USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. an alkali. hard and transparent, and without the defect of splitting too freely. Fire proof Wood.-Doctor Fuehs, member of the Academy of Science at Munich, has discovered a Preparing Drawing Paper.-Reduce to a powder, composition by which he renders wood incombusti- and dissolve quickly in a glazed earthen vessel, conble; the composition is made of granulated earth and taining cold water, some gum adragant having been To obtain it the inventor says, you must well worked with a wooden spatula to free it from dissolve some moist gravelly earth, which has been lumps. There must be a sufficient quantity of water previously well washed, and cleared from any hetero- to give to this diluted gum the consistence of a jelly. geneous matter, in a solution of caustick alkali. This Paper, and some sorts of stuffs, upon which, if this mixture has the property of not becoming decomposed composition be smoothly applied with a pencil, or by fire or water. When spread upon wood, it forms a brush, and dried before a gentle fire, will receive a vitreous coat, and is proof against the two elements. either water or oil colours; in using water colours, The building committee of the royal theatre have they must be mixed with a solution of the above gum. twice publickly tried the composition on two small This cloth, or paper, so prepared, will take any colour buildings of six or eight feet in length, and a propor-except ink. When it is intended to retouch any partionate height; the one was covered with the compo- ticular part of the drawing, it should be washed with sition, and the other built in the usual manner. The a sponge, or clean linen, or a pencil, containing some fire was put equally in the two buildings; the one of the above mentioned liquid; if the part is only which was not covered with the composition was small, it will then rise quickly, and appear as if consumed, while the other remained perfect and repainted. entire. The cost of this process is very insignificant compared to its great utility, being about two francs three centimes per 100 square feet. The royal theatre at Munich has undergone this process, having about 400,000 square feet; the expense of which was about 4 or 5000 francs. Cement for Iron Pipes. For what is termed flanged joints, and all such as are not required to be taken apart, use an iron cement made of iron boring, pounded sal ammoniac and one quarter of sulphur. The exact proportion, however can only be ascertained from practice. This composition should be wetted with water or urine, and driven into the joint with a hammer and caulking chisel; it will then be found the most durable of all joints, if well made, and will resist steam of any pressure. If the joints are required to be taken asunder frequently, this cement will not of course, be so convenient, and in such cases a platted rope or gaskin, with some glazier's putty, or white and red lead, will answer every pur pose. Damp Walls.-A hall, of which the walls were constantly damp, though every means were employed to keep them dry, was intended to be pulled down, when M. Schmitthals recommended, as a last resource, that the walls should be washed with sulphurick acid. It was done, and the deliquescent salts being decomposed by the acid, the walls dried,. and the hall was afterwards free from dampness. Preparation of Quills.-M. Schloz, of Vienna, gives the following process for preparing quills for making pens, which it is said, will render them more durable, and better than the best Hamburgh quills: A boiler is to be about one-fourth part filled with water, and the quills suspended in a perpendicular position over the surface of the water, with their tails downwards, so that the extremity of the tail is not below the surface of the water. The boiler is then to be covered with a close cover, and kept boiling four hours. The next day, after having cleared the quills of roughness, and rubbed them with a piece of woollen cloth, let them be exposed to a moderate degree of heat; and on the following day they will be found Glazing Earthenware.-M. Rochinski, a manufacturer of earthenware at Berlin, has found a varnish or glazing for common pottery, which, after trials made in the presence of the College of Medicine, offers no danger in regard to health, and resists the action of the acids. This glazing is composed of five parts of litharge, two parts of well purified clay, and one part of sulphur. These substances are pulverised, and mixed with a sufficient quantity of caustick alkaline lye (soap makers' liqour,) so as to form a mixture fit to be readily applied on the earthenware, and to cover it equally all over. Carefully baked, these wares offer no trace of lead. To preserve Meat.-There are several patent processes for preserving meat, and other solid and fluid bodies; but the one generally resorted, to consists in boiling them to exclude the air and then hermetically sealing the cases in which they are enclosed. editor of this work has opened one case of cream which had by that means been successfully preserved for eleven years. The The last patent for this purpose was enrolled by Mr. Currie, and the object of the patentee is to prevent the decomposition of vegetable and animal substances by removing the oxygen of the atmosphere from them, and substituting in its place an atmosphere of carbonick acid gas. The substances to be preserved, whether vegetable or animal, are to be placed in close receptacles, such as vaults and tanks; the atmospherick air is then to be extracted from such receptacles, and carbonick acid gas introduced, which being heavy will readily insinuate itself into every cavity of the vessel and rest upon the top of the goods deposited therein, and by that means prevent the re-entry of atmospherick air containing oxygen, in the absence of which the decomposition of those substances could not take place.. Bene Plant.-A few leaves of the plant when green, plunged a few times in a tumbler of water, makes it like a thin jelly, without taste or colour, which children afflicted with the summer complaint will drink freely it is said to be the best remedy ever discovered. MISCELLANY. THE IOWA COPPER-MINES. The Iowa copper mines are located about one mile from Mineral Point, and thirty-five miles from Galena-embracing four hundred acres of land; in which copper has been discovered at various points, in great abundance. It is found eighteen inches from the surface of the earth, and increases in value and quantity with the depth of the pits. The great road and mail route from Galena and Green Bay, via. Fort Winnebago, passes through Mineral Point, and a rail-road has been projected, and an appropriation made for its survey from Milwaukie on Lake Michigan, to some point on the Mississippi near Galena, which passes through the mines. There is attached to the mineral tract, which is undulating prairie, nine hundred acres of woodland covered with a heavy growth of the best timber, for the business of smelting. it in consequence of the numerous towns springing up on the Mississippi and its tributaries, and the unebbing tide of emigration swelling upon the rich lands of the great valley. HUNTING THE WILD BULL IN POLAND. The Urus, a species of bison or wild bull, breeds mal has been long proscribed, even under pain of in the forests of Poland, but the hunting of this anideath. On the twelfth of October, 1836, the Governor General of the province, Prince Dolgurickow, gave a grand wild bull hunt in the ancient forest of ers had driven into an angle in the heart of the forest, between two rivers, a troop of twenty of these aniof fires. The prince was stationed with his friends mals, who were prevented from escaping by a circle on a spacious stage, while the trackers roused the brakes. Bialowicz. About two thousand hunters and track Suddenly emerging from a dense part of the forest, within fifty yards of the stage, another troop of enormous urus, having at their head a male of immense size, and whose long beard floated in the wind, was perceived. The animals directed their course towards the spectators, but the leader was soon struck and this succeeded by three other shots from Princes by a bullet from a gun fired by the Prince himself, on the stage made the bull reel some two hundred paces, where he fell and was killed. The general that the greatest of the wanderers of the ancient forshout by which this feat was accompanied proved It is proposed to form a stock company, for the purchase of these mines. The real value of the mineral cannot be computed, but from the quality and quantity of the ore, which has been tested by science, may be considered the most important mineral discovery in the United States. Copper ore found so high on the Mississippi river is a matter of great consideration. A furnace is now in blast, and it only requires the erection of rolling-mills, for which every facility is afforded, to supply the Upper Mississippi and Missouri with this article, without the immense cost of transportation, on that extensive ascending navigation; and then there is a safe de-est of Bialowicz had then been prostrated. scending navigation, on the unobstructed bed of the Mississippi, for the surplus manufacture to New-Orleans, or to the outlet of that great national canal, a distance of two thousand miles. It is a fact now generally known, that no land proluces better wheat than that of the mineral region of Wisconsin; and as fine crops may be seen growing on the prairie lands, in fields surrounded by the miner's shafts, as will at any time be found in Pennsylvania, upon the best cultivated farms, tilled by the very best farmers in the world. These animals feed almost exclusively upon a wild herb called "tomka," for in the severe winters, when this fails them, they perish in great numbers. This is the reason why they are only to be met with in this forest, which, because of the abundance of the people. As a memorial of this famous hunting match, grass in question, is called "green" by the country every body present carried away a fist full of this grass, which has a strong smell, and something of an almond taste, particularly when dried. In cutting out the ure, the hunters remarked about the head a strong smell of musk, the brain being, it is known, the chief depository of that substance. The flesh may be eaten, though it has a wild flavour. The skin is very strong, but wants suppleness. DIETETICK MAXIMS. 1. A healthy appetite is to be acquired by early rising-regular exercise in the open air-a cheerful mind, and abstinence from intoxicating liquors. 2. The food should be eaten slowly; so that it be well masticated and mixed with the saliva. There is a body of land, extending from Green Bay to the Mississippi, embracing the country of Fox River, Winnebago Lake, and the Mineral district, which I believe to be unsurpassed in fertility and depth of soil. The Lakes and the Mississippi are now struggling for the mastery, and both points are filling up with an industrious and enterprising population so rapidly, that Wisconsin must enter the Union as a state, within two or three years. The material advantage of the lake country is its supply of lumber. The government, very properly, gave new settlers the privilege of procuring pine from saw mills, erected on lands occupied by the Indians, but which could not be purchased; and thus they erect comfortable buildings with ease and economy. But this favour has not been extended to the people of the Upper Mississippi, where pine is very scarce, except on lands yet occupied by the Indians, and the consequence is that the poor settler finds it very difficult to erect a comfortable dwelling, as pine boards sell at from forty to seventy dollars per thousand tive. feet, and a sufficient supply can not be found. The 5. Animal food should not be over-boiled; vegedemand for lumber is very great and daily increasing tables should be boiled till perfectly tender. 3. Animal food is sooner digested in the stomach than vegetable; but it is more stimulating or heating to the system. Flesh that has been long salted, dried hams, beef, &c., are less easily digested and less nutritive than fresh meat. 4. Farinaceous and vegetable food, generally, is slower of digestion than animal, but it is less heating. Many kinds of vegetable food are very nutri METACOMET, OF POKANOKET, CHIEF OF THE PHILIP, alias Metacomet, of Pokanoket, chief of the Wampanoags, was for many years the inveterate foe of the settlers in New England. Drake in his "Indian Biography" thus describes his final capture and death: with the least probability of success; and this was fortified by a kind of block-house, directly in front, and having flankers to cover a cross-fire. Besides high palisades, an immense hedge of fallen trees, of nearly a rod in thickness, surrounded it upon the outside, encompassing an area of about five acres. Between the fort and the main land, was a body of "An army of fifteen hundred English, was raised water, over which a great tree had been felled, on by the three colonies, Massachusetts, Plimouth and which all must pass and repass, to and from it. On Connecticut, for the purpose of breaking down the coming to this place, the English soldiers, as many power of Philip among the Narragansets. They as could pass upon the tree, which would not admit determined upon this course, as they had been assur- two abreast, rushed forward, but were swept from it ed that in the spring they would come with all their in a moment, by the fire of Philip's men, Still, the force upon them. It was not known that Philip was English soldiers, led by their captains, supplied, the among them when this resolution was taken, and it places of the slain. But again and again, were they was but a rumour that they had taken part with him. swept from the fatal avenue. Six captains and a It was true, that they had promised to deliver up all great many men had fallen, and a partial, but mothe Wampanoags, who should flee to them, either mentary recoil from the face of death took place: alive or dead; but it is also true, that those who and but a handful had got within the fort. These made this promise, had it not in their power; were contending hand to hand with the Indians, and being persons, chiefly in subordinate circumstances, at fearful odds, when the cry of "they run! they who had no right or authority to bind any but them-run!" brought to their assistance a considerable body selves. And, therefore, as doubtless was foreseen of their fellow-soldiers. They were now enabled to by many, none of Philip's people were delivered, although many were known to have been among them. Thus in few words have we exhibited the main grounds of the mighty expedition against the Narragansets in the winter of 1675. Upon a small island, in an immense swamp, in South-Kingston, Rhode Island, Philip had fortified himself, in a manner superiour to what was common among his countrymen. Here he intended to pass the winter, with the chief of his friends. They had erected about five hundred wigwams of a superiour construction, in which was deposited a great store of provisions. Baskets and tubs of corn, were piled one upon another, about the inside of them, which rendered them bullet proof. It was supposed that about three thousand persons had here taken up thei: residence. After nearly a month from their setting out, the English army arrived in the Narraganset country, and made their headquarters about eighteen miles from Philip's fort. They had been so long upon their march, that the Indians were long enough apprized of their approach, and had made the best arrangements in their power to withstand them. They had already suffered much from the severity of the season, being obliged to encamp in the open field, and without tents to cover them! There drive the Indians from their main breast-work, and their slaughter became immense. Flying from wigwam to wigwam-men, women, and children, indiscriminately, were hewn down and lay in heaps upon the ground. Being now masters of the fort, at the recommendation of Mr. Church, General Winslow was about to quarter the army in it for the present, which offered comfortable habitations to the sick and wounded, besides a plentiful supply of provisions. But one of the captains and a surgeon opposed the measure; probably from the apprehension that the woods were full Indians, who would continue their attacks upon them, and drive them out in their turn. was doubtless, some reason for this, which was strengthened from the fact that many English were killed after they had possessed themselves of the fort, by those whom they had just dispossessed of it. Still, had Church's advice been followed, perhaps many of the lives of the wounded would have been saved; for he was seldom out in his judgement, as his long successes proved afterward. After fighting three hours, they were to march eighteen. miles, before the wounded could be dressed, and in a most horrid and boisterous night. Eighty English ̧ were killed in the fight, and one hundred and fifty wounded; many of whom died afterward. English left the ground in considerable haste, leaving The nineteenth of December, 1675, is a memora-eight of their dead in the fort. Philip, and such of ble day in the annals of New England. Cold, in the extreme-the air filled with snow-the army were obliged, from the low state of their provisions, to march to attack Philip in his fort. And but for the treachery of one of his men, who, from his having an English name, is supposed to have lived among the English-and by hope of reward, betrayed his countrymen into their hands. His name was Peter, and it was by accident that himself, with thirty-five others, had just before fallen into the hands of the fortunate captain Mosely. No Englishman was acquainted with the situation of Philip's fort; and but for their pilot, Peter, there is very little probability that they could have effected anything against it. -For it was one o'clock on that short day of the year, before they arrived within the vicinity of the swamp. There was but one point where it could be assailed The his warriours as escaped unhurt, fled into a place of safety, until the enemy had retired; when they returned again to the fort. The English, no doubt, apprehended a pursuit, but Philip not knowing their distressed situation, and perhaps judging of their loss from the few dead which they left, made no attempt to harass them. Before the fight was over, many of the wigwams were set on fire. Into these, hundreds of innocent women and children had crowded, and perished in the general conflagration! and as a writer of that day expresses himself, "no man knoweth how many." The English learned afterward from some that fell into their hands, that in all about seven hundred perished. Soon after this, Philip, with many of his followers, left that part of the country, and resided in different places upon Connecticut river. Some report that |