Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-02
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

The influence of the tides is felt for 400
miles up the Amazon.
The current of the river Amazon is dis
tinctly preceptible on the ocean for more than
2OO miles from shore.
AS an instance of the wonderful feeun-
dity of vegetable life it is stated that single
tobacco plant will produce $4,000 seeds
The water system Of the Amazon af-
fords not less than OOOO miles of free nayiga-
uon within the great Brazilian territory.
The mangroye seeds begin to shoot be-
fore they drop from the parent plant. and the
urooplng branches strike roots into the soil.
-Twenty-eight per cent of all the stu
dents in the University of Michigan are
The vegetation of Brazil is Iu1uriant
beyond description. Trees split for paling in
shoots and branches Immediately. and this
whetner the position of the fragments be that
in which they originally grew, or inverted.
I'm temperature the vast Amazon basin
is remarkable for the small seasonal variation
Of heat, accounted for by It's equatorial posi-
ton and the immense surface OF water and
forest; within its limits the thermometer at its
highest readings averages 900 and the lowest 75o.
The mean term of human life has
to 42 years. OF those who have attained the
age of IS years, out of 100O 43 were theolegIans,
40 farmers, 35 office-hOIders, 81 military, 90
clerks, % lawyers, 2S artists, q professors, and
"a doctors.
The museum of the st. Petersburg Uni
versity has rece>Ted the remains of a mammoth
found in Siberia last summer, about a mile
from the military station of Krassniy-Yar, on
the coast of the river Lomovata. Among them
IS tooth perfectly preserved weighing about
eight pounds.
"A thief in Chicago stole $50 game cock,
carrying it of beneath his coat. While the
man was passing policeman the sagacious
bird began to crow, which led to the arrest Of
the thief The fowl further distinguished itself
before it was returned to its owner by whipping
the station house cat.
DIR. Altum mentions the bird enc
mics Of the pine-moth and the immense
amounts of its eggs destroyed by the foxes, but
he adds that the parasitic fungi which periodic
ally infest it are a far more terrible enemy than
any Dlrd, because they destroy the moth over
very large areas at once.
In the Cluny Museum at Paris there is
said to be a remarkable collection of footwear.
1t was made by Jules Jacquemart and COM
prises more than 300 specimens of all kinds of
footgear from the earliest form of the sandal
through its various transformations down 70
the most approved modern article.
In the Province of Maranhao, Brazil,
the roots. grasses and other plants extending
from the shores of pools weave themselves in
time into kind of vegetable bridge, along
which the passenger treads, unaware that be
has left the firm earth, until the jaws of a cay
man protrude through the herbage before him.
"A wounded badger was carried away by
another badger suddenly appearing on the
scene; rats have been seen feeding a blind
couple. Brehm himself saw two crows feeding,
IN hollow tree, third crow, which was
wounded; its wound was several weeks old
Mr.. Byth saw Indian crows feeding two or
three blind comrades.
MIR. Bates mentions the really astound-
ing numbers of winged ants which are de-
stroyed during their exodus. The dead or half
dead bodies Of the formica de fuegO (rnyrmea
seVissima) which had been blown into the
Amazon during gale were heaped In a line
an inch or two in height and breadth, the line
continuing without interruption for miles at
the edge OF the water"
The little teetees, whose childish, sweet
faces so much struck Humboldt, embrace and
protect one another when it rains rolling their
tails over the necks of their shiverng comrades
Several species display the greatest solicitude
for their wounded, and do not abandon a
wounded comrade during retreat till they
have ascertained that it IS dead and that they
are helpless to restore il TO life.
Ordinary whitewood is now given the
appearance OF black walnut by first thoroughly
drying the wood and then warming two or three
times with strong aqueous solution of extract
OF walnut peel When nearly dried the wood
one part by weight of bichromate of potash in
five parts Of boiling water. When thoroughly
dried it is rubbed and polished.
"A Buenos 4Ayres exchange informs us
that the Argentine army is ofticered as follows:
AZ generals, l23 colonies, Ill lieutenant colonies,
149 majors, 2l9 captains 222 first lieutenants,
30 second heutenants and 249 sub lieutenants
and ensigns; total, 1873 officers for about 500
rank and file. With general, three colonels
and five captains for every 100 men, it is not at
all surprising that revolutions occur
Heretofore the postmistresses of France
have been practically debarred from marrying.
By an old-established rule husbands of posi-
mistresses could not engage in a number OF
trades or professions, on the theory that they
would offer temptations tn the husband to
tamper with the mails. Now, however the
Government has abolished these restrictions to
the choice OF husband with the exception Of
pplce officials
The railroad cars which traverse Man
haitian Island over their hundreds of miles of
tracks last year carried the enormous number
of over 400, OO0O 900 passengers who paid scent
fares. There were also large number of
transfer passengers. as well as policemen and
others who get reduction in fare The gross
road fiscal year show an increase of over $780,
600 over the previous year.
1t is stated that during the first weeks
os its infancy lobster runs greater risks than
any other young denizen of the deep. Add to
this that, with the exception of the crab, he is
the most pugnacious of fishes. Springing
through the water from the impulse OF his
powerful tailfin, the lobster uses his claws
deftly as weapons of offense defense and
if injured, he sheds his claw, which IS replaced
by the growth of another limb.
The most terrible enemies of mice are
not other ANIMALS but such sudden changes Of
weather as occur almost every year. AIterna-
tions of frost and warm weather destroy them
in numberless quantities. One single sudden
change can reduce thousands of mice to the
number of a few individuals. On the other
side, a warm winter, or winter which gradu-
ally steps in. makes them multiply in menacing
proportion, Notwithstanding every enemy.