Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/488

452&#93; 45*] WAS WAT v. WASP. — If any of these inseSs be accidentaliy taken in beer, or other liquor, thefatal consequences, resulting from their stings, may be obviated hv swallowing a little common salt. Thus, one of our correspondents is acquainted wit'.i a re(?ent instance, in which a life was saved by adopting this simple remedy; and he has experier.ced thfe efficacy of salt applied exter- nally, as a cure for the stings of wasps, in his own family, for se- veral yeai-s. — See also the article Bet,, p. 397, Suppl. WASTE LANDS. — Having, under various heads, in this work, had opportunities of proving the important national advantages that may be derived from a more ge- neral cultivation of the extensive heaths and commons, which lie in a state unbecoming an aftive and ingenious people, we are induced to avail ourselves of the remarks inserted by a judicious correspon- dent, in the Bu(h Journal, for January 25lh, 1802. If barren lands are to be culti- vated only for the purpose of en- larging the estates of great land- owners J if commons are to be inclosed, only with a view to drive away into beggary those cottagers, who lived and supported their little families upon them ; if im- provements produce no other effeft than that of diminishing the num- ber, and swelling the wealth of farmers, and consequrntly of rais- ing the price of every necessary of life, by forwarding the purposes of hionoply^ it were (perhaps), much better that things should remain just as they ai?. — If high cultiva- tion and famine are to go baud in hand, it were better for the coun- try to be placed in its primitive rudeness, where every man could enjoy the fruits of the earth who laboured for them, than that a half-starved multitude should have their eyes dazzled with cultivated fields, and splendid domains, where " The country smiles a garden and a grave." It is well known, that lands do not, upon the whole, yield so much food, when occupied by large as by small farmers ; and the ex|)e- ricnce of the last two years lias proved, that a country may be abounding with provisions, while the prices are kept up so as to place them almost beyond the reach of the industrious poor. If a general inclosure is not followed by a general allotment of small farms, it will produce public mis- chief, instead of good. If the re- claiming of barren lands shall not tend to restore to their former oc- cupations, those whom the war re- moved trom agricultural labour, the country will be swarmed with vagrants, thieves, and robbers, instead of being blessed with plenty. Jm WATER.— In tins article we ^ have presented the reader with va- rious accounts and delineations of machines, invented with the view of raising water : the followuig Cut represents one of the mo&t sim- ple contrivances generally adopt- ed in the county oi Middlesex. It