MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO.

I —About 10,000 herrings go to a ton. About one in four of the deaths in tha British navy are due to drowning. The eyes of a chameleon move independently of one another. A parliamentary candidate convicted of bribery is for ever disqualified from •representing the constituency where the pffence f was committed. A mill will shortly be established in Sweden for spinning yarn from paper. Fifty thousand tons of soot are taken from London's chimneys every year. Acetylene torches for use in cases of dense fog have been supplied to the police stations of Paris.

—lr the House of Lords no question can be decided on a division, unless 30 peers, at least, take paTt in the vote. Despite the advance of steam, there still are nearly 66,000 sailing vessels in use in the world.

Lake Superior, the largest body of fresh water in the world, is about equal to Ireland in area.

Following an American example, English specialists have organised an illuminating engineering society. China's postal routes cover 88,000 miles and there are 3493 post offices, as compared with 176 in 1901. The House of Lords originated in the King's Great Council as it existed in the reigns immediately following the Conquest. Blackmail was originally a compulsory payment for the protection of cattle _in the Border counties,, but was prohibited in 1601 by Elizabeth.

—lt lias been estimated by a competent authority that the cost of illustrations for the British eleotion will total something like three-quarters' of a million. Bangor Council have decided engage an expert to examine the collection of oil paintings-that is supposed to contain old masters in the local museum.

A Cape of Good Hope permy stamp, which was described in. the catalogue as "blue error lightly cancelled," was sold for £3O at Puttick an>d Simpson's, London. The mental condition ot the average man on the subject of feminine politics is one of bewilderment. There is, to begim with, his initial doubt as to whether it is posible for him to understand woman at all.

Known as the "Old English Record' Irrk." there ie a special writing fluid officially prescribed for use by registrars of births, deaths, and marriages in Britain.

The combined salaries of the seven Ministers forming the Executive Council of 'the- Australian Commonwealth are limited to a total of £12,000 a year.

Following a visit of Mr Keir Hardie and other M.P.'s to Holloway Prison, chairs instead of stools are now baing supplied for prisoners in the cells there. Though never used since 1836, there is l a parliamentary regulation providing *-f or a •roll-call of the House of Commons to secure a full attendance when an important measure is under consideration. Mostly paid in in sums from Id to £l, the Glasgow Savings Bank's deposits last year exceeded £1,000,000, and its:. total funds have topped £11,000,000 The bank is voluntarily governed. ' —We admit that man is, by -nature, a quarrelsome animal, though the ancienta asserted him to be by nature social. —Daily Mirror.

—An offensive star© is recognised the world- over, but the calm, impersonal gaze of the average foreigner is not offensive. It is simply his way of observing life. — Truth.

A Los Angeles barber has invented an electro magnetic razor hone, the honing stone being surrounded by a magnet which holds a blade tevel and in close contact with the sharpening surface. A European inventor has brought, out a parachute hood which he claims may be used on any aeroplane without hindering its flight, yet which will prevent disaster should the machine fall. A North Dakota man has patented a hammer with a loop of metal under the face of the Head in which a nail can be held for starting into place without danger of smashing the user's fingers. The natives of the interior of Ceylon finish the walls and roofs of their houses with a paste of slackened lime, gluten, and alum, which glazes, and becomes so durable that specimens' three centuries old still exist. Many old Buddhist temples in India and Ceylon had roofs made out of cut stone blocks, hewed timber: and split bamboo ■poles. • Germany possesses a miniature but most useful railway, of which the chief ■peculiarity is that its trains have no drivers. It is used for carrying salt from the salt mines at Strassfurt. The train consists of 30 trucks, each carrying half a ton of salt. The engines are electric, of 24 horse-power each. As the train approaches a station, of which there are five along the line, it automatically rings a bell., and the station attendant turns a switch to receive it. He is able to stop it at any moment. To start it again he stands on the locomotive, switches the current, and then descends' before the engine has gained speed.' Anyone who has tried with outstretched hand to catch a fly cannot fail to have noticed its wonderful alertness in escaping. One reason for this is the fact that the fly was watching- the movements of ita would-be captor out, of all or mo6t of it' eight thousand and three eyes. Another reason for its rapid retreat is that instead of seeing one hand coming towards it, the flv would have seen at least 7500 hands, all looking alike, and all moving down upon it in the same_ direction. _ _A third reason of the fly's nimbleness is its ability to vibrate its wings nearly 700 times in ■ --"ond, and to travel through the air at the rate of a mile in two minutes and a-half, or 24 miles an hour.

—lt has been computed that the average growth of the finger nail is 1-32 of an inch per week, or a little more than an inch and a-balf per year. The growth, however, depends to a great extent upon the rate of nutrition, and during periods of sickness it is retarded. It goes on faster in summer than in. winter, and differs for different fingers, being- most rapid in. the middle finger and slowest an the thumb. According to the rate of growth stated, the average time taken, for each finger nail to grow its full length is about four and a-half months, and at this rate a. man of 70 would have renewed his nails 186 time®. Taking the length of each nail at half an inch, ho would have grown seven feet nine inches of nail on eaoh finger, and on all his fingers and thumbs an aggregate Vngth of 77ft 6in. • ■ .

A Trench medical man has gone far to reduce facial expression to an exact science- by classifying the various muscles called into play to denote every emotion, to -which a human being- is subject. Ho has made a chart of th© face, showing that the laughter muscles are in the middle of the cheeks, those which denote anger at the top of the nose, and those which express scorn, hate, and sadness at the. corners of the mouth. The muscles of surprise are above the forehead, and those of disgust' beneath the lower lip. The eye is m itself absolutely without expression. _ All its changes, its lights and shadows, its looks of "love, pity, amusement, or hatred are derived from the eyelids And the muscles that surround it. The lips, as a rule, play the most prominent part in expressing the feelings; while as for the nose, it has no expressiveness at all, except for the nostrils, which are lifted to exhibit disgust or widened to show eagerness or pride.