THE LARGEST BEEHIVE IN THE WORLD.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 173, 17 June 1873, Page 3

THE LARGEST BEEHIVE IN THE WORLD.

flic Ldi Angelos County, on the eastern slope of the San -Francisco range of mountains, and in the immediate vicinity of the Learning Petroleum Company's oil region, there is a wonderful collection of wild honey in existence. The hire /{■' located in a rift which penetrates the rook to the depth of probably 460 feet The orifice is 30 feet long and 1^ feet ; four passages. The rift was discovered to be the abiding place of a swarm of bees that is represented as coming out in nearly a solid column one foot in diameter. 'Certain parties hare enden roared to descend to the immense "store of honey collected bv these beei,but were invariably driven back, and one man lost his life in the effort. Others 'inure, at the expense df much labour and money, built a 'scaffold of 125 feet high, iri the bop* of reaching a place "whence they could run a drift into the rock and extract its well-hoarded sweets, but finally ceased their work. Within four years the bees hare added no less than 15 feet of depth to their treasure, ap ascertained by actual measurement, and it is thought that at the present time there cannot be less than Bor 10 tons of honey in the rock. A man named Brßrophy lives in * cabin not far from the spot, .and obtained from the melting of the hocey by the «un« heat enough for his family requirements. All 'through that region immense stores of wild honey are* found in the trees, in the rooks, nearly e^ory place where its industrious matmfW .turers think — for bees seem to think — it will be secure. 'They comume a yery small proportion, as the climate enables them to keep up operations nearly every day in the year, and flowers of some sort ara always in bloom. It must be a severe season indeel when the little fellows Are not seen abroad in vast humbors engaged in their raelifluous work.

Thr Laughing Plant.— Palgrave's work on Central and Eastern Arabia furnishes something new for botanists. A plant i» described under the same name of ' 'laughing plant," the seedsof which produce' effects very much like laughing gas.* It grows only in Arabia, attaining a height only of about six inches at ITaaeom, while at Oman it rises three and four feet, with wide spreading branches, ibeing.. woody and the leaves green Its flowers, in tuftf, are yellow. Two or three black seeds, much like .French beans in size and shape, are produced in a soft, woolly kind of a capsule. They have a sweetish tasta*, with a slight flavour of opium. * >Thd odour from them is rather offensive, producing a sickening sensation. The essential property of this extraordinary plant is in the seed, which, pulverised and administered cautiously, soon begins to operate in a way "to oreate astonishment. The person begins to laugh boisterously, then he dances, sings, and cuts fantastic capers of a ludicrous character.- Such extravagance of manner. was 'never witnessed from any other dosing. It is uproariously funny for about an hour. Jt is a common amusement to charge food with the powder for the harmless enjoyment ' '/rf hw capering. antics, , When the excitement subsides the exhausted exhibitor falls into' a profound slumber. In another hour, on waking, he is totally unconscious of what has occurred. It is a common expression that there is nothing new under the snn.. Surely to men of science this .is something ~new demanding their careful investigation of 'such extraordinary properties of a vegetable growth that •x*rcise such potent influence over the brain. But it is 'morally certain that this recently discovered vegetable growth, so extraordinary in its potent influence on the human brain, is something new to science, demanding the attention of dispensatory makers, as well as those prof essors of Materia Medina who are supposed to know all that is "to be known of plants, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall. , Air 0. B. Button, tho well-known barrister of Hokitika, together with, hia clerk, Mr W. Blake, performed an unusual feat in the shape pf walking in one day from Q-royinonth to a diitaiice'Of fifty- five miles, over a track which -/in iomo ones i» hardly passable. They Imd also to cross 1W» RLvor aouie seventeen or eighteen times, as for the three or tour mile's the track" follows the river bed, which lias to be crossed and re-croujod many. timw to avoid tho deep pools and impenetrable bush. Mr Button is known to "be one of the best swimmers in "New' Zealand, having saved several lives during his residence in Hokitika, and this is 'the more extraord friary im he has b'ift one nrm nnd hand, t!ie left, wherewith to keep hiraiolf adoat. Two sable philosopher^ took shelter under the same tree during a heavy shower. After some time one of them complained that ha felt th« Vain. "_Neber mind," replied the ' father; " there's plenty of tree* j when dis ' un is w«t through

Tub Fi9ir in OaNA4iENT.iI, Art. — In Christian Ait the fish is one of tho earliest forms we meet with, being found, and very freely, in the catacombs of Roma. Home, like many other cities, was built of the stone furnished on its site, the supply of material for many hnndreds of ycara being derired from bencnih the surface on which the city actually stood ; hence tiio ground is largely honeycombed with, vaults and pasMgcs M-retching to now unknown distunces. ' TlitJac quarried on their disuse became the asylum of the early church, a retreat during lifi^ a quiet resting place at death for those who escaped tho famishing lion or the consuming flame ; hence in niches cut tior above tier in the rocky walls* are' found the remairs of cojntle s numbers of i this noble army of martyrs, their rojtinjc places bsirtj ordinarily covered with a slab of rock, and on this frequently .an inscription of rude symbolic form. We eann.ot.nopr prcsumo to positively defino the motives that led to the symbolic use of the fish in Christian Art. It is curious that the lottery of the Greek word for fish, are initial letters of the -.words " Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour," while Tertulian, and several -others of the early writers, suggest a fresh train of thought, since they frequently term their converts pUciculii, in allusion to thoir new life through tho watcr3 of baptism. Tn some instances the fish may have been rudely cut on the slab in tokcu thoc the decease! was a fisherman or a'ailbr.j but as signs that clearly refer to the worldly occupations are feyv in number," while the fish-formsis very abundant, we may, we think, very reasonably a33Ume that in most casei, at least, it was employod as a symbol, *ot in the lower but in the higher significance. In the works of the early illuminator!, many examples of the- use ©f tlyj fish will be fouiid, in souje case 3 as an accessory, while at other times the inflexibility of the creature is taken adrantaso of in the formation of entire letters 5 a C may be composed, entirely of the flab-form, while two in combination are used to form the letter O. Afans examples of these grotesque letters may bo seen in any good itaudard work on illumination, or, better stiH, on consultation of the original MSS. in our national collection and the rich libraries of our own and Continental cathedrals.— Art JourtrnMoT February. »

Tbttb Source or Animal Heat. — Ancient physiologists supposed that life has tlio power of producing heat; they conceive of a kind of culoriflc force in organized beings. Galen imagined that heat is innate in the heart— the chemic physicians attributed i& to fermentations, the mechanic physicians to frictions. Time has dispelled these errors of supposition, and it is ,proved now that the heat of animals proceeds froni chemical reactions taking place in the interior of the system. Lavoisier must be credited with the demonstration of th\s truth by experiment. As early as 1777 lie discovered that air, pressing through the lungs, undergoes n decomposition identical yniW thst whicli takes place in the combustion of- coal. NW, in the latter phenomenon, heat is thrown off; " therefore," says'Lavoisie*, " there must be a like release of heat in the interior of the lungs, during H«s interval between inspiration and oxpiration and it is doubtless this caloric, diffusing itself with the blood throughout . the animal economy, which keeps up a constant heat in it." There is, then, a constant relation between the heat of the living being and the quantity of air introduced into the lungs, to bo there converted into carbonic acid, that is to aay, by the combustion of a certain quantity of carbon in the organism, is exactly equal to the amount of heat de' veloped by tlio animal in a corresponding time. This quantity 'was estimated by the weight of ice melted by the. animal placed in a calorimeter. Lavoisier ascertained in this way that such equality does not exist, nor was he long surprised at this, for he soon discovered that cf 100 parts of atmospheric oxygen absorbed only 31 are thrown off by the breath in tlie form of carbonic acid. Ho concluded then, from this observation, that the phenomenon is not a simple one, that a part of the oxygon (nine per cent.) is consumed in burning hyd/ogen, to form the vapour of water contained- in the expired »ir. Animal heat must be accounted for, then, by ft double combustion : of carbon first, then by hydrogen ; and respiration regarded as throwing off out of the animal carbonic acid and vapour of water.— Popular Scientific Monthly

A. Mam -with a Seal's Face.— A. St. Fetersburgb correspondent describing the curiosities in the shows at the fair there recently, says -.—One of these which I went in to inspect was really ft scientific curiosity. It was a hairy faced man and child. In the picture outside he waa represented as a species of Orson wisi a great club and a slain beast lying at his feet. The man was a Russian peasant of medium size. His hair commenced at the eye-, brows; tihere heifig no forehead whatever. It was very long, thick, and 'siiky, of »' brown color. The eyelids themselves were covered with a short soft hair, and below the eyes hair extended all over the face, including the noao, where, however, it was a little lew thick than upon the cheeks, so that the color of the skin could be seeu through it. Singularly enough, the parting of the moustache was clear and well defined, tiis being the only spot upon the face free front hair. The face singularly lesembkd that of a seal. He had no hair upon his bauds*, nor, as we were informed, had he any unusual amount of hair on hi 8 body, He had unlil a few months since worked as an ordinary peasant. His chiftl, a boy about three years old, inherits its father's peculiarity ; its face being entirely covered with a soft light fluff, which in time promises to rival tho-hirsute display of his father. There no possible deception m the matter, for the man cime down among us for his close inspection, and his wife also brought down the child.

A'Obbveb EjrEpiENT. — An actor of the name or mna was remarkable for his presence of mind and fertility in expedients. One evening, while playin;* in soma forgotten melodrama, he extricated himself with honor from an awkw*rd difficulty. Ho represented the hero of the piece, a' hardened brigand, caught at last, and awaiting his doom in a iombre cell. One of his accomplices hnd contrived to convey to him a rope ladder and a file His business was to file through the bars of his prison window, and attempt his escape through the opening. At the moment when he was getting out of the windqw, three soldiers had to rush on the stage, fire at him and shoot him dead. Hind duly went through his part ; but at the critical moment, instead of the, expected fatal termination, the guns missed fire. The soldiers retreated in disorder, and immediately returned with fresh muskets, which, not being loaded, merely flashed in the ptn. Hind's position was" becoming unpleasant. Suddenly he fell upon the »tage, uttering fearful cries, dragged himself to the foot-lights in apparent agony, and exclaimed, "Merciful Heaven! I have swallowed the file!" Then, after wellperformed convulsions and another loud groan, he fell down

dead. A .Silent Speech.— A. »mall dinner party was given in honour of an extremely shy man, who, when he rose to return thanks, rehearsed the speech, which he had evidently lewnt hy heart, in absolute silence, and did not utter a single word ; but he acted as if he were speaking with much emphasis. His friends, perceiving how the case stood, loudly applauded the imaginary bursts of eloquence whenever his gestures indicated a pause, and the man never discovered that ho had remained the whole time completely Bilent. On the contrary, he afterwards remarked to my friend, with much satisfaction, that he thought he had succeeded uncommonly well. — Dandin't Expression of the Emotions of the\ Face of Man and Animals. - .

Never "Pop" ok Horseback. — Don- Piatt writes about popping the question on horseback as though he had been thero -.—". — " Dou't do it ; it's the most awkward place to pop in the world. If you're Rejected you can't gat away ; if you're accepted you can't embrace. Horses don't understand that, and by the time you get your arais around her, the confounded animal pulls you apart ; and if you attempt to kiss you are joggled up and downfall over the whole countenance, kieifog the nose and chin more than auy other place." . „, .

-OtfBFOBHis Nob.— A member ot tne late university, crew was trying the other day, with unquestionable success, to smoke an asthmatic pipe, when he remarked thatit blew better than it pulled. " Yes," replied a scientific, J' l have known some people who blow oetter than they pulled." Member of the University crew was silent. ,

Haw and Haw. — "Wh»t are you naiioain^ aoouc, Bill?" said* mother at the stairs' foot one evening, Rafter, her two boya had been put to bed. "Plea", mother, said Bill, " Jem wants half the bed." " WeU," says she " let him have it, and you take the other half." » Yes, mother ' says BUI, " but will have his half out of the middle, and make me sleep on both sides of him." " Pa," said a son to his father, " what is meant by a chip of the old block ? ' " " Why, my son, do you ask the question ?" " Because I was in Enfield tins morning, and. told them gentlemen while hunting I saw fifty squirrels up one tree. They kept trying to moke me say that I did not see but forty-rime ; and because 1 wouldn't say so they said I was a • chip of the old block.' " " Hem ! WeU my son, they only meant that you wor* smart and honest, like > your pa. You can go out to play now." Inspectors of Agriculture in France' are often appointed who quite understand a salad, but do not know a turnip from ft beet-root. A story is told of one of these gently men who was parading .farm with the owner. Seeing* crop of rye growing next a field of barley, the sapient official asked why on earth one was so much taller than the other. "Because," remarked the farmer, with a grin, » one 1 is corn growing for two years ! , 'Ha ! that j it, w it?" exclaimed the inspector, taking out his tablets aud "Imons the papers of the late Lord Lytton there wai found a note, in which he expressed a wish that whenever mi death occurred liii body •hould not be touchod by the surgeons, but that it ahould remain on the bad where M might die for tliree days. There was a further proviso that ut the expiration of tlu-eo days ho should be examined by medical men, who were to ascertain tbtit ho was really dead. Madame Patti lms just taken her benefit at St. Petersburg, the representation consisting of one act of three operas— the " Barbiere," " Rigoletto," and " Dinorah." The public prosented the artist, with a circlet ofdiamonds, Worth 30,000iranc3, and recalled her thirty times in the courr-e of tbe evening. The most perfect copies of fern may bo made by thoroughlj maturating them in common porter, and then laying their flat between white sheets of pappr (without moro pressure than the leaves of an ordinary book bear to each other), and let them" dry out. Romavtic Death. — A young ladj drowned in tears.

It is said that a man at the bottom of a deep well can see ntara in the day-time. ( It is ft fact. A man in the conntry, in this advantageous position for astronomical ob80i vation, saw quite a galaxy of stara of various magnitudes lately. A briok fell on his head from the top of the welL A Bengal paper supplies a neat instance of confusion of metaphor. Criticising the income-tax, our contemporary hopes " the Government will not repeat the calf which daily produces the golden egg.' 1

P»airAP3 MB.WAs EtoHT. — Swell: " 1 wflnt you to make me a short coat without tails or scams in the back. Do you know what I mean? " G-erman tailor : " Yaas — jam, I know vnt you vant. You Vant a straight jacket." The French Official' Journal stntea in its recentlj published tables of'tlio census* ofrthe country, that there are thirtj thousand nyu'o married, men than there are married woinoa. 3 " l "Is that marble ? " saia a gentleman, pointing to the bust of Kentucky's groal statesman, recently, in aNew York store. ",No, sir, Hiatus Olny," quietly replied the dealer.

A want. — " Poor but respectable pcoplo " are common enough ; what we want now aro a. few who are rich and respectable. . • Professor AgAssiz having said that Niagara will run dry in ninctpen centuries, the JNiftgara hackmcn have raised their fare? in consequence.

Her Fault. — Woman ought to do ill she can to make tins earth a paradise for men, as it was ber fault he lost the oth«*r.

EXPBBSBITK.— A. Western editor says of a neighbour with a quivering eye-lid thut ho " stutters in the left eje." •Jt is laid, that female compositors "set up" their copy \rery rapidlV,.b'oing anxious to get the- hat word.

- Db. BKiprrr's P#qs PHOi{TNin. — Multitudes of people are hopelessly suffering from Debility, Nervous and Liver CotupVfints, Depression of Spirits, Delusions, Unfltness j for Business or ' Study, Failure of Hearing, Sight, and i Memory, Lassitude,' Want of Power, &c., whose cases admit of permanent cuae by the new remedy Pliosphodyne (Oxonic Oxygen), which at "once, allays all irritation and excitement, imparts new energy and life to the enfeeblejj constitution, and rapidly enres every stage pf these hitherto incurable aha' distressing mayflies. Sold by all Chemists and- Storekeepers' througou.& the colonies, from whom pamphlets containing testimonials may be obtained. — Cautiion: Be particular, to ask for Dr. Bright's Phosphodyne as imitations are. abroad; and avoid purchasing single bottles, the genuine article being sold in cases only. — Adt