MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1895, 16 March 1888, Page 6

MULTUM IN PARVO.

— M. Laborde has communicated to the Physiological Society of Paris the fact that one of his colleagues has narrowly escaped death from a dose of cocaine, taken for the purpose of having a tooth extracted. He became deadly pale, completely lost consciousness for awhile, suffered intensely for some time, and had the sensation of approaching death. —Over 67 OOO.OOOdoI was invested m new buildings in New York City last year— an increase of nearly 9,000,000d0l over 1886 and 20 000 OOOdol over 1885. Building in Boston was quite as large as ever before. / —In a period extending over 337 years only twice did a son succeed his father on the throne of France. —India has sent to England this year about 82,000,0001b of tea. —An artificial eye seldom lasts more than five years, the secretion of the glands turning it cloudy. —It is said that in London there are 2 600 000 people unable to get into a placo of worship. In fact, in one district where the population is 2,000,000 there are accomodations for only 600,000. —Twenty-two electric lights are completed and now running with great success on the Chicago river. They give great satisfaction, and vessels can come into the city and pass through the bridges in safety on the darkest night. —In the last seven years enough buildings have been erected in Philadelphia to house 150 000 people, allowing only five persons to a dwelling. That is rapid growth, and yet the business has not been much overdone, and there is good demand for the new h °— The tramcars of the United Kingdom convey about 400,000,000 passengers every Je !!bver 100 patents to inventors of perpetual motion have been granted in England and France during the past 20 years, and yet perpetual motion has not been invented. —There are 5769 nuns of the Greek Church in Russia and 14,199 lay sisters attached to convents. 1Q7(1 , lio —It is said that as far back is 1879 the German Crown Prince complained oE his throat. When at the Spanish court he said: «I shall never be able to command the* soldiers in the loud voice of my father,- my throat is as sensitive as a pnma donnas. —It is estimated that there are 1,000,000 blind persons living to-day. In Cairo, E^ypt where the proportion of blind persons to the number of inhabitants is greatest, there is one to every 21 residents. —Russia is much iho largest producer of iron and steel, the values being £35.000,000; Great Britain comes second, with £42,500,000, Gem any is third, with £40,000,000; the United Stotes fourth, £32,167,500; and Prance fifth, £23,400,000. —The name •• Collie " is evidently a corruotion of the Erse word " cullic," the English equivalent of which is "doggie.' _ —The London Telegraph says that it is an « undoubted fact that thousands and hundreds of thousands of acres of fine farming Land in the British Islands cannot at present be let to tenants at 10s, or even less, ce — M? Jesse Collings intends to introduce a bill to provide for teaching the principles of agriculture in rural elementary schools; and will also introdu.ee his Small Holdings jßill without the allotments portion. —It is staled that during his recent visit to Some the Duke of Norfolk made a personal iubilee offering of 50,000d0l to Pope lieoXIII. ...... — Ihe Roman Curia has interdicted the use of the Greek cross among the Roman Catholics in Kuthenia. This is a somewhat important prohibition. The Greek cross, which has four arms, has hitherto been in use among the Catholics as well as among the members of the Russian orthodox faith By forbidding Roman Cathlics to use it, and by compelling them to adopt the Latin cross for the future, the Curia has made the emblem of faith of the Poles distinct from that of the Ruthenians, and thereby accentuated the political differences which exist between f,he two races,— Vienna dispatch to the J/jjndon Times. # —.We talk of want of room in London, but Lott&wi is not built up to half the height in' the air as Paris, or New York, or Old Edinburgh &&d has quantities of building space ■Al round it, The suburbs can be spread out suites before they are out of omnibus-reach. Eiglifc millions or more could certainly be housed before anyone perceived that distances lia-d become impracticable, and the .contrivances for overcoming them are multiplying fast.— Spectator. „,,,, —It is to Englishmen of pure blood that the ? reat divisions of modern science owe their fundamental theories. To Harvey, Newton, William Smith, and Dalton must be traced Uiick the effective beginnings of physiology, astronomy, geology, and chemistry. It was reserved for Charles Darwin to found the science of biplogy, to connect the phenomena of organic life by a greai law of beino- as Newfccw had brought the phenomena Of the physical cosmos under the eternal principle ot universal gravitationSpectator. —The first historical example of comiDiifeflry book -eating is cited froni the Sister 7 of Barnabas, Prince of Milan, H3SG Pope Innocent VI sent the abbot of Marseilles with Apostolic Letters to the s»ter of Milan. This tyrant so disliked the fetters Apostolic that he made the abbofc eat «wm. In 1068 Philip Andrew Oldenburgher was wade to eat two pages of his satire on the tferman princes, and was also birched. The author of the libel on the Danes was given his chojee between eating his. book and losing his head.. JJo ate his foook— boiled.

—The Barlin beer-drinkers are the fss£es.t an Europe In a certain saloon there a mechanical lion roars when a new cask is •tapped, and teat incites every one to finish jhis glass and oiw a new one. —According to an ,eld superstition of the Medieval Church, whe&crer a cock crows a flic is being told. —The Chicago Times declares ih&t a question in that city and in Milwaukee ?s well •ds whether or not it is advisable to continue ithe study of English in any of the public -schools, o£ the primary or other grade, so firm « grip have ibe Germans secured there,

— The Greeks are a very sober, temperate race, free from servility of any kind, not inclined to bow down before wealth or social position, and consequently delightfully free from any taint of snobbery. By dint of hard work, even with the rudest forms of implements, they manage to extract rich harvests wherever the soil offers any encouragement to the labourer. Though not a rich country Greece is almost free from cases of extreme poverty ; the general level of well-being is widely distributed, and it is rare to find labourers who are totally dependent on the wages they earn.— Saturday Review. —There are more women in British India (124,000,000) than there are men, women, and children in Great Britain, France, and Germany put together, with the populations of several minor European States cast in as well.

—Walnut oil is said to to be equal to olive oil, and in Europe it is an article of trade. It is also used by painters and by makers of fancy soaps, and for burning in lamps. —We always like those who admire us ; we do not always like those whom we admire.— Rochefoucauld.

—In the precious metals Russia comes first as to gold, with £10,843,320; the United States second, with £6,160,000; Australia third, with £4,200,000. In silver the United States leads, £10,760,000; Mexico second, £5,200,000; Russia third, £4,084,000. —There are probably at least 1400 different forms of religion in the world. — " Skunk raising " is an industry that has been started near Saratoga Springs bj? a man named Henry Brown, who breeds the animals on account of the value of their skins and oil.

I have sometimes thought that we cannot know any man thoroughly well while he is in perfect health. As the ebb tide discloses the real lines of the shore and the bed of the sea, so feebleness, sickness, and pain bring out the real character of a man.— Garfield.

—In two London churches actors have been invited to read the lessons, for several successive Sundaj s lately with great satisfaction to the audiences.

—The American Civil War of 1862-65 cost the Union £1,200,000,000, and a capable American reckoned the loss of the Confederate States at £800,000,000, or a total of £2,000,000,000. —The fact that 15 to 25 steamers a month are now ariving at the mouth of the Congo illustrates the growth of commerce in that region. —At this moment every important fortress in France and Germany has its staff of voyaseur or homing birds, which are well trained "for 50 or 100 miles, and even for longer distances. In both countries there are considerable establishments for the rearing and exercising of these birds.^ — A Vienna doctor has made the discovery that cancer is due to an excess of sugar in the blood.

—Berlin will soon be the most brilliantly illuminated city in Europe. The electric light is being fitted all along the Unterden Linden ; and the Leipziger Strasse, which is upward of a mile in length, is already illuminated throughout by electricity^ which is to be introduced into all the principal streets and squares. — The King of Belgium has devised the ingenious attempt to introduce a railroad into Morocco by sending the Sultan a complete railway train with a lot of rails as a present. —The London Fire Brigade are to be uniformed in asbestos cloth, winch is said to be incombustible. The Paris Fire Brigade have been apparelled in it already, and the results are said to be most satisfactory. This material will not take fire, and if all that is said of it be correct the firemen will have one loss risk to run when on duty.

—A Chinese paper says: "There is a log of yellow colour standing just outside the Ch'i Hua Gate of Pekin, where it has been since the fall of the Ming dynasty, commanding the respect of all classes of people. It is in perfect condition. The insects have not made any raid upon it as they do on other logs. The people believe that the log must be the residence of some god, so they annually worship it. On the Ist of October the Emperor commanded the Board of Ceremonies to appoint a few officials to pay respects to the deified log. — It is reported from France that the raising of the bounty on wolves has had the effect of stepping the increase, which five years ago became a serious matter. In 1882 423 were killed; in 1883, 1316; in 1884, 1035 ; in 1885, 900, and in 1886, 760. The bounty now is £8 for killing a wolf that has attacked human beings, £6 for one in young, £4 for a male wolf, and 32s for a cub.

— A reunion of veteran temperance reformers has been held ab-Newcastle-on-Tyne. It was attended by 120 teetotalers who had kept the pledge for over 50 years, and by 120 others who had been abstainers during periods ranging from five years to 49 years. There were amongst the company 32 persons who had been teetotalers 51 years, 8 for 53 years, 2 for 55 years, 4 for 58 years, 2 for 60 years, and 1 each of G2 and 63 years standing.

— Some of the leaders, at least, of: the American revolutionary struggle were not the pure and unstained heroes they have been assumed to be. The political adventurer, and even the pothouse demagogue, had as much to do with the conflict— which butfor'them need not have been irrepressible—as the constitutional patriot. There were among them politicians who foreshadowed Mr Parnell. as well as politicians who were the worthy associates of Washington. — Saturday Review. —Philadelphia has a professional sparrowcatcher. His name ia Joe Johnson, and he supports himself by catching the peste and selling them for reed birds. He hunts his game at night and early in the morning, principally on the side walls of churches and other ivy-clad buildings. * He covers a large space, Fhere the vines are thickest, with a net, and than bis assistant stirs up the vines with a long pole. The sparrows flutter blindly into the net, and Joe pulls the puckering string. He has captnred 120 dozen in a single night.

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