NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2408, 23 March 1922, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Switzerland lias two women judges. Saddle-horses were used by the English as long ago as 631. Some animals can detect noises inaudible to human beings. The kilt, in its modem form, can be traced back to 1626. The modern silk hat was first worn, in England about 1840. The topaz derives its name from Topazos, an island in the Red Sea. In England about 40,000 acres are devoted to the cultivation of hops. English policemen received 18s a week, and wore top hats, 70 years ago. Navy blue was a fashionable colour for women’s clothing 2000 years ago. Fahrenheit, who designed the thermometer bearing his name, died in 1736. Wood-boring insects are said to communicate with one another by means of tapfe. , The ostrich, the biggest bird in the \£°rld, has proportionately the smallest brain. Many of England’s most famous public schools were founded as charitable institutions. , At. most Japanese weddings a great feature is a bonfire built up of the bride’s old toys. About 150 packs of harriers are kept in the British Isles, most of them being in Ireland. * Mascots are popular among airmen, one famous pilot pinning his faith to the tail of a fox. Hundreds of starlings are making their home in and about St. Paul’s Cathedral, and are a great nuisance. The word “thought,” in the seventeenth century meant anxiety so intense that it amounted to an' anguish. Persimmon, King Edward’s famous racehorse, won £134,706 in stakes, and earned £126,000 in stud fees.

A case of mistaken ideality has been established in Somerset, after seven people had identified the man. A course in the maintenance and repairing of motor cars is now a feature'vof one of the largest American colleges. Wedding rings are no longer worn regularly' by some modern wives, some of whom regard it as a badge of servitude.

Imitation coal, as good as the real article, at half its price, is the latest production claimed by a German chemist.

Cape Horn was so named by the Dutch navigator who discovered it in 1616, and called it Cape Hoorn, after his birthplace. A tax of 2s each was imposed on hearths in England in 1662, and ( abolisbed in 1689, although it produced £170,000 a year. After the elephant, the common hippopotamus is the largest of land animals, fine specimens weighing from four to five tons.

The custom of drinking “toasts” is derived from the ancient l’eligious ceremony of pouring libations to the heathen gods.