Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVI, Issue 75, 1 April 1892, Page 2

Pearls are carbonate of lime.the same aab. stance o! which the ehall of tho ojater is com- • pose, and are identisal with tha ' mother o! paasl,' whioh forma the interior oi the pearl oyster shall. A high temperature will reduce any pearl to lime, and ia tbe heatol an ordtn* ary fire a pearl will completely losa its identity and becomeapinchof white powderjAlipreoioaa stones aro injured by a high temperature; the diamond, being almost pure oarbon, ia completely consumed at a tgmporature some' what greater than white heat. When the St. Louia Southern Hotol was burned some, years ago, a lady guest .left her diamonds in her room. As the genia were large and valuable oareful search was made tot' them after the ruins had oooled, and they wore found, but the intense heat had covered every atone with a white orast whew partial combustion had taken place. Rabies, sapphires and emeralds losa their colour on ex- . posure to heat, while the semi -preoious stone<j, suoh as the amethyat, tjpaz, and garnet, are completely ruined, by » qoav« paratively low heat. ' l " Tbe lioneeaas, tigresses, and female leopavtU of the menagarie at the Paris Nfttutal History Slnjenm, wya a .oorreßpoadaut, ate eitbjiot to " oervea," ami tteqdently have to b? eceated vutii larga doaes of brotnkaliuin to calm them. The alepbant BUfioia (torn toothaoho, and ouo of ita teeth had to be siuffed, Tun sugaoious otostiue endured the operation (of filing and boring with great patieno?. only rapidly waving its trunk when the pain waa violent. Whan all was over — U Browed ita gratitudo by caressing M. Hanverrqi with the finger-like extremity of its proboaois. Thaxe, ia also a hippotamus whioh suffeis. from a kind of chilblain, left by last winter's frost, and rendered worse by the p^osont cold weather. The wounded ptadsa are Jtabbed with raseliae, and the enormous creature ehowa its reli.f by uttering comfortable grunfs,

The earliest mention of fire extinguishing apparatus of any k[ad is found in the baiidiii^ aooounts of thojcity of Augaburg, Gerawfiy: for the year 1518; la tbess they are denouj, inatad " instruments for fires '! and- '.'water syringes useful at fires " Aotliony JBlatner,* goldsmith at Friedburg, is orecUtdd witb being tho inventor and manufacturer, he having at that time baoome a citizen of Augsburg. These syriugea must have been of aondld. erab'o size, as they ate desotibsd as beipg mounted on wheels and worked by lovers, Caspar Suhott, a noted Jesuit, givea an ao» oounfcof one builb ab Nuremberg, ia 1657, the largo^ engiaa of which there is any reoord. It was mounted fla a sledge tea feet long, four teeb in. width, and drawn, by two horses, Ithad two working oylindera plßoed horiinontaUy itt,,tflie oiatern, whioh waa oight feofc long, fooir f<?«t high, and two feet wide. Twontyejghfc mea were required to work it, and ife ma o«pabla of throwing a jet of water one indh la diameter to a height of eighty feefc.-D<jtrQib. Free Press. Thg oddest of all piaoatiorial'tatltiea Is the paradise flan of, Qhina. tike the Qei;. man oauary aad one or two other sneoiea b£ bird and fish, this little finny beauty ia the product of cultivation only, there; being no place in the world where it ia found in,, a wild atyte. In the land of the dragon they aro kept and cultivated itl ornamental aquariums, each succeeding generation of the little oddities exhibiting more diversified colors. The male is the larger of the two BOXO3, measuring, when full grown, !3i inches. The body ia shaped very much I like that of a common pumpkin seed sunfish, its color surpassing in brilliancy any fish " heretofore cultivated for the aquarium, The head of maoropodus (that'a his generio name; is ashy gray,' mqttled with .irregular dark spots. The -gilts aw azuriae blue, bordered with brilliant orimeou. The eyas are yellow and red," with a blaok pupil. The sides of the body and the orescent shaped caudal fln aredeW crimson, the former having from ten to tweha vertical blue stripes, while the latter is bordered with blue. The upper surface of the body is continually ohanging oolour-aomeWmes it is white, at others gray, blaok, or Mac. The dorsal and anal flWare temarkably hrge, hence its generto name-ma.oro, largei podus.finorfoot. Both fins are ahapedaUkeV « nd / r « st«Pfd with brown^'H bordered with a bright blue. The dull ooloSed ventrai fins are protected by "a {brilliant aoarlet colored apine, exWadin| i ;thre<j> fqurths of mch behind the tj<idy of the «n. The peotoral fi j8 are welt fcaapeaYbufc but transparent and ooloslm.^St, LouU Republic, ; - •■• - ' ' .•••••

" Thepreauinptaoasaaasof'aom&geopla ia past endaranea," remarked a lady leggntly In conversation, I tillowad my lUfcla gUi to spend au afternoon with & tueud &nd when ■ eiio returned her , liitla e«t« . faa4 bgea ■ pierced and a pair of dartßga bung 1 in Iheoi I iooKaa apod it as aa .ao\?fttienit(id pleoa of itngfit'Maano^, aud tha prison* ; ot iha tioga did pot reoonciia mo to is ia ths lesat M ;r " that Mtoinda moj" aax'4 aapfihei ladj' ;Mqp - ray emttaitoot. m^ra^&r I <&n&ofc - w onil the<a anything olae. i fleitmy Uttil , >« beg<»aß6 ttoahild oow^iiied-S^ia ;-^ of ]ier baby taetfe pall^' Wiia6.«i^^uw^ ■ "«^ trated el^a Baid sh^ had paid thl hiii%^ : » ''; «&*&