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Ancient Uses of Skins and Leather. In these days of steel pens and note paper but little thought is given to the fact that our trade was among the first to provide man with an article whereon he could inscribe the history of his times, and hand it down intact and well preserved for the enlight- ment of future generations. Many have forgotten, or, perhaps, never knew, that the skin of animals and leather in its manufactured state, with awls and thorns for pens, comprised about the entire stock in trade of the ancient stationery store. The skins most generally used for this purpose were those of the sheep, the goat and the ass. The Persians of old employed (hem for writing their records, as did also the ancient Ioni- ans. Buchanan found in India a copy of a law written on a roll of leather fifteen feet long ; and many similar rolls are known to exist, some extend ing to the extraordinary length of 100 feet. Even fish skins were not de- pised. The Mexicans employed them also. Pergament, or parchment, as we now call it, takes its name from its being first used by Eumenes, King of Pergamus, about 300 years before the Christian era. It is said that the immediate cause of the introduction of parchment was a decision on the part of Ptolemy, King of Egypt, to prohibit the expor tation of parchment from that coun try. This caused Eumenes to incite his subjects to discover a substitute. Many writers hold that Eumenes was not the cause of the origination of parchment, but of the improvement of the old membrana,, or parchment of the inferior kind. At any rate, it is from the introduction of parchment or vellum that we date the first step toward the modern form of books. Membrana, an inferior kind of parchment, was also used. In order to prepare this, the skin was separated between the hide and the flesh, and by working and rubbing with quick lime was formed into leaves fit for the purposes of the writer. This form of writing material was extensively em ployed by the Hebrews and Greeks.— Shoe and Leather Reporter. i Queen Luise’s Cap. April Flowers. Magnetic Storms. Remembering the influence which the sun has been found to exercise upon the magnetic needle, the ques tion will naturally arise, has the sun anything to do with magnetic storms? We have clear evidence that he has. On the 1st of September, 1869, Messrs. Carrington and Hodgson were observing the sun, one at Oxford and the other in London. Their scru tiny was directed to certain large spots which at that time marked the sun’s face. Suddenly a bright light was seen by each observer to break out on the sun’s surface and to travel, slowly in appearance, but in reality at the rate of about 7,000 miles in a min ute,across apart of the solar disk. Now it was found afterward that the self registering magnetic instruments at Kow had made at that instant a strongly-marked jerk. It was learned at that moment a magnetic storm prevailed at the West Indies, in South America, and in Australia. The sig nal-men in the telegraph stations at Washington and Philadelphia re ceived strong electric shocks ; the pen of Bain’s telegraph was followed by a flame of fire ; aud in Norway the tele graphic machinery was set on fire. At night great auroras were seen in both hemispheres. It is impossible not to connect these startliug magnetic indications with the remarkable ap pearance observed on the sun’s disk.— /Vo/. Proctor. A prosos of the recent celebrations ut Berlin in honor of the birthday anniversary of the late Queen Luise, Kaiser Wilhelm’s mother, our sport ing contemporary, The Baer, pub lishes the following interesting anec dote, delightfully illustrative of the amiability and readiness of wit for which that illustrious lady, one of the most beautiful and accomplished women of her time, was so justly celebrated. One day Frederic Wil helm III. upon entering his consort’s boudoir at the breakfast hour as was his wont, caught sight of a fine new cap upon the Queen’s work table, and laughingly inquired how much she had paid for it. “Very little,” was the reply ; “I chose one of the cheap est in the shop.” It only cost four thalers.” “Only four thalers!” re joined the king ; “a great deal too much money, I should say, for such a thing as that.” 8osaying he walked across the room to a window over looking the Schloss Platz, and, hap pening to perceive an old pensioned guardsman passing by, called him up into the room, and, pointing to the Queen, exclaimed : “That lady sitting on the sofa has more money than she knows what to do with. Now tell me, my old comrade, how much do you think she gave for that cap lying there outlie table?” After taking a good look at the cap, the puzzled veteran shrugged his shoulders and replied: “I dare say it cost a few groschen ” “Grochen, indeed!” cried the King, casting a triumphant glance at his smiling consort, “I tell you she paid four thalers for it. Go to her; I’ll answer for it, she’ll give you just as much as the cap cost.” Taking out her purse, the Queen counted out four brand-new thalers, and dropped them one by one into the old soldier’s out stretched hand, sayinir, “You see that tall gentleman standing by (he win dow. He has much more money th in I; indeed, everything I possess comes to me from him. Now, go to him : I feel certain that he will give you just twice as much as you have had from me.” Frederic William caught in his own trap, produced eight thalers with an affected reluctance that elicited a burst of happy laughter from the Queen, and handed them to the stout old pen sioner who went on his way rejoic ing. This man, Christian Brandes, lived to a great age, and the King, whose memory for faces and names was as remarkable as that of his great uncle, Frederic II., met him accident ally several years later, a short time after the death of the Queen. Recog nizing him once, he held out his hand, and ejaculated, in a voice broken'by emotion, “Brandes, do you remem ber?” Lovers of spring flowers, says Mr. William Trimble in The Student, will find this mouth most of our species of violets in bloom. The most natural division of the genus is into two parts or sub-genera, one including the stem less or acaulescent species, the other the leafy stemmed or caulescent spe cies. The common blue violet, Viola cucullata, illustrates the former, and the pansy, Viola tricolor, the latter. In the one case the flowers proceed from the axils of the leaves, but the leaf-insertions are so crowded that both flowers and leaves seem to have their origin at or below the surface of the soil, while in the other case there is a conspicuous leafy stem also pro ducing the flowers in the axils and frequently having internodes over one inch in length. The bird’s-foot violet, V. pedata, abounds on serpen tine barrens and elsewhere in sterile ground. It is acaulescent, has deeply cleft leaves and large showy flowers with much variation as to color, usually some shade ot blue, but occa sionally white. Much more common, but often with the last occurs the ar row-leaved violet, V. sagittata, the flowers of which are commonly of a rich purple. The round-leaved violet, V. rotuudifolia, is acaulescent, has small shining, pale-green leaves when in flower, which afterward increase three or fourfold in size. The flowers are small, on short scapes, the petals yellow, marked with brown lines. Bryant’s beautiful little poem, “The Yellow Viwlet’” has reference to this species, and not to V. pubescens, as many suppose. The marsh marigold, Caltha palus- tris, is one of the showy early flowers, on account of its large yellow sepals It may be found growing in moist low grounds, or often in shallow, sluggish streams. The spring beauty, Clay- tonia Virginica, furnishes some inter esting points for observation, such as time of opening, the relative positions of the stamens then and later, tin number of times it reopens, ami its mode of fertilization. Borne other flowers of this month are the wild ginger, Asarum Cauadense ; penny-wort, Obolaria Virginia; wind-flower, Thalictrum anemo- noides ; several of the genus Ranun culus ; mouse-ear, Antennaria planta- ginifolia ; dog-toothed violet, Erytliro- nium Amerieanum, aud many more. shire, and many thought the chuach should be re-consecrated. The Vicar consulted Bishop Wordsworth, who suggested a “penitential service.” This was held , a very large congrega tion being present. The Miserere (the fifty-first Psalm) was chanted; col lects from thecommination office were chanted.a penitential litany song, and rn appropriate sermon preached. A minister is assigned every year by the conference to the .’Methodist Church at Troy, O., and is invariably locked out by the Trustees. This is the re sult of an old disagreement, in’which the ediffice was, by order of a court, left in the Trustees’ hands. The last appointee, the Rev. George Edgar, announced that he would break the door and hold services. The Trustees put on new locks and bars to prevent an entrance. While they were at work the pastor appeared on the scene. An altercation ensued. Trustee James brandished a hatchet and the clergyman drew a pistol, for which act he was arrested and ptat under bonds. The Boston correspondent of the Hartford Courant says of the Rev. Octavius Brooks Frothingham : “Mr. Frothingham has renewed his connec tion with his father’s church. His name has neyer been taken from its rolls, where it was placed in his youth. The pastor of this church is the Rev. Rufus Ellis, and he is one of the most orthodox in his tendencies of any of our Unitarian preachers. Mr. Froth ingham is a constant attendene on his ministry. He takes part in the social meetings of the church also, and fre quently addresses them. In spite of what the Rev. Mr. Savage has said of his holding to his former views, it ap pears very much as if the radical work of Mr. Frothingham was ended. A mind constituted as is his, when ex periencing a change in mature life does not return from it.” Norwegian Glaciers Lore. and Folk- Witty and Jocose. The Church Temporal, General and Personal. A River Under Ground. The Startling Discovery Reoently Made by a Herder in Idaho. Gems. The best throw with dice is to throw them away. Prefer truth before the maintaining of an opinion. , * He who depends on another dines ill aud sups worse. Examine not the pedigree nor patri mony of a good man. The greatest gift we can bestow on others is a good example. He who can plant courage in a hu man soul is the best physician. School houses, are the republican line of fortifications. He who swells in prosperity is sure to shrink in adversity. The sale of the Troy \N. Y.) Tele gram to Senator Ma t»on,Jflttttf| l 'i‘oy liras effected. Mete Green, not long since, while out with his cattle, made a most startliug discovery, and one that may possibly take its place among the grand wonders of Idaho. He was riding along early in the morning on the divide between Indian Creek and Snake River, when his horse sprang aside, snorted and otherwise gave evidence of having heard something unusual. The spot was a little knoll on the come of the ridge, and Mete, who had been almost asleep, taking a sweep around with his eyes to learn the cause of his horse’s fear, finally rested his vision on what seemed to be a’hole in the ground a few paces dis tant. Dismounting he was soon look ing into a funnel-shaped oiificefifteen or twenty feet deep by ten or twelve at its rim in diameter. At the bottom of this funnel—the soil giving out there—was a rftt in the rock two or three feet in width by four or five feet in length, which seemed to open into the very bowels of the earth. Through this aperture came up from the depths below a ter rible roaring, as of a leaping cataract, a mighty rush ef waters, tumbling over rocks. The ground trembled and the subterranean noise continued un interruptedly. Mete remained some time and the longer he listened the more convinced he became that what he heard was running water, but how far down to the stream he could not even conjecture—might have been a few feet or half way to China. And as the fissure was large enough to take him in should his foot slip his observa tion was not an extended one. The principal thing he did while there was to listen long and strong and think loud—at a safe distance from the brink of the hole.—Ex. Dr. Jackson,the Episcopal Bishop ol London, hasjust completed his seven ty-first year. Professor M. E Gates has been unanimously elected President of Rutgers t’oliege, New Brunswick. The Rev. Mr. Ashenfclter,of Jersey City, has accepted a call to the Uni- versalist Church of Towanda, N. Y. Dr. Beresford, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, entered upon his eighty-first year, two weeks ago. The Rev. J. W. Bain, of Cincinnati, has accepted a call to the Alexander Church, Philadelphia. In Scotland, candidating sermons are called “preaching matches.” Thirty-three English parishes were dependent for the choice of their rec tors on the late dissipated Lord Lons dale. Thirty-one societies are engaged in missionary enterprises in China. They employ 618 laborers, and last year ex pended $764,000. A native of India is publishing in Calcutta a journal called the Anti- Christian, in which he undertakes to show the absurdities of the Christian religion. He offers to priut replies from Christians, and defies them all. In commemoration of the five hun dredth anuiversy of ’Wyclifr’s death, which will be in the year 1884, a Wyclifr society is in course of forma tion to secure the publication of the great reformer’s Latin works, with English translations. It is stated that the revision of the Old Testament is finished, with the exception of Ecclesiastes and the Bong of Solomon. The second revision will take the whole of 1882, and thefluished work will be published in 1883. The extensive statistics that have been recently gathered in England show that in a large number cities more than 60 per cent, of the pojula tion do not attend auy place of Wor ship and that little more than one quarter of the people attend the Es tablished Church. There was a suicide recently in the parish church of Marston, Lincolu- When an Austin schoolmaster en tered his temple of learning a few mornings ago he read on the black board this touching legend. ‘ Our teacher is a donkey.” The pupils ex pected there would be a combined cyclone and earthquake, but the phil osophic pedagogue contented himself with adding the word “drivet” to the legend, aud opened the school as usual. A party ot vegetarians who W'ere boarding at a water-cure establish ment, while taking a walk in thefields, were attacked by a bull which chased them furiously out of his pasture. “That’s your gratitude, is it, you great hateful thing?” exclaimed one of the ladies, panting with fright and fatigue. “ After this I’ll eat beef three times a day !” An acquaintance from the country, having visited some friends and being about to depart, presented a little boy —one of the family—with half a dol lar, in the presence of his mother. “Please, is it a good one?” asked the little fellow. “Of course it is,” replied the gentleman, surprised. “Why do you ask ?” “Because, I’d rather a bad one, and then thewiH^wmie keep it. If I get an^Fgood money it goes into the bank, and I never get it again.” Aurist to patient—“We’ll see di rectly what your difficulty of hearing arises from. Can you hear this tick?” holding out his watch. Lady—“No.” Aurist, holding it nearer—“Now, possibly?” Lady—“No.” Aurist, placing the watch closer to the pa tient’s ear—“Well now, atall events?” Lady—“Not a sound.” Aurist— 1 Why, you must be all but stoue deaf! You surely can’t understand what I’m saying to you?” Lady—“Indeed, I can, I assure you!” Aurist—“But, upou my word—” He looks at his watch, then puts it to his ear. “Oh, I beg ten thousand pardons, has not been wound up.” A correspondent of Nature gives some curious particulars of the advance of a Norwegian glacier known as Buer- bree near Odde,on the Sorfjord. “I vis ited the place,” h* says, “in 1874, and the recent ploughing up of a consider- aule bit of the valley by the vast irre sistible ice-plough was very striking, while the glacier itself was very beau tiful. My object, however, is to repeat a strange piece of folk-lore, which tends to show that in this particular - spot the advance of the glacier must have been long-continued. The legend was told me by Asbjoru Olsen, an intelligent guide at Odde, who speaks good Euglish. The tale was that long ago the Buer valley extended far into the mountains, and was fu'l of farms and cultivation. It had also a village a church and a pastor. One winter night when a fearful storm was threatened, three Finns (i. e. Lapps) entered the valley and begged shelter in vain of the inhabitants. At last they asked the priest and he too re- fused. Then the wrath of the heathen wizards was raised and they solemnly cursed the valley and doomed It to destruction by the crawling power of the ide, until the glacier reached the lake below. The Lapps were seen no more, but on their disappearing the snow began to fall. The winter was terrible. The glacier approached by awful steps, and by degrees engulfed the cursed valley and farms. Nor is the curse yet exhausted, for the gla ciers creeps down the valley’each year,, and has yet a mile to go before it reaches its destiua,ioh in the lake above Odde. I am no judge of folk lore, but this weird tale seemed to me a genuine piece of it, and not invented for the occasion, as Olsen gave it half jokingly as the tradition of the dis trict. The farmer who owns the remnant of the doomed valley wanted them to sell it, as he saw his acres swallowed up each year, but no one will buy. If this tale be genuine.it points to a prolonged advance of the Folgefond, which has led to the tale of the Lapps’ curse.” The Dispensary. A Gentleman. \: Socially, the term “gentleman” has become almost vulgar. It is cer tainly less employed by gentlemen than by inferior persons. The one speak* of “a man I know,” the other ol “ a Veutleman I know.” In the one case the gentleman is taken for granted, in the other it seems to need specification. Again, as regards the term “lady.” It is quite in accor dance with the usages of society to speak of your acquaintance the Duch ess as “a very nice person.” People who would s.iy “very nice lady,” are not generally of a social class which has much to do with Duchesses ; and if you speak of one of these as a “ per son ” you will soon be made to feel A Simple Cure for Small Pox.— As the prevention [or cure of this dis ease is a question that concerns every person, we ask the perusal of the fol lowing which is taken from the New York Journal of Commerce, one of the most conservative and reliable dailies published in this country : A lady, the mother of six children, had often sought relief for a pain in the back by taking saltpetre and bran dy. She was exposed to the small pox and contracted the disease. The pre monitory symptoms were violent, fever very high, severe pain in head and excruciating pain in the r gion of the kidneys. A physician was ciJJ-tSii night, but 4ji doubt a/to the nature the diso^e, though suspecting it to a.case of small pox, he made no p scrtj^j|^|PfrrDmising to return ea: ext morning. The fever and pai increasing, she begged her husband prepare for her the old prescription saltpetre and brandy. The brandy was not to be had, but he crushed a piece of saltpetre as large as a common white bean. This she took in a tea- spoonful of cold water. Feeling better th^dose was once or twice re peated. Pain soon subsided and she slept well the remainder of the night, and awakened feeling perfectly well. She had sixty well defined pustules in her face, but they weresliglitly inflam ed and hot at all painful. The devel opments of small pox on her entire person were in number aud appear# ance in keeping with those on her face. In due time all her children and her husband were aflected, as she had been by fever and pain in the head and back. They received the same treat ment with the same favorable result. Several families caught the disease, used the same remedy and in every case the result was favorable. These facts came to us at first hand and the reader may rely upon them as exact statements without exagger ation. Here were from ten to twelve cases all relieved from pain and fever in less than an hour. The pustules were speedily developed, but were more like the disease in its convalescent stages than at any other period. As to the quantity given it was not at all defined, but the first patienk within an hour, must have taken of tiie bulk of three ordinary white beans. The jury in the United StateJ trict Court at Charleston, S. C. on the Acton election cases.