The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-11-02
GOSSIP FROM LONDON.
London Dead Season. Over and Americans Returning Home Interesting Lunacy Statistics Advertisements
BY HENRY D EvEREAux.

sition is held accountable for twenty seven per cent. of the cases and alcoholic intemperance for seventeen per cent. If it were possible, however, to investigate fully the family history of every patient, it is quite likely that alcohol might be proved to play an even more prominent part in the causation of insanity than these figures indicate. Bearing on this question, most interesting history of family of inebriates appeared recently in the Quarterly Journal of 1nebriety, ac- companied by genealogical table for four generations. The first generation comprised married couple of good social position, who apparently did nothing to forfeit their reputation. They had two daughters one of whom died a ravlng maniac at forty after a life of the widest excess. The second married and had eight children. Of this third generation, two males are drunkards and alive five daughters died of phthisis, the sixth mar ried and after bringing seventeen children into the world became a drunkard and opium-eater. Ten of these seventeen, comprising the fourth generation,s have died from phthisis, one has drifted into life of immortality, one suffers from phthisis. one died from an overdose of morphia taken when drunK, one com mitted suicide, and three suffer from sui cidal mania in varying degrees. No won der that asylums are full and the death- rate from phthisis steadily increases.
 s.
 One of the wierdest curiosities of adver- Using has been appearing in some of the papers during the last week or two. It celebrates the virtues of a mystic charm found in mummy's tomb in Egypt" and alleged by the advertiser, apparently on no authority but his own, to have been worn by Pharaoh 4000 years ago."
 "What 1t did 40OO years ago." the reader is assured, it does today, and will do TOT you" among its blessings being success in business, fortune in speculation, hap piness in home life, health, strength and vigor." Evidently the Pharaoh who wore it was not the monarch who went in pur- suit of Moses and his people across the Red Sea. To show that there is no de- ception, we have a report from MT. St. Chad Boscawen, of the British Museum, certifying that the article submitted to him is often found on the mummies, and it's magical use is undoubted," and two testimonials from customers which are calculated to stagger humanity. Since he bought ''Khesef" (sucn is the sug- gestive name of the article), MT. R. J. L.. Price, of no matter where, has 'backed Wargrave for a flyer at 20 to 1, and company in which I Prfce) hold shares paid 30 per cent. all of a sudden, never having paid more than per cen. before" Perhaps more marvellous still, he Price1 lat the same time sees his way to getting rid of an objectionable servant" Appar- ently he has other domestics left with whom he is not altogether satisfied, Tor he excaims, "Please send me two more Khesefs!'
 Humility is hardly special virtue of peers. The Spartan severity of Lord Downshire with regard to classifying himself is, therefore, all the more re- markable. "Lord Downshire' writes the Irish Times, ''has a team or donkeys which he uses for garden purposes, and always drives himself' Self knowledge is highly esteemed of philosophers. The man who writes himself down an ass, if he does not get the Order of Merit, cer- tainly merits that of the Thistle.
 Colonel Werner, who died last week at Brighton, served for many years in the army and was widely known as an en- thusiastic falconer. He did much in his