THE WEATHER AND PUGNACITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 202, 26 August 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE WEATHER AND PUGNACITY.

A Ncav York statistician finds from thg police records that there is a marked relation between atmospheric conditions and the number of assault cases brought before the Courts. As the temperature rises from moderate to rather warm, assaults increase in number, till the thermometer gets above SO deg. in the shade, AA'hen there is-a falling off, as if people became too languid for quarrelling. A falling barometer seems to have a bad effect upon the temper, but when the Aveather gets really Avet people seem to get. more peaceful, or perhaps,' the quarrelsome folk's are then kept more Avithin doors, and so come less incontact with each other. INSCRIPTION FOR THE DARWIN STATUE. The "Academy" invited its readers to compose an inscription of not more than forty Avords, suitable to be engraved upon the statue of Charles Dai-Avin, just unveiled at Oxford. The best inscription Avas considered to be that submitted by Mr EdAvin Cardross, viz.:—"Charles DarAvin, the g-reat naturalist, memorable for his demonstration of the la\v of evolution in organic life, achieved by scientific imaginatiou, untiring observation, comparison, and research: also for a blameless life, characterised by the modesty, 'the angelic patience, of genius.' " A DIVING GLOBE. The folloAving is a description of a "remarkable apparatus for deep-sea diving; The inventor is M. Patee.del Pazzo. The bell is of cast-iron, and is sphere-shaped, and is covered with oilcloth 3in. thick. It is thus well equipped to resist the enormous water pressure. The diving-globe is constructed to Avork at a depth of about 1,600 ft-—that is, more than a quarter of a mile. At this great depth there is very little light, but provision is made for that. The men inside the diving-bell are permitted to see their surroundings clearly 'by a poAverful electric light placed over a strong lens, through which they look. The light, of course, is Avorked from the ship. One of the great advantages of the machine lies in the fact that it can be moved about at jvill. It is fitted with three screAvs, which drive it^along, and it is guided with a rudder. The motiA'e poAver is electricity.