HERE AND THERE

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8288, 17 September 1903, Page 4

HERE AND THERE

. " 'Preparations are being made in several of tb© Southern States of America to utilise Dr Stile's discovery of the nook worm, or "germ of laziness." The scientific title of the disease is uncinariasis. A study of the conditions in the most widely infected regions of the south —viz. , in Florida —appears to show that the germ attacks children in the rural sections at an early age. Children who go about barefooted in the summer time are special victims of the hook worm. In severe cases of the disease the face is' bloated, the shoulders droop, the arms and legs become thin. After full growth is finally attained the victim" becomes indolent and shiftless all through life.

Advices from Tunis state that experiments axe at present being made at La iGoulette with an ingenious submarine to be used in sponge fishing. It is the invention of the Abbe Raoul, the Vicar-General of Carthage, (Moved by a desire to lessen the loss of human life among the divers engaged in the sponge industry, the- Abbe has designed a steel vessel which resemblfes in shape a huge porpoise. The entrance, to the central chamber is hermetically closed by a heavy lid, fastened with screws, and the occupants survey their* surroundings through four port-holes. A long spear terminating in a grappling hook, worked from the interior of the submarine, seizes the sponge and deposits it in a net at the side of the vessel. The submarine is'propelled by electricity furnished by accumulators through a cable attached to a vessel on the surface, with which the submarine is in constant communication by means of a telephone. The craft is lighted by electricity, and a powerful lamp hanging in the bow of the submarine lights up the sponge fisher's surroundings while he is beneath the waves. Three men may easily descend at the same time in the vessel.

- A iFrencli scientist has made some very interesting observations as to the love of different wild animals for the sea. The Polar bear, he says, is the only one that takes to the sea, and is quite jolly when aboard ship. All others violently resent a trip on water, ■and vocifer on sly" give jent to.tfieir feelings. uTtjjft. sea-sickness brings silence. The tiger suffers most of all. The mere sight of a ship makes him uncomfortable, and when on board he whines pitifully, his eyes water continually, and he rubs his stomach with -'his terrible paws/ Horses are very bad sailors, and often, perish when on a sea voyage. Oxen are heroic in their attempts not to give way to sickness. Elephants do not like the sea, but they are amenable to medical treatment. A good remedy is a bucketful of hot water, containing three and a half pints of whisky and seven ounces of quinine.

Searchers after shells at the seaside will be interested to learn that one kind of shell is worth £55 per specimen. It is known as Pleurotomaria Adansoniana. Animals of the Pleurotomaria class are muscular and very strong, and as their abode is down among the rocks at considerable deptns in the ocean waters, it is not an easy matter to "land them. It was in 1855 that the first known living specimen was taken off the island of Marie .(Jalante. This shell is known as Pleurotomaria Quoyana. it was purchased in 1873 for ,£25. From all known sources the total members of .the Pleurotomaria family amount to fourteen, which are divided under six species. The fact that only fourteen of these shells are known will, in some measure, account for their value. The fourteenth specimen may now be seen in the national collection in the Natural History 'Museum. It was purchased by the authorities for. £55. The shell has a groundwork approaching a flesh tint, on which are irregular markings of red and orange. The forms of the shells of this group of creatures vary considerably. They are generally coiled up into an elevated spiral, and are flattened underneath; sometimes the base in convex.

A very well-known clergyman in the south-eastern district of London whose experience among the criminal classes of the Metropolis is like Sam Weller's knowledge of London, "extensive and peculiar,'' boasts quite a remarkable collection of criminal relics presented to him at various times by their former owners. The most imposing item in this strange collection is a complete outfit of burglars instruments given to him by a most notorious criminal, whose housebreaking operations were for many years a source of considerable anxiety to Scotland Yai'd, and whose prison career represented a respectable span of life. During a mission in one of the purlieus of Soutn London, this man, who "came to scoff," but "remained to pray," decided to renounce his previous method of life, and his sincerity has since been demonstrated by the fact that he is to-day occupying a responsible position in a large city warehouse, where his industry and integrity command the greatest respect. After his conversion he presented his burgling outfit to the man whose preaching had influenced him, and it still remains the most interesting item of this clergyman's queer museum.

In his "Notes and Reminiscences of a Staff Officer." Lieutenant-Colonel Basil Jackson says that one feature in the character of Bonaparte which must not be lost sight of, and which lias an important bearing upon the question of his treatment at St. Helena, was his habitual disregard of truth. His moral sense was so blunted that he had .no scruple in resorting to deceit, and, if necessary, to. falsehood, if he could thereby accomplish an object in view. It has been said of him by a .French writer, with sarcastic severity (Jules Maurel), that he was in the "Moniteur" the first- journalist of the Empire, and that he kept- what he won with his pen much-longer than what he won with his sword. He here gave himself an unbounded license of invention, and made events assume whatever complexion he pleased, taking care that it was such as harmonised with his projects, and flattered the vanity of the French nation. It was thus that the victories of Wellington in the Peninsula were ignored; and, after terrible reverses, 'France was told that- the English would have been crushed by Napoleon if he had thought- that the proper moment for the catastrophe had arrived. At St. Helena Napoleon gave full scope to this propensity. The letters which he here dictated to his obsequious followers, and which have made such an impression on the public mind, are filled with glaring misstatements of facts. The may be called the bulletins of his exile, which were intended to deceive the people of Europe, as the bulletins of his battles were intended to deceive the French. Even Bertrand was ashamed of them, and more than once disowned the responsibility of their authorship, although he submitted to the humiliation of writing them, and subscribed them with his name.