The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-24
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

NAL creation the Persian sheep has two
chief peculiarities." During the spring and
summer months 1t accumulates an enormous
amount of fat in its tail, that appendage
frequently becoming SO enormously enlarged
as to weigh from forty to siXty-hve ponds,
two-wheeled cart being provided for its re-
ception by most of tho Shepherds who raise
this peculiar breed of animals. Its other
chief popularity is this: During the winter
or dry season the big-tailed sheep becomes
dormant. hibernatlng like hear thus con
sunni s the fat stored up in its tail during the
more favorable months.
Contrary to general opinion, the improve
ment in firearms has not increased the muir
derous results of battles. The battles which
have been fought in the South American wars
since 1890 show that only one out of each -
men engaged was killed. In the Flranco-Ger-
man war Of 1870 II one IN each So met death,
while in the Crimean war one in each 30 OF
the effective force was left dead on the field
In our great civil war one out OF every % men
was killed, and one in each 10 wounded. In
Napoleons early wars one out of each q was
killed and every fourth man wounded, and in
the early British conflicts as high an average
as one death 10 each 10 engaged is reported
DR.. C. Hart Merriam, chief of the division
Of orthodoxy and mammalogy in connec-
with the agricultural department at Wash
ington, once made some interesting observa-
ttons on the milk-giving faculty OF the males
OF western species OF rabbits called Balrd's
hare. The publication Of these odd facts re-
.yived an old account OF he goat which regu-
larly gave milk. According to the famed St
Francis Xavier, in the year 1913, IN the
island OF Amboya, he found "a he goat giving
suck to his young kids with his own milk.
He had one breast which gave every day as
much milk as would fill basin tsize OF pasin
not mentioned" This, =" the sanity Jesuit
wrote, Il saw with my own eyes &c.
In symposium giving the opinion of noted
physicians on the choice of alcoholic bever-
ages DR.. s. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia
and DR.. f. H. Wade of Pittsblrg concur IN
the belief that whisky is the least injurious.
Oliver Wendell Eolmes, although he pleads
that his opinion is not based upon personal
experiment, favors rum sophisticated with
milk. DR.. William A. Hammond decides
that beer is the most harmless beverage. DR..
Austin Flint will make no choice. he de-
clares that Alcoholic drinks should never be
taken except upon the prescription of an
able and conscientious physician DR.. ). n.
Davis of Chicago lays down the rule that as
all alcoholic drinks are injurious, that one is
| preferable which contains the least percent
age of alcohol. The Philadelphia RECORD
! says the friends of John Barsycorn get very
| little encouragement at the hands OF phySI-
! clans. But how many OF the medical fra
ternity live up to their own teachings?
Biologists tell US that "one of the most
marked and well known characteristics of
stones and rocks in general is their extreme
| rigidity,' but there are really some speci-
| mems that are more fleXile than wood. bend
! ing under the slightest pressure without
/ breaking, says the st. Louis Republic The
| best known and most abundant OF these heXiIe
/ stones is itacolumite, and elastic Sedimen-
| tary deposit found chiefly in South America,
| but not unknown in the United States, being
| frequently found in large quantities in the
mountains of North and South Caro-
! lima, and occasionally in Georgia. The
! fexibility Of itacolumite is readily IN
| derstood when the stone is sub
! jected to a microscopic examination All
| ordinary sandstones are rigid and brittle, but
in itacolumite the grains are cemented by
! mica and sericite. which confer the flexible
| property to the stone as q whole Viewed by
strong polarized light it is plain to be seen
| that each separate grain Of sand in slab Of
| itacolumite Is surrounded by a cement of the
| teXtle M, O and Sericlte, and that veins of
| the same cement ramify in every direction,
| lmpartng to 1t peculiar elasticity flake of
! such stone two feet in length and two inches
| thick "sagging' five inches in the middle
when both ends are held up by some support.
The cradle in which the infant son of the
Duke and Duchess of York reposes is a gift
| from the queen, and bears an inscription to
the effect that 1t was made in lS4O for the prin-
cess royal. was used for all her malesty's
children, and was given by the queen to the
| Duchess of York in ls49, says the London
News. The queen commissioned the firm of
Edmonds Orr, Wigmore street, to fit it up
| with pure white satin and Honiton lace. ana
as the bassinette is itself IN white wood. there
Is no scrap Of color a0out it. The queen has
| al given a second cradle to the duchess,
made Of mahogany inlaid with fine gliding
Ibis is fitted up with brocade in delicately
pale tones of color. The bedding provided for
both cradles is Of the Softest and lightest de-
scription. The sheets are of Irish lawn Dor
dered with Valenclennes lace, and the blan-
ketS are OF PYrenean wool, very white and
weighing very little, the texture more nearly
resembling elder down than flannel. Two
| small cider down quilts have been provided
| for the LADY use, one white and one pale
pink. The queen has also given the little
prince several robes, including one of fine
Irish lawn and lace and a handsome cloak
| and hood Of lifeline silk. Three small
plumes in the hood suggest the Prince of
| Wales feathers. Such articles as these for
| the children of the wealthy, were some years
ago almost invariably made of French cam
brio. but of late years the manufacture Of
! Irish lawn has so immensely improved that
! u now equals, II II does not even surpass, the
| finest products of the looms OF Cambray, so
close so even, and so clear is it.
If you were standing on the banks Of the
! Delaware river anywhere above tide. at this
season Of the year you would see a novel
sight says the New York Sun 1t would look
to you very much like a huge submerged
| snake moving up the stream, close to the
| shore. 1t IS, In fact, compact mass of min
| ute snake.like fishes, millions of newly
Matched cells, travelling from the muddy bot
tom OF the river below Tide to the clear, fresh
waters OF the upper river and It's tributaries
The eelS are about an inch and half or two
| inches long. They travel rapidly and in
solid column, as thick through as a man 5
toly. by the time the rear guard has passed
| from the bracklSh water at the tide the head
OF the column Will have reached point MANY
miles up the river The ecls journey to the
very head waters OF the river, mounting cams
and falls with the greatest faci lily. Hundreds
of thousands OF the fry leave the main column
| at the mouth of every tributary stream they
/ encounter on the upward march and push
! their way up those streams until some in
| surmOuntable barrier stays their further
| progress. And it has to lie an absolutely
| inSurmountable barrier too, for these little
cells can overcome instructions in the chan
/ nels in way that IS simply incredible. They
may be seen any day during their migration
| wiggling their tiny bodies up the face of al
| most perpendicular rouKs over which the
mountain tributaries of the Delaware plunge
| on their way to the main stream. If the rocks
! are messy the cells succeed in scaling them
4 he cells do not confine themselves to the
| water in their procession up these creeks
but leave the channel and Chamber np the
rocks along the borders OF the streams, where
the moss is moist. In this way they get
around high falls that would otherwise bring
! their journey TO an end. This facility in eel
| fry in getting around precipitous barriers ex-
plains the presence of cells in ponds and
| streams above waterfalls hfty and 100 feet
high. Old fishermen declare that adult
| cells can even make long over
land journeys, and that they habitu-
ally leave the water at night and forage
along the shores for food At Bristol Pa.
1 there is fisherman who will make affidavit
| to the way he became assured OF this capac-
| ity in the eel. He had cleaned loJ of fish
one afternoon fifty feet from the rivers edge
and left the heads and other refuse OF his
! catch living the ground. The. ueyt