Page 3 Advertisements Column 3

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5337, 15 August 1895, Page 3

Among the curiosities of tropical plant life are the pearls found occasionally in the cocoanut palm of the Philippine Islands— pearls which, like those of the ocean, are composed of carbonate of lime. The bamboo, too, yields another precious product in the shape of true opals, which are found in its joints. In each case this mineral matter is, of course, obtained from the soil. The natives of the Celebes use these vegetable opals as amulet's and charms against disease. When there is a thumping or knocking in a piece of machinery, it is often difficult amid the surrounding noises, to locate the one particular knock. Engineers make use of a rubber tube about a yard long, one end of which iB placed in the ear and the other passed over the suspected spots. The vibrations from all other parts than the one covered being excluded, it is said to be an easy matter to locate a jarring noise, and when found to observe the intensity and periodicity with which it occars. It is a atrange fact that the right hand, which ia more sensible to the touch than the left, is less sensible than the latter to the effect of heat or cold. If you dip both hands simultaneously into two bowls of water of equal temperature, the left will experience the higher sensation of heat, and this will happen even if the thermometer showß that the water in the left bowl ia in reality a trifle colder than the water in the right one.. The reverse happens in the case of persons who are lefthanded. Where the diamond comes from nobody knows. You can no more predict the existence of diamonds than you can the existence of genius, although, to be sure, all diamond fields to a certain extent resemble each other, and all are found only in warm climates. Nor can you tell where the diamond goes to on combustion. Burn it, and it leaves no aßh, the flame is exterior like that of a cork, and when it has blazed itself out, there remains not even bo much aa would dust the antennae of a butterfly. I The King of Italy will never be at a loss for a good cigar. Every year he receives a present of 10,000 picked Virginias from the Emperor of Austria.