Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1879-03-12

10 You nave pcch h""V'ihH wv 'p"'
sequences ever slnce,
Dr, II, Never mind, Miss Clara,
you have not done half the mischief
that tho Professor did when he went
with me to tho North Pole last month.
Miss II, Oh, do tell me what he
did / won't you, Doctor'
DR., II, OF course ! will. You
must know that he began by captur'
ing q white bear aud bringing II on
board the yacht
Mw, 4, Alyci
DR., II. Very much alive, my dear
madam, NJ you will see when ] tell
you iwhat happened, The beast got
loose, rushed into our storc-room, and
conlriyed TO break nearly every jar of
caloric We had on board, before We
could secure him.
Miss. 4, And what did YOU do to
the bear
DR., II, Well, We hadn't M OPP
poltuniiy Of Furnishing him ms he de-
served, because he came TO speedy
end. The immense quantity of caloric
so suddenly liberated, quite overcome
his bearship in fact, he was partially
roasted on the spot.
Miss. Il. Oh, how horrid poor
thing,
DR.. II. You might better eSpend
your compassion Oh the real sufferers,
Miss Clara. We were in terrible
plight, for we had so little caloric left
that we were obliged TO use it nearly
all for melting the ice through which
we passed onour return; consequent
" we did not dare TO warm the cabin
at all. For my part, l was nearly
frozen, and / have never quite thawed
since.
Mrs II. Why that was really
dreadful. Where did the accident
occur, doctorl
Dr. r. In the northwest passage.
Prof. But as told you at the time,
Remington, you were enabled to realize
some ofthe sufferngs Of the ancient
navigators, before our present method
of carrying heat into frjgid latitudes
was ever dreamed of.
Mrs. Il. Professor, you astonlsh
me. Did people ever venture into
those frozen regions without protec.
ton from the intense cold ?
Prof. They did indeed, and en-
dured incredible hardships in so doing
DR.. r. And now we provide our
selves with few dozen Jars of con-
densed heat, and suffer no inconveni-
ence from the lowest possible temper
atures.
Miss r. Unless you take a bear on
board.
Prof. Come, Miss Clara, that Is
hardly fair.
Mrs. II. Tell me, when was it that
people first began to use caloric, or
condensed heat, as we use 1t =!
Prof. About two hundred years
ago. BY the way, that twenty-seventh
century was a remarkable one in the
worlds history. 1t was crowded with
discoveries and inventions, all more
or less important, though not equally
conspicuous. Our present mode OF
communicating with our absent friends
was then perfected /: before that
period, men had tired in turn tele-
graphs, and telephone1, as they were
called-both cumbersome, intricate
contrlvances, full of defects and liable
to accident. They learned by slow
degrees the true use and powers of
electricity-in fact, the most advanced
minds of the nineteenth century would
have fouted as incredible some of the
commonest appliances of the twenty
ninth. But the inventor always has
been, and always will be, in advance
Of his generation.
Miss II. Oh, Professor, tell us more
about these discoveries, won't you p
Give us little lecture.
Mrs. II. No, don't begin there
Tell US something about the nine
teentb century, for that is what we
have been studying lately. How lit
tie people of that epoch knew !
Prof. And how much they thought
they knew
Miss 7. Yes, that is SO comical.-I
One would imagine, to read the litera
ture of the time, that they had attain
ed the pinnacle of greatnes, and
wisdom.
Prof. Yet they crossed the ocean
in steamships--great, slow, clumsy
things, which consumed eight or ten
days in the voyage.