MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2813, 12 February 1908, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO.

»~ Violins vary more with weather than ftny other musical instrument. — One woman in every four nowadays learns her own living

— Tree trunks are seldom round. They fere flattened on the north and south sides. — The nose of a dog in health is kept cool by a supply of moisture from the tear glands. — London and Liverpool are both at the l«vel of the sea. Glasgow is 30ft above it, Manchester 50ft, and Birmingham 300 ft.

— Next to London, whier has nearly 139,000 Jews, Manchester is the English town with the largest Jewish population. It has 28,000. Glasgow has only 6500, and Liverpool 7000.

— A bulldog worth £38 was killed by a Cow at Bangor. The cow got him down and knelt on him, practically squeezing the life out of him.

— Cinchona, or quinine, takes its name from the Countess of Cinchon (wife of a "Viceroy of Peru), who cured of chills and fever by this remedy. — Red glass hastens vegetation, while blue glass suppresses it. Sensitive plants like the mimosa grow 15 times higher under red glass than under blue. — The outlook in the Irish linen trade is somewhat* gloomy. There is a shortage of orders, and the Masters' Association has recommended short time.

— The Duke of Argyll's woodmen have cut down at Inveray a massive beech, the trunk of which was eight feet in diameter. For 30 years the tree was kept upright by beams.

— Sir James Barr, the eminent doctor, speaking in Leeds, said he was _ glad' to Bee so many Scotsmen getting on in Yorkshire, because if they could succeed in Yorkshire they must be really clever-. — Two tons of bananas can be grown on the space of ground which will produce 401b weight of wheat. — The first English yacht race of which there is record was in 1662, when a small boat belonging to Charles II beat one of his brother's in a match for £100.

— The earrings worn by Italian organgrinding women indicate the part of Italy the wearers come from. The longer the earrings the farther south the original homes of the women. In the far north the ornaments are quite short. — A map of Ireland, composed of grass sods taken from the different counties, will form a novel feature of a series of Irish industrial exhibitions to be held this year throughout the United States. — A male inmate of Stirling District Asylum made up his mmd 1 to hold his tongue Bnd to do as much work as possible. He has not been known to have spoken for nine years. — Scotch pipers in full dress were a striking feature at the Salvation Army Band festival at the Royal Albert Hall recently, in which nine bands took part. The audience numbered nearly 7000. — Father Seallan, a County Clare priest, xvhc took a prominent part in aiding the crew of the wrecked French ship Leon XIII, has declined the title of Chevalier of tho Legion of Honour, which was offered to him by M. Clemenceau. — Eggs sunplied 1 to Clogheen (Ireland) Infirmary exploded like bombs on being placed in hot water, the medical officer reports. "Cannot," he asks, "a contractor who supplies infernal machines as human food be made amenable to the law?" —An amusing discussion followed a proposal to the Rochdale Guardians to plant 9900 trees at East Top, near the Workhouse. Several merrbers remarked 1 that an expert gardener had complimented them on the health/ condition of the trees already planted, and one member added that when he visited the place he found the grass quite as high as the trees, and the thistles twice as tall. . _, — The new Government Alagnetio Observatory at Eskdalemuir, Roxburghshire (remote from the haunts of menl, is now completed, and has cost about £20,000. It is 56 miles from Edinburgh and 28 from Hawick. For the seismograph room, where the earth's disturbances will be recorded, | the principal pier has been sunk 20ft down j to the solid rock. The magnetograph house is underground. — Many fißh can produce musical sounds. The Ted gurnard has earned the name of seacock from the crowing noise which it makes, while another species is caUed the piper. Others have sound-producing ap- j paratus, consisting of small, movable bones, j which can be made to produce a sharp rattle. The curious "drumming'" made by the Mediterranean fish known as the rraigre can b-s heard from a depth of 30 fathoms. — The King, through the Home Secretary, has' sent his congratulations to Mr Henry Ellis on the completion of 50 years as a bellrmsrer of the parish church, Hudder3fieid. His .Majesty expresses his interest in a report sent by the chief constable of Huddersfield stating the number of" times Mr Eilis had rung bells on the occasion of birthdays of his Majesty and the late Queen Victoria. — The death took place lately at Chester of the Rev. William Rowe Jolley, M.A., tutor to Prince Alfred (1858-9), tutor to Prince Arthur (1859-67), Chaplain-m-Ordin-ary to Queen Victoria (1873-1901), Deputy Clerk of the Closet in Ordinary to the King (1901). Mr Jolley was a chaplain in the Royal Navy, and saw active service, including the bombardment of Sveaborg (1855). He retired from the navy in 1859. —An English writer challenges the statement "that in order properly to appreciate the music of the bagpipes one must have Scottish blood in one's veins, in so far as it would seem to imply that the instrument is either essentially Scottish, or cf Scottish origin." "As a. matter of fact, he says, "though popularly regarded as the national instrument of Scotland, it 's only Scottish by adoption, and was actually introducer) into that country from England, it is mentioned by Chaucer and Spencer, as well as by Shakespeare, and the earliest allusions to it in Scotland are in the archives of James IV. the Royal Treasurer's accounts containing entries of sums paid to English pipers who came to p*ay before his Majesty. The origin of the bagpipe is lost in antiquity, having been known to the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, as evidenced by their sculptures and coins At the present day it is in jise in Ireland. Italy, France, and Poland.

The .Urewera country is said to, be rich in gold, but the Maoris have hitherto prevented prospectors from investigating. The regulations regarding: the opening up of the country for prospecting are now m the hands of the Law Officers of the Crown, and it is hoped to gazette theas at an