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62
mer on the fourth of March, 1791 —the latter
on the Ist of June, 1792.
By another act of Congress in 1821, (we
believe) it was provided that from and after
the following fourth of July, ihe tlag of the
United States should consist of thirteen hori
zontal stripes, and the Union be composed ol
twenty stars. The same act also provided, j
that on the admission of every new State in
to the Union, one star should be added to the j
flag—which addition should take effect on the
fourth of July then next succeeding such ad
misssion. Os course, the present flag of the
United States consists of thirteen stripes amt
thirty stars. By this regulation the strpes
represent the number of States, by whose va
lor and resources American Independence
was achieved- -while the additional stars mark
the increase of the States since the adoption
of the present Constitution.
1
SIZE OF THE FEMALE WAIST.
Woman ought to measure from twenty-sev
en to twenty-nine inches round the waist, but
most females do not permit themselves to grow
beyond twenty-four. Thousands are laced to
twenty-two—some of them less than twenty,
and thus by whalebone, wood, and steel, the
chest is reduced to half its proper size.
TAKING IT LITERALLY.
When Dick Aimz first crossed into York
State from the Canada side, he took lodgings
at an inn in Canandaigua. A waiting-maid
sat at the table with them, and Dick spoke of
her as the servant , to the no small scandal of
mine host, who told him that in his house ser
vants were called help. Very well ; next
morning, the whole house were alarmed by a
loud shouting from of “Help! help!
water! water! help!” In an instant every
person in the inn equal to the task rushed in
to Dick’s room with a pail of water. “ I’m
much obliged to ye to be sure,” said Dick, “ but
here is more than I want to shave with!”—
“Shave with!” quoth mine host, “you call
ed “ help!” and “ water!” and we thought
the house was on fire.” “Ye told me to call
the servant l 'helpr and do you think I would
cry water when I meant fire.' 1 ' 1 “Give it up,”
said the landlord, as he led oil’ the line of buck
ets.
% Dark Corner.
For the Southern Literary Gazette.
AN ORIGINAL CHARADE.
Five letters in my whole are found,
A word in common use;
Though never sick, my pains abound;
No lruit —yet full of juice ;
Though speechless—l am wont to cast,
Reflections on my friends:
Who loves mo, runs to ruin fast,
And to perdition tends:
Such is my whole, and now remove
My crown that tits me well,
And cold indeed the heart must prove,
That does not own my spell.
Yet strike once more and you shall see
A transformation rare!
First five, then four, and lastly three:
Reader ! my names declare !
Itfifjt for tijr Dark bonier.
For the Southern Literary Gazette.
ANSWER TO CHARADE IN NO. VI.
E dwells in the zephyr and breeze,
But no t. in the wind and the air;
All spices and places have e’s,
And so too have terror and fear!
No face is without it complete,
But ’tis not in tho morning, its clear ;
Its form in the light, you’ll not meet,
Though in eve it will ever appear.
Not in you is it found, but of me,
Only half would remain without E!
following pretty answer to Mr.
Canning's Riddle did not reach us until after
we had published one reply; but it is so ap
propriate, and withal, so epigrammatic, that
we cheerfully give it insertion, and hope to
hear again from our fair young friend “ Jo
sephine. v
Alas! how “ plural” are our cares.
Our woes, our sorrows and our fears!
Yet, ’mid this catalogue of ills,
One drop of joy our life-cup fills,
When, skill'd to make our sorrows less,
Love soothes our cares with fond caress !
©©snnaisM il at&si a& ¥ ©a
pljilosopl)ij for tl)c People.
ICE,
Ice, when converted into water, absorbs
and combines with 149 degrees of caloric.—
Water, then, after being cooled down to 33
degrees, cannot freeze until it has parted with
150 degrees of caloric; and ice, after being
heated to 32 degrees which is the exact freez
ing point, cannot melt till it has absorbed 140
degrees more of caloric. This is the cause of
the extreme slowness of the operation. There
can be no doubt, then, that water owes its
fluidity to its latent caloric, and that its calo
ric of fluidity, is 140 degrees. However long
we may boil water in an open vessel, we can
not make it the smallest degree hotter than
its boiling point, or 212 degrees. When ar
rived at this point, the vapor absorbs the heat
and carries it off as fast as it is generated.
Hence in cooking, we attain the general heat
at the boiling point, though by increasing the ;
fire, we increase the evaporation. Owing to
the quantity of caloric that liquids require to
convert them into vapor, all evaporation pro
duces cold. An animal might be frozen to
death in the midst of summer, by repeatedly
sprinkling ether upon him. The evapora
tion would shortly carry off the whole of his
vital heat.
OTTO. OF ROSE,
At the last sessionof the Franklin Institute,
it was stated that the otto (or atter) of rose is
both a volatile and essential oil, made gener
ally in Turkey by immersing the leaves in
water, when the oil rises to the surface, and
is gathered by cotton. We seldom get it in
its pure state, it being mixed with the oil of
beanseed, but, this may be detected by drop
ping it on clean paper, and evaporating; if
pure, there is no trace left of it, but it adul
terated, it leaves a translucent spot. The
flower of which it is made, is not similiar to our
roses, nor does it have the same flavor, and
the otto in its concentrated form is quite dis
agreeable.
THRASHING BY MUSIC.
A modem traveller in Germany gives an
amusing account of the manner in which
grain is thrashed there—a business, to he ex
pert in which, one would think, must require
a master for instruction, as much as any other
art or accomplishment. It is not unusual for
pedagogues, in thrashing idle urchins, to lay
on the blows in regular crescendo, running
ii}) through all the gradations to the loftiest
“ staccato;” but we never heard of musical
harmony being introduced into grain-thrash- 1
ing before. Yet, after all, what is the story
of Amphion building Thebes by the shakes
of his hurdy-gurdy, but an allegorical illus
tration of the same benefit of lightening labor
by music ?
But to our extract. “The Germans,” says
the writer, “ thrash with a perfect regard to
tirfffe, in all the alterations of triple and com
mon measure, making the transition from one
to the other with the greatest exactness. —
There are sometimes no fewer than seven or
eight flails in concert; when it is a simple
quarter, and one of the performers happens to
drop out, which is frequently the case, the
transition is immediately, and without the
least interruption, into triplets. Occasionally
the effect is graced by some very delicate gra
dations of forte and piano, raliemando, cres
cendo, morcendo, accellerando, —and tfre
whole executed with as much precision as if
a note-book lay before each. When the pi
ano is to he particularly delicate, the tips of
the flails are used, which affords an opportu
nity of combining grace with dexterity; it is
then the merest, scarcely audible tap, and
costs the least possible effort. Then comes
the crescendo, swelling into a tremendous
barn-echoing staccato —downright thrashing
in fact, and what I particularly wish to en
force upon the farmer, the flail, the whole
movement is never raised higher than the
head, which 1 could not help especially ta
king note of, for the good of our practical ag
riculturists, when I recollect how much un
necessary brawn is expended on our thrash
ing floors to no purpose. Thus we see his
genius for Music never forsakes the German
in any situation or occupation of life ; it fol
lows him into his commonest employments;
and no doubt is their advantage, on the prin
ple of “studio fallere laborem,” in making it
in all similar exertions, an arithmetical oper
ation.”
Phosphorous in the Brain. —The pro
portion of phosphorous in the brain of per
sons of sound intellect, is from 2 to 2.5 per
cent. In the brain of maniacs it is from 3
to 4.5 and in the brain of idiots only from 1
to 1.5 per cent.
NEW SPOKE MACHINE.
Mr. Emerson Goddard, of Petersham, Mass,
has invented anew Spoke Machine, which
will turn and tennon 20 spokes in a minute.
All that is required is to place the wood on a
bench, the large ends all one way. It is self
feeding and self-piling, leaving them when
turned in a regular pile under one side of the
machine, opposite to the feeding side. The
above number turned out per minute, are of
23 inches in length. Lasts and fork handles,
Mr. Goddard writes us, can be turned in it
with nearly the same facility as spokes. We
irusttobe able to present an engraving of
this machine in a future number. —Scientific
American.
ANOTHER TELEGRAPH.
The following notice of a newly invented
telegraph, from an English paper, seems al
most incredible, but the editor of the London
Telegraph states that he has examined the ap
paratus, and that the means are simple and
economical. If this description proves true,
the copying telegraph must supersede ail
others.
We have this week seen a specimen of writ
ing by the copying telegraph, invented by Mr.
F. C. Bakewell, wherein words traced from
the original were legibly copied on paper by
an instrument that had no connection with
the one to which the transmitted message
was applied, excepting by the usual wires
from the volcanic battery. The letters traced
on the paper appear of a pale color, on a dark
ground formed by numerous lines drawn close
together. The communications thus traced,
we understand, may be transmitted at the rate
of 500 letters of the alphabet per minute, of
ordinary writing; and were short hand sym
bols employed, the rapidity of transmission
would be quadrupled. When this means of
correspondence is in operation, instead of
dropping a letter into the post-office, and wait
ing days for an answer, we may have it cop
ied at the distant town in a minute or less,
and receive a reply in our correspondent’s
hand writing almost as soon as the ink is dry
with which it was penned. There are vari
ous means, too, for preserving the secrecy of
correspondence, the most curious of which is, 1
that the writing may be rendered nearly invis
ible in all parts but the direction, until its de
livery to the person for whom it is designed.
The operations of the copying telegraph are
not limited to the tracing of written charac
ters. Letter-press-printing maybe copied with
even greater rapidity than writing, and fac
simile copies of the morning papers may thus
be transmitted to Liverpool and Manchester
long before the papers themselves are deliver
ed to their readers in London. The means
by which these astonishing effects are produc
ed we are not at present permitted to state, as
the invention is not yet protected ; but we are
assured that the method is simple, and that
the mechanism is neither costly nor likely to
get out of order. It is, indeed, one of the pe
culiar features of the copying telegraph that
it cannot commit errors, because the commun
ications it transmits are sac-similes of the
original writing.
GALVANIC SPECTACLES.
Mr. J. S. I’ able, optician of Worcester
Mass., has invented something new in the
way of spectacles. He has constructed that
part of the bows holding the glasses and the
bridge of two metals, viz., silver and zinc,
and he is confident of having achieved an im
portant improvement by an uninterrupted flow
of electricity, which lie believes invigorates
the eyes and actually relieves them from a
world of small physical annoyances, indepen
dently of waning vision. ‘By touching the
tip of the tongue on the nose-piece an unmis
takable sensation is produced, and a flash
of light is instantly perceptible. Mr. Paine
thinks lie feels a cool current constantly pas
sing by the orbits while the glasses are worn.
Like a genuine \ankee, he secures a patent,
of course, and if the discovery equals his ex
i pectations, the millions of spectacle wearers of
all countries will soon begin to pay tribute
to New England ingenuity. The subject is
one that should command the attention of
physicians, since anew province for explor
ation is exposed to view.
GLASS AND MILK.
Glass is very advantageous for milk pans,
because it is anon-conductor of electricity.—
It is well know n that the effects of electricity
j upon milk in tin pans during thunder storms
turn it to acid. Milk sealed up in glass bot-
! le ‘Vn-H keq) lor a lon .S ti,ne - This is done
bj filling the bottles with warm milk, turnin <r
them upside down in the milk basin and then
sealing quickly, so as to allow T no air to be in
I the bottle.
A Column QrrcctcD to A r un.
TAKING DEGREES.
“ Are you a Bachelor of Arts 1 ”
Enquired a pretty maid
Os a collegian dashing bean,
Who by her side delayed.
“ Master of Arts,” the youth replied,
“ Yet all hearts I’d resign,
If thou would’st only kindly say,
I’m master but of thine ! ”
CHANCELLOR KENT.
A contemporary tells the following anec
dote of this truly noble man, who has recent
ly gone the way of all the living. Whether
true or not, it is at any rate quite character
istic :
He was exceedingly fond of martial music;
and, and hearing the drums of a recruiting
party, wdio had taken a station at the corner
of the street, beating a point of war, he walk
ed out to listen to it nearer. Insensibly he w T as
whistling the burthen of the tune, when the
man of war accosted him—
“ You are fond of such music, then, my fine
fellow 7 ! ”
“ Very! ” was the reply.
“ Well, then,” said Sergeant Kite, “ why nol
join us? Good quarters —good pay —large
bounty; besides, our Captain is a glorious fel
low'. Why w'on't you, now? You can’t do
better.”
“Well,” said the Chancellor, “I have one
pretty strong objection.”
“What is it?” asked the sergeant.
“Why, just now 7 , I happen to have a bet
ter trade.”
“What trade is it ?” said the inquisitor.
“ I am Chancellor of the State of New
York.”
“Whew!” interjected the sergeant. “Strike
up! quick time! fonvard, march!” Off tramp
ed the military man, without looking behind
him; leaving the Chancellor to enjoy his
Jaugh at the adventure.
A YOUNG PHILOSOPHER,
“ Will you give me them pennies, now ? ”
said a big news-boy to a little one, after
thumping him most severely. “No I won’t.”
“Then, I’ll give you another pounding.”—
“Pound aw'ay and he . Me and Dr.
Franklin agrees—Doctor Franklin says ‘Take
care of the pence, and the pounds will take
care of themselves.’ ”
SYMPATHY.
The sympathy of friends in the hour of trial
is a blessing of which w r e would not slightly
speak, but when that sympathy takes the
form of poetry, and the wounded spirit is treat
ed hydropathically, and absolutely drenched
w r ith the waters of Helicon—why, we must
laugh. Here is something now which would
have made Job himself forget his afflictions.
“ But sickness and afflictions is trials sent
By the will of a wise creation,
And always ought to be underwent,
AV itli fortytude and resignation.
1 hen inourn not for your pardner’s death,
But to submit endevyej^
For sposen she hadent diedOftsoon,
fehe couldent a lived forever.”
POSING A PEDAGOGUE.
“ Sally Jones, have you done the sum I set
you ?”
“No thir, I can’t do it.”
“Can’t do it! I’m ashamed of you.—Why.
at }oui age J could do any sum that was set
me. I hate that word can’t! for there is no
sum that can’t be done, I can tell you.”
77 1 think thir. that I knowth a thum you
can’t thifer out.”
Ila! well, well, Sally! Let’s hear it.’ J
•• It ith thith, thir: If one apple caused the
ium ol the whole human rath, how many
thuch will it take to make a barrel of thider,
thir?”
••Miss Sally Jones, you may turn to your
parsing lesson.”
“Yeth thir.”
- - rg
A RARE RECOMMENDATION.
Lord Chancellor rhurlow said to a clergy
man, who without any letter of introduction,
applied for a vacant rectory, “ Whom have
you to recommend you ?”
“Only the Lord of Hosts, my lord.”
‘W ell, replied Thurlow, “as it is the first
recommendation I have from his lordship, be
assured I shall attend to it,” and conferred
the living upon him.