MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 48

MULTUM IN PARVO.

» The most costly book in the Royal library at Stockholm is a Bible. It is said that 160 asses' skms were used for its parchment leaves. There are 309 pages of writing, and eaoh page falls but one inch short of being a yard m" length. The covers are solid planks, four inches thick. About 40,000 people without homes are flightly sheltered in the common lodginghouses of London. The popularity of aluminium castings tor engine and machine work is increasing, i,nd there is a likelihood of brass and copper J>eing to som« extent replaced for such porkions of engineering work as hare hitherto Utilised the oldea; metals. — Organ-grinders in Verviers, Belgium, are "by law compelled to appear every morning before the police superintendent and play their instruments. The organs which chance to be out of tune must be set in order before 8, license to play on the street will be gran!ted. It is the belief of political economists that the population of a.country should not exceed j half the number of its cultivated acres. - There are, therefore, six European countries which are over-populated — England, which has 115 persons to each 100 tilled, acres ; Belgium, 015; Holland 95; Scotland 86; Italy 60; and Germany 59. Sir Arthur Sullivan is the inventor of a new "safety shaft," designed for releasing horses from carriages when occasion arises. — Vienna has begun the construction of bicycle paths through the ,streets. Ground ihas teon conceded' for, tlie purpose of building a new street "on condition that a strip be prepared for the use of bicyclists. ,. — An eye specialist says that much of the strain upon the eyes of sqhool children may J>e avoided by having in the classrooms tinted walls and window shades of a suitable colour. Perfectly clear white walls are a menace to the eyesight that ought not to be tolerated in any schoolroom. — The General Omnibus Company of Berlin have introduced an electric 'bus, which takes 20 passengers. The motor is driven by an accumulator of 150-ampere-hours, and 'the speed is about four mile 3an hour, with a current of 35 amperes at 250 volts. — Greek girls, as a rule, are very pretty ; yet at an early age they attempt to improve ttieir native charms artificially with paint and febwdor. The result is that at 40 their faces are sallow, livid and withered. , — Butter and bacon are declared by a mediteal writer to bo the most nourishing of all foods. —It is believed that a diet of corn bread toakes bigger men, physically, than bread made of wlieat flour. — The educational system of Denmark is iq perfect and popular that throughout the teritire country there ia not one illiterate fafciily. — Mr Hargrave, the well-known experimenter in aeronautical machines; has, it is rebprted, taken out another patent for a soaring machine, which "rises into the air without a motor and without rarefied air and gaslifting power, such as is used in balloons." —It ia supposed that the average depth of Band in the deserts of Africa is from 30 to 40 — Within a mile from Congleton, England, on the high road from Macclesfield, there is a ; deserted village consisting of over 60 houses, not one of which is tenanted. —It has been shown by Koch, and others, that soap is a microbicide, or germ-killer, and, according to Professor Serafini, soda or potash soap is quite a good disinfectant, not only ■because of the alkalis, but the combination itself. Heating the water favours the effect. — Fifty per cent, of heat in an ordinary fire goes up the chimney. — The scarcity of crime in Hawaii is said to be due to the soft, mild climate, which soothes the rapacity in mankind and begets an uncommon comradeship. — Once persuade Russia and Germany, France and Italy, England and America, that all their hopes and aspirations for increased national power are vain and useless things, and that they had far better remain as they We, and war will be banished from the world. Till that is done the cannon and the sword will always menace the earth. — Spectator. — The flying cycle is the latest American invention. The machine is kept afloat in the air by means of a balloon, looking somewhat like a huge, round-backed turtle. Below the gasbag hangs a bicycle seat, with pedals and hand-cranks geared to a shaft which drives a " screw sail." This serves to propel and steer the vessel. —It is calculated that 10,000,000 photographs of the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales are produced annually. — A hitherto unknown duet for Mozart's "Magic Flute" has been discovered. The genuineness of the work is said to be indisputable. The Berlin Mozart Society will publish it.. — The German Empress commands the famous Pasewak Cuirassiers, and she is not infrequently seen riding at their head as colonel and saluting the Enroeror, then reining in beside him to see them pass. —In Norway the average length of life is greater than in any other country on the globe. ■ — There are now nearly 12 million negroes in the United States. They increase in numbers and wealth. Their property is estimated at 80 million pourius. Their future is one of the gravest problems which America has to faoe. — Chronicle. — The theatres of London give employment to over 12,000 people. — The average weight of a brain is greater in China than in any European country except Scotland. _ — There are ovei 70 miles of tunnels cut ia the solid rock of Gibraltar. —In Germany, when the vote of the jury stands six against six, a prisoner 13 acquitted. A: vote- of seven against five leaves the decision to the court, and on a vote of eight against four the prisoner is convicted. — Some of the machines for making matches make 200 revolutions a minute each, and turn out about 2,500,01)0 of matches daily, oi about 800,000,000 annually. " — Expex-iments made in Paris show that an electric waggon costs 47 per cent, less to run than a horae waggon, and 32 per cent, less than a petroleum motor. — When a maid-of-honoul to Queen Victoria; has survived her youthful charms and at middle-ago is still unmarried, she is relieved of duty, and has her salary increased from £400 a year to £600. — The Victoria Cross carries with it a pension of £50 a year for life. — The fastest times reported forlhe mile are: — Railway, 34 seconds. Iceboat, 1 minute. Steam yacht, 1 minute 35 seconds. Bicycle, 1 xninute 35 2-5 seconds. Horse, 1 minute 35£ seconds. Ocean liner, 2 minutes 20 seconds. Running, 4 minutes 12J seconds. Rowing, 4 minutes 45 second*.