Glasgow Courier. — 1847-08-31 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

MISCELLANEOUS.  A great sensation is created among the Paris journals by the recent seizure of four of their number, namely, the Reforme, the Gazette de France, the Union Monarchique and the Charivarl. It appears that these papers have /alien under the reprobation of Government for having published some strong remarks upon the murder of the Duchess of Praslin by her husband, and connected that event with the general state of corruption into which society in France has fallen. Voracity of Canadian Boatmen—They are, like the Indians, voracious caters, and have so little foresight, that they really seem impatient to eat up all- the provisions as fast as possible. Fat salt pork is their delight: they do not get it when at home, where vegetables form their principal diet, and they like it so much that they absolutely appear unhappy when they can eat no more. After stuffing to the greatest extent, they cover their heads and every part of their bodies with their blankets and lie down with their feet to the fire, snoring away, as I have often seen them, with the rain pouring down upon them and the steam reeking from their bodies.—Featherstenhaugh's Canoe Voyage. Orthographical Geniuses—' Classes in spelling, come up and recite." Yeth, ir." John, spell effects.' 'F. X.' 'Right; next spell seedy.' 'C. D.' 'Right again. Class can go out.' An American writer calls the ceremony of young ladies kissing each other, a dreadful waste of the raw material.' Walking.—Walking is good: not merely stepping from shop to shop, or from neighbour to neighbour, but stretching out into the country, to the freshest fields, and highest ridges, and quiet lanes. However sullen the imagination may have been among its griefs at home, here it cheers up and smiles. However listless the limbs may have been sustaining a too heavy heart, here they are braced, and the lagging gait becomes buoyant again. However perverse the memory may have been in presenting all that was agonizing, and insisting only on what cannot be retrieved, here it is at first disregarded and then it sleeps; and the sleep of the memory is the day in paradise to the unhappy. The mere breathing of the cold wind on the face of the commonest highway is rest and comfort, which must be felt at such times to be believed. Treatment of Dogs at Antwerp.—The dogs of Antwerp wear iron masks, a cruel regulation which prevents their drinking, and is, therefore, calculated to produce the dreadful disease it is intended to guard people from the consequences of. Give dogs plenty of water and they will never go mad. In Lisbon and Constantinople, where dogs most abound, hydrophobia is very rare, because the supply of water is abundant. The custom of muzzling dogs by strapping up their mouths is still more atrocious, for it is at the tongue only that a dog perspires. And yet we see them in this state working in dog-carts! As well seal up the pores of a labourer with a thick coat of varnish before you put him to work. James the First said that the luxury of scratching was too great for a subject. This came with double force from a Scotchman: perhaps the Belgians have some feeling of the same kind, and envy their dogs the felicity of nibbling. It is moving to witness their attempts in this way while the fleas walk over the course. A benevolent man would spend half his time in scratching their backs.—A Hot Water Cure. A Yankee Dervish—On board the steamer was a singular, hairy, wild looking, ascetic person, who wandered about the frontier part of the country, affecting to live after the manner of St. John, upon milk and honey; two good things, by-the-bye, especially when there is plenty of good bread to eat with them. The oddity of this man's career consisted in his pretending that conscience compelled him to eat nothing else, and in the facility with which the good-tempered and hospitable wives of the settlers permitted themselves to be imposed upon by his pretended sanctity, bustling about, as 1-was informed, to procure him what he wanted, sometimes at great inconvenience to themselves. This Yankee dervish, who was stated to be born in Connecticut, had evidently cut his eye-teeth. He was very shy of conversation, seldom addressing himself to his own sex.— Featherstenhaugh's Canoe Voyage.