During the Franco-German war the Germans lost only 263 men from this disease, the French 23,499, the former having been revaccinated in barracks. In the war in Paraguay, the Brazilians lost 43,000 men from malignant or black small-pox, that is, 35 per cent. of their army, nine cases in ten proving fatal.

A CAMEL has twice the carrying power of an ox; with an ordinary load of 400 lbs. he can travel 12 to 14 days without water, going 40 miles a day. Camels are fit to work at 5 years old, but their strength begins to decline at 25, although they live usually till 40.

THE CHECKS paid in New York and London in one month aggregate $6,350,000,000, which is greatly in excess of the value of all the gold and silver coin in existence.

POUNDS of water evaporated by 1 lb. of fuel as follows: Straw, 1.9; wood, 3.1; peat, 3.8; coke or charcoal, 6.4; coal, 7.9; petroleum, 14.6.

IN 1877 the newspaper Nationale of Paris had ten pigeons which carried dispatches daily between Versailles and Paris in fifteen to twenty minutes. In November, 1882, some pigeons, in face of a strong wind, made the distance of 160 miles, from Canton Vaud to Paris, in 61⁄2 hours, or 25 miles per hour.

THE average elevation of continents above sea level is: Europe, 670 feet; Asia, 1,140 feet; North America, 1,150 feet; South America, 1,100 feet.

IN 1684, four men were taken alive out of a mine in England, after 24 days without food. In 1880, Dr. Tanner, in New York, lived on water for 40 days, losing 36 lbs. in weight.

THE fair of Nijni-Novgorod is the greatest in the world, the value of goods sold being as follows: 1841, $35,000,000; 1857, $60,000,000; 1876, $140,000,000; the attendance in the last named year including 150,000 merchants from all parts of the world. In that of Leipsic the annual average of sales is $20,000,000, comprising 20,000 tons of merchandise, of which two-fifths is books.

THE average annual production of flax is as follows: Russia, 270,000 tons; Austria, 53,000; Germany, 48,000; Belgium and Holland, 38,000; France, 37,000; United Kingdom, 25,000; Italy, 23,000; United States, 12,000; Scandinavia, 4,000-total, 510,000

tons.

A BODY weighing 140 lbs. produces 3 lbs. ashes; time for burning, 55 minutes.

THE six largest diamonds in the world weigh, respectively, as follows: Kohinoor, 103 carats; Star of Brazil, 125 carats; Regent of France, 136 carats; Austrian Kaiser, 139 carats; Russian Czar, 193 carats; Rajah of Borneo, 367 carats. The value of the above is not regulated by size, nor easy to estimate, but none of them is worth less than $500,000. [226]

ACCORDING to Orfila, the proportion of nicotine in Havana tobacco is 2 per cent.; in French, 6 per cent., and in Virginia tobacco, 7 per cent. That in Brazilian is still higher.

THERE were 2,180 lepers in Norway in 1883, according to Mulhall. The numbers in Spain and Italy are considerable. In the Sandwich Islands the disease is so prevalent that the island of Molokai is set apart for lepers, who are under the direction of a French Jesuit priest. The death of Father Damien, in 1889, called attention to the noblest instance of self-sacrifice recorded in the nineteenth century. His place is now filled by a younger member of his order, who voluntarily sacrifices his health and life to aid the outcasts. In the Seychelles Islands leprosy is also

common.

ONE horse-power will raise 10 tons per minute a height of 12 inches, working 8 hours a day. This is about 5,000 foot-tons daily, or 12 times a man's work.

THE horse-power of Niagara is 314 million nominal, equal to 10 million horses effective.

GOOD clear ice two inches thick will bear men to walk on; four inches thick will bear horses and riders; six inches thick will bear horses and teams with moderate loads.

THE percentage of illegitimate births for various countries, as stated by Mulhall, is as follows: Austria, 12.9; Denmark, 11.2; Sweden, 10.2; Scotland, 8.9; Norway, 8.05; Germany, 8.04; France, 7.02; Belgium, 7.0; United States, 7.0; Italy, 6.8; Spain and Portugal, 5.5; Canada, 5.0; Switzerland, 4.6; Holland, 3.5; Russia, 3.1; Ireland, 2.3; Greece, 1.6.

INDIA RUBBER is obtained mostly from the Seringueros of the Amazon, who sell it for about 12 cents a pound to the merchants of Para, but its value on reaching England or the United States is over 50 cents a pound. The best rubber forests in Brazil will ultimately be exhausted, owing to the reckless mode followed by the Seringueros, or tappers. The ordinary product of a tapper's work is from 10 to 16 lbs. daily. There are 120 india rubber manufacturers in the United States, employing 15,000 operatives, who produce 280,000 tons of goods, valued at $260,000,000 per

annum.

ONE pair of rabbits can become multiplied in four years into 1,250,000. They were introduced in Australia a few years ago, and now that colony ships 6,000,000 rabbit skins yearly to Eng

land.

THE largest of the Pyramids, that of Cheops, is composed of four million tons of stone, and occupied 100,000 men during 20 years, equal to an outlay of $200,000,000. It would now cost $20,000,000 at a contract price of 36 cents per cubic foot.

ONE tug on the Mississippi can take, in six days, from St.

Louis to New Orleans, barges carrying 10,000 tons of grain, which would require 70 railway trains of fifteen cars each. Tugs in the Suez Canal tow a vessel from sea to sea in 44 hours.

COMPARATIVE SCALE OF STRENGTH.-Ordinary man, 100; Byron's Gladiator, 173; Farnese Hercules, 362; Horse, 750.

A MAN will die for want of air in five minutes; for want of sleep, in ten days; for want of water, in a week; for want of food, at varying intervals, dependent on various circumstances.

THE average of human life is 33 years. One child out of every four dies before the age of 7 years, and only one-half of the world's population reach the age of 17. One out of 10,000 reaches 100 years. The average number of births per day is about 120,000, exceeding the deaths by about 15 per minute. There have been many alleged cases of longevity in all ages, but only a few are authentic.

THE ratio of sickness rises and falls regularly with death rate in all countries, as shown by Dr. Farr and Mr. Edmonds at the London Congress of 1860, when the following rule was established: Of 1,000 persons, aged 30, it is probable 10 will die in the year, in which case there will be 20 of that age sick throughout the year, and 10 invalids. Of 1,000 persons, aged 75, it is probable that 100 will die in the year, in which case the sick and invalids of that age will be 300 throughout the year. For every 100 deaths let there be hospital beds for 200 sick, and infirmaries for 100 invalids.

THE estimated number of religious denominations among English-speaking communities throughout the world is as follows: Episcopalians, 21,100,000; Methodists of all descriptions, 15,800,000; Roman Catholics, 14,340,000; Presbyterians of all descriptions, 10,500,000; Baptists of all descriptions, 8,160,000; Congregationalists, 6,000,000; Unitarians, 1,000,000; Free Thought, 1,100,000; minor religious sects, 2,000,000; of no particular religion, 20,000,000. Total English speaking population,

100,000,000.

THE various nations of Europe are represented in the list of Popes as follows: English, 1; Dutch, 1; Swiss, 1; Portuguese, 1; Afiican, 2; Austrian, 2; Spanish, 5; German, 6; Syrian, 8; Greek, 14; French, 15; Italian, 197. Eleven Popes reigned over 20 years; 69, from 10 to 20; 57, from 5 to 10; and the reign of 116 was less than 5 years. The reign of Pius IX. was the longest of all, the only one exceeding 25 years. Pope Leo XIII. is the 258th Pontiff. The full number of the Sacred College is 70, namely: Cardinal Bishops, 6; Cardinal Priests, 50; Cardinal Deacons, 14. At present there are 62 Cardinals. The Roman Catholic hierarchy throughout the world, according to official

returns published at Rome in 1884, consisted of 11 Patriarchs, and 1,153 Archbishops and Bishops. Including 12 coadjutor or auxiliary bishops, the number of Roman Catholic archbishops and bishops now holding office in the British Empire is 134. The numbers of the clergy are approximate only.

CONSUMPTION.-Of the total number of deaths the percentage traceable to consumption in the several States and Territories is as follows: Alabama, 9.6; Arizona, 6.1; Arkansas, 6.4; California, 15.6; Colorado, 8.2; Connecticut, 15.1; Dakota, 8.8; Delaware, 16.1: District of Columbia, 18.9; Florida, 8.3; Georgia, 7.9; Idaho, 6.8; Illinois, 10.3, Indiana, 12.6; Iowa, 9.9; Kansas, 7.3; Kentucky, 15.7; Louisiana, 10.4; Maine, 19.2; Maryland, 14.0; Massachusetts, 15.7; Michigan, 13.2; Minnesota, 9.3; Mississippi, 8.8; Missouri, 9.8; Montana, 5.6; Nebraska, 8.8; Nevada, 6.3; New Hampshire, 5.6; New Jersey, 8.9; New Mexico, 2.4; New York, 8.1; North Carolina, 9.5; Ohio, 13.8; Oregon, 12.1; Pennsylvania, 12.6; Rhode Island, 14.6; South Carolina, 9.8; Tennessee, 14.5; Texas, 6.5; Utah, 2.8; Vermont, 16.1; Virginia, 12.2; Washington, 13.2; West Virginia, 13.0; Wisconsin, 10.4; Wyoming, 2.6; Average, 12.0.

CAPACITY of the largest public buildings in the world: Coliseum, Rome, 87,000; St. Peter's, Rome, 54,000; Theater of Pompey, Rome, 40,000; Cathedral, Milan, 37,000; St. Paul's, Rome, 32,000; St. Paul's, London, 31,000; St. Petronia, Bologna, 26,000; Cathedral, Florence, 24,300; Cathedral, Antwerp, 24,000; St. John Lateran, Rome, 23,000; St. Sophia's, Constantinople, 23,000; Notre Dame, Paris, 21,500; Theater of Marcellus, Rome, 20,000; Cathedral, Pisa, 13,000; St. Stephen's, Vienna, 12,400; St. Dominic's, Bologna, 12,000; St. Peter's, Bologna, 11,400; Cathedral, Vienna, 11,000; Gilmore's Garden, New York, 8,443; La Scala, Milan, 8,000; Auditorium, Chicago, 7,000; Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City, 8,000; St. Mark's, Venice, 7,500; Spurgeon's Tabernacle, London, 6,000; Bolshoi Theater, St. Petersburg, 5,000; Tabernacle (Talmage's), Brooklyn, 5,000; Music Hall, Cincinnati, 4,824.

THERE are 3,000,000 opium smokers in China. A paper read before the New York Medical Society by Dr. F. N. Hammond presents some important facts. In 1840 about 20,000 pounds of opium were consumed in the United States; in 1880, 533,450 pounds. In 1868 there were about 90,000 habitual opium eaters in the country, now they number over 500,000. More women than men are addicted to the use of the drug. The vice is one so easily contracted, so easily practiced in private, and so difficult of detection, that it presents peculiar temptations and is very insiduous. The relief from pain that it gives and the peculiar exaltation of spirits easily lead the victim to believe that the use

of it is beneficial. Opium and chloral are today the most deadly foes of women. Dr. Hammond is the better qualified to speak on this subject from having once been a consumer of opium himself. To break off from the habit, he says, the opiumeater must reduce the quantity of his daily dose, using at the same time other stimulants, and gradually eliminate the deadly drug entirely.

THE degrees of alcohol in wines and liquors are: Beer, 4.0; porter, 4.5; ale, 7.4; cider, 8.6; Moselle, 9.6; Tokay, 10.2; Rhine, 11.0; Orange, 11.2; Bordeaux, 11.5; hock, 11.6; gooseberry, 11.8, Champagne, 12.2; claret, 13.3; Burgundy, 13.6; Malaga, 17.3; Lisbon, 18.5; Canary, 18.8; sherry, 19.0; Vermouth, 19.0; Cape, 19.2; Malmsey, 19.7; Marsala, 20.2; Madeira, 21.0; port, 23.2: Curaçoa, 27.0; aniseed, 33.0; Maraschino, 34.0; Chartreuse, 43.0; gin, 51.6; brandy, 53-4; rum, 53.7; Irish whisky, 53.9; Scotch, 54.3.

Spirits are said to be "proof" when they contain 57 per cent. The maximum amount of alcohol, says Parkes, that a mar can take daily without injury to his health is that contained in 2 oz. brandy, 14 pt. of sherry, 1⁄2 pt. of claret, or 1 pt. of beer.

THE measurement of that part of the skull which holds the brain is stated in cubic inches thus: Anglo-Saxon, 105; German, 105; Negro, 96; Ancient Egyptian, 93; Hottentot, 58; Australian native, 58. In all races the male brain is about ten per cent. heavier than the female. The highest class of apes has only 16 oz. of brain. A man's brain, it is estimated, consists of 300,000050 nerve cells, of which over 3,000 are disintegrated and destroyed every minute. Every one, therefore, has a new brain once in sixty days. But excessive labor, or the lack of sleep, prevents the repair of the tissues, and the brain gradually wastes away. Diversity of occupation, by calling upon different portions of the mind or body, successfully affords, in some measure, the requisite repose to each. But in this age of overwork there is no safety except in that perfect rest which is the only natural restorative of exhausted power. It has been noticed by observant physicians in their European travels that the German people, who, as a rule, have little ambition and no hope to rise above their inherited station, are peculiarly free from nervous discases; but in America, where the struggle for advancement is sharp and incessant, and there is nothing that will stop an American but death, the period of life is usually shortened five, ten or twenty years by the effects of nervous exhaustion. After the age of 50 the brain loses an ounce every ten years. Cuvier's weighed 64, Byron's 79, and Cromwell's 90 ounces, but the last was diseased. Post-mortem examinations in France give an average of 55 to 60 ounces for the brains of the worst class of criminals.