even in New Jersey. We may have occasion for further remark on this subject hereafter. Evening Bulletin. ARE OAKS PRODUCED WITHOUT ACORNS? This question as to whether oaks are produced without acorns, seems to have set several people to thinking. Let them think. Thought is the germ that produces all that man can produce in improving the condition of life. The most useless mortal on earth is one who never thinks. None but an unthinking drone will say: "Let this question alone; science has settled it long ago; why think more about it?" Science has not settled it, except by its ipsi dixit-" it must be so-nothing ever was, ever will, or ever can be produced without seed of its kind. Perhaps so we don't deny it; we only ask men to think." To the Editor of the N. Y. Tribune. It is a well-known fact that the removal of one species of forest is followed by a growth of one entirely different, and it is supposed the one species has exhausted the materials necessary for its growth, while the soil has been gathering materials adapted to the other. It is another well known fact that seeds buried in the ground below a certain depth retain their vitality for years, and, when brought under favorable circumstances, germinate as surely as the seed of the past year. Some time since, while excavating, a number of peach pits were found, where they must have been buried for at least 30 years; they were planted, and produced trees. May not the removal of the dense foliage admit the warmth of the sun, and thereby wake from their long sleep. the germs from the forests of past centuries supplied with more perfected materials for a more perfect growth than their progenitors, they to run their course and give place to a yet more advanced species in accordance with the great law of improvement? How or when the first oak was made we know not; but may not this long sleep have imparted to the buried germ a strength and vigor to be obtained only in this way, thereby producing a tree quite unlike its ancestor? The influence produced by this rest has engaged the attention of scientific minds, and it may yet prove a valuable auxiliary to a more rapid improvement in the productions of the earth. May not the spirit or life-principle remain intactible and invisible, disrobed of material substance, yet retaining its power to draw from its surroundings a body-and may not this account for the fact that such germs are destitute of the leaves which invariably attend the newly planted acorn? That these suggestions may lead to a research into this interesting field of investigation is the wish of S. L. E. E. A HARVEST HYMN. O Father, merciful and good! We worship Thee, we bless Thee, The God whom we adore! How thick with corn between the hills The laughing valleys stand! How plenteously Thy mercy fills The garners of our land! And therefore we will raise Thee As year by year, in ceaseless love, THE LEAF. SAMUEL G. GOODRICH. It came with spring's soft sun and showers, The breeze, that whispered light and brief The autumn winds swept o'er the hill, Still dares the dark and fretful tide, From Household Words. THE COCO-PALM. The Spaniards call apish tricks "cocos," and the phrase " es un coco" means," you monkey." The black bogies of the Spanish children are "cocos." The word "coco" is of genuine quadrumanal origin; being derived from the monkeys themselves, the Indian species of which, called Maimons, cry "Co-co!" Undoubtedly, the monkeys have a right to name themselves; and the Indians and the Spaniards only acted sensibly in adopting the name of the highest authorities in monkey-science. Monkey, or little monk, is a name which paints them well; and there is a nut which resembles the head of a coco sufficiently for the Spaniards to frighten their children with it, by making them believe it is a monkey or a bogie. There is even a point formed by the joinings of the shell, which is not a bad model of the little pug nose. As the nut came to be called the coco from its resemblance to the animal, the tree became known as the tree of the coco-like-nut. It is mistake to call it the cocoanut tree, as the word "cocoa" belongs to a tree of a different family. The tree of the monkey-nut is a palm. The rude resemblance to the face of a monkey having given a name to the nut, the likeness of the leaf to the palm of the hand gives a name to the tree; and the coco-palm ought consequently to be the Iname of the tree. When described according to the place in which it likes best to grow, this palm-tree would be called the shore-palm; but, the nut is far more widely known than the habitat. the of the trunk and the green of the leaves The coco-palms are the trees of the tropical shores. Stray coco-palms may be found indeed, as far south, and as far north, as twenty-seven degrees of both latitudes, or, in other words, seven degrees further north than the Tropic of Cancer, and further south than the Tropic of Capricorn. Voyagers within the tropics describe in rapturous terms the astonishing beauty and magnificence of the coco-islands. When the low-lying coco-islands are seen from afar they resemble magnificent tables standing up in the sea. As the tallest trees border the ocean, and the shortest grow inland, the green tables seem to slope from their edges towards their centres. The scene changes when nearer. Then, under a clear sky, every tree suggests a resemblance to an umbrella planted upon the water. The top of the gigantic umbrella is green, the span of it is about forty feet, and the height of the grey handle is from seventy to a hundred feet. It is set in a white bank of coral sand. The gleam of the water, and the white of the sand, set off well The dazzling whiteness of the shores obliges the natives to protect their eyes with green vizors. Something of enchantment is given to the view of the hilly islands when the coco-palms are seen climbing up the sides of the hills, and wearing their crowns of green leaves, and their gigantic sheathes of golden flowers. Moreover the electric touch and thrill of human feeling is added to heighten the effect of all, when the simple islanders are seen in their canoes laden with cocos. The general aspect of the coco-palm forests is often singularly modified by the winds, which play fantastical tricks with these grand umbrellas of the sea-shore. Bernardin de Saint Pierre mentions the effects of the hurricanes upon the coco-palms of the Mauritius in bending them like bows about two-thirds up, and thickening them at the bend. When the coco-palms do not grow in forests close enough to protect each other, they gradually stoop before the reigning southeast winds. The long leaves, instead of surrounding the trunk regularly, are all turned in one direction, and seem to take flight in the way of the wind. Sand-slips and hurricanes frequently upset the coco-palms; but when these accidents happen, they only call forth and bring into action the marvellous resources of nature. One of the most interesting objects ever seen upon the tropical shores is a fallen coco-palm, three months after having been felled by a storm The lower part is still nearly flat and level with the ground, and a goat may, perchance be seen standing on it and contemplating the surrounding scenery. The roots seem completely torn up, except a few suckers on the undermost side, which still have a slight hold of the soil. The nuts are prematurely scattered on the beach. The trunk, however, is bent upward; the head is high in spite of misfortunes; the falling tree is putting out fresh suckers. The square form which the stem assumes remains as the most singular record of the disaster. This feat of the coco-palm is beyond denial. "When," says Dr. Charles Reynaud, "a cocopalm has been uprooted by any accident whatever, or even when the roots encounter a soil upon which they cannot creep solidly, or when it does not furnish them with enough of nourishment, it pushes out a great quantity of new roots from its swelled base which diverge toward the soil. By this admirable mechanism of nature, it assures its stability, and, at the same time, it doubles the organs destined to absorb the nutritive elements. It is not rare to see the cocopalms overthrown by a falling in of the earth, and which hold still by a small number of roots, without delay, (thanks to the means of reparation we have indicated,) raise themselves up towards their leafy end, vegetating most beautifully, and so well that at the end of several years they present the singular spectacle of a trunk which may be said to grow square." A lithograph, published by Monsieur Pitot, of the Mauritius, lies before me while I write, which represents a coco-palm, three months after it has been knocked down by a storm, in an attitude half raised up, and partaking curiously of both the prostrate and the erect positions. The oaks and pines of Europe would never think of trying such a feat, and could not do it if they tried, on account of the structure of their roots. The suckers of what is called the axis of the root develop in them; and, in the palms, they waste away. The roofs of the palms which are developed, are what are called the secondary roots surrounding the axis. Issuing separately out of the trunk, vertically and horizontally, and straightly or twinedly, they are only of about the thickness each of a goose-quill and do not penetrate far into the sand. They seize the soil in a matted and entangled manner for a range of about twenty or thirty feet around the tree, and form, by their interlacing, a solid mass amidst the loose and sandy soil. At the side nearest to the sea the roots extend sometimes as much as forty feet; and, when laid bare, their usual brown color becomes blood-red under the influence of the light. They are rather flexible and tough, and have a somewhat hard skin, which covers a spongy substance continued from the trunk. The feat of the fallen coco-palm in raising itself up, is not without its parallels in the vegetal world. As everybody knows, when a young willow is planted topsy-turvey, although the aërial buds do not become roots, the trunk sends forth new roots tipped with spongioles to receive food from the humidity around them. they contradict each other flatly respecting night The coco-palm bears five new leaves to replace The The flowers of the coco-palm are enclosed in a sheath, four or five feet long, and four or five inches thick, which is triangular in the middle and conical at the summit. The sheath is streaked white and green, and with time hardens and grows brown until it becomes horny. sheath issues out of the armpit of a leaf; and out of the sheath comes sidewise the branching sheathlet or spadice, whose graceful branches, at first white and then brilliantly golden, seem proud (as all nature is) of their reproductive force and beauty. White when they first issue from the sheathlet, the flowers of the coco-palm grow gradually yellow; and then the male flowers become greenish and the female flowers green. After a time, first the male and then the female flowers fall, and while most of the ovaries wither away, the fifteen or twenty fecundated ovaries develop in the form of little balls. Each ovary consists of three lodges, two of which atrophy, leaving only one, which enlarges as a single cavity, with white and soft sides, and full of liquid. When three months old the coco is not much larger than a goose's egg, and is perfectly smooth and brilliantly green, and the base of the nut is inserted to the depth of about a third in The oak and the palm are indeed vegetal anti-a reddish cup which supports it. The coco podes, if I may use a learned word for a fact literally and naturally true. Their roots point at each other through the width of the earth; reaches its full growth after seven months, or Soft "Well done, little ant!" exclaimed Freddy, "I'll treat my lesson as you did your food. I guess I can get it after all." fibres now run along it from the base to the top; | time it carried its point. The unfailing energy and the nut becoming too heavy for its stalk of this ant cheered the rough soldier, and restorbegins to grow downward. During five months ed his courage. It is said he never forgot the more the coco hangs and ripens. When a year lesson he learned from this little teacher." old, the coco has acquired the hard brown and fibrous appearance familar to us all, and falls upon the ground with a noise that is heard from afar. The wind may bring cocos down all through the year, and the last remaining coco generally entrains in its fall the stalk and the sheath. Bernardin de Saint Pierre says, naively, the sound which the cocos make in falling upon the ground is intended "to call more than one guest to come to his refreshment." The sound is therefore, I suppose, of the kind of the dinner-count, were made at Nuremberg, in the sevenbell or breakfast-gong. Thomas Hood may have had this notion in his mind when he sung There is a land of pure delight The food view of the coco-palm which the numerous guests of the nut banquet unanimously take, gives an unrivalled interest to every detail respecting the life of this wonderful tree, from the long brown roots upwards to the fibrous monkey-nuts. I must not omit in the pages of a journal devoted to aid the conversations of the fireside to talk about the cocos as we know them in Europe, and as they come into our hands and households. [To be continued.] For the Children. I CAN'T GET MY LESSON. "O, dear, I shall never get my lesson! It's awful hard, and I'll give it up." So said young Freddy Faintheart the other day, as he sat with his elbow on the table, one hand in his hair and the other turning down dog's ears in his book. And then he gave such a yawn that his mouth seemed stretched from ear to ear-almost. His mother was star tled by the noise, and said: It it "Why Freddy, what is the matter?" "O, nothing, only I can't get this lesson. is tougher than a pine knot, and I shall give up," replied the boy pettishly. "Give it up, Freddy? Never, my son. Don't let it be said that a little lesson, which a thousand other children have learned, conquered you. Remember the ant that cheered the Tartar conqueror, Timour, and master your lesson." "Tell me about the ant, mother?" "Timour," said the mother, " was once forced to flee from his enemies. He hid, in a ruined building and gave way to feelings of sadness. Presently he saw an ant toiling to carry a piece of food into its cell in the old wall. But his load was too heavy. Timour saw it roll back with its load sixty-nine times! But the seventieth And Freddy did get his lesson. A little effort conquered it, and he jumped up with a laugh in his eye, shouting as he leaped across the floor and saying: "I've got my lesson!" The first watches, of which we have any ac teenth century, and were called Nuremberg eggs. Amount of rain falling during the month, The Highest during that entire period, 70° 66 The Lowest, do. do. (1840.) 609 under review this year, exceeded the average for the The writer has been unable to procure an official Philadelphia, 10th mo., 1857. THE PRODUCE MARKET is feeling the money pressure, and lower prices for flour, wheat, corn, and cotton satisfy the holders. Our debts have got to be paid off, and in this process prices will have to go still lower, and become settled, and food be so cheap that we can afford to go to work before business will flourish again. As all prices are settling at the same time, the relative values of exchangable products will not be much altered by this reduction, so that farmers will really get as much of exchangable value for their products as they did under high prices. They may get but one dollar for their wheat, but if that dollar purchases as great a supply of groceries or domestic goods as two dollars did during the expansion, they do not lose by the reduction. When one dollar does the work that two previously effected it is evident that it will not require so much capital to set industry in motion, or give labor an opportunity to help itself by its own physical clergies. Blest is that man whose happiness is increased at the reflection, that his piety, his wisdom, his kindness, his example, his counsel, his attention, his diligence, has made a little family community more happy, useful and virtuous. Gratitude is the homage the heart renders to God for his goodness: cheerfulness is the external manifestation of that homage. PHILADELPHIA MARKETS. and tri-weekly from the former place. The winter term will commence on the 2d of 11th mo. next, and embraces all the usual branches, comprising a thorough continue twenty weeks. The course of instruction English Education, Drawing included. Terms: $57, including Board, Washing, Tuition, use of Books, Pens, Ink and Lights. The French, Latin and Greek and competent teachers, one a native of New HampLanguages taught at $5 each, extra, by experienced shire, and a graduate of a popular College in that State, whose qualifications have gained her a place amongst the highest rank of teachers. The house is large, and in every way calculated to secure health and comfort to thirty-five or forty pupils. For Circulars, address EDITH B. CHALFANT, Principal. ONDON GROVE BOARDING SCHOOL FOR L LDRIDGE HILL BOARDING SCHOOL.-The and boys) of this Institution, will open on the 9th of 11th mo., and continue 20 weeks. The branches of a liberal English education are thoroughly taught by the most approved methods of teaching founded on experience. Also the elements of the Latin and French languages. Those wishing to enter will please make early application. cular. For full particulars address the Principal for a cir- Eldridge Hill, Salem County N. J. FLOUR AND MEAL.-The Flour market is very dull. Holders are offering standard brands at $5.50 per bbl. Sales to retailers and bakers, for fresh ground at $5 a $6 per bbl. and fancy brands, from $6 up to $7. Rye Flour is now held at $4 37 per bbl., and Corn Meal is held at $4 per barrel, GRAIN. The receipts of Wheat continue light, 8 mo. 29, 1857-8 w. and there is very little demand for it. Mixed red is held at $1 22 a $1 24, and $1 23 a $1 28 for good white; only a few samples were offered. Rye sold at 70 a 73 c. Corn is scarce, with small sales of yellow at 73 a 75 c afloat. Delaware oats are in fair supply, at 42 cents per bushel. HESTERFIELD BOARDING SCHOOL FOR YOUNG MEN AND BOYS.-The Winter ses sion of this Institution will commence on the 16th of 11th month 1857, and continue twenty weeks. WYNEDD BOARDING SCHOOL FOR YOUNG U MEN AND BOYS.-The next winter session of this School will commence on 2d day the 9th of 11th month, 1857, and continue Twenty weeks. Terms $70 per session. Those desirous of entering will please make early application. For circulars giving further information, address either of the undersigned. DANIEL FOULKE, Principal. HUGH FOULKE, Jr., Teacher. Spring House P. O. Montgomery County, Pa. TERMS-$70 per session, one half payable in advance, 8 mo. 22, 1857-8 w. the other in the middle of the session. RANKFORD SELECT SEMINARY.-This lu No extra charges. For further information address HENRY W. RIDGWAY, Crosswicks P. O., Burling-stitution, having been in successful operation for ton Co., N. J. 10th mo. 3-3 m. OARDING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, near the Chel the last twenty years, will now receive six or eight female pupils as boarders in the family. Age under thirteen years preferred. Careful attention will be paid to health, morals, &c. Botol Hill's Station, on the North Pennsylvania Rail- and they will be required to attend Friends' Meeting road. Gayner Heacock will open a school 12th mo. 7th, and continue 16 weeks, where the usual branches of an English education will be taught, and every attention paid to the health and comfort of the children. Terms $40. No extra charges. Books furnished at the usual prices. Address JOSEPH HEACOCK, Jenkintown P. O., Montgomery Co., Penna. 9 mo. 26-8 t. on First days, accompanied by one of their teachers, also mid week meetings if desired by parents or guardians. Terms moderate. LETITIA MURPHY Principal. John Child, 510 Arch Street. Merrihew & Thompson, Prs.,Lodge St., North side Penna. Bank |