Sparrows-A Novel Article of Commerce. The speculators of England are carrying on quite a trade in live sparrows. The good ship Ecquador sailed from Bristol some time ago, having on board as freight, 1,500 couple of live sparrows bound for New Zealand, and in New Zealand there is a very good market found for these little chirpers. New Zealand is an excellent grain growing country, but of late years the crops there have been dreadfully destroyed by bugs and grubs and insects of one form or other. So extensive have been the ravages by these pests, that whole districts have been abandoned, and the cultivators of the soil much discouraged, and it has been feared, that, notwithstanding the fertility of the country, agriculture would, after all, have to be abandoned there. A lucky thought got into somebody's head, and two hundred couple of the common English farm yard sparrow were sent for, and safely arrived in New Zealand, and set at liberty as soon as landed; with the energy of hungry sparrows they went to work on the grubs and insects, in a way that proved to a demonstration that sparrows, after all, have their place for usefulness in the developments of civilization; and a year's experience has proved to the agriculturist of New Zealand, that these little noisy birds are among the very best friends they have on their farms. And so it is that this season, every ship loading for New Zealand has less or more live sparrows as freight, and a regular sparrow club, with funds at its command, is organized, and sparrows on landing are bought up for distribution among the contributors to the fund, and the country will soon be stocked with these grub and insect exterminators. eating and insect eating birds should be encouraged and protected. It would pay the farmers of Wisconsin to import sparrows into this State, and if the climate in the winter be not too severe for their constitutions so as to perish them utterly-were they to become naturalized and breed among us as they do in Europe, the army worm, chintz bug and other grain destroyers of the insect kind, would find a poor chance to make headway. A TROUT FACTORY IN CONNECTICUT.-Messrs. Dunham, Kellogg & Ives, of Hartford, have a large trout factory in operation at Glastenbury, Conn., where trout are hatched by artificial means. The number now in the pond is between 40,000 and 50,000 and rapidly increasing. When the stock reaches the number of half a million, they estimate a yield of 58,000 pounds per annum. As they will bring in the market from 25 to 50 cents per pound, this amount would afford a very pleasant net income. The fishes are fed regularly, and they have a man in constant attendance. Their food consists of small fishes and shad spawn in season. Millions of suckers are raised to feed the hungry beauties of the pond. THE HOME. "Abide With Us." Broad on the mountains sleeps the sunrise in glory, No thunderous praise moves their foundations hoary, Yet throbbing to their centres do they greet As once upon creation's water gliding, Making the Best of Circumstances. The subject is not a very interesting one. Many who glance at the caption will not look The habits of the sparrow admirably adapts him for the business in which he is engaged in New Zealand. He does not fly off to the woods like many other birds, you can't drive him away from human habitations. He is no coward, and will fight like a tartar; he has faith in Union also, and when a formidable enemy makes his appearance in the neighborhood of his domicile, hundreds of these little noisy to see what this brief article may or may not warriors will pitch in and give it him unmercifully. Sparrows are extraordinary breeders, and desperate devourers. The climate of New Zealand is mild enough for their peculiar constitution, and the tillers of the soil in this far off region are anxious to encourage this querilous but, to them, useful bird, to share with them the privileges of the country, and they multiply very fast, and wherever they are found in any decent numbers, insects and grubs are disappearing. Success to sparrows. The settlers too, have instituted stringent laws for their protection. In every country under the sun, where grain and other things cultivated for the use of man, are subjected to the ravages of bugs, grubs, worms, insects and pest of that nature, worm contain. Indeed it does not seem possible that anything of much value to our readers could be said, upon this basis, by one so unenviably situated as this very "me" at this present time. We have half a mind to speak right out and give a glimpse at what these surroundings are; but think, perhaps, we had better not since, honestly speaking, we could not give either the best or the worst of them, belonging as they do to things too sacred to be lightly spoken of; while such as these, loss of time and means, the seperation by illness from dear est friends, years of partial blindness, writing with fingers instead of eyes, and keeping one's self alive, and pretty well, by a kind of will power rather than a reserve of nerve and muscle-what of it? Anybody can make the best of such circumstances as these. But there are those that are hard to be endured, taxing grace and philosophy to the utmost. Of such as these, for the benefit of those who suffer, we would speak, briefly, of two cases that have come under our own observation.One is that of a lady who is next thing to miserable, because she lives in the country when she would so much prefer living in the city; the other is not less unhappy, being doomed to a life in town, when she has always wished a home in the country. Friend number first lives upon a large and well improved farm, has what city folks call a beautiful home, good house, fruits and flowers, horses, carriages and whatever belongs to the comforts and luxuries of a country life. But there she has little society, of the real, city style, has to ride two miles to go to church and do shopping, can't keep her little boys in white pants and ruffled sleeves because they will be everywhere and into everything, and as for the girls-just look at them-nearly as wild and as brown as their brothers. Why those children will race more miles, and eat more bread, and drink more milk, in one week than all their city cousins in a month. How they do grow and how vulgarly robust they look? Friend number two has all that the city can afford, that money can purchase. Her children go to to the best schools and have to wear the white pants and ruffled frocks and she is obliged to see much of the society for which our country friend would give her broad acres. But oh, dear me, how much pleasanter, she thinks, to be in the beautiful, fresh country, where instead of japonicas and camelias bought at the green-house she might have dandelions and butter-cups springing up under her very feet; and where the children, dear little delicate creatures, would come in with such appetites as would do one good to see, fresh from chasing calves, riding colts and turning summersets on the hay mow. Number one can't have japonicas and camelias, because it does seem as though husband would never get time to plan, or feel quite like sparing the means for that longed-for conservatory of plants that would look so beautiful in the house. Number two is sick and tired of all such stuff and only waits, impatiently, for the time to come when she may rejoice in the odor of pasture and field, and tenderly protect those blessed blooms of dandelion and wild-brier that number one is every year pursuing with the avenging hee and knife. These are no fancy sketches.Years have passed bringing little change, or prospect of alleviation, to those who, most unfortunately, have not the ability to, or have never yet tried to make the best of their cir cumstances. In the simple resolution to do this, and the cheerful, persistent carrying out of whatever promotes the end in view, lies the secret of more real blessedness than could be procured by all the wealth of the world, or by any circumstance or position separated from the disposition to look at things as they are, saying evermore, from the temple of a soul that is not disturbed by trifles. "These are mine, and with these I WILL be happy." The Better Age. BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. When after days of dreary rain, a space The better age. With gladness and with thanks new scenes. Good Taste. HEALTH AND DISEASE. and Surgical Journal for January 16th, a few remarks are made that have a bearing upon the point under consideration. He says: Good taste is the "luminous shadow" of all The Influence of Sleep Over Disease. the virtues. It is social discretion, it is intellectual kindness, it is external modesty and Some of our older practitioners, especially propriety, it is apparent unselfishness. It in the country, have been in the habit of havwounds no feelings, it infringes on no deco- ing patients wakened every ten or fifteen minrums, it respects all scruples. A man thus utes. This we regard as entirely wrong, and gifted, even though he be not a wit, spreads a calculated but to increase the nervous irritagenial influence about him from the trust he bility, intensify disease, and prolong the reinspires. The stiff man can unbend, the cold covery. In Dr. Ware's tenth lecture on General can thaw, the fastidious can repose on him.-Therapeutics, published in the Boston Medical No one is committed to more than he chooses -no ungenerous use is made of an unusual or transient impulse. Good taste is practical, though not deep, knowledge of character; it is perception of the distinctive points of every occasion; and thus it reconciles and harmonizes where bad taste perpetuates differences and necessitates separations. And yet we by no means wish to make good taste a synonym either for virtue or intellect it is rather that quality which sets off both at their best. It is an affair, in some degree, of social training -it is one aspect of knowledge of the world. Those who are little in general society-who confine themselves to family intercourse or to that of a set or clique, whatever the position, whatever the intellectual or moral pretensions of that clique—are almost sure to fail in it in All persons of a single idea, engrossed by one object, are perpetually infringing on the rules of good taste. If they are religious, they are pragmatical and intolerant, regardless of sensibilities. If they are useful, they do their work with unnecessary fuss. If they are learned, or deep, or clever, they make these good gifts unpopular. If they are merry, we are kept on thorns-if they are grave, they are a check and restraint. They fail in every social crisis. In every difficulty they take the wrong way. They are forward when they ought to be retiring-their diffidence is constantly misplaced. There is no knowing where such people are-to what lengths an emergency or excited spirits will drive them. It is the cause of half the seeming injustice of society. The man of bad taste cannot comprehend why things are not tolerated in him which are allowed in others. He is the last to see that the presence or absence of a correct taste makes the same practice or amusement agreeable or repugnant-that nothing can be judged fairly without taking the manner of doing it into consideration. He is therefore for ever grumbling at the inconsistencies and partialities of mankind. The fact is, every hinge with some people grates and creaks, at each turn jarring on sensitive nerves; while good taste is the oil which keeps the machinery of society, with the least wear and tear, noiselessly and profitably at work.-London Saturday Review. "In all forms and conditions of disease, both acute and chronic, the state of the patient as to sleep is an important consideration, both as regards his comfort, and also as regards the satisfactory progress of his case. The nature of this condition of animal life we do not fully understand; we only know that it is a necessary one, and having a vast influence on the state of the system. Its purpose seems to be to afford an opportunity, by the suspension of certain activities of the system which require the exhaustion of those powers that emanate from the nervous system, for the reinforcement of those powers. It is also during sleep that the repair of the tissues by nutrition is provided for. Not that all nutrition is suspended during our waking hours, or that all waste is suspended during sleep; but that in two states of waking and sleeping there is respectively a large predominance of the repair and the waste. Sleep is not merely rest, as it has been sometimes considered, an entire rest of all the organs at once; it is something specifically different. It is a condition of an entirely different nature, and a condition for which rest is not, in any sense, a substitute. The mere fact of existence, without exercise, without fatigue-the simple going on of life-implies a certain expenditure of force, which renders necessary, at certain intervals, a suspension of those functions of the brain, and nervous system which are subservient to the phenomena of mind. It is possible that ordinary rest might afford an opportunity for the nutrition of all these tissues, except those which are the But it seems to be necesagents of the mind. sary for the repair of these, that the functions of the mind should also be suspended. Of the physical condition of the brain in sleep, and also concerning the peculiar state of the mind in sleep, notwithstanding the many theories which have been formed concerning them, we know nothing with certainty; and this is not necessary to the practical management of the sick. What should guide us is the knowledge that a certain amount of sleep, at proper intervals, is an absolute necessity, and that its absence or its deficiency is always a great evil, and to be prevented by every possible means. In acute disease a sufficient amount of quiet sleep is at once, a favorable indication of the nature and issue of a case, and also is an important agent in the promotion of a favorable issue. Its absence, on the contrary is pro tanto, an unfavorable issue as to the result, and also promotes an unfavorable issue. Want of sleep adds to the sufferings of the patient, and also to his exhaustion, and consequently interferes with the success of the sanitary process, and impairs the power of recovery. In every point of view, then, the state of the patient in this respect becomes the object of special attention. Salutary changes in the condition of a patient will be often found to take place during sleep, and to manifest themselves most obviously on awaking from that which has been sound and refreshing." Dr. Ware makes another practical remark that we know it would oftentimes be prudent to put in practice, and yet we have reason to believe it is seldom thought of by the physician, or urged upon the attention of the patient : "It sometimes happens that, after a short nap on first going to bed, a person wakens without any known cause, and then remains obstinately watchful for many hours. In this case if he rises, washes his face, hands and feet, and walks about briskly for awhile, and returns to bed, the charm may be broken and a continued sleep will ensue. Or he may rise and write or read with the same result.-Medical Reporter of Boston. OUR TEETH.-They decay. Hence, unseemly mouths, bad breath, imperfect mastication.Everybody regrets it. What is the cause? I reply, want of cleanliness. A clean tooth never decays. The mouth is a warm place-98 degrees. Particles of meat between the teeth soon decompose. Gums and teeth must suffer. Perfect cleanliness will preserve the teeth to old age. How shall it be secured? Use a quill pick, and rinse the mouth after eating. Brush and Castile soap every morning; the brush with simple water on going to bed. Bestow this trifling care upon your precious teeth, you will keep them and ruin the dentists. Neglect it, and you will be sorry all your lives. Children forget. Watch them. The first teeth determine the character of the second set. Give them equal care. DOMESTIC ECONOMY. BREAD AND Butter PuddinG.-Slice bread, spread with butter, and lay it in a dish, with ourrants between each layer; add sliced citron, orange, or lemon, if to be very nice. Pour over an unboiled custard of milk, two or three eggs, a few pimentoes, and a very little preserve, two hours, at least, before it is to be baked. A paste round the edge makes all puddings look better, but is not necessary. BAKED APPLE PUDDING.-Pare and quarter four large apples; boil them tender, with the rind of a lemon, in so little water that, when done, none may remain; beat them quite fine in a mortar; crumb in a small roll, four ounces of butter melted, four eggs, the juice of half a lemon, and sugar to your taste; beat all together, and lay it in a dish with paste to turn out. Bake it an hour and a half. GREEN CORN PUDDING.-Take one dozen and a half ears of green corn, split the kernels lengthwise of the ear with a sharp knife, then with a case knife scrape the corn from the cob, leaving the hulls on the cob; mix it with three to four quarts of rich sweet milk; add four eggs, well beaten; two tablespoonfuls of sugar; salt to the taste; bake it three hours. To be eaten hot, with butter. RED ANTS. To keep them away from your cupboards. Keep one pint of tar in two quarts of water, in an earthen vessel in your closets, and you will not be troubled with little red ants. When first mixed, pour the water on hot. TO PREVENT FLIES FROM INJURING PICTUREFRAMES, GLASSES, &c.-Boil three or four on ions in a pint of water; then with a brush do over your glasses and picture-frames, and the flies will not light on them. It will not do the least injury to the frames. SOFT CAKES.-One pound and a half of butter rubbed in two pounds of flour; add one wine-glass of preserve juice, one of rose-water, two of yeast, nutmeg, cinnamon, and currants, and bake in little pans. SPRUCE BEER.-Take three gallons of water, lukewarm, three half-pints of molasses, a tablespoonful of essence of spruce, and the same quantity of sugar; mix all together, and add a gill of yeast; let it stand over night, and Sugar, acids, saleratus, and hot things are bottle it in the morning. It will be ready to nothing when compared with food decompos-use in twenty-four hours. ing between the teeth. Mercurialization may loosen the teeth, long use may wear them out, but keep them clean and they will never decay. This advice is worth more than thousands of dollars to every boy and girl. Books have been written on the subject. This brief article contains all that is essential.-N. Y. Independent. CUP CAKE.-One cup butter, two cups sugar, three cups flour, and four eggs, well beat together, and baked twenty minutes, in pans or cups. This same quantity, with currants or raisins added, makes a very good loaf cake. JUMBLES.-Three pounds of flour, two of sugar, one of butter, eight eggs, with a little There are 343 patients in the insane caraway seed; and a little milk, if the eggs hospital at Northampton, Mass. are not sufficient. LOAF CAKE.-Four pounds of flour, two pounds of sugar, one pint of yeast, three eggs, two nutmegs, one pound of raisins; rub half the sugar and butter when you mix it, let it rise, then rub the rest of the butter and sugar, and pour it into pans, and bake immediately. YOUTH'S CORNER. Geology. A PEEP BEHIND THE CURTAIN.-No. 3. "What are these curious looking things?" They are fossil Trilobites, (Tri-lo-bites) so called, because the body is formed in three lobes or parts. "But The Trilobite is an extinct animal, that is, there are not any such animals now living, and it is only found fossil, that is, imbedded in the earth or rocks, and in a petrified state. how did they come to be in the rocks?" Thousands of years ago, when these animals lived, what is now rock, was soft clay or mud; and they became surrounded with it, and then became petrified. Trilobites are classed with the Crustaceans-animals that are covered with a shell-like crust, or shield. There is a large number of species of trilobites, varying in length, from one to eighteen inches. Here is a portion of one that very much resembles a butterfly, so much so that many persons believe that it is really a petrified butterfly. Here is one that is rolled up, and looks like a huge wood-louse, and here is another that has the edge of the shield serrated, that is, the edge is formed with sharp pointed notches. But the most curious thing about trilobites, is their eyes. Here is one that has the eyes very distinct. You see that what appears to be its eyes, are prominent cone shaped bunches, but if you examine them closely, you will see that these bunches are full of little black shining spots, which are really its eyes. Some specimens have several hundred eyes. Were it not for this singular arrangement of the eyes of the trilobite, they would have been of but little use, on account of being immoveable, but this arrangement enabled them to see in every direction. There are several species of trilobites found in Wisconsin. UNCLE WILLIAM. During the strawberry festival at Racine, to which the Editorial Convention was invited, the following beautiful song was sung by the choir of St. Luke's Church. The words were composed by the Rev. Joseph H. Nichols, of Racine, (now Chaplain of the 19th Regiment) New York Statesman. The author had lost in the year 1842, and was first published in the sight of it and had almost forgotten it, when a female spiritualist of New York city gave utterance to it on a public occasion as a proof of her heavenly inspiration: "The American Ensign." Flag of the stars whose light Nor kindle at the rays Which bid the brave of old to die. CHORUS.-Hail banner beautiful and grand; Flag of the stripes of fire! Long as the bard his lofty lyre Can strike, thou shalt awake our song; We'll sing thee when we go forth To battle go, with clarion tongue. Hail banner beautiful and grand, Flag of the eagle! who His fiery pinions boldly spread; Flag of two ocean shores, From deep to deep in storm and foam, To rise and make the heavens thy home, |