coarse, and it is tougher than that of any other kind of venison. In its flavor it rather resembles beef. The nose is excellent, and so is the tongue, although the latter is by no means so fat and delicate as that of the reindeer. The male elk sometimes weighs from a thousand to twelve hundred pounds.

THE WONDERS OF THE ENGLISH PRESS. -A French feuilletonniste, astounded at the marvellous exhibition of The Times expresses, writes at Bonn, in the following strain:-"I begin to think that the five quarters of the globe will be wearied with the homage rendered to the memory of Beethoven. England alone has despatched 30 stenographists (short-hand writers.) The Times has established from Cologne to Ostend an express of steamers, in order to despatch its communications with greater celerity. The Eastern question itself did not excite so much interest, or cause such a bustle. The reason is that Beethoven is adored in England, and the English journalists (especially The Times,) spare no expense in endeavoring to satisfy the curiosity of their readers. In France, facts and news are sacrificed to the literary portion of the paper. In England, quite the contrary; an English paper especially plumes itself and rests its reputation upon being well informed upon every subject of news. As soon as any event is announced in any quarter of the world, no matter how far distant, a correspondent is immediately despatched to the scene of action, well qualified for the duty and well paid for his services. At his disposal are placed steam-packets, pigeons, estafettes, post-horses, and steam-engines, and fortunate is the journal which can manage to be beforehand with its rivals in the receipt of intelligence. The French newspapers are books, the English journals are really journals. The number of journalists that I have noticed at Bonn is prodigious: there are English, German, Belgian, Russian, Swedish, and American reporters. I cannot think without alarm of the immense mass of matter that they are now compiling, and the transformations which the truth must undergo in passing through so many pens!"

FOUR LIVES SAVED AT SEA.-Captain Mott, of the sloop Opera, of Brookhaven, arrived at Providence from Philadelphia, and gives the following account of his rescue of four persons from a most perilous situation. When about half way between Block Island and Point Judith, on the third instant, he discovered a signal of distress,

which he ran down for, and found it was made by four persons, viz. Dr. Dyer Smith, his wife, sister, and son, who were clinging to the bottom of a sail-boat, which they had been hanging to in the water upwards of an hour. The signal made was a shawl tied to an oar. The boat was towed into the river and saved by Captain M. Mr. Smith and his family belong to Pawtucket, and were on a pleasure excursion to Block Island. They had considerable clothing in the boat, which was lost, and the ladies bonnets were washed from their heads. Mr. S., just before leaving home, put some air-pipes into his boat, which buoyed her up, otherwise, having several bars of pigiron for ballast, she would have sunk.

The Hon. C. J. Ingersoll is publishing a History of the War of 1812.

At the very opening of the work, in which the justice of the appeal to arms in 1812 is earnestly vindicated, we find these very noteworthy facts set down, concerning the popularity of our two great struggles with Great Britain:

"The common, perhaps salutary impres sion, that the Revolution was more unani mously supported, is a mistake. The majorities in Congress on all the essential principles in 1774 were extremely small. The Declaration of Independence was car ried with difficulty, if not by accident. Most of the great measures and men, from 1774 to 1778, were decided in Congress by the vote of a single State, and that often by the vote of one man. The nation was more divided in the war of the Revolution than in that of 1812. There was no overt treason in the latter.-Selected.

EXPLOSION.-The Montreal Courier says that on the 28th ultimo, the steam mill at Yamaska was nearly destroyed by the bursting of the boiler. Such was the explosion that a piece of iron of about a ton weight, was carried upwards of a hundred and fifty feet in the air, together with several others of great weight, timber, brick, wood, &c., and the carding mill was literally crushed down; five of the workmen were severely injured, two of whom are so scalded as to render their recovery very doubtful; another had his spine and right arm much injured by pieces of iron and wood, and a poor woman who happened to be near the mill at the time of the explosion, received a severe wound on the head. A fine horse was killed by the eqplosion, being at the time near the furnace.

The farmer who is ashamed of his frock or the mechanic of his apron, is himself a shame to his profession.

This is one of the bivalves, or double shells, of which the most extravagant things have been believed and recorded. Roman writers gravely declared, that the animal inhabiting it was confederate with one of a different kind, a small shrimp, which acted the part of scavenger and spy for the pinna; running about to make discoveries of its enemies, (particularly the cuttle-fish,) and also of its prey, and, when in danger, taking refuge within its shells. The copy below from "Lessons on Shells," is a translation of lives by a Latin poet, on this fanciful fiction. The story probably grew out of the fact, that such crustaceous animals are sometimes found shut up in bivalves; though it is probably the effect of accident. We occasionally find small crabs in oysters.

The Pinna has thin and fragile shells, of a long triangular shape, and both of the same size and shape, without any hinge, fastened together, near the small end, by a long ligament and gaping at the other. From the latter, proceeds a tuft of strong fibres, with which it holds itself to stones and other objects at the bottom of the sea, to retain its place. This is called its byssus, or beard, and resembles silk so much that it is collected and manufactured for similar purposes. It is produced, as that made by the silk worm, from a shining, gummy fluid, secreted by the animal, which adheres to what it touches, and, on being drawn, forms a fine fibre. It is said that the Pinna performs this movement several thousand times in making its byssus.

This marine silk is prepared for manufacture by twice soaking in tepid water, and then in soap-suds, after which it is spread to dry. While drying, it is rubbed by hand, and afterwards combed. In spinning, one thread of common silk is put with two or three of this; and then it is manufactured into stockings, gloves, and sometimes larger. garments, being washed in lemon-juice and water, gently beaten with the hands, and smoothed with a warm iron, to give a finish.

The English name of the Pinna, is the Sea-wing. Its surface is often wrinkled and crossed with low ridges.

The "Cherokee Advocate" contains the proceedings of a meeting for the promotion of agriculture among the Cherokees. The meeting was addressed by Rev. S. Foreman, who drew a contrast between the state of agriculture as it is now found among the Cherokees, and what it was comparatively a few years ago, when they planted their little crops of corn, beans, potatoes, &c., by using the shoulder blades of the deer, instead of the plow and hoe; and enumerated some of the advantages that would be likely to result to the people from the formation of an Agricultural Society, in the cultivation of the soil, management of their household affairs, in the rearing of stock and the dissemination of useful information on a variety of subjects intimately associated with their present condition.

FOREIGN AND NATIVE CRIMINALS.-In the St. Louis prison, in August, 122 men and 16 women were confined, for breaches of the city ordinances. Of these, 13 were Americans, 1 Scotch, and 87 Irish.

WONDERFUL ESCAPE.-An English paper, the Western Times, relates the following incide..t:

"Budleigh Salterton has been the scene of a most thrilling incident. Six infant children, on Wednesday morning, got into a boat on the beach, and a mischievous boy shoved it off. The boat drifted away to sea before the children were missed. Terrible was the agony of the mothers when they knew it. The preventive men went off in all directions; every boat w s on the lookout till far into the night. Daylight returned, and still there was no tidings of the helpiess children; the day wore away, and still nothing was heard about them; they were lost either in the expanse of the wide ocean, or buried within its insatiable depths.

A Plymouth trawler fishing yesterday morning early, saw something floating at the distance; he bore down to it, and discovered it to be a boat-and in the bottom the six children, all cuddl d in like a nest of birds, fist asleep. God having me cifully given them that blessed solace, after a day of terror and despair. The trawler took them on board, feasted them with bread and cheese, and gladdened their despairing little hearts with a promise to take them home. Between three and four in the afternoon, the trawler was seen in the offing with the boat astern. All eyes were turned towards him; the best spy glass in the town was rubbed again and again, and at last they made out it was the identical boat.

The news flew through the town-the mothers came frantic to the beach, for there were no children discerned in the boat; none to be seen in the sloop. Intense was the agony of suspense; and all alike shared it with the parents. At last the trawler came in, and the word went round 'they're all safe, and many stout-hearted men burst into tears, women shrieked with joy and became almost frantic with their insupportable happiness. It was indeed a memorable day -and a prayer, eloquent for its rough sincerity, was offered up to Almighty God, who, in his infinite mercy, had spared these innocent children from the perils and terrors of the sea during that fearful night. Five of these children were under five years of age, the sixth is but nine years old."

POST OFFICE PERSEVERANCE.-ADVENTURES OF A NEWSPAPER.-An apprentice lad, on board an English vessel in Calcutta, had lately a packet presented to him through the Post Office, the postage of

which amounted to 20 rupees (or about £2 sterling.) It merely contained a newspaper, which some friend of his in London had inclosed in half a sheet of paper, and addressed to him when his vessel was in London, expecting that it would find him in St. Katharine's dock. His vessel, however, sailed before the letter could be delivered, and it followed him-first to Hobart Town, next to Sydney; thence to Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta; thence to the Mauritius, and, finally, back again to Calcutta, where it caught him, after having travelled 30,000 miles, and occupied on its tour one year and eight months.

PARENTS' DEPARTMENT.

SCHOOL AT HOME.

Many will say the thing is impossible. But let us try first, if we feel the need of a better school than we can command, and decide afterwards. Experiment will enable us to come to a decision on which we can better rely. Some who have tried it, have come to a very different conclusion; and, if we review the lives of some of the most distinguished men, we shall find them, more or less of their time, regularly instructed at home by their fathers or mothers.

We often have our attention directed to the important influence exercised by parents, especially mothers, on the character and lives of their children; and yet, in most instances in which such influence has been traced, it has been exerted only in the usual modes, and on the common occasions of life. Few have tried the more systematic and regular plan necessary to a school. How much more might, in most instances, have been done, if such a course had been pursued. Few parents know, few mothers are prepared to believe, how much they can do, how well qualified are they for this task. If they could once become convinced of this, and of the pleasure which the practice would yield them, not in one, nor two, but in a score of ways, they certainly would do, what we long to see them do, begin without delay and without faint-hearted doubting, the task of almost all the most important to their children.

"How shall I begin? What books shall I use? What rules shall I adopt?" I fancy I hear these questions by maternal affection, not insensible to an appeal in behalf of her lovely charge. Begin in almost any manner you please, and with any books you find at hand. I will mention Colburn's Sequel-a little, but comprehensive collection of exercises in mental arithmetic. You will find questions in it adapted to children of every age: we may say of men and women too. Perseverance will gradually give your children greater readiness at solving questions in arithmetic with that kind of exercises, than any other. Let them, however, daily use the slate and pencil besides, "doing sums," and committing rules to memory out of some other booksalmost any other.

Get a geography and atlas-we have many valuable modern ones. The old ones are deficient in maps, and questions to be answered on the map; Morse's, Mitchell's, Olney's, Woodbridge's, Huntington's, &c.

&c. For advanced pupils, Woodbridge and Willard's, Malte Brun's, &c. For little children, Parley's, or other primary geographies.

For spelling and reading, a lesson every day in a defining spelling-book, or, for older children, a dictionary. Some instructive and entertaining book should also be used for the same purposes; and, in our opinion, the Bible or Testament also. Some persons find objections to these; but, after much early and late experience, and long reflection, we think there is no profanation, no irreverence in the eyes of the child, and no evil effect to be apprehended in the serious use of the scriptures in this way. are much more afraid of their not being familiar enough to the rising generation.

We

Books of travels, natural history, (we hardly know whether to prefer beasts, birds, fish or insects, shells or plants ;) but make everything as familiar as you can; get by all the hard words, for the few first years, as much as possible, and show specimens whenever you can. Encourage them, in play-hours, to plant flowers, water and guard them, collect leaves of different shapes, and to enquire into the properties, history, &c. of all natural objects.

Writing compositions should be begun as early as the child can write words in the first character, and be ever afterwards continued, on slates or paper. This exercise combines writing, spelling and grammar, while it exercises the observation and memory. It often, also, matures the mind in its opinions on important subjects, while it trains it to the use of its powers. Composition may be directed in different ways. A simple anecdote at first may be narrated by the teacher, and written down in a few words by the child. Or he may be required to begin with unaccented words, as: "Write down, my dear, the names of five things you saw this morning, on five words, showing what you have done, on five kinds of fruit, birds, &c.

But it will be said: "I do not know half that these books contain; I fear I should appear but a dull scholar, if set to recite from them myself." And do you suppose that all the teachers are so wise when they begin? Far from it, I assure you. How many of them, indeed, go more or less by the books and, indeed, never become independent of them?

The Census of Troy shows a population of 21,681 gain since 1840, or 2,347, or 12 per

cent.