The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-07 00:00:00

THE CASE OF Me.. DUNCAN II4CALLUM.

Mr. BOLAND filed an affidavit for the pursuer in the case of
Duncan M'Callum, charged with having forged a delivery of
some bales of cotton. goods, on the ground that the principal wit-
ness against the prisoner had not appeared before the Grand
Jury upon his recognizance ; but had written a letter stating,
that if the East India Company would abandon the capital
charge, he would indict the prisoner for the fraud. Upon these
grounds Mr. liolland prayed that the case might stand over till
the next Sessions, that the recognizance of the witness who had
refused to come forward might be estreated, and the recog-
nizances of the others extended.

The prisoner denied all collusion with the witness, com-
plained of the hardship to whi'h he would be put by the delay
of his trial, expressed his readiness to go on with it ,at present,
and in the event of that not being done, hoped he would be ad-
mitted to bail.

The COURT ruled that the case should stand over; if the
witness did not appear in time for the Grand Jury, ordered that
witness's recognizance to be entreated, that of the others to be
extended, and in the mean time declined holding thg prisoner
at bail.

AVARICIOUS SNAIL.—We relate the following
fact just as it has been communicated to us by a most respecta-
ble Gentleman :—A friend of his, who resides at Tranmere,
some time ago lost from his breast a gold pin, about one in, h
and a half in length, with a small brilliant head. Five weeks
afterwards, a snail was observed in his garden, having appa-
rently subsisted on a cast-away apple, in the remaining part of
which it was then reposing.—The person who noticed it, per-
ceiving something bright at its mouth ; and on examination l e
found the lost breast-pin, the whole of which, except the head,
had been swallowed by the snail, without proving fatal to it—
( Liverpool Mercury.)
UTILITY OF SPARROWS.—Mr. BRADLY, in his
General Treatise on ilusbaniry and Gardening, shows that a
pair of sparrows, during the time they have their young to feed,
destroy on an average, every week, 3360 caterpillars. This
calculation he founds upon actual observation. He discovered
that the two parents carried to the nest forty caterpillars in an
hour. He supposed the sparrows to enter the nest only during
twelve hours each day, which would cause a consumption of
480 caterpillars. This sum gives 3360 caterpillars extirpated
weekly from a garden. But the utility of these birds is not
limited' to this circumstance alone, for they likewise feed their
young with butterflies and other winged insects, each of which,
if not destroyed in this manner, would be the parents of hun-
dreds of caterpillars.

USE OF THE TOES.—It IS remarkable to what
excellent use the toes are applied in India. In England, it is
difficult to say whether they are of any use at all ; but in India
they are second fingers ; and in Bengalee, are indeed called the •
" feet fingers." In his own house, a Hindoo makes use of them
to fasten the clog to his feet, by means of a button, which slips
between the two middle toes. The tailor, if he does not thread
his needle with his toes, twists the thread with them ; the conk
holds his knife with his toes while he cuts fish, vegetables, &c.;
the joiner, the weaver, and several other mechanical trades, all
use them for a thousand purposes, for which an European would
never think of employing them. In England, however, there
have been some instances of a more ingenious use of the toes,
than any ydt mentioned of the Hindoos. Some years ago, a
maimed sailor in England use to write with his toes ; 'and an-
other person was exhibited, who not only wrote, but cut out
watch papers, with great precision and ingenuity, with a pair
of scissors, which she held in her toes.