by the effect produced upon the nervous system, impressions upon which, influence very powerfully the appetite, as we see daily exemplified in the operation of various mental emotions. The very first perception of a nauseous or disagree able odour, or even one otherwise agreeable, when the stomach is laboring under certain states of derangement, will frequently quell, in an instant, the keenest appetite, or convert it into loathing. The ancients nevertheless be

by simply smelling nutritious substances. Democritus is said to have lived three days on the vapour of hot bread; and Bacon refers to a man, who supported an abstinence of several days, by inhaling the odour of a mixture of aromatic and alliaceous herbs. Two hundred years ago these notions were entertained to a great extent, and they afforded the basis for the viaticum, suggested for travellers proceeding to the moon, according to the plan proposed by Dr. John Wilkins, bishop of Chester. This learned prelate published a work, in 1638, entitled "The discovery of a New World, or a discourse tending to prove there may be another habitable world in the Moon, with a discourse concerning the probability of a passage thither." In which he remarks: "If we must needs feed upon something, why may not smells nourish us? Plutarch and Pliny, and divers other ancients, tell us of a nation in India, that lived only upon pleasing odours, and it is the common opinion of physi cians, that these do strangely both strengthen and repair the spirits."

ANECDOTE OF AN INDIAN WOMAN.-After ascending the Atahipo for five miles, Humboldt and Bonpland entered the Rio Temi. Agranitic rock on the western bank of the former river attracted their attention. It is called the Piedra de la Guahibo or Piedra de la Madre, and commemorates one of those acts of oppression of which the Europeans are guilty in all countries, whenever they come into contact with savages. In 1797, the missionary of San Fernando had led his people to the banks of Rio Guaviare on a hos-lieved, that life might be sustained for some time tile excursion. In an Indian hut they found a Guahibo woman, with three children, occupied in preparing cassava-flour. She and her little ones attempted to escape, but were seized and carried away. The unhappy female repeatedly fled with her children from the village, but was always traced by her Christian countrymen. At length the friar, after causing her to be severely beaten, resolved to separate her from her family, and sent her up the Atabipo towards the missions of the Rio Negro. Ignorant of the fate intended for her, but judging by the direction of the sun that her persecutors were carrying her far from her native country, she burst her fetters, leaped from the boat and swam to the left bank of the river. She landed on a rock; but the president of the establishment ordered the Indians to row to the shore and lay hands on her. She was brought back in the evening, stretched upon the bare stone, (the Piedra de la Madre) scourged with straps of mantee leather, which are the ordinary whips of the country, and then dragged to the mission of Javita, her hands bound behind her back. It was the rainy season, the night was excessively dark; forests believed to be impenetrable stretched from that station of San Fernando over an extent of 86 miles, and the only communication between these places was by the river; yet the Guahibo mother, breaking her bonds, and eluding the vigilance of her guards, escaped under night, and on the fourth morning was seen at the village, hovering around the hut which contained her children. On this journey she must have undergone hardships from which the most robust man would have shrunk; was forced to live upon ants, to swim numerous streams and to make her way through thickets and thorny lianas. And the reward of all this courage and devotion was her removal to one of the missions of the Upper Orinoco, where, despairing of ever seeing her beloved children, and refusing all kind of nourishment, she died a victim to the bigotry and barbarity of wretches blasphemously calling themselves the Ministers of à religion which inculcates universal benevolence.-Researches of Baron Humboldt.

From the Journal of Health.

FASHION.-Fashion rules the world; and a most tyrannical mistress she is,-compelling people to submit to the most inconvenient things imaginable, for fashion's sake.

She pinches our feet with tight shoes, or chokes us with a tight neckerchief, or squeezes the breath out of our body by tight lacing. She makes people sit up by night, when they ought to be in bed'; and keeps them in bed in the morning, when they ought to be up and doing. She makes it vulgar to wait upon one's self, and genteel to live idle and useless. She makes people visit when they had rather stay at home, eat when they are not hungry and drink when they are not thirsty.

She invades our pleasure and interrupts our business.

She compels people to dress gaily, whether upon their own property or that of others, whether agreeable to the word of God, or the dictate of pride.

She ruins health, and produces sickness; destroys life and occasions premature death. FEEDING ON SMELLS.-The odorous effluvia She makes fools of parents, invalids of chilemitted from aliments were considered ancient-dren, and servants of all.

ly to possess nutritive properties. This arose She is a tormentor of conscience, a despoiler probably, in a great measure, from the well of mortality, and an enemy of religion; and no known effects produced by savory and disgust-one can be her companion and enjoy either. ing odours upon the appetite. It is impossible that a sufficiency of the matter given off in the form of effluvia, even admitting this to be nutritive, can be absorbed in the system, to account for the apparent satiety induced by the smell of certain viands. The fact can only be explained

She is a despot of the highest grade, full of intrigue and cunning, and yet husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and servants, black and white, have voluntarily become her obedient subjects and slaves; and vie with one another to see who shall be most obsequious.

SHARKS-THE PATIENT SHOPKEEPER.

From the American Traveller. SHARKS. All who have seen or heard of sharks have a natural antipathy to them; this is not to be wondered at-for my own part, whenever I hear the name of Shark, it causes a universal shudder. The true man-eater is of a bluish grey color; has several rows of sharp-pointed teeth, set in different parts of two enormous jaws, and wo unto any thing that has life that comes within his range!-The full-grown Shark, of the species above-mentioned, is generally from ten to fourteen feet in length; and his jaws are sufficiently large to admit the body of a man. The eye is small in proportion to the body, but sharp and piercing when in the water, and rather dull when out of this element. Whenever I have observed a school of sharks alongside our vessel in a perfect calm, so that I could have a distinct view of them, which is very easy, as they swim near the surface of the water, they reminded me of so many foul spirits seeking for their prey. Their voracity is so astonishing, that they devour anything thrown overboard, without any discrimination whatever.

While we were at Yoree, on the coast of Africa, several negro boys were bathing one morning in the waters of the beach, when a piercing shriek was heard for a moment from one of them, who had ventured too far from the shore-an enormous shark had warily approached him before he was aware of his danger, and actually bit him in two!

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head gear in the glass in which she views herself,
before going to a ball. I never saw the water
of a more beautiful and deeper blue; probably
owing to the azure sky being at this time without
a single cloud, and reflecting its serenity on the
bosom of the ocean. Nothing is more tedious to
seamen than a calm. As there was not much
to be done on board, some amused themselves
by throwing lines overboard to ascertain whether
there were any fish; others stowed themselves
away in their berths, and took a comfortable
snooze. Something was wanting to destroy the
monotony, and this was soon offered. The cry
of "sharks! sharks!" was uttered by one of the
hands, and in a moment all was bustle and con-
fusion. Every thing was devised to destroy them;
but the captain hit upon an expedient which
promised success-this was by shooting them.
A piece of wood, about a foot in length to which
a piece of beef was attached, was thrown over
the stern by one of the men, at a distance from
the vessel, and gradually drawn near enough to
have a fair shot. It had scarcely touched the
water before an enormous shark made toward it,
and, as he turned up to swallow the dainty
morsel, he received three musket balls directly
through the head; and, in this manner, we pre-
sumed we killed several of their number, and for
that day, at least, we were not troubled with any
more sharks!
J. H. C.

We had a man taken sick off Cape Palmas on THE PATIENT SHOPKEEPER.-In days of yore, the coast, where the natives said they had not there lived in Chester, in the state of Pennsylseen any sharks for a long time, for they are so vania, an old gentleman who kept a dry-goods dexterous in attacking them even in their own store, and was remarkable for his imperturbaelement, (as I have been informed,) that in this ble disposition, so much so that no one had ever particular place they are seldom seen. How-seen him out of temper. This remarkable chaever this may be, the sick man died, on the third morning after he was attacked, of the yellow fever. We were not more than two miles from the beach, which the waters of the broad Atlantic laved; still, we dared not venture ashore, although the sea was calm, and smooth as a mirror. We did not know the character of the natives, so we concluded to bury the remains of our departed seaman in the bosom of the deep.

racteristic having become the subject of conversation, one of his neighbors, who was somewhat of a wag, bet five dollars that he could succeed in ruffling the habitual placidity of the stoic. He accordingly proceeded to his store, and asked to see some cloths suitable for a coat. One piece was shown to him, and then another; a third and a fourth were handed from the shelves; this was too coarse, the other was too fine; one was of too dark a color, another too light; still, the old DiWe sewed him up as well as we could in aogenes continued placid as new-milk, and no hammock, and after the usual services on such an occasion, we launched him from the side of the vessel into the deep blue ocean.' As soon as the waters had closed over him, and while the surface was still agitated by the deposite we had made of as noble a fellow as ever lived, an exclamation of horror burst from the lips of all the crew simultaneously, as the dorsal fin of an enormous shark was seen about a hundred yards from the vessel, and, as it approached nearer, instantly disappeared, without doubt to feast upon the body of our unfortunate seaman.-From this time every one on board had such an inveterate hatred to the shark species, (the captain in particular,) that no opportunity was suffered to escape, which offered itself, to destroy them.-Never shall I forget the time when we were becalmed off Princess Island. Not a breeze agitated the surface of the smooth and mirrored ocean.Our sails, spars and rigging were as distinctly reflected in the bosom of the deep, as a lady's

sooner did his customer start an objection to any particular piece, than he was met by some other variety being laid before him, until the very last piece in the shop was unfolded to his view. The vender now lost all hope of pleasing his fastidious purchaser, when the latter, affecting to look at the uppermost piece with satisfaction, exclaimed, "Ah, my dear sir, you have hit it at last; this is the very thing; I will take a cent's worth of this pattern," at the same time laying the money plump upon the counter before him, to show that he was prompt pay. "You shall have it, my good friend," replied the merchant, with the utmost seriousness of speech and manners; and then, laying the cent on the surface of the cloth, and applying his ample scissors, he cut it fairly round to the size of the money, and wrapping it carefully up in paper, made a low bow, thanked him for his custom, and hoped that he would call at his store when he wanted any thing in his line again.

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USEFUL HINTS-SUPERSTITIOUS CURES-ANIMAL SAGACITY.

swelled glands-if it be rubbed nine times on the place afflicted. [Recollect nine times, no other number will do.]

5. Touch a dead body-one simple touch, and it will prevent you from dreaming of it.

6. Steal a piece of beef; rub warts with itthen bury it or throw it over the left shoulder, and do not look behind you-when the beef rots, your warts will decay. [1 have tried this once, and never knew it fail.]

although she travelled through the low country one summer, she never had the ague.]

8. A stone, with a hole in it, hung at the bed's head, will prevent the nightmare. [I have always had this hanging at my bed's head, and I have never yet had the night mare.]

9. If a tree of any kind be split, and weakly children drawn through it, and afterwards the tree be bound together, so as to make it uniteas the tree heals the child will acquire strength. [Brother Tommy was perfectly cured in this way.]-Virginia Museum.

USEFUL HINTS TO PUBLIC SPEAKERS.-It is a curious fact in the history of sounds, that the loudest noises perish almost on the spot where they are produced, whereas musical tones will be heard at a great distance. Thus, if we approach within a mile or two of a town or village in which a fair is held, we may hear very faintly the clamor of the multitude, but most distinctly the organs and other musical instruments which are played for their amusement. If a Cremona violin, a real Amati, be played by the side of a mod- 7. A fragment of a gibbit or gallows, on which ern fiddler, the latter will sound much the louder one or more individuals have been executed, if of the two; but the sweet brilliant tone of the worn next the skin, will prevent or cure the Amati will be heard at a distance the other can-ague. [I have never tried this. Ma has, and not reach. Doctor Young, on the authority of Derham, states, that at Gibraltar the human voice was heard at the distance of ten miles. It is a well known fact, that the human voice may be heard at a greater distance than that of any other animal. Thus, when the cottager in the woods, or in an open plain, wishes to call her husband, who is working at a distance, she does not shout, but pitches her voice to a musical key, which she knows from habit, and by that means reaches his ear. The loudest roar of the largest lion could not penetrate so far. "This property of music in the human voice," says the author, is strikingly shown in the cathedral abroad. ANIMAL SAGACITY.-Mr. Campbell, MisHere the mass is entirely performed in musical sionary to the South of Africa, relates the folsounds, and becomes audible to every devotee, lowing instance of the sagacity of cattle in findhowever placed in the remotest part of the ing water in a desert:-They were obliged to church; whereas, if the same service had been cross one of those sandy wastes, which are so read, the sounds would not have travelled beyond common to the country, and in which it is usual the precincts of the choir." Those orators who for numbers of cattle to perish by thirst. By are heard in large assemblies most distinctly, and making as few short stops as possible, he esat the greatest distance, are those who, modulat-caped with the loss of only four out of the huning the voice, render it most musical. Loud speakers are seldom heard to advantage. Burke's voice is said to have been a sort of lofty cry, which tended, as much as the formality of his discourses in the House of Commons, to send the members to their dinner. Chatham's lowest whisper was distinctly heard, "his middle tones were sweet, rich, and beautifully varied;" says a writer, describing the orator," when he raised his voice to its high pitch, the house was completely filled with the volume of sound; and the effect was awful, except when he wished to cheer and animate; and then he had spirit stirring notes, which were perfectly irresistible. The terrible, however, was his peculiar power. Then the house sunk before him; still he was dignified, and wonderful as was his eloquence, it was attended with this important effect, that it possessed every one with a conviction that there was something in him finer even than his words; that the man was infinitely greater than the orator."

SUPERSTITIOUS CURES.-1. A ring made of the hinge of a coffin, will prevent cramp-[I have hardly ever known it fail.]

2. A halter wherewith any one has been hanged, if tied about the head, will cure the headache. [Tight round the neck is an infallible cure.]

3. Moss growing on a human skull, if dried, powdered, and taken as snuff, will cure the headache.

4. A dead man's hand will dispel wens or

dred and twenty or thirty; which composed his caravan. Besides these, a large drove of sheep and goats followed the party, on which the Hottentots were to subsist. On one occasion, just at break of day, when all were ready to faint with thirst, the oxen made a sudden halt, and snuffed the air around, as if uncertain which way to proceed; while the sheep and goats, taught by instinct or observation to trust to the superior sagacity of the oxen, patiently waited their decision. After a few moments, they all struck off at a brisk gallop towards a small bushy hill at some distance; but when the party arrived they found to their disappointment that the pools had just been emptied. The oxen immediately took a new direction, followed by the whole squadron, and soon came to another pool, into which they plunged, the sheep, goats, Hottentots and the good missionary himself.

In a Comedy the plot turns on Marriage. In Tragedy it turns on Murder. The whole intrigue in the one, and the other, turns on this grand event; Will they marry? Will they not marry? Will they murder? Will they not murder? There will be a marriage: there will be a murder; and this forms act the first. There will be no marriage: there will be no murder; and this gives birth to act the second. A new mode of marrying and murdering is prepared for the third act. A new difficulty impedes the marriage or the murder, which the fourth act discusses. At last the marriage or the murder are effected for the benefit of the last act.-Rosseau.