, 1864-02-20

MICE AND REPTILEs.-In an English
work, called "The Life of Soldier" we
find the following account Of battles between
mice, scorpions, and centipedes, in Barba-
does The brief narrative is full of inter-
est. In clearing the ground for the camp,
we disturbed variety Of noxious reptiles,
such as whipsnakes of an extraordinary
length, but not thicker than goose quill;
centipedes of large size, whose backs were
plated like obster's tails, and scorpions
Having heard that mice were natural enc
mics to the two latter, | procured few that
| might be a witness to their combat. The
arena was the space circumscribed by
glass bell; and upon letting a mouse and
scorpion loose in 1t, grand display Of ii's
heuvering ensued-the mouse trying to bite
off his opponents TAIL which terminates in a
sting, and the scorpion watching for an op-
portunity to strike him with it. Should the
former succeed in his first object, the latter
falls prey; but if stung the mouse swells
up and dies in commissions. However, the
mouse is generally victorious. Equal gen
eralship is required in the engagement with
the centpede which defends itself with two
small nippers, placed at either side Of its
mouth, near the poison bags. One Of our
men found large tarantula on his shoulder
one morning when he awoke, and it suffered
itself to be removed without doing him any
injury. He brought it to me, as an ama-
teur; and accordingly placed it under the
bell with one of the hardest bitten mice. 1t
Immediately reared itself on its hinder legs,
remained motionless in this posture, while
the mouse ran round the bell, evidently un-
willing to face its new antagonist This
continued short time; and then as if under
the influence of an irresistible fascination,
the mouce jumped suddenly into the arms
of the tarantula, which quickly seized him
with two nippers, resembling the claws Of a
cat, and situated either side Of the head, and
with such deadly effect, that the little quad
ruped instantly swelled up and burst. |
next let loosed two or three mice at time on
a tarantua, but they all shared the same fate
VOLUNTEERING BETTER THAN THE
DRAFT.-Recruiting to fill our quota under
the last call of the President has improved
during the last two weeks. Still the idea Of
filling it, in this way, by the 9th of January
has been abandoned, and active preparations
are going forward for another draft 1t can
not be disguised however, that a large ma
jority Of our loyal population, (I take no ac-
count Of Copperheads, because they oppose
everything intended to injure the rebels, and
verify believe they would oppose the es-
tablishment Of the Kingdom of Heaven on
earth if the present Administration had any
thing to do with it, while not opposing the
draft, are nevertheless of the opinion that it
will not produce as many soldiers as could be
obtained in the same length of time by vol
unteering.
The first draft under the U. S. conscrip
tion law commenced here the latter part Of
last July, and the examinations of those
claiming exemption under it is not yet en-
tr ely completed. The number of men OBJ
tanned, including substitutes, is said not to
exceed 4,000-about onethird the number
called for. Twice 1000 of volunteers could
have been obtained in the five months if the
the present bountes had been offered; and
there is no reason to suppose that the next
draft will be executed more promptly or be
more successful than the last one was. Of
course, the justice of the draft no patriot
questions; but the expediency of enforcing
it at the present juncture Of affairs may well
be questoned-Phia. Cor. San FranciSco
Bulletin.
ANTI-SLAvERY CONvENTION.-Amon
the public receptions and conventions re-
Gently held here, the most important is that
of the Anti-Slayery Society Its Conven-
tion was largely attended, but its proceed
ings were not particularly interesting, though
thoroughly patriotic Addresses we're made
by the Rev. H. W. Beecher, Senator Will
son, Fred Douglass, Mrs Lucretia Mott,
Mrs. Abby Kelly Foster, Miss Anne Dick
inson and others. Some of the speeches
were very good, while others were decidedly
of the same old "harp order" However,
the Convention must be set down as a sue
cess, in spite Of the women stump speakers
And, by the way, these male wOnlen de-
test. Not the feminine part of them, as
such, but their unsexed, public gab.-Ib.
A DURABLE INK.-The Romans wrote
with an ink made from finely pulverized
charcoal. The durability of this ink has been
most strikingly manifested by the legible
character Of the writings found in Hercula-
neum, which have retained their original
blackness for more than 1000 years. The
enduring character of this ink is owing to
the carbon which was present in the char
coal-carbon being one of the most durable
substances known. The incorruptibility of
charcoal was known to the ancients. and its
durability is not overlooked at the present
day ChaTed stakes, with no apparent de-
composition upon the surfaces, have been ta-
ken out of the Thames within the present
century, which were placed there by the an
cient Britons to prevent the ascent of the
river by Julius Caesar and his army
A work has been issued showing
show young ladies should receive atten-