ROUND THE WORLD.

Professor Bergonie, of Bordeaux, and Professor Arsonval, of Paris, declare that currents of electricity of three amperes and from 1000 to 1500 volts passed through the body of a man enable him to digest 70 per cent, of the food which ordinarily passes away undigested. * . * * *

An old lady laughed immoderately at a' story told at a dinner m Chicago. The story-teller looked at her inquiringly. "Oh," she gasped, "it's a great favorite of mine. The first time I heard it I laughed so hard I almost kicked the footboard off my crib!" * * * *

The -island of Mindanao produces the largest flower m tho world. Its habitat is far up the Parag mountain, 2500 feet above the level of the sea. The natives give it the name of bolo. Its full-blown blossom, five petaled, is above three feet m . diameter, weighing 22 pounds.

Famine seriously threatening, contiiiueii drought having prevented tho planting of crops> the Chinese m Honan district lia"ve taken. -their gods out of their, temples. and get them m the sun to bake until they appreciate the need of rain.

■, Sir Chinubhai Madhowlal Runchorelal, upon whom the dignity of a baronet of t|ie United Kingdom has just been confiefried, is the' first' Hindu to receive such an honor. He is a prominent merchant and mill-owner of Bombay, and has given munificently towards the advancement, of education and. for philanthropic pUrposes. ll • ! ' * . * * *

i Sir James Crichton-Browne, at the Royal Society. , of Arts : "There ought tp be before sleep a period of subsidence, a. settling down, and no strain qr stress on the nervea, not merely m the case of children, but also m t/'iat of grown-up people. There should be no \Vork done after seven of eight o'clock m the evening, but a little recreation or amusement,, a little novel-reading, or a soothing- cigar." : 4t * * •

; Police on night duty m Glasgow are peing afforded facilities for warming food and tea at certain street telephone and signal boxes. To this -end thie-Tioxes dre fitted with?. . electrical hot plates, can be switched on to thie corporation mains and utilised for warming ?ood or drink. • Twenty minutes are allowed for supper, and the current is so arranged that the heater element can %oi be left under current when not m use, even if the user omits to switch it Off;

: ; Speaking of China, it is interesting to note that neither fiction nor poetry are m demand m that country — that is to say/ not the white man's fiction or j>oetry. The intelligent Chinaman prefers John Stuart Mill to anything «lse, and Adam Smith comes , next. The translators haive tried the Chinaman with Sjvhakespeare, Byron, Scott, Dickens, and Thackeray, and he wants none of them. But iio does want science, and he prefers the student's text book to anything else.

. There are 750 theatres m Chicago, and 76 others, are under construction, accord*ing to the building commissioner: Half of the amusement houses are used exclusively for moving pictures and 'have seating capacities of 300 each or less, but the average capacity is 400, or a total of 300,000. There will be an added seating capacity of 300,000 when the new theatres are completed m the fall. It is , estimated the daily attendance is 900,000. Tho. "movies" are as well patronised m the summer as m winter.

M. do Broqueville, the Belgian Premier, says: "We do not doubt the sincerity and loyalty of the Great Powers who are the. guarantors of our neutrality, but we have seen m numerous declarations that m case of war Belgium will be called upon once more to provide Europe with a field of battle. We cannot have our national dignity disgraced, nor our personality impaired. Antwerp will m time be tho most impregnable fortress m the world. It is the intention of the Government to raise a special loan of 84,000,000 francs (£11,360,000) to cover military expenses."

A significant mark of the phenomenal growth of business on inland waters m America is the completion of the Seeandbee, the. largest, vessel on the Gwjat Lakes, and the world's greatest freshwater ship. Recently it made ito initial journey from Cleveland to Buffalo. The now vessel has a passenger capacity of 6000 undea? the governmental regulations; it has berth accommodations for 1500 persons, and provisions for carrying 1500 tons of freight on its mam <jj*2ck. Its engines are of 12,000 horsepower, and its speed twenty -two miles an hour. The Seeandbee is 500 feet m length.

{ "One of th© moat important gains to Greece from the present war with Tur--1 :ey is the acquisition of territory m Macedonia long desired, through which to build, a railway connecting Greece with the trans-continental line that runs from Vienna to Constanza. The distance ti be covered is less than 100 miles," shys the New York Nation At/hens correspondent.' "One meets at every turn Greek soldiers from the United States vrho are eager to air their English vocabulary whenever they meet a 'fellowcountryman. * There are m all about Bjp,ooo ■ of • them who came to fight for their fatherland, and he is the exception ( who does not intend to return to AraeTea." .•# ■ • * i The Westminster Gazette tells us of a j <Ttu&iah' admiral, newly appointed to tlie *mm»n,d of,,th'e iEgwn squadron, 'who Had just installed himself on the new flagship m the admiral' squarters, which opened to the sterhwalk. The next morning .he awoke-, and said, "Full speed ahead, by Allah." So presently the propeller began, to revolve, and as it had not moved since the ship was sold to the Turks, at more than cost price, by a power -which had no use for her, it made a fearful din. „ "Allah," cried the aidmiral, "what m the name of the Prophet is this uproar?" "The propeller, ■excellency." 1 "Stop it, then." ' "But the ship will stop> excellency." "Then take, the thing off," bellowed the admiral, "and put it on the otlner end."

Germany has a system of people's cpurts from which lawyers are barfed, The object is. to. insurer prompt and cheap justice for the poorer elements of the community. The procedure m these courts is businesslike and free from technicalities, and red tape. Now Kansas has followed the example of Germany and established by law a system of lawyerless courts. City or county commissioners are empowered to appoint a, judge for a debtor's court from which lawyers are excluded. ■-, Tho plaintiff must tell his own story, as must the defendant. There are to be no technical plea*, and no legal jargon. The judge may call witnesses, examine them m his own way, or otherwise investigate tho case. ♦ v * * • . That Africa> With its millions of idle negroes, should suffer from scarcity of labor .seems to tho outsider incredible, but it is a fact that the securing and distribution of labor is the most vital factor m tho .economic life of the continent south of the Equator. It has been ostimatod that the Rand pays £60,000 a year to recruit the contingent from Portuguese East Africa alone, this sum covering only the expense of getting the "boyB" from, their homes and back again. A non-salaried recruiter, gets 20s lOd for every' boy he persuados to go to the mines'. It is by supplying the Rand with 50,p00 to 60,000 boys annualjy that the province of Mozambique diiaws directly and indirectly by far the larger part of its revenue. The blessing, however, i$ not an uiimi^ed pne, for jn proportion as the industrial needs of the pi ovlnce grow the di'am of available Uipor is felt.