New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-05
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DJFS f1NICULARES.

| while "Srius from on high, with pesuIeh1ial
"breath infects the sky" We suspect that feryld
constellation. We additionally connect 1t with
bydrophobia. We fancy that the Great Dog
above our heads all day exercises malign in
fuence over the Little Dogs, who are tied up
for the Summer, or who are aqueously exc
cuted in the municipal tank. We foollshly
fancy, when the red tongue Of honest Tray
| hangs from his mouth, that he is bewizzared
by that inflammatory constellation. Perhaps
il will have q refrigerating effect upon our
sweltering readers if we inform them that they
need not go into fever of apprehension
whenever they encounter a meandering puppy.
| Dogs go mad whenever they see fit, both in
hot weather and cold. The dogs of Russia
go mad when the mercury in the thermometer
| has SINK to point far below zero, and bite
| the peasantry, already frost-bitten. If this
were generally understood, the custom, which
| is little stupid and cruel, of claiming up the
poor creatures all Summer, might be aban-
doned. We hope that the humane Mr.. De
Bergh will make a note of the fact.
The main business Of most human beings in
these regions, for some time to come, will be
| that of keeping cool. Some of them will rush
to the sandy shore some of them to the green
inland meadows; some TO the tops of the tall
| est mountains some TO the spray of Niagara,
| and some to the salutiferOus wells of Saratoga.
Many, in quest of refrigeration, will perspre
most abnOrmally. Many is the stomach which
will be recklessly filled with beer, soda, jueps,
punches, caret, all iced down to the arctic
point. Many is the unwelcome cold which will
! be caught by the wearing of thin coats and of
| Al. Il Il.
of times we shall be warned by our solcitOus
friends to beware of the draught, and as many
times we shall disregard the admOntion.
! Against some Of us the rascally musketoes will
organize their eXasperatng raid; while some
of us will eat more fruit than can possibly
agree with us. And thus we shall all worry
| along until those bright, bracing days come in
| October, the most blessed of the months
| Surely, if Heaven has climate at all, its in
habtants must enjoy one long, paradisical
Indian Summer, with the mercury at about
! so above and q northwest wind continually
blowing. Such is the season to make heroes of
us here and why not saints hereafter7
As general rule unless grim Duty pricks
us from behind. there is very little TO be done
in the Dog-days except "to'get out of our flesh
:" and sit in our bones" Amateur gardeners,
| who take prizes at the cattle shows and flori-
cultural exhibitions pretend to like digging
and aking, but they don't; plain farmers, full
of their own produce affect to enjoy moving,
and perhaps they do. Summer is unquestona-
| bly, necessary for the evolution of turnips and
| corn, and such like stmulants of the human
system but the man without acres and with in
door tastes relshes best the climate which is
created of limited sunrays and unlimited an
thacte This he can regulate to suit his own
veins and arteries. He can bid the fresh air
to come in, or he can barricade himself against
the frosty atmosphere. lie is the autocrat Of
the thermometer, and can make it go up or
down at his pleasure. Over his books, with
his feet on the fender, he remembers with tenn
porary dismay that the time rapidly approaches
when he must open his window, TO let in the
noises of the world, the bawlng of boys, the
screaming of girls, the cries of peripatetic
fruiterers and GshmoEgers with the inevitable
demon who is always bowling "Gl-ass put
Gimp Secluson and quiet will become pro-
blematical. All noisy powers will conspire
against his serenity, the thunder overhead,
the car-wheels "rattling DER the stony street."
the eternal tramp of pedestrians on the pave
mcnt, the growing of cocks, the believing of
CATTLE the scream of locomotives, the squalling
of infants the laughing chatter of loafers on
the corner. Alas the window must not be
shut To be stunned, to be nervOusly rasped,
to be forced to hear the chimes at midnight is
better than to perish upon your own hearth
stone, when the close easement has made n
Black Hole of your beloved chamber.
Sometimes il seems to us that the whole force
and energy and ingenuity of mankind have
been exhausted in keeping warm, while the art
Of keeping cool has been absurdly neglected.
What We shall wear, eat, do in the Dog days
remains scientifically undetermined. Some peo-
pie east off their flannel and catch their death
"of cold" for their pains. Others keep it on,
and melt at the rate of two pounds per diem.
If you go into a mixed assemblage during these
days you will mark with cOmmiseration the
various refrigerating expedients to which the
company is resOrting in vain. Paterfamilas
has taken off his coat, ard is hopping his shiny
crown with a red silk handkerchief. Mater
familias is solving the problem of perpetual
motion with her fan. The pledges are redder
than they were when they were first born.
The interesting circle may be comparatively
cool now, the Park breezes assisting; but think
how hot its members will all be when, after long
ride in crowded car, they get back to their
brick and mortar home! Fat papa will toss by
the side of fat mamma, and it is even possible
that the bug of the bed may render uneasy
the infantile sleep of innocence. Terrible in
deed are the brief nights which the darkness
cannot cool!
What is the remedy, the mitigation to
be relied upon Alas good reader, we