The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1878-09-05
Loot.

A curious battle between a fox and a
swan occurred some years ago in Eng
land at place named Peusey. The
swan, sitting on her eggs on one side of
the river, observed fox swimming to-
wards her from the opposite shore.
Rightly judging she could best grapple
with the fox in her native element, she
plunged into the water, and after beat
ing him off for some time with her wings,
at length succeeded in drowning him.
The following curious law was enacted
during the reign of Richard I, for the
government of his followers during the
crusade to the Holy Land: "He who
kills man on shipboard shall be bound
to the dead body and thrown into the
sea; if the man is killed on shore, the
slayer shall be bound to the dead body
and buried with it; he who shall draw
his knife to strike another or who shall
have drawn blood from him, to lose his
band if he shall have only struck with
the palm of his hand without drawing
blood, he shall be thrice ducked in the
sea-"
Coffee is a native of Arabia, supposed
by some to have been the chief ingre-
dient of the old Lacedemonian broth.
The use of this berry was not known in
England till the year 1867, at which
time Mr.. D. Edwards, a Turkey mer-
chant, on his return from Smyrna to
London, brought with him a Greek of
Ragusa named Pasguet Rossee, who used
to prepare coffee every morning for his
master. Edwards's neighbors became
so numerous as visitors at breakfast
time that, in order to get rid of them,
he ordered Rossee to open a coffee-house,
which he did in st. Michaels alley, in
Cornhill. This was the first coffee-house
opened in London.
The theory regarding the rotundity of
the earth was strenuously opposed by
many of the great lights of the church.
| Many of the arguments given to combat
and disprove the theory were not only
very amusing, but several of them ex-
tremely ingenious; among these latter
that of It. Augustine may be cited as
an example. He maintained that the
theory was directly opposed to the
Scriptures, which asserted that at the
last day it was promised that the Son of
God would descend in power and glory
in sight of all the nations and peoples
of the earth. This would be an impos
sibility if the earth were round, as in
that case he could only be seen by the
people inhabiting one side of it, conse
quently the fulfllment of this Scriptu
raj promise required that the earth
should be fat.
A bat has been found in limestone
opossums in slate, guinea pigs, rabbits
rats and beavers in limestone; the sloth
one fourteen feet long, in South America
and in limestone caves; bears, dogs
foxes and wolves in diluvial soils ano
caves hyenas and tigers in limestone
caves and mari; the teeth of horses
elephants, rhinoceroses, hyenas, bears
wolves, tigers, etc., are found in masse
in diluvial soils; oxen in peat bogs il
several countries; deer and elks in pea
bogs and mari pits, one six feet higl
and nine feet long was found in the Isl,
of Man, in mari, covered with sand
then peat, and then the vegetable soil
Rhinoceroses are found in every part O
Europe and in the Arctic; the hippopo
tamus is found in England, France ant
Germany. Elephants, and animal
much larger than elephants, mammoths
have been found in Europe, Americ
. and Siberia. One found near Abing
; don, now at Oxford, is sixteen feet high
and its bones were mixed with those O
. other large animals; another was foun
in Siberia in the ice, quite perfect in il
flesh, skin, hair and eyes, with a Ion
5 name and tail of stiff black bristles
} others have been found in Hudson's Bay
The gigantic mastodon is found in Mort
America and Siberia. The giganti
e tapir, twelve feet high and eightee
L feet long, has been found in differeI
5 parts of Europe. Whales are found i
+; Essex, in London clay, and in Bat
: limestone