Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-22
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

Parsley is poisonous to many kinds OF
birds.
There is small African snake which
has two horns.
The ostrich covers from II to Is feet at
every stride while running.
AT the time of birth the octopus is not
larger than common flea
I'm all Spain there are only 3,231
children in the Sunday schools.
There were 122 accidental deaths on
California railroads during 1891.
Fish are frequently found in new formed
ponds; They are supposed to be carried
there by birds.
England has but one judge to every
100000 of her population. The colony OF
Victoria has one to every 100000.
There is species of ant in Australia
that makes honey. The Indian coccus also
makes honey and does not belong to the bee
tribe.
The power of flying possessed by many
sea-birds is so enormous that they are, prac-
tically speaking, never out of reach of fresh
water.
I'm ireland Denis Koorobee died pos
sessed of As children, 236 grand children and
9A great grand children. He had been mar
ried seven times.
The cormorant is still occasionally used
for fishing in preserved waters in England.
The bird generally wears a light collar to
prevent it from swallowing the fish.
People in Japan are called by the FAM
lily name first the individual or what we
should call Christian name next. and then
the honorifc-thus, "Smith Peter Mr."
L arge heads do not always indicate in
tellect- Prof. Virchow, the German scien-
tist, points out that the Greeks. one of the
most Intellectual OF nations, are also one Of
the smallest headed of races.
Almonds are such near cousins to
peaches that one can be grated upon the
other, and the analogy is made palmer in
this instance, because the almond on the
tree is also covered by pulp.
Seals when basking place one of their
number on guard to give alarm in case Of
danger. The signal is quick clap of the
fippers on rock. Rabbits signal with their
fore paws and have regular signals and calls.
Mrs. Fawcett, speaking at Birmingham
In favor of the claim for woman suffrage,
stated that not only were there 49, 900 female
land owners In England and Wales, but 20,-
900 women were actually engaged in farming
on their own account.
The travel by water in Maine for the
year 1891 amounted to over 1000 900 persons.
OF this the Casco Bay Steamboat Company
carried 406, ,567 or about one-fifth of all. This
shows the extent of pleasure travel in and
about Portland harbor.
If the number of persons daily enter
ing the City of London were dispatched
from any given station by train, as many as
1877 trains, each conveying 600 persons.
would be required for the purpose. If the
trains were all Joined together in con-
tinuous line they would extend 221 miles
The development of the science of cleo
tricity has created demand for very fine
wires. The platinum wires in incandescent
lamps are drawn through sapphire plates,
and the very finest platinum wires are used
in many delicate and sensitive electrical in
struments.
Nearly all the petroleum deposits of
Southern California are situated in Los An
geles ard Ventura counties and they occupy
an area of 250,0C0 acres. This important
product is rapidly becoming one of the most
valuable in Southern California, the yield
for 1889 aggregating in value over 81 100000.
Cutie fish are useful in many ways.
The bone under the skin of the back, which
affords the animal some sort of substitute
for n skeleton, is employed for Gagged birds
to sharpen their beaks upon. 1t Is also
ground up into powder for absorbing blots
in writing, is utilized as an antacide in med
icine and is made an important ingredient
in dentifrices.
The Salton Sea, which last summer was
held by the Southern California papers to be
for the unusual hot weather that
prevailed there, is now accused by the same
papers of having been the cause of the re-
cent cold snap. 1t is no wonder that the in
nocent sea has become discouraged and is
rapidly disappearing from view under such
a1oad of contumely.
1t would require the intellect of Bab-
bage to wrestle with the statistics of matches.
That 60, 900 900 are burned every day in Eu-
rope seems below the mark Such firms as
Messrs. Dixon, at Manchester, turn out z. 9.OOO.-
300 day. and many in London 100000 or
!, 900 900. The consumDtion of Dhosphorous
for the purpose in England and France
shows that about 25O0OO, 100000 year are
turned out in these two countries alone.
-"Hurricane' is the old Spanish name
for West India cyclone: but it is now used
to designate a long-continued wind of ex-
treme violence. In Beaufort's scale one
rises through "lfght," gentle" "fresh" and
breezes," fresh STRONG" and
by which the mariner understands "a We
locity of 80 miles or more an hour"
The cries of none of the animals ap-
proach more closely that of the human voice
than those of seals when lamenting the loss
Or capture of their young. They emit
wailing and affecting cry. similar to that of
a woman in deep grief The cry of a wound
Its piercing shrek can, on still night, be
plainly heard at a distance of more than q
mile.
-Herodotus gives a remarkable descrip-
Jon of the manner in which the Ethiopians
we're accustomed to preserve their dead.
According to his account, having dried the
body, they plasteredi it over with gypsum and
nainted il SO as to make it resemble life as
nearly as possible. Then they put it in a
hollow column made of crystal, which mate
rial they dug up in abundance. Thus in
closed, the corpse was kept in the house Of
ts nearest surviving relations for year,
.fter which it was buried.
AS an article of industrial use, the
ibrous covering of the cocoanut is much in
iemand under the term of coir, for making
ones, mats, etc. Coir is now well known to
"a one of the best materials for cables, on ac-
count of it's elasticity and strength. They
ire made in large quantities in the Lacadive
stands, entirely by hand, and chiefly by wo-
men, without the aid of machinery of ary
lind Cocoanut husks are now also imported
w Britain for the manufacture OF mats
,nown as coir and cocoanut noer mats
which give employment to the inmates Of
PRISONS and industrial and ragged schools.
-Rameses IL, during the earlier wears of
is reign, was always escorted by a female
oe. which was called Anaitiennaktou,
r brave as the goddess Anaitis. A petty
ing of the eleventh dynasty, about $500 B.
:. had five dogs, which he SO loved that he
aryed their names and engraved their por-
rats on his tomb. They were, indeed,
looded animals, whose names revealed
beir foreign origin The finest of them was
allied AbaIkarou, faithful TRANSCRIPTION Of
ie word abalkour, bY which the limiting