WEEKLY WHISPERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 1 July 1911, Page 6

WEEKLY WHISPERS.

it there's a hole in a* your coati, I red* ye tent it; AckiePs amang ye takitC notes, And faith, he'llfrent it. —Burns. The other 'day, in this colmun, one was told how to distinguish between the common or garden mosquito, and the varieties that caused sleeping sickness, malaria and other human alls. The relatively harmless "musketeer" taker its bite spread-eagled on its six legs; the other sort does a hop-and-go-fetch-it on four of its feet just before it stings, and that's the time to eliminate it with a smart smack. As the creatures generally bite in the dark it is difficult to see how one is to distinguish between the good and bad; but that is merely by -t.he way. As a J'ule, Brer Skeeter does not give you time to think out and observe his peculiarities. The first you know of his presence is that he is bloocmaking, and by then. tihe mischief is done so far as the transmission of diseased virus is concerned.

It is all very well to joke in our own white man's clime about "unpleasant - n sects that bite. But one has to go to the • regions of the Equator to rea.ise what an important part these creatures have, played in the marring of nations. Of a-"truth, their absence, or the absence oE their virulent forms, is much more responsible for the building up of the virile peoples of temperat© regions than we generally suppose. Mr. Froggatt, the New". South Wales Government Entomologist, in a recent lecture at Sydney the other day, touched on this phase of the cjuestion of insects. He emphasised the important part- biting flies have played, and -are,-still iplaying, in the history of the of the world, and he Eointed out that certain insects for ages ave rendered large areas of t-he earth's surface uninhabitable except bv the most miserable and degenerate of,Jiuman beings. - .

Mr. Froggatt said it had been the habitr to disparage- certain of the South America .and African peoples, but not sufficient importance has been attached to -mosquitoes >for producing inferior races! Military expeditions have been delated, and even abandoned, as the re-sult-of the ravages of insect pests. Portuguese soldiers in Scuth Africa in the l&th-and 17th centuries failed because their, horses had been destroyed by the tsetse fly. Not many years ago an expedition in South Africa was delayed a month because the carriers were rendered lame by the "jigger" flea, a- sandfly which nested under the toenails of the -aiativeo.* The Boers were driven bacfejarcross the Vaal in the early colony days because iheir cattle were wiped out by a fly- The Panama Canal 2o years ago had to be abandoned, because the mosquito killed the workmen with malaria, germs. At the last outbreak of yell > v fever in the Southern States of America ; troops .were, set round the isolation camps, and actually fired on those who attempted to escape. ♦ * * •» *

"Following up the theme, another ney scientist, Mr. W. J. Rainbow, toM an audience the other day that the mosquito, had been known as a pest as i'ong ago as-the Egyptian King Pharos, and i e surmised that probably * the plagu© i f flies mentioned in the Old Testament was probably a plague of mosquitoes. Sydney and" around know mosquito s and hate and dread it, for actually they affect property values ! Some years ag'-> an estate oh the Parramatta river could not be sold because of the large

number of mosquitoes in the vicinity. It may be news to the average inquirer that < all mosquitoes do not bite, and that it is the female who is the chief offender. But the male around Sydney is now developing the propensity, said Mr. .Rainbow, •who also discoursed on some of the cheerful habits of the creature, which are beastly, likewise carnivorous ; but same have never tasted blocd, fortunately. There are house mosquitoes and mosquitoes which ne'ver enter a habitation. The house visitants usually rest during the day -under tables, chairs, or in any dark spot. Black is preferred to white resting-places. Yellow is particluarly shunned by the pests, and yellow nets are the best. "In tropical and subtropical countries the insects breed all the year round. Many genii •hibernates. They can even exist in snow. * * * * # 'Principal Harper, of a Sydney girl's sohool, had something to say to his Jju- ' pils recently concerning what he described as "one small ladylike accomplishment to which they could attadn, hut which "was not regarded so much as it might be." He referred to the refined and delicate ways of speaking. There was nothing so nice, the" principal of St. Andrew's said, as to hear a lady speaking;" the English tongue with care and refinement, and in all its beauties. They had one of the noblest- languages in the -wofld,- but they did' not cultivate its beautiful refinement as they should do. In the different periods of the 'English tongue' records had been left. The An-glo-Saxons were thoroughly sound iD their home life, and they handed down to us a great vocublary regarding the home life. They had passed along to us words as father and another. The tendency nowadays in many directions was, to substitute "pater" and "mater"; but Professor Harper did "not Kke these alternative terms. He preferred "father" and "mother." He cautioned the girls against being carried away by words or terms such as those that their brothers 'used. In tihe course of time the Normans gave England a number of words in -warfare, and in ecclesiastical matters, and they should treasure them. inhere came -times when '■manners coarsened, but the girls should always be on their guard, and hold to tha heritage that-ihad been handed down to them. .The girls should despise everything that was loose and slack, and that had ugly fringes. Professor Harper did not approve of woman going about dressed" in the harlequin garland of slang. They should try to keep tiheir words as high and a* 3 " ra>"±e as they knew how. "Try to leain from your literary lesson," said Principal Harper, "all you can - about the delicate and noble words which had been handed down to you." '

The big hat nuisance is not yet squelched, and there are loud complaints about ifr'by persons whose pleasure were epolit by it when attending the Sheffeld Ohoir concerts in Sydney. A "Victim who sat behind" writes thus to the "Daily Telegraph" : —"I am afraid this subject is almost worn' threadbare, but I cannot Tefrain from bringing .before vour notice "the Tinsuitableness of large liats worn by some ladies at concerts. I was .expecting an enjoyable time at a Sheffield Choir concert, when, to my dismay, a wearer of a large hat seated herself in fr.cmt, quite, eclipsing the stage. When asked to remove her hat she refused, and so marred the pleasure of those behind. who had consequently to crane their necks in a most uncomfortable manner. I would suggest that notices be arranged on the wal.s of 'halls and .'theatres tha Idies remove freer hs and theatrse that ladies remove their hats before a performance is started. Then.the. poor unfortunate people sitting behind would not have to put '»p witii so much discomfort.''

A-good deal of interest is being taken in England in the proposed Calendar reform, in which it is intended, among other things, to make Easter a fixed festival. A bill to be passed by Parliament proposes to divide the year into four equal quarters, each quarter containing exactlv ninety-one days. . As there are 365 days to Jbe dealt with there will be one day over. This is to be 'treat-ed-as,a dies noii and to be ignored officially. Each quarter of the year wi'lJ

consist of 91 days, divided into 13 complete weeks. The first two months of each quarter will have 30 days each, and the last month in each quarter will have 31 days, making 91 days in all I. Thus, in the new calendar January will have 30 days, February 30 days, and Mardh 31 days, and so with t'he otih-er qua liters. The first- day of each quarter will be a Monday. The date of Christanas Dav will not be altered, but at will always I>e on a Monday. 1 his alteration, however, has no theological significance, but the change with regard to Easter is impcTtant. The new calendar wo'uld fix Easter Dev unalterably as Sundaj, April 14, and t,Vus fix unalterably Lent, ihitsuntido. Ascensiontide, and Trinity. The great objection to it'his ecclesiastically'is (savs a Church paper) that it ruthlessly and arbitrarily severs the time-link* which now binds Good Friday and Easter to the date of the Paschal Moon, and which therefore divorces Easier from the Passov,m . OFUSSIum