Birmingham state herald., 1896-11-08
NUTSHELL FACTS-

According to the official reports of the Japanese government. the Island Empire contains 62.520 teachers.
 Bats are most curiously constructed, the hearts action being aided by the rhythmic contractions of the veins of the wings.
 Strange to say, the bicycle now forms no inconsiderable portion of the Miscel- laneous supplies forwarded to the mis- SionarieS abroad.
 The atlas moth, a night-flying insect of Central Brazil, is the largest winged insect in the world. It's wings extend fourteen inches from tip to tip.
 The yield of wheat in France. owing to the careful cultivation of the soil and the large quantity of guano and other fertilizers employed, is seventeen bushels per acre.
 More than 1000 persons are engaged in the manufacture of explosives in Eng land. Last year forty persons in the business were killed and 167 injured by accidents.
 Barely 52 per cent of the household CTS of London take a morning newspaper, 69 per cent. take either a morning or even- ing newspaper, and 31 per cent. purchase neither. hH7t 59
 -"Honors of War" is the privilege al- lowed to the enemy on equalization, of being permitted to retain their arms. This
 
 vanquished foe.
 A fancy dress ball is given once a year by the lady artists, sculptors, sing CTS and actresses of Berlin No males are permitted at this ball, and about one third of the attendants go in masculine costume.
 About 10, 900 900 of the bovine species are now to be found in the Argentine Re- public. They are all descendants of eight cows and one bull. which were im- ported into Brazil in the middle of the sixteenth century.
 -The Hebrew spoken by the Russian and Polish Hebrews of today is a poly glot. composed of a few Hebrew roots, with large admixture of Russian, Ger man, Polish, Lithuanian and Tartararian words.
 An improved snake story comes from Calcutta. Two tame pythons were kept together, when one swallowed the other. The inside snake, feeling uncomfortable in the others midst, proceeded to eat it's way out at the other end.
 As a child, King Umberto. of Italy, was extremely fragile. and as youth he was very delicate. When he grew older, however, his constitution improved. and now he almost equals his late father, Vic- tor Emmanuel, in robustness. The weight of the brain in man fs about the 36th of the whole body, that of idiots being between tho 60th and 150th. The average weight in the mammaiia is the 186th, In birds the 212th, in reptiles the f321st and in fish only the 568Sth- Cycling Is a pastime on which the sun never sets, Even Japan has caught the craze; the only great drawback is that, except in Yokohama and Tokio, the roads are terribly bad all over the country, be- ing very narrow and full of deep ruts. Edward, Prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince, was so called from the color of his armour. He was the eldest son of Edward III, born in 1880. and died in 1876, before his father, leaving two sons, the elder of whom, Richard, was the successor of Edward III. Hamilton Smith. the British mining engineer and manager, is expected to reach San Francisco about Nov. 1, and soon after to conclude arrangements by which 44,000 acres of land in Mariposa county will pass into the hands of the Ex- ploration company, of London. -Argentina means to get ahead of the European powers in taking possession of the South Shetland Islands, on the edge of the Antacctic continent. An expedi- ton will be sent out for the purpose in December. The islands may possibly be of some use as sealing and whaling sta- tion,