the author begs leave to express his thanks here for the valuable      aid furnished him by the following works, viz.: "the horse and his      diseases," by mr. astor; "life and times of john oglethorpe," by      elias g. merritt; "how to make the garden pay," by peter henderson;      "over the purple hills," by mrs. churchill, of denver, colorado,      and "he played on the harp of a thousand strings, and the spirits      of just men made perfect," by s. p. avery.