The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-10-14 00:00:00

alisallant nttiligenrt

aordh, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

THE LONGEVITY OF TOADS.—The longevity
of toads is again under discussion, owing to a discovery
made near Orsay. In digging up a garden some work-
men unearthed two terracotta vases, which they at first
supposed to contain treasure. On breaking them, how-
ever, two live toads were found clad in green velvet.
This strange attire showed that they must be at least
200 years old, as an ancient treatise on magic and
demonology mentions that at the beginning of the
seventeenth century sorcerers dressed up toads in this
manner for the achievement of certain charms. The
same treatise tells the fate of an unlucky citizen of
Soissons who baptized a toad, which he had gaily
caparisoned for the ceremony, and was burnt alive for
the sacrilege.
HAPPY THOUGHT (Turkish).—Any Porte in a
storm.—Punch.
DEATH OF THE IVIALQUIS OF TWEEDDALE.—
We regret to announoe the death of General the Mar-
quis of Tweeddale, K.T., G.C.8.„ which took place on
Tuesday morning, the 10th inst., at the family seat;
Yoder House, Haddingtonshlre. The deceased noble-
man was born on the let of February, 1787, and suc-
ceeded his father in 1804. He entered the army in the'
same year, 'and served under the Duke of-Wellington
in the Peninsular, was wounded at Bung,. acted aik
quartermaster-general at Vittoria, where his also re-
ceived a wound, and was awarded the goldmedal. He
was Governor Of Madras for six years—from 1842 to
1848. He had held in succession the colonelcies of the
30th Foot, 42nd Highlanders, and the 2nd Life Guards.:
He was a general in the army, a lieutenant-general in
the Royal Archers of the Queen's Body Guard of Scot-
land, and hereditary chamberlain of Dumfrieshire.
He married in 1810, Lady Susan Montagu, third
daughter of the fifth Duke of Manchester, who died in
1870, and by whom he had issue a large family.
THE CHANGES AFTER DEATIL—The Lancet
remarks :—" The length of time bodies resist the
chemical forces operating for their decomposition is
very remarkable. It used to be thought that the pre-
servation was due to special measures taken to protect
them from decay, or that it was the consequence of
fortuitous circumstances. The evidence gradually ac-
cumulated tells against these presumptions. A body
disinterred a few days ago at Clapham, near Bedford,
supports the belief that decay after death is generally
slow. The Rev. F. Dawson died on October 16th,
1670, so that his body has been buried nearly six years.
It was, however, 'very little decayed.' Whether the
policy should be to expedite the process of return to
dust by burial in wicker coffins may be a question, but
, it is certain that in ordinary cases comparatively little
change takes place beyond that occurring in the first
few days after decease, and this even will be minimised
if the corpse is promptly enclosed in an air-and-water-
tight coffin. The subject is a grim one, but in its
sanitary aspect, and practically in relation to the die-
turbance of old burying grounds, where the germs of
disease may be lying dormant in bodies which have
not been chemically decomposed, it Is important,"
41,4111.&04....5a.,446,2AU. _ .- . - .