The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-04
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


dynasty 1900 years ago. are said to prove
( that base ball was played at that time with
4 nv cateheES ana expert pitchers. Ana. now
4 and then. there is eXhumed mummy. the
evident suddeuness and violence Of whose
death is almost proof positive that II is that
/ OF an unfortunate umpire.
The earliest form of horseshoe was a
/ leather root, SAYS DR.. s. J. Harger, OF the
/ University Of Pennsylvania Veterinary
( school. Bat this boot was only worn by
heavy war horses The ordinary horses Of
Z Greeks. Romans. Arabians and other natives
were unshod, though methods OF hardening
! the hoof were occasionally used The earliest
( written record OF metal shoes is fo1nd in q
/ book by the Emperor Leo VI. who died 81
/ A. D.. but horseshces have been found in
4 tomts that date back to the sixth century.
/ The earliest oriental form of the shoe was
nearly circular and was fastened on not by
I nails out by ftanges driven into the side q
! the hoot. The Arabian farriers even today
/ shoe their horses cold. ana regard the Euro
/ pean method as injurious.
| A person who has never been in the Polar
! regions can have no idea of what cold is.
/ When we have the temperature down to l,o
/ or l5a above zero we think it bitterly cold,
! and If our houses were not as warm as at
! least 5O- above zero we should begin to think
! OF freezing to death, Think. then. of living
! where the mercury goes down to 35' below
/ zero IN the house, in spite of the stove, OF
+ course. in such a case. fur garments are piled
/ on until a man looks like a great bundle Of
skins. Dr.. Moss. OF the Polar expedition OF
/ lhi1 and 1876, among other odd things, tells of
/ the eject OF cold on a wax candle which he
/ burned there The temperature was 80 be-
low zero. and the doctor must have been con
slderabiy discouraged when, upon lookin at
his candle, he discovered that the fame had
all It could do to keep warm. 1t was s. cold
that the flame could not melt all the wax of
the candle but was forced TO cut its way
down, leaving a sort of skeleton OF the candle
! standing There was heat enough, however,
| to melt oddly shaped holes in the thin walls
OF wax, ana the result was beautiful lace
| like cylinder of white. with a tongue of vel
low fame burning inside it and sending out
| into the darkness many StreakS Of light.
Alcohol stimulates the circulation, first
healthily and pleasantly. and then, if taken
in excess. injuriously, till the vessels of the
brain are gorged with blood, and that state
of Intellectual emotional and moral confu-
sion which is known as drunkenness sets in,
| says PearSons Weekly. But a sudden and
severe shock frequently acts upon man
| whose cerebral circulation IS in this condi-
| non as sharp tonic, The tone of the ner-
| vous system, demoralized by alcohol, is
| suddenly strung up; the nerves stimulat-
| ing the muscles which control the blood
| vessels receive an Independent stimu-
| lus cause the vessels to contract, and so
| eXpel the alcoholZed blood from the brain
cells with the natural result that the eXalta-
! tlon OF drunkenness rapidly falls. This Is the
| mechanical explanation of the fact, but be-
| hind 1t probably lies moral reason which is
much more obscure, 1t may be that the
| =
| stimulates in some manner the higher intel
| lectual and moral CenterS, and that these as
! sert themselves in defiance of the physical
| condition of the circulation. and so aid power
fully. if Obscurely. in restoring sobriety. The
| connection between mind and body, letween
the physical and the psychical. is far too little
| known to say completely how mental shock
acts upon physical state.
The keenest interest has been manifested
throughout Europe over reports of the repro
duction of Apollo's hymn in Athens on
Thursday, says New York sun cable.
| Making due allowance for sentimental en-
| thusiasm over the resurrection of the music
| which has been buried 900 years all ac-
| olnts agree in ascribng the highest musical
merit to the composition. One correspondent
| declares that every one present was raViShed
| by the charm Of the music, with its mingled
! originality simplicity. and grandeur. The
| hymn o. c Iple1 quarter OF an hour in render
| ing. 1T was sung by a choir with piano accom-
| panlment. The king was quite overcome with
| emotion and requested repetition This is y
| no means the nrSt musical treasure of the
| ancient Greeks which has been brought TO
| light and Translated. There are the music of
| the first Pythlan ode of Pindar two hymns of
| Dlonysius TO Calhope and Apollo. and a hymn
| by Mesomedes None of these is particularly
| enchanting to modern ears ApolIo's hymn
| IS, however. much mole grand and majestic
! In Its melody. There is one part only. the
| Greeks not employing harmony or part sing
| ing. They had seven modes, whereas modern
music has only two. MAJOR and minor. Apolos
|
| scrlbed as gnitied, severe and grave "a sort
| OF Gregorian chant 1t Will Re published In
| Paris shortly.
| monarch among poisonous snakes, says
| McClure's Magazine is the enormous ham
| adryas, which grows to be as much as four
teen feet in length, and is so fierce that it will
! sometimes attack and even chase any one
| who ventures near to its nest Native snake
| Charmers who will handle the fercest cobras
| fearlessly, are usually loath to touch a ham
| adryas, though I have occasionally seen a
! large specimen of this VenOmOus reptile in
| caying leaves which it collects for the pur-
| pose, and sits upon the top to keep off intru-
! derS. road through the Jungle viii some
| times be closed against all Corners by a pair
| OF these snakes and Woe betde the unfortu-
| nate traveller who StumbleS unawares
| upon the nest. The hamadryas feeds largely
| upon other snakes. but il is fortunately some
| what rare. Curlously enough, it is not always
| aggressive. Indeed, it sometimes happens
| that 1t IS quite unwilling to rike. super
| hclally it is not unlike harmless rock snake
| and not very long ago. in Burmah. a man
| brought one in from the Jungle and kept it
| loose IN his house for some days. under the
| impression that it was one of these creatures
| During the whole of its captivity it never at
| tempted 10 bite any one. and its captor, who
| had been famiharly pulling it about by the
| tail, was only appraised of his mistake by
| forest officer who happened to turn up. and
! who knew good deal about snakes. It is
| easy to IMAGINE the haste with which the
alAlteoOul oAluhS Olol 4AASl plOt6SuGu 10 dispose
| OF his captive.
An interesting account of spirit photo
| graphy as practieed in France, has been
| given by NJ. Fourier in a French scientific
| journal The discoverer, it seems, was an
| American engrayer named Number His
| hobby was Photography, and one day in 1851
| while developing plate, he was surprised to
/ see faint head beside that of the model
/ He gave up the graver and took to the trade
eOf spirit photography in New York The
| deception ttoGrshed. and in 1874 new edition
| of the Bible, with authentic photographs of
| Abraham, Moses. David and others, was an
! nOunced. The method was introduced into
| France. The person desiring photograph
! OF some friend gone before had only to
unite himself in thought with medium
! in Paris and in few days received the pho.
! tOgraph. Several miSadVenturCs. however
] set the police on the alert. In one case a
merchant of Montreuil wished photoe raph
! of his daughter who was years old
! when she died and received a picture of "A
! woman OF 20. The police finally exposed
! the fraud. The spirit photographers were
! tried and condemned to a years imnrison-
| ment agd a fine of 1900 francs spirit pho
| Biography never raised its head again in
! France but. strange to say. il continued TO
/ flourish and still tiourshes in England Even
/ eminent British men of science have been
| fascinated by it. NJ Fourier gives direc-
| tionS for obtaining spirit photographs as fol.
| lows: FIRST place the specter before a dark
! background and photograph it. decenterinp
! the negative to make il float in air The