VII. MISCELLANEOUS.--Notes on Manual Spelling.--By JAS. C.
GORDON.--Origin of Finger Spelling.--Finger alphabets.--With
engraving of American alphabet.

Fruits and Seeds for Dress Trimming.--Origin of the use of
Fruits and Seeds.--Preparation by MR. COLLIN.


VIII. BIOGRAPHY.--Hon. Hiram Sibley.--The founder of the Sibley
College of Mechanic Arts of Cornell University.--With portrait.

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HON. HIRAM SIBLEY.


Hon. Hiram Sibley, of the city of Rochester, a man of national reputation
as the originator of great enterprises, and as the most extensive farmer
and seedsman in this country, was born at North Adams, Berkshire County,
Mass., February 6, 1807, and is the second son of Benjamin and Zilpha
Davis Sibley. Benjamin was the son of Timothy Sibley, of Sutton, Mass.,
who was the father of fifteen children--twelve sons and three daughters;
eight of these, including Benjamin, lived to the aggregate age of 677
years, an average of about seventy-five years and three months. From the
most unpromising beginnings, without education, Hiram Sibley has risen to