Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1862-04-03
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY FOR APRIL

We have received a copy Of the atlantic
Monthly for April. 1t has the following table of
contents: Letter TO Young Contributor; by
Thomas w. Higginson. John Lamar; by the
author Of "a Story of To-Day. Mountain
Pictures; by John 6. Whittier. Individuality;
by David a. Wasson. The German Bnrns !;
BY Bayard TAYLOR. The Forester Methods
of Study in Natural History; by Professor
Agassiz. The Srasburg Clock. Arthur Hugh
Clough 10y Charles T.. Norton. What Shall
We Do With Them? by Walter Mitchcl.-
Agnes of Sorrentoi by Mrs. II. b. Stowe. Ex-
odus by Mrs. a. ID. T. Whitney. Then and
Now in the Old Dominion by the Rev. NJ. ID.
Conway. American Civilization; by r. w.
Emerson. Compensation; and A Message Of
jeff. Davis is Secret Sessioa, a new Bi.low Pa
per, BY james Russell Lowell.
In the Letters to Young Contributor, Mr..
Higginson gives some good advice which writer's
for newspapers would do well to bear in mind,
as well as asprants to the honors Of a maga-
zine:
ADVICE TO CONTRIBUTORS.
do not despise an honest Precipitation, how
ever small, in dealing with your editor. Look
to the physical aspect OF your manuscripts. and
prepare your page so neatly that it shall allure
instead of repelling. Use good pens black
ink, nice white paper and plenty Of it. DO not
emulate paper sparing Pope whose chaotic
manuscript Of the 'Ilisd,' written chiefly on the
backs of old letters still remains in the British
Museum. If your document be sovenly, the
presumption is that its literary execution is the
same, Pope to the contrary Notwithstanding
An editors eye becomes carnal, and is easily
attracted by comey outside. Ii YOU really
wish to obtain his goodwill for your production,
Ito not first tax his time for decipherng it, any
more than in visiting a millionaire to solicit a
loan you would begin by asking him TO pay for
the hire of the carriage which takes you to his
door,"
John Lamar is powerful story of "the pc
culiar institution by an author well known
and liked by the readers of the atlantic.
From the seventh of Professor Agassiz's pa
pers on Natural History we take this interest
ing passage on the
CRIES OF ANIMALS.
"The voices of animals have a family character
not to be mistaken. All the canidp bark and
| now: the loN, Inc VOL, the dog nave the same
same kind of utterance, though on a somewhat
different pitch. All the bears growl, from the
white bear of the Arctic SHOWS to the small
black bear Of the Andes. All the cats miau,
from our quiet fresde companion to the lions
and tigers and panthers of the forest and jun
| gle.
"This last may seem a strange assertion, but
to any one who has listened critically to their
sounds and analyzed their voices, the roar of
the lion is but a gigantic midu, bearing about
the same proportion to that of a cat as its state
| ly aud majestic form does to the smaller, softer,
more peaceful aspect Of the cat. Yet, notwith-
standing the difference in their size, who can
look at the lion, whether in his more sleepy
mood as he lies curled up in the corner of his
cage or IN his iiercer moments of hunger or Of
rage, without being remnde of n cat? And
TINS Is not merely the resemblance of one car
nivorous animal to another, for no one was ever
reminded oi dog or wolf by a lion.
Again, all the horses and donkeys neigh ;
for the bray of the donkey is only harsher
neigh pitched on different key, ii is true, but
sound OF the same churacter-as the donkey
himself is but clumy and dwarfsi horse. All
the cows low, from the buffalo roaming the
prairie, the musk-ox of the Arctic icp.6elds. or
| the jack of Asia, TO the cattle feeding in our