THE FAMILY DOCTOR. For Nlecplrasneas. A physician writing to the Christian Union on tho subject of sleeplessness, remarks: Physicians who used to prescribe bromide of soda or potassium for sleeplessness now urge their patients to take beef tea instead. The writer, after trying various prescriptions with little benefit, was at length so fortu nate as to receive such advice. At first beef tea was used with some • light bread or biscuit broken in it, sipped from spoon as warm as it could be taken. Afterward, milk just scalded, not boiled, was substituted, anil, to make it more easy of digestion a tcaspoonful of lime water was added to a half tumbler ot milk. To facili tate matters, a pocket-stove with an alcohol lamp, or an arrangement for the gas-fixture should be at hand. If neither beef tea or milk can l>e easily procured, hot water with an infusion of hops or mint may be substituted, or even hot water ;tlone will quiet rest lessness and induce sleep. A darkened room that the moonbeams cannot enter, a little fresh air from an open fire-place or window, are valuable assistants in making the sleep continu ous. When once the habit of wakefulness is broken up, the beef or milk may be taken cold, but not iced. If you are always a poor sleeper, it will be well to continue this late supper as a perma nent thing in your daily life. Provide for it in the case of aged and delicate persons who may be under your roof; and as the troubles of life appear most weighty when scanned -m the midnight hours, you may be able to lighten the load for the rest of their journey. Tle i'arr of litfnnta In Nuramrr. The New York lioard of health recommend the following rules for the summer in regard to the nursing of infants: Over-feeding does more harm than anything else; nurse an infant a month or two old every two or three hours. Nurse an infant of six months and over live times in twenty-four hours, and no more. If an infant is thirsty, give it pure water, or barley water; no sugar. In relation to the loeding of infants, the board advises: Boil a teaspoonful of powdered bar ley (ground in coffee grinder) and one half pint of water, with a little salt, for fifteen minutes, strain, then mix it with half as much boiled milk, add a lump of white sugar, size of a wal nut, and give it lukewarm from a nursing bottle. Keep bottle and mouth-piece in a bottle of water when not in use, to which a little soda may be added. For infants five or six moths old give half barley water and half boiled milk, with salt and a lump of sugar. For older infants give more milk than barley water. For infants very costive, give oat meal Instead of barley. Cook and strain as before. When the breast milk is only half enough, change off between breast milk and this prepared food. The Solemn Mexican Dress. I entered at 10 o'clock p. M. a hall In a large old house in a town in Mexico, and took a seat on one of the many chairs that were ranged round the hall with their backs to the wall. The hall was spacious, and few people had yet arrived. In one corner of the hall sat a man before a small round table, on which were placed some plati-s full of almonds and raisins. Some ladies were seated at the other end of the room, attentively watching this man and the entrance door by turns. Their curiosity was soon relieved, for one by one the crowd poured in, and each one took his or her seat on one of the chairs against the wall. The aspect of the whole thing was ridicu lously solemn. Suddenly one young man. less bashful than the rest, walked up to one of the almond and raisin watching ladies and l*-gan to dance with her. Others followed his exam, pie, and to the slowest-timed waltz. I have ever seen, gloomily moved here and there through the room. They had come there for pleasure, I for business; but what pleasure these young men and girls found in moving about the room so slowly and sedately I shall, I fear, never lie able to find out. As each cavalier led his partner to her seat he would look at the almond and ♦ raisin president and very gravely nod; then, his "bein aimee" being seated, he would purchase a plateful of these delicacies and always present them to her. She would placo them in her pocket-handkerchief and wait for the next beau. As far as I could make out the game seemed to be who would get the most almonds and raisins, and I shrewdly suspect that, tho fruits were returned to tho president, and each plateful represented a certain amount of money for the danseuse.—Uultxx tun Nvum, A PHI/ED WOOD. I iif creating f-'neta About the Mnliogntiy Trrn. The mahogany tree, says the Lunibet World, is a native of tho West Indies, the Bahamas, and that portion of Cen tral America that lies udjacent to the Bay of Honduras, and has also heen found in Florida. It Is stated to be of moderately rapid growth, reaching its full maturity in about two hundred years. Full grown, it is one of tho monarchs of tropical America. Its trunk, which often exceeds forty feet in length, and six in diameter, and massive arms, rising to a lofty height, and spreading with graceful sweep over immense spaces, covered with beautiful foliage, bright, glossy, light and airy, clinging, so long to the spray as to make it almost an evergreen, present a rare combination of loveliness and grandeur. The leaves are small, delicate and polished like those of tho laurel. The fruit is a hard, woody capsule, oval, not unlike the head of a turkey in size and shape, and contains five cells, in each of which ;ire inclosed about fifteen seeds. The mahogany tree was not discover ed until the end of the sixteenth cen tury,and was not brought into European use till nearly a century later. Tho first mention of it is that it was used in the repair of some of Sir Walter Haleigh's ships at Trinidad, In 1597. Its finely variegated tints were admir ed, but in that age tho dream of El Dorado caused matters of more value to be neglected. The first that was brought to England was about 1724, a few planks having been sent to Dr. (■ibbonsof London, by a brother who was a West Indian captain. The doctor was erecting a house, and gave the planks to the workmen, who rejected them as being too hard. The doctor then had a candle-lstx made of the wood, his cabinet maker alsocomplain ing of the timber. But. when flnishe the ls'x became an object of general curiosity and admiration. He b;vl i.ne bureau, and her grace of Buckingham had another, made of this beaut if u' wood, and the despised mahogany now became a prominent article of luxury, and at the same time raised the for tunes of the cabinet-maker by whom it hail been so little regarded. Since that time it has taken a leading rank among the ornamental woods, having come to lie considered indispensable where lux ury is intended to be indicated. A few facts will furnish a tolerably distinct idea of the size of this splendid tns\ The mahogany lmnliermcn. hav ing selected a tree, surround it with a platform aliout twelve feet above the ground, and cut it atsjve the platform. Some twelve or fifteen feet of the larg est part of the trunk are thus lost. Yet a single log not unfropientl; weighs from six or seven to fifteen tons, and sometime* measure* as much as seventeen feet in length and four and one-half and five and one-half feet in diameter, one tri-e furnishing two, three, or four such logs. Some trees have yielded 12,'**> superficial feel, and at an average price pieces have sold for 11.1,1 Mh Messrs. Ilroadwoods, London piano-forte manufacturers paid t-KMi for thris- logs, all rut from one tree, and each nix nit fifteen feet long and more than three feet square. The tree is cut at two seasons of thr year—in the autumn and about Christ mas time. The trunk, of course, fur nish** timber of the largest dimensions but that from the branches is preferred for ornamental purposes, owing to Its closer grain and more variegated color. In low and damp soil its growth is rapid, but the most valuable trees grow slowly among rocks on sterile soil, and seem to gather compactness and lieauty from the very struggle which they make for an existence. In the Bahamas, in the moil desolate regions, once flourished that curiously veined and much esteemed variety once knuw n in Europe as "Madeira wood," but which has long since Is-cn exterminated. Jamaica, also, which used tdtic a fruitful source of mahoga ny, anil whence in 17.V1 not less than 251,001) feet were shipped, is now almost depleted. That which is now furnished from there is very inferior, pale and porous, and Is less esteemed than that of Cuba Kan Domingo, o Honduras. ______ Even the feeble rays of tno moon have nn influence upon plants. In a pa|>er read to the I'arls Academy ol Sciences Mnsset states that plants very sensitive to light and heat were grown from seiils in pots occupying a very dark place. They were then on thres nights exposed to direct moonlight when the stems have bent over toward the moon and followed it in its course Confidence is a plant of alow growtn lo an aged bosom. SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. Mr. Earnest (lIIOH, the explorer, con templates organizing a grand final ex pedition to traverse the remaining on explored portions of the Australian continent. Wo read, says the Af7ef(/?c Ameri can, every now and then of cases in which burglars are suppnsion thu engine attend ing such work. As to position in writing, a German professor maintains that, while the nor mal distance between the eyes and the desk ought to be twenty-five centi metres, (approximately, ten inches), it is but rdrelv that this distance is actu ally observed, in very many instances no more than seven centimetres (2.75 inches) being permitted. From this close application of tho head to the desk, and tho circumstance that in most cases the body in writing is twist' cd to the right, thereby causing an ole" vation of the right shoulder, a curva ture of the spine (developed to from thirty to forty per cent, among girls) is not infrequently brought about. Jt was further remarked that of the child ren examined only ten per cent, were naturally short-sighted, and that, a* among wild races defective vision is a matter of great rarity, tho trouble in question was a product of modern civi lization and the existing system of class teaching. Opiam Clears. There are few persons outside of those in police circles and dealers in articles consumed by opium users that are aware how widespread is the use of this noxious drug in >.in Francisco. Druggists can tell of the nutmrout calls for It in liquid and powdered form,and the police have only a partial knowledge of the nurnl" r of places where opium smoking is surreptitious ly carried on. Cigarette impregnated with the fumes of the drug have long been m>ld. and in this way the habit of opium smoking has often l* en unmn si iously acquired. If the several forms mentioned in which the drug Is made to supply the demand were not enough, another ?nd more insinuating at the same time as innocent in aje pe.irancc as any. has lieen introduced. I'robablv some of the readers of this item have recently seen small, elegant ly made (sixes, an inch or an inch and a half wide by two inches long fillei) with the tiniest of cigars toy cigar* they look like much lietter made than the larger article. If curiosity had prompted an examination these little cigars would have lieen found to hav lieea luado of the best tobacco and very fragrantly scented. These small specimens of the cigar-makers' craft are the new form in which the ap|K> tite of opium smoking is indulged in in a more open manner than it ran be usually follow**] by the devotees of the pernicious habit. Opium is too costly to lie mixed with the tobacco of theet small cigars, and it is a question if it Is not in a more poisonous shape than when used in the way of a liquid such as laudanum, or a powder, or In the usual pasty form. The tobacco— and good tobacco is used—is put in P brazier and held over burning opium, until the weed is thoroughly impreg nated with the fumes of the drug, and it is a question if it Is not stronger thus smoked than when inhaled direct from the paste. Those who know the terrible effects of drinking anything from a glass "smoked" with tobacco smoke can probably appreciate the strength of these innocent looking small cigars when saturated with the fumes of opium. These cigars are not sold by tobacconists, and are difficult to get even by those who use them. They are sold on the quiet, so it is said, by Chinamen who are strictly "no sabee" to any one they are not certain of, Two sizes were shown the writer, one an inch Jong and over an eighth of an inrh in diameter, the other nearly half an inch longer and pro|s>rtionately thicker,both kinds wed] made. A small mouth-piece, similar to a cigarette holder, accompanied the liox, which contained fifteen cigars.— •Van FraneUco Call TOPICS OF THE OAf. Tho latest In ordnance is a French gun, twenty-nine and a half feet long, that will put a ball through fifteen Inches of steel armor at u distance of seven and a half miles. Jly the time England and Franco go to war they can probably remain nt home and light one another across the Channel. It Is marvelous how sheep and wool growing have increased In the United States within the past fifteen years* In 1880 there were only about 28,000,- 000 sheep in the United htates. We now have nearly 50,000,(>00. In 180> the wool clip amounted to only 00,000,. 000 pounds; to-day it Is nearly 800,0W,- 000 pounds -an increase within this period of over two-fold of sheep and five-fold in the production of wool f giving unmistakable evidence of the advance in this industry. Tho tornadoes with which portions M tiie Mississippi basin are tormented are frequent, but their seeming num ber is added to by every violent wind gust that topples down Improperly built chimneys and " baloon-frame" houses. The frequent destruction of such cheap structures in the West is no proof, according to the Chicago Times, that this part of the country is peculiarily subject to dangerous winds; it only shows that it is subject to a sham mode of house building. The canal which M. De Lesseps pro jioses to cut from the Mediterranean sea to the Great Desert of Sahara w ill cost sBo, (XX ',(>*>, but w ill redeem over 100,(XX),<>oo acres of barren land to ag riculture. Gen. Fremont has a simi lar scheme for the redemption of the barren lands of Arizona, by cutting a • anal through from the Gulf of Cali fornia, or diverting the waters of the Colorado river upon the plains. It is said to le practicable, but, as the land will not !>•■ needed for years, the enor mous expense makes it impracticable. A fiorlst near London recently sued the owner of some paper mills next door to him for destroying his Marc chal Niel roses with the noxious fumes which came from hi* factory. For the defence several witness's dcjKsed that the real cause of the roses dr<*q*- ing was the neighltorhood of the de plorable metropolitan atmosphere and neglect on the part of the nurseryman. Rut the roses finally carried off a ver dict. The injured florist was compensa ted bv $1250 for his desecrate*l garden, but the judge plainly hinted to him that he lietter r-move hi* nursery garden to a place riot adjacent either to London or to paper mills emitting hydrochloric acid fumes, and not sur roundtxi by "high brick walls." A physician, writing in one of the magazines, says that the health ,f American women is very bad, com pared with that of their sisters in other lands. ll*- stat-s that for thirty years past he has boon in th*- habit of questioning travelers, missionaries, and foreigners witli regard to tin health of the women of other climes and races, civilized and uncivilized. In no single instance has he lieon told that women are in worse health than men. He attributes the ill-health of American women to their dress, and, particularity, to the use of corsets tight sh<**s. heavy skirts, and to the insufficient clothing of all the limbs. If what he says of tight-lacing is true, or even near the truth, the practice is even a greater evil than it is generally supposed to lie. Muley Hassan, sultan of Morocco and "Alwolute Ruler of True Reliev ers," is probably one of tho richest sovereigns in the world. Unlike other millionaires, however, ho does not in vest his wealth in profitable securities, but, like a monarch of the Thousand and One Nights, he hoards it in under ground vaults, with which the great est bank and trust vaults of civilized cities cannot lie compared. The treas ures of gold, silver and gems are bur ied a hundred feet deep, surrounded by tenfold walls of alternate stone and inetal fifty feet thick; they are reached only through a subterranean labyrinth of the most intricate description, and are guarded by a band of armed Afri cans who, having once entered this service, never ascend to the light of day. They live and die in an Alad din's garden. The secretary of the interior rules that lands within the bounds of the grant voted twelve years ago to the Texas I'acific railroad cannot lie pre empted, or taken up under the home stead law. This grant includes four teen million acres. The district lies closed to all human endeavor until Congress repeals the act of grant. | But this area is but a slice of those which have been Kicked up. Since 1800, when tho grant for tho Illinois Central was made. Congress has voted to railroads and to States for the con. struction of railroads five times th area of the Uritlsh Islands. Very much of this, says the A nv rimn, never has been patented, because cither tho roads have not been constructed at all, as In this case, or have been only par tially constructed, us in the case of the Northern Pacific. Hut as the law stands no person can acquire propria tary rights over an acre of this land. Commissioner I.oring is gradually perfecting tho corps of statisticians at- j Cached to the department of agriculture ! at Washington, and their monthly " Crop Reports" have an acknowledged value. They are not only adopted as the basis of transactions in grain in this country, but are received as authority abroad. The board of trade, tho official bureau of Great Rritaim under which tin* census agriculture is taken, has officially accepted the crop 'reports of the United States depart ment of agriculture as authority, and a recent number of the Mark Lane /•'XJIT'SK, the "old reliable" agricultu ral journal of England, concludes a re \ lew of Commissioner Loring'.s last annual volume by a notice of the re jortH, saving. In conclusion: " The re. ports are highly creditable to the de partment, while they chronicle an amount of work which, considering the scanty remuneration of the officials, is very praiseworthy." The glory of th<- United States and nt mo-t of the commonwealths com loosing the Federal Union, says the Troy Tinas, is liberal provision made for public education. We have not yet attaini*l the highest ideal in this matter, and in some respects are la mentable Is land-time in meeting the ••durational m-cds of the day; but as a whole tin* care bestowed on popular education is one of the proudest fea tures of our fre<- institutions and a proof of the inteligencc and wise fore. tLought of the |n-ople. A striking con trast Ist ween our own country and European nations is presented by a statement recently made showing the relative expenditures for school pur pises anil for military establishments by the leading powers of the continent. It appears that Franco spends s'. for war every time that she spends thirty live cents for education. That is a great deal worse than Prussia, where 15.47 is for war, against II.2" for -du* cation. Hut little Switzerland makes ! the best showing among European "piwers, where lb-I is exp-nded for the public defence, against $4.16 f >r educating the people. Russia is worse than France, the figures lieing six cents for educating to $5.08 for war, and n ' other nation stands in'as unex i able a light. Thus among the great i nations and under nionarchic's military ■ strength is upheld at the sa rifice of ••durational advantages, and royal su premacy is maintain**! at the expense jof popular intelligence. And France • an iiardly IK- called a true republic as Song as she spends more than fourteen times as much on her army as she does ; on her school*. The Irish Police. The Irish jmlice system differs alto, gether from that which exists in Eng. land and Scotland. In England the • •nly police force under the direct con* j trol of the executive is the metropolis i tan. The city of London, and all coun ties, as well as all the larger and some of the smaller oitb-s and boroughs, have forces of their own, whose duties, pay and discipline are entirely under the control of local authorities. In Scot land no part of the force whatever is in direct relation with the government. In Ireland, on the contrary, there is what may IK- called a national force, immediately under executive control entrusted with the maintenance of order throughout the country, except in the city of Dublin, which has a local force of its own under the control of the corporation. In llelfast, Cork and Limerick, equally with the smallest towns and tlie rural parts of the coun try, order is answered for by the Royal Irish constabulary. Tho strength of this force on the Ist of July, 1882, was two hundred and fifty-eight officers and thirteen thousand seven hundred and ! fifty men. It has since that time l>een | somewhat increased. The Irish con j stabulnry is the only police force in the United Kingdom whose cost is de frayed entirely by tho imperial reven ues. the metropolitan force, though immediately amenable to the secretary of state, being supported, like th