MISCELLANEOUS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 371, 8 July 1874, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The " Thames Advertiser " of the 27th ult, has the following :: — •' Last evening Captain Tuttle was to have lectured on ' the Whale and its Habits' in the Academy of Music. The advertisement was somewhat attractive, as it contained the following passage :-*-' He will demonstrate tho fact that the whale, as described by Scripture as having swallowed Jonah, is capable of swallowing a man and that the narrative in Holy Scripture is therefore correct.' Captain Tuttle is surely better at his business as a whaler than ho is at grammar and composition — and there is a fatal flaw in his logic too. According to the above the identical fish that swallowed the prophet is yot »live. But putting that aside, it is not logical proof that because the great Greenland whale,*or any other kind of whale, can swallow a man therefore it was a whalo that swallowed Jonah in tho shallow waters of the Mediterranean. Naturalists tell us that no whale could swallow a man, and we prefer their authority to that of Captain Tuttle, who we presume, has never been swallowed. At all events, the Thames public felt some difficulty at swallowing tho yarn of the worthy skipper, for ho had just made a start with the pathetic story of Jonah, when the audience manifested symptoms of impatience, and became so noisy that Mr. Curtis had to interfere. To bring the affair to a close, he ordered the money-taker to hand back to oaeh individual in the audience his shilling, which was done, and the audience quickly filed out of the hall, with their doubts as to the agreement of natural history and Scripture yet unsolved, but with their shillings in their hands.

A correspondent writes as follows to the " Scientific American " :—": — " Recently, I- fell in company with a gentleman with a peculiarity in one of his hands. I requested permission to make an examination, when to my surprise I found that ho had an extra finger hinged on to the metacarpel bone, at the back of the little finger and extending sideways from the pahn of the hand ; it shut up in tho fist, but at right angles to the other fingers. Four of his children have similar developements on each hand, while a fifth child has six fingers on. but one hand. The father and the children have six toes on each foot, and a nephew who accompanied them was similarly endowed. Many of their ancestors and some of their relatives had or have sexadigital limbs. It appears, from evidence adduced, that these peeulianlias were derired from a family in which they have existed from time immemorial. If by any means a family inheriting such peculiarities should become isolated, the consequence would^probably bo a sexadigitaVraee, which, according to the common rules of classification, would constitute a new species."

A few clays ago Dr. Parks, medical officer of Kilmacow, Kilkenny, was found dead in that village at an early hour with fearful wounds on the head, which leave no doubt that he, was murdered. '

At thft Norfolk Assizes, Sarah Ann Snowling, a domestic servant, was found guilty of attempting to poison lior illegitimate child, ag§d fourteen months, at Harloston, on February 3. The child was put out at Harleston, fGid tho prisoner, who was living a few miles distant, sent it some cakes which made it sick. The cakes, on analysis, were found to contain strychnine. The prisoner was sentenced to ten years' penal pervifcucle.

The "Ballarat Courier" writes: — "It is always pleasing to record and read of good deeds, and it is additionally gratifying to be able to speak well of an individual wht> is in possession of the means for effecting vast benefits. Last Thursday Mr. W. J. Clarke visited this district for the first time since his possession of the vast estate willed to him by his father. A meeting of the tenants took place nt Blowhard^ when Mr. Clarke intimated his intention of reducing the rents by 3s. an acre, of building suitable homesteads, of fencing, and othor general improvements, so as to render farming on his estate pleasurable and profitable. Mr. Clarke further intimated that he was about to visit Europe, and would secure, either in England or Scotland, the most eminent practical agriculturist, in order that the tenantry might have before them a farm of 1000 acres conducted on a model nearest to perfection. One at of kindness done by this gentleiSan deserves to be honorably mentioned. Unable herself to carry on the holding, Mr. Clarke remitted to a widow on his estate the rent (three years) due, and promised her a convenient house with a sufficiency of land rent free for her life. These are acts which 'should always be cheerfully recorded." " JEgles," commenting upon the above in the " Australasian," remarks :— " It is questionable whether any more important Bocial event has occurred for some time than the considerate and generous behaviour of Mr. William John Clarke to his tenants. From the vastness of his possessions, Mr. Clarke cannot be regarded but as a representative man. It has too often been deservedly cast in the teeth of Property that Property cares for nothing but Property. Humanity, generosity, and self-sacrifice Lave been looked upon as abstract theories of weakminded men with which personified Property had no concern. But Mr. Clarke has shown practically that he understands that Property has obligations and duties which it ought to discharge in a considerate way — that Hb philanthropy should be common-place, and not telescopic. Mr. Clarke's example ought to do good, and even if it be not much emulated, he will be repaid in the consciousness of right-doing, and he cannot fail .to appreciate the applause of those whose praise is worth having."

The " Geelong Advertiser " says :—": — " One of the most experienced graziers of the Western district mentions a fact that is worth being generally known. He states that for many years he has observed -that tho seasons in England could be accepted as indicating the character of the corresponding seasons in the Australian colonies. In the sale and purchase of sheep and cattle he has acted upon the knowledge thus acquired, and he states that in no single instance has he found himself misled. In this way he has always been well pfepared for all contingencies, and his losses in consequence have always been nil, while his aggregate profits have been large. If it is true that the weather m England during the winter or summer is, as he states, the certain precursor of similar weather in this colony, now that telegraphic communication with the antipodes is established, our farmers and pastoral settlers will be able to be forewarned, and therefore forearmed. The question suggested certainly appears to commend itßelf to the attention of our meteorologists." A Printer's joke : " Good morning, Mr. Pecksnuff, said a printer in search of female compoitors. " Have you any daughters who would make good type setters ?" " No; but I have a wife who would make a very good devil "

Robert Collyer is writing a book on marriage and what should be done with it — a series of plain homely talks to people who are not married, and trying to make the best of it, poor souls. The question for discussion at a recent meeting^jf scientists was — "Which travelled fastest— heat or cold?/ It was decided in favour of heat as many of them had been able to catch a cold.

" Mrs .Miffln," said a visitor, " Emma has your features, but I think she has her fathers hair." " Oh, now I see," said the 'dear lit le Emma,' "its because I have father's hair that he has to wear a wig, 1 ' The following question* is ■ respectfully addressed to the clergy-: " Is a person who sits in the gallery of a church responsible for deeds done in the body ?"

Nemo me lmpune" Lacessit. — A pig broke open a can of nitro glycerine and swallowed a pound of the stuff, and now no one dares fco kick that porker.

A remarkable instance of ruling passion strong on the bench was related to me by a friend from Sulky Gully last week. The present mayor of Dimbools— the voting at the last mayoral election having been, equal — had to play his rival " euchre " for the honorable post i»f " chief of the burgesses " Of course he won — else he wouldn't be mayor. But ever since then, he has become a very demon for playing games of chance, particularly cutthroat euchre and four-handed cribbage. Now the Mayor had to deal some time since with four naughty boys who had been stealing zinc, matches, pipes, tobacco, and other goods and chatties. Clearing his voice, and thinking partly of his ability in pegging the cribbage board, and partly of the wickedness of the young larrikins before him, he delivered himself thus :—": — " This is a case of robbing in company, ahem ! and it appears that you, James Nago, took a lone hand., and shared the proceeds of your iniquity with your brother John and his desolute companions. Two brothers. Ay ! There's John and James ; that's 15 2 and a pair's four. You other lads, whose-er-names, I can't remember — (aside : D — pity it is they're not face cards !) — are numbered by way of distinction 1 and 2. By George — that makes 15-6 : It will go hard wi' you ! Each of you is sentenced to one month. [Aside : A calender month's thirty days.] Thirty and fifteen — 6 is 36. Let's see their ages are much about the same— and a " run " of four's is forty — and one for his nob. Oh !it wasn't my doal, I forgot." The clerk of the bench suggested that some of the upectalura were snickering. His Worship (shaking himself together): "A month's imprisonment, each of you !" (Tlien relapsiny into the memory of last night's game) : Bad play — let's see— all these boys look alike in that they have dirty faces — by jingo it's a flush ! —that makes it 46." I'm told that the court would have been what you call " convulsed " but for the stern immovable face of tin; sergeant in charge, who held tho keys of the lock up, awaiting the decision of the bench as attentively as the woman who came before His Honor Judge fc'ancho Panza.

More shocking and painful than the erratic mental aberauions of lunacy, or even than the frenzy of madness, is the vacant, blank, unmeaning look, and the positively hideous smile and laugh of the idiot. Poor Mrs. Freeman has been afflicted by Providence with an idiot child, which has grown from its birth minus all mental perception, and. ia now a physically strong girl of twelve to fourteen years old. But on her face, the features of which are individually almost handaome, sat the inexpressible deformity of fixed, unalterable, drivelling imbecility As tj£<f mother and daughter sat together, it wag-easy to see the story of a heart that had suffered a never dying anguish, far exceeding the poignant sorrow that springs from /death. One could readily picture the years tender solitude during which the mother looked in vain to catoh some acknowledgment from her child of the love she had lavished upon her ; but who can tell the intensity of the pangs she must often have feltinreceiving "from the offspring of her heart nothing but an idiotic chuckle, or a laugh without meaning, in response to her best affections. What her many years' experiences have been were, perhaps, portrayed in the final outburst of her maternal fellings in Court today. Throwing her head upon the idiot giri'B shoulder, she sobbed aloud. "Oh, your Worship, it is hard for me to lose her, for she was always more to me than all others." More painful to the spectator, during this scene, than even the mother's grief, was the un appreciative expression of the girl as she laughed vacantly in response to her parent's sounds of grief. It seems that the cause of the law's intervention is that the girl as she grows older is getting dangerous, occasionally threatening herself and others with the carving knife — " Geelong Times." Mr. Gosse, an explorer sent out by the Australian Government, in his report of the proceedings of the expedition mentions the discovery of a high rocky hill whence perpetual springs of fresh water issued. At its base were numerous caves of which he says— " They are formed by large pieces of rock falling to the foot. The blacks, who are numerous in this part of the continent, make holes under them, and the heat of their fires causes the rock to shell off, forming large arches. They amuse themselves covering these with all sorts of devices — some of snakes (very cleverly done), others of two hearts joined together, and in one I noticed a drawing of a creek with an emu track goalong the centre.

Thcro are two twin brothers who3e resemblance to each other is so stroug that "strangers can hardly toll them apart. They keep a grocery and provision store, and were one clay bringing in bags of meal from a waggon which was out of sight from inside the shop. Nathan had his coat, but Eli was in his shirt-sleeves. A stranger in tho shop watched them coming in and going out, but only one was visible at a time, and at last he exclaimed to Eli, " Well, you're the smartest man I over saw ; but why do you keep putting on and taking off your coat ?" These brothers and several other men were in the habit of getting up very early, and going to swim, and once Eli going, as was his wont, to Nathan's houee to call him by tapping on the pane, saw his own face reflected on the glass, and taking it for his brothers called out, " Como on, they're all waiting for you." "And have you no other sons?" asked a curious lady of a bronsed old sea captain. " Oh, yes, Madam. I had one that lived in the South Sea Islands for nearly a dozen years." " Really ! Was he bred there, and what was his taste — the sea or the land ?" " No, madam, he wasn't bread, he was meat — leatways the niggers ate him ; and as for his taste— the chief said he tasted of terbaccer." The lady walked to another part of the ship, and the captain himself took a frssh quid of terbaccer.

The New Orleans City Railroad recently sunk in the river a bag containing 47,000 counterfeit nickel coins, the returns of one year's business. The railroad companies have offered a reward of 1,000 dols for information which will lead to the discovery and punishment of the counterfeiters.

Struck Dumb. — A singular case of a man being instantaneously stricken dumb is recorded by Dr. J. H. Webb, of Powlett-street, East Melbourne. That gentleman writes to the "Medical and Surgical Review," as follows : — "A young man, aged twenty-four, a clerk in the office of one of our principal mercantile firms, entered an hotel late one evening, after an unusually hard day's work and seating himself in one of the rooms, with a glass of brandy and water before him, commenced a conversation with the landlady, •who made some ironical remark to him ; in the act of rising from his chair to reply, his foot slipped, and he fell, striking the back of his head against the bar of a childs chair, with force sufficient to break the rail ; on regaining his feet, he attempted to laugh, but discovei-ed to his dismay, that he could not emit the usual sounds of ha ! ha !. He next j essayed to speak, but found that the power of articulation had entirely left him ; whereupon he took up a slate and wrote the words 1 1 am dumb.' When called in next day after another practitioner (Dr. Iflla, of Emerald Hill) had seen him, I found my patient a healthy' person with, every faculty perfect, excepting that of speech, and without numbneES in either hand, or paralysis of any description, facial or otherwise. Ilsame to the conclusion that this peculiar affliction was the result of a sudden palsy of the 'recurrent laryngeal,' analogous^Jto what we sometimes see scours in temporary and immediato paralysis of the branches of the fifth. In this diagnosis I was supported next day by the opinion of a third practitioner, who was called in consultation, and verified byjthe happy termination of the case, and. gradual but entire restoration of speech after a lapse of nearly a fortnight, 1 "