SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

Russian inventors have entered the field of electrical mechanisms, one of thomost recent Contrivances in this direction being Khotin sfcy's regulator for dynamo-electric ma chines. This device is an automatic current regulator, the idea being to establish, by means of a conductor with variable resist ances, a derivation in the circuit of the cur teat operating upon the bobbin of a dynamo electrio—either an exciting or a generating machine—before its entrance into the coils of the inducing electro-magnets, thus pro viding means for varying the electro-motive force of the principal current. Another feature in this arrangement is that which establishes a derivation, with variable re sistence, in the circuit of the current oper ating upon the bobbin before its entrance into the cojls of the electro-magnets, and at the same time places in tho circuit of the current which excites tho electro-magnets of the inductoranother resistence, by which means variations in the intensity of the prin cipal current can be obtained.

A discovery has been made lately by a Bavarian archaeologist, Herr Sester, at the point where the Euphrates bursts through the Taurus Range. Here, in a wild, roman tic district, lying between Madati'h and Sanisat, he found a line of megalithic monuments averaging between 55ft and GOft in height, and bearing inscriptions. They are in a remarkable state of preservation, and Herr Sester has no doubt that they formed a part of some great natural sanc tuary dating back some 3,000 years or more. There was formerly at this place a necropolis of the Commagene kings, so that it seems reasonable to attribute these colossal monuments to this ancient people, the hereditary foes of the Assyrians. Very little is known about them. The classical ■writers allude to them only in casual pp.s sages, and the arrow-headed inscriptions, although mentioning them very often, have hitherto yielded scanty information.

Mid-Ocean Telegraphy.— * The idea of telegraphing from ships at sea, says "En gineering," is not a new one, and crops up from time to time. Mid-ocean telegraph stations have been proposed and will pro bably be carried out some day. The chief difficulty in the way of their adoption has hitherto been the necessity of keeping the ship connected by a branch cable to tho main cable lying on the bottom, and anchor ing her so as to maintain this communica tion in all weathers and depths desirable. But Professor A. E. Dolbear has proposed a plan which may render this fixed com munication unnecessary. A large metal pliate attached to an insulated conductor is lowered from the ship to the bottom on the track of the cable and another plate is merely submerged. Between these two plates a battery and Morse key is inserted. On working the key the Morse currents in duce other currents in the cable, which can be heard in telephones attached to the cable on shore.

Comets' Tails.—ln a recent paper Mr Rartyard gives some further details with regard to his theory as to the formation of comets' tails. He points out that the ex periments of Professor Graham and the more recent investigations of Professor Wright show that all classes of meteoric bodies hold gas as a sponge holds water. When the meteorites are heated in the laboratory the occluded gas escapes, and as a swarm of meteoric stones in space comes up to perihelion and is heated by the sun, the occluded gases must be driven off. At a distance from the heated nucleus, where radiation into space can take place freely in all directions, Mr Ranyard conceives that a mist is formed by the condensation of the less volatile gases. The particles of mist will be bombarded on the side towards the nucleus by the swiftly-moving molecules of the more volatile gases escaping from the heated meteors. Condensation on the sur face of the mist particles and evaporation from their sunward sides will be set up, and repulsion of the mist from both tho sun and nucleus will follow. According to Schia parelli's theory, a comet's nucleus consists of a swarm of meteoric stones ; according to Mr Ranyard's development of this theory the tail is due to a very thin mist formed from the condensation of occluded gases,the particles of which are driven backwards by the recoil due to evaporation towards the sun.

The Apple of Discord.

(To the Editor.)

Sm,—l am glad that Mr Marsh, in his letter to the Star of the 31st nit., expresses a keen sense of enjoyment in the perusal of that little essay on the moon, although he is rough on me for ignoring the gravity of the situation. He will be more lenient when he considers that the contemplation of the sun, moon, and stars is naturally a light subject, and, dealt with by a lightly-clad spectre, becomes absolutely dazzling to the untutored pupil— of the eye. However, since he wisely refrains from argument, ex cept in the Cumberland style, and a puling phantom would have only the ghost of a show against his "too, too solid flesh," it ' •would bo in bad form to take advantage of my invisibility in this correspondence to try to sit upon him. I will therefore bo satisfied with exhorting him. for all he holds dear, not to import so much kitchen stuff into his letters, or his readers will think he is running a hash foundry instead of a "reat equatorial. Not so "Torpedo," in lost Saturday's Supplement. His pen-name places us on level ground, and I can pound away at him—if you, sir, don't object— until that torpedo explodes and goes off in smoke. The humour of his letter is over powering and the logic is simply Whately gone mad. That huge goak about the apple falling to the earth because it seeks its affinity should head a column in the comic journals, and be set down to Artetnus Ward; but the hyper-hypothetical argu ments, and the ever-rocurring "if" i n other parts, are just too funny for anything but a burnt-cork company. This vein of humour runs through the whole piece thusly.— " Torpedo" supposes that the " Ghost" sup poses that there are opposing influences under which the moon poses in the heavens, and on these imposing premises "Torpedo" builds up a Spanish castle — a gigantic rerial structure, which, were it not as trans lucent as cobwebs, would eclipse the sun at noonday. Then, with that suppositions «';f "■ he adds wings and offices and out houses to the etherial mansion until its enhemcral foundation can no longer bear the strain, and the Utopian fabric tumbles about his ears like jetsam from a barber 3 scissors. The only item 111 which he (no doubt unwittingly.) coincides with this ap parition is that in which he says "Does th» 'Ghost' forget that the force of gravi- W ould rtk ee fc°thi S fornTlfTorr^ don't yet burst up an ironcted,he will assuredly till a sea-louse on her bottom ; and if he is

going to pose as a lecturer on astronomy, and base ilis theories upon what he supposes his audience supposes, the supposition will be that the audience will ask leave to realise on its ticket early in the performance. Well, since no contention has been raised in either letter, this shade will pass on to the OKBITS OP PLANETS, and try to explain, in easy and popular language, a few matters in which "Torpedo" seems to be four centuries behind the times. Astronomers assert, and with a good show of reason, that the first motion of the planets was in a straight line, and as soon as they came within tho sphere of the sun's attraction the direct motion was changed to a circular one by the pull of this mighty orb. Our Solar System is thus shown to be a beautiful mechanical arrangement of a number of very ponderous bodies, and their movements can bo exemplified on a very tiny scale by substituting a thread of elastic for ,the force of gravitation, which it will imitate admirably. By attaching a leadon bullet to one end of the elastic and allowing the other to turn freely on a pivot which is to represent the sun, the bullet will become a planet of tho ninth magnitude. Let this planet be now projected smartly from the hand in almost any direction, and so soon as it reaches the end of its tether it will begin to describe a circle round the deputy sun, and in the absence of counteracting agencies, would continue the performance right into eternity. The planets, then, are kept on the track by the happy combina tion of two forces, which may, for the sake of conciseness, be termed the centripetaland tangential. The same laws govern the motion of the moon round the earth, and there is really no big magnet near the back of her head to keep her in sus pense, as "Torpedo" suggest, and so she has no occasion to turn and gaze in the realms of space. But this is only the a b c of the grand old science ; the problem I want to see solved is not why the planets move round the sun, but why they depart from tho circular orbit and choose the elliptical one. !Newton worked very hard at this and waded knee-deep into the method of fluxions and other fearful quag mires, through which I could not follow without getting stuck ; but I am afraid he never arrived at a satisfactory solution, because, whenever I have asked a real boss astronomer to explain it, he invariably dis covered that he had an appointment to keep with n friend at that particular moment. And perhaps lie is right' to take this view of the question ; I, at all events, will not dispute it with him. It may, however, be not amiss to observe that the mechanical tippliance above-mentioned fills the bill under certain conditions, said conditions being that the sun be also made to revolve in an orbit of his own instead of remaining a fixture. When both bodies are thus kept in motion, the planet performs a very per ceptible ellipse in every revolution, with the sun in one of the foci, and the more rapidly tho sun goes round, the more elongated is the ellipse. Whether the elastic helps it to depart from the purely circular movement, i.s more than I can say, but moving the apology for a sun in a straight line does not art'ect it in the same manner. The moon adopts elliptical tactics, certainly with variations, and we know that it is revolving round a body that is itself moving in another orbit. Would it, therefore, be unreasonable to suggest that an orbital motion of the sun would account for the elliptical orbits of the planets, and that the variations from perfect ellipticity in the moon's orbit are due to the fact that its primary, the earth, is it-self, moving in the circumference of an ellipse? The natural conclusion to be arrived at on this theory is that the sun's orbit is circular, for the planets gain perihelion at the same point in their orbits every revolution, while the moon's perigee is slowly advancing. This spirit would like to hear other opinions.—l am, &c,

Ghost of Copernicus.

The Properties of the Figure Nine.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —Possibly the following may be in teresting to your correspondent, " 14. Marsh,'" as well as to the readers on the peculiarities of the figure 9 :— Ist. If the sum of any number be sub tracted from that number, the remainder will be exactly devisible by 0. Example : 5319476 added gives 3S. 38 ---8319438 3G: 9x4=30. To anyone not acquainted with the above, the following experiment is productive of considerable surprise, as well as forming ex cellent pastime for the "evening circle ":—■ Let a person write a number consisting of two 'or more figures ; add them, subtract the sum from the original number ; then, from the remainder, cross out any single figure; add the remaining figures, and announce the result. The knowing one ha* amply to deduct the result given from the first multiple of 9 exceeding the number given ; the remainder will be the figure crossed out. Note. — When the given answer is an exact multiple of 9, either a 9 or a cipher has been crossed out, or an attempt has been made to bluff the operator jy not crossing any figure. 2nd. To tell the difference between any ;wo numbers, the greater of which is un known, subtract the lesser number from as any 9 s as there are figures contained in i; add tho result to the greater. From le sum thus obtained, totally erase the first igure (left-hand side, which will invariably io a 1), add it to the remaining figures by 10 ordinary process of simple addition, hich gives the difference between the two riginal numbers. Example : Least number, 23. Greatest, 71. 99-23=76 : 71 + 76=147. rase the 1, leaving 47 + I=4B, which is tho difference: 48 + 23=71- For the reason of the foregoing, required >y Mr Marsh, I must plead ignorance. I have a theory partially worked out in my own mind which may or may not be the correct one, but I do not, as yet, feel myself competent to commit the same to paper.— I'am., &c, S. Philpott. P.S.—I have omitted to qualify the latter experiment by stating that if the least number bo a unit, the greater one must likowise bo a unit. If t^ns, hundreds, or thousands, the same rule must bo observed ; or, to make it plain, both high and low number must contain the same number of figures (no limit as to the number).

Silent Influence. —Wo are touohing our fellow-beings on all sides. They are affected for good or for evil by what we are, uy what we say and do, even by what we think and feel. Flowers in the parlour breathe their fragrance through the atmos pnerea| We are each of us as silently saturating the atmosphere about us with tne subtle aroma of our character. In the lamily circle, besides and beyond all tho *t^f? m -*« daily life of each parent and child mysteriously modifies the lifo of every person m the household. The same pro cess on a mder scale is going on through *h™~%- No man liveth to himself, ?"l n° °^ n «eth to himself. Others are sc ous&ed,? *?W>tened by our uncon nf ?wtu ; othew m«y be wrenched out

FOR THE LADIES. An honest man is the noblest pursuit of woman. A fastidious youth of this city explains shat kisses are better enjoyed after dark, Decause they taste better than they look. The railway status of the lah-de-dah cigar ette-smoking " dude " has been fixed at last. The Cleveland "Leader" refers to him as "third-class male matter." A philosopher informs us that a bonnet is no longer a bonnet when it becomes a pretty woman. And the inference is that a woman h no longer a woman when she becomos a "poke." Standing before a clergyman who was about to marry him, a rustic was asked: "Wilt thou have this woman?" etc. The man started in surprise and replied :'' Ay, surely ! Whoy, I kummed a puppus !" A servant girl who had been admonished by her mistress to be careful in "washin' up" the best tea things was overheard shortly afterward indulging in the follow ing soliloquy, while in the act of washing the sugar basin :"If I was todrop this 'ere basin, and was to catch it, I suppose I shouldn't catch it; but if I was to drop it and wasn't to catch it, I reckon I should catch it." The feminine conception of women's rights in the States ig practically illimitable. One Annie Goandter, for instance, lias been more than eight years in the service of a Chicago railroad, receiving 46 dollars for taking oharge of seven switches ; and an other, Lillie Darst, who has just died at Ohio, edited the "Circleville Herald," and edited it so ably as to attract attention through the State. In England these in teresting women would have been rewarded ■with a public subscription ;in America a woman who does a man's work lias to be content with a man's wages. At the opening of the Irish Lace Exhibi tion at the Mansion House, the Duchess of Connaught wore a startlingly novel dress, which produced something like a sensation among the cognoscenti in these matters. It consisted of narrow red and blue stripes, with trimmings and folded scarf of navy blue satin ; the centre of the back of the "bodice was made of a piece of navy blue and rod embroidery on a cream ground, the effect of this being, to say. the least, curious. Her Royal Highness wore a bonnet of yellow fancy straw, with cream feathers, maroon velvet, and forget-me -nots. ■At the Garden Party given by Lady Burdett-Coutts in June, great interest and excitement was raised in one of the rooms at the sight of the celebrated Indian dia mond—a dazzling gem of the small value of £25,000 in itself alone, and which shone out 'ram its case of black velvet like the con centration of a thousand fires. There was i group of many smaller African diamonds sparkling in the most blinding fashion, and nany others also, in the rough form, so iltogether that one small apartment must ' lave contained the value of many a petty singdom. Feminise Frivolities. —To drudge away ife for a place in society, to give precious afternoons to the labour of " paying calls," . and to allow indifferent acquaintances, as Emerson said, to devastate the day, to give constant thought to the revision of one's x>ilette and the improvement of one's visit ing list—this is to be a slave to things. And I the slave do not feel her fetters, so much ;ho worse for her. So many women have not time for the unhurried delight of their children's presence, for reading anything neyond the last novel, for any occupation n'gher than the narrowing round they call their '' domestic and social duties !" A marriage was being performed recently at Fornton Church, when, through the ignorance of the parties concerned and the carelessness of one of tho officials a daughter was nearly wedded to her father, and one of ;he congregation whispered, more than once, in a loud tone, " You are marrying ;he wrong man." The mysterious tonex arrested the attention of the officiating clergyman, and the parent was saved from marrying within a highly-prohibited degree. After a general blush of humiliation, the wedding was completed in an orthodox fashion, and the prospective husband was not called upon to give away his intended wife to her own father. —" Modern Society." True Courtesy.—A beautiful fact on this subject is related of Prince Albert. On one occasion a humble, worthy man, who had befriended the Prince in early life, called to see him, and was invited to come to the family table. He began to eat with his knife, as he had been accustomed, and the young people smiled. Prince Albert looked around upon them, as if to say " Stop that!" and at once he himself began to eat with liis knife, and did so to the end of the menl. After dinner one of the children asked him why lie did so. Prince Albert replied, "It is well enough for us to observe the etiquette of the day, but it is far more important to avoid insulting people. I want my old friend to enjoy his dinner, which lie could not if he had seen you laugh ing at him. He is accustomed to use his knife, and it would be quite difficult for him to use tho fork instead." This was genuine politeness. The world would be happier and better if there wei-e more of it. In an old farce called '' Domestic Econ omy," written by the late Mark Lemon, and constantly played by Mr Toole, husband and wife take each other's duties. The man stays at home and looks after the house hold, while the woman goes out to work. A Boston milliner has, according to a journal of that city, put the idea into serious practice, and shefindsit answers thoroughly, which the persons of the farce did not. The milliner gives a good general account of her husband. He is kind, and has a number of merits, amongst which ability to earn a livelihood is, unhappily, not included. She, therefore, " runs the business " and finds the money, while ho performs the duties which usually devolve on the wife in humblo families. For two years matters have been thus conducted, and the plan is found to answer admirably. He rises, builds the fire, gets breakfast, and his wife leaves at 7.45 for her place of business. Ho does the washing and ironing and the clean-' ing, and she does not know of any woman who can beat him. "Heis as neat as wax," the lady says, "and can cook equal to any one in town. It may be an isolated case, but I think tho time has now come when women who have husbands to support should make them do the work ; otherwise they are luxuries we must do without." It is riot a very dignified position for a man ; but, then bread and cheese, mutton chops aiidftne, with a due supply of lager beer, are on some hands esteemed better than dignity. Apropos of the House of Lords throwing out the Deceased Wife's Sister Bill on the third reading, a clever writer sensibly ob serves : —Whatever one may think of the advisability of this alteration in the marriage laws, one thing is quite certain, thai; the " first-they-would-and-then-they- wouldn't" legislation has been little short of torture to the innocent victims of the bishops vote. The slur which is so much talked about as being on the offspring of these marriages of course ought not to exist, and except in a

legal sense, does not. Illegitimacy in this country is no longer a brand of shame, ex cept where the bastard in of poor parentage. The greatest noblemen of to-day—some of tho very men who hoped to throw the bill out—owe their titles and their wealth to their descent from the illegitimate offspring of monarchs ; and among the leading men in the army, the navy, literature, and the ' world of fashion are several who bear their ) mothers' names they have no right to their i fathers'. Tho " slur" business is practically j a sentimental grievance, but this point Is ' worthy of consideration. The peers are I not infallible — neither are they moral powers. No vote of theirs oan influence tho moral aspect of the question. If it be morally right to marry your children's aunt, no majority of either House can make it wrong ; and if it be morally wrong, no vote can make it right. Gikls First. —"The best husband I ever j met," says a living writer, " came out of a | family where the mother, a most horioe and self-denying woman, laid down the absolute law, ' Girls first' —not in any authority, but first to be thought of a3 to protection and tenderness. Consequently the chivalrous care which these lads were taught to show to their own sisters naturally extended it self to all women. They grew up true gentlemen—gentlemen generous, unexaot ing, courteous of speech, and kind of heart. In them was the protecting atrongth of manhood, which scorns to use its strength except for protection ; tho pvoud honesty of manhood, which infinitely prefers being lovingly and openly resisted to being ' twisted round one's finger,' as mean men are twisted, and mean women will always be found ready to do it, but which I think all honest men and brave women would not merely dislike, but utterly despise."

The Fashions.

Lyons grenadine is in very great favour, and is universally admired ; the silk stripes embroidered in many colours, with inser tions of chenille network and buds, show charmingly as pouf and panier over skirts of plain grenadine, rose, lilac, and amber, with sous jupe of silk the same colour. There are also very pretty simple toilettes of woollen grenadine—grenadine canevas, muslins and light veilings, batistes and zephyrs ; these are also trimmed with lace and coloured ribbons, and are effective though inexpensive. White, cream, and light neutral shades veilings are trimmed with dark ribbon velvets, claret and ruby being trcs a la mode for the purpose. Some of the leading modistes making polonaises, or bodices and tunics, of these veilings, over plain skirts of dark velvet ; cream or pale grey, with violet or ruby velvet, are the favourite com binations of colour. Sea green, resida, silver green, "fading turquoise," nemophila blue, and two or three pale pink—such as rose chair and nymphe—mauve, lilac, and heliotrope, are the most fashionable light colours; the peacock blues and greens, moss green, and two or three rich shades of brown, violet do Lorraine, and Lous green, being those generally selected for dai'ker shades. There are also many charming tints of very soft effect in what is known as the "smoke shades " —blues, browns, and greys ; the latter are particularly attractive, trimmed with silver braid. A very elegant fashion of wearing lace scarfs has been introduced lately; tho scarf is pleated at the throat, drawn out a little over the bust, narrow again at the waist, continuing down the front, and form ing a curve en panier at one side ; the other panier is of silk or satin. Nothing can be prettier than the beaded corselets so fashionably worn ; they are of jet, gold, or steel beads, in lattice pattern, and are called the " Donna Paz " corselet. The black ones are worn over black and dark- colours; the blue steel over grey, black and sea blue; and the gold over black or brown ; those of gold and silver cords, or pearl beads, are charming over white or light-colourpd satin and silks. The corsage "Figaro," trimmed with ruches of lace, and completely covered with pampilles {i.e. drops) of jet, passementerie, and chenille, is among the favourite novel ties, and looks well with many different styles of dresses. For evening dress, crape, tulle, and silk gauze are much worn over satin the same shade, or white ; the effect of four or five skirts of either of these thin tissues, fringed with beads or light flowers, such as snow drops, lilies of the valley, myosotis, &c, is most elegant and vaporous. Wild flowers and long fancy grasses are used in the same way, and also to edge the berthe of the satin bodice, and sometimes added to the basques.— '■ Le Follet for July."

The Dude.

[BY H. C. DODGE.]

A is the actress this dude so besets. B is his billiards, bills, bouquets, and bets. C is his cheek, cigarette, cane and collar. D is his drinks on another man's dollar. E is his eye-glass and Englishairs. Fisthe free lunch that he never spares. G is the girl he en deavors to mash. His his hat just as flat as his cash. I is his ignor- anoe, always dis- played. J is the jewelry on him array ed. X is his knowledge of folly and sin. L is his legs that are crooked andthin. Mis his mustacho, nine hairs to a side. Nis his neck- tie, a soil- ed shirt to hide, O's his oldman, whomhewillnotindorse. T ishis pocket-book, empty.of course, Q is his quarrel when he gete a kick. R is tho racket that makes him so sick. S is his shoe? vary sharp at the toe. T is his tailor, who fills him with woe. U i s his uncle, who pays, ante's bill. Vis his rice that ■ makes him look so ill. W's his wash woman scold ing the beat. X isXer- tiontokeop on his feet. Vis his yawns, for he's tiredoutquite. Zisthe zigzag he walks when he's tight. *

A life insurance agent called one day of Sandy Brown at Symington for the purpose of getting him to insure his life. Sandy proving obstinate, the agent had to support his argument by direct proof. " Look, Mr Brown," said he, "your cousin, Thomas Brown, was only insured two months when he died, and his widow thus got £200 for 605." "Oh, yes," said Sandy, ".that's a' very weel, but then Tamas was aye ano o' thae lucky individuals."

A Wonderful Feat of Conjuring.

Apropos of Mr Irving Bishop's seances, the great Robert Houdin went by Royal com mand to Saint-Cloud, as he relates in his Confidences, to give a show before Louis Philippe and his family. In tha course of this show he borrowed six handkerchiefs from the audience. Then various members of the audience wrote down on slips of paper the names of places whither thoy would like the handkerchiefs to be transported. This done, the conjuror asked the King to choose three of these slips at random, and from the three to select the place he preferred. " ' Como,' said Louise Philippe, ' let us ace what is on this slip.' / should like tfiem to be found under one of thf. mi the mantlepiece. ' That is too eaay for a wizard; let us try again.' / should like them to be found on the dome of the Invalids. ' That is too far, nob for the handkerchiefs, but for us. Ah ! you will, I fear, find it difficult to comply with the re quest on the last slip.'" The request was that the handkerchiefs should bo found in the box of the last orange-tree on the right-hand of the avenue at Saint-Cloud. The conjuror expressed his readiness to comply with tho request, and tho King im mediately sent off a party of men to keep guard over tho orange-tree. Tho conjuror put tho handkerchiefs under a bell of thick glass, waved his wand, took up the bell, and showed a whito dove in placo of the handkerchiefs. Then the King, with a sceptical smile, sent orders to the head gardener to open the box of the orango-treo chosen, and to bring whatever he might find there, "Si toutefoi.i il y trouve quelque chose." This was done, and presently there was brought in an iron coflbr, covered with rust. "Well!" cried the King, "here we have a coffer. Are the handkerchiefs in it V "Yes, Sir," replied Kobert Houdin, " they have been there a long time." "A long time, when it is only a quarter of an hour since they were given to you?" "What, sire, would be the use of magic if it could not porform impossible feats? Your Majesty will bo surprised when I prove to you that the coffer and its contents hare boon in tho box of the orango-treo for sixty years." The King now observed that a key was needed to open tho box, and Robert- Houdin asked him to take the koy which was hung by a ribbon round the whito dove's neck. This wan a key as rusty as the coffer which it opened, and tho firirfc tiling found in tho coffer was v parchment bearing these words:—"To-day, June 6, 1780. This iron coffer, holding six handker chiefs, has been placed amid the roote of an orange-tree by mo, Balsamo, Count of Caghostro, to aid tho accomplishment of a magical feat which will be dono this day sixty years before Louis Philippe of Orleans and his family." Below the parchment lay a packet sealed with Cagliostro's seal, which was well known to the King, and in the packet were six borrowed handkerchiefs. " Cc tour," says Robert-Houdin, and we can well believe, "me valut de vifs applaudisse mente.'-- When Mr Bishop can do anything like this, it may be time, says the "Saturday Review," to admit that he possesses " a strange talent."

Another Infliction on Travellers.

Railway carriage telegrams are the latest proposals to add misery to our alroady un happy lives. Mr George Cruikshank Pulford, brother of MrW.S. Pulford, of the News and Advertising Agency, Auckland, says an English exchange, has submitted to the Postmaster-General a scheme of railway carriage telegrams which will be taken into . considera tion in connection with the approaching re duced rate for inland messages. The pro posal is that telegraph forms should be hung in every railway carriage, so that pas sengers could write telegrams while in transit. These telegrams would bo collected at all important railway stations by an official who would pass alon"- the platform. In this way passengers would bo able to de spatch messages with respect to their busi ness or their movements without the trouble of seeking out the telegraphic office, which in many cases they have not at prefect time to do. This is simply shocking. It has hitherto been a sourco of comfort to a busi ness man to know that when he vras skim ming along at the rate of sixty miles an hour he was at least freo from tho cares of business. Now he will never know what may be in store for him when he oomes to tho 6rst stopping-place on his journey. It is appalling to contemplate the effect upon lovers. Adolphus " sweofc upon" Angelina would wish to wire to her at every station. His messages would run something like this, presuming he was travelling by the Great Northern route :—Peterborough, twelve o'clock.—Day hot and dusty. Pace very fast. Darling if you were here. Grant ham, later. — Oh, that I wera in your father's garden with that claret-cup. My love has not abated, though they have just applied the continuous brake. York, later still.—No time to wire much. Dinner waiting. Very thirsty. Kisses for my beautiful potunia ; and so on. With twenty or thirty Adolphuses (should it not be Adolphi ?} in the train the telegraph-clerks would have a warm time.

Growing Downwards.

The "Conseils de Revision," car bodies charged with examining into the condition of the recruits for the French army, and passing thorn, if they can, as having the proper physical qualifications, are now some of the most notable purveyors of strange cares for the doctors and the biolo gists, The last curiosity which they have unearthed sounds like exceeding any of its predecessors in past years, and will prob ably tax the credulity of some roaders even among those who are most convinced of the credit belonging to officials in France. It appears that two years ago a rather young candidate for admission to the service was. rejected ns being too fehort by a small fraction of an inch, and was marked by the Commissioners as a likely man for the next year, as he would in the interval probably have gained the requisite additional height. He was last year accordingly brought up again and carefully measured, when it was found that instead of getting taller he had decreased somewhat in stature. Still the authorities did not despair, and once more pricked him, with a hope that the deficiency would at lost be made up. He has now again submitted to the ordeal of the tape,, and the eelf-same phenomenon has again been certified to exist, his height having in two years decreased by about the 20th part of an inch. He has now at last been dis missed finally from all further examinations, but it is hoped that the doctors will not lose sight of so interesting a patient. If the man would only communicate his receipt for achieving this new feat, provided that his weight diminishes with his stature, what a fortune he might make among the jockeya, without counting the smaller emoluments he could earn by preparing coxwains for , the Henley Regatta !—" Globe."

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, SEPTEMBER 8, 1885.

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