Omaha daily bee., 1874-07-04

from the smallest worm to the I'm
ished cocoon.
Professor Hitchcock, of Dart
mouth College, will shortly receive
from New Zealand two skeletons
of the extinct bird, the dinornis,
the first ever brought to this coun-
try.
Pittsburg has an alligator from the
Red river not six inches long, and
to make the animal profitable 1t Is
proposed to put him in the park in
order that the children may be kept
off the grass.
An operation for the removal OF
an ovarian tumor was performed in
Sacramento last Sunday by DIR. Gu
ess and other physicians, upoh
Mrs. George Fawcett, of Colfax,
New, who had gone to Sacramento
for treatment. The tumor removed
weighed 80 pounds, but the opera
ton was SO successful that the pa
tent is doing well.
Austin is invested with myriads
of minute Insects of the gnat family.
The RepeiHe says they are so small
as to be invisible to the naked eye,
and persons attacked are unaware
of the fact until they discover an
eruption ON their cuticle, which
causes them to imagine that they
have broken out with the small
pOx.
A panther recently visited the
residence of w. Hudson, near Port
Gamble, w. T., and carried off o
a little three-year old girl who was
playing at the door. The girls
brother gavet the alarm, and together
with his mother, succeeded in max
ing such a noise that the beast drop
ped the child and fed.
A white child has been born to a
negro couple living in Wilmington,
No, Its form and features are per-
feet up to the bridge Of the nose, the
chin, mouth, and nasal organ being
not only well formed, but really
handsome in their symmetry and
general appearance; but, commence
ing with the eyes, the face and bead
has the appearance of an animal
more resembling a white bear than
anything else of the animal species.
A strange freak of nature has
come to light i'm Bradford, Wis.
John Laird, of that place, owned a
hen which had a swelling at the
right side of its head, just below and
a little back Of its ear. 1t increased
in size as the chicken grew, till 1t
was two years old. At this time it
had developed to the proportion OF
a good sized egg, and had the APP
pearance of a carbuncle. Last Sat
urday he killed the chicken and
found that the swelling was loose at
the side of the head. On cutting it
open he found it was identical
with the yolk of a cooked egg. 1t
is difficult to account for this strange
phepomeuon, but to the facts of the
case, reliable persons are willing to
testify. The germ of the yOlk must
have been deposited in an immature
state with the egg before the chick
was matched, and after being Logged
at the side Of the head, it must have
gathered as nutriment for g rOwth
the albumen, etc., from the sur
rounding parts of the body from the
head, similarto the way other yOlks
form in their normal condition and
place. This would imply a strange
change of the functions of the body
where the yolk was located.
The wonder at Winchendon,
Mass, just now is a floating island
of about five acres, which is voya-
cling around Lake MOnOmonauk,
q sheet Of water of about $500 acres
in extent, lying partly in Winch
endon, and partly in Ringe, N. J.
1t formerly claimed q residence in
Winchendon, but toward the latter
end of May the little island was,
one morning; discovered to have
changed its place and moved about
two miles up the lake beyond the
State line; then it floated back
nearly to its own place, only q day
or two after, to sail north again. Its
soil is firm, and many good people
have approached it by by boats and
travelled over it, the entire surface
is covered by a thrifty growth OF
vegetation, consisting of grass, Gran
berry vines, bay and whortleberry
bushes; there are more than 400
trees by count, varying from five to
twenty-five feet In height, scattering
over its surface. Strong sOutherly
winds probably assisted the Island
in Its wanderings,a and the unusually
high water In the lake perhaps par
ted it from its ancient moOrings.
The largest black rhinoceros ever
exhibited i'm the world was added
to the collection of wild beasts in
Barnum,s HIppodrome, last week
The enormous mountain Of flesh
weighs $500 pounds. This is 1900
pounds more than the largestrhinoc.
eros In the Geological Gardens in
London. His body Is encased In a
heavy leather-like hide, which
overlaps at the joints, making folds
nearly two inches thick. His legs
are short and stumpy, and his tail
resembles the black snakes used by
teamsters in the Western country.
His head Is covered with the
same thick hide which envelopes
his body, and about his eyes and
ears 1t is piled up like plates. The
animal had a large, sharp horn,
which projected from his snout just
above his nostrils, but the monsters
head was chained down, and in
spite of his angry snorts and en-
deavors to get away, his horn was
sawed off close to his snout. A cage
upon wheels was made Oh purpose
for the rhinoceros' accommodation.
1t is heavily barred with
steel upon the sides and
front. His head IL chained
to o stout beam, and heavy oak
planks prevent hts backing. There
is barely room for the rhinoceros to
stand and lie in. If he was given
more space his immense strength
would enable him to break from all
restraint, aud the havoc he would
make If loose may be imagined but
cannot be estimated. His immense