MISCELLANEOUS.

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 322, 6 February 1868, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Letter.3 from Jerusalem state the works of reconstruction at the grand cupola of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are advancing rapidly. As the materials required for placing the hemispherical vault, sent from France, reached their destination, there is reason to believe that this part of the cupola may be finished before Easter. On the other hand, the. levelling of the ground between Jerusalem and Jaffa, so as to make the road practicable for carriages, is actively pushed forward under the skilful direction of Nazif-Pasha, Go-vernor-General of Palestine Within two months the rpad will be completed as far as the foot of the mountains, or nearly one-half of the whole distance. The most extraordinary experiments as to the power of destroying life possessed by the new fusil Ghassepot have been mac 1 c at Strasburg, by Dr Sarazin. The Star says that he got five dead bodies, and placed them at certain distances, one from the other, and then fired. The result was that the orifice made by the ball as it entered the corpse was exactly the size of the projectile, whilst the orifice made by the ball as it passed out of the body was seven times, and in one instance even thirteen tinies, larger than that of the bullet. The arteries, veins, and muscles were smashed, and literally reduced to a sort of pulp. The bones were crushed to an immense extent all over the body, and the ball, after having thus accomplished its deadly mission on the human frame, pierced a two-inch board, and finally lodged in the wall behind. £f American Volcanoes.— ln the Andes Rocky mountain chain, extending entirely through both continents, there are no less than fifty active volcanoes, the most interesting being locate:! in South America. Those in the neighborhood of Quito are remarkable for vomiting forth enormous quantities of water and muddy substances, which fertilize the land to the extent of eight or ten leagues around them. The subterraneous noise of Cotopaxi extends to the distance of upwards of 500 miles. The reason why melted lava is not thrown out is supposed to be the vast depth at which it lies. It frequently throws out filth from the crater, which is 2500 or 2600 fathoms above the level of the sea. — Scientific American. Opium eating, it is said, goes on to an incredible extent in the eastern counties. Dr Hawkins, of King's Lynn, tells the readers of the Medical Journal that half the opium imported into England is consumed in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. One Lynn chemist sells two hundred pounds, another one hundred and forty pounds, a year, of solid opium, besides five or six gallons of laudanum, and five or six gallons of Godfrey's Elixir, (a pint of laudanum in every three gallons) a week. People will be startled to hear of drawers full of half drachm packets of opium, of which many customers take three a day. A farmer came in to get some good laudanum. "How many drops?" asked the chemist. "Drops !" was the reply, "give me an ounce and a half." The chemist looked at him, saw he was in the habit of taking it, and gave him the dose. He drank it off, returned twice in the day for the same quantity, and took home a half pint bottle full with him when he left the market. The habit is no new one. The present writer can vouch for its existence in and around Spalding, and even across in Leicestershire, a dozen years asro. The excuses would be obvious— deficient food with the poor, ague and "rheumatiz," needing an anodyne, with others. But it is a growing habit, and Dr Hawkins speaks very strongly of its pernicious effects in poisoning the blood. To it he attributes the excessive infant mortality in the district, and the miserable, feeble, brownish yellow countenances so striking amo; 4 g many of the inhabitants. Ex-Governor Isham G. Harris, of Tennessee, who left Nashville on the approach of the Federal forces, lafl returned to that city. He went directly to Governor Brownlow, who received him khiSiy, and allowed him to depart to his home in Henry County, on giving his parole of honor to appear at the Federal Court in March next, to answer an indictment fortreason, which is pending against him. Mr Harris heartily thanked the Governor for the friendly deference to him in his late message. He left England' on the 6th November. It costs more to run the Roman' " machine," than it comes to. The Roman States owe about 100,000,000 dollars, and the revenue hardly pays the interest of the debt. So that the Pope would make money by abandoning his dominion to the rule of Victor Emmanuel.