MISCELLANEOUS.

Southland Times, Issue 1690, 17 January 1873, Page 2 (Supplement)

MISCELLANEOUS.

■ Latest fbom the. Kitchest. — A young .- woman meeting her former fellow-servant, " was asked how she liked her new place. " Very well." " Then yoa have nothing to complain of now, have you ?" "Nothing, only master and missus talk such very "bad grammar." >fe.- . The (^owTHfcKP; Bekldt. — A French journal, the Franeais, draws attention to ..-i -.the- wonderful growth of Berlin during ■•;■.. the last. two. centuries, and declares it to >s be the r&csfr important city in Germany, which is beyond question. The augmentation of its population — says the writer — corresponds with; each of the steps which the house of Hohenzollern has made towards the. domination of Germany. In 1640, when the Grand Elector arrived, it contained only 12,000 souls ; in 1786, at the death of Frederick the Great, there were Ms,oooiuhabitants ; ia spite of the sufferings inflicted on Germany by the Emperor Napoleon, it had increased ~ to 175,006 in 1815 • by the year 1860 the number had grown to half a million. Since the battle of Sadowaand the events which made Berlin the capital of the empire, the growth has been prodigious ; the population of Berlia is now said to -be considerably greater than that of Vienna, which numbers 800,000, and the last calculation made it approach one mil Ton. , An Important Medical Discoyeky. — It appears (says the San Francisco Scientific Press) that an accident, as in many other discoveries, is about to render an important service in the cause of medicine, by which the eye will be able to l«eate many diseases whose source and locality must now be determined by induction or inference rather than sight It appears that Dr KieHardaoo, of Loodon, whii" experimenting .-jvith electricity about two ytars ago, was surprised to find a portion of bis hand so illuminated as to become perfectly transparent. This fact, and also a simiiar experiment by Dr Priestley, induced Dr Thomas Niehois-m, of New Orleans, not long since, to pursue the subject till he succeeded incompletely illuminating the whole hand. From the result of these experiments, it seems that, in order to illuminate the body, it would only he necessary to increase the vivid- ! . ness of She calcium lL*ht ? and enlarge the magnifying lenses employe!, so as io gain aatScieut power. When all the -internal organs of the faaroan system are thus inspected by actual sight, there will be no need of diagnosing a case to discover the' cause «f seat of a disease. In the case of wounds or internal bruises, the surgeon can determine at once the location of the bullet, or the condition of the part affected, also tumours, ulcers, or any internal malady, as easily as can a housekeeper the displacement of an article of furniture, or an ink spot upon the carpet. It can be readily perceived tb;\t this discovery may become an efficient aid to tnedieal science, and an incalculable blessing to mankind. Mr Andrew Currie, of Glas3mount, ITife, bus presented to Mr XHsrseli, in appreciation of his policy as a statesman, a walking stick* made from wood which formed the st.arcase leading to the dwel-ling-house at Kirkcaldy which history assigns as having been the birthplace of Adam Smith, author of the " Wealth of Nations." Mr Disraeli has written acknowledging the gift. Nature states that Mr Darwin's forthcoming work on " Expression in Man and Animals" bids fair to be of a more popular character than any of his other publications. It will commence with a statement of the general principle of expression ; that serviceable actions become habitual in association with certain states of the mind, and are performed, whether or not of seryice, in each particular case. This will be illustrated iv the case of expression of the various emotions io man and the lower animals. The means of expression in animals will then be discussed, and the special expressions of animals and man, such as the depression of the corners of the mouth in grief, frowning, the firm closure of .the mouth to express determination, gestures of contempt, the dilatation of the pupils from terror, the causes of blushing, etc. In conclusion, tbe b -aring of the subject on the specific unity of the races of man. . tbe part which the .will- and intention have played in the acquirement of various ex preVaii ms, and » the question of their i acquisition by the progenitors of man I will be discussed.

Josh Billinsrs says " Grive the devil his due reads well enough in a proverb ; bat what will become of me and you if this ' arrangement is carried out ?" [ Sensible. — In Arkansas, a popular man waa sentenced to be hanged ; but ail the carpenters in the neighborhood refused to build the scaffold. As the condemned man was himself a carpenter by trade, -the sheriff tried to induce him to put np a But he steadfastly declared he'd be bauged if he did. Bbktox Cattle — The Breton cattle, which are very diminutive, are a valuable variety for towns and small farnss. The cows attain a height of 36 to 38 inches, and in extreme cases from 16 to 17 Ib 3of butter have -been made from the milk of a single cow. The Massachusetts Ploughman has the following : — These beautiful little cattle were originally imported, for curiosity and for their beauty as mnch as anything else, but they have proved quite | satisfactory, giving a "good yielc of milk in proportion to their size anf cost of keeping, yery docile, easily miked, and yielding a milk that makes ths highest quality of butter. They are wei adapted for short pastures and scant food. But the place they fill better thai my breed ; of cows is that of a family cor. " There is a certain class of men who «vh small places, often of no more tbaa three to five or ten acres. They do rut need a large cow, and what they wsnt is one just large enough to supply the family with milk, a kind of family pet, beautiful on the lawn, a miniature dairy cow, giving eight or ten quarts of milk s day, and easily kept. No cow is bo well adapted as the Brittany to supply this want, and no one in such a position will give so mnch satisfaction. The butter made from the ruilk of the Brittany cow is not so highly colored as that of the Jersey, but it,js of much higher flavor, and for the supply of the table of a small family much more desirable. All those who have had the Brittanies prize them highly, and the demand for them has been much greater than it has been possible to sup» ply. The breed has been celebrated for many years in France for the sweet and nutty flavor of the butter from its milk. Notel Egg Hatched Appaeatus. — ! A gentleman in Melbourne has invented an artificial incubator, possessing some new features as to the way the heat is applied, and of such a simple and portable character as to make it as much an article of farm furniture as a churn, or a cheese press. It assumes the appearance of a [ squar e cedar case, standing on a basis : like ordinary table legs, and occupying no more room than the small work-table \ at which ladies ordinarily sit and work. In the lower part of tbis ease is placed a '. small kerosene lamp, and above it a corrugated iron tank with a flue connected with it, which effectually equalises the beat. It is the thorough equalisation of heat, and the easy way of, at the same time, procuring the lower temperatures necessary, without variation in any part of the incubator, that form the excellence of the little machine under notice. In the middle part of the case, above the tank and below the batching table, is a compartment into which, the chickenß are put after they come from the shell,, and this leads on to a platform strewn Vith sand. If the weather is cold outside, the chickens can be kept here for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, as may be necessary. The machine requires no watching, and any dairymaid, by visiting it once in the morning to attend to the lamp and give to the eggs the necessary daily cooling, may hatch over 100 chickens within the usual number of days. The Cob rect , Weight of Milk. — Mr Gale Borden, of White Plains, New York, who conducts an establish meat for preparing condensed milk, has been making some experiments for the purpose of determining the correct weight of crude milk. He took the milk of several cows, and. mingling it together and then thoroughly cooling it, he .had it accurately weighed. The result was that a q lart of milk, so measured and weigh* ed on delicate" scales, was equal to 21b 2£oz. The tests were made with different samples of milk at different times, but without materially altering the weight Mr Borden has adopted the above as a true weight of a quart of milk of fair average quality. Ifeuce, any person who buys milk may determine by weight, witn satisfactory accuracy, whet.yer be receives a quart when he is required to pay for that quantity.