MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

Southland Times, Issue 1563, 12 April 1872, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

la order to be a ripe scholar, must a man get mellow ? Ifc is a funny thing about a dentist, that the more he stops the faster he gets on. A bank note is better than Inrd money, because, if you fold it, you find it increases. Indies should have an affection for whales ; for they are chiefly bone of their bone. . A debating; club has decided that it is ri^hfc to cheat a lawyer, but hard to do ! Courtship, like Canada, borders on the United States. If girls always knew tho previous lives of the men they marry, the Hat of old m:\ids would be iucreased. Before hanging a man in Louisiana they let from fifteen to forty reporters for the newspapers " interview" him for three weeks. The poor fellow is then not only willing but anxious to be hanged. " Papa," said a bright-haired boy, " how could the military ' fly ' from the field of battle, when they had only a plume apiece, and both wings of the army were thrown into great disorder ? Say, papa, how could they fly ?" A New Tork politician, in writing a letter of condolence to the widow of a " country member " who had been his friend, says, " lam pained to hear that has gone to heaven. We were bosom friends, but now we shall never meet again." During the examination of a witness as to the locality of the stairs of a house, the counsel asked him " which way did the stairs run ? " The witness, who, by the way is a noted wag, replied, " One way they ran up but the other way they ran down." A tailor, while travelling on the lakes, was asked by a Yankee where he lived, and what his business was, etc., to which he replied that he lived in Toledo, and that his profession was sitting on the smooth side of poverty, and jerking out the cords of affliction. Utilisation op Sandhills. — Sow and plant nettles, says M. G-arrene, a French sayan, and all the sandhills in the south and the wastes and other parts of France will be converted into green and profitable fields. M.G-arrene wonders that the world is so slow to learn the great economic value of this robust plant, which, will grow everywhere. Raise your nettles, he says, and in the young tops thereof you will have a delicious and early vegetable for your dinner table, and abundance of early green food for your cattle. The milk of cows is improved by a diet of nettles aud the beef of cattle fed ou nettles is superior to all other. Nettles, too, are of remarkable efficacy in restoring broken down horses to vigor. And in commerce their value is great, for they can be treated as hemp, and spun into lines and ropes, and woven into cloth. Cure of Whitlow. — The following appears as a letter in an Australian contemporary : — I think I can give you a prescription, and an inexpensive one, for the cure of whitlows or any kind of external inflammation. This remedy, if properly prepared, would I believe keep good for a century, and might be ready at hand to apply any time. I have never found any other application so beneficial. I was laid by eleven weeks with one, out of which a bone five-eighths of an inch came, and another seven weeks out of which another such bone came. The pain I suffered wifch them is indescribable. I had several others of less virulence and duration ; out of which small scales and bone came. The last which I suffered from was lanced three times. The last lancing relieved me, but it is a dreadful remedy. It is about thirteen years since I have been in possession of my remedy, before which I was scarcely a year without one or more of these dreadful whitlows. But since I have had it, I have never had one come to a head, though I felt the first symptoms many times, at which I have applied the plaster which has invariably given me speedy relief. The first symptoms of one of these virulent whitlo\vs,is a stinging in the top of the finger or thumb, like what is produced by a prickle or splinter, but nothing visible. After this the pain will increase and a swelling commence, which will soon be followed by a throbbing. As soon as these symptoms are felt, apply the plaster, and a cure will soon be effected. The prescription is as follows : — Take a pint of salad oil, and half a pound of red lead in powder. Beat them well together, set them over a slow fire, and keep stirring. Let them simmer or boil very slowly till the composition is turned a light brown ; then take it off the fire, and add two ounces of resin, and two ounces of beeswax. Keep stirring until they are well mixed, and when nearly cold it may be formed into rolls, or other convenient pieces for use, which should be made into plasters as required. A plaster may remain on several days, unless thrown off by the matter, which will never be the case unless the disease be advanced too far to be put back before the plaster is applied. Be particular as to the quantity of the articles, and be careful in boiling. If it be boiled too long or too strongly, it will turn it to a very dark color, and much deteriorate its quality.