MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 30 March 1904, Page 62

MULTUM IN PARVO.

— Every fire station in Berlin has now been equipped with an oxyge.i <:pparatui3 to revive persons overcome by smoke or heat. Ordinary citizens may also have the loan of the apparatus in cases of urgent need.

— A primeval forest containing 120,000 camphor trees, measuring from 7ft to 18ft in circumference, kas recently been discovered in Formosa. It is estimated that the yield of camphor gum from these trees will amount to 13, G00, 00 01b.

— The Russian Cross of St. Andrew has a remarkable -peculiarity attaching to it. All who are decorated with it have the right once to demand a pardon for a Russian subject condemned to death. ~. — The United States Department 'of Agriculture has issued "a warning with regard to the codlin moth, a pest to orchards thit was introduced about 20 years ago and has recently become a serious form of mischief. Arsenical spraying and banding are reputed to be the best remedies for it. According to official estimates, the value of American apple crops has shrunk in consequence of this moth to the extent of 11,000,000d0l per annum.

— The discovery of radium in Utah is confirmed by several professors. It is obtained, not from pitchblende, but from carnotite, a canary-coloured ore, the supply of which is- practically limitless. It promises to be equal in quality with the product secured by M. Curie, and to be infinitely lesr expensive. — During the first day of her married life a Korean bride must not speak, even to her husband. It is considered a breach of etiquette. But the next morning she is permitted to give free rein to her tongue, and may talk) thereafter to her heart's content. — A naturalist, who has recently been investigating the cense perceptions- of reptiles ami amphibians, concludes that these creatures have some power of finding water not possessed by human beings. Plie sight of the reptile is limited to near objects, while their sense of hearing and of smell is very keen. — The architect of the new Union Station in Washington say* it will be the most ornate as well as the largest in the world. The cost is estimated at £3,000,000. Inside the structure there will be playing fountains and terraces- in the Romanesque style. Among the novel -features will be an invalids' room, where doctors will be in constant attendance, and in addition there will be swimming baths, Ttirkieh baths, and mortuary chambers. — The robin and the wren are the- only birds that sing all the year. — A wonderful set of chessmen is owned by an Oxford gentleman. It is emblematical of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, and is highly prized by the owner. The pieces are of ivory, beautifully carved, the largest being sin in height. Ani&ng them are a Napoleon, the Empress Josephine (considered by experts to b© a marvellous piece of carving), the Bishop Talleyrand, the Sultan and Sultana, and the great Emperor's marshals.

— The Bishop of London has had a, happy thought. A few days ago he- welcomed as his guests at »a dinner party the several couples whom he has united in matrimony since he was preferred to the See of "London. Each lady was garbed in white, and, with one or two exceptions, the costume was the one the bride wore on the day that made her a wife. Very appropriately the gathering closed with a short service* of thanksgiving. — In Cashmere they have a novel method of putting fodder up for winter use. The country lies in a valley among the Himalayas. The chief industry of the people consists in raising fine wool, and in making this into fabrics which have carried thename of the country all over the world. As in winter* snow lies some five or six ya.rd3 deep, supplies of hay are hung among the branches of treee, where they are easily reached by the flocks of sheep. — The cripples and beggare of GrossBecskerek, Austria, have gone out on strike as a result of a new asylum having been built foi them by the magistrates. They say that _the profession prefers 'to live- in the opeD air and obtain what it can from house-to-house visitation.

—An interesting animal is the flying frog, of Borneo. Its long toes are webbed to the tips, and thus act as little parachutes, enabling the frog to leap from lofty trees and descend to the ground gradually. — Most fishermen on the French eoait avoid going to sea on the first two days of November, owing to a superstitious fear of the "death wind," and, tho belief that drowned fishermen at that time rise and ca.psize boats. — It is an interesting fact that, although, the children of tall -parents tend to be tall, tiie offspring of parents of unequal heisht most frequently follow the shorter ; while excessive lallness is rarely perpetuated. — Although when shown at the reeajit dairy show it won neither meekil nor certificate, yet the record price of £105 ha* jw?t been paid for a pigeon of the "show homer" breed from the cote of Mr J. Cory, of Jersey. The purchaser is \Tr Norman Jones, of Bridlington. Weighing ju=t under 16oz, the Talue of the bird is at the rate of £7 j an ounce.

— At the present time thore is a keeper on a Hertford-shire e-tate who ha« about 20 shots in his head. Nearly 30 years ago this man was accidentally shot by- an under-kec-pcr, and -there were 22 holes in tho hat ho worp, which i a preserved to this day. The injured man never had tho shots extracted, was long between life and death, <uid completely lost hi,* hearing. —In certain pait= of Siam a girl who reaches a certain age without marrying is labelled, and placed in a privileged ciass under tho special care of the King, who binds himself to find a husband foi them all. His method is delightfully simple. A pmorif-r in any of the Siamese gorJs may Gain hi* pardon and release by marrying one of tho mcljgiVe -la--. Whether he is ahcady 'nariicd or not is not of gieat couGequri'ce, for in Riam a m:u is not restricted to one wifa

— One of the many quaint and curious sights of Holland which nc\er fail to attract the attention of tho touiist is the great street maikct for cheeso ir Hoorn. Hrre, in a beautiful square, protected from the sun in summer by tall, leafy Ueo3, hundreds of the cheeso merchants and thoir assistants gather, with their ware? s-pread m ba-kc'tb protected by cloths upon tho pavement. So white are ihc=e protecting cloths that the square at times resembles a field of snow. Nothing but cheese is sold in this market, the sale aggregating many hundreds of pounds every month. —M. Baphael Duboi<=>, who succeeded in forcing oysters to produce genuine pearls by inoculation with the parasite which they coat with nacre, has applied hi? method to the "rintaline" pearl oysters of the C4ulf of (>abes, Tunis, with successful results. Under ordinary conditions a pearl is found among 1200 oysters, but by thid method of forcing he obtained one from every three. — The historical town of, Carrickfergns. situated on the- Antrim «horo of Belfast Lough, is remarkable for more things than the possession of the stone on which William 111 first planted his foot in Ireland, for from that town ie sent forth about one-fifth of all the salt consumed In the United Kingdom. Within a radius of less than three milee from Carrickf&rgus the-re are no fewer than 12 salt mines, although only about half of those aro in operation at tho present time. The rqck which started at this point has been traced \inder the bed of the sea across the English Channel, past the Isle of Man, until i{ ended in the salt cliffs of North Wales.