The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-10-30
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

:
( monstrosities and their right to dispose of
( such freaks. A woman at Woo-Foo, pro-
vince of LukioD, recently gave birth to a
. child having four perfect eyes The fam
lily were very greatly exercised over the
/ matter and tried to get the priest to kill
| the monster. This he refused 10 do. tell
ing them that the best way TO guard
I against the recurrence Of such a calamity
. was TO exhibit it in a cage on the street for
/ few days. The priest stated the length
. of time that would be necessary to make
: public show of the monster in order to
. propitlate the evil spirit that was re-
. sponsible for the freak, and when the time
was up, the mother cody drowned her
/ four-eyed offspring in a tub of water.
The wonderful natural soap mines at
. Owens Lake, California, are accounted
for by the following theory, which has
/ been advanced by a we'll known western
[ scientist: The water of the lake contains
/ a strong solution of both boraX and soda.
In the water a curious species of grub
4 breed by millions These grabs go through
] their various transformations and finally
/ emerge as short winged, heavy bodied
! flies, very fat and oily. They live but 2
| few days, dying and falling into the lake
/ washed ashore in layers more than a foot
/ thick. The oily substance of the dead
( flies blends with the alkali of the boraE
and soda, and the result is layer Of pure
soap, corresponding in thickness to the
! drift strata of the dead flies. q foot deep
of the flies making layer Of soap nearly
/ an inch thick. These strata. repeated
! year after year, have formed the celebra-
| ted Soap Banks of Owens, Lake, where
I a large force OF men nave. Deel constant
| " employed for a number of years.
! It is commonly thought that a mule is
! stupider creature than the horse, says
/ writer in Scribner's, but have never
/ found a person who was we'll acquainted
/ with both animals who hesitated TO place
! the mOngrel in the intellectual grade
/ above the pure-blooded animal. There is,
. 1t is true, a decided difference in the men
! tai qualities of the two creatures. The
mule is relatively undemonst his
! emotions being sufficiently expressed by
CEi al Of FFdspsa mo
: which he has inherited from the humber
! side of his house in a singularly un-
! changed way. Even in the best humor
/ he appears sullen, and lacks those playful
| CaperS which give such expression to the
/ well-bred horse, particularly in its youth
! full state. 1t is evident however that il
! discriminates men and things more clearly
! than does the horse. In going over diff
cult ground it studies its surface and
| picks it's way so as to secure a footing in
an almost infallible manner. Even when
/ loaded with pack it will consider the in
! cumbrance and not so often try to pass
! where the burden will become entangled
with fixed objects.
Can any of your readers explain the
/ meaning of the tan spots seen so com
dogs of most breeds? asks a writer in
/ Nature. When in Melbourne last year, /
+ went carefully over all the dogs in a show
/ with one of the stewards, and We found
the spots in all the black and tan terriers
/ foXhOunds, deerhoundS, cOllies, lurcherS
etc: but l could get no information re-
.
In some of the highly bred toy dogs
| as the small black and tan terriers, l
| found on inquiry that these spots form
! crly so very conspicuous, were being bred
. out, and had nearly disappeared. Their
| persistence through so many strongly
| marked varieties except those of late
date, is singular for there is fairly good
| proof that when first domesticated the
| dog was red or brown, like the pariah
| dingo, etc. As far as l can see, we do
not find the spots white on a black or
| dark ground; nor yet black or dark on q
! white or light ground. My explanation is
! that they nave arisen as a permanent
| marking after the dogs "spOrted" to
/ black under dOmestiCatiOn, and have been
| preserved and developed through natural
| selection. Possibly they are protective
| and simulate eyes. One morning. just at
! dawn, / had occasion to go out into the
| garden, and while STOPPING to examine
| some flowers. near fence partly covered
! with creepers, ] suddenly saw an animals
| head looking through, and what seemed
to be two black and seemingly large and
| black eyes glared at me. Suspecting that
! a black leopard was about to spring over,
| 1 started back, clapped my hands, and
! shouted. To my relief. however, ] saw
a tail wag, and found that the spectator
! was q coolies dog ] knew very well, and
/ which recognized me. The use of the tan
| spots-in this case at least-then occurred
| to me. May it not be that the spots thus
/ serve a protective purpose, and have
| often saved the lives of dogs lblaCS dogs
! from their enemies, the smaller felueS,
/ such as the clOuded leopard etc? Per
| haps the matter is not new; but if it is,
! eral dogs about here now with black
| bodies and heads the tan spots, rather
| pale, are Of the size of a shilling. l have
| shot one, keeping the skin of the head
| as Il curiosity.
One-fifth of the whole African continent
! is desert, says a writer in McClure's, the
| area being estimated by Mr.. Ravenstein
! at over two and a quarter million square
| miles, of which all but small fraction is
/ contained in the tract of land popularity
/ known as the Sahara Except for some
school children W
| school teachers who are Instrumental in
that being so, the misconception of the
| Sahara which is wide spread, would be
/ practically universal. The average man
| pictures the Sahara as vast sea Of sand
! for the most part below sea level across
/ which the camel speeds before the pOisOn
| blast Of the simeon from oasis to oasis
| Schemes for flooding the Sahara have
| come before the public, occasionally, and
| we have read accounts of the vast inland
! sea which might be formed, rivallng the
1 Mediterranean in size, giving a southern
| seacoast to Morocco and Algeria, and ad-
/ mtting steamers directly to the wealthy
| states of the Sudan. The Sahara as
I known TO the geographer, corresponds
badly with this conception; for in fact
/ there is no risk of the ''ship of the DESERT
ever being supplanted by the ships of the
! sea. Few parts are below sea level and
/ they are small and scattered In the in
/ terror the desert is plain high above sea
! level, covered with vast dunes of red sand
! in many parts; in others it is an elevated
! plateau with lofty mountain ranges of
/ bare rocks intersected by stony valleys
! 1t is arid, save where a spring. bubbles
up and gives rise to a small oasis Of grass
and palm trees. The Sahara proper IS nm
known, except for a few trade routes
/ regularly traVersed by Arabs and oocas-
ionally by adventurous Europeans. These
/ utilize the GASES as resting places. stem
1 ping stones, as 1t were, and keen M com
/ munication between the wealthy Nohan1-
medan states round Lake chad in the
south, and Trpoi, Tunis. Aleiors or
/ Morocco on the Mediterranean Eetween
the trade routes all is p bank of sand or
. barren rock Exploration is only nossibJe
when w2ter as VOL rs food can he cav
ried, and this condition has prartica ia,
stopped all ATTEMPTS at discovery for tbge
/ present on account of the great exnense
and the purely scientific ma tllra If ~
nossihle return. a railway runninC from
/ the French possessions on the NTadite .,i
ranean across the desert to Tirnb,,I,t,i ~,
{ sc9rrelv-kncwn trade center near ~
/ Niger. is Talked Of Such a line may bo
/ constructed in the future but the Jies
/ c,Ities are enormous, rnuoh greater, tbo,,
those overcon" by the Ruesiars in ~
/ Transoasn'an line through the deserts of
Central Asia. 'i'9 VI
.