Interesting Items.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1902, 4 June 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

Interesting Items.

In Edward the Sixth's reign an Acb was passed (7th Edward VI. c. 5—1552) to avojde the great price and excess of wynes," in the preamble of which it is stated that there wae '■ mnche evill rule and common re* sort of misruled pcrsones used and frequented in many taverna of late newly sett uppe in very great noumbre in back lanes, corners, j and suspicious places withyn the cytie of London, aud in divers other towns and villages within this realme." The number of taverns to be licensed in London was restricted to 40, and in Westminster to three. The " Hospital Gazette " says it is a fact that has been of late only too painfully apparent to every " practitioner of medicine " that the '■ morphia habit " is fast growing upon society. In Russia, we understand, the morphine party is the latest development of the passion that prevails in St. Petersburg. The idea is scarcely a novel one, for in Turkey and Asia Minor bashish eating and opium smoking parties has from time immemorial been of common occurrence. How few of us have recalled that at the tim°. railways began to come into use souse members of the Royal College of Bavarian doctors called upon the Government to prevent their introduction. They declared that rapid transit from one place to another would give rise to a mental disorder to which they gave the name of delirium furiosum. The pandits further averred that the railway authorities must build a fence ten feet high on either side of the railway to prevent " cerebral derangement " in those who watched the passing trains. An elderly coupleof Homer, Ga., quarrelled 12 years ago over a remark made by a neighbor. Argument only widened the breach, and the couple at last agreed to live under the same roof, but not to speak to each other. During all that time they sat at the same table and entertained their friends, and no one ever detected the breach. Recently the husband brought the matter before his church brethren, who advised a conciliation and remarriage. Both have consented to accept the advice, and will immediately re-marry. The following figures show the extreme heat in the vanou3 countries of the world : Bengal, 150 degrees Fahrenheit; Borhu, Sahara Desert, 153 degrees; Persia, 125 degrees ! Calcutta, India, 120 degrees ; Central American Republic, 120 degrees ; Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, 105 degrees; Greece, 100 degrees; Arabia, 111 degrees; New York, 102 degrees; Spain, Cuba, China, and Jamaica, 110 degrees ; France, Denmark, Russia, and the Sandwich Islands, 100 degrees ; England, Ireland, and Portugal, 8S degrees ; Australia. 95 degrees ; Scotland, 75 degrees; Sweden and Norway, Go degrees; Iceland, d 2 degrees ; and Nova Zembla, 32 degrees, never above the freezing point. Some time ago (sn.ys the " Cape Argus '') a Kaffir who had lost his wits was taken up at a town not far from Johannesburg. Having no accommodation for him there, ho was sent to town and consigned to the gaol hospital. The madman, however, did not last long after the change was effected, and breathed his last a few days ago. A post mortem examination was instituted, which led to strange results. The district Burgeon opened the heait and brain, and in the former found remnants of a long worai, resembling in some respects the tape worm. With each palpitation of the heart pieces of this /rorm had become detached, and were conveyed by the blood vessels to the brain. This waa doubtless the cause of hia insanity and subsequent death. The lavender was held in high estimation by the Greeks and R >mans for its fragrance and aromatic properties, and it has been esteemed on the same account in Britain, and cultivated in gardens for its medicinal viitueelrom time immemorial. Medicinally, in the form of tinoture, spirit, or essential oil, it i 3 considered a powerful stimulant to the nervous system, aud is, consequently, generally had recourse to in headaches and hysterical affections. The odor resides entirely in the essential oil, which is contained in every part of the plant, but principally in I its spikes of flower and flower-stalks, from ! which the oil is obtained by distillation. This oil rectified, and again distilled and mixed with spirits of wine, forma the well- ! known lavender water of the perfumers. A diamond expert has made public a ready way of identifying one of those jewels : Prick a needle hole through a card, and look afc it through the doubtful stone. If it is spurious, two holes will be seen distinctly on the card ; if it is a diamond only one hole will be visibl", for there is no other stone at all resembling the diamond but that gives a double reflection; This property is also made use of for determining an uncertain stone. If the fiager is placed behind it, and looked at through the stone with a magnifier, the grain of the skin will be plainly visible if the stone is not a diamond, but otherwise it will not be distinguished at all. A diamond ma solid setting may be distinguished in the same way; if genuine, the setting at the back cannot be distinguished, but if a false stonp, either the foil or the setting may be plainly seen. Temperance advocates have an illustrious convert in M. Zola, the novelist. M. Zola was at one time stout, not to say obese, and now he has reduced himself to slim dimensions by a very easy process, and the excr- j cisc oE will power,in which he has never been I deficient. Going to the theatre one night, ba had to push his way past a painter" to I whom he remarked that it was a misfortune to be so stout. To thid the artist rejoined, that it all depended on one's self. The painter af-ter»ards told him that the secret which would avert corpulence is never to drink. From that moment M. Zola abstained irom drinking either wine or water. In a week he had lowered his weight by 10 pounds, and in three months he had lo3t 45 pounds. And now he is in better health than before he b3gan the remedy, and feels himself a renovated man.

Grjat Lawyer (in cross-examination) : "You consider the prisoner an honest man, do you?" Witness : "An honester man never lived." Great Lawyer (superciliously): "Will you kinily state on what you bass that remarkable opinion?" Witness (hotly) : "On the fact that he once tried to be a lawyer, and failed."