Middletown transcript., 1894-08-11

'sBut acarnation In this garden sown,
/ A red carnation in this garden grown.
| Youth, hast thou not some flower for thin
! own?''
"Nay, none have" he said. ''The dew am
! come at nightfall when the leaves are dry,
! And when 80, carnation, thou shalt die"
| Nora Hopper In New York Ledger.
A BOOKS CLOTHING. CLOTHING
BINDINGS MADE FROM THE SKIN Of
HUMAN BEINGS.
Thomas Cariyle's GruR Speech at the Din
ner Party-A Deck OF Cards Made From
the Skin of Indians-The Troublesom,
"Bookworms' and Their Ravages.
''To be strong backed and nea
bound" says Charles Lamb, sis the de
sideratum of a volume. Magnifcenct
comes AFTER" In spite, however, Of thi.
axiom Of the gentle Ella, not few o,
this we'll thumbed, torn and dogs cared
favorites turned their backs to the spec
tator, coverless. Upon goodly row Of
encyclopedias and books which are nc
books the jealous essayist burst forth:
81 confess that it moves my spleen tc
see these things in books clothing
perched upon shelves, like false saints,
usurpers Of true shrines, intruders into
the sanctuary, set out in On ar.
ray of Russia or Marocco, when a tithe
Of that good leather would comfortably
reclothe my shivering folios, would
renovate Paracelsus himself and en-
able old Raymund Lully to look like
himself in the world. I never see these
impostors but I long to strip them to
warm my ragged veterans in their
spoils."
Of curios in the way Of binding there
exist in England several examples. In
the Exeter museum there is to be found
a volume bound in the skin Of George
Cudmore, who was executed in 1880 for
poisoning his wife. In the library Of
Bury st. Edmunds there is Life of
Corder," I" murderer. bound in piece
Of his own skin. In the library of Mex
borough House there were formerly two
books bound in the skin Of Mary Bate
man, the Yorkshire witch who was
hanged early in this century.
In 1921 man named Norwood suf-
fered the extreme penalty for the muir
der Of girl, and the following trades
mans account of book In the infirmary
library explains itself:
Bristol, June, 1898. - Richard
Smith, Esq, DR.. to H. Il Essex. To
binding in the skin Of John Norwood
variety of papers relating to him, e1
los, the same being lettered in Latin on
each side Of the book The True Skin of
John Norwood.
Whether the skins Of hardened GRIM
inals are more easily curried and dressed
than those Of ordinary mortals I must
confess am unable to judge
1t was at dinner party that Thomas
Carlyle gave vent to his opinion as to
binding books with human skins The
dyspeptic sage had SO far sat in morose
silence. An unpleasant feeling hung
over the party, many Of whom had been
specially invited to hear his cratic
views. A genial old gentleman was en-
deavoring to infuse little warmth into
the assemblage by 'playfully remarking
to young political enthusiast who sat
beside him, 'The British people can af-
ford to laugh at theories.
This remark woke up Carlyle, and
speaking for the first and only time
during the evening he observed in his
usual i'll bred way: "Sir, the French
nobility Of 100 years ago said they could
afford to laugh at theories. Then came
. man who wrote book called The
Social Contract The man was called
Jean Jacques Rousseau, and his book
was theory and nothing but theory.
The mobiles could laugh at this theory,
out their skins went to bind the second
edition of this book"
1t is a matter of fact that during the
,orrors of the French revolution tanner
es were established in various parts of |
france where the skins uf the victims of |
he guillotine were tanned, and many of |
hese were used to bind books on account
# the fine grained surface exhibited aft
r being curried.
At the Chicago exhibition one Of the
urious exhibits was pack Of playing
ards which had been manufactured
rom the skin Of some captured Indians.
remember to have seen at an old curl |
sity shop on New Oxford street only a
ew years ago piece Of hard, dry,
ough, leathery skin. which. was as
ured, was the tanned hide of Maori.
he tattoo marks were plainly visible
n its surface, and on examining it with
powerful glass the grain of the human
kin was clearly shown.
In speaking Of the binding Of books
ne cannot refrain from alluding in pass
ng to the enemies Of books-enemies
hat usually make their depredations
pom bindings These insects, popularity |
nown as bookworms, are found in pa
er, leather and parchment The larva
Z Crambus pinguinalis will establish
themselves upon the binding Of book,
nd spinning robe will do 1t little in
ury. A mite-Acarus eruditus- eats
be paste that fastens the paper over the
dges Of the binding and so loosens 1t.
he caterpillar Of another little moth
axes its station In damp old books be-
ween the leaves and there commits
reat ravages- Burns has addressed to
nese bookworms an epigram which be-
rays the cynical humor Of the poet:
Through and through the inspired leaves
Ye maggots make your windineS
But, oh, respect his lordship's taste
And spare his golden bindingsl
The little boring wood beetle will also
tack books and has been known to
enetrate through several volumes. An
lstance is mentioned Of 81 folio volumes
eing perforated In straight line by
ne same insect In such manner that
y passing a cord through the perfect
ound hole made by it the az volumes
ould be raised at once. The wood beetle,
40 same variety that has left pinholes
4 Chippendale and other old chairs and
ureaus, destroys prints and engravings,
'hether framed or kept in portfolio.