MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2695, 8 November 1905, Page 66

MULTUM IN PARVO.

— A -flower which grows in South America is -'visible only when the wind is blowing. The shrub belongs to the cactus ; family, and is about 6it high, with a ' crook at the top, giving it the appearance . ot a black walking stick. ,'When the wind blows beautiful flowers appear from little ' .lumps '.on the stalk. i — Lobsters have as keen a sense of smeil . animals , that live upon land. A piece , of meat suspended in ,tho- water where lobsters -are abundant .will soon be*" cur- j ' rounded. by an eager;" fighting crowd. > I — Siberia could contain all Europe, ex- j cept Russia, and there would still be room left -for another country twice the size of Germany. \ - . i .-r-Th& 'largest- plant in the world is pro-.; , bably^' a . species of seaweed, which often A attains a lerigth of 300 ft. The stems are dried and tised as ropes by the South' Sea Islanders. — - Here are some "points" for the cat lever about his pels : Tortoisshell cats are . docile, affectionate. tidy, and good ' mousers ; they are also long-lived. Grey cats are' quickest tempered. Black cats .. arvi slovvesfc. " Largie ears denote - sagacity. A long 1 ail is the sign of a hunter. Yei- j low eyes with very Bmall sights are not so ; desirable as greyish half covered by the J* black pupils. • jl. —On the Norwegian Island of Karino there is a natural stone obelisk, some 25ft in height, near an old church, concerning which there is a curious tradition. The pillar leans towa-rds the walls of the church, and the jjeasautry believe that when at last the tip of the obelisk shall finally j rest against the wall of the church the

world Will come. -to an end. The stone is known as St. Mary's Needle, j — Corsica, produces more wax than any i other country of Europe, if not of the world. In former times the inhabitants paid their taxes in wax. • — A large herd of European bison is fatill preserved by the Czar of Russia in the i Imperial forest oi Bielovege, in Lithuania, and numbers something like 700. .—. — A birth is announced in an odd fashion in some ' »pa-rts of -Holland. A silk pincushion is ..attached " io the doorknob. If jithe' cushion is red, the new arrival is a = boy ;' if ' white, a girl. f —An enormous number of suicides asso- '" ciated with' the suspension bridge which ! -crosses the Avon at Clifton, has led ,to the ; famous ■ structure , being called England's ; Bridge of Sighs. 'At' high tide the famous 1 structure towers 250 ft above what Southey, describes as the Avon's "liquid mud and ■ guUer-like bed,'"' and -ever since the bridge 1 was opened, now about 40 years ago, it seems to have a fascination for the morbid. — ilr S. Sparkes, who has just died afc Uffculme, Devon, was manager of a local woollen factory for 60 years. His father and grandfather were with the same firm ' before him, and his son has now succeeded i him. — The war of the Dutch against the Achinese has been going on for more than a century; and though the once powerful kingdom of AcJu'n is now confined go tire < north-west corner of Sumatra, the natives are btill unsubdued. — The oldest post office in Great Britain is to be seen in the little Cheshire village iof Motham. The building dates back to j the sixteenth century, and has the figures 259* ovsr the doorway. —An estate of 10,000 acres bordering on the Delaware River is solely utilised for j the study of live birds. It is thoroughly equipped as a bird observatory. — The Danube flows through countries in which 52 languages and dialects are spoken. It is 2000 miles in length, and bears on its current four-fifths of the commerce of Eastern Europe. — The parish of St. Stephen's, Portsea, contains a population of 14,000 people, a large church, but no olergy-house, and no endowment. It is said that the Rev. Guy Landon accepted the vicarage on the offer of an income of £1 a year ! — Eggs are current coin in Mayo, Kerry, Donegal, and Leitrim. They are everywhere received over the counter in payment for tea, sugar, meal, oil, bread, tobacco, patent medicines, and general haberdashery. Accounts are kept open and j' good* supplied on credit in egss,

— Lovers of tne simple life should take themselves to Iceland, where the conditions appear to be ideal. 'lhere are no manufactories in the country; each home is a factory, and every member of the family a "'hand." For tfto tS,OOO population theie is but one policeman, says the Tatl-er. Tbero js no gaol, nor a court in which anyone accused oi a crime could be tried, ibhould anyone break the law he would be token to .Denmark to answer tor his iiisdteds. The women are among the most ' advanced in tlie world. Their political ■ league has a membership of 7COO, and they enjoy jnoro civil rights than ihe women of almost any country, having a- voice in all elections save that for members of their . legislative body. — £vo fewer than 26,140 sailing and steam vteseis are engaged in the fishing industry , around the coast of the Omted Kingdom, and it is interesting to observe that Scotlaud leads the way in respect to* the ownership oi these small but seaworthy crait. 01 the number mentioned, close upon 10,000 boats belong to the country north of the Tweed, whilst England has to her cietlit 8962. Ireland makes a good show i with 7230 boats, only nine of which, how- ' ever, are propeiicd by steam. —It haj been related of James Broadbridge, ot Sussex, that he became so attached to his bat tliat he would even use it as a walking stick, whilst George Anderson, of Yorkshire, on more than one occasion took his " to bed with him. Old John Bowyer's bat was nailed to his coffinlid. Daniel Day, of Surrey and Hamp- ' si ire, when lie died left directions that his ' bat (worm-eaten with, age), pads, and walk-ing-stick should be buried with him, which was done- Johnny Mullagh, a member , of the Australian aboriginal team which , visited England in 1t63, died at Harrow, in Australia, in August, 1891, and on lis ; coffin was placed his bat and a set of •' stumps decorated with the Harrow colours. : — Whenever an inn on the Cumberland

estates of the Howards, Earls of Carlisle, loses its license, the inn sign is buried. The obsequies take place at dead of night, in the presence of as many of the old customers as can be collected. As a sort of libation a bottle, of -spirits, generally whisky, is poured into the grave, and an appropriate burial service is repeated. The

temperance advocates in the crowd cheer

lustily, and the droughty element become

mook mourners, or jesters, as the fancy

takes them.

The strains of a concertint

or some similar instrument usually help to enliven the proceedings. The last inn to have its signboard buried was the Moor ; Cock, at Lanercost, whose licer.se was taken away by the Brampton justices. — Lourdes, that wonderful place which owes so much to the liberality of the Duke of Norfolk, is filled to overflowing just now with pilgrims from all parts of the Continent. In these modern days it appears strange to hear of countless invalids, by no means belonging to the uneducated class, undertaking' a long, wearisome journey, buoyed up by a belief that a miracle j may restore them to health when medical science has failed to do O so. Yet such is ' the faith these patient suff erers have j in the "waters of Lourdes that the number !Of pilgrims increases every year. Nearly [ a thousand persons were recently conveyed from Paris alone in the s>adly-re-nowned "white pilgrims' t:ain," which, it may be remembered, is set apart for the worst cases. There are, however, 19 other ! trains, respectively known by the different colours hoisted on them, which, filled with pilgrims whose physical condition ,is less , alarming, start for the Lourde's shrine with , their human freight of devout, prayerful ; passengers, hoping a cure will result from |, the plunge into the alleged miraculous 'waters.