MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 66

MULTUM IN PARVO.

So unpopular is the number 13 that, in some hotels and blocks of flats, it is omitted altogether. There are 32 waterfalls within a distance of 134 miles on the Congo River. Every year wood and pulp import* to the value ot £6,000,000 enter Great Britain. Smoking began as a religious rite among the natives of America. There are between 30.0H0 and 40,000 different specie** of insect known. The heaviest average rainfall in the world oceUiS on the Malabar coast. Wi.ehss provides work directly tor about 40,000 people in Great Britain. At Windsor Palace is a carpet, made in Baghulpore, India, that weighs three teas. . '. ' Nowadays a very beautiful imitation of tortoise-shell is made of cows’ horns. A tax was imposed on bachelors and widowers in 1605, but it was repealed in 1706. The first tube railway in the world was the City and South London line, opened in 1890. British Treasury notes are suffic.cnt, if equally divided, to pay £6 per head of the population. Taxes for using armorial bearings on motor cars and carriages are paid by about 35,000 persons in Great Britain. London’s public-houses have decreased by 1738 since 1904. There are now 5398 in the County Council area. Sunspots, already blamed for upsetting the weather, .are now under suspicion of affecting wireless broadcasting. —An electric dish-washer used in a London restaurant .’s capable of washing pieces of crockery in an hour. —ln India ebout 2,500,000 acres of land are under sugar-cane cultivation. Bibles numbering over 10,000,000 were issued last year by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The ..odern honeymoon trip originated in th« days of George 11, and .speedily came into general use. People grow raore rapidlv during the first year after birth than they ever do again in the course of their lives. Workers ir. Mie artificial silk factories seem to be almost immune fro.n influenza, because of the chemicals used Twelve ambulance stations are mam twined by the London County Council. The nbulances deal with some 600 cases a week. Children at Meavy, Devon, are to called to school bv the beating of a drum instead of the more prosaic bell-ringing. A prominent physician declares that a plentiful diet of onions, served in various ways, will protect children from many ills. Mars has a civilisation, extending back for at least 90.000 years, according to one American scientist. The Roy J Barge, which was built by King Wil .n for his Queen in 1689, is probably the oldest boat in England An ailment similar to hav fever can be caused in many ,>eople by the odou r of certain animals—notably cats, dogs, and horses. - - The first honorary diploma of the Society of Apothecaries wv* awarded to the Prince of Wales. His Royal Highness io now licensed to “practise medicine and surge n*.” A cheque for . .796, handed to "the Ponder. County Council by the London General Omnibuß Company for the renewal of bus licenses, \vorks out at £B4 per bus. Among the tradespeople- entitled to proclaim themselves “By appointment to lI.M. the King” are a chiropodist* shirtmakers, hairdressers, plumbers, hot-house manufacturers, and makers of iamb food tionc. school fees, and other regular payments. can be made through his bank by a 113 one win, has an account. All he lias to do is to sign an order authorising the bank to .nuke the payment at the requited nines. Seventeen years’ labour on the part of a Spanish peasant has resulted in his acquiring a house carved out of a solid ro» k. It possesses a balcony, garret and cellar. Barking dogs which become a nuisance can now be “cured” by having their barks removed, as a result oi experiments carried out by the American Veterinary Medical Association. —Of the samples of milk tested by the English Min's try of Health no fewer than 4773 out of 62,133 were found to lie adu’terated or below standard. Thiß represents a percentaire of over 74. There are in Great Britain six women “airmen,” 23 feminine chimney sw.cps, and 149 women undertakers. —Of the alarms received by the London Fire Brigade last year, nearly onequarter .-ame dir' 4 ly over the telephone For perhaps the first time for centuries, a dance recently took place in the lower of London. It was held in the officers’ mess. Deer herds in England number 43, and include something like 8000 animals. At least one of these herds dates back to 1576. The Ist of January has not always been the first day of the year. For 700 years prior to th fifteenth century the year commenced on Christmas Day. The cliff wiiere more sea birds are said to build .their nests than in anv other place in the world is on the coast of Norway. It is 1000 ft high, and goes by the name of Svoerhaltklubben. Our skulls are changing in shape, according to Miss V. George, a London scientist, who believes that our faces are glowing longer aud narrower. —ln the fourteenth century armou v became so heavy that many soldiers only 30 years old were deformed or permanently disabled bv it veeight. New coinage in silver, nickel, and bronze is suggested for the Irish Free State. The proposed money will bear Irish designs instead of the King’s head. The total number of houses in “Mcirie England” in 1698 was 1,319,215. The population was about 5.600,000, less than the population of London alone at the present dav. The London stockbrokers are said to wear out the floor of the Stock Exchange every five years. This means that the floor is worn away to the depth of half an inch.