sorcery. These supposed "deadly" arrows are prepared in various ways: by being made with a charmed tooth, or with a piece of stone found by revelation in a dream; by the use of certain magical preparations, which latter are often made in rattlesnake skins. It is quite possible that white men may have taught some Indians the power of the rattlesnake venom, which may have occasionally been used for poisoning arrows; but, so far from such being a custom, Major Powell has never known of an instance.

Petroleum. Important Facts.-In a careful article on the production of Petroleum, the Titusville Herald says: "One of the most remarkable features of the Petroleum situation to-day is the decrease in the average of new wells. The average of wells completed in November last was ten and four-tenths barrels, and in December nine barrels, against fourteen and five-tenths barrels in January last, and twentyfour and one-half barrels in July, 1875. In January, 1876, we had 142 wells drilling, against 618 in November, and 493 in December, and to-day we have fewer wells drilling than during the past four months. But, looking still further back, in January, 1875, with a production of 27,489 barrels per day, there were forty wells drilling, and in January, 1874, with a production of 37,648 barrels per day, there were only thirtyseven wells drilling. Thus it would seem that, notwithstanding the present apparently large number of wells completed, they are, taken altogether, by no means equal to those completed in previous years. The area of territory over which new developments are now scattered is also greatly in excess of that of any previous period of our history. The falling off in the yield of producing wells is no less extraordinary. While 3300 wells produced in January, one year ago, 23,000 barrels per day, it now takes 6000 wells to produce 25,000 barrels. Whereas it took last year an average number of 190 wells to be completed each month to maintain the production to an average of 24,500 barrels per day, it will at the present ratio of decrease require a very much larger number of wells to be completed each month than ever was known before, and a proportionate and constant increase in the number of drilling wells. In regard to the yield of the entire wells of the region, we find a falling off during the year 1876 from an average of seven barrels to the well in January to five and six-tenths to each well in December. This decline in the average yield of drilling and producing wells and proportionate advance in the price of the article was fully predicted in our columns in January, 1876. If we look at the past it is for the purpose of learning the lessons of the future, and the question coming closely home for consideration is whether, in view of the above facts, the price of our great staple will not in the year 1877 advance in a like proportion to what it did in 1876.

New Remedy for Baldness.-We find the following in the Pall Mall Gazette:

Persons afflicted with baldness will be glad to hear that a luxuriant growth of hair may be produced by a very simple process, described by British Consul Stevens, in his commercial report on Nicolaef for the past year. In the summer of 1875 Consul Stevens's attention was drawn to several cases of baldness among bullocks, cows, and oxen and the loss of manes and tails among horses. A former servant of the Consul's, prematurely bald, whose duty it was to trim

lamps, had a habit of wiping his petroleum-besmeared hands in the scanty locks which remained to him; and, after three months of lamp-trimming experience, his dirty habit procured for him a much finer head of glossy black hair than he ever possessed before, in his recollection. Struck by this remarkable occurrence, Consul Stevens tried the remedy on two retriever spaniels, that had become suddenly bald, with wonderful success. His experience, therefore, induced him to suggest it to the owner of several black cattle and horses, affected as above stated; and, while it stayed the spread of the disease among animals in the same sheds and stables, it effected a quick and radical cure on the animals attacked. The petroleum should be of the most refined American qualities, rubbed in vigorously and quickly with the palm of the hand, and applied at intervals of three days, six or seven times in all, except in the cases of horses' tails and manes, when more applications may be requisite. This news will create a profound sensation in hair-dressing circles, particularly among wig and chignon makers.

A Prepared Codfish Patent Litigation.-The Scientific American says:-The patent of Mr. Elisha Crowell, under which he claims a royalty on all cod and other fish deprived of skin and bones and packed in boxes, etc., for transportation, is to be contested by the wholesale fish dealers of this city. Mr. Crowell has heretofore issued stamps, which the trade purchased and affixed to the boxes of fish, at the rate of cent per pound. The dealers now claim that this tax inflicts injury on their business, and that Mr. Crowell has no legal right to exact it. As a large number of merchants are associated in these legal proceedings, and as it is reported that other fish dealers throughout the country will coöperate with them, it is probable that Mr. Crowell's claims will be vigorously fought in the courts.

Open Polar Sea.-A veteran Arctic explorer, James Lamont, writes to the London Times on the subject of an open Polar sea. He ridicules the idea of a vast, illimitable open ocean reaching to the Pole, and says: “Now, surely, it is time that all this nonsense about an open Polar sea was knocked on the head. I have been deceived twenty times myself by what looked like an open sea when in reality it was only a pond of water a few miles broad. We are all liable to be deluded in like manner, because, in our eagerness to see what we wish to see we are apt to lose sight of three very simple facts: First, that ice lies very low in the water; secondly, that it is only a very small horizon that one sees from the masthead of a vessel; and, thirdly, that only half a mile beyond our horizon may lie not a vast, illimitable ocean,' but a vast illimitable ice-field reaching to the

Pole."

Up to the 24th of December last, of the 44,700 feet of the entire tunnel through Mt. Gothard, in Switzerland, 22,188 feet had been excavated. Such progress having been made in four years, it is fair to infer that the whole work will be finished in 1880.

A Sinking Island.—The Island of Heligoland is reported to be gradually disappearing. It is now, says Iron, less than a mile in superficial extent; but in 1649 it was four miles in circumference, in 1300, forty-five miles, and, in 800, a hundred and twenty miles. The encroachment of the sea is effected almost entirely from the northeast, owing to the set of the currents and the direction of the prevailing winds.

Noise is the arch-enemy of the overworked brain, and one of the effects of culture is to subdue social noise and all clamorous expression. But noise is by no means the universal evil modern ultra-refinement would have it. There are conditions of life where silence is so prevailing that the ear craves sound, and the spirit becomes sluggish for want of it. Sound is often a stimulus, and is absolutely necessary to a full sense of existence. In country life, the craving for noise often leads the rustic to turbulent scenes. We may imagine the charm of market-day to dwellers in rural solitudes. The confusion of sound brings a new sense of life and brotherhood; the crack and crash, the rattle and grinding of wheels, the multitudinous cries, the snatches of talk and laughter, the tread of numbers, and, over all, clocks and chimes and bells, each sound demanding, insinuating, clamoring to be heard, and diverting the thought for the moment to itself, and yet all harmonizing into a busy-bee-like unity of purpose. The idea of religion, even, in the unlearned mass who pass their lives in silent, solitary occupations, is so inseparably associated with noise that it is almost impossible to instil the one without some aid from the other. But noise, in the progress of civilization, is losing its mission. Modern nerves recoil from the rude charm of mingled discords. We cannot now discover the spirit-stirring quality of the earpiercing fife, as described by Shakspeare. We are amazed that the word shrill should have been used by old poets as complimentary. We are puzzled that Sir Walter Scott should have enjoyed "the frenzied rivalry of contending bag-pipes," The riot and din of revelry in ancient times confound us. All that clatter which once was inseparable from high spirits seems to us now simply savage, and what was once to us a sympathy has become an antipathy. But, where there is great vitality there is sure to be noise. Mirth is always outspoken. In houses where noise is an offence, the children grow up losing a tonic. We miss a flash in the eye, a spring in the step, a ring in the laugh, which a little noise, indulged in at odd times, might have instilled into the system. Noise, therefore, is a part of education. Too much silence makes us morbid and sluggish; the ear has its necessities, like other organs, and the brain, if often oppressed and wearied with noise, is as frequently stimulated and invigorated by it. Lawful, recognized noise, is one of the most important elements of healthful life, along with fresh air and pure water.

| the noble host, or the many acts of beneficence that sweetened his every day life. My object, however, is not to eulogize my friend, whose excellence is known to an extent commensurate with his world-wide philanthropy, but to preserve a singular display of fraternal woodland growth, that would seem to realize the classical belief in the Hamdyodes of old, and which Mr. Smith was at considerable pains to bring to my observation.

It was one of those beautiful mornings of our Indian summer, so marvellously soft and tender, a sleepy haze toning down the gorgeous hues of the October landscape into a spiritual holiness. Mr. Smith appeared at the door with his fine barouche and splendid horses and proposed a ride. "I will show you," he said, "what we consider a great curiosity, and see if you can account for it."

It was a pleasant drive over roads made smooth by the supervision of a man who, while intent upon the great interests of our humanity, was not the less mindful of the arts that were to make the wilderness to blossom like the rose. A luxurious pleasure it was that genial morning, under the soft sky, with a well-trained team faultlessly mounted, and a gentle companion full of wise utterances, and having also that fine quality that fitly estimates the grace of silence. Some miles of rare scenery in that upland country was passed over, when our horses stopped by the wayside and Mr Smith pointed out two fine trees of similar size, shape, and general appearance.

"What do you think is the cause of that ?" he said. "One is a maple, the other an elm, and any way, how did it happen?" pointing with his finger.

Strange enough, less than three feet from the ground was a bridge, as it were, between the two trees, which may have stood three feet apart. The bridge, extended arm, or whatever else it might be called, was covered with bark, was of the same size throughout except where it emerged from each tree it was a trifle larger than at the centre. It was, in fact, a Siamese ligature, a bench-perfect, though rounded—to delight a school-boy. I should say, while the trees may have been a foot and a half in diameter, the connecting link was not a third of the parental bulk, being in the proportion of an arm to a leg.

How shall we account for this fraternizing in the wild woods? In the stress of wind and storm, did each instinctively lend a hand to the other? Did the sap of each mu tually circulate in the veins of the other? Did this endear ing companionship impart a grace and completeness to the existence of each, which we, in our imperfect comprehension of the marvellous heart of nature, are incapable of understanding?

It is well known that trees planted in groups thrive better than when solitary, but this is the only instance which has come to my observation of a tree-love.

ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH.

An Expressive Epitaph.-In a country churchyard in England, according to a lady friend of the MONTHLY, S

The Sumner Tree.-A reader of the MONTHLY sends us the following, which he says he copies from his " "scrapbook," and he asks what the tree is and where it stands : "There is a tree in the east Capitol grounds which was the object of Charles Sumner's especial admiration. Mr. Scrivener, who resides near by, gives the following as the history of this tree, which, he says, he related to Mr. Sumner: 'After the close of our last war with Great Britain Commander Bainbridge was sent by the Government to England to bring home our prisoners of war. While in Great Britain, and when visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, he saw a class of beautiful trees, grown for ornamentation, especially in cemeteries. He had one dug up and brought to Washington. Having landed it here safely he extended invitations among the men of note in Washington to be present and participate in the ceremony of planting this tree which he had imported. The ceremony, which partook more of conviviality than solemnity, was participated in by Generals Brown-then Commander-in-Chief of the Army-Scott, Jessup, and Townsend; Commodores Bainbridge, Decatur, and Porter, and many distinguished statesmen and citizens of Washington.'"

The Tea-Kettle.-A lady, whose contributions have often added to the interest and value of the MONTHLY in the past, and we hope will in the future, sends the following: I sat listening to the low undertone of the tea-kettle, simmering before the fire at twilight, when for the first time I noticed its peculiar shape, broad in base, and as Milton would say, "squat like a toad," convenient, safe, unique. Can the "gossips" of the MONTHLY inform me as to its origin?

A sick man, slightly convalescing, was asked by a pious friend who his physician was. He replied: "Dr. Jones brought me through." "No, no," said his friend, “God brought you out of your illness, not the doctor." "Well, maybe He did, but I am certain the doctor will charge me for it."

John B. Gough, in his recent address on "Temperance," at St. Louis, said he had spoken on the subject 5680 times. He remarked in conclusion that this was his last appearance in that city.

Mary Clemmer, the accomplished correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, says, in a recent letter: "I have another neighbor whom I think of with great tenderness, Mrs. Lippincott Grace Greenwood.' This country has not produced a woman of deeper or richer nature, and were she to pass away I should think of her with long regret as one whom the barrier of ill health and of unkind circumstances held back from the highest achievements possible to her rich intellect and heart. She does nothing that she does not do well."

To-day will be yesterday to-morrow.

The Japanese minister's wife, Madame Yushida, is said to be quite well known in her native country as a writer. She has readily adapted herself to the customs of Washington, but acquires the English language slowly. Her infant daughter is named Sfumi, which in the Japanese language signifies "Literature."

Justice David Davis, the United States Senator-elect from Illinois, is a millionaire, a second Daniel Lambert in size, very jolly, very genial, and very agreeable.

An Iowa paper tells of a smart wife that helped her husband to raise seventy acres of wheat. The way she helped him was to stand in the door and shake a broom at him when he sat down to rest.

Colonel A. D. Steinberger, ex-Premier of Samoa, and an early resident of Colorado, the Denver News states, writes to a friend in Baltimore that he expects to reap a rich bonanza from his recent adventure and experience on board an English man-of-war. He was taken prisoner by a British man-of-war, and forty days was in irons. He finally worked his way to a British province and secured passage to London, from which point he threatens the British government with a million-dollar damage claim.

A Boston boy: Hub-bub.

"I live by my pen," said a poet, wishing to impress a young lady. "You look as if you lived in it," was the reply.

No. 64.

OUR attention was first drawn to this ancient New Jersey mansion-one of the few of the better class of its colonial domiciles still standing-by an article concerning it published in the Elizabeth Daily Journal, December 8th, 1874, from the pen of the late Mrs. Harriet Woodward of that city. This house was for many years the residence of her father, the Rev. John S. Vredenburgh, pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Somerville, and it was the endeared home of her childhood. Her reminiscences of it as such, went back to nearly the beginning of the century, and were of touching and beautiful interest. And, whenever she visited the old manse, now neglected and decayed, its every room had its tender souvenir to her eyes. Here was the nursery or corner where the little ones played merrily together; there was the father's dear familiar library and study, which he so often paced when committing his sermons to memory. So also it brought tenderly to mind the image of a sainted mother, who long presided in that domestic sanctuary, and who suddenly left it and ten

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orphaned children, for one of the heavenly mansions. And she was the daughter cf that eminent Revolutionary patriot and pastor, the Rev. James Caldwell, who, with his devoted wife, fell victims to the murderous shot of foe and traitor.

The old parsonage, thus associated with sacred and pleasant family memories in the mind of the venerable lady to whose record of it we have referred, was also photographed for her parlor wall in Elizabeth. And its picture there-a large and