Spenser (English Men of Letters), by RW Church. Published 1879.

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The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, Issue 1, by . Published September 1879.

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Hume (English Men of Letters Series), by Thomas Huxley. London: Macmillan & Co. 1879.

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It has been the pleasure of The Democrat, as the champion of the under dog in the fight, to say a good word now and then for the homeopathists, the weaker school, every man’s hand, from the supreme bench down to the resident physician, having, at times, been against them. It is now our duty to open the eyes of the citizens of this state to the loss they, and the homeopathic college, sustained when Dr. Morgan was allowed to return to the straight streets and white stoops of Philadelphia. It is of a miracle we would sing, a miracle never dreamed of by Hahne–or any other–man. The heroine’s name is Smith–Jennie Smith. She had been afflicted with chronic spinal disease for sixteen years, during which time she had been confined to her bed, and upon which she would have remained but for a kind Fate which sent her to the homeopathic hospital at Philadelphia and to Dr. John C. Morgan. Did Dr. Morgan vainly and highly attenuate his medicines? Did he dilute to an inordinate degree? No. But he knelt with his patient and poured forth his soul in prayer for her recovery. Far above the noise and bustle of the street cars was heard his invocation. Men came and men went, still he prayed on. Aghast the Philadelphians gazed; even the fire engines were ordered out; but above the shriek of the steam whistle were heard his supplicating tones; and when his voice was so hoarse that he could hardly whisper, and the skin was abraded from his knees, he arose and the maiden’s verbetrae [sic] were as stiff as those of the lonesome democrat who refuses to coalesce. We joyfully regard the possible result of this new system of practice. Where will it end? we ask triumphantly. To think of the gentle Palmer, the militant Franklin, the dignified Dunster, the saintly Donald, the eloquent Frothingham and the keen Jones throwing their saws and their pills, great and small, to the winds. No more the knife; the “new process for spinal curvatures” will be abandoned, for the newer, the supplicatory process, will supersede all. Even the excellent president of the university will petition The Infinite for the saving of the otherwise wholly lost soul of the gentle zephyr who directs the destinies of the Courier and Dr. Chase’s receipt book. So let us rejoice for the glad promise of a better day.

A singular phenomenon was observed in the sixth ward, of this city, on the evening of the 7th inst. the day of the election. About half past seven o’clock in the evening, as the inspectors of the election were sealing up the ballots at Mr. McDonald’s store, a peculiar light was seen near the horizon in the south. For some minutes it was stationary and seemed to expand to the size of a large ham, and then contract almost to a point; then suddenly it shot like a rocket into the heavens at an angle of about 37-½ degrees. As it approached the sixth ward it passed directly over the street east of McDonald’s store, lighting up the entire neighborhood so brilliantly that a newspaper could have been read any where within three and a half blocks. As it passed by with a strange, whirling, buzzing sound, the inspectors of the election, Harry Hill at thei[r] head, rushed ed [sic] to the door and ex-alderman Woodruff says that he clearly detected a sharp sulphurous stench, reminding him of that cheerful theology in which he takes so much spiritual delight. The speed of this rollicking meteor appeared to slacken as it passed by McDonald’s store. Its form seemed to be angular, jagged and grotesque–a witty, laughing rhonibus [sic]. Suddenly the light expanded and in a moment after the aerolite struck the earth with a hiss and a thud. The next morning, as some medical students were going down town, they discovered the exact spot where it struck the ground near the south east corner of Alderman Peebles’ house in the middle of the the street crossing. News of the discovery soon spread in the neighborhood and by 8 a. m. several of the leading men of the ward gathered to “view the remains.” Mr. J. A. Scott, A. Wood, Charles Mc’Omber, Brother Woodruff, Prof. D’Ooge, Prof. Adams, Israel Hall and others were present and were much interested in examining the fragments of this strange visitor from another world, as they lay scattered upon the crossing. Alderman Martin seemed to be much affected, and as he reflected upon the crooked course of the strange fragment and the narrow escape of his friend Peebles from its fall, various and conflicting emotions struggled in his manly breast, and he “grinned a ghastly smile.” Supervisor Brown was there, and as he heard his distinguished constituents discussing the question whence came this remarkable projectile, a charming blush, like unto a maiden’s flush, spread over his benign face and crept beneath the auburn locks of his hair, while those who watched him closely could see a curious twinkle of the eye as he stirred the fragments of this busted aerolite with his cane. As the crowd was about to disperse, Mayor Smith drove furiously to the spot, and mounting the seat of his carriage, cried out, “Were did the lightning strike?” Upon hearing the impertinent inquiry Alderman Peebles, who had been a silent spectator of the gathering, suddenly returned to his virtuous cottage and closed its door upon the scene.

Some years ago a German of the name of Dase exhibited his wonderful powers of calculation and memory before the Queen. I once met him at the house of a friend, but unfortunately arrived to late to witness more than a few of his feats. Sixty-four figures were chalked upon a board, at which Mr Dase gave what I thought to be a cursory glance, and, immediately turning his back upon them, he stated the order in which they were placed, and repeated them backward. He was then, without altering his position, dodged by one of the company, who asked, “What is the twenty-third figure?” He answered at once, and correctly. Again, a vast amount of dominoes–I wondered where they got so many–were distributed on the table among several ladies, who arranged them in squares of various dimensions, while Mr. Dase stood with back to the table. He was then requested to turn round, and in an incredibly short space of time he told us the number, not of the dominoes, but of the spots. Thus far the evidence of my own eyes and ears. For the rest, I was told he can multiply in his mind 100 figures by the like number. He is an hour about it, but he result is always correct. I was told that he could extract the square root of one hundred given numbers in fifty-two minutes.–University Magazine.

A curiosity which astonishes scientists and puzzles them to account for is now on exhibition in Gould’s cabinet at Mill City. It is a perfectly formed hand, which apparently belonged to a boy about fourteen years of age. The hand is open, the fingers being slightly bent toward the palm, on which the thumb rests. The back of the hand seems to have been crushed or decomposed before it was petrified, but the palm, thumb and fingers are perfect. We were informed it was found at the sulphur beds near Rabbit Hole, by one of the men employed in shoveling crude sulphur into the refining retort, and is supposed to have been imbedded in the sulphur bank for ages. The fingers are comparatively short, a fact which indicates that it did not belong to an Indian, as the red men’s fingers are generally longer than those of whites; but the thumb is rather longer than the average. To what race the owner of the hand belongs, and how and when it was imbedded in the sulphur, will probably ever remain unknown, unless some eminent scientists should investigate the hand and the sulphur bank where it was found and explain these mysteries.–Winnemucca (Nev.) Silver State.

There are four phratries in the tribe, the three gentes Bear, Deer, and Striped Turtle constituting the first; the Highland Turtle, Black Turtle, and Smooth Large Turtle the second; the Hawk, Beaver, and Wolf the third, and the Sea Snake and Porcupine the fourth.

This unit in their organization has a mythologic basis, and is chiefly used for religious purposes, in the preparation of medicines, and in festivals and games.

The eleven gentes, as four phratries, constitute the tribe.

Each gens is a body of consanguineal kindred in the female line, and each gens is allied to other gentes by consanguineal kinship through the male line, and by affinity through marriage.