he gave fifteen hundred dollars in gold. The forest trees of Oregon are remarkable for their straightness, loftiness, and very gradual diminution in size. They are destitute of large branches, and have comparatively little foliage. Two hundred feet in length of saw-logs have been cut from a tree, the smallest end being 16 inches in diameter. Lewis and Clark "measured a fallen tree of that species (fir), and found that, including the stump of about six feet it was 318 feet in length, though its diameter was only three feet." PHILIP T. [A gentleman in the Oregon Territory, writing to the Philadelphia Horticulturist, says:- "One of our citizens has received an order from London o cut one of our tall trees into segments, and ship it to that city, there to be erected to adorn the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. It will be done. Those persons therefore who desire it, will be able to examine an Oregon forest tree, with its top pointing up among the clouds that envelope the metropolis of England."] Increase of Post-Office Business.-The labors of the Post Office now, and in 1829, are scarcely comparable. In 1840 it was said, with an expression of wondering surprise, that 40,000 letters left London daily--and the entire number passing through the office amounted to 76,000,000 annually. The next year, at the reduced rate, they were more than doubled; and every year the increase has risen higher and higher. During the last six years the average increase amounts to no less than 260,000 letters and 14,000 newspapers daily. It is estimated that the number of letters which will pass through the General Post-Office in the present year, will be about 95,000,000 the newspapers nearly 2,000,000— over and above the numbers which passed through it in 1846, though the reduced postage law had then been in operation for some years. The Report of the Post-office of the United States for twelve months ending the 30th of June, 1852, shows that the number of letters that passed through the American post-offices during the year was under 96,000,000, or less than a quarter of the number transmitted in this kingdom; but it is worthy of notice that 88,710,490 newspapers and other packages of printed matter were charged with postage during the year; and that, in addition, 27,073,548 passed free.-LECTOR. Portraits of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. There are, Mr. Editor, some thirty portraits exhibiting in one shop-window, purporting to be "correct likenesses of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Yet are they all different, and no two alike! Speaking on this subject, the Editor of the Liverpool Mercury says:-"All the portraits of Mrs. Stowe which are exhibited in the shopwindows are little better than caricatures. Instead of the hard, frigid look which they bear, her countenance wears a soft and gentle expression, quite in accordance with her affable and pleasing manners. When in repose, her face is of a quiet, observant, thoughtful character; but, in conversation, especially on the subject with which her name is now, and will for ever be identified, those soft blue eyes light up with brilliant animation, betokening the strong emotional feelings at work within. She is quite ready to converse, and promptly responds, with a confidence that manifests intelligence, and not dogmatism, to every inquiry, and all objections. The terrible facts of American slavery she has at her fingers' ends, and, with facile readiness, she marshals them to the entire destruction of the clever sophisms which the apologists of slavery know so well how to weave; and yet the feeling always in the ascendant, with regard to the slave-holder, is that of pity and commiseration. She holds the scales with an even hand, and no indignation at the atrocities of slavery leads her to forget that to have been born amid slave institutions is a dire calamity to the "owner" and the owned. The same simple, genuine naturalness, that gave such power to her book, belongs, in an eminent degree, to the character of the author, and will confirm the golden opinions which her pen has already won for her wherever she goes. No amount of unexpected fame will lead such a woman to look with a less pure and single eye to the righteous object of her labors-the emancipation of 3,000,000 of human beings now held as chattels in the southern states of America. Knowing, Mr. Editor, in what high honor you hold this inestimable lady, I send you the above, as being worthy a place in our own JOURNAL.-SARAH N., Liverpool. [Thanks. The same thirty portraits, or copies of them, are now disgracing our London shopwindows. It is really too bad so to libel the intelligent face of this angel of mercy. We have elsewhere paid her our meed of praise, and lamented that, amongst our own countrywomen, no such Good Samaritan exists. We repeat it, there are scenes of slavery to be met with among our white population, quite as deplorable as those related of America. Yet is there no fair champion to be found to fight their battle, or plead their cause. The moment, however, any foreign grievance is announced, all our ladies (we believe 660,000 of them signed the "Monster Petition") are up "in arms, and eager for the fray." This is sad,- -a national evil, and a national disgrace. Let it be speedily amended!] Cruelty to Animals.-Cruelty to dumb animals is one of the distinguishing vices of the lowest and basest of the people. Wherever it is found, it is a certain mark of ignorance and meanness; an intrinsic mark, which all the external advantages of wealth, splendor, and nobility cannot obliterate. It will consist neither with true learning nor true civility; and religion disclaims and detests it as an insult upon the majesty and the goodness of God, who, having made the instincts of brute beasts minister to the improvement of the mind, as well as to the convenience of the body, hath furnished us with a motive to mercy and compassion towards them very strong and powerful, but too refined to have any influence on the illiterate or irreligious.-JONES, of Nayland. The Road and the Rail.-Mr. Robert Weale, Inspector of Poor Laws, has published a statement showing the cost of railway travelling as compared with travelling by private conveyance, coach, etc., from which it appears that from August, 1835, to Dec., 1852, he travelled over 88,298 miles by the latter mode, at a cost of £7,176 1s. 1d., or 1s. 74d. per mile; the time occupied in travelling being 3 years, 27 weeks, and 5 days. Between the same dates he travelled 90,932 miles by rail, at a cost of £1,091 58. 9d., or only 24d. per mile; and the time occupied in the journeys was 1 year, 23 weeks, and 4 days. If the whole distance could have been travelled by railway, the cost of travelling would have amounted to £2,151 18s. 11d.; had it all been accomplished by private conveyance, the cost would have been £14,566 3s. 4d. A Song for May-Day.-The subjoined, Mr. Editor, will please many. Please insert it.-A. F. AIR.-A May-Day morning early. With reticule, or with milking can, Each maid now goes forth early; She strives to forget him, but all in vain, Would break her poor heart-or nearly! On a May-day morning early! The relative Colors of Flowers.-Can you tell me what color predominates in flowers? Is it yellow, or white? I incline to the opinion that it is white. -ROSINA, Clifton. [You are correct in your belief. The predominating color among flowers is white. Of 4,000 species examined, the relative proportions were found to be as follows:-white 1,193, yellow 951, red 923, blue 594, violet 307, green 153, orange 50, brown 18, nearly black 8. No flower perfectly black is yet known, nor probably ever will be.] The Postage of OUR JOURNAL to New South Wales.--I have just sent out, in connection with several other families (friends of mine) a quantity of OUR JOURNAL to friends in Sydney, and other parts of Australia. I was enabled to do this by the new postal arrangements which came into operation on the 1st day of April last. I name it, as it is just possible some of your readers may not be aware of the existing facility for forwarding the JOURNAL direct, to a land where it will be read with so much interest.-CHARLES H. or by the Overland Mail, via Southampton and Singapore, at the following reduced rates of postage, viz.-For each packet not exceeding lb. in weight, 6d.; ditto exceeding lb. and not exceeding 1 lb., 18.; ditto ditto 1 lb. and not exceeding 2 lbs., 2s.; ditto ditto 2 lbs. and not exceeding 3 lbs., 3s.; beyond which no packet can be sent. Provided, however, that the following conditions be carefully observed:-1. Every such packet must be sent without a cover, or in a cover open at the ends or sides. 2. It must contain a single volume only (whether printed book, magazine, review, or pamphlet), the several sheets, or parts thereof, when there are more than one, being sewed or bound together. 3. It must not exceed two feet in length, breadth, width, or depth. 4. It must not exceed three pounds in weight. 5. It must have no writing or marks upon the cover, or its contents, except the name and address of the person to whom it may be sent. 6. The postage must be pre-paid in full, by affixing outside the packet, or its cover, the proper number of stamps. If any of the above conditions be violated, the packet must be charged as a letter, and treated as such in all respects.] The Child and the Gossamer.--You gave in a former paper, Mr. Editor, a very beautiful description of "The Child and the Dew-drop." Let me, as a pendant, send you as beautiful a poetical picture of THE CHILD AND THE GOSSAMER. A sunbeam was playing through flowers that hung Round a casement that looked to the day; It seemed like a delicate link between The creatures of earth and Heaven. And its smile was gone, and its tears were shed An emblem of life hast thou seen; For joys are like sunbeams-more fleeting than they, And sorrows cast shadows between ; And friends that in moments of brightness are won, Like gossamer, only are seen in the sun. [We thank you for this hint. We have, of course, largely availed ourself of this new channel of communication. It must be borne in mind that if three JOURNALS are sent, they must go in three several envelopes, open at each end. They must not be sent together as one package." To Those who have children-and who love them, prevent misconception, we print the regulations: can readily appreciate the "joyous innocence" of "From the first day of April, 1853, printed books, a little child at play. It is a lovely sight, truly! magazines, reviews, and pamphlets (whether Bri--SNOW-DROP. tish, colonial, or foreign), may be transmitted by the post between the United Kingdom and New Bathing-I know your sentiments about bathSouth Wales, by the direct packet, via Plymouth;ing, Mr. Editor; I therefore send you an extract I have copied from a book called " Modern Syrians," which will aid your views:-"Do I look like an invalid?" said my friend Eyoub, chuckling with good humor. Once on a time, a French doctor came to Damascus to seek his fortune. When he saw the luxurious vegetation, he said, This is the place for me plenty of fever. And then on seeing the abundance of water, he said, More fever -no place like Damascus! When he entered the town, he asked the people, "What is this building?" "A bath." "And what is that building?" A bath." And that other building ?" "A bath." "Out upon the baths, they will take the bread out of my mouth," said the doctor: I must seek fever practice elsewhere. So he turned back, went out at the gate again, and hied him elsewhere. There is a sly hint in this, Sir, that we might all take, and turn to account.-J. R. The Swarming of Bees.-Is there any use, Mr. Editor, in making a noise to attract bees whilst swarming? If not, surely the absurd practice might be dispensed with.-ANNE P. [The practice that now prevails of striking a tin-kettle with an old key, when bees are throwing off a swarm, is an absurdity. It originated in an ancient custom or law, which made it necessary for the owner of a swarm which flew to a distance, to follow them with this kind of "music" (!) in order to establish a claim to them as his property.] Pure Air.-You are such an advocate, Mr. Editor, for air,-pure air, and take so much pains to instil into us the necessity for our breathing it, that I offer no apology for sending you the following, which I have abridged from Dr. Southwood Smith's "Philosophy of Health," giving a description of the functions of the lungs, whilst he also demonstrates the great importance of pure air. It appears that when respiration is performed naturally, there are about 18 respirations in one minute, 1,080 in the hour, and 25,920 in the 24 hours. By each inspiration a pint of air is sent to the lungs that is, 18 pints in a minute; in the hour more than 2 hogsheads, and in the 24 hours more than 57 hogsheads. When the body is in a state of health, there will be 72 pulsations of the heart in one minute. Every pulsation sends to the lungs two ounces of blood. Thus, 146 ounces, about an imperial gallon, are sent to the lungs, for the purpose of arterialisation or purification every minute. In one hour there are sent 450 pints, in 24 hours nearly 11,000 pints. The blood performs a complete circuit in the system in 110 seconds, and 540 circuits in 24 hours. There are three complete circulations of the blood in every eight minutes of time. The object of this beautiful arrangement is to ventilate the blood. A constant supply of fresh air is an absolute necessity of our nature. If we are deprived of it, we die at once. If the air is vitiated we suffer languor, which very often results in disease. At this season, my dear Sir, I think these remarks may be read with much profit to us all. If you think so, please to insert them.-HEARTSEASE, Hants. The First Necessary of Life.-Potatoes contain 75 per cent. (by weight) and turnips no less than 90 per cent. of water; which explains, by the way, the small inclination of turnip-fed cattle and sheep for drink. A beefsteak, strongly pressed between blotting paper, yields nearly fourfifths of its weight of water. Of the human frame (bones included) only about one-fourth is solid matter (chiefly carbon and nitrogen); the rest is water. If a man weighing 10 stone were squeezed flat under a hydraulic press, 7 stone of water would run out, and only 2 stone of dry residue would remain. A man is, therefore, chemically speaking, 45 lbs. of carbon and nitrogen diffused through 54 pailsful of water. Berzelius, indeed, in recording the fact, justly remarks that "the living organism is to be regarded as a mass diffused in water;" and Dalton, by a series of experiments tried on his own person, found that of the food with which we daily repair this waterbuilt fabric, five-sixths are also water. Thus amply does science confirm the popular saying, that water is the "first necessary of life."-G. Force of Lightning.-A person may be killed by lightning, although the explosion takes place at the distance of twenty miles, by what is called the back-stroke. Suppose that the two extremities of a cloud, highly charged with electricity, hang down towards the earth, they repel the electricity from the earth's surface, if it be of the same kind with their own, and will attract the other kind; and if a discharge should suddenly take place at one end of the cloud, the equili brium will instantly be restored by a flash at that point of the earth which is under the other. Though the back-stroke is often sufficiently powerful to destroy life, it is never so terrible in its effects as the direct shot, which is of inconceivable intensity. Instances, Mrs. Somerville tells us, have occurred, in which large masses of iron and stone, and even many feet of stone wall, have been conveyed to a considerable distance by a stroke of lightning. Rocks and the tops of mountains often bear the marks of fusion from its action, and occasionally vitreous tubes, descending many feet into banks of sand, mark the path of the electric fluid. Some years ago, Dr. Fielder exhibited several of these fulgorites in London, of considerable length, which had been dug out of the sandy plains of Silesia and Eastern Prussia. One found at Paderborn was forty feet long. Their ramifications generally terminated in pools or springs of water below the sand, which are supposed to determine the course of the electric fluid. No doubt the soil and sub strata must influence its direction, since it is found by experience that places which have been struck by lightning are often struck again. A schoolhouse in Lammer-Muir, in East Lothian, has been struck three different times.-ANGELINA. Insects.-Previously to taking any steps for the destruction of injurious insects, it is indispensable that we should be well acquainted with them and their economy, not only in their perfect state but in their different stages. For it might easily happen that we might destroy those most beneficial to our fruit and forest trees, and suffer their enemies to remain. Let us take one single instance as an example. Entire heaps of small cocoons are seen on the bark of trees, often not larger than the eggs of many butterflies. The gardener or forester who does not know that these are the cocoons of the useful Ichneumonido, but considers them to be really the eggs of moths, rubs them off the trees, and thus annihilates his best friends. [The Ichneumons are insects which deposit their eggs in the bodies of the caterpillars of other insects, and sometimes in their eggs also; the young Ichneumons, being hatched, devour the eggs or living grubs within which they are contained, and thus effect the destruction of thousands of the most noxious insects.] On the other hand, the gipsy-moth (Bombyx dispar) lays its eggs in large circular or oval spots on the bark of trees or hedges, and covers them with yellow wool. If we destroy these eggs, one heap of which often contains 3000, in autumn or spring, our fruit-trees will be secured from one of their most dangerous enemies. It is equally easy to destroy in the egg the yellow-tail moth (Bombyx chrysorrhea) which is no less injurious to our orchards. This moth, says Vincent Kollar, lays its eggs on the leaves of fruit-trees, in a long narrow heap, and covers them with goldcolored hair, which makes them very conspicuous. Pulling off and destroying these leaves, secures the garden from another dangerous enemy.-C. W. Dr. Richardson very far beyond this. Now, when we see the swallow flying high in the air, he is heard every now and then snapping his bill and swallowing these and similar destroyers. If, at this season, one swallow destroys some 900 mothers per day on an average; and estimating each of these to be the parent of one-tenth of the above number, it would require some powers of arithmetic to calculate the benefit produced, and the number of insects destroyed.] More of the Cochin China Fowl Mania.-I have met with many instances lately of Cochin China hens dying apparently very thin, but in reality choked with internal fat. I had one sent to me a few days since. The little flesh she had was red; the skin dry and tight. Her crop was full. On opening it, I found several lumps of calf's liver. Unable to get rid of this unnatural food, she had picked up pieces of crockery-ware, bones, and tobacco-pipes-all to no purpose. I found every organ of the stomach literally obstructed with fat, the liver of an immense size, and perfectly white, the gall-bladder nearly empty, and the intestines saffron color. There was an egg in her, which should have been laid some days before, and in her efforts to lay it she died on the nest. Now, The Scallow Tribe.-The swallow, says Sir H. it is a common complaint that these birds die Davy, is one of my favo rite birds, and a rival of suddenly; and I think it may be attributed to the the nightingale; for he glads my sense of seeing, fact, that, to attain weight, they are improperly as much as any other does my sense of hearing. fed, and that such feeding induces an unnatural, He is the joyous prophet of the year-the harbin- and, consequently, unhealthy state of body. I ger of the best season; he lives a life of enjoy-mentioned it to a clever medical friend, who said ment amongst the loveliest forms of nature; winter is unknown to him; and he leaves the green meadows of England in autumn, for the myrtle and orange groves of Italy, and the palms of Africa; he has always objects of pursuit, and his success is secure. Even the beings selected for his prey are poetical, beautiful, and transient. The ephemera are saved by his means, from a slow and lingering death in the evening, and killed in a moment, when they have known nothing of life but pleasure. He is the constant destroyer of insects-the friend of man; and, with the stork and the ibis, may be regarded as a sacred bird. The instinct which gives him his appointed season, and which teaches him always when and where to move, may be regarded as flowing from a divine source; and he belongs to the oracles of nature, which speak the awful and intelligent language of a present deity. EMILY P. [It is a curious fact, that these mysterious visitants, creatures of instinct are by many persons supposed to perform their eccentric gyrations from mere caprice, while in reality they are amongst the very best friends of mankind. If it were not for such beautiful and graceful birds, our crops would be totally annihilated. We have no idea of the number of insects. Take the plant louse-the British locust. Bonnet, whose researches on it remind us of Huber on the honey bee, isolated an individual of this species, and found that from the 1st to the 22nd of June it produced 95 young insects, and that there were in the summer no less than nine generations. These are both wingless and winged; and Bonnet calculates a single specimen may produce 550,970,489,000,000,000 in a single year, and it was clear that as nature had provided fowls with capacity for digesting grain, with occasional worms, or chance pieces of meat-if you wished to alter the natural food, and substitute one of a totally different character, you must, to ensure impunity, first provide them with increased powers of digestion, or such results as those complained of must occur.-J. BAILY. Photographic Engraving.-We are told, Mr. Editor, by Mr. Talbot, that he has, after much difficulty, succeeded in converting photographic metal plates into what he calls "positive etchings," by causing the plate, by certain chemical means, to engrave itself. Any object which can be placed in contact with the metallic plate,- -as the leaf of a fern, the light, feathery flowers of a grass, a piece of lace, &c., is engraved as accurately as if its shadow had itself corroded the metal. Objects which cast a broad and uniform shadow, as the opaque leaf of a fern, or other plant, produce an etching which, when printed, delineates the original, in a pleasing but unusual form,-something between an aqua-tint engraving and an Indian-ink drawing. The size of the plate offers no difficulty, except in requiring more than usual care in the operator. But the larger the plate, the less obvious the minute deviations from the original.-W. [Thanks. Read the article on "Photography," at page 143. The subject is one of pleasing interest.] all this arising from the free use of beer, spirits, and tobacco. Thus Glasgow stands "alone" in its moral deformity. The Glasgow Herald, in apologising for this, says "Manchester is as bad!" Is it? I am a Manchester man, and I deny it. With us, instead of one in twenty-two, the report gives one in six hundred, as "drunk and incapable." This, I admit, is bad enough; but let the truth be spoken under all circumstances. I know this is your motto. There is far too much 64 cant in Glasgow. [This is a notorious matter of fact] Plenty of leaf, but little or no fruit. Now in Manchester, our artizans are not only hard-working people, but they are really moral. Professing little, they perform much. Their aim is noble. They improve both mind and body. They have their Mechanics' Institutes, and Public Libraries, too, and set an example that Glasgow would do well to follow. Judging from all we hear of Glasgow, I fear OUR JOURNAL does little good THERE. In Manchester it is fast becoming an idol among the many.-A SUBSCRIBER, Man chester. [Your remarks are but too just. If people will sot themselves with beer-madden themselves by drinking ardent spirits--and muddle their brains with the fumes of tobacco-what must be the result? We really begin to think they deserve no pity. Yet, for their children's sake the heart feels sad. The men of Manchester are noble fellows; and we are glad to know how strong a hold we have on their best sympathies. There never ought to be more than one aim, an aim to do good. This is all we profess. We hate cant, from our very soul.] "Paired, not Matched."-There are some happy hints, Mr. Editor, in the "Educational Expositor" which, I think, might be transferred to OUR OWN "with profit to the public generally. "It has been said, and how truly! that no man will get on in life, who chooses for himself, as a friend and companion, one whose intellectual attainments are inferior to his own. One is then tempted to ask,-what man in his senses would choose for his wife, his most intimate friend, and hourly companion, one who is not only inferior to him in attainment, but whose tastes, sympathies, and feelings are all enlisted in a direction diametrically opposite to his own-from whom he could expect no counsel, with whom he could hope to have no thoughts in common? Yet this is what men do every day; and then wonder they are not happy! It is written in the constitution of things, and ever will it be proved, that woman's influence is man's best or worst instructor; yet he seems asleep with regard to his best interests in her. Is he in the society of woman, he thinks it necessary to compliment her on what? On her good sense? On her sound judgment? On her sober reflections? her power of apprehension ? and her just estimate of men and things? Nothing of the sort. Her beauty, her grace, her accomplishments-these are the subjects of praise. Where she is, he deems it necessary that frivolity should take the place of sense in conversation. There must be music, or dancing, or talk about the opera, the concert, some exhibition, the last new play, or the chit-chat of the neighborhood; silly flatteries pass round the room, attesting or securing worship of weakness. Man! this is the education you are giving to woman. What education can you expect she will give to your child? What can she do, but repay it in kind?" This is a home thrust, Mr. Editor. May it "take!”— J. T., Chard. Love for Birds.-I was very much delighted with the little anecdote that appeared in your last paper, under this head. I observe something equally forcible in the character of a Mr. Oliver, who was recently wrecked whilst going out to Australia. It seems the "wreckers" left him nothing but a single "white garment," an old pair of trousers, and a pair of slippers. These last, too, were stolen from him whilst they were temporarily moved from his feet. Still we find he was "jolly and cheerful"--because he had saved two favorite birds he took out with him, by fostering them,unobserved, in his bosom. I love to see you so dwell upon these little sympathies. Depend upon it, the public eye is upon OUR JOURNAL; and it will "win" its way to universal favor.-O. L. W., St. Neots. Insects, Vinula, &c.-I see in the last number of the "Naturalist," a confirmation of the fact that Vinula ejects a liquid. An acquaintance of mine, let me mention, has been unsuccessful in rearing Lasiocampa Rubi. The larvae were fed on bramble, which they appeared to relish; but they died (apparently starved) during the winter. I have not succeeded very well with Neustria. The moths, in almost every instance, have appeared crippled, and with their wings shrivelled up. I have often fed Odonestis Potatoria, chiefly on Phleum pratense and Poa trivialis; but never supplied them with water. Bombyx Atlas, I see, enforces it as a sine qua non that the leaves given to larvæ should be dry. This, I fear, has not been sufficiently attended to by me. Does it not appear singular that moisture should be hurtful, as seeing that, in their natural condition, they must often be exposed to it? I am very fond of watching the various changes of insects, from the egg to the perfect insect; but, unfortunately, I have few opportunities for collecting them. Should therefore your correspondent, Bombyx Atlas, (who I presume rears them very extensively) have any eggs which he can spare, or a few larvae, or any duplicate Lepidoptera, and will kindly send them to the writer (either directly or through the medium of " Our Editor"), I shall feel much obliged to him. En passant, as the subject of Blackbirds has been lately under consideration, I may perhaps notice one I have, who is as fond of the insect tribe as we are. No insect comes amiss to him; LARVE, moths, beetles-he devours them all. I gave him a large dor-beetle. He amused himself with it for some time-allowing it to crawl partly up the side of his cage. However, he soon brought it down by a tap of his beak, and swallowed it. By-the-bye, I do not think that my larve of S. Li gustri was piersed by an ichneumon; for I have often seen caterpillars thus attacked, and the appearance cannot be mistaken.-CERURA, Pimlico. Cossus Ligniperda, &c.—"Cerura" states, Mr. Editor, that he has now a Cossus two years old. I can honestly assure him that, excepting as a matter of curiosity, it is not worth his while attempt |