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BRUNSWICK ADVERTISER,
BRUNSWICK,
GEORGIA.
SCIENCE AND ART.
The Zodiacal Light.—During his
residence in the island of Jamaica in
1868 and 1869, M. Houseau assiduously
nVtraawprl t.liA rod inc.nl light for six
months consecutively, and has now
communicated the results to the Bel
gian academy. M. Houzeau has for
more mail Thirty years devoted «re«l
attention to this puzzling phenomenon,
and he is fortunate in having now ob- “
tained such a fine series of observat ions
the boundary of the, zodiacal light is
having been carefully determined by
him on 56 nights out of the 179. As
far as these results go, it appears that
the zodiacal light is not appreciably in
clined to the ecliptic, and docs not ap
proach to coincidence either with the
plane of the sun’s equator, as Cassini
supposed, or with that of the moon’s
orbit, ns Jones has more recently sug
gested. The observed deviations from
the plane of the ecliptic are explained
by M. Houzeau as the results of greater
absorption of the light of the lower or
southern side by our atmosphere,
which is, of course, less transparent
near the horizon. From these obser
vations, M. Houzeau concludes that we
must reject both the hypothesis which
regards the zodiacal light as an append
age of the sun, and that which assigns
it to the moon; and since, if it were a
ring round the earth, it would lie seen
as a complete arch in the sky crossing
from the east to west, the author is
driven to the conclusion that it is a fan
shaped sector, somewhat similar to the
tail of a comet, spreading from the
earth towards the sun, thinning off
each side of this direction, so that it
extends to about 40° on the side to
wards which the earth is moving, and
60° or 70° on the other side. This
must, of course, be modified, if we ac
cept these observations in which the
zodiacal light has been distinctly traced
right across the heavens from east to
west; butM. Houzeau’s conclusions are
founded on his own observations alone
For the period of his watch there was a
sensible diminution of brightness, the
zodiacal light being seen in January,
1869, as readily as a fourth-magnitude
star in twilight, while by June it was
not so bright as the fifth magnitude.
From observations on his voyage to
Rodrigues and back, with the Transit of
Venus Expedition, Mr. Burton lms
been led to very different conclusions.
He was provided with a binocular spec
troscope devised by himself specially
for this work, and with this he deter
mined the spectrum of the zodiacal
light to consist of a continuous band
with a bright line in the yellow (forming
the boundary of the spectrum on that
side) and a dark line in the green.
This same spectrum was given by every
part of the sky unoccupied by the Milky
Wav, a most important observation,
which, in combination with the change
of form of the zodiacal light seen when
the observer passed from S. to X. lati
tudes, shows, according to Mr. Burton,
that it reaches and probably surrounds
the earth. From the sped rum soon, as
well as from the fact of polarization in
a plane through the axis of the zodiacal
light. Mr. Burton further concludes
that it is emitted by matterpartly liquid
and partly solid, intermixed with gas.
at being Besieged by a crowd of flatter
ers ana strangers who made a pilgrim
age to Abbotsford, and overwhelmed
him with compliments, their knowledge
of his works being based possibly on a
single attendance at the ‘Donna del
Lago,’ at the Italian opera; but in the
presence of Sontag the great man was
all ears, and eyes, too, I think. When
she questioned him about her costume
as the Lady of the Lake, he described
to her with the utmost minuteness
every fold of the plaid, and was greatly
pleased when I produced a genuine
satin clan plaid, the present of Lady
Sinclair, while 5" IfimlinrnrVi fho Inoei^^"-'-- croak the raver,yoifyon ufose-grow u wall 1
of which I was delighted to promise to
Sontag. He showed her the particular
way the brooch should be fastened at
the shoulder, and would not allow any
alteration. Henrietta had two wor
shipers that evening, the second being
dementi, who seemed as much fascina
ted as Scott. He got up from his chair
and said, ‘ To-night I should like to play
also.’ The proposition was received
with acclamation.” “He extemporized
with all the freshness of youth,” writes
Moscheles, “ and we listened with in
tense delight, for dementi very rarely
played before company. You should
have seen the ecstasy of the two old
men, Scott and dementi; they shook
each other by the hand, took it in turns
to flirt with Sontag without seeming
jealous of one another, it was a pretty
duet of joint admiration ; of course the
poet, musician, and songstress were the
observed of all observers.”
Farming in Holland.
The trade of Holland is chiefly con
fined to agricultural products and fish.
The wide pastures of the island of
Texel feed 2,000 horned cattle, 1,000
horses, and 30,000 sheep which are
celebrated throughout Europe. Every
year 12,000 of the last are exported,
and the quarterly fair is very pic
turesque, when these flocks of sheep
and lambs are shipped off to the con
tinent. Through the basins of Har
lingen, the port of Friesland, pass oxen
and sheej), pigs and fowl, with moun
tains of cheese, fruits and eggs for this
country; here resort the provision
dealers of London, to carry away but
ter barrels, which are piled lip on the
docks like cannon balls in an arsenal.
The canals are filled with heavy look
ing tjalks, or market boats, which bring
the good things of the country down
to the port. Flax is a very important
article of cultivation in Friesland; the
market of Dokkum is one of the
largest in Europe. The chief houses
of Germany, France and England
have agents in this little town. The
soil is incredibly rich; and the peasants
are well off; and there are few farmers
who do not own some property in ad
dition to the land they rent. It is
rarely indeed that a tenant is turned
out of his farm; families hold them for
centuries, yet, the lease is only for five
or seven years, and stipulates how many
head of cattle are to be fed on the
meadow, and how much manure is to
laid on each aero. Thus the soil is
kept up to a wonderful state of fer
tility.—Chambers’ Journal.
Female devotion goes almost wholly
unrewarded in election times. Every
man knows that there is every reason
in the world why he ought to stay out
until 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning if
he wants to.
he nlakes ui> his liiiuu U» uv »i, iuu
Therefore, when he is steered home at
THE GRAVE’S VOICES.
FROM THE GERMAN, BY ANTONIA DICKSON.
Sunk as In dreams, and lost in anxious thought,
My footsteps brought me to this lonely spot
To whom belongs the field ? this flowery bed?
‘The dead.’
Enter thou lu, my soul; why shouldst thou fear?
Nought but swetfi buds and flowers are blooming here.
Whence comes tne essence for these sweet perfumes?
‘From tombs.* f
See heriS, O man! where all thy paths must end,
However varied be the way they wend.
Listen 1 the dead leaves speak; aye, hear thou must:
‘To dust.’
Where arc the careless hearts that on the earth
Trembled in pain, or beat so high In mirth ?
Those in wiw.se breasts the flame of hatred smoul
dered ?
‘Mouldered. ’
Where are the mighty who take life by storm ?
Who e’en l<> heaven’* heights wild wishes iorm.
I all.’
Where are the dear ones in Death’s cold sleep lving,
To whom Love swore a memory undying ?
What wall yon cypress trees?—oh, hearst thou not?
‘Forgot.’
To see where these ones passed, did no eye crave?
May no wild longing pierce beyond the grave ?
The fir-trees shake their weird heads one by one;
‘None, none.’
The evening wind amid the trees is sighing.
Fettered in dreams, my saddened soul is lying,
The twilight falls, the red glow paleth fast—
‘Tls past.’
How He Wanted His Picture Taken.
Yesterday a young man with a wart
on his nose dropped in at the Sherman
photograph gallery and remarked that
he wanted some pictures taken.
“Will you have it standing, or a
bust?” queried the artist.
“Bust!” exclaimed the fellow, as he
f icked up his hat. “Bust, Mister! do
look like a fellow that would come
into a picture gallery to get on a bust?”
They explained to him, and finally
persuaded him to sit long enough for a
negative. The picture was a good one,
and the nose stood out like a black cat
in a bay window.
The fellow looked at it, and as.he
handed it back, said:
“Shoot again, old pard,” and see if
you can’t make the wart look like a
piece of chewing gum.”
They told him that it couldn’t be
done.
Well, see here now, pard,” he
pleaded, “my name’s Truffles, and I’m
engaged to a girl back in Injiana,' she
wants my picture. She don’t know I’ve
got this wart; it’s growed here since I
left there; and if you could just rub it
out of the picture and make it look
like something that she’s familiar with
a slice of bacon, for instance—I’d
feel better.”
They fixed it lip for him, and when
he went out he chuckled.
“That’ll fetch her; she’ll just natu
rally think I’m floatin’ round in solid
comforts, like bacon and string beans
and sich.”
A Very Ancient Wall in Missis
sippi.—About eighteen miles from Port
Gibson, and one mile from Brandywine
Springs, on the place of Mr. O’Q.uin,
the existence of a great number of
blocks of cut-stone has been known for
an indefinite time, and the people in
the neighborhood have them for props
for their houses. Mr. James Gage,
Jr. went out there a few days ago to ex
plore, and had a specimen stone brought
into town. It is about three feet long
by about twenty inches square, resem
bling in shape a bar of soap. It is
probably a native sandstone. Mr.
Gage took this block himself from be
neath the roots of a large pine tree.
It formed a portion of a wall about
twenty feet broad on top, which Mr.
Gage traced for a distance of 250 yards.
His "nelghbOT does,niui T . he that one would natuia’ly
l.L • ... Ail raw from this superficial view is that
this must have been a city wail, but
Labge and Small Farms.—By the
census of 1870 the farms of the United
States are divided as to size as follows,
the whole number being 2,659,985:
Under five acres 6,875-
Five acres and under ten .-. 172,021
Ten acres and under twenty... 394,697
Twenty acres and udder fifty....... 847,614
Fifty acres and under one hundH-d.. 754,221
One hundred acres and under five
hundred 505,054
Five hundred and under one thou
sand 15,837
One thousand acres and over.... 3,720
Average size of farms 153-
Twelve of the states have farms that
average less than 125 acres in extent,
which is less than the average else
where, which 5?t some states runs up
nearly to an average of 500 acres.
These twelve states give the following
as the average size of their farms:
Maine....’ 93 New Jersey 08
New Hampshire 122 Pennsylvania 103
Massachusetts 103 Indiana 112
Rhode Island 94 Ohio Ill
Connecticut 93 Michigan 101
New York....... 103 Wisconsin 114
While the total value of the farms in
the United States is put down at 89,-
262,803,361, the value in the above
small-farm states foots up $5,407,587,-
178, or nearly three-fifths of the total,
aud this, too, while the area of the
states is less than one-tenth of the area
of the whole country. Xo more con
clusive exhibit of the practical superi
ority of the small-farm system could be
given than this.—Rural New Yorker.
One of the curses of Kentucky and
other states to-day is too much land and
too little capital. The individual who
is in debt for his land,unless he is a man
of rare push and energy, to enable him
to get rid of the incubus, is much
worse than an ordinary slave. His
mind has lost its freedom. He is un
able to give his thoughts to his busi
ness. Every now and then the image
of the party to whom he is in debt will
rise up in horrible proportions before
him. Young man, don’t be in too big
a berry to own large tracts of land.
Hasten slowly, as the old German
proverb has it, and what you do, do
well. The spread-eagle style of "agri
culture is played out, and there is no
sort of analogy between thousands of
acres which the eye can not range and
an immense mercantile project, every
part of which is right under the per
sonal inspection of its manager.—
Farmer’s Home Journal.
A husband and wife were celebrating
the twenty-fifth anniversary of their
wedding, and when quite a little circle
was gathered about them the husband,
with not a little self-complacency, said:
“Here my wife and I have been mar
ried for twenty-five years, and in all
that time neither of us has ever spoken
to the other ah excited or unkind word."
“Thunder,” said the witty Dr. M—,
“what a stupid time you must have
had of it!” \
Governor Hartranft of
nia is credited with doing
the idiotic custom of hanging men on
Fridays in that State. The propriety
of hanging Pennsly van ians every day
in the week should long ago have sug
gested this change.—Louisville Courier-
Journal.
Pennsylva-
away with
NEW nil«l BEAUTIFUL INSTRUMENT.
THE
Piano-Harp
CABINET ORGAN. 1
Ail exquisite combination, ud<lin* to the rarnrifv
the ornaii much of that of the piano-forte and harp
oublo-reetl oman. comnlote nn.i
■tl i'dmuus aiivr.
IV
~i;
jtieep exj
“ On one occasion,” writes Mrs. Mos
cheles, “ we had the happiness of enter
taining the famous Sontag at a lafge
party at our house. She was enchant
ing, as usual. Sir Walter Scott, who
happened to be in London, was present.
He was delighted at meeting Sontag,
whose introduction to Sir Walter, on
the eve of her appearance in the ‘Donna
del Lago,’ was singularly well-timed.
Lockhart, it is true, tells us, in his
l jui unusual hour, and,
of gaslight through the window snuuers j l ti l 1 .'
knows that ills wife is sitting up waiting
for him, he feels it is not love on her
part, but tyranny. It is this that makes
him open the door stealthily, take his
boots oft' in the front hall, aud go down
and sleep on the basement sofa.
“In children’s hearts thou shalt live
forever.” What more touching or fit
ting epitaph could good Hans Andersen
have wished for? i
ration might show it to be
>i a fort, temple or other
Anyway, its antiquity is
probably immense, ante-dating the his
tory of tiie red men—Fort Gibson
Standard.
A gentleman questioning a little boy,
said: “When your father and mother
forsake ypu, Johnny, do you know who
will take you up ?” “ Yes, sir,” sa id he.
“And who ?” said the friend. ‘ ‘The po
lice,” was Johnny’s reply.
With a do
every ricj--.it,.-mound a now Instrument, t'lieVl-
A uP.ine.f ties ot iv null are produced by steel
flier.. - <.r bull., i.ifitily cot in steel phUes allixu.1 f a
muinuiui; tins, r.nu errors tiv hammers. tu> in the ni-
1 lie tones are ot a pure, silvery, bell-liW
mmnaiiuu or alternation
‘'iron may la. used alone.
Him-fort
quality, very beautiful
with the oman tunes. Th
ami is ill every respect as complete and perfect an or’
gall a» without the P1AXO-HA UP, nr mar be Used
with the PIAXO-IIAl: P: the latter ii.avhe used sen.
arately or in combination with any or all the stops of
the organ, to which it adds greatly ip vtvaritv life
and variety, adapting it to a much wider range of
music. *
i pon Its invention and introduction, about a year"
since, this new instrument was received withsri much
favor that the demand greatly exceeded the uiaiiti-
factitrers utmost ability to supply, so that they have
had no occasion to advertise it extensively. Having
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it to the public with confidence. 1 ■ 111 >
('in uhire.'with drawings and full descrirtb'ns.fioe.
MAM/X * HAMLIN OltUAX td |VI 'i c-mont
Mrta-t, IliisTtiS; 25 1 nioii Square, h’hVOi»k-Jvv>
niul vi Adams Street, CHICAGO.