MISCELLANEOUS.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 446, 27 March 1875, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

At a recent conference of Sheep Inspectors at Sydney, Mr. C: J. Valentine, of South Australia* presented a paper on Foot Rot. The entire paper "' is too long to present in its entirety, but we pnjfc- . lish a c^ttflk q$ paragraphs treating on remediet-^ which mhj oe useful to sheep fanners here : — After all the most important thing 1 is, can foot rot be prevented or cured ? I am afraid not entirely eradicated. Much may be done to prevent the disease, and sheep may be cured by good management ; but I this will not prevent the disease from breaking out I again and again in the same sheep. The instance j of the disease breaking out in different places after the sheep or country have been free from it for a longtime, siK>\ that there are causes producing foot ro£ which at present we are unable to explain. In soiT^e pl«*ces the merino suffer more than lon^woolled sheep) &nd again we find it reversed. As a rule, I think the merino suffers worst. In others, foot rot disappears for some years, and then breaks out without any apparent reason. The disease causes so much loss, and entails such heavy expense on sheep owners, that it would be well worthy for an enquiry to be made by competent persons to trace out the different circumstances which caused the disease*. A number of different remedies have been uMd?, each more or less successful according to the ckremilHess with which they are applied. Butyr of antimoiiy, bluestone, and quick lime, were, and are still with many favourite remedies. To a great v extent arsenic has superseded these ; it is a cheap ' and efficacious remedy, and easily applied to large numbers of sheep. Sheep scalded, if run through with hot arqenic water, are prevented from the disease extending further; and on those stations where the disease exists, sheep are passed through a solutioriN?f aisenic varying from 2oz. to 4oz. to the gallon, ab"bui N every six weeks during the worst season of the year. Sheep when in the second stage, and with long hoofs should be pared, and the diseased foot thoroughly cleansed and washed with y arsenic water prior to passing through the trough. Sheep should" stand after passing through the trough in a clean yard, to allow the arsenic to take effect. Arsenic is recommended as being efficacious, and, where thousands of sheep lequire to be treated, is cheap and easily applied ; but I would impress on all, no matter what the remedy may be, unless care and attention is paid to the paring of the feet, to the mixing of the solution, and the general application, arsfenic, will not be of more use than other remedies badly, applied. The Belgian News says :—": — " Every one in Bras-*" sels must have seen a man literally clothed in white from top to toe, for not only are his garments of that colour, but also his hat and boots. During the late severe frost there was great curiosity manifested to see whether he would persevere in wearing the srtme costume, and he stood out manfully until Thursday, when he appeared with an enormous cloak ami hood, in addition to the dress he h.id so long worn, but he was still true to his chosen colour, and odd enough he looked parading the streets amongst persons in black or other dingy abftts. H& is said to be a Dutchman, who some years ago n&adea fortune in Batavia, but was afflicted witha "e&ujr -. de soleih" The doctors recommended his *eturat& Europe, and following their advice he fixed &» abode ' in Brussels, where he has now resided for 80i»^years. His eccentricities are harmless,' and mainly consist in a firm belief t^^t he has a« pt?rsxS«^fa6d intimate acquaintano^'witn the smyVho ueYW fails to honour him by shining *yhen H takes his promenade. His apartments, even including the ceiling and the floor,, are gilt, and hi fully believes, that this was the work of his kind fn?nd, who l^ad alsa endued him with the power of stopping a railway train a.t full speed,"

msn m charge of a daiiy of from'v 10 to 20 * . 'tows a year, for over 40 years, and alwaya milking 1 ' a greater proportion of them myself, I will reply to "Milker " that in the first place there is a great difference in milkers, as much so as in anything else. One man will pitch a load of hay on the cart in ten minutes, while another will take an hour. One man pitches a load of hay over the great beam of the barn in five minutes, another takes an hour and a half to do it. " Milker " says it takes him 20 minutes to milk and strip his two CQ\ys thoroqgtjly. I have seven cows, and it takes me not over ?*> minutes on an average to milk anty strip them thoroughly. I have men occasionally working for me to whose charge I give one, two, three or more cows to milk for a while, and I milk the rest. Some of these men are old hands at milking, and in fact, I would employ no other for this work. I usually milk two cows to their one, or three to their two, and get more milk (from each) than they do. I milk more and strip less. My experience has taught me that with a heifer firW in milk, the milk comes down rapidly, and thd quicker drawn the less stripping. I have a good cow that has been in charge of a hired man the past summer, that has to be entirely milked by stripping, never before. The conclusion of the whole thing to my mind is, that " Milker " can strip a cow 24 hours in a day ; or he may rriUk her and let the stripping go until the next tinwpand then milk again. Begarding " over-bred and over-fed stocky" the Saturday Review says : — Doubts begin to be^ expressed pretty freely as to whether high breeding has not already been cultivated to excess. It appears to be admitted on all hands, that Shorthorn cattle, for instance, have decreased in size, while it seems also certain that the fecundity of these highly-bred animals is not so great as it was ; for it is said that certain tribes have become celebrated for the barreness of their females, while at the same time a delicacy of constitution has been developed which unfits them for " roughing it," and requires luxurious arrangements to preserve them in health. As in our racehorses, we have, according to some nu&horities, sacrificed stoutness of constitution and capacity of endurance over long courses for the sake of obtaining high speed over a short distance, so in our cattle the desire for fineness of bone and rapid development of meat has brought into fashion animals which have lost many of the valuable properties of their ancestors. Such breeds canpVt exist when subjected to the rough weather^which prevails on the hill-sides, and moors are so valuable as breeding-grounds and nurseries for stock; and perhaps it is for this reason that Ireland, which is prolific in cattle, reared without shelter, failed to send %,us anything which can obtain a place in our exhibition. Without doubt Ireland possesses first-class cattle ; but these are bred, sheltered, and fed under the same conditions as those to be seen at Islington. And the consumers have something to say also in the matter, as there is beef and beef. They prefer,, and justly prefer the meat of the Devon or the Scot, whose young days are spent in cropping the scanty herbage of the moor or mountain, because the meat has more flavour than that of the rapidly-forced, t tall-fed oxen, who has been crammed with corn and linseed-cake from his calf hood. So that even> if it be true, as the breeders of the delicate animal contend, that their meat can be produced moreeconomically, because more rapidly, than that of other races, let them remember that in losings stamina they restrict the area upon which the beast can be reared, and that we want flavour in ouri meat even if we have to pay a high price for it.Some extraordinary instahqes of theansatiate desire, or rather morbid impulse, to drink are mentioned in a paper on " The Insanity of Inebriety," by Dr George Burr, published in the " New York Psychological and Medico-Legal Journal" of Decem* bej, 1874. Dr Bush records a case in which he says, in reference to an habitual drunkard in Phila- - delph,a, who when strongly urged by one of his frie^as to leave off drinking, replied, " Were a keg in one corner of a room, and were a cannon COTisi&ntly discharging balls between me and it, I could not refrain from passing before that cannon in order to get at the rum." One of the cases described by M'Neish in his " Anatomy of Drunkenness," as quoted by Dr Ray, also illustrates this feature. A friend of the subject of it painted to him " the distresses of his family, the loss of his business and character, and the ruin of his health," to "w hich he replied, "My good friend, your remarks are just ; they are indeed too true ; but I can no longer resist temptation. If a bottle of brandy stood at one hand, and the pit of hell yawne&^t the other, and I were convinced that I should* be* pitched in as sure as I took one glass, I could not refrain. The late- Professor R. D. Mussey, of Cincinnati, relates another case : " A few years ago a tippler was put into an almshouse in this State, a few days he had devised various expedients to procure rum, but jailed. At length, however,, he hit upon one which was succecsfuL He Vei^t into the wood-yard of the establishment, placed toe hand upon the block, and with an axe in the other, struck it off at a single blow. With |he stump raised and streaming, he ran into the house and cried, ' Get some rum ! get some rum ! my hand is of.' In the confusion and bustle of the occasion a- bowl of rum was brought, inter which he plunged t^e bleeding member of his body ; then raising t% bowl to his mouth, drank .freely, and exultingty exclaimed, 'Now I am satisfied.' Dr J. E. Turner relates a case of a gentleman who, while under a treatment for inebriety, during four weeks secretly drank' the alcohol from six jars containing morbid specimens. On asking him why he had committed 'this loathsome act, he replied, " Sir, it is as impossible for mo to control this diseased appetite as it is for me to control the pulsation of my heart." At the reception of the Irish deputation by the Pope,, the Rector of the Irish College read an address stating that there were everywhere machinations against the Church, and conveying the expression of Ireland's devoted affection towards the Church and the Pope. Efi^ Holiness, in reply, praised the sentiments and fidelity of the Irish laity, and gave the deputation his blessing. He at the same time requested them to tell those' from whom they came, and who were aj^nt in distant colonies, thqfc if they entertained a warm affection for the common Father of the Faithful he loved them no leas dearly in return. A deputation of French priests has presented the Pope with 30 magnificently bound volumes containing addresses from 160 foreign bishops and 3,000,000 of the faithful, begging the Holy Father to consecrate the Universal Church to the Sacred 'Heart of Jesus. His Holiness received the deputation with great cordiality. Jf At the College of Preceptors, an interesting discussion was opened by Mr E. E. Morris, M.A. reading • paper on " The Teaching of History in iQ^ool The chairman (Professor Payne) said in xutro fMr W— ;« fW t gentleman was " ; left his school at iip at Melbourne. • ' ' Iras some difference , us whether boys should or should not .story : but he would plead on behalf of -•jority of boys, and girls >( too. It was history should be taught either for the hoy — in fact, accuracy in history was r for the sake of knowledge. The true eh it should be taught was for its st — the insight which it gives into

„ — « «.«. » uwcouisu uu» system 01 imparting it by lectures. Mr Morris objected io some extent to.the works of Dr Freeman, although he was considered by the speaker as the* best of English historians, After lamenting the fact that writers of genius did not write for schoolboys, Mr Morria concluded by stating that the lesson he wished to teach waa that history should always be taught with a view to excite sympathy and interest. The chairman then invited discussion upon the subject, and at its close thanks were accorded to Mr Morris. The first two of the 38-ton guns issued tD the navy for service have been shipped at the Royal Arsenal on board the steamship Lord Panmure, Captain Spriddell, for Her Majesty's iron-clad ship Thunderer, now refitting at Portsmouth. It being" thought unwise to trust the ordinary cranes to lift such heavy weights, the guns were taken, down to the east wharf and lifted into the vessel's hold by the great shears. The shipmeut was performed without difficulty, under the direction of Mr. Moors, superintendent of shippiug, but the guvs, which are stowed side by side fore and aft, occupy nearly the whole length of the main ftold. The " Bessemer " Saloon Steamer was taken out to sea on January 7 by the contractors, Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, and although not pressed sufficiently to-, exert the full power of her engines, she attained a speed of more than 18 miles aiL hour, or about 16 knots. The trial was not made under the conditions of themeasured mile trials, nor was the intention of it so much to test speed as to-test the strength and sufficiency of the engines and boilers. There was some wind and sea throughout the run past Flamborough Head and back, and the low ends of the vessel — which were frequently almost submersed — acted most satisfactorily, and certainly gave steadiness to her length way, as she exhibited no tendency to pitch whatever. Mr. Reed,. C.B:, M.P., and Sir Spencer Robinson, who attended on behalf of the Bessemer Saloon Company, were much pleased with the results of the day's steaming. The two sets of paddles work well together, but the working of the two independent sets of. engines- and boilers in the same ship is a novelty which requires attention>and s which may render another privatKtrial or two necessary before the official trip of &c vessel is made. jp.. Some experiments have- recently been\p&de with Gramme's magneto-electric machine, with a view for testing its efficacy as a ship's signal l^*ht as well as for floating signal lights, to show at several miles distance on the darkest nights ships, rocks, shoals, harbours, <fee. The Gramme invention is- the same as was exhibited in 1873 on the clock towefcof ,the Houses of Parliament, since which time great improvements have been made in it* We are informed that it not alone supplies electric light, but electricity as a force cheap enough for several buafrches of commerce. \ A young woman named Alice Davies has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment at the Chester assizes for bigamy. She was stated to have three husbands living, the object of her marriage • apparently being in eaoh case to become possessed . of furniture and jewellery..