LADIES' DEPARTMENT.
* A Feminine Trick.
A feminine trick, very common among
foreigners at Rome, Italy, is described
as follows : A lady goes to a milliner's
and looks over lior stock of bonnets.
She selects those which she thinks will
suit her, and begs the milliner to send
them to her the following morning that
she may try them on at homo and soiect
the one which suits her. The poor
milliner consents. At 9 o'clock she
sends the bonnets. The lady is not up.
. Will the "young woman" call again a
*r little later? The "young woman" con
sents to leave the bonnets nntil ;i
o'clock. What does my lady do then ?
She takes tho bonnet she likes best to a
little working milliner in a back shop
of a back street, and bids lior make one
exactly like tho model she leaves with
her until half-past 2 o'clock, when
she takes it bnck to the grand milliner,
saying that she is very sorry, but none
of them "suit her."
Waere I'lump lire In lleiiuinil.
Plumpness, such as would be consid
ered exuberaut in the cold and critical
north of Europe, constitutes tho popu
lar ideal of female beauty in tho re
gency of Tunis. Among marriageable
young ladies of that province slender
uess of form and delicacy of proportion
are regarded with justifiable aversion,
as disqualifications for the wedded state.
The fatter a maiden tho better is her
chance of makiug a good and early
match. To be abnormally obese is to
be certain of drawing a prize in the
matrimonial market, and tho loveliest
litheness remains nnwooed, while homo
ly corpulence can pick and choose from
among a throng of eligible suitors.
How deep a root this predilection for
capacious charms has struck in the Tu
nisian manly bosom may be gathered !
from the fact that widowers, desirous to ,
marry again, should they haply, moved j
by family or pecuniary considerations,
select a bride whose dimensions are ro- !
ported to fall something short of those j
to which their previous experiences had
accustomed them, are wonted to send
the " dear departed's" girdle and brace
let to the parents of their too exiguous
betrothed. On receipt of these articles,
conveying a delicate hint that it might
be expedient to make up for nature's
shortcomings by some judicious treat
ment, the bride's papa and mama pro.
ceed to fatten her with assiduity and
dispatch. P'or some weeks she leads
the life of aHtrassbnrg goose, and when i
she has attained tho necessary goodlv i
proportions her nuptials are celebrated j
to the entire satisfaction of evervliody
concerned in them.
A \\ niniin's Agf.
A case has just been decided before
the appeal court at Met/, which shows
how a lady's age is a matter entirely
within her own control. Fraulein Cath
erine Mahl was engaged to a desirable
partner to whom she had imprudently
declared her ago at six years less than
it really was. As soon as the moment
arrived for producing the certificate of
birth, she was aware that her little de
ception woull bo discovered, and she
feared that the match would be broken
off. She, therefore, took the liberty o'
altering the official document so as to
make it correspond with the statement
already made. Tho ceremony took
place, and the hnsliand was duly united
to a lady whom ho liolieved to ho qnite 1
a jeune ingenue. I'nfort.nnately the
certificate, in passing throngh some of
fice, Lappc.ncd to be minutely examined
by one of tho clerks. The bride was
charged with the offense of falsifying a
publio document, and condemned to
spand, if not her honeymoon, at least
three of the first months other married
life in prison. She had the courage to
appeal from the sentence, and cause the
cane to be argued out liofnro the court of
Metz, which reversed tho decision of
the inferior tribunal, and acquitted the
lady on the ground that sho did not in
tend to commit an illegal act, but had
been actuated only by " female vanity..^'
►'■•► lion Nairn.
Fans grow larger.
Jerseys are revived.
Shaded fans are much nsed.
The long hasqne is moribund.
Tailor-made dresses grow in faror.
Long faces look best with low coif
fures.
Traveling costumes are made very
short.
Tall women should not wear high
coiffures.
Heliotrope is revived as a summer
■ Color in Paris.
j| Chnddab squares are the favorite sum
mer shawls.
Very little jewelry should he worn
with summer toilets.
A new device for a lace pin is a cow
jumping over the moon.
Both high and low coiffures are woro,
hot low ones are preferred.
White dresses of soft, crashable silk
are worn more than ever.
Bage green striped tweednovelty
Navy blue flannel is on the list of
popular materials for traveling suits.
The wide belt and suspended pocket
are indispensable for a traveling outfit.
Cretonne and Wattcau fans tako tho
precedence of Japanese fans this sum
mon
Shaded grays, browns, and garnets
are tho colors worn by older women
this season.
The fashionahlo dust eloak takes tho
form of the ulster or tho Mother Hub
bard cloak. 1
ltlnck velvet bracelets, fastened by ,
tiny buckles of old French paste, are |
again fashionably worn with delicate ,
evening dresses.
Long lace mittens in black, white, i
cream, or tho colors of tho costume are
worn with sleeves of short or medium i
length. !
The popular halayonse is of muslin,
embroidered in the designs of (,'arriek
maeross lace, and is used laid flat inside
the skirt.
Jersey webbing, sometimes called 1
stockinet, resembles tho elastic texture
of knitted work, and IH used for the new
Jersey basques.
Mauve-tinted Hpanish laoc bonnets !
are trimmed with short ostrich tips, 1
powdered with gold, and pale pink TOHCS 1
held by large gold buckles set with '
pearls.
The designs of some of the new bro- |
caded gauzes, which come in colors of ,
lilac, ciel-blne, corn and sea-shell pink, ,
are outlined with fine threads of silver
and gold.
Spanish jewelry showing large leaves j
and (lowers tinted in colors of palo pink ]
and emerald green nnd studded with
fine sparkling gems is just now : n great (
demand.
Tho small old-fashioned shawls of
white china crape embroidered with '
heavy silk flo s in each corner, and I '
edged with white nettled silk fringe, I
are again in vogue. 1
Pretty breakfast caps are comjiosed
of small squares of mull, edged with
lace rn files.
Beige, kersey, chevoit, flannels nnd i
lady cloths arc all nsed for traveling
costume*.
A novelty for 1 >ot)net strings is tubular
riblwn, woven double without anv visi
ble seam.
Shoulder capes and large mantles of
net chenille are the wraps of h'gh crc
monv for summer wear.
The most fashionable low coiffure is
broad, describing a figure* horizontally
in the nn]>c of the neck.
The Ways of Harbors.
To any one who is familiar with the
barber shops of some cf the European j
countries the difference in manner must >
seem odd. The Parisian barber, though j
perhaps a trifio morn civil than the j
American or Americanized, is still very j
quick and curt in his ways, just as the
Parisian waiter is; and in the huge'
barber shops of London, conducted on !
a mammoth scale which is unknown
hero—such as the establishment in
j Tichliorne street, employing in various
! seasons of the year fro v. 'hirty to sixty
| men ('hesterftchlian manners are i
hardly to be expected. But the Ocr
j man, Austrian and Italian shops afford
! amusing oontresl i loffcowof RrYork.
I What American who has been in Cier- i
\ many has not been diverted by the
: reverent attitndo of the I>arler and by i
the profound bow and " obedient ser- I
vant " (gehorsamer dienert with which
he signalizes tho conclusion of his task ?
The insinuating, persuasive ways of
Italian "artists" and tlm delightful
ingenuity with which they "stick" |
foreigners with all sorts of costly and
useless toilet articles at absurd prices '
are known to every traveler. But
perhaps tonsorial suavity reaches its
snblimest heights in the two gay Aus
trian capitals, Vienna and l'esth. There,
as the customer enters, instead of meet
ing with a silent and indifferent stare,
and a rude, loud " Next!" shouted out
l in a stentorian tone, perfect chorus of i
soft and subdued voices greets him with 1
a cheerful "Gntcn nr.orgen, ergbenster
dienert" (Most devoted servant), and
" Meine hoehachting!" (My highest
osteem). It is inexpressibly comical to ,
hear the knights of the razor mechani
cally sing out all together these three j
exclamations one after another as if ;
they had learned them by note, and to I
hear tho similar chorus of ejaculations
nttered in the same sing-song, mechani
cal voice at the enstomer's exit of
"Meine complimente!" (My compli
ments!) " leh babe die ehrc!" ff have
the honor!) " Ich empfehlo mich !" (I
commend myself!) etc , to all of which
the lofty client only responds with a
short " Gntcn tag" or a slight touch of
the hat. The ineffable and silent con
tempt with which the aristocra ic offi
cer, glittering with gold braid and liv
ing on 820 a month, clinks his silver
spurs as ho enters and leaves (.ho shop
without deigning even a nod or reply
to all this ontbnrat of extravagant civil
ity, affords a striking illustration of the
continental manner of treating the luck
less operator on .hirsute china.—AW
1 ark IfuraicL ' *
'W -d 4ft '* &
ASSASSIN ATI O.N OF RULERS.
I
A 111*1 orlm I l(cmiiitic of Sun•••*•!uI nnf I n
mu-<(*■ iil \ Illicit* oil I,III*.
It is a curious fact that no king of
England or emporor of (lerrnany has
ever fallen a victim to an assassin, al
though several attempts have been made '
on tho present monurchs of these coun- £
tries. There are murders enough of a
very brutal sort on record in English
history of both actual occupants of the *
throne and heirs to it, but they were all
done openly before the world, as if tho '
perpetrators scorned to conceal their '
deeds, or as if they felt that they had '
the right to perform summary execu
tion. Tho only cuso in English history
in which the really guilty party sought
concealment is the murder of tho two
young princes in the Tower of London,
the circumstances of which have been '
told to every visitor. Several popes 4
have fallen victims to the daggers of 1
assassins, and Henry of Navarre, one of
France's ablest monurchs, met the same A
fate. Tho killing of Murut by Charlotte 1
(lourday was also an assassination in the '
true sense of the word. Russia has the '
longest record of crimes to show so far, 1
but the United States seems to be in a 1
fair way of taking at least an undisputed !!
second place. The attempts at assassins-' f
tion havo been parti* e.L '• numerous '
during tho past third of u< > ntnrv, or '
since the use of firearms and the scicn- : *
title use of gunpowder have been per- j'
fectcd. A list of these, successful and '
unsuccessful, is at this time particularly ' f
interesting: j 1
I*l*-November 2b The life of the j *
Duke of Modena was attempted.
IRPJ—Inno 21—The Crown Prince of
Prussia was nttaek'sl at Minden.
I*sl May 22 Hefoloque, a workman, '
shot at Frederick William IV., Ling of '
Prussia, and broke his forearm.
1850 June 2s—Eol>ert Pate, an <t- '
lieutenant in the army, attempted t" 1
assassinate Yietoria.
18.V2 Heptcinber 21 An infernal
machine was found at Marseilles, with
which it had been intended to destroy ;
Napoleon 111.
I*s9—February 18—'Tho Emperor
Francis Joseph <>f Austria was grievously
wounded in the heal while walking on
the rampart iat Vienna by a Hungarian '
tailor named Libzens.
1859—April lb—An attempt on the
life of Victor Emmanuel was reported
to the Italian Chamber.
Ihs3 July s—An attempt was male
to kill Napoleon 111. as he was entering
the Opera Comiqtio.
1855—March 20— Ferdinand Charles
111., I)tike of Farma, was killed by n
unknown man, who stabbed him in the
abdomen.
IRss—April 2* Napoleon 111. was
fired on at the Champs Elysees by Gio
vanna Pianeri.
I*so—April 28—Raymond Fnentes
was arrcHtod in the act of firing on Isa
bella, queen of Spain.
)s.V. December B—Ago*ila* Milano,
a soldier, stabbed Ferdinand 111. of i
Naples, with his bayonet.
1857 August 7—Napoleon 111. again.
Itarcnletti, (ribaldi and Grille were -.on
! tenced to death for coming from Lon
| don to assassinate him.
I*s*- January It Napoleon 111. for
the fifth time, i tr-ini and his associates j
threw fulminating bombs at him as lie
was on his way to tho opera.
l*iil- July 14—King William of
Prussia was for the first time shot nt
by Oscar Decker, a student, at Raden
-1 Had en. Reeker fired twice at him bnt j
[ missed him.
1802—December 18—A student
named Dossios tired a pistol at
I AmaliA, of Greece (Princess of ohlen
nrg), at Athens.
1863 —December 21—Four more con
spirAtors from London Against the life
of Napoleon 111. were arrested at Paris.
1865—April II President Lincoln
was shot by J. Wilkes Rootb.
lHbfi—April 6—A Russian named
j Kavarsoff attempted Czar Alexander's
life at St. Petersburg. He was foiled
by a peasant, who was ennobled for the
deed.
1867—The czxr's life was again at-
I tempted on Jnno f>, during the great cx
! position, at a review.injthe Roisde Bon
! logne, at Paris.
18(17—Jnno 19—Maximilian shot.
1868—Juno I(l—Prince Michael, of
j Serbia, was killed by the brothers Rad
; warowiteh.
1871—The life of Arnadens, then
| newly king of Spain, was attempted.
1872 —August—Colonel Outieriez as
sassinated President Ilalta, of tho re
public of Pern.
I*73—January 1 President Morales,
of Bolivia, was assassinated.
1875 August President Garcia
Mieno, of Ecuador, was assassinated.
1876 —Sultan Abdnl-Aziz killed in his
I*l ace by order of bis ministers, June 5,
1877—.1nn0 -President Gill, of I'ara
gnav, was assassinated by Commodore
Molas.
1878— May 11—The Emperor William,
of Germany, was shot at again, this
time by Emilo Henri Max iloedel, alias
Lchmann, the Socialist. Lehmann fired
three shots at the emperor, who was re
turning from a drive with the Grand
Dnchaas of Baden, bnt miaaed him.
1878—June 2—Emperor William shot
at by Dr. Nobling while out riding.
Mo received about thirty small shot in
tho nock anil faro.
187'J April 14—Attempted assassin
ation of tho czar at Ht. Petersburg by
one Holojew. Ho was executed May 9.
1879—December I—The assassination
of tho czar attempted by a mine under
a train near Moscow.
1879--December 90—Tho king of
Hpain was shot at whilo driving with
jho quoon.
1880—February 17—Attempt to kill
tho royal family of Russia by blowing
up tho Winter palace. Fight soldiers
wore killed and forty-flvo wounded.
IHBI March 19 The Czar Alexander
11., killed by a bomb.
How to Catch a Polar Hoar.
" I do so pity those men on tho
Rodgers," remarked Mrs. Mux, passing
tho Major tho honey, which he always
insisted upon having with his rice cakes.
"Yes, indeed,"replied the Mujor, who
was a trifle cynical that morning, hav
ing burned his mouth with coffee. "Yes,
indeed, my dear, the life of an Arctic
explorer must bo hard. They are so
isolated from the world. Just imagine,
if you can, the horror of living for three
years out of tho dust and wind and fog
and rain of our gloriouß climate; of not
meeting all that time the man at your
club who thinks the oftener a story is
told the better it is; o' being without
the consolation afforded you by the
busted stock operator who knows you
are glad of an opportunity to lend him
a twenty; of being where millinery and
Japanese decoration stores do not
daily entrap one's wife; of Is-ing—"
"Why, Major, how you do talk! I
was only thinking of the horrid things
the Rodgers' crew will have to do to
get their bear steaks."
"How's that?" asked the Major, in
stantly interested over the object of
steaks, which he holds of milch greater
importance than the Irish land troubles.
" What 1 know alsmt it," resumed
51rs. Max, " I read in a fashion paper,
and it ought to be true."
"It certainly ought to be, Mrs. Max,
if only on account of its old age."
"Well, the article said," continued
Mr.. Max, pretending to ignore the Ma
jor's slur on her favorite reading, "that
Arctic explorers, when they want to kill
a polar lu*r, plant a big knile in the ice
with the blade sticking up. They daub
the blade with blood, and the bear comes
along and licks it and cuts his tongue.
It is so cold that ho don't feel the cut,
but, tasting his own blood, continues to
lick the knife until his tongue is all
frayed, and lie bleeds to death. Isn't it
dreadful!"
" (,uict your fears, my dear," said the
Major when his wife had finished
"That is the way they killed the bear
when that story was first published, but
in the la-t twenty years an improvement
has Wen made, which I will tell you
abo.it, if you will kindly give me just a
drop more of coffee, with cold milk,
this time. Tho tray the thing is done
now is as follows; When Captain Berry,
of the Rodgers, wants a polar bear for
dinner, he gives a midshipman a copper
Ihsl spring and a chunk of salt pork.
Tho midshipman compresses the spring
perfectly fiat, wrapping the pork around
it tight, and holds it so until it freeze*
•olid. Then the frozen pork, stuffed
with the 1 >od spring, is thrown out to
the nearest iceberg, win re it i* prompt
ly swallowed bv a polar bear. When
the heat of the War's stomach thaws
ont the pork it releases the spring,
which flies ont, and the War soon dies
from a pain in his side."
"Major," said Mrs. Max, with ranch
warmth, "I don't Wlievethat story is
true."
" So, my dear, and yon won't, until, j
in a few years, yon see it in some fash- !
ion paj>er, and then yon will swear by it."
Flower Farming.
All the natural scents now nied in
this country are imported st high prices,
but within a year the cultivation of
flowers for perfumery has been started
in Hants Barbara and Alameda counties,
California, and as the climate of that
(State is well adapted to the raising of
flowers, there is a good prospect that a
large share of the scents consumed in
this country will soon W produced at
home. In Europe 150,000 gallons of
handkerchief |>erfnme are annually dis
tilled. The profits of flower farming
in some portions of the Old World are
shown in the following figures: An acre
of jaamino plants, 80,000 in numWr, will
produce 5,060 jmnnds of flowers, valued
at 81,250; au acre of rose trees, 10,000
in numWr, will yield 2,000 pounds of
flowers, worth $975; :t0() orange trees
growing on an acre will yield, at ten
years of age, 2,000 pounds of flowers,
valued at 8220; an acre of violets, pro
ducing 1,600 pounds of flowers, is
worth $800; an sere of acacia trees of
HBO will, at three years of age, yield
iKKI pounds of flowers, worth $450; an
acre of geranium plants will yield some
thing over 2,000 ounces of distilled attar
worth 84,000; an acre of lavender, giving
over 9,500 ponnds of flowers for distil
lation, will yield a value of 81,500.
Burglars are evidently great rail
road speculators, because we always
hear of somebody being on their track
TOPICS OF THE OA V.
Yusif Arbeely, who, with his wife and
six sons, came to this country from Da
mascus, Hyria, nearly three years ago, is
delighted with the change. He ex
plains that more of his countrymen do
not follow his example because the
Turkish government not only discour
ages emigration but takes measures to
prevent it.
The United States geological corps
has in charge the first census of the
Indians ever taken in this country. The
work was to be made an imjwrtant part
of the present census and was placed in
charge of Major Powell of the survey.
The work was to be accomplished under
♦he direction of special agents, four in
number, sent out by Major Powell.
The work has been in progress nearly u
year, and it will take fully a year longer
to complete it.
Horsewhipping is an expensive luxury
in England. A noble marquis has been
flned"s2,soo and costs and bound over
to koep the pcacojfor a year for lashing
another noble lord, who had been so
inconsiderate and imprudent as to
alxluct the noble marquis' wife. Two
of the noble marquis' friends who took
undue interest in the sport were also
fined. In fact everybody concerned
seems to have been heavily mulcted
except the noble lordwhogot the noble
lady into trouble.
Anjinh resting contribution to the lit
<• nit ure of Nuieidc in in ail e in a pam
]>hlet recently published in Rerlin. Tile
suicidal mania i spreading HO rapidly
in the Herman capital that the authori
tieK are earnestly considering in what
manner it cr.n best be checked. The
pamphlet above referred to states that
in the years from 1875 to 187*, 2sO oases
of suicide were registered JUT million
inhabitants in Rerlin, 285 in Vienna,
■l5O in Lcipsic and only eighty-five in
Ixmdon. I'ariH, with 400 suicides, nenr
ly appr oache e* startlingjfigure of
L/eipsio.
Tlie dejiartment of agriculture at
Washington from July 1, 1877, to June
.'to, 188], incln ivi , h.v "published 7,17 '.
PAGCH of 1 IOOWH and pamphlet*, more or
less valuable. The numlx r of these
printed was 2,368,525, and the total
jsige* printed were H58,381,t;75. Taking
the population of the United States at
50,000,000, here ate nearly eighteen
pages of ]irint<-d information for every
man, woman and child in the land. Nor
is this all. The department during the
same period has distributed 4.4'!2, s 7h
package* of seeds and 073,832 valuable
plant*.
Archer, the jockey who won the
I>erby for Lorillard, is quite aln
ln 187i lie is
said to SPo.OOO profession
ally. he won 172 races ; in
1870 07; in 1877, 218 ; in
n I H 7J, 107 : and in lsso,
ts pelted like a prima donna,
and is the companion of sporting lords,
lb- travels from one race meeting to
another in a first-class carriage, has
only to ride his appointed horse, and
keeps a valet to assist him in changing
his dr. s. His yearly income is gn at< r
than that of a prime m ini tor.
A patriotic correspondent quotes the
old statement thaiVuecn Victoria is the
| only sovereign on whose dominions the
sun never seta, and patriotically pro
j ceeds to show that the sun never rets
on the j>n*°essions of the United Btatea;
that when the sun is alssnt expiring on
i the confines of Rohring' sea it is already
learning brightly in Maine and in the
i-astern part of that State is an hour
high. From the farthest eastern part
of onr country, at Hast port, Maine,
to the farthest end of the Aleutian isles
the distance is 197 dogTcosof longitude,
or seventeen more than half way around
the glolie.
The arrivals of cmigra ,ta at Castle
Garden, X<-w York, during the tlrst half
of this year have lteen unprocedentodly
large. The total arrivals since January
1 have Wn2H,925-*n increase of 00,-
00° over the same period last year. The
re nationalities represented
by ll vrp: Germany,
24,142 r*. <• a. t ; Sweden, 7,2tP.;
I'.ngland, 5,(160 ; .i istna, 11,300 ; Nor
way, 2,005 ; Scotland, 2,007 ; Switrer
land, 1,405 ; Italy, 1,239; Denmark,
1,159 ; Holland, 1,135 ; I\>land, 021 ;
Rnssia, 004; Hohomia, 515; France,
800; Hnngary, 305; Belgium, 130;
Wales, 84 ; Spain, 27 ; other countries,
03.
Following arc some interesting and
instructive figures given in connection
with the workings of the United States
postoflloe departmont: One letter ont
of every 300 sent in unclaimed in the
office to which it givn. One letter in
'iH3 rent, turns up at the dead letter of
fice. One letter ont of every 3,100 sent
in held for pontage at the office of mail
ing -and thin amounta to near 300,000
in a year. More than '200,000 lot tern
every year are insufficiently addroaned.
Ten thousand lettera thin year bear no
superscription whatever, and these let
tern often contain remittances of great
value, More than 200,000 foreign let
ters fail to reach the perwon* to whon
they arc idilmwed.
An astronomer nay a that the earth
m<ts 50,000,000 of cometa, more or
loan, every year. Almost all of them
arc jfruited hy the rapid jia/tsage through
our otmoaphern, and Imnnmr shooting
stars. Now and then one does not ig
nite, and atriJn* the. earth. These are
called meteoric atom*, ot which a very
large portion in in the Hruithsonian in
stitution. The tutivcrm i* foil of them,
lie adds that it is held by an me astrono
mers tliat the resnit which would follow,
should a comet strike the earth—a Large
comet—wonld be to reaolvo both Iks lie*
at oner?, by the concussion, into clonda
of incandescent mist, or gamxjus matter,
a result which would be no sudden and
instantaneous that the inhabitant* of the
earth wonld never know what had hap
pened.
Great Britain has three agricultural
schools, an English, Irish and Scotch,
each self-supporting and costing not
more than SIO,OOO each a year; each is
intended to train three classes of agri
cultural lalmrers- gardeners, small ten
ants and large farmers. Prussia spends
two or three million dollars annually
upon the state f< rjsts and farms. The
farms of the stale are rented to practical
farmers who are lxmnd by their leases
to take pupils in agriculture, and to
keep blooded stock for improving the
breeds of the surrounding community,
1 and to introduce such machinery on
trial as is recommended by the agricul
tural minister of the crown. No seeds
are distributed free, except in time of
scarcity, but railroads liave to carry free
articles for exhibition at agricultural
fairs. The highways are lined with
fruit or other trees, and the government
supervision of forests is strict.
The bridge disaster on the Mercies
railroad in Mexico was a frightful calam
ity. The bridge gave way while a tram
was prising over it, and 214 officers and
soldiers on the train were killed out
right or roasted to death by the flames
which burst over the wreck when 100
barrels of brandy, forming part of the
fr< ight, caught fire. ( inly sixty f>ersons
escaped alive, and of these forty were
more or less seriously injured, many
fatally. Efforts to rescue the imprisoned
victims were useless, and the dead and
living were consumed by the remorseless
flames before the eyes of the survivors.
The bridge was not only weakened by
recent floods, but seema to have been
irnj*rfeetly constructed by incompetent
Mexican engineers. No such casualty
ha* ever Is-fore occurred in Mexico, and
the effect njon the ignorant and snj er
stitious people undoubtedly will l<e to
unreasonably prejudice them again* - ,
railroad enterprises.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
A new species of wild horse has tiw n
discovered in Siberia, and has been
named Kp/wi /'rjerabJci.
I'latinuta—in tbo language of Peru,
" little silver,''—first discovered in
South America, is the heaviest body in
nature.
1 luring the glacial period, the ioe in
America, latitude 4 4 degrees N., is sup
josrsl, from evidences known to seien
tist*. to have boon 11,000 feet deep.
Dividing the human body into a hun
dred parts, the head of the infant is 24
per cent., the liody 4ft and the legs 156.
In the adult the head is 1.1, body 14 and
' legs 54.
Water is considered soft which con
, tains leas than 1-5000 part of its weight
r in saline ingredients; hard if it contains
. more than 1 -40*10, and mineral if more
than 1-2000.
Phosphorescent paint, it ia rej>orted
from Turin, mixed with printing ink,
renders the letters luminous iti the dark.
A daily paper is to be published there
with the luminous ink.
The crow is the most inveterate
enemy of the singing birds of New
England. Bobbins, plovers, larks, and
nearly all the birds of smaller site, fail
vieti ms to his ravenous appetite.
Thcro is little or nothing known
with certainty in regard to the inrention
of glass. Home of the oldest specimens
are Egyptian, and are traced to abont
1,500 before Christ (by some 2,.'100 B.
C.) Transparent glass ia Wlieved to
have been first used abont 750 before
the Christian era. The credit of the in
vention was given by the ancients to the
Phir-nicians. The story ia a familiar
one, of the Phoenician merchants who
rested their rooking pots on blocks of
natron (snh-cerhonato of soda), avl
found glass produced by the union, 1 a
der heat of the alkali and the sand'on
the shore.
A witty New York society woman was
standing before Kola's greatly admired
picture of Is* and his daughters, which
was on eshibitioo in an art store on
Fifth avenue. "Oh T remarked a friend.
I dolorously, "what do you suppose Lo*
i thought when he beheld his poor wife
turned to a pillar of naltr "I suppose,"
> | replied our wit, with admirable gravity,
"he thought how he eonld get him-
II self—e fresh one."