MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 801, 6 April 1867, Page 14

MISCELLANEOUS.

T^e Ferguson Bjeqpest. — A great etir is being made in Scotland just now about the administration of a fund left for religous purposes some time since, called the Ferguson Bequest, ' and the Glnsyow Herpld gives, some interesting particulars of the. mdividual by whom if was devised. Mr Ferguson bad no claim to the title of philanthropist till he -was on his death-bed. His -ohi^f pleasure in life seems to have consisted in amassing an immense fortune, and -jsoinething of niggardliness marked his c<raduct.in that not very amiab'e pursuit. _ fWhen he wa3 worth hundreds of thousarijds. he. could squabble like a beggar for a - sixpence. He was ■ too grasping to eujoyc-jbtis wealth.;, but he seems also to aye been of too shrewd a disposition to feel ,ell ithe, raptures of the miser. He used tto say to his friends, " I am- a poor rich iinan, burdened with money, but I have- nothing else." He was in the act of signing «i eh> qne for LIO,OOO when be was struofc with paralysis, and the cheque remained after his death with only halt of hi? signature appended. He remembered on his deflth-bed the poor relations. v.hom hehad forgotten during ' his lifetime, and he madejamends for his neglect of the interests of religion and charity by some noble bequests. Upwards of 100 private persons, some of them already in good circumstances, shared in his weal'h ; but the sudden transformations which took place among many of them from poverty to affluence were both astonishing, and amu?in. Day- laborers, masons, grocers, and, in one case, a poor hawker of fish, became possessors of thousands., More than half. a-milliQn of money wes thus disposed of. Mr Ferguson's great religious b quest some how looks Jike a .lump sum paid over to Heaven for oversight a during a Ion? intensely worldly, and even mean sort of life. He was not what is called a religious man Some have asserted that, he was , a. member of the Church of Scotland-? but the "Herald!' -believes it would- be more correct .to gay that he had not been withJa the wajta of a church for forty year 9 before his deatfe. When near the close of his life, the stoical'- indifference % " to these things'" broke down somewhat, but, ,too proud" to go to church, , he actually asked a minister ,of Irvine, who was at the time preaching on the Sunday evenings in ,the streets, to come opposite his door and deliver his sermon th- re. And this " poor rich man," wrapped up in shawls, sat in the lobby and listened to it. This was the man who It ft about L 400.000 for the spread of the Gospel, who made it a condition that the trustees should be communicants of the Churches which they represented, and who was specia'ly cartful to note in his will that the books of the fund should be balanced every year, on the 31st of December, except when that day fell upon a Sunday.— Pall Mall Gazette.

Captain Semmes, of the Alabama — Captain Ssmmes, comminder of the Alabama, in a lecture at Galveston, (Texas) on the subject of the career of that .vessal, the depredations of which on American shipping during the late war is now a matter of eeriou3 dispute between the Governments of Great Britzh and the United States, observed :— "I propose to speak of the history of the Alabama as viewed in the light of history and American precedents. I propose to show to you that she wa9 not a pirate, a privateer, or a buccaneer, but the recognized ejiip, wearing the colors of a Stafe, by the law of nations. On the land an enemy might overrun a country without destroying private property. Destroying priva'e property, on land is forbidden. Not co on the sea. The destruction of commerce in ancient times «as a slow process. The war between the Confederate and the United. States was the first between maritime Powers sin.cc the introduction of steam. The . Alabama . had warrant for what she did, both in the laws of cation? and of the United States. She was built abroad. The United States has made the British origin of the Alabama a constant source of complaint. She wa9 built by. the Lairds. The United States Governmem endeavoured to contract with this same firm to build ships for them. From Mr Laird'b speech ' it appears that before they undertook to^ build the Alabama the United States Government had been in treaty witfe the Messrs Laird to build, gunboats and moni'or3. We offered better terms ; hence the Alabama became a Confederate ship instead of a Federal vessel ; she left England as a merchant vessel ; her Confederate commission was re-id and her proper flag unfurled on the high seas, where the Confederate had as much/ authority as the Federal Government. It is the commission a Sovereign puts on board a vessel that m^kes her a personification of the Sovereign. Even if a ship be built in a neutral territory she is purged of that wrong as soon as she is commissioned. If tbe Alabama was built in violation of, the neutrality laws, that was a question between' the United States and England. From the moment the Confederates were recognised as belli-

gerents, they had a full right to make war in j every particular 1 . The* United States acknowledged tbis-in'the first months' of the war. In support of tfiis proposition the speaker quoted, VaUel, third book, and argued that if the United States could buy ships the Confederate States could do the the, same. The speaker then quoted Justice; Grier's decision in the pnV cases, reported in 2nd Birch Reports, laying gre"at .stress on the passpge, " it is not necessary that the State should be recognised." Mr Semmes entered largely into the history of the! South American States, claiming that their cruisers captured prizes and carried them into American ports. In illustration of the fact that the Confederate States were recognised and entitled to all the sovereign rights of war. Generals Grant and Sherman treated Generals Lee and Johnson as generals of an army. The speaker concluded thus : — "The Alabama was not a new construction, save that she was a steam vessel. Dr. Franklin and his compeers constructed a good many Alabamas in their diy. What our sires did their bohs may do. In other generations the history of "the North will be the history of the South. By the philosophy of history I am willing to be judged. Tf ,the philosophy of history embalms the struggles of the Colonial States, so will it embalm the struggles of the Confederate States. If it records approvingly the exploits of the Surprise and the Revenge, so will it record the exploits of the Alabama."

Sehiotjs Chabge against a Chemist's Assistant. — The young man Robert Nicholl, charged with causing the death of a child at Emerald Hill, in January last, through wrongly preparing a medical prescription entrusted to him as a qualified chemist, appeared before the local magistrates, on Saturday last,, inconsequence of the investigation .ordered by the authorities. The, evidence taken was that of Mrs Archer, . mother of the child, Dr M'Grego". who r wrote ,the , prescription, and Mr Baker,, the prisoner's employer. The case rested entirely upon the wording of the, prescription. After mentioning the proportions id which the ingredients were to be mixed, the document concluded with the words (in Latin) make "four powders." Nicholl made four powders, each of the strength mentioned, and the second one killed the child. Dr M'Gregor maintained on Saturday that the prescription should have been construed, " make it four powders," thns distributing the dose, which was largely composed of laudanum, over four portions, to.be taken at long intervals. For the defence, however, it was shown that the general, if not universal practice of doctors was to write, in such a case, " make and divide in four powders," and this wag supported by a number of prescriptions prpduced in court, and written by different'medical gentlemen. The bench ultimately adjourned the case until Wednesday next, for the evidence of Dr Motherwell, who, according to the statement of Dr M'Gregor, dictated the prescription. — -Age, 11th March.

The Haik.— Young ladies . are often in trouble about their hair between the ages of seventeen and thirty. The hair may be unruly ; it may come out ; the scalp may be at fault, or the fat glands act improperly. The hair may he too dry, and get brittle ; this arises sometimes from the too free use of spirit washes of various kinds, or from dyes. The remedy is plain. The great complaint is that the hair gets thin. If there be any debility present, the hair will mostly thin out In these case 3it ia as well, for a time at any rate, to keep the hair rather shorter than usual, and to take general tonics, If .there be indigestion present this must be remedied; if neuralgia, quiniae 9hould be taken. The mo3t troublesome instances of loss of hair on record have followed in the wake of violent attacks of neuralgia of the head, brought on by disappointment or some mental excitement or depression. In these cases very much may be done by the use internally of remedies that give tone to the nervous system, such as nux vomica, bark, quinine and steel. After these have done good service, local applications, especially ammonia, are serviceable. It ie a fashion with very many young ladies to wear their hair in different styles that necessitate frequent variation in its length. Now, this is productive of much harm. At one time nature has to furnish a large, at other times a small, crop, and henca is puzzled, or so .unhitched or unbalanced, that she does not afford a supply of nourishment when called upon to do so, and lapses into a state" of indifferent weakness in consequence. The one great cause of thinning of the hair is unquestionably general debility. We advise, in the majority of such cases, that a teaspoonful of tincture of gentian, with about ten drops of diluted hydrochloric add, he taken twice a day in a wineglassful of water, and the scalp rubbed with some , such as the following lotion night and mornipg :. Distilled vinegar, 2oz ; tincture of nux vomica, 3dr ; tincture of capsicum,

—^ I ' ■ — — — — — — - — — — — — — — — — ; 7dr; otto ofTosee, 2 drops; and rosewater, 4o*. It is almost, identical with the' nux vomica Jotion of Oorbyn and Co, the chemists, Bond street, the very best preparation of its kind. Now, the heated and crowded rooms at balls and parties are in some cases very injurious to a good state of the hair. ; The gas acts very hurtfnlly in | those cases in which the hair and ecalp are very dry. The only planjhere is to. nse to the ecatp such a simple preventive as the glycerine lotion we have recommended. At no time is general thinning of the hair more marked or more frequent than after confinements, or in mothers who are nursing when in a somewhat debilitated condition. Here, general tonics are needed. , The following lotion, of a stimulating character, may' be employed with great advantage at the same time :— Distilled vinegar, 2c~z ; rum, loz ; glycerine, 2dr ; tincture of lytta, 4dr ; elder-flower water, 4oz; or, tinctuTe of bark, 4dr; cherry laurel water, 4oz ; glycerine, 2dr. It will be seen at once that the treatment. of almost all cases of general thinning of the hair is not merely local but constitutional, and that we may pour and be?mear toes of the most nutritious liquids and pastes, pomades, and the like, upon an unfortunate head without doing much good. It is necessary that the machinery itself be given the power fo work healthy and happily, and snch power is given from tbe nutritive organs in the centre of our bodies, and by the vital fluid thit flows in our veins and arteries. — The Queen.

Womanhood Suffrage. — The New York correspondent of the London Times writes : — Tn discussing the new bill for negro suffrage, the chief point in dispute was one raised by au amendment introduced by Mr Cowan, the Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania, for conferriog the right of suffrage upon women-. The, arguments in favor . of this proposal were •worthy of the intention with which it must have been brought forward. When female Senators sit in Congress, it is to be hoped that they will show , greater powers of reasoning than the gentlemen who advocated their cause this week managed to display. Mr Anthony, for example, contended that, as a woman ruled England and another woman was Queen of Spain, the right of the female sex to vote in the United States was fully established. This if" no travesty of his argument. He said, "It was not logical to say that a woman could reign as a queen or command an array, and yet that a woman was not fit to vote for common-eouncilmen of Washington." The reasons urged against the Bill were quite as remarkable— in fact, each side seemed anxious to show that the aggregate amount of wisdom in the Legislature would not be diminished by having all the members of the Senate female, and supplanting the present body. Mr Williams did not think women ought to have a vote, because they had a " good time," as they say here, already ; "it was the pride and glory of Americans," he said, " to love and honor the female sex." Mr Williams presently dropped this complimentary style, and declared that women who voted would " make every house a hell upon earth." Mr Wade, ever on the side of folly and extravagance, advocated the Bill in his usual explosive manner. His remarks were, unfortunately, more vehement than connected. " Woman, lovely woman," was the burden of his speech, and when he fell back upon argument this is what he presented to the House :—": — " It would puzzle any one to draw the line of demarcation between the . female and the male while both were alike subject to the same law." The "discussion "kept pretty closely to this standard throughout. Upon a division the champions of women's rights were found to be nine, and their antagonists 37, and so the women are not to share in the honors which are given to the negro.

A Vegetarian Festival. — A rather remarkable festival was held at Blannerhasset, Cumberland, on Christmas -day, upon the farm of Mr William Lawsori, son of Sir Wilfred Lawson, of Brayton. The farm is conducted ilpon the co-operative principle — a tithe of the profits bein? divided among the workers, and Mr William Lawson and his servants are vegeteriaps. All the people of the district who chose to write beforehand for free tickets or to pay 4d on Christmas-day were invited". Musicians were requested to take their instruments with them, and it was added " those who like may bring their own spoons." About 1000 people attended. The farm buildings were decorated, and in the large rooms singing and dancing and lee : turing, on phrenology, co-operation, vegetarianism,' and physiology went forward at intervals during the day. A noon a meal of grain, fruit, and vegetables was given, which rather surprised some of the beefeating peasantry who had assembled to take part in the festival. There were raw turnip?, boiled cabbage, boiled wheat, boiled barley ; shelled peas (hajf a ton of each of these three last-named); oatmeal gruel, jwith chopped carrots, turnips, and cabbage in it ; boiled horse beans, boiled | potatoes ; salads, made of chopped carrots,

turnip?, cabbages, „ pareley 1 &c, over which was poured linseed boiled to a jelly. As there were no condiments of any. kind, either upon the extraordinary messes or the table, and all being cold except the potatoes it may be imagined that the guests did not sit down with much relish to their vegetarian fare. Each one had an apple and a biscuit presented on rising from the table. In the course of the afternoon Mr LawsoriVtwo steam engines, called by him 'Cain and Abel,' set off with steam up and whistles screaming to lead a procession over the farm, but they did not get very far, and the procession was rather a straggling one. Good order was maintained all day, the farm servants of the rstablishment acting as officers, and Mr W. Lawson himself performing the duty of special constable — a foct which was aunounced by placards posted up on the farm buildings, bearing the words, * William Lawson, sworn constable.'

Didk't Like Widowers. — In endeavorto take the census for the Government, the officers occasionally met with such difficulties as to well nigh deprive them of tbeir senses. Tbe following colloquy is ssid to have taken place between an official and an Irishwoman : — '' How many male members haveyou in the family?" " Niver a one." "When were you married?" "The day Pat Doyle It ft Tipperary for Ameriky. Ah, well I mind it. A sunshinier day never gilded the sky of onH Ireland." "What was the condition of your husband before marriage?" "DiviT a man more miserable. He said if I didn't give him a promise within two weeks he'd blow his brains out with a crowbar.** " Was he, at tbe time of your marriage, a widower or a bachelor? "A which? A widower, did you say ? Ah, now go away with your nonsense. Is it the likes of me that would take up with a secondhand husband ? Do I look now like the widow of a widower ? A poor devil, all legs and consumption, like a sick turkey ! A widower ! May I be blessed if I'd Hot rather live an ould maid, and bring up a family on buttermilk and praties I"

The Fexiaw Firb — The above^ is no myth, as the so-called Greek fire was thought by many to be. On the contrary, it is "highly probable that the Greek fire known to have been wed on several occasions in the late American war, and the formidable prepara'ion which has obtained the name of the Fenian fire, are of similar composition. It is not unlikely that some rabid American Fenian, having ascertained what were the principal ingredients of the Grpek fin*, mani:fac*ured this compound, and introduced it'to his brother Fenians as a fit mode of warfare to be adopted by themselves It is a solution of phosphorus in bisulphide of carbon. The peculiar properties of the former are well known, while those of the latter, as being a comparatively recent chemical preparation are not generally understood. The bisulphide of carbon is a highly inflammable liqaid, colorless, and almost transparent, giving off fumes of sulphurous acid when burnt. It volatises very rapidly at ordinary temperatures, and when its vapor is mixed with air and a light applied, it inflames with a slight explosion. Its vapor is poisonous. The phosphorus dissolves readily in the bisulphide ot carbon if the temperature of the latter is slightly raised. A few weeks ago the Liverpool detectives s f ized, as they were being removed from a house in that town, threeboxes, each containing 15 jars or cans of phosphorus. In each jar were 20 sticks of phosphorus, each stick being at least 6in. long and 2in. in circumference. Several bottks of the compound of phosphorus and bisulphide of carbon have also been. seized, as well as some bottles of the latter without the phosphorus dissolved in it. These bottl-s were all of the same siza and ~ shape, were quite full, and held about three pints ; had short necks rrad small months, and were made l of green glass, probably having been manufactured for the purpose, as their phape is' somewhat peculiar. Se» veral experiments have been made at different times to test, the properties of the compound. On oae occasion one of <he bottles was thrown against the centre of a high wall. A }oud explosion followed, and. the concus-km and exposure of the fluid by the battle breaking were sufficient to ignite its' contents, and a fl tnvng fluid streamed down the watl, evolving dense fumes of an irritating poisonous nature. A stream, of water from a large hose, which had previously been placed in readiness, was immediately directed against it, but some gallon? of w:>.t<;r had to be poured apoa the will before the flame was ex'inguishedr

and even yjrae hours afterwards, when the day was dsukening, a glimmering light was. observed on the- wal! where the fluid had been, doubles 1 * given off by the phosphorus which had remained adherent, so highly charged with that subs.'ance was the fluid. It was further found that the compound ignites moat rapidly when used in small quantities, aprtad over a large surface, and freely exposed to air ; therefore, when poured upon cotton, tow, &c.