MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2105, 28 June 1894, Page 38

MULTUM IN PARVO.

— There are about 100,000 islands, large and small, scattered over the oceans. America alone has 5500 around i's coast? ; there are 365 in the Bay of hio Janeiio, 16,000 between Madagascar and India, and some 1200 off the eastern coast of Australia, between its main'and and New Guinea

—In Japan education is compulsory. " the sclool age be'ug from the sixth to the fourteenth year H — Q is the letter O with a tail. Hence its name, which comes from the French queue, a tail. — The humming of telegraph wires is a phenomenon vthich has not yet been satisfactorily explained. It is not caused by wind, for it is heard during perfect; calms. It h- s been conjectured that changes of temperature, which tighten or loosen the wire*, probably produce the sound.

— Chilians never enter or leave a coach, slreet car, or other pubic vehicle without bowing to all its occupants. — Life is so short that man is but a parer col"ar on tbe neck of Time

—It is said that the French Anarchists, Vaillant, Henry, and Pauwel, all had insurances on their lives, \ ayable to tbe Anarchist Propaganda in London — Keeping a diary was a fashion among the literary Romans Most of tlem carred little tablets tied to Iheir belts, in wh'ch they kept memoranda of their doings, so as I o forget notbiug wh n they came to make up the record at night — White horses ere tobe barred Trom military service ia Germany The Emperor has ordered that no more shall be purchased for the army, and those now in use are to be sold He thinks that in a war wbi c horses wou'd be especial y c nspicuous, because of the use of smokeless powder, and would afford an csy mark for the enemy. » — The German soldier is to have his buttons and the other metal parts of his uniform made of aluminium. He will thus, by this reduction in weight, be able to carry 100 additional rounds of ammunition. — England has won 82 per cent, of the wars she has engaged in. — Current Literature. — Steel rails average 180 tons to the mile ; iron, 145.

— Two inventors in St Petersburg are asking the Russian Government for patents on glass coffins — It is s«id of Mr Gladstone's private Horny that it is particularly rich in the classical and theologicJ department; that there is probably nob a single noted theological work inissing which has seen the light since the owner matriculated at Oxford in 1828. Most of these books were preented to him by their authors.

— Empires do no grow rapidly. The Rom <n empire required seven centuries to become fully grown

— Patriotic Britons will derive satisfaction from the knowledge that England is the only great power whici is reducing her indebtedness. All the others are steadily adding to their encumbrances. The extraordinary expenditure on armies and navies iB being met by lo ns

— In Sweden more women than men are found in the telegraph offices, and tingle women are admitted to all departments of the post office service, except that of letter carriers

— Bri ish North American Indians live on reindeer meat almost exclusively. They are big and strong, miny of them being 6tt Ligh. — The inhabitants of Malta are mainly of the Arabic race, and speak a kind o? Arabic mixed with Italian.

— Among the Saxons a wife was divorced by sale. A husband, with the consent of the wife, put a halter round her neck, led her to the nearest market town and disposed of her to the highest bidder, making a speech in which beset forth her pood and evil qualities. — The frequency pf the discovery of bombs in Paris has led to the provision of a special vehicle for their transportation from the place where they are discovered to the Government laboratory.

, — Foolscap paper is so called because paper of that size was, under the Protectorate of Cromwell, and for some time subsequently, marked with a jester's cap and bells. — Russia has pushed in every direction save west, and in every direction found weak and disorganised nations, which fell an easy prey to her ajtsressions.

— Throughout the entire world there are annually about 180,000 suicides.

— Probate duty has been paid on £3*0,503 4s 7d as the value of the personal estate of the Hon. and Very Eev. George Herbert, Dean of the Cathedral Church of Hereford, and Master of St. Cuthbert's Hospital, who died on March 15 last, aged 69. The dean leaves everything to his two d»Ujhters. j^» — One's surprise at the fact that no two persons' voices are perfectly alike ceases when one is informed byan authority on the subject that, though there are only nine perfect tones in the human voice,there are the astonishing number of 17,59 ',183,- 0H, 415 different sounds. Of these 14 direc tmuscles produce 16,333, and 30 indirect muscles produce 173,741,823, while all in co-opera ion produce the total given above. — The tw o principal religious of Japan are Buddhism a iid Shintoism The chief observances of Shintoism are ancestral worship and saci'iSco todepar!ed heroes. Buddhism is the popular religion — In Ch li no phce is sacred from tbe fumes of tobacco, except, perhaps, tbe etu'reh. Gentlemen are always smoking, whether walking or riding, with or without ladies. They do it in the parlour, the ballroom, and at the t*ble. — It is said that women criminals have larger hands and feet than average women.

— Sugar is found more or less in nearly all vegetable substances. — The weight of a million sovereigns is 7 tons 18cwt Cqr 18 2-71b. They would make a column nearly a mile high, would cover 576 square yards, and take a man 17 days to count. One sovereign weighs 124gr. If you doubt the above statement, take a million sovereigns and weigh them for yourself. — Judges in Morocco receive either no pay at all, or not enough to live oil, so that justice is not administered, it is sold. He who is most liberal to the judge always wins his cause. — The Portuguese say that no man can be a good husband who does not eat a good breakfast. — "The Souls"' is the semi-satirical name given to an eclectic set in London society which is given to the cultivation of the intellectual and the lusthctic. It is a sort of standing protest against absorption in the frivolities as distinguished from the realities of life. — Scientists assert that the fly can make 6CO stiokes a second with its wings j( —'I he great South Dakota cave in the Black Hills region is said lo be 52 miles long, and contains nearly 1500 rooms, some 20Oft high. There are streams, waterfalls, and 37 lakes, one of which is an acre in extent. The cave is 6000 ft above sea leyel. — So far as numbers go, the Chinese language i^ n c I by more human beings than any other o 'c.

— There are over 1000 cannons on the rock of Gibraltar. Many of these guns are of the largest size.

— The camera is now used in the United States as a weapon of defence against the H< athen Chinee. When hands from the Flowery Empire reach an American port they have to be registered. And each Chinese labourer must bring into the office of tho inland revenue collector his voucher from the Chinese consul, with h ; s photograph attached. He can then be compared with bis portrait, and passed or stopped as is necessary.

—It is said that the word "silhouette" originated from the niggardliness of a French Minster of Financa named M. Silhouette Under bis rule the meanest tricks of economy were practised, and the couriers had their portraits painted entirely in black, with profile view, claiming that M. Silhouette had left them so poor that they could not afford anything more costly. — Na'uralists are loud in their wa ; l over the gun and its work in Africa. That such an'mals as the scarce zebra and tbe scarcer giraffe, to say nothing of others once too numerous to mention, should actually become extinct, never to be seen again, and all through man's senseless passion for killing — here the naturalist's voice fails him, and he mentally wishes the sportsman, royal or otherwise, very much elsewhere. — To relieve tbe poor horses a tram-starter has been invented. A strong steel coil, when tightened by a lever, stops the car, and another movement sets it in. motion.

— Compare the Englishman's lot with that of the Frenchman trying to cross his little England. The Frenchman scarce dare attempt this lesser feat without having first achieved some knowledge of English ; while the stupidest Englishman travels across France, finding attentive interpreters in his company the whole time, without let or hindrance, and— well, grumbles — Vanity Fair T' — Very many words have, in the course of time, completely changed from their early meanings— generally for the worse. Thus, "cunning" and "crafty" in early English signified merely " learned " and " good in workmanship " On tbe other hand "nice," which is now chiefly employed in a good sense, meant simply "ignorant," and Later on "fastidious," a trace of which usage is to be found in oui" modern expression "a nice distinction."

— When a child dies in Greenland, the natives bury a live dog with it, the idea being that the dog will be used by the child as a guide to the other world When questioned with regard to this peculiar superstition, they only answer, "A dog can find bis way anywhere " — The regular army of China is said to consist of 323,000 men Besides this, the Emperor's army, there is a national army of 650,000 men, who are paid about 4s a month, but in consideration of this munificence are required to feed themselves The cavalryman receives 12s a month, feeds his own horses, and, should they be lost or killed, must replace them out of the pay given by the Government. — How long will it take for the English language to oust the Indian vernaculars ? A contribution towards it may be found in tho Post office returns for the Punjab. Of nearly 40,000,000 articles of all kinds delivered by tbe department last year more than one-third were addressed in English. It was only in 1849 that the Punjab became British.

— The following are, by the law of England, deemed to be British subjects :—(1): — (1) All persons born in her Majesty's dominions, whether of British .or foreign parents (2) Children of natural-born British subjects, wherever born. (3) Grand-children of natural-born British subjects, wherever born. (4) Persons naturalised by special act of Parliament or under tbe provisions of the " Naturalisation Act of 1870 " Natural-born British subjfcets can only deprive themselves of British nationality : — (L) If they happen to be born in the British dominions of foreign parts, in which case they may, if of full age and if under no disability, make a declaration of alienage. (2) If they voluntarily become naturalised in a foreign State