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Give us food, or we must perish!
Give me food for Minnehaha,
For my dying Minnehaha!"

Through the far-resounding forest,
Through the forest vast and vacant,
Rang that cry of desolation;
But there came no other answer
Than the echo of his crying,
Than the echo of the woodlands,
"Minnehaha! Minnehaha!"

All day long roved Hiawatha
In that melancholy forest,

Through the shadow of whose thickets,
In the pleasant days of Summer,

Of that ne'er forgotten Summer,

He had brought his young wife homeward
From the land of the Dacotahs;
When the birds sang in the thickets,
And the streamlets laughed and glistened,
And the air was full of fragrance,
And the lovely Laughing Water

Said with voice that did not tremble,
"I will follow you, my husband!"

In the wigwam with Nokomis,

With those gloomy guests, that watched her,
With the Famine and the Fever,
She was lying, the Beloved,
She the dying Minnehaha.

"Hark!" she said; "I hear a rushing, Hear a roaring and a rushing, Hear the Falls of Minnehaha Calling to me from a distance!" "No, my child!" said old Nokomis, ""Tis the night-wind in the pine-trees!" "Look!" she said; "I see my father Standing lonely at his doorway, Beckoning to me from his wigwam

In the land of the Dacotahs!"

"No, my child!" said old Nokomis,

""Tis the smoke, that waves and beckons!" "Ah!" she said, "the eyes of Pauguk

Glare upon me in the darkness,

I can feel his icy fingers

Clasping mine amid the darkness!
Hiawatha! Hiawatha!"

And the desolate Hiawatha,

Far away amid the forest,

Miles away among the mountains,

Heard that sudden cry of anguish,
Heard the voice of Minnehaha
Calling to him in the darkness,
"Hiawatha! Hiawatha!"

Over snow-fields waste and pathless,
Under snow-encumbered branches,
Homeward hurried Hiawatha,
Empty-handed, heavy-hearted,
Heard Nokomis moaning, wailing :
"Wahonomin! Wahonomin !
Would that I had perished for you,
Would that I were dead as you are!
Wahonomin! Wahonomin!"

And he rushed into the wigwam,
Saw the old Nokomis slowly
Rocking to and fro and moaning,
Saw his lovely Minnehaha
Lying dead and cold before him,
And his bursting heart within him
Uttered such a cry of anguish,

That the forest moaned and shuddered,
That the very stars in heaven

Shook and trembled with his anguish.
Then he sat down, still and speechless,
On the bed of Minnehaha,

At the feet of Laughing Water,

At those willing feet that never

More would run lightly to meet him, Never more would lightly follow.

HIAWATHA'S LAMENTATION. "Farewell!" said he, " Minnehaha! Farewell, O my Laughing Water! All my heart is buried with you, All my thoughts go onward with you! Come not back again to labour, Come not back again to suffer, Where the Famine and the Fever Wear the heart and waste the body. Soon my task will be completed, Soon your footsteps I shall follow To the Islands of the Blessed, To the Kingdom of Ponemah,

To the Land of the Hereafter!"

We have heard the free use of Indian expressions in this poem censured as evidences of affectation, and the words laughed at as being in themselves ridiculous. We consider this species of criticism unworthy of serious comment. The words employed by Mr. Longfellow are so employed to give truth and colour, as it were, to the story. For ourselves, we are unable to discover anything more laughable in such words as Minnehaha, Hiawatha, Nokomis, Kennabeeck, or Meema, than in Punkah, Tiffin, Caboose, Musnud, Chibouque, or the thousand and one words which we borrow from the dialects of the East, and which freely garnish, not only our books of Oriental travel, but are admired as peculiar embellishments when introduced into poetry, if Moore is the poet and "Lalla Rookh" the poem. So much for mere fashion. As far as euphony of sound and poetry of signification are concerned, our Red brothers" are certainly not less happy in their nomenclature of men and things than Persians, Turks, or Hindoos. Why, the word Niagara is a poem in itself.

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Moore, with a wonderful complacency of conceit, tells us, in his prefaces to his poems, all the sugared speeches which have been made to him by Whig lords and literary ladies, and quotes Luttrell's verses to him,

"I'm told, dear Moore, your lays are sung
(Can it be true, you lucky man?)
By moonlight, in the Persian tongue,
Along the streets of Ispahan;'

which Mr. Moore goes on to say is by no
means improbable. If the
the Ojibways and
Sioux (or Dacotahs, as they are more eupho-
niously styled in this volume) have poetry,
gratitude, or piety enough to appreciate the
beautiful mythology here presented to them,
Mr. Longfellow's name will be changed to
Chibiabos (the sweet singer); and the manly
lessons of Hiawatha will nerve them even now
to throw off the vices of their degeneracy, to
forswear the white man's fire-water and the
white man's sins, and to heal their suicidal feuds,
and to become once more, in the still farther
West, a happy and a united people.

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The Chemistry of Common Life. By JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON, M.A., F.R.S., Author of "Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology." In 2 vols. Wm. Blackwood and Sons.

THIS is a book we like. The information it contains, the language in which that information is conveyed to us, and the general arrange ment of its contents must render this work very acceptable to a large class of readers.

It will be acceptable to the governess in the school-room, and will enable and assist her to point out, to the opening and inquiring minds of the younger children, in how many respects" the common life of man is full of wonders." It will be acceptable to the teacher of more advancing years, who wishes and endeavours to instil into the thoughts of his pupils the sublimity of some of those laws by which "we live and move and have our being." It will even be acceptable to many of maturer age, who, desirous of improving their knowledge and general information, without fatiguing themselves with the minutia and detail of scientific works, seek to understand something of the operations concerning "the air we breathe," "the water we drink," or "the soil we cultivate." The work is divided into two volumes. The first of these is practical to all intents and purposes. It considers the essentials of life; the atmosphere around us; the various solids we consume; the numerous fluids we imbibe.

The philosopher and the epicure, the country gentleman and the farmer, the good wife and the housekeeper-all and each may discover something in this volume to reward them for the reading. And while it will instruct the younger, it will interest and amuse our older acquaintances, who care for information on a variety of subjects which partake much of home."

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The first chapter is devoted to that important element, the air we breathe "-not, be it observed, to the simple examination of the constituents of that element, but to the examination of all relating to the atmosphere that surrounds this globe, but as to how the process of respiration in man affects that atmosphere; how the life of the plant modifies the results of that process; and how the plant in its growth imbibes, for its own nourishment, what is rejected in respiration by man; also, in what manner water, in this atmosphere, may either tend towards our comfort or become injurious to our welfare.

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that science, in all its shades, as a subject dry and difficult of comprehension. To this class of readers Mr. Johnston has adapted his language, and to them he has pointed out novelties, in an agreeable and instructive form, likely to make this a popular, as it is a useful, publication. For instance, in speaking of the effects of evaporation of water, and in the fall of rain on the earth, he says:

When we consider how small a proportion of watery vapour exists in the air, that were it all to come down at once over the whole earth, it would cover the surface only to a depth of five inches, we cannot think without amazement of the vast and continuous effects it produces. The quantity of rain which falls yearly on our islands would cover them, were it to fall all at once, to a depth of from twenty-five to thirty inches; and, explaces in Western Europe where the depth of yearly cept the table-land of Central Spain, there are few rain is less than twenty inches. And all this rain descends from an atmosphere which does not contain more, probably, at any one time, than falls yearly in

dew alone over the whole earth.

In speaking of "the water we drink," some very interesting information is given upon the extent to which the water of particular localities may become impregnated with impurities, which distil their noxious particles from some neighbouring source. To illustrate this, mention is made of experiments by Dr. Noad upon some water obtained from a well on Highgate Hill, which adjoins the old churchyard. In one gallon of this water as much as one hundred grains of solid matter were found to be contained; and, to give our readers some idea that this was an extreme degree of impurity, we add the returns of examinations made of waters supplied by some of the London Water Companies:

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Can these facts but be interesting to the general reader? Do they not evidence the importance of some examination into, and some knowledge of, what many consider the mere simples of life? And yet they are some of the essentials, and important essentials, too, of life and of health.

"The water we drink, like the air we breathe," is a substance of much chemical interest. Both are indis

pensable to the existence of life; both are mixed in nature with many substances not essential to their composition; and both, in their most important properties, exhibit many direct relations to the growth of plants, and to the wants and comforts of living

creatures.

After alluding to the geological features and

the formation of soils, and pointing out by what circumstances the cultivator of the soil should be influenced, and for what reasons the selection of crops should be made to be remunerative to the farmer, Mr. Johnston (perhaps a little too much in the style "grandiloquent ") makes some remarks to which our friends across the Atlantic, and the young emigrant, might attend with advantage:

on the province of our fair readers, or in pre-
suming to offer them advice.

"A man's a fool who tries by force or skill
To stem the torrent of a woman's will."

But listen, dear ladies! Turn to the chapter
which examines the subject of "the bread we
eat"-chapter the sixth; and then look par-
ticularly at page 99, and you will read as
follows:-

"Man," he says, "exercises an influence on the soil The bran, or husk of wheat, which is separated from which is worthy of attentive study. He lands in a new the fine flour in the mill, and is often condemned to country, and fertility everywhere surrounds him. The humbler uses, is somewhat more nutritious than either herbage waves thick and high, and the massive trees the grain as a whole, or the whiter part of the flour. raise their proud stems loftily towards the sky. He The whole meal obtained by simply grinding the grain clears a farm from the wilderness, and ample returns is equally nutritious with the grain itself. By sifting of corn pay him yearly for his simple labours. He out the bran, we render the meal less nutritious, weight ploughs, he sows, he reaps; and, from her seemingly for weight; and when we consider that the bran is exhaustless bosom, the earth gives back abundant rarely less, and is sometimes considerably more, than harvests. But at length a change appears, creeping one-fourth of the whole weight of the grain, we must slowly over and gradually dimming the smiling landsee that the total separation of the covering of the scape. The corn is first less beautiful, then less grain causes much waste of wholesome human food. abundant, and at last appears to die altogether beneath Bread made from the whole meal is, therefore, more the resistless scourge of an unknown insect or parasite nutritious. fungus. He forsakes, therefore, his long-cultivated farm, and hews out another from the native forest; but the same early plenty is followed by the same vexatious disaster."

And yet, as the industry, the energy, and the knowledge of our countrymen may overcome the evils alluded to, by moderate attention to the more recent improvements in agriculture, so it has occurred to us to recommend to those about to seek a home in America, or proceeding to the colonies with a small capital to invest in land, that they should rather purchase from some of the old cleared, but neglected and apparently worn-out farms, rather than sink their all in uncleared land, which, promising much, realizes but too frequently little else than their ruin. The former, purchased at a comparatively moderate price, can be brought into good cultivation by degrees, without expensive labour and without much outlay; the latter eats up his ready cash, and, before he can secure a livelihood, frequently compels him to change places with the labourer he first employed. To justify our convictions on this point, let us quote the evidence of Mr. Johnston :

It may be said with truth, that Great Britain at this moment presents a striking illustration of the influence of man in increasing the productiveness of the soil. This example guarantees the success of similar operaBritish Colonies; while the now advanced condition, especially of our chemical knowledge, both in regard to the soil which is to be cultivated, and the plants we wish to grow, insures a far more easy and certain advance to the progress of restoration in these countries than in past times could take place among ourselves; less waste of time and money in ill-judged experiments; and less cost of labour in all the necessary operations of husbandry.

tions in the United States of America and in our

We have said that this book would prove useful to the wife or to the housekeeper. A feeling of delicacy comes over us when touching

This mixture of bran with the flour, or whole meal bread, is not only a more nutritious mixture, but it is a more economical, and, we may confidently add, a more wholesome one than the bread made from "first" or "seconds" flour; for the stimulating effects it frequently produces in a torpid condition of stomach are often attended with considerable comfort and advantage.

The chapter on meats contains much that pertains to domestic economy. Without trenching upon the province of Dr. Kitchener, the nutritive qualities of different descriptions of meat are examined, and the explanations given as to the principles upon which they should be prepared for the table with the greatest economy, but without lessening their nutritious or their wholesome properties. To the mother, as well as to the wife, these hints are of great importance. How essential to the healthy growth of the child, and to the perfect and vigorous development of the man, is a proper knowledge of the properties, and a proper adaptation of the varieties, of the food he eats in his younger years!

The chapters devoted to "the beverages we infuse," such as tea, coffee, cocoa, &c., are full of interest and information. They will command the attention of all those dear creatures who love to dilute their thoughts with "Bohea' or "Mocha." But more than this; they will be read with advantage by the merchant and the planter; and we have even the presumption to think that the Chancellor of the Exchequer might take a hint of practical utility, in his measures of reform, by looking into these pages.

The subject of "coffee-tea" is new, comparatively speaking, to the ladies of this country;

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but one which, sooner or later, must become more familiar to the tea-drinking public. Coffeetea is made from the leaves of the coffee-plant, which are prepared in a manner somewhat similar to the process of drying the leaves of the tea-plant.

In 1845, the use of the leaf of the coffeeplant was first introduced into Holland by Professor Blume, of Leyden; and, at the Great Exhibition of 1851, specimens of it were shown by Dr. Gardner, who suggested that it might "be substituted for our ordinary tea." The use of the coffee-leaves in this form has long been esteemed in the Eastern Archipelago; and we are told that in Sumatra the prepared leaves form "the only beverage of the whole population, and, from their nutritive qualities, have become an important necessary of life."

Mr. Ward, who lived for many years in Sumatra, is quoted by our author as the best evidence in favour of the beneficial as well as general use of this plant by the natives of that Island; and we cannot do better than give his own words:-

"I have had the opportunity of observing, for twenty years, the comparative use of the coffee-leaf in one class of natives, and of spirituous liquors in another, the native Sumatrans using the former, and the natives of British India, settled here, the latter; and I find that, while the former expose themselves with impunity to every degree of heat, cold, and wet, the latter can endure neither wet nor cold, for even a short period, without danger to their health.

"Engaged myself in agriculture, and being, in consequence, much exposed to the weather, I was induced, several years ago, from an occasional use of the coffee. leaf, to adopt it as a daily beverage; and my constant practice has been to take two cups of strong infusion, with milk, in the evening, as a restorative after the business of the day. I find from it immediate relief from hunger and fatigue. The bodily strength is increased, and the mind left for the evening clear and in full possession of its faculties. As a beverage, the natives prefer the leaf to the berry, giving as a reason that it contains more of the bitter principle,

and is more nutritious."*

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But here is the practical point in reference to the relative advantages of "tea-tea" and "coffee-tea." Tea, which is cultivated in China to the extent of an annual yield of 2240 millions of pounds (according to Mr. Travers's calculation), is sold at Canton at the average price of about 84d. a pound; so that the grower must sell it at 5d. or 6d." The coffee-plant, for the sake of its fruit or berry, must be cultivated "in particular soils and more elevated climates; but it may be grown for the leaf wherever, within the tropics, the soil is sufficiently fertile." At present the price of the prepared leaf of the coffee-plant in Sumatra is about 1d. a pound; and it can be packed for the home market for 2d. a pound. With such a recom

Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol. XIII., p. 208.

mendation as the above respecting its qualities, and at such a price to the purchaser, we hope soon to see it largely used in this country. Mr. Ward forwarded to this country a sample, which arrived in excellent condition, and appeared to have been very carefully prepared. Mr. Hanbury, to whom this sample was sent, in communicating a notice of it to the Pharmaceutical Society, stated that the odour was somewhat like that of a mixture of coffee and tea, and extremely fragrant." When immersed in boiling water, and made sufficiently strong, with the addition of milk and sugar, it formed a beverage by no means unpalatable.

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The fact of various infusions of leaves and woods being used as beverages in almost every country in which an approach towards civilization has been observed, and that the discovery of the qualities, and the preparation of these beverages, date back to very remote periods, without any intercourse being traced to have existed between very many of the tribes enjoying their adoption, cannot but suggest to us, as Mr. Johnston justly observes, speculations of extreme interest. But this is not all that interests us in connexion with the subject of these milder fluids. Their advantages in the diet-scale, their beneficial effects on the system, and their universal consumption over the greater portion of the world, make tea in this country, coffee in France, cocoa in Italy and Spain, &c., articles of import only second in importance to the supply of grain and the demand for cattle. We may truly consider them not the luxuries, but the necessaries, of life. Their effect on the system is such, that a smaller amount of food, both in quality and quantity, will satisfy sooner, with a drink of tea or coffee, than would a larger meal without either of these fluids; and this without diminishing the mental or physical qualities of man; but, on the contrary, improving both when moderately indulged in, and when taken in preference to the more stimuOur author lating drinks of this country. states that, taking a rough calculation, it is supposed that in Russia, China, England, North America, &c., some 500 millions of souls consume tea grown in China; that in Ceylon, Jamaica, Germany, France, &c., there are about 110 millions who chiefly consume coffee; and that coffee, tea, cocoa, chicory, and Paraguay tea are consumed by about 112 millions in the various other parts of the globe, as well as in some of those already mentioned. that the use of these fluids, at least of tea and coffee, has increased in proportion "as the intellectual activity which distinguishes the leading nations of modern times has developed itself;" and he concludes his observations on the use and preparation of these various beve

He also considers

rages by passing some sensible remarks on the propriety of introducing them generally into the diet-list of our public prisons, which, he says, could be done at a saving, to some extent, of the more solid, but not more nutritious, necessary, nor wholesome food.

Passing over the pages devoted to the examination of the varieties of sugar, and the sources of their production, which we have not space to enter upon, we come to the consideration given to the numerous fermented liquors produced and consumed in this and other countries. We cannot devote much time for remarks on these homely chapters, but recommend those interested in the qualities of "home brewed" and "treble X" to search themselves for the information given. There is, how ever, an extract taken from Willis's "United States Exploring Expedition," relative to the mode of preparing the "ava," a kind of spirit used by the natives of the Feejee Islands, which may interest our readers perhaps unacquainted with the facts, and also as there is something very peculiar in the taste of these very curious gentlemen.

"Ava" is the name given to a liquor of a somewhat intoxicating property, prepared from the root of a particular plant of the pepper tribe. The great king of Somu-Somu is a very great man in his own estimation, and in that of his loving subjects. The king, however, sets a bad example to his subjects-the first thing in the morning, daily, he takes his dram. No pampered menial of the Court, no living soul within reach of his mighty power, dare transact any business, make any noise, or be guilty of any act before his gracious majesty has satisfied himself and his conscience with his royal potion, and until the ceremony of drinking the draught is over. Conceive, if you can, the process by which this delectable fluid this exhilirating stuff-is prepared. "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." The preparation of the ava-drink is a grand ceremony of state. The time to commence it is proclaimed aloud to the anxious public; and we may even conjecture that the imperial mouth waters as the king patronises the abominable process of brewing we should say chewing-the raw material into this vile concoction. At a given signal from a herald of the king's, the old men and women, the young men and maidens, the great and small, all assemble in the regions of the royal atmosphere, and place themselves so as to assist in this ceremony of preparing the imperial drink. The younger branches of this curious family tree are the active concocters of the "ava;" the old birds look on and do propriety; they watch, also, to see justice done to his majesty, and that the interests of the govern

ment are not neglected, exercising the functions of an exciseman.

The "ava" is thus prepared:-The root of the plant is properly dried, and, when ready and required for use, is split into small pieces, scraped clean, and then apportioned to these young courtiers and citizens: the young ladies, also, are allowed to assist in the ceremony. The word being given, the pieces of wood are put into their mouths, and they commence to chew for their very lives. After being properly and sufficiently masticated, the contents of the mouth, root and saliva mixed, are discharged into the ava-bowl, and water is then poured upon them. The liquor is then strained, and, being now properly prepared for the royal palate, it is with much ceremony-for the ceremony is a religious one-handed to the king; and his majesty drinks it off with great relish and satisfaction! Then the surrounding crowd dispose of their "ava" in a similar manner, and disperse to the duties of the day.

Those who prepare the ava-drink are required to have clean and undecayed teeth, and are not allowed to swallow any of the juice, on pain of punishment.

Captain Willis compares the flavour of it to rhubarb and magnesia! But give us that nauseous draught in preference to the most highly-flavoured "ava!" There is no accounting for taste-in every variety may it not be seen, in every condition, and in every necessary or luxury of life?-but the Feejees completely outstrip all that it has been our discomfort to encounter. We certainly have no wish to join them in their ceremonies. There is, however, a curious coincidence respecting the mode of preparing this drink to be found elsewhere. The process of chewing the material from which a strong drink is extracted is not confined to the natives of these islands.

"Chica," a drink common in some parts of South America, is made by chewing maize, or Indian corn. The corn, reduced to pulp, is mixed with water, and left muscada," or "chewed chica," and is considered far to ferment. "Chica" thus prepared is called "chica superior to that prepared from maize crushed in the usual manner. The Serrano believes he cannot offer his

guest a greater luxury than a draught of old chica muscada, the ingredients of which have been ground between his own teeth.

The taste of "ava" is considered agreeable by the natives, but not so by strangers, as Captain Willis shows. That our brother does not possess much delicacy, in certain countries, in his ideas of flavour, is shown by another circumstance. "Pulque" or agave-wine, prepared from the sap of the Maguey or American aloe, has the odour as well as the taste of tainted meats. The epicure may prefer his venison in a state of secondary life; but in this country we

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