ODDS AND ENDS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 327, 9 December 1880, Page 2

ODDS AND ENDS.

Another lake village, assigned by experts to the age of bronze,' has been discovered Auveraier. near, Neuchatel. Several millstones quite new, others half made, have been brought to light, from which it is inferred that the place may have been the seat of a manufactory of these articles. Another conclusion drawn from this find is that Swiss pile buildings served as actual dwellings for the primeval inhabitants of the land, and were not, as has been supposed, used merely as storehouses.

The Dead Sea is so named , from mo living object being found in it. Newspapers are printed in ten different foreign languages, including the Chinese, in San Rrancisco.

Mr Spurgeon is said to have a hobby for collecting the autographs of distinguished commentators. Competition has reduced the price of a ticket from New Orleans to Chicago a distance of 915 miles, to Bdol. and from New Orleans to Jack«on, 442 miles to Idol. In Germany and Austria eminent physicians are generally connected with private hospitals, of which they are often’ the proprietor’s. , The lotos plant grows plentifully in .China, and is prized for its seeds, flowers and Tools, all. of which form part of the food of the people and also figure among their popular medicines. The heir of the Spanish throne .will be baptised in water from the river Jordan, presented in a bottle for tuat purpose, by Moutilla, the Spanish Minister at Constantinople. By the death of the Dowager Lady Cowper, Lord Cowper, the present Viceroy of Ireland, becomes one of the wealthiest men in England.

It is said that M. Jules Verne is about to visit the province of Oran in order to explore the marble quarries of Kleber, He hopes to collect the necessary materials for a work to be entitled “ A Journey to the Land of Marble.”

The late Rev. George Gilfillan left behind him a novel in MS. under the title of “ Reconciliation.” It is said that the narrative partakes very largely of an autobiographical character, containing graphic sketches of the beautiful district of Perthshire, in which Mr Gilfillan was born.

The Queen has had an interview with several of the French Jesuits now in England, and expressed her regret at tlieir expulsion from Prance. A young lady in Michigan has become a law partner with her father, and the firm name is Coolidge and Daughter, Attorneys and Councillors at law. The Rev. E, S. Wallace, of the People’s Church, Geelong, although totally devoid of sight, plays .the harmonium ; and the singing of his congregation is as hearty, if npt as barmdniua os the performances of the Austrian band.

If a piece of lead wire be hung perpendicularly over a vessel of mercury, the lower end immersed, the mercury will gradually permeate and ascend the wire to a height of three feet •in a few days. M. Duvochel has invented a compressed kind of pacre or pearl, made of the pulver* ized shell of the halctis, solidified with gelatine. >. Thus prepared it will serve for inlaying or mounting in cabinet work, cartonuage, tableture, and other industries, andihe manufacture of fans, buttons, &c. The British Museum is about to be enriched by a collection of natural history specimens made by the officers of Her Majesty’s surveying ship Alert, which has been*for some months engaged in making a complete survey of the Straits of Magellan. i