The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1883-11-08
THIS AND THAT.

o,OVV W 1O,VUV GOuS VI lCe udy.
Great attention has been bestowed
in Germany within the last two years
upon the cultivation of the common
nettle. From it an immense number
of articles are made, and there is
scarcely branch of textile industry
in which it cannot be used. The
growing Of nettles has become part of
the business of every small farmer.
The crop never fails, no weather af-
fects it, and as itrequires planting only
once in every ten or fifteen years, the
labor of cultivation is small; and as it
needs but three or four inches of earth,
many a piece of Improbable land,
even old quarries and gravel-pits, are
thus turned to account. A manufac-
turer in Dresden has succeeded in OBJ
tanning from it the finest thread known
in the trade, so fine that 100000 me-
tres OF it Cor rather more. than sixty
miles Of lengthy weigh only two and
ahslf pounds.
a curious kind of weed which grows
in the Arkansas valley has often
proved misleading to sportsmen. tits
shaped like a ball and varies in size from
one foot or less in diameter to FIVE or six
feet, some specimens being as tall as a
man. 1t grows upon small stem,
which is, however, stout enough to
bear the mass till it has ripened and
dried, when puff of wind will blow
it over and snap the slender support.
Then it is that every gust of wind
sends it rolling over the prairie,
bounding over bushes and rocks with
the greatest elasticity and lightness.
When the wind is strong and high
these tumbling weeds present most
peculiar appearance as they bound
from rock to rock, and in more than
one instance hunters have mistaken
them for bisons and felt considerable
irritation at the impossibility Of bring
ing them within range Of their guns.
Doctors are known to differ, and as
result it sometimes seems just as
well for individuals to consult their
own convenience instead of their ply
sicians. For example, in the matter
of sleeping, some doctors say lie with
the head to the north, others hold
a contrary opinion, and now that
long journeys are made by rail it
is amusing to find two !eminent
authorities differing as to the e safest
way to pass the night. A German
doctor asserts that to lie with the feet
to the engine draws the blood from
the brain to the feet and produces
cerebral anamia, followed y sleep;
whereas if the traveller lies with his
head in that position, cerebral hyper
aemia is the result and sleep is impos-
sible. An American authority, on the
other hand, holds directly contrary
opinion, and urges his patients to take
their positions for the night with the
head towards the locomotive and so
slumber in peace AS sleeping in a
railway car is difficult under any cir
cumstances, one might as well try both
methods.
For many years club existed and
fourished in small English town in
Lancashire, known as the Oyster and
Parched Pea Club. Among the staff.
of officers was one known as Oysteri-
Gus, whose duty it was to order and
look after the oysters, which then
came by fleet from London. The club
rejoiced in poet laureate or rhyme
smith, and a Cellarius, who looked after
the wine. Among the rules and arti-
cles of the club was one enjoining that
"a barrel of oysters be provided every
Monday night during the winter, at
the equal expense of the members, to
be opened exactly at 7.90 o'clock"
Every member on having a son born
was to pay gallon, for a daughter
half gallon, of port to his brethren OF
the club within month of the birth
of such child, at any public house he
should choose.
The value of trees in city can
scarcely be exaggerated. In Italy it is
an offence against the law to; cut them
down, as it is found that an outbreak
of fever usually follows any clearing
away of the trees. And apart from
this, how much they add to the beauty
e -, rrbora coap,c to bo on in