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Colonist, Volume III, Issue 295, 17 August 1860, Page 3

Lime and Water.—ln Thames water, and moat of the waters furnishing the London supply, lime is found ■in the proportion of about 16 grains to the gallon. The daily supply is about 80,000,000 gallons, so that 30,000 tons of lime is about the quantity pumped into London with its year's supply of water—a mountain of lime that would make mortar enough to build a superb town ! Lime injures the coats of the stomach when we drink water that contains it; when we wash with such water, it curdles soap, and takes away the beauty of. the skin. Grooms and trainers take good care to give soft water to their horses and dogs. There are training stables on the chalk downs, for the sake of the turf and the quiet; but large tanks are formed in which to store rain-water for the use of the horses. However far away the animals may go to their races, their soft water is sent with them and supplied to them daily. Even a change of water is avoided. One drink of hard water would put the favourite horae out of conditioh,make his coat " stare," and destroy his chance of bsing winner of the Derby. Yet, knowing all this, we ourselves, with a curious obstinacy, stick by the" hard water, drink it, and wash in it; and, to defeat our great lime enemy, let us engage the strong upon our side; ladies should know that pure soft water is the truest beauty-wash, and that there is no cosmetic that will counteract the bad effect of hard water on the complexion. Her Majesty's adviser, Sir James Clarke, ordained, some years ago, the use of distilled water at the royal toilet.— Dickens' All the Year Bound, An Indian and a white man recently skated sixty miles for a wager, in Wisconsin. The Indian came in a few minutes less than ten hours, and did not seem to suffer from the exertion. The white man was over eleven hours in making the distance, and in a few hours after he had pulled off his skates his limbs swelled to a monstrous size, and he was disabled for several days.

There is nothing New under the Sun.—The carbine with which Hamilton of Bothwelhaugh shot the Regent Murray, in 1570, is preserved at Hamilton Palace. It has a brass barrel, the same length as the Enfield Rifle, and the bore is of the same diameter, and, what is most singular, it is rifled nearly in the same.mannerastheEnfield. The power of this rifle appears to have been great, for " the ball, after passing through the body of the Regent, killed the horse of a gentleman who waa riding oath's other side.— Tbs Builder,