BITS FROM BOOKS.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 16, Issue 84, 24 October 1905, Page 8

BITS FROM BOOKS.

T ue hittites in amkrica.— The America* cc:itirent was originally peopled from two dii' erent directions, the one being the Northeastern coast of Asia, the other, the Malay ar. i Polynesian archipelagos. The American tribes of insular derivation have everywhere been displaced, for they are found in the eastern parts of (he continent as Algonquins, &c. Who displaced them ? The more warlike tribes of continental origin that, through many ages, poured southward from the Aictic limits of Alaska to Tierra del Fuego There is no reason for supposing the Algonqirns to have been very ancient colonists of A;..erica, for remnants of the same oceanic mi (ration still occupy the western coasts. It is possible, however, that they arrived b( ore the beginning of the Christian era. T(*o Mayas and Quiches of Yucatan and Guatemala are of their stock, and their strange system of hieroglyphics is believed to be related to characters found on Easter Island, and to the most ancient Chinese symbols. These tribes brought with them , traditions of the Hittitesupremacy in Egypt, P.destine, and Chaldea. The first historical American people of continental origin is the great race of the Toltccs, whose rule was established in Mexico in the beginning of the Bth century, a. d. The arrival of successive Khitan (Hittite) waves drove the American tribes of oceanic origin into the East. The Mound Builders, whose works are found from British Columbia to Michigan, and abound in the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, according to Iroquois and Algonquin tradition, were the Allighwei, descendants of those Alazones whose mounds Herodotus saw in European Scythia. They belonged to the Amalekite or Yemenite tribe, and the proud name of Amalek still finds its living representatives among the Esquimaux.— The Hittites .- Their Inscriptions and their History. By John Campbell, M.A., M.D. (London: J. C. Nimmo.) ■ Chinese Healing Arts. Chinese doctors profess to .be able to diagnose disease by the state of the pulse only. 1 heir knowledge of anatomy and physiology is almost nil; yet in place of exact knowledge they .substitute the most absurd theories. The nature of disease being unknown, they attribute to the influence of the ‘ five leements’ the onset of disease. To a large extent the physilogical action of drugs is unknown, and most wonderful healing properties are attributed to such substances as dragons’ teeth, fossils, tiger bones* pearls, etc. A Chinese doctor examines the pulse of each wrist of his patient with much solemnity, the sick person’s hand resting meantime upon a cushion, while the friends stand round watchingthe operation with muchawe. The tongue is then examined and a prescription written out; the doctor then departs after giving his diagnosis and going into long explanations of what is taking place in his patient’s interior. Many of the Chinese wonder much that foreign physicians should' make so many inquiries of their patients: they think that they should be able to find out all about such matters from the condition of the pulse. In most cases of sickness idols, astrologers, and fortune-tellers are consulted Disease is generally attributed to the anger of the gods, or to a visitation of evil spirits • the priests, indeed, teach this for their own ends. Charms are in general use to expel evil spirits and pacify the offended gods, and many idolatrous rites are employed. The noise of gongs and fire-crackers used in these observances is constantly heard, and of necessity proves very injurious to a patient whose nervous system is weakened by disease. The charms are written out and pasted about the sick room ; sometimes these marvellous pieces of paper are burned, and the ashes used to make a decoction, which the patient is ordered to drink. It is not wonderful therefore that medical science being in so unsatisfactory a state in China, the cures wrought by the foreign doctors seem to the people little short of miraculous; and in many cases the difficulty is not to get the people to believe in the foreign medical man, ont rather for them to understand there is a lirmt to his healing power.— John Kenneth Mackenzie, Medical Missionary to China By Mrs. Bryson. (London: Hodder and Stoughton.) , How Meissonier got his Effects.— A writer in the Contributors’ Club in the Atlantic gives a characteristic anecdote of Meissonier, which shows how that painter ot the soldier secured accuracy of effect • At Saint-Germain, which stands on a bend of the river above Poissy, separated by a Mnp of forest land, the eccentri;, almost dwarfish figure of old Meissonier was also well known. Not a raw recruit in the cavalry regiment quartered there but could tell you his name, coupling it with the familiarly affectionate appellation of father.” Among •?u°A. Cers f his , P°P u 'arity was associated with that of the great Napoleon, whose memory he had done so much to serve, i remember, two or three summers •go. hearing a young sous-lieutenant of chasseure, then stationed at the town, desonbe an encounter he had had with le pare Meissonier. Early in the morning, it appeared, he had been abroad exercising his squad, and was returning with it at a footpace along one of those straight, intermidable avenues which traverse the forest, when midway a tall yellow dogcart swooped down upon him. Aloft sat a little old bonhomme, whose patriarchal beard floated to the wind like the famed white plume of Navarre. •• Hola IM. I’Officier I" the little man shouted, when within earshot.. Hardly waiting to draw rein, he s«t|mbiei£iprecipitately over the wheels of the charntte, *nd presented his card. It w*s our tenant’s turn to spring to earthy "OLfchat service can I be to Meissonier ?”. loan of your men. man officier'," cried7the fiery artist, ”an affair of ten minutes 1 <,You consent? Tresbien! Follow'me." -Away rattled the yellow charrette at racing sbeed (Meissonier would brook no laggard.in his stables), our blue-coated chasseurs clattering fast on its tracks. .• Presently, they passed the borders of the forest, apd entered a wheat-field which skirted the road; tmpro- 1 tected by fence or hedge, as is the custom i hi most parts of France. The grain was ripe for harvest, and already a peasant proprietor. assisted by two or three farm lads had begun operations at an upper corner. Calling halt to the company, Meissonier •ped across the field to a parley with the farmers. An animated pantomime took place, in which coin of the country seemed to flow uncounted from capacious shooting■acket pockets to some secret receptacle under the voluminous blue blouse. Then pack again, aglow with generous enthunasm. " Now my dear sir.” the old painter cried, " all I have to ask you is to station your men yonder, under shadow of those trees. At a signal from in e—tiensl I’ll flutter this handkerchief—make a bee-line through the grain. Gallop straight for me.” The officer did as desired, and was met b v Meissonier in a high state of excitement. "Faster! faster!” he shouted, gesticulating wildly, notebook in one hand and crayon in the other. ** Try it again ! M Half a dozip times at least the soldiers charged and devastated indeed lay that golden grainUeld before word was given to desist They were then courteously thanked and dismissed with a forty-franc pourboire that “, c « bra ™ infants might wet their throats after such dry work." When last in sight the old painter (verging at the time, be it remembered, on his eiglityth year), occupied a grotesque attitude in tho middle of the beaten held, taking an upside down view of bis surroundings.

ALADDIN. When I was a beggarly boy, And lived in a cellar damp, I had not a friend nor a toy, But I had Aladdin’s lamp ; When I could not sleep for cold. I had fire enough in my brain, And builded, with roofs of gold, My beautiful castles in Spain I Since then I have toiled day and night, I have money and power good store, But I’d give all my lamps of silver bright For the one that is mine no more ; Take, Fortune, whatever you choose, You gave, and may snatch again; I have nothing ’twould pain me to lose, For I own no more castles in Spain 1 j'ames Russell Lowell. A MODEL SON. Fussy old gentleman to a chance travel ling companion in a railway carriage: ” Have you any children, madam ?” " Yes, sir; a son.” " Ah, indeed 1 Does he smoke ?” "No, sir; he has never as much a: touched a cigarette.” “So much the better, madam. The use of tobacco is a poisonous habit. Does he frequent the club ?’’ " He has never put his foot in one.” " Allow me to congratulate you. Does lie come home late ?” " Never. He goes to bed directly aftei dinner.” “ A model young man, madam—a mode 1 , young man. How old is he ?’’ " Two months.” MEN IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA It is now pretty well established, says Professor Shaler in " Scribner’s Magazine," that the American horse is as good as any o his kindred in the world, as is proved not only by the race-horse, but by the wonderful savalry marches made during the civil wai, inarches in which the sorest part of the con test came upon the mounts of the soldiery. Our ordinary field sports have, except lacrosse, been derived from England. Even base-ball, which appears as a distinctively American game, is but a modification of an 'English form of sport, which is really of great antiquity. The field sports which we nay compare in England and America nxe •.he games of ball, in which base-ball, because of our customs, must take the place if cricket, and foot-ball, which is identical in the two countries ; rifle-shooting, rowing, and the ordinary group of athletic sports in which single contestants take part. We mayadd to this the amusement of sailing, . wherein, however, the quality of the structure as well as the nerve and skil in management play an important part. It is now clear, however, that in them all the American is not a bit behind his trans-Atlantic cousins. The most of the people have the same spon taneous interest in sports as their fore fathers, and they pursue them with equal success. It is unnecessary to do so, but we might fairly rest the conclusion as to the undecayed physical vigour of our population on that spontaneous activity of mind without which games are impossible. Among its manyjbeneficent deeds the United States Sanitary Commission did a remarkable service to anthropology by measuring, in as careful a manner as the condition of our knowledge at the time permitted, about 250,000 soldiers of the Federal Army. The records of the measurements are contained in the admirable work of Dr. B. A. Gould, a distinguished astronomer, who collated the observations and presented them in a great volume. Similar measurements exist which present us with the physical status of something like an equally large number of European soldiers, particularly those of the British army. From Dr. Gould’s careful discussion of these statistics, it appears that the American man is on the whole quite as well developed as those who fill the ranks of European armies. A CYCLIST S EXPERIENCE. Cyclists who ride a great deal generally manage to get together a nice little collection of incidents, accidents, and wayside adventures. It is six years since I first commenced riding a bicycle, and during that time I have quite had my share of them. The most amusing and ridiculous experiences take place in the first few days of •* riding,” or perhaps it would bo more correct to say falling.’’ During my first week I found that if a vehicle was coming toward me, the best thing to do was to charge at it, and I generally managed to get past in safety, while if I wished to keep in the centre of the road, I generally managed to do so by trying to get into the ditch. But the most exciting ride, and the nearest shave to what would no doubt have been an awful accident, took place last summer. At the time I was on a tour in the North of England; and, on the day in question, had ridden thirty miles, which was about my average distance, as I stopped at every place en route which had any particular interest attached to it. I was riding a bicycle without a brake, which is a most foolish thing to do, unless the country is very flat. About seven o'clock in the evening I was approaching a small town, where I meant to put up for the night, and was going at a steady pace, when a sudden turn in the road brought me without any warning whatever to the top of a long, steep hill. If I had had time to consider, I should, no doubt, have thrown myself off before the bicycle had attained any great speed, but, before I had time to take in the situation, I was rattling down the hill at such a tremendous rate, that it was as much as I could manage to keep in the saddle. In half-a-minute I would be at the bottom of the hill, and I was already thinking of congratulating myself, when I saw something in front which ibsolutely bonified me. / | At the bottom of the hill was a railway ; crossing, the gates of which had, on the previous day, been smashed to pieces by a train running through them ; the gates had not been replaced, but a man was stationed there with a red flag, showing that danger was ahead, and, to complete the situation, I could see the evening express coming towards the crossing at a tremendous rate. I knew that if I threw myself off my bicycle I should most certainly break my neck, and, if I stopped on, it seemed most probable that 1 should be smashed to atoms by the train ; however, I made up my mind to stick to my machine whatever might happen, so keeping in the centre of the road as well as I could, I steered straight for the crossing. The man with the red flag waved snd shouted frantically, but it was to no purpose, nothing* could stop me now, whether I wished it or not; the next moment I rushed across the metals, having cleared (he buffers of the express by two or three yards. I heard the rattle of the train behind me, and then a curious sensation came over me and I remembered no more. The excitement had been too much for me, and I had fainted. When I came to myself again, I was lying by the side of the road, and the man with the flag was bending over v me, and bathing my head with some water which he had obtained from a ditch. I had fallen on a low, mossy bank, and, with the exception of a severe shaking, and the effects d over excitement, I was not much the worse. The handle-bar of my bicycle was cent, mid a few spoken were out, so on lbwh ;!•-> 1 had a most wCsi levfu! sscarc

suicide of children: From January Ist to September 15th •890, 62 children, 46boys and 16 girls, committed suicide in Berlin. Of this number 24 had attained the age ol 15, 14 their 14th year, 9 their 13th, while 7 were only 12 years of age, and 1 had not attained the age of 7. In most of the eases the immediate cause for the act remains a secret, but it is supposed to have been due to exceptional severity on the part of servants or teachers. TWO OF A TRADE. A visitor at a restaurant noticed that the waiter invariably put the coppers into his waistcoat pocket, and when giving out change he was always a penny or two short, with the natural consequence that the guests made him a present of the small change. When our visitor came to settle his account this manoeuvre was repeated ; but he said to the waiter: "Just feel in your waistcoat pocket!” to which the astonished (jargon replied with a smile: " Been a waiter yourself sometime, I suppose ?" ' HISTORICAL TREES. On the road from Therapia to Buyukdere, on the Bosphoius, there stand in a beautiful meadow seven splendid plantations of immense size. They have been several times struck by lightning, split down the middle, and in some cases part of the trunk has been consumed by fire. Nevertheless, they are still fresh and vigorous, putting forth fresh leaves and branches every year. Under their shade Geoffery de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, encamped in the year 1096, with a portion of his suite, when on his way to rescue the holy places from the thraldom of the Saracens ; and popular belief attributes to this circumstance the wonderful vitality of these " Holy Trees.” JOSH BILLINGS' PHILOSOPHY. _ The most valuable thing in this world iz time, and yet people waste it as they do water, most ov them letting it run full ahead, and even the most prudent let it drizzle. The devil himself, with all his genius, always travels under an alias. This shows the power of truth and morality. A sekret is like an akiug tooth—it keeps us uneasy until it iz out. I have larnt one thing, bi grate experience, and that iz, I want az much watching as my nabors do. The only way to learn sum men how to do enny thing iz to do it .yourself. If a dog fails in love with you at first sight it will do to trust him ; not so with a man. One of the hardest things to do is to be a good listener. Tho re who are stone deaf succeed the bast. If yu don’t know how to lie, cheat and iteal, turn yure attention to pollyticks, and learn how. RECENT RESEARCHES ON SUNLIGHT. The researches of Professor S. P. Langley, the distinguished American astronomer who recently paid a visit to the Old Country, have largely increased our knowledge of the solar ladiation. These researches were made on an exceptionally good site, namely, Mount Whitney, in Southern California, a mountain 15,000 feet high, and situated in desert tracts where the air. is remarkably clear. T. he chief results of his observations are that pristine or extra-terrestrial sunlight is bluish, or, in other words the sun, if seen beyond the absorptive atmosphere of the earth, may appear blue. Moreover, the total loss of radiation by absorption of the atmosphere is nearly double what was formerly behoved. Solar radiation, according to Professor Langley, is capable of exerting over one horse-power per square yard of the normally exposed smiace, .or of melting a shell of sixty yards thick over the surface of the globs annually. It is probable, he remarks, that the human race owes its existence and preservation even more to the heat-storing action of the atmosphere than has been believed. A NORWEGIAN PILOT. Did you ever come across a Norwegian pilot ?" I asked, cherishing a sailor’s veneration for the indomitable courage of these Northern sea dogs. “ Did I?” he returned with warmth ; "I should think so. Why, only last year, bound for Christiansand, I came here in a dense fog that had lasted nearly all the way across. Knowing I ought to Ire pretty close ashore, I stopped her engines and blew the whistle; but not a yard ahead could I see, and as night set in I don’t deny I didn’t Hke-ifc. Suddenly I heard a voice—’ Do yon want a pilot, sir ?’ and, looking over the side, there, sure enough, was a pilot boat. Well, the fog was as thick as a wall; bat no sooner was the fellow on board, than—’ Full speed! Starboard her helm!’ and away we went for the rocks. After steaming ahead for about half an hour the roar of the breakers became deafening, and I could see absolutely nothing—nothing but the fog. • Hard a-port!’ the pilot sang out, and hard a-port it was. Close to us the surf Thundered among the rocks ; but a moment later we were in smooth water, and were brought to an anchor as handy as if it had been clear daylight.” The captain here walked away a few paces to get a better look at something forward, when, returning, he added—" Sir, you may go to the length and breadth of this world, but for hardiness and skill you will not beat the Norwegian pilot 1" This warm encomium recalled a reminiscence of my youth, which at the time made a vivid impression upon me, and which, though it has absolutely nothing to do with the present visit to Sweden, I cannot refrain from mentioning. Imagine a stormy winter’s day, with a pale blue sky, a dark-blue, turbulent sea, and a ship with close-reefed opsails. The gale howled in the rigging, ballooning the narrow strips of canvas, ind rap-rapping the running gear against the spars with wearisome monotony. Under our lee, as far as the eye could reach, stretched the iron-band coast of old Norway, where the waves, leaping unceasingly against the black rocks, hurled jets of white ‘Oam high into the air. From out among ihese granite boulders a small craft appears, showing at first only a sprit-sail with a red stripe down the middle ; but when it draws nearer we can see that the boat is covered with a deck, is broad of beam, clinker-built, and pointed fore and aft—shaped, in fact, like a gull. There are but two hands on board. The pilot—yellow-bearded, broadshouldered, with a scu’-wester on his head —stands by the mast; his son, a mere lad has hold of the tiller. Our ship has been kept close-hauled, labouring heavily in the rough sea, and presently the boat is to windward a short distance off. With his hand firmly on the tiller, the boy is keenly watching his chance, and the next moment runs us dangerously near; then a rope i? thrown ; is deftly caught by the pilot, who ties it round his waist, and the boat again sheers off. There is a moment’s suspense; a big wave approaches; as it rises it lifts the small craft os its crest to a level with out rigging ; in that instant the pilot jumps, and lands safely in our mizzen shrouds. The lad meanwhile has promptly luffed, and alone in his nutshell, now lost to sight, now heaved aloft, lie makes his way sturdily towards shore ; bat on board the frigate wt know that ” All’s well!” —CormillMagazine