"THE BLACK DEATH."
Ssealltas ZaraiM af ths Plaswa la tha Faar
teeßlh Vaatarv—Tha WarlS DaaalaleS—
Va,000,000 Deaths!
The plague in Russia this year has
some, as before, from Turkey; but the
Russian authorities seem most active
and energetic in measures to prevent its
spread. Btill, so dreadful is the pest,
so inooneetvable are its horrors to those
who have not witnessed them, that it ia
not strange Austria, Germany, and other
countries of Europe should be alarmed.
While it is unlikely to make mnch ad
vance toward the West, too great pre
caution cannot be exercised; and, what
ever may happen, we have the comfort
of knowing that in the latter half of the
nineteenth oentnry the beet part of Eu
rope and America is free from peril of
panic and superstition, and can meet
any danger and death in any form with
calmness and reason, science and phi
losophy.
In later times the plagne first ap
peared daring the fourteenth century,
when it actually desolated the world.
One of the names it then bore was the
Black Death, from the black spots de
noting putrid decomposition which, at
one of its stages, marked the sufferer.
The accounts then furnished are incom
plete and inexact, as they necessarily
would be at snoh an epoch of semi-civ
ilization ; but they are snfficient to show
a state of horrors and agony bard to ex
ceed. The coarse and symptoms of the
dreadfnl malady varied at different times
and in different oonntries, and greatly
changed toward the close (1848-51) of its
ravages in Europe. Among the con
comitants of the pestilence were noticed
palsy of ths tongne, whioh became
black, as if suffused with blood; putrid
inflammation of the lungß; fetid, pestif
erous breath, and expectoration of blood.
When it spread to Europe, fever, evacu
ation of blood, and pulmonary carbun
cles proved mortal before other symp
t ia had been declared. In well-nigh
aii instances death ensued in two or
three days after attack. Spots and tn
mors were the seals of doom which medi
cal skill bad no power to avert and many
•offerers anticipated by suicide.
The rise and progress of the plagne
in the fourteenth oentnry have not been
clearly or consistently related; bat there
seems to be no doabt that it originated
in Ohina. There is also concurrent tes
timony that the co-operating causes ex
feted and acted at least fifteen years be
fore any outbreak in Europe, and are to
be songht as far back na 1333, in a series
of mighty'convulsiona of natnre, which
continued for twenty-six years to affect
and derange the normal conditions of
animal and vegetable life. The precise
date of the beginning of the plague in
China is unknown; bat from 1333 to
1349 that country suffered fearfnlly from
droughts, famine, floods, swarms of
locnsta and earthqnakee that overthrew
cities aud leveled mountains, and these
catastrophes were followed by the
scourge. At the same time the order of
things seemed to be reversed in Europe.
Thunder-storms occurred in midwinter,
ee formed in summer, tornadoes swept
regions that had never felt them before,
volcanoes, long tbonght extinct, biased
with fury, and waterspouts rose in placid
seas.
The mortality IH hideous in the East
and Weet, and it ia believed that the
peat activity of the globe, accompanied
by decomposition of rant organic muwea,
myriads of locusts, bodies of brntes and
men, prod need some change in the at
mosphere hostile to life. It is said that,
in the progress of the plagne westward,
the impnre and poisoned air was trace
able as it moved on laden with pesti
lence and death. A writer oi the time
remarks : " A dense, awinl fog was
seen in the heavens rising in the esst,
and descending npon Italy."
The mortality, though no proper eeti
mate can be made in the absence of sta -
tistics, was prodigious —supremely ter
rifying. In Chin* alone 18,000,000
persons are asserted to hsve died, and
in other parts of the East nearly 24,-
000,000 more. In Europe details were
more exact. In London 100,000 souls
perished, and in fifteen continental cities
about 300,000. Germany lost, it is cal
cnlsted, 1,244,484, and Italy one-half of
her whole population. It is within
bounds to say that in all Europe not
less than 28,000,000 people were slain
by the scourge. Africa suffered ter
ribly likewise, and it is believed that
the globe was deprived dnring that cen
tury of fully from 70,000,000 to 75,000,-
000 human beings from ravages of the
plague. The mere facts are appalling
to the imagination ; the soenes of suf
fering are scarcely credible. Death was
everywhere ; it seemed to have nsnrped
the place of life. All animal life was
menaced ; birds, beasts, men, women
and children, hosts of members of every
nationality, savages, scholars, peasants,
priests, princes, kings, of every creed,
clime end race, were swept from the
face of the earth. Rivers were oonse
erated to receive corpses for which none
dared to perform the rites of bnnal ;
bodies were cast by thousands into huge
pits dug for the purpose. Death stalked
over sea as well ss over land. The en
tire crews of vessels were killed by the
poison breath that infested the
Ships freighted with putrefying bodies
drifted aimlessly and hideously on the
Mediterranean, Black and North seas
—not a human creature alive anywhere
—and spread contagion on the'shores
whither the winds or tides had driven
them. Hope, peace, content, law,
order, affection, naturalness, humanity,
seemed never to have been. Anoient
custom and the need of companionship
were for the time obliterated ; all was
death, agony and despair, and by these
the infected world appeared to be ex
clusively and shnddermgly possessed.
The moral effects of the plague were
not leas dreadful than He physical de
struction. Thousands perished from
fear, which dissolved among the living
all ties of kindred, all bonds of fellow
ship, all links of sympathy. Children
flea worn the polluted parents ; mothers
deserted their helpless infanta ; hus
bands sod lovers left their wives and
mistresses to die howling and alone.
Terror generated superstition ; the vir
tuous and vicious alike mads distracting
and distracted appeals to a God who,
they imagined, had sent the pestilence
to punish tuem for manifold sins.
Crowds rushed to sacrifice their worldly
goods to the church ; fanaticism swelled
on every hand; women screamed to
heaven for mercy : men tore ont their
hair and soouiged themselves until they
had fainted from loaa of blood that they
might propitiate a deity whom they ac
tually believed they had enraged. The
world was mad with fright, anffering
and superstition, and thonsanda who
had tried to stay the pestilence with
prayer, declared that God was dead and
hell had begnn on earth.
The horrors of the time were farther
heightened by cruel persecutions against
the Jews, who had been accused of pois
oning the pnblio wells, this being in
popular relief the cause of the pesti
lence. The pcoplo rose in mad fnry to
exterminate the unfortunate Hebrew
race, and slaughtered them by tens of
thousands. In the inconsiderable city
of Meats (Germany) alone, near 16,000
fell victims to the publ.o wrath. They
were killed with steel and olnb, hanged,
drowned, burned, and often barbarously
fat to death by every kind of torture.
n numberless lnstanoee they took their
own lives in masses to avoid cruelties of
the mob, and in many communities every
man, woman and child was sacrificed to
insensate rage. To exaggerate the
scourge, the panic abontpoißcn caused
tho wells to be closed. Tno pcoplo were
afraid to touch water, and those who
escaped the plague perished of thirst
and terror. Society, rnde at best in that
day, was totally disorganized, and such
means as might have boen adopted to
prevent or mitigate the stupendous evil
were either neglected or nuthought of,
in the derangement and frenzy that pos
sessed everyliody, from the highest to
the lowest. The influence of tho plaguo
and its desolation were so overwhelming
that it frequently destroyed all honesty
and principle among the survivors.
Many were rendered callous, and many
took advantage of the universal horror
to indulge their worst passions, to
plunder, murder, and perpetrate the
moat revolting crimes.
The Zulus.
The Zulu inhabitants of tho upland
between Natal and Delagoa bay, in
South Africa, number some 300,000
souls, with an army of 60,000 men, of
whom about two-thirds are really ef
fective, the remainder including the
boys and old men. They form a branch
of the Oaffre race which peoples the In
dian ooean coast of Africa and ia so
strongly contrasted in mental, social and
physical attributes with the dwellers on
the opposite shores of the continent.
They are a handsome, manly raoe.
brown of complexion, tall, graceful,
strong and active; in their natural con
dition honest and hospitable; cheerful
and sociable in disposition, and with no
mean power for organization. They
came from the north abont tho begin
ning of the century, and under their
four successive kings, Ghaka, Dingan,
Panda and Oety wayo, who assumed the
chiefship about twenty years ago, have
formed a powerful army, whose efficien
cy they have often tested upon their
native neighbors. The king's power is
absolute; the males of the nation form
the army, and as none of them can mar
ry without a royal permission, which is
extended to a regiment at a time, and
only to one whose members have dis
tinguished themselves, the Zulu army
may be said to be in a chronic state of
spoiling for a fight.
Zulu soldiers wear no other
clothing than what may be called two
demi-kilts of civet and green monkey
skin, one in one behind, tied at
the waist and falling to the knee. The
married men carry white shields, the
bachelors black. Here is an extract
from the Zulu army list:
Udhunbedhin (ill-tempered) regi
ment. Raised by Lhngan. Commander
—Ukodide. Station—Gdlambedhlwein,
six miles east of the Nsixessi.
Number of men, 1,600; average age,
fifty-nine.
Distinctive mark*—Band of otter
skin ronnd forehead; bine crane feather
on each aide of the head; earfia|>e of
green monkey-skin; bunches of white
cow-tails hanging from neck; ahielda,
white, with black and rod spots. Mar
ried.
Tho Zulus are armed with all aorta of
weapons, from fiint-locka np to breech
loedera. Tactics of a rudimentary
fashion they have, and apparently a
good deal of strategy, since they drew
the English out from their camp by a
feigned retreat and then fell upon them
in overwhelming number*. Their mode
of attaok is in a crescent, a central body
with two wings a little front of and
separated from it, either flanking the
enemy or protecting the flanks of the
main body. The country is well water
ed, giving the engineers plenty to do,
and making an advance necessarily
slow, while the native defenders are
described as very enterprising fighters,
notoriously quick in their movements;
dividing before an enemy of strength
snd scattering so as to compel him to
break np bis force and search the ooun
try, and then rallying to swoop on any
neglected poet or weakened detachment.
—New York World.
Home lade Bread.
A correspondent gives a practical hint
on the subject of bread-making, which
may be acceptable to some of onr home
baking readers. It is well known that
dough, when well kneaded and of firm
consistence, giro a whiter and lighter
bread than nnder opposite oonditions,
Bnt the most important point of all to
be attended to in bread making, or in
any other kind of bakery, is the previous
sifting of the Soar through a sieve, so
that every particle of it may be brought
into contact with the oxygen of the air.
A dough made of sifted meal mixes bet
ter, with both water and yeast, rises
better, and requires far lass kneading
than when the flour has not been sifted,
and the breed obtained from it is lighter
and in every respect of superior quality.
The longer flour may have lain aside
before being used, the more neceesary
is it to subject it to the operation.
Many a disappointment and many a fit
of " temper will be spared If the tinnse
wife will only sift the flour thoroughly
before preparing the batter for the bake
oven.— The. Farmer. '
A patient German baa taken tbe
trouble to eonnt the nnmber of haira in
tbe beads of four different colon. The
blondehad tbe moat, 140.400. Next came
brown attlj 100.440. Then black, 102,-
902, atflTW red, 88,740. Tbe bulk of
hair we*, however, about tbe same in
each oaae, tbe flrmneas of tbe blonde's
and their multiplicity being balanced by
tbe coarser, heavier texture of the leas
humorous red and black.
DEATH OR THE WlNtt.
Tha Du(*r Tkla Gaaatry lanara fVaaa (ha
nuM>
A New York paper says: "The terri
ble ravages of the plague in eeetern
Enrone, notwithstanding ell effort* that
liavo boon made tooironmsoribeits area,
and the knowledge that it haa crossed
the ocean and haa alreally deeimated
portions of Braxil, coupled with the fact
that it might be brought hither at any
moment by the line of ateamera running
between thin port and the infected por
tiona of Houtb America, haa excited the
attention of onr medical men, and haa
l>een looked into as far aa poaaible by
the sanitary authoritie*. In the oonrae
of their investigations they have been
led to inquire if thia dread diaeaae can
not bo kept from the metropolis, aa
ahonld it once gain a foothold here, it
woald, judging from ita progress abroad,
awoep off nearly the entire population,
aa there is no known antidote for it
The medical Havana have never vet been
able to combat it The germ of the dis
ease was recently carried into Russia,
which haa been free from it many yearn,
in a velvet sack, no it haa been ascer
tained, part of the plunder of a soldier
in the Turkish army. He presented the
article to hia affianced, and from this
alight cause it spread with unabated
fury, sweeping off whole families and
nearly depopulating several villages in
the interior. From aa alight a cause it
may be brought here and our authorities
be in profound ignorance of the fact un
til its work of deat ruction ahall have
been inaugurated. When thia plague,
or "Black Death," aa it was oaHeacen
turiee ago, attacks cities, towns or vil
lages, ton ont of overy twelve become
its victims. Neither in the present or
in times past does it seem to have been
disturbed in its frightful ravages by
climatic influenoe, for it flourishes aa
mightily in snow-bound Russia aa in the
perennial bloom of BraaiL
Dr. Janeway, a prominent member of
the health board, in conversation with a
reporter, said that it was not at present
definitely known what the disease really
was, as there were no medical men of
acknowledged ability either hero or in
Europe who bad ever encountered it,
and all they knew of its symptoms or
ravages hundreds of years ago was com
prised in what had been handed down
by men of research. The question, he
said, had been raised as to whether the
present disease raging abroad was
typhus fever or the blaok plague known
in medical worka as " pestrid fever" of
centuries ago. ne was inclined to the
latter belief from the fact of its origin
ating near the same place whenoe it
started its work of human destruction
in the fourteenth oentury. Very emi
nent medical men from France and
England had now gone forth to investi-
Kte this terrible disease, and we could
rm no correct idea of it nntil they had
made their reports.
"A recent dispatch from a Rio de
Jsneiro doctor says thst the plsgus is
raging in the province of Gears, and as
there is s line of steamers running be
tween New York and Brazil, might it
not be brought here by some of the
poor fellows now returning home who
went out there to work at railroad build
ing T'
"It hardly seems probsble that the
disease will get here from so great a dis
tance ; but should it make an appear
ance in this city, every possible sanitary
precaution will be taken to prevent it
apreading. It would be dealt with as
rigidly as the smallpox—the patient* re
moved and the house or houses thor
oughly disinfected. A* I Mid before,
the plajpe of centuries ago is unknown,
except ID history, to the medical men of
to-day ; yet, with the advancement that
has been made in science, Aerce battle
would be given to it. It is a mooted
question whether the so-called plagno of
to-day is of the same character as the
plague that made such fearful rav
age* in the fourteenth century, and
even since that date. We have received
from the surgeon-general's office at
Washington s report setting forth that
the plague is raging in bonth America,
bat the bare fact,'only ia mentioned ; no
information as to the character or nature
of the disease having thus far l>een
given. Oar medical autboritica ahow
that tbe plague has not existed in North
Africa since 1868-9, and that it has not
been in Europe since 1841, in Aaaiatio
Turkey since 1843, nor in Egypt since
1844."
•' Do you think thep> it toy chance of
the expected returning railroad laborers
bringing the disease from Brasil ?"
" If they should have any disease of
the sort, it would break out long be fore
the Teasel reached here, and afford the
authorities ample time to take the matter
in baud. We know that the smallpox
has t>een raging to a frightful extent in
that country, but if they had that, it
would show itself soon after they got on
their way. The information we hare re
ceived in regard to the plague is em
braced in its bare mention, and it seems
to me that if there were any fears re
garding it, we should receive some
further information on the subject."
Waterprsof Blrda.
A writer in London Land and Water
aays: "Perhaps the reader baa never
considered bow all birds obtain the
gloea on their feathers which makes
them proof sgainst water. Waterfowl
are, of course, supplied with a thicker
coating of feathers than land birds, bnt
all have the faculty of procuring the oily
matter to cover their feathers and resist
water getting in between. Have you
ever noticed, when a bird was plunked,
a small protrnberance above the tail,
furnished with a pencil-like tuft of
feathers 7 It la here that the ointment
fa hidden; and the bird baa the power to
raise the thicker feathers that oover
this spot, and, passing its bead over it,
obtains enough matter at a time tooom
muuioate it to the rest of ita plumage.
And it is truly interesting to watch a
duck pluming itself and covering ita
feathers with the oil that la reqn for
keeping out the water. As this part of
the body is liable to give an unpleasant
flavor to the flesh, it sught to be out off
before oooking."
We have about decided to sail for
Europe aa soon as this inane of the pa
per goes to press. We oan no longer
bold beek. Parte mothers ooax dte
tinernished Americans to klas their
pretty grown-up daughters.-Aferrfe
krnn Herald.
TIMELY TOPIC*.
Fans has been having • big lottery, at
which thousands of tickets were sold
and prises of every kind, from diamonds
to s greenhouse, were given. The
grand prize was a splendid silver ser
vice worth $26,000. Large money
prizes also tempted the cupidity of the
Parisians, and drew money ont of many
pockets hard-earned wages which
should have been given to the common
nooesaaries of life.
Beoently the spectacle was presented
in a Now York oonrt of the trial of a
hoy only ten years old, for causing the
death of hia stepmother. He had quar
reled with a younger brother when the
stepmother interfered. Enraged, the
lad picked np a oarving-knife and threw
it at her. The knife penetrated her
right breast, causing death. The boy's
possession of s hasty temper, the jury's
recommendation to mercy, and other
mitigating circnmstanoes, induced the
judge to inflict the light punishment of
thirty days' imprisonment.
The latest statistics staow that the
debts of the Htstesof the Union amount
in the aggregate to $346,197,000. Massa
chusetts takes the lead, and is followed
in s descending scale by Alabama, Vir
ginia, North Carolina, New York, Ten
mssee, Pennsylvania and Louisiana,
each of whioh owes more than $20,000,-
000. West Virginia, Missouri, Georgia
and Arkansas owe materially less, al
though the amount is over $10,000,000
each, while all the other Htates fall be
low the latter figures. Many municipal
debts exoeed the Htate debts.
Mr. E. J. Lowe, the astronomer, has
written a letter to the Loudon Timet
touching the English sparrow, concern
ing whose utility there is pretty fre
quent discussion iu this oountry. He
says: "Thirty-five years ago, s coun
tryman left here for Australia, taking
with him all our popular hardy fruits
and vegetables: hut the produce was
yearly destroyed, until the English ► par
row was introduced, after which there
was plenty of fruit. Waterton calcu
lated that a single pair of sparrows de
stroyed as many grubs in one day as
would have eaten up half an acre of
young oorn in a week."
There are two marriage rituals in nse
at the New York city ball, and they dif
tcr essentially. In one the bride is re
quired to "obey" her husband ; in the
other she is not. As every one is bound
by the terms of s contract, the {/mission
or insertion of such s strong word as
obey, especially iu a marital agreement,
must be deemed of importance. The
aldermanio ritual on the subject com
pels the lsdy to promise thst she will
obey her liege low, but the one adopted
by Mayor Cooper does not. A woman
who has hoen married by the mayor need
not " obey " her husband ; but if a city
father has tied the nuptial knot, she
must follow his dictates.
A German paper aaya that a few
months ago a very eminent German
marshal, who keeps exceedingly early
hours, found a young woman busy with
her reaping books in one of his geld*
long tiefore the other laborers were
astir. Inquiring the name of this fe
male, be presented her with a dollar,
and when, later in the day, his steward
appeared, mentioned the' subject, and
highly oommended his early riser to
him. The steward, who did not recog
nise the name, askod one or two an ca
tion*. and then said: "That's Marie
Bauer, the cleverest field thief io this
psrt of the country. Tour excellency
may rest assured thst sha contrived to
bundle off s handsome amount of your
Ane clover along with the dollar. Bhe
makes bay when tbe run doesn't shine.
A Baltimore tea merchant is making
the tour of the Booth making in res liga
tions in regard to tea culture. He
thinks that Americans should not at
tempt to imitate Uie China green tea,
with ita coloring and fancy twisting, bnt
confine themselves to curing the leaf so
as to obtain the beat possible cop of
tea withont regard to appearanoe. Be
sides the work of twisting, that of sort
ing the tea according to shape and aiae
can, he thinks, be dispensed with to
advantage, simplifying greatly the pro
eras of preparation, and as greatly di
minishing the cost. The cultivation of
the tea plant in Georgia, he declares
from his experience of several years in
China and Japan, is perfectly practi
cable, and he offers (1 a pound for all
leavea shipped to his firm, the firm en
gaging to do the curing and preparation
till the producers are fairly on their feet.
Leading tieversmeata sf the fferld.
Of the leading governments of the
world fourteen are constitutional moo
archies and thirteen are republics, while
nine are despotisms. They may be en am
crated as follows:
1. British empire, constitutional.
2. Denmark, constitutional.
8. Norway and Sweden, constitu
tional.
4. Russia, despotic.
6. Holland sod Belgium, constitu
tional.
6. Hanover, constitutional.
7. German empire, constitutional.
8. Bwitxerlaud, republic,
9. Austrian empire, constitutional.
10. Fraooe, republic.
11. Spain, constitutional.
12. rortugal, constitutional.
13. Italy, constitutional.
14. Greece, constitutional.
15. Turkish empire, despotic.
16. Persia, despotic.
17. Afghanistan and Belooahtetan,
constitutional.
18. Tartary, despotic.
19. Hindoos tan, constitutional
20. Indo-Ohina, despotic.
21. Chinese empire, despotic.
22. Egypt, despotic.
28. Ab-asinia, despotic.
24. United HUtes, republic.
25. Mexico, republic.
26. Central America, republic.
27. Gtanada, republic.
28. Braai), constitutional.
29. Peru, republic.
30. Bolivia, republic.
81. Ohili, rap bite.
82. Araoania, despotic.
S3. Da Plata, republic.
84. Paraguay, republic.
85. Uruguay, republic.
86. Hayti, republic.
"The HlghlaaA Reaaty."
In an article on " Coasting," by 0. A.
Stephens, in Youth's Companion, a de
scription is given of the different kinds
of sleds used in this winter sport. The
writer describes one sled in particular,
thus:
Probably the finest double-runner
ever seen in this country, or sny country,
was made by Dr, Fowler, of Boston
Highlands, and ia now the property of
Mr. Francis Alger, of South Boston.
The construction of this really beautiful
pleasure carriage (for it seems hardly
proper to call it a sled) has occupied its
maker's leisure time for three suds
half years. It was placed on exhibition
at the reoent mechanic's fair in Boston,
where it attracted much attention.
It ia over thirteen feet in length, will
seat ton persons, and weighs three hun
dred and fifty pounds. let it moves so
easily that two or three boys can readily
draw it np hilL
The materials of which it is made are
white oak, white walnnt, steel, gun
metal and bronze. Though highly orna
mented, it is built in the very wtrougest
manner, and will no doubt stand yean
of hard servioa. Two seemingly small,
yet wonderfully strong, steel-shod and
steel-braced sleds support the elegant
" seaUboard," which, with its foot-rail
on each side and polished hand-rods, is
strongly trussed up, and cushioned in
green velvet over efastio rubber tubing.
At the forward end of the seat-board
are the steering-wheel, the lanterns and
the foot-br'-ak. The steering wheel,
which resembles the plated brake of a
drawing-room car, turns the forward
sled upon a rocker, provided with what
is termed a " universal joint," while by
means of s foot-brake sud chain, two
strong steel points, working inside the
rnnners of the hind sled, sre plunged
into the road-bed, tkus arresting tbs
speed at will.
At the rear end of the cushioned sest
there is s low "knee-board" for a
footman, whose business it may be to
start off the vehicle when the silvery
stroke of s gong shall give the signal to
fro-
Taken altogether, this double-runner
is s remarkable piece of work, Dot only
for oostliness and strength, but for sym
metry and eleganoe. It has evidently
been made by a man who has devoted
himself to the task cot amove. It does
the eye good to look at it, and it has
been very happily christened "The
Highland Boanty." The cost is said to
have been about a thousand dollar*.
Comparative Matrimony.
Htatistio* on tbm subject upset many
preconceived ideas on the subject of na
tions being addicted to, or ahrinking
from, the bond* of wedlock. It is gen
erally supposed, for instance, that tnere
are fewer marriage* is Franc* and more
in Germany than in any other countries,
but tbia doe* not prove to be the ca*e.
France la one of tbe "moat married" of
foreign landa; bigb tip in the list; and
beyond England and Wale*. In Amer
ica there are Mid to be over eight thon
aand marriage# in every ten thonaand of
the population; in Hungary, aii thon
aand four hundred and aeventy-Ave; and
France cornea* next with Ave thonaand
fire hundred and sixty-six. England
follow* in conjunction with Walea, and
fn every ten thonaaod of the population
there are five thonaand three hundred
and ninety eight Auatria is well np
with five thonaand two hundred and
seventy one, and jnat paaae* Italy with
five thonaand two hundred and seventy.
Hamlet'a declaration that there should
be no more marriages in Denmark ia not
obeyed, a* on the contrary, in the above
proportion, there are five thonaand one
hundred and ninety-one; and then oomes
Germany, whoee reputation for domes
ticity will be injured by tbe calculation
that it can only ahow live thonaand one
hundred and aeven. Norway is still leaa
connubial, and follows with five thon
aand and sixty five. After this we paa*
oat of the list of over Ave thonaand, and
reach 8 wed en, where tbe number* are
four thousand nine hundred sad fifty
two. The Ne berlanda come very near,
with four thouaaud nine hundred and
forty-eight, • and atill lower in the
list is Hcotland, with ita fonr thousand
six hundred and seventy-eight. Belgium
ia better or worse, as it may be consid
ered, with fonr thonaand six hundred
and thirty-four, Bwitxerland with four
thousand Ave hundred and eighty-two,
and last of all oomes Ireland with four
thousand three hundred and thirteen.
America thus is tbe moat married of the
list
The Hnmau Will.
One's life is, after all, given somewhat
into one's own band, if you say " 1
will not," to any destiny that seems to
shape itself for you, the seeming destiny
is apt to undergo a decided change.
There is a great deal in wilL It is the
men who aay " I will not be poor," who
become rich; the men who think,
" Whatever, i* in me shall come out, "
who become known to the world; the
man who resolve, "I will be upright,"
who are never overcome by the tempta
tions of vioe. Historians have written
of soldiers that " did not know when
they were beaten;" but these were the
men who, in the end, knew they were
victorious; sad in the battle erf life, not
to know when one is beaten to a great
thing. Disagreeable people ate usually
to because they make no effort to be
otherwise. A man may compel himself
to be interesting by fighting with sa un
social disposition. It is only the woman
who declares herself homely, and makes
no efibrta to dress becomingly, who to
ever actually so to others.
Parrots In Europe.
The proportion of land covered with
forests throughout Europe to twenty
nine per cent, of which Russia and
Hwedu furnish the greatest part. In
Russia, forty per oent. of the terrilorv
to oavarod with woods, and of this some
200,00* ,000 smro are covered with pines
and other oone-bearing team. Sweden
and Norway have thirty-four per oeat,,
chiefly birch, maple, pine, fir and willow.
Austria has twenty nine percent. Ger
many has t wen ty-*ii per cent and Prance
seventeen. Par Mow these oomea
Spain, with its oork woods sad evergreen
oak forests, covering seven per cent of
the land, sod Holland and Belgium with
the same. Portugal come* next with
Hi" per canh, and Great Britain f BtM
with font per cant. The percentage
sunttsUy drcrmaee hi all eountrie*
rapidly.
■AftHHML
itsw—— iPmi>iiiM w>u
W'rtu cn fI.
Without doubt Km tern nations hate
been acquainted with h.rrih, in OH
/cnn or another, from the earliest Mr"ft
Herodotus, speaking of the Horthiana,
refers unmistakably to He mm: " They
take the seeds of thia heap and, placing
it beneath woolen fleeoea, they throw
upon it red-hot atonea, when
IT a perfumed vapor aeeenda stronger
than from any Oreeian atove. Thia, to
the Bcytbiana, ia in the place of a bath;
and it excite* from them oriea of exalta
tion." The Egyptians alao bad a knowl
edge of it, and rliny mentions it aa ad
rente to virtue power. It waa accident
ally rediscovered by the Arab# in the
year 658 of the Hegira. Hheik Haider,
a hermit, waa the diaooverer; hence the
Arabic poets call the haabeeah " Urn cup
of Haider." The Arabian*, however,
aoon perceived ita injnriona effecta, and
a law waa at one time made againat
haabeeah—the punishment being the
extraction of a haabeeah eater'a teeth.
Dr. Homberger, who waa a physician
for thirty-flve years at the court of
Lahore, aayi that the great fondnaa of
thelfpeople for a drink prepared from
haaneeah induced the ting to ""W a
gratnitona distribution of it. Depots
were established called mid, ganjah,
where the people oame in crowds for the
beverage.
The doctor found that inebriation be
gan in about half an hoar after the im
hibation of the fluid, and lasted from
three to four boors—producing an afliisi
able exhilaration of the spirits, mt hay
ing none of those depressing effects
which result from the nae of intoxicating
drinks.
The chief peculiarity of the hanhnnah
vision in it* immense exaggeration of
time and spase. Momenta appear to be
thousands ol years. Narrowly circum
scribed Tie WH seem to run out into vistM
embracing not only tbia earth bat the
entire vsstness of the nniTerse. Mr.
Moresa foand everything appearing to
hia eyes "aa it does on looking through
the wrong end of a telescope." Bayard
Taylor said, " the fallneas of my rap
tare expanded the nenae of time ; and
though the whole viaion was probably
not more than five minute* in passing,
years seemed to have elapsed." A
Frenchman, an habitual iwallower of
the narcotic, states that one evening in
traversing the passage of a house under
its influence, "the time occupied in
taking a few steps seemed to be boors,
and the passage interminable." Tb#
intensifying of sounds is another pecu
liar phenomenon of the hasheesh con
dition. An amateur relates that "the
ticking of my wat-b sounded louder
than that of the kitchen clock," while
another records that the beating of bis
heart resounded in hia ears like the
blows from s vast hammer.
The experiences of the French savant,
M. Rertbeult, are curious. Raving
swallowed a large dose, and while yet
under its effect, a band began playing
beneath hia windows. He became able
to distinguish the part taken by each
instrument. The elements of the har
monies beard by him assumed the form
of ribbons of a thousand changing
colors—intertwisting, weaving and knot
ting themselves in a most capricious
manner. After s while the ribbons
changed and each note became a flower,
and the flowers formed wreaths and gar
lands, in which the harmony of colors
reprtsented the harmony of sounds.
The flowers yielded to precious stones,
which rose in fountains, fell in cascades,
sr. l"streamed sway in all directions.
Tbejhand now played s waltz, and M.
B< rthsnlt bad a realization of Coleridge's
" Knbla Kahn." A multitude of
gorgeously-decorated and illuminated
saloons appeared, and all gradually
merged into one, surmounted by an
enormous dome built of colored crystals
and supported by s thousand columns.
This dome dissolved, and a still more
Slorious one replaced it. A series of
(•met then arose, each more gorgeous
than its predecessor, while st the same
time an innumerable aaemblage execut
ed a frantic waits—rolling itself like a
serpent from ball to hall.
Americas Beef la (treat Britaia.
The London Pall Mall (fatetle Mr* :
The import of American meat into tola
ocmntry w —anming anoh large dimeu
aiotui that it is not snrpriaing fanners
begin to be somewhat snxkms sa to the
future of the cattle trade. Some infor
mation on the subject, which will be in
teresting not only to them, but to meat
consomme generally, was given at a din
ner held a few day* ago at Olaaglow by
the batcher* in the Amerioan
meat trade. The chairman, in the course
of his observations, observed that
farmer* might be assured that the
coming summer and autumn would be the
worst tbey bad had to faoe with Ameri
ca, large freight contract* having been
entered into for the transport of oattto
into Britain. Bo large were thoee con
tract* that be was afraid many of them
would never be completed, as if all were
fulfilled, cattle wonid be as cheap with
ns as in America." With regard to the
increase of the Amariosa trade it was
stated that the entire quantity of meat
imported into Oreat Britain in 1876 was
16,165,682 pounds, the money value o
which was fiSw.:ws. In 1878 it had
risen to 58,661,216 pound*, with a money
valncfof £1,264,764 ; while from Europe
the total money valne of dead meat wan
only £66,585. The value of the imports
of all classwa of live stock into Oreat
Britain last year from America and the
continent was £7,454.462, and with dead
meat added, £8,786,781. Of that sua
nearly £4,000,000 was from America.
Every year it was pointed out, Europe
can spare (ewer oatUe, and it is to
Amariae wo must look to make up the
deficiency in the boms supply. Soanar
or later all these importations of meal
most tell upon our botchers' Wis; hot
at present tney remain, strange to say,
as high as ever.
A erasy woman wandered igto Ban
Francisco foer years ago. She said that
she bad walked across the continent,
and gave various histories of bersehC
Investigation showed that aba had
really mads the journey an foot. She
was put into an tnaaoe asylum. Lately
aha was sought oat by a nephew who
had slowly traced her movements. She
proved to be Mrs. Rahman. of St Lents,
ami the owner of an aetata worth 1180,-
000.