The morning news., 1897-02-27
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


Great when the latter was on his Indian
expedition, says the New York Press. 1t
was an enormous brute, of the mastiff
type, and Alexander ordered bears, wild
boars and deer to let loose before it, but
the dog lay down and regarded them with
contempt Disguised, Alexander ordered
his soldiers to kill the sluggish animal
and the King of Albania, hearing of it,
sent another dog, with the request that it's
powers be tried, not upon small animals
but upon the lion or the elephant adding
that, as he had had only two such dogs
if this one were put to death the race
would be extinct. Alexander Immediately
procured a lion, which the dog tore to
pieces. Then an elephant was brought
and the dog, leaping upon its shoulder
and getting away time after time kept
the great beast turning round and round
until it became dizzy and fell to the
ground. Such is the origin of the mastiff
Attorney Loomis c. johnson of ST.
Louis received letter Monday that was
started around the earth by him Sept
30, 1896. 1t took the epistle just las days
to complete the circle. The letter was
sent in order to settle a dispute as to
whether il would take properly directed
mail matter six months to travel the
route The letter was addressed to ~
Charles Brice, United States Consulate,
Toxic, Japan" This was a fictitious
name, and on the envelope were instruc-
tions to forward the episte to Venice.
The letter was not called for in Venice
and was sent on to Mr.. Johnson, his name
being in the corner of the envelope. The
letter merely stated that the envelope
was being sent on a wager, and requested
any one opening it by mistake to push
it along. The letter, says the Post-Dis-
patch, contains the date and cancellation
stamp marks of half dozen different
governments. These marks show that the
letter left the United States by way of
Tacoma and returned through the port of
New York. Six cents postage paid the
freight the entire route.
Mexican cemeteries and burial GUS
toms are very different from those in
other parts of the world. The little city
of Guanajuata exhibits these peculiari-
ties to a marked extent. There the dead
man is entitled to but temporary repose
in the public cemetery. His body can rest
in peace for five years, after which term
unless his family hire the ground for an
additional period, it is evicted for non
payment of rent. The Guanajunto GEM
etery is filled with catacombs, built with
extremely thick walls Each holds a sin
gle body, and after the tomb is closed the
door is hermetically sealed with a stone.
Access to the catacombs is allowed from
morning until nightfall, and the dead re-
ceiVe frequent visits from their friends.
give up his resting place unless his family
pay the municipality $25 rent for a new
term of repose. "A popularity of the
Guanajunto atmosphere prevents decay,
and rapidly transforms the corpses in
these temporary tombS into mummies
The bodies of the eVicted dead each
bearing tablet inscribed with the corpse's
name, are leaned in long rows against
the inside of the cemetery walls. and
there they stay for years before crum-
bling into dust.
Such distinguished anatomists as Bis
choff have claimed that man must be
the intellectual superior of woman be-
cause his brain is a twelfth to a ninth
heavier. Prof. Darkchevtch, a brilliant
young Russian student of the subject has
now found good reasons ror protesting
against this conclusion. That man. the
most intelligent animal, has not the heav-
lest brain is shown by this table of brain
weights: Cat, % grams; dog, 50; sheep,
120; lion, 250; gorilla, 400: OK, 500; horse,
65O man, 1850; whale, $500; elephant 1900;
That absolute brain weight is not meas
ure OF intelligence is further shown, more
over, by the fact that many men of ex-
| traordinary ability-such as Liebig-have
! had brains below the average in weight
To prove that the brain of man is not
| even relatively heavier than that of all
| other animals, this table of ratios of brain
WIGHT W DOuS weight is given. Tor
| toise, 1-2240; OK, 1850; elephant 1-5O0: bah
! oon, 1-150; macaco, 1-90; man, 40; spar
| row, l-5; chimpanzee, 100. The greater
| number of convolutions in the surface of
| a mans brain compared with that of
woman does not establish superiority, for
| the marVelously ingenious beaver has a
! smooth brain, while the compare lively
unintelligent sheep has a, great wealth of
| conVolutions. If the weight of the frontal
| lobes has significance, as some scientists
| have thought, then woman has the adj
| vantage, hers being the heavier. Prof
| DarkcheVitch's studies lead him to the
| remarkable new theory that the ratio of
the weight of the brain to that of the
! spinal marrow is the true indicator of in
! telectual capacity, and this table of such
ratios Is seen to correspond strikingly to
! our ideas of the relative intelligence of
the animals mentioned: Tortoise, 1; cock.
! 10; pigeon, 20; sheep 2.5; OK, 2.5; horse
20; lynx, 3; cat, 3; dog, 5; seal, s.; mole.
| %; hedgehog, Z; whale (estimated), 10;
! chimpanzee (estimated). Is: elephant (es-
timated), IS; man. 49. Taking the figures
OF Bischon, the ratio is found to be 40
IT. man and 1873 in woman
-China's revenues are collected in way
enthusiastically absurd, but in ordinary
times an amount sufficiently great to meet
the necessities of the imperial govern
ment at Pekin always came in saws the
approximately. how much is extortod
from the people by the agents of the diff
ferent provincial governors, but it is an
amount considerably, perhaps enormous
ly. greater than ever finds it's way to the
national treasury. Since the war with
Japan, China has become a borrower from
foreign capitalists, and this facts has led
TO somewhat careful investigation of the
countrys resources. This has proved to
be work of great difficulty, for accounts
are never audited and only imperfect re-
ports of the sums raised annually are
printed i'm the Pekin Gazette. For the pur-
pose of revenue, as indeed for other pur-
poses, China Is an agglomeration OF many
neutrality-suspicious. provincial govern
ments. No part of the national income is
collected directly by the imperial govern
ment. All the collectors of the revenue
are agents of the provincial governors.
and responsible to them. All the money
collected Is first paid into the provincial
| treasury, or one of the provincial treas
uries, for there are several of them in
every province and thereafter is remitted
according to the apportionment of the
year, partly to PelSin, partly for local gov.
a.