MISCELLANY.
From Johnson's Influence of Civil Life, Sedentary Habits and Intellectual Refinements, or Human Health and Happiness, &c.
Parallel of enjoyment and suffering in drink.—The water drinker glides tranquilly through life, without much exhileration or depression, and escapes many diseases to which he would otherwise be subject. The wine drinker experiences short, but vivid periods of rapture, and long intervals of gloom; he is also more subject to disease. The balance of enjoyment, then, turns decidedly in favour of the water drinker, leaving out his temporal prosperity and future anticipations; and the nearer we keep to his regimen, the happier we shall be. Here, however, as is in all other things, there is a certain latitude within the range of health and happiness which the wise man and the philosopher will occasionaly travel round, but not exceed.—The native fountain is in the centre, and from it our eccentric divergences should be narrowly watched and carefully limited.
Density, weight, &c. of the earth.—From the experiment of Maskelyne, and the calculations of Hutton, Cavendish, Laplace, &c. it appears, that considering the specific gravity of water as unity, the mean density of the earth would be according to Hutton, 4.95, or according to Cavendish, 5.48. The mean most commonly adopted is 5.4. Taking this as our ground work, we may now proceed to that most singular question of weighing the earth.
Assuming 7920 miles as the mean diameter of the earth, the number of cubic miles will be 239,979,311,961. Now each cubic mile contains 147,197,952,000 cubic feet; also every cubic foot of water weighs 1000 avoirdupoise ounces.
Hence a cubic mile of water will weigh 4,107,085,714 tons, and consequently a globe of water of equal dimensions with our earth would weigh 985,594,985,000,000,000,000 tons, and that multiplied by the calculated density 5.4, gives 5,322,212,919,540,000,000,000 tons for the weight of our earth.
Fruit.—The Poughkeepsie Herald states, that Mr. Joseph Waddle, of the town of Washington, Dutchess county, has sold, at the New York market, during the last six weeks, the produce of ten apple trees for the almost incredible sum of three hundred and sixty dollars—they were of a species called Summer Russets; the quantity fifty barrels. These apples grew on ten trees, which altogether occupy less than one quarter of an acre of ground. When the apples were first gathered last fall they filled fifty-three barrels, and on being picked over this spring, preparatory to sending them to market, they were reduced to fifty barrels.
Agricultural Anecdote.——Furius Cresinus, as mentioned by Pliny, the Roman historian, was originally a slave. Having been made a freedman, he purchased a small spot of ground, from which he obtained, through his unwearied industry, much finer crops than many of the neighbours, who had larger farms. This excited general envy, which his enemies carried to such a length as to accuse him of employing magic charms to render his own grounds fertile and to impoverish heirs. The Edile caused him to be summoned to appear and answer the charge before the people of Rome. Crecinus obeyed the mandate, accompanied by his daughter, a fresh and healthy coloured girl—charms which appeared to greater advantage from the symplicity of her dress. The accused also brought with him the tools and instruments of his profession. They were in excellent condition. His mattocks were remarkably heavy, his plough was of an enormous size, and his cattle were all sound and fat. "Behold!" said this truly dignified and indignant farmer, "behold my whole magical equipage! behold the charms which I have recourse to! There are others, indeed, which I am not capable of producing before you; I mean the sweat of my brow, and incessant toils both by day and night." This native eloquence decided the matter; he was honourably acquitted by the unanimous voice of a numerous and applauding assembly.
A mechanic in the North has invented a machine for seminaries, which, by means of steam, not only warms the room, but flogs all the boys "on a graduated scale," according to their offences.