The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-10-08 00:00:00

Litcraturc.

Mm—The October part of the Art Joernal eantsins
• variety of papers upon art topics of more than usual
excellence. and the two, steel engravnurs it presente
show good taste in selection on the part of the editor
'tea exquisite skill in manipulation by the eogrgvers.
They a. e, "Th. playmates," by Burr, engraved by
Limb mesh; which represents • scene in a Scottish
cottage, where four bairns are diverting themselves
with the antics of • kitten, while • child sleeps soundly
on the mother's knee ; and "Les Femmes ravantes,"
by Leslie, engraved by P. Lightfoot, a sketch of
Molicre's time, showing • party of "blue stockings"
listening, with affected demeanour, to the poetical
reading of • literary pedant, accompanying this
number is the seventh part of the " illustrated
catalogue" of the Paris Univ. real Exhibition, which
exceeds in beauty, if it may be possible, its predeccesors.
This "catalogue' will prove, when oompleted, one of
the most handsome and useful memorials of the
universal exhibition of 1867.

WITCH MURDERS IN lents.-- Their theory of witch-
craft is simple Anil horrible. They imagine that there
exists a certain " Devi," a demon of most blood thirsty
oropenaities, who powwows an insatiable craving for
himan flesh. In order to appease this appetite be
selects front any village he thinks sill suit him one or
more women - old or young, be is not particular- and
enlists them in his service; be endows them with
supernatural powers, with that of the evil eye, and
enables them at will to produce cholera. ID considera-
tion of the powers bestowed on them, the witches are
under an engagement to kill off as many people by
cholera for the demon's especial eating as he shall think
sufficient. The witch herself is supposed to e,
and may sometimes he discovered drinking. the life.
of her own relatives sometimes men axe also
i I to be enlisted in this diabolical cause; but the
imon on the whole menu to prefer the
women, aa being more easy to deal with. The conse-
quences of branding anyone as • witch are of course
more onerous; soil while such a state of things last,
it may easily be conceived bow readily any, malicious
Immo may revenge himself on his neighbours. No
sonar does the first ease of cholera appear in the
.-:llage than the men hold • counsel, at which the head
a the village presides to determine on what is best to
be done. it is, perhaps, decided that the village
divinity must be propitiatel So a procession sets out,
with as much noise of tom toms, conchs, and other
b trharous music, as can be made, to the place where
Vie god has Lis abode.—usually inimerliately beyond the
precinta of the village. under some large bayan
or peepul tree. After moth music has been perpetrated
garlands of yellow flowers were bun; round the neck
of the deity, libations of water poured over him, and
he is plentifully anointed with red ochre. More
flowers are scattered over him and around him ;
offerings of fruit piled on large plaintain leaves are
deposited near him, together with several earthen jars
of "o'er; and if necessity demands and the means of
the community admit of, some large sacrifice, as a
sheep or gout, is made. The promotion then marches
throu:h the village with horrid noise of tom-tom, and
what is c mnionly called the cholera horn, and the
people disperse to wait the result of their propithitory
offerings When some time has elapsed, and the cholera,instead of decreasing, as it obviously should have done
had the go I been well disposed towards his people,
appears to increase in violence and to grow daily more
formidable in its attacks, the inhabitants get panic-
stricken, and giving up appeals to the clemency of
their god as hopeless, agree among themselves that
witchcraft must be at work."—CurwAili Magisins.
Is THR POUDIN OP Till VIPER FATAL I—Your °errors-
pon.lent who signs himself "floury Ft. Ullyett" a-ks if
there is any known instance of the viper's poison
having !Proved directly fatal, and I will tell him of
one which I heard of from an eee-witness • few days
since. Two summers ago • poor woman was found
dead on Youndbury, near Dorchester (Poundbury is a
will kind of spot, • sort of waste) ; the body was
swollen and much discoloured,—there were evident
inar, • of the bite, and the viper was discovered curled
up in her flannel petticoat. Pome respectable persnro
came forward to state that they had met the woman
see ninety in perfect health early that morning, on her
way to the town. It was late in the evening when the
body was found, and the general opinion was that,
fatigued by the heat, she had sat down on the heath to
rest, that the reptile had made its way up her dress,
unit on her moving had bitten her on her side just
where the small mark was visible, that the poison took
effect almost immediately, that she became too weak
to continue her journey, and died in • few hours. The
/truth (a young relative of mine), who saw the dead
body, and the living viper, will, I am sure, be glad to
give Mr. Henry Illyett any further information in his
power. I remember when I lived in Carmarthenshire,
South Wales, bearing of • woman having died at
ll'embry, a Village distant about Dye miles from my
home, of the bite of a viper: she had gone to (*win.
Cethin, a wood in the neighbourhood, to gather sticks
for firewood, sod was bitten in the hand. She went to
an old herb " doctress, "who applied a pool-ice of
charms. and proper restoratives not being administered
the poor creature dun I:ut there was a legend about
theoe ewupeethin snakes, as the country folks called
them. Thev were said to be red in colour, and to have
the power of fiyinif ; one having, the tale gated, escaped
from a vessel which had been wrecked on the sand.
about fifty years ago, consequently they were not true
Welch vipers, but • highly poisonous importation,
according to " Hood Natural History."—Meks 1.
II slaty, is Ibsen! wicks'. Sciesece•Gousr.

RITrALISM. AS it is called, is childish. It is not bad
, v,0%
enough of itself to do us harm, be as symbolizing cor-
rupt doctrines, it bodes us no but is ominous of
evil. It pretends, indeed, religion, and promises peace;
but It is an engine of war, a device of the foe. It
menaces our safety, and • breach has been made for it ,
in our wall.; but draw it not In; allow it not to enter;
" Aro lie credit. Tereri." It is fraught with danger
and filled with armed men. Tam Ritualism is no part
of Christianity. No trace of it can be found in the
writings of the Evangelists or Apostlea, where is pre-
sented to is • perfect model for our imitation, yea,
perfection itself, in the doctrine and example of the
Ron of GM. Heathenism and klahometanism can have
their ritualism, and have had it, and have it still (and
so has another system which I will not name in this
connexion, lest some should take offence), and how
much the better are the, or moo of them for it? Rut
truth, heaven-born trutl?, unlike human inventions,
needs neither colouring, nor embroidery, nor artifice, to
commend her; she lo •ks fairest in the purple light of
youth and native complexion, arrayed in her simple
and modesi attire, and she needs none other to charm
our minds, concdiate our favour, and fix our regard.—
The Bishop of Cork in Oar Otos Fireside.

"ONE HORNE" AND A "WHOLE TEAM "—A favourite
expression of the American. to denote a place, thing, or
person, that i. small or of little account, is "one-horse."
In the west, says Mr. Partlett, by an obvious agricul-
tural figure, this term is applied to anything small or
diminutive, as " • otie-liorse blink —a one•Amee church,"
meaning a little bank or church, So the phrase "a
otar•horee lawyer" is applied to a mean contemptible
pettifogger. A clergyman deprecating the use of such
expression. as "clang it," "confound it," called them
"floe horse-oaths." "Liverpool," said • newly-arrived
New-Yorker, "is a poor eee.A rse kind of place." In
contcsulistinction to one-horse, some wag of the west
invented the phrase "a whole team," to signify • man
of wealth or importance, or a good fellow generally.
"I li.e the judge, ; he's none of your one-horse lawyers,
but a wßole ream.' The phrase took the p .polar fancy,
and received successive additions fro the rough
humourists of the clay inch a. "he's a whole team and
• horse to spare ;" or the ae plait sawn of commendation,
"Grant's the man for the next President; he's • whole
team, a horse extra, and • big dog under the waggon I"
-Letter in Ness Port Herald. Another common
Americanism, derived from rural life, though not so
racy as the foregoing, is to "bitch boric.' or more
tersely "to hitch, to epee or consort with a person.
"After he poked his fist in my face at the election, we
never Ailehed ware together " - SeClintock's Tales.
"1 have been teaming (driving • waggon) for old Pen-
dleton, but I si!iess we shan't hitch long."—Mrs. Claver's
"Forest Life. —lllaebromfe Maga:iae.

WHAT PASLIAMINT nOrs.—" Well, Finn, my boy,'
grid Laurance, shaking hands with the young member
oi board the steamer. "so you've made it all right at
Litigh.haue." Then Phineas was beginning to tell all
the story, the wonderful •tory, of George Morris and
the Earl of Tulle,—how the men of Loughshane had
elected him without opposition ; how he had been
supported by conservatives r well as Liberal. ;--how
unanimous Loughshane had been in electing him,
Phineas Finn, as their representative. But NT
Fitzgibbon seemed to care very little about all this,
awl went so far as to declare that those things were
accidents which fell out sometimes .oie way and • me'
times another, and were altogether independent of any
merit or demerit on t e part of the candidate himeelf.
And it was marvellous and almost painful to Phineas
that his friend Fitzgibbon should swept the fact of his
membership with so litle congratulation, with
absolutely no blowing of trumpets whatever. Had he
been elected • member of the municipal corporation of
Loughshane, instead of its representative in the British
Parliament, Laurance Fitzgibbon could not have made
less fuss about it. Phineas was disappointed, but he
took the cue from his friend too quickly to show his
disappointment. And when, half an hour after their
meeting, Fitzgibbon inul to be reminded that his corn.
panion was not in the house during the last session,
?Weems was able to make the remark as though he
thought as little about the House as did the old
accustomed member himself. "As far as I can see as
yet," said Fitzgibbon, "we are sure to have seventeen."
',Seventeen r said Phine.s, not quite understanding
the meaning of the number quoted. "A majority of
seventeen. There are four -Irish counties and three
Scotch which hav'nt returned as yet; but we know
pretty well what they lido. There's a doubt about
Tipperary of course; but whichever get's in of the
seven who are standing, it will be a vote on our side.
New the Government can't live against that. The
uphill strain is too much for them." According to my
idea, nothing can justify them in trying to live
spinet majority." 'I hat's gammon. When the
thing is s° NW, anything is fair. lint you see they
don't like it. Of °ourse there are some among them
as hungry as we are; and Debby would give his toes
and fingers to remain in." Dubby was the ordinary
name by which, among friends and foes, Mr. Dunissny
was known; Mr. Gaubeny, who at that time was the
leader of the Conservative party in the House of
Commons. "But most of them," continued Mr. Fitz.
gibbon, "prefer the other game, awl if you don't care
about money, upon my word it's the pleeactest game of
the two" But the Government gets nothing one by
a Tory government." "As to that, it's siz of one,
and half dozen of the other. I never knew a govern-
ment yet that wanted to do anything. (nye a govern.
ment • real strong majority, as the Tories used to have
half • century since, and as • matter of course it will
do noshing. Why should it? Doing Slim., as you
erill it, is only bidding for power,— for preemie and
And is the country to have no service 'loner
b The country gets quite as much service as it pays for
• and perhaps a little more. The clerks in the es.;
work for the country. And the Ministers work too If
they've got anything to manage. There is plenty or
work done • but a work in Parliament, the less the
better, according to my ideas It's very little that
ever is done, and that little is generally too much."
--Frmn Brat Pa Ida, eJiled by Astir, Treflopc
the latest candidate for public support, and full of
promise.

NOVEL SITUATION TOR • CHIITSAIIIA- -A few days
since I was scrambling over the rocks at the back of the
Nothe fortifications, in search of anemones and other
marine treasures, when my thoughts were turned from
zoology to geology, by seeing a I.rge pieoe of rock -
which had been thrown by the sappers from the works
above—lying at my feet, and which contained three
or four tolerably perfect specimens of Cerithitim
Portlandicum and an °Wee. Wishing to obtain at
least one of the fossils, and having no tools, I resorted
to the primitive method of dashing the stone against
a each, in order to split it into pieces small enough to
carry home. After several trials, it broke into three
pieces' but as • matter of course the finest Cerithium
WAS shatterea by the concussion. As I was mourn.
fully gazing at the fragments, my eye was attracted by
something in the last whorl of Another shelL I looked
closer, and there, snugly laid, was • little chrysalis.
What renders this remarkable is the fact that this
portion of the shell is quite an inch from the surface,
and 'hat the aperture in the centre of the volutions
seems far too small for the larva to have
crawled through. I cannot, neither can those
friends to whom I have shown the stone, detect
• crack which might have served for a passage-way
ran any one elucidate the mystery, or must it, like the
Presence of • toad in an almost similar predicament,
remain a questionable point'--questionable only as to
howit oune there, not to the fact of its being there, for I
have it now lying as first found within the whorl;
indeed I could not remove it without destroying it.
Should it ever cast off its pupa dress, I will send a
description of the perfect insect; but I must fear the
severe concussions it hos received have quite destroyed
its dormant live.—M. Pope, Weymouth, tn Haniesickee
Seienee-Oostip.

Putt!.Er) Vlerroas.—Asy one observant of human
faces cannot fail noticing the expression of almost
painful bewilderment of the great majority of vinitors
to the Paris Exhibition. To thousands, millions we
might almost say, the latter ia but a meaningless
phantasmagoria, seen imperfectly, and soon forgotten.
But although the multitudes wander without design
throng', zone, and courts. it must not be supposed that
they are unwilling to be instructed in the uses of the
object, around them. Far from this. Our experiences
of exhibitions, now pretty large. enables us to state
that the visitors,and more especially the humble classes
are most grateful for any information that you will give
them. Often when explaining to friends objects in
the Exhibition with which we were officially connected,
we hare b, en surrounded by groups eager to catch
any words that might enlighten them as to their uses
It would greatly Increase the educational advantages
of international exhibitions if competent persons,
endowed with facility and clearness of expression,
were engaged to go .ound prescribed departments, and
explain, without pedantry or needless technicality, the
nature, principles, and leading characteristics of the
more important objects displayed. That this could be
done in Pa,is cannot for • moment be doubted, for
there is no metropolis where men of education fitted
for such • task more abound than that in which the
most comprehensive International Exhibition that the
world haa yet Neu is now held —Promer's Magas int.