NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1731, 24 January 1885, Page 17

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Miner, Macetowu — Ycur specimens are iron pyiitee. it is veiy cauimon, and of do commercial value. Pakkiia writes :— I have lately received the followi: g letter fiom a disiuguished Maoriologists :— ■' diehomo, January 3, 1885. Dear Sir, — Youra of October vO, 138 i, arrived when I was absent from hon.e. There is no letter '1 ! In the Maori .language, ncr" do tho Maoris pronounce the •r • so roughly aa we do in English The use pi the ' 1' in Maori names ia an English fancy. I know of no book on tho comparative grammar of the Polyuo ia'i laneuagos. There is an attempt to set down a Maori chant in musical notation in Sir G. Grey'd Polynesian Mythology,' but I keow of no ofc v n r instance of tho attempt! i-einif made — I ronwiu )ourj, &': " While on tnia subject I nuy also mention that I have heard that a Mr Dennis, now living, about 80 years of age, who was out l^re about 181:0, published a book, iv which he gives some of the Maori music in print I wish that a copy of it could be procured for the Dunedin Athenißum and another for the library of the Ofcejro University. Subscriber, Wendoneide.— As will be Been from the following extract from the c ause providing for a renewal of the lease, or the sa'o thereof, provision Is only made for improvements of a substantial nature. Wo presume you could qliil chow your dr&ins if they are entitled to come under that category. Tho oiljsr improvements you mention would no doubt be taken into account by the arbitrator in con-si-lorini,' tho difference in va'.uo between unbrokenup and cultivated land. The clause provide? that " After the publicat'on of the &ward of the arbitrators . . . ho (the lessee) thai elect whether he will accept a fresh lease of tho land for a further term of 21 years, at a rental of 6 per cent, on the gross valuo of the land as Sxcd by the arbitration, after deducting the valuo of the substantial improvements of a permanent character." Woolprf.sser. —There can be no doubfi whatever that he would livo longer on milk. Selector -I. M. I. eends the following in reply to your query:— l remember very well when tbo laoiphlet "The Coming Struggle " warf published and the sensation it created, and am strongly of opinion it was published anonymously. #, H, E. — An authority whom wo have consulted is of opinion that tho blister on the skin of the potatoes i» caused by a vapour cr by hcnAinpr. In paces' tho skin has burst, whieti may be the rat,uis of hea'ing, or some Buch procesa. 110 mys : "1 dn iiQ-» think that ihis is the cavse of lh<- no atots not growing. I think most oJ tho eyes ato blind, for which I ca'-nofc sc:ount\ I ri member that bcrai \i >ns of potato 23 aetel in the B<ma manner iv the O.d Country." A {if. • Mr lluskin holds the fjlade profeaHorlal chair at t-xford University A. letter address* d to him at iho University would no douls ronch him. J. B. H. writes :— Seeing in your Notes and Queries in the Witness of tho 10in au answer to " Inquirer" re surveying |boundary-Jine, I send you another query on the came subject 1 hardly agreo with your answer to "Inquirer" if , as I premmo, he means that A wants the line euiveyod with a viow of foncing. I should certainly think that as tha fence could not bo erected in its proper poßition without a survey, the survey would therefore form part of, the coal; o! fenouip. I venture to trouble you

with this /.oto and query, as the settlors here put rrratf.ii'h (and justly >o. » think) ia your answers to th»i" qieriefi. • On tuvohor eonoideration we adhere to .nir op'.rion ire\!nu<ilv expressed, nnd wa may ivld th'4*i we h-.ve no div' tupou t'-je point. Imji isKR No 2 writoj :— A and B hive adjo'Tiirg hush eatloni. A wants to fenco ; B do-s not Pegs lm-ft di-ap>)eareJ. As tho line niuai be surveyed aud cleared hi-foro the fence c\n ho put up in ids proper place in occ-.rdnnce with tho Fencing Act, A tre a this done. Can A not charge the cost of survi 3 and i It arinar tho line 03 part of the coat of fence und mako B pay baif ?— No. Ahlthhr )s«diukr ask-i:-I( I am eaxsgfd for a pp'i >i of 12 months), bo>v lon» would I l>are to b« ( If work through au-kngaa before any of my waeea co J'd bo stopnad 7 'Caere is no flxad timo. R. >'.. Vandevillo.— To nvervsrallon of water put 41b of heney, aed boil it thre-qaarteri of an hour taking e^re ti skim It. To every jrallon add au owac.Pi of hops, then boil it half an ho'ir, and lot it uta* d till n"xt day, when it should be c wked, a q-iarc of brandy beinjj aided to each 13gal oJ the liquor. L«C it bo lightly stoppered until tha fermentation is over, then stopper it very closa. If you make a l«,rf»e cask keep it a year before bottling, and for » smaller ca&k in proportion. Af- TUMiST writes : — A « a prognostication of a storm »nd continuance of boisterous weather, the npiso made by a distant cataract or the surf moy bedlstinct'y he^rd, wboreas, v\ hen the atmosphore is in equilibrlo, the noiie made by there U inaudible. ThU phenomenon is invariably accompanied by a fa I in the barometer, iodicjtimr that (he atmoiphere is impreffnato.i with aq-ieou- rapour. Is this more Intense propagation of -ound owing: to the pre?enco of nqueoiu vapour?— Mr Beverly repllo3 : 'Tho preeencH of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere ha 1 ) no sensible eflfpt on the propagation of sound. Mht and smoke inte:fere wi'h it to ionic extent; but what intei feres most is inequalities of temoerature, as caused by streams of heated air ascending from chimneys or fiom the surface of the earth on a bright calm day. Tho air is in the best condition for transmitting sound when tho ebyis overcast, the air below being clear and calm. Generally tha conditions favourable to distinct vision are also favourable to propagation of sound. Tho facility with which a distant eitiract may be heard will depend on the quautity of water falling, and on tha stillnt'tfl and pur-ty of the air. Bain wiil increasa the quantity of water in a cataract, so will heat if it is snow fa 1, but that has no connection with the weather following. Sometimes a heavy surf precedes a etorm, because the bob, wavo3 travel farter, than storms, aod arrive before them ; but somo. times there is a heavy tutf on the New Zealand, cross when there is no storm in tho vicinity. Storms in the Pacific and Indian Oceana. whosa eiuite* do not lie in tho direction of New Zealand, wlil often oend a swell to those shores ; hence thfr eurf is hob to be relied on as a prognostication. Shkabino Tawks. — Q. Whyte, Oaroaru, writes : " Having read several letters last year in the Witness about big tallies. I think the following miy be of Jntoreßt:-I know a man. shearing at Mr John John Cameron's, PapakMo. who ahore 200 paddock phecp in 8? hours. The following are six of his bests days' work: 260, 154, ICO, 171, 180, 192, 200. Men who have a knowiodge of shearing cay that ha io the best shearer, and that he finishes his work batter than any of the other ihoarcis " British Fairf-lat.-Wc cannot imagins such a Btat of affairs to exist If you really think matters are aa )ou stato, it ia yonr duty to cooimunicaSe wilh the nearest Resident Ma^hfcrafce. • J. G. O , CfnMon. -'Iho pypsauio on our spaco this week compels us to hold over \ our Interestia^ communication till next issue. Curio, Cambrians. — (1) If wo understand your question aright, it would he 5200 per cent; (2) 136 per cent. D. P.- Nexfc week.