ftaal Imumg. AMONG THE BHTTEB-THBS. L t one of our up-town [New York] hotels, ; full, a gentleman Bat placidly eating his aer, when a waiter suddenly approached deposited before him a plate of butter, s gentleman’s countenance underwent a id and astonishing change. He...paused' h suspended fork for a moment, then hed the plate from him with very evi t scorn, and said sternly, “I told you— butter.” The waiter retreated a little lomfited, and a moment afterward said, >ur hearing, “I know where that gentle n’s from, certain “lndeed! where is t?” we asked...-‘{Froni ,Philadelphia,” iter answered", emphatically; ’“because £/iey ■er eat any butter here.” “ Never eat" r butter here!” We pondered upon this gular fact in epicurean annals, in doubt ether to ascribe it to excessive frugality, excessively Tjad taste, either of which rht prevail to an unlimited extent in the of Penn. thortly afterward we found ourselves un jfectedly in that same,city, and early one my October morning we Avent to market. ■>,s a new experience; we passed through h doubt, with wonder, with incredulity. had there been each a going to mar -0- us before ! We entered spacious halls, arched domes and fretted windows, of 'ess architectural beauty and.finish, and 't in all their arrangements as a lady’s; There were rows of white marble .crs, and spotlessly clean wooden stalls, ,cd with their tempting display of'fruits vegetables. There were apples, fragrant mellow, as if they had ripened under a cal sky; hives of clear, sparkling honey; ars of snow-white lard; sausages that eller could eat without a pang (before . ward;) wondorful clusters of grapes, ■ieh golden cheeses. There were, too, of ruddy-cheeked farmers, young and mtlerncn in dress and deportment, re ntatives of the industry and wealth of djacent counties. There were even rs’ wives and daughters, placid ma and sober blit beautiful maidens, clad akcr garb. Verily, it was almost Ar- ! But at, last we erownipg ' of thatfeast/of good things. , Wesayr of wood absolutely spotless, bound with i of brass filled little rolls of butteir, cut to weigh a or quarter pound, with yari u-etty figures, and enclosed each in a • little linen napkin. -One of those is little rolls we tasted. Our new ee reached its climax. Was that ? No! it was the essence of June mgs caught and imprisoned in glowing lies, the fragrance of clover fields ripen into sweetness in the brooding sunshine, warm delicious flavor of new milk foam in the overflowing bucket. Oiu'eyes ' involuntarily, and we saw the low “spring-house,” with the clear cool flowing over its stone floor, and the ig pans filled 'with yellow wrinkled , and dripping with moisture. Higher higher our fancies soared: We thought Ganymede. But tho “beautiful boy” not before us. In a sober er gentleman, clad in gray, who would resented such an allusion as heathen in a supreme degree; and yet—and yet Jupiter! thy nectar rare has come to us moderns, and the fortunate chil of Penn spread it on their—daily bread. . Y. Independent. J. E. S. ' ,M LAUDS CAPABLE OF ESTHETIC TEEATMENT. tlicious location of a farm-steading, with jw to profit simply, will be always near centre of the lands farmed: this isagree >, moreover, to every landscape-ruling in matter. The ricks, the chimney, the ■roofs, the dove-cots, the door-yard, with kirting away of shrubbery and shade if only order and neatness belong to n, as good economy would dictate, form arming nucleus for any stretch of fields, -here be a stream whose power for me nial purposes can be made available, mmy dictates a location- of the farm lings near to its banks: taste does the If there be a hill whose sheltering >e will offer a warm lea from the north ti rs, a due'regard for the comfort of la irs and of beasts, to say nothing of early irden crops, will 'dictate the occupancy of ich sheltered positionby the group of farm lildings: taste will do the same. If such ppe has its. rocky fastness, incapable of Uage, and- of little -value for pasture; sonomy will suggest that it be allowed to ivelop its own wanton wild growth of for-, jt : : a just landscape taste will sligges’t''the une. If there be a broad stretch of meadow jW marshland/aubject to occasional' oifer-; iw, or by the necessity of its position not pablc of thorough drainage, good farming il demand that it bo kept in grass: good adseapo gardening will also do the same, jain, such rolling hill-sides as belong to wt farms of the East, and which by reason their declivity or impracticable nature are t readily subject to any course of tillage, 11 be kept in pasture, and will have their tie EThe value of aVsheltering‘belt octrees is lb sufiiciently appreciated as yet by prac gal farmers; but those who are not insensi i to the quick spring growth under the lee K will one day learn Kt an evergreen belt along the northern Jp of their farms will show as decisive a in their fields or their orcharding. THE ENGLISH SPABEOWS. he New York Evening Post has a corres lent who writes: [any thanks to the Commissioners of Central Park fox* introducing this useful THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1867. bird into our city four years ago. The spar rows are daily fed and well provided for, and they have greatly increased in, number. They are also fed daily in four other parks up town, where they are numerous and hap py; but, not a bird-house is visible on,one of the five hundi'ed trees in Washington Park. Will not .some .birds see to this at once, and have at least thrbfihun dred erected ? Flocks of one thousandjbirds can often be seen in Central Park, and their pleasant chatter is delightful. Aboat.fifty were seen in Fifth avenue and Twenty-ninth street one morning this week, by an early equestrian. They have been seen forty miles north of this city, arid if gentleihen would invite them to their residences in the country, let good bird-boxes be placed in every promi nent fruit or shade’-tried* with some oats or corn-meal, rice, &c., &c., in each compart ment, arid -I will engage that the sparrows will repay their kind friends this winter, or early next springs firi,(l,abide: permanently. We have no other bird so destructive to the measuring worms, caterpillar race and in sects, even to the mosquitoes. Jersey City and four of riu/pfirks; hWe “bfien" kept clear of worms the past summer by these little stranger birds. It is reported that the owls are making sad havoc rw.ith the sparrows in Jersey City. * ‘Shoot the rascals.'” frhnlific. SCIENTIFIC) LECTURES BEFORE THE YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION., \ PROFESSOR F. V. HAYDEN —THE. PLAINS. The Hall of the association was.filled with an eager and attentive audience to listen to Professor Hayden’s account of his recent scientific explorations on the-p I a iri sTo'f -K an - sas, Colorado.,,Montana and Dacotah. The whole ’-valley* of the > MissWrr tsarne* finder review. The learned lecturer gave a com plete account of its geography, its .inhabi tants, its . plants, flowers and trees, its ani mals and finally its geography. Thegeneral appearance of the country was described a? a rolling prairie* one wave fol lowing another, much’ in the mariner ! -of the waves of the ocean solidified. The absence of' |ig3cs,Sexcept ; near thetwater bourses ,w!as mentioned. The grasses were described— upon which the Buffalo feed for fully ten months in the year, the grass drying into hay as it stands on the plains. The lectu rer spoke of ;the vast herds, of buffalo, the antelope, theipr'airie dog find the. extensive villages in which he lives, also the grouse and wild , turkey. As to the .Indians, who inhabit this region, Professor Hayden said that they had never, in fifteen years, while travelling among them, betrayed the confi dence he reposed in them. He had, time and again, lain down to sleep near their villages, totally unprotected, when he would tacked'and murdered 1 him arid his ’party. He had always treated them kindly, and had never failed to receive similar treatment at their hands. ’ ’ ' ' The'geology district was the next topic. The upheaval of the whole Rocky mountain chain was described,—the moun tains being of primary formation. Passing to Pike's Peak district, he said, the Peak itself was of graiiite, and thrust through the later formations. Around the granite, were the azoic rocks, containing'the gold quartz of region. Upon the upper part of the Mis souri valley are extensive tracts of lignite, or brown coal—and again, on the lower part of the river, from Leavenworth, eastward, we find another formation of bituminous, coal. -The south-western portion of Dacotah and the western part of Kansas, known as the bad lands, are the most barren of all the district, yet not devoid of grass. They abound in myriads of fossil remains, telling of the ancient sea of which this was once the bottom—numerous tortoises, much like those of the.present day. Also a species of hog, that in later ages roamed these plains in tens of thousands, was described. Speci mens eif'remains; which the Professor had brought with him, were exhibited. To- de scribe what is in the plains now is compara tively easy work; but to reconstruct the district, as it existed in the former geologic eras, is a different business altogether—in volving, as it does, research and labor that lead'us among the sublime manifestations of the - great Creator of the universe., " The Professbr * full “and complete in his description, for, reason that many of the young men before him would no doubt in future years be finding their way out on these plains in search of business and of fortune. H| iKanjgnthusiastjiin his, scientific researches. He displayed a fund of infor mation gained by his observations that is most interesting and entertaining to his au dience. He will lecture again on the Indian tribes of tie district, and give prairie life* in full detail, which cannot fail to he highly interesting.*! He' believes in our”young men and in their Christian association, and is con tributing his share toward their : mental im provement. E.~ S&cfcEßB ON CHEMISTRY. ' A brilliant- -l’ejpture was giyen -before. » crowded audience on the philosophy of com bustion by ProfessotEbgers.iiifHe began in the most elementary way, describing matter and the forces which operated upon it— showed that the solid and liquid were held together by cohesion, but- that>gases- were apt to separate, and. expand, :9lhe action of forces upon matter, when a-change took place in the substances acted upon,, was called chemical action. The attraction of cohesion holds solid and liquid together; but a stronger attraction than cohesion existed between some substances, and when they were brought together new combinations resulted. Now, when the union.of different substances is so'violent' as to cause’ l light and heat, w,e call it combustion:: :Numerous experiments were shown .at every step of the explanation. Fulminating powder was exploded by a hammervessels of solution of litmus were turned red by acids, and blue again by alkalies. Then a candle was burned under a receiver—and its dying flame watched. The change in the air fully described—the moisture deposited in side the receiver fully accounted for—and the whble theory of the union of carbon and oxygen fully explained. Phosphorus was burned by being merely brought ir, contact with iodine. The fact that nothing was ab solutely lost by combustion was then stated; that the old elements merely went into new, combinations. For every, sixpounds of ,coal burnofi.m astove twenty-two pounds of car bonic adid gas went up the chimney;—and beside that increase .of weight, a certain weight ofiashes always remained. Finely divided, irpmwas then burned, and by a deli cate balance', 1 4t .was proved to grow heavier as it burned'’quite contrary, certainly, to our generally received idea-of combustion.— The-galvanic bfittery was ’next explained; the 'fluid being the,result of chemical union between an acid'fin'd'a series of zinc plates, and the result being,the galvanic fluid, .by which' combustion was produced. The partial combustion oftplatinum wire was exhibited, and then followed' a 'series of the most brilliant experiments'Jfiith the celebra ted "Euhm'korff'coil, which erful generator of galvanic electricityknown. Arapid series of -sparlts; eight 1 inches long were given, which set fire io paper held in the range; an exhalfisteSF - glass tnbq, th|rpe| or Iquyfeet long agdijtifrfee f itacbLes iri diameter, Waskttfiehed'heiwettf the and a bright ribbon of lightning as broad as. one’s finger and thfiee’feet long,',bl v 'a briglit purple-tinge lighted : up the darkened rooms Then the fluid was passed through various tubes filled with different gases, which changed the cflldr of the light,‘in each, to green, orange, violet or blue.: The rapid re port qf?,the sparks, the; ;brilliant 'succession of colored illuminations, made a display, of which words cannot corivdy 'any adequate ideal The'class was loath to hfive the'fic complished professor leaYe 'off his lecture. It,lasted through nearly two hburs, .but many, wanted two hours more. Professor Kogers, too; has a high opinion of the association apd of the ■v?o,rkitis > doing, and voluntarily, lends his, walualile assist ance in adding interest to its classes.” ,f; CONSTITUENTS OF'THE SHOOTING STARS. We come finally to the question, what is' the material, what is the mineral constitu tion of these strange bodies? We have al ready observed that they sometimes split in to pieces high in the mid-air,and occasional ly stre\v the ground in their fall. • We shall not now stop to give a catalogue of instan-; ces; they-may be found elsewhere, and spe cimens'mayftfe Seen'in almost evpry museum of any consequence. On submitting them to chemical analysjs they are found to con sist most frequently of irdn In a metariic .and - malleable, and not in an oxidized stale; the iron is in general mixed' with nibkel, and there are various compounds d’f inagne sia and silica, and in some instances just those veryingredients.yhich are seen in the trap arid basaltic rbcfes of'our own'earth.’ These fiery messengers, then, bring with' them tidings from the chill,-distant regions of space, that matter therein abounds simi lar to the matter which constitutes what lies below the crust of our own plfiuet. But not only so, the positive handling and the actual analysis of this interplanetary, or, it may after all'oCcasionfiliy'be, this interstel lar matter, 1 serves only to corifirm what mo dern skill has been able to detect regarding the material constitution of the stars, nay of the very sun himself. It might seem a bold; and; aifitrange "asBei\t'ion to state that we’ possess ? certain’ knowledge of the’ mineral constitution of thef,bodies ceivably remote from us,,that we have no means to measure their distances;: 1 and if we had 1 the inefins, we possess’ fibi.arithmetic which could conve3 r any intelligible concep tion of the number of the miles; ' ’ OIL CLOTIiS, MATTINGS, &C. NF W STYLES, MODERATE PRICES; & «tETZ, — 43 STRAWBERRY Street, Philada. CmP CARPET STORE ROBERTSON & CO’S GENERAL UPHOLSTERY. 3STo- 1338 Olieatuut Street, Hair, Husk, Straw and Spring Mattresses, ' WHOLESALE OR RETAIL. Curtains and Shades hung in the best manner. Carpets neu Jy sewed and fitted. Furniture repaired, aud iu.* nished. Old Mattresses renovated at 1338 Chestnut Street. SOMETHING NEW. —Prepared Cork Mattresses, Cork Stuffing or Church Seats, Ac. RELIEF PUR AGED EYES'. Notunfrequently we have an inquiry for an edition of the “Soc< .1 Hymn and Tune Book ” for the aged, as the words inserted between the lines of music are in small type. We would therefore announce that Social Hymns contains the Hymns of the Social Hymn and Ton* Book, without the Tunes, in a Clear, Legible Type, and in a volume of very convenient shape and size. .To those who do not.use the Music, this a very acceptable book. PRICE In Muslin. In Sheep. Flexible. Sent by Mail for these rates. The SOCIAL HYMN AND TUNS BOOK continues to receiv warm commendation. Price—Muslin, $l.OO. Flexible, $1.50. Sheep. 1.25. Morocco gilt, {2.50. Presbyterian Publication Committee. 1334 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. LOUIS DEEKA, Stationer, (lard Engraver and Elate Printer. 11)83 CHESTNUT STREET, J. & F. CADMUS, NO. 736 Market Street, S. E. corner of Eighth, PHILADELPHIA. Manufacturers and Dealers in BOOTS, SHOES, THUNKS, CAKPET BAGS AND VALISES of every variety and style. ' riilNTlil) JBY Jfits, B. Ro