He begged us to be under no
apprehension as to the dampness of our beds, as they were warmed by a
steam-apparatus of his own contrivance. He always keeps a Leyden jar,
about the size of a boiler, ready charged, wherewith he kills geese,
turkeys, and even lamb; which, he affirms, is a much less shocking method
of neutralizing the vital spark than the vulgar butchery of twisting and
sticking. He has lost three of his fingers, through incautiously handling
a self-acting rat-trap of his own construction; and had his left eye blown
out, while investigating the exact interval between combustion and
explosion.
* * * * *
I found a difference of about half an hour between the dial of Putney
Church and my watch, which a young gentleman "intended for one of the
universities" accounted for from difference of latitude. He likewise
explained a phenomenon, which rather startled us, near Kew. We saw about
half-a-dozen cows galloping furiously towards the river's brink; flirting
their tails, and, indeed, conducting themselves with a vivacity perfectly
inconsistent with the acknowledged sobriety of that useful animal.
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