HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16456, 18 June 1921, Page 8

HERE AND THERE.

THE OLDEST TREE. The oldest, and at the same time the largest treo in the world, so far as known, is a chestnut near the foot of Mount Etna. It is hollow and largo enough to admit two carriages driving abreast. The circumference of _ the main trunk is 212 feet. The Grizzly Giant, monarch of the Mariposa Grove, measures 92ft in circumference. PETRIFIED WOOD-WORK. Along the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Railwav, and in other parts of the Western United States, there are large tracts of petrified forest, which the practical American baa found a use for. In San Francisco a factory was erected for cutting the stony trunks and limbs of the primeval trees into mantelpieces, tiles and panels, and other architectural parts, usually made out of marble, slAte, or other orna* mental stones. The material is hard, fine grained, and resembles onyx, but is capable of taking a finer polishSTRANGE JEALOUSY COMBINE. “ I ora waylaid and kicked as I pass every night by a lovor J rejected,*’ said a, young wife at Tottenham Police Court in April. The Magistrate: Why doesn’t your husband protect you The husband: You haven’t heard my story. The girl I gave up to marry my wife throws stones at me. Last nigbt she hit me on the eye with half a brickThe Magistrate: Strange, both to be attacked by rejected lovers. The wife: They plan it together; when we rejected them they married. A policeman was sent to caution the couple complained of. CURE FOR WRITER S CRAMP Scrivenors’ palsy, or writers’ cramp, which is also known to affect telegraphists, and is induced by the cramped position of the hand in writing or telegraphing, has not hitherto been successfully cured. Now, a -wav has been found of curing it by a system of “ massage and gymnastics. The “ massage ” consists of rubbing, kneading. stretching, and beating the fingers and muscles of the hand and arm. There ore also gymnastic exercises both active and passive to he gone through ; and. most important of all, there are graduated exercises in writing, which call into a play a different set of muscles from those injured by the cramp, thus relieving these, while enabling the patient to continue his work. Left-hand writing or telegraphing if a suggestiou also worth remembering ir this regard. TESTING THE ATMOSPHERE. Ammonia being found to adhere t< everything which is exposed to tlw atmosphere, its presence may be regarded as an index to the quantity ol decayed matter in the air, a state ot things which recommended a simple and effective test. By suspending glass flasks and washing their external surface with pure water and testing with Nessler solution, an investigator observed ammonia after an exposure of the flasks for one hour and a naif. As ammonia may be either pure or connected with organic •matter, the test may he considered of negative rather than of positive value; and when ammonia is absent wo may conclude that the air is not polluted by decaying matter, while, on the other hand, when, it is present we may at once infer that there is need of precautionary measWONDERFUL GROTTOES. The Fish River Caves near Sydney, in Australia, rank among the most remarkable limestone grottoes in the world, and take pride of place with the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, and the Luray Cavern in Virginia- The Fish River ('arcs are remarkable for a kind of filigree glass-work and stalactite drapery, which hangs like arras from the walls and roofs. In one part of the cave a pond of clear water was found, “its bottom glistening with pearls and other concretionary forms like nodules, marbles, birds’ eggs, etc., interspersed with patches of diminutive coral forms.” In the Shawl Cave there are curtains from ten to twenty feet long, some nearly white, others beautifully striped with pink, yellow, and brown.

A fresh grotto was discovered at Dorgali, m Sardinia. The gotto commences with a large hall with sixteen columns rising from the alabaster floor, and apparently sustaining the pure white roof, which is wreathed and festooned with flowers and figures of animals in limestone. The most wonderful thing in the hall was, however, the petrified skeleton of a majestic stag. Tho grotto consists of six other large chambers full of natural curiosities.

GRIT IX THE EYE. ! The following plan for removing for- | eign bodies from the eye is worth atj rention. 'lake a splinter of soft wood, say pine or cedar, and whittle it into the shape of a probe, making it about the length of an ordinary dressing probe. Then take a small loose flock of cotton, and laying it upon your forefinger, place the pointed end of the 1 stick in the centre of it- Then turn the flock of cotton over the end of the stick, winding it round and round so as to make it adhere lirmly. On looking at the end of such a probe with a -.’in lens, it will be seen to be quite rough, j the fibres of cotton making a kind of | file, which, being soft, will do no harm to the cornea on being brushed over it. I W hen about> to remove the foreign ■ body, get the patient to lean his head on vour breast, draw the upper lid 'ip with the forefinger of your left hand, and press the lower lid down with the middle finger, then lightly sweep the surface of the ball to which mote is attached,, with the end of the cotton probe. When the foreign bod’* is lodged in the centre of the corned it is most important not to break u| the external elastic lamina, for if yort do, opacity may follow, and the slightest opacity in the centre of the cornea will cause* a serious diminution in the sharpness of the vision. ✓ EVAPORATING A RIVER Though salt is generally used in small quantities, the us© is so constant and general that, as may be well understood. a large quantity is consumed merely for seasoning our food. As is well known, salt is obtained either by mining operations or through a process of evaporation- The water of the ocean contains our most ample store of salt, but not our richest: and another objection to it is, that in this country, the sun not being sufficiently powerful, we are compelled to ham recourse to artificial evaporation. A practicable scheme was once arranged for utilising the salt running to waste in the waters of the Great Salt River, iu the Arizona territory. The stream is two or three feet deep, and about ten times that width; but for upwards of fifty miles these swiftly-running waters are excessively salt. A proposal was mad© to extract the salt by evaporation, and the heat of the summer sun in that part of the continent is such that every facility is given for carrying the plan into effect without being driven to the expense of artificial evaporation. The water would be carried by channels into large shallow basins, the bottom being very smooth and formed of clay, to allow as large • surface as possible for evaporation. Traces can be seen in the neighbourhood of former works, and it is more than probable that, as the salt ie of a high quality, superior to the ordinary rock or bay salt, men of former generations knew of its value. The stream is not salt throughout its efttire length, and this point© to the fact that probably there are large deposits of the mineral to be found there.