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Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1361, 18 February 1865, Page 3

To Kbep a Rijtui m Obdxb.—After firing it should be wiped with a clean wet rag—Canton flannel is stated to b« the best—then it should be wiped dry and oiled. Refined petroleum is about the best liquid that can be used for wiping out a rifle barrel, which should always be kept as bright as a looking glass, or good shooting cannot be expected from it. A rifle oiled with refined petroleum in which a little bees-wax haa been dissolved, may be laid by for a ▼ear without a speck of rust gathering upon it. Of course the whole wtiduc of the powder must be flwi washed off with a w«t rag.

Ihoh.—An American paper says that a curious discovery has recently been made regarding the influence of iron on vegetables. On the chalky shore* of France and England, where there is an absence of iron, vegetation .has a sere and blanched appearance. This is entirely removed, it appears, by the application of a solution of the sulphate of iron. Haricot beans watered with this substance acquire an additional weight of 60 per cent. Mulberries, peaches, pears, vines, and wheat derive advantages from the same treatment. In the cultivation of clover wonderful advantages have been gained by the of the sulphate of iron on soiu whew it is desired to produce an early crop, The material is, of course, cheap, and the quantity applied small. All the scales falling around the blacksmith's anvil should be saved for the land— they are worth five cents, a quart to gardeners. No fruit is so much benefited by iron rust in soils as the pear.

Stability of the Solar System.—The doctrine of the stability of the solar system is considered, by modern astronomers, to be a fact established on the most satisfactory evidence. It is, however, assailed by Professor Gustav Hinrichs, in an elaborate paper inserted in the American Journal of Science, No. 109. He considers, in the first place, the effects of resistance, referring to the evidence of it in the case of Encke's comet; and from his calculations deduces the following four lawsl. That, with advancing age, the nearest secondary planet approaches its primary ; 2. The entire system of orbits becomes closer; 3. The regularity and symmetry disappear more and more; and 4. That at corresponding ages, similar systems must represent the same configuration. He next examines, at some length, the laws of density and rotation, giving the result in fifteen conclusions. We give the two lastl4. If laws of attraction are not fully identical with those of repulsion, the created matter would already virtually contain the tangential force upon which the duration of the whole world depends. This is simply an instance of "throwing the first cause further back," since the translatory movement no longer needs to be considered as a direct action of the Creator, but as a design embodied and effected through some previous direct act. 15. It is probable that the force lost in resistance is converted into magnetism. "I know that some, like Brewster, will object to these and similar efforts; yet weal ways feci the more deeply convinced of the glory, and power, and wisdom of the Creator and Governor of the universe the more we perceive how simple His means, how grand His design, and how multiform His efforts. Unlike ourselves, the Creator needs no tools, no constant effort tor producing His ends. His Almighty 'flat' created the universe, and His right hand has sustained it ever since."

Cake op Farm Teams.—lf there be one time of the year when excellent judgment should be used in the caseof working teams, whether horses, oxen, or mules, that time is during the spring's work, especially at the stage of it when hot weather succeeds the moderately cool. They then need good food in good quantity, plenty of water at proper times, and the most careful grooming. With our spades, gang-ploughs, wheel-cultivators, and horserakes, our mowers and reapers, with which the labour of man is so much reduced in severity, but which render but little, if any lighter, the work of the team, there is great danger of over-working by even sensible and ordinarily careful men, still greater from the "thick-headed" aids sometimes found about the farm. Then the stimulus of prices tends to make all farmers desire to crowd everything to the utmost; and it is almost certain that teams will be worked beyond their real capacity. Men are scarce and wages high, so that each driver will be expected to accomplish more work than formerly. Horses are high priced, and farmers do not generally feel like keeping any more teams than are barely sufficient to do their work. All these things, it will be seen, tend to render the position of farm teams anything but enviable, unless men exercise more than ordinary care in their treatment. Call a little humanity into play, and remember the scriptural injunction, "The merciful man is merciful to his beast."—Prairie Farmer.

The Colossal Bird of Madagascar.—ln the year 1850, a French ship-captain, named Abadie, being on the south-east corner of Madagascar, observed in the hands of a native the shell of a gigantic egg, which had been perforated at one of its extremities, and employed for domestic purposes. M. Abadie, being attracted by the unusual dimensions of the'egg, set to work to procure specimens of it, and ultimately succeeded in obtaining from the .natives, besides the specimens first seen, two others, one of them found in the debris of a, recent landslip, the other was disinterred from a recent alluvial formation, together with some bones of apparently no less gigantic size. Upon these objects, which were shortly after forwarded to Paris, the late Professor Isidore Geoffroi St. Hilaire founded a new genus and species of extinct struthous birds, allied to Dinornis, for which he proposed the name JEpyornis maximus. The most striking character of the eggs of JEpyornis is their enormous size. The largest of the two received at Paris measured lengthwise no less that 2 feet 10 inches, and breadthwise 2 feet 4 inches in circumference. Its extreme length in a straight line was about 12 inches. Professor Geoffroi St. Hilaire estimated that it would contain 10£ quarts, or nearly as much as six ostrich eggs. A large ostrich egg, we may mention, measures only about 6£ iuches in length, being little more than half that of JEpyornis. —Quarterly Journal of Science.

Lost in the Bush.—The Victorian correspondent of the Times gives the following touching narrative: —A very remarkable incident which I must shortly relate, if only for the interest it must necessarily have for scientific and medical men, lately occurred here. Discussions have frequently arisen as to how long human creatures can exist without nourishment, and the fact to which I proceed to refer throws light on such an investigation. Some weeks back, at the station of a Mr. Dug&ld Smith, at Horsham, two boys and a girl, aged respectively the eldest boy nine, the girl seven, and the youngest boy five, the children of a carpenter, named Dun, wandered by themselves into the bush and were lost. They had been sent out by their mother, as they had often gone out on the same errand before, to gather broom, and not returning before dark, the parents became alarmed, and S search commenced. The father, assisted by friends and neighbours in large numbers,scoured the country in every direction for nights and days in vain. At length, in despair, the assistance of some aboriginal blacks was obtained, these people possessing an almost blood-hound instinct in following up the very faintest tracks. The blacks soon came upon the traces of the little wanderers, expatiating, as these trackers always do, at every bent twig, or flattened tuft of grass, on the apparent actings of the objects of their search. "Here, little one tired; sit down. Big one kneel down, carry him along. Here travel all night; dark; not see that bush; her fall on him. Further on, and more observations. "Here little one tired again; big .one kneel down; no able to rise, fall flat on* his face." The accuracy of these readings of the blacks was afterwards curiously corroborated by the children themselves. On the eighth day after they were lost, and long after the extinction of the faintest hope of their ever being again seen alive, the searching party came on them. They are described as having been found lying all of a row on a clump of broom among some trees, the youngest in the middle carefully wrapped in his sister's frock. They appeared to be in a deep, and not unpleasant sleep. On being awoke, the eldest tried to sit up, but fell back. His face was so emaciated that his lips would not cover his teeth, and he could only just feebly groan " Father." The youngest, who had suffered least, woke up as from a dream, childlike demanding, "Father, why didn't you come for us sooner? we were cooeying for you." The sister, who was almost quite gone, when lifted up could only murmur, " Cold, cold." No wonder, as the little creature had stripped herself of her frock, as the elder boy said, "to cover Frank, for he was crying with cold." The children have all since done well, and are rapidly recovering. They were without food, and, by their own account, had only one drink of water during the whole time they were out, and this was from the Friday of one week until the Saturday of the next week, in all nine days and eight nights. The pathetic points about this little history are so obvious that you will feel no surprise in being told that it has produced a marvellous sensation throughout the colony. I only wish popular sympathy had easily at command some less coarse and more satisfactory appreciation of little Jane Duff's conduct than collecting money for her. This, however, is the form the popular demonstration has taken, and the " Jane Duff fund " already amounts to several hundreds.

Tetanus or Lockjaw.—The'following Jsimplo curt for this spasmodic contraction of the uauscles, particularly those which shut the lower jaw, was communicated to the present writer by an Arab, many years ago. It is the only remedy resorted to in Arabia. Take a bullock's gall, hot from the beast if possible; dilute with water a teaspoonful, ana make the patient swallow it as best you can. Rub the remainder as you would an ointment under the ear and down the whole side. Continue hard rubbing until the muscles of the jaw relax; then let the* patient awallow ten or a dozen drops and take rest.