GRAINS OF KNOWLEDGE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 3 January 1931, Page 10

GRAINS OF KNOWLEDGE

Bees cat 201 b of honey in making lib of wax.

On mi average it costs £282 to main-; tain each mile of highway in England. | The only birds which sing as they fly are the skylark and the woodlark. Certain species of South American ants will sometimes construct a tunnel three miles in length.

A man’s brain attains its maximum weight at the age of 20 years; that of a woman at 17 yt-ars. In Brittany it is believed that if a oirl attends to hear her own banns published she will never afterwards suffer from toothache!

The Marble Arch, in London, was originally intended for the entrance to Buckingham Palace. It was built by command of George IV. 'l'lie Sweet Vale of Avoea, celebrated in one of Moore’s Irish melodies, is in County Wicklow. It is about nine miles long and a-quarter of a mile wide. The expression “The tiling to a T” originated from the T-square used in drawing and mechanics, especially useful in making angles true, and so called from its resemblance to a capital I.

Three ranges of mountains rise from the bottom of the Atlantic, between South Africa and South America. Some of the mountains are 13,000 ft in height —onlv 2000 ft lower than Mont Blanc.

Since the Conquest the revenue of tiie kingdom was at its lowest in the reign of Henry VI, when it was only £04,97(1 per annum. It had decreased to that amount from £400,000 a year in the reign of William the Conqueror. ’Flic first rose show was in July, 1858, when “half the nurseries of England poured their treasures into the St. James’s Hall, London.” It was estimated that there were then only a few, hundreds of varieties of roses. To-day there are over 7000.

It appears from the estimates of the most, reliable authorities that the coalfields of the world cover an area of about 1.250,000 square miles. The United States, China, Australia and India are the countries in which the . area of coalfields is greatest. . An iceberg is fresh although the sea' around is salt, because when a solution. of salt freezes it is the water and not; the salt that crystallises. As more and more water freezes the liquid left be-| conies saltier, as tiie salt excluded by (he frozen water is dissolved in the remaining liquid. _ The deepest English lake is Mastwater, Cumberland. It is 270 feet in, its deepest part. On account of this' great depth it has never been known to lie iced, even in the severest wintei. Thu lake is three and a-lialf miles in length, and about half a mile broad. Us height above the sea is 204 feet. j The whole of Manhattan Island, upon which New York stands, was in 102(4 bought from an Iroquois Indian chief by Governor Mlimit for the sum oft sixty guilders, or about £5 of our; money. What the value of the 22 square: miles', which this island contains, is now' it is impossible to estimate. The origin of the term “windfall,” applied to an unexpected piece of luck, 1 is as follows: Some of the English; nobility were forbidden by the tenure of their estates to fell the timber, all! the trees being reserved for the use of the Royal Navy. All trees which were blown down were excepted. Hence ajj good wind was often a God-send. <1 The blue coat worn by butchers" originated from its being the colour of the uniform of a guild; but its almost universal adoption by the trade is ow-j ing to the fact that blood stains show; less on that colour than on any other.! The saying, “True blue will neverj stain” —a really noble heart will notj disgrace itself—has reference to the; fact that blue does not show stains, j Bishops were excluded from voting! in the House of Lords on temporal cori-j corns in the time of Charles I, 1641.1 They protested against the legality ofj the Acts of Parliament which were! passed during the time they were de-j priral from voting, and ten of them) were committed to the Tower. In 1646,| Parliament abolished the Orders of; Archbishops and Bishops, and it was, not until 1661 that the Bishops regain-;! ed their seats.

Glass may be cut under water with ease, to almost any shape, with a pair of shears or strong scissors. Two things are necessary for success. First, the glass must be kept level in the water while the scissors are applied; and, secondly, to avoid risk, it is better to perforin the cutting by taking off small pieces at the corners and along the edges, and so reduce the shape gradually to that required. The softer glasses cut the best, and the scissors need not be very shai;p. The heat which accompanies the overcoming of friction is an example of the principle of the conservation of energy. The power expended in overcoming the friction between two bodies—in overcoming resistance offered by the pressure of one against the other —produces an amount of heat exactly proportional to that power. The heat .produced is nothing but the original power in another form, and is itself capable of performing mechanical or other work. According to Herodotus, the siege of Aslidod, sometimes called Azoth by Psammetichus, lasted 29 years. If this statement is true, this siege was the longest that has ever been recorded. Other writers put its duration at 19 V cars. If we accept their statement, the longest siege was that of Candia, the ancient Crete, which was captured by the Turks from the Venetians in

ItilJO, after a siege of 24 years. The most celebrated siege in the world’s history was that of Troy, which occupied 10 years. The expression “A touch of the bishop’s foot,” used in referring to food which has been burnt, liad its origin in the days when bishops were in the habit of burning heretics. Tyndale says: “If the podecli he burned-to, or the meatc over roasted, we sayc the byshopc hath put his fote in the potte,” and he explains it thus: “because the bishopes bum who they lust.” Such food is said therefore to have “a touch of the bishop’s foot,” or to he “bishopped”; The common saying, “He lias put his foot in it,” is also traced to the same. I origin. 1 The extent of the visible surface of; the moon is about 8,408,000 square miles; |or r>S/looths of her entire surface.' The moon always turns the same half.;. I towards the earth, but, owing to wlmt; 1 are called the lilmitions (or sway mgs): I in longitude and latitude, slightly more |,than half the extent of its surface bcj comes visible. What we see are. millions 'of miles of scoriaceous plains, volcanic j craters, ami rugged mountain ranges, with not so mill'll as a sprig of moss anvwhere over the whole of it —a desolate region, without a ripple of water or a motion ot air.

The Lord Mayor of London has four swords, which form part of the Mansion House regalia. There is the sword of Justice, the sword of State, the black sword, anil the pearl sword. When the

Lord Mayor attends the Central Criminal Court on the opening day of each session the “sword of Justice ’ is placed behind him. The “sword of State” is borne in front of the Lord Mayoi as an emblem of his authority. The “black sword” is used during Lent and on the death of any member of the Royal Family. The “pearl sword”—presented by Queen Elizabeth —is carried before the Lord Mayor on all great State occasions.