very agreeable and have not the disagreeable empyreuma of the former.

A number of haddocks were cleaned, split, and slightly sprinkled with salt for six hours; then being drained, dipped for about three seconds in pyroligneous acid, and hung in the shade for eight days. On being broiled, they were of an uncommonly fine flavour, delicately white, and equal to the highly esteemed Finnan Haddock.

Herrings were cured in the same way as the haddocks. After being dried in the shade for two months, they were equal in quality and flavour to the best red herrings. The fish retained the shining and fresh appearance they had when taken from the sea.

A piece of fresh beef was dipped for one minute in pyroligneous acid of specific gravity 1012, in July 1819. On March 4, 1820, it was as free from taint as when first immersed. No salt was used in this experiment. A piece of beef was dipped in at the same time in pure vinegar, of specific gravity 1009. It was perfectly free from taint on the 18th of November. This experiment indicates antiseptic powers in pure vinegar; some haddocks were cured with it, which remained free from taint, but when cooked had an insipid taste.

When beef is partially salted, and then steeped for a short time in the pyroligneous acid, after being drained and cooked, it has the same flavor as Hamburg beef.

Mr. Ramsay has no doubt, that with proper modifications, the use of the acid may be extended to the preservation of every species of animal food.

In order to ascertain whether the volatile oil in the pyroligneous acid, or the acid itself, was the agent to prevent putrefaction, Mr. Ramsay dipped haddocks and fresh beef in pure vinegar of specific gravity 1009. When fish were allowed to remain in the vinegar a few minutes, he observed that the muscular fibre was immediately acted on, a partial solution of the fish took place, and the acid became milky. When vinegar of a stronger quality was used, the fish was entirely dissolved, particularly if aided by heat. Both fish and beef which were dipped in vinegar, of specific gravity 1009, and which were afterwards dried in a summer heat, remained for a long time after perfectly free from taint.

Mr. Stodart has repeated some of these experiments, and especially those relating to the haddocks, with perfect success in London.

FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

The following plan for preparing cheap and nutricious food, received from a friend in England, was about a year ago extensively circulated in this country, by means of several of the daily journals. Whether its utility, has to any considerable extent, been tested by practice is unknown to the writer; but as it is believed to be worthy of preservation, and as economy should still continue to be the order of the day, its republication may possibly be useful.

CHEAP, WHOLESOME, AND SAVORY FOOD.

Take one pound of Rice, steep it in cold water for at least one hour, (longer would be better;) then put it into boiling water, and, if previously steeped enough, it will be sufficiently boiled in about five minutes; then pour off the water, and dry it on the fire, as in cooking potatoes.

Use it with the following gravy or sauce: two or three ounces of mutton suet, fried with onions until done enough; then add some flour and water, (as in making gravy,) with salt and about as much Cayenne pepper, as will lie on a sixpence, (or twelve and a half cent piece;) the different ingredients, however, may be varied to the taste.

At the present wholesale prices of Rice, the above would only cost about three pence, (a fraction more than five and a half cents,) and would be sufficient meal for a family of six persons.

I will merely add, that having eaten of the food prepared in exact conformity with the foregoing directions, it was found by no means unpalatable.

I.

GINGER.

The cultivation of this root is nearly similar to that of potatoes. The land is first well cleansed from weeds; it is then dug into trenches similar to those which gardeners, make for celery; and the plants are set in these trenches in March or April. They flower about September and in January or February; when the stalks are withered, the roots are in a proper state to be dug up.—These are prepared for use in two ways. When intended for what is called white ginger, they are picked, scraped, separately washed, and afterwards dried with great care by exposure in the sun. For black ginger, they are picked, cleansed, immersed in boiling water and dried. This process is much less laborious and expensive than the other; consequently the price of the article is not so great. By boiling, the ginger loses a portion of its essential oil, and its black colour is owing to this.

The use of ginger, both in medicine, and as a spice, are numerous and well known. In the West Indies, it is frequently eaten fresh in sallads, and with other food, and the roots when dug up young, namely, at the end of three or four months after they have been planted, are preserved in syrup, and exported as a sweet meat to nearly all parts of the world. The ginger brought from the East Indies is much stronger than that coming from Jamaica.

WARS OF THE ANTS.

"The guard or sentry of the ant-hill will furnish us with the first proof of their social relations. We could, without doubt, irritate ants on the surface of the nest, without alarming those in the interior, if they acted isolately, and had no means of communicating their mutual impressions. Those who are occupied at the bottom of their nest, removed from the scene of danger, ignorant of what menaces their companions, could not arrive to their assistance; but it appears, that they are quickly and well informed of what is passing on the exterior. When we attack those without, the most part engage in their defence with a considerable degree of courage; there are always some, who immediately steal off and produce alarm throughout their city; the news is communicated from quarter to quarter, and the labourers come forward in a crowd, with every mark of uneasiness and anger. What however, is highly worthy our remark is that the ants, to whose charge the young are confided, and who inhabit the upper stories, where the temperature is highest, warned also of the impending danger, always governed by that extreme solicitude for their charge, which we have so often admired, hasten to convey them to the deepest part of their habitation, and thus deposit them in a place of safety.

"To study in detail the manner in which this alarm spreads over the ant-hill, we must extend our observations to the individuals of the largest species: the Herculean Ants, who inhabit hollow trees and who quit them only in the spring, to accompany the males and females, have very much assisted me in this object.

"The labourers are from five to six lines in length; the winged individuals are also proportionally large; they may be frequently seen running about the trunk of an oak, at the entrance of their labyrinths. When I disturbed those ants that were at the greatest distance from their companions, by either observing them too closely, or blowing upon them lightly, I saw them run towards the other ants, give them gentle blows with their heads against the corslet, communicating to them in this way, their fear or anger, passing rapidly from one to the other in a semicircular direction, and striking several times successively against those who did not put themselves in instant motion. These, warned of their common danger, set off immediately, describing in their turn different curves, and stopping to strike with their heads all those they met on their passage. In one moment the signal was general, all the labourers