THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

163

 

witch hazel; and the other day, a gentle-
man with whom I was conversing in re-
lation to matters of this kind, informed
me that the same shrub was used fifty or
sixty years ago, in his native place, for
the purpose of discovering water below
the surface of the ground, in order to
find a good place for digging a well. I
suspect that the witch hazel is just about
as valuable for such purposes as the sas-
safras is in the process of making soap—
just about as valuable, and no more. It
used to be the opinion of many a good
housewife—and I am by no means sure
that I could not find some with the same
notion now-a-days, were I to hunt for
them—that in order to form that chemi-
cal compound called soft soap, the mix-
ture should always be stirred with a sas-
safras stick. It is astonishing how easily
mankind and womankind fall into the
notion that, after all, there is something
real in charms and spells. We laugh at
the good-natured tar, because he whis-
tles, or scratches the mast, to get up a
breeze, when his vessel is becalmed ; but
the landsman, hunting for gold with his
witch hazel twig, or the landswoman,
sending a boy two miles for a stick of
sassafras, with which to charm her soap,
is not much behind the superstitious
sailor, methinks.
THEODORE THINKER.

 

AN ARMY OF WOLVES.

In some parts of France, during the
latter part of the ninth century, wolves
were very numerous and bold. They
used to march through the country, in
packs of two and three hundred, and, as
may be supposed, they spread terror
and death wherever the~ went.

ANSWER TO CHUARADE

1. Ten
. to f TENANT.

The answer was forwarded by Louise,
who chooses not to tell the reader where
she lives, except so far as this, that she
is a residevké of the state of Connecti-
cut; K. W. N.of Concord, N. H.; and
Clara, of Schenectady, N. Y.

NO. V.

 

ANSWER TO RIDDLE NO, II.
Say, is not this rue Lerrer I?
If not, *twill all my wit defy.
M. A. LEE,
Croton Fats, N, Y.

The riddle was also answered by
K. W. N. of Concord, N. H.; John
Woods, Jr. of Hamilton, O.; and Clara,
of Schenectady, N. Y.

 

ANSWER TO ENIGMA NO. V.——HISTORICAL.

Of Adam and Moses all have been told,

And of Nimrod, the mighty hunter of old ;

Of Cush, Ham, and Noah, his ancestors three,

And Ninus his son, and successor to be ;

Of Semiramis the queen, who reigned in great glory,

And Ninyas her son, the next one in my story ;

Of the beauteous Helen, who caused Troy to take arms,

And of Homer the poet, who sung of her charms ;

Of Socrates the wise, who with his last breath

Blessed Athens, the place of his birth and his death

And of Crito, his dear‘and intimate friend,

Who labored in vain his firmness to bend ;

Of the Achean League, once little known,

And Mary the queen, who fled from her throne ;

Of the Auto-da- Fe, that sacrifice dire,

Where priests in white surplices vented their ire 5

And of Cataline, too, of world-wide fame—

“Infamous villain” is his true name 5

Of Cicero’s eloquence, the pride of the state,

And the bravery and triumph of Cesar the great

And now, descending to more modern times—

We seek to bring to an ending our rhymes—

Macaulay's England here must appear—

The fame of this work is spread far and near.
\ ESsIE

The answer was also sent by 8. J.8 ©
of Brooklyn, N. Y.; K. W. N. of Con-
cord, N. H. and Clara, of Schenectady,
MX |