SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. Gold is nineteen, mercury thirteen, and lead eleven times heavier than water. Plaster made with river water sqls sooner than that made with spring water. Gypsum, called by chemists sulphate of lime, is composed of sulphuric acid, lime and water. Carbonic acid is extensively employed iu the manufacture of wliito lead and effervescing diinks. The strength of 120 pounds is re quired to tear asunder an iron wire fifth of an inch in diameter. Grape sugar, used for giving more "body" to wines, etc., is made of po tato starch, sulphuric acid, elialk and water. Burnt bones are employed by potters as an ingredient of soft porcelain, to an nmonnt sometimes of nearly half the enliro mass. From an elevation of 25,000 feet, the groatcst height yet reached by man, the semi diameter of the circle of vision amounts to 198 miles. Dr. K. Vou Fritsch, of Halle, says that the cause of earthquakes does not exist further down from the surfaio of the earth than ten or fonrteon miles. Pare silvrr weighs 2 237 ounces to each cubic inch. Should its density be has, the tilver may be supposed to eontain copper; if greater, lead may be present. The quantity of water in wheat and flour is greater iu cold countries than in warm. In England it is from four teen to seven teen percent., in the United States from twelve to fourteen, in Africa from nine to eleven. Electricity is now employed in the rectification of inferior alcohol. The electricity generated by a voltaic bat tery and a dynamo-electric machine is passed through the alcohol so as to dis engage the superfluous hydrogen. Bv this means beer root alcohol, which is usually very poor, can bo made to yield eighty per cent, of spirits, equal to that obtained from the best malt. <'.innib.il Feast* in Fiji. Bat prior to the groat change in Fiji caused by Christianity, a (east wonhl bare been hold of small account which was not graced by abundant human flesh ; and if perchance there was no war on hand to provide this delicacy, there w.ia rarely much difficulty in find ing victims; a defenseless troop of wo men from some neighboring village, a canoe driven ashore by stress of weather or, failing these, a few insignificant serfs or wives who had lost favor with their lords, Bnpplied the placoof home farm produce. Several peculiarities were observed concerning the btkala or human flesh. It was considered in digestible unless eaten with certain harbs which were purposely grown in every village. Moreover, it was the only meat which was preferred ra'her high, and which must not bo handled, from a belief that it wonhl produce skin disease. Therefore it was invari ably eaten wi'h a pecnliar round wood en fork with fonr long prongs. Home of tho most noted cannibals, who gloried in the multitude of men whom they had eaten, actually kept a record of their number by erecting lines of stones. One of these registers numbers H?2 I and the Christian son of this ogre de clares that his father ate them all him self, allowing no one to share with him. Another member of the samo family had registered forty-eight, when his becoming a Ohri dim had put a stop to the amusement, and compelled him to be satisfied wi h commonplace beef. In fact, one of the exenaea urged by Thakomhau for so long adhering to cannibalism was that he and his people had no other substitute for English bnllamacow. It is, however, twenty years since he abjured the vile custom and accepted Gnriatianity; but many of the islanders kept it up till quite recently.— Good Word*. Car ions. Bet down, first, the number of men who went to seek Elijah when ho was carried np into heaven. Multiply this by the days during which Job's friends aat by him without speaking, when they came to comfort him. Multiply again by the days in which Jericho was com passed by tho Israelite*. Subtract the number of men whom Samson killed with the jaw-bone. Divide by the num ber of stones which David carried with him when he went to kill Goliah. Bob tract the years of the Babylonish cap tivity. Add the number of fnrlongs between Bethany and Jerusalem. Add the age that the Psalmist said is gen erally the limit of the life of man in this wprld. Multiply the number of Jacotrescns by the years in which Solo raon wss building the tomple, and sub tract from the above product Add tbe years in which tho Israelites were, for their sins, obliged to wander in tbe wilderness. Subtract one from this, and wo have the number of chapters in the Ne-v Testament. —Sunday School Journal, CLII'i'IJiUS FOR TIIF CURIOUH. Phosphorus was discovered in 16C9. Nero had his portrait paintod on a canvas 120 feet high. Hawmilla were ilrst used in Enropoin the fifteenth century. It is said that white eats with blue eyes arc always deaf. The Chinese written language con sists of 100,000 characters. Libraries existed in Egypt contem poraneously with the Trojan war. Btamps for taxation wero invented in Holland in the seventeenth century. At Pompeii combs have been found exactly like the modern ilnc-tooth kind. Chaucer received a pitcher of wine every day from the cellar of Edward lII.' Archimedes invented a" screw for fa cilitating irrigation in Egypt, B. C. 250. The first altar mentioned in Hcrip turo was erected by Noah, after the flood. v In the seventeenth coutury, on the continent, boots were never worn with out spurs. Queen Elizabeth woro her prayer book hanging from her girdio by a golden chain. One man gathered 100,000 ponnds of dried clover blossoms out Woat for scmo famous "remedy." Tooth pulling is expensive in Persia. The Shah recently paid 100 ducats for the extraction of one of his teeth. Dew is more abundant on cloudy nights, since the heat which is radiated by the earth does not return to it. Au Englishman wrote to the emperor of Japan for his autograph, and, as it was the first requost of the kind, got it. This year there have been many re ports of deaths which resulted from the administration of morphine for qui nine. The emblems of supreme authority among British kings used to l>c brace lets of gold abont the neck, arms and knees. The guanaco of Patagonia is described as having the head of a camel, the body of a deer, wool of a sheep and neigh of a horse. Silver was first coined in Homo in the yeai of the city 414, five years be fore the first Panic war. Gold coin was first Btrnck in 54®. The boots worn by a vain beau at Dentonville, lowa, have cork lifts two inches thick inide, nn icr his heels, in order to increase his statnrc. The barbab tree of Sonth Africa may be barked or burned out without injnry to the tree, and it continues to live and grow for some time after it is cutdown. The fashion of carrying fans was bronght from Italy in the time of Henry VIII., and young men nsd them in the sixteenth and savontcenth cen turies. Flatted, g a n. Queen Elizabeth loved flattery, and on one occasion her passion w.n folly gratified, at the following anecdote tes tifies: When tho D ike de Villa Medina was at the English court he was present and took part at a tournament gircn by Elizabeth, where his gallantry and manly bcanty madebim the observed ol all observers. At the close of the sports, as tho duke came near to the queen, she raid to him, pleasantly, that ■he would like to know who was the chosen lady of so gsllsnt s knight; wherenpon ha shook his head and would not further answer. " But," persisted Elizabeth, " tbore must be, aomowhere, a lady whose liesuty and perfection of character gives to her s deeper place in your heart than is yielded to another." "Ah 1 yes, gracious madam; there is onesueh." " And msy I not know who sho is?*' The dnko reflected a moment, and then answered that he would inform her on the morrow. And on the morrow he sent to the queen, inclosed in a box of eudal-wood and mother-of-pearl, ft small mirror. Those who know Elisabeth's char acter can imagine how deeply this bit of flattery mnat have touched her. Hajlnz Barn-Yard. One day Billy and Sammy wore play ing in a mud hole and Bill said : "Now, Sammy, lee play wo wae a barn-yard. Ton be the pig and He down and waller, and I'll be a bull and beller like everything. So tjioy got down on their hands and knees, and Sammy and he want into the mud and wallowed, while Billy bel lowed like distant thunder. By and-bye Sammy mime npmuddy—you never saw such a muddy little fellow—and he mid: " Now, you'll ba the pig and let me beller." Bat Bitty said: " I ain't a very good pig, except for dinner, and it'll be time naff for you to beller when yer mother sees yer close.' Of the populetiia of Ireland 76.6 per cent, are Catholics. I'KAHLS UP THOU(1IIT. Virtue is t ho safest holmot—the moat secure defense. No hank nan shield na from the im partiality of death. Vice sting* at oven inoar pleasure, bnt virtno commies us even in onr paina. Hiehea are often thorns that pierce the head with cares in getting them, and the heart with grief in parting with them. The science of life may he than epit omized—to know woll tho price of time, the valne of things, and tho worth of people. If it is yonr purposo in life to make your face yonr fortune, yon mnst look well to it or it will torn ont to be yonr misfortune. The talent of success is nothing more than doing what yon can well; and do ing woll whatever you do, without a thought of fame. The desire to be loved is ever restless and unsatisfied; bnt tho love that flows ont npon others is a perpetual well spring from on high. It is with diseases of the mind us with diseases of the body; wo are half dead before wo understand our disor der, and hxlf-cnred when we do. Poverty is hard, bnt debt is horrible. A man might as well have a smoky homo and a scolding wife, which are said to be the two worst evils of our life. All tho knowledge we mortals can acquire is not knowledge positive, but knowledge comparative, and sub ject to tho errors and passions of hu manity. The Keillor nnt the Shormaktr. Ono day an editor, hard at work try ing to devise a plan to make delinquent subscribers pay their dues, was called upon bv a shoemaker who dropped in to give the editor some valuable hints on running a newspaper. The editor, overjoyed at the opportunity, gave the man his best cane bottom chair, lianded him n frch cigar and listened atten tively. Quoth the shoemaker, its ho lit the weed: " Your paper needs a hun dred improved features. You don't grasp tho topics of the day by the right handle; you don't set the locals in the right kind of type; your telegraph nows is too thin, even the paper itself is poorly manufactured, not thick enough and of too chalky a white; yon don't run enough matter, and what you do run ain't of tho right sort; your ideas about protective tariff are infer nally foolish, and your stand on ttie Conkling matter was bad, bad. 1 tell yon these things becanse I want to see yon snceeed. I tell you as a friend. I don't tako yonr paper myself, but I see it once in a while, and as a paper is a public affair I suppose I have as good a right to criticise as anybody. If a man wants to give me advico I let him; I'm glad to have him, in fset." " That's exactly it," said the editor, kindly; " I always had a dim idea of my shortcoming", bnt never hsd them so clearly and convincingly set forth a* by yon. It is impossible to express my gratitude for the trouble you havo taken, not only to find out these facts, bnt to point them out also. Home peo pie knowing all these things perhaps nearly as well as you are mean enough to keep them to themselves. Your sug gestions come in a most appropriate time; I havo wanted sometodj to lean on, as it were, for aomo weeks. Keep your eye on the paper, and when you see a weak spot come up." The shoemaker left, happy to know that his suggestions ha.) Appeal. Among the euriojities at Bunnell's museum is a two-headed girl that at traote great attention from members of the press; they aro always attracted by a double-'eaded article.— W%l and Wte tkm. * TOPICS OF TIIK DAY. Although America poMcrses an Edi son, and is chief among nations as tho utilizer of electricity, wo aro away be hindhand in tho use of the electric light. They have for years had por tions of London illuminated by the light, and it is now in Huccnsnful opera. tiou in the at rent cum. The annual average of corn produced in tho United Htate* in the past ten years is 1,181,480,954 bushels; number of acres plantod, 49,741,331; value, $504,571,048; uverage yield por acre, twenty-seven bushels; average price, 43.9 cents; average value per acre, 811.77. Governor Roberts, of Texas, exer cises a personal supervision of the prisoners in tho Htato penitentiary. Most of them, he says, aro young men from the Northwest, East and North, who, having strayed from restraints, have fallen into bad company and got into trouble. He tells them that good con duot will shorten their terms, and, if they behave themselves, pardon them out. No fewer than flvo " enterprising showmen" have visited Cleveland in 1 the hope of purchasing the funeral car which conveyed the remains of Presi dent Garfield, and have offered very largo prices for it— $50,000, it is said, lin one ease. Tho persons in authority ! havo refused oven to listen to such of* ; fers. The car is to lie inclosed in a handsome case constructed in large part of plate gla* and preserved in the cemetery. A Michigan paper gives an approxi- I nut ion of tho loss s by tho recent farm and forest lire* in Ottawa, Allegan, Manistee, Huron and Hani Lac connties, Mich. The total in $2.34*1,413. There were 1,147 dwellings burned, twenty eight school houses, eight chnrchow twelve hotels, 130 stores, thirty-four mills and twonty docks. The insursnoo on all this was only $028,(132 -so that an abioluto deficiency of 81,722,781 re mains to be met. Tho Htate of New York has had only three Presidents, Oeneral Arthur being tho third. Each of these (it is a curi i otis coincidence) first served as Vice i President Martin Van Buren held | that office just before he was elected , President. Millard Fillmore was Vice- President for mere thsn a vear before General Taylor's death promoted him ;to the presidency. Like bis three im mediate predecessors in tho presidency, j General Arthur has an only daughter. The United Htate* Trust company of New York has had regiitered at the ! treasury department 8275,000 in fonr 1 per cent, bonds in the name of the ; company as " trnstees for Mrs Lucretis ' R. Garfield and the surviving children |of James A. Garfield, deceased," bring the amount pnrchasjl with the proceeds , of subscriptions to tho Garfield fund. ; These bonds will yield an annual in come of BH,OOO, and cannot bo pai 1 off by the government until the year 1907. YVliilc the Chinese government is be lieved to be slowly taking steps againtt the tndc in opium, recent c< n*nlar re ports indicate an alarming inrn a>o of the trade for tho pant year. For 1879 tho importation was larger than ever ,be fore, being 82.927 picnlh—a pieul Wing equal to 133 and one-third pounds 1 —which is in excess of the year 1878 by 11 435 picnls. Almost all the opium | comes from Indian soil, bnt it is noted ! at the same timo that the import of ; Persian opium, within six years, has in creased ten fold. For 1878 the P r ' sins importation re pi esents 559 pieuts ; for 1879 it was 5,300. The Persian 1 article i,s not used alone. It is mixed ' with other and la tter grades. It is an encouraging featnre of the ' progress of tho Hruth thst it* cotton manufacturing interests are steadily in , creasing. In 1875 and 1876 only 14V i 000 bales were manufactured In H >uth | era cotton mills, while daring tho past I year 205,000 bales were manufactured, a gain of 60,000 bales, or over forty por ' cent, F.om the capital that is Wing 1 invested in cotton mills now throughout i the Hontb a much larger increase may , be expected within the next five years i The international cotton exposition, at | Atlanta, will do mnoh toward awaken ing an interest in the manufacture of this staple where it is grown, and we may look to see within a short time cotton mills dotted over the entire South. A Western detective kept for many years a scrap book, in whioli he pasted accounts of crimes in which rewards were offered for the arrest of the crimi nals. Tarnlogover the leaves of this volume a short time ago, be checked off all the cases in which the fugitives had been caught, and found thst a sur prising number were still at large. Then he reasoned that Lradvitle eras a likely place for anch wanderers to drift into, and raaolved to go there. He frequented the p iblio resorts of that city for weeks, looking for men answer ing to tho book's numerous descrip tions. One night he observed that a roisterer in a barroom had a peculiarly flattened Anger. That was a mark of John Ott, who committed a murder in Tazewell, 111., in 1809, and for whose arrest an offer of $l,OOO still held good. Ott's identity was fully established, and tho detective was paid tho money. A new borrower is soon to enter the European money market in the shape of the emperor of Japan. On two for mer occasions loans have been made on his account, tut the volume of these has boon small, for in the aggregate they amounted to only $17,0(10,000. This money was borrowed by tho gov ernment for the purpose of building two short lines of railway, one of which connects tho capital, Tokio, with its seaport,Yokahama. The interest (seven per cent, per annum) on these loans lias been promptly paid, and tho Japanese bonds sell in tho London market at a premium of about twelve per cent. It is in consequence of her high reputa tion -as an Asiatic j>ower—for commer cial honor, that tho government of J* pan is tempt'd to once more make an attempt at borrowing. If reports arejto bo trusted, the demand on this occasion will be on a much more liberal scale. Battle* of the Kevoltition. While this country has celebrated the centennial of the battle of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis, it is well to t>ear in mind other battles by whic hwo gated our independence. They began April 19, 1775; they closed October 19, 1781—six years and six months. The British sent 191,000 sol diers and sailors to this war. The col onists met them with 230,000 conti nentals and 50,000 militia. The lead ing battles of the war are Concord and Lexington, Bunker Hill, Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Ben nington, Saratoga, Monmouth, Kings Mountain, Oowjx'n*, Eataw Springs, Yorktown. Many of the others are es pecially local. Tlrs following is a full list of revolution arybattles . „ first skirmish - April 29, 1775. TinmJr'.Ttgs Mtf 10, 1778. Hanker Hill—June 17, 1775. M'intrrsl, lUlisn AllTi Ukro -3-ptetnbw 25, 1775. HI. Johns hmirgisl an t captured—Sosrmber 3, 1775. 11 rest Ilri'lifc, Virginia -lHicenitx rtf, 1775. Q.iebrc, UntK<>mcry kiliOtl Docdnlut 31, 1773. Moorr'a Crw-k Bridge February 27, 1770. R'lil-iti, British flc-1 March 17, 1776 Korl itillitin, Charlest.ru -June 23, 1770. long lelan l August 27, 177A Whits I'lsina October 2*. 1770. Fort Washington N' lrsmb-r 10, 1776. Trent m - Dee Jtn her 27. 1770. liarlem llama -8 ptcmher 17, 1777. Princeton Jan ;ary 3, 1777. Ifiibbarton July 7, 1777. August 10, 1777. Brand jrwlus -Hejitemlxr 11, 1777. First battle of B -mis Heights, Haratoga BrptralxX 17, 1777. Paokt- sc; -ember 2>, 1777. Or-krsDtiii (V-Wsr 4, 1777. Fori- cpnt iti *nd Mmig unary taken—Octo ber 0. 1777. BeOMld I rattle of Item is Heights, .Saratoga - October 7. 1777. Hnrraixbr of B irgorn* —Octotrer 13, 1777. Fort M roer~i Vtob-u 22. 1777. Fori Mifflin- Nownlsr, 1777. Mmiinonth- June 25 1775. Wyoming -July 4. 1775. If taker Hill, Itbode Inland August 29,1773. SaTsunsb I) cembor 23. 1775. Kettle Creek, Oeorg a—February 14, 1779. Brier C.sek March 3, 1779. Stony Ferry—June 20, 1779. Stony Point-July 10 1779. Haul Hock August 13, 1779. Chemung, Indians August 29, 1779. Harannah—August 9. 1779. Ciiarlrston surrendered to British-May 12, 1779. Bpringficld—Jnne 23. 1730. R-v-ky Mount June 20, 1750. Hang'Ug llook Anguat 0, 1750. Handera' Cieug, near Cam Jon—August 10, 1750. . King's Mnntsin—Oitober 7, 17 50. Fish Ham Ford, Broad rirer November 13, 1753. Illackstocka— Novemher 20, 1780. Cowpeua—January 17, 1781. Ouilburo— March 15, 1781. llibkirk's Hill— April 25, 1781. Ninety-tit bsrieged May and Jane, 1781. Augusta besiagcl—Mae and June, 1781. Jamestown—July 9, 1731. Knurr Spring*— September 8, 1781. Yorktown—October 19, 1781, A F.enrh flair Market. A letter to the New Orleans Picayumt describe* a F.ench hair market: It waa attended by a greet many women from sweet sixteen to venerable sixty. There were four hair buyers. Each had bin booth, whose front waa filled with cheap, gaudy calico clothe, worth at the very outside twenty cents a yard, la the booth were tw. men, one with a pair of scissor*, the other with a yardstick. The former wonld ask in an arrogant way, as if he did not want h or and wee doing a great favor if he condescended to touch peasants' hair: " What do yon went in exchange for that T " Fifteen yards." • Fifteen ? If I give yon four, six, eight, thirteen (this figure was rarely exceeded), yon may think yonnslf lucky 1" The offer accepted, hi erne the hair, end the other man measnrts the agreed number of yards. Sometimes the " merchandise" is refused aa icing wort blows the head is too old. It tukea about five years fur a decent fleece of hair u grew, MORAL AND KELIUIOUft Hmilrt'i BnneUlrtlaa. No one who heard it will eror forget the benediction which Dean Hanley uttered at the clone of the eervioe at which he preached in Trinity obnrch in Boston on the 'lll of September, 1878. lie had been bat a few day* in Amerioa. It wan the Brat time he had looked an Amerioan'ongregaUonin the face. The obnroh wan crowded with men and wo men, of whom he only knew that to bin they represented the new world. He was for the moment the representative of Eeglieh Christianity. And ai ha apoke the solemn worda, it was not a clergyman dismissing a congregation ; it was the old world blessing the new ; it was England blowing Amerioa. The voice trembled, while it grew rish and deep, and took every man's heart into the groat conception of the act that filled itself. The next morning he met a gathering of clergymen at breakfast, and as they separate!, the room for an instant growing qaiet and sacred, he said: "I will bid yon farewell with the benediction I pronounced yesterday at Trinity chnrch, and which it is my habit to prononnoo on all the more im portant occasions in the Abbey." And ■ then again came the same words, with the same calm sriemuity. When he stood where now ho himself lies buried, and had watched the dear remains of his wife—to lose whom from his sight was agony to him—committed to the ground, he lifted up himself at the close of the service, and with a clear voice uttered thi* name benediction. v And once again, for the last time, when he lay wailing for the end in the Deanery, Canon Farrar tells us bow, after be had received the communion, the voice of the dying dean was heard feebly bless ing his friends, and blessing the World that ho was leaving, with the same bene diction, which meant so much to him. Wherever he went, whatever he did, he carried a benediction with him.— Atlan- MoiUhly. Religions Krn> >b< Sen. A Methodist lay college has been | opened at Idottoa to prepare young i persons for religions work. The Hwedish Lutheran* in the United States are said t > number 33d oongrega j tions, IV) pastors and 70,030 attendants at different churches. The 382.020 Congregationalists in the United States cave last year for their 1 religions work $3,032 912 31 —an aver age of nearly $lO per member. The Lakeside Baptist association and ; the Chicago association have formed a union. The new association thus formed embraces forty-three active ' chinches. The king of Sweden last spring or ; oJy and Sankny in that city prolnoed religions convictions mire sincere, widespread and lasting thin the Paoific coast haa ever before known. Simeof the ministers of the Lutheran Vfinisterinm of Pennsylvania are an denithly working men. Two serve eight oongregat ons each, three pastors, seven congregations, five pastors a'x congregations, twelve pastors fire con gregations, and fifteen pastors four oon ; jregations each. ! A Joke on a Washington Correspond ent. Probably no jollier lot of fellows are alive than the Washington correspond ent* of the American press. They find plenty of time, even when np to their ears in work daring the busy ten sion, to poke fan at each other. One of th<*m who farnisbea special dis pa'ches to a leading jonrn.l, conld tell a j ike npou himself if he were ao in clined. Whea he first entered Wash ington be was exceedingly green, but, like most novioes, imagined that news purveying waa a trade which could be learned without a long apprentoeahip. As he waa leaving the ospitol on e cer tain afternoon in the midst of a " abort session," be was accosted by noma brother scribes, one of whoa, with a perfectly em ions face, asked him if ha had heard the result of the last night'a caucus. " I didn't know there was oaa," he answered. " Oh, yea," said the first •peaker, " there sraa a joint canons of both parties, and after a great deal of wrangling they voted to adjourn Con gress on the 4th of March." "Too dont say so I" exclaimed the victim, harrying off to the telegraph office. A few minutes later this bit of news waa on the wires ; stranger yet, the editor into whose hands the dispatch passed at its destination printed it jaai at it waa sent, withont pausing to rflsel that a canon* is invariably a meeting of one party only, end that the abort session of Con gross ends, by Ufa! limitation, on Mm 4th of March, regardless uf caucuses, r. solutions, rotes or auy otttsr consid eration. -Hmjwnd (Co**.) I\mn