AIR, EARTH, AND WATER. [Extracted from a conference betwixt an ANGLER, a HUNTER, and a FALCONER; each commending his recreation, and, consequently, the element in which each is carried on.] THE Air is an element of more worth than weight, an element that doubtless exceeds both the earth and water. The worth of it is such, and it is of such necessity, that no creature whatsoever, not only those numerous creatures that feed on the face of the earth, but those various creatures that have their dwelling within the waters,—every creature that hath life in its nostrils, stands in need of this element. The waters cannot preserve the fish without air, witness the not breaking of ice in an extreme frost: the reason is, that, if the inspiring and expiring organ of any animal be stopped, it suddenly yields to nature, and dies. Thus necessary is air to the existence both of fish and beasts, nay, even to man himself: that air, or breath of life, with which God at first inspired mankind, he, if he wants it, dies presently, becomes a sad object to all that loved and beheld him, and in an instant turns to putrefaction. Nay, more; the very birds of the air are both so many and so useful, and pleasant to mankind, that they must not pass without some observations. They both feed and refresh him; feed him with their choice bodies, and refresh him with their heavenly voices.

As first, of these latter, the lark, when she means to rejoice, to cheer herself, and those that hear her, she then quits the earth, and sings as she ascends higher into the air; and, having ended her heavenly employment, grows then mute and sad, to think she must descend to the dull earth, which she would not touch but for necessity.

How do the black-bird and thrassel, with their melodious voices, bid welcome to the cheerful Spring, and, in their fixed months, warble forth such ditties as no art or instrument can reach to.

Nay, the smaller birds also do the like in their particular seasons; as namely, the leverock, the tit-lark, the little linnet, and the honest robin, that loves mankind, both alive and dead.

But the nightingale, another of these airy creatures, breathes such sweet, loud music, out of her little instrumental throat, that it might make mankind to think miracles are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer sleeps securely, should hear the clear airs, the sweet descents, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and redoubling of her voice, might well be lifted above earth, and say, "Lord, what music hast thou provided for the saints in Heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music on earth!"

This for the birds of pleasure, of which very much more might be said. My next shall be of birds of political use. Swallows have been taught to carry letters between two armies; and when the Turks besieged Malta, or Rhodes, pigeons are then related to carry and recarry letters; and Mr. G. Sandys relates it to be done betwixt Aleppo and Babylon. But if that be disbelieved, it is not to be doubted that the dove was sent out of the ark, by Noah, to give him notice of land, when to him all appeared to be sea; and the dove proved a faithful and comfortable messenger. And for the sacrifices of the law, a pair of turtle-doves, or young pigeons, were as well accepted as costly bulls and rams. And when God would feed the prophet Elijah, after a kind of miraculous manner, he did it by ravens, who brought him meat morning and evening. Lastly, the Holy Ghost, when he descended visibly upon our Saviour, did it by assuming the shape of a dove. And pray remember these wonders were done by birds of the air, the element in which they take so much pleasure.

There is also a little, contemptible, winged creature, an inhabitant of this aërial element; namely, the laborious bee, of whose prudence, policy, and regular government of their own commonwealth, much might be said; as also of their several kinds, and how useful their honey and wax are, both for meat and medicine, to mankind: but we will leave them to their sweet labour, without the least disturbance.

The Earth is a solid, settled element; an element most universally beneficial, both to man and beast. The earth feeds man, and all those several beasts that both feed him and afford him recreation. How doth the earth bring forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for medicine and the pleasure of mankind! To pass by the mighty elephant, which the earth breeds and nourisheth, and descend to the least of creatures, how doth the earth afford us a doctrinal example in the little pismire, who, in the Summer provides and lays up her Winter provision, and teaches man to do the like! What, indeed, might not be said in commendation of the earth? that puts limits to the proud and raging sea, and, by that means, preserves both man and beast, that it destroys them not.

The Water is the eldest daughter of the creation, the element upon which the Spirit of God did first move; the element which God commanded to bring forth living creatures abundantly; and without which, those that inhabit the land, even all creatures that have breath in their nostrils, must suddenly return to putrefaction. Moses, the great lawgiver and the chief philosopher, skilled in all the learning of the Egyptians, who was called the friend of God, and knew the mind of the Almighty, names this element the first in the creation. This is the element upon which the Spirit of God did first move, and is the chief ingredient in the creation. Philosophers have made it to comprehend all the other elements.

The water is more productive than the earth. Nay, the earth hath no fruitfulness without showers or dews; for all the herbs, and flowers, and fruit, are produced and thrive by the water; and the very minerals are fed by streams that run under ground, whose natural course carries them to the tops of many high mountains, as we see by several springs breaking forth on the tops of the highest hills.

How advantageous is the sea for our daily traffic, without which we could not subsist! How does it not only furnish us with food and medicine for the body, but with such observations for the . mind as ingenious persons would not want! How ignorant had we been of the beauty of Florence, of the monuments, urns, and rarities, that yet remain in, and near unto, old and new Rome; so many, that it is not to be wondered at, that so learned and devout a father as St. Jerome, after his wish to have seen Christ in the flesh, and to have heard St. Paul preach, makes his third wish, to have seen Rome in her glory: and that glory is not yet all lost; for what pleasure is it to see the monuments of Livy, the choicest of the historians; of Tully, the best of orators; and to see the bay-trees that grow out of the very tomb of Virgil! These, to any that love learning, must be pleasing. But what pleasure is it to a devout Christian, to see there the humble house in which St. Paul was content to dwell; and how much more doth it please the pious curiosity of a Christian, to see that place on which the blessed Saviour of the world was pleased to humble himself, and to take our nature upon him, and to converse with men! And remember, too, that but for this element of water, the inhabitants of this poor island must have remained ignorant that such things ever were, or that any of them have yet a being.-IZAAK WALTON,

USEFUL ARTS. No. XV

THE OX AND COW.

Ir is not known with any certainty, whether the various kinds of domesticated cattle of the ox tribe, are only varieties of a common stock, modified by difference of climate and of pasturage, or whether they are sprung from really distinct species. The auerochs, or urus, now found wild only in the remotest forests of Lithuania and Northern Europe, is supposed to be the prototype of the varieties of that part of the world. If this be the case, domestication has materially reduced the size, however much it may have improved other qualities, for the formidable ainmal just named, is, in size, but little inferior to an elephant of the average magnitude, while its ferocity and power render it the terror of the districts it frequents. Leaving, however, these questions to the naturalist, it may be worth while to remind our readers, that the common name of Ox, or its synonym in various languages, is equally bestowed on the cattle of our country, and of the rest of Europe; on the small, elegant Indian animal, of the fertile plains of the Ganges, and of that vast peninsula generally; on the Buffalo of Southern Africa; on the Bison of America, and on the shaggy, small, but strong Musk-Ox, of the frozen zone.

It is, however, certain, that the Buffalo is a distinct species from the Ox and Bison. That England possessed a wild species of Ox long before man inhabited that country, is proved by the fossil remains found in such numerous localities; and, till the commencement of the present century, Wild Oxen were still to be met with in several parts of the north, or of Scotland, which were the last remains of the original stock, before the present breeds had been either introduced from other countries, or had been improved by care and cultivation, and had gradually multiplied and spread over the island. Almost every county now boasts of its peculiar breed, excelling in some points; but generally, the cattle of England have sprung from a mixture of the Dutch, or Holstein, breed, with our own indigenous races, of which that of Lancashire, and the northern counties, is probably the original.

All parts of this animal are made available to some use. This arises from our intimate knowledge of the Ox, and of its structure and character, and from its abundance; since it constitutes the greater part of our animal food. For this last-named purpose, every portion of the flesh is applicable, though the meat of the differents parts varies in its properties: that of the Cow is less esteemed than that of the Ox, as being more fibrous and less juicy; but of course, a considerable proportion of the beef sold, is cow-beef. The heart, liver, kidneys, and part of the intestines, called tripe, are also eaten; the tongue, salted and smoked, is a favourite dish; the extremities of the feet are employed in preparing jelly. The blood is used in refining sugar, in the manufacture of Prussian-blue, and in certain cases, as a manure, as are also the bones, broken small, after all the gelatinous part has been extracted for food, by boiling. The hide furnishes us with leather, and the horns, afford materials for three or four different trades; the hair, scraped from the skin by the currier, is used to mix up with mortar, or plaster for covering walls; and the fat and suet are melted for tallow, to make candles.

The Bull, or perfect male, is never eaten, the flesh being too rank and coarse. It is, as the Ox, occasionally used as an animal of draught; but the temper of the bull is, commonly, too uncertain, to allow of its being thus serviceable. The males when full-grown, are called Oxen, or Bullocks; the young male is termed a Calf till it be a year old; the young female, to the third year, is a Heifer. When Oxen are killed for food, a few cuts are made with a knife in the surface of the muscle, to show by the contraction of the fibre which ensues, that the beast was slaughtered, and not left to die of age or disease.

In the year 1830, there was sold at Smithfield Market, 159,907 head of cattle, averaging 800 lbs. gross, or 550 lbs. net weight, each, deducting the hide, offal, bones, &c. This makes an annual consumption in the metropolis of 87,948,850 lbs. of butchers Beef alone. To this must be added, 2,131,500 lbs. weight of Veal, the net produce of 20,300 calves, averaging 140 lbs. gross, or 105 lbs. net weight, each.

The Ox attains the age of twenty years: the female produces but one at a birth, and goes with young nine months.

See Saturday Magazine, Vol, III., p. 171. + Ibid. Vol. VII., p. 29.

MILK.

GREAT as are the foregoing advantages derived from the Ox genus, they are far surpassed by the quantity and nu tritive qualities of the milk of the Cow; which, in all ages, has formed a considerable part of the food of the human race, in those countries where the animal is found; and which, undoubtedly, was the cause of the original domestication and gradual improvement of the species. As far as we yet know, the Cow and its congeners, are the sole animals which secrete milk in far greater abundance than is required for the support of their offspring; and that this is a property of the animals in a wild state, may be inferred from the large size of the udder, compared with that of

other mammalia.

The quantity of milk yielded by the Domestic Cow,varies, of course, with the season, the variety of the animal, and with the nature and abundance of her food; from six to twenty, or even thirty, quarts a day, may be considered as the extremes. The Cows of Alderney are much esteemed for their quality in this respect, and are, generally, the breed kept for the dairy, on large farms. Of our own varieties, the short-horned, Yorkshire breed, furnishes a greater quantity than the Lancashire: à Cow of the former kind, in good condition, and well pastured, will yield twenty-four quarts a day during the grass season. This is the breed which furnishes the milk consumed in London, and other large towns.

Few persons are aware of the number of animals (upwards of 9000, it is said, yielding, 28,800,000 quarts of milk annually,) required to furnish milk sufficient for the consumption of such a city as London, nor of the method by which such a multitude are fed, in enclosed buildings in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, where there cannot be sufficient natural pasturage for more than half of the number. The grains from which beer has been brewed, or spirits distilled, constitute the largest part of the food of the Cow in these situations; turnips, carrots, mangel-wurzel, hay, and oil-cake, are added in small proportions, on different occasions. When the Cows get too old for yielding milk, they are fattened on oil-cake for the butcher.

Cows are usually milked twice a day, morning and evening; but on some farms, the operation is performed at noon also, but the quality of the milk is not so good when this is done. Though the milk of the Cow is that chiefly used for food in Europe, and in this country especially, yet that of the Mare, the Ass, the Ewe, the Goat, and the Camel, is also employed by different nations. The milk, like the blood of all animals, however it may vary in taste according to the food of the creature, agrees in its general chemical and organic composition. It is a white, opaque fluid, heavier than water, of a bland, sweetish taste. When newly taken from the animal, if left to stand, it separates into two parts; a thick, unctious fluid, called cream, which floats at top, and a thinner, heavier one, below; this is a mere mechanical division, arising from the different specific gravities of the two constituents.

After the lapse of a longer time than that necessary to produce a separation of the cream, a chemical change takes place in milk, whether the cream has been removed or not. The liquid turns sour; putrescence comes on by coagulation; the milk divides into two distinct substances; thick, soft, white masses, called curd, are formed, and float on a thin, serous liquid, termed whey. This coagulation can be brought on at any time, by the addition to the milk of any acid, or of certain astringent chemical principles, by alcohol, gelatine, and several other substances. Milk is also capable of the vinous and acetous fermentation.

The ultimate chemical constituents of all milk, are, a fixed oil, albumen, gelatine, a particular sugar, chlorides of sodium and potassium, phosphate of lime, some sulphur, and water. The difference in the milk of different animals arises from the varying proportions of these principles. Cream only differs from the residue of the milk, in containing nearly all the oil; otherwise, the rest of the constituents also concur to form this fluid. The curd consists almost entirely of the albumen. It is the facility with which these separations are effected, that gave rise to the processes for manufacturing the two important products obtained from milk, namely, Butter and Cheese.

BUTTER.

As soon as the milk is taken from the animal, it is carried to the dairy, or building expressly devoted to this purpose. + See Saturday Magazine, Vol. VII., p. 47.

The milk is strained through fine hair-cloth sieves, to separate any impurities, or hairs of the cow, which may have got into it, and is received into shallow pans of earthenware, or into troughs of wood, iron, marble, slate, &c., according to the size of the dairy and the fancy of the proprietor. Coolness, and excessive cleanliness, are the essential requisites in every part of the processes in which milk is employed. Those vessels, therefore, which most easily admit of being thoroughly cleaned, are the best, whatever may be their form or material: leaden lining to wooden ones is objectionable, however, for the same reason that renders that metal unfit for any other purpose connected with food,-the poisonous quality of the salts formed by dissolving lead in acids.

The milk is left to stand quite still for from six to twelve hours, according to circumstances. The cream, which has by that time risen to the surface, is carefully skimmed off from the milk; and when a sufficient quantity is obtained, it is put into the churn. Cream may be kept there three or four days before it is churned; a slight degree of sourness being neither injurious to the making of butter, nor unpleasant to the taste of it.

The churn is a closed vessel, in which the cream being put, a fan, or piston, is moved round inside, to agitate the liquid violently, in order to produce the separation of the oily from the serous part of the cream. There are many varieties of churns: those represented in the annexed figure are now the most common. In the right hand churn, the axle carrying the fans passes horizontally through the barrel, and is made to revolve by means of a toothed wheel at its end, which is worked by another on the axle of the fly-wheel, this being turned by the handle fixed on its spoke. The axle of the fans of the other vertical churn, has a small cylinder on the outside, above the top of the tub, round which cylinder a cord is wound; this cord passes through two holes in the sides of the frame, which carries one end to the axle, and the ends of the cord are fastened to a treadle-board, the form of which will be understood from the figure. The churner stands on this board, and by alternately throwing his weight on each flap of it, he draws down the cord alternately on each side, and causes the axle and fans to turn -backwards and forwards in the tub.

CHURNS.

The time required to convert the cream into butter, varies at different seasons of the year, from one to three hours, the butter setting sooner in warm than in cold weather: the best temperature for the purpose is about 55°. In Winter it is necessary to bring the churn near a fire, to obtain sufficient warmth; and in hot weather, if its form admits of it, the churn should be placed in a tub, with

cold water in it, or some means adopted to cool the churn down to the proper temperature.

It is found by experience, also, that the motion of the fans, or piston, in churning, should be regular, and of a certain velocity; and that if this be not attended to, or if the churn be worked carelessly, the process will fail. When the butter is set, it is taken from the churn, and the residue, or butter-milk, drawn of; nor should this be neglected for an hour, for if this butter-milk were left, and began to turn sour in the churn, it would impart a smell to the wood which would spoil any cream that might afterwards be put into the vessel. It is absolutely necessary, for the same reason, to wash out, and scald the churn, and all vessels whatever, in which milk is put, every time they are used; a very small quantity of putrescent milk imbibed by the wood, or left in an earthenware vessel, being capable of acting as a leaven, to bring on the putrefactive fermentation, in any fresh milk exposed to its influence.

The butter is next pressed, and worked by wooden beaters, to get out all the butter-milk which it may still contain; for if any of this were left in the cavities, it would quickly cause the butter to become rancid. The wooden tray on which this process is performed, has its surface well rubbed over with salt, and a small quantity of salt is worked up with the butter, even when it is to be used as fresh butter. It is considered as injurious to the quality of the butter, to wash it in cold water, or to put it in water to keep it cool. The vessel in which it is kept ought to be immersed in that liquid, but the water should not be allowed to touch the butter itself; and this should not be handled, if possible, during any stage of the process.

Butter is salted by well incorporating with it nitre and common salt, to which many persons add a proportion of sugar. Butter for sale is forced closely into wooden casks, which must be made air-tight by filling in the chinks with melted butter, so that when covered down, all air may be excluded.

In many farms, it is usual to put the milk at once into the churn, without separating the cream; by this means more butter is obtained, but the labour is considerably increased. In hot countries, butter is generally in a fluid state: in India it is obtained from the milk of buffaloes, and is called ghee.

In England, butter is only made from the milk of the cow; but all milk will yield butter by the same mode of treatment.

In London, the consumption of butter is estimated at one pound and a half weekly, for each individual of the population, which, when added to that required for ships and other purposes, gives an annual consumption of 47,040,000 lbs; 280,000 cows would be required to furnish this quantity.

IT is a curious fact, that by far the greater part of those minute insects which suddenly fly into our eyes when walking or riding, are of the same genus (Staphylinus), if not the same species (Staphylinus brachypterus), devoured by swallows. Most persons may have noticed, in the Summér season, a disagreeable-looking insect, running rather briskly across a sand or gravel walk, which, if touched or disturbed, immediately throws up its tail, from whence project two formidable-looking spines. It appears to have no wings, but it is provided, nevertheless, with a pair, most beautifully folded up beneath two little short wing-cases; still, however, these wings are disproportioned to the size of the insect; and we may, therefore, reasonably conclude, that it is by no means so active on the wing, as others with a larger expansion; and, consequently, unable so adroitly to guide itself, and avoid danger; which may account, at the same time, for its being more readily seized by the swallows, and also for its being carried headlong into the eye, if the eye happens to be in the line of its accidental course. Those who have experienced the annoyance of these minute intruders, will well remember the extreme pain felt, as soon as the eye closes upon its prisoner: this is occasioned by the irritation produced, when the insect, as in the case of its larger representative on the gravel walk, on being caught, instantly darts up its tail, covered with similar sharp and fork-like appendages. STANLEY'S Familiar History of Birds.

LONDON:

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