turkey-cock, lives not much longer than the 46. But the carp, bream, tench, eel, and the dung-hill cock; an angry bird, and hath exceed-like, are not held to live above ten years. ing white flesh. 47. Salmons are quick of growth, short of 34. The ringdoves are of the longest sort of life; so are trouts; but the perch is slow of livers, insomuch that they attain sometimes to growth, long of life. fifty years of age; an airy bird, and both builds and sits on high. But doves and turtles are but short lived, not exceeding eight years.

35. But pheasants and partridges may live to sixteen years. They are great breeders, but not so white of flesh as the ordinary pullen.

36. The blackbird is reported to be, amongst the lesser birds, one of the longest livers; an unhappy bird, and a good singer.

48. Touching that monstrous bulk of the whale or ork, how long it is weiled by vital spirit, we have received nothing certain; neither yet touching the sea-calf, and sea-hog, and other innumerable fishes.

49. Crocodiles are reported to be exceeding long lived, and are famous for the times of their growth, for that they, amongst all other creatures, are thought to grow during their whole 37. The sparrow is noted to be of a very short life. They are of those creatures that lay eggs, life. But the linnet, no bigger in body than the ravenous, cruel, and well-fenced against the sparrow, hath been observed to have lived waters. Touching the other kinds of shell fish, twenty years. we find nothing certain how long they live.

38. Of the ostrich we have nothing certain; those that were kept here have been so unfortunate, that no long life appeared by them. Of the bird ibis we find only that he liveth long, but his years are not recorded.

ECONOMICAL ENTOMOLOGY.

The December number of the American 39. The age of fishes is more uncertain than Naturalist,-an excellent illustrated magazine, that of terrestrial creatures, because living un- published by the Peabody Academy of Sciences der the water they are the less observed; many at Salem, Mass.-has some interesting remarks of them breathe not, by which means their vital upon the importance of a more extended acspirit is more closed in; and, therefore, though quaintance with the insect world, and particuthey receive some refrigeration by their gills, larly with those portions of it which affect yet that refrigeration is not so continual as when agricultural produce. it is by breathing.

"A true knowledge of practical entomology," 40. They are free from the dessication and the review observes, "may well be said to be in depredation of the air ambient, because they its infancy, when, as is well known to agricullive in the water, yet there is no doubt but the turists, the cultivation of wheat has almost water, ambient and piercing, and received into been given up in portions of the Northern the pores of the body, doth more hurt to long States (of the Union), from the attacks of the life than the air doth.

wheat-midge, Hessian-fly, joint-worm, and 41. It is affirmed, too, that their blood is not chinch-bug. According to Dr. Shimer's estiwarm. Some of them are great devourers, even mate, which may be considered a reasonable one, of their own kind. Their flesh is softer and in the year 1864 three-fourths of the wheat and more tender than that of terrestrial creatures; one half of the corn (maize) crop were destroyed they grow exceedingly fat, insomuch that an in- by the chinch-bug throughout many extensive credible quantity of oil will be extracted out of districts, comprising nearly the entire Northone whale. west. At the average annual rate of interest, 42. Dolphins are reported to live about thirty according to the United States census, in the years; of which thing a trial was taken in some State of Illinois, the wheat crop of 1864 ought of them by cutting off their tails, they grow to have been 30,000,000, bushels, and the corn until ten years of age. crop about 138,000,000 bushels. Putting the 43. That which they report of some fishes is cash value of the wheat at $1.25, and that of strange, that after a certain age their bodies corn at 50 cents., the total cash value of the will waste and grow very slender, only their corn and wheat destroyed by this insignificant head and tail retaining their former greatness. little bug, no bigger than a grain of rice, in one 44. There were found in Cæsar's fish-ponds single State and in one single year, will therelamphreys to have lived three-score years; they fore, according to the above figures, foot up to were grown so familiar with long use, that the astounding total of over $73,000,000 ! Crassus, the orator, solemnly lamented one of them.

45. The pike, amongst fishes, living in fresh water, is found to last longest, sometimes to forty years; he is a ravener, of a flesh somewhat dry and firm.

"The cabbage butter-fly, recently introduced from Europe, is estimated by M. Provencher to destroy annually two hundred and forty thousand dollars worth of cabbages about Quebec. The Hessian-fly, according to Dr. Fitch, destroyed

fifteen million dollars worth of wheat in New exertions.

Statisticians tell us that within York State in a single year. The" army-worm" three or four centuries the average of human of the North (leucanica unipuncta), which was life has been doubled; the average man lives so abundant in 1861 from New England to forty years, where in Spenser's time he lived Kansas, was reported to have done damage that but twenty. The world since his time has beyear in Eastern Massachusetts exceeding half a come richer and better, in proportion as the million dollars. The joint-worm alone some- race has grown thrifty and economical in human times cuts off whole fields of grain in Virginia life. So what science and knowledge have done and northward. The Colorado potato-beetle is for human life and happiness, science will do steadily moving eastward, now ravaging the fields in Indiana; and only forethought and ingenuity in devising means for checking its attacks, resulting from a thorough study of its habits, will deliver our wasted fields from its direful assaults.

for agriculture and the arts. However chimerical our figures may appear, they at least tend to show that our material wealth and prosperity depend most intimately on the favor shown to science, and the encouragement given to original research, however abstruse, by men of scientific. tastes.

"Indeed, the cry of waste, waste, arises all over the land. The money that is wasted "To save a portion of this annual loss of annually in bad roads, the loss of fertilizers food stuffs and fruits should be the first object from wanton waste, the loss from ignorance of of farmers and gardeners. They eke out a bare geology and mining engineering, the waste in- livelihood on the present amount raised. Could volved in the process of extracting ores, the they save what is wasted by insects, they would waste from bad cooking and poor housewifery, grow rich; and we, therefore, advocate legislaand, above all, the loss of human life from the tion for this purpose. Why should we not ignorance of scientific laws, carelessness result-frame a law providing that farmers should coing from ignorance and vice, the offspring of operate in taking preventive measures against ignorance the amount that is thus wasted we injurious insects, such as the early or late plantventure to assert would, if saved, pay off our ing of cereals, so as to escape the attacks of the national debt in one year, and change our wheat-midge and Hessian-fly; the burning of world as it were into a new planet! A century stubble in the autumn to destroy the joint-worm; hence, when the country is crowded tenfold its the combined use of proper remedies against present amount, our people will learn the lesson the canker-worm and other noxious caterpillars that science and nature teach of economy and and cut worms? A few of the more enlightened thrift. These remarks," it continues, " may be and industrious are forehanded and diligent in thought extravagant, but the thoughtful agricul- restraining these pests. A law carried out by a turist, technical chemist, and political econo- proper State entomological constabulary, so to mist will agree that they are true. Mr. Riley speak, would compel idle and shiftless neighbors truthfully states in the introduction to his to clear their farms and gardens. We doubt not report that we have in the United States that if each State would appoint a State entoaltogether more than our share of these insect-mologist with several assistants, who should depredators; and so truly is this the case that watch the fields and report neglect in killing insects which attract universal attention, and injurious insects to the town authorities, by are considered as very serious evils in Europe, would not be deemed worthy of notice in this country.' (The United States. The remark is equally applicable to by far the larger portion of the British colonies.) There, if they lose onefifth of a given crop, the whole community become alarmed; but here in America the cultivator sometimes considers himself fortunate if TRICHINATOUS PORK.-The Food Journal he secures the half of his crop from insect publishes some remarks on this subject from ravages, and each State loses annually from which we gather that the Trichina spiralis was fifty to sixty million dollars worth from this first observed by Tidemann so far back as alone, though as yet but four states have made 1822, but was not described by Owen till 1835. any attempt to prevent this serious loss." We Some idea of the feaaful effects produced by may reasonably calculate the annual loss in the this parasite on the human subject may be United States alone from noxious animals and gathered from the fact that in portions of muscle the lower forms of plants, such as rust, mildew, taken from the body of a girl, who had died and smut, at not far from $1,000,000,000! Of after a fortnight's suffering, trichina were found this amount at least one-tenth, or $100,000,000 swarming to the extent of 50,000 to $0,000 per annually, could probably be saved by human square inch.

whom delinquents should be fined, many times the cost of maintaining such a bureau would be saved to the State. Indeed, why should we not have an insect as well as fish and game laws?"

H

Science and Art.

ARTIFICIAL JEWELRY.

grind, for this most fanciful among the fancies of mankind, an oriental sapphire, a topaz, an amethyst, a crystal, and out of the gleaming powder shall arise a beautiful imposture, which none, except a professional lapidary would pronounce to be other than a diamond. But the process is exceedingly delicate, excessively difficult. The cutting is a most singular art; the tools must be selected with not less scrupulousness than are medicines for delicate children.

And as for the ordinary materials! Fancy a Parisian mechanic engaged upon these manipulations employed to make a false diamond out of white sand, first washed with hydrochloric acid, and then with simple water, minium, calVERY extensive and important cined soda and borax, and oxide of arsenic. trade is furnished by artificial Here we have a combination entirely lucid, but jewelry. It is of remarkable inter- when the Parisian artisans come to the sapphire est to a superior class of English -the second in their estimation, of all precious artisans just now, because the stones-they have to deal with its wonderful and factories which used to furnish the promenades, varying colors-as of those, especially, from the shops, and the pavilions of the Palais Pegu and Cambay, of Ceylon, of Bohemia. Royal, in Paris, are idle and silent for awhile, The obstacle lies in the production of that and the manufacture is coming over to England. lovely dark light, burning in, and bursting from, So much has been made known by commercial its heart, for which this stone is famed, in all circulars, intended, in a somewhat ambiguous its hues-white the rarest, pale blue, rubyway, to announce that Birmingham, with other tinted, vermilion, milk colored, violet, and towns, intends to compete in the general market green. Well, go to the Jews of Amsterdam. of the world with the producers of artificial, and they will charge you a hundred guineas for and practically valueless, yet glittering and much a sapphire, but buy a little strass and oxide of sought for trinkets. The lesson must be learned, cobalt and you can make one for yourself. We however, before these competitions can be fair, lay no great stress on the celebrated Parisian that our appreciation of continental tact and fabrication of crysoberyls, crysopals, and comprehension is curiously incomplete. Take "floating lights," which are really not jewels in your Parisian master; he is a critic of precious the strict sense of the term. The last, known stones; he knows how to cut them, he then in the slang of the French market as aquiphoknows how to mount, and, immediately after- nanes, are of an asparagus green, rather shellwards, how to imitate them; he is an artist in shaped, with two refractions, and pretty enough enamel, mosaic, and gilding; he can amalgamate flashing under a galaxy of chandeliers. Both gold with silver, producing every kind of splen- the French, and, in a still greater degree, the did illusion. Now, amongst the objects of English mechanics, have encountered a far human desire, vanity considered, may be deeper embarassment in treating the rubyreckoned jewels, true or false; they are prized always providing that mere red glass and the for particular variations of weight, light, and other pitiful ideas of toy arcades are out of the color. There are worshippers of the diamond, question. Properly speaking, there is only one and devotees of the opal; the ruby has its ruby, known to lapidaries as the spinel, of a adorers, and the emerald its slaves. But we tender red; the Oriental, Barbary, Brazilian, are can not all afford to wear these gems of the generally sapphires, amethysts, or topazes. The earth, with their far-darting rays and gleams of color of the true stone may best be described, twinkling brilliance. A philosopher's stone of perhaps, as a combination, exquisitely delicate, some sort must be found, which shall convert of rose and cherry; but some are wine-tinted, cheap substances into glories; and to begin or of a violet hue, or tinged with yellow. It is with-what is the false French diamond, for astonishing how far a mixture of white lead and which so enormous a desire has for years been pulverized and calcined flints will go in compeexhibited at Paris, which was, until lately, the very centre of this sparkling commerce? It is a bit of paste, colorless, super-imposed upon another, with a darting central radiance, both perfectly white, except for the prismatic aurora incessantly playing through them. But you may

tition with the jewel beds of India. So with emeralds: the same paste as is used for artificial diamonds, blended with a precipitate of oxide of copper, and the green gem sparkles brilliantly. The garnet requires paste dyed with "the purple of Cassius;" it is, however, exceedingly diffi

cult to imitate its star-like ray. Oxide of cobalt ments for stamping, instruments for welding, and the Cassian purple will produce a beautiful instruments for soldering. One workman semblance of the amethyst, though a better is chamfers; another flutes; another stands at the obtained by a mingling of white sand, treated laminating machine; a fourth bends over the with hydrochloric acid, red lead, calcined delicate enameler's knife, sharp as a diamond's potash, calcined borax, and the purple. Thou- edge, and nearly as hard; a fifth subjects the sands of these mock gems are annually sold, at completed work to a microscopical examination. considerable prices, and thousands of them are Not fewer than ten differently-shaped hammers worn by those who would have the world believe are used. This industrial economy is peculiarly in heirloom jewels. interesting. The diversity of aptitude, of course, Do you admire Mademoiselle's coral neck- encourages the division of labor, as will preslace? It is made of resin and painter's vermil-ently be seen more minutely.

แ

lion-about as much of the latter as dazzles on For the moment let us revert to the French her cheek. Or her pearls? False pearls were meretricious jeweler's other arts-those of absolutely invented in the capital of France- coating common with precious materials, and false in so many of its fashions. Thence the enameling. Few persons have any idea of the art spread throughout Italy. The manufacture extent to which these tricks in manufacture are is exceedingly curious. As its foundation, are carried. The ingenious and cheap French used the scales of the blay, a small flat fish, enamel, white or colored, made up into rings, with a green back and a white belly, the latter collarets, and bracelets, brings a great profit to being of a very silvery appearance, and easily the workmen, and is really attractive. But it detached. The scales are scraped into bowls of requires time and study to obtain a mastery water continually changing, dried in a horse-over this art. There is the fixing of the transhair sieve, melted, and converted into essence lucent glass upon the metallic surface, the of the East," to which is added a little gelatine, painting of the vitreous plane, the choice of and this mixture is spread, with the utmost tints, the subtle application of heat, the concare, over delicate globes of glass. When cool, sideration of chemical action exercised by one these are pierced and filled with white wax, to oxide upon another, and the due admixture of give them the necessary solidity and weight. materials. Then, the engraving of enamels is a Occasionally, real opals, powdered, are used for task requiring all possible exactness and tenderthe more costly kinds. The Turks carry on a ness of touch. We hardly reckon among these great traffic in "pearls of roses," colored from gaieties-so to call them-of picturesque indusrose leaves crushed in a mortar. The black, try, mock mosaics, damascening, or gilding, red, and blue varieties are mimicked with equal although the last is a very important affair in ease, and there is an affectation of adding to the sight of France, which pretends to be the their charm by perfuming them during the pro- great gilder of the world—gilding even its young cess with attar and musk. Among the ingre- men, as Juvenal dares to assert the Romans dients also employed may be mentioned Japanese gilded their goddesses-of flesh and blood. cement and rice-paste. The modern Romans The Parisians style this "gold coloring"-and have a simpler method. They use little alabas- their methods are extremely various-the oil, ter marbles, the scales from oyster and other the hot, the cold, the bronze, the copper, the shells triturated in spirits of wine, and coated steel, and the ether; but the magic of silvering with white wax, heated to a high degree. The is scarcely less intricate, especially when the trinkets imported as "Venetian pearls" are surfacing is to be totally false, or what is glass, and their production presents no difficulty. termed "argenterie des charlatans." As for Now, as to the mounting. Infinite care is coating copper with gold, which is quite differbestowed upon this by your French artificer. ent from gilding, this belongs altogether to a He has to consider how his sham settings-they higher artisanship, applicable also to lead, and must be sham since he must sell them cheap-even iron. Next in order are the much-esteemed are likely to suffer from the action of heat, of steel trinkets manufactured by the French. electricity in the atmosphere, of oxygen, of air Their invention is of old date, and the finish and water, and of acids; and he resorts to cop- and polish of the fancies produced for the per, lead, platinum, iron, steel, gold, silver, and Palais Royal by the artificers of the riotous their amalgams accordingly. The history of Faubourg S. Antoine have never been excelled, their manipulation by his, or several sets of even by the ambitious mechanics of Austria hands, is worth nothing; the softening, the who are Dutch in their perseverance, and purification, the moulding, the washing, the Italian in their taste. But, after all, these hammering, the melting, the coloring or bleach-artists aim mostly at the imitation of jewels or ing, the chiseling, and so forth, through an gold.

entire technical dictionary. There are instru- Shall we reveal another of their secrets after

the manner of a cookery book? Take a little are sold as shams; no one of common sense or powdered sulphur, sprinkle it with boiling knowledge could take them to be anything else; water, mix well; boil the concoction, strain but they bring, or have usually brought, to the through fine muslin; put the liquid into a vessel artisans of Paris, an enormous annual income. containing the substance with which you desire Their success has been less due to the applicato play the Rosicrucian trick, resort to another tion of material than to the management of boiling, and your Cornish tin is-presto!- color; and it is to this point that we would Babylonian gold! A dash of spring aloe juice, refer the more artistic of the artisans in our of saltpetre, or sulphate of zinc improves the own country. It was not paste which made imposture. How far this deceptive art has been Sevres famous; it was paste painted. And that carried may be judged from its catalogue of which is true of china and glass is true also of styles-The Lamb, the Arch, the Turkish, the imitated jewelry. Metallic oxides form the Myrtle-branch, the Maltese cross, the Dead, basis of all vitrifiable colors-for example, the the Star, the Lance-iron, the Violin, the Hatchet, puce-colored and red oxides of lead, and the the Rose, and the Turtle. Into a similar cate- yellow oxide of gold. These enamels, brought gory come agraffes, opera-glasses, decorative into such favor by fashion, what are they? They shoe-buckles, ornamental buttons, fancy watch- are glass made opaque by the oxide of tin, and keys, cream-spoons, writing pencils, punchladles, jewel-caskets, scissors, pipes, egg-cups, and tobacco boxes-all imitated, my friends, all gewgaw, and yet not a little pretty.

made fusible by the oxide of lead. Exactly the same process, varied only in its order, will give us a gem, and similar magic-since this is the true magic of the only alchemy credible-gives us apparent gold and silver, good enough, in all truth, for any other than the tests of the Royal Mint. What, for instance, is a sham ruby except a bit of "lustre ware" concentrated and

But in no branch is this fraud-for it is a fraud when the prices charged are those due for genuine materials-pushed farther than in that of honorary decorations, without one of which no Frenchman appears able to live. There is intensified? Still, the ordinary diamond paste the Order of S. Ampoule, or the oil which was of trade is composed of a different amalgam, brought from heaven by a dove. It is a bit of the object being to obtain at once an equality of gilt copper, with an attachment of black ribbon. brilliance and weight. The Murano beads-a The Palais Royal charges you fifty shillings for most profitable knack in workmanship, easily it. So with the order of the Weasel, of the acquired-are made of common glass, simply Star, of S. Louis, of Mount Carmel, and S. tinted, though the manipulation requires to be Lazares, of the Dog and Cock of S. Michael tender. And, reverting for a moment to false and the Holy Spirit, and even of the Legion of pearls, in order to conclude with a moral and Honor. They were all prostituted to the pur- suggest how costly all falsehood is, we must poses of a jeweler's profit. Nor is it generally remember a fact. The fish whose scales are put known what a manufacture of foreign decora- to this use are about 4in. in length. They are tions was, until lately, carried on at Paris. The found in great abundance in some rivers, and, English Order of the Garter itself has been being exceedingly voracious, suffer themselves forged in the French capital, and worn at Con- to be taken without much difficulty. The scales tinental courts. That of the Golden Fleece, furnished by 250 of them will not weigh more the pride of Imperial Austria, has been suc- than an ounce, and this will not yield more than cessfully imitated, though its collar is at once a fourth of that quantity of the pearly powder exceedingly rich and of exceedingly delicate applicable to the preparation of beads; so that workmanship. We have seen Napoleon's Iron 16,000 fish are necessary in order to obtain only Crown-not to be compared with the old and one pound of the essence of pearl. After this, proud signum of Lombardy-so perfectly coun- it may be understood why the manufacture of terfeited as to escape detection more easily than artificial jewelry is an art which it took the a mock Waterloo bullet. The Danish Govern- French so long to learn, but which, once acment is so jealous of anybody assuming the blue quired, has been to them, and to the Parisians ribbon of the Danish elephant that it ordains a especially, a source of so much wealth, affording perpetual exclusion from court of all individuals employment to thousands of their best artisans. buying these spurious sparkles.

-English Mechanic.

Now, not to prolong a series of examples already sufficient, we may again remark that a number of workmen in Paris have, for many A NEW DISINFECTANT.-The hydrated chloyears, been dependent upon this industry, and ride of aluminum, long known to chemists, has thrived by it. It is not by any means a degrading lately been extensively used as a disinfecting business. The deception is, in fact, no deception. agent. It is readily made by dissolving alumina It is avowed in the market-place; the objects in hydrochloric acid.