Читать книгу: «The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 561, August 11, 1832», страница 6

SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY

THE CASHMERE SHAWL GOAT

Has been successfully introduced into England by C.T. Tower, Esq., of Weald Hall, Essex; and as that gentleman, by this time, must have some of his flock to dispose off, we think their introduction among cottagers, for their wool and also for their milk, a fair subject for some of our female readers to speculate on. This variety of the common goat (or, probably, it may be a distinct species) is a fine-looking animal, and would be very ornamental in a park, on a ruin, on the side of a rock, or in a churchyard. It would also be very pleasant to have a home-made Cashmere shawl. We shall, therefore, give all the information we can on the subject, from Mr. Tower's account, as published in the last volume (xlvi.) of the Transactions of the Society of Arts. The Cashmere goat was brought from Persia to France during the time of Napoleon, and under his patronage, by the celebrated M. Terneaux. In 1823, Mr. Tower, happening at that time to be in Paris, purchased four of them, two males and two females, and succeeded in conveying them safely to his residence in Essex. The soil of the park at Weald Hall, where they have been kept ever since, is moist, and the situation is much exposed. The animals have, nevertheless, continued in health, and multiplied rapidly; so that his present flock consists of twenty-seven, including the four original ones. Of these latter, a polled female, which was old when purchased by him has every year produced at least one kid, and has twice had twins. Those individuals of which the horns cross are in Persia esteemed the best; and one of Mr. Tower's last year's kids has this peculiarity. They show no impatience of cold, and are very healthy; requiring only the occasional shelter of a shed in very rough weather. In spring, summer, and autumn, they graze like sheep; and, during winter, have been fed with hay, and refuse vegetables from the garden; but their favourite food is gorse (U'lex europae'a), which they devour eagerly, without being annoyed by its prickles. They damage young plantations, but not more than other goats or deer will do. They breed very early: three of Mr. Tower's goats this year produced kids before they were themselves a twelvemonth old. A few produce brown wool; but that of far the greater proportion of the goats is white, and this latter is more valuable than the other. The coat is a mixture of long, coarse hair and of short fine wool: this latter begins to be loose early in April; and is collected, easily and expeditiously, by combing the animals two or three times with such a comb as is used for horses' manes. A good deal of the long hair comes off at the same time, but the manufacturer has found no difficulty in separating it. The produce of a male is about 4 oz., and of a female 2 oz.: 2 lbs. of wool, as it comes off the goat's back, may be estimated to make one shawl 54 in. square. It will, therefore, require ten goats, male and female, to furnish materials for one shawl. Mr. Tower has this year had three shawls made of his wool, one of which was examined by the committee of manufacturers, The yarn was spun by Messrs. Pease of Darlington and was woven by Messrs. Miller and Sons of Paisley. Mr. Tower's shawl was compared with one made in Scotland, of French shawl-goat wool, to which it was evidently far superior. It was also compared with a shawl of M. Terneaux's own make; and was considered by very competent judges to be superior to this also. (Trans. Soc. Arts.)

Mr. Tower's goats were visited by Mr. Riley this present summer, and he declares them to be the most interesting specimens of the pure breed he has ever seen. The flock, consisting, in 1823, of two bucks and two does, now (1832) consists of 51 animals. Mr. Riley found them "grazing promiscuously with other stock in the park, and appearing extremely docile. The climate of England renders it necessary that, at night, they should be protected in sheds; and, in winter, fed with hay," &c. "The down was at this time taking from them by a girl, with a common horse-comb; and, on comparing it with some specimens I had procured in France, received through Russia, I found not the slightest degeneration: but, on the contrary, from its very clean state, and the small proportion of hair, I should say, it would realize in Paris a much higher price than any I had seen. Mr. Tower has had some shawls made from the produce of his flock, one of which he presented to his late Majesty. It was greatly admired, and considered to rival those of Cachemire. Mr. Tower states that his flock produces an average of 2 1/3 oz. of down annually from each animal."—Gardeners' Magazine.

THE GATHERER

Lines on finding a withered Primrose just before the opening of spring

 
The primrose has gone ere the Summer's bright beam
Had enlivened the glade, or illumin'd the stream;
It died ere a bud of the forest was seen,
Or Spring had appeared in her tresses of green.
 
 
It bloom'd in simplicity's meekest of form,
The spoil of the winds and the gust of the storm;
Like the offspring of want on a pitiless shore,
No hand to upraise it—no heart to deplore!
 
 
It knew not the fostering smiles of a friend,
Or the dew-drops of pity on sorrow that 'tend;
In its solitude drooping, like one in despair,
It shrunk 'neath the blast of the wintry air.
 
 
In the wildness of nature unnoticed it grew,
No solace or warmth from companions it drew;
Forsaken—unpitied—unwept for—unknown,
Like a child of the desert, it perished alone.
 

Robespierre.—Mademoiselle Gabarcos, the daughter of a Spanish banker, and one of the finest women of her time, married Talien, to save the life of her father. At the epoch of the 8th Fructidor, some deputies who had been placed on the proscription list by Robespierre, wished to delay the attack upon him in the Convention. Madame Talien, who had brought them together in her house, finding that they hesitated, addressed them in the following terms:—"Cowards, since you will not deliver France of this monster, you shall not live to see the destruction of your country, for I will immediately send him your names." This bold declaration electrified them. Next day Robespierre ceased to exist.

W.G.C.

Who are "the uneducated?"—What is meant by uneducated, in a time when books have come into the world; come to be household furniture in every habitation of the civilized world. In the poorest cottage are books; is one book, wherein for several thousands of years the spirit of man has found light, and nourishment, and an interpreting response to whatever is deepest in him; wherein still, to this day, for the eye that will look well, the Mystery of Existence reflects itself, if not resolved, yet revealed, and prophetically emblemed; if not to the satisfying of the outward sense, yet to the opening of the inward sense, which is the far grander result. "In books lie the creative Phoenix' ashes of the whole Past." All that men have devised, discovered, done, felt, or imagined, lies recorded in books; wherein whoso has learned the mystery of spelling printed letters, may find it, and appropriate it.—Edinburgh Review.

A veteran dramatist now alive, distinguished for the oddness of his humour, being required to state his grounds of exemption from serving in the militia, actually wrote on the official paper, "Old, lame, and a coward!"

T. GILL.

Cogent Reasons.—Dr. Arbuthnot first began his practice at Dorchester, a situation where the air is salubrious, and the environs beautiful; but he staid no length of time there. A neighbour met him galloping to London, and asked him why he went thither? "To leave your confounded place, where I can neither live nor die."

T. GILL.

The Foot.—Man is the only animal, in which the whole surface of the foot rests on the ground; and this circumstance arises from the erect stature which belongs exclusively to him.

The Brain.—The cavity containing the brain of a crocodile measuring thirteen or fourteen feet, will hardly admit the thumb; and the brain of the chamelion is not, according to the description of the Paris dissectors, larger than a pea.

The Tongue does not appear to be an indispensable organ of taste. Blumenbach saw an adult, and, in other respects, a well-formed man, who was born without a tongue. He could distinguish, nevertheless, very easily the tastes of solutions of salt, sugar, and aloes, rubbed on his palate, and would express the taste of each in writing.

Vulgar Error.—In Mr. Crabb's Dictionary of General Knowledge, article, Pelican, we find it stated that the bird "has a peculiar tenderness for its young, and has been supposed to draw blood from its breast for their support." We thought this error had long since been expunged from natural history, and lament to find it credulously quoted in a book of the year 1830.

Eyes.—Large animals have small eye-balls in proportion to their size: this is very remarkably the case with the whales, as might be seen in the skeleton of the gigantic whale lately exhibited in London. Those animals which are much under ground have the globe of the eye also very small, as the mole and shrew: in the former of these instances its existence was long altogether denied, and it is not, in fact, larger than a pin's head.

Teeth.—The numerous teeth of crocodiles have this peculiarity of structure, that in order to facilitate their change, there are always two, (or sometimes three,) of which one is contained within the other.

Bills of Birds.—Of all bills the most extraordinary is that of the cross-bill, in which the two mandibles cross each other at a considerable angle, for this formation seems to be directly opposed to the natural purposes of a bill. The bird, however, contrives to pick out the seeds from the cones of the fir, and it is limited to that species of nourishment.

Barbel.—Captain Heaviside, of Egham Hythe, while fishing for Roach with No. 10 hook, in the deeps at Staines Bridge, a few days ago, hooked and landed a barbel; after playing him for one hour and three quarters, during which time he could not get a sight of him. The weight of this fine fish was exactly 11 lbs. 2 ozs.; he measured 2 feet 10 inches in length, and 1 foot 4 inches in girth.

C.H.

Impromptu on seeing the Monuments in St. Paul's Cathedral covered with scrawled names

 
Oh! for a curse upon his head
Who dares insult the noble dead,
And basely scrawl his worthless name
Upon the records of their fame!
Nelson, arise! thy country gave
A heartfelt tear, a hallow'd grave:
Her eyes are dry, her recreant sons
Dare to profane thy mould'ring bones!
And you, ye heroes of the past,
Who serv'd your country to the last,
And bought her freedom with your blood,
Cornwallis, Duncan, Collingwood!
Rise, if ye can, and mark the wretch
Who dares his impious arm to stretch
And scrawl upon the graves of those
Who gave him freedom and repose!
And can no rev'rence for the dead
Ye heartless crew, no sense of dread
To place your names on aught so high
As e'en the tombs where heroes lie,
Force you with horror to recede
From such a sacrilegious deed?
Go, spread it to the winds of heaven,
That they, who to our isle have giv'n
Their blood, their services, their breath,
Sleep in dishonoured graves in Death.
 

REX.

Eccentric Physician.—When Bailly, (physician to Henry IV. of France,) perceived he was about to die, he called his servants to him singly, and gave to each of them a portion, first of his money, then of his plate and furniture, bidding them, as soon as they had taken what he had given them, to leave the house, and see him no more. When the physicians came to visit him, they told him they had found his door open, the servants and the furniture removed and gone, nothing in fact remaining, but the bed on which he lay. Then the doctor, taking leave of his physicians, said, "Since my baggage is packed up and gone, it is time that I should also go." He died the same day, November 5th, 1605.

P.T.W.

He is described by Eginhard as "apice capitis rotundo," which roundness or fullness of the top of the head must have been very peculiar to have deserved such especial mention.