OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, 22 April 1887, Page 6

OLLA PODRIDA.

A SUBMARINE CRATER. Recent observations are said to indicate the existence of a submarine volcanic crater between the Canary Islands aDd the coast of Portugal. From a cable-laying steamer in 39deg. 25min. north, sdeg. 45min. west, the water was found to measure 1,300 fathoms under the bow and 800 fathoms under the stern, showing the ship to be over the edge of a deep depression in the ocean bottom It is well known that great inequalities are found in the bed of the Sea of Lisbon, and these are thought to be due to a submarine chain of mountains. law of Divorce. A man wa3 convicted of bigamy, and the annexed conversation took place : Clerk of Assize—What have you to say why judgment should not be passed upon you according to law ? Prisoner—Well, my lord, my wife took up with a hawker, and ran away five years ago, and I’ve never seen her since, and I married this other woman last winter. Mr Justice Maule—l will tell you what you ought to have done ; and if you say you did not know, I must tell you the law conclusively presumes that you did. You ought to have instructed your attorney to bring an action against the hawker for criminal conversation with your wife. That would have cost you about £IOO. When you had recovered substantial damages against the hawker, you would have instructed your proctor to sue in the Ecclesiastical Courts

for a divorce & mensa atque thoro. That would have cost you £2OO or £3OO more. When had obtained a divorce a mensa atque thoro, you would have had to appear by counsel before the House of Lords for a divorce a vinculo matrimoDii. The bill might have been opposed in all its stages in both Houses of Parliament ; and altogethei you would have had to spend about £IOOO or £I2OO. You will probably tell me that you never had a thousand farthings of your own in the world ; but, prisoner, that makes no difference. Sitting here as a British judge, it is my duty to tell you that this is not a country in which there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. ANOTHER INVENTION. Iu a paper just published in Nature, Eric S. Bruce, the English inventor of the balloon for signalling by the electric light, announces that he will soon put his invention to the most vigorous of tests—signalling across the English Channel at Dover. Mr Bruce’s balloon is made of a perfectly translucent material, filled with hydrogen or coal gas, in the interior of which are placed several incandescent electric lamps. The lamps are in metallic circuit with a source of el- ctriciiy on the ground In the circuit on the ground is an apparatus for making and breaking contact rapidly, and, by varying the duration of the flashes of light in the balloon, it is possible to signal by the Morse or any other code. The objection that, should the incandescent larr.p bulb break, an explosion would ensue, is entirely imaginary. The oxygen present would instantly destroy the carbon filament and the danger would be over. Mr Bruce has "demonstrated by experiment that this danger is practically nil. But, even if an explosion were possible, it might be employed as a captive, balloon, without risking life at all, and signals transmitted from one army corps to another. Mr Bruce has been requested by the Admiralty to submit his scheme of signaling by this method from ship to ship. Its application in the navy and on board merchant vessels appears to be entirely practicable. If so, it would be an immense boon, as in hundreds of cases of shipwreck life-saving services could be instantly notified to come to the rescue. STUDYING LAW AT SIXTY-FIVE. The announcement in the Toledo Blade that Rev. Father Lewis, an aged Catholic priest of that city, had matriculated in the law class of the Ann Arbor University has .created considerable surprise in church circles. Without doubt the clergyman referred to is one of the best scholars in America. He is a thorough linguist, an ardent naturalist and biologist and a writer of considerable repute, Upon scientific and ecclesiastical points his statements are recognised authority. He was educated a Lutheran, and about thirty years ago renounced the doctrines of that church. He was a former pastor of the most popular Lutheian Church in Buffalo, N. Y, After leaving the Lutheran Church he travelled years in Europe, and returning was admitted to the Catholic diocese of Ohio. He is eccentric, and although sixty-five years of age is an ardent student at the university. His recitations are perfect and his scholarship so high.that he already gives promise of standing at the head of his class. His course is watched with considerable interest, as he has been one of the most popular priests in the diocese. ENTIRE ARMOUR PLATING. The Journal de la Marine contains an article on explosive projectiles in the Navy, from the pen of Lieutenant Weyl. The writer begins by observing that, after having, to a certain measure, ‘ unenirassed’ vessels of war, the question now arises whether it will not be necessary to cuirass them from top to bottom to protect them from the terrible effects of projectiles filled with gun-cotton, dynamite, melinite, &c. Lieutenant Weyl then continues thus : —‘ Everyone knows the result of the experiments undertaken by the artillery of the army ; they are so far advanced that we can declare that before long the French Army will possess siege guns whose power of destruction will be incomparable. The naval artillery is also engaged in making experiments, which, however, are kept secret.’ Referring to the terrible effects of the bursting of a m&inite shell inside a ” vessel, the writer argues that it is indispensable to provide means for making such projectiles burst outside, and that consequently all the seuvres vives, or portions of a vessel out of water, must be armoured. ‘ The armouring of the water line will no longer be sufficient for armourclads, and we shall be obliged, perhaps, to plate even our rapid cruisers all over.’ ASSAULTS ON WOMEN IN IRELAND. It is unnecessary to remind our readers that I he Queen is not in any sense a journal that takes any side in party politics ; but we do not on that account think that it is necessary for us to refrain from expressing our indignation, which must be shared by every true woman in the kingdom—or, we may say, in the world—against the unmanly outrages that are offered to women at the present time in Ireland. In The Timed of Monday is an account of a band of upwards of twenty Moonlighters, armed with guns and revolvers, who entered the dwelling of a farmer named Murphy, who has two daughters, Abima and Nancy. The bedrooms of these girls were entered, the girls forced on their knees and held in that position by two of the ruffians, whilst another cut off their hair and poured a quantity of tar on their heads. Subsequently other houses were visited and the inmates served in a similar manner ; the only crime that these unfortunate girls had commited being, that they were in the habit of speaking to policemen. Some eignificance, writes the reporterof these outrages,is attached to the fact that at a recent open air National League demonstration in the district, Dr Tanner, M.P., who was the principal speaker, warned the people, and particularly girls, not to be seen speaking to policemen. Later oa the local branch of the League passed a resolution to the effect that any girl who talked to a policeman would be reported and seriously dealt with. We have heard for a long time of the

cowardly mutilation of dumb animals by theIrish peasantry, under the excifcemenfc. by professional agitators. Cows and horses are stabbed, their tails cut off, and they are left to die miserably ; but that personal violence of an unmanly and degrading character should be offered to women who dareto differ in opinion from the petty despots of the hour, and that this should be done by Irishmen on their own countrywomen, is a depth of degradation that we hardly expected to be sounded, even by the most ignorant and brutal of the peasantry urged on by the professional politicians of that most unhappy country. ihe Queen. THE EXTINCTION OF THE , BRITISH TAR. A correspondent of the Liverpool Mercury, writing of two recent wrecks on the Welsh coast, gives some suggestive figures. One of the lost vessels, the Malleny, had a crewconsisting of four Welshmen, two Englishmen, one American, one Norwegian, one Italian, one B’renchman and two Hollanders, with a German mate, a Hollander sailmaker, and a Hindoo cools. The Teviotdale, cast away in the same storm, had three Swedish seamen, two Germans, one American, one Hollander, one Greek, one Italian, one Dane, one Norwegian, two Scotchmen, one Irishman, one Englishman. The correspondent queries: ‘ When we fiud Dutchmen and Diegos everywhere afloat, whether for a voyage to San Francisco or a journey in our ferry-boats, it may be an interesting question to ask : * How long will it take to make the British seaman as extinct as the dodo ?’ THE SECRET CUPBOARD AT THE, SOANE’S MUSEUM. The cupboard in Sir John Soane’s Museum,, as to which a considerable amouDt of interesthas been shown, was opened last week. The trustees present were Mr Waterhouse, R.A., Mr Godwin, F.R.S., MrC. R. Percival, F.R.S. A., Professor T. Hay ter Lewis, F.5,A.,. Professor Flower, F.R.S., Dr Freshfield, V. P.S.A., Dr Richardson, F.R.S., and Aiderman Sir R. W. Carden, together with the-. Curator, Mr Wild, and the solicitor to the trustees, Mr Upton. On being opened thecupboard was found to enclose a nest of sixtetn drawers, to the outside of which was affixed a memorandum, of which the following is a copy, signed by the executrix of Sir John Soane’s will, Sir Francis Chantrey, and two other trustees of the museum and thethen Curator : ‘Dec. 6, 1837. Pursuant to Dr Lushington’s opinion this repository was opened by the executrix in the presence of" three trustees to ascertain if there were money notes or valuables to require further probate duty, and after merely looking atthe papers, &e., for that purpose they were all returned without further examination, retaining for use some articles of stationery.’’ A careful examination is being made of the contents of the drawers, which appear, however, at first sight to contain nothing of public interest, but only documents relating to various buildings with which Sir John Soane was professionally connected and to a well-known family dispute. MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF TOMATOES. The tomato belongs to the 15th order Solanaces of the Sub-class 111. Corolliforce. Capsicum and the bitter-sweet are membersof the same order. The tomato contains a cooliDg acid, volatile oil, mineral matter, and salts, and a fragrant resinous matter. It is sai i to have a beneficial action on th& liver and is recommended by an American doctor (Dr Foote), in his book, in this connection. Dr Nichols, who is also an American, recommends its use in liver complaint and dyspepsia. Dr Samuel Birley, M.D., projector of the Birley phosphorous treatment, combines the active principle of' the tomato, which he calls ‘ Tomatined ’ withphosphorous. This (known as the ‘ Tomatined Phosphorus Compound ’) he prescribes as a remedy for weak or partial loss of sight, deafness, defective taste or, smell. The active principle is extracted from the vegetable by boiling, filtering, and evaporating on a sand or water bath, until perfectly dry.. It is then powdered in a mortar, aod kept in. stoppered bottles. Many think it has no medicinal properties beyond being slightly laxative, and consider its beneficial action on> the s omach and liver due to that property.. THE GREAT SPHINX. The Times prints an account of the excavations made, under the direction of MGrdbaut, with the object of clearing the sand which a year ago had buried the Great Sphinx almost to the throat. The last occasion on which the Sphinx was cleared down to the level on which the paws rest was in honour of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1569. The work of excavating is at the present time in active progress. Already the entire fore part of the great stone monster is laid bare, and the huge chest, the paws, the space between the paws, the altar in front of them, and the platform upon which they rest, are ouce more to the light of day. Nor is this all. Between the Sphinx and the edge of the Pyramid Plateau, a vast space has bean cleared, thus bringing to view a fine flight of steps some 40ft in width. These steps, which are described by Pliny, were uncovered by Caviglia in 1817, but have since been entirely lost to sight. From the level of the area below the great flight of steps (which lead down, and not up to the Sphinx) one now measures the whole height of the huge human-headed monster, whose battered countenance stands out against she cloudless sky 100 ft above. The space between the paws is 35ft long and 10ft wide. This space was anciently converted into a small sanctuary lined with votive tablets, only one of which —the famous stela of Thothmes IV.—yet remains in situ. The tablet stands 14fb high, and is cut from a block of the same red granite of Assouan whereof the neighbouring temple of Khafra is built. The granite altar between the paws is of the same syenite, and most probably came from the [same convenient quarry. Thia last, however, is of Roman work, very roughly executed. The paws of the Sphinx, as they now appear, are a restoration of Roman date, being cased in comparatively small slabs, and to some extent hollow underneath. The breast of the Sphinx has likewise been faced with slabs, apparently in Roman times ; and these slabs have again

been repaired l*y cutting away the weathered surface and inserting a fresh facing. Lake the legs of the Colossi of the Plain, and those of the great statues at Aboo Srnibel, the paws of the Sphinx arc oovered with the Greek scrawls of early travellers.