MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 285, 10 March 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Among the many absurdities recently evolved by inquiries into adulteration, few more ridiculous incidents have occurred remarks Iroti, than the verdict of ' died by an overdose of alcohol,' in the caae of a man who had drunk four gills A ■herry. Adulterated or mixed, sherry always is. The wide is compounded at Xeres of various growths, and i« always ' touched. ' with a, ' mother wine,' or boiled-down version of an older vintage. A butt of this maternal fluid givea strength, body, and ' roundness ' to innumerable tender juveniles of recent birth. Thus, from it§ cradle to its grave the history of sherry is a catalogue of ' mixing,' ' blending, ' fortifying,' or adulteration. So far as can be ascertained, the unlucky man who died of four gills of sherry did not consume an undue proportion of uleohol. Whatever mysterious flivorings and rich compounds he drank during his not rery excessive bout we know not, but judging from our Highland experience we can only dismiss the notion of four gills of a compound containing 20 per cent, of alcohol kill ing a man as too ridiculous to be entertained. Our grandfathers had among them two, three, and even four bottle men, and drank wine never containing leas than 20 per cent, of alcohol. They are dead now. That is lo say. some of them are, but tha regular consumption of ' loaded ' winedoes not appear to have materially shortened their existence. One of the most eminent scientists, says the London cor* respondent of the Suffolk Ckronicle, has lately been informfM by a lady that she has dibcovered a method of inventing go 9 out of a mixture of other metals. She has asked the gentle- 1 man in question to assist her in bringing out her discovery. Your readers may think him very uugallant for refusing,. but 3fter all scienco is science, and one can hardly expect an eminent metallurgist to go back 500 years anl turn alchemist. I famy another invention whioh I hat <> heard of during t!ie last ft»w Hays mu«t be pltceii in the same category of pseu.lo discoveries. A gentleman i-rofesses to have found out ih.it by a certain arrant ncnt of mcU' re id placed undergivum 1 >ie cau proiu -c sj juu-''i qa'vt' 1 c "ir.j us to drive machinery. In ot'inr w.mls, .c alh-j.t'j t at lib1 ib has discovert! a motive power which is pruetioailjr permanent and comparatively cortlesa. —■ A very oll'onsivo mode, say th» Globe, of cross-exami-nation has recently come into fashion m the Criminal Court^ A witnest, already on his oath, gives certain evidence ; (M ii immediately asked whether he swears that, and answer* that he does. But this by no means satisfies the crosi-ox-amining barrister. ' You really mean to swear that,' Ac, ' Eemember you are on your oath,' and similar suggestion* that the witness is perjuring himself, are reiterated in order to induce the jury to believo hit evidence untrustworthy. This is hardly fair to one w'io tnaj be endeavouring to speak the tiuth, while a hard swearer will be by no means cheeked by such unauthoritalive additions to the oath previously administered to him- Tins custom is singularly aifensivt to those who hnve proper regard for an oath's sanctity, and ridiculously inoperative in the case of those wh<» are nol so influenced. I In the Journal of the Franklin Institute, Mr John 11. I Mott concludes his papers 'On Lightning and LiirbtnmaJ rods.' He comes to tho following among other conclusion^ — ' Lightning-rods, as usually erected, do not afford much I protection.' ' The conducting power of lightning-rods it I proportional to their solid contents, and not to their surfaces.' ' Insulators are of no use m any case- ' The rod must bo attaohed directly to the building, the closer the better.' 1 Sharp point* for the upper termination of rods are necessary ; rods are of but little value without them.' These conclusions are, in many respects, so opposed to received ideas, that they require careful examination. Mark Twain has returned to London even sooner than was expected, and is announced to lecture again immediately. He is following the example of Mr Charles Reid© and Mr Boucicault, and bringing out a novel written jointly by himself and Charles Dudley Warner. It is called the " Gilded Age," and its title is sufficient to show that it will be a tolerably severe satire upon this age of gilt which some people call gold.