General News.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3844, 25 April 1881, Page 1

General News.

Ad English naturalist while preserving ants and spiders in bottles of alcohol, met with a touching exhibition that caused him to forego farther experiment's.*'' He wished to preserve a large female spider and twenty-four of her young ones that he had captured. He put the mother into a bottle of alcohol, and saw that after a few moments she folded her legs upon her body, and was at rest. He then put into the bottle the young ones, who, of course, manifested acute pain. What was his surprise to see the mother arouse herself from her lethargy, dart around and gather her young ones to her bosom, fold her legs over, them, again relapse into insensibility, until at last death came to her relief, and the limbs, no longer controlled by this maternal instinct, released their grasp. A writer in the Fresno Republican, speaking of Egyptian corn, says :—lt will give a big yield on soil too poor to produce any other grain crops. It will grow in ground too dry to produce even rye or barley, the two next dryest crops. It requires no threshing, just the cutting off of the heads being all that is necessary, and that is less work than to husk corn. It can. be harvested at any time. from August to Christmas, being ready any time you are ready to harvest. Its yield is greater, and it is more valuable Btock or team feed, pound for pound, than any other grain. It is one of the most healthful and palatableearlicles of food ever brought,to the table, either ground and made into buns, cakes, puddings, &c, or cooked whole as a substitute for rice. It leaves on the ground when summer feed is gone, immense amounts of green stalks, leaves and heads, which are of the gaeatest value for forage for all kinds of stock. .

Kentucky holds tbe scales of justice level (says an American paper) by acquitting every white man who is known to have committed murder, and by lynching every coloured man who is suspected of having committed a disturbance of the peace. | " The husband of a pious woman having recently occasion to make a voyage, his wife sent a written request to the clergyman of the parish, which instead of spelling and pointing properly, viz: "A person having gone to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation," she spelled and pointed as follows : " A person having gone to see his wife, desires the prayers of the congregation." Murdoch told Bannerman that his team would play a return match with the com* bined team if they liked. Charley replied : " Yes, Billy, but who is to get the sugar—the best team or the other ?" No reply up to date. Taking 1000 well-to-do persons and another 1000 of poor persons—after fire years there remained alive of the prosperous, 943; of the poor, only 655. After 50 years there remained of the prosperous, 557 ; of the poor, 283 ; at 70 years of age there remained 235 of prosperous, and of the poor 65. The average length of life among the well-to-do was 50 years, and among the poor, 32. It is a* remarkable*fact that the moment a woman writes a letter she is frantic to put it in the post-office, although she may have been putting off the writing for six months.