INTERESTING ITEMS.

Waikato Independent, Volume XXIII, Issue 3073, 21 June 1923, Page 3

INTERESTING ITEMS.

Drunkenness is no excuse for crime in England. An average acre of garden has been estimated to contain about 53,000 worms., The earth is a cooling body, and i 3 therefore, becoming very gradually smaller. During one period of seven years, over 8,000 earthquake shocks were recorded in Japan. The male of the honey-bee comes between the queen and the workers in size, and is stingless. News is distributed throughout the natives of Central Africa by means of drum-signals. The earliest form of "house" was probably a rough screen of branches of trees woven together and erected to protect the fire. Restaurants, as we know them today, were at various times called eating-houses, cook-houses, coffeehouses, and dining-houses. In Great Britain, duke is the highest title of nobility. The first English duke was Edward, the Black Prince, created Duke of Cornwall in 1337. Although ducks, of which there are nearly 200 species, are the most numerous in northern regions, they are found all over the world. Cloud formations are stated to be due to the presence of dust in the air, the particles of dust acting as centres of condensation for the formation of raindrops. The first colours used by artists in the early history of the world were made from various coloured earths, bound together with honey or one of the gums. The sea-cow, or dugong, is a herbivorous water-animal found in the Red Sea an'i the East ; from 8 to 12 feet in length, it resembles a small whale. Dumb-bells were first used, it is said, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, the earlier forms being sticks loaded with lead at the ends, these being bell-like in shape. Used as a cure for "scolds," the ducking-stool was a chair fastened at the end of a long beam over a pond or river. The last record of 'its use was at Leominster, in 1809. Formerly Church courts dealt with all kinds of offences committed by clergymen ; nowadays, clerics are practically on the same footing as laymen so far as the law is concerned.