Catherine Shaw, daughter of John Shaw, of Bargarron, having acquired a remarkable degree of dexterity in spinning fine flax, conceived the idea of manufacturing it into thread. Her first attempts were necessarily on a small scale; she executed every part herself, and bleached her materials on a large slate, placed in a window. Succeeding, in her first essays, she engaged her family in the process, and Lady Blentyre carried a parcel of the thread to Bath, where she advantageously disposed of it to the lace manufacturers there. This was the first thread that crossed the Tweed. Subsequently a connection of the family went to Holland, and brought from thence the secret of the twisting and twining machines in use there, then carefully kept from public observation; also the art of numbering the threads, and packing them for distant sale. The young women of the neighbourhood engaged in it also, and it became an object of profit and interest to the place. What, it will be asked, became of the ingenious young woman who turned her talents to so great private advantage, and eventually to such public utility.[6] Surely she lived honoured, and died beloved. No! she was one of the last victims to the imputed crime of witchcraft in the south of Scotland! Amongst many others, she was accused of having evil agency with spirits, and is described, in the records of those unhappy times, as "young, handsome, and well-informed." Can it be possible that the superior activity of her mind, and the industrious efforts of her hands, could have involved her in the disgraceful and frantic measures, which terminated in herself and five others being burned for witches in 1626? This unfortunate female was urged by her friends to put in a plea to delay her execution—she replied, with the dignity of a Roman matron. "No; my honour is already destroyed, and my life is not worth defending!"
MISCELLANY.
Scissors.—A very valuable improvement has been made on Scissors. It is especially so to those employed for delicate operations in surgery. The objection to the common scissors is, that, in the act of cutting, they, to a very considerable extent, compress and bruise the parts. This is owing to the edges being set very strong, and to the particular angle at which they are set, and is sufficient to account for wounds made by scissors refusing to unite by what surgeons call the first intention. To remedy this defect, it was lately suggested to Mr. Stodart, by Dr. Wollastan, to give to scissors the same kind of cutting edge that a knife has. This has been done, and the success has fully justified the experiment. The operation of hair lip has been repeatedly performed with the knife-edged scissors, both on the infant and on the adult, with complete success. The operation is in this way performed with facility to the operator, and in less time than with the knife, and consequently a less degree of pain to the patient. This improvement need not be confined to the science of surgery. A variety of delicate fancy work is performed by scissors, all of which will be much better done by giving them knife-edges. There is a little art in setting the edges, readily acquired by practice; this must be done with a view to the kind of work for which the scissors are intended. This improvement may easily be applied to common scissors, by grinding down the outer sides of the blades.
[Lon. pap.
Public Spirit.—It has been my practice for several weeks past, to walk upon one of our turnpike roads, and, for about two weeks, I noticed a very large stone, lying in what is called the "summer road," which I wished to remove, but my strength was not sufficient to do it. It remained there as permanent, to the great annoyance of all who passed that way in carriages. But one day as I was passing it, I saw a stout negro fellow, whose cart was beyond it as to the course which he was going, tugging at it, and he finally succeeded in putting it out of the way, saying to himself loud enough to be heard by me, as he laid it down, "now you can't upset any body!" Pleased with the incident, I asked the man if he often travelled that road. "No, sir," said he. "Why, then, did you take so much trouble to remove that large stone?" "Because, sir," returned he, "it might have upset some one in the night!" I then left him, reflecting that if all our politicians had a full portion of the same public spirit, and all our self-righteous persons as much of a desire to do good to their fellow men as this poor negro exhibited—we should have a very different time of it!
[Niles's Reg.
Winter Butter.—An idea prevails very extensively, that good butter cannot be made in the winter. This is a great mistake. Where the process is well understood, as fine butter is made in the depths of winter, as at any season of the year. By pursuing the following course, the matter will be accomplished:—
Let the cows be kept under cover in a warm stable, well fed with the best hay and provender, and milked regularly morning and evening.—Place the milk in pans, in as cold a place as may be found about the dairy house—the sooner it freezes the better. As soon as it is frozen thoroughly, take the cream from the top—the frost will force the cream to the surface—and churn it with no other warmth than the air of the kitchen at the distance of eight or ten feet from the fire-place. It requires more time to fetch the butter than in summer; but when brought it will be of the finest flavour and quality.
The Diamond.—Dr. Brewster has discovered a curious phenomenon, which appears to elucidate the nature of this substance. Sir Isaac Newton observed, from a comparison of the refractive powers of various bodies, that amber and the diamond had a refractive power three times greater, in respect of their densities, than several other substances, and he conjectured that the diamond was "probably an unctuous substance coagulated." Subsequent discoveries of the properties of sulphur and phosphorous have corroborated this opinion. Dr. Brewster has observed, both in flat diamonds and those of a perfect crystalline form (as well as in amber,) the existence of globules, or small portions of air, the expansive force of which has communicated a polarizing structure to the parts in immediate contact with it. This structure is displayed by four sectors of polarizing light encircling the globule of air, and can be produced artificially in glass and gelatinous masses. It must have been produced by the expansive force of the included air, when the substance was so soft as to be susceptible of comparison from so small a force. Hence we are led to the conclusion that the diamond originates, like amber, from the consolidation of perhaps vegetable matter, gradually acquiring a crystalline form, by the influence of time, and the slow action of corpsular forces.