SCISSORS.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 154, 8 January 1878, Page 3

SCISSORS.

A year ago Brigham Young had a "revelation" that he would live eight years longer, lint four doctors burst up the revelation. In " The Retrospect of Medicine " Dr. S. Wilks endeavours to maintain that alcohol should be classed Bather as an amesthetic than as a stimulant, and that, although it is not an indispensable article of food, it is a valuable medicine when the pulse is quick ami the temperature of the body high. ~; As to its value as a medicine he says it is especially useful in cases of wasting in children, and is often more effectual than codliver oil.

As pines and firs have been discovered to have agrqater effect than other trees in influencing the raiW l nnd increasing the general humM.u 0/ the,:.tmosph.M-c, M. Fantral,of ihe French A* H.lemy, ln.s proposed the planting of ' reen in Algeria. The same fact may possibly be utilized with advantage in this country, The- South Kensington Museum. London, has lately been presented with six models ofthecuve ami cliff dwellings discovered in the San Juan Basin, near the union cf New Mexico, Anzona, Colorado and Utah. The give an excellent idea of the pursuits in peace and the resorts in war of a prehistoric race which attained a far higher stage of civilization than the nomads who were found there by the pioneers of the whites.

A gentleman living in New Bedford has a fine grapery, the admiration not only of himself but of all the small boys in the neighborhood, who annoy him much by frequent inroads upon his vineyard. A few days ago he lay in wait for "the coming of the marauders, and had the satisfaction of seeing several men and boys stealthily entering his premises. When the proper moment arrived he revealed himself and gave chase to the invaders who took to their heels. AH made their escape over the wall and beyond the reach of the indignant pursuer except one, less nimble than his companions, whom the citizen grasped by the heel when in the act of springing over the wall. The captive straggled, but in vain, and began to expostulate with his captor. " Let me co," said he, " let me go ; I'm a Christian and a special policeman." This announcement did not produce the desired effect, and the special had to shell out in payment of the stolen fruit.

The kingdom of Bantam, on the Island of Java, is a tributary of Holland. It is" a rich and happy kingdom, and from time immemorial has been governed wholly by women. The King is indeed a man, but he is merely a> figurehead, dependent on his Council of State, which consists of three women. All the soldiers, military, State and county officers are women, the men of the community being merchants and farmers. The King's body-guard is a battalion of picked amazons, who ride man-fashion, armed with lance and musket, which latter they discharge at full gallop. The capital city is defended by two well kept fortresses. The French Omnium, a mile and a half handicap, won by Count de Juigne's eh f Manchette, (by Mars—Manilla), beating fourteen others. The winner is only three years old, carried Bst. lib., and covered the distance in the extraordinary time of 2min. 33sec. Miss Sarah Bernhardt, the distinguished Paris sculptor, has a fearful temper, and when she gets mad, which she does easily and often, she mashes to pieces whatever she is at work upon. They say the position of " small boy " is alwnys vacant in her studio. A Professor in an lowa female college caught two of the students out riding with their beau?— a proceeding prohibited by the rule of the college. He stopped the carriage and attempted to pull the girls out, when the young men knocked him in the mud and the girls finished their ride. The Rev. Mr Robbins, an English divine, recently explained to his congregation that the reason he had so few lady communicants was that the present fashion in dress caused them to be tied back so tightly as to render it impossible for them to kneel ;it the altar rails. This implies a belief on his part that with the abandonment of pull-back religious zeal would increase again. George W. Chikls, of Philadelphia, U.S., the owner oi" many rare autographs and literary curiosities, has come into possession, by purchase, of the manuscript of Harriet Martiii'an's " Retrospect of Western Travel," published in 1838. ■ Dr. Hans yon Buiow, the celebrated pianist, is reported to have said, " If I • stop practice for one day I notice it in my playing ; if I stop two days my friends notice it ; if 1 stop three days, the public notices it." The Athenceum says that the new edition of Shelley's poetical works, edited by Harry Boixton Fonnan, " must shut out. PheVoy from the women and youth of England" on account of containing the very immoral poem of " Laon and Cythna."

Sunset Cox was recently waited upon by a New York ward delegation. He says that he was collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of cheap whisky and.water, and a small parlor full of stale tobacco smoke mixed. No wonder Sunset prefers a seat in Congress to an office among his constituents.