Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-03-26
Jhe family Circle.
Ingenious BOYS.

SAs esAAsR*N S**S*S.
Ingenious Boys.
Some fifty years ago or more, a family
of boys lived on a farm of moderate size
in one of the Northern States One peeu-
liarity was observed in them, in that they
car ed very little for the common idle
sports Of the boys of the neighborhood,
such as fishing and squirrcl-shooting, but
all the time they had to spare from the
labor Of the farm was devoted to some
scientific investigation. They varied in
age from nine to sixteen, yet all had the
mania for study and experiment. One of
istry, and it would have been difficult to
puzzle HIM in any paragraph OF Brandes
great Manual Of Chemistry, then newly
published. Two others pushed the study
of botany, and Two others still went in to
mechanics and optics. The natural history
Of the farm was pretty thoroughly explor-
ed. Several isolated trees of the original
forest lowered upward from the level
fields, and the heights Of these were deter
mined with rigid accuracy by measuring
the shadows, as follows:
A ten, foot pole was placed perpendcu-
lar by means of a plumb, and the length of
its shadow carefully measured. The length
of the shadow Of the tree was likewise
measured Then, by the rule of three, as
the length of the shadow of the pole was
to the length of the shadow of the tree,
so was the ten feet to the height, Such
feats as these excited the marvel of the
neighborhood, and an Old sea-ca plain from
the neIghboring village, who was also a
stone mason, and built the underpinning
of the barn on this farm, went home, and
with some exaggeration, told the villagers
that Mr.. " had half dozen boys
not more than knee high, who had mea
sured the height of every tree on the
| farm
/ One of the boys had received the pres,
ent of an expensive and beautiful knife.
He accidentally dropped it into well
containing ten feet Of water Quite la
n,entation was made over this disaster,
and the conclusion was adopted, d" We
shall have to draw all the water out to
get the knife Stop" said another,
6 where is the horseshoe magnet? We
will tie it to a cord, and that will bring
up the knife ~ But" said the others,
& how can we see where to lower the mag
net-we cannot see where the knife is ??
g. Bring looking glass;" said the first,
and throw down the suns rays that will
show it," The experiment was tried, the
knife seen, and the magnet brought it to
hand. So much for a little scientific
brain-work.
A new and wonderful interest was ex-
cited one day among these young mineral
explorers, by the visit of a gentleman who
had with hun what was then great Won
der in that part of the country-a micro.
scope! Its magnifying power on the
minute crystals Of these boulders excited
admiration and establishment. Microscope:
could not be had then in the shops as now
and money was scarce for sending to dis
tant cities Their ardor for something O
the kind was fred by reading Joice'.
Scientific Dialogues, the only work Oh op
tics that came to hand. Circles of way
were made on broken panes of glass, anc
water dropped into the circle, the rounded
surface Of the liquid magnifying object
below it. This was not enough, however
higher power was wanted. A transpa
rent gobule Of cherry gum Was found il
the orchard, AID this served as a powerful
though imperfect microscope. The thron!
,I<f .h. r0hI h.
orchard for similar globules of gum.
Investigation did not, however, stol
here. Concave surfaces were drilled int
steel, and polished with "a drill bow. Thes
made rejecting microscopes After man,
trials and experiments, one OF the boys
then about fifteen years old, succeeded il
grinding down pieces of broken tumbler
nearly to the lens form, and then grindin
the true circular form by placing the len
in the end of a stick as a handle, by work
ing it about in the cavity of a soft piece 0
grndstone. The polishing was completes
by means of bow, driving a concav
leather surface covered with fine rotten
stone found in the fields Good singh
microscopes were thus completed (althougl
too much rounded at the edges,) and tn
triumph was complete. Neighbors from
far and near came to see the wonderful
L" magnifer!" Many were made, and thu
curious supplied with what was ther
highly priced.
After the process was we'll perfected
for such crude materials and means. one
of the boys succeeded in borrowing tn,
volume of DIR. Brewster's Encyclopedia OF
Optics, in which the same process, sub
stantially, was fully described, although
of course with great improvements. A
younger brother of this inventor took w
the subject and pursued it with grea