NOTES AND QUERIES,

Otago Witness, Issue 1954, 6 August 1891, Page 22

NOTES AND QUERIES,

INFORMATION WANTED.

Information is wanted on the following points by Mr G. M. Thomson, science matter at the Otago Boys' High Sohool. We shall be glad to insert any answers which may come to hand : — 1. Dates on which humble bees are seen, with names (or specimens) of plants on whioh they are seen.

2. Occurrence of white or abnormally coloured plumage in introduced birds. 3. Food of introduced birds, particularly finches, sparrows, skylarks, and starlings, during winter.

Y. Z,-(l) Captain Baldwin eatfor " TheGoldfield*" in the Home in 1864, and in tbe Provincial Council also for "The Gold fields" in 1863-4. (2) The late D. H. Mervyn represented tbe Manuberikia dittrlot in the House, and wa* afterwards elected

for Mount Ida. (3) Mr D. Beid represented the Taieri. Sttbsckibbb, Lawrence.— (l) Dalgety and Go., 461 Bourke street, Melbourne, are agents for a tteamer which run* to Mauritius, conneoting thence with Cape Town, and booking passengers through to Natal. (2) The firm will furnish you with particular* on application. (3) No ; but if you tend vi your address we shall forward a copy of one to you. F. A.-(l) The Jubilee sailed on Tuesday last. She sails about once a month, the dates being advertised prior to sailing. (2) When the Jubilee is going at the same time as a Union boat, by special arrangement. At other times tbe fare* by Union steamers to Napier from Dunedin are:— Single saloon, £4 10s ; return, £1 16s ; single steerage, £3; return, £5 ss. F. R. E.— Not to be got in Dunedin ; have ordered copies. J. X —Received with thanks ; will be dealt with next week. O. X.— Certainly not. If you could show that th* fgtwiga had been the cause of the death of the rabbit, aud the latter that of your dog, you could recover damages. J. M'C— (l) A Government head of water it 500 gal , per minute, or 30,000 gal per hour. (2) Tbe following <* is the rule for measuring a stream of water running through a box :— lf the box is a short one, multiply its sectional area in feet by six times the square root of the bead or height of the surface above the middle of the box at tbe entrance. The product will be the discharge in cable feet per seoond. If the box is above 10ft long and level the dUoharge will be something less. Subsobibbb.— We can soarcely espreis an opinion at to the nature of tbe complaint from the meagre symptoms you give. If tbe fowl it merely a common one and of no special value, the best thing you can do is to wring its neck and burn the ear* oaie. At any rate separate it from the others in order to avoid riik of contagion. Try a doie ot castor oil. W. B.— The best and simplest method of curing . rabbitskins for rugs it the following •.— Takelozof ■ common »alt and the same quantity of alum ; pound the two well together, then rub it well into the skin, sprinkle a little water over it and then roll it up tight ; let it lie for three days than peg out to dry. When quite dry rub it well with the hands, when it will become as white and toft as chamois leather. Billy asks if any reader can tell him where or in what book be can get the words of a piece about, the early gold digging in Otago called "BUI Jinks." B. -The tableß are again crushed out. Shall en* Vdeavour to find a place for them next week. Constant Be*dkb.- Peg drum threshing machines (for horse power) are obtainable from Mr F. B. Manning, Walker street, at from £15 to £20, the latter with shakers. Three horse power are the ■malleßt made for steam. Subscribes, Maniototo.— (l) Stanley* name was John Rowlands. While acting a* "steward on an Atlantic steamer be was adopted by an American gentleman named Stanley, and took his name— Henry Morton Stanley. (2) David Livingstone. Mr Ptkb writes :— The following letter appear* in £, the Wellington Pott t-" Sir,— lt may be of tome Interest to your readers to learn that on the 6th of July last the sun was tbe farthest away from the earth ever before known in the world 1 * history. Perhaps this may help to solve tbe answer to your query— l.c., ' Where are we ? ' and also account for tbe extraordinary weather which is prevailing all over the world at the present time —I am, *c., G. B " Perhaps some of your correspondent*— Mr Beverly, for instance— might be able to iaform v* whether this Is fact or fancy. Mr Beverly replies :— The statement made by ," G. B." in a note to the Wellington Post— viz., that the sun was farther from the earth on the 6th of July last than ever was known before, is noneense. Even the date is wrong, for the earth was In aphelion on the 4th, New Zealand time,, and on the 3rd, Greenwiah time. The logarithm of the earth's aphelion distance usually fluctuates between the value*. -0072000 and '0072400, but sometimes these limits are passed owing to exceptional position* of Venn* and Jupiter, who are the chief disturber*. Thinking there might be aome ground for "G. B.s " statement, I went over a file of old nautical almanacs, and find that 1891 is not an exceptional year, as may be teen by the following list, in whioh tbe first column is tbe New Zealand date of aphelion and the second the logarithm of ths , earth's aphelion distance:— -\ 1856 July 2 •0072484-greatest 1864 July 3 '0072445 1867 July 3 '0072373— same as 1891 1875 July 3 '0072397 ISB2 July 4 '0071906— least 1891 July 4 '0072374 The Bandicoot.— J. Gordon, Chatton, write* :— ln a paragraph in your last issue regarding tbe death of Mr Thompson (Bendigo, the Nottingham prize-fighter), Mr Pyke in referring to the matter falls into a grave mistake of natural history. He i* quite correot in placing the baldicoot in the order Parameles, but surely he does not forget that the kangaroo belongs to the family of Maoropus, and that tbe kaogaroo rat is by many naturalists placed in the same order. The kangaroo rat is a miniature counterpart of the kangaroo, and the only anatomical or stractural difference there is between them exists in the teeth, and thi* is of a trifling nature; whereas the bandicoot belongs to a distinct genus of the marsupial family, and is inoludea in the Mus giganteus. The peculiarity of this animal is its dentition. It has 10 cutting teeth in the upper jaw and only six in the lower. The Parameles occupies about the same position in the zoology of Australia as tha shrew of Europe does. ' I have caught many of the little fellows, and quite agree with Mr Pyke that they are a toothsome morsel. In general structure they much resemble a gigantic common rat. Tha little toe and thumb are merely rudimentary, and the bandicoot of the colonists appears to have only three toes, and these are long and pointed with strong nails. The head is somewhat elongated, the nose pointed, and the ears short. The tail is slightly covered with short hair. The legs are of equal length in the imbus ; the metaearpal and carpal bones are slightly various, and the body it generally covered with short dark brown hair. The hair is very easily separated from the skin, and the way we used to prepare the animal for the table was to pluok all the hair from tbe bedy with tbe hands, extract the viscera, and roast slowly In plenty of fat. The order of Maoropupffi include the kangaroo rat ; the Parameles include the common bandicoot. &o. Sitbßcbibxr.— (l) We have no further information beyond that given in the paragraph you mention. If you write to the Bendigo Courier, enclosing a Victorian 2d stamp (which you can obtain at tha post office by stating it is for an auiwer to your letter), they will send yon a copy of the paper containing tbe full report. (2) The law on this point was entirely changed by the new act which came into operation on Ist January 1884. A bankrupt under that aot ia not discharged by lapse of time. An order of the court is neceisary. Inquibbb, Kurow.— The point is a doubtful one, but we are inclined to think be would. Constant Beadeb.— (l) Tea. (2) No; but they can sell A'b interest in the land, subject to D's mortgage. Housbholdbb.— (l) Notunlesathe committee throw the meeting open to tbe public. (2) Such actions display a decided want of taste on the part of the chairman, but they certainly do not interfere with tbe legality of the committee's actions.