SELLING CHICKENS TO THE LEGISLATURE.

WHILE the legislature of Missouri was in session, a few years ago, a green fellow from the country came to Jefferson to sell some chickens. He had about two dozen, all of which he had tied by the legs to a string, and this being divided equally, and thrown over his horse or his shoulder, formed his mode of conveyance, leaving the fowls with their heads hanging down, with little else of them visible except their naked legs, and a promiscuous pile of outstretched wings and ruffled feathers. After several ineffectual efforts to dispose of his load, a wag to whom he made an offer of sale, told him that he did not want chickens himself, but perhaps he could sell them at a large stone-house over there (the Capitol); that there was a man over there buying for the St. Louis market, and no doubt he could find a ready sale.

The delighted countryman started, when his informer stopped him. "Look here," says he; "when you get over there, go up stairs, and then turn to the left. The man stops in the large room. You will find him sitting down at the other end of the room, and now engaged with a number of fellows buying chickens. If a man at the door should stop you, don't mind him. He has got chickens himself for sale, and tries to prevent others from selling theirs. Don't mind him, but go right ahead.”

Following the directions, our friend soon found himself at the door of the Hall of Representatives. To open it and enter was the work of a moment. Taking from his shoulder the string of chickens, and giving them a shake to freshen them, he commenced his journey towards the speaker's chair, the fowls in the mean time expressing, from the half-formed crow to the harsh quaark, their bodily presence, and their sense of bodily pain.

..

I say, si Here he had advanced about a half-dozen steps down the aisle, when he was seized by Ma-Sackson, the door-keeper, who happened to be returning from the clerk's desk.

"Go ahead!" "At him again !” "That's right!" whispered some of the Opposition members, who could command gravity enough to speak.

"I say, sir (in a louder tone to the speaker) -cuss your pictures, let me go-fair playtwo to one ain't fair (to the speaker and serjeant-at-arms); let me go. I say, sir, you up there (to the speaker), you can have 'em for six bits! won't take a cent less. Take 'em home and eat 'em myself before I'll take- Drat your hides! don't shove so hard, will you? you 'll hurt 'em chickens, and they have had a travel of it to-day, anyhow. I say, you sir, up there".

11

Here the voice was lost by the closing of the door. An adjournment was moved and carried; and the members, almost frantic with mirth, rushed out to find our friend in high altercation with the door-keeper about the meanness of selling his own chickens, and letting nobody else sell theirs; adding that, "if he could just see that man up there by himself, he'd be bound they could make a trade, and that no man could afford to raise chickens for less than six bits."

The members bought his fowls by a pony purse, and our friend left the Capitol, saying as he went down stairs: "Well, this is the roughest place for selling chickens that ever I came across, sure."

IMPROVED RETURNS FROM THE RAILWAYS. A statement of the weekly published traffic of eleven of the principal railways, for the twentysix weeks ending 26th December, 1852, which has been drawn out for private circulation, by Mr. Reynolds, accountant of the Great Northern, strikes us a good deal as indicating the improved prospects both of railways and of the country. We should not indeed have adverted to such a document, if it did not serve as a convincing proof of the rapidly advancing prosperity of England at the present moment. It appears, from this paper, that the returns from all the eleven railways in the summer weeks of 1851, excepting a few, greatly exceeded those of the corresponding weeks of 1852 a fact which is readily accounted for by the extraordinary "No you don't, though; you don't come amount of travelling created at the earlier that game over me. You've got chickens your- period by the Exhibition. But when we come to self for sale; get out yourself, and let me sell the middle of October, a remarkable change mine. I say, sir (in a louder tone to the speak-takes place. The receipts of 1852, after that er), are you buying chickens here to-day? I've got some prime ones here." And he held up his string, and shook his fowls, until their music made the walls echo. "Let me go, sir (to the door-keeper); let me go, I say. Fine large chickens (to the speaker); only six bits a dozen."

"What are you doing here with those chickens? Get out, sir, get out!" whispered the doorkeeper.

"Where's the serjeant-at-arms?" roared the speaker. "Take that man out."

"Now don't, will you? I ain't hard to trade with. You let me go (to the door-keeper); you 've sold your chickens, now let me have a chance. I say, sir (to the speaker in a loud voice), are you buying chickens to"

period, in every railway, greatly exceed those of the corresponding weeks of 1851. We find, on the London and North-western, an advance of 20001., 30007., 40007., and even 50007., on some weeks. On other lines, the advances are in proportion, and the general consequence is, that on the Midland, Lancashire and Yorkshire, Eastern Counties, York and North Midland, York, Newcastle and Berwick, and the Great Northern-six of the eleven - there is an increase of the totals of the half-year '52, a result which no one could have anticipated as to happen in the year immediately following on the Exhibition. - Chambers.

From Chambers' Journal.

REVIVAL OF OIL-ANOINTING.

elements, cod-oil, as is well known, has been in extensive use for the last ten or twelve years, and with singular effect. In many instances, however, oil when swallowed is found to excite nausea; and in such cases, the introduction of this saving agent by exterbeneficial consequences. Means are to be taken to get rid of the disagreeable odor of the cod-oil, and when freed from this objection, there can be few or no drawbacks to the ancient custom of anointing. That it adds rapidly to the weight of the emaciated, has already been proved by actual experiment; and one instance may be mentioned of an individual who gained a stone in weight in the short period of four weeks. The use of oil in this way is not disagreeable, but on the contrary is found to be productive of pleasant sensations. It has only to be added, so far as the medical action is involved, that the mode in which the oil strengthens delicate patients, is by its being received into the blood, the chemical character of which undergoes a vital change by the process.

PROFESSOR SIMPSON of Edinburgh has been the means of bringing to light a curious corroboration of the sanitary value of the ancient practice of anointing with oil. It ap-nal application is likely to be productive of pears that the learned professor, when recently visiting the manufacturing town of Galashiels, was casually informed that the workers in the wool-mill in that place were exempt from the attacks of consumption and scrofula. On inquiring of the medical men in the vicinity, the truth of the statement was confirmed; and it was then deemed expedient to pursue investigation on a broader scale. Communications were accordingly sent to physicians residing in Dunfermshire, Alloa, Tillicoultry, Inverness, and other districts where woolmills are in operation; and in the case of all, it was ascertained that similar immunity was enjoyed from the fatal diseases mentioned. It further appeared that, in some of the localities, scarletina had to be added to the list; and, also, that employment in the mills not only preserved health, but children of delicate constitutions were sent to be wool-workers for the express purpose of acquiring strength, a result in almost every instance attained.

The question now came to be, to ascertain the precise cause of this singular result of mill-work. Cotton-mills did not produce a similar effect, and workmen in certain depart ments of wool-mills were found to be subject to the ordinary maladies of the country; it therefore soon became evident, that the cause was referrible to the great quantity of oil consumed in the preparation of the raw material in wool-working. A coat or any other portion of dress, when hung up in one of the rooms, was found to be saturated with oil in a few days; and the operatives must, therefore, be held to draw into their system a large amount of oleaginous matter, either by inhalation or by absorption from the clothes through the skin, the latter being probably the principal mode in which the substance is imbibed. The hands and face of the workers are constantly besmeared, but under their clothing there are scarcely any marks of discoloration, although it is obvious that the oil must be received through all the pores of the body, and, indeed, the greatest quantity will penetrate where there is the least facility for external evaporation.

The application of this discovery to practical medicine is calculated to be of important service, in so far as some of our most serious maladies are concerned. Consumption, as now understood, is supposed to arise from defective nutrition-there being in consumptive and scrofulous subjects a deficiency of fatty as compared with albuminous matter; and to restore the equilibrium of the two VOL. I. 26

CCCCLXIX. LIVING AGE.

If anointing should come into fashion, it will be merely a return to the customs of the olden time. "The Jews," says Dr. Cox in his Biblical Antiquities (p. 155), "addicted themselves to anointing, which consisted either of simple oil or such as had aromatic spices infused. They applied ointments chiefly to those parts of the body which were most exposed to the atmosphere, by which means they were considerably secured against its changes and inclemencies." The allusions to anointing with oil, not only the head and beard, but the feet and other portions of the person, are well-known features in Bible narrative.

Homer makes frequent mention of oil in connection with the bath; and when Ulysses enters the palace of Circe, we are told that after the use of the bath, he was anointed with costly perfumes. Passing down to later times, it is a very significant fact, that consumption is rarely if ever alluded to by medical writers among the Greeks and Romans; and it is all but certain, that the rarity of the distemper was attributable to the constant external use of oil. In the matters of bathing and anointing, they imitated the example of the Greeks; and attached to each Roman bathing-estab lishment was an unctuarium, "where," says Dr. Adam, the visitors were anointed all over with a coarse cheap oil before they began their exercise. Here the finer odoriferous ointments which were used in coming out of the bath were also kept; and the room was so situated as to receive a considerable degree of heat. This chamber of perfumes was quite full of pots, like an apothecary's shop; and those who wished to anoint and perfume the body, received perfumes and unguents." In

continuance of this wind, the leaves of plants become dry and shrivelled, evidently suffering from want of moisture. Now, without presuming to propound any medical theory, we may suggest, that it is just possible the east wind may in some measure produce its disagreeable influence on the human system by parching and drying up the skin; and in this view, anointing, by acting as a lubricant, may go far to counteract the baneful influence. At any rate, it is easy to try the question, if it is supposed to be worth trying, by experiment.

larger bathing-establishments, the eleothesium | gouty or rheumatic. The east is known to be was filled with an immense number of vases; a dry wind, and never, except in very stormy and the extent to which oiling and perfuming weather, is it accompanied by rain. After a were practised by the Romans, may be judged by the following reference to the ingredients employed: "The vases contained perfumes and balsams-very different in their compositions, according to the different tastes of the persons who anointed themselves. The rhodinum, one of those liquid perfumes, was composed of roses; the lirinium, of lily; cyprinum, of the flower of a tree called cypria, which is believed to be the same as the privet; baccarinum, from the foxglove; myrrhinum was composed of myrrh. Oils were extracted from sweet marjoram, lavender, and the wild vine from the iris, ben, and wild thyme. The last three were employed for rubbing the eyebrows, hair, neck and head; the arms were rubbed with the oil of sisymbrium, or water-mint; and the muscles with the oil of anarcum, and others which have been mentioned." After anointing, the bathers passed into the sphæristerium a very light and extensive apartment, in which were performed the many kinds of exercises to which this third part of the baths was appropriated; of these, the most favorite was the ball. After exercise, recourse was a second time had to the warm-bath the body was then scraped with instruments called strigils, most usually of bronze, but sometimes of iron; perfumed oil of the most delicate kind was then administered anew; and the process of lustration was complete.

Let it be remarked, that a considerable amount of friction was used by the ancients when the oil was rubbed in; and also that exercise of an exciting and laborious kind followed the unctuous manipulation. In like manner, the wool-workers are in motion throughout the whole day; and from the return they receive for their daily labor, it is not probable that they have it in their power to indulge in those dietetic luxuries or excesses which create dyspepsy in other circles. The inference is, that exercise must go hand in hand with the oil, and that other physiological conditions must be strictly preserved, before anointing can certainly be depended on for conferring its full tale of benefit on humanity. There may, indeed, be frequent instances of persons benefiting by external application when all other aids fail in making the least impression; but in ordinary cases, the safe course for all who can command sufficient air and exercise, is to regard anointing as an adjuvant, not as a specifican element of cure, but not as constituting the entire

As to the kind of oil - that of the cod appears to be the strongest; and if it could be divested of its infamous odor, it probably would be the best. But some authorities are of opinion, that any kind of emollient is suitable in this view a wide range of selection, founded even on the basis of Roman ingredients, is open for use; and when to these are added the discoveries of modern chemistry, it is evident that the most fastidious may have their tastes gratified. Friction of itself has always been regarded as of great therapeutic value; and the harder the rubbing with oil, the more beneficial will be the result. If the body has need of oleaginous aliment, it will absorb it as greedily as the parched earth drinks in rain after a season of drought. In the experiments we have ourselves instituted, the body, when rubbed at night, shows no traces of lubrication in the morning, and the sleeping-dress is little if at all affected. Careful housewives may be alarmed for their napery, but, with ordinary attention, there is little danger; and even supposing there were some trifling inconveniences, the benefit expected may surely be esteemed a fair equivalent.

NEW ANTIQUITIES.

We have, on various oc

casions, warned our antiquarian readers against vertu, especially of certain medieval seals in jet, a substance easily engraved or fashioned into any shape. The unprincipled fabricators of these objects, encouraged, no doubt, by their success among the unwary, continue to follow their criminal occupation, and have lately attempted a higher flight. We have lately been shown a jet seal, bearing the head of the Emperor Severus, with his name and titles! We believe the atelier of the rogues whose ingenuity is exercised upon these counterfeits, is somewhere in Yorkshire. While on this subject, we may

spurious fabrications of articles of curiosity and

mention that we have been informed, that at monastic and other medieval brass seals are kept many of the curiosity-shops in London, forged on sale; and some of them being casts of real

specimens, are well calculated to dupe the inexperienced. Literary Gazette.

THE June sun is shining into Mrs. Rintoul's family room. Though he is no longer captain of his own sloop, her husband is to be mate of a considerable schooner; so Euphie, after a long interval of fretting and repining, has made herself tolerably content. A great sea-chest stands in the middle of the room, and Euphie, long ago startled out of all her little graces of invalidism, stoops over it, packing in its manifold comforts. The loss of the sloop has deprived them of all their property, but it has added scarcely any privation to their daily life, even though John has been so long ashore; and now that he is once more in full employment, Euphie does not veil her pretensions to those of any skipper's wife in Elie. As for the grief attendant on their loss, it touched her only by sympathy, and her few natural tears were neither bitter in their shedding nor hard to wipe away. Her baby thrives, her husband has been at home with her for a far longer time than she could have hoped, and Euphie as wilful a little wife as ever, goes about her house with undiminished cheerfulness, and is conscious of no shadow upon her sunny life.

CHAPTER VIII.

have been to you; but just see how she's ta'en it to heart-I wish you would speak to her, Euphie. Here's a decent lad coming after her, and easy enough to see, after such a loss in the family, that it would be a grand thing to get her weel married, and her twenty years auld, and never had a lad, to speak of, before- and yet she 'll nae mair look the side of the road he's on, than if he was a black man!"

"Is 't Robert Horsburg mother?" asked Euphie, eagerly.

66

It's a stranger lad that hasna been lang about the Elie; he 's ta'en the new lease of the Girnel farm from Sir Robert, and they say he 's furnishing a grand house, and a'thegether a far bigger man than Nancy has ony right to look for -a decent-like lad too, and steady and weel spoken; but as for giving him encouragement, I might as weel preach to Ailie Rintoul's speckled hen as to Ñannie Raeburn."

'Deed, I see nae call she has to set him up with encouragement," said the beauty, slightly tossing her head. "If he's no as muckle in earnest as to thole a naysay, he 's nae man at a'; and I wouldna advise Nancy to have onything to do with him. Do ye think I ever gaed out of my road, mother, to encourage John?"

And as she lays in these separate articles of John's comfortable wardrobe each in its proper place-Euphie's gay voice now and then makes a plunge into the abyss of the great chest, and anon comes forth again, as Ay, Euphie, my woman, it 's a' your ain clear and as fresh as a bird's. You can almost simplicity that thinks a'body as guid as yourfancy there will be a lingering fragrance about sel," said Mrs. Raeburn, shaking her head; these glistening home-made linens, when the" but you had naething to do but to choose, sailor takes them out upon the seas- and that even the rough blue sea-jacket, and carefully-folded Sabbath coat, must carry some gladsome reminiscence of the pretty face and merry voice bending over them like embodied sunshine.

wi' a' the young lads frae Largo to Kinnucher courting at ye. And many a time I've wondered, in my ain mind, I'm sure, that ye took up wi' a douce man like John Rintoul at the last, when ye might have just waled out the bonniest lad in Fife; but Nannie's had nae joes to speak of, as I was saying, a' her days—and Nannie's weel enough in her looks, but she 's far mair like your father's side of the house than mine; and a'thegether, considering how auld she is, and the misfortune that's happened to the family, it sets her very ill to be so nice, when she might get a house of her ain, and be weel settled hersel, and a credit to a' her kin."

"If I were Nannie, I would take nae offer under the fourth or fifth at the very soonest," said her sister. "The lads should learn better- and if they get the very first they ask, and the very ane they 're wanting, what are they to think but that the lassies are just waiting on them? and its naething but that that makes such ill-willy men. Set them up! But they didna get muckle satisfaction out of me."