The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-12
ITEMS. or INTEREST,".

| literary powers seem TO have faded almost
| entirely away since the days of the Ro-
mans. Out of 25,O00 volumes published last
| year in the Land of Flowers no less than
5000 were law books, and 1900 treated of
religion. which shows that The romantic
| little nation has not yet taken kindly to
any written form of romance.
-Four of the great German universities
are now at work on the preparation of an
actual dictionary of the hieroglyphic Ian
guage of The ancient Egyptians. The hope
is entertained that printing may begin in
1863. The meaning of a vast number OF
words has 10 be found from comparison
| of texts containing the words sought. BY
| a system of exclusion a probable meaning
may be reached for each word
1t has been shown that, while Nan
sens observations prove that the North
polar region is great ocean cavity, near.
| ly two miles deep, the South polar region,
on the contrary. is, apparently, a vast
solid mass of land. surrounded by a belt
J of water about two miles in depth The
area of the South Polar continent is esti-
mated TO be about 100000 square miles,
100000 more than that of the United
States, excluding Alaska.
We note in some of the papers to hand
by last mail. says the Westminster Ga
| Zette, reference to the researches regard
| ing the strange bird life of New Zealand
made by one Richard Henry, a born nat
uralist who, out of choice, has exiled him
self from the haunts of humanity, and
| gone to live in the wilds of the West coast,
where the kakapo, the kiwi and the meka
| strange night birds-abound The gov
eminent has set apart Resolution Island
| as a sanctuary for these birds, and Henry
| is engaged in studying their habits. The
lralra nTh.a oh fe 1aTo eg~fll1 md
parrot quite blind in che daytime, breeds
only every second year. The kiwi, a rare
| wingless night bird, however breeds twice
a year and is peculiar in that the male
bird does the Matching out
The disease which is destined shortly
to put China in need of a new EN-
peror is not so mysterious as 1t at first APP
| peared. A correspondent to the London
| Chronicle furnishes an account of a noted
sufferer which contains some interesting
"details. The Emperor. it seems, removed
the outer garments of the upper part of
his body for the examination, keeping on
only a thin silken vest. The physician
then sounded him and found not only the
kidneys but the apex of the left lung af-
fected. He asked his patient a series OF
questions regarding his trouble but his ma
iesty, instead of answering them, produced
a paper containing a minute description of
his symptoms and presented it to the doc
tor The Chronicle says ''he presented
them but one hardly supposes he pre-
sented the symptoms. At all events, the
Emperor kept this memorandum in his
boot, thereby setting a royal precedent for
the custom of using the neither extremi-
ties coverings as repositories for things of
value and weapons of defence Through
out the interview" concluded the doctor,
the Dowager Empress displayed the most
sincere solicitude."
"A dispatch from Danville, KY, says:
This most extraordinary occurrence is
vouched for by four of the most reputa-
Bile gentlemen in Boyle county Friday
was in this section clear day and no
ram had fallen for several days prior to
that time. About 3 o'clock that after
noon several persons sitting on the front
porch of the residence of r. D. Bruce,
five miles from Danville, We're attracted
by the queer proceed IS beneath a small
maple tree in the la,,A The tree was
some forty feet from the. porch and rather
large. 1t is of the rapid-growth variety
and had been set out for fifteen years.
When noticed Friday afternoon water was
dropping from the leaves and branches
, just as if a heavy rain was on. The sky
being bright and clear and no clouds in
sight, the spectators were at a loss to
; account for the phenomenon. They walked
Deneatn the tree ana lOOkeu carefully LOT
the origin of the water, but could see
nothing further than that it seemed to
ooze from the twigs and leaves, The
shower lasted for fully an hour and was
heavy enough to have perceptibly mois-
tened ones clothing had they stood in it
] all of the time. The tree was never known
2 to cut such caper before.
1t is generally supposed, says the Sci
entific American, that instinct unerringly
= teaches birds and insects the best way in
! which to build their homes or nests and
= also to provide for their offspring. The
\ following incident, recently under personal
observation, will show that instinct is not
{ always infallible: A friend placed three
small empty walls in an open box, on a
a Shelf in an upright position, in close con-
a TACT, and they were uncorked. A short
= time afterward it was a matter of surprise
to find that these had been appropriated
by a female mud wasp She had placed a
S goodly number of spiders in the
l center vial, doubtless intended to
] serve as food for her future
q brood; then proceeded to deposit her
{ eggs in those on either side. She next clos
= ed tightly the mouths of all three recepta-
r c.es with a hard lime cement. Having fin
. ished her work, she then doubtless went
, on her way satisfied all had been done for
= her offspring that a thoughtful mother
could DO. But just think OF the sensations
of those little wasps when they come into
existence, for, while starving in their seal
ed cages, they can plainly see, through the
! impenetrable glass walls, the bountiful
supply of food which was provided for
= their use
n 4 have seen good many rattlesnakes-
. perhaps a hundred or more-in these
: mountains, says John Muir in the Novem-
Der Atlantic, but 1 have never Intention
ally disturbed them, nor have they dis
turbed me to any great extent even by
accident, though they were oftentimes in
danger of being stepped on. Once, while
1 on my knees kindling a fire, one glided
r under the arch made by my arms The
o last time l sauntered through the big can
Y yon I saw about two day. One WIS NOT