Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-08
NUTSHELL FACTS.

/ ".
the Londoners four.
In Paris people rise early in the morn
| ing, in London late.
In Paris the bed stands alongside the
wall. in London in the midst of the room.
Many diamond diggers of Brazil con-
tend that the industry is still in its in
fancy in that country.
The coffee plantations of Guadeloupe
occupy the mountain ranges and are
from 600 to 1900 feet in altitude.
An example of Temmineks pangolin
has lately been added to the collection Of
the Geological society, London.
A homing pigeon is credited with hav-
ing flown, a short time ago, 500 miles in
one day, flying at the rate of fifty miles
ar hour.
In 1893 Ozanam described four-wheel-
ed vehicle which was propelled by valet
| sta nding at the back and working pair
81 treadles.
Several mouths since diamond weigh
ing 1000 carats was found at Roncardor,
estate of Bahia, Brazil. 1t was sold for
$4,000 and shipped to Europe.
The gold mines of Fire mountain in
the estate of Bahia, Brazil, were worked
for 100000 of the precious metal
| before the independence of that country.
An aloe plant, about 20 feet in height,
| and which has been in the Royal Botanic
| society's gardens, London, for over half
century, is expected to bloom shortly.
Herodotus (4S4-40S B. c. mentions the
case of prisoner who amputated his
own leg to escape from his shackles, and,
escaping to his friends, was provided
with a wooden substitute.
The ladys-slipper is considered in the
symbolism of flowers, to be declaration
OF war, or, rather of audacity, by the
lady to the gentleman, equivalent to the
expression, win me IL you can"
On the Sierra Itaraca, near Salobre, in
the southern part of the state of Bahia,
| Brazil, are found the finest diamonds.
These are among the Oldest and most
| important fields, and they are still be-
| ing worked.
In Brock no one enters a house by tho
front door, nor Is any one seen at the
front windows. The front of the house
is where the best parlors are situated,
which are sacred in cleanliness and sol
itude.
The tiger lily is commonly considered
an emblem of gayety and levity. In some
parts of India this flower is regarded
with a superstitious awe akin to that
| felt for the animal from which 1t takes
| its name.
Up to the year 1889 the river Magdalene
was navigated entirely by kind of large
| canoe called "champan." The champan
| was f1at-bottomed and fitted with a
| rounded roof of palm thatch. On this
| roof the crew worked
|
| specimen of an artificial leg was discov-
| cred with other relics, dating to at least
| as far back as 800 B. C. This unique ar
tificial limb is now in the Museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons
In 1911 Khaiae Beg prohibited coffee,
from belief that 1t tnebriated, and that
it inclined to things forbidden. But Sui
tan Causon Immediately after took off
the prohibition, and coffee advanced
from Egypt to Syria and Constantinople
The oak tree which stands in the mid
| die of the high road leading from Lean
ington to Warwick is said to mark the
| center of England. There is no geomet-
| rical center of England, but tradition has
warranty for the importance it gives to
| this ancient oak.
Not until the fourteenth and fifteenth
| centuries do we find the first evidence of
| attempts at auto-locomotion. Very
! crude attempts were made. consisting of
| the propelling of a heavy vehicle by
| means of cords wound upon the axle
trees, and moved by long rods.
| The richest and most important mines
| now worked In Brazil are in the Sierra do
| Assurua district, about $50 miles west
| from Jacobinas. These mines yield the
| purest gold, mostly In nuggets. Placer
| mining In the most primitive manner Is
| done-the miners use common hoe and
"a wooden wash pan, called "batea."
| Lassalle, French coach builder, in
1
| wheel with a long axle, so that two per-
| sons could sit on it, one on each side of
| the wheel. b. Smith of Liverpool in his
faoiliator made use of the hands instead
| of the feet as the motive agent and Revs
of Cambridge had the same idea In his
albopode.
The first mention of coffee in English
statue books is in the year 1860 when a
duty of pence was laid on every gal
Ion of coffee made and sold, and in 1919
King Charles issued a proclamation to
shut up the coffee houses, because they
were seminaries of sedition. The French
first conveyed some plants to Marti-
nique, whence 1t probably spread to the
neighboring islands.
The real ancestor of the velocipede
was the celerifere of M. de Sivrac $500.
1t is briefly described as a stout wooden
beam with a saddle and supported by
wheel at each end, with notched cross
bars. In front was an upright, held in
position by q supporting bar. 1T could
not be guided, and the rider had to run
along with the vehicle for some distance
| and then ride on until 1t stopped.
At a meeting of the British Ornithol-
| ogists' club, held some time ago, Mr.. II.
| NJ. Walls exhibited three eggs of a golden
| eagle which had been about thirty years
in confinement and began laying eggs
| about fifteen years ago. The eggs were
| taken and those of a domestic fowl sub
stituted. The eagle Matched three OF the
latter and reared three fine birds, feed
ing them principally on rats.
A curious tower was built at Athens
by Andronicus of octagonal form, each
side of which was faced with repre-
sentation of the wind to which 1t looked.
Its spire was surmounted by a. copper
triton, so constructed as to point with a
rod, as 1t turned with each wind, to that
image which represented 1t. Each side
of the tower bore beneath the archtrave
a Greek inscription of it's corresponding
wind, with appropriate illustrations of its
attributes.