The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-02
SELECT SIFTINGS.

The first tunnel was made by VI. Rignet
ut Bczirrcs, France, in the reign OF Louis
XIV.
Gum cotton was invented hy Professor
Schcnbcin, in Basel, and first made known
iE 1916.
"Dicu ct mon d%roit,' the royal motto
of England. was the word given by Rich
ard the Lion Hearted to his army at
Gisors, in 1888. Henry VI. first used it
as a motto.
BY an act of parliament Of George H.,
| still in existence. Il man can cvadc pay
mcnt of his tavern score on the ground
that the consumption Of spirits is con-
trary TO public policy, and ought to be
discouraged.
The ancient Egyptians of the Nile had
floating bee houses, designed to- take adj
vantage of the honey harvest. They were
warned when ii was time to return home
hv the depth to which the boat sank III
| the water under the weight of the cargo
of honey. That the bees might not he
lost. they were obliged to journey during
the nighttime.
The famous Washington bowldcr at
Conway Corner, y. H., has been ac-
curatelv measured and found to be thirty
feet HIGH, forty-siX feet long and thirty
five feet wide. 1t is solid granite, and
wriulls 3.SG1 tons by calculation. This
is probably the largest isolated piece OF
granite in the world, and is apparently a
vcStIyr Of ancient glacier action.
According to tradition, the first In.
dian reached Martla's Vineyard on a
cake of ice. and found there Il giant
named MoShup. He had five children.
lie used to catch whales and great fish.
and pluck up trees TO make a fire. and
roast Them. The Goals and the bones,
relics of these gigantic fcastS, are still to
be seen there. TO facilitate the catch
ing of these fish he threw many large
stones at proper distances into the sea,
on which he might walk with case.
This is now called Devils Bridge. Once
on a time an Offering VAS made to him OF
all the tobacco on Martha's Vineyard,
which, having smoked, he knocked the
snuff out of his pipe, which formed
Nantucket.
The teeth of the snake are not always
found in its mouth. There is n snake IN
Africa which lives upon the cggS"t birds,
which he purIoins out of the nests. Tins
snake has no teeth proper i'll his mouth;
if he had. they would be much in his
way. for they would break the cgg when
he caught hold of it. Instead, then. OF
teeth in his mouth, he has them in his
stomach, and they are formed in a very
curious manner Certain little bits OF
bone. parts oi the vrrtcbrr. are matte to
perform the function of teeth; they pro-
icct one from the center OF each vrrtr-
br;r. The ten next to the mouth point
in Il forward direction, the last ten back
ward: the ends of these bits Of bone go
through the wall Of the stomach, and
then become covered with enamel like
real teeth: so that, on looking into the
stomach, Il row apparently Of real teeth
is seen at its back part. The egg, when
swallowed by the snake goes down into
the stomach, and there mrc,in" with the
teeth, is broken against them by the
pressure of the walls Of the stomach.
The contents of the egg being thus
broken. cannot escape, had there been
teeth in the mouth the egg would have
broken there. and most of the fluid con-
tents been lost.