GENERAL NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8061, 17 March 1906, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS.

The nnm'rtrof distinct species of microbw living in the body of i> nun in good health is between iisty and seventy. *More thnu thirty species have bren found inhabiting the cavity of the human mouth, others are found on the skin, and & variety of forms live in various parts of the digestive organs. An admirer of the late " Jimmy " Whistler once said to him, " Ah, Mr. Whistler, not long ago in Naples I saw ft sunset which was the counterpart of a painting of yours.'' " Oh, yes," replied the impressionist, " Nature is catching up." Another admirer —a lady—compared the artist with Velasquez. " But why drag in Velasquez ? " replied the irrepressible Whistler. » » * The Grand Mais in Paris possesses ft wonderful clock, which was shown in the Paris Exhibition of 1855. It was the work of Collin, and has just been overhauled. It is claimed for this chef d'eeuvre, says a Parisian journal, that it does not vary more than the hundredth part of a second in a year. It is 4J metres in height, and indicates the time in the twelve chief cities of the world, each city having its own dial. The clock not only marks the year, mouth, and day of the week, but its pendulum forma a barometer of singular precision. The Pyramids and tombs of Egypta q»ntain many wonderful things, mummies, pottery, jowels, coins, weapons, etc., ail of which either lived or were used by man many thousand years ago, but perhaps oue ef the greatest wonders discovered are flowers, led poppies, the sacred lotus blossoms, and other plants, which have been entombed with the mummies for five and six thousand years, and more, and yet at the time of discovery were in a state of excellent preservation. The lotus-flower is in the form of a trefoil, and therefore was held to bo a symbol of perfection by the Ancients.

In these days scientists tell us that every created thing has life, in some measure and fashion, from the dust of earth upwards. It is legs startling therefore to be asked to believe that seven of the gems known as precious stones are emlgjved with the procreative faculty. Yet this is no new theory,— it is of Eastern origin, but was spoken of by Pliny tho Great, many hundreds of year's ago, not as a supposition, but as a fact, for he himself tells how he proved the truth of this assertion. It may interest people to know that the seven stones are the diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire, beryl, topaz, ami amethyst.

Surgery is said to be older than medicine, and probably, in its simplest ollices, it is as old as human need for it. Skulls of the neolithic period give evidence that the opera* lion of trepanning was then practised. Tho Hindu surgeon, Susruta, who lived several centuries before Christ, had more than a hundred different sorts of surgical instruments, and there is abundant proof that his countrymen were skilled in amputation, lithotomy, and operations for l:?mia, fistula, and even for restoring lost ears and noses. Hippocrates, wiir) lived 100 8.C., was a skilful surgeon ; and discoveries by Ebers and others in Egypt prove that the ancient Egyptians practised surgery, with suitable instruments, nearly <SOOO years ago. Among the six hermetic books;of medicine mentioned by Clement of Alexandria was one devoted to surgical instruments.

A plant has been erected near Sydowsaue, Germany, for the purpose of making imitation silk from wood. At present some fifty pounds of skein silk are' maile'a day, which product can be increased ill-quantity to 'iOOO pounds. The silk is soft in texture, and cream in color. Each thread is made up of eighteen single strands; a single straud is hardly perceptible to the linked eye. In strength, the real silk is two-thirds stronger than tho imitation. When woven into pieces, the now substitute is said to have the appearance of real silk. How this new' article will compare with the genuine in the matter of wear" and price it is impossible at present to state. The manufacturing process is likewise undiscoverable. It is asserted, however, that the pulp undergoes a chemical process and is pressed through very line tubes by hydraulic pressure, forming'the single strands which go to make up the thread.

We have heard of people being married in n balloon and in a diving-bell, of motor-car marriages and of bicycle marriages ; hut an eloping couple in Tennessee have had, perhaps, the strangest wedding on record. I'mding their parents obdurate, they determined to run away, and accordingly boarded a train on the Knoxville and Augusta Hallway. Meeting a friend on the train,' they confided their plight to him. lie told them that the fireman on the locomotive was a justice (if the peace. Tho fireman was interviewed at the lirst slop, and consented to lie the knot at tiie next station. The young people hastened to the locomotive, and climbed into the "cab," where the fireman-magistrate, all grimy and greasy and|atlircd in his overalls, stood 011 the foot plate and spoke the few words necessary to marry tliem. Then the bride and bridegroom ran back to their ear, tho whistle blew, and they were off on their honeymoon.

. A beggar accosted a gentleman and whined, " I'm paralysed in both me 'anils, Mister, ail' enn't work, (or I can't grasp anylhink with 'cm. .Could you spare me alrille, mister?" " I'm deaf," replied the gentleman. "You'd better wri I e down what yon have to say. Here's a pencil and a piece of paper." "Deaf is 'e? " thought the beggar. •' Then 'e didn't hear about lite paralysis." So he wrote down, " I've got a wife and six children starving at 'ome, mister. I'vo been out o' work for sis months, an' am in a drelTul stalo o' desterstushiui." Ho hajided the paper to the gentleman, who read it and said, "I thought you said you were paralysed in both hands and couldn't grasp anything, and yet you can write." "Didn't yer say you were deaf?" stammered the beggar, who now really did feel paralysed. "Yes, just to lind out if you were an impostor, which you are, as I ■inspected," replied the gentleman. "Well, of all the blooming frauds, yer the big"est! " exclaimed the beggar. "The idea of yer snyin' yer was deaf, an'tryin' to impose 011 a pore feller." And lit. shuliled off sniffing the ail witli rialiteous iuili?i>2tiim.