MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 336, 9 July 1874, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

President Hoffman of the Elmira Farmers' Club itated q at a recent meeting that by selection of seed lie can changei the entire character of a crop within a few jenrs, and hoi alluded to the great improvement of latter times, in somoj varieties of corn especially. All kinds of garden escnh^s. can bo vastly improved, flowers be made to increase in^BBJ and beauty, our farm crops to yield a better return, and in fact all' forms of vegetablo life bo radically changed for th*J better, simply by careful attention to this matter of a lelecjj tion of seeds. The celebrated seed growers of Europe, bjj patient and judicious regard for this well known law, proj| duco the greater portion of their choice novelties. So cwefuH and painstaking are they in the work, that not unfrequentl« a decade will pass before the desired variety is quite up t» the high standard; It is an interesting study to watch thai gradual change, or in professional parlance, the ' break ' a well marked variety to a new and totally distinct sIMUQ.a Our iainiers and gardeners as a rulo give littlo heed lo thi*M matter. In spito of all efforts to tho contrary, insects trill! carry pollen to the[choieo plants, and thus deteriorate tUeirl quality, but this is not a sufficient excuse for neglecting »lljj reasonable precautions. If due care is taken to keep dif-jl ferent varieties of the same vegetable, gram, or flower aepa* I rato in such experiments, no verj great harm can befaH I them. I We hear from Paris of an invention by Dr Ozanan for I photographing tho beats of tho heart. Tbe apparatuiby I which this process is eil'ected consists of a thin bag of "W-J rubber, connected with a, short glass tube- into which *™}jM cient mercury is injected to fill the bag entirely, and to »■ along pnrt of the tube. When tho bag is laid over the be«f each cardias pulsation will be indicated by a correspondinf movement of the mercury in the tube, and by the uid of*, suitable photogi aphic apparatus, provided with iuoTeabie-.-lips of sensitne paper, the number, regularity, and force ot tho pulsations may be registered with perfect accuracy. The smallest engine in tho world is now in possession ot Mr John Perm, ot Greenwich. It will stand on a tlueepenny,, piece ; it really covers less space, for its base plate au '"Hß^ only three-eighths of an inch by fhice-ienths, So sniwrwfr Bomeof the paits that they require a powerful magnifying glass to gee their form. Ihe whole weight oi the model i* less than a threepenny piece. It works ndmnabty, And when w ovking, its trunk slmlt ncriornis fioui IO,CC'U to 80,000rovolutiouk uer miaute.

SlonT-SEEINO IK St. Petebsbubo-.— Tliero are a day 01 two for visiting and sight-seeing before the wedding am accordingly sight-seeing becomes our main object. First lei us go to St Isaac's Cathedral, (lie beautiful edifice which is the pride vf the Eusso-Grcek Church. The more yon see oi St Isaac's the more jou wish to see. Perhnns the general rrifmblance it bears" at a distance to St Paul's preposses mi Englishman in its favor. More probably lie is struck with its singular harmonious and satisfying proportions. Take St Isaac's, within or without— north, east, south, or west, it leavc3 no "aching void." You admire the St Petersburg palaces, but turn from them lamenting that they are stucco. The samo with the public buildings ; they are splendid in design and in casual effect, but they do not beav too much daylight. St Isaac's ii real, and the grandeur of its architecture lies in its simplicity- All visitors are attracted by it. The English aud German Princes and Princesses and their suites hnd no doubt often visited it before, but hardly a day passed during their visit that did not see some of them once more under its lofty dome. It i 9 a great point in St Isaac's favor that it hai fair play ; no Ludgate-hill or Cbeapsido hems it m; it stands in a fine open space, boldly challeging c-iticism. Peter and Catherine, who had a hand in everything here worth noticing, each built a cathedral on this site, but both buildings were cleared away, and the present temple, at enormous cost, was erected. Around the equalsided building there stand pillars of polished granite, and although each column is sixty feet high, and seven feet in diameter, each was h«wn out of one solid block. The immen3o Byzantine cupolo, supported by thirty more of those magnificent polished pillais, ia covered with trebly-gilded copper, and on tho night of our arrival the moon playing upon it provided an illumination before which all the colored fires and electric lights of tho subsequent festive evenings paled into iusicnificance. The gigantic golden cross which crowns the edifice shone lamplike through the gloom. Of the interior I shall have a little more to say presently. We visited the Hermitage hastily, and therefore inadequately. Like the Louvre this remarkable picture gallery is part of the Eoyal palace, but in artistic wealth the French collection would not bear comparison— at least in some of tho best known old masters — with its Russian compeer- Tlio pictures and sculptures, and precious stonci are right royally housed and cared for, and additions are being continually added to the galleries. A day or tno before his sister was married, the Grand Duke Viadimir gave a supper party in the Hermitage, selecting as the most appropriate apartment the room devoted to pictures by Snyders, Wos, "Weenix, and other artists of the same school. These paintings were calculated to act as caviar to tho feasters, for the subjects were fruits, game alive, dead, and in every stago of cooking, and wines of every hue in goblets of every artistic shape. Just opposite tho grand Duke's chair there hung a gigantic picture of a slaughtered pig, out of which a jovialfaced butcher was hewing a delicious chine, whilo upon tho floor was heaped up a pyramid of cabbages upon which the dew still glistened. There is another home of art in addition to the Hermitage ; viz, tho academy across the Neva. This represents the more modern schools, and particularly the Russian. Peter the Great, amidst his ruder pursuits, found time to study art, and promote its welfare. The guide showed me in tho fortress a very fair painting executed by Peter himself. Tho great Czar sent some of his young men to study in Italy, and in other ways sowed seeds which are now bearing fruit. The Dnchess of Edinburgh herself, it ii said, is a skilful amateur in water colors. Probably it is scarcely necessary to add, on this subject of irt in Eussia, that great pnins are taken to adorn the the churches with the finest work that can be procured. — Victoria Maya-hie, Lvws Rklatixo to Labour. — So far, observes Iron, as actual deeds of violence are concerned, the general criminal law would doubtless suffice, but wo do not see how this ■would touch the offences against which the statute is particularly directed — that is to Bay, the milder forms of ' rattoning,' by hiding tools, &c, or the tyrannical interference with the liberty of the subject, by ' picketing,' or other forms of molestation or obstruction. These methods of interference aro peculiar to a class, and it is idle to object to their being mado the subject of class legislation. Eeasonablc folieitation is very different from proceedings which are calculated to render tho lifo of .1 ' knobstick ' unbearable. Individual liberty is always in greater danger from the tyranny of many than the oppression of one, and it is impossible to overlook the obvious truth that tho total repeal of the Criminal Law Amendment Act would hand over the individual citizen entirely to the mercies of the peculiar combination which asserted its right to take hold of him. As we have pointed out, the prrsent law of contract between master and man presses with unfair severity on the latter, but the Act just quoted appears to bo framed with a ■view to secure the right of every individual Englishman to do what he likes within the limits of tho law.