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THE COUNTRYMAN.
53
to acquire the art of extemporaneous speak
ing. In oratory, as in everything else, it is
certainly true that; there is no excellence
without labor.
No one, 1 presume, will think that I un
derrate the art of extemporaneous speak
ing. As a means of influence, of almost
limitless sway over the passions of the mul
titude, it cannot he too highly rated. But
this art, as already stated, is to he acquired
only by much practice and industry. I
am considering oratory in its highest sense,
and I go farther than I have yet gone, by
saying that no man, without warning or
preparation of any kind, can deliver a long
oration that will live after him. And the
orator, on great occasions, should have a
higher aim than merely to captivate the
imaginations, or play upon the passions of
those within the sound of his voice. He
should speak to a larger audience than that
which can congregate within the walls of
a room, or around the speaker’s stand. His
ambition should he to produce something
that will bear to be recorded as well as spo
ken ; which, long after the tomb shall have
closed over ids mortal remains, will be read
hv thousands and thousands, wherever the
march of civilization shall reach. He should
feel within himself the consciousness that
the world is his audience, hie should speak
to the human race ; “ to time and to eterni
ty,, of which he growsm portion.’’'
It may be asked, can all men, with the
proper amount oj toil and study, accomplish
the great results spoken of above 1 To
answer this, instead of enabling me to bring
this article to a close—for it is already lofig
enough—would open a tvide field, and be
but the beginning of a long dissertation.
It is very certain that men do differ very
much in natural capacity, but it is equally
certain that the minds of all can be improv
ed by culture. Cicero expresses it exactly,
in his oration for the poet Archias, when
he says : “ Cum ad naturam eximiam at-
que illustrem accesserit ratio quaedam con-
■formatioque doctrinae, turn Mud nescio
quid 'praeclarum ac singulare solere exis~
tere.”
“‘The Banana tree,” said Humboldt,
‘will furnish food for 50 persons upon the
same surface, which, under wheat, will
maintain but 2. The potato will maintain
3 times as many as wheat.’ ”
Hope.—“Hope is a prodigal young heir,
and experience is his banker. But his
drafts are seldom honored, since there is
often a heavy balance against him, because
he draws largely on a small capital, is not
yet in possession, and if he wore, would die”
TURNWOLD, GA„ NOVEMBER 10. 1862.
Castor Oil.
“ Because the season is near when the
Palma Christi (castor oil) bean of the pres
ent year’s crop will be ready for use, it is
proper that all persons engaged in its pro
duction be informed of the processes by
which the said bean may be brought into
use as a medicine.
When the capsule is about to expel the
bean, it is ripe. The ripe bunches should
be removed from the stalk with a ‘knife,
and laid thinly over a hard and dry floor
of earth, plank, &c., on a hot and sunny
day, when the heat of the sun will cause
the capsules to expel the contained beans.
Now rake away the straw, and winnow
away the chaff.
The cleaned beans are now to be beaten
in a mortar with a pestle, or ground in a
mill to a good degree of fineness. The
mass may now be made to give out the
contained oil, either by decoction or by
expression.
1. By decoction : Put the loose mass iu
an iron pot, and add sufficient water, or en
close it in a coarse bag, and suspend it in
the water, and boil it until the oil is ex
tracted : then carefully skim it from the
surface of the water, from time to time.
2. By expression: Subject the mass of
ground beans to hard pressure, when enclosed
in cloths,by means ofwedges.or by asciew,
or lever, when enclosed in ^ hollow cylin
der made of iron or wood, lined with sheet
iron or tin, of sufficient capacity 7 , and re
ceive the oil in suitable vessels.
To clarify the oil Boil it with a. little
water, added, and remove the coagulated
albumen, and gummy matter from the sur
face, by skimming. Let the boiling be
not carried too far, or it will alter the qual
ity of the oil, and render it acrid, and unfit
for medicine.
The beaten beans may be used as a pur
gative, but an over-dose is sure to act pow
erfully as a cathartic, and often as an
emetic. Three beans (a little more or less)
is generally enough for a dose. Such is
the information which I have derived from
other persons, and from the books upon the
matter.—E. A. Crenshaw.”—The forego
ing is from the Yorkville Enquirer.
Singing Mice.
“An able naturalist (Mr. F. T. Buckland)
says that what is known as the singing of
mice, is a cry of distress or pain, and that
Mr. Bartlett, cf tli£ London Zoological
Gardens, is of the same opinion. ‘I have
disseqted many singing mice, and my obser
vations agree with those of other observ
ers, that singii g mice invariably have a
terrible living parasite in the substance of
the liver. This horrid disease keeps the
poor mouse in a terrible state of pain and
irritation, and he can’t help letting us know,
in his own pretty way, that he is in pain
and distress.’ ”
Remedy for Coughs.
“Just as we were convalescing from our
recent illness, we took a very severe cough,
which affected us quite seriously. Quite a
number of remedies having failed to arrest
it, a friend sent us a bottle of the syrup of
‘life everlasting,’ which soon had the de
sired effect, and we take pleasure in rec
ommending it to persons troubled with
coughs or weak lungs. The ‘life everlast
ing’ is a weed known and easily obtained
in Florida, and the southern part of Geor
gia. You boil the leaves to a strong li
quid, and put the liquid in syrup, then boil
the syrup to a proper thickness, and it is
ready for use. Honey will do as well as
syrup.”—The foregoing is from the Cotton
States.
A Cheap Light.
“ Take a saucer and cover the bottom of
it with lard, a quarter of an inch. Then
cut a piece of newspaper in the shape and
size of a silver dollar. Finch up the cen
tre about a quarter of an inch in height,
so as to form a slight protuberance. Satu
rate the paper thoroughly with the lard, be
fore lighting. Set fire to the little pinched
up knot, and you will have a light about
one-fourtli the intensity of a candle. The
lard in the saucer will last a week, 2 hours
a night. Tho paper must be replaced once
or twice a week.”—The foregoing is from
the Educational Journal.
Salting J'ork.
“The cheapest, and most expeditious way
to salt meat, even in times of plenty, is by
injecting brine into the arteries.
Considering our emergency, the scien
tific ought to be experimenting. In
1£ minutes after the hog is dead, I can
have him salted throughout, with 1 quart
of salt. It will be plenty salt for table use,
but not for bacon.
Who will discover some way to make
water hold more salt in solution, or some
additional curing condiment, to make out
the deficiency, so that the meat will need
no' more salting, after the one simple injec
tion ?—J. H. G.”—The foregoing is from
the Columbus Sun.
“ We need not be much concerned about
those faults which we have the courage to
own.”