MULTUM IN PARVO

Otago Witness, Issue 3414, 20 August 1919, Page 53

MULTUM IN PARVO

Marriages numbered 178,108 in the United Kingdom for tho last quarter of 1918. Property "and income- tax realised £291,186,000 in the year ending March 31 last. The Christian population of India now numbers nearly four million. The ordinary sparrow oan fly at the rate of 72 miles an hour . Darwin's birthplace, Mount House, Shrewsbury, England, has just been sold. Patent medicines yield over £300,000 to tho British Exchequer per annum in duty. There are words in the Chinese language which have as many as 40 different meanings. the King's personal property, contains over 6000 diamonds. • ' Every year the British Home Office costs the nation more than a quarter of a million of money. ■ Duty On playing-cards was paid to the amount of £2 in..-Scotland and £47.865 in England during 'the recent excise year. —On water alone a horse can live 25 days, but he will only last five days eating solid food without drinking. A woman's chance of marriage is greatest between the ages of 20 and 25, when 52 oer cent, of marriages take place. _ > The extreme saltness of the Adriatio Sea is accounted for by the comparatively small quantity of fresh water poured into it by rivers. —ln his will Mr P. W. Lach, a director of the Bon Marche, Brixton, London, who left £14,598, thanked his wife ."for her devotion to me during our married life." The heaviest baby in Allentqwn, Pennsylvania, is a boy weighing 251 b, torn in the family of Peter Hlashouski. The mother is 23 years old. —By tossing a coin Balock (Herts) Urban Council decided which of two overseers should serve the longer. —So light is the touch of the native .barber of India that he can shave a customer while asleep without waking him. The cost of the'upkeep of London's streets averages a million, and a-half yearly. This includes maintenance, repair, and cleansing. Cleansing—that is, scavenging, watering, and cleaning—accounts for £700,000 of the total. . •—Like mortals, big steel bridges feel the changes in the weather, and must be built to withstand them, or perish. In the heat of summer a bridge is appreciably longer than it is in winter, and at various times of the year it may be longer on one side than on the other, as when a hot sun plays on one flank, and a cold wind impinges on the other. The "breathing apparatus of a bridge consists of rollers under the feet at one end, so that the end can move to and fro freely according to the expansion and contraction of the huge Provision is made in the case of the Forth bridge or as much as 2ft of "breathing' of the immense cantilevers. % A marked distinction between the Jew and his neighbour is his longevity. This a attributed to the strict dietary laws of the "chosen race, ' and to the frequent ablutions which their religious ceremonial demands. It is a truly significent fact that those Jews who abstain from eating pprk are practically free from cancer. Apparently, if the Jews know how to accumulate money, they also know how to preserve good health, for they enjoy remarkable immunity from consumption, cholera, and typhus. In 1348, when the Black Death was raging throughout England, the Jews were exempt from the plague. Jews are, of course, subject to the ordinary ailments of life, but they can boast of an average longer life than any other race. —lt 13 hard to believe that the airplane is really a safer means of transportation, in safe hands, than is a railroad. But this idea must first get into the popular mind. The average citizen is rstill frightened at the prospect of leaving the ground and having no support except the air itself. Yet at the speed which we expect an airplane to maintain—7o to 80 miles an hour—there is no means o'f transportation so safe. The obstructions that cause accidents with trains and automobiles do not exist ior flying craft. A locomotive has to follow a definite track, 'which "may be obstructed, or the slightest dislocation of wh.ch may cauie a great disaster. # Ambergris, which forms a basis for nearly all the best-quality perfumes and scents, is found in an unattractive-looking mass floating on the sea or lodged upon the shore. It is not known how such an unlikely substance suggested itself as a perfume, but it "has .been in use for centuries. Its origin, however., has only been discovered comoaratively recently. It is a morbid secretion of the liver of a sick sperm whale, and ashen-coloured and waxy in appearance. Although unpleasant to sight and touch, it gives off a fragrant, musky odour when warmed, even in its raw and unprepared state. In tin's crude form it is subjected to chemical action to extract the active principle, called amberine. from which the perfume is actually derived. This peculiar substance is also used as a remedy for catarrh and nervous diseases, and is very valuable, the largest piece on record, weighing 1301 b, being sold for £520. Nature, wonderful Nature, is a sweet, motherly person. She provides remedies for all sort* of invalid?, whether human, animal, bird, or insect. They all receive the same kind, unfailing consideration. There' is no distinction. A severe headache is a common complaint with Mr Bruin. When attacked acutely he will amble along to the nearest hollow tree and smell out tho bees, who in turn become highly indignant, and the intruder unmercifully. But Mr Bruin doesn't mind. With a snort and a shrug he ambles off home again. His head ache is cured. The boar is a_ staunch believer in the medicinal_ qualities of the ivy-leaf, and when feeling out sorts chooses ivy-leaves as a restorative. Donkeys are frequent victims to melancholia : but a tonic is close at hand in the scale fern. It is a sure refresher, and bucks them up wonderfully. The chameleon is a perfectly harmless little creature. It has, however, one hereditary enemy in the crow. If they should happen to meet, a battle-royal races. But cautious Mr Crow is aware of his rival's poisonous qualities, and before waging war eats a leaf or two af laurel as a preventive against poisoning. Even the busy lifrtlo bee has an enemy. Sometimes it is attacked by numerous verv tiny Insects. When Infested with these small mites the enraged one makes off to the nearest ant-hill and Causes a commotion. The angry ante come but and attack, but, falling foul of the mites, they destroy or carry them all off. The bee, thus delivered of his aggressors, calmly wings itself away.