passages of a Manchester man, or of a resident in the city of London, if opened after death, are found to be more or less colored by the dirt that has been breathed. Perhaps it does not matter much but we had better not make dust-holes or chimney-funnels of our lungs. The Englishman who, at the end of his days, has spent about an entire year of his life in scraping off his beard, has worried himself to no purpose! He has disfigured himself systematically throughout life!!), accepted his share of unnecessary ticdoloreux and toothache, coughs and colds; has swallowed dust, and inhaled smoke and fog, out of complaisance to the social prejudice which happens just now to prevail.

SCENES IN INDIA. SPEARING THE WILD-DOG. BY AN OLD SHIRKURREE.

AT A CERTAIN SEASON OF THE YEAR,

Mr. Editor, during the hot dry months (March, April, and May), that frightful disease, hydrophobia, prevails to a great extent among the wild-dogs and jackals that infest nearly every inhabited part of India. Both of these animals are addicted to carrion in the most advanced stages of putrefaction, and, by indulging their polluted appetites with decayed carcases, they incur, thereby, the most loathsome diseases; disgusting in appearance to behold, and dangerous to approach.

If this monkey-trick Is to be played with the human countenance, we hope all our fair friends will pause before they make any further engagements "for better, for worse.' Let them look out for some smooth, fit, clean, and worthy object on whom to bestow the morning benediction, the noon-tide greeting, and the evening blessing; and having found him, let them bind him down to use the razor unsparingly. Only think of a Turk's-head mop coming in rude contact with a lily-of-the-valley, or a damask-natives with a dread of moving abroad, and rose!

surrounding neighborhood of Cuttack was In the month of March, the town and visited by numerous mad dogs, which had human beings had suffered from the attacks bitten large numbers of cattle, and many of these rabid creatures. The two frequent occurrences of this description inspired the

this circumstance having reached the ears of What very filthy brutes men are! They Native Infantry, which was at the time the officers of the 66th Regiment of Bengal have, as you say, made spirit-vats of their insides, chimneys of their noses, volcanoes stationed at Cuttack, the latter determined of their throats, apes of their that they would hunt down all the parriahs persons; and now their faces are going to be turned into-they might meet with, and destroy them scrubbing-brushes!

"What next, Mr. Merriman ?" Cambridge, Sept. 3.

WALTER.

indiscriminately. With this view, several gentlemen met upon the Chowly-a-gunge plain, armed with hog-spears; and mounting their horses, took the field, intent upon their [Well said, Walter. There seems to be object. This plain extends for about a mile a neck-or-nothing race between the sexes, to in length, and is partially occupied by try who can most excel in personal defor-residences of the officers of regiments which decayed bungalows, many years since the mity. They are going a-head at electric speed, and will soon extinguish all traces of symmetry, comeliness, and humanity. Every day slices off some one of the gentler ornaments of Nature's delicate hand, and replaces it by another of the rougher kind-borrowed

from the lower order of the brute creation. In a letter recently received from Glasgow, a friend says, speaking of the spreading mania-"In this place, too, there is a decided movement showing itself against the use of the razor; and even the workmen have resolved to cultivate the moustache!" (Only think of the "population" on the human face, when next the census is taken!) Of course the upper classes set the bad example, and it immediately spreads like wild-fire. Never mind, Walter. WE will not lay aside the razor; but shave very close, and with a very keen edge, all those whose bestial propensities lead them to stray from the pleasant paths of Nature's sweet garden, be they male, or be they female.

"Let the galled jade wince; our withers are unwrung."]

But when the staff of Cuttack was reduced, in 1824, the ruins are now resorted to by dogs and jackals lines were thenceforth abandoned, and the only, where they take up their lonesome

lay on the Chowly lines.

abodes.

Large droves of bullocks are in the constant practice of grazing upon this extensive tract of territory, and scarcely a day passes over but one or more of these beasts die of disease, and their carcases are left upon the plain, as food for the dogs and jackals. Hence the latter are continually haunting this desolate spot, looking out for carrion spoil. The hunters, shortly after their arrival on the ground, got view of a dead bullock, which was being greedily contended for by thirteen or fourteen parriah dogs, and a group of volucrine competitors for the prize, in the form of a flight of fierce and hungry vultures. These forbidding-looking birds, these death-scenting scavengers, had assembled around the carcase in large numbers, with their frowning wings expanded,

and their long bare necks extended, shrieking and hissing, and menacing the dogs, as the latter assailed the already half-demolished carrion. The dogs, on the other hand, whilst being interrupted in the act of enjoying their spoil, spitefully relinquished, at intervals, their disputed meal, attacking the phalanxes of wings with a greedy vindictiveness, whilst the birds retreated for a while from the immediate scene of the disgusting carnival.

The sun was fiercely branding these busy scavengers of the offal of the plain, whose blood must have been rankling under its influence, when the hunters galloped up to the spot, and charged, spear in hand, the grumbling pack. Loathsome indeed they looked! The foul mange had eaten off the hair from their bodies, and a raw surface, an angry red tint, appeared to glow with a consuming heat over the morbid complexion of these filthy satellites of animal corruption. The knell of death-that horrid bay proceeding from the dog of the wilderness, which, whilst it falls upon the ear, appals the heart, was now uttered in the hollow intonations of despair. They were too indolent to retreat before the froward spear, but ululated their death elegy upon the spot; submitting to the impending fate that awaited them without apparently evincing a reluctant feelinglike willing martyrs to a meritorious cause.

During this short-lived onslaught, the greedy birds kept aloof, at a little distance off, watching with exulting expectancy the additional features that attended their partly devoured banquet. The same dogs which, but a few minutes before, had forced them to surrender up their interests in the carrion spoil, had, they perceived, now become the undisputed victims to their indiscriminate appetite; and the hunters had not departed one hundred yards from the scene, when, on looking round, they observed the feathered host of these busy destroyers incorporated with the bodies of the slain-like so many sappers exercising their pickaxes in defacing the objects they were desirous to demolish, whilst, at intervals, the vulturine scream assailed their ears, the gladsome tidings with which this death-abiding bird heralds to his mate, afar off, that flesh is awaiting him.

Near a deserted bungalow, the roofing of which had fallen in, and the walls of which were in the last stages of decay (whilst a few scattered surrufthur (custard-apple) and guava trees that had survived a lapse of years (tending to denote to the occasionally passing stranger that the spot was once inhabited by some English officer, whose fate had been prematurely sealed in an Indian climate, as had been that of thousands before him), lay reposing in the shade, a large parriah dog. He was of an unusual size, and on observing the horsemen, and suspecting them to be

unwelcome intruders, he challenged their approach with a latrant yell; but perceiving that they were intent upon his person, he rose from his recumbent position, and, at a slack pace, took to the plain. This was a chance not to be thrown away. The hunters rode in pursuit, and the parriah, finding that they were at his heels, and in earnest with him, redoubled his speed, and effected the wolf-escape.

He was a powerful animal, of a ferocious aspect, full of wind and vigor. And although he was not a sufficient match for the many in numbers that followed him, he nevertheless, by his adroitness, contrived to baffle them in their pursuit of him, by having recourse to an artful stratagem. There was a deep ravine, of some considerable breadth, that lay on the side of the highroad leading to the town of Cuttack, which no horse could compass in a leap, and joining this chasm was a thick Kurah (wild pine-apple) jungle. Whilst his pursuers were pressing him closely, he suddenly disappeared before their eyes; and before they could reconcile themselves to the loss of the chase, two of the gentlemen out of the five fell with their horses into the chasm, and were injured most seriously, insomuch that they abandoned the sport for the day. The dog effected his escape, but was never afterwards seen nor surprised in his former forlorn haunts.

For several successive days this sport was followed up with perseverance and energy; and after some scores of these animals had been sacrificed to the zeal of the hunters, the latter dropped the practice, owing to the intense heat of the weather, and the magistrates appointed dooms (dog destroyers) with instructions to them to despatch every animal of the above description that came under their notice. In less than three days after this warrant was signed, no fewer than four hundred and seventy canine faces were exhibited on the premises of the magistrate's cutcherry. The consequence was, that for some length of time after this event, the sight of a dog in the district under consideration was a rare spectacle.

But the abatement of one nuisance engendered another. The carcases of bullocks, horses, and other animals, which lay dispersed on the face of the country around, were left to decompose; and they poisoned the atmos. phere with the foul and fetid gases which evolved from them, bringing about disease and death in other shapes among the inhabitants. For the vultures-not being localised in the vicinity, but birds which range over a vast field of territory, in quest of carrionwere found to be too few in numbers to con sume the cadaverous nuisances, whilst the open country around Cuttack was unfavorable to the tenancy and suitableness of the

seclusive jackal. Besides this circumstance, the latter station is a peninsula, formed by the juxta conflux of the two great rivers, the Mahanudee and Gonjuree, so that there was no opportunity left for strange dogs to enter the town from the country around.

This fact may be well worth noting down, for it often happens that men blindly suppress a less evil, whilst they are at the same time propagating a greater one. Were it not for the innumerable quantities of parriah dogs, jackals, vultures, and other obscene animals, being so abundant throughout India (subsisting almost exclusively upon carrion), that country would prove the seat of perpetual pestilence-a diorama of death.

OVER THE GRASS.

SUNBEAMS are shining
Cheeringly gay,
O'er leaflets entwining

In summer array;
Flowerets are springing

In beauty and light,
And birds sweetly singing

Afar up the height;

Breezes are bustling

Around in the glade,
And green leaves are rustling
In bloom undecayed;

Waters are streaming,

Gurglingly sweet,
And butterflies dreaming
In beauty replete―
Over the grass.

Moonbeams are playing,

In silver arraying

Each cranny and nook of the earth;
Bright eyes are glancing,

And fairies are dancing,
And freely resounding their mirth-
Over the grass.

Hearts light and cheering,

Are fondly endearing
The thought of a love long to last;
And beauty is glowing,

Where affection is flowing,
In warmth that no tempest shall blast-
Over the grass.

Lovers are sighing,

Affection is dying,

And hopes, fondly cherished, are fled;
Ribalds are drinking,

And treachery slinking,

THE ECCENTRIC NATURALIST,

THE ECCENTRICITY OF GENIUS, and the enthusiasm of inquiring minds, are too well known to require comment. But some clever men are so delightfully erratic, that even their so-called weaknesses give the beholders pleasure. A specimen of one of these characters is thus charmingly portrayed by Audubon, in his Auto-biography :

myself, as, while walking by the river, I
"What an odd-looking fellow!' said I to
observed a man landing from a boat, with
what I thought a bundle of dried clover on
his back. How the boatmen stare at him!
Sure he must be an original.' He ascended
with a rapid step, and, approaching me, asked
-if I could point out the house in which
Mr. Audubon resided? 6
Why, I am the
man,' said I, and will gladly lead you to my
dwelling.'

"The traveller rubbed his hands together with delight, and, drawing a letter from his pocket, handed it to me without any remark. I broke the seal, and read as follows:-'My dear Audubon, I send you an odd fish, which you may prove to be undescribed, and hope you will do so in your next letter. Believe me always your friend, B.'

"With all the simplicity of a back-woodsman, I asked the bearer where the odd fish was, when M. de T. (for, kind reader, the individual in my presence was none else than that renowned naturalist) smiled, rubbed his hands, and, with the greatest good humor, said, 'I am that odd fish, I presume, Mr. Audubon.' I felt confounded, and blushed, but contrived to stammer out an apology.

"We soon reached the house, when I presented my learned guest to my family; and was ordering a servant to go to the boat for M. de T.'s luggage, when he told me he had none but what he had brought on his back. He then loosened the pack of weeds which had first drawn my attention. The ladies were a little surprised, but I checked their critical glances; for the moment the naturalist pulled off his shoes, and while engaged in drawing his stockings, not up, but down, in order to cover the holes about the heels, told us, in the gayest mood imaginable, that he had walked a great distance, and had only taken a passage on board the Ark, to be put

Where friendship's sweet light should be on this shore; and that he was sorry his

shed,

Over the grass.

apparel had suffered so much from his late journey. Clean clothes were offered, but he would not accept them; and it was with evident reluctance that he performed the lavations usual on such occasions, before he sat down to dinner.

"At table, however, his agreeable conversation made us all forget his singular appearance; and, indeed, it was only as we strolled in the garden that his attire struck me as

KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL.

reconciled to his oddities; and, finding him
a most agreeable and intelligent companion,
hoped that his sojourn might be longer.
"But, one evening when tea was prepared,
and we expected him to join the family, he
was nowhere to be found. His grasses, and
other valuables, were all removed from his
room. The night was spent in searching for
him in the neighborhood. No eccentric natu-
ralist could be discovered. Whether he had
perished in a swamp, or had been devoured
by a bear or a garfish, or had taken to his
heels, were matters of conjecture; nor was
it until some weeks after, that a letter from
him, thanking us for our attention, assured
me of his safety."

UNCONSIDERED TRIFLES.

"LITTLE THINGS."

"WE HAVE RECENTLY HAD OCCASION," says the Editor of the Gardeners' Journal, (from whose pages we borrow the following very sensible remarks), to visit one of the many great and well-managed gardens for which the North of England has long been

famous.

pride to boast of the attention which he paid
to the details of all his great projects; even
so far as to say, he knew how many hobnails
were driven into the heel of every private
soldier's shoe throughout the lines; and
added, 'Had I not attended to little things, I
should never have been fit to attend to great
ones.'

"We mention these well-known incidents, to illustrate the importance of the principle, since we are all too ready to believe that greatness and great attainments come, somehow or other, by the neglect and contempt, rather than by the care and attention which we bestow on 'little things.' Nothing can be a more fatal error than such a conviction. It is the due attention to little things,' at least in the culture and management of the garden, where alone true success must be looked for. For example, a gardener may be profoundly learned, experienced, and successful in the culture of the leading productions of horticulture-such as Peaches, Pineapples, Grapes; and, it may be, ornamental stove and greenhouse plants. Possibly, too, there may be such a thing as special pride in the first-rate growth of some culinary pro"In passing round the garden at the close duction; but what are any of these, after all, of a day's rain, and in places where the walks or what, we may ask, are all of them put towere bounded by trees, the heavy rains of gether, if many things besides are neglected? "If the owner of the garden, or any of his last month had so depressed the branches, familiar friends, who may chance to stroll that at the time, owing to the stillness of the along the garden paths after a shower, or air, they were weighed down, and holding a during a dewy morning, receive over their goodly shower-bath of dew-drops on every heads and shoulders at every few steps of the pendant twig. Some of these slender branches -yielding to the weight of water which, for the way something resembling a douche bath, from the wet dangling twigs, which the contime, Nature had compelled them to carrydischarged, in one or two instances, the whole tempt for little things, and the neglect which of their contents on the face and shoulders of such contempt is sure to beget, permit to grow there we say, if a few instances of this the owner of the garden, with whom we were kind be allowed to exist, more disappointat the time walking. The dignity and equa-ment, angry feeling, and unforgiving temper, nimity of temper so peculiarly characteristic will be the result, than if half the produce of of the thorough-bred English gentleman, seemed for the instant to have been dashed the garden had been lost, from whatever to the ground by the falling torrent; and, in cause. Such, at least, is our experience on an impulse of irritability, he drew his knife points of this kind. from his pocket, and cut down the twig which had entrapped him into the utterance of angry expressions, which we consider it better not to repeat.

My

Amongst other things, he said :--‘ gardener is a very good man, but will not be taught to value the importance of attending to little things.' We never on any occasion saw or felt the force of this trite remark as we did on the occasion in question. Every one is familiar with the peculiarities of character for which the late Duke of Wellington was so remarkable-we mean the care and attention which he insisted on paying to the details or 'little things' connected with all the great things which he undertook. It has also, as our readers well know, been often said of the late Napoleon, that he made it his special

Who indeed needs to

be told that it is the 'little things,' not the great ones, which constitute the main enjoyments, as well as the annoyances of life?

"Surely no person who cares to cultivate the good-will and esteem of another (be he superior, or equal), will find himself success

ful by attending only to what he may consider the more important and greater things, while refusing to be taught the value of attending to 'little things.'

There is so much real good sense conveyed in these observations, that we commend them most heartily to our readers' notice.

The half, at least, of one's domestic happiness is forfeited by the neglect of an obThe parting servance of "little things." Somebody smile is sometimes forgotten. gets an aching heart through this!