THE STAR Of THE NORTH.
R. W. Wawr, Proprietor.]
VOLUME 8.
THE STAR OF THE NORTH
M PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING BY
R. W. WEAVER,
OFFICE— Up stairs, in the ntw brick build
ing, on the south side of Main Street,
third square below Market.
TERMS: —Two Dollars per annnm, if
patd within six months from the lime of sub
scribing; two dollars and fifty cents if not*
paid within the year. No subscription re
ceived for a less period than six months ; no
discontinuance permitted until all arrearages
are paid, unless at the option of the editor.
ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding one square
will be inserted three times for One Dollar
and twenty-five oents for each additional in
sertion. A liberal discount will be made to
those who advertise by the year.
From the St. Louis Morning Herald.
THOU HAST TAUGHT ME TO LOVE.
Thou hast taught me to love—ah! to wildly,
Devotion is filling my soul; i
Tho' oraolhoioti au%{ roetn lllJs OO nniltiljy, ,
Like billow* of ocean 'twill roll.
Suppress'd is the heart's warm emotion, I
when thy dark eye beams coldly on me ; ,
Yet deeper and purer than ocean>
la the friendship 1 cherish for thee.
Is there a bins? 'tis in loving divinely i
But one, and that one pure and true ; (
Tho' others may languish supinely,
My friendship's unchanging for yon.
Wouldat thou teach my fond heart to forget
thee !
That lesson but deepens my love ; '
Thou hast taught me; in sadness to prize thee, I
As we prize the angels above. <
O ne'er can my heart love another, * 1
Tho' my bosom should coldly suspreas I
Tho deep emotion I smother, i
When in coolness thine eyes on me rest. ;
Thine image, enshrined in my keeping,
Can ne'er be erased from my heart; * c
'Twill hallow the spot where I'm sleeping, ;
When death our ioue spirits shall part. f
When twilight at eve is returning, j
I gaze on some bright beaming star;
And wildly my bosom is yearning—
I sigh for Ibee, loved one, afar. 1
t
My sad heart is secretly pining,
For the light of t|jy dark beaming eye;
Tbo' others upon me are Bhining, '
For thee, and thee only, I sigh. i
Though hast taught me to love, and forever '
Thy bright form in dreams I shall see; 1
Death only t that friendship can sever '
Which binds ma forever to thee.
Tbe Sorrows of Lnmartlne.
M. Alphonse do T.amartine has published i
his History of Casar. Like his previous works, t
it is eminently characteristic—poetical, rhe- t
lorical, fanciful, dramatic and romantic.— t
That distinguished author iiaß established a \
monthly magazine, the whole contents of i
which are to oome from bia own pen. It is (
entitled Cours fami/itr de Litterateur. In the (
first number of it he pours fonh the griefs (
he has now to suffer in his old age. He j
■peaks not of his political, but of his literary i
life ; and after touching on the part he played i
in the world of literature, he uses the follow
ing affecting language: „<
"Behold how llimlan elevates the mind (
into action ; see how it consoles the heart in j
disgrace. Here I wish to go as far aloug j
with you aa plain speech can go. There ,
are some things that can be said only once |
in life; bnt it is necessary that they should |
be said, otherwise you will never yourselves ,
oompreheW the all-powerfulness of literary i
sentiment on the life of the public man, and
on the heart of the private man. Far from (
me be the timidities of words! I here open i
my heart to the innermost folds. The deco- i
rum of pusillsnimous writers naver uncovers >
these nudities of (he heart in public; but a ,
heart awollen with grief raises from more
manly breasts than these vain bandages, with
a shamelessness of sincerity more chaste at
bottom than the false modesty of convention.
If the Laosoon writhing in marble under the
redoubled folds of the serpent, were not na
ked, should we se6 his tortures! When the
heart breaks should ws not hear the vein !
Under deoeiving appearances my life 19 not
calculated to inspire eny, I shall say more,
it is at an end; I no longer live, 1 survive.
Of all these multiple men that lived in me,
to a certain degree, man of sentiment, man
of poesy, man of the tribune, no more re
mains of me but tbe man literary. The lit
erary man himself is not happy. Years do
not yet weigh me down, but tbey reckon me
up. I bear more painfully the loads of my
heart than the load of years. These years,
like tbe ghosts of Macbeth, passing their
hands over my shoulders, show me with the
finger not crowns, but a sepulchre; and
would to God I were already laid there I I
have not within me a smile for either the
paat or the fntur*. I grew old without pos
terity in my empty house, alt surrounded
with the tombs of those I have loved. I
cannot take a step from my dwelling without
striking my foot agi.iaal one of those etumb
. ling-atones of the tenderness of our hopes.
There are so many bleeding fibres torn from
my heart still living and buried before me,
whltv I-—, within me boa's like a time
piece which one has forgotten to take down
in abandoning a house, and which still sounds
in vacancy tbe hours that no one connts."
Byron was accused of weeping upon pa
per ; Lamartine may ba charged with doing
the same. Bat ltt the judgment of the world
b what it may, the heart of genius will give
utterance to its sorrows. It is a thing of im
pulse ; its possessor cannot call to his aid the
eallous stoicism of rbe speculator or stock
jobber.
In Massachusetts,'during the year 18G4,
there were registered 33,997 births and 855
marriages.
URIAH KNAFP, said to be the last of "W ash.
ington's Life Gurad," died at Newburg, N.
Y., January 10th.
BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1856.
LAWS OF PENNSYLVANIA-SESSION
OF 1856.
An ad for the greater certainly of title and the
more secure enjoyment of real estate.
Whereaa, public and private prosperity and
happiness require that titles to real estate
should be certain and secure, and that the
people should acquire, hold, and improve
their homesteads and estates in the confi
dence that thoy will not be lost by secret and
unknown claims, or by frand and perjury;
and also alienate them at their full value,
without abatement for legal doubts and un
certainties.
I SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c., That no ex
ception in any act of assembly respecting the
limitation of aotions in favor of persona non
compos mentis, imprisoned femes covert, or
minors, shall extend so as to permit any per
son to maintain any action for the recovery
of any fapd* OF tenamsnto after thirty yomrm
shall have elapsed since the right of entry
thereto acquired to any person within (he ex
ceptions aforesaid: Provided, That all per
sona who now have rights unbarred, and who
would be sooner birred by this section, shall
not be thereby barred for five years from the
date hereof. tp
SEC. 2. Thai no purchaser or morlagee shall
be affected with not<ce of tbe pendency of
any ejeotment or action, to recover real es
tate, or to compel a conveyance thereof, un
less auch action shall be indexed against the
defendant, and any terie tenant made a par
ty thereto, in a book to be kept by the pro
thonotary and called the ejectment index, for
which the plaintiff 6hall furnish the necessary
information.
SEC. 3. That ihe lien of no judgment, re- 1
cognizance, execution levied on real estate c
in the same or another county, or of writs of 1
scire facias, to revive or have execution of *
judgments, shall commence or be continued '
as against any person or mortgagee, unless 1
the same be indexed in the county where 1
the real estate is situated, in a book to be 1
called Ihe judgment index,and it shall be the i
duty of the prothonotary or clerk forthwith,
to index the same according to priority of '
dale, and the plaintiff shall furnish the prop
er information to enable him to perform said
duly.
SEC. 4. That all declarations or creations of |
trusts, or confidences of any lands, tenements ,
or hereditaments, and all grants und assign- (
monls thereof, shall be manifested by wri- ,
ting, signed by the parly holding the title i
thereof, or by his last will in writing, or else e
to bo void. Provitlod, Tbi vrfiere any con* c
veyance shall be made of any lands or tene- ),
ments by which a trust or confidence shall,
or may arise, or result by implication or con- |
siruc'ion of law, or be transferred or extin- c
guished by act or operation of law, then, and t
in every such case, such trust or confidence |
shall not be of like force and effect as if this „
aot had not been passed. .
SEC. 5. That no action shall bo brought (
.whereby to charge any person upon any con- t
tract hereafter to be made for Ibe sale of j
lends, tenements, or Hereditaments, or any |
interest in or concerning them, unless the ,
agreement upon which such action shall be ,
brought, shall be in writing and be signed by (
the party to be charged therewith, or some (
other person thereunto by him lawfully au- ,
thorized by writing. l
SEC. 6. That no right of entry shall acorue,
or action be maintained, for a specific per- i
formauce of any contract for the sale of any i
real estate, or for damages of non-compli- <
ance with any such contract, or to enforce 1
any equity of redemption after re-entry made 1
for any condition broken, or to enforce any 1
implied or resulting trust as to reality, but
within five years after suob contract was
made, or suoh equity or trust accrued with
the right of entry, unless such contract shall
give a longer time for its performance, or
there has been in part a substantial perform
ance, or suoh contract, equity of redemption
or trust shall have been acknowledged by
writing to subsist by the party to be charged
therowillftrithio the said period-: Provided,
That as to any one affected with a trust by
reason of his fraud, the said limitation shall
begin to tun ouly from the discovery thereof,
or whan by reasonable diltigenoe the party
detrauded might have discovered the same;
but no bona fide purchaser from him ehall be
affected thereby, or deprived of the protec
tion of the said limitation. And provided,
That any person who would be sooner bar
red by this section shall not be thereby bar
red from two yeats ftom the date hereof.
SEC. 7. That any probate, by the register
of the proper county, of any will devising re
al estate, ehall be conclusive ae to euch real
; ity unless within five years from the date of
1 such probate those interested to controvert it,
1 shall by caveat and action at law duly pursn
' ed, contest the validity of such will as to such
- reality, Provided, That alt persons who would
1 be sooner barred by this section taking im
> mediate eiTect, shall not be thereby barred
hafnranwo rears from ibe date hereof.
1 SEC. 8. That nothing In any aot of assent
-3 bly contained, shall be taken or construed to
repeal or impair the act of the twelfth of
* March, one thousand eight hundred, enti
> ed. "An act declaring the power and author
* ity given by any last will and testament to
9 executors, te sell and oonvey real estates to
" be and remain in the eurvivore of them un
-9 less otherwise expressed in the will of the
" testator and for other purpose* therein men
tioned, and it shall be the duty of th* Regis
ter of wills, in granting letter* of administra
j lion with the will annexed, to take adequate
•eourity for the faithful accounting of ihe pro
ceeds of any sales of real estate, the admin
- istrator may mike under inch will, and the
I.' sureties taken shall be liable therefor a* well
as for sny personal effects to come into the
hands of the administrator, who shall settle
his accounts thereol belore the Register and
Orphans' Court, Provided, That the parties
interested may agree upon the amount of se
curity to be taken.
SEC. 9. That whatsoever the real estate of
several persons shall be subject to the lien of
any judgment, to which they should by law
or equity contribute, or to whioh one should
have subrogation against another or others,
it shall be lawful for any one having right to
have contribution or subrogation incase of
payment, upon suggestion of affidavit and
proof of the facts necessary to establish such
right, to obtain a rule on the plaintiff, to show
cause why he should not levy upon and
make sale of the real estate liable to execu
tion for the payment of raid judgment, in the
proportion or in the succession in which the
properties of the several owners shall in law
or bo liaablo to eoniribul* towards Itlf
discharge of the incumbrance, otherwise up
on the payment of such judgment, to assign
the same for suoh uses as the court may di
reot, and the court shall have power to direct
to what uses the said judgment shall be as
signed, and when assigned, direct all execu
tions thereupon so as to subserve the rights
and equities of all parties whose real estate
shall be liable (hereto, and if the plaintiff
shall refuse to acoepl hisdebtand make such
assignment of his judgment, the executions
thereupon, in the hands of the plaintiff, shall
be so controlled and directed by the couit as
to subserve said rights and equities.
SEC. 10. That in all cases of partition of
real estate, in any court wherein a valuation
shall have been made of the whole or parts
thereof, the same shall be allotted to such
one or more of the parties in interest who
shall, at the return of the rule to accept or
refuse to take at the valuation, offer in wri
ting the highest price therefor above the val
uation returned, but if no higher offer be
made for such real estate or any part thereol,
it shall be allotted or ordered to be sold as
provided by law.
SEC. 11. That this aot shall not go into ef
fect before the first of October next.
Approved April 22d, 1856.
A Young Man's Character.
No young man, who has a just sense of
his own value, will sport with his own char
acter. A watchful regard to his character in
early youth, will be of inconceivable value
to him in all the remaining years of bia life-
When tempted to deviate from strict propri
ety of deportment he ahnni.i a „k
can I Afford this ! Can I endure hereafter to
look upon this?
It is ol amazing worth to a young man to
have a pure mind; for this is the foundation
of a pure character. The mind, in order to
be kept pure, must be employed in topics of
thought, which are themselves lovely, chaste
and elevating. The mind has the power to
select IU own theme for meditation. If youth
only knew how durable and how dismal is
the injury produced by the indulgence of de
graded thoughts; if they only realized bow
frightful are the moral depravities which a
cherished habit of loose imagination produ
ce* on the eoul, they would shun them aa
the bite of a aerpent. Tbe power of books
to excite the imagination, is a fearful element
of morals when employed in (he service of
vice.
The cultivation of an amiable, elevated
and glowing hoart, alive to all the beauties
of nature, all the sublimities of truth, invig
orates the intellect, gives to the will indepen
dence of base passions, and to the affections
that power of adhesion to whatever is pure,
and good, snd grand, which is adapted to
lead out the whole nature of man into those
scones of action and impression by which
its energies may most appropriately be em
ployed, and by which its high destination
may be most effectually reached.
The opportunities for exciting these facul
ties iu benevolent and self-denying efTorts
for the welfare of our fellow men are so ma
ny and great (hat it is really worth while to
live. Tbe heart, which is truly evangtlicaliy
benevolent, may luxuriate an age like this.
The promises of God are inexpressibly rich,
the main tendencies of things so manifestly
in accordance with them, the extent of moral
influence is so great, and the effect of.it*
employment ao visible, that whoever aspires
after benevolent action, and reaches forth for
things that remain for ua, to the true dignity
of bis nature, can find free scope for his in
tellect, and all inspiring themes for bis heart.
ADVICE FOB THE GIRLS.— A young lady may
think it interesting to be delicate and have
white hands, and sit with them folded, and
her person listlessly disposed during the
greater part of the day; but she will soon
find that she craves only poor and watey j
diet, because she does not exert herself
enough to require beat-producing food, such
as moat and butter; she will soon become
cold-blooded; albumen or tubercle will be
thrown out either in her lungs or bones;
the white tissues, as we say, will predomi
nate all ovei ihe body, itiore will bo 110 sur
plus of blood or life-force, other obstructions
of vital consequences to her existence will
occur; her monthly periods will cease;
her digestion will suffer, and so she will
bo inclined to think she is hopelessly dis
eased; she may begin to cough or to scrape
her throat, the circulation is becoming two
low to send the blood through the minute
arteries and veins of her lunge, and tubercles
will form; then she will become a subject for
the consumption-curer and his lies. No, no
my young friends neither medians nor "in
halation" will cure you—Up 1 out with the
birds! clothe warmly your body and protect
your feet; see the glorious sunrise and hear
the morning song of praise to the onitT
SOURCE or urK.—Stalptl.
Truth and Bight-:—•£ aid Mr Cnatry>
From the Harrisburg Union.
HOW OUR FATHERS LIVED-
We dropped into the Auditor General's of
fice recently, and while there were shown by
the gentlemanly olerka some rnriona papers
relating to the early history of Pennsylvania.
Amocg the rest waa a bil! for a dinner which
the member* of the "Honorable Honse of
General Assembly" and "Select Council"
enjoyed in Philadelphia in 1778, of whioh
we made a copy" which We present to onr
readers. The origin of the dinner wa found
in the minute* of tbe Council, which are
well preserved in the Sectary's office. It i*
as follows:
On the 30th of November, 1778, tbe Coun
cil met and it was arranged "that, on to-mor
row, (Ist of December,) House
of General Assembly should meet in the
council Chamber for the purpose of electing
a President and Vice President, agreeably to
the Constitution : that afierxte-aMoilon is fin
ished, the Council and proceed to
the Court House and there Irake a procla
mation of the President and Vice President so
chosen; and that after proclamation being
made, the Counoil and Assembly dine to
gether at the city tavern."
In pursuanoe of this arrangement, the Hon
orable House proceeded to the Council
Chamber on ike first day of December, 1778,
and Joseph Keed was elected President, acd
George Bryan was elected Vice President.—
The two bodies then proceeded to the Court
House where proclamation of tbe election
was made, after which the members adjour
ned to the city tavern and partook of a din
ner, of which the following-bill of items is
rendered:
The General Asssembly
of the State of Pennsylvania,
To GIFIORD DALLY, Dr.
Ist Dec. 1778.
To providing a dinner 270 Gen
tlemen, £ 500 000
522 bottles Maderia wine at
455. 1229 00
116 large bowls punch at 60s. 348 00
9 " " toddy at 30s. 13 10
6 " " sangaree at 60s. 18 00
24 bottles of port wine at 30s. 36 00
2 tubs of grog for artillery sol
diers 36 00
I gal. spirits for Bell-ringers 6 -00
96 wine glasses (broke) at 75.6 d. 36 06
29 jelly " "at 7s. 6d. 10 17 6
9 glass desert plates " at 15s. 6 15
II china plates " at 20s. 11 00
3 " dishes ■' at 17s. 6d. 10 2 6
5 decanters " at 30s. 7 10
141b spermaceti candles at'3os} 21 00
£2295 15
It will be seen by the above bill that the
men who controlled the government of our
good old Commonwealth in the "limes that
tried men's souls," were not, strictly speak
ing, total abstinence men, and it is fair to
presume that if the question of prohibition
had been agitated in their day they would
have given it a decided negative. That the
"fun grew fast and furious" at the above
mentioned dinner cannot be doubted. There
is no other why hgfifignting for the tremen
dous smash of croe:kry which is set down in
the bill lor which thtf Commtmwealth to had
psy.
We append another bill, also on file in the
Auditor General** Office, which, it would
seem, was paid by some ose in the employ
of the State. In this bill the items are charg
ed in dollars, and the amount seems truly
enormous, but it must be remembered jhat
Continental currency was then very consid
erably below par:
EASTOX, PA., )
1781, March 17. j
To nip of toddy 810
cash 8
• do 12
1 bowl of pnnch 30
do do 30
1 grog 8
washing 49
1 bowl of punch 30
1 gmg " 8
1 bowl of punch 30
21 quarts of oats 62
hay 90
12 meals of victuals 260
Lodging 40
8667
Received the contents of thfrabovo.
* JACOB OPP.
EXPULSION OF TAPEWORM at PUMPKIN SEEDS,
by Dr. H. B. Sherman, of Boston, Mass. A
child eighteen months of age, was present
ed for advice, having glandular disease of
the neck, tumid abdonhn, unhealthy coun
tenance, and symptom which led me to
suspect the existence ojjTape Worm. This
impression was con tuned by seeing frag
ments of the worm wkijh had been obtain
' ed from the faecal disckwges. I according
ly prepared a gill of emflsion from 2 oz. of
pumpkin soeds—thus, brufsed the seeds
thoroughly in a mortar:,added cold water,
and beat the seeds withjit intimately, until
by expression and straii Ing they yielded the
■ requisite amount of envision—which the
i child took on the 24th of January, 1855, fol-
I lowed after three hours Pith castor oil. In
; two hours more, a tape } arm was discharg
-1 ed, moasuring full fiftee feet in length. At
. the time of this report,; few weeks since,
i the child was in excelli t health, with no
i signs of a return of the ' rminous disorder,
i Miss W. applied to mi in December last
i to be treated for tape wot a. On the 30!h of
■ December, at 3 o'clock A. M., she took
i eight ounces of the pum; tin seed emulsion,
- and in three hours after iis had three table
i spoonfuls of castor oil. Ite medicine ope
t rated between 8 and 4 o lock, P. M. The
r worm was voided in the Irat operation, and
r measured 184 feet in hngth.—ZJwfon Medi
cal and Surgical Journal.
BLIGHTED LITEB.
BY IVY STARR.
Tread gently—apeak softly—a aoul is pass
ing from ita bondage, and your lightest tone
it discord to the ear attuned to Heaven's
sweetest harmony.
There'are deep lines of anguish engraved
around tbe pale lips, and dark shadows of
earthly grief, settled on the brow of her who
lies so calm and white, on the borders of the
spirit land. Even the stern oonflict of death,
ha* failed to erase them, or soften their in
tensity.
She was a gambler's wife—a suicide's
mother. She had given in the morning of
life, her affections to one who valned not the
charge; she bad seen him going the down
ward path, had prayed for, and pleaded with
him in vain ; had suffered alt that woman
can can suffer, and live, yet knew him to be
lost forever.
And she bent over the cradle of her beau-
I tiful boy, and as she traoed his father's like
•" in hie lonooant fat,*, ah* prayed thai
there tbe resemblanoe might end—that he
might live to be a blessing to her and him
self. But a father's counsel prevailed, the
boy followed him to the wine saloon, and
gaming table, and in the flush of manhood,
with hia own hand, unbound his fettered
soul, and sent it forth to meet its doom. All
this one of tbe truest, most devoted wives,
the fondest, wisest mother, the most self-de
nying christian, was called upon to bear—
her'a was a blighted life.
The summer moon looks coldly down with
a sad, reproachful light into a narrow cell,
revealing a young man, almost a boy, who,
with his face buried in his bands, is sitting
there. As the cold sepulchral light falls over
the stone fltor, he groans aloud, for it seems
like some ghastly shadow from the other
world. Remorse for crime is gnawing at hia
heartstrings, and as he IOOKS far back into
the paat, there is no bright spot for the eye to
rest on, and be satisfied. No mother loved
him, through the helpless years of infancy :
no father smiled with parental tenderness on
the boy; homeless and friendless, he had
been an outcast—his has been a blighted
life!
Draw Ihe curtain gently aside ! Let the
white moonbeams rest lovingly on that rigid
face, on which is the ghastly shadow of death.
The silver rays fall strangely pure, on that
dead Magdalen's face, so dark and rigid, in
its mute despair. Oh! those white lips could
tell a fearful tale, if they might be loosed from
the seal of death. A story that would turn
your indignation against her, into the purest
pity, oui iiio snadow of the grave, reals
now over her blighted life. On many a white
tombstone, are their records traced ; on many
a meek sad face turning from the curious
gaze ; on desolate homes and moro desolate
hearts, has fallen Ihe sentence of a blighted
life.— Boston Olive Branch.
Jlow Coal was Made.
Geology has proved that, at one period,
there existed an enormously abundant land
vegetation, the ruins or rubbish of whioh,
carried into seas and there sunk to the bot
tom, and afterwards covered over by sand
APd mud beds, became the snhsisnna mhi-i.
we now recognize as toal. This was a nat
ural transaction of vast consequence to us,
seeing how much utility we find in coal, both
for warming our dwellings and for varioua
manufactures, as well as the production of
steam, by which so great a mechanical pow
er is generated. It may naturally excite sur
prise that the vegetable remains should have
so completely changed their apparent char
acter, and beoome black. But this can be
explained by chemistry; and part of the
marvel becomes clear to the simplest under
standing when we recall the familiar fact that
damp hay, thrown closely into a heap, gives
out heat, and becomes of a dark color.
When a vegetable mass is excluded from
the air, and subjected to great pressure, a bi
tuminous fermentation is produced and the
mineral coal—which is of various characters,
accordingly as the mass has been originally
intermingled with sand,clay or other earthly
impurities. On account of the change ef
fected by mineralization, it is difficult to de
tect in coal the traces of a vegetable struc
ture; but these can be made clear in all ex
cept the highly bituminous cooking coal, by
cutting or polishing it down into thin, trans
parent slices, when the microscope shows
the fibre and oells very plainly.
From distinct isolated specimens found in
the sandstones amidst the coal beds, we dis
covered the nature of the plants of this era.
They are almost all of a simple cellular struc
ture, and such as exist with us in smalt forms
(horse tails, club masses and fens, but advan
ced to an enormous magnitude. The spe
cies are all long since extinct. The vegeta
tion generally is such as now grow in clus
ters of tropical islands; but it must have been
the result of a high temperature obtained
otherwise than that of the tropical regions
now is, for the coal strata are now found in
the temperate and even polar regions.
The conclusion, therefore, to whioh most
geologists have arrived is, that the earth, ori
ginally an inoadescent or highly heated mass,
gradually cooled down, until, in Ihe carbon
iferous period, it fostered a growth of terres
trial vegetation all over its surface, to which
the existing jangles of the tropics are mere
barrenness in comparison. The high and
uniform temperature, combined with greater
proportion of carbonic aoid gas in the manu
facture, could not only sustain a gigantic and
proliflo vegetation, but would also create
dense vapors, showers and rain; and these
again gigantio rivers, periodical inundations,
and deltas. Thus, the conditions lor exten
sive deposits of wood in estuaries would arise
from this high temperature -and every cir
cumstance-connected with the coal measures
point to such conditions. -
Sleep, Dreams, Mental Decay.
The following passages are from a brief
review, in a London paper, of Sir Benjamin
Brodie'e Psychological Inquiries:
" Dreams are next discussed, as also the
problem, 'What is sleep!' which our author
declares insoluble. The sense of weariness
appears confined to those functions over
which the will has power; all involuntary
actions are continned throngh our resting aa
well as our waking hours. Sleep aconmu
lates the nervous force, whioh is gradually
exhausted during the day. But these are
words only; for who can define or explain
the 'nervons force!' Darwin's axiom 'that
the essential part of sleep is the suspension
of volition,' still holds good, and is accepted
as satisfactory. Talking and moving in sleep,
though apparently phenoraesa irreconcilable
with this theory, aro not ao in reality; for
there are degrees of sleep, and these things
only occur where b# slumber is imperfect.
It may bo urged again, that the more absence
of volition would not produce that insensibil
ity to eight and sound which is the charac
teristic of the sleeper, but few persons are a
ware how mach the will is concerned in the
deception of impressions in the senses. One
who is absorbed in reading or writing will
not hear words addressed to him in the ordi
nary tone, though their physical effect on the
eur must be the same as usual.
Dreams are inexplicable; Lord Brougham
suggested that they took place only in the
momentary stats of transition from slosp to
waking. But facts contradict this theory,
sinoe persons will mutter to tbomselves, and
utter inarticulate sounde, indicative of dream
ing, at intervals of sevoral minutes. The
common puzzle is how dreams, apparently
long, can pas 9 in a moment of time, presents
no difficulty to tho pathologist. Life is not
measured by hoars and days, but by the
number of new impressions received ; and
limit to these is in the world without us, not
in tne constitution or oar minas. TO a ctittii,
whose imagination is constantly excited by
new objects, twelve months seem a longer
period than to man. As we advance in life,
lime flies faster. The butterfly, living for a
single season, may really enjoy a longer ex
istence than the years exceed
a century. Even between the busy and the
idle among human beings, thete exists a
similar difference, though less strongly mark
ed.
It has been osually held that large heads
are more powerful thinking machines than
| small ones; and as a general rule, experience
' justifies the conclusion. Bnt Newton, Byron,
and others, were exceptions to it; and it is
quite certain that a large brain iftay be ac
companied with the most dense stupidity.
Many remarks scattered through this little
treatise are worthy the recollection of all
ages and classes. "The failure of the mind
in old age," says Sir Beujamin Brodie, "is
often less the result of mature decay than of
disuse." Ambition has ceased to operate ;
contentment brings indolence; indolanoa de
cay of mental power, ennui and sometimes
death. Men have been known to die, liter
•i'y •* inHimjut by intel
lectual vacancy. On tbe omar nana, tne
amount of possible mental labor ia far less
than many persons imagine. If professional
men are enabled to work twelve or fifteen
houra daily, it is because moat of their busi
ness haa become, from habit, a mere matter
of routine. From four to six hours is prob
ably, tbe utmost daily period for which real
exertion of the mind can be carried on.
Sick from eating Candy. Alice D—-, of |
Bloomingdale, Pa, writes: My child, a lit-1
tie girl of eight summers, has been a re
markable healthy child. Her pa, having
promised her some candy, brought her some
the other day. She ate two or three sticks
of it, but soon became deathly sick and pale,
and had she not vomited 1 am impressed
with the belief she would have died. Could
the candy have caused it?
Of course it did—it poisoned her. Thou
sands of children are sent to their graves
every year from eating colored candies.—
Many of them are flavored with the hydra
ted oxyd of Arnyle, known as Fusel oil, so
poisonous that the oder itself causes head
aohe and other bad symptoms. Their col
ors are often made by the most concentrated
poisons. Only the white candies can be safe
ly eaten.— Med. Reformer.
OVERTASKING THE MIND. —Mr. Nelson Rob
inson, the New York broker, who died sud
denly a few days since, had often been warn
ed by his medical attendant that the contin
ued excitement of business was dangerous
for himj but he could not be psrsuaded to
abandon it. These (many) sudden deaths
from apoplexy, among business men, forci
bly admonish us all, that we must take more
time for leisure, recreation and enjoyment,
of some kind or other. Mind cannot stand
the constant stretch of the street, and breaks
down under tt, and crushes the whole system
with it. The brain is over-worked—and the
physique under-worked. There is not enough
physical to counterbalance the intense intel
lectual activity of the city. Play more, and
work loss.— Republican Banner.
CW "In our County Court," writes an Eas
tern friend, "one of our smart young lawyers
was well come up with the other day. A
witness, in a case of assault, was asked by
the junior counsel, "How far was you, sir,
from the parties when the alleged aaeault
took placer'
"Four feet five inches and a half," was
the answer promptly given.
"Ah!" fiercely demsnded the lawyer,
"how came you to be so very exact as all
this?"
"Because, said the witness, very coolly,
"I expected that soma confounded ass would
likely as not ask me, and so I went and meas
ured it."
[Two Dollars par Annan.
NUMBER 18.
from the Medical Reformer
QUANTITY OK FOOD.
BY JOHN HODGE, M.D.
To tho question which has been frequent
ly put—what quantity of food is'best adapt
ed to the preservation of health?—no satis
factory answer can be given, without a re
ference to the habits, occupation, and age
of each individual; the degree of health he
enjoys, as well as to the season of the year,
and other circumstances. As a general rule,
it will be found, that those who exerciso
much in the open air, or follow laborious
occupations, will demand a larger amount
of food than the indolent or the sedentary.
Young persons, also, commonly require
more than those advanced in years; and
the inhabitants of cold, more than those of
warm climates. We say this is a general
rule; for very many exceptions are to be
found in each of those particulars. Thus,
we not unfrequently find that one individu
al requires more food to support his systom
than another of the same frame of body
and trade, and who partakes of the same
degree of exercise. In fact, one peTson
will support his strength, or oven become
more robust upon the same quantity of food,
which will occasion in another debility and
emaciation.
If we refer to the brute croation, which
are guided in this respect by an instinct
which but rarely errs, we find that one
horse requires more food than another of
similar age and size, and with the same de
gree of exercise; and if his accustomed
quantity be diminislred, ho will become thin
and spiritless. The same is true, also, in
respect to other animals.
Every person arrived at the age of matu
nty, or even before, should be ablo to judge
for himself, as to the quantity of food prop
er for each meal,s well as to the frequency
with which it should be repeated during the
day. Few appear, however, to bo aware of
J> important fiict, that the body is nourish
ed, not in proportion to the amount, or even
to the nutritious qualities of the food which
is consumed, but to the quantity which the
stomach actually digests. All beyond this
disorders the stomach; and if the excess be
frequently indulged in, the latter becomes
finally incapable of converting into nutri
ment even a sufficiency for the support of
the system. Most persons act as though the
strength, vigor, and health of the body rise
in proportion to the load of food they are
capable of forcing daily into the stomach;
and hence, overfeeding is the common error,
at least in our own country. A slight d fici
ency of food is, however, far less injurious
than too great an amount. The old maxim,
"If health be your object, rise from the ta
ble before the appetite is sated," is founded
in truth; and though the Epicure will sneer
at it, yet were he wisely to adhere to it, he
would save himself from many a gloomy
hour of pain and suffering.
When the stomach is not laboring under
fTr\? nd ,h ° in . d,Tidu,u otherwise in
health, the natural appetite is one of the -
very best guides—the only one, indeed, as
•J? tho time for eatiaa. ** welt a* to the quan
tify of food. Whenever such appetite ex
ists, wholesome food may, and ought to be
taken; we should cease from eating the mo
ment it is satisfied.
The eccentric author, Emilius, makes the
following very judicious remarks in refer
ence to the diet of children:—
"Whatever regimen you prescribe for chil
dren, provided you only accustom them to
plain and simple food, you may Jet them eat,
run, and play as much as they please, and
you may be sure they will never eat too
much, or be troubled with indigestion. But
if you starve them half the day and they find
means to escape your observation, they will
make themselves amends and eat till they
are sick or even burst.
"Our appetite is only unreasonable, because
we choose to regulate it by other laws than
those of nature. Always laying down arbi
trary rules, governing, prescribing, adding,
retrenching, we never do anything without
the scales in our hands, and this balance is
formed according to the measure of our fan.
cies and, not according to that of our stom
achs."
I The foregoing remarks will equally apply
to the adult as to the child. It is important,
however that "the balance" of the stomach
be not rendered untrue by the arts of cook
ery—in other words that an artificial appe
tite be not created by a variety of luxurious
dishes—by sauces, condiments and wine.
It is surprising how often the stomach
within a short space of time, may be artifi-
I cially excited to a renewed desire for food.
The man however who eats under such cir
cumstances must not be surprised at his un
comfortable feelings and frequent ailments.
He has scarcely more right to expect health
and long life than the individual who would
attempt to nonrish himself with poison.
BAD EFFECTS or SMOIINO. —I must here en
ter my strong and solemn protest acainst the
pernicious abuse of immoderate smoking,
now so general—morning, noon, midnight,
eternal smoking. It is impossible but that
this vile adoption of a vulgar, foreign sensu
ality, and incessant stimulation of brain and
heart, must weaken nervous power, clog
the secretions, impair the digestion, disturb
the understanding, stint the growth of the
yonng, and shorten the days of both young
and old. Already are the national stamina
enervated by this emasculating habit; and
in another generation the manly, moral, and
physical attributes of the higher "class of
Englishmen, will be smoked and shriveled
into the dimensions of the Spanish and Por
tuguesMontreal Mid. Jour.