Part 3

I obtained permission to visit the nunnery called "Tor di Specchio," one of the richest and most respectable of Rome, having twenty-one nuns, great rents, and requiring one thousand eight hundred dollars of expenses for the ceremony of vestire. I was received in a room just beyond the grate in which the confessor of the convent, a red faced, good natured looking man, was warming himself; a 'converse' spinning flax, and the sister whose duty it was to wait in the room for the week. In the garden, great numbers of roses and other flowers were cultivated. I was led through several corridors, at the end of each of which was placed an image of the Saviour or the Virgin, with a lamp burning before it. In the corridor of the second story, the cells of the sisters were situated, each covered towards the passage by a large green curtain. These cells looked into the garden, and opposite each door in the corridor was placed a large stand of ashes, at which the nuns cooked their morning chocolate and warmed themselves. The dining room was large, and the tables were well covered with green baize. In the middle of the room there was a pulpit, from which a sister read in turn religious works during the meals, a practice which prevails in nearly all Roman convents; the word "Silentium," in large letters, was cut deep in a stone over the principal door. The kitchen was large, but dirty. In this nunnery there were three chapels, one church for summer and another for winter. I was suffered to enter the cell of the superior, who received me with great courtesy. She was sitting upon a bed, that she had not left for three years, spinning flax, and holding a large rosary in one hand. She was at that time eighty-three years of age, and had entered the convent at twelve for her education, which she had never left since that hour, having been suffered to remain during the French time. She spoke much, and with great vivacity. There were six or seven straw bottomed chairs in her little cell, a handsome, but old fashioned clock, a small wardrobe and a few religious prints. In several cells, which happened to be open as I passed, I saw books, flowers in the windows--a harpsichord, a harp and some other musical instruments. In this convent, meat is eaten four times a week, and the order of the day is as follows, much resembling that of all convents. In summer they get up at five. Prayers last an hour and a half; breakfast at seven--prayer till eight--prayers again at ten--dine at eleven--after dinner sleep--evening office at four--supper at six, and bed at eight. In the intervals of meals and offices, the sisters read pious books, talk, walk, embroider, tear lint for hospitals, or do coarse work. They confess themselves and take the sacrament every eight days; they confess themselves to a priest named by the head of the order; he is changed several times a year. The person, who conducted me, was a princess of a Roma family. She had taken the veil twenty-one years ago, but possessed perfect ease, simplicity and courtesy. She spoke of those matters, which are always subjects of conversation in drawing rooms of antiquities, carnivals, deaths of queens, &c. Her dress was coarse black, and by no means neat. She was perfectly affable, and answered with great complaisance numerous troublesome questions. Indeed, there was not the slightest tinge of gloom, or solitude, or austerity about this convent, or in the appearance and manners of the few nuns, whom I happened to see. I recollect hearing an aged Roman lady, who possessed a vast experience in courts, convents, drawing-rooms, boudoirs, and of every thing else which relates to the world, remark some time after that of all creatures she had ever seen, the most amiable in their manners, and good natured, were nuns.

_Vive Seppolte._--As its name denotes, the nuns of this convent never see the face of any human being but of the inmates of it. They confess themselves to a confessor through a brass plate, pierced with small holes; they are allowed to hold converse with their friends only once a year, through a similar plate. No window or any kind of opening looks upon a street or any sort of building; all the light comes from their own courtyard. They wear woollen next their skin, which is changed only once a month, sleep in their clothes upon straw, and wear pieces of leather tied about their feet. At the restoration of the pope all returned, excepting one, who went to a similar convent at Albano. They have now fifty-four nuns, and one of them unluckily possesses a large fortune. No convent in Rome receives such abundant charity. At the head of the staircase, leading to this nunnery, a large solid barrel, girt with iron, and divided into eight parts, is fixed into the thick wall of the building, and made to turn, so that articles may be conveyed from and into the convent. We knocked upon this wall and immediately a voice answered from within, "Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ," and said, "what come ye to seek?" We desired to speak with the abbess. Whereupon the invisible rung a bell, and turning the barrel, a key was brought to our view, that was taken by a man, who had appeared at the ringing, and who unlocked the "parlatoire," a small room, in one corner of which was a plate of copper, twelve or fourteen inches square, fixed in the wall, and pierced with the finest holes imaginable.

The abbess now spoke to us from the other side of the plate, "I salute you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." This person had a lively voice and cheerful manner, and she spoke with perfect freedom and willingness about her own concerns and those of the convent. She told us that she had taken the veil thirty-eight years ago, and had been made abbess at the restoration. She said moreover, that the sisters were happy, enjoyed good health, and that she had never seen a dissatisfied look, or heard a repentant wish. This was no doubt true; people are contented in many conditions worse than that of the Vive Seppolte, and conditions, too, which they never regard as probations or martyrdoms, to be rewarded in another world. In 1815 the Pope had permitted this convent to be re-established, and since that time not a human face, beyond those of the sisterhood, had been seen by any inhabitants of it. Judging from the sound of this woman's voice, and her rapid, pleasant, and animated conversation, it is evident that she had neither regretted nor suffered much from this deprivation. She appeared to have vast vivacity, and much playfulness of mind, and was a great talker. Still it did not often befal her to speak to foreigners through the grate, and much allowance ought to be made for the excitement which a similar situation doubtless awakened. When a small tribute was turned upon the barrel into the convent, she said "God has sent us this gift." "Those, who sent it, will be remembered in our prayers."

Having seen and heard much of the convents of Rome, I am satisfied that the inhabitants of them do not condemn themselves to many deprivations and mortifications, which they would not have suffered in the ordinary chances of a different life; that the passions, which exist there, are less active, violent and frequent, and that the carelessness of mind, health of body, and absence from all gloom and severity, utterly contradict and put to shame the theories and creeds of the world. One cannot discourse too long upon the impossibility of ascertaining the relative amount of happiness in the different courses of life to which habit, inclination, or chance, may call. A foreign gentleman, who had lived twenty years in Rome, told me that he had never heard of any scandalous conduct in any nunnery during all that time.

From the Journal of Science.

ANTISEPTIC POWER OF THE PYROLIGNEOUS ACID.

Results of some experiments made by Mr. W. Ramsay.--

A number of herrings were cleaned on the 10th of July, 1819; and without being salted, were immersed for three hours in distilled pyroligneous acid, specified gravity 1012. When withdrawn they were softened and not so firm as fish taken out of common pickle. They were hung up in the shade; July and August were hot months, but the herrings had no signs of putrefaction about them, but had a very wholesome smell, combined with that of the acid. One being broiled the empyreumatic smell was very strong. The rest, after six months, were in complete preservation.

It was afterwards found that the period of immersion had been too long. If the fish are simply dipped in acid of specific gravity 1012, and dried in the shade, it is sufficient for their preservation; and such herrings, when boiled, are 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 ran over the surface of the tree with great agitation, those within receiving notice of the danger, and probably by the same means, came out in a crowd and joined this tumult. The same signal which produced upon the workers this effect, caused a different impression upon the males and females; as soon as one of the labourers had informed them of their danger, they sought an asylum, and re-entered precipitately the trunk of the tree;--not one thought of quitting its temporary shelter, until a worker approached and gave them the signal for flight. The solicitude of the labourers in their favour, is manifested in the activity they display, in giving them advice or intimating to them the order for their departure; they redouble then the above signals, as if conscious of their understanding their intent less readily than the companions of their labours; the latter understand them, if I may use the expression, at half a word."

"Of all the enemies of the ant, those most dreaded are the ants themselves; the smallest not the least, since several fasten at once upon the feet of the largest, drag them to the ground, embarrass their movements, and thus prevent their escape. One would be astonished at the fury of these insects in their combats; it would be more easy to tear away their limbs and cut them to pieces, than compel them to quit their hold. It is nothing uncommon to see the head of an ant suspended to the legs or antennæ of some worker, who bears about, in every place, this pledge of his victory. We also observe, not unfrequently, the ants dragging after them the entire body of some enemy they had killed some time before, fastened to their feet in such a way as not to allow of their disengaging themselves.

"Supposing the ants to be of equal size, those furnished with a sting have an advantage over those who employ only for their defence their venom and their teeth. The whole of those ants whose peduncles has no scale, but one or two knots, are provided with a sting; the Red Ants, which are said to sting more sharply than the rest, possess both these sorts of arms. In general the ants furnished with a sting are, in our country, some of the smallest. I know but one species of middle size; but it is very rare and only inhabits the Alps.

"The wars entered into by ants of different size bear no resemblance to those in which ants engage who come to combat with an equal force. When the large attack the small, they appear to do it by surprise, most likely to prevent the latter from fastening upon their legs; they seize them in the upper part of the body and strangle them immediately between their pincers. But when the small ants have time to guard against an attack, they intimate to their companions the danger with which they are threatened, when the latter arrive in crowds to their assistance. I have witnessed a battle between the Herculean and the Sanguine Ants; the Herculean Ants quitted the trunk of the tree in which they had established their abode, and arrived to the very gates of the dwelling of the Sanguine Ants; the latter, only half the size of their adversaries, had the advantage in point of number; they however acted on the defensive. The earth, strewed with the dead bodies of their compatriots, bore witness they had suffered the greatest carnage; they therefore, took the prudent part of fixing their habitation elsewhere, and with great activity transported to a distance of fifty feet from the spot, their companions, and the several objects that interested them. Small detachments of the workers were posted at little distances from the nest, apparently placed there to cover the march of the retreats and to preserve the city itself from any sudden attack. They struck against each other when they met, and had always their mandibles separated in the attitude of defiance. As soon as the Herculean Ants approached their camp, the centinals in front assailed them with fury; they fought at first in single combat. The Sanguine Ant threw himself upon the Herculean Ant, fastened upon its head, turned its abdomen against the chest of its adversary or against the lower part of its mouth, and inundated it with venom. It sometimes quitted its antagonist with great quickness: more frequently, however, the Herculean Ant held between its feet its audacious enemy. The two champions then rolled themselves in the dust and struggled violently. The advantage was at first in favour of the largest ant; but its adversary was soon assisted by those of its own party who collected around the Herculean Ant and inflicted several deep wounds with their teeth. The Herculean Ant yielded to numbers[3]; it either perished the victim of its temerity, or was conducted a prisoner to the enemy's camp.

[3] I retained in close captivity in the same box nearly a month, about an equal number of Red and Yellow Ants. It would seem that a general feeling of compassion for their unfortunate imprisonment had given birth to a suspension of hostilities, and that rankling animosity had been exchanged for good will and social order. During this period I seldom witnessed any affray on the exterior of the nest, and on breaking it up, the interior gave me no room to suppose it had been the scene of much contention; but scarcely were they liberated, scarcely did they feel the fresh breeze passing over them, than their animosity rekindled, and the field of their liberty became the theatre of sanguinary combat. For a few moments each party seemed engaged in discovering a place of retreat, and it was only on returning to the ruins of their original prison, to bring off the rest of their companions, that they encountered and waged war upon each other. What was as singular as unexpected, they fought in pairs, in no one instance _en masse_; indeed, it only twice happened, although the ground was strewed with combatants, that a third came to the aid of its companion, and even then, as if conscious of the unequal contest, one immediately retired. It was inconceivable with what desperate fury, and with what determined obstinacy they fastened upon each other. With their mandibles alone they often succeeded in effecting a complete separation of the body of their antagonist, of which the ground exhibited many proofs when I revisited it.

T.

"Such are the combats between ants of different size; but if we wish to behold regular armies war in all its form, we must visit those forests in which the Fallow Ants establish their dominion over every insect in their territory. We shall there see populous and rival cities, regular roads passing from the ant hill as so many rays from a centre, and frequently by an immense number of combatants, wars between hordes of the same species for they are naturally enemies and jealous of the territory which borders their own capital. It is in these forests I have witnessed the inhabitants of two large ant-hills engaged in spirited combat. I cannot pretend to say what occasioned discord between these republics. They were composed of ants of the same species, alike in their extent and population; and were situated about a hundred paces distance from each other. Two empires could not possess a greater number of combatants.