THE HOUSEWIFE. No. IV. FOR A PAIN IN THE EAR. Put a small clove of garlic, steeped for a few minutes in warm salad oil, into the ear; it must be rolled up in muslin or thin linen. In a short time, the garlic will be reduced to a pulp, and having accomplished its object, should be replaced with cotton, to prevent the air giving cold. RING WORMS. FOR SHORTNESS OF BREATH. The following remedy for shortness of breath is particularly recommended to young women afflicted with that complaint. Take an ounce of each of carraway seeds and anniseeds, half an ounce of liquorice, a large nutmeg, an ounce of prepared steel, and two duce the whole to a very fine powder, ounces of double refined sugar; reand take as much as will lie on a shilling every morning fasting, and the same quantity at five in the afternon. It will be requisite to use exercise while taking this medicine, which generally very soon effects a cure. MAHOGANY. Put a few drops of spirits of sea salt, or oil of vitriol, in a tea spoonful of water, and touch the stain or spot with a feather; and, on the ink disappearing, rub it over with a rag wetted in cold water, or there will be a white mark not easily effaced. HISTORY OF THE CRIM A malady so well known as the Ring Worm, does not require a tedious de- TO TAKE INK STAINS OUT OF finition in this place; it may, however, be proper to state, that in its progress two states or stages are distinguish able; the first may be called the irritable, the second the indolent, stage; to this latter, the plan about to be proposed is particularly applicable. In those cases which have resisted the ordinary means, which are of long standing and obstinate, the following treatment has been very efficacious The head should be frequently shaved, and kept covered with an oiled-silk cap, or instead of which a thin bladder has sometimes been used. An ointment should be formed by mixing to gether spermaceti cerate and finely pulverised supertartrate of potass, in such proportions as to make it of a very firm consistence; of which a piece of the size of a nutmeg, or larger, according to the extent of the surface affected, should be well rubbed on the part with the palm of the hand, every night, for three or four minutes; the head should be well washed with soap and water every third night, previously to the application of the ointment. Internal medicines are seldom requisite in this advanced stage, except where the character of the affection is irregular, or there is a peculiarity in the constitution of the patient; in which cases some modification of treatment will necessarily be required; these variations will readily be made by any respectable practitioner. The above plan, if diligently pursued for from three to six weeks, will rarely disappoint the expectations of those who try it, even in the most inveterate cases. J. H. The Murza ladies, if we may trust the report of Mrs. Holderness, are rarely handsome, but endeavour to supply, in the barbarous magnificence of their habiliments, what is wanting in personal beauty. Their fashions are in general copied from the Turkish, and like the women of all eastern nations, they are "very fond of showy colours and gilding in their dress, as well as in the decoration of their apartments." Stiff with brocade, weighed down with necklaces of money, collars of silver and bracelets of gold, each finger loaded with a multitude of rings of every material, from lead to jewels, a Tartar wife passes her dull and monotonous existence in embroidering napkins and towels, and varying her finery for the gratification of a single pair of eyes, unfurnished with any atom of instruction which might occupy or amuse her mind-and not always without a suspicion of the itch. Married women are allowed to paint their faces both white and red, a process which they execute with little skill on a bad ground; those who are unmarried are denied this high privilege, but may stain their fingers and toe-nails with kna. The rooms of 66 the harem swarm with fleas, but in other respects are tolerably comfortable, and are ornamented with specimens of the needle-work of its inmates. On occasion of a wedding they hang the chemises of the bride round the walls, forming, as Mrs. Holderness justly remarks, an extraordinary sort of tapestry." Their diversions, as might be guessed, are few and not lively. The gayest and most popular is swinging, which they practise with all the spirit and enthusiasm of children, and were surprised that Mrs. Holderness did not join them. So great an indulgence as this, however, is only granted at the feast of Bairam; but at other seasons, if a piper should arrive, they are sometimes, as an extraorninary favour, permitted to look down from a lofty latticed gallery, on the men who are dancing in the court. The Tartars are a good-natured race, and unhappy marriages are said to be rare among them, but the domestic despot keeps up the forms of state to a greater degree than we were aware of. When a Murza visits the apartments of his women, they all rise on his entrance, and again when he leaves it, although he comes and goes very fre quently. This ceremonious mark of respect is never omitted even by the wife, or by any other of the females, except they be very old women, who, on account of their age, are excused. In the spring of 1818, seven Tartars, who had been found guilty of various robberies and murders in the districts of Akmetchet, Theodosia, Kertch, and Port Patch, were sentenced by the Russian law to receive the punishment of the knout* in each of these towns. Having first undergone this dreadful penalty at Akmetchet, they were conducted to Theodosia, heavily ironed, and lodged in the gaol here till the hour appointed for the flogging. They were then taken to the market-place, where hundreds of spectators were assembled to witness the scene, and from an Englishman, present on that occasion, I received the following account of the transaction:-" The culprits, each in his turn, were fastened to an inclined post, having a ring at the top, to which the head was so tightly fixed, by means of a rope, as to prevent the sufferer from crying out. The hands were closely tied on each side, and at the bottom were two rings for the feet, which were in like manner secured The back was then bared, and the plaster, or rag, which had been applied after the previous whipping, was torn off. The Tartar sacerdotal, attended by a Tartar Priest, next advanced, and read aloud the crimes for which the offenders were punished, together with the sentence of the law. This took up nearly half an hour. The knout has a very heavy thong, as thick as a man's wrist, and weighing from two to three pounds. The lash is of leather, about the breadth of a broad tape; the handle is about two feet long. With this weapon the executioner now approached, and giving one cut, walked back again to the distance of about forty yards. He then returned, flourishing his whip, and struck again, till the appointed number of strokes was given, and till it was certain that the poor wretch was all but dead. At every blow the blood spirted from the wound, but the previous preparation prevented the possibility of exclamation. Each one, when his flogging was finished, was unbound, and having the rag replaced on his back, was removed into a cart, till all had been thus disposed of; having witnessed the sufferings of their comrades, and endured their own. Before they left Theodosia one of them died; and of the seven, I believe, not one lived to undergo the whole of the sentence." THE MUSES' WILD WREATH. THE GIPSY'S PROPHECY. Ladye, throw back thy raven hair, Lay thy white brow in the moonlight bare, I will look on the stars, and look on thee, And read the page of thy destiny. Round thy neck is a ruby chain, Mark yon star-it shone at thy birth; away, So, or yet sooner, wilt thou decay. Over yon fountain's silver fall I may read in thy hazel eyes, A caff bed to sleep on and plenty o' claes, The blankets and sheets to be aye clear o' flaes; A stock o' gude health aye the doctors to shun, And peace wi' our neebours the lawyers to hum; For the long dark lash that over them A conscience in quietness, but yet lies; So in my art I can but see One shadow of night on thy destiny. I can give thee but dark revealings Of love the past like the lava wave, LOVE HAD BEEN THERE. Last night, a fairy bark, for Hope, That lightly floated o'er the wave, Which now curls round the scattered leaves, Kissing the flower it cannot save. A sweet hymn to the setting sun But no song welcomes his return, The shade is bare, the nest is torn. What can have made so desolate What was last night so very fair? L. E. L. never blind, IN STEPNEY CHURCH-YARD. To the Memory of Dame Rebecca Berry, Come ladies, you that would appear Free from all envious brawls and jars LITTLE ANDREW NICOL'S WEE (Of human life the civil wars). BIT SANG. Tune," My Bonnie Muir Her." A wee bit housie besides a wee burn, A wee pickle meal our parritch to A wee drop kail at dinner to tak; These ne'er disturb'd her peaceful mind, Go, LADIES, now, and if you'd be * I was na sure about this sentence, but I ran wast to the school master of Lillebairn, and let him see't, and he says it's real gude Latin. New North America, Oct, 4, 1823. THE FIRE OF LONDON. THIS dreadful conflagration commenced on Monday, September 2d, 1666, at one o'clock in the morning, at a Baker's shop in Pudding-lane, near Fish-street Hill, which being a part of the town so close built with wooden pitched houses, and happening at that time of the morning, caused such immediate destruction, that the fire had taken so fast a hold, that engines were useless; and the people began pulling down houses to stop the progress;—a violent easterly wind springing up, so fomented the flames, that they soon spread to Gracechurch-street, and downwards from Canon-street to the water side, as far as the Three Cranes in the Vintry. It continued burning with unabated fury till the Tuesday night, when the wind abated, and the fire having by this time reached some brick buildings at the Temple, its force subsided, and a stop put to it at the Temple Church, Pie Corner, Aldersgate-street, at the end of Colemanstreet, Basinghall-street, near the Postern, at the end of Bishopsgate-street, and Leadenhall-street, at the Standard in Cornhill, at the church in Fenchurchstreet, near Clothworker's Hall in Mincing-lane, at the middle of Marklane, and at the Tower Dock. This fire destroyed eighty-nine churches (including the Cathedral of St. Paul's), the city gates, Guildhall, many public buildings, hospitals, schools, libraries, a vast number of public edifices, 13,200 dwelling-houses, 400 streets: of six-and-twenty wards, it totally ruined fifteen, and eight others were shattered and half burnt. The ruins of the city were 436 acres, extending from the Tower along the Thames side, to the Temple church, and from the north-east gate along the city wall to Holborn-bridge. It was computed, that in this fire the loss in books was about 150,000l. Sir R. Jeffery, Alderman, lost in tobacco 20,000l. In wines, tobacco, sugars, and plums, the loss was immense. The houses were supposed to be, at the low valuation of twelve years purchase, worth 3,900,000l. The Cathedral of St. Paul's, the churches, Customhouse, Guildhall, city gates, &c. to 2,000,000 l.-For carts, boats, porters, &c. in carrying things away, and after wards bringing them back, 200,000.Total 9,900,000 7. "And "It is impossible for me to stay there any longer," said a poor woman, while hastily hurrying down a small flight of steps from a street door. The melancholy faintness of her tone excited my surprise, when curiosity urged me to see that place where she could no longer remain. I accordingly ascended the steps, and found myself near a shop literally crammed with people, who seemed overheated in the extremeit was a Pawnbroker's shop-on a Saturday-night. The sight, though it was productive of sad reflections-yet I determined to remain there. is this," said I, "necessity-wantextravagance, or indiscretion--that gives this man so much trade, and so many applicants ?" I was doubtful which was the cause, and so I resolved to take as close a view as I could of the characters which composed this motley and melancholy group. I first fixed my attention on a woman, whose grey hairs and modest demeanour clearly bespoke she had seen many and better days-she was offering a miniature; and as it parted from her hand, a silent tear stole down her withered cheek, and fell on the glass that protected the likeness. The man surlily rubbed off this sad token of affection, and looking at the case of |