissM&z2Uo< ” -treed.—Jaytes T, Fields, in Tenth’s Qom* ttanion. . .„

Who Discovered the Cireuliation of the Blood?

Strictly speaking, it washed dne brilliant Stroke fti gem ua pr good fortune; bat srlong series of investigations by different hands, Which respited V a tnte understanding of the circulation of thd blood. And as with most epoch-making achievements in Science, so with this: while no' one experimenter or thinker can certainly be credited with the first clear perception of tne new trutn, fame has j£hcT perhaps justly, the laurels ta.thn,g»a* who . was able to compel its acceptance by an . unwilling world. v.* -,rr For jtwnqenturies that credit has been given to Harvey, for his masterly dempnstration of the mechanism of the Veins' and arteries, and hin not lore masterly advocacy of the new doctrine. It is not as Clear, ho weaker, that Ho w&s absolute] v the first to. detect and. describe the trueibfflce and character of the circulatory system. It is certain' that the nature of the pulmonary circulation was understood and mught by Italian and other physicians be- j fore Hartretta studies begknj and more than a hundred years agdiMoreri claimed ' that the honor of discovering and demonstrating,! by experiment ted reasoning, the nature pf the greater or system is oirculation was really due to the Italian physician,and naturalist. Andrea Ctesalpin, commonly called Cesaipinus, Who published his “Exercitatio Anatomica de Cordis et Sanj|uin is ,Mato»LMn that a. monument has been erected to his country manfs honor hr Rome! ted A 1 tab-' 1 let recording the discovery istobeflyeA to,me portals of tKfe University of Fisa, where Ceealpinus laught before hb removed to the neighborhood of the Vati-. ’cdh, as physician to Pope Clement VILL, There Js no prom, however, that Harvey knew anything about, the work eof his predecessor and rival, whose Itook doe* not appear to have received ■ muOfi attention even at, home.. And therein no quea. tion pf the fact that the doctrine was first publicly dlscussed AUd ‘combated as Harvey’s, u» Europe re w«ll p* ia Bugtamfc WitpiaA century of the death of Harvey, it must be remembered, the father of modern physiology*; Hail*, whcAc controversy, and gave, a vwdiqtjn favor pf the English physician. Holding that the true discoverer of aa# ardtfa il he who draws it from, ita sources “ at his own risk pud by m Cesalpinus, on account of a few ytoersr*. [sawiw • experiment* andjbe expounder df>all th# arguments which, iq his turn oaulfijbSj, advanced} bCtorigß the itamofUl glory of jthe -difOprav 01 that dneulatlw of the 1 As Hajljsr was not of, t dper craimaut. There is no reason to stipple his dociiio* oHWr tßati impar-* the wttfld will continue in the belief, ao fgasK An 'ffibwiriimg# liiH rp!*d poiupauies shows an increase in earnpidg9riWn the Ist of January to the 81st of October, 1876, of stf,Bl4,ttßT as compared with the correaponuing portion of the year 1875.