MULTUM IN PARVO

Otago Witness, Issue 3619, 24 July 1923, Page 51

MULTUM IN PARVO

Two toy balloons set free in Brighton were discovered later at Cassel, having travelled tiie 365 miles to the German town in 12 hours. Oanals to irrigate the Plain of Jordan, round the Lead Sea, are proposed. Wide areas covered with fertile so.l could ■ then be cultivated. Mail aeroplanes flying without pilots and controlled by an electric current, are regarded as events of the rear future by French aviators. Spain's famous bullfights are suffering from trade union strikes and “rings”; the latter are formed by the breeders to inflate the price of bulls. Whalebone brushes are now being made for household use; they are resilient to the end, and push the dust before them instead of raising it in a cloud. There aro 12,588,949 motor vehicles in operation in the world, and of these over 10,500,000 are in the United States. Water freezes every night of the year in Alto Crucero, Bolivia, while at noonday the sun is hot enough to blister the flesh. London school children, on the average, are 12 months in advance of children of the same age in New York or Pans in intelligence. The proportion of “dull” scholars in London schools is only one in every 10. —Complete with operating theatre, kitchen, and saloons, a derelict hospital train in Mesopotamia now serves a native sheikh as a Turkish bath; the train cannot be moved, as it stands on a side track which was destroyed some time ago. —London’s population of 7,476,168 puts it well at the head of European cities. Next come Berlin, 4,080,000; Paris, 3.C00, (XX); Vienna, 2,000,000; and Constantinople, 1,000,000. —The pike, though greedy and fond ox heavy meals, is siow growing, and is believed to live longer than any other species of fish. A Swiss naturalist has recorded the history of one that was 267 years old. It spent its entire existence os a prisoner in a fish pend. —A giant semi-rigid airship being constructed for the United States Government is to carry 12 small fighting aeroplanes. The airship will be able to put off the aeroplanes while in flight, and also to pick them up again. Secret experiments have shown that the aeroplanes can be picked up iu flight in a novel but simple manner. Each aeroplane is fitted with a large ring on its upper wings. A hook of considerable size is suspended from the airship. The aeroplane manoeuvres undei the airship, the hook catches the ring, and the aeroplane is pulled into the airship with ease. Why arc some people born lefthanded? (asks a Daily Chronicle writer). Do they differ, and how do they differ, from other people? An eminent physi ologist, Dr Franz Deuticke, of Vienna, has been going into the problem. And his conclusion is startling. It is this: That lcft-handedness means an abnormal sex balance; that in both men and women the right side is the predominantly sexual one, and that, consequently, left-handed-ness means in a man more or less effeminacy and in a woman more or less masculinity. Curiously enough, the surest test of left-handedness is not that of throwing a stone. With a man it is the manner in which he normally clasps his hands together. men out of ten w ill do it with the right thumb uppermost. The tenth will have his left thumb on top, and he will be in some degree or other effeminate. Again, watch a woman manipulating h-r hairpins, always a fascinating performance. If she uses her left hand, her char acter will show the relative masculinity that attaches to left-hande<lness. There is no surer test. It is not without reason deep, physiological reason —that among all nations men wear their buttons on the right side and women on the left. Tradi tion has nothing to do with it any more than it explains the diverse w-ays in which men and women strike matches, sharpen pencils, and thread needles. The most extraordinary road in the world is one of glass running between Roaring Mountain and Golden Gate, in the Yellowstone Parle, United States. When a route had been mapped out, engineers discovered that they would have to find a way of cutting down part of a mountain of volcanic glass to make a path for the road. Obsidian Cliff, 250 ft high and 4COOft "wide, stretched across the way, glistening blade glass with streaks of red and yellow'. The engineers tried many kinds of blasting and heavy charges of dynamite, hut with no good result. Amongst the workers was a man who formerly had worked as a glass-blower, and he suggested heating the obstruction to a h gh temperature and then spraying it with water. Big bonfires cf dry logs were lighted along the line of the highway for about three-quarters of a mile, arid were kept burning for 50 hours. Ice cold water was used to spray the side of the cliff. Suddenly the mountain exploded, and when the smoke had cleared awav it was seen that a. part of it which had blocked the road-making operations had gone. The mass of glass debris was used for the building of the thoroughfare, it being almost as hard as flint. There are many worn pennies in circulation, and banks, post offices, transport companies, and others have been asked by the London Vint to co-operate in accelerating their withdrawal. Chiefly, the notice concerns pennies issued between 1860 and 1394, which are stamped with the uncrowned head of Queen Victoria. The process of withdrawing there coins has been going on for some time; but it will he years before they pass completely out of circulation. The total value of the pennies issued during the reign of Queen Victoria amounted to £2,184,706. Since her death the amount issued has almost doubled. The first pennies, made of copper, issued during the late Queen’s reign, were larger than those of later years. They bore the hare head, and underneath it the date. On the reverse side was the seated figure of Britannia, with the rose, thistle, and shamrock below. The first change of any importance was made in 1860. The metal of the pennies was altered to bronze, and the weight of the coin was halved. A wreath of laurel was placed on the head. The rose, shamrock, and thistle were removed from the reverse, making room for the date, whilst on one side of the figure of Britannia appeared the lighthouse and on the other the shin. In 1896 Sir Thomas Brock modelled the design for the head with crown and veil. The lighthouse and ship disappeared, and the lettering and figure «f Britannia were increased in size.