MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 62

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—In somo parts of China the unmarried jroroen. wear their hair in a long "single plait, Irifch which is intertwined a bright scarlet thread. This style of ornamentation denotes that the young lady is marriageable. i The quantity of foreign petroleum (Rus--eian or American, or both) imported into jthe Chinese provinces contiguous to the Sfang-tze-Kiang River is einiply stupendous. ffn 189+ it was nearly 11,000,000 gallons ; by ftß97 iiJ was more than double that figure; mnd in 1901 the amount had risen to ¥1,176,607 gallons. Probably by this time £he quantity annually imported- into China tor, rather, into these particular provinces) La 100,000,000 gallons, or even more. .) —An Italian philosopher, Signor Ferrani, has constructed a> scale showing the Varying degrees in which professional jeaiousy exists in different professions. The Jowest place in this scale is assigned to irchiteots; next above them come clergywen, advocates, and military officers; then follow in order from below upwards professors of science and literature, journalists, kuthors, doctors, and actors. It is an interesting classification, which, is not likely, however, to be completely accepted by anyone.

* — The price .of skeletons runs from £10 lo £100. The difference has little to do jritn the condition of the- subject while £live. In the cheap skeleton only the framework is preserved. Cheap secondSiandi one* can often be had as low as '£5 or £#. The expensive ones Jiave the nervous and circulatory eystems preser% T ed. Some of the French 'skeletons are novels of ingenuity in itfiis clirection, each nerve tr muscle being fitted jwith an attachment connecting it with a. spiral spring or wire. • — On© of the queerest ways of will-mak-ing was that explained before Sir Francis A lady possessed of considerable property was paralysed, so se-nfc for lier Solicitor to dispose of her estate. Beaeft of 'gpeeoh, she was unable to give directions. /The solicitor wrote down the various items on so many cards; then on other cards he jwrote- the names of the lady's family. That 'done, he "dealt" the cards. As he did so, his client coupled property with names, »nd he was able to draw up the wn. — The custom of adoption is universal in Japan, where it ' is practised to keep a family name from becoming extinct. Indeed, there is scarcely a family in which it has not at some time or other been practised. A person who has no male issue adopts a son, and if he has a daughter often gives 'her 'to him in marriage. A youth, or even a child, who may be the_ head of a Family, often adopt?, on the po:ht of dying, a son sometime^ older than himself to succeed him.

•— A curious privilege attaches t. the office of Mayor Limerick. From time immemorial the mayor has claimed the right *o a quarter of a 'ton of coal out of every cargo impoitod into the town. The coal merchants recently objected to paying this tribute-, and a test case was takc-n to the local Quarter Sessions. The magistrates n-eeided in favour of the mayor. That receives over 100 ions of coal from this source every year, and distributes it Wnong- the poor of the town, although there is no legal reason why he should not 'tike it for his own private purposes. i — A curious form of life assurance is springing up in French manufacturing jfcewns under the name of La Fourmi (the nnt). The peculiarity is ilna-t the longer a 'man lives the lec-9 he becomc-a entitled to. The payment of 4s a month assures the payknenfc of £200 to the heirs of a man. dying Jbefore the age of 38, the payment cHininishjjiwr proportionately to £102 at 51. Tlio idea seems to be that if a man dies young «is children are likely io be in -want, but Jibat w'ben he is 50 they will be able to earn their living. H — Some i*?;rnarka i bile details have juisb come to light regarding a criminal edueaHjion society in the Italian city of Foggia. organisation, called the "Malavita," aimedi at- commiting all sorts of crime, froni highway rohbery to kidnapping. Two schools existed, one to leach the way to u&a the knife end the other for pickpockets. •A few francs were charged for admission, fund pupils graduated according to the proficiency they attained. If any one of the 'members' was arrested other members volunteered to giv-©* perjured testimony in his behalf, while a few more took charge of the for the prosecution, whom they Beared" by threats into refusing" to testify. > . — An invention is reported which is claimed to give absolute safety to oil lamps. iThe device consists of a circular metal box, •the size varying according to the candle required. In the box is a deposit of Bait, over which i 9 a layer of cotton wast© especially prepared. Running through the cotton packing is an asbestos wick, practrcally indestructible, and requiring only occasional attention. By immersing the box dn petroleum or paraffiu the cotton waste jabsorbs th© requisite quantity of oil in a 'few minutes, and the application, of a light 'to the asbestos wick then produces a bright, Btcady, white light, better and at a lower 'cost than the lamp vising the oU direct. It is claimed' that the "abesthie" lamp may iba inverted, may exhaust itself, may be thrown down, or whirlecjj around, but there feeing no freo oil or gas that can be ignited, there can consequently be no fire or explosion. - — Ants with long and powerful mandible* , );ave been successfully used for making surrical stitches. The majority of Gr&s?k surgeons keep stocks of them, and upon the Arrival of a person suffering; from a clean ljnt the ants -are brought into use. The i"»dges of the cut arc brought together with »he fingers of on© hand, while the ant, Md with a pair of forceps, is brought close to the wound with the other, its roandibles titing through .the flesh on both sides and lolding the edges together. As many as J5 cr 20 are sometimes nseel fcr a single lut and thay are usually Jeft on for thic© cr 'four days. Their removal is then far easier than the withdrawal of the- wire ordinarily used for thai purpose. — The notification aj "to Mrs Maybrick s release raises the interesting question as to riu? remission of sentences for which ocnVicts can qualify by good conduct, as tested by the work they do in prison. The maximum rod". ct ion, which is plvvnys K"s t'^n a quarter of ibe full term of il o is fnr f«v-pii years one year and Z/a clay.-;, and for 20 years four years and 86 day 5 , svhile. "lifers" are not entitled to any remission at all; the pracbioo, however, being lo consider tVioh- cases, with a view bo recmotion, ut the ond of 20 years. Women convicts ure treated more liberally th m men, pnd may win their ireedom after acrvtng two-nf tlis of their terms.