The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

remain under ground until crop OF barley IS
raised over his grave, and says that II cannot
be done. He has heard Of the feat being per
formed In the east. he says, but was never
able TO see it, and he does not think IL posi-
BILE. He says Undesirable he will go to the
funeral and see that IL Is no fake burial, ana
that In such case he will be willing 10 guaran-
tee that the burial will last Until the day OF
judgment.
Throughout Cochin China. in Tonquin and
the extreme east, there Is very venomOus
snake called the ''najas," whose venom
causes death in two or three hours. Every
year this snake has been the cause OF death
TO Is, 600 persons. 1t was evidently a matter
OF vast Importance to discover an ant1dOte,
and this has at last been done by DR.. Col
mette. Paris physician and pupil OF Pas
teur. The substance is a sort of salt Of gold,
which not only acts incidentally after the bite,
but as sort of vaccine taken internally 1t
renders the person proof against the conse-
quences Of the najas bite.
Mr.. Campbell, the big rancher of Texas,
whose scheme for exterminating coyotes by
inoculating them with the mango was men
toned not long ago, reports that the plan
promises success, says the New York Sun.
His plan is TO catch wolves or coyotes in a
trap and put them In corral with dog
badly affected with the mango, and after they
nave become Injected to turn them loose to
spread the disease. II is said the disease is
1ncurable. Mr.. Campbell has infected and
turned loose about twenty coyotes and wolves
in this way in three or four months He has
not yet found any dead wolves, but he has
trapped several that had the disease in an adj
vanced stage, from which he concludes it is
spreading. He says nothing but a carniVor
Gus animal will take the disease. and conse-
quently there is no danger to stock in spread
ing 1t. Wolves and coyotes have greatly in
creased in recent years in spite of all attempts
TO clean them out and stockmen are watching
Mr.. Campbelfs scheme with great interest.
French paper publishes an interesting
account of new industry in Algeria which
utilities the dwarf palm Of that country, a
tree which hitherto has proved to be one of the
CHIEF obstacles to clearing the land, for 1t is
profuse in its growth, has most tenacious and
Wlde-Spreadfng roots and is most difficult of
eradication. Various uses are now made of
this tree but the principal is the extraction
of the fbers which are found in the leaves and
stems The industry is of two-fold benefit to
Algeria, for it clears the land of the obstruct-
I've tree, and employs large amount of Arab
labor at the numerous factories which have
arisen during the past few years The leaves
are nrSt OF all plucked, then sorted by women
and children, and lastly combed in a rough
form OF carding machine, the principal part
of which is rapidly revolving drum with
nails fixed upon 1t. With this rough appli-
ance man is able to card upward Of 1000
pounds of leaves per day The fiber is suisse
quently curled or twisted, and can then be
used for stuff1ng chairs, couches, and other
articles Of furniture.
Shipbuilders have been interested in the
construction recently at Sunderland, Eng
land, of a novel craft a modification of the
whaleback type, now so familiar on our
western lakes.s In the description Of this new
English steamer, the only one of its kind yet
built, 1t appears that the hull is shaped like
other vessels from keel to water line but
from the latter the she'll is rounded off up
ward and inward, until 1t terminates at the
upper deck level in an upright structure
termed turret running fore and aft. The
vessel has no shear, the deck reaching in
perfectly straight line fore and aft; the plat
ing, curving inward from the water line to
the turret deck, is thick and strong like that
OF the hull proper, so that the whole skin of
the vessel is of the same degree of thickness
throughout. The engines are placed aft, as
In the construction of Whaleback steamers,
by which arrangement there is long, con-
tlnuous hold from the engine room to the
forecastle this being interfered with only by
the necessary bulkheadS Another feature
pertaining to this steamer is the location of
the boats, and the accommodation for en-
gtneers and crew, all abaft the engine room.
though the captain and officers are placed, as
usual, under the bridge forward.
The eyes of deep-sea fish are very varied,
says Chambers Journal some have neither
eyes nor sight, others have greatly enlarged
eyeballs, SO as to catch the least glimpse of
ugnt. Their eyes tend either to disappear or
TO be unusually efficient; but since no trace
OF sunlight can penetrate to any great depth,
and 1t is probably quite dark beyond a depth
OF some 200 fathoms of what use can ewes hes
%
5000 fathoms, where there must be not only
absolute stiffness, but also total darkness, ex-
cept for the fact that some Of these deep-sea
creatures are phosphorescent, and therefore
luminous. This fact was first ascertained in
the Challenger expedition: Since then Mr..
A AI,soa Of the Indian Marine
deep-sea crustaceans have a similar power,
one large prawn quite lighting up a bucketful
OF water in which it was placed. Fish with
large eyes have therefore better chance of
\ hut
wholly depend upon sight, since some have
quite abandoned all attempts to see. Some
again. have luminous organs on their he ad or
body or tail, which are under their control so
that they can actually throw light at pl easure
on their prey or extinguish 1t in times of
danger. Thus the angler among others, at
tracts It's prey by means of these colored
lures or phosphorescent lights 1t has been
well SAID that these vast profounds of the
deep have become a sort Of almshouse or
asylum, whereunto antiquated forms have re-
tired, and amid the changeless environment
nave dWelt for ages unaltered."
The non-venomous snakes of Australia in
clude several varieties, says writer in the
the New York Times. The largest and most
important of these are two species of pythons
or rock snakes, known respectively as the
diamond and carpet snakes. The former
is unknown south of New South Wales while
the latter Is found all over the continent al
though rare in Southern Victoria. Both of
THESE species sometimes attain ZENITH of six
feet is more common measurement Both
are handsome reptiles, the diamond snake
being adorned with a yellow spot in the cen
ire OF each of its black scales. while the car
pet snake is curiously notified with light
patches, each with a dark centre upon a dark
brown ground. Both OF these species kill
their prey by crushing, and their flesh is
much esteemed by the aboriginals to whom
however, nearly every beetle grub and rep
tile stands in the light of a delieacy Among
the non-VenOmous class also are found sew
eral species of fresh water snakes, as well as
a curious variety of blind snakes CTyph-
lop1da,) about two feet long, which goes
through the groune in search of
its food Of ants and their larvae. The sea
snakes, unlike those inhabiting fresh
water, are all extremely venOmous. All the
Australian VenOmous snakes are equipped
with short poison fangs, and the ground forms
belong to the family known as Elapida The
most common species in Southern Victoria
and Tasmania is the one known as the COP
per-head, " which varies considerably in color
but is generally of dull brown tint above
and dull yellowish underneath Most of the
cases of snakebite in Victoria are to be credi-
ted to this reptile. The tiger snake-so
called from its cross-banded mar1ings-is a
much more dangerous customer than the
"copper-head," since it secretes a larger
amount OF poison and is rather inclined to
give combat than to try to escape by flight
The handsomest of Australian yenomous
snakes is the black snake, which is of a
rich blue-black color on it's back and warm
pink on the belly. Like the two species al
ready mentioned, it attains length of from
five to six feet, and is less Venomous than
either, The common brown" snake is the