Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1885-12-31
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.

~A>SoAAAAS ~ q uAShA SAAVA pACfatCAo
in days gone BY, poison was supposed to
swell the body.
Recent discoveries prove that the art
Of wood engraving originated with the
Arabs about the ninth century.
Rosemary was one Of the evergreens
with which dishes were ancientIy deco
rated during the season of-Christmas.
A Aladywho received through the post
Office postal card containing 1880
words, written by gentleman, replied
on card containing 1,O4O.
In Santa Clara county, Cal, there is
cat, allied to the ground nest making
species. which climbs small trees and
makes compact nest Of twigs among
the branches, something after the man
ner of gray squirrel.
DR.. Antonin Martin says that the
flavor Of cod-liver oil may be changed to
the delightful one of fresh oysters, if
the patient will drink large glass Of
water poured from a vessel in which
nails have been allowed to rust.
The artists Of Dresden and Dusseldorf
dissatisfied with the ineIegant costume
for men in our times, have decided to
adopt the picturesque garments worn by
Rubens and the artists of the seventeenth
century-black velvet breeches, marine
blue stockings, velvet vest trimmed with
red silk and broad felt hat.
In the time of Henry !, (107O A. d.
the widow was entitled to her dowry
(when delivered to her before witnesses)
and her marriage giftn and one-third of
the common earnings Of herself and hus-
band, as well as her clothing and furni-
ture. If wife died without children
her relatives divided her share with her
husband.
The Palma Christie plant. now being
extensively planted in parts of South
Carolina as substitute for cotton, is as
easily cultivated as corn, requires no
particular care in handling the seed, and
yields a large profit. The climate Of
lower South Carolina is all that could be
desired, and on the sea islands the plant
attains remarkable growth without
labor or attention.
The cor,,no, noto+o \; ;,5;,.o,,,,,.
to both North and South. America, and
is found growing wild at the present
day over vast tracts in New Mexico,
Arizona, and southwark in the cool ele-
waited regions Of Old Mexico. It again
appears in similar situations in the Andes
Of South America, but is not found in
what are called tropical climates, but
always in cool or cold ones. Who first
carried the potato from this country to
Europe is now unknown, but the date
of its introduction is supposed to be
$780, or about three hundred years ago.
Formerly cockfghting entered into
the occupation Of old and young.
Schools had their cockfghts. Travellers
agreed with coachmeE, that they were
to wait night if there were cockfght
in any town through which they passed.
When English country gentlemen had
sat long at table, and the conversation
had turned upon the relative merits Of
their several birds, a cockfght often re-
suited, as the birds in question were
brought for the purpose into the dining
room. Cockfghting was practiced on
Shrove Tuesday to great extent, and
in the time of Henry VII of England,
seems to have been practiced within the
precincts OF the court The earliest men
tion Of this .'passtime" in England is by
Fitzstephen, in 1191.