MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 435, 2 March 1875, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Carbonate of Ammonia dissolved in warm water et the rate ol h»lf an « unce to the wine bottle full, is t-tated to be an almost |erf»cf antidote in cases of poisoning from tiitn. The qiiHr-tity ndriiinit-tered may vary from a half. j int to it quart.

A nov-.| invent io< (si \-p a "Victorian paper), is re com mended for adoption t.u 'railway?.*' It is to affix lamps to the teleyxiph | oh-** by the side of the railways, and to enable the tele_.n,|h ehrks at the nearest station to light flu ir t by electricity from the S'ation whenever tin re is dancer on the line, the i en being that dirdctly the driver of a train -><iw the lights hunting he would brin^ his engine to a standstill, and remain standing until be received HWruotiens to proceed.

In an action at the instance of a seaman (Henry Cook), at the Greenock Sheriff Court the other day, a melancholy enae of pois- ninu at. sea was described, Capt h in James Parsone of the barque Nevada, of London, which has arrived at Greenock from Australia,, stated that during tht? voyage beend hia family had be< n wilfully poisoned. A hall-caste Weft. Indian was employed on board as.cook and ••toward, and seems io have taken .ome unaccountable urn-b-a-'p at, t' e m-if-ter and vpt<eel, _ETe is supposed to have ob a >.ed |,o>s<-*i-ion of « quantify of arsenic or othcrpoieon, and to have ti-eH it. in on nt tempt to. destroy the life of the inas'ei* and -tho-e with him in the cabin.' After he had rartiikcurrf a qm.rnity, of gruel one day. Ciptain Parsons iei-hinc violently ill, and for a time he was affected immediately after food. The captain's wife and tw« of her children nerc on boa I'd, and they alao became ill, and exhibited >yuiptoms,of. poisoning. Mrs parson." died after an illness ol two dnys. On arrival at a port, in Java, medical assist ance - wTib' obtained, and the Government doctor g«rve it, as his opinion' that fhe captain and hie fan, ily. had b< en badly poisont(b„ _TU.estew.ard was called to account for his., crime, but, there being no sufficient evidence against him, he was allowed to go. In relating the occurrence Captain Parsons became much affected, and Sheriff Smith expressed sympathy with him in the bereavement he had sustained. Timon of the Mercury .'-puts' in*' print < an echo safe to raise a laugh. . He says i-r-'* An echo reached-. me, — dear me! quife a respectable echo — a commercial echo, in fact, A, firm that shall be nameless sent Home all order lately for some iron safes, and of the_>e ; it. was eipressly. desired that some should be of Mjlner!s famous make, which waa duly expressed- But th? clerk— a junior — who copied the order- had never- heard "of th-? redoubtable Milner, or else he. was, hazy in hiß orthography-, for the order went- home with thiß aston-shing/line ' ih it t-r-'Pleasei forward, . per i fir-it-sliib. sis:. Milliner's— lhren with, drawors, and three :

Vanity Fair — which, it _•» currently rumoured, is the? property- of the Prince >of„Walea—" thus comments on theturoitfan stUßfion. is arming to the teeth, tinn jpifel--^~the four chief military po»ersbet _» so evenly matcftVd that the' add.tioh._ef 40.000 good -.old ers to t.l &

strength of a«y of them tnay Jri a polit'cd eras, be a f-erioiiß consideration. France isiT.-r fhe momti t tie; re-.*.. ( f hi d til au* ted by fur reverses, but in h«r normal eoi diu'on si c _•» quite the equal of Germany in material fer«»urc«s_-Wlii-t_ the imvituble w ßr, of revenge takes pl»ice, Franceand Germany will each be ready to bi I a hi-.li p»*ie|» if-j^lur alii nee of tl c little ...ortl crn kingdom, and the Holß>ein gui st ion may le .etthd on tome reas. n> ble $**& of equity,^ Small Slates have their Ui-e if only in bnrv, by their mei e existence, Blinding protests again*! the' tight of* indefinite-territorial Hggrai.di<uui.f.nt.bv-ovc*gir,wn miphes.. They may even hod the bidnnce. of |ower.if directed tiy" capable statesmen. It is apity that England thouid n< t* cult i*- ate the alliance of Sweden, which might be useful teller in- a struggle- with Rut-sia. Our- treaties with Belgium and Portugal are altogether -'ore-sided. We are bound to» fight Iwr I hem, and they witb the best intentions could not- , ti-flit to much purpose for us, though either count ty might, offer a use'ul mruitint. ground *l'l at n ost- gravei-'lind « J anger,ns conspiracy by .which**, ftu.-sia i*» sei_irg to destroy the merit me ) .wci i. X* . f land and Fiance, and to extinguit-h all other than j foey it'iliiaiy means of defemPpTin w.alr, advances apace. L ishiini'Unced as with good au'hoiitj that both Fratee a* d England liaYe ngreed to s«nd delegates to it. Ie Ufu ie man among us who will speak out. and show t.he j tv\ -c 1 1 Eng'and how suicidal it is to en'er into a ct-i-fj iinet t< r their own de (ruction?" Coming from cne'> a 'qnai** i_-the*-e rematks are somewhat wiiinoiiS. The death- rate in Melbo'ttrne -$$8 increased ahnormaliy oi late, and recently to such an extent that in one weik this* year the dea«h-rate has, exceeded by fifty per cent . the rate of births in the Yh-terian and Australasian metro) olis. Since October tie death rate Jas risen steadily. Then it numbered a weekly average ol 64 deaths; i. N< veniber it. rose to 112, and steadily advanced until in tie bi pairing oi Jvmuray it reached tie high tig tire ol 207. Wmle iludeath rate ha*« thus been unusually high, the birth rate has bet n abnoimaily low ; and whether climate or bad sanitury arrangements lave produced these unsatisfactory results, the piople and autho_rjs*«eskoi M< ibouri c bad -letter look toil. It is said that fni_f i(r pr» valence of n ea-des las been the imn ed iat cve v cause of the numerous deaths, but t.l c original eau^e" iaJltndoubtedly. bad sanitation. Melbourne peoj le ought tWRUtke the ISew Zea laud tour ; it is lea It - givmg and ar^nesame time full of inttre>*t, both soci»-lly 8n«1 physically. " In the Scientific American of November 7th say**— *■• The V professors of Yale Co lege, New Haven. Conn,, > aye la'ely been tntertained by the p-i forma nces ot J. JR. Brown, tie mind reader The learned professors indulged in hiding coins, pencils, can is, &c. in book*, corners, and .dn.wers. Brqwn was then plared en rapport wiih the hulee. that is. x <^thok the hand of they pel son who hid the articles, or • todk nol lof aline I eld by that person. Brown, altl ough blindfolded could lead the individual to the exact spot and find the article. Profetsor Thacher puipotely imagined a pain located under his nose. Brown immediaul*. placed his tinger in the precise spot. Piofessor Maish imagined a particular word wrote it n |>aper and gave it to snotber person. Br<>wn spiled it out at once by pointing out to tie respective let ters/n an alphabet written ion a blackboard. Ihe venerable , Itx President Woolsey concealed a coin under some books, but h is mind wab prolably hazy, for Brown could 'not quite rind it, though he came n- ar tha spot Bulywhen put en rapport with a younger man Pto feßi?or Whituey, Brown i* mediately httnd ihe ccin. Proftss'U*"Brewer placed a tape measure in a distant apart - ment ; Blown promptly went blindfolded to tbe place aid . found the article. Professor Fisher gave a pencil case to Proft ssor Join-on. who gave it to Pr<fe.-aor Thacher, wfyo concealed tbe article, frown led the latter directl. to the spot, and found the pencil. Profossor Lyman he'd a paper en which words were written by Piofer-sor Fi.-her. and blindfolded, brown spelled the words without difficulty ! Having witnessed so many of these curious experiments, it asjtobe hoped (hat the learned professors of Yale will be ible to explain how they, are d0ne.". ...