The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1884-03-06
Miscellaneous Matters.

The Vatican gardens in their greatest
extent are only $50 yards by 400, less
than thirty acres, and are much smaller
than that if reduced to a rectangular
form. However. by doubling and twist
ing the Pope can get a drive out of these
gardens, hidden away under the north
ern walls of st. Peters and the western
side of the Vatican.
! There are now forty eight lady stu
dents in the Harvard annex, and it is the
testimony of some of the Harvard pro-
fessors that the average scholarship Of
the annex is above that of the classes in
the college. This year, thirty-five out
of the forty-eight ladies have chosen
Greek electives. Two enthusiastic girls
from Texas sold land and travelled two
thousand miles to get to the college.
A huge crystal throne has just been
manufactured in England for an Indian
rajah. Some idea of the elaborate
workmanship which has been employed
in the construction may be gained from
the fact that the final of the legs are
each cut into 324 automatically accur-
ate facets Wood and iron are used to
some extent to make the throne sub
stantial, but all such parts are covered
with glass and hidden. The cushions
and hangings are of crimson velvet, and
altogether the raiah is destined to pos
sess gorgeous and perhaps uncomfort-
able seat.
The actual cost of making ton OF
iron in the Lehigh Valley, Pa, is put
down by Mr.. McCreath, chemist of the
Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, at
$20.3S, itemized as follows: Ore, 1884; ;
coal, $3.50; limestone. n cents; labor,
1898; incidentals and repairs, $2.64.
In the island of San Domingo there
is remarkable salt mountain, mass
of crystalline salt nearly four miles
long, estimated to contain SO, 337 900
tons, and so clear that type can be read
through. block foot thick. The
mountain, biologists say, was once a
plain at the bottom of the sea, and, as
the island rose from the ocean, this
plain formed the bottom of shallow la
COON, where the salt was deposited.
The Medical Record estimates that
among 1000 doctors the annual death
rate ranges between Is and Is, making
a yearly loss of 1900 physicians out Of
our 10000. But the supply is such as
to remove all cause of apprehension, for
the number of our medical graduates in
1928 was 1919, more than double
the estimated number of deaths.
A correspondent of the New York
Post, writing from the Bay Islands, ex-
presses the opinion that many of the
people who buy sand and pine trees in
Florida with the expectation of an indie
pendent fortune from an orange grove
would do far better upon some of the
West India Islands, the climate being
superior for all lung and rheumatic
complaints, and the time required neces-
sary to have their groves or plantations
in bearing condition much shorter, be-
sides their bearing two crops per year.
The dangerous practice of dragging
food is even more prevalent than is usu-
ally supposed. SalicyIc acid, for ex-
ample, is very largely used in articles
such as jellies, etc., which have ten
dency to become mouldy. Its use was
interdicted in France in 1881, but, ac-
cording to the Medical Press, it is more
largely used than ever. It is known to
be especially injurious to persons suffer
ing from liver and kidney troubles,
while in people it ''accumulates to a
dangerous extent in the organs of those
who use it constantly"
Statistics are being collected III France
for the purpose of forming an estimate
as to whether the total number of in
habitants in the country will be greater
or less than it is now at the close of the
century. Thus far the figures tend to
show that there is likely to be de-
crease rather than an increase in the
population. There are not upon an
average more than two children now to
each family in France, and though there
has always been an increase in popula-
ton since 1906, the rate of the increase
has been constantly declining from 80
per 10000 yearly to 26 per 10000.