INTERESTING GLEANINGS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 23 April 1891, Page 4

INTERESTING GLEANINGS.

Origin of Hospitals, — The latest arch'seological discoveries shew that hospitals existed in India as early as the fifth century before Christ. In Ceylon King Pandukabhayo established a hospital in his place, and one of his successors, in the second century before Chri.t, founded i 3 differed in- ' stations of the kind, each with a medical staff and the remedial agents of the times. The Buddhist king, Asoka, had, about the year 250 b c, hospitals, both for men and animals. Many other hospitals, now unknown, were doubtless established at an early period ; but the "Lancet" concludes ( that their work was much les. important than that of the hospitals which developed in Rome and elsewhere as the result of the spread of Christianity. The Sense of Smell. — Smell is the most acute by far of the five human senses. Take an ounce of musk — most powerful of scents — and leave it where the atmosphere is still, open on a table, for a year. At the end of that time, having for full twelve months rendered odorous the whole air in its neighbourhood, the most delicate scales cannot detect that it has lost a particle in weight. Yet the smell has been indefinitely distributed, microscopic portions of the musk floating off and exciting impressions upon the nerve papillae under the delicate lining of the nasal passages ; for that is what smell meaus. The _ence has grown almost rudimentary in human beings through want of necessity for its use under civilised conditions, but it is highly probable that men had it quite as well developed as the sharpest nosed beast 3. The Greatest Natural Wonderof the World. — It is probable that nine people out of ten would put Niagara at ( head of the natural wonders of ttitf, vifoMctf. and though there may be higher water-falls, and some with more picturesque surroundings, certainly for stupendous grandeur the palm must remain with Niagara. There are, however, ether natural^ pfcjenQmejia- not less worthy of a high 'plagej-gnffl indeed an arrangement of natural- winders in any supf)osed scale of comparative grandeur is simpy a matter of individual preference- The crater of Kilanea, on Mauaa; Lba, Sandwich Islands, with its lake of molten fire, is a spectacle of awe-inspiring magnificence, unequalled even in its comparatively quiescent season eXcept by some rare outbreak of Etna or Vesuvius. T^tte great Yellowstone Park of Coloradocontain* witfiihits bounds a collection of natural "rnarvlls' unequalled for extent and variety. Here it is said there are no fewer than 10,000 boiling springs, geysers, and hot lakes. In Colorado also are found the marvellous canons — profound ;hasms sometimes a mile in depth. Other great natural wonders which may be mentioned are the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, the main passage of which is 10 miles long, the lateral passages extending to some 240 miles; the extraordinary stalactite caverns of Carniola with their underground rivers; the natural aqueduct by which a river in Demnat, in Morocco, is carried across a wide and deep gorge ; the natural bridges in various parts of the world, of which the most famous is that at Rockbridge, Virginia, U.S.A. ; and the great pitch lake ofTrinidad. How Gun Barrels are made. — The beautiful waved lines and curious flower-like figures that appear on the surface of gun barrels are really the lines of welding, shewing that two different metals — iron and steel— are intimately blended in making the finest and strongest barrels. The process of thus welding and blending steel and iron is a very interesting one. Flat bars or ribbons of steel and iron are alternately arranged together, and then twisted into a cable. Several of these cables are then welded together, and shaped into a long flat bar, which is spirally coiled round a hollow cylinder, called a mandrel, after which the edges of these spiral bars are heated and firmly welded. The spiral coil is now put upon a welded mandrel, is again heated, and carefully hammered into the shape of a gun-barrel. Next comes the cold hammering, by which the pores of the metal are securely closed. The last, or finishing, operation is to turn the barrel on a lathe to exactly its proper shape and size. By all the twistings, weldings, and hammerings the metals are so blended that the mass has the consistency and toughness of woven steel and iron. A barrel thus made can scarcely burst. The finishing of t..e ir.s*._i* cl the barrel is an operation req_:r*:.:* \ery great "care and skill. What is called a cylinder-bored barrel is where the-.b.re :. made of uniform size from end to en :1 A choke bcre is one 'ihhi' "is a* little smaller „i the muzzle end than it is at the breech e:*.:l There are various ways of " chekin? gun barrels, but the object cf all met.__ds 15 '. : make the gun throw its shot clcse tc-;et.i'.r wilh even and'i. regular* "distributicr:. „•-:■_ with great force: There are several k ■•._•> of metallic combinations, that gunmaksrs use, the principal, pf which are called Damascus, Berend.-and larairi_,ted steel. When Royalty Travels in Japan — There has existed in Japan for many centuries a curious law to the effect that whenever the Emperor or Empress appeared in public no other person should occ_py a higher place than tbis?mem ber of tne Royal family , therefore, on-such 1 -occasions, the shutters cf all upper sior.ys were drawn, and the upper parts of the house -hrough which the Royal .party,; moved were seemingly deserted TbfMW is still in effect. Some time ago. when the Empress went into the country fer a brief period, an elaborate announcement was posted in conspicuous places along the line of her contemplated route commanding the public to observe strictly certain requirements of etiquette, to wit : When her Majesty shall pass 'atong no one must lock ai her from the frame built on houses for the drying of clothes, or through cracks in doors, or from any position in the upper part of their houses If .anyone wishes to see her Majesty he or she- must sit down at the side of the road by which her Majesty will pass. All children must -be taken particular care of that they cio not play in the road, and so obstruct trie passage of her Majesty through the streets. No one must lock at her Majesty without taking off his hat, neckcloth, or turban, or whatever else he may be wearing on his head Moreover no one must be smoking while he or sh. is looking at her Majesty, nor must, anyone carry a stick or a cane. Only women wearing ihe clothes of a foreigner will be permitted to retain their head-covering Although it may rain, no person will be allowed to put up an'umbrella; while her Majesty may be passing Dogs must not be allowed to wander on. io 'the road by which her Majesty wilf pass. Until the passage of her Majesty, the route by which she will come will b&£kppt free ' from all carriages and jinrikashas. The roads which she will take must be completely free from all traffic. As her 3\.aj_sty passes no cne must rai.e his voice, nor must 'any sound be heard, nor must the crowd, cfos§ in and.follow her carriage, lor no noise must bz made When her Majesty reaches Umeda station there will be a discharge of 50 fireworks.