The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1868-09-08 00:00:00

Littraturt.

'rite STAIIIING.—On the 4th of August, at seven
o'clock in the evening, I was struck at wltneesing
several acore of starlings making se awkwerd attempt
at Lawkit g for bisect. ;
.eo much se that I obesrrod
that these I.inls WOO trying to Imitate the swallows,
which were oleo OD the wing for jukes. mr wee
fall of Ibex, and baring watched the Lints with a
I we led to conclude that they were seeking
food in this unti.nal ininni i co from the parch.' state
of the lo,adows iu tI. ....on of drought their usual
foal mitt have been diffcult to obtain. Ile this as it
nosy. I have not oluerved the like action hiOCC. It
ciontinued for about an hour, and I was Interested In
watching such ungainly birds trying to vio with the
truly graceful awallow in his own element. I should
have 1..1 one shot to eamlne the contents of the
etomsch,but that they aro such favourites,and as insect-
destroyais on the ground they are among some of our
most useful lielpisates.--J. 11., Brediord Abbas, in
Hardfrickes titienet Gossip, a fourpeony monthly full
of valuable and interesting information.

TIMACI TT OF LIT! IN TIM COCK ROACR . —Your
readers will doubtless be made aware by yourself of
the recent discovery of • lizard in a soledo of it on.stone
at Urilhani, Devon. I know not whether my discovery
was extraordiliery, but at any rate] consithr it very
singular. Cutting a piece of stale bread in two at
dinner the other day, I bisected • ovekruch, the knife
ruling just aerors the top of the body, or shoulders.
To toy reprise the head portion extracted itself froth
the hole in the bread (the surface of which Lore the
appearasoo of having been eaten ay the insect), and
walked some four ineshuaway. It then stopped, over-
balanced itself, and turned legs upwards, Licking awey
for about • minute, when I ended its sufferings if It
I a I anyoallioli ia doubtful suing what it had previously
gone through. I have met with thew gentry In bread
before, but they have always been di led up utd brittle.
On crushing these household pests in ordinary a white
creamy substance excutles. In the present instance.,
however, the body we. filled with • bright greenish
liquid which ran freely out. ha this case the feelers
were broken, but tie legs were perfect, the binder
ones did not eihibit any muscular action, nor did the
main portion of the body elbow any signs of life. I send
this to you thinking it may be worthy of record In your
page i that au ordinary cockroach should hare endured
the kneading and baking proeaws of the loaf, imprisoo•
went for two dam followed by decapitation. and then
be able to walk away with • comparetively nimble step.
—P. F. N., Brixtoo,in Hardevicke's &iota GORip.
Itonnts.—The robin seen by "J. II." must have been
a fireside robin. All thing' were early this spring and
summer. I believe some f our Krill' began to build
their nests in advance) of the usual time, and a young
robin hatched this spring would not have the bright
red waistcoat corn by his ygpa, when he visits us in
winict-

Enter. ax • I —I. A I r cucst,
Confiding in bl.ru d Irut,
A. If it verve hat tir.l
ellarge.l nih. 14n0..n ii the field.
Due In that KOORIaes.I Aced
Of which an In Ow bal.ad road. I
A young robin 011030 to visit mc yesterday. I was
writing sot my desk-table, thinking, and taking but little
bee lof what was ;wain/ in the room, when I felt
something Much my head, and on putting up my hand
it came in contact,to my great mpriiic, with the reeth
f a bird. The poor frightened little thing flow off into
the greenhouse, through the doorway by which it must
I have at first entered the room. It was II young robin,
In very linet-like deem Can any reader of Stinger
Gossip expound onions? My cook--the only person
who wash' the house at the tine—evidently considered
It a " ago." A sign that the bird bail been chased by
a cat I should say, only I could not see puss anywhere
near.—Mrs. Alfred Watoey,lismbledon, in Hardocickes
&inset Gustip.

Oxfam OP rag Teadmarr.—The following" mighty
miry" legend, which I quote from • German work on
Botany, is worth preserving in the pages of Science
Oottip:—"Longlougago,"a Hindoo king,narned Darma,
left his own dominions and travelled through China,
with the avowed object of reforming the native popula-
tion, and imparting to them • knowledge of religion.
Unsitesespful in his mistionary work, Derma thought
to win the barbarous people by an example of unparalled
asceticism and devotion. Fur this purpose he gave him-
self to the needles of good works, and constant prayer ;
nay, he registered a vow that not even sleep should
interfere with his daily 11124 nightly exercise,. But,
alas! nature would claim her privileges, and slumber
closed the eyes of the holy man for a time. Vexed at
his own veakneu, 'harms settled the point about closing
the ey..s by deliberately snipping ofT the lids! Then it
was (s.y the (hinese) that the Deity interposed by.
miracle, which has resulted in the bewellt of mankind
Ur ever. No sooner did the two eyelids touch the
ground, than their sprang up front each a plant, new in
Its properties. Supernaturally ixstrueted, Derma
prepared the leaves, and found himself wonderfully
strengthened and enlivened by the precious beverage.
Of *outdo be was nut slow in communicating the
valuable scent to his deciplos ; and so it has come
to pass that In the written language of China an eyelid
is the symbol of the tea-plant. —W. W. 8. in hard-
uncle's Science Gossip.

linten.—Tertuilien informs us that the wedding ring,
the " eneadi Spoeserifii" of the Romans, was early
Introduced amongst the primitive Christians; and in
ocrtsin pictores unburied at Pogopeil, after an in-
humation ef 1760 years, the female figures were depleted
wearing lateral or eimei In rings of the Roman luihion,
upon what is now called the wedding linger. We have
no data as to the preebe posted tie ...sons was
iutrodueed amongst ourselves. Strutt tells as be finds
no mention of the merriage.rlng In the Saxon ern,
except in the Polyolironicon translate I by Treviss, who
tells • sti ry of a piunie man at Rome (in the tone of
Eheorl tho Confessor) who, being at play on Lis
we iling day, "elyde place Ids spousyng ryngo on the
fynger of an ymage" of Venus, and could by no manner
of means get it off. The whole story Is fall of stony
horror and abeurdity, yet interestiog a: showing the
superstitious clisrm supposed to reside in this sacred
fillet. Front al, belief in the binding nature of golden '
rings, we may true their use as love gifts, and tho
solemn breaking of them between cattraeted parties
when forced to separate for any time ; a custom fre•
quorntly alluded to in ancient ballads, and which was
soppesed to act as a constraining talionae, bringing to.
nether egain the faithful keepers of the severed portions.
Could sOlllO such faith have dictated the giving away of
rings, on the occasion of a death, to the particular
friends if the ilice•sed—a fashion of a Vcry ancient date
amongst us? Shaksperei bequeaths to lie fellows, John
neglange. yuchard Mabee (the original Richard Ill.),
and Henry Coudell, "twenty-six shillings eight•penco
a-piece to buy them tinge." Bat three mystical orna-
ments have hoe other noes amongst us than at weddings
end funerals; they were supposed to be of form in
magic, rind of strange potency as healthful charms.
According to liospinien, the Kings of England hail
anciently • custom of hallowing rings with much
ceremony on Good Friday, the wearers of which, ho
Informs us, were preserved from the falling sickness: ha
:elle that the custom took It. rise from • ring which
bad long been preserved with peat veneration in West-
minster Abbey, and was supposed to be efficacious
against erarep and epilepsy, when touched by those
afflicted with them. Thia ring, which had been brought
home from Jerusalem to King Edward, was one which
he himself had long before given privately In alms to a
poor person who bail asked charity of him for the love
he bore to St. John the Evangelist, a circumstance which
implies whence its miraculous power was supposed to
be derived. From the miraculous ring of Edward the
Confessor to comparatively modern times. this trinket
in the hands of royalty has exercised Orange power—
now sanctioning dark deeds, now becoming a passport
of safety, like that of Hoary the Eighth, in the bands
of Bishop Creamer. Nor must we forget the tradegy
clinging to the ring which Elisabeth bestowed on Essex,
as • warranty diet in his utmost need be should have
f evour from her. This token of her tenderness the
Earl, in his extremity, after his trial and condemnation,
otiminisairined the wife of hie worst enemy, the Countess
of Nottingham, to deliver to the queen ; but she, per-
suaded by her husband, retained it; and Elisabeth,
exasperated by what she thought the contumacy of her
favourite, eigned his death-warrant; nor knew of the
effort he had made to claim her mercy till the Countess,
on her death-hod, revealed It to her. It is recorded that
Elizabeth, in the violence of her Inuit:in, shook the
dying lady, exclaiming, "that God might forgive her,
but that she never would." And as she herself hence-
forth refused all sustenance, and fell into the pro-
foundest melancholy, this ring may Indirectly be
regarded as the inatroment of her dada, It well
customary to grave mottos within such zings as were
given as souvenirs of love or friendship. Sbakspere
alludes more then ones to these Posies, aa they were
celled, and which (according to the apologetic expreamon
he puts into the lips of Onetime, on the lon of
Nazism's ring) it must have been the fashion to enarave
on other articles also. "About a hoop of gold,w ex.
claims the delinquent, " • paltry ring