as to 'lnttingentr;
.PUBLINEED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY
H. G. SMITH & CO.
SMITH
TEEMS—Two Dollars per annum, payable
all cases in advance.
oFFlClE—SounrarseT CORNER OF CENTRE
BOITARN.
air All letters on business should be ad
dressed to H. G. Stara & Co.
fottrg.
Fpr the Intelllgeneer
1 Wendel If She Loves Me
RY JOHN GEORGE BEACRY.
I wonder if she loves me 7
I'd give the world to know
For though her look still whispers, Yea,
Her lips still utter No.
Why should she blush so when we meet,
If I am not near her heart?
Her tiny hand may tremble, when
We undertake to part.
-I wonder if she loves me?
Last night we were alone,
And I th. tight there was a coldness
Unusual lu her tone;
Yet, toying with her curls, I stole
Ohl such a kiss! and though
She looked unutterable things,
She did not bid me go
I wonder if she loves me?
To wake her woman's pride,
I feigned to love another, once—
She neither spoke nor sighed.
HULL though she seemed emotionless,
I watched her blue eye well,
And I'm certain that a tear drop
From its silken lashes fell.
I wonder it she loves me?
- - -
I'm sure I can't decide
For sometimes she's all tenderness
Anil sometimes she's all pride;
In vain question of my hopes,
My fears still weigh them down,
„Since even her sweetest, sunniest smile,
is cloude I by a frown!
A MAIDEN FOR ME
No Widow for me but a maiden,
As fresh as the dew of the morn,
Whose bosom with love ne'er was laden,
Till for me the fond passion was burn.
'Tie bard admiration to smother,
When a widow's bright glances we nee,
But remember they've flashed for another,
Then un innocent maiden for me.
If roses we set forth to gather,
'I he sweetest, the best to be found,
We pluck from the parent stem rather,
Than pick up the flowers from the ground
Then away with your widow—her tresses,
And lip, are quite bright 1 agree;
But then they have had their caresses,
So au innocent maiden for me.
Let fools be entrapped by the glances,
A widow so cunningly Ilarts;
Lu led asleep while she makes her advances,
To capture the key to their hearts.
Ilut give me my gem in new casket,
ltly Irult, give me freAt 'rout the tree;
The heart I would m Ize let me ask it,
a sweet, blushing maiden for me!
pioritantotto.
The Birds and Animals of Brazil
L Extract, from a Leelure by Prof. Aguaslz. I
The animals of Brazil which inhabit
the main land are low in character as a
whole. They do not stand so-high
as 'those of other continents. It is
is a remark which has already
been made by Leconte, and which is
justified more and more by the closer
and fuller acquaintance with the ani
mals of that continent. Whether we
take the bulk of the reptiles of South
America, or the bulk of the birds and
the bulk of the mammalia, whether we
compare the one family with the other,
through each of these classes, in differ
ent continents, we Lind that there is a
stamp of inferiority, unmistakable on
the side of the South American ani
mals. The highest type of reptiles is,
unquestionably, that of the crocodile.
Now the crocodiles of South America
are small in comparison with those of
Africa or the Gauges, and in their struc
ture they have a character of inferiority
even. What is the peculiar character
istic of the crocodile is, that their jaws
are provided with powerful teeth which
interlock with one another, so that
when the mouth shuts, the two jaws
are brought very close together, and
this' is the highest possible relation be
tween the two jaws. Now the croco
diles of the Old World, of Africa and
Asia, have this peculiar form of denti
tion, the crocodiles of South America,
on the contrary, have all the teeth of
the lower jaw so fitting on the upper
jaw that when the two jaws are brought
together, all the teeth of the upper jaw
pass by the teeth of the lower jaw, and
the teeth of the lower jaw fit on the in
side of the teeth of the upper jaw, so
tLat there is much less power and much
less intimate relations between the jaws
in that respect. And if you find the re
lation of the limbs, you rind again the
character of inferiority. In proportion as
the lingers are free one from the other,
the limb is more free. Look at the toad
for instance, in which the fingers are
entirely free when full grown; when
young they have web feet, and In pro
portion as they grow these webs vanish
and the lingers become feet. All the
embryo crocodiles are web-footed, even
those of the Old World are web-footed
In the beginning, but as they grow larger
this web disappears, and the fingers be
come free. The South American croco
diles retain the web through life, and in
some of them it is often disproportion
ately large in comparison with the size
of their lingers; so that, taking the
highest among them to compare with
the highest of other parts of the world,
you see at once that the character of in
feriority is on the side of America. And
in the other families of reptiles, you ob
serve the same. For instance, In the
preponderance of poisonous snakes. The
poisonous snakes are, by their structure,
inferior to those that are harmless, and
the number and proportion of this
poisonous species is greater in South
America than any other part of the
world. One of the terrestrial snakes
acquires very remarkable dimensions—
it is the boa constrictor—the largest
of all reptiles of that family. The
dimensions of it—of the largest speci
mens—extend to 15 and 18 feet and
more. Specimens of 20 feet have been
very rare, but not in our day, when
hese animals have been hunted down
to so great an extent that there are rare
ly specimens of that dimension to be
Mond. Among the aquatic reptiles we
have a family which is very numerous
in Brazil, and deserves especial notice—
the frogs, and especially the tree-toads,
of which there is such a variety that the
forests are vocal with their noise. They
imitate the voice of other animals to the
extent of frequently producing a strange
delusion. Some of them are barking
like dogs, others are crying like children,
and frequently your attention and sym
pathies way be attracted by a voice that
would di,tress you, could you not ratify
yourself that it Caine from a cluster of
frogs, and not from au infant in trouble.
[Laughter aud applause.] The family of
turtles has very numerous and some very
interesting representatives in South
America, and in the fresh waters some of
its largest, The largest turtles known are
those of the sea, and the green turtle is
one of the large kind, the leather turtle
the very largest, but there are fresh
water turtles on the Amazon whim
• grow to a dimension of three feet, in
length from three to four feet, and
they are among the most delicious arti
cles of food lu the country, and in such
quantity do they exist that they con
stitute one of the resources of the popu
lation, furnishing them not only with
meat, but also with another article very
important as an object of diet. They
manufacture butter from these turtles,
and the number of eggs which are gath
ered for that purpose is incredible. These
fresh water turtles, when rivers begin
to lower, gather in the main streamsi
and may be seen in the eddies of the
Amazon, in the bayous on the Amazon.,
in thousands and thousands clustered
together awaiting the opportunity to go
on the land when the water has subsid
ed to itsminimum. Thenthey emerge
from the water, go on land, and at a few
hundred yards from the water line
burrow their holes and deposit their
eggs, covering them with sand, and
then return to the water, having so
effaced the marks they have made
while laying that to an unaccustomed
eye it would be impossible to detect the
position of the eggs; but the Indians
are 80 skilled in their pursuit of these eggs
that merely walking over the sand, by
the resistance of the sand, or perhaps
a feeling of hollowness underneath,
they immediately detect the position of
the eggs, which are raised by uncover
ing four, five, or six inches of the sand.
In this way they lay bare the eggs,
Which they gather by millions. Placing
them in . tanks,. they break them, and in
that way collect the fatty substance
which the yolk contains, and from
which they prepare a kind of butter,
which is the principal article of that
kind used throughout the valley of the
-Amazon.' - It is unpardonable the mil
lions of these animals which are de
stroyed annually, thus -lessening the
A. J. STEINMAN
VOLUME 68.
supply of meat in that whole region,
and the animal is really the most valu
able, as an article of food, of any in the
whole valley. Besides these fresh water
fishes, of which there is a considerable
variety, there are a few terrestrial tur
tles, some of which grow to the dimen
sions of our logger-head turtle. From
this class of reptiles:l call your attention
to that of birds. I would say, that of
aquatic birds we find chiefly small kinds
of geese and ducks, and of these one
which is very familiar to you of the
domesticated animals among us—the
musk-duck is a species quite common
in the valley of the Amazon. Beside
that, a number of a small kind of geese,
remarkable for their elegant form and
the rapidity of their movement. When
ascending the river, you see them in
small flocks, running along the shores,
evidently more active than any bird of
that family which we see about us in
domesticity. Then the wading birds
constitute a prominent feature of the
aquatic birds of the. valley. There are
very large flocks of gulls all along the
great rivers, and cormorants are not rare.
swans, on the contrary, are very rarely
seen. Of wading birds the number is
legion. They constitute one of the
prominent features of all these exten
sive swamps in the Valley of the Ama
''zon, and nothing is more beautiful than
these immense flocks of red ibisses, and
of gray herons alighted on the shores of
the small lakes, feeding upon fishes and
running upon the surface of the water.
which is sometimes so densely covered
with vegetation that the plants form a
floor upon which these water birds may
run; and nothing is more beautiful,
perhaps, than ponds with thousands
and thousands of the Victoria Regia in
bloom, its immense leaves spreading out
as the leaves of our water-lillies upon
our ponds, and these ponds at the same
time so covered with birds that when
they are disturbed, and they arise, they
literally obscure the light and appear
like clouds in the atmosphere. I have
seen on one occasion a pond which was
covered with white herons mixed with
red ibisses, that when we came to the
shore we found fishes by the thousands
which had been killed by the birds
walking over them ; and when the
birds rose it was literally impossible to
see the sky there through the dense
crowds which rose like clouds from the
surface of the water. The most char
acteristic bird of these regions area family
intermediate between our gallinaceous
bird and the waders. This family is
characteristic of our prairie—the prairie
hen, the grouse, and the like—and it is
a family which is largely represented
everywhere where ,there are extensive
tracts of dry land. They have no
natural home, and are known under the
name of Jacana.
Then we have of the climbing birds
an immense number, and some families
particularly characteristic of South
America. The quantity of parrots, of
macaws, of parroquets, and the like,
which are seteveryw here in the forest,
exceeds all escription. Not only are
the species ry numerous, but the
number of representatives of each spe
cies is very large, and you see some
times flocks of parrots as dense as the
flocks of our crows or flocks of our
geese, which pass over our heads at the
time of their migration from the north
southward, or on their return from the
south northward. Their noise is intol
erable, it exceeds all possible descrip
tion. When you have flocks of these
parrots in your neighborhood, it is im
possible to go on talking with your
neighbor, so loud are they, and so close
will they come without being frighten
ed. Hundreds of species are found
throughout South America, and most
of them are of those genera which have
green feathers. While in other parts
of the world we have parrots of a white
color, with grey or black wings, those
of South America are mainly of the
green type. With them, belonging to
the same family, we find the humming
birds; another family exclusively Amer
ican. There is no representative of that
type of bird anywhere else in the world.
They are represented by similar forms
in the tropical parts of the Old World,
by a family which goes by the name of
Nectarina ; but the humming bird
proper with slender and compound
bill, with small feet and very smalltoes,
one of which is closely soldered to the
other, as a type, with their wings mov
ing so rapidly, presenting such a con
tract to the mode of moving of other
birds, which soar, as it were, in flying,
while the flapping of the humming bird
is a sort of vibration rather than flying
—of that family America is the home
exclusively. And their number is daily
increasing in the catalogues of natural
history. While a few dozen of species
were known in the beginning of the '
century, now there are species counted
by thousands; and it seems that they
are so localized in their distribution that
every valley has Its own kind, and that
in closely adjoining districts you find
entirely different species. You see at
once that this innumerable multiplica
tion of species l and this special localiza
tion, leaving but the presence of one
kind iu every little district, has natural
ly led to the inference that these
animals, wherever they go, are
modified according to the dr.
cumetances under which they live,
That explanation is perhaps as plausible
as that these animals have varied from
the beginning to suit the localities ; but
the interpretation which seems to pre
vail now is that animals assume peen •
liar characters wherever they go. An
other type, which is quite American
and South American exclusively, is
that of the Toucan, another family of
climbing bird, remarkable for the ex
traordinary dimensions of their bills,
the bill being about as long, and ap
parently as heavy as the body, although
it is not so heavy as it would seem on
I
account of its cellular structure. t is
so cellular internally that its weight is
slight; but its appearance is that of a
colossal bill. These birds are remarka
ble for the peculiarity of their•
but instead of having those shining and c°l"
reflecting tints which present all the
variation of metallic colors, under differ
ent influences of light, as in the case of
the columbal, they have definite patches
of colors, put on in the most striking
juxtaposition, a band of. yellow put on
by the side of a band of red or blue ; a
band of white on the sides of the neck,
the rest of the body being black, or a
white breast with a very marked and
well described ring of brilliant tinge,
while the rest is of a purplish color.
And so are all the representations of
the family of Toucans, remarkable for
this strange distribution of tints, and
the disproportionate dimensions of
their bills. The toucans, humming
birds, and paroquets, form a character
istic feature of the flying tribes of the
class of birds in these tropical regions.
Of the perching birds there are also in
numerable species ; but they have noth
' lug very special. They resemble in a
manner our warblers ; and among them
there are some elegant singers; but
there is no tribe of this family of perch
lug birds which constitutes a character•
istic feature of the continents as do
those which I have already enumerated.
Among the birds of prey there are some
which deserve a special notice ; and it
is particularly among the vultures that
we find them. One black vulture, some
what similar to that which is found in
the Southern States, may be seen every
where where there are animal decaying.
There is a carrion crow like ours; and
another species nearly as large as the,
eagle itself, known under the name of
the king of the vultures, which is re
markable for the beauty of its colors,
the feathers of its head being of ele
gant white, yellow and red, with a sort
of light hale of golden tinge over the tips
of the feathers, which gives them a
very elegant appearance. These are the
largest of the birds of prey in the lower
part of South America; while in the
higher and mountainous regions the
condor is found, which is the largest
bird of prey known on the earth. In
the flat countries of South America,
which are south of the Valley of the
Amazon, in the dry regions to the west
of Buenos Ayres, as also to the west of
Bahia, ostriches are found which re
semble the African ostrich in every re
sped excepting size, they being about
one-third the size of the African oe,
Web ; and differing further in having
I .•
~..!.:
... ',.
i ' ,„ •,..._ . : ,,
~.1 , ' , ., ..
..., .- ,: . t
• .: • --,-.;...,
~
/ AI
1- 1
..
...
-
. :
. . .
...
. - .
three toes instead of two. So that South
America has its peculiar features in the
class of birds, as well as in that of rep
tiles, and in that of fishes ; for the great
variety of gallinaceotu3 birds which
characterize the Old World, the prepon
derance of size of the ostrich of Africa
as compared with that of South America,
the large number and extraordinary di
mensions of the eagle, and of the vulture
tribe, and their preponderance in the
Old 'World over the vultures of South
America, show again that in the class
of birds the type of Sonth America is
inferior to that of the Old World. If I
had time to present the subject in its
fullness. I could show you that this
obtains not only for South America but
for North America also, that the animal
World of North America is old fashioned
and inferior in comparison with the
animal world of other parts of the globe.
America had attained geologically its
maturity, and assumed its form as a
continent, North America as well as
South America, at a much earlier period
than any other part of the globe. North
America had its outline;
It had its
Canadian range ; it had its Alleghanies
and it had its Rocky Mountains ; it was
a continent long before Europe had as
sumed those features which give it so
much of its character. So it was also
with South America. And in relation
to this singular geological fact, we find
that the animals living upon this con
tinent resemble those of an older age in
the Old World, and are inferior in bulk
to those which are found on the conti
nents of Europe, Asia and Africa.
The large quadrupeds of the world—
the elephant, the rhinoceros, hippopot
tamus, and the giraffe—where are they
at home ? In Africa and Asia. There
are no representatives of these families
in South America. The large carniver
ous animals—the lions and tigers—
where are they athome? In Africa and
Asia. And if, there are panthers and
red lions, so called, in South America,
they are inferior in size, inferior in
strength, and inferior in structure to
those which inhabit the Old World.
But let me state more in detail these
animals; and we shall satisfy ourselves
that the type of this animal kingdom of
South America is perhaps inferior, even
more in reference to its quadrupeds than
in reference to any other class. In the
first place, among the aquatic quadru
peds—among the aquatie mammalia,
because they are not quadrupeds prop
erly speaking—we have in the ocean
the whales or porpoises. In Brazil we
find that a certain number of por
poises are found in the Amazon; but
they are small kinds, and kinds which
differ from the others in the extra
ordinary uniformity of their denti
tion. The beshueboy, theso-called sea
cow, is one of the lowest types of the
class of mammalia, and it preponderates
in the rivers of South America, and is
even found in our Southern fresh waters.
In Tampa Bay, in Florida we have one
representative of that family, which is
found in rivers emptying into the Gulf
of Mexioo. It is found in the Orinoco
and in the Amazon. It is an animal
which may well be compared with the
hippopotamus; but it is, as it were, a
hippopotamus without tusks and with
out legs, but only with a pair of short
paddles, the tail of which is broad and
long, and constructed somewhat like
the tail of the beaver, and serving as an
oar to raise the body easily to the sur
face of the water, in order to breathe.
Among the terrestrial mammalia, prop
erly, we have deer of small kinds, but
nothing to compare with the elk or
reindeer, nothing to compare with the
hart or antelope, which are found all
over Asia and Africa, and some of which
are even found on our Northern conti
nent. There is not a single wild bull,
while in all other continents there
are species of that family. In North
America there is the buffalo ; at the Cape
of Good Hope another kind of buffalo
in Asia several kinds of wild bull, and
in the primitive forests of Europe before
they had been depopulated, two kinds
of wild bull were known, one of which
is still found in one forest in Russia; so
that everywhere we find the bull fami
ly represented in the different conti
nents, except in South America. The
largest ruminants are small deer. Africa
has especially a variety of wild horses ;
Asia a variety of donkeys, and Africa
another species of that animal; but
America has no species of that animal,
not one to compare even in any of its
characteristic features. Asia and Europe
have dromedaries and camels, instead
of which South America has only the
small kind of that family known as the
Llama, the Vigona, and the Alpaca,
which are mountain animals; while
the larger species in the Old World in
habit the desert. Then of the family
which embraces the elephant, the rhi
noceros, the hippopotamus, and the like,
which are characterized by the thick
ness of their skins, and by their heavy
hoofs, which are known under the name
of pachyderms, of that family South
America has only tWo small kinds, the
tapir, and a kind of wild hog of small
dimensions; while the other continents
have large kinds of wild hogs, and the
larger quadrupeds to which I have al
ready alluded. Then South America
has a family almost of itself, of low
quadrupeds, which are hardly repeated
in any other part of the world. Natural
ists call them edentata. They are re
markable for their lack of dentition ;
there are no front teeth, hardly any eye
teeth, and the grinding teeth are of a
very simple structure. The ant-eaters,
the tatouhous, and the armadillo are of
this kind. Now there are only one or
two species of this family in Africa and
Asia, while in South America they are
really numerous, and not only are they
numerous now, but were numerous in
former ages. Large numbers of them ex
isted in former ages which were remark
able for their colossal size. You may
have heard of the curious animal dis
covered first by Jefferson in the South
ern States, the bones of which alone
have been found among the fossils of
the Southern States, which compares
somewhat to the sloth in the structure
of its fingers, but which was animal of
about the dimensions of the horse. The
megatherium is another, some bones of
which have been found in Kentucky
and in Georgia, and quite a number of
them have been found in South Ameri
ca. That continent was essentially in
habited by gigantic sloths, and ant
eaters, and armadillos, during the period
immediately preceding ours. While our
continent is much earlier in time, the
mammalia of the Old World had already
attained a superior standing. We
see by all this, that the forms
of animal life which character
ize South America are really
of an inferior standard to those of other
parts of the world. I need not, for the
present, compare the monkeys of South
America with those of other portions of
the globe, as I shall make that com
parison the subject of a special lecture
next Tuesday; but it is a curious fact
that the carniverous animals even,
which occupy the highest position next
to the monkey, are of an inferior stamp.
Instead of bears, as we have them even
in the Northern continent, and every
where else upon the globe, there are
badgers and smaller kinds of the bear
family; and the large carniverous ani
mals of the tropics are represented only
by the ounce and panther. That being
the case, you see that we might establish
a sort - of standard of relative position
between the continents, as far as their
animal population is concerned, just as
in each continent we may establish a
standard between the different animals
as they occupy a higher or lower posi
tion, in accordance with the element in
which they live. And these facts ac
quire a greater importance and a higher
significance when we examine the
mode of growth of these animals, when
we study their formation in the egg,
and their changes there, and their trans
formation up to the time when they
have completed their growth ; because
then it appears that they are so closely
related to one another that the idea of
the transformation of the higher out of
the lower seems perfectly natural, and
were it not for other changes we might
remain satisfied with that explanation
which is now prevalent among natural
ists, as in reality the true explanation of
the mode of origin of all animals. And
that you may see how far the facts go to
support that idea, X will now proceed to
LAN - CASTER PA. WEDNESDAY MORNING, .11!LARCH 6,1867
show you how great is the resemblance
between all animals of this type during
certain periods of their growth. I will
proceed to show you that all vertebrates,
whether fishes, reptiles, birds, or quad
rupeds, not excluding man, when they
begin their formation, have one and the
same type; that all arise, like all other
animals, from eggs, and that the egg has
the same structure, in all animals, with
out exception. And that egg is a simple
bag in its infancy—microscopically
small—so small that when itis first form
ing it requires the highest power of
the microscope to detect it. But that
egg will grow larger, and as it grows
larger it is noticed that there are dots of
condensed matter appearing inside, and
one of them may acquire a greater
prominence than the other , so that the
egg appears like a bag containing fluid
in which swims another bag. And
when that egg has grown to still greater
dimensions, a third bag may be found
inside, which is full of condensed mat
ter, as this itself may be fall of sub
stance which is somewhat condensed,
and itself present other indications of
condensation going ou [draws an egg].
Now that would be a perfect egg, and
yet it may be so small that it is not visi
ble to the naked eye. The egg of the
rabbit or dog, when complete in its form,
is so small that the human eye cannot
see it ; but with the microscope it does
not differ in structure from the egg of a
quadruped, as the egg of the bird does
not differ from the egg of the reptile, or
the egg of the reptile does not differ from
the egg of the fish. The principal dif
ferences are in the size which the egg
acquires, and in the substances with
which it is surrounded as a protection.
Only that constitutes properly the egg
which we ordinarily call the yolk. The
principal and essential part of a hen's
egg is not the shell, or the white which
is within immediately below the shell;
but the yolk alone. And that yolk has
grown out of a bag like that, becoming
finally so bulky, that the eye perceives
it easily, and it becomes In fact a bulky
mass of yolk, around which is then
formed that mucosity, or that viscous
matter which we call white, which
coagulates under the influence of heat
and becomes white, and around which
is formed the shell. Now this is prop
erly the egg, and when that egg was
small, neither the white nor the shell
existed, and the yolk itself was very
small ; at one time it was so small that
it was hardly visible to the naked eye.
So that, really, we have eggs of one and
the same structure throughout the type
of the vertebrate, and, I may add,
throughout the animal kingdom. In
the bird the yolk is suspended by strings
of albumen, so that the yolk cannot
move except to rotate around itself.
Now, from this yolk in fishes, in rep
tiles, in birds, as well as in the mamma
lia, the young is developed in the same
manner; and the formation of the young
begins on the surface of the yolk—there
are fissures forming, the surface of the
yolk becomes indented and these fissures
grow deeper and more numerous, until
the whole surface of the yoke is, as it
were, kneaded—it is, as it were, cut up
into small pieces, and these pieces cut
up again and again ; and that process
penetrates more or less deeply ; in fishes
at once about one-half of the yolk is
in that way kneaded; in reptiles,
about one-half also; in birds, only
the surface; in the mammalia, the
whole egg is out up in that way until it
is reduced to most minute particles, and
then becomes a sort of uniform layer
resting upon the surface of the yolk.
Now, that layer is the basis from which
the young is developed; and the first
step which takes place in the formation
of the young upon that even surface of
the yolk—now become even, for it has
been so cut up that its particles are re
duced to a minimum dimension—the
first step which takes place is the for
mation of a depression—asort of furrow
—and that furrow grows deeper and
deeper until on the two sides of It rise,
as it were, a ridge. The swelling of the
kneaded substances of the surface of the
egg upon the two sides of the furrow,
constitute now all there is of the ani
mal; and a young fish, or a young bat,
or a young dog, or a young bird, or a
young turtle, or a young snake, at that
stage do not differ one from the other;
except, perhaps, in the size, or, may be,
slightly in the color. But there is this
one mark between some of those ani
mals. Suppose we have here the tur
tie's egg, and here is the yolk—the
young turtle will have its furrow
formed in any position, either so, or so,
no matter. And in some species, when
opening a turtle's egg, you may find
that the furrow of the young is in any
attitude ; while in the bird it is always
crosswise, I have opened thousands of
eggs with the view of examining the
growth of the chicken and its first for
mation, and you always find that the
first mark of the young is a depression
in the yolk, in a position which is cross
wise to the long diameter of the egg;
and now, as that goes on, this change
takes place; the furrow becomes broader
and deeper at one side. That side which
is broader and deeper is to be one day
the head, and that side which is narrow
is one time to be the tall. But there is
not yet any indication of difference in
substance ; we have no skeleton ; we
have no flesh • we have no skin ; we
have no bloo d; it is all uniform sub
stance,
very delicate, almost trans
parent, somewhat like Jelly, but having
yet a sort of creamy whiteness about it
which is very peculiar, and a degree of
softness which makes manipulations
exceedingly difficult; and in order to
examine such eggs to advantage they
must be opened under water, and the
water must have the same temperature
as that under which the egg is growing.
And then it must be opened so that the
parts exposed shall float in the water; and
then you may take them up on glass and
place that glass under the microscope to
examine the structure, when you will
find that the whole of this yolk is a
mass of cellular tissue—a mass of little
cells of exactly the same appearance,
and the same structure throughout.
There is not yet any difference In the
substance. But next the following dif
ference will be found, that here the cells
grow larger and assume a peculiar
character. The cells on the surface
here will be smaller than those below ;
then this ridge will grow higher and
higher, and perhaps gradually the two
sides of the ridge will come near
together;
there will be a sort of canal
instead o f a mere depression on the bag,
and the canal will grow gradually nar
rower by the greater approximation of
the two sides; and in proportion aa that
goes on this edge will grow lower and
lower, and gradually come nearer the
lower side, and in the end we shall have
them closing up. We have here the
first indication of what will be a back
bone—the first indication of what is a
spinal system—the cavity for the spinal
marrow, and the cavity for the princi
pal arch of the body, and what is the
formation of the lower cavity, which is
now one cavity without organs yet;
but in course of time organs are devekm
ed within, and so the animal is formed.
The part which consists of the larger
cells becomes more solid, and the
first indications of the bones are
formed in the shape of cartilage
here—soft cells are formed which will
be flesh. Cells atthe surface are,formed
which constitute in the end the skin,
and in that substance, which is at first
perfectly homogeneous, there are gradu
ally parts isolating and assuming pecu
liar structures, which end in forming
the whole system. Here and there
particles will become fluids, and in
those fluid particles others will roll, and
these particles rolling in the fluid will
follow a certain track and that will be
come a channel, which will be in the
end a bloodvessel. Conceive that you
had a building, which at first was one
mass; suppose that an edifice of con
siderable-tilmensions was now put up of
one mass of clay, and that there was no
difference throughout, but that, by a
singular process, by a singular agitation
within that clay it should work itself,
and that here and there it should be
come softer, here and there it should
become hollow, and here and there
particles fall into these hollows, and in
these hollows accumulate fluids, and
the walls around became hard and solid,
and in other parts there should be
fibrous structure forming—suppose here
a beam and there a tube, and all the
different elements which constitute a
perfect edifice, should grow out by Bielf
of uniform clay, so that you should have
in the end, an edifice consisting of Wge
stones, of beams of every kind, with
tubes and water canals, and gas.pipes,
and every thing else, and that all tbst
should have grown of itself—you would
have something like what takeis place
in this egg when the animal body is
formed—first a homogeneous mass
which is hardly differentiating with
in itself, and the pipes and tubes
which are formed will be vessels
and air breathing organs—the masses
which will become solid will '- be
the beams, they will be the skeleton
the mass which remains contracted and
flexible will be the fiesh, and some ex
ternal covering, adorned in one ease
with hair, in another with feathers, in
another with scales, will form the outer
cover, and here the animal is formed—
all arising from eggs of the same
identical character. Rio that it appears
as if all animals could grow in that
manner from any kind of egg. But the
peculiarity is this, that one kind of
animal only grows from one kind of
eggs, and that, since the world existed
it has never been known that out of
the egg of one animal there has grown
another, any more than out of the seed
of one plant there has been another
plant grown. The similarity is in the
plan—in the idea. The execution is the
very thing which I cannot conceive
otherwise possible than by the Interven
tion of mind.
Hareem• Life In Cairo.
Europeans seldom know anything of
what really passes in hareems, as the
Turks are exceedingly jealous of their
domestic life being talked about. Many
intrigues and scandals take place, and
are known to the ladies in other ha
reems, but rarely transpire beyond their
walls. The two following events took
place not long ago at Cairo, and rather
interfere with our ideas (chiefly taken
from the Arabian Nights) of the poetry
of Turkish life.
On the road to Old Cairo lives a Bey,
whom we will call Hassan, and whose
wife had been a slave of the viceroy's.
It is deemed a great honor to receive a
cast-off slave-girl of the viceroy, or of
one of thelprlnces, as a wife, and the
lady usually gives herself airs, and gen
erally leads her poor husband a miser
able life, by threatening to complain to
the Effendina's mother, unless all her
whims aregratified. Hassan Bey's wife
at some fantasia heard the celebrated
singer Suleiman, and was enchanted
with his voice. She sought every oc
casion of seeing him, and one day he
rode under her windows while she hap
pened to be looking out from behind the
musharibieb. The lady from that day
refused to eat, became melancholy and
sullen, and at length one of her old
slaves ventured to ask the cause of the
Khartoum's sorrow. On being told it,
the old woman reflected awhile,and then
proposed to her mistress to marry Sulei
man to one of the girls in the hareem
who had a line voice, and was rather a
favorite in consequence. The lady ap
proved of the idea, and charged the old
woman with the direction of the affair.
Suleiman, thinking that out of so good
a house as Hassan Bey's he would get
valuable marriage-gifts with his wife,
accepted the proposal. The marriage
was celebrated with some pomp; and
Zeeneb, the slave-girl, was envied by her
less fortunate companions at having
made so brilliant a marriage ; for Sulei
man earned large sums by singing at
marriage-feasts and burials. The old
woman now explained to Suleiman
why her mistress had given him one of
her favorite slaves, and that he must
manage to come often to the hareem on
some pretext or other. For some time
things went on smoothly, until Sulei
man became fonderof his own wife than
of the other lady, and neglected going
to the hareem as often as the latter
wished, and also gave less baksheesh to
the eunuchs and slaves.
Hassan Bey, sitting in his divan one
day, overheard his people talking of
Suleiman, of baksheesh, and of his fre
quent visits, and summoned the chief
eunuch, demanding what all this
meant? The Aga hesitated, but threats
soon loosened his tongue, and he de
nounced the old slave woman as chief
authoress and abettor of the intrigue.
Hassan Bey had her brought before
him, and gave her the alternative of
bringing Suleiman to her hareem with
in an hour's time, or of losing her head.
Thoroughly frightened she went off to
Suleiman's house, and implored him to
come to her mistress, dying, as she said,
from longing to see her heart's beloved
one. Zeeneb had her suspicions aroused
by the evident trepidation of the
woman's manner, and besought her
husband not to go. The old woman
threatened to destroy his livelihood
through her mistress influence in the
vice-regal hareem, and Suleiman at last
yielded, but promised Zeeneb that this
should be his last visit to Hassan Bey's
hareem. Unfortunately for poor Sulei
man, his words turned out true, for
Hassan Bey cut him down as he enter
ed the door. Zeeneb waited for her
husband for some hours, and then sent
her mother-in-law to inquire after him.
Hassan Bey himself received her, and,
showing her the dead body of her son,
bade her begone. She burst forth in a
torrent of reproaches and bitter lamen
tations, which so enraged him that,
drawing his sword, he killed her too.
By his orders, the corpses were flung
into the Nile, close by, after small black
crosses, such as the Copts wear, had
been hung around their necks to divert
suspicion. Next morning the bodies
were found, and were buried in the
Coptic burial ground by a priest, on the
supposition of their being Christians.
The disappearance of Suleiman caused
some wonder, but it was soon forgotten,
and it was no more talked of, until the
viceroy's mother gave a fantasia at the
marriage of some slave girl in her
hareem, when Zeeneb was summoned
with other gazialis, or singing women.
When it was her turn to sink„ she rose,
burst into tears, and, falling at the
Valide Khanoum's feet, declared she
could not sing, and implored justice.
The princess stopped the fete, and in
quired what she meant. Zeeneb then
related that Suleiman her husband, had
had an intrigue with Hassan Bey's wife,
had gone one day against his wish to
her hareem, and had never returned ;
that his mother had gone to make in
quiry for him, and had never been seen
since . and that she suspected foul play.
The Vallde Khanoum promised thatjus.
lice should be done, and kept her word;
for the viceroy summoned Hassan Bey
before the council, interrogated him,
and sentenced him to banishment at
Fazoglou (the Egyptian Cayenne).
Since then, nothing has been heard of
Hassan Bey's wife. Whether she was
kill by his orders or by Ismail Pasha's,
or is still alive, imprisoned in some dis
tant hareem, is a mystery ; but it is ira
probable that Hassan Bey would have
dared to touch a woman who came out
of the vice-regal hareem.
The second tale is more tragic and
touching.
Osman Bey, so we will name him,
had two daughters, Fatme and Elmass,
whose mother had died young; the
Bey had not married again, and left the
two girls very much to the care of their
old nurse. kyoung Turk, living doge
by, had seen Fatme as a' child in the
doorway with the eunuchs, and had
observed her pretty face; he by chance
caught a glimpse of her at the open
musharibieh, and demanded her in
marriage of her father. Osman Bey
answered that he was honored by Sha
heen Bey's proposal ; but although
there was nothing to object to in point
of fortune, or so forth, yet he declined
to give him his daughter, as he lived
much with infidel dogs, and was there
fore no true Mussulman. " Pique au
jeu," and deeply smitten with Fatme's
charms, Shaheen Bey contrived to
bribe the old nurse, who introduced him
into the hareem dressed in woman's
clothes. No Turk, it should be-observed,
can enter his own hareem when a lady
is there on a visit; and even should he
have strong reason to suspectthe visitor
to be a man in disguise, he would never
dare, to touch the seeming lady. Woe
betide him should he unveil a woman!
and he can, of course, never be sure of
his suspicions. Fatme, of the mature
age of fifteen, was much delighted at
the impression she had produced, and
soon her love for Shaheen Bey became
as strong as his passion for her; but
Elmass grew jealous, and threatened to
tell her father, quoting at the same
time an old Turkish proverb: " Who.
ever does not beat his daughter will one
day strike his knees in vain."
Fatme, in great alarm, took counsel
with her old nurse, who suggested that
Shaheen Bey should bring his younger,
brother to amuse Eames% and that,'
being then equally culpable with her
elder sister, she would say nothing. The
two brothers paid frequent visits to the
hareem, and all went well for some
time, until Shaheen Bey commited the
extreme imprudence of going into the
hareem undisguised. Coming out he
met Osman Bey, who recognized him
in spite of his efforts to cover his face;
a tremendous struggle ensued, in the
course of which the old father was
thrown down, and Shaheen Bey got
away. By dint of threats, Osman Bey
made the eunuchs con fess that they had
long suspected the sex of the two visi-
tors, and, by a vigorous application of
the whip, he got the whole truth out of
the nurse.
In a towering passion he went direct
ly to the viceroy's secretary, who, more
civilized than the Turks usually are,
tried to persuade the Bey to hush up the
whole thing, and marry the two young
couples. Osman Bey would listen to
nothing, and insisted on theaffair being
laid before Ismail Pasha, who con
demned the two brothers to be sent to
Fazoglou. The youngest, luckily for
himself, died soon after passing Thebes.
The two girls and their nurse were sen
tenced to death. Horrified by so severe
a decree, Osman Bey threw himself at
the Effendina's feet, and after many
prayers obtained a commutation of his
daughters' sentence to imprisonment
for life among the female galley-slaves.
To keep order in the numerous har
eems, it is necessary to strike terror into
the hearth of the women who are shut
up, without interest, education or occu
pation. Doubtless many events quite
as sad as the foregoing occur within the
high walls of the hareems, of which we
Europeans have no Idea.
A Gourmands' Club
It is announced that there has just
been established in Paris a Gourmands'
Club, the members of which dine to
gether at stated intervals on the rarest
dishes. It is presided over by Baron
Brisse, the author of the daily bill of
fare which has become so popular a fee.
Lure in one of the Paris papers, La
Liberte, and which is looked for eager
ly by all Paris. The club has its office
and paid secretary, and notifies that it
will give advice Emd reply to questions
on the great art of dining for a fee of
one dollar paid in advance. Before the
institution of this club the Baron was
beset with inquiries as varied and nu
merous as those which are addressed to
the editor of a popular journal. Cer
tain old gourmands who had ruined
their digestions and lost their appetites
made pitiable appeals to the Baron.—
"It is all very well," said they, " for
you to give us artistically arranged lists
of choice dishes, but tell us, we beg,you,
how we are to and the requisite appe
tite for their consumption." Where
upon the Baron seizes his pen and is
sues the following directions : " Take,"
says he, "a bath the first thing in the
morning, after which, while walking"
about your room, drink two or three
glasses of mineral water: that of Nied
erbrunn on the Lower Rhine is the.
best. A couple of hours afterwards take
a basin of soup with some bread in it,
and a glass of good wine. Then go out
and visit your friends. At four o'clock ,
eat a biscuit and drink a glass of Ma
deira, resume your walk, and at seven
o'clock dress for dinner, when you will
find yourself able to eat an entire leg of
mutton and more." The Baron's pre
scription will perhaps be as good out
side of Paris as in it.
Honey Ant of Texas.
A Texas paper of a late date, speaking
of the Honey Ant, says : We have often
heard of the " honey ant" of Texas, but
the account seeming so romantic, we
have hardly been able to credit it, but
as we - now have a specimen before us,
furnished by our friend Leo Smith, of
this city, we can no longer have any
doubts on the subject. These ants area
medium size between the large and
small red ants, and are of a reddish and
brown color. Appended to the rear of
each one, is a translucent sack or globe
filled with pure clear honey of a most
delicious flavor. These sacks vary in
size on different ants—ranging between
the size of a buckshot and a navy pistol
ball. On this sack, at short intervals
areattached thin layers aboutthe length
and width of half a grain of rice, and of
a dark color, evidently to strengthen it
and keep it in shape. These interesting
animals when they crawl, draw their
delicious load after them, and if the sack
is full the honey runs out and they set
themselves to work to replenish it
again. Whether they deposit this
honey in their great general reservoir
among the rocks, to draw from it as oc
casion may require, hold and use it as
individual property we are not informed.
Here is a curiosity that we believe has
heretofore escaped the eyes and pens of
our celebrated naturalists. -
On the Coarse Again.
As was generally expected, the unique
Shiliaber, having harnessed Mrs F'ar
ti ngton and Ike to the car of the Amer
ican Union, 'trotted them out as a tan
dem team last week in the following
style :
" What's the matter, dear ?" said Mrs.
Partington, as Ike threw the morning
paper, that he had been reading, down
upon the floor, and stamped on it.
"What makes you so abstropolus,
Isaac ?"
" They're goin' to stop the Importa
tion • of firecrackers," replied Ike, with
a flourish of his stupendous fist.
"Well, well," said Mrs. P., as soothing
in her tone as a poultice • " I don't see
anything harmonious in that. And
you need not be so pugnascent about it,
either; because it doesn't infect you
anyhow."
" I'd like to know how they're going
to keep Fourth of July," cried he,
wiping an Indignant tear from his eye.
" Didn't John Quincy Adams tell us to
burn all the tar-barrels, and ring the
bells, and fire all the crackers we want
ed to? And now Mr. Fessenden, only
because they burnt his city down last
Fourth of July, Is going to stop their
importation. • I wish I was a member
of Congress "
"Don't Isaac," the old lady inter
rupting him ; " dont wish such a wick
ed thing as that; remember you have
got the family virtue to maintain."
She looked up, as she spoke, at the
picture of the corporal of the " bloody
'Leventh," on the wall; a sigh raised
the white kerchief on her breast at the
sight of that Spartan embodiment of
virtue ; and t giving Ike a new three
cent piece that she mistook for a one,
she relapsed into the stew then pend
ing.
The End of the World.
Carleton, the obliging publiaher, has as-
slated the Rev. Dr. Cumming to sound his
warning cry in this country. The follow
ing are two of his most alarming notes .
As the great transformation draws nearer
the groans of creation rise louder, and man
feels less seems anchorage ground on earth.
Our cattle have been smitten as with the re
turn of the Egyptian plague ; pestilence has
decimated great capitals, and tens of thou
sands have fled as from the destroying
angel ; the last phial, as I have elsewhere
shown, was poured into the air, and the
lamentations of the bereaved, and the terror
of the fugitive, and the graves of the hasti
ly burieddeed, cry aloud: "It is done."
I stated in a previous work that if the
last phial was, as I believed it was, poured
out in 1848, and still runs on, we might ax.
pact those destructive blights on vegetables,
on animals, and on men, which this very
year have roused the fears of Europe. As
lf to justify the interpretation given, the
press, the men of science and observation,
and physicians, all attribute the visitation
of this year to an abnormal oondition of the
air. These and similar disturbances of our
mundane system are laid down by our
Lord as premonitory signs of His approach.
Trumpet-tongued they sound through our
Christendom these warning words " Be
hold the taidegroomoometb."
NUMBER 9.
History of a Weathercock.
Being the Wcuaderfnl and Instructive
Legend of MedtcoPoUlte.
aranslated from the Spa nish of Farnan C a b al -
[So little Is known up to the present day
of the popular tales and legends of Spain,
and the specimen which we here present to
our younger readers is so good and so un
common of its kind, that we feel that we
stand in need of no excuse for oar selection,
even to the graver portion of our readers.
No Dr. Dasent has as et undertaken to ex
plore the folk-lore of Spain, and the formal
and punctilious Spaniard is in general but
little suspected to possess the great fund of
native humor which inreality lurks beneath
his stateliness. The conversation of the
lower orders indeed bristles all over with
quaint proverbs and humorous sayings, as
is exemplified in the inimitable Sancho
Panza ofinmortal celebrity and an inquiry
into popular tales, proverlos, and songs of
that little-frequented part of Europe would
richly repay the labor of the interested in
such matters.
The legend here given is an Andalusian
one, and professes to explain the origin of
weathercocks in the history of Medio-Pollito,
or Half-Chicken, the cross-grained founder
of his tribe. The curious superstition allu
ded to in it, of eggs being laid by old cocks,
is firmly believed by the people; and we
have heard it asserted by a well-informed
Spaniard that an unusually small egg which
he had found in the hen-roost must cer
tainly have been laid by the cock. A cock
however, is said to lay only once in his life,
and the basilisk contained in the egg takes
seven years to hatch. The first person
whom he sees on breaking his shell he is
able to kill by the power of his eye; but if
any one should first see him, the basilish
himself dies. Scarcely less curious is the
notion, on which the final catastrophe lin
gers, of St. Peter's dislike to the crowing of
a cock, and his stooping to take revenge
on one that had offended him in this man
ner. Our story is translated from La
Gaviota, a tale of Spanish life by Fernan
Caballero, the greatest living Spanish nov
elist.]
There was once upon a time a hand
some Hen, who lived very comfortably
in a court-yard surrounded by her nu
merous family, among whom there was
one chicken that was both lame and
ugly. Now this was the very one that
the mother loved the best of all, for
that is the way with mothers.
This cripple had been hatched from a
tiny little egg. He was indeed no more
than half a chicken, for he had only
one eye, one wing, and one claw ; and
for all that he gave himself more airs
than his father did, who was the hand
somest and bravest and most gentle
manly cock in all the fowl-yards for
sixty miles round. This chick thought
himself the Phoenix of his race. If the
other cocks laughed at him, he thought
it was out of envy; and if the hens did,
he said that it was for anger because of
the little attention that he paid to them.
One day he said to his mother, "Look
here, mother, the country wearies me;
I have,Lairte up my mind too to court.
I want* see the King and Queen."
The poor mother began to tremble
when she heard these words.
"My son," she exclaimed, " who
could have put such nonsense into
your head? Your father has never
once been outside his own domain, and
he is the pride of his race. Why,
where would you find such a.court-yard
as you have here? Or where a grander
manure-heap? Where would you find
better or more plentiful food, a warmer
hen-roost, or a family that loves you
more dearly ?"
"Nego," said Medio-Pollito in Latin,
for he was set up to be a great scholar,
"My brothers and my cousins are Ig
norant clowns."
"But, my son," continued his mother,
" have you never looked at yourself in
the glass? Have you not found out that
you have got one eye and one claw less
than other people?"
"Nay, if you begin upon that," re•
plied Medio Pollito, " I shall answer
that you ought to fall down dead for
shame at seeing me in such a state. It
is your fault and nobody's else. What
sort of an egg did I come out of, pray?
Was it laid by an old cock ?"
"No, my son," said the Hen, " for
only basilisks come out of those eggs.
You were hatched from a very little
egg, but indeed that was no fault of
mine."
"Perhaps," said Medic) Point°, his
comb turning as red as scarlet, " per
haps I shall meet with some clever sur
geon who will put on my missing
limbs. Anyhow, my mind is made up ;
off I go."
When the poor hen' saw that there
was no way of turning him from his
purpose, she said:
"At least, my son, hearken to the
prudent counsel of a loving mother.
Take care not to pass by any churches
where there is a statue of St. Peter, for
that saint is not at all fond of cocks, and
still less of their crow. Avoid also cer
tain men whom there are in the world,
called cooks ; for they are our mortal
enemies, and will wring your neck as
soon as look at you. And now, my
son, St. Raphael, the patron of travel
ers, be your guide. Go and ask your
father's blessing."
Medio-Pollito approached the vener
able author of his existence, and stoop
ing to kiss his claw, begging his blessing
The worthy old cock gave it to him
with more dignity than affection, for he
was by no means fond of him on ac
count of his peevish temper. But his
mother was so much moved, that she
was obliged to wipe away her tears with
a withered leaf.
Then Medio-Pollito began his march,
clapping his wing and crowing three
times as a signal of departure.
As he arrived at the banks of a stream
that was almost dried up,—for it was
summer,—it so happened that the slen
der thread of water was hindered from
flowing by a few branches that had fall
en across its bed. On seeing the traveler,
the Stream said,—
" Thou seest, friend, how weak I am.
Scarcely can I move a step, and I have
no strength to push aside these branch
es that block up my way. Neither can
I make a round to avoid them, for it
would entirely exhaust me. Thou
couldst easily get me out of this diffl
culty by parting the branches with thy
beak. In return, thou mayest not only.
quench thy thirst in my current, but
reckon on my services as soon as the
rains of heaven shall have restored my
strength."
The Chicken replied,—
" I could, but I don't choose. Do you
think I look like the servant of dirty
little streams?"
"Thou wilt remember me when least
thou thinkest," murmured the Stream
in a fainting voice.
" It's very fine for you to boast "'
returned Medio-Pollito, mockingly.
" Why, one would think you had just
drawn a prize in the lottery, or could be
sure of - help from the waters of the
Deluge."
A little further on he met with the
Wind, lying faint and helpless on the
ground. ''Dear Medio-Pollito," he said,
" in this world we all have need of one
another. Come near and look on me.
Seest thou what the heat of summer has
done to me? tome, so strong, so mighty?
to me, who raise the waves, who lay
waste the fields, whose power none can
withstand? This midsummer day has
killed me. I fell asleep, intoxicated by
the perfume of the flowers with which I
was playing, and here thou seest me
swooning. If thou wouldst but raise me
two inches from the ground with thy
beak and fan me with thy wing, that
would enable me to take flight to t ity
cavern, where my mother and els rs,
the Storms, are busy mending up a w
old clouds that I have torn. There they
will give me some refreshing draughts,
and I shall recover my strength."
"Sir Wind," replied the ill-natured
Chicken, "many a time have you
amused yourself at my expense, puffing
at me from behind and blowing open
my tail like a fan, so all who saw it
might laugh at me. No, no, my friend,;
every dog has his day, so go od afternoon
to you,Mr. Joker." With this he
crowed three times In a loud voice and
strutted proudly away.
In the middle of a stubble-field to
which the laborers had set fire, there
rose up a slender column of smoke.
Medio-Pellito drew near, and saw a
tiny flame flickering from time to time
among the ashes.
"Dear Medlo-Pollito," said the little
Flame . thou art come in the very
nick of time to nave my life. I am at
, suma or ~...L,-----
liinualllo Anvanciailuts, Y."
M IS" ef 411111Z ien; to per yew m g r each ad
°nal Mr%
s _______-
. ..... -- . r .
Buz, mums, Pirinerrer.z-r.
ZILLT. AbiriatZtairG 7 Nadi a ' 'OO
firzt.
tion.=l 4 waits far nob iinblioQueot la" ,
SPIXICAZ Norm= inserted in Local Colman;
15 cen pier line.
Eirzcitaz ts
Nowa= preoeding an d
deaths, 10 mita per line for i nas ition.
and 5 cents !braveryfridtmlint, insertion.
Somme Ciampi, WWI or Ins,
one year - ~ 10
Businesscrnus,llve liner or less, care
LZGAS• AND OTB I 8 NOTIOZEF.
Executors' ...vilest zoo
Salicartistrigow, 2.00
Gee' 2.00
Other "Not An tors' n
ices," ton lines , or lea,
three Ll5O
w
my last gas for ant of fttel I onn.
not think what p
is become of my ootudn
the Wind, for it is he who always helps
me out of my troubles. Do bring me
one or two little straws to revive me."
"What business is it of mine, I should
like to know ?" replied Medio-Pollito.
" You may go out if you like, and wel
come. I don't want you."
" Who knows but you may want me
some some day ?" answered the Flame.
"No one can say, `There shall be no
harm happen unto me.' "
" Now, then," said the cross creature,
"must you always be preaching! Take
that then !"
And so saying, he covered him with
ashes ; after which he began to crow, as
usual, as though he had done some
great deed.
Medio-Pollito at last reached the
capital, and passed in front of a church
which they told him was St. Peter's.
Thereupon he posted himself in the
doorway and crowed until he nearly
cracked his voice, for nothing in the
world but to annoy the Saint, and to
have the pleasure of disobeying his
mother.
When he came to the Palace he
wanted to go in to see the King and
Queen, but the sentinels cried out to
him, " Keep off!"
Thereupon he turned aside and went
through a bank-door into a large room
where he saw a great many people
passing to and fro. He asked who they
were, and was informed that they were
His MAlesty's cooks. Instead of run
ning away, as his mother had advised
him to do, in he marched with head and
crest erect.
Immediately one of the scullions laid
hands on him, and wrung his neck in
a twinkling.
" Hullo there!" said he, " bring me
home hot water that I may pluck this
fowl."
" Water, my beautiful crystal lady!"
cried " do • not scald me,
I entreat you. Have pity on me!"
"Hadst thou any pity on me, when
I asked thy help, ill-natured bird !"
replied the Water, boiling with indig
nation, and splashing him from head
to foot, while thescullions soon left him
without a single feather to cover him.
Then the cook laid hold of him and
put him on the spit.
" Fire, brilliant Fire?" cried the un
happy bird " thou who art so powerful
and so glorious, have pity on my state,
draw In thy flames and burn me not !"
"Wretch ?" replied the Fire, " how
darest thou appeal to me, after having
attempted to smotherme on the pretext
that thou couldst never need my help?
Come near and see what I can do !"
And, not content with browning hlm,
he burnt him as black as a cinder.
When the cook saw him in this state,
he took him by the leg and flung him
out of the window.
Immediately the Wind caught hold
of hlm.
" Wind !" cried Medlo-Pollito "my
dear and much-honored Wind I thou
who reignest over all and obeyest none,
mightiest among the mighty, have com
passion on me, and leave me alone on
this rubbish-heap!"
"Leave thee !" roared the wind,
snatching him away in an eddy and
whirling him through the air like a
shuttlecock, "No, never as long as I
live!"
He set Medio-Pollito down on the top
of a steeple. St. Peter stretched out his
hand and fastened him there. From
that time forth he occupies this post,
blackened, flattened and featherless,
lashed by the Rain, and puffed at by
the Wind, from whom he is always try
ing to protect his tail.
He is no longer called Medio-Pollito,
but Weathercock. But be it known to
you all, that there he still is reaping
the just reward for his disobedience, his
pride, and his ill-nature.
The Murder at Auburn, Maine.
The negro, Clifton Harris, who has con
fessed that he, together with a white man
named Luther S. Verrill, murdered the two
aged women at Auburn, Mo., a few weeks
ago, says that the original plan was simply
to rob the house, and that murder was not
intended except to shield themselves from
discovery. He gives the following horrible
details of the cool blooded way in which the
crime was finally committed:
Both men went into the house and through
the kitchen and sitting room to the room
where Mrs. Kinsley slept, and Harris says
Verrill entered it, for Harris heard from the
the sitting room, where he was at,,the time
Mrs. Kinsley crying, " Polly! Polly I
come here I" Polly being the name given
Mrs. Caswell. It was so dark that
nothing could be seen. It seems
from the confession that Harris subse
quently learned that Verrill laid his hatchet
on the lounge in the sitting room, and pro
ceeded at once to Mrs. Kinsley's bedroom,
opening into the sitting room, finding her
peacefully sleeping. He seized her, and it
was then she shrieked and cried "Polly,
Polly, come here," and the negro appeared
on the scene. As soon as the shrieks were
given and the plan thus spoiled, the acoom
plice seized a chair and struck Mrs. Kins
ley with it over the head, demanding to
know where the money was. 'At first Mrs.
K. said that "her daughter had all the
money with her down to Lewiston." The
negro then appeared and the demand was
repeated, when she indicated it was at the
head of the bed, in a closet in that place.
While the negro was searching for the
money, Polly Caswell, aroused by the cry,
arose, came out into the sitting.room, and
proceeded to the mantle-piece, where she
was trying to light a lamp. The aciooraplicie,
hearing Polly coming out, loft the bedside
of Mrs. Kinslej, the latter being partially
insensible, and passing out of the bed-room,
leaving the m alto there, stealthily got be
hind Polly and struck her on the head with,
as is supposed, the hatchet. This felled her
to the floor, and Verrill left her, supposing
that she was dead. It was there that the
pool of blood was found on the floor. While
Verrill was disposing of Miss Caswell Mrs.
Kinsley began to move as if attempting to
get out of the bed, when Harris turned upon
her and gave her a heavy blow with the
chair which felled her. Verrill then re
turned to the bed-room, and demand was
again made for the money, but no response
was received. Mrs. Kinsley was still alive,
but perhaps in a swoon. Her pockets and
the closet were again searched by the
mulatto, but nothing was found. Mean
while-V
-Verrill was perpetrating (as is
alleged) a nameless crime on the per
son of Mrs. Kinsley. Soon after, Miss
Caswell, who had been left for dead by the
mantlepiece, was discovered up and moving
across the floor toward her room, her white
night clothes making her visible in the dim
moonlight. Harris went out to take care of
her, and seizing a chair struck her and at
last felled her in the doorway, where her
dead body was afterwards found. Return
hag to Mrs. Kinsley's bed-room, Harris
found that Verrill had made way with
Mrs. K. by stabbing her in the neck. Harris
was then sent for a light—all the transao
tions above detailed having been in the
dark. Ho proceeded to the Wuhan, but,
trying to obtain a match, he IM M. the
match box, and it turned out that neither
of the murderers could light a lamp. They
then sat down together upon the lounge in
the sitting room and talked over the money
matter. After a short time Harris said
" It is no use to stay here, we can't find the
money ;" whereupon they both arose and
left the house by the back door.
A Queer Fish
A remarkable amphibious animal of the
seal kind, which wascaptured at Gillespie's
Beach, about 100 miles south of Hokitika,
New Zealand, by Mr. Kilmartin, is now
being exhibited in Melbourne. In appear
ance it presents a mixture of the dog and
the fish. Its head resembles that of an
English terrier, except that the ears are
merely rudimentary. The body is like a
seal's, and the animal propels itself upon
land or In water by means of two large
flippers in the forepart of its body, and two
smaller ones behind. Its tall is about two
and a half inches long. The anixnal shuffles
pretty quickly upon the ground, and its
motion in the water is produced by rolling
over and over, and propelling itaelfforward
after the manner of a screw. Its cry is
something like the bark of a dog, but pe
culiarly shrill.—Melbourne Age.
Sudden Death and a Sad Effefte.
George Brown, EN, t a dry go od Merchant)
of Jersey City, suddenly ell dead from
disease of the heart, on Tuesda c yoginle por k .
versing with a friend in raLatiArk to his ap
proaching marriage, which was to have
taken place on Thursday. Another sad
incident connected with the affair is that a
friend, who was called in, went at once to
inform the parents of the young lad,y to
whom the deceased was engaged and she
overhearing the conversation the know
ledge of her betrothed'sdr i l l 00=1
her so suddenly, had the tO
her reason.