TOPICS OP THE DAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11571, 30 April 1903, Page 4

TOPICS OP THE DAY.

A Continental review pubPeculiarities lkhos an. account of a ol ReptOen. curious eeriee of dbservaf tions mode by Dr. F. Werner, of Vienna, upon reptaca end amphibians, with a> view of testing their sense perception. One hundred and eightysix specimens -were examined, of watch about one-third were free, aad care was taken that the judmals should not be affected , by fear or un-usual conditions, or know that they were being watched. Dr. "Werner's experiments satisfied him that although tih« drum of the ear is well \leveloped in the reptiles examined, all are entirely deaf except alligators and crocodiles. These can liear to a slight extent, whereas the 'boa is apparently quite lacking in the sense of hearing. The most acnte of the Fcnses in all reptiles and amphibians appears to be that of teghts "Alligators and crocodiles see best sideways, and can also see backward at an angle of 40 degrees. They can sea ft Iran at a distance equal to about ten times their own length, but fiehee, etc.. in the water, not more than a distance of one-half their own length away." The eyesight of ennkes is very poor. "The boa constructor, which ia the largest kind of boa, cannot see more than one-fourth or one-third of its length away, and thxee epeaies of vipers tluut were teetied could only see as far as one-eighth to one fifth of their own length away." Froge, it ie stated, can see to a distance of fift-een or twenty times their own length- As regards the aenso of taste, it is believed that a snake is able to distinguish between different species of frogs. It malws no uee of the tongtre in eating, co that the sense of taste must be located elsewhere. "The sr-ake's tongno," it is stated, "also represents the only remarkable point observed with regard to the sense of touch, either in reptiles or amphibians. By meens of this organ, the snake doubtless obtains "knowledge of surrounding objects, which it has never touched. Tie tongue is moved rapidly up and down, and apparently the air vibrations produced strike against übjecte. and are reflected back from them in such a way as to give an idea of theii position"

The recruits who have " Brodricks." been arming in South Africa of late have met with a cool reception. Their youth and weediness have earned for them the contumely of older eoJdaers, who dubbed them. "Brodricks," and the open contempt of the Dutch, while their officers protect forcibly that it is impossible to train these growing lads, -who are unable to bear the strain of hard work. The physique and character of the new recruits ■were not lost eight of by the leaders of the attack on the Secretary for War in the .House of Commons, -when tho Army estimates were under consideration. In moving a reduction in tb«j numlber of men, Sir Vioary Gibbs, a business man, said he -wanted to find out if the oourttry got value for its money. Evidently he does not think it does. Hβ pointed out that an unduly large number of men accepted for tfoe Army were expelled within a short time of their acceptance, and l the proportion was fast increasing. The Secretary for War got his men, it was true, but at the expense af efficiency. A lot of wastrels had been introduced into the Army who might have been bought at half-price, but were not cheap. They were tihe sort of men whom Dryden had described when he .wrote of reoruitn who were "MoTHtlis without hands; maintained at vast expense. In peace a charge; in war a weak • defence." Mr Beckett, who then took up tihe tale, professed his preference for brain power nather than for chest expansion, on which. the> War Office placed such confidence. The general opinion of the Army critice was apparently expressed 'by a story one of them told an amused House. A naval recruiting officer remarked to a» Army officer on the large number of lade rejected by the Fleet because of their physical unfitness. "How cad," replied the eoldier. "Not a bit," replied th« sailor; "we get all we-went and of the right quality." " How'sad for them, I mean," corrected tho officer. "Not Bad at all," was the retort. " They all go into the Army, and the Army's glad to got them." Mr Brodrick met Lie critics Without intending to set up " Sunday School rules " that would keep out of the Army a young man who had " kicked up his heels," "who had perhaps been impertinent to his master or his employer, he said that in tho case of future recruits referencee as to character would ba required. Men who had been in gaol and drunkards would bo kept out. As regarded the very youthful recruits, the eo-callod "specials," Mr Brodrick eaid Army officers asked for them. They wanted all the grown men they could get, i)tft they also wanted any men who, if a little undsr the standard, were likely to grow up to it, because by tne tione they were wanted for men's work they would be veil trained. Recruiting, after all, is largdy a gamble, depending on ifche labour nrarket and the popularity of the Army, and an advantage is gained if tlie character of the Army can be so improved aa to add to its attractiveness.

Even in New Zealand & postThe Civil tion in the Civil Sm"bz*»_ is Service, looked to vfivh longing eytwi by many youths.. irho deAfi an employment which ehall net be -too onerous, «md which shall coin tips cßuoent respectability with a good chine:* of permanence. In Australia tide proportion of aspirants to thaw jx&ftjons is apparently still greater, end £hfeT»mpetitive examination held in Melbourne recently for pexsitions is-the'Federal public service was at-teruß-d by «i larger number of candidates thaa btw» «ver been the caso before. No fewer than 700 girls, all between the ages of 16 and 25, and 600 youths, sat for examination in tho Exhibition Building, and fit rained tlieir ears to catch the words of dictatioa «xercis«a given, of necessity, through a megaphone. The candidates were seated in roTra at long trestle tables extending across tie building from gallery to gallery, and «ach had about five feet of .space tq himself. Even after all precautions had b«n taken, many of them complained that it was impossible to hear parts of the dictation. As this particular exerci.se, however, i» never given to pupils in any room without the same grievance bfcing expressed, possibly the complaints were in many cases made to induce a repetition of words which appeared to be "sticklers." At all evesnta, teachers who wero stationed in different parts of the large room d-eclared tba,t they could li«ir easily enough. In the case of the other subjects, the largeness of the attendance madelessdif' ference. Of more interest, however, tlian thtse difficulties of examination, is the investigation of the causes which make tho number of aspirants for po&itions in the public aervioe so large. A representative of tho "Argus," who made inquiries on the eubject, learned that a great many of tlic Melbourne male candidates desired the safety end: permanence of Government em-

p3oyment. They included boy* fre& «21i the primary Bad ewondwy «*»ob, jSji clerks and office boya, and * few Many of the girls were echool teacttetTtmlll xioua to evade the weajy prospect A ecsaninatione still unpt«d, or eager t»H exchange the dull monotony of mg for plensanter and easier even if it should be at lof-er rates. '■ eidering that there were over 1200 candidal* ; ,J in Victoria for ocly 205 phece altogetJuT '" it is pothetjo to think how many o f them '■* must necessarily be b tieir '*- hopes.