{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_55181/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_55181","id":"gutenberg_55181","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55181","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Journals","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Ireland -- Periodicals"],"text":"THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL.\n\n         NUMBER 40.      SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1841.      VOLUME I.\n\n[Illustration: THE IRISH MIDWIFE, PART III.--DANDY KEHO\u2019S CHRISTENING. BY\nWILLIAM CARLETON.]\n\nThe following Sunday morning, Rose paid an early visit to her patient,\nfor, as it was the day of young Dandy\u2019s christening, her presence was\nconsidered indispensable. There is, besides, something in the appearance\nand bearing of a midwife upon those occasions which diffuses a spirit of\nbuoyancy and light-heartedness not only through the immediate family,\nbut also through all who may happen to participate in the ceremony, or\npartake of the good cheer. In many instances it is known that the very\npresence of a medical attendant communicates such a cheerful confidence\nto his patient, as, independently of any prescription, is felt to be a\nmanifest relief. So is it with the midwife; with this difference, that\nshe exercises a greater and more comical latitude of consolation than\nthe doctor, although it must be admitted that the one generally falls\nwoefully short of that conventional dress with which we cover nudity\nof expression. No doubt many of her very choicest stock jokes, to\ncarry on the metaphor, are a little too _fashionably_ dressed to pass\ncurrent out of the sphere in which they are used; but be this as it may,\nthey are _so_ traditional in character, and so humorous in conception,\nthat we never knew the veriest prude to feel offended, or the morosest\ntemperament to maintain its sourness, at their recital. Not that she\nis at all gross or unwomanly in any thing she may say, but there is\ngenerally in her apothegms a passing touch of fancy--a quick but terse\nvivacity of insinuation, at once so full of fun and sprightliness, and\nthat truth which all know but few like to acknowledge, that we defy\nany one not irretrievably gone in some incurable melancholy to resist\nher humour. The moment she was seen approaching the house, every one\nin it felt an immediate elevation of spirits, with the exception of\nMrs Keho herself, who knew that wherever Rose had the arrangement of\nthe bill of fare, there was sure to be what the Irish call \u201cfull an\u2019\nplinty\u201d--\u201clashins an\u2019 lavins\u201d--a fact which made her groan in spirit at\nthe bare contemplation of such waste and extravagance. She was indeed a\nwoman of a very un-Irish heart--so sharp in her temper and so penurious\nin soul, that one would imagine her veins were filled with vinegar\ninstead of blood.\n\n\u201c_Banaght Dheah in shoh_\u201d (the blessing of God be here), Rose exclaimed\non entering.\n\n\u201c_Banaght Dheah agus Murra ghuid_\u201d (the blessing of God and the Virgin on\nyou), replied Corny, \u201can\u2019 you\u2019re welcome, Rose ahagur.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know that, Corny. Well, how are we?--how is my son?\u201d\n\n\u201cBegarra, thrivin\u2019 like a pair o\u2019 throopers.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank God for it! Hav\u2019n\u2019t we a good right to be grateful to him any way?\nAn\u2019 is my little man to be christened to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed he is--the gossips will be here presently, an\u2019 so will _her_\nmother. But, Rose, dear, will you take the ordherin\u2019 of the aitin\u2019 an\u2019\ndrinkin\u2019 part of it?--you\u2019re betther up to these things than we are,\nan\u2019 so you ought, of coorse. Let there be no want of any thing; an\u2019 if\nthere\u2019s an overplush, sorra may care; there\u2019ll be poor mouths enough\nabout the door for whatever\u2019s left. So, you see, keep never mindin\u2019 any\nhint _she_ may give you--you know she\u2019s a little o\u2019 the closest; but no\nmatther. Let there, as I said, be enough an\u2019 to spare.\u201d\n\n\u201cThroth, there spoke your father\u2019s son, Corny; all the ould dacency\u2019s not\ndead yet, any how. Well, I\u2019ll do my best. But she\u2019s not fit to be up, you\nknow, an\u2019 of coorse can\u2019t disturb us.\u201d The expression of her eye could\nnot be misunderstood as she uttered this. \u201cI see,\u201d said Corny--\u201cdevil a\nbetther, if you manage that, all\u2019s right.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn\u2019 now I must go in, till I see how she an\u2019 my son\u2019s gettin\u2019 an: that\u2019s\nalways my first start; bekase you know, Corny, honey, that _their_ health\ngoes afore every thing.\u201d\n\nHaving thus undertaken the task required of her, she passed into the\nbedroom of Mrs Keho, whom she found determined to be up, in order, as she\nsaid, to be at the head of her own table.\n\n\u201cWell, alanna, if you must, you must; but in the name of goodness I wash\nmy hands out of the business teetotally. Dshk, dshk, dshk! Oh, wurra!\nto think of a woman in your state risin\u2019 to sit at her own table! That\nI may never, if I\u2019ll see it, or be about the place at all. If you take\nyour life by your own wilfulness, why, God forgive you; but it mustn\u2019t be\nwhile I\u2019m here. But since you\u2019re bent on it, why, give me the child, an\u2019\nafore I go, any how, I may as well dress it, poor thing! The heavens pity\nit--my little man--eh?--where was it?--cheep--that\u2019s it, a ducky; stretch\naway. Aye stretchin\u2019 an\u2019 thrivin\u2019 an, my son! Oh, thin, wurra! Mrs Keho,\nbut it\u2019s you that ought to ax God\u2019s pardon for goin\u2019 to do what might\nlave that darlin\u2019 o\u2019 the world an orphan, may be. Arrah be the vestments,\nif I can have patience wid you. May God pity you, my child. If anything\nhappened your mother, what \u2019ud become of you, and what \u2019ud become of\nyour poor father this day? Dshk, dshk, dshk!\u201d These latter sounds,\nexclamations of surprise and regret, were produced by striking the tongue\nagainst that part of the inward gum which covers the roots of the teeth.\n\n\u201cIndeed, Rose,\u201d replied her patient, in her sharp, shrill, quick voice,\n\u201cI\u2019m able enough to get up; if I don\u2019t, we\u2019ll be harrished. Corny\u2019s a\nfool, an\u2019 it\u2019ll be only rap an\u2019 rive wid every one in the place.\u201d\n\n\u201cWait, ma\u2019am, if you plaise. Where\u2019s his little barrow? Ay, I have it.\nWait, ma\u2019am, if you plaise, till I get the child dressed, an\u2019 I\u2019ll soon\ntake myself out o\u2019 this. Heaven presarve us! I have seen the like o\u2019\nthis afore--ay have I--where it was as clear as crystal _that there was\nsomething over them_--ay, over them that took their own way as you\u2019re\ndoin\u2019.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if I don\u2019t get up\u201d----\n\n\u201cOh, by all manes, ma\u2019am--by all manes. I suppose you have a laise o\u2019\nyour life, that\u2019s all. It\u2019s what I wish I could get.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn\u2019 must I stay here in bed all day, an\u2019 me able to rise, an\u2019 sich\nwilful waste as will go an too?\u201d\n\n\u201cRemember you\u2019re warned. This is your first baby, God bless it, an\u2019 spare\nyou both. But, Mrs Keho, does it stand to raison that you\u2019re as good a\njudge of these things as a woman like me, that it\u2019s my business? I ax you\nthat, ma\u2019am.\u201d\n\nThis poser in fact settled the question, not only by the reasonable force\nof the conclusion to be derived from it, but by the cool authoritative\nmanner in which it was put.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the other, \u201cin that case, I suppose, I must give in. You\nought to know best.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you kindly, ma\u2019am; have you found it out at last? No, but you\nought to put your two hands under my feet for preventin\u2019 you from doin\u2019\nwhat you intinded. That I may never sup sorrow, but it was as much as\nyour life was worth. Compose yourself; I\u2019ll see that there\u2019s no waste,\nand that\u2019s enough. Here, hould my son--why, thin, isn\u2019t he the beauty o\u2019\nthe world, now that he has got his little dress upon him?--till I pin\nup this apron across the windy; the light\u2019s too strong for you. There\nnow: the light\u2019s apt to give one a headache when it comes in full bint\nupon the eyes that way. Come, alanna, come an now, till I show you to\nyour father an\u2019 them all. Wurra, thin, Mrs Keho, darlin\u2019,\u201d (this was\nsaid in a low confidential whisper, and in a playful wheedling tone\nwhich baffles all description), \u201cwurra, thin, Mrs Keho, darlin\u2019, but\nit\u2019s he that\u2019s the proud man, the proud Corny, this day. Rise your head\na little--aisy--there now, that\u2019ll do--one kiss to my son, now, before\nhe laives his mammy, he says, for a weeny while, till he pays his little\nrespects to his daddy an\u2019 to all his friends, he says, an\u2019 thin he\u2019ll\ncome back to mammy agin--to his own little bottle, he says.\u201d\n\nYoung Corny soon went the rounds of the whole family, from his father\ndown to the little herd-boy who followed and took care of the cattle.\nMany were the jokes which passed between the youngsters on this\noccasion--jokes which have been registered by such personages as Rose,\nalmost in every family in the kingdom, for centuries, and with which\nmost of the Irish people are too intimately and thoroughly acquainted to\nrender it necessary for us to repeat them here.\n\nRose now addressed herself to the task of preparing breakfast, which,\nin honour of the happy event, was nothing less than \u201ctay, white bread,\nand Boxty,\u201d with a glass of poteen to sharpen the appetite. As Boxty,\nhowever, is a description of bread not generally known to our readers,\nwe shall give them a sketch of the manner in which this Irish luxury is\nmade. A basket of the best potatoes is got, which are washed and peeled\nraw; then is procured a tin grater, on which they are grated; the water\nis then shired off them, and the macerated mass is put into a clean\nsheet, or table-cloth, or bolster-cover. This is caught at each end by\ntwo strong men, who twist it in opposite directions until the contortions\ndrive up the substance into the middle of the sheet, &c.; this of course\nexpels the water also; but lest the twisting should be insufficient for\nthat purpose, it is placed, like a cheese-cake, under a heavy weight,\nuntil it is properly dried. They then knead it into cakes, and bake it on\na pan or griddle; and when eaten with butter, we can assure our readers\nthat it is quite delicious.\n\nThe hour was now about nine o\u2019clock, and the company asked to the\nchristening began to assemble. The gossips or sponsors were four in\nnumber; two of them wealthy friends of the family that had never been\nmarried, and the two others a simple country pair, who were anxious to\nfollow in the matrimonial steps of Corny and his wife. The rest were, as\nusual, neighbours, relatives, and _cleaveens_, to the amount of sixteen\nor eighteen persons, men, women, and children, all dressed in their best\napparel, and disposed to mirth and friendship. Along with the rest was\nBob M\u2019Cann, the fool, who by the way could smell out a good dinner with\nas keen a nostril as the wisest man in the parish could boast of, and who\non such occasions carried turf and water in quantities that indicated\nthe supernatural strength of a Scotch brownie rather than that of a\nhuman being. Bob\u2019s qualities, however, were well proportioned to each\nother, for, truth to say, his appetite was equal to his strength, and his\ncunning to either.\n\nCorny and Mrs Moan were in great spirits, and indeed we might predicate\nas much of all who were present. Not a soul entered the house who was\nnot brought up by Corny to an out-shot room, as a private mark of his\nfriendship, and treated to an underhand glass of as good poteen \u201cas ever\nwent down the red lane,\u201d to use a phrase common among the people. Nothing\nupon an occasion naturally pleasant gives conversation a more cheerful\nimpulse than this; and the consequence was, that in a short time the\nscene was animated and mirthful to an unusual degree.\n\nBreakfast at length commenced in due form. Two bottles of whisky were\nplaced upon the table, and the first thing done was to administer a glass\nto each guest.\n\n\u201cCome, neighbours,\u201d said Corny, \u201cwe must dhrink the good woman\u2019s health\nbefore we ate, especially as it\u2019s the first time, any how.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo be sure they will, achora, an\u2019 why not? An\u2019 if it\u2019s the first time,\nCorny, it won\u2019t be the---- Musha! you\u2019re welcome, Mrs ----! an\u2019 jist in\ntime too\u201d--this she said, addressing his mother-in-law, who then entered.\n\u201cLook at this swaddy, Mrs ----; my soul to happiness, but he\u2019s fit to be\nthe son of a lord. Eh, a pet? Where was my darlin\u2019? Corny, let me dip my\nfinger in the whisky till I rub his gums wid it. That\u2019s my bully! Oh,\nthe heavens love it, see how it puts the little mouth about lookin\u2019 for\nit agin. Throth you\u2019ll have the spunk in you yet, acushla, an\u2019 it\u2019s a\ncredit to the Kehos you\u2019ll be, if you\u2019re spared, as you will, plaise the\nheavens!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Corny,\u201d said one of the gossips, \u201chere\u2019s a speedy uprise an\u2019 a\nsudden recovery to the good woman, an\u2019 the little sthranger\u2019s health, an\u2019\nGod bless the baker that gives thirteen to the dozen, any how!\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, ay, Paddy Rafferty, you\u2019ll have your joke any way; an\u2019, throth,\nyou\u2019re welcome to it, Paddy; if you weren\u2019t, it isn\u2019t standin\u2019 for young\nCorny you\u2019d be to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cThrue enough,\u201d said Rose, \u201can\u2019, by the dickens, Paddy isn\u2019t the boy to\nbe long under an obligation to any one. Eh, Paddy, did I help you there,\navick? Aisy, childre; you\u2019ll smother my son if you crush about him that\nway.\u201d This was addressed to some of the youngsters, who were pressing\nround to look at and touch the infant.\n\n\u201cIt won\u2019t be my fault if I do, Rose,\u201d said Paddy, slyly eyeing Peggy\nBetagh, then betrothed to him, who sat opposite, her dark eyes flashing\nwith repressed humour and affection. Deafness, however, is sometimes a\nvery convenient malady to young ladies, for Peggy immediately commenced\na series of playful attentions to the unconscious infant, which were\njust sufficient to excuse her from noticing this allusion to their\nmarriage. Rose looked at her, then nodded comically to Paddy, shutting\nboth her eyes by way of a wink, adding aloud, \u201cThroth you\u2019ll be the\nhappy boy, Paddy; an\u2019 woe betide you if you aren\u2019t the sweetest end of\na honeycomb to her. Take care an\u2019 don\u2019t bring me upon you. Well, Peggy,\nnever mind, alanna; who has a betther right to his joke than the dacent\nboy that\u2019s--aisy, childre: saints above! but ye\u2019ll smother the child, so\nyou will.--Where did I get him, Dinney? sure I brought him as a present\nto Mrs Keho; I never come but I bring a purty little babby along wid\nme--than the dacent boy, dear, that\u2019s soon to be your lovin\u2019 husband?\nArrah, take your glass, acushla; the sorrabarm it\u2019ll do you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBedad, I\u2019m afeard, Mrs Moan. What if it \u2019ud get into my head, an\u2019 me\u2019s\nto stand for my little godson? No, bad scran to me if I could--faix, a\nglass \u2019ud be too many for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not more than half tilled, dear; but there\u2019s sense in what the girl\nsays, Dandy, so don\u2019t press it an her.\u201d\n\nIn the brief space allotted to us we could not possibly give any thing\nlike a full and correct picture of the happiness and hilarity which\nprevailed at the breakfast in question. When it was over, they all\nprepared to go to the parish chapel, which was distant at least a couple\nof miles, the midwife staying at home to see that all the necessary\npreparations were made for dinner. As they were departing, Rose took the\nDandy aside, and addressed him thus:\n\n\u201cNow, Dandy, when you see the priest, tell him that it is your wish,\nabove all things, \u2018that he should christen it against the fairies.\u2019 If\nyou say that, it\u2019s enough. And, Peggy, achora, come here. You\u2019re not\ncarryin\u2019 that child right, alanna; but you\u2019ll know betther yet, plaise\ngoodness. No, avillish, don\u2019t keep its little head so closely covered\nwid your cloak; the day\u2019s a burnin\u2019 day, glory be to God, an\u2019 the Lord\nguard my child; sure the least thing in the world, where there\u2019s too much\nhait, \u2019ud smother my darlin\u2019. Keep its head out farther, and just shade\nits little face that way from the sun. Och, will I ever forget the Sunday\nwhin poor Molly M\u2019Guigan wint to take Pat Feasthalagh\u2019s child from under\nher cloak to be christened, the poor infant was a corpse; an\u2019 only that\nthe Lord put it into my head to have it privately christened, the father\nan\u2019 mother\u2019s hearts would break. Glory be to God! Mrs Duggan, if the\nchild gets cross, dear, or misses any thing, act the mother by him, the\nlittle man. Eh, alanna! where was it? Where was my duck o\u2019 diamonds--my\nlittle Con Roe? My own sweety little ace o\u2019 hearts--eh, alanna! Well, God\nkeep it, till I see it again, the jewel!\u201d\n\nWell, the child was baptized by the name of his father, and the persons\nassembled, after their return from chapel, lounged about Corny\u2019s house,\nor took little strolls in the neighbourhood, until the hour of dinner.\nThis of course was much more convivial, and ten times more vociferous,\nthan the breakfast, cheerful as that meal was. At dinner they had a dish,\nwhich we believe is, like the Boxty, peculiarly Irish in its composition:\nwe mean what is called _sthilk_. This consists of potatoes and beans\npounded up together in such a manner that the beans are not broken, and\non this account the potatoes are well champed before the beans are put\ninto them. This is dished in a large bowl, and a hole made in the middle\nof it, into which a _miscaun_ or roll of butter is thrust, and then\ncovered up until it is melted. After this, every one takes a spoon and\ndigs away with his utmost vigour, dipping every morsel into the well of\nbutter in the middle, before he puts it into his mouth. Indeed, from the\nstrong competition which goes forward, and the rapid motion of each right\nhand, no spectator could be mistaken in ascribing the motive of their\nproceedings to the principle of the old proverb, devil take the hindmost.\n_Sthilk_ differs from another dish made of potatoes in much the same way,\ncalled _colcannon_. If there were beans, for instance, in _colcannon_, it\nwould be _sthilk_. This practice of many persons eating out of the same\ndish, though Irish, and not cleanly, is of very old antiquity. Christ\nhimself mentions it at the Last Supper. Let us hope, however, that,\nlike the old custom which once prevailed in Ireland, of several persons\ndrinking at meals out of the same mether, the usage we speak of will soon\nbe replaced by one of more cleanliness and individual comfort.\n\nAfter dinner the whisky began to go round, for in these days punch was\na luxury almost unknown to the class we are writing of. In fact, nobody\nthere knew how to make it but the midwife, who wisely kept the secret\nto herself, aware that if the whisky were presented to them in such a\npalatable shape, they would not know when to stop, and she herself\nmight fall short of the snug bottle that is usually kept as a treat for\nthose visits which she continues to pay during the convalescence of her\npatients.\n\n\u201cCome, Rose,\u201d said Corny, who was beginning to soften fast, \u201cit\u2019s your\nturn now to thry a glass of what never seen wather.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll take the\nglass, Dandy--deed will I--but the thruth is, I never dhrink it _hard_.\nNo, but I\u2019ll jist take a drop o\u2019 hot wather an\u2019 a grain o\u2019 sugar, an\u2019\nscald it; that an\u2019 as much carraway seeds us will lie upon a sixpence\ndoes me good; for, God help me, the stomach isn\u2019t at all sthrong wid me,\nin regard of bein\u2019 up so much at night, an\u2019 deprived of my nathural rest.\u201d\n\n\u201cRose,\u201d said one of them, \u201cis it thrue that you war called out one night,\nan\u2019 brought blindfoulded to some grand lady belongin\u2019 to the quality?\u201d\n\n\u201cWait, avick, till I make a drop o\u2019 _wan-grace_[1] for the misthress,\npoor thing; an\u2019, Corny, I\u2019ll jist throuble you for about a thimbleful o\u2019\nspirits to take the smell o\u2019 the wather off it. The poor creature, she\u2019s\na little weak still, an\u2019 indeed it\u2019s wonderful how she stood it out; but,\nmy dear, God\u2019s good to his own, an\u2019 fits the back to the burden, praise\nbe to his name!\u201d\n\nShe then proceeded to scald the drop of spirits for herself, or, in other\nwords, to mix a good tumbler of ladies\u2019 punch, making it, as the phrase\ngoes, hot, strong, and sweet--not forgetting the carraways, to give\nit a flavour. This being accomplished, she made the wan-grace for Mrs\nKeho, still throwing in a word now and then to sustain her part in the\nconversation, which was now rising fast into mirth, laughter, and clamour.\n\n\u201cWell, but, Rose, about the lady of quality, will you tell us that?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, many a thing happened me as well worth tellin\u2019, if you go to that;\nbut I\u2019ll tell it to you, childre, for sure the curiosity\u2019s nathural to\nyez. Why, I was one night at home an\u2019 asleep, an\u2019 I hears a horse\u2019s foot\ngallopin\u2019 for the bare life up to the door. I immediately put my head\nout, an\u2019 the horseman says, \u2018Are you Mrs Moan?\u2019\n\n\u2018That\u2019s the name that\u2019s an me, your honour,\u2019 says myself.\n\n\u2018Dress yourself thin,\u2019 says he, \u2018for you\u2019re sadly wanted; dress yourself\nand mount behind me, for there\u2019s not a moment to be lost!\u2019 At the same\ntime I forgot to say that his hat was tied about his face in sich a way\nthat I couldn\u2019t catch a glimpse of it. Well, my dear, we didn\u2019t let the\ngrass grow undher our feet for about a mile or so. \u2018Now,\u2019 says he, \u2018you\nmust allow yourself to be blindfoulded, an\u2019 it\u2019s useless to oppose it,\nfor it must be done. There\u2019s the character, may be the life, of a great\nlady at stake; so be quiet till I cover your eyes, or,\u2019 says he, lettin\u2019\nout a great oath, \u2018it\u2019ll be worse for you. I\u2019m a desperate man;\u2019 an\u2019,\nsure enough, I could feel the heart of him beatin\u2019 undher his ribs, as\nif it would burst in pieces. Well, my dears, what could I do in the\nhands of a man that was strong and desperate. \u2018So,\u2019 says I, \u2018cover my\neyes in welcome; only, for the lady\u2019s sake, make no delay.\u2019 Wid that he\ndashed his spurs into the poor horse, an\u2019 he foamin\u2019 an\u2019 smokin\u2019 like a\nlime-kiln already. Any way, in about half an hour I found myself in a\ngrand bedroom; an\u2019 jist as I was put into the door, he whishpers me to\nbring the child to him in the next room, as soon as it would be born.\nWell, sure I did so, afther lavin\u2019 the mother in a fair way. But what\n\u2019ud you have of it?--the first thing I see, lyin\u2019 an the table, was a\npurse of money an\u2019 a case o\u2019 pistols. Whin I looked at him, I thought the\ndevil, Lord guard us! was in his face, he looked so black and terrible\nabout the brows. \u2018Now, my good woman,\u2019 says he, \u2018so far you\u2019ve acted well,\nbut there\u2019s more to be done yet. Take your choice of these two,\u2019 says he,\n\u2018this purse, or the contents o\u2019 one o\u2019 these pistols, as your reward. You\nmust murdher the child upon the spot.\u2019 \u2018In the name of God an\u2019 his Mother,\nbe you man or devil, I defy you,\u2019 says I; \u2018no innocent blood \u2019ll ever be\nshed by these hands.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll give you ten minutes,\u2019 says he, \u2018to put an\nend to that brat there;\u2019 an\u2019 wid that he cocked one o\u2019 the pistols. My\ndears, I had nothin\u2019 for it but to say _in_ to myself a _pather_ an\u2019\n_ave_ as fast as I could, for I thought it was all over wid me. However,\nglory be to God! the prayers gave me great stringth, an\u2019 I spoke stoutly.\n\u2018Whin the king of Jerusalem,\u2019 says I--\u2018an\u2019 he was a greater man than ever\nyou\u2019ll be--whin the king of Jerusalem ordhered the midwives of Aigyp to\nput Moses to death, they wouldn\u2019t do it, and God preserved them in spite\nof him, king though he was,\u2019 says I; \u2018an\u2019 from that day to this it was\nnever known that a midwife took away the life of the babe she aided into\nthe world--No, an\u2019 I\u2019m not goin\u2019 to be the first that\u2019ll do it.\u2019 \u2018The\ntime is out,\u2019 says he, puttin\u2019 the pistol to my ear, \u2018but I\u2019ll give you\none minute more.\u2019 \u2018Let me go to my knees first,\u2019 says I; \u2018an\u2019 now may God\nhave mercy on my sowl, for, bad as I am, I\u2019m willin\u2019 to die, sooner than\ncommit murdher an the innocent.\u2019 He gave a start as I spoke, an\u2019 threw\nthe pistol down. \u2018Ay,\u2019 said he, \u2018an the innocent--an the innocent--that\nis thrue! But you are an extraordinary woman: you have saved that child\u2019s\nlife, and previnted me from committing two great crimes, for it was my\nintintion to murder you afther you had murdered it.\u2019 I thin, by his\nordhers, brought the poor child to its mother, and whin I came back\nto the room, \u2018Take that purse,\u2019 says he, \u2018an\u2019 keep it as a reward for\nyour honesty.\u2019 \u2018Wid the help o\u2019 God,\u2019 says I, \u2018a penny of it will never\ncome into my company, so it\u2019s no use to ax me.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 says he, \u2018afore\nyou lave this, you must swear not to mintion to a livin\u2019 sowl what has\nhappened this night, for a year and a day.\u2019 It didn\u2019t signify to me\nwhether I mintioned it or not; so being jack-indifferent about it, I tuck\nthe oath, and kept it. He thin bound my eyes agin, hoisted me up behind\nhim, an\u2019 in a short time left me at home. Indeed, I wasn\u2019t betther o\u2019 the\nstart it tuck out o\u2019 me for as good as six weeks afther!\u201d\n\nThe company now began to grow musical; several songs were sung; and\nwhen the evening got farther advanced, a neighbouring fiddler was\nsent for, and the little party had a dance in the barn, to which they\nadjourned lest the noise might disturb Mrs Keho, had they held it in the\ndwelling-house. Before this occurred, however, the \u201cmidwife\u2019s glass\u201d went\nthe round of the gossips, each of whom drank her health, and dropped some\nsilver, at the same time, into the bottom of it. It was then returned to\nher, and with a smiling face she gave the following toast:--\u201cHealth to\nthe parent stock! So long as it thrives, there will always be branches!\nCorny Keho, long life an\u2019 good health to you an\u2019 yours! May your son live\nto see himself as happy as his father! Youngsters, here\u2019s that you may\nfollow a good example! The company\u2019s health in general I wish; an\u2019, Paddy\nRafferty, that you may never have a blind child but you\u2019ll have a lame\none to lead it!--ha! ha! ha! What\u2019s the world widout a joke? I must see\nthe good woman an\u2019 my little son afore I go; but as I won\u2019t follow yez to\nthe barn, I\u2019ll bid yez good night, neighbours, an\u2019 the blessin\u2019 of Rose\nMoan be among yez!\u201d\n\nAnd so also do we take leave of our old friend Rose Moan, the Irish\nMidwife, who we understand took her last leave of the world only about a\ntwelvemonth ago.\n\n[1] A wan-grace is a kind of small gruel or meal tea sweetened with\nsugar.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BAROMETZ, OR TARTAN LAMB.\n\n\nBefore steam and all the other facilities for travel had made us so\nwell acquainted with the productions of remote parts of the earth as we\nare at present, every traveller on his return astonished his auditors\nor the readers of his works with accounts of monsters which existed\nonly as the creations of his ingenuity, and to give importance to his\ndiscoveries. One out of many which could be produced, and which, as\nthey may afford innocent amusement, we purpose from time to time to\nbring under the notice of the readers of the Penny Journal, we lately\nmet with in an account of Struy\u2019s Travels through Russia, Tartary, &c.,\nin the seventeenth century. The object of wonder was in this case the\nScythian or Tartarian lamb, a creature which, it was stated, sprang\nfrom the ground like a plant, and, restrained to the spot on which it\nwas produced, devoured every vegetable production within its reach, and\nwas itself in turn eaten by the wolves of the country. This singular\nproduction has since been found to be nothing more than a plant of the\nfern tribe, the _Aspedium barometz_, found occasionally in arid plains,\nwhere scarcely any other vegetable production can exist; it rises like\nmany others of the tree ferns with a rugged or shaggy stem; and the plant\nhaving decayed or been uprooted by any accident, it is not impossible\nthat by means of a storm or otherwise it might be found supported on its\nfeet, namely, the stumps of the leaves; but that it pastured on other\nplants, or was mistaken by the wolves for a lamb, although speculations\nwhich the wonder-seeking traveller might be tempted to indulge in, it\nneed hardly be said are ornamental additions introduced to suit the taste\nof the narrator, and to pander to that love of the marvellous which\nprevailed in the age in which he lived. The following is his account of\nthis wonderful plant-animal:--\n\n\u201cOn the western side of the Volga there is an elevated salt plain of\ngreat extent, but wholly uncultivated and uninhabited. On this plain\n(which furnishes all the neighbouring countries with salt) grows the\nboranez, or bornitch. This wonderful plant has the shape and appearance\nof a lamb, with feet, head, and tail distinctly formed. Boranez, in the\nlanguage of Muscovy, signifies a little lamb. Its skin is covered with\nvery white down, as soft as silk. The Tartars and Muscovites esteem it\nhighly, and preserve it with great care in their houses, where I have\nseen many such lambs. The sailor who gave me one of those precious plants\nfound it in a wood, and had its skin made into an under-waistcoat. I\nlearned at Astrican from those who were best acquainted with the subject,\nthat the lamb grows upon a stalk about three feet high, that the part\nby which it is sustained is a kind of navel, and that it turns itself\nround, and bends down to reach the herbage which serves it for food.\nThey also said that it dries up and pines away when the grass fails.\nTo this I objected, that the languor and occasional withering might be\nnatural to it, as plants are accustomed to fade at certain times. To\nthis they replied, that they had also once thought so, but that numerous\nexperiments had proved the contrary to be the fact, such as cutting\naway, or by other means corrupting or destroying the grass all around\nit; after which they assured me that it fell into a languishing state\nand decayed insensibly. These persons also added, that the wolves are\nvery fond of these vegetable lambs, and devour them with avidity, because\nthey resemble in taste the animals whose name they bear, and that in fact\nthey have bones, blood, and flesh, and hence they are called zoophytes,\nor plant-animals. Many other things I was likewise told, which might,\nhowever, appear scarcely probable to such as have not seen them.\u201d\n\n                                                                       M.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMETHOD OF MAKING TAR AT ARCHANGEL.--They dig a hole in the ground, of\nsufficient size, some two or three fathoms deep, and little more than\nhalf way down they make a platform of wood, and thereon heap earth about\na foot deep, except in the middle, where a hole is left in the form of\na tunnel. They then fill the pit with fir billets piled up from the\nplatform, and rising about a fathom or more above ground, which part they\nwall about with turf and clay to keep in the fire. They command the fire\nby quenching: for which use they make a lixivium of the ashes of fir.\nWhen all is ready, they set fire a-top, and keep the wood burning, but\nvery leisurely, till it has sunk within a foot or two of the partition;\nand then they heave out the fire as fast as it is possible; for if it\nonce laid hold of the tar which is settled down into the lower pit, it\nblows all up forthwith. These tar-pits take up a great deal of trouble,\nand many men to tend them during the time of their burning, that the fire\nmay descend even and leisurely, whereby the tar may have time to soak out\nof the wood, and settle down into the pit. As it comes from the wood it\nis pure tar, but in the pit it mixes with water, which issues from the\nwood also; therefore it is afterwards clarified.--_Life of Sir Dudley\nNorth._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAURORA BOREALIS.--According to Crantz, the Greenlanders hold the northern\nlights for a game of tennis, or for a dance of departed souls; and this\nopinion is not a whit more irrational than the superstition of the\noriental nations, the Greeks and Romans, and all the unenlightened people\nof the middle ages, who, in the aurora borealis, and other fiery meteors,\nsaw fighting armies, flaming swords, chariots and spears, battles and\nblood, and even thought that they heard the clashing of arms and the\nsound of martial music. In the rainbow the ancient inhabitants of the\nnorth discovered a bridge from earth to heaven, and called it the bridge\nof the gods, which was watched by a dog, whom no art could elude, and\nwhose auditory faculty was such, that he could hear the grass grow or the\nwool on the sheep\u2019s back; the Kamschatkadales make of it a new garment\nfor their a\u00ebrial spirits, edged with fringes of red-coloured seal-skin,\nand leather thongs of various gaudy dyes.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ISLE OF SAINTS.\n\n\u201cPrimus ordo sanctissimus; secundus ordo sanctior; tertius sanctus.\nPrimus sicut sol ardescit; secundus sicut luna; tertius sicut\nstell\u00e6.\u201d--See the ancient catalogue of the three classes of Irish saints,\nas published by Usher and Lanigan.\n\n\n    There lived to Erin\u2019s hallowed borders,\n    In days of yore, three saintly Orders.\n    And first, the simply HOLY:--They\n    Shed like the stars a flickering ray.\n    The second--HOLIER--poured a light\n    Moon-like, subdued and calmly bright.\n    The third, or HOLIEST of all,\n    Shone like the sun--or like Saint Paul.\n\n    But, oh, the state of man\u2019s unrest\n    In good!--the _last_ were first and best.\n    The _middle_ but a term between\n    The purest and the least serene;\n    Less than the greatest--greater far\n    Than those whose emblem is the star.\n    Waning they ran a downward race,\n    With fainter faith and lessening grace,\n    Till, reaching to the stage most lowly,\n    The least and latest were the Holy.\n\n    Oh, that they there had staid!--that sin\n    Had, to this swept and garnished inn\n    Returning, found the entrance barred,\n    And Faith still keeping watch and ward!--\n    Alas!--they slept in Ease\u2019s bower;\n    They could not \u201cwatch one little hour.\u201d\n    The stars their ineffectual light\n    In slumber sealed. The thief by night\n    Entered; and o\u2019er the rich domain\n    Sowed tares among the better grain.\n    Sin flourished;--poverty and strife\n    Embittered all the charms of life;\n    And passion, with unbounded sway,\n    Swept sun and moon and stars away.\n\n    And yet not ever such, sweet Isle,\n    Shall be thy fate. The stars shall smile\n    Again upon thy valleys green,\n    Again the moon shall beam serene\n    Upon thy mountains; and the bright\n    Celestial sun clothe thee with light,\n    With plenty bless, and warm and cheer\n    Thy long-delayed millenial year.\n\n    Even now the sacred morning dawns,\n    The clouds are fleeting from thy lawns;\n    And, as light thickens in the sky,\n    Lo! Riot and Intemperance fly;\n    And chaste sobriety imparts\n    Her cup, and Industry his arts.\n    Peace, Love, and Holiness once more\n    Row their sweet ark towards thy shore;\n    And Heaven renews the favouring smile\n    That made thee once the SAINTLY ISLE.\n\n\n\n\nANIMAL CHARMING, OR THE SUBJUGATION OF ANIMALS BY MEANS OF CHARMS,\nSPELLS, OR DRUGS.\n\nThird and Concluding Article.\n\n\nIn my last paper I endeavoured to show how exceedingly absurd and\nunfounded was the notion of the Abb\u00e9 Dubois and Denon, that the\nserpent-charmers of India were and are a set of juggling impostors,\nwho practise on the credulity of the vulgar, and vainly set forward\npretensions to an art which has no actual existence, and which,\nconsequently, possesses no legitimate claims on the attention of the\nphilosophic inquirer. I now wish to bring all that I would observe upon\nthis very curious subject to a conclusion. I acknowledge my inability\nto furnish my readers with a thorough explanation of the means by which\nthese wonders are performed, but I think I may be able, at all events, to\nsuggest such hints as may place them on the direct path to the attainment\nof the knowledge they desire; after which, nothing will be necessary\nbut some degree of research and perseverance to afford them a complete\ngratification of their wishes.\n\nIt is evident, that whatever may be the supplementary means employed in\nserpent-charming, music is necessary to its accomplishment. I should not\nbe satisfied on this point were it merely dependent upon the assertions\nof the jugglers themselves, as in such case it might not unnaturally be\nset down as a mere external cloak for some more important secret which\nthe performers did not wish to be discovered; and for this reason I made\nthe observation in my first article on this subject, that the precise\nimportance of the music in these operations was not as yet entirely\napparent. I wish it to be understood, however, that although the degree\nof importance in which music should be held as an adjunct to the charming\nof snakes, or as a primary part of the process, has not as yet been\nascertained by those who have investigated or endeavoured to investigate\nthe business, and published the results of their inquiries, I for my\npart am fully satisfied on the subject. To return, however, to our more\nimmediate matter of discussion.\n\nMany have conceived that serpent-charming depends in the first instance\nupon the snakes being previously deprived of their fangs, and thus\nrendered innocuous. This opinion I have already demonstrated as palpably\nerroneous. Others, again, hold that the jugglers possess a power, by\neating certain herbs, or chewing the leaves or roots of certain plants,\nof rendering themselves proof against animal poisons. In order to render\nthemselves perfectly secure, it is said that their practice is to chew\nthe herbs, to inoculate various parts of their body with the juice, and\neven bathe themselves in water in which these herbs have been steeped.\nIt is supposed that the bodies of the charmers thus become not merely\nproof against the most deadly poison should they chance to be bitten,\nbut that those thus prepared exhale from their persons an odour which\nproduces a benumbing or stupifying effect upon the reptiles, and renders\nthem an easy capture. Whether or not it be true that such is the case,\nwe know that the Psylli not merely profess the power of charming snakes,\nbut also that of curing by spells, and the application of certain herbs,\nsuch as have been bitten by them. We are informed by the historian and\nbiographer Plutarch, that Cato in his march through the desert took with\nhim many of those persons called Psylli (then a distinct tribe, though at\nthe present day that name is applied indiscriminately to all professing\nthe art of serpent-charming) to suck out the poison from the wounds of\nany of his soldiers that might chance to be bitten by any of the numerous\nvenomous serpents which infested his route. The powers of the Psylli were\nthen always attributed to magic, and the performers themselves took care\nto confirm that opinion by accompanying the application of remedies to\ntheir patients with muttered spells or elaborately wrought and imposing\nincantations. This is a testimony respecting the ancient repute in which\ncharmers were held, not lightly to be rejected.\n\nWhile some travellers are too sceptical, I have likewise to complain\nthat others are too credulous. For instance, while Dubois and Denon\nscout the idea of serpents being charmed at all, Bruce asserts, and\nthat from minute personal observation, that all the blacks of Sennaar\nare completely armed by nature against the bite of either scorpion or\nviper. \u201cThey will,\u201d says he, \u201ctake their horned snakes (there the most\ncommon and one of the most fatal of the viper tribe) in their hands at\nall times, put them in their bosoms, and throw them at one another as\nchildren will balls or apples, during which sport the serpents are seldom\nirritated to bite, or if they do, no mischief results from the wound.\u201d Of\ncourse it must be evident that Bruce in this instance ascribed rather too\nmuch to the bounty of nature, and forgot how far art might have aided in\nproducing the appearance which astonished him.\n\nDon Pedro D\u2019Orbies Y. Vargas, who published in the year 1791 the result\nof a series of investigations he instituted to ascertain the secret on\nwhich serpent-charming depended, informs us that it is also extensively\npractised by the natives of South America, and that they produce the\nwished-for end by means of a certain plant named the quacho-mithy, so\ndesignated from its having been first observed to have been resorted\nto by the serpent-hawk, or, as the bird is sometimes styled, the\n\u201cquacho-mithy,\u201d and by it sucked, preparatory to its encounters with\nthe poisonous reptiles which it fought with and destroyed for its prey.\nTaking the hint from the naturally and instinctively instructed bird,\nthe Indians chewed the plant thus discovered, and inoculated and washed\ntheir bodies with its juice, rubbing it into punctures made in their\nbreasts, hands, and feet; and, thus prepared, they dreaded not the bite\nof the most venomous snake. Don Pedro himself, and the domestics of\nhis household, used after these simple precautions to venture into the\nthickest woods and the most dangerous meadows, and fearlessly seize in\ntheir hands the largest and most poisonous serpents; the creatures seemed\nas if under the influence of a sort of charm or fascination, and very\nrarely attempted to bite; and at any rate, even if they did, no evil\nconsequence resulted from the wound beyond the temporary inconvenience\nproduced by the laceration of the flesh by the animals\u2019 teeth.\n\nThe same gentleman to whom I was indebted for the anecdote of the\nencounter with the cobra de capella, mentioned in a preceding paper,\ninformed me that he had detected a snake-charmer in the act of chewing\nand inoculating himself with some plant, the name or character of\nwhich he could not however ascertain, though he offered the juggler a\nconsiderable sum for the information. One of the leaves of this plant,\nand the only one he saw, he states to have been of a long and narrow\nform, with the sides indented or scolloped, somewhat like those of our\nown common dandelion.\n\nNow, it appears to me by no means difficult of deduction from the\nfacts brought forward in this and the preceding papers on the same\nsubject, that the secret of the snake-charmers is dependent upon two\ningredients, viz, in the first place the employment of an antidote which\nwill not only mollify the effects of the reptiles\u2019 venom, should the\nexperimenters happen to be bitten, but, from some peculiar odour which it\nemits, stupify or intoxicate the snake, and indispose it from violence,\ninclining it rather to appreciate the melody with which they are treating\nit, and luxuriate in hearing of their fife; and, in the second place, the\nsounds of music which the whole class of reptiles appear more or less to\nbe sensible of, and which will induce the serpents to quit their holes\nwhen they come within the sphere of the influence of the intoxicating\nodour, and, abandoning themselves to its effects, fall into a state\nof temporary oblivion, and are taken captive. We ourselves are well\nacquainted with several substances which are capable of producing upon\nsuch creatures as we are conversant with in these islands, effects no\nless astonishing than those produced upon the snakes by the charmers of\nIndia or South America. It is, for instance, a very common thing, and\nan experiment I have not only often seen tried, but have tried myself\ndozens of times, and that with success, to charm trout, perch, or roach,\nwith assaf\u0153tida. If you sprinkle this substance, finely powdered, upon\nthe surface of the water, you will presently see the fish crowding to\nthe spot; and even if you rub your hands well with it, and, gradually\napproaching the water, gently immerse them in it, you will ere long find\nthe fish attracted towards you, and, losing their natural timidity,\nactually permit themselves to be taken. Many have imagined that it was\nupon the use of a certain drug that the wonderful power possessed and\nsuccessfully exerted by Sullivan, the whisperer, depended; but for my\npart I think the circumstance of Sullivan\u2019s son having been unable\nto produce similar effects, although instructed by his father in the\nmystery, is sufficient to show that Sullivan\u2019s trick depended upon some\nmeans less certain in operation than the mere employment of a drug would\nbe, and in which mechanical dexterity and personal bearing occupied\nplaces of no mean importance.\n\nRat-catchers used formerly to employ certain drugs, or combinations of\nthem, to collect these vermin into one place, and thus destroy them\nwholesale, or to entice them into the trap; and it has been pretended by\nsome worthy members of this ancient and mystic calling, that they are\npossessed of secrets by which they can, if they please, draw away all the\nrats from any premises on which they may be employed. I have, however,\nsought after the most _talented_ living professors of rat-catching,\nand I cannot say I have ever witnessed miracles equal to that. I have,\nhowever, _seen_ a trap placed in a cellar haunted by rats, and left\nthere all night, filled next morning with these vermin to the number of\nthirty, and surrounded by a host of others, who actually could not enter\nfrom want of room! I have _seen_ a tame white rat smeared with a certain\ncomposition, let loose in a vault, and in less than half an hour return,\nfollowed by at least half a dozen others, who appeared so enamoured of\nthe white-coloured decoy, or of some scent that hung about him, that\nthey suffered themselves to be taken alive in the rat-catcher\u2019s hand,\nand never so much as offer to bite. I purchased this secret from an old\nrat-catcher, and have much pleasure in communicating it to the public,\nand more especially to the discriminating patrons of the Irish Penny\nJournal. It consists of the following simple preparation:--\n\n    Powdered assaf\u0153tida         2 grains.\n    Essential oil of rhodium    3 drachms.\n    Essential oil of lavender   1 scruple.\n    Oil of aniseed              1 drachm.\n\nLet the assaf\u0153tida be first well triturated with the aniseed, then add\nthe oil of rhodium, still continuing to rub the material well up together\nin a mortar, after which add the oil of lavender, and cork up the mixture\nin a close bottle until required. The method of employing this receipt is\nvery simple, and consists merely in smearing the decoy rat with it, in\nmixing a few drops of it with a little flour or starch, and employing the\npaste thus formed as a bait for the trap; and if you anoint your hands\nwith this mixture, you may put them into a cage full of rats without\nthe slightest danger of a bite. I have done so repeatedly myself, and\nnever got bitten unless when I had prepared the composition improperly,\nor displayed timidity in proceeding to handle the animals--a defect of\ndemeanour which appears capable of counteracting the working of the charm.\n\nThe liking which rats exhibit for the perfume produced by the above\nsimple composition is truly wonderful, but will be readily admitted,\neven while as yet its efficacy remains untested, by any person who has\nwitnessed the passion exhibited by cats for valerian, or of dogs for\ngalbanum, and after much consideration and attentive observation I have\ncome to the conclusion that the effects produced by different substances\nupon these animals have a common origin, viz., in the peculiar odour\ncalling into play the sexual appetite, and that too in a more than\ncommonly energetic manner; of course I only mean to apply this latter\nobservation to the case of dogs, rats, and cats. I have no intention\nof thus seeking to explain away the effect produced upon serpents\nor fishes by certain odours, accompanied by music; indeed, in these\ninstances I should rather ascribe the effects produced to a sort of\nintoxicating, fascinating influence, bearing no distant resemblance to\nthe power exercised towards other animals by many of the serpent tribe\nthemselves. The fascination of the rattle-snake, for example, seems in a\ngreat measure to depend upon the agency of a certain intoxicating odour\nwhich the reptile has the power of producing at pleasure. In support of\nthis opinion I may adduce the testimony of Major A. Gordon, who thus\nexplains the fascination of serpents in a paper read before the New York\nHistorical Society. He adduced various facts in support of his opinions,\nand amongst the rest mentions a negro, who could by smell alone discover\na rattle-snake when in the exercise of this power, at the distance of\ntwo hundred feet, and who, following such indications, never failed of\nfinding some poor animal drawn within its vortex, and in vain struggling\nwith the irresistible influence. By no means remotely allied to charming\nand fascination would appear to be that mysterious and as yet doubtful\npower, animal magnetism, a subject on which I shall not dilate, as it\nhardly falls within the limits indicated by the heading of this paper,\nwhich has now run to a length considerably greater than I contemplated\nat starting; and consequently I think it time to take my leave, trusting\nI have at least given a clue to the great secret on which depends the\nmagical influence of the serpent-charmer.\n\n                                                                 H. D. R.\n\n\n\n\nWHY DO ROOTS GROW DOWNWARDS, AND STEMS TOWARDS THE HEAVENS?\n\nSecond Article.\n\n\nOur readers may remember a very simple experiment, but pregnant with\nimportant results, which we described in our former article: namely,\nif an onion plant, exposed to day light, be laid horizontally on the\nground, the extremities of the stem and roots will in the course of a\nfew hours turn themselves in their natural directions, the one upwards\nand the other downwards; if a similar plant be placed in a dark cellar,\nto which no light has access, the same things will take place; but that\nwhich happens in a few hours in the one instance, will require as many\ndays in the other. From this experiment we were led to conclude that in\nthe production of the proper directions of stems and roots, two classes\nof causes operate, namely, the light; and, secondly, some other principle\ndistinct from light. Our former article was devoted to the explanation\nof the manner in which light causes stems to ascend, and roots to\ndescend; we shall now endeavour to investigate that other principle, less\npowerful, but more universal, which shares in the production of the same\nphenomena.\n\nIf the flower stalk of the common dandelion be split vertically into a\nnumber of portions, each of these will be seen, spontaneously, to curl\noutwards; the same tendency must be familiar to every one in celery\ndressed for the table; if the root of the dandelion be split vertically\ninto two or more parts, these will likewise be found to curve, but in a\ncontrary direction from those of the stem; they will curl inwards. We\nthus find that all the portions of stem placed round the central axis\nhave a natural tendency to curl outwards; while all the portions of root\nround the central axis have a tendency to curl inwards. The stem may be\ntherefore considered as consisting of a number of springs placed round a\ncentral axis, and all endeavouring to burst away from each other; while\nthe root, in a like manner, may be regarded as composed of a number of\nsprings placed round a central axis, and all pressing against each other.\nThese natural tendencies are overcome, in the living plant, by the mutual\ncohesion of these parts or springs; but when this cohesion is removed by\nthe knife, their influence becomes acknowledged.\n\nNow, if we imagine a number of springs, all of equal strength, and either\ndragging away from each other or pressing together, it will be easily\nunderstood that in such cases perfect equilibrium should result: for, of\ntwo springs pulling in opposite directions, for either to overcome, it\nis necessary that one should be the more powerful; and the same applies\nto springs pressing against each other. As long, therefore, as a stem\nconsists of a number of equal springs, all endeavouring to burst away\nfrom each other, its direction will be in a straight line; and as long\nas a root is composed of equal springs pressing towards each other, its\ndirection, likewise, will be straight.\n\nIf a stem or root be placed for a certain length of time in a horizontal\nposition, the peculiar tendency to curvation of its parts will become\nmodified. If a stem which has been thus treated be split along its axis,\nthe part which, while it was in a horizontal position, was superior, will\nhave its tendency to curl outwards increased; while that which was under\nthe same circumstances inferior, will have its tendency to curl outwards\ndiminished. If a root be placed, during a certain period, horizontally,\nand then split along its axis, the superior portion will be found to have\nits tendency to curl inwards increased, while the inferior portion will\nhave the same tendency diminished. A horizontal position is therefore\nfound to increase the peculiar tendencies to curvation of the superior\nparts of stems and roots, and to lessen those of the inferior half.\n\nNow, we have already ascertained that while equal springs either pull\nagainst or press towards each other, equilibrium is obtained; but if\nfrom any cause the springs become unequal, the greater power may be\nexpected to overcome the less. When a stem or root has been kept for\nsome time horizontally, the upper half has its elastic power increased,\nwhile the spring of the most depending portion has become diminished;\nwe have therefore now springs of unequal power placed round a central\naxis, the superior being rendered more energetic, while their antagonists\nhave become weakened; it is reasonable, therefore, to expect that the\nrespective directions of roots and stems under such circumstances should\nbe obedient to the excess of elasticity which the upper half has acquired\nover the lower; in other words, these stems and roots ought to direct\nthemselves in accordance with the natural tendencies of the superior\nsprings which enter into the structure of these organs. Now, the superior\nsprings of the stems have a natural tendency to curl outwards, or when\nplaced horizontally, upwards; and the superior half of the root has an\nequally natural tendency to curl inwards, or, when placed horizontally,\ndownwards. Need we be surprised, therefore, if in obedience to these more\npowerful springs the stems and roots of vegetables shall (as experience\nshows us they will do) curve, after having been placed for some time in a\nhorizontal position, the former upward and the latter downward?\n\nLet us now endeavour to explain the causes which produce these peculiar\nand different tendencies to curvation of stems and roots, and for this\npurpose it will be necessary for us to premise, that the fleshy substance\nwhich constitutes the basis of vegetable structure is composed of a\nmultitude of little vesicles or cells, each perfectly distinct in itself,\nand merely adhering by its external surface with those surrounding it,\nwhile it contains a thick syrupy liquid; these cells, although pressed to\na certain extent against each other, are not so closely approached as to\nobliterate completely the spaces existing between them, so that little\npassages, called intercellular passages, continue to remain, during the\nlife of the plant, between the cells through which the ascending sap\nrises in its passage to the buds. This ascending sap is not so viscid\na liquid as that contained in the cells: thus, the syrupy contents of\nthe latter must, according to the principle of endosmose described in\na previous article, absorb into the cells the ascending sap, in a way\nsimilar to that whereby syrup placed in a bladder, immersed in a basin\nof water, will attract the latter liquid through the membrane, until the\nbladder be filled. While the sap continues to ascend, therefore, the\ncells must necessarily continue swollen in proportion to their size.\n\nIf we examine the relative size of the cells in stems and roots, we\nwill meet with a remarkable phenomenon: in stems the largest cells are\nsituated towards the centre; but on the contrary, in roots, the largest\ncells are placed near the circumference. Now, we have ascertained in\nthe preceding paragraph that all the cells have a tendency to swell in\nproportion to their size: it follows that the central cells of stems\nand the circumferential cells of roots possess the greatest tendency to\nswell. The centre of a stem has therefore greater elasticity than the\ncircumference, while the circumference of a root has greater elasticity\nthan the centre. When this elasticity in either case is permitted to\nexert itself by means of a vertical section, it causes each half of the\nstem to curl outwards, and each half of the root to curl inwards. If the\ninfluence of endosmose be acknowledged, the explanation is perfect.\n\nBut it may be said, what proof have we that endosmose operates in these\ncases? An experiment instituted by Dutrochet, and repeated by the writer\nof this article, sufficiently demonstrates its influence. A plant of\ndandelion was immersed in syrup, and after a certain time the root and\nstalk were severally split in a vertical direction: the tendencies to\nincurvation of these organs were now seen to be completely changed from\nwhat they are under ordinary circumstances; the parts of the stalk curled\ninwards, those of the root outwards: this was exactly what might be\nexpected, if we suppose endosmose to be the cause of these phenomena;\nplaced in syrup, this thick fluid attracted liquid out of the cells,\nwhich consequently shrunk in place of expanding; and the larger cells\ncontracting more than the smaller, the former elasticities became\nreversed.\n\nIt remains to be seen why it is that when roots and stems are planted\nfor some time in a horizontal position, the proper elasticities of the\nsuperior parts become increased, while those of the inferior become\ndiminished. These phenomena can be explained by recollecting that the\nascending sap is a heterogeneous fluid, composed of mucilage and syrup,\nmixed with light water and carbonic acid, which have been drawn up\nunchanged from the extremities of the roots, and are destined to escape,\nor undergo decomposition in the leaves. It is not difficult to imagine\nthat this heterogeneous fluid contained in the intercellular passages\nshould be subjected to the influence of gravity; if this be admitted,\nwe can then understand how in a horizontal root or stem the heavier and\nmore viscid portion of the sap should descend into the inferior half,\nand the lighter ascend between the cells of the superior half; endosmose\nwill take place in proportion to the difference of density between the\nliquid in the intercellular passages and that contained in the cells;\ntherefore it will take place more energetically in the superior half,\nwhere is the lighter fluid; and as the elasticity depends upon the\nenergy of endosmose, the upper portion will, according to its nature,\ncurve with greater force, while the elasticity of the lower part will be\nlessened. This explanation acquires increased weight from the fact that\nthe specific gravity of the most depending portions of stems and roots\ngrowing horizontally in the dark, is greater than that of the upper.\n\nBut we have stronger arguments in favour of the supposition that gravity\nis essentially connected with the several directions of stems and roots.\nThese directions take place naturally in the \u201cline of gravity,\u201d that\nis, parallel to a line drawn from the centre of the mass towards the\ncentre of the earth; at the same time it is to be remarked, that although\nroots grow in the direction of gravity, that is, towards the centre of\nthe earth, stems grow in exactly the opposite way. An experiment made\nby Mr Knight has been repeated by different philosophers, to determine\nwhether these directions of stems and roots bear to other physical laws\nthe same relation they do to gravity. Seeds permitted to germinate in\nwet moss were attached to the circumference of a wheel made to revolve\nconstantly in a vertical manner; under these circumstances the roots grew\noutwards, away from the circumference of the wheel, and the stems towards\nits centre; the roots were thus found to obey the centrifugal force,\nand the stems the centripetal; but while the wheel revolved vertically,\ngravity and the centrifugal force were operating in the same direction.\nIt was necessary to cause them to act in different directions, and for\nthis purpose the wheel was made to revolve horizontally: in this case\nthe centrifugal force acted at right angles to the line of gravity, and\nit was accordingly found, in obedience to the law of the composition of\nforces, that the roots no longer grew towards the centre of the earth,\nnor towards the circumference of the wheel, but in a plane between these\ntwo forces; and the angle which they formed with the line of gravity\ncould be rendered more or less acute by increasing or diminishing the\nvelocity with which the wheel rotated. It was thus made evident that\nroots and stems were influenced by physical laws, although growing in\nopposite directions.\n\nWe have thus shown why roots grow downwards and stems towards the\nheavens: in the dark these things arise through the influence of gravity\ncontrolling endosmose, and thus producing the proper incurvations of the\nparts of stems and roots. Under the influence of light the same phenomena\nmore energetically arise from the agency of this element over vegetable\ngrowth.\n\n                                                                    J. A.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LADY WITH THE SPECTACLES.\n\n\nBeauty in spectacles is like Cupid in knee breeches, or the Graces with\npocket handkerchiefs--an excrescence of refinement; an innovation of the\nideas which spiritualize woman into a goddess; a philosophical blossom\nof the \u201cmarch of mind.\u201d Beauty in spectacles! and has it come to this?\nBurke said that the age of chivalry was past, and publishers say that\nthe age of poetry has followed it; powder and periwigs destroyed the\none, and spectacles have gone far to annihilate the other. Think of the\nqueen of beauty of some tournament--thanks to my Lord Eglintoun for\nmaking such words familiar to us--looking on the encountering knights\nthrough a patent pair of spectacles!--picture to yourself a beautiful\nand romantic young lady parting from her lover, taking the \u201cfirst long\nlingering kiss of love,\u201d as pretty Miss Pardoe terms it, and just imagine\nthe figure the spectacles would cut in such an encounter; think of Mary\nQueen of Scots, Lady Jane Grey, Scott\u2019s \u201cJewess,\u201d or Shakspeare\u2019s \u201cLady\nMacbeth,\u201d with such appendages! I think of a heroine in a novel taking\noff her spectacles to shed \u201csalt tears\u201d for her lover\u2019s absence, or in\nthe emotion of a distressing juncture throwing herself at the feet of\nsome obdurate tyrant, breaking the lenses of her \u201csight preservers;\u201d\nthink of all this, and judge of the effect which spectacles, as an\nornament, have upon romance. Beauty has three stages--the coy, the\ndignified, and the intellectual. The first exists until about twenty,\nthe second until twenty-five, and the last until beauty has made unto\nitself wings and flown away. It is in this last stage that women wear\nspectacles. The symptoms of spectacles begin at an early age. The young\nMiss has a primness, a staidness, and a miniature severity of aspect, at\nvariance from her years. They never seem young; there is no freshness\nof heart in them: they become women faster than other girls, and become\nold faster than other women; they are remarkable for thin lips, sharp\nnoses, and white artificial teeth. They are walking strictures upon\nhuman life--bleak visions of philosophy in petticoats--daughters, not it\nwould seem of love, but of Fellows of the Royal Society! They are fond\nof phrenology and meetings of scientific associations. They like a good\npew in church, and write long letters to their unfortunate \u201cfriends in\nthe country.\u201d They are generally spinsters, or, if married, motherless.\nNo young wife with \u201csix small children\u201d ever wore spectacles. They go a\ngood deal into company, where they are seen seated on sofas talking to\nladies older than themselves, or turning over the leaves of a book, and\nwith interesting abstraction poring over it. They dance quadrilles, but\nnever waltz. Heaven and earth! think of a pair of spectacles whirling\nin a waltz. They have a genius for the \u201cscholastic profession,\u201d and\nfrequently exercise it as amateurs \u201cnever eat suppers;\u201d and are, many of\nthem, members of the Horticultural Society. The lady with the spectacles!\nHalf a century ago this would have been understood to refer to some\none stricken in years, but now-a-days infirmity of eye-sight has been\nraised to the rank of a charm. The moment spectacles become really\nuseful they are abandoned; it is the harmonious combination of youth and\nshort-sightedness which gives beauty to the guise. Intense interest is\nexpected to be felt towards her, who, still young and lovely, abandons\nthe frivolities of her sex for the calm secluded pleasures of intellect.\nThis is the point our heroines aim at. But we have done with them. They\nmay be very good in their way, but their ways are not as our ways.\nFlirts, coquettes, prudes, and a host of other orders into which the\nsex are classified, have their failings, but they, at least, are women;\nwhile the \u201clady with the spectacles\u201d seems hardly a daughter of Eve,\nbut a mysterious being; a new creation, come into the world to gladden\nthe lovers of modern science, and patronise the house of Solomons and\nCo.--_Court Gazette._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMARRIAGE.--It is the happiest and most virtuous state of society, in\nwhich the husband and wife set out early together, make their property\ntogether, and with perfect sympathy of soul graduate all their expenses,\nplans, calculations and desires, with reference to their present\nmeans, and to their future and common interest. Nothing delights me\nmore than to enter the neat little tenement of the young couple, who\nwithin perhaps two or three years, without any resources but their own\nknowledge or industry, have joined heart and hand, and engage to share\ntogether the responsibilities, duties, interests, trials, and pleasures\nof life. The industrious wife is cheerfully employing her own hands in\ndomestic duties, putting her house in order, or mending her husband\u2019s\nclothes, or preparing the dinner, whilst, perhaps, the little darling\nsits prattling upon the floor, or lies sleeping in the cradle--and\neverything seems preparing to welcome the happiest of husbands and the\nbest of fathers, when he shall come from his toil to enjoy the sweets\nof his little paradise. This is the true domestic pleasure, the \u201conly\nbliss that survived the fall.\u201d Health, contentment, love, abundance,\nand bright prospects, are all here. But it has become a prevalent\nsentiment, that a man must acquire his fortune before he marries--that\nthe wife must have no sympathy, nor share with him in the pursuit of\nit, in which most of the pleasure truly consists; and the young married\npeople must set out with as large and expensive an establishment as is\nbecoming those who have been wedded for 20 years. This is very unhappy.\nIt fills the community with bachelors, who are waiting to make their\nfortunes, endangering virtue and promoting vice--it destroys the true\neconomy and design of the domestic institution, and it promotes idleness\nand inefficiency among females, who are expecting to be taken up by a\nfortune, and passively sustained, without any care or concern on their\npart--and thus many a wife becomes, as a gentleman once remarked, not a\n\u201chelp-mate,\u201d but a \u201chelp-eat.\u201d--_Winslow._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    Printed and published every Saturday by GUNN and CAMERON, at\n    the Office of the General Advertiser. No. 6, Church Lane,\n    College Green, Dublin.--Agents:--R. GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley,\n    Paternoster Row, London; SIMMS and DINHAM, Exchange Street,\n    Manchester; C. DAVIES, North John Street, Liverpool; SLOCOMBE and\n    SIMMS, Leeds; J. MENZIES, Prince\u2019s Street, Edinburgh; and DAVID\n    ROBERTSON, Trongate, Glasgow.","title":"The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 40, April 3, 1841","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":11676}