When robbers climbed in Jesus' fold, The monarch's sword, the prelate's pride, Who never feared the face of man. For all Thy gifts we praise Thee, Lord; -James Freeman Clarke. Oh, weary thoughts that ceaselessly revolve 'When obstacles and trials seem I do the little I can do, And leave.the rest to Thee!" A REMARKABLE SUNSET. the sight was one of rare beauty. The sky from the Staten Island hills to the Orange Mountains was of a rich crimson tint, and the brilliant hue extended half way to the zenith. The light was steady, and seemed for a time to increase in intensity. Seen from the roof of the Tribune building, the picture was one long to be remembered. The spires stood out in strong relief against the red light. On the bay the lights of the ferryboats, red, green and white, sparkled beneath the glow of the heavens. So strong was the light that it was reflected by the water for miles, the color in the direct line where the sun had disappeared being of the deepest tint, and that on either side vanishing in the darkness. A few thin clouds appeared against the background of red. When the sun set they were not included in the glow, which extended only a few degrees above the horizon. But as the sun sank the semi-crcle of light grew bigger, until the splendor of the scene was beyond description. People in the street were sure that a big fire was raging-the light was not that of a sunset; and it was currently reported that dispatches were sent to Staten Island and to Bayonne asking were the fire was. People stood in the streets and gazed at the noval sight and crowds were in the parks where a better view could be obtained. Those on the bridge had a fine view of the spectacle, the lights along the shore of the river and bay and on the boats heightening the picturesque effect of the scene. The length of time during which the phenomenon was visible was a common subject of remark. Soon after 6 o'clock, however, the heavens showed only the glimmering of the stars, whose modest beauty had been quenched. While the display lasted the city wires of the Western Union Telegraph Company were burdened with inquiries from uptown offices as to the locality and extent of the fire. Persons dropped into these offices and by their questions aroused the curiosity of the operators sufficiently to induce them to apply for information to the main office. The sending of the reply-"Sunset "-grew monotonous to the clerks in the Dey street building but it had to be kept up until after 6 o'clock. No A peculiar glow in the western sky arrested electrical disturbances were noted and at the Signal Service Office at the top of the the attention of many observers in this Equitable Building nothing unusual was locality, on the evening of Eleventh month apparent in the condition of the atmosphere. 27th. We find that the fiery radiance was The humidity of the atmosphere was not observed in many other and widely separated great; in fact, as one of the officers remarked, the weather had been particularly dry. When places. A writer in the New York Tribune, the 3 P.M. observation was taken the record thus describes the phenomenon in that city showed a humidity of 39 per cent. but by 7 The disc of the sun settled behind the o'clock it had increased to 48 per cent. Jersey hills at 4.35, and between 5 and 5.45 | latter figure, however, showed no unusual The The temper- of a gossamer moth. Yet, by the aid of the powerful lens of a microscope, it is found there are more than four thousand muscles in a caterpillar. The eye of a drone contains fourteen thousand mirrors; and the body of every spider is furnished with four little lumps, pierced with tiny holes, from each of which issues a single thread, and, when a thousand of these from each lump are joined together, they make the silk line of which the spider spins its web, and which we call a spider's thread. Spiders have been seen as small as a grain of sand, and these spin a thread so fine that it takes four thousand of them put together to equal in size a single NATURAL HISTORY STUDIES. amount of moisture in the air. A THOUSAND Wonders in Nature are lost to the human eye, and only revealed to us through the microscope. Think of dividing a single spider's web into a thousand strands, or counting the arteries and nerves in the wing He Exudation from Flowers in Relation to Honey-dew.-Thomas Meehan remarked at a recent meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences, that our standard literature yet continued to teach that the sweet, varnish-like covering often found over every leaf on large trees, as well as on comparatively small bushes, was the work of insects, notably aphides. So far as he knew, Dr. Hoffman, of Giessen, who in 1876 published a paper on the subject, is the only scientific man of note who takes ground against this view. met with a camelia without blossoms, and wholly free from insects, and yet the leaves were coated with "honey-dew," as it is generally known. He found this substance to consist of a sticky, colorless liquid, having a sweetish taste, and principally gum. Thomas Meehan said he had often met with cases where no insects could be found, as well as others where insects were numerous, and where in the latter case, the attending circumstances were strongly in favor of the conclusion that the liquid covering was the work of insects. He said he believed that few scientific men had any knowledge of the enormous amount of liquid exuded by flowers at the time of opening, and he had seen cases where the leaves were as completely covered by the liquid from the flowers as if it had exuded from the leaves, as he believed Dr. Hoffman had good grounds for believing is often the case. While collecting plants along the east shore of the Columbia River he noticed a plant of Alnus Oregana, covered with honeydew. The woolly aphis, so well known for its preference for alder, also abounded. Little drops of liquid were in many cases attached to the apex of the abdomen, and the conclusion was reached that in this case at least, the probabilities favored the insect origin of the liquid on the leaves. Proceed ing a few feet further, towards the trunk of a large spreading Sitka spruce (Abies Sitkensis), and then on the other side, a bush of Pyrus rivularis was observed also covered, but not a sign of an insect anywhere about it. This caused a re-examination of the whole case, when it was noticed that stones under the spruce tree, forming the shore of the river, and many feet outside of the circle formed by the branches of the pyrus and alder were quite black with a gummy coat, which most probably had fallen from the spruce, the branches of which overshadowed the two bushes already named, as well as the stones. The branches of the spruce hanging towards the river were covered with young cones probably one half their full size, and the scales were found to be filled with sweet liquid. Taking the cone as it hung on the tree and stripping it down as one would milk a cow, a drop as large as a pea gathered in the hand from a single cone. There could be no doubt but that the viscid covering on the leaves of the two shrubs below, as well as on the unprotected stones, came from the cones of the spruce tree. Recently the subject had been again brought to his attention during some experiments in relation to pollinization and crossfertilization in Platycodon grandiflora not yet concluded. Cutting open very carefully a corolla just about to expand, the whole inner surface was found to be coated with minute drops of moisture, which, as they gathered in size, streamed down toward the base of the pistil. This liquid was not sweet, but had the taste of lettuce. In the case of the moisture which exuded from the divisions of the perianth in Yucca gloriosa and Yucca angustifolia before reported, the taste was rather bitter than sweet. He said there was reason for the belief that much of the moisture found at the base of flowers was not the product of "nectariferous glands," which were sometimes guessed at rather than always detected, but was rather the collection from exudation from the petals; and if so it was a confirmation of Dr. Hoffman's idea of the origin of honey-dew through the surface of the leaf, as we might reasonably suppose a modified leaf like the petal of a flower to have some functions in common with the primary leaves from which they sprung. What is the object of this abundant exudation of sweet liquid and liquid of other character from leaves and flowers? We were so accustomed to read of nectar and nectaries in connection with the cross-fertilization of flowers, that there might seem to be no room for any other suggestion. But plants like the Thuja and Abies were anemophilous, and having their pollen carried freely by the wind, had no need of these extraordinary exudations from any point of view connected with the visits of insects to flowers. In the case of Thuja, Sach had suggested another use: "The pollen grains which happen to fall on the micropyle of the ovules are retained by an exuding drop of fluid, which about this time fills the canal of the micropyle, but afterwards dries up, and thus draws the captured pollen grains to the nucleus, where they immediately emit their pollen tubes into the spongy tissue. Thomas Meehan said that in his former observations on liquid exudations in Thuja and other plants he was inclined to adopt the suggestion of Sach as to the purpose of the liquid supply; but as it was here in Abies so long after fertilization must have taken place, and as it was held up in the deep recesses of the scales of the pendant cone, where it could hardly be possible the wind could draw up the pollen; and as, moreover, the extract shows that these eminent botanists believe Abietineæ does not need the moisture they did not know existed in this abundance, we must look for other reasons, which, however, do not yet seem to be apparent.-Proceedings of Phila. Academy of Nat. Sciences. BEING ALONE. "Secure for yourself some regular privacy of life. As George Herbert says: By all means use some time to be alone.' God has put each soul into a separate body. We should follow the Divine hint, and see to it that we do not lapse again into the general flood of being. Many people cannot endure being alone; they are lost if there is not a clatter of tongues in their ears. It is not only weak, but it fosters weakness. The gregarious instinct is animal, the sheep and deer living on in us; to be alone is spiritual. We can have no clear, personal judgment of things until we are separate from them. Webster used to say of a difficult question, 'Let me sleep on it.' It was not merely for morning vigor, but to get the matter at a distance where he could measure its proportions and see its relations. So it is well at times to get away from our world-companions, actions work-in order to measure it, and ascertain our relations to it. The moral use of the night is in the isolation it brings, shutting out the world from its senses, that it may be realized in thought. It is very simple advice, but worth heeding. Get some moments each day to yourself; take now and then a solitary walk; get into the silence of thick woods, or some other isolation as deep, and suffer the mysterious sense of selfhood to steal upon you, as it surely will." ITEMS. THE Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan has stated that the Government of Japan is willing to make arrangements for the admittance of travelers to the interior of Japan. THE Lower House of the Hungarian Diet has passed a bill permitting civil marriages of Jews and Christians, and legalizing civil marriages contracted in foreign countries. THE University of New Mexico has a handsome college building, excellent scientific and classical courses, and an attendance of ninetysix students. The institution was opened in 1881 with eighteen students. THE first trade school for Jewish boys will soon be opened in the city of New York, with its support guaranteed for the first year. The number of students will be limited to fifty lads, whose general and special instruction will continue at the same time. THOMAS HUGHES is established in the Hughes cottage, at Rugby, Tenn., and is enjoying the mountain air in its full perfection. He came from England, first, to see his venerable mother, who, at the age of 86, is a pioneer in the wilderness, and, secondly, to enjoy a rest from his judicial duties. He has recovered from his illness of last year. There is in Rugby the nucleus of a delightful community. -Independent. PROF. SNYDER, of the Central High School, in speaking of the red lights which have recently been seen in southwestern skies, said that, in his opinion, it was due to an unusual refractive condition extending over a great area of the earth, and as it happened almost identical throughout this area. The lower rays of the spectrum-that is the red-would thus be continuously refracted in a curve about a much larger area of atmosphere than usual, and there reflected to our vision. SINCE the adoption of the new standard time the Patent Office has received about 400 applications for patents for clock dials "and other devices intended to present the twentyfour hours in a convenient manner and without unduly crowding the figures together." A large number of these applications have been rejected, "upon evidence found in a musty old volume that Prince Soltykoff once possessed a watch, made in the year 1547, upon the dial of which appeared the hours from one to twenty-four, arranged in two concentric circles." THE chrysanthemum, concerning which so much interest is shown just now, has an interesting history. In 1764 it was brought to Europe from China and planted in the Botanic Gardens at Chelsea, in London, where, however, it attracted little notice and soon died out. In 1789, according to The Gardener's Magazine, a French merchant named Blanchardimported some plants from China to France, and the next year they found their way to England, where they were sold at a high price and grown in a greenhouse. In 1795 there was seen a chrysanthemum in blossom in Mr. Colville's nursery, in the King's Road, Chelsea. The flowers were small and of a dark purple, only half double; the petals were ragged and uneven. From 1798 to 1822 sixteen varieties were introduced from China. It was not, however, till 1830 that seed was first saved in the south of France; much finer blossoms were thus produced. In a few years' time chrysanthemums became numerous.-Ex. NOTICES. A Conference on Temperance, under the care of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, will be held at Friends' Meeting-house, Chester, on First-day, Twelfth mo. 16th, 1883, at 7.30 P.M. Friends and others are invited. Philadelphia First-day School Union.-The Quarterly Meeting will be held in Race Street Meeting-house, on Sixth-day evening, Twelfth mo. 14th, 1883, at 8 o'clock. The several Firstday schools and Bible classes, Mission and Sewing schools are desired to forward reports, and the attendance of Friends generally is invited. The recent action of the Monthly Meeting of Philade phia, looking to co-operation in the work, should stimulate the workers to inJos. M. TRUMAN, JR.,} Clerks. creased energy. EDWIN L. PEIRCE, FRIENDS' LESSON LEAVES. 45. No other numbers of this series will be published. Any of the back numbers can be obtained upon application. Other series of lessons are now under consideration by the committee. Due notice of their action will be given. The First Series of Lessons closed with No. JNO. WM. HUTCHINSON, Clerk. 227 Waverly Place, N. Y. mittee on Education," with the Teachers and A Conference of the " Yearly Meeting's ComCommittees of Friends' Schools and others interested, will be held on Seventh-day Twelfth mo. 15th, 1883, at Fifteenth and Race Streets, Philadelphia, commencing at 10 o'clock. The questions to be considered are: 1st. What can be done to promote the best Physical Development of the pupils of our schools? 2d. What are the best methods of teaching spelling? Those interested are invited to attend. WM. WADE GRISCOM, Clerk. The Bucks County Temperance Committee of Friends will hold a public meeting in the interest of the cause, in the meeting-house at Newtown, on First-day afternoon, Twelfth mo. 16th, 1883, at 2 o'clock: Friends interested in the work, from far and near, will be cordially welcomed at the meeting. A Conference on Temperance, under the care of the Quarterly Meeting's Committee, will be held at Friends' Meeting-house, School Street, Germantown, on First-day, Twelfth mo. 9th, at 3 P. M. All are invited. The Burlington First-day School Union, will meet at Mount Holly, on Twelfth mo. 8th, at 10 A. M. All interested are cordially invited. WM. WALTON, LAURA NEWBOLD, } Clerks. FRIENDS' INTELLIGENCER. "TAKE FAST HOLD OF INSTRUCTION; LET HER NOT GO; KEEP HER; FOR SHE IS THY LIFE. VOL. XL. PHILADELPHIA, TWELFTH MONTH 15, 1883. No. 44. CONTENTS. EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY AN ASSOCIATION OF FRIENDS. COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED AND PAYMENTS MADE TO JOHN COMLY, AGENT, AT PUBLICATION OFFICE, No. 1020 ARCH STREET. TERMS:-TO BE PAID IN ADVANCE. The Paper is issued every week. The FORTIETH Volume commenced on the 17th of Second month, 1883, at Two Dollars and Fifty Cents to subscribers receiving it through mail, postage prepaid. SINGLE NUMBERS SIX CENTS. It is desirable that all subscriptions should commence at the beginning of the volume. REMITTANCES by mail should be in CHECKS, DRAFTS, or P. O. MONEY-ORDERS; the latter preferred. MONEY sent by mail will be at the risk of the person so sending. AGENTS:-Edwin Blackburn, Baltimore, Md. Entered at the Post-Office at Philadelphia, Penna. as second-class matter MINUTE OF EXERCISES OF THE LATE BALTI MORE YEARLY MEETING. On entering into a consideration of the state of Society, many minds were deeply exercised at the apparent want of interest in our meetings on the part of many of our members, and as every effect has its cause, it was shown that much of this is due to a neglect of the children. Where these are drawn to us in early life, and care is used to explain to their young minds the workings of the laws of life, spiritual as well as others, the beauty of righteousness is unfolded to their view, and they come to love goodness for its own sake. To attend our meetings becomes a pleasure for they feel that the meeting of ourselves together for social worship is one of the best means of increasing our love to God and to one another, and we are told that on these hang the Law and the Prophets. The subject of the alleged decline of our Society, and the propriety of making an effort to arrest that decline was brought up in the Meeting and received earnest and thoughtful consideration. The inquiry arose, what is meant by a decline of the Society of Friends? Is it that the Society as an organization is entering upon that condition of gradually increasing weakness which precedes and culminates in death? If so, it were well indeed, that the concern of every thoughtful, earnest member should be enlisted. But that the fundamental principles of the Society can either decline or pass from the recognition and acknowledgment of the best and purest of mankind is impossible; as we believe them to be founded on the unchangeable Truth. The evils that abound throughout our favored land and bring so much unnecessary suffering to many people, awakened a renewed interest in the meeting in those benevolent efforts that have for their object the removal of the causes to which they owe their origin. The query arose whether our Society is doing all it can to assist in the efforts that are now being made by benevolent persons to advance this work; and on the recommendation of our Representative Committee, the Meeting concluded to appoint a Standing Committee to which the charge of this interesting work is committed, with instructions to labor as way may open. From the reading of the answers to the Queries, we do not find that our Society is retrograding, but the deficiencies apparent awakened a lively concern in the Meeting to adopt some practical measures, which might tend to improvement. In the aboundings of Divine love which has cemented us afresh during our being together and laboring together for the advancement of our Redeemer's cause among our fellow beings, we commend you to the word of His power. |