A Misunderstanding. Why it was done, we cannot say, but quite a number of the streets of Austin have been named after fe males. Such names as Kmma, Laura Isabella, stare at you in large letters The Austin people, or some of them, at least, have become tolerably fami liar with Maria, Jane, Susan, and tho rest, but strangers arc liable to l>o comu bewildered by this singular nomenclature. A gentleman from Dallas, who had only a foxv hours to spend in our city wished to take a look at tho new capital, and not knowing where it was, he made inquiry of tho tirut man ho met. "Can you tell me how 1 can find the new temporary capitol? "That's easy enough. You know where Kmma street is?" "I do not. I have no acquaintance xvith any lady of that name. There is a 'aniily by that name in Dallas, but I am not acquainted with them. Does Kmma Street live near tho new capitol ?" The Austin man stared at the j stranger for a moment, ami then j pointing down Magnolia Avenue, he said: "You see where Maria comes into the avenue?" The Dallas man looked in tho di rection pointed out, and per-riving a fat old negro woman will a big bas ket on her arm, nodded his head in as sent. "Well, you must take Maria until you get to the corner of Elizabeth, an witil Peggy and Sarah come together, and then you will lie all right." "Look here, my friend, if you think I sin that kind of a man Is-causo I come fj. -m Dallas, you an- most con- ! foundiv off. 1 want you to under-1 stand t tint I am a gentleman." "You dod-gasted idiot!" retorted the; Austian man, "if 1 was as bad ofT for brains as you are, 1 would bore a hole in my empty skull and hire a nigger to pour in ten cents' worth of cheap oleo margarine." The Dallas man shook his list at the native and >.wd: "I've always heard that the State Lunatic Asylum was too small to ac commodate all the lunatics, but now I kzi'W it," and he uiovi-d off towards Esmeralda, while the other party leaned up against the corner of Ann and Ma tilda, and gl.iri-d after him as he disap peared in the direction of Maria. mftlnya. Variations of fli-matc. Dr. ('roll att*ibuti*s the great fluct uations of terrestrial climate, as dis played by the former extension of glaciers on one hand, and the existence of coal seams and corals in the now ice-bound shore of Greenland on the other, to variations in the earth's orbit, and calculates the period! of three cycles, extending respectively over 170,000, 260,000 and 100,000 years. I am unable either to confirm or refute these calculations, which may or may not le correct, but quite outside, or rather within, these there have Isien curious fluctuations of terrestrial cli mate hitherto uruiplained. The name "Gronland," which we literally trans late "Greenland," is itself a record of this. It was given to that country when coloniziil by the Scandinavians, above 1,000 years ago. It was then fairly descrilied by its name, and tho remains of human settlements discov-! ered hv our arctic explorers in regions now unhabitable,confirm theold Norse sages, which describe these colonies. When Ingolf, with his retainers and followers, settled in Iceland, A. I). 874, that island must have enjoyed a very different climate from that which it now endures, or it could not have ■ become so pop fair a colony as to alarm TCing Harold the Fair-haired so greatly as to induce hitn to check the emigra tion by imposing a fine of four ounces | of silver ort all Intending emigrants. The growth of its population until it j became in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the focus of European poetic literature, when its great | H >et, Snorro Hturleson, attended the meetings of the Thingvalla or island Parliament, "with a splendid retinue of 800 armed men," when houses and ships were built with native timtier, of which re mains are now to le found, all indicate a curious change of climate. I could quote many other evidences of this if space permitted. — Gentleman t Maya gin*. Professor Crudelli, of Home, points out in the Practitioner that tho korp ing of plants in ill-ventilated rooms may cause malarious infection even In regions where malaria is unknown. Professor Eichwald, of St. Petersburg, reports the rase of a lady who was at tacked by true intermittent fever while living In a room containing plants, yet after the removal of the (lower pots a cure without relapse was effected. The unwholesome influence is said to be due not to the phuits, but to tho damp earth in which they grow. SCIENTIFIC KCItAPS. It is maintained by NnrdonsktoUl that tho aurora Is a permanent phe nomenon in polar regions, appearing constantly when tho sun is below the horizon and tho moon is invisible. Four German expeditions are now prosecuting their researches in Africa, two from the east and two from the west side of that continent. Very interestii g and arcuiato reports of tho aeverat journeys are. looked for after the explorers have revised their journeya Observations on Russian railways during a period of six months showed that seventy-seven per cent, of the fractures of tiies occurred when tho temperature was IK-IOW zero, and only nineteen per cent, at a higher tem perature. Professor George L. Goodale stated in a recent lecture that a sunflower thnsi feet and a half presents an evaporating surface of thirty-nine square feet, and that the roots of such a sunflower have an aggregate length of 1,118 feet. According to tho same well-known botanist, grasses and like planes exhale about their own weight of water on a hot summer day. t is stated that ► -vend kinds of wood*, says the Knjin'ir, although of great durability in themselves, act upon each other to their mutual destruction. Experiments with cypress and walnut and cypress and cedar prove that they wil rot each other when joined together, but on separa tion the rot x\ 11 • cease and the timbers remain perfectly sound for a long period. A diver, at dOo yards' distance from the persons communicating with him, can converse witli ease with jwrsons alsivo water by means of the tele phone, ai was recently proved ly Mr. Ware, of the Itiver .Meare commis sioners. I'EAItI.S Ol TIIOIt.HT, A war nobly got, or a noble scar, is a good liver of honor. No man ever worked his passage anyweere in a dead calm. Lay by a good store .f patience, but )wsure to put it where you can find it. The repr 'jirh' S of em uiies should quicken us to duty, and not keep us from it. No man can Is- happy without a friend, or Is- sure of a frit-mi until lit is unfortunate. There is no fully equal to that of throwing aw ay friendship in a world where friendship is so rare. Private Iron I ties are very iiiin h liku . infants, the more you niir.-t- them tho i bigger they grow. They that do nothing are in the I readiest way to do that which is worse i than nothing. Act well at the moment, anil yon have performed a g-sxl action to all eternity. Truth, like the sun, submits to lie | obscured, but, like the sun, only for a time. lie who requires much from himself and little from others, will keep himself from Ix-ing the object of resentment. The power of a man's virtue should not 1- measurisl by his special efforts, but by his ordinary lining. Men of great parts are often unfor tunate in the management of public business, because they are apt to go out of the common road by the quickness of their imagination. A man should never lie ashamed to own he has been in tho wrong, which is hut saying, in other words, that he is wiser to-day than he w as yesterday. Italfe's "tirand (ra*h." Hal fe, the composer, was I Kirn in 1808, and very early developed an un mistakable talent for music. There is a characteristic story of his childhood preserved by his surviving relations, anil quoted by Mr. Ilarrett. "He had recently hcard an orchestral land per form Haydn's 'Surprise Symphony,' and his lively imagination exaggerated the crash whieh Haydn introduced upon the half-close of the first move ment, to make, as it is said, the ladies jump. A simple arrangement of th w themes was one of the pianoforte les sons he had to practice. His mother and sisters were engaged elsew here in the house, when suddenly they heard a f?arf* i rash, and, as the mother thought, the screams of. her child. In territied haste they rushed into the room in which he had been at work, cx l>ectingto find the place in ruins and the laiy a corpse. The mother's fright yielded to surprise, her surprise to unger, as she saw the child dancing and crow ning with delight. In order to make this 'grand crash' at the projier point of the munlc he had piled the fender and fire-irons upon a chair, and had fastened a cord to them all in such a manner as to make them fall with a , clatter, and so rehlizc Haydn's design ' most completely. THE HIGHEST OF ALL. An Inlareallni Arrounl or ikr I.nruro lllu- Mi on <1 In lln- W urlil. If genuine, the Hraganza, in posses, slon of the king of Portugal, in by far the larffe.it diamond, not only now in existence, but of which there is any record. Hut its very size, weighing no less than 1,080 carats in the rough, has caused it to be suspected, and no OJH portunity has hitherto been ulTordis) of examining it with sulllcient care to warrant anything like a conclusive judgment us to its true character. One of the earliest and best accounts we have of this stone is that given by Mawo in his "Travels in 11ni7.i1." "A few leagues," he writes, "to the north of the Hio Plata is the rivulet named Abaite, celebrated for having produced the largest diamond. Three men named Antonio do Sousa, Jose IVliz (ionics, and Thomas do Sousa, having been found guilty of high crimes, were banished into the interior, and ordered not to approach any of the capital towns, or to remain in civilized society, on pain of perpetual imprison ment. "iJriven bv this hard sentence into the most unfrequented part of the country, they endeavorisl to explore n< u mines or new productions, in the hope that sooner or later they might l ive th good fortune to moke some important discovery, which would ob tain a reversal of their sentence, and enable them to regain their station in society. "They wondered alsmt in this neigh borhood, making frequent search'* in it* various mines, for more than six years. At length they, by hazard, made some trials in the river Abaite, at at line when its waters vv ere so low, in 0 >nsi.qui'ueeof a long-ea- nof dr lght, that a part of its bisl was left expo- si. Ilere, while searching and washing for gold, they had the goisi fortune to find a diamond nearly a pound 1 weight. Klatisl by this providential discovery, which at tirst they could scarcely l><- ieve to be real, yet hesitating between 1 dread of the rigorous laws relating to diamonds and the ho|x* of rega.ning their liberty, they consulted a clergy man, whu advised them to trust to the mercy of the *'at<-, and ae< > mpani's! them to \ ilia He i, where he ] rociir.*! tliein access to the governor. Tli'-v threw themselves at h.s f. t, and d<- liverisl him the invaluable gain -,j, which their hopes rested, rehiring all ■ he circuinstariees connecUsl vvatii it. "The governor. a-! set tin matter be yond all doubt. Ilejng thus by tbe Heist strange and unf>re-.*n a . but j.ut in p.>-si a. f the largest dia mond ever found in America, he thought proper tosusp. nd the*. ntenre of the men as a reward for having de livered it to him. The gem was sent to Hio de Janeiro, from whence a fri gate was dispatched with it to I.islton, whither the clergyman was also sent to make the proper representations n* si ting it. Tin* sovereign continue.) the pardon of the delinquents, and I .est owed aoiuo preferment on the priest." This famous *♦. ne, which has lieen valued at no less than f 1.-VXi.utKVXHi, is said to lie ahout the ize of a gisMe's egg. and w eight is usually <-'.imat<*l at ljxt carats, which, at the rate of l.Vi carats t>the ounce. Would make rather over eleven ounces. Murray tells us that I<.n Juan VI. Nad a drilled through it, and it was suspended to his neck on pa La days. Murray was not aware whether it was still anionp the rrown jewels given tip hy Miguel, or had leen pre viously pledged to rarry on the war against the French. For this latter report, current in Murray's time, there seems to te no foundation : and accord ing to all recent authorities, the stone would appear never to have been re moved from the Portugese treasury, where it is jealously guard's! against all inquisitive sight-seers. For obvious financial motive, the government is naturally anxious that, whatever lie it s true character, it should continue to lie regarded as a genuine diamond. On this point the strongest doubts have always I icon entertained. Murray tells us, on the authority of a Mr. Magellan, that "a fragment was broken off from it by the ignorance of tho person who found it, having struck it a blow with a hammer." This was tho old rough-nni'-ready method of testing stones, the nature of which was not obvious at first sight. It was supposed that true diamonds resisted the heaviest blow of the ham mer, whereas it is now well ascertained that they are easily split by cleavage ; hence tho circumstance here mentioned would not of itself imply that this stone was not a real diamond. With regard to its value, Murray, rejecting Home l)olisle's preposterous estimate of $1,.MX),000,000, considered that, "according to tho method of cab dilation by Jeffries," its v::V will b in its present form, $28,224,000. Hut no jirice ut all can lie set upon a stone which is still in the rough state, and regarding tlio true character of which the greatest uncertainty prevails. To Tell u Horse's Age. At three years old the horse should have the central permanent nippers growing, the other two pairs wasting, six grinders in each jaw, above and below, the first and fifth level, Hit ! others and the sixth protruding. The sharp edges of the new imisors will be very evident, compared with the old eeth. A* the permanent nippers vvc.tr and continue to grow a narrow portion of the cone-shaped tooth on each other. The, mark will he wearing out and the i crowns of the teeth will be sensibly i smaller than at two years. Hctwceii three and a half and four years tin j next pair of nippers w ill be rhungid, the central nippers will have attained nearly their full grow th, a vacuity will be left where the second stood, and the corner teeth will 1 m diminished in breadth. w>rn down, mark in the center <>f the tooth will become faint. The second pair of grinders will lie sheil. At four years the central nippers will be fully develop**], the sharp islge somewhat worn off, and the mark somewhat wider and fainter. The next pair will be up, but they will be small, vvitb a mark dc p and ext. rid ing quite across them. Tim corner nipper* will be larg. r than the inside ones, but smaller than before and fiat, and the mark nearly . ffae.d. The six grinders will have rjs. n to a level with ; the others, ami the tushes will bgin to appear. At live years the horse's mouth is aliicst p. rte.:. The corner nippers are quite up, th<- !>>ng. deep mark irregular in the in-i-h- and the otlu r nippi rs will b< ar ■ \ id.ut tok< ns of increased wear. The tushes are nc.ir'y grown, the sixth molar is up and the third molar is wanting. This last circurnstanee will j.r. vent the de ception <>f ntteinjiting to pass a late four-year-old as a live-year old. At six the mark on the <>iitrul nipper* is worn out. At seven years the mark is wurii out in the f or . < ntral nip|s-rs and fast wearing ir.v.iv in the e. rii.r t.eth. The tUShe* are I ud's) .it the jsiuits and -dg>-*, arid bgintiing to get rem d in-ide. At < if lit year- old the tushi - are roundisl in every way ; the mark is g fr m all tie 1- "■ m nip].- r-. 'I ,s r> is nothing remainitig in them that ran afterward > 1 early show the age of th* te.r After this the only g id*- are the nipp.-rs in the ujq.er jaw. At r.me \ear< the mark will!., xv rn fioiu the middl nipper-, from the mxt ] air at ten years, and tr rn all the up].* r nipper* at eleven y. ars. At nine years the <. nter nip pers are r. uml instead "f >■'. al. At ten years the others lgin to |Ur(iitif rounded; at eleven years the second ]>air are nnKh round.*l; at thirteen years the corner ones have the same appearance ; at fourteen years the fare >f the center nippers In* eoiiie.s somewhat triangular; at seventeen years they are all St fajiiit Ulobr /'f tit -rut. Qualities of a Soldier. Sir fiartjet Wolscley. Kngland's mill Urv chi'fto n. was asked by an Atneri .•an corresjsindent ; "W hat do you think are the most es sential qualities of a soldier and ar army;" He replied: "K*pr*t drmrpt and pride. A soldicj should Is- prmid of his profession, and he should have the greatest interest and feeling fr his individual command lie should Is- dressed well. Even should he Incline tow ard dandyism that should he encouraged. The better you dreas a soldier the more highly he will Is- thought of hy women, and conse quently by himself. The Puke of Wellington said of his officers in Spain that many of the Iwst of them w ere th* greatest dandies. Men in the cam paigns of the past used to pride them selves In Ix-ing slovenly. To bo un shaven and dirty was supposed to t>* the sign of a good officer. The spirit runs like wildfire amongst an army- Whatever the officers think fine th* men will think so. too. It is very dif flcult to make an Engy*hman at any time look like a soldier. He is fond of lotigish hair and uncut wh.skers. In the field no person should w ear his halt over half an inch in length. It should never l>e long enough to part. Xo man can have smart hearing who ran part his hair. Hair is the glory of a woman but the shame of a man." A dramatic suicide occurred in Wayne county. Ala., recently. T. A Cox. a respectable young man, attended a party. At midnight lie arranged the chairs around the room, invited tho la dies to l>e seated and look at him when he died. He then placed achair in the renter of the room, sat down upon it, and taking a pistol from his pocket blew his brains out before the aston ished spectators could interft re. TOPIC'S OF THE HAY. Women are now eligible to school offices in Illinois, lowa, Kansas, Vir ginia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Min nesota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wyom ing, and to any office in Wisconsin ex cept State .Superintendent. Mississippi has a State Hoard of Education, which includes the Governor, Lieutenant- Governor and eight other persons, one of w horn is a woman. In Dallas eonnty, Texas, lives .T. L. Shirley, who is probably the only man in tbe I'nitod States who has used greenbacks for gun wielding. He went duck hunting with t-KNi in currency in his pocket, and not having any gun wiuls, he used paper in boding. He became so engross**! with the sjtort that be forgot all about bis currency, and had -hot about foQof lim wad be fore he di covered li.is mistake. 11.-, however, kill**! thirty-seven ducks, which cost | lulu a triHe o\. r $1 2'< each. 'I In- area planted to jiotatoes In Eng land. in I**2 wa- .'.7,o' i acre- less than in I**l, and the total defieieney in the . rop as compared to last season is 500,- 0"< tons. In Germany the official re pots..f th> potato eroji <-lunate de ficiency of fifty jmt cent, or equal to 1 l.T'.o.mHi tons, while in some of the other < ..iitineiital countries t) >• jiotato •.]> W ,1- allle -t a eonijiletc failure. I he price. . f potatoes in England ar>- (. y j.er e.-nt. higher than a' the same time la-t year. It i-evident n-> Euro- P'an pot.'Oi-s will be shipped hero during the next tlx ot eight tnoo'V" ' tea t. An • taUi-hni. Nt has been *., - I in I-'.iid i called "The Health Home," by a Ii s.i .r tjue tin, who jirop ■ -•* t . • .r< all.e, by a dietary M-'em. lie | at., nt is handed bv a servant in Ida •. and g d a card specially jr<— J.ar.si, on w iu. h he will find h.s soup, if souji is allow '*l ; Ins fish, if it is permitted ; Ins joint, if it suits bis c.in dit.'-n. an !mi on t>. the <• fT-e. There a o will he find iiv-ril- d the mineral water suitable to the state .f bis liver. With dire. ti<.ns respecting the desx-rt. vvbi.ii w ill consist of a tun. I.it ly published in Ger many. there are in E cit:• - with m<.r> than ]<"".o.i inhabi tants, out of whi'-h four capitals show < a 'li a million ]s>].ulat;"n, as f..b 1"W • : I. n, ',.* .2.14"; I'aris, 2.22"-.- 'Jl"; Ihrlin, i,12-'.Vs'; Vienna, I.KG.- 11". I'ut of the ninety-toa ities and tow ns referrcsl to, England claims 2'.. Germany If., Italy U, France 10, and Hus-ia *. Th* others are divided among thesmaller s-tat'-s. There were in the 1 nit.-d Mates in I**o twenty citi-s hav ing lOO.ti*"' inhabitants and ujiward. A voting man of Providence has be ntrave' rvgiri the West and South west for two years, riding for the most part on express trains which could not afford to stop to put him off lietween the principal stopping places. ]]e made it a rule never to "sass" the conductors who let him alone until they reached a suitable putting off place. In this way he saved enough money to pay for his b<cen offered a* evidence in the trial, and are sold at the expiration of si* months if they remained unclaimed; and such articles a have l>elonged to deceased prisoners, or have le of the ro >ithe sheltered location of the eave., the lack of evidence of eroso n of tie- roeks ly water, and the insufficient mechanical power of the sca-waves at 1 that island toi vc.ivati such cave*. A< cordingto l'rofe- r Loom:--ab< ut i one fifth of the entire land surface of ■ the gbdie ha- an arm tl rainfall of I<—s j than ten inches, and a 'ill larger j art | ha- a r.i iif.ill -o -in ill a- to n. i.< it j valueb-s for purj*"'-c.f agriculture, . e\i c-pt m the Im. ti d d:-trills where •rr gate II ). tra t.cable. In North I America an almost ramh region is f nnd in >"iitliern t'abfornia and Ari i, at. 1 in a largedi-trut a!nut s!a\ <• I.ak' the yearly pr < .pit at ion .f water 0.-ip. ab ait ten inches. fashion In llogs. ftflate years the King Charles and Hl I'dielm sjuiiiiel- ;n sjiite of lh<;r barful la-M-i-cliing cms, th'.r trailing rtion • its height, Iwith iti door-mat coat, its masked cyw, ami otisrnred nnse; arnl the Malti-se terrier, a duodecimo odi ti< -ii of the Sky*, shorter of back, fcow rvcr, and with a whiter and si*kser | jacket. The pug. too, has recovered ; the f.iTi.r it had 1-t *o completely that 1 U twei-n 1 KV> and IMtithe breed was | almost extinct in England; it has re ; turnil to society in the retinue of i tfim n Anne, as it w ere, one of the i m ( Metns and scenic properties f her reign, its tastes, tnodes and foibles. Happily the < ruel mutilation of the ■ ars ai the animal which once prevaihsl as a means of wrinkling and pueker ; ing t-> forehead and muzzle has l*s*n abandoned. The poodle has never been so esteemed in England as in the land of its nativity. Of the Dalmatian, spotted or carriage dog—popularly know n as the "plum pudding"—there has l>ecn some vanishing of late. The creature, perhaps, was always regarded as more ornamental than useful, and then, with the circus horse, he l