TOPICS OP THE DAT.
An incessant downpour of rain for
ten successive days has done incalcula
ble damage to the crops in many
parts of Qermauy. In some districts
ithe harvest is completely ruined. The
strain crops of all descriptions, which
by this timo should have been nearly
all harvested, lie rotting in the fields.
The disaster is all the greater and moye
disappointing, since for seventy years
past Germany lias not had the promise
of so abundant a harvest as that of
the present your.
The attention of the postal authori
ties at Washington has been brought
to the fact that Great Britain has not
only prohibited the circulation through
the mails of certain newspapers
which contain matter inimical to the
interests of tho government, but that
registered letters and packagos sus
pected of containing seditious inform
ation are similarly treated. Post
master-General Howe holds that Eng
land has tho right to exercise this
espionage under the postal convention
agreement of 1878.
A Chinaman returning home from
America with SSOO in his pocket is
considered as rich there as a man is
here when ho returns from the mines
of the West with a fortune of as
many thousands of dollars which ho
has digged out of the earth, so that it
is not altogether strange that not more
than twenty-five per cent, of the Chi
nese who leavo tho United States for
their native land Like out certificates
allowing them to come back. No
more Chinamen can land in California,
but it is feared that large I todies of
•• laborers " will come into the country
through British Columbia, Vancouver's
fsland furnishing a convenient port.
The contrast between the military
and civil method of dealing with per
sons accused of cruelty to animals is
illustrated by the case of Corpora
. Kelly, recently disposed of by courtl
martial at JelTerson barracks, at St.
Louis. Kolly, the soldier referred to,
t so brutally and cruelly beat a govern-
I, ment horse that the shooting of the
to prevent suffering was ne-
Kelly was fined one dollar
*' and costs in the civil court. For the
military offense he wat trial by gen
ial court-martial, found guilty and
sentenced to be dishonorably dis
rhiirged from the service of the United
States, forfeiting all pay. and allow
ances, and to bo confined at hard labor
in the military prison at Leavenworth
for six montlis.
A Philadelphia artist who saw Arabi
in Alexandria last winter draws this
sketch of his personal appearance:
" A tall, heavy-facoil man, snllen,
swarthy, with only a pretty clear eye
to soften the general harshness of ex
pression, and a black mustache to hide
a not particularly finely curved mouth.
His legs are as unattractive as his
face. The underpining looks too frail
for the rest of the body. He is a
bulk) man, not pussy or Falstafiian in
girth, but a broad, thick-chested fel
low, built on the lobster pattern. Take
him from his heavy head to his spindle
legs. Arabi Pacha reminds one more of
a negro than of the agreeable and
p>asant-faced gentlemen one meets
among the Araba and Egyptians."
A special flag for the President of
the United Mtatce has been made, to
IK* carried at the masthead of govern
ment vessels when the chief executive
is on itoard. It is fourteen feet long
hy eleven feet broad. The material is
navy blue bunting. In the center is
the American coat of arms, the Amer
ican eagle holding in its month the
penant, on which is inscribed " E
Pluribus Unum." perched on a shield,
grappling in one claw a bunch of ar
rows. and in the other a bunch of oak
leaves above the coat of arms. Ar
ranged in a semi-circle are thirteen
white stars, representing [the thirteen
original States. One will he placed on
board of each United States vessel,
and whenever the President goes
aboard one of these vessels the Presi
dent's flag will fly from the masthead.
The population of France remain*
almost stationary, although the coun
tr ho (Yen comparatively little lorn
•m emigration. The census just
•uipleted allows a population of 87,-
'>72.048, against 36,905,788 December
-l. 1876. The population in May,
1866, before the loss of territory in the
franco-German war, was 38,067,064.
By the war France suffered a loan of
•>.385 square miles in territory and of
1.964,143 in population, the population
in May, 1872, being only 36,1024131.
Some of the luea was made up by im
migration, yet not withstand pig this
the country has now a population lean
by 400,000 than it had sixteen years
ago. At the present rate of increase
if population in Great Britain and Ire
land, the United Kingdom will within
the next derade have a larger popula
tion than the French Republic.
Long Hey, the American consul at
Alexandria, after .serving in the civil
war, at its dose went to Egypt and
took part ®lth the khedive. Life in
the Egyptiun army being too quiet, he
joined an exploring party into the re
cesses of the desert. He was the first
white man who ever visited King
M'Tesi, and wrote a book of travel en
titled, "Naked Truths of Naked
People." On his return he became
consul, and appears to have bean of
great assistance, not only to Ameri
cans, but to the people of other coun
tries, previous to and since the bom
bardment. His knowledge of the Arab
language enables him to deal directly
with the natives, without that com
pulsive recourse to the interpreter
which seems to have been the cause of
much disaster.
i That the native population of the
Sandwich islands was steadily dimin
ishing has been notorious for years,
and some statistics recently compiled
present a startling picture of the ex
tent to which foreigners have already
supplanted the original inhabitants.
The whole number of persons assessed
for taxation in the kingdom is .10,890,
of whom only a bare majority—ls,s2s
—are Hawaiians, while they pay but
1112,7% in taxes, or considerably less
than a third of the $385,212
raised from all nationalities.
The Chinese come next in
numbers, 11,004 Mongolians being as
sessed for $74,614; but the Americans,
though only 1,310 in .'ill, pay $102,567,
while 827 British pay $51,898 ; 299
Germans, atmfng whom are some of tho
largest sugar planters, pay $25,128.
The Americans. British and Germans,
numbering altogether less than 2,500,
thus pay much more in taxes than the
natives, and as the foreign element in
creases in imputation and wealth year
by year, the islands promise at no dis
tant day to be Hawiian only in name.
A deputation of Maori chiefs from
New Zealand have been in London
trying to lay before the queen a nar
rative of the wrongs under which they
are perishing. The government will
not receive or recognize them, will not
allow them to see the queen, nor offer
their petition. To their bewildered
qumtioning, the reply of the foreign
office Is: "We have a colonial office in
New Zealand, and cannot receive com
plaints or communications except
through that office." But that office
is the very thing they have to complain
about, for it imprisons them in order
to confiscate their lands, and outrages
them in many ways. The chiefs at
tended a brilliant reception, and their
leader, an old man, with his face all
tattoo, was invited to make an address.
After speaking awhile through an in
terpreter, he l>egan a low chant, much
like the recitative of a priest before an
altar. Some of the company laughed,
hut soon perceived that hilarity was
inappropriate. Then there was a husb
and the pathos of the old man's tones
made its impression. The interpreter
said that it was an improvisation, in
which he said that ho felt grateful for
this sympathy, but still ho could only
think of his poor country, and though
he would carry hack with him memo
ries of kindness received, he wonkl
have to carry them back in a broken
heart.
There are now two secret societies at
St. Petersburg established for the pro
tection of the emperor against the
Nihilists. One is called "The Holy
League," the other " The Volunteer
Guard." The leader of "The Holy
League," whose aim is simply to pre
vent attempts upon the emperor's life,
is M. Pobedonoscheff. " The Volun
teer Guard," on the other hand, which
is led by Count WorouUofT-Daschkoff,
has formed itself into a political party
and strives to influonco the general
policy of the empire. The following
are the principal points of its pro
gramme: (1) The transfer of the
financial and political administration
with the exception of all matters
relating to the Supreme court of
justice and the political police,
to the provincial assemblies, and
free election of the local authorities;
(2) the raising, collection find expen
diture of all Indirect taxes to be also
transferred to the provincial assem
blies; (3) the assessment of these
taxes according to the amount of the
taxpayer's property; (4) the exemp
tion of the communes from the pay
ment of emancipation fees in respect
of uncultivated land, and the grant of
land to such communes as are unable
to provide for their maintenance out of
the produce of their existing holdings;
and (5) the convocation of a general
parliament on the day of the corona
tion, for the purpose of discussing
the bases of a constitution. The pro
gramme received the approval of Gen*
eral Tgnatleff, whose recommendation
of it to tho emperor in said to bavq
tho cause of his dismissal, and
the rival society, " The Holy League,"
is now predominant, at tho Russian
court.
Language of the Face.
Round-eyed persons see much, livet
much in the senses, hut think less.
Narrow-eyed persons, on the other
hand, see less but think and feel more
intensely. It will be observed that the
eyes of children are open and round.
Their whole life is to receive impres
sions. It is only when childhood is
maturing toward manhood or woman
hood that thought comes, if it comes
at all. But what is it that most leads
to reflection ? Experience. Our errors,
our shortcomings, our failures—these
teach us to think before we act, to con
sider each step, to weigh each motive.
When, therefore, tho upper eyelid—for
it is that which has the greatest
amount of mobility—droops over the
eye, it indicates not merely reflection
hnt something painful to reflect about.
Hence the length or dtooping of tho
upper eyelid betokens confession and
penitence.
The drooping of half of the eyelids
from the outer angle of the center in
dicates the disposition to confess one's
faults to paronts or seniors, to a
" father confessor." or to the Supreme
Being. "jTho drooping of half the eye
lids from the inner angle to the center
betokens the disposition to repent and
to "do works meet for repentance.",
Closely allied to these sights are those
of prayerfulneas and humility. The
former is indicated by tho muscle
Which turns the eye directly down
ward. as represented in the pictures of
the Madonna. Prayerfulness is usually
large in connection with that of peni
tence, the reason of which is that be
tween the faculties of penitence and
humility there is the same close con
nection as between confession and
prayer. One who has habitually more
prayer than humility has the eye
turned somewhat upward so that the
upward part of the iris is a little cov
enxl by the upper eyelid, and so as to
leave a slight space between the iris
and the lower lid. The reverse is true
of one who has more humility than
prayer.
The faculty of truth—that is, the
love of it—is indicated by the muscle
which surrounds the eye, causing folds
and wrinkles. Justice is indicated by
the muscle which causes perpendicular
wrinkles between tho eyebrows. Full
ness and wrinkles nnder the eye, for
which some persons are remarkable,
indicate the love of mathematical ac
curacy ; and wrinkles curving upward
fium the outer angle of the eye and
eyebrow indicate probity or personal
truthfulness. There are three degrees
of the faculty of justice. The first is a
kind of exactness or strict honesty in
small money matters, which some peo
ple would call closeness, and is indi
cated by a singular perpendicular
wrinkle or line between the eyebrows.
The second is the disposition to require
justice in others, and is indicated by two
perpendicular lines or wrinkles, one on
each side of the center—a very common
sign. The third degree is conscien
tiousness, or the disposition to apply the
rule of justice to one's self, and is in
ilicated by threo or more wrinkles or
lines, especially noticeable, extending
above the eyebrow when the muscle is
in accion. The lovo of command is in
dicated by one or more short transverse
wrinkles across the root of the nose,
exactly between the eyes. It may be
seen in great military commanders, in
masters and teachers, and in those gen
erally who are fond of exercising au
thority. In those who are wanting in
the power to command, and have no
desire for responsibility, this sign is
also absent. The faculty of command
frequently acts with that part of Jus
tice which reprimands, or require*
others to do right, and both together
produce that frowning and lowering
brow whirh is so terrible to evil-doers,
or to those who love to be approved
rather than condemned.— Phrmoloy
vol Magazine.
Archimedes' Lever.
The famous Greek philosopher Archi
medes was the author of the apothegm,
" Give me a lever long enough and a
prop strong enough and I will move
the world.", The saying arose from
bis knowledge of the possible effects
of machinery; and, however much it
might astonish a Greek of his day,
would now l>e readily admitted to le
theoretically possible as it is practical
ly impossible; for in the words of Dr.
Arnott, "Archimedes would hove re
quired to move with the velocity of
cannon ball for millions of years ti
; liter the position of the earth by i
! small part of an inch. This feat o
i Archimedes Is, in mathematical truth
performed by every man who leap
from the ground, for he kicks th>
world away from him whenever h*
| rises, and attracts It again when In
i LiUs."
LADIER* DEPARTMENT.
Tha Kaffllab WMU'I Mkla.
A writer in an English fashion paper
is moved to inquire whether the natural
whiteness of the English woman's skin
is a myth, inasmuch as statistics show
that no less than 7,000 swans' skins are
annually imported into London alone
for the exclusive manufacture of thP
puffs used for the purpose of laying
powder on the face. Every swan's skin
makes about sixty puffs, which would
make an annual consumption of 420,-
000 puffs. Tho same statistics say that
tons of rice and wheat powder are con
sumed annually in England
'Asrrlru Titled I.adlre.
The number of American ladies who
sport titles is quite large. It is said
the most intimate friend of Queen
Victoria for the last thirty years is an
American lady, Mrs. Van der Weyer;
Lady Randolph Churchill, Lady Man
deville; Lady Anglesey, Lady Har
oourt, Lady John Lister Kaye, Lady
Fermor-Hesketh and-Lady Colin Camp
bell are all Americans; the Princess do
Lynar of Berlin came from Columbus,
Ohio; the Princess de Noer, a cousin
of Victoria by marriage, and sister-in
law of the dowager queen of Den
mark, was a Miss Lee, of New York;
the Duchess Lauto Delia Novere was
a Miss Davis; the Princess Louis de
Bourbon, the Duchess de Praslin and
the Roman Princess Onci, Brancaccic
and Giustiniani are also Americans;
while the crown of Holland, in the
person of the late Prince of Orange,
was refused five years ago by an Ameri
can lady in Paris.
story of o Hploet.
The pedigree and vicissitudes of an
antique spinet recently presented to an
Edinburgh bride are very interesting.
It is the identical instrument on which
Sir Walter Scott's daughters, Annie
and Sophie, received their earliest
music lessons, contains only thirty-six
notes, and is probably just such a one
as that on which Princess Charlotte, of
Mecklenberg-Strelitz, was playing when
she attracted the favorable attention
of George 111. It bears the name of
"John and Hugh Watson, Edinburgh,
makers, from London." After being
superseded in the Soott family by a
more modern piano of larger compass.
Sir Walter gave it to a friend who had
little girls, in 1817, and in whose
schoolroom it did good service for
twelve years. The owners did not like
to part with it, and it accompanied
them through many changes, serving
for several y<r as a lobby table, un
dertaking a weary journey in 18M,
and being placed in the corner of a
bath-room, where it remained till 1872,
when another turn of Fortune's wheel
brought it back to Edinburgh. The
new owner, however, could not afford
it standing room, and sought to place
it in the rclio-room of the Scott monu
ment, hut It was thought too large for
admission. The legs were conse
quently taken off and suspended from
the roof of a butler's pantry, while
the trunk reposed ignominiously un
der a bed. Now that the craze for
everything antique has set in. the old
piano is regarded as a thing of joy and
beauty, and. carefully encased in a coat
of many colors, the groundwork
whereof is a " greenery vallery " sort
of cloth, occupies a place of honor
among the possessions of the third gen
eration, who prize it, not only as a
relic of the author of " Waverly " but
as a - quite too Intensely precious " or
nament of their drawing-room.
Fnhk !•*•.
Embossed plushes will be in favor.
Ball buttons are no longer fashion
able.
Shades in olives will be particularly
good.
Terra cotta in all its Varies is the
coming color.
Quantities of ribbons are used in
dress garniture.
The latest in both largo and small
buttons are particularly flat.
Matelasse will be used again the
coming season for cloaking*.
Vast assortments of fancy feathers
will garnish the hats for fall.
Terra-cottas are to be produced in
diades bearing closely upon the heli
otrope.
Roman bends have never been more
stylish ; they are shown In all the new
shades.
The singular combination of pale
blue and dark green is being selected
by many.
Velvet in dark shades and short
pile plushes will be largely used for
dress purposes.
Pale nun's gray Is In vogue, but is
Ixvomlng to few unless combined with
a brighter hue.
Nasturtiums are the leading flower
to-day, and they are exquisitely brought
forth in velvet.
The oddest ornaments for hats are
the tiny tambourine, guitar, violin,
banjo, flute, whig, drum, *c.
Heavy silk embroidery done on the
dress material is to be the height of
fashion the coming season. {
The latest notion is to wear a small
fancy-bordered handkerchief peeping
out of a small pocket on the right or
left hip.
Ornaments in cut steel, such as
buckles, large buttons and fancy
brooches will be used on fall suits of
light-tinted ladies' cloth.
New woolens for fall wear have
raised polka dots of silk brocaded all
over their surface, either in the name
shade or in a contrasting color.
Handkerchiefs with very minute
colored borders, and the name em
broidered in a color to match that of
the border, are very popular. •
Heavy corded silk material, and
stuffs in siik and in worsted, figured
with velvet, are among the coming
novelties in the way of dress goods.
It is proposed that ladies shall adopt
the Turkish style of wearing their
veils next winter, that is, over the
mouth, chin and nose instead of the
eyes. -
White dresses have occasionally the
entire skirt covered with narrow
flounces of Oriental lace. The basque
is then trimmed with lace ruffles and
cascades.
Cut steel buckles for dresses and
hats are rich and elaborate, and are
the harbinger of the elegant Bteel
trimmings, which will be prominent
the coming season.
White or black dresses are frequent
ly adorned with multi-colored ribbons,
hoops and long streamers, or jabots in
mixtures of colors—olive, gray and
pink or pale blue cardinal and terra
cotta, for instance, being conjointed.
Primrose, bronze, brown and crimson
form another fashionable combination,
but the slightest error in tint destroys
all the good effect. Well blended, this
simple trimming sufficiently brightens
the somhrest toilet.
Life in Moreeeo.
Charles Dudley Warner says in the
Atlantic Monthly: No sooner does
| one land in Africa than he passes into
a sphere of tranquillity and enjoys a
state of rest and calm to which &1
parts of Europe are strangers. The
haste and flurry of life fall off, like an
irksome garment shed on a hot day;
time is of no more account; and worry
is impossible amidst a population which
moves with dignified slowness and de
fers all unnecessary exertion till to
morrow. Whatever may be the bustle
of arrival, the clamor of boatmen, the
indescribable noise and tumult and
vociferation of the swarm that assails
the stranger, seizes his property with a
hundred hands and threatens to scatter
it all over Morocco; whatever may be
the tumult of the market-place, with its
camels and donkeys and dervishes and
conjurors and beggars in clouds, sellers
of lentils and greens, and bundles of
sticks for firewood, grain, sugar-candy,
dates, oranges, pottery and " truck" of
all sorts powdered with dust; whatever
may be the importunity of sellers, and
the eagerness to act as guides of bright
eyed boys, who have a smattering of
half a dozen languages, and often the
courtly manner of young princes, there
is, nevertheless, in all this noise and
rout, a sense of underlying calm, of ab
sence of hurry, very grateful to Euro
peans, whose nerves, in the develop
ment of civilization, have all worked
out upon the surface. There is even
.something soothing in the ceaseless
and monotonous tom-tom of the drums,
and the skirmishing and plaintive at
tempts of the flutes to suggest the mi
nor air they are too lazy to play, and in
the spasmodic and die-away ejacula
tions of the musicians, who sit upon the
ground, worrying away at the tunee
that are a thousand years old, and will
be played with the same industrious
idleness a thousand years hence. It re
quires less energy for the performers to
goon with this sort of music than to
stop.
Be of Good Cheer.
A man who acquires a habit of giv
ing way to depression is on the road to
ruin. When trouble conies upon him,
instead of rousing his energies to com
bat it, he weakens, and his faculties
grow dull, and his judgment becomes
obscured, and he sinks in the slough
of despair. And if anybody pulls him
out by main force, and places him safe
on solid ground, he stands there de
jected and discouraged, and is pretty
sure to waste the means of help that
have been given him. How different
tt is with the man who takes a cheery
view of life oven at its worst, and
faces every 01 with unyielding pluck I
He may be swept away by an over
whelming tide of misfortune, but he
bravely struggles for the shore, and U
ever ready to make the most of the
lielp that may be given him. A cheer
ful, hopeful, courageous disposition is
an invaluable trait of character, and
should be assiduously cultivated.
Methed* ©f MiIMNM tm the PraetM
of Ylviteetiea.
" What kind of dogs are beet for vivf
eecting purpoees?"
" Most any kind Is good, but short
i haired animal* are the easiest and clean
j est to work on." _
" I>o you place them under the infla
ence of anmthetics ?" -esti,
" Generally we do, but
we do not find it necessary. We stra|
; them in this rack and we're got 'mi
and can do any work on them we want
The rack referred to la a trough*
shaped box with its sides perforated
with holes about half an Inch in
and through these holes are bits of
rope. The dog ia placed on Its back id
the trough and then by means of roped
its legs, body and head are pinioned
the sides of the trough. A rope loop
around the mouth is fastened to thf
end of the trough and the dog is ready
to be operated upon.
"Is it necessary in the interests
humanity?" - - ;
" Well, you know yourself that
while the science of anatomy is a very
correct science, the science of physiob
ogy is constantly growing."
" Yes—l know," said the reporter.
" And the progress of the science on
physiology is almost wholly due to ezi
periments in vivisection."
" Are those experiments infallible in,
their results?"
" Almost invariably, and it has bees
demonstrated beyond question by virb
section that the secret of the cause and
cure of consumption is found in th<
germ theory."
" Then a cure for consumption should
| be easily found."
"So it will be, I confidently
and moreover I believe you and I—ws
are neither of us old men—will live to
sec the time when consumption will
1 be prevented by the process of innocula*
tion, as is smallpox."
" Well, now, about these dogs. Whai
have you been doing with them ?"
" Come here. Whistler I" and a black
dog, very lean and lazy, wagged its
tail and walked toward the student,
■xhibiting a very red, meaty-looking
gash in its nwk. " Now this chap has
had a section made in his tri-facial or
I Qfth nerve and he is nearly well."
"What has been the effect of the
work on that nerve?'' j
I "He has lost all sensation in one
side of his head. His vision is affected
and he sannot suffer with the tootb-
I ache."
" Well, now, what good has it dona
you to know this."
" It was just snoh an experiment as
this that prompted a doctor in the
southern part of Michigan to treat a
; very critical caae of neuralgia, by
making an incision in the patient's
neck and stretching a certain nerve."
" Was that a new method of treat
ing neuralgia?"
" It was, and a very successful one,
which wonld probably newer have
been discovered bad R sot been for
vivisection."
" What other good things have been
discovered by vivisection f"
" Oh, they are innumerable. Now
here's a dog—' Gome, Casper, oomr'—■
upon which we have made a section of
the pneomogastric nerve."
" What for?"
" To show the influence of the ner
vous system upon the longs, heart
stomach."
" Has it shown it?"
" Yi*. Now yon notice how rapidly
this dog's heart beats? That indicates
that the absence of the nerve takes
away the restraint upon the beating at
the heart, and the heart runs away."
Then a dog with a big gash in hie
back was brought forward, and there
was visible s new growth of bone from
the spine. " This is a case of bone*
grafting, the object being to graft new
bone in the place of old and diseaeed
bone with a view to discover a cure for
diseasen of the backbone, for which n
remedy is known."
" Is the experiment a success ?"
" Well, you can see for yourself that
there is a fine new growth of bone;
that the dog is feeling well and that
the wound is fast healing."
"If ' grafting' proved successful in
this case would you feel warranted in
making such an experiment on a hu
man being?"
•• Possibly not on the strength of cms
experiment, but I would after having
made several successful demonstrations
on inferior animals."
" Would it not be a bold and danger
ous thing to do?"
"Possibly, but just such bold re
search disclosed to us the theory (4
vaccination."
" Well, that's a different thing."
"Not at all. and it was just such
study of the functions of a living hu
man body that has given to the work!
all that is positively known of th
nervous system, mid all that is posi
tively known about the obscurer func
tions of the human system."
" Perhaps so, but it's rather hard oa
the dogs."— Detroit Frtt Press.