MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2206, 11 June 1896, Page 52

MULTUM IN PARVO.

- •— If all the coal in the earth were to be •used for sun fuel, the heat produced would be only equal to that shed in the tenth part of a second by the sun. — The most expensive railway system in the Wild it the " Inner Ofrcle " line of London, Which cost, including the purchase of land, from £800,000 to £1,000,000 per mile, The last constructed mile, between the Mansion House and Aldgate, cost altogether, including "compensations," nearly £2,000,000. - — The English glove trade is tbe most ancient connected with Worcester. It can be traced back for 500 years in the city and surrounding villages. The charter of the Glovers' Company was granted in 1497. ' — The levying- of blaokmail is carried to •Buch an extent in Paris that a case has been known in which a man secured hush-money from a lady because he accidentally discovered that she had a cork leg. — According to Sir Robert Ball, if the total beat of the sun were valued at £5,000 000, the propoition of its genial warmth utilised by the earth would be worth about Id. The balance of the sun's heat is wasted in space, ao far aQ jcience knows. — One hurdred tons of ctts' tails were recently sold at once for the purpose of ornamenting ladies' apparel. This means that, assuming an nvertge cat's tail to weigh 2lz, no fewer ' than 1,792,000 pussies had to be killed. j ' , — The silent cab-call is an invention which ii now being tried with considerable success in many London clubs and hotels. Two lamps, one red and the other green, are suspended from the door of a club or hotel. The porter within h«3 merely to press a kucb in the .entrance halJ, and either the red or the green lamp may be illunvnated, the one to call a f onr-wheeler, and the ether a hansom. — Reddish-brown hair with rich golden Hght3 in it may, it is said, be produced in some cases by washing with extra dry champagne. This is alleged to be tbe custom, with some wealthy ladiee, while humbler individuals endeavour to produce the same effect with a solution of soda. — A remarkable fact connected with tbe rice plant is its almost entire immunity from the attacks of insects and from those diseases which infect the cereals and other vegetable growths. — Two most .interesting automatic machines are used by the United Su:-tea Government \ for rousting and .tj'iog po&t-card6 into email i packages. These machines will correctly couut half a million cards in 10 hours and wrap and tic them in bundles of 25 each. — The last maypole in London stood opposite Somerset House, and was removed in 1717. Its height above the ground was originally 100 ft. It was afterwards fixed in W&uatead Park, B*sex, as the supporter of a very large telescope. ( ! —An electric current cannot, it is said, . produce muscular contractions in a corpse three hours after death. This, if tin?, would afford a certain method of preventing premature burial. — In many museums' and picture galleries a very novel method is employed for dusting the pioltaivs and ftatuea. A large air pump is mounted on a truck and is rolled round to the various rooms. One man works this pump, * the other -applies a fine jet of air to the sculp1 tures, blowing off the dust. This blowpipe is connected with the pump by means of a pole and rubber tube. — It is a curious fact that Li Hung Chang, who is not a tobacco smoker, has one of the finest collections of smoking utensils in the world. He has pipes of all ages and from all parts of the world. He k«pps adding constantly to his treasures in this line. Cigar holders of every variety — some of them exceedingly costly — form au interesting feature of the collection. — The rose was introduced into Europe from Damascus by the Crusaders. It first appeared in England in the year 1306. — Bonls, dishes, and plates are made from the hair of rabbits and other animals in Russia. The articles are felted and afterward* varnished. These utensils have the appearance of papiermache or varnished leather, and possess the properties of being strong, durable, and exceedingly light. — Sugar is an ancient luxury. The Chinese have been eating it for at least 3000 years. — In the island of Snn Domingo there is a recast kable salt mountain, a mass of crystalline ealt nearly four miles long, estimated to contain nearly 90,000,000 tons, and siid to be bo clear that medium-sized print can be read through a block a foot thick. — Matches have not yeV displaced the tinder box in certain rural districts of Spain and IUSy. — In the Crimea fruit preservation is a new industry, but ' one which has advanced very rapidly. There are numerous factories where large quantities of preserved fruit are now turned out. — It is said that 12 per cent, of the London widowers who embark on matrimony again jnarry their housekeeper*. — The word " ha : rbreaclth," now used for v an infinitesimal space, was once a regn'ar measure. It was the width of 16 hairs laid Bide by side. — Mr Webb, the chief locomotive engineer of the London and North Western railway, predicts that, a few years hence, electric trains will be run to all the great centres at a speed we can hardly now realise. — Out of 3500 men who tried unsuccessfully to enter the British army last year, 2400 were rejected on account of bad sight, bad teetb, or fiat feet. — A flower cub in the morning will outlast two flowere cut later in the day when the sun is upon them. — A well-known electrician predicts that ' electrical fireworks which may be repeatedly used will soon be invented. He declares that for a comparatively moderate outlay he could arrange an electrical display which would lest for many years. It would comprise rockets, ! Roman candles, wheels, and all the modern pyrotecbnical effects. — There is only one place of worship in England to about every 4000 people. — The Bermudas depend for their prosperity on the vegetable crop. Onions, potatoes, and tomatoes comprise almost the entire production of the islands, and give employment to the greater proportion of the inhabitants, enabling them to live comfortably on their comparatively small portions of ground. — The Irish mail boats from Kingstown to Holjhead Tpreive £95,000 a year subsidy. ■ This iB onh £SCOO less than is paid for all the North Amtrienn mails from Queenstown to New York. — Polynesia is probably the only place in the world where the marriage feast takes pl*ce without the presence of the bridegroom. For lome unexplained reason the youDg man is sent into the woods when negotiations are opened with the family" of his bride, and he remains » Ihere during the subsequent festivities. — Windsor Castle has been vied M A CCfal Msidence for 784 sent.

— They encourage matrimony in Albania. When a girl wants to get married, she collects all her little store of gold, and mounts the coins in her cap. You can then see what she is wortb, and the young fellows don't want big fortunes with their brides in that country. —Ib has been calculated that in Great Britain the output of books is as followB : Sermons, one volume a day \ novels, fire a day} educational books, two a day; art and science, two of each every week ; histories and biographies, six a week; and law, one every two weeks. — During last year British postmen delivered 2,785,270,000 letters. — It haa been frequently stated thftt sfeun is driving sailing vessels off the eexs. It appears that about one-half of the tonnage of the world is in vesself propelled by wind, and even in Britain 40 per cent, of the tonnage is in sailing vessels. — The bearskins of the Guirda form probably the most expansive headdress of any army in the world. They coal; no less than £9 apiece, and have to be renewed every five or six years. - — A gross of steel pens formerly cost £7. To-day they can be had for 4&d. — The Queen has taken 447 prizes at English cattle shows for products at her stock farm. — Mr Peter Gilston, addressing a temperance meeting in Walrefield, stated that last year, while acting as Mayor of Leeds, he entertained 10,000 pereons, iocludiog-princes, bishops, and judge?, and did not provide a single drop of intoxicating drink for any of them. — Umbrella-miking is among the most interesting of Birmingham indu6tries. Although not more than 1000 hands are employed, something like 1000 patents have been taken out during the last 20 years. — The British Museum has, in its various collscMona, 48,000 ejgs of birds. " — The Forth Bridge is capable of sustaining the weight of two ironclads slung from the centre. —No fewer than 1173 persons have been buried in Westminster Abbey. — What is known aa the raft spicier is the largest of the British species. It receives its name from the fact that it construct? a raft of dry leaves and rubbish united by threads of silk, and thus pursues its prey on water. — The reason why fhh can go so lung without either sleep or food is beciuse, as they consume bnt very little oxygen, their waste of tissue is so Email that it bub seldom requires to ba replenished by eifher rest or food. — A curious tffect of tho general iL threat aromed in things military by the Athantee expedition and Dr Jameson's adventure was a great rush in the demand for toy soldiers for children. — The smallest bird id a species of humming bird common in Mexico and Central America. It is not qivti .«o large as a bluebottle fly. — A cutLui dllowance .made to President Kruger h tV "-m of £400 a year for "coffee money." C. ffve U tho natioaal drink of the Boers. — About 2000 species of insects, on an averng", have betn discovered yearly during the last century. — A good railway engine will travel about 1,000,000 mi'es before it wears out. However, the life of an engine depends as to its length upon the treatment it receives. With ordinary service it ought to last 12 years. —•According to a well-known sta^ticiaD, the total loss of life in wars since 1852 haß amounted to 2,252,000, irrespective of the victims to disease, wounds, aud broken health. The expenditure in money has nmouuted to £2,500.000,000. .. — The alligator never leaves fresh water, while the crocodile frequently travels long distances by sea. It has been seen 1000 miles from land, and it is possible that these seagoing crocodiles have given rise to ,seaserpent stories. — The finest tomb in Great Britain ia undoubtedly that of the Duke of Hamilton, in the grounds of the duke's seat. It cost over £200,000. — The soil of Siberia afc tbe close of the summfr is fourd ir z'n for 56in beaeath the surface, and 11>c oc-ad lhat have lain in their coffins for 150 ye-u"« have been taken up unchanged in tbe h as*-. — It is hardly to ba credited, but it is authoritatively stated that the peiple of tha United States «nuua!ly chew £4,000,000 worth of gum. j — The camphor tree 61 China and Japan is a large evergreen, not unlike a linden, with a white flower and red berry. The gum is taken from chips out of tbe root or base, which yield 5 per ctn<;. or more of it. The Japanese Government owns large forests of camphor trees. — It is stated that diamonds become pbosphoreic?nt in the dnrk after exposure to the sunlight or electric light, and when rubbed on wood, cloth, or metal. This is an important i property, as it enables the amateur to dis- ! tinguish between paste and real. — The property insured Jast year iv London by the fire insurance companies and underwrifr-ra at Lloyd's amounted to over £800,000,000. j — Hedori, a smsll town in Yorkshire, which hai had a succession of mayors' for 523 years, h*%B a mace which has been used more than four centnries, and is pronounced to be the oldest in England. — A novelty in a timepiece is a silver dog. The clock is set in his side, a red tongue wp.gi I in bis open mouth, and his tail ticks off the seconds. —An astronomer calculates that, if the diametpr of the sun is daily diminished by 2ft, over_ 3000 years ■ must elapse ere the ,aslro- ' roraical instruments now in use could detect the diminution. — The Archbishop of Canterbury has two chairs considerably over 1000 years old. — Nearly the whole of the city of Vernon, Texas, has been buried by sand storms The sand was swept in from the desert, and literally covered up the prosperous city. — Money-lenders have no frierd in the judge of the City of London Court. He has stated in »s many words that in every case, whatever may be the amount owed, he will make an order for tbe payment of only 2s per month. — Steel coffins for tbe bodies of those who die suddenly on shipboard are being carried in some of tho Transatlantic liners. The t< mains are placed in them and hermetically scaled 1 . — The last insttnee of boiling to death took place in Persia in 1890. The offender was guilty of stealing Stnte revenues, and wag put into a caldron of cold water, which was slowly heated to the boiling point. His bones were distributed as a warning among the provincial tax collectors.

Mr James Aylesworth, Tam worth; Ont. writes : " I have sold by retail several gross of Canadian Healing Oil, having dealt in it since first introduced in this country, and I have very great pleasure in^certifying that it has given general satisfaction and is a very popular modicine. In my experience of over twenty - five years, I have not known a more popular nmedj or one that has stuck better."