The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


consecrated almost entirely TO asrology
and alchemy The oldest printed alma
nae OF which we have any knowledge is
salQ 70 nave appeared in Vienna IN 1850.
Fourteen years later RegimOntanus,
herman ma lnematlclan living IN Hun
gary, published series Of almanacs from
l475 TO 1906.
The skeleton Of a large bird now on
exhibition in the museum OF Christs
church, New Zealand gives one a faint
idea OF the gigantic form of animal life
Mnlcn once existed on this planet The
skeleton Is that of a moa, a bird form
merry indtgeOus to New Zealand, but
which is believed to have become extinct
about 1900 years ago.
"A curiOusly ingenious device IS regard
ed as being sometimes employed by Mon
golian letter carriers These men make
very Ions journeys on foot and within
a time which allows them only the brief
est intervals for an occasional nap. To
lneIeLore, tncy tie a piece OF JOSS suck 20
one OF their thumbs, Eight it, and lie down
70 rest. When the stick burns down to
the flesh the pain aWakens them and
they resume the journey.
of all domestic animals the horse is
easily the most fastidious feeder. His diet
Is confined to very few articles, and he
cannot tolerate even these unless they are
clean and fresh. A Well-bred horse would
refuse food that has been handled or al
lowed to get sOiled or even permitted to
lie too long in his presence. Among wild
animals the giraffe is perhaps the dam
test feeder. Nothing but the freshest and
tendereSt shoots viii satisfy him, ana IN
eating grass he VIII only take the green
and tender tops. The otter, too, appears
to be unusually fastidious for although he
viii kill far more fish than he can eat, only
the schoice cuts of them, as it WERE Will
please him, and these according TO his
fairly correct taste, are to be found in two
or three inches along the thick of the
back.
The Swiss army is complete in every
detail" it is said, 1.-THE medical, veterinary
and commissariat departments being thor
oughly organized" and this in spite of
the fact that the average cost of a soldier
is only Il a year, says the Pail Mall Ca
zette. The first line forces number an
effective total of 137, $40 men; in the Land
wehr there are $1,000 more, and in the
Landsturm 10000 Besides, owing to the
encouragement given by the state to such
institutions as the Societies de Tir, nearly
every man in the country knows how to
handle a rife, and is more or less of a
soldier. Switzerland could, at the short
est notice, put into the field and maintain
an army of 10000 men at least, properly
found and equipped. When the Swiss sol
der crosses the threshold of his house
he may be said to be in full marching
order. for he keeps his entire kit rifle,
knapsack and cloak in his home and
every man takes an honest pride in haV-
ing each article in good condition.
1t has been said that although the
mosquito is in reduced circumstances, he
has some of the best blood in the coun-
try in his veins, says the New Orleans
Flcayune. 1t is also interesting to learn
that he is a skillful scientist, who draws
blood as neatly as any surgeon. Indeed,
his skill. minutely delicate as it is, is
simply tool box in which six delicate
instruments are kept. Two of them are
exact counterparts of a surgeons lance
One is a spear with a double barred head.
The third is an eUquisitely fine needle. A
saw and pump go to make up this won
derful outfit. The spear is the largest
of the instruments, and is used in making
the puncture. Then the lances come into
play, their work causing the blood to flow
flow sufficiently, the needle and the saw
are inserted in a lateral direction in
delicate of all the instruments, is used in
sucking up the blood. This is the scien-
tific explanation of a mosquito bite. In
spite of the beauty of the operation, sci
same kind of a slap at the mosquito
and give way to the same rude Ian
guage.
There are a good many birds whose
strength of wing is sufficient to strike
pretty hard blows, capable of bewilder-
ing man, If several of the birds attacked
him at once. Some birds depend on their
wings as weapons to be used in the duels
for sWeethearts. Forest and Stream told
some years ago about an owl whose wing
was broken by a dove it had sought to
capture and make a meal of. A CORE
spondent of the National Druggist tells
OF his first surgical case in the state of
Arkansas. market hunter on Swan
Lake, near Shawnee Village plantation,
was hunting at night with light, when
a band of swans, beWildered by the fire
came flying that way. The hunter who
was in a little pirogue, threw up his arms
to save his head, and the left one was
struck by a wing of a bird, and both the
ulna and the radius of his forearm We're
broken. The Sun recently told of a Port
Jervis farmer who was knocked from a
tree by a fight of wild geese during a
fog, and Forest and Stream has several
times in the past twenty years told about
men who We're dazed by birds flying
against their heads, partridges (ruffed
grouse) being the principal Offenders.
We often hear it remarked, and partic-
ularly after the eruption of a volcano
that pumice stone ought to be plentiful
and cheap, as quantities must have been
elected during the volcanic disturbance
says the Popular Science News. AS a
matter of fact, however, none of the WEite
stone in general use is obtained from
active volcanoes. 1t comes from the de-
posts of the article discovered in one or
two quarters of the globe, the best or
which Is at present to be found in the
island of Lipari, situated in the Tyrrhen-
ian sea. The island is mountainous in
character and consists of tufts and lava,
and of highly siliceous volcanic products
The district where the stone is found
is called Campo Bianco or Monte Petalo
Q,5OO feet above the level of the seal
After riding a considerable distance part
~ along precipitous paths sufficiently
dangerous to be interesting and partly
through vineyards and over grassy plains
one almost comes suddenly upon seem.
lngly snow-clad valley inclosed by hills
also quite white, and the whole glaring-
ly bright on a sunny day. In those hills
workmen are ceaselessly digging deep
burrows, working within by candle light
In their excavations they come across
many Jumps of pumiee stone which are
placed in baskets, subsequently being con-
veyed along the valley to the seashore
where small boats are loaded and sail
to the seaport near by, where the stone
is sorted, packed and shipped to distant
ports, either by way of Messina or Leg
horn.
"A new and simple mode Of treatment
has been introduced in France, says the
Hospital, by which, it is claimed, a large
proportion of injured limbs now usually
amputated can be saved. The method.
which is due TO DR. ReclUs, was recently
described before the French congress OF
d.