RANDOM READINGS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1613, 21 September 1916, Page 4

RANDOM READINGS.

SERBIAN SUPERSTITIONS

The Serbian* are among the most superstitious people- in the world, and have especially peculiar ideas

about animals. They have a practice of forecasting the future by means of the shoulder bone of a. roasted , sheep or a. pig. , Tlie Hat ' part of the hone is said to predict, peace or war. If it is-clear and white it means peace; if rather dark, it '. means war. Near the upper part ’ of the bone are some small holes, /; which, sic. cording to their size and positioijj are termed cradles or coffins, iiM foreshadow joy or sorrow. , t A SCHOOL OF WATCHMAKERS.

The famous .Swiss watch schools are said* to be the most exacting industrial institutions in the world. In one of the most celebrated of these institutions in Geneva, for example, a boy must first ol all he at least 14 years of age. in order to enter. After being.admitted, the student is introduced to a wood-turn-ing lathe and put to work*at turning tool handles; This lasts for several weeks, s according to the beginner s aptitude; ami. is followed by exercises in filing and sharping screwdrivers and small tools. In this-wat he learns to make for himself a fairly complete set of tools. He next learns to make wooden pattern of a watch-frame, perhaps a foot in diameter, and after learning how this frame is to be shaped, he"is given a ready-cut one of brass of the ordinary size, in which lie is taught, to drill holes for the wheels and screws. Throughout this instruction the master stands over the pupil directing him with the greatest care. The pupil is next taught to finish the frame so that it will he ready to - receive the wheels. He is then instructed how to make fine tools and to become expert in handling them. This completes - the instruction in the first room, and the young watchmaker next passes to the department where he is taught to fit the steni-winding parts and to do fine cutting and filing by band. Later on lie learns to make the more complex watches which will strike the hour, minute, etc., and the other delicate mechanisms for which the Swiss are famous. MISTLETOE LEGENDS, ‘ The popular custom of “kissing under the mistletoe” is n relic of Scandinavian mythology. The legend runs that the wicked Loki hated Baldnr, the favourite of the gods, and, making an arrow of mistletoe, gave it to Hodur, the god of darkness, who Avas blind, to test. He phot the arrow and killed Baldnr. The gods decided to restore Baldnr to life, arid as a reparation for his injury the mistletoe was dedicated to his mother, Friga, the goddess of love. Hence the mistletoe is hung from the ceiling of our houses, the kiss given under it being a sign that it is no longer an instrument of mischief.

The mistletoe had formerly the reputation'of being an antidote for poisons and a ‘specific against epilepsy. Culpepper speaks of it as a v (sure panacea for apoplexy, palsy and falling sickness, a belief still current in Sweden, where fingerjrings are made of its wood.

THE PRAYING MANTIS

Very well known in South Africa, fchina, and hot countries all over the world is that queerest of queer shaped insects, the praying mantis. It has a long body, with a head raised high in front, and two handlike claws, which it keeps continually raised in front of the face in an attitude of prayer. But this is quite /deceptive. These claws are really for grasping prey —generally flies, And the creature iteslf is a desperate fighter, and worse fhan that, a cannibal. In China the children catch a couple of these insects and jput them in a cage together, making "bets on which will win the fight that is sure to ensue.