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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IV, Issue 187, 12 August 1864, Page 2 (Supplement)

At the Sanitary Fair in New York there was a great sale of curiosities :—“ The first bowie knife ever made by Colonel Bowie himself, and with which he killed Dr. Wright at Nashville in 1838“ a Yankee skull taken at Bull run and manufactured by the rebels into a drinking-cup and a “ hairy eagle” made of the hair of President Lincoln, Vice-President Hamlin, the Secretaries of State, and some seventy of the principle senators and representatives,”—of course of all colours. There is something very quaint in this notion of presenting the American eagle with personal scraps of all the politicians who compose this republican group, as keepsakes, we suppose, or tender memorials of their enegetic efforts to save the Republic. There are also two splendid swords to be presented to the two military and naval officers whose friends buy the largest number of votes —each vote costing a dollar. For the naval sword Admiral Farragut was ahead, but Commodore Rowan nearly up to him. For the military sword General Grant had got 111 votes, and General M’Clellan 98 ; but some shrewd Yankee had injured the hitter's chance by observing, “ Give M’Clellan another sword—surely that is a work of supererogation! Let him show first that he can use the one he has.” The Fair had realized at the last date or about £171,838, for the Sanitary Commission, and was not yet near its termination. Pleuro-Pxeumoxia and Scab. —The Chief Secretary of Victoria notifies, in the Victorian Gazette of Tuesday the sth inst., that, in pursuance of a resolution of the Legislative Assembly, a premium of £l5O will be awarded for the best essay on each of the following subjects, viz.: —l. Pleuro-pneu-monia, its causes, symptoms, post mortem appearances, (pathology]; tnc best means of treatment; and practical hints on the avoidance of the disease, and its eradication from the colony. 2. Scab, its causes, symptoms, pathology; best means of treatment; and practical hints for its avoidance and extermination. 3. The possibility of determining by inspection of the entire or divided animal in slaughter-houses or butchers’ shops, whether the animal has been slaughtered ; whether it has been the subject of the above or anj other disease; and if so what are the signs by which such diseases can be recognized. 4. Whether food prepared from such flesh should be allowed to be consumed, or whether it should be confiscated and destroyed. The essays must be sent in, addressed to the Honorable the Chief Secretary, on or before the first of February. The Government will appoint three judges to decide on the respective values of the essays, but it reserves to itself the power to withhold the premium in the case of either subject should the essays be considered unworthy of the premium offered. The essays for which

premiums may be awarded will be considered the property of the Government. Remarking on this announcement, the Argus observes: —“ In regard to the first-named disease, there is, no doubt, much to be learned; but what new light can be thrown on the subject here, unless Mr. Thomson be correct in his analogy between it and measles in the human subject, or the patentee of some new remedy yet unknown to the public has succeeded in doing what the best veterinarians in the world have declared to be impossible ? As to scab, there is little to be learned about it, and the best essay can only tell us that it is to be eradicated by close watchfulness, and a continued and careful application of any one of the many well-prov-ed remedies. The difficulty in ascertaining which of these is the best, only shows that all are effectual, the difference being in regard to cost. If men of capacity take up the two branches of the meat question in a liberal spirit, and unfettered by the dicta of professional authorities of the old school, much new light may be thrown on it, and the public greatly benefited thereby ; for there can be no doubt that much illness, both of a temporary and more enduring character and even death, are caused by the consumption of meat from animals which have been in a state of disease when killed.” The Law of Eclipses. —Not more than seven eclipses can occur in a year, and two at the least must happen. If seven, five will bo of the sun, aud two of the moon. If only two, both must be of the sun , for there are two solar eclipses, at least, every year. There are never more than three lunar eclipses in a year, sometimes none. The number of solar to lunar eclipses is in the ratio of three to two, yet more lunar than solar eclipses are visible at any particular place ; for a lunar eclipse is visible to an entire hemisphere, while a solar eclipse is only visible at a particular part.