Page 4 Advertisements Column 5

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 5 September 1891, Page 4

I BITS FROM BOOKS. I have brought myself by long meditatioi to the conviction that a human being with { ! settled purpose must accomplish it, and thanothing can resist a will that will stake ever existence foritsfulfilment.»Lon*Z?eacom»/reM i The Custom of "Toasting."— The cus torn of "toasting" ou» favourites appears tc ; have had its rise in the reign of Charles II I Dr. Johnson observes that the meaning 0: the word at its first use was "a celebrated woman whose health is often drunk;" and the reason of her being so termed may be found in the " Tatler," which says :— " It happened that on a public day a celebrated beauty of these times (King Charles II.) wasir the Cross Bath, at Bath, and one of the crowd of her admirers took a glass of the water ir which the fair one stood and drank hei health to the company. There was in th< place a gay fellow half-fuddled, who offeree to jump in, and swore, though he liked not the liquor, he would have the toast. H< was opposed in his resolution, yet this whirr gave loundation to the present honour whict is done to the lady we mention in our liquor who has ever since been called a ' toast.' " The Casual Action of Desicn. — Desigr is a cause which is made known to us in out consciousness as possessing a peculiarity which sharply distinguishes it from every physical cause known to man ; for it calls the iuture and the Hou-existent into an ideal existence, and then selects and adapts present phenomena, so shaping them that they must co-operate for a result which as yet has no local habitation in nature. Our own experience thus gives us a clue to explain the enigma, "How can a future whicli does not yet exist influence the present ?" The explanation being, that though it does not yet exist physically, it has already an ideal existence in the mind. Now, nature teems with complicated adaptions, in which it appears as ii the future had in this way influenced the present. The eye, .with its wonderful machinery, with its innumerable and exquisitely delicate adaptations for the reception of light, is " made in secret," and fashioned in darkness, where no ray of light can as yet come near it. The ear, while it is being shaped and moulded, is quite cut off from the vibrations of air for the reception of which its complicated machinery is in process of construction. These are but among millions of the processes of nature which reveal the same characteristic. — Natural Theoloyy and Modern Thought. By J. Houghton Kennedy, B.D. Treatment of Sheep Scab.— A favourite arsenical dip in France is given by Neuman : Arsenic, 2Mb. ; sulphate ol iron, 221 b .; water, 22 gallons. Boil for ten minutes. This mixture is enough for 100 sheep. The sulphate of iron is used on account of its astringent action preventing the absorption of the arsenic. The iron imparts a i'usty colour to the wool. An equal quantity of alum may be used in place of the iron, if an astringent is thought to be necessary. Aloes is also added in some cases to discourage the sheep from biting or licking the skin, and thus getting the arsenic into the digestive system. Carbolic acid dips are made by mixing the acid with soap, or gelatine, or an alkali, as soda or potash, to cause it to combine readily with water. A useful preparation is made by dissolving soap in common carbolic acid, about alb. to each gallon of acid, and then adding a pint of turpentine. This mixture may be used in the proportion of one in fifty of soft water, and if properly made it should form a milky fluid with water, without leaving any brown scum on the top. Salving or dressing with diluted mercurial ointment is by some preferred to dipping, and forin-lambeues.that treatment is certainly more safe. Some skill is required to divide the wool and distribute the ointment equally, so that a sheep properly salved should show very little trace of the ointment on the fleece. — The Field. Transmission of Eggs for Hatching. — An account appeared in the Stoclckeeper not long since of an experiment in which two sittings were forwarded to Sydney. The system of packing adopted was that the eggs were greased with mutton fat, and then wrapped separately in sheets of tissue paper, after which they were firmly embedded in sawdust in a wooden case, which arrived safely, not one egg being broken. The eggs were placed in an incubator immediately on arrival, and though several contained >|iosqons when tested, none hatched. The greasing the eggs, so as to close up the pores of the shell by which the air necessary to support the life of the chicken alone can gain entrance, cannot be regarded asa satisfactory proceeding. Had the eggs been packed in an earthenware jar. so as to prevent loss of weight by evaporation, belter results might have been anticipated ; but even then success is doubtful. I should imagine that good results could more readily be achieved (at least, in a voyage that was not of too extended a duration) by taking on board a very docile broody Cochin hen, placing her in a nest that could be swung, and allowing her to incubate during the voyage — timing the proceeding so that the chicks would hatch about the time of arrival, says Mr. Tegetmeir. The nest would have to be made on a turf base, which could be damped daily. The plan appears to offer a chance of success, but whether the game would be worth the candle is not at all certain. America.— The late Archbishop Trench, in that most interesting and instructive book "On the Study of Words," points out that occasionally v name will embody and give permanence to an error. Thus, " turkeys" are not from Turkey, as their name seems to say, and as was assumed by those who imposed that name, but from the Ne'yy World, where alone they arc native. . With regakl to America, or the New World, we know that it was discovered by Christopher Columbus ; yet this discovery, rather the honour thereof, was ascribed to another eminent discoverer, one who had no title to this honour, even as he was entirely guiltless of any attempt to usurp it for himsell. The discoveries ot Columbus gave rise to jealousies in the minds qI many Spaniards ; one of his> bitterest foes was Bishop Fonsica, who, after the return of.Columbns with the news of his great discovery, was appointed superintendent ot Indian aHairs. This man, instead of being a help to the discoverer, did his utmost to deprive him of his well-earned honours. He showed to others the private letters of Columbus to the Sovereigns of Spain, and allowed them the benefit of the charts and maps ol the route by which Columbus had made his discovery. One such adventurer who gained such use, and benefit of the labours ol Columbus was , Ojeda, who fitted out four ships at Seville, assisted by many eager and wealthy speculators. Among the number was the celebrated Ameiico Vespucio, a Florentine merchant, who was considered well acquainted with geography ai:d navigation. This expedition sailed in 1409, and in thirty-seven <la\s reached America. Vespucio returned !o Sp.iiu the sninc war, ami an account ol liis vo\a;c*- was published, and hi-, name war .liven to ilie contiii' nt at tlu: su^estion, 11 s .said. i)l the publish. r n| ih-j narrative Now ilie <lisc(ni.-i \ , as in.vii.' I • y Columbus, lias 1 ••_-<- 1 1 l.»:pl a S.iau- :.y.ci' '- ; but t he pti fulii.'iis biMicp, lor liis mum ends, re .■en ltd the facts tb Itieiuls i'ii'l Itiencllv fi\<-i.tuiun. In 1,107 a j-mpulsir work <>i uKfj-.'Mihy was published, ai'ik Ainerici v'e*|-.ici" r R name was givrn in Ihe new con ,iii«nr, '] li'ih error becai'C «:uib>-il : etl lit, j\ h ! \«ll .•(>! permanency t,ivt» to, t Ji** word \n;c.r.ca,