LUSUS NATURE.

461

LUSUS NATURÆ.

them under their proper name, by the application of his ointment; and some prodigious cures are reported to have been achieved by this means. One instance different guise, to many of our readers. It will bear The story here versified is probably familiar, in a in particular deserves mention, on account of its sud-telling again; particularly when embellished with the denness.

A young lady, on going to a sleigh ride, had been upset, and got her ankle so severely sprained, that she could not walk nor stand. It was not only very painful; but, what was worse still, she could not dance. Injuries of this kind often require weeks, and even months, in healing. To a sprightly young lady, who was regretting every moment that she was kept from the dance, this was but poor consolation. Fortunately, however, Doctor Pulltoggle, who was on a journey, happened to arrive just at the nick of time, at the inn where the sleighing party held their ball.

The unfortunate young lady was sitting in one chair, with her sprained ankle in another-groaning and bitterly lamenting her fate, while she heard the fiddling and dancing so near her, without being able to join in it. With what joy then did she hear that Doctor Pulltoggle was then in the house. She requested to see him immediately, and begged, for the love of heaven, that he would cure her ankle, so that she could rise and join in the dance.

"How! do you expect me to perform a six weeks' job in half a dozen minutes?"

I don't know how, I'm sure, doctor; but I know you can do it well enough, if you try."

"How do you know, my ducky, ha?" said Pulltoggle, chuckling her under the chin.

"Oh, I know it well enough, doctor, because I've heard, time and again, of the great cures you have performed.'

"You have, ha? and you think I can cure your ankle in the twanging of a fiddle, do you?" "Yes, do now, Doctor Pulltoggle, that's a good soul; you can't think how I want to be up and danc

ing

You'll give me a kiss then, I suppose, if-" "Yes, but you must cure my ankle first." "Well, I suppose I must try what can be done for

England Magazine.-Alexandria Gaz.
harmony of numbers. The rhymes are from the New
Whilom in Gotham, that prodigious city,

Where dwarfs assume the character of giants.
Where splendor laughs to scorn what she should pity,
Where dwell rich advocates and well-fleeced clients,
And hordes on hordes, too numerous for my ditty,
A stern philosopher, a man of parts,
There lived, for years, a votary of science,
A master of all languages and arts.
He was a searcher for the hidden lore
Long over rusty medals would he pore,
Which buried lies beneath the dust of ages;
Prizing them dearer than pure golden ore;
With brows all twisted like an ancient sage's;
He loved quaint books, devices, omens strange,
A foe to moths, that banquet on old pages,
And things that were above the common range.
Lusus Nature was to him as great

A treasure, when discovered, as a mine
To a gold seeker; or a new estate
To a a young spendthrift, or some choice old wine
To him who sits at dinner rather late;

And, more by far than relics of lang syne,
Did he admire the "inseparable boys :--"
Monstra horrenda were his favorite toys.
One day, as lost in deep, forgetful study,

And in stalked a tall and somewhat ruddy
The Doctor sat, he heard a sudden rap;
With spattered clothes, and boots bedimmed and
Good-humoured looking, jovial country chap,
muddy,

While from his head he never took his cap,
But marching straightway to the Doctor's side,
With staring eyes and mouth extended, cried

the poor girl that wants to be shaking the foot so ter-"Oh, Doctor! I have seen the strangest sightribly."

Thus saying, he drew forth a box of the precious Toggle Grease, and began to anoint the red and swollen ankle; which, in less than three minutes, was reduced to its natural size and colour; and the lady, springing upon her feet, began to caper round the room as though nothing had happened.

66

Ah, but the kiss now!" exclaimed Pulltoggle. "You shall have it if you can catch me," returned the patient, gaily; and running into the ball-room, did more execution in the dance than any other person of the whole company.

A man half black!" "Half black! upon my word,"
Exclaimed the Doctor, trembling with delight,
Of individuals not wholly white-
""Tis strange, indeed,-half black! I've often heard

A rara avis this,-a most rare bird;
Half black?" "Yes, sir, he was, from head to foot,
As black-as black-yes-quite as black as soot."
"Sit down, sir, if you please; I'll get my book;"
Here the learned Theban on his table spread
A folio spacious-then a pen he took,
With inks that coloured were both black and red,
That he might make his annotations look

In hue according to what should be said
About the half black man; first in dark ink
His quill he dipped, and then began to think,
Or rather talk aloud-"One hundred, three;
Lusus Nature headed-let me see,-.
Yes-that's the page on which I'll note it down,

Brown, in his sketches, says that a large setter, ill
with the distemper, had been most tenderly nursed by
a lady for three weeks. At length he became so weak
as to be placed on a bed, where he remained three
days in a dying situation. After a short absence, the
lady, on re-entering the room, observed him fix his
eyes attentively on her, and make an effort to crawl
across the bed towards her. This he accomplished,
evidently for the sole purpose of licking her hands,
which having done, he expired without a groan. “I
am," says Mr. Brown, "as convinced that the animal
was sensible of his approaching dissolution, and that
this was a last forcible effort to express his gratitude
for the care taken of him, as I am of my own exist-
ence; and had I witnessed this proof of excellence
alone, I should think a life devoted to the meliora-
tion of the condition of dogs far too little for their de."Upon my honour, there is no deceit.
Half black, he truly was,-head, arms and feet."

Ring-streaked lambs, a monstrous humble-bee;
Albinos white-eyed women toasted brown,
Two heads than one are better,--people claim,
Child with two heads, the offspring of a clown,---
Hem! this child's father doubtless thought the same.
"Here will I draw a line,-and on one side

serts."

I will describe in black the half black part,
The other may be red,"-just then he spied
The stranger smile, and turning, with a start,
The doctor said, "perhaps the man was dyed!"
The stranger laid his hand upon his heart,-

39*

"Was half his head black?" "Yes." "One arm
black?" "Yes."
"One leg black?"
hand?"

"Yes." "Foot, ancle, wrist and

"The fact is, Doctor, neither more nor less,-
If now before your eyes the man should stand,
All unrevealed in native loveliness,

And through his countenance, so broad and bland,
And through his body you should draw a mark,
One half would be unutterably dark!"

"What, black as Egypt?" "Yes, in every sense;
His darkness might be felt." The Doctor smiled;
For though a man of very learned pretence,

He loved a joke,--often had he beguiled
An hour in merry wit, and could dispense
With deepest study, gladly as a child,
On some weak pate a sudden joke to crack.-
The stranger's answers were all down in black.
Now, soberly, the Doctor wiped his pen,
And gazing round with self complaisent air,
Seized the red ink, that he might copy then,
The color of the part to be more fair.
"One half as black as Egypt," said again

The sapient scribbler; "please relate with care,
The hue of t'other half-white, red, or blue?"
"Why--that, sir, was as black as Egypt too!"

UNCLE NAT.

-for Uncle Nat always supposed that there was sport in progress, where he beheld a busy, moving crowd. As he approached, the characters of the individuals who composed it, were to our hero well known, as the language of jockeys, its dialects and idioms, was perfectly familiar to his ear. Into this group, sans ceremonie, Uncle Nat entered, with an open hearted "How do ye do?" to all, and a stranger would have supposed that he was one of their own number, late in his arrival. It was a grand fair for running, trotting and trading horses! Here Uncle Nat felt himself at home, and was a stranger alike to embarrassment and jockeys. It having been whispered among the group, that he was a Yankee, their cunning grimaces indicated that the tricks which his predecessors had practised were now, if possible, to be severely visited upon this inoffensive new comer.

Uncle Nat appeared to be a good-natured, credulous old fellow, easy to be imposed upon, which not a little sharpened the zeal and earnestness of the Dutchmen, who now needed nothing, by way of stimulus, already rejoicing at the anticipated dismay of the Yankee, when he should find himself duped. Squire Rouse in the mean sime seemed to be in an element to which he had been accustomed, and to have forgotten that he had endured the fatigue of a long journey.

"Is your horse a trotter ?" asked one. "Why," replied Nat, "as for the matter of that, I guess the crittur will jog along some!"

"Will you plank a ten dollar, and trot a mile?" continued the stranger

This was a hard question for Uncle Nat to answer -he did not fear that Hugs would be distanced, but the journey which had been already long, was not half performed. After having carried the matter to the tribunal of his better judgment, he was about to refuse, when a second came up from the group, which had been holding a private consultation

"A Yankee's a Yankee, find him where you willTry him as you may, he'll prove a Yankee still." Not long since there lived somewhere in New England an old fellow, whose fame was extended many miles from the little spot which he called home, known by the name of Uncle Nat; and he belonged to that class of men, who, instead of eating that they may live, rather live that they may eat. That he had been no "I say, Jo," said he, "you don't want to trot your pretender in this business, would clearly and unequiv- Ranger with that old shabby bundle of skin and bones ocally appear, by a simple glance at his latitudinal and-"twould be an everlasting disgrace to him." longitudinal dimensions.

He was a hero of a pot of beans, and place him in the region of eatables, and no landlady would have occasion to complain of incivility on his part, for on such occasions he never failed to pay her a highly flattering compliment-a compliment that could by no means be mistaken. Uncle Nat never was guilty of leaving one dish to tell the fate of the others, and those who came at the eleventh hour usually found a strong argument for fasting.

Now our hero from his youth up, indulged a propensity to see the West, but it was not till grey hairs had made their appearance, that he resolved to make a tour of the Western and Southern States, and he was urged to this conclusion, by the firm conviction that he could not die in peace and quiet until his vision had been blessed with an actual view of those scenes, which he had so often heard described. Not many years ago, Uncle Nat, feeling that the time had now come, on a fine May morning, placed his saddle bags upon an old nag, yclepted Hugs, then mounted himself and summoning his only companion, a favorite dog, Squire Rouse, by a signal to the said Rouse well known, away he went, bidding an affectionate adieu to various old dames, whose skill in cooking he had not unfrequently had oocasion to commend, and doffing his broad rimmed hat in civility to every old maid, with whom, in days of yore, he had enjoyed many an innocent frolic. After having pursued his journey for many days over hill and dale, he at length found himself beyond the limits of New England, in the famous state of New York. It was towards the close of a beautiful day that he urged his old nag, by a few striking appeals from the whip, into the little village of- where, to his great satisfaction, he saw a large collection of people

Jo hesitated a moment, and gave a kind of half suppressed mutter, when the other resumed

Why I can run faster myself than that old nag can trot"

"I'll plank a hundred on that"-interrupted Uncle Nat, whose ire had been somewhat kindled at the outrageous abuse which had thus been heaped upon old Hugs

""Tis done," said the stranger, "but pause. I'll bet a hundred, that I can jump up behind your back three times, before you shall have gone twenty rods!"

Uncle Nat could stand it no longer-the old purse was drawn out and the cash produced. He proposed to deposit the cash in the hands of a stranger, who at that moment arrived, after the conditions of the bet should be fairly stated and well understood, to which the other consented. The stranger was requested, and, after some urging, agreed to comply with their wishes.

"Now," said Uncle Nat, "he puts down one hun. dred, that he can jump up behind my back three times, before I can trot my horse the distance of twenty rods if he does, you are to deliver the two hundred to him; if he does not, then I am to have the same.”

"Is this statement correct?" said the stranger. Both said aye. The jockeys could hardly refrain from laughing as they looked upon the old Yankee, who did not suspect any play upon words!-"Poor old soul," said they, "he'll be bled for a hundred"—

"Perhaps I may," said Nat, happening to overhear, "and perhaps I may not-various opinions on that point." Old Hugs was now mounted and aroused from his stupidity, by the application of Uncle Nat's huge heels to his rib visible sides. "Now," said he, "I must get Hugs warm, and will ride him up yonder,

HOSPITALITY SNAKES BAD SPELLING.

I guess"-so away went the trio, Uncle Nat, Hugs and Squire Rouse, to the great merriment of the jockey club, who were now congratulating themselves that Dutchmen were no more to be duped by Yankees; and it would have done one's heart good, to have witnessed their joy, when Uncle Nat returned with Squire Rouse at his side. Up he came, and appeared a little dejected as he began-"Any how, you, old Hugs, is rather stiff, and I'm afeard he won't do as he has-howsever, I'll try-but see here, Mr. better, you must agree that you won't hurt me.'

"O yes. I'll not hurt you a hair"-"that's right," interrupted Uncle Nat, "and you'll agree not to jump ahead of my saddle”

"Certainly, certainly," replied the other, who imagined that Uncle Nat would like to retreat-"If I jump or go further forward than the hind part of the saddle, then it is no bet."

"This is your agreement, is it?" inquired the stake holder-as before, they answered aye. Whereupon Uncle Nat insisted that a fleet horse and an expert rider should accompany them, in order that no difficulty might arise on this point; and to gratify his notion, as they called it, this was agreed to, and while these were being provided, Uncle Nat dismounted. Then twenty rods were now measured and the last scene of the drama was drawing to a close. "Wake up-wake up," shouted Uncle Nat, as he was applying his whip to Hugs's legs, "a hundred's to be lost or won!" Uncle Nat now mounted, to the surprise of all, and to the great dismay of the Dutchman better, with his back towards Hugs's head, and when the signal was given, away he went, yet slowly, exclaiming, "three times remember!" with Squire Rouse at his side. Here was a sad change in the Dutchman's prospects-instead of jumping up three times, after the Yankee had started, as he expected, being all the while behind his back, he stood still, and was dejected with a grief purchased at the expense of a hundred dollars! After having trotted his twenty rods, and having performed a grand right-about, he returned at a rate which confounded the already astonished Dutchmen, and approaching the stranger-"I'll take that money now, guess," said he, and the money was delivered with out a murmur on the part of the lately elated jockey. "Come in, my boys," said Uncle Nat, "come in, we'll have some supper now-by golly, I'll pay for't-come along, I say-My name's old Uncle Nat, the Yankee!"

*

*

*

In the history of our hero there are many rare specimens of a true Yankee-but he is now no more! We copy from a letter, which we have just received, our intelligence in regard to his unhappy fate

"No news for you-not a bit-save that they have just found old Uncle Nat, who disappeared some time last winter. He was seen floating in pond, frozen up in a huge cake of ice, as stiff as a poker-some say with his whip in his hand." Thus has ended the temporal history of the master of "Squire Rouse."-Lansingburgh Gaz

463

SNAKES.--"A stout negro, belonging to a friend near Stabrock, brought in from the bush two rattlesnakes in a box; he seemed to have sompletely subdued them by intimidation, and after a time he would let them out in the verandah, and they would return to him at his call. One day they were missing, and the negro's master going to an out-house, saw them coiled up under the step of the door; he was a long time imprisoned, but at last plucked up courage and sprang into the open air over them. The negro went out with his box to catch them: Ah! you rascal, you go way! Get in house this minute,' said Quaco, and the reptiles obeyed him! Sometimes he would irritate his pets, and they would bite him in the hand; then he would run out to the high grass near the house, and rub the wound with a plant, the name of which he would not reveal, for his fellow slaves looked on him with great respect for his being a snake charmer. At last, on one occasion, he got drunk, began handling the snakes, they bit him, he neglected to apply his antidote, went to the field to work, and in a short time was a bloated corpse. I have seen the cobra di capello, or hooded snake of India, caught in my garden; have watched the snake charmer with feathered turban, sitting beside a hole under the hedge of prickly pear, and piping on a rude musical instrument made from a gourd, and a bit of looking-glass in front of it; unlike the 'deaf adder,' the head of the cobra would soon appear above ground, as if listening to the wild strains, and his eye attracted by the dazzling glass. An assistant would be ready to catch him behind the neck, would draw forth his yellow and writhing length, and without extracting his poisonous fangs, would slip him into a covered basket, muttering the usual curse of Hut Tere! Next day the charmer would return, place his basket on the ground, sit on his haunches before it and pipe, the lid would rise, and the subdued head to the music, and ever and anon display his specsnake come forth, partly coil himself up, and move his tacled hood, or hiss when the charmer approached his hand. The assistant would go behind and hold up the reptile by the tail, then he could not do injury; but if a fowl were to be thrown at him, it would be dead in a few minutes. What I have said of tame rattlesnakes is less surprising than the feats of oriental snake charmers with the cobra.-Alexander's Sketches.

BAD SPELLING.-You need not be concerned, in writing to me, about your bad spelling; for in my opinion, as our alphabet now stands, the bad spelling, or what is called so, is generally the best, as conform ing to the sound of the letters and of the words. To give you an instance-A gentleman received a letter, in which were these words: Not finding Brown at hom I delivered your meseg to his uf. The gentleman finding it bad spelling, and therfore not very intelligible, called his lady to help him read it. Between them they picked out the meaning of all but the uf, which they could not understand. The lady proposed calling her chamber maid, because Betty, says she, has the best knack at reading bad spelling of any one I HOSPITALITY.-The voice of inspiration has enjoined know. Betty came, and was surprised that neither "Why," says hospitality as a duty. The dictates of nature concur Sir nor Madam could tell what if was.in pronouncing it a virtue. In the simplicity of ancient she, "f spells wife, what else can it spell ?" "And, intimes, it flourished as a vigorous plant. The traveller deed, it is a much better, as well as shorter method found beneath its wide spreading branches, a shelter of spelling wife, than Double you'i fe; which, in refrom the noon-day sun, and a cover from the storm.ality, spell doubleufey.-Franklin's Letters. But nations in their approaches to refinement, have been prone to neglect its culture. They have hedged it about with ceremonies, and encumbered it with trappings, till its virtues faded or its roots perished. Like the stripling shepherd, it hath drooped beneath the gorgeous armor of royalty, while it would fain have found among the smooth stones of the brook the strength it needed.-Mrs. Sigourney.

Gaspard Baleus, who was both a poet and a physician, deranged his brain so much by excessive study, that he imagined his body was converted into butter, and on this account he always shunned the fire with the utinost care. Being at length worn out by a continual dread of melting, he put an end to his misery by throwing himself into a well.

WILLIE'S COURTSHIP.

Tune-"Bonnie Dundee."
Young Willie, the ploughman, has nae land nor siller,
An' yet the blythe callant's as crouse as a fing;
He courts his ain lass, an' he sings a sang till her-
Tak tent, an' ye'se hear what the laude does sing:
"O, Jenny! to tell that I loe you 'fore ony,

Wad need finer words than I've gatten to tell!
Nor need I say to ye, Ye're winsome an' bonnie-
I'm thinkin' ye ken that fu' brawly yoursel'!
"I've courted ye lang-Do ye hear what I'm telling?-
I've courted you, thinkin' ye yet wad be mine;
An' if we suld marry wi' only ae shilling,

At the warst, only ae shilling, Jenny, we'se tine.
But love doesna aye lie in gowpens o' guineas,

Nor happiness dwall whar the coffers are fu'; As muckle we'll surely aye gather atween us,

imagined he was dead, and refused all nourishment, for which, he said, he had no further occasion. This last whim would have proved fatal, if his friends had not contrived to disguise two persons, who were introduced to him as his grandfather and Marshal Luxemthe shades, invited him to dine with Marshal Turenne. bourg, and who, after some conversation concerning Our hypochondriac followed them into a cellar prepared for the purpose, where he made a hearty meal. While this turn of his disorder prevailed, he always dined in the cellar with some noble ghost. It is somewhat remarkable that this strange fantasy did not incapacitate him for buisness, especially where his immediate interests were concerned. Hypochondriasm is doubtless produced, in a great measure, from deep study, or from an artificial mode of living, and want of proper air and exercise. We seldom hear of a plough. man or an industrious artizan falling into that diseased state of the imagination, and considering themselves hares, vegetables, plants, or some disembodied spirit.

That want ne'er sal meet us, nor mis'ry pursue. "The chiels that are christened to riches an' grandeur, Ken nought o' the pleasure that hard labour brings; JUPITER AND HORSE.-"Father of animals and men!" What in idleness comes, they in idleness squander, While the lab'ring man toils a' the lang day, an' sings! "I am considered the most beautiful creature with so spake the horse, and drew near the throne of Jupiter, Then why suld we envy the great an' the noble? which thou hast adorned the world, and my vanity The thocht is a kingdom-it's ours what we hae!-leads me to believe it. But yet would not some A boast that repays us for sair wark an' trouble;

'I've earned it is mair than a monarch can say. "The green buds now peep thro' the auld runkled tim

THE BULGARIANS.-The Bulgarian is handsome, robust, patient, stubborn, and very jealous; with primitive manners. The stranger who puts up for the night in a cottage, has the best of everything, and sleeps on the same floor with father, mother, sons and daughters. The women are tall and beautiful-the finest race I saw in Turkey-with peculiarly small hands and feet. Their costume is elegant, consisting of a striped shift, which covers without concealing the bust, fastened round the throat with a heavy gold or silver clasp; a short worked petticoat, and embroidered pelisse' a la Polonaise confined by a broad ornamental girdle. Their hair is dressed in long braids, and their wrists and waists adorned with solid bracelets and buckles; the poorest have them. Yet these nymphs of the Balkans are household slaves, and are to be seen in the severest weather drawing water at the fountains. No peasantry in the world are so well off. The lowest Bulgarian has abundance of every thing; meat, poultry, eggs, milk, rice, cheese, wine, bread, good clothing, and a warm dwelling, and a horse to ride. It is true he has no newspaper to inflame his passious, nor a knife and fork to eat with, nor a bedstead to lie on, and therefore may be considered by some people an object of pity.-Slade's Travels.

THE HYPOCHONDRIAC PRINCE.-Many distinguished persons, from a disease in the imaginatiou, have fallen into strange notions regarding their personal indentity and character. In the memoirs of Count de Maurepas, there is an account given of a most singular hypochondriac in the person of the prince of Bourbon. He once imagined himself to be a hare, and would suffer no bell to be rung in the palace, lest the noise should scare him in the woods. At another time, he fancied himself to be a plant, and, as he stood in the garden, insisted on being watered. He some time afterwards

different construction be better for me?"

"And what do you think will be better for you? Speak, I will hear your instructions," said the good god, and he laughed.

"Perhaps," spake the horse again, "I should be fleeter, if my legs were higher and more slender; a longer swan neck would be no disadvantage; a broader breast would add to my strength; and since you have ordained that I shall bear your favorite, man, it might be well to create on me a natural saddle, upon which my benevolent rider might sit."

"Good!" replied Jupiter-"have patience a moment!” Then Jupiter, with solemn look, spoke the word of creation-"Let life enter the dust, and thou, matter, become organized and united!" And suddenly there stood, before the throne, the deformed camel.

The horse saw, and trembled at the frightful spectacle.

"Here are higher and more slender legs," said Jupiter; "here is a longer swan-like neck; here is a broader breast; here is a natural saddle; do you wish, O horse, that I should form you such?”

The horse still trembled.

"Go," continued Jupiter; "this time be taught without punishment. To remind thee now and then of thy presumption, the new creature shall continue, (Jupiter threw a preserving look upon the camel) and never be looked upon by thee without shuddering"

ADVANTAGES OF THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE.-An intelligent class can scarcely ever be, as a class, vicious; never, as a class, indolent. The excited mental activity operates as a counterpoise to the stimulus of sense and appetite. The new world of ideas; the new views of the relations of things; the powers, disclosed to the well-informed mind, present attractions, which, unless the character is deeply sunk, are sufficient to counterbalance the taste for frivolous or corrupt pleasures; and thus, in the end, a standard of character is created in the community, which, though it does not invariably save each individual, protects the virtue of the mass.-Everett's Discourse.

DUELLING.-Swift's observation upon duelling is certainly the best reason that can be assigned for the continuance of its practice. He says, "I should be exceedingly sorry to find the Legislature make any new law against the practice of duelling, as I can discover no political evil in suffering bullies, sharpers, and rakes, to rid the world of each other by a method of their own, where the law hath not been able to find an expedient."

LADY BYRON'S REPLY-HOTHAM ISLAND.

That island, or rather the symptoms of its formation were first observed on the 10th of July, 1831; though on the preceding day quantities of charred sea plants and dead fish were observed floating on the surface; and sounds resembling that of thunder were heard. Shocks of earthquakes had, indeed, been felt by ships passing the same spot on the 28th of June; but there was then no appearance at the surface of the sea. At about eleven o'clock on the 10th, Cap