TOPICS OF THE HAY. A writer in the London Globe re marks that the result of recent Irish harvests have produced a general feel ing of distrust in the potato, and the question of the future food of the Irish people has consequently hccoiue m one of the utmost possible importance. King Theebaw, of Hurmoh, has the (reputation of being even a jollier monach than old King Cole, but his ■humor is sometimes grim. He re cently killed his mother-in-luw because his wife bore him a daughter when he longed for a son and heir, and then celebrated tho child's birth by liberat ing all the prisoners in the kingdom. Drunkenness has been investigated by Prof. Verga of Milan. lie claims that men or women given to intox ication, are, strange to say, seldom given to kleptomania or suicide. A woman is less apt to take to liquor than a man, but when she does she can hardly be reclaimed. She becomes shameless and abominable, but seldom dangerous. Cold weather seems to cause men to take to strong drink, and mild weather has tho same influence upon women. Gloversville, X. V., has a rival of the Maine girl who can spell words backward with such remarkable facil ity. The Intelligencer says that she is the daughter of the Kcv. 11. Graham and is between six and seven years of age. Any word which she can spell in its proper form she can spell with equal rapidity backward. With out any previous notice she spelled backward the words advocate, notwith standing, February; Tuesday, satisfac tion, synagogue, Constantinople and temperance, calling the letters so rapidly that the eye could scarcely follow her. llow she does it she can nut explain. The star-fish likes the oysters that grow in the Sound along the Connect icut coast, and has eaten up several valuable deposits. Ono firm lias lost $lOO,OOO worth from the 1 eds at Charles island; another lost $2i,000 this year, aud the havoc in that vicinity is terrible. The star-fish can be dredged up if bis presence is known, and the oystermen now watch for him so as to receive him as soon as he puts in an appearance. One planter raised seven ty-five bushels of star-fish from his beds in a single day. If he had not detected and captured them, they would have eaten $lO,OOO worth of oysters during the next four weeks. A few years ago, a csociatinns known as "Hands of Mercy" were formed in England, the object of which was t inculcate and promote kindness to animals. They have achieved great success, especially in teaching thildr. n to show kindness to the dumb creation. The Earl of Shaftesbury is at the head of the organization. M-.re recently, organizations of the same character have been formed in this country, especially in M..-..i"huv tt<, and some of the most prominent men in the state are interested in the move ment. The Kev. Thoin is Tirnmis.who has been identified with the movement in England, has come to this country, where he will remain to kilnir in the cause. King Hurnliert, of Italy, drives him self about in a T-eart, like any other quiet gentleman in Rome. When his carriage gets blocked, as it frequently d-ies in the narrower streets, lie takes it more patiently than the foreigners do. who admire the way in which he aits and nods and laughs to acquaint ances in the crowd. Both the king and queen of Italy are extremely in their appearance in public. / the now czar of Russia and his were last in Itome they were surrounded by guards. Ilurn b\ itli rich fathers, boys with poor fathers, and boys with out fathers or mothers were inclined to earn money in honest and manly ways. They black boots, deliver papers,, shovel snow from side-walks, and carry in coal. Not a few are learning trades during odd hours, and many have tools which they work with at home. Those who are doing mechani cal work that requires considerable skill, meet and compare the articles they have made. There is a frieritlly rivalry to see who will have tho largest bank account and furnish tho best specimens of handiwork. The work out of school is said to have a good effect on the work done in school. The boys are getting a reputation fur thrift, skill and economy as well as for scholarship. The London Tim <.*' I'arfs correspond ent contributes some very interesting information upon the subject of the instruction of women in the indus trial arts as it has been developed in France. Tho !ir-.t school for such instruction was started in a very small way in Im>2, and now they are in operation all over France, teaching special trades to young women. It is stated that in one of these which has been in existence but eleven years no h -s than 2'KK) women have received thorough instruction in trades, such as millinery, dress-making, needlework, wood-engraving, porcelain painting, designing, etc. There are four general classes that the puj.il ran attend—the first for a general education, the second for commercial training, the third for industrial art education, and the fourth for teaching trades, arid work-shops are attached to all the schools in which the scholars may learn many of the branches ofc indus try hitherto pursued by men alone. Notwithstanding her many political and financial mistakes in some depart ments of social economy, France is making astonishing progress; in none more so than in the technical instruc ti n of women. The Massachusetts reformatory ; ri- n for women is not sitnjdy a penal titution f.r punishment, but b meant to reclaim the women sent there. The discipline is peculiar to i" -elf. The prisoner is informed on her entrance that upon her own be havior de| .ends advancement. The first four weeks she pav.es by herself, • > ing only suc| ofib i m of the institu tion as have occasion to visit her. At the end of that time she is regularly cntcr.-d as a first dinsion prisoner, nub . she has b en in the j rison i • fore, in which case h< r probationary term is doubled. Mie is j.roniotcd when she lias gained a certain nutnlsr of credit marks. For each week of perfect conduct in labor and study ten marks are allowed, and for each offense a mark is lost. As soon as she is entered in this division she is set to work in the laundry, the sewing-room, the kitchen or at brush making, these occupations being frequently changed, so that they may not grow monoto nous, and she is obliged to attend school one hour each day. When the requisite number of marks is gained the prisoner is advanced to the second division, where another record card is given her, and she is informed thnt upon gaining the requisite number of credits she will be promoted to the third divison. Her work and study continue through all the divisions, but she has a room that is u trifle larger, and is allowed a short recreation daily, unless by some misconduct she for feits the right, Upon reaching the third division her room is still larger, and tho time for reaching the fourth is less than that required for reaching any of the others. When she is in this final division she has a room a little better furnished, with a few ornamental trifles allowed. She eats from a table on which is a cloth, and is occasionally allowed something besides t'. usual prison fare, a cup of tea being considered the greatest luxury. Comets are not unfrequently credited with the possession of Infinite capaci ties for working good or evil to the human race, and few men are prepared to declare upon affidavit that a comet is unable either to produce a fine vintage or to consume a world, lint in few instances only a celestial body of this class has been known to bring about the peremptory dismissal of a couple of cabinet ministers, yet the Shanghai CeltntUil Umpire gives pub licity to the following strange story. It would nppear that the first person in I'ekin who caught sight of the great comet that became visible in the Chinese capital last October was the minister of foreign affairs, 1.1-hong tsang. As his excellency, towards midnight, was strolling homeward from tint palace, where he hod been re ceived in late audience by his imperial master, the comet suddenly met his eye. He at once hurried back to in form the emperor that a divine envoy, the bearer of evil tidings, had just appeared in the heavens. This alarm ing announcement caused his majesty to quiver visibly from head to foot .and to'sund fur the court astologers without an instant's loss of time. These saga cious functionaries, upon being aski-d bv tln ir sovereign, "What this lumi nous apparition in the sky might portend?" replied that it was unques tionably intended to convey to bis majesty a strong sense of the dis approval with w hii'h the gods regarded the ministers of justice and public worship. This explanation of the celestial phenomenon recommending itself to the emperor, he forthwith gave orders that two deens-s, sentenc ing the obnoxious ministers to bo dis missed from their offices and banished to remote provinces, should be pre pared for his signature. Hy dawn of the day the comet's mission hail been fulfilled, and the object of divine di>- pleasure were on their way to exile, little dreaming to whom, or rather to what, thev were in.b htcd for • >sudden a reverse of fortune. A Man in Stays. Mr. Richard A. l'roctcr, a well known lecturer on astronomy, once tried or bad conductors. The best conductor known at present is silver; the worst conductor is solid paraffine. Dr. Mi rki 1 states that the bight of an individual after a night s r- -t. measured before ri ing from the bed. i two inches greater than it is in the evening, measured standing. There is a gradual diminution in hight, c aused by the yielding of the plantar arches and of the intervertebral disc.-; and a sudden diminution, when the indi vidual rises, occurring at the artieulu tb ns of the luwir extremities. The sinking at the ankle is one-thir i of an inch; at the kins-, one-twelfth to one eighth of an inch; at the hip two-fifths of an inch. The shun ning at the ankle is pru) ably due to the elasticity • the cartilages. At the top there is. in addition, a .sinking of the head of the femur into the c itvl i 1 cavity. For Lovers of I'lsli. Away up in the waters of the North ern Pacific there swims what might be c.'Ulis] the olive of the seas. The Indians call it the oolachan. It is the fattest of all fish, and from it the oil ah* lutcly drips, an oleaginous fluid a swe- t and limpid as that which co:n* fr in the fruit of those ugly, dwarfe i and rusty I Hiking trees which give *■> little shade < n the Mediterranean coasts. I'crhnps some of these dav - oolachan oil will go to France and Italy and come back to u* a* the 1 • salad-dressing. This flsh is so flat that if a dried specimen is taken, as was shown at the Tinted States national museum, all that ha* to lie done is to light the head of the oolachan, holding the tail in the fingers, and it blazes away like a spermaceti candle, giving light without smoke or smell. Ilut tho oolachan might lie cloying as a constant food, though Ir. T. 11. Hcan and other explorers of the northwest coast declare that when fresh ft is the sweetest of all morsels, being the or tolan, tho rice or reed bird fish of the sea Hut tho oolachan pales before something called the "goodtick." This name alone has an inviting sound. You find the geoduck principally in Puget sound and in San Diego bay. though it is scattered all along the coast from San Francisco to the north. It might he a pity to call it a clam, though it belongs to that humble fami ly, and unpoctical naturalists call it Glyc.imcras gcncrosa "I think," writes a careful observer, "that its flesh is too rich to permit of regular stuffing or gormandizing, although I ate quite heartily of it for several suc cessive meals, and experienced no bad or disagreeable sensations afterward." When the geoduck is served it delights the eye, for one of those happy iclithy ophagists who had the good luck to eat one says it looked "like a particu larly plump duck." Let us suppose n htige soft clam minus the grit, nnd we will have an idea of what the Glycim eris gencrosa is. The method of c-xik ing Is to cut off four pounds of the geo duck In slices, to roll it in ineal, and to fry it. Then, says a gustatory critic, "You have something like scrambled eggs, but with n flavor of Its own." Why should not the geoduck lie sent to us? If we havo given to the west coast our shad they might return favors by sending us the geoduck for Cultivation. We ought to try and pro pagate lids prince of clams.— New York Time*. UAMHLKJt'S PARADISE. Mont* Carlo Anil Ifa l.amlillnc Helta.— A. Vle-lil Itearrtpllon. The Injury sustained by Marseilles, Nice, Gem a and especially Mentono, from the neighborhood of Monte Carlo and its gaming tables, are the subject of an earnest article by Kdinond Plnnchet, in the Paris Kevue des deux Mondes. These cities, he says, will 1 not cease their protests until France, for the sake of moral cleanliness, and Italy, for reputation's sake, exact that the last public gambling house in Ku ropo be abolished. Petitions signed by I a great number of persona were sent to the French Chambers last April lie Freyciiiet would not entertain the subject and the motion was laid on the table. Jn spite of the minister's op position the Senate sent him the peti tions a month later. In that short time th" relations between France and Italy had changed. "If it were true," Planehet goes on to say, "that gambling establishments have the power to enrich ape iple in stead of making fortunes for indus trial associations, tic principality of Monaco would long ago have been white with marble palivcs and have distanced the rest of the coast in lux ury and prosperity. Not so. bad ness shows in th" faei-ji of the misera ble inhabitants and more wntch*l sol diery. Saddest of all is the contrast bet wei n the of nature and the ugliness of vice. The gambling fever has extended from Monaco to the 'Mas seiia' and '.Mediterranean' clubs at Nice. All "lasses of Society are affect • -•I by it. Small tr:ides:ii"n ruin them selves at play and on gala day the roulette flourishes in the open air. S - ."ty is demoralized. Suicides are numerous. At Mcntone the cottag"S built to aecoinin -bit" the rich Lnglish and Russian invalids are empty. The Doctors caution Co-m against the ex citenii nt of gambling an 1 the chill air of the Mi-lit.-rrani in that jiii-r'"s tle ir lungs when thi-y leave the overheated rooms at night." Of the many pictures that have L'"i n drawn of the b'-autb-s and ICT ; rs of Monte Carlo, there is none more t niching than is given in a let ter from George San I. "strange con trast," she writ"*. "We Imave the magnificence >.f nature to flnd our selves, of a sudden, ami 1 the filth of ni'slem civilization, fr-un the pale rays of the new in -m. the great rock -h-ping in the shad >\v an Ith"' 1 r of the orange groves to the fit. I •*! >r of fever and the rattle of th" ruiMte. Young married women gamble while nursi-s look aft"r their children ■ n tie *"fas. A pretty little girl of live drags herself to < n" "f th"*" an 1 fall* a-b-"p. overcome with fatigue, heat and ennui. D-••-* her unnatural n it her Imp* to win her a marriage j. .rti"n? An ' old fori gn la-ly it- at t,,e gamir g ta ble with a little lal who calls In r mother. She si-in- indifTen :.t about losing or winning. The child plays, too, with the manner of a grown per son. He is use,l to it. "lUwt.li *or frightened shadows wan der round the cafe in the vast amphi theater formed by the mountain's st< "p sides. They look chilly ; per hajis they only look and b-ng for the slight refreshment they no longer have the means to purchase. Some go ofl with empty pockets. Others accost you and aim -t 1* g f"r a seat in youi carriage back to Nice. Suicides are not rare. The waiters at the hot"! I seem to have a profound c ntempt for the unlucky. When one of the*" com plains of Mng badly served the waiter answers by shrugging his shoulders and saying, "So it would not work to-night "We dine as best .as we can in a room full of little tables, the people scramble for, deafened by the chatter ing of adventuresses on the lookout for a dinner and a friend to pay fur it We return to the rooms to watch for something dramatic. The villainous smell drives us away. We rush to the lioarh and reach the town situated on a little headland deliriously carved amid the waters. The poor little place seems to shrink, as we did. from the bad air of the gambling-house, and to S"ek refuge among the beautiful trees that surround it. ••We climb the rock to the gloomy and forbidding old castle. It looks tragic in the moonlight The pnlaoe of the prince is charming. It re minds us of the fanciful home of the governor at Majorca. At 9 o'clock in the evening, flie town is silent and de serted. We return hv the l*>nch where only the plash of the waves breaks the silence. The moon has sunk below the horir.on. The gaslights enable us to see the base of the great rock and throw greenish streaks across the white marble balusters. The roulette is still going, the nightingale sings, a child is weeping." IVrnllarltle* of Mexicans. Among all classes there is too much of the Idle "rest and le thankful" spirit. Nature hits been bountiful; the nec essaries of life are easily secured; the need of exertion Is minimized; a few beans or a handful of corn, a little fat, and some chillies will form the unvary ing diet for weeks. Hut all are in veterate gamblers. Although some times too lazy or improvident to provide even comfortable food, they will sit for hours over cards or dice, and in their infatuation pawn everything on which they can raise money. In selling their chillies, their eggs, poultry, or other produce, they seldom have any fixed price; their demands are mainly graduated by the apparent capacity or generosity of the purchaser. Contract ing to supply milk, for example, to the railroad construction gangs, after ar ranging for a very ample remuneration, arid going on for one, perhaps two, Weeks, they will complain that their rows are doing badly, get a few extra rents per gallon, and perhaps a wci k lat'-r make a similar stand for a further advance. The mercantile chin-es in tic towns, although they seldom have much capital, are tolerably straitfor ward, endeavoring to meet their en gagements, and have a wholesome horror of a protested bill. Kvery vil lage celebrates, at least once a year, its first,a, w here dancing, an extra amount of gambling, cock fighting, and some times hull-baiting are the entertain ments, and where the liberal oonsump. lion of cheap intoxicants bring business into the Court of lib aldi or Justice of Peace. The Mexicans are generally more pusillanimous and superstitious than the Indians. .Si-cret societies exercise a good deal of authority. P.oth in Old and New Mexico the IVnitates count their numbers by thousands, and enj> n among their votaries fasting arid hum l.ation. from which, however, exemption Is freely a IT. nb-d on payment < f certain doles. L For several hundred yards ab ng a path thickly strewn with prickly cactus, others g > on hand* and knees to prostrate themselves before the cross. Hearing a cross weighing several hundred pounds, with arms outstretches] and secured, others toil for miles, usually to some sacred chapel or almost inaccessible mountain top. When the poor enthusiast, fainting under his burden, is about to drop, at tendants place their shoulders tinder the arms of the cross, and afford a bmporary support. These perform ance* shatter yearly the health of w • akly devotees, and kill some.— I. ti'l'iii Tinas. Disease* From Had Teeth. It appears not to l>e generally under stood even among the cultivated people, although the fa t has been dwelt uj-'n with emphasis by the best modi' tl authorities, that the presence of carious, crowded, or asymmetrical teeth in the human mouth is tlie pr<>- genitor of a long train of nervous dis eases, comprising not only facial neuralgia and its concomitant troubles, but diseases of the ear, inflammatory aa wC ialists in the treatment of nervous dis eases has become so fully convince*! by long experience of the part played by defective teeth in the development, nt of neuralgia only, but even of tho more obscure neuroses, that he always insists, as a condition precedent to tho acceptance of the case, that a thorough examination of the cavity of the month shall Is- undertaken by a competent dentist, for. he says, not only may a single diseased tooth result in persist ent nervous disturtianc**, but disease of the brain, decay or j>erversiou of the mental faculties, even epilepsy and tetanic spasms often have their start ing-point in dental i nutations; and ho has observed cases in w hieh. while lay ing the foundation for a long train of nervous troubles, the irritated organ itself gave no sign, either by local pain or vague discontent, of the agency it was constantly exerting to produce serious disturbance at some distant point In common with the most aural surgeons, a distinguished special ist. of this city, lias long since adopted the practice of examining the teeth of every patient brought to hini for treat ment of ear trouble, particularly of partial deafness and general irritation of the organ; and, speaking the other day of the large number of pupils from tho public schools who attended the public aural clinics at the hospital with which he is eonnecte*l, "it is rare," he said, "to find a single patient in whose case dental irritation Is not to be con sidered among the prominent causativ* factor*."— Jimc York Tim.