MULTUM IN PARVO.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume VIII, Issue 493, 14 May 1898, Page 4

MULTUM IN PARVO.

There is nofhmj on the Thames like the Uinnellce Lock on tiie

Suiue. There a man can open or shut the lock by simply touching an electric button as he sits comfortably at his ease in a smart - cilice.

Professor Bouchard has discovered a new movement of the hearts by means of the Rontgen rays. It is a rhythmic dilation during respiration, and is unconnected with' the ordinary movements of the heart. It appears to arise from the diminution of pressure in the in-; ■- luriorof the thoracic cage during' inspiration. Berlin has a new cycle cab. The. passenger sifcs in front'in a seat over two wheels. The thing has three . wheels, one in the rear. Above the roar wheel a man sits and works the pedals.' „ The number of suicides through-

out the world is 180,000 yearly,

and is on the increase. The great T est number happen in June, the , fewest in September; and •nearly one-half between 6 a.m. and' noon.

. Alnwick Castle, according to the observations of a learned antiquary, owes its origin to the Romans. It is one of the largest Gothic build jings in Britain, containing about iive acres of ground within its outer walls, flanked with 16 towers '".. and turret^, '/ t! The Japanese are kind to ani* finals, and-iiokl them in honour. \ Among the monuments erected to k -commemorate "the, war in China is one to the horses that fell during the war.

The German Emperor is said to . have been experimenting privately with a new explosive, which, he claims'to have indented, and which , ( he proposes .to call (< E-exite." Several iinpoisant difficulties presented themselves in the' process of ■ manufacture, ti.ut these have been overcome. . ' ,

The American pension list has attained to such huge -dimensions that- the. cost of publishing it would alone amount to £40,000/ . , Persia has not a single railway. . The French 1 aeronaut Godard is — making arrangements for a balloon expedition to the North Pole, for the relief of Andree, next summer. He will attempt the trip iv the balloon Surcouf, to which he will attach a dozen smaller balloons to serve as. reservoirs for the reserve

supply o£ gas. The hieroglyphic writing from which some persons suppose oui' alphabet was derived was in use-at

]t?aat 3000 years 8.C., but the;• re-

cently discovered inscriptions at the city of Nipur, in Assyria, cany ■ back the origin of writing to a point 7000 ij.c: • . '

It is computed that the annual rainfall ovei: the whole surface of the earth amounts to sft,

It is declared:in London that the health of employees on the underground railway is better than any "' other line in England. The atnio-

sphere is said to have positively

cured cases of quinsy and bronchiti.-;, and to have henetifced people v>itli lung troubles. According to the return published by the Minister for Agricultuvc, the consumption of hor.seflesh in Paris has decreused slightly in the lust year, being-only 4472 torts, as against 4664 tons for 1895-96.

This was the meat derived from 20,878 horses, 53 mules, and 232 donkeys. ; Ati arrangement to raise and lower car. windows without trouble lias been patented for the benefit of - -long - suffering travellers. Com- . pressed air from the engine or elsewhere does most of the work. All the passenger has to do is to press the button. France, buys her horses tw or three years before she intends using them, and has about three million horses for the use of her soldiers. . Germany has three and threequarter millions, Russia nineteen aiid a-half, while we have a little over two millions. British landlords are said to own 20,000,000 acres of land in the United States, an area larger than that of Ireland.

The Duke of Cambridge entered Mhe army the .same year as the

Queen ascended the throne—lß37. He was a colonel at 18, and was appointed Commander - m-chief of the army when only 37 years of age. - fefeThe cotton crop in Peru grows in 12 different colours. Admiral Sir Michael Culme-

Seymour, Barb., G.C.8., is an enthu- . s'tßSlic cyclist. When in command of the Mediterranean fleet he invented a home trainer,-on which he ~u*ed to'pracfcise eirggp.tiaoruing. It is' said thatfCin' the sandy deserts of Arabia Whirling winds sometimes excavate pi|s'~2j|oft in depth, and extending, dbwii'to the , harder stratum on which the great ■- 1 bed of saad teats, „

There is still living in Germany a warrior ■•of 'Waterloo. He is August Schmidt, Hvt\s in W'olgast, Pornerania, anl completed recently his 103 rd year. He is in a very fair state of health. He fought under Blucher not only at Waterloo, but also at the battle of Leipzig. There are five comets foretold by astronomers for the year 1898. The 17th Lancers, the " Death or. Glory Boys," were once known as "Bingham's Dandies," on account of their very smart appearance, when on parade. Bingham was the name of the commanding officer. ; In Chili and the Argentine Re-; public it is not an infrequent thing to see women car conductors.

Lord Wolseley takes the keenest interest in military cycling, and has done much towards bringing it to 1 its present popularity. He is a great believer in the value of cyclists in the time of war. ■ In the exhibition grounds at Brusells there is a cafe which provides hot and/ cold luncheons entirely by^ automatic- .method. By placing-ar&a'nc in the" slot, a chop or steak, with potatoes, .-can be procured hot and well cooked. . The Royal Scots is the -oldest regiment in the service, and is known by the nickname of' Pontius 'Pilate's Bodyguard.' This arose frpm a dispute between the Scots in 1637—then in the French -service, and known as the Regiment de .Douglas—antlvthe Picardy regiment as to who^lpwF the older. The Viwr&ja JlSMjdi that they were on duty, the' night after the Crucifixion^' Well, 1 retorted the Royal Scots; 'if we' had been Inhere we. should.not have slept at our posts.' Some of the safe deposit, companies devote apartments to the exclusive reception of fur garments, fur mats, etc. They are kept in rooms the temperature of which is kept so low that destructive insects and their germs perish from the cold. - •

A service of electric motor vans for conveying the mails between the general post office and the West Central, Western and Paddingtdn district offices has just.beep. started.: The vans have been provided by the London Electrical Cab Company, Ltd.

In China.,every thing is done in what we should consider topsy - turvy .- The Chinese' compass points to the south instead of the north. The men carry on dressmaking, and the women carry burdens.

A sensation has been caused in Madagascar by. the .appearance of a carriage in the streets of Antananarivo. It is the-first one that has been seen in the country- and belongs'to the mayor of the city, Captain) Del ions.' •••/'■ \

Chinese coinage in the shape of a knife has been traced back as far as 2240 B.C. ;

It is said that in some of: the. farming districts of China,,pigs,are harnessed to small waggons and made to draw therm :, \':.

The number of female physicians in New York ,is something' .p^er eight score. The extent: of v^their practice ranges from a small supaj to JS3OOO a year. Halt' a .clozen; of fche number are said to enjoy incomes of over £2000 per annum. ■: