The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-22
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

contrary to the general impression. differs
from cows milk not in being more digesti-
bic, but in being less digestible and less
nutritious, although il contains a larger
amount of solid matter than cows milk.
It is indeed the most indigestible of all
milk. 1t has a peculiar and unpleasant
odor and flavor due TO hircic acid, or bir-
cine. 1t contains an excess of fat, and is,
therefore, altogether too rich for an in
fanfs diet.
The Independent calls attention to Prof
Virchow's restatement of the position o.
science on what has been called spontane-
Gus general ton. He says what everybody
knows, and what was first demonstrated
by the French chemist, Pasteur that the
nineteenth century will hand on to the
twentieth the sure conviction that life is
not produced except from previous life He
says that it is probable that there was a
first life on the earth, but science can tell
nothing about that; that belongs to philos-
| ophy or faith. There are only two alterna-
| tive observation-disclosures generation
and creations; but science can declare for
neither. 1t is not the business of science to
| think out a plan of the universe; that be-
longs to a sphere which transcends obser-
Walton
The Petit Journal of Paris says that
nothing is so curious and Instructive as to
observe the Englishfnan when travelling
as compared with the Frenchman. The
former is calm, punctual, precise, and only
| the necessary quantity of baggage. He
Will journey through China with merely
valise. He is not impatient He loves
travel; 1t is to him an inclination and a
felt want. On the other hand, the French
man when journeying is restless, nervous,
! impatient, bored; the entire time he spends
ffrrf walk OF hsc tab IL
ing the railway time table. He is always
crowded up with parcels in addition to his
| portmanteaux. He is, as a rule, cucumber
ed with many useless articles. In fact,
he dislike travel, which he finds an ennui
and fatigue
"A Washington correspondent, notes
| Harper's Weekly, reports the findings of
the government bureau of entomology an
the matter of the house-fly. The fly is an
| enormously reproductive creature, and, if
| fair chance is given to it, can supply any
demand in very short time. Practically
| all flies are bred. in stables. The eggs do
best in horse droppings. They are easily
| killed by chloride of lime or kerosene; and
as the new flies make for water as soon
| as Matched, a dish of poisoned water in a
stable is effective in reducing their num-
bers. The way to keep stable clear OF
flies is to spray all fresh manure with kerr
| osene The most hopeful token of the
! abatement of flies in cities, however, is to
be found in the substitution of electricity
| for horses, but that is still so far off THAI
| there is every prospect that the fly ques-
| ton will still be actively discussed long
after the Cuban question is settled.
Milton Whitney, chief of the division
of soils of the department of agriculture,
in his annual report to the secretary, says:
! THE electrical method of moisture de-
! termination has been still further perfect
| ed. Sixteen stations have been equipped
| with electrical instruments in various
| parts of the country, and in several i'm
| portant types of SOIL Records have been
kept at these stations for periods varying
| from two to four months, and it has been
llfound that the method can be used by any
! one with ordinary care AS a result of
these field records 1 feel perfectly salts
| fled with the operations of the method
| and equally satisfied that it will prove of
| great value in soil Investigations, as well
as of practical and commercial value. One
| great value of the method is that the cleo
trodes are permanently buried in the field
at any depth desired, and the field can
| be cultivated or cropped as usual. The
| electrical resistance between the cleo
/ trodes is read from a scale and this re-
| sistance varies according to the square of
4 the water contents By once thoroughly
standardizing the electrodes and by the
| use of tables furnished by the division
| the moisture contents of the soil can be
determined at any time from the electri-
cal resistance of the soil.''
Japan is preparing to be one of the
great naval powers of the world Three
vessels of 1850 tons, two of which are
nearly finished, are being built in British
yards, one battleship of 10000 tons being
| built by Armstrong, and four first-class ar
mored cruisers of $50 tons with a speed of
| twenty knots, are assigned, two to Arm
| strong, one to the Vulcan Company Ger
many, and one to France. Two cruisers
of 5000 tons, with a speed of % knots, are
| ordered in the United States, one cruiser
| Of $1,000 tons, with % knots speed, and
| eight torpedo boat destroyers, with a speed
| of 80 knots, in England; eight torpedo boats
at Elbing, Germany, and four in France.
Three cruisers of 5000 tons, with 20 knots
three torpedo boats and a signal ship are
being built in the Imperial yard at Toxic,
in Japan, where an ironclad cruiser of
$500 tons, with 20 knots, viii soon be be-
gun. Japan has also ordered her torpedo
boat f1otilla 10 be fitted out as quickly as
possible in her own yards, and is about to
form second squadron 1t is evident from
the above that the Japanese navy will
SOOH RANK tlilIiSuldlSiy aINeE t1HSldHU 5,
next to that of France and considerably
ahead of the fleets of Germany, Russia
and the United States. The present
strength of Japan's mercantile marine is
275 vessels.
The very latest fad of Partisan women
is to carry purse or card case made from
the skin of a deceased friend, says the
Baltimore Sun. Shop windows show nov
elites made of tanned human skin. The |
skin differs from. the tanned hide of other |
animals only in its being very finely grain |
ed of more delicate texture and unusually |
soft and pliable. 1t is stained peculiar |
shade of green, resembling a piece of fine |
kid. Unable satisfactorily to explain this |
strange new cruel whim of womanhood. |
the Gossip suggests that 1t may possibly |
have originated in the following curious |
experience of M. Camille Flammarion. the |
celebrated French astronomer. Several |
years ago, upon some beautiful starry |
night when he was searching the skies !
at his Paris observatory a small party of
distinguished Vi-Itors was announced. Two |
foreign ambassadors. who were just ac /
companying a lady relative to a ball. al