- The Rain-Band Spectrum. ©. Plaszi Bmith, the Astronomer " Royal of SBentland, calls attention in 9Ae London Times to the use and walue of the spectroscope in foretelling rain storms. This it does by showing whether there is more or less than the msual quantity of watery vapor perme. ating the otherwise dry gases in the upper parts of the atmosphere, this watery vapor net being by any means the visible clouds themselves, but the invisible water-gas out of which they have to be formed, and which when over abundant they produce rain. Bat how does the spectroscope show to the eye what 1s declared to be invisible in all ordinary optical instruments ? It is partly, says Prof. Smith, by its power of discriminating the differenily eolor- ed rays of which white Lights made up, and partly by the quality impress- ed on the molccules of water at their primeval creation, but only recently discovered, of stopping out certain of those rays so discriminated and placed in a rvainbow-colored order by the prism and slit of the spectroscope, but transmitting others freely. Hence it L is that, on looking at the light of the sky through any properly adjusted * spectroscope, there is seen besides the Newtonian series of colors from red to violet, and besides all the thin, dark Fraunhofer or solar lines, In one very definite part—viz., bétween the oravge and yellow of that row of colors, or “gpectrum,” as it Is called—a dark, hasy band stretching across it. That is the chief band of watery vapor; and to see it very dark, even black, one must lock at where the sky ls brightest, fullest of light,to the naked eye, at a low, rather than a high angle of altitude, and either in warm weather, or above all, just before a heavy rainfall, when there is and must be an extra supply of watery wapor in the atmosphere. Any extreme darkness seen in that water-vapor band beyond what is usual for the season of the year and the latitude of the place is an indica- tion of rain material accumulating ab- normally ; while, on the other hand, any notable deficiency in the darkness of it, other circumstances being the same, gives probability of dry weather, or absence of rain for very want of material to make it; and the band has, therefore, been called, shortly, “the rain-band.” Thus, also, “the rain-band spectroscopes’’ have been specially constructed by several expert opticians in size so small as to be carriable in the waistcoat pocket, but so powertul and true that a glance of two seconds’ duration through one of them suffices to tell an experienced observer the general condition of the whole atmosphere. Especially, too, of the upper parts ef it, where any ochanges—as they take place there al- most invariably earlier than below— enable such an observer to favor his friends around him with a prevision of what they are likely soon to experi ence. s————AII— es ———— Educational—The Church Statistical aa— The Agricultural College at Hance ver, N. H., will admit women pupils at its next term, who will be given a special course of study, including but- ter and cheesemaking, and dairying and all its branches. Kentucky has twenty universities and colleges, seven schools of medl- cine, six theological schools, two law gohools, and one agricuit ral and me- chanical college, with several hundred grammar schools, academies and col leges, each holding a high standard of education. With all these means of secondary education, her primsry schools are confessedly por. There are 250,000 illiterates in the State. The total number of journals pub- lished in France is 3,272, being 1,343 n Paris and 1,929 in the provinces. Of the former it is surprising to find $hst the most numerous class is finan~ cial, 209 ; then medical, 97 ; illusi rated, 88; fashions, 81; politieal, 71; law, 84; Catholic, 64; science, 41; lilra ture, 80; and art, 19. The provineial papers ere thus classified sco rling to the'r politics : Republican, 615 ; Le- gitimist, 177 ; Orieanist, 146 ; relig ious 108 ; Bonapartist, 100. The membersnip of the five large:t Presbyterian churches in the country is given as follows: Dr. Talmage’s Talx rascle Church, Brooklyn, 2471 membirs; Dr. Cuyler's Lafayette Avenue Church, 1761 ; Dr. Kiitridae's Third Church, Chicago, hae 1766 ; Nr. Hall's Fi th Avenue Church, New Ywrk, 1780, and Dr, Crosby's church, I e Welsh Presbyterian Synod of Wisionsin held its fireé business wes- sion & Chicago. The synod has © ministirs, 185 elders, 3150 full members in its several churehes, and 1718 pro- tetionerh The question of forming a aew syno| of the churches in Mis: muri, Katyn, Towa and Nel racks wu discusse], and decided in favor of the roposed thange. The success of nary work in Nebraska, Kan sas Hd Missri was reporied as beywd “1 expuetations, but there wand! 00 * pore workers, Forest Fires, Forest fires in Michigan, Wiscon- sin and Minnesota occur, and ara th results mostly of carelessness on the part of explorers, or timber hunters, haymakers, and others having either business or pleasure in the woods, who leave their camp-fires burning, when they have cooked a meal or spent the pight. This is generally in the months of July and August, when the pine leaves and branches from the last wit ter’s cutting are dry and like tinder, liable to burn from the dropping of a match or a stroke of lightning. There 1s no necessity for this criminal negligence, Proper laws and their enforcement a few times will set the careless oves to thinking, and they will put out their cam p-fires and be careful where they drop a match. It may seem hard to deteet the offender, but it is not. Most men can be traced even in the pineries, and if fires result from their acts they should be punished by imprisonment or fines. Each state should enact special laws on this subject, then circulate full in- formation and cautions, so that igno- rance cannot be pleaded. The practice of Jumbermen cutting pine in the winter is this: A tree is felled, the branches are lopped off and lie scattered over the ground; the summer following these become very dry and are like powder. A match thrown awsy, an emptied pipe—any thing with even a spark of fire al tached, will start the Luraing. Being scattered so evenly over the ground, fire spreads and gathers force, and does not stop at the end of the old choppings, but runs on into the green forest ; 80 where perhaps eighty acres were cut, double that or more may be purned or killed, A remedy for this would be a law requiring the lumbermen to employ an extra man in the woods, and care- fully pile these green pine branches and refuse in open spaces, where they may be burned at the right time, or should they take fire by accident, the fire may not spread, The extra expense is very little, and a large proportion of forest fires can be traced to these scattered dry pine leaves, ready to cateh. After the first season, there Is but little danger of fires in these old ¢chop~ pings, as the pine leaves drop « ff and green hard woods, maples, poplars, etc., spring up and the davger is over in a great measure. We have not been able to trace any forest fires to so-called “Indian” work. The Indian bullds a very small fire and hovers over it for warmth. He says, “White man build heap big fire and no can come near him,” The Indian always carefully extim- guishes his eamp fire before he “marches on.” Bo forest fires can not be laid to the Indisn. The dry sandy soils in many of the pine forests of the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota differ in many loealities from the Eastern states, where most of the forests were hard-woods ; fewer small streams are found ; rain-fall is less ; more danger from forest fires, Witness the horri- ble scenes of Peshtigo and vicinity in eastern Wisconsin, in 1871, and later in eastern Michigan, occurring on this dry sandy soll. There are large areas of a still virgin forest, aside from the small amount of pine therein, or which has been cut and removed in these three states that can be saved. The practice has been, until within a year or two, by lumbermen, to cut the pine timber, and then abandon the land to the country. There would be an average of five pine trees to an acre cut and removed. The remainder of the time ber would be small pine, cedar, tams- rac, spruce, and the varieties of hard- woods, and unless the fire bad run through, one would hardly notice that the land had been cut over. Now, however, owners are paying up taxes snd carrying these cut lands, On this remaining forest, covering some 60,000,000 acres, as before stated, there 1s some white pine, perhaps 75, 000,000,000 feet, that wiil be cut in the next ten years, Aftar this ls gone, and which at present seems to be the only timber of any commercial value, there will be left the same original forest acres, full of all kinds of hard woods, the oedars, tamarsc and pruces, and the young white pines, all of which will become valuable, so the forest that is left has really value in its variety of useful There shonld be foresters appointed and paid good salaries; men of intelli gence and knowledge, and of integ- rity and honesty of purpose; their duties being to inform themselves of part of thelr district, ita wants and capabilities ; to collect Informa- ber, and how to save and utilize it; to have meetings in the country school. houses ; to teach people who do not realize the value of our forests how sm———_" in ten has any idea of the necessity of care as to forest-fires, and it all comes from ignorance, Foresvers should col- lect and distribute information, and advise as to the manner of cutting timber. Probably as much timber, or as many trees in number, are destroy- ed each year through ignorance and carelessness in cutting the pine timber for sawlogs, as there is that are cut and really used or taken to market. As a maiter of saving to the state at iarge, the simple effects of an intelli- gent forester, Ww educate the country people, by going among them, and giving them information, would pay in the end a thousand salaries, to wit: It is not generally known that even a braveh broken from a hemlock tree kills it. The pine is also a sensitive tree; a broken limb or a slight burn on one side brings on decay; hence care should be taken in cutting. Again, fires should not be allowed 0 run, f+r no pine comes up again on burned land. Lumbermen sending their men into the woods, exploring or haymaking, should charge them to take extra care of campfires, The northern part of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the upper pines of Michigan, fifty to seventy ve miilion acres of land, 1s well calculated for a forest reserve or park, from which all kinds of timber that grow in the mid- dle and Northern states may be jadi- ciously taken, and still the main forest remain intact, if it is intelligently and practically managed, The prairie states do not now perhaps so much feel the need of having such a forest to draw from, but they very soon will, Vast amounts of timber for agricul- tural implements, railroad ties, tele- graph poles, fence posts, ete, fr? war td each yer. The demands in- crease as the pra'ries settle up, This fc rest in the only one left, A thousand things could be sald on this subject, but what Is wanted is prompt action on the part of those in authority, good jaws made and executed, people edu- cated up to the point ; and this can be done by the right man « r men in each district cf said forest, meeting the peo- ple at their town-houses, school-houses and villages, and telling them what they must do, showing them how to do it, and making the common pechle und: rstand that fires must be kept down, and the originators punished. — Ez. i. A Climbing Feat. A succesefvl ascent of the Dent du Geant by an Alpine tourist, an Italian named Sells, has just been made. Bo many attempts to climb this colossal and practically perpendicular obellsk had failed that it was regarded as in. accessible. The pick of the guides— Swiss, French and Italian—met with no better success than simple tourists, Some years ago an English nobleman attempted to throw a cord weighted at one end over the summit, but the wind was too much for him, and the rope was blown back inte .the bands of the person throwing it. A flutter of excitement ran through the hotels of Chamounix and Courmayeur when it became known that 8 young Italisn bad scaled the peak. The means by which he was enabled to perform so remarkable a feat proved to have been simple enough. For several weeks past two guides had been occupled in cutting steps in the most slippery and least socessible places, in fixing hooks and staples, and attaching ropes to them. When these preparations were completed the ascent proper took place ; but it was not accomplished without much difficulty and danger. No sooner was the news known at Chamounix than an Eoglishman started to make the ascent also, He succeeded. —— A wise Landlord. Toe Duke of Butheriand has uncer: taken a rather intersting agrarian movement on his Footch estate, He has broken up the sheep farm of Kint race, which covers 44,000 na ras, into nine holdings which «rs to be, or have been, let on favorable cen ditions. Most of the grazing srea of the Beoteh uplands is in holdings of 20,000 to 70,000 mcres, and therefcre available only fr heavy eapitalista, The Duke tegan Imjrovements on this property five years ago, when some 1800 acres were brought under cultivation, and have been so far tilled that they now yield j radiglons crops. In carrying out this new exp riment the landlords will supply houses and fences, and the tenants will be left free to use their swapital in the pur- chase and care of their stock, miami Dramatic Edacation. The London Dramatic School has commenced work, There are thirty. five pupils, ladies and gentlemen. Two of the ladies are from Boston having gone over apecially to take the coume of lustruction. It is neces sary that esch pupil shou'd give refer. ences as to position and respectability, The two young American ladies are indoreed by a bishop and s congress. man, Mm, Chippendale, one of the Professcrate, was, it 1s said, privately engaged with them prior to the classes in explaining the difference between s‘Amuriean” and American, a point in pronunciation which John Bull is supposed generally to score against Jonathan, The subscriptions sent in to endow the school by the eminent people who made speeches about it at public meetings do not swount to £300, The Bchool of Dramatic Art may be self-supporting ; that, at all events, should be the alm of the pro moters, and it seems as If they were resolved to give it a fair chance, The most active workers on the conimitiee are the Earl of Wharneliffs, Mr. A. Dubourg (the dramatist), Mr. Alfred Scott Gatty, Capt. Hozler, Mr, E. Pigott (Examiner of Plays), Mr. Lio- nel Tennyson (son of the Poet Lau reute), and Mr, Edmund Routledge (the publisher). They are supported by a number of other distinguished men. The committee of ladies in- cludes some eminent names. The nr- rangements are excellent. The lead- ing branches of study are stage ges ture and deportment, dancing (not ballet, but merely ball-room dancing), and fencing. At the end of the first or second terms pieces will be cast and played, the rehearsals being con- ducted by well-known actors and stage managers. The Professorate in cludes Mrs. Sterling, Mrs, Chippen- dale, Mr. Vezin, Mr. George Neville, the Rev. A. J. D'Orsay,and Mr. C. J. Plumtree (of Kings College). Fen- cing will be taught by M. Angelo, stage gesture by M. Marinetti, and dancing by M. Mickeau. Public in- terest and curiosity progress of the school, the more so “popular’’ with the “profession.” - Af A is————— Science, In any reference to the physical bis- tory of the sun the stupendous magni tude of its sphere must be kept vividly present to the mind. With a diame ter 109 times larger than that of the earth the solar orb looks out into space from & surface that is twelve thousand times larger than the one which the earth enjoys. 1,800,000 times that of the earth. the surface of the sun were a thin ex. ternal rind or shell, and the earth were placed in the middle of this hol- also for a second satellite, nearly es far again as the moon, to accomplish » similar course, The weig bt of the sun {s three hundred thousand times the the weight of the earth, or, in round millions of mililons of millions of tons. The mean distance of the sun from the earth is now so well sscertair ed, through investigations which have been made in several distinct ways, that there can scarcely be in the esti- mate an error of 500,000 miles. The distance at the present time given ia #4 865,000 miles, This measure is in itself 80 vast that if any traveler were to move at the rate of four miles an hour for ten hours a day, it would take him 6,800 years to reach the sun. Sound would traverse the interval, if there is anything in space capable of transmitting sonorous vibrations, in fourteen years, and a cannon ball sus- taining its initial velocity throughout would do the same thing in nine years. A curious illustration, attnbu- ted to Professor Mendenhall is to the effect that an infant, with an srm long enough when stretched out from the earth to reach the sun, would die of old sage before it could become con. selous, through the transmission of the nervous impression from the hand to the brain that it bad burned its fingers, In order that the earth, thus movipg round the sun with a chasm of $8 000,000 miles of intervening space between them, may not be drawn to the sun by the preponderant attrac tion of its 830,000 times larger mass, it has to shoot forward in its path with a momental velocity fifty times more rapid then that of the swiftest rifle ball. But, in moving through twenty miles of this onward psth, the earth is drawn out of a straight line by something less than the eighth part of an inch. This deviation is properly the souree from which the amount of the solar attraction has been ascers tained. If the earth were suddenly arrested io its enward flight, and the momentum were in that way destroy: ed, it would be drawn to the sun, by the irresistible foroe of its attraction, in four months, or in the twenty seventh part of timoe which & cannon ball would take to complete the same journey. It is an old and true saying that opportunity has hair in front, but ds bald behind. It you catch her by forelock you can hold her, but if you wait till she gets by, (your hand slips and you lowe her, —————————————————_——_ It is estimated that the toothpick: toed boots have added ut least 1,000, 000 corns to the corn crop of the couli- wy. It is not so mach & question as to whether or Boke an oe ney to buy & gun, as to whether onl where the boy. § # The Study of Historical Cos- tume. Persons of taste have long been axn- noyed by the persistence with which persons without taste dress badly; wearing, that is to say, the wrong things st the wrong time, and the right (hinges never, A Russian Gen- eral, who now holds a very laportant command in the far Esst, complained. when, some five or six years ago, he visited London, thst it was impossible to understand on what prineiple the English dressed themselves, A few male friends had Invited him to dinner; and on appearing among them he found himeelf the only one of the party who wore a frock coat. The next mornipg he was to breakfast with a tew more friends; and, termined this time to be on the safe side, he presented himself in a dress suit, We bave met with 8 novel in which one of the principal incidents was the refusal of a check taker at the Royal Italian Opera to admit a die tinguished foreigner who, with the regulation evening cost, wore a pair of light-colored trousers, such as, in a like connection, would be accepted on the Continent (st least in summer) as quite appropriate to a festive oceasion. The only approach, indeed, to = despotism of taste that now exists in England is the suthority exercised io the matter of costume by our operatic officials, who tolerate pothing but black snd white, In ordinary life de- as they may think fit, without heeding the remonstrances snd appeals ad- dressed, to them by those who have studied the subject, and who have at once better information and better perceptions than the general mass of mankind, But what may be permit ted to ordinary individuals cannot be tolerstad on fhe part of painters, sculptors and stage managers, Bmith, Jones and Brown live, dress absurdly, die, and are forgotien. Bat the men whose lot it is to influence the publie mind have heavier responsibilities ; and the evil they do lives after them, It is, indeed, of considerable Import ance that accuracy of costume should be observed in pictures, in statuary and in theatrical representation; and for this resson encouragement is due to the * Costume Bociety,” now being formed under thesuspices of Mr, Alms Tadems, Mr, George Godwin, Mr. Louis Fagan and others, and for which the cooperation of the chiefs of peveral foreigu Academies has been secured. The object of this association is t) promote the study of costume in its historical sspect and significance, #0 that there may be an end, once and forever, to the snachronisms of all kinds in dress by which the works of artists, architects and dramatists are now so often disfigured. The Costume Bocicty will issues prints snd engrav- ings perodically $> its subs ritere, But its chief imp rtance will consict in the si the rity with which .t will be able §) speak on all questions w tain ts sphere $25 t may ‘rym time §) 1 me be sub: tied to 8, A pair t ris dealing, Jet us pay, w.ih an incide: t of the fi teenth century in N roay, «r of the eigbtse: th in Bal- gern, In:tasd of bhesit ting, specu lating snd ingh'ring w.thout avail how he ist» Chess the pr.or ages of his scene, he cso in futures make ap plication t» the Cotame Bociety, when he will raeeive w.thioutl unneo- esasTy delay a wlored drawing show. ing him jrecisely what be wished to ask. Animals in Norway. A correspondent makes the follow. Ing remark on & very pleasant feature of the Norwegian character, Vv, kindness to domestic snimsis, In that country, he says, these animals are treated as the friends rather than the slaves of man, As a resuit, vicious horses sfe unknown ; feals follow their dan. s at work in the fields or on the road ss s00n as they have sufficient strength, and thus gently sesustom themselves to harness, I heard of a foal trying to force its head into a col lar in imitation of ite mother. Horses are trained to obey the volce rather than the hand, bearing reins are not used, and the whip, if carried at all, is hardly ever made use of. Greal care is taken not to overload carts, ee and consequently s broken knee is rarely seen, and the animals continue fat, in good condition, and eapable of allow casual passers by to caress them while they sre lying down. Even domestic oats will approach a Loy One very hot summer's day I met s woman holding up sn umbrella to carefully screen what I supposed was alittle child at ber side from the scorching rays of a midday sun, while her own head was covered only by a land. In this the Norwegians show gs a good example; they never use the knife wiibeut first stunniog the animal, In the above remarks I am alluding to the country districts of Norway ; 1n the towns the national characteristics become modified, al- though even under these conditions kindness to animals js still remarks. ble. To those whose hearts are sick- ened by the sights of cruelty dally witnessed in our streets it must be a consolation to learn that a country ¢xists where these things are unp- known, where men are instinctively considerate to the animale dependent on them, and where no legislation is required to enforce the claims of the dumb creation. One day, while approaching Parls in a diligence, after his vi i: to Eng- land, Paganini had the mortification of seeing his beloved Guarneius fall from the roof of the coach, The dell cate instrument received a palpable injury, and had to be taken to Vulll sume, the famous maker aud repairer of violins established in the French capital. VV uiilsume pot only mended {t—as the story goes—but made an exact fac-simile of it, taking both to the Italian virtuoso with the remark that the two instruments, lying side by side in his laboratory, had puzzled him as to their identity. The dis- mayed musician seized first one and then the otner, played upon both, and carefully examined them, together and apart, and ended by exclaiming in distress that he could not decide which was his own. He strode about the room wild, ecs- tatic, and in fears—faith and fury alike struggling for the mastery in him, till the honest Parisian, over- ome by the sight of a grief and a be- wilderment #0 genuine, and never from the first intending to deceive his client, asked him to keep both violins as a pledge of bis esteem and admirs- tion, at the same time pointing out the sham Gusarnerius, for which he begged an honorsble place in Pugs nini’s household. Who ean doubt after this that pew violins may be made to look, and speak, ss well a8 old ones, ee ttif semen Why He Couldn't Have Emly, Sn One of the daughters of Jonathan Edwards, the celebrated theologian and the first President of Princeton College, had some spirit of h.r own, and also a proposal of marr age. The you'h was vefirred to hr father, “No,” sald that st«ra individual, “ you ean’t have my daughter.” “But I love her and she loves me,” pleaded the young man. *Oan’t have her!” said the father. “JI am well-$>do, and can support her,” exclaimed the appli- cant, “Can't have her!” persisted the old man. “May 1 ask," meekly inquirad the suitor, if you have he:rd soything against my ch: rao. ter? ** No,” said the obstinate pa rat; “I baven't heard soything against you ; I think you are a; romis- ing young msn, snd that's why you can’t have her. Bhe's gol a very bad temper and you wouldn't be happy wth br.” The lover, amasad, sald ; “Why, Nr. Edwards? 1 thought Emiy was a Christian. She is a Cuaristiar, isn't she?’ * Certainly she is,’ anew red the conscientious parent; ** but, young man, when yor grow older you'll be able to under stand that there's some folks taal the irwe of God can live w $a Lisl you can't!” BT EN IR The L-=gend of the Holy Grail, The Holy Grail is said to have been a precious stone, a jasper of great bril- lisrey, which fell from Lucifer's erawn when hurried from heaven. This was caught by the anvels, and held pendant fora long time between heaven and earth. When Christ came down to be the Saviour of the world the stone also descended, and a cup was made from it, which came into the possession of Joseph of Ari. mathea. At the last supper the Lord drank from this ecup—and Joseph caught therein his blood shed upon the cross, On this sox unt the cup re- relved the power of giving everlasting life, and was call the Gratl—( from the the Gallic word signifying dish or vessel). Joseph was said to have been kept alive forty «two years in prison by {ta miraculous powers. After the de- struction of Jerusalem, Joseph was released from prison by Titus, being commanded bY au angel, made a receptacle for the Grail, the guard. fanship of which was to be Intrasted
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers