The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-06-08 00:00:00

Visatiancous
. _

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

VNCOURAGING.—George (who has just engaged him-
self to the in of his heart) breaks the happy news to
his friend JaCk (who has been married some time).
Jack : " Alt well, my dear fellow, marriage is the
best thing in the long run, and I can assure you that
after a year or two a man gets used to it, and feels
just as jolly as if he'd never married at all.—Punch.
DISASTERS AT SEA.- .The Direction of the Bureau
Veritas has just published the following statistics of
maritime disasters reported during the month of April,
1878, concerning all flags :—Sailing vessela reported
lost.-41 English, 19 American, 9 French, 8 Dutch,
8 Norwegian' 6 German, 5 Italian, 2 Greek, 1 Chilian,
1 Danish, 1 Spanish, 1 Russian—total, 102 ; in this
number are included 10 vessels reported missing.
Steamers reported lost.-11 Englith. 1 Austrian, 1
Chinese, 1 French, 1 Dutch, 1 Norwegian—total, 16.

THE POPPY IN AFEICA.—The cultivation of the
opium poppy (papaver somniferum) which has hitherto
been exclusively confined to the East, bids fair to be-
come thoroughly established and remunerative in
Eastern Africa. Seeds of the best kinds have been
imported from Malwa into Mozambique, where 50,000
acres of uncultivated State land have keen granted to
a company, with a capital of £178,000, for the purpose
of cultivating and trading in opium. Besides the
grant of land the company also receives from the
State "the'exchisive right for twelve years to export
opium free of duty through all the custom houses of
the province." It is satisfactory to learn that the
poppy plauteare thriving, and the fruits are reported
to be larger than those produced in the best opium
districts of India.—Nature.

THE LATEST BIILLETIN.—The whale at the "Royal
'" Aquarium" is quite well and going on swimmingly.—
Judy.

A TERRIBLE FATALrry.—New York papers of May
22 describe a fearful catastrophe on Grand River,
Ontario. An excursion steamer, the Empress of
India, became unmanageable while descending the
rapids, and dashed on, amid the shrieks of qll on board
until she came to Galt Fall, when the vessel went over
broadside on, and was dashed to pieces. No one was
saved.

BY A MILITIAMAN.—When is a bullet like a half-
crown?—Why, when it's spent, of course !—Jucip.
A CLEVER MONKEY.—The following amusing in-
cident appeared in Natnre last week :—A brave,
active, intelligent terrier, belonging to a lady, one day -
disdovered a monkey beloning to :+n itinet ant organ-
grinder, seated upon a bank within the grounds, and
at once made a dash for him. The monkey, who was
attired in jacket and hat, awaited the onset with such
undisturbed tranquility that the dog halted within a
few feet of him to reconnoitre. Both animals took a
long steady stare at each other, but the dog evidently
was recovering from surprise, and about to make a spt ing
for the intruder. At this criticaljuncture the monkey,
who had remained perfectly quiet hitherto, raised his
yaw and gracefully saluted by lifting his hat. The
-effect was magical; the dog's head and tail dropped,
and he sneaked off and entered the house, refusing to
leave it tid he was satisfied that his polite but mys-
terious guest had departed. tlis whole demeanour
showed plainly that he felt the monkey was somtning
"uncanny," and not to be meddled with.

AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The following
are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending June 1, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 505. 4d.; barley, 395. 10d. ;
oats, 265. 2d. per imperial quarter. Corresponding
week last year:—Wheat, 665. lid.; barley, 368. 2d.;
oats, 275. 2d.

SOMETHING ABOUT BEES.—" A Lincolnshire Parson
writes to 2'he Tintel:—
Sir,—l do not know whetherit may interest your naturalist
readers to know that, even in this Tennysonian section of
the north (Lincolnshire), I had a swarm of bees this year on -
the 18th and two more swarms on the 25th of this month.
This morning I have had either a swarm or a cast, pro-
bably the latter.

A ROYAL STUD IN ITALY.—The following descrip-
tion of San Rossore, a stud farm near Pisa, which
belongs to the King of Italy, is given by a newspaper
Correspondent. He says that the stables contain some
800 mares and stallions' mostly thoroughbred or pare
Arab. Amongst other horses there is the Arab entire
which King Victor Emmanuel rode at the battle of
Palestro, and a black which was the favourite charger
of the present king. There are 200 camels kept on the
stud farm, as substitutes for draught-horses, and the
correspondent says they do the work very well, and
are not at all affected by the climate, though it is
colder than that to which they are accustomed. There
is a royal residence upon the property, which extends
to the sea shore, and it was here that the late king
often came to shoot and hunt, casting off All state
etiquette, and leading the life of a hardy farmer.
A SPIRITED ANSWER.—Minister. " Janet ! Janet!
Drinking again! Don't you know where all the
drinkers go to?" Janet. "Ah could na say what
ithers do, but ah aye gae where ah ken—(hic)—ah'll
get the best cheapest ! "—Punch.
WILD BEASTS AND THE S3fELL OF BLOOD.—An old
tamer of wild beasts says: "As for the smell of blood
maddening them, I know there is a popular notion to
that effect, but it is not true. I have had occasion
enough to know, when it was my blood they smelt.
Lions and tigers raised in captivity are more danger-
ous than those who are well broken when taken wild
full grown. When a cub born in a cage grows up he
will become impudent, saucy, aggressive, and is too
familiar with men to be easily cowed. But the wild
beast never forgets when he has been once well
whipped, and though his instincts will still prompt to
attack, he will have his doubts about the results of
his getting into a fight. You may handle a young
lion for years and it will be harmless as a Newfound- .
land dog, mall suddenly, without any apparent reason,
all its ferocity will be developed."
THE MICROPHONE.-011 Saturday (says The Times)
Sir Henry Thompson demonstrated the value of the
microphone (the recent invention of Professor Hughes)
for discovering the existence of stone in the bladder,
h9wever small the particle might be, in operating on a
patient, in the presence of Mr. Erichsen, Dr. Yandell
(of the United States), Mr. M. B. Hill, Mr. Clover,
Mr. B. Browne, and others. By an application of the
same method, the reoagnition of a bullet or other
foreign body, or of diseased bone at the bottom of a
deep wound, the microphone may be equally valuable.
A LIVE TOAD INSIDE A SNAKE.—A fortnight ago,
when in Earl Bathurst's Park, Cirencester, I noticed
the head of a common grass-snake just showing
itself above a mass of dead leaves, and at the time,
having a forked stick in my hand, I secured Mr..
Natrix. He appeared to have swallowed a small
cricket ball, for his middle was largely distended in a
globular form. On carefully opening him great was
my surprise to find a large toad alive, but in no way very
enviable condition, for be was somewhat compressed,
and covered with a thick slimy substance. These two
closely connected friends, now separated for ever, were
taken home. The toad was, of course, very sickly,
and. I have no doubt very sore, for the gastric juice
must have commenced acting upon his integument.
The free application of cold water soon restored him,
and at the present time he is alive and well in a gentle-
man's greenhouse. He weighed just over three ounces,
and the snake measured 21 t. 9in. Is not this an
uncommon occurrence? Has the snake no dislike to
that acrid, milky secretion emitted by the toad ?
R. C. Woodcock, Agricultural College, Cirencester,
in Land and Water.

"THE DOGS OF WAR."—Maltese Tarriers.—L'unch.
A NEW FOSSIL BIED.—It is interesting to learn
from the last Bulletin of the United States Survey of
the Tcirit,rico th.b tho „c vs; I.
organization have been discovered in certain insect
bearing shales at Florrissant, in Colorado. The relics
comprise the greater part of the skeleton, and, though
deficient in portions of the head, include nearly all the
bones of the anterior and posterior extremites ; the
wings and tail are so well imprinted on the rock as to
indicate even the shafts and barbs of the feathers. The
fossil represents a bird of arboreal habits, with well-
developed powers of flight. It belongs evidently to a
high ornithic type, and is probably referable to the
group of Passeres, or perching birds. Although the
absence of bill renders it impossible to assign the
species to any particular family, there are reasons for
believing that it is allied to the finches. Palaeospiza
Ulla is the name under which Mr. J. A. Allen de-
scribes this new bird. Both generic and specific names
are new. This specimen represents the first fossil
passerine bird which his been discovered in North
America. —Academy.

-
- - .
.