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Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2450, 24 March 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

"Wife: " Keep quiet, Charlie. The Dew doctor says I must not talk to you." Husband (feebly): "Mary! Mary!" Wife: "What is it, Charlie ?" Husband : " Engage that doctor for our family physician." " Pα, are you jsoi'ig to have any girlvauised irou on our new house?" "Any w-h-a-t?" "Any girlvanised iron!" " Oalvanised yon mean, don't you?" " Yes, pa, but teacher says we mustn't say gal, it's girl." A IMPEB, in speaking of a beautiful lady of largo proportions, should have said, " Mrs Smith possessed a form that Juno might envy." Through a printer's error it read thus : " Mrs Smith possessed a form that Jumbo might envy." Amsterdam is the city which is said to be built on herring bones, but the Dutch herring fishery, which was once of immense proportions, has in modern times been quite overshadowed by that of Scotland, which is now by far the largest in the world. About 1,000,000 birrels of herrings are cured every year in Scotland, while 100,000 persons and 12,000 boats are engaged in the fishery. Before the first shock of the suggestion of dealing with excess of rabbits by cholera passes away, another idea reaches us (Lincet) which 'at first sight appears equally monstrous, An electrician, as quoted in the United States Army and Navy Journal, says:—"ltis the well-known power of causing insensibility very quickly to the human being breathing its fumes. The effect is equivalent temporarily to a paralyitic stroke.. Now nitrate of iimyl is very cheap and plentiful. I propose to fire shells filled with this chemical instead of gunpowder. It will not be necessary to penetrate a ship. A few gallons dashed on the deck of a warship would in a very short time render her crew helpless. The most powerful ironclads would be even more vulnerable than the light cruisers, For they wouid be sucking down groitor draughts of air through their artificial ventilators, and the odour would thus rapidly permeate the whole ship. The whole crew being rendered helpless for an hour or two, tho ship could of course be towed into a safe spot while captors ventilated her and removed the insensible men." This is indeed scientific warfare. Is all the fun to bo on one side ? What if the powerful ironclad attacked possessed similar shells ? What comes of the directions of the British Pharmacopoeia about the cautious use of ainyl ? Is the whole suggestion based upon this, or is it a joke ? The physiological effect of amyl is indisputable —the enemy, if sufficiently efi'ecteJ would blush ; and his arterial tension, and probably his esteem for his opponent, would bo diminished.