this mountain dip south-west 30°. Upon its flanks reposes the same Silurian deposits as on the Iron Mountain. The theory Dr. S. inclines to, is that of Bischoof, viz. that specular ore is the metamorphosed condition of an iron deposit in some earlier age of the American Continent, and which was upheaved (not erupted nor ejected) after the Silurian period. How to Use a Barometer, which the wax, when melted, is run off into a large tub filled with water, and covered with a thick cloth to preserve the heat till the impurities are settled. From this tub the clear melted wax flows into a vessel having the bottom full of small holes, through which it runs into streams upon a cylinder, kept constantly revolving over water, into which it occasionally dips. By this the wax is cooled, and at the same time drawn out into thin sheets, shreds or ribbons, by the continual rotation of the cylinder, which distributes them through the tub. The wax thus flatted, is exposed to the air on linen cloths, Many private persons consult the baromstretched on large frames, about a foot or two eter, and even set it daily, and are surprised above the ground, in which situation it re- to find that they cannot rely on its indicamains for several days and nights, exposed tions, especially on those of the unscientific to the air and sun, being occasionally water-wheel barometer, with a face like an undered and turned; by this process the yellow done clock. The fault, however, is not with color nearly disappears. In this half-bleach- the instrument, but with those who use it imed state it is heaped up in a solid mass, and remains for a month or six weeks, after which it is remelted, ribbonded and bleached as before-in some cases, several times-till it wholly loses it color and smell. It is then again melted for the last time, and cast with a ladle upon a table covered over with little round cavities, into the form of dises or cakes of about five inches in diameter. The moulds are first wetted with cold water, that the wax may be the more easily got out; and the cakes are laid out in the air for two days and two nights, to render them more transparent and dry. Science and Art. properly; "th' ap'aratus," as Salem Scudder observes, "can't lie." A few words on the practical use of the weather-glass may be found useful. It is an invaluable fact, and two often overlooked, that the state of the air does not show the present, but coming weather, and that the longer the interval between the barometric signs of change and the change itself, the longer and more strongly will the altered weather prevail; so, the more violent and impending storm, the longer warning does it give of its approach. Indications of an approaching change of weather are shown less by the height of the barometer than by its rising or falling. Thus, the barometer begins to rise considerably before the conclusion of a gale, and foretells an improvement in the weather, though the mercury may still stand low. Nevertheless, a steady height of more than thirty inches is mostly indicative of fine weather and moderate winds. Either steadiness or gradual rising of the mercury indicates settled weather, and continued steadiness with dryness foretells very fine weather, lasting some time. A rapid rise of barometer indicates unsettled weather a gradual fall of Iron Mountain is 250 feet above the sur. one hundredth of an inch per hour indicates rounding valley, and 1,206 feet above St. a gradual change in the weather, and moderLouis. It covers an area of about 500 acres. ate rising of the wind; several successive It is nearly a pure specular iron ore, contain-falls, to the amount of one-tenth of an inch, ing only a little silex. It is massive, without indicates a storm eventually, but not a sudden any signs of stratification. Upon its slopes, at its base, resposes a sandstone, and above the sandstone is a layer of limestone, containing fucoids, showing that the mountain has been upheaved since these lower Silurian deposits were laid down. A regular meeting of the American Institute, held on Thursday evening, March 10, Dr. R. L. Stevens, Geologist, gave an interesting account of recent explorations made by him of the great iron deposits in the State of Missouri. He presented not only specimens of iron ore from that region, but from various other localities, and gave the per centage of iron in each. The Pilot Knob is a much higher mountain, its elevation being nearly 600 feet. It is composed of alternate strata of porphyry and specular ore. The mass of ore opened is nearly at the summit of the mountain; the quarry is 300 feet long, by about 50 feet deep, and is composed of two masses, separated from each other by a divisional band of slate, from two to three feet deep. The strata of one; and a gale if the fall continues. These storms are not dangerous, as they can be long foretold; but a sudden fall of one-tenth of an inch betokens the quick approach of a dangerous tempest. Alternate rising and sinking, (oscillation,) indicates unsettled and threatening weather. When the barometer rises considerably, much wind and rain will follow-from the northward, if the thermometer is low for the season; from the southward, if high. For observing barometric changes, the barometer should be placed at the eyelevel, out of the reach of sunshine and of artificial heat, as of fires, and out of the way of gusts of wind. It should be set regularly twice a day by a competent person. A card should be accessible close by, and on it should be registered the indication at each setting.— Chambers' Journal. Chemistry and Physiology. A correspondent of the Mark-Lane Express observes, that we act with our animals as if analyses alone should decide what they should have and what they The Great West. The four States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, have a computed area of 124,000,000 acres, or a surface of about one-half greater than the whole British-Isles. From 1850 to 1860 the area under cultivation rose from 11,956,269 acres to 25,949,886 acres-an increase of 142 per cent. At the same time the value of the farms advanced from $278,704,593 to $1,027,292,338; and the value of 442 to $39,645,875. the farming implements rose from $15,924, The population of these four States was 2,387, 491 in 1850, and 4,518,208 in 1860. The aggregate live stock of the four States was: Cattle of all classes,.... 1850. .1,946,755 .2,291,392 ...4,660,196 1860. 3,724,726 3.523,837 6,033,368 1,340,054 In other words swine increased in numbers 29 per cent., sheep 54, cattle 90, and horses 100 per cent. should not have, to which he adds the remarks of an able physiologist, that "To the chemist there may be little or no difference between plant or flesh as food; to the physiologist the difference is profound. He sees the lion perishing miserably of inanimation in presence of abundant herbage, which, to the elephant or buffalo, furnishes all that is required. The ox eats the grass, and the tiger eats the ox, but not the grass. The flesh of the ox may contain little that is not wholly derived from the grass. The chemist analyzing the flesh of both may point out their identity; but the physiological question is not, What are the chemical constituents of nutritive stances? it is, What are the substances which will nourish the organism? If the animal will not eat, or having eaten cannot assimilate a certain substance, that sub- Such are the kind of products which constance is not food for the animal, be its chem-stitute the foundation of our nation's material ical composition what it may." Preservation of Meat. The immense grain crops of these four Crop of 1849. Crop of 1859. Est. for 1862. do 263.325 301,063 Barley, Oats, power. 83,812,946 2,446,137 2,603.524 2.605,133 2,971.680 20,681,272 37,303,750 43,217,662 Lost Arts. While we boast of superior knowledge, and The Admiralty of Great Britain are now assume to ourselves the position of being making experiments with the process of Dr. wiser in various species of improvement, Morgan for the preservation of meat. It and especially in the mechanical arts, it consists in forcing through the arteries, ca- would be well to keep the truth on our side, pillaries, and veins of the slaughtered ani- and learn that there are some singular exmal, brine, which carries before it the blood, ceptions to this fact. In regard to colors, we and both make their exit through an incision are far behind the ancients. None of the colprovided for that purpose. The brine tank ors in the Egyptian painting of thousands of is elevated about twenty feet, so as to give years ago, are in the least faded, except the sufficient pressure to the fluid, which passes green. The Tyrian purple of the entombed through a tube into the chest of the animal. city of Pompeii is as fresh to-day as it was Another tank at the same height contains three thousand years ago. Some of the stuca mixture consisting of 6 gallons of brine, co painted centuries before the christian era, 10 lbs. of sugar, and of a pound of salt- broken up and mixed, revealed its original petre, with an infusion of cloves and pepper. lustre. And yet we pitty the ignorance of After the first or cleansing operation, requir- the dark skinned children of ancient Egypt. ing about six gallons of brine, the fluid from the The color upon the walls of Noro's festical second tank is forced through the same pas- vaults are as fresh as if painted yesterday. sages. The exit being closed, every part of So is the Egyptian prince who was cotempoof the body is thus traversed by the fluid.-raneous with Solomon and Cleopatra, at whose The whole process of cleaning and infiltra- feet Cæsar laid the riches of his empire. And tion does not occupy more than twenty min-in regard to metals, the edges of the stones of utes. The animal is soon after skinned, and the obelisks of Egypt and of the ancient cut in pieces, which are thoroughly dried and walls of Rome, are as if hewn but yesterday. packed in sawdust and charcoal. It is said And the stones still remain so closely fitted meat treated in this manner will stand any that their seams laid with mortar cannot be climate, and that more of its nutritive quali-penetrated with the end of a penknife. And ties are preserved than by the ordinary process of curing. their surface is excessively hard; so that when the French artists engraved two lines upon an obelisk brought from Egypt, they destroyed in the tedious task many sets of the best tools which could be manufactured. And yet these monuments are traced all over with inscriptions placed upon them in olden time. This, with other facts of a striking character, proved that they were far more skilled in metals than we. Quite recently it was reported that when an American vessel was on the shores of Africa, a son of that benighted region, made from an iron hoop a knife superior to any on board the vessel, and another a sword, of Damascus excellence, from a piece of iron. Fiction is very old. Scott had his counterpart two thousand years ago. A story is told of a warrior who had no time to wait for the proper forging of his weapon, but, seizing it red hot, rode forward, and found to his surprise that the cold air had tempered his iron an excellent steel weapon. The tempering of steel, therefore, which was new to us a century since, was old two thousand years ago. Ventilation is deemed a very modern art. But this is not the fact, for apertures unquestionably made for the purpose of ventilation are found in the pyramid tombs of Egypt. Yes, thousands of years ago, the barbarous Pagans went so far as to ventilate their tombs, while we scarcely know how to ventilate our houses.- Wool Grower. American Railroads. What is Heat Lightning. The flashes of lightning often observed on a summer evening, unaccompanied by thunder, and popularly known as "heat lightning," are merely the light from discharges of electricity from an ordinary thunder cloud, beneath the horizon of the observer reflected from clouds, or perhaps from the air itself, as in the case of twilight. Mr. Brooks, one of the directors of the telegraph line between Pittsburg and Philadelphia, informs us that, on one occassion, to satisfy himself on this point, he asked for information from a distant operater during the appearance of flashes of this kind in the distant horizon, and learned that they proceeded from a thunder storm then raging 50 miles eastward of his place of observation.-Prof. Henry. NATURAL HISTORY. The May Beetle. This bug or beetle makes it appearance in May-sometimes the first of May. They are from half an inch to three quarters in length and half an inch wide, and vary in color from a light brown to a dark chestnut, with three spots on each side, of still darker color, nearly black. A small spot on each side of the head, making four spots on a side. The female is the largest. They are destructive to meadows and pastures, as well as the plum and cherry trees. The eggs are deposited in the ground in meadows and grass lands in June and July, not in raw ground or plowed land. The egg hatches a worm. The number of miles of railroad completed Jan. 1, 1864, in the twenty-four loyal states is 24,926, but the total number completed and in the course of construction 34,807 miles. The cost of their construction and equipment is $1,025,115,742. So far as relates to the condition of the railroads in the rebel States we have but little information, yet it cannot be doubted that they are in a bad state, both as regards the permanent way and rolling stock. From apparently roliable accounts The first year they are not noticed by the obtained from prisoners who had been conveyed over some of these lines, the tracks majority of farmers, (unless very close oband engines seem to have become so depre- servers, (but the second year still the same ciated, that trains cannot be run in safety worm, growing from half to three quarters of at a speed over six and seven miles per hour. This will get worse before they get better while an inch long, white body, with dark head, noticed by gardener's cultivating strawberrLast year was the most prosperous on rec-ries, and farmers plowing up grass or meadow ord for our Northern railroads. They were all taxed to their utmost capacity in carry-grounds. The third and last year in worm ing freight and passengers, and most of our state, they are an inch in length, sometimes city merchants bolieve that we have not a sufficient number of main lines for the business of the country. the war lasts. an inch and a half long, observed by most every farmer, and boys frequently catch them for fishing; call them the white grub. In October of this third year spoken of, they NEW RAT POISON.-The Journal d'Agriculture Pratique, recommends artificial carbonate of baryta to be mixed with various kinds of form a cavity or cell by turning around and food for rats. This salt is almost tasteless, around, pressing up the dirt and moulding it and it is said, does not become poisonous un til after the action of the gastric juice renders into a cell; find them when fall plowing. the sale of baryta soluble. In this cell they change into the pupa and chrysalis state, remaining in that state till the next May, making its appearance again the same as three years before, a beetle or a bug. The remedies are many. The way to destroy them is, by not letting your ground lay in grass over three years; plowing often destroys them in the egg, also in the chrysalis state. And while in the bug state they can be caught by shaking them off the trees into blankets, and putting them into pails and pouring hot water on them, then feeding them to poultry. The better way to dostroy them in the bug state is to make a reflector of tin by taking two sheets, placing the ends together in the form of a letter A, thus, the cross-piece in the centre, the place for a light or lamp or lantern; this reflector with its light to be placed upon a pail or tub with soap suds in it. As the bugs or insects are flying to this light, they strike this tin and are thrown into the suds. They can be fed to poultry, paying with a profit. Another very good remedy is the toad, that will catch a great many insects through the course of the night, as they move around through yards and gardens-far superior to the skunk that some writers speak of, as my own practical observation assures me that the skunk will do more damage by destroying eggs, turkeys and chickens in one night, than they could do good destroying bugs the whole year; whereas, the toads feed only on insects, thousand, are being educated. As a State, it may be said that Iowa is just taking her National position. Her fifty thousand soldiers in the field, and her eight members in the next Congress, will attract the attention of the Nation to her, and go far in determining the position she is to occupy in the Sisterhood of the States. But her facilities for educating her youth, for giving them a knowledge of those things which they will have to practice when they become men, will have quite as much to do with her reputation abroad, as will either the gallantry of her soldiery, or the ability and efficiency of her delegation in Congress. At home, her essential progress is to be measured almost exclusively by the education which she imparts to her youth. At the next decade, if our schools come up to the necessities of our State, we will have at least sixteen members of Congress, and, of necessity, a powerful voice in the councils of the Nation. Then the children for whose education we are either now providing or failing to provide, will have a large share in the control of all the essential interests of the State. If we come up to our duty in this respect, but in moderate proportion to the means which our abundant territory, fertile soil and the finest of climates, place within easy reach, we shall have a great State in the true sense of the term. If, on the contrary, we neglect this duty, we shall have misdirected labor; another term for feebleness in manufacture, a languishing commerce, and unremunerating agriculture; and an absence of that morality and refinement which are the sure index to, and crowning ornaments of a christian State." This talk has the ring of a man who sees in the future with the clear eye of a statesman. No state or nation can so safely invest its means and its energies as in the true education of its people. Would that they who direct the affairs of state in Wisconsin had a more realizing sense of the vast importance of education as a perquisite to real progress and greatness. No state or nation can possibly make so safe and profiitable an investment as in the education of its people. MISCELLANEOUS. Trouting. Where in many a straggling group, Gnarled and crooked willows By a chafing streamler stoop, And their yellow branches droop 1oward its tiny billows; Near the banks are little whirls, Wh'ils of fretted water, And-beneath these rings of pearlsTrout delicious caught are! Cannot must not name the where- In the trouting season; Drift-wood, stumps, foam-crested stones— Everything auspicious. Though the season's scarce begun, Tickeled by the April sun, PlayiPg hide and seek, they run Up and kown the torrent. Meanwhile, for tho e gleesome trout, Mischief is prepsing; From that stream they must come out Just to take an airing. Taper rods, and tackle light, Pies-lew hands can match them. Werms in moss so red and bright, E'eu & finny anchorite Would leap high 10 catch them, Pretty sport to strike a trout, In the spring-time of the year, When the streamlet, brawling, Dashes on, as winged with fearThere unchafed by rocks, and here In white cataracts falling Oft I wander by its side, Happy, while I angle! TO PREVENT ACCIDENTIAL DROWNING.-Any person who will have the presence of mind to clasp the hands behind the back, and turn the face toward the zenith, may float at ease and in perfect safety in tolerably still water-aye, sleep there, no matter how long. If, not knowing how to swim, you would escape drowning when you find yourself in deep water, you have only to consider yourself an empty pitcher -let your mouth and nose, not the top of your heavy head, be the lighest part of you, and you are safe. But thrust up one of your bony hands, and down you go; turning up the handle tips over the pitcher. NATURE has no idle dust at all. She finds the dead where we have laid them, and transfigures the crumbling forms into shapes of life and and beauty. The grave by whose subsided swell we mourn, may be without a tenant, for the tree that bends above us, that the wind and summer woo, may have use for the empty chrysalis; and the bird rustled out of its green depths of shade, with a song, may bear away upon its wing, gleams and glimmers of beauty we fancy dead. Who shall say the blue violets that sprinkle the field of Inkerman, did not catch their tent from the many eyes that closed forever there? Who shall say, the leaves the rose-tree sheds upon the tomb, do not share the beauty of the cheek we used to press ?-B. F. Taylor. THE HOME. Beautify your Homes. As I sit at my window and gaze abroad, my eye meets nothing that may in any wise inspire me to admire the locality much less its scenery. But this is owing, no doubt, to the sad reality, that many of our western farmers lack energy in endeavoring to procure that greatest of bessings, viz., a beautiful home. How many there are who will spend hour after hour, day after day, year after year, I might say, in carefully attending to the wants of some pet animal, and at the same time neglect to spend one moment in beautifying that home in and through which they receive all their earthly happiness. As we pass through the country our eyes are constantly being brought in contact with old rickety fences, straw covered sheds that have been broken down for years, hog pens almost buried in manure, and a dozen other sights too distressing for mortal eye to gaze upon. Were this only to be seen in a few isolated cases, we might hope that the example given by those who know how to appreciate a beautiful home, might tend to reform the habits and ideas of those who are given to recklessness and enkindle in them a love for the beautiful. But as it has become so universal we can |