MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3833, 30 August 1927, Page 62

MULTUM IN PARVO.

•—“ Nag.” the word used by us to describe a horse or a fault-finding woman, means to the natives of parts of India a snake god. — The University of Vales has no chair for Welsh history. —ln Yucatan, Mexico, there are 62 ruined and abandoned cities. — Every time the clock ticks the British Government departments spend £26 10s. — Cricket pitches in the open spaces maintained by the L.C.C. now number 236. — Tennis coaches are provided to teach ambitious players on public park courts in Glasgow. — The cost of an elephant is now about £4OO. . , — Except for certain apes, animals are immune from measles. — Trial by jury in England dates from the reign of Ethelred I, 866-8/1 A.n. — In all countries more marriages take place in June .than in any other month. —lt is calculated that 350 acres of British land are annually devoted to interments. — Over £lOO,OOO has been spent in protecting the Lincolnshire (England) coast against the sea. —According to an eminent doctor, the .excessive use of salt tends to paralyse the sense of taste. •—The swiftest fish is the dolphin. It can swim for short distances at the rate of 25 miles an'hour. .—A man's brain attains to its maximum weight at the age of 20 years; that of a woman at 17 years. — Handbags are of many sizes and shapes, a recent novelty being modelled as a bulldog, almost as large as life. — Bracelets designed from coconut shells and ornamented with gems and precious metals are popular in Europe. — Iron railings cast in Kent for St. Paul's Cathedral’ more than two centuries ago are now in Toronto, Canada. — Tents of cheesecloth cover the tobacco fields of Cuba as a protection against insects and weather conditions. —Among some Indian tribes it is regarded as improper for a mother-in-law to speak to her daughter’s husband. —ln intellect, ideals, artistic achievement, and muscular prowess the people of to-day are no better than those of 3000 years ago, according to Professor Millikan, the world-famous scientist. — Whilst on a recent world tour, a German cruiser sounded the ocean between Celebes and Nagasaki (Japan), and reached a depth of six and a-half miles. This figure constitutes a record. — Motor cars have a longer history than many people imagine. The first passenger-carrying “ car ” was tested in Cornwall in 1800, and reached a “ speed ” of eight miles an hour on the flat. — Each year there are fewer candidates for ordination in the Church of England. The church loses about 600 clergymen each year, and last year the number of new clergymen was only 363. — The Queen’s Doll’s House is now permanently installed in a room in Windsor Castle. This room has now been decorated by a new frieze 138 ft long, which contains 300 horses and 3000 figures, and depicts the King’s coronation procession. — China last year bought 4.142,000 Bibles, nearly half the number issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society in that period. — Refreshments, including coffee, lager beer, wine, and sandwiches, are now served on certain of the tramcars running in Vienna. — Photographs can now be satisfactorily developed on a recently-discovered fabric which can be washed and “ done up ” when necessary. — Two blackbirds built a nest and reared a family in the kitchen of an unfinished house which was being erected by the Bangor (India) Corporation. —A bequest to his daughter Dorothy of one halfpenny and to his son Harry of one. farthing has been made by Mr Henry Frceborough, of Bulwell, Notts, England. — Much amusement was caused during a musical festival at Buxton, England, by a cat chasing a mouse round the platform. — Whalebone, once used so much in the making of corsets, is now mainly employed as bristles in hair and other brushes. —An old lady has died in Devon whose father was descended from Sir Walter Raleigh, and whose mother was a daughterof Nelson’s sister. —-To popularise wireless reception, the Italian Government proposes to exact a small radio tax from all householders whether they have sets or not. —An experiment on deaf and dumb persons showed that 116 out of 120 deaf mutes were able to hear wireless sounds by means of a seven-valve set. — Each household in Britain uses on an average 74cwt of coal a year. This is nearly double the consumption per house of any other country. —A thousand boys are serving apprenticeships for skilled work in the technical corps of the British Army, and places are to be found for more. — The fibre of the Mexican pineapple leaf can be made into a fabric as soft and beautiful as silk, as well as into ropes, threads, twine, mats, and paper. — Recently appointed medical officer of health for Enfield, England. Dr D. Geffen. who is only 29 years of age, is believed to be the youngest M.O.H. in England. — Pills are now coated and coloured to look like fancy beads, while castor oil. the “ bogey ” of all children, is tinted and made up into a good, imitation of a fruit pastille in these days. — The study of crime is to be carried out in a new college just established in San Francisco, U.S.A. Various degrees will be given to students, the principal one being Consulting Criminologist, —A boy sent an apology to the Hull (England) magistrates for disregarding a summons for playing football in the streets, saying he was busy completing his sixth year of perfect attendance at school. He was bound over. — Isabella Rae, aged 13, has received the highest honour of the Girl Guide*, the Silver Cross, for pushing a two-year-old child out of the way of a motor car at Aberdeen. Scotland. She was herself seriously hurt.