TIMELY TOPICS. The spleen is an organ of the body which for years has been a piece de re sistance for the learned, as its precise uses are a puzzle. It is not essential to life, and has been removed from the body "without any apparently dangerous conse quences. At a recent German medical -congress, a man was exhibited from "whom this organ had been taken two years and a half before, on account of disease. The man seemed quite well. Other cases of similar character were re ferred to or exhibited. Elisha E. Everett, a cabinet maker and inventor, of Philadelphia, who has taken out twenty or thirty different patents for mechanical appliances, is now at work on an invention that, if successful, may 'Completely revolutionize ocean and rail way travel. Thi3 is nothing else than the reduplication of steam power. He "has designed a steamboat which, by means of a succession of paddle3 beneath the water, may attain a speed of thirty knots an hour and accomplish a trip to Europe in three or four days. A human relic of Pompeii ha3 been -discovered among the ruins in an excep tionally well preserved state. It is the full-length fossil of a man who was probably struck while in flight at the time of the destruction of the city, up ward of eighteen centuries since. The features are well defined, the mouth be ing slightly open, showing the teeth in 'either jaw ; the hands are perfect, and one is supposed to have held two keys, which were found close to if, while the legs are spread out and slightly raised. "The left member had, however, been broken, as the bone protruded. . Khartoum is a name that is known among the wildest savages of equatorial Africa who never heard of Paris or Lon don ; to them it is the center of all that is great, and it is the capital of every thing. The abandonment of Khartoum would, in their estimation, be the dis ruption of a central power, which would imply Impotence. The slave hunters have been suppressed by the authority from Khartoum, and the force required for that suppression has emanated from that center of strength and government ; if, therefore, Khartoum should be aban doned, the protection that was the sup port of loyal tribes of the interior would have been withdrawn, the supporting power would have been oveithrown, and the slave hunters would again be in the ascendant. Sir Samuel Baler. It will be remembered. that In the spring of 1883 it was announced by Queen Victoria that the royal household would not eat lamb during the season. This edict has had the effect, according to the official statement of live stock for 1884, to place the proportion of lambs to sheep at fifty-nine per cent., also showing an increase of nearly 1,000,000 in the number of both, or about four per cent. During, the past two years the number of cattle has also increased by 4dd,000 head, or 7 J per cent. .Notwith standing the increase in number of cattle, Great Britain still draws a large part of its supply of meat from other countries The official statement of imports of animal food for the year 1883 shows that not -Car from 11,000,000 hundredweight of meat food was imported, amounting to about twenty-eight pounds for each innaDitant, ana costing about $4 per neaa. lucnara A. rroctor, the eminent as tronomer, says that the age of the earth is placed by some at 500,000,000 years. and still others of later time, among them the Duke of Argyll, place it at 10,000, 000 years. None place it lower than 10,000,000, knowing what processes have been gone through. The earth must have become old. Newton surmised, although he could give no reason for it, that the earth would at one time become perfectly dry. Since then it has been found that New ton wa3 correct. As the earth keeps cooling it will become porous, and great cavities will be formed in the interior which will take in the water. It is esti mated that this process is now in pro gress so far that the water diminishes at the rate of the thickness of a sheet of writing paper a year. At this rate in 9, 000,000 years the water will have sunk a mile, and in 15,000,000 years every trace of water will have disappeared from the face of the globe. ' "From the frontiers of Guatemala to those of the United States," says the Mexican Financier, ;we have a vast do main whose growth of precious woods is truly enormous. Along almost the en tire length of the coasts, both of the Pacific ocean and Gulf of California, a Tariety of wood abound that are remark able for their perfumes as well as .such valuable cabinet timbers as rosewood, mahogany, ebony and the cedar. The Mexican cedar is especially prized in foreign markets, for, overlooking its rich aroma, it possesses such a lightness of weight and a grain so fine that it is considered superior to the ordinary wal nut, now so largely used in the manufac ture of rich furniture. While the interior States rival the coast States of Mexico in Taluable timber resources, it is a note worthy fact that the woods which com mand good prices in many foreign mar kets are here almost everywhere burned carelessly as the cheapest fuel. The coming exhibits in Boston and New Orleans should attract to the neglected regions of Mexico, so rich in wooded " wealth, their deserved attention." A New York paper asserts that "the nun of Kenmare, Miss Cusack, has opened a school in connection with a convent at Nottingham, England, for the training of domestic servants, and her enterprise suggests the need of schools for servants in New York. The difficulty of obtain ing competent servants is the cause of much aggravation to metropolitan house keepers, and they would be delighted to have a school for the proper training of servants established in our city. Proba bly most of them would gladly grant permission to their servants to spend several hours a wees at such a school while pursuing the course of instruction, and the services or graduates ol the in stitution would be at a premium. Miss Corson might contribute much more to the general welfare, and at the same time increase her income by the establishment of the proposed school, and as som as servants discovered the eagernesf of housekeepers to secure the services of the graduates of the school, she would have more applicants than she could admit. She or some other competent person should soon open a school for servants in New York." A great many people have perhaps con sidered that cleanliness had little to do with the cholera and that the ravages of the disease are as likely to be as great in cleanly cities as uncleanly ones. At least, that is the impression produced by the indifference manifested in manv cities as to their filthy surroundings. But a com parison of the ravages of cholera in France and Italy will produce a differ ent impression. In France, only ten or a dozen deaths per day occurred in the cities of Marseilles and Toulon. In Na ples 328 deaths and 9G6 fresh cases oc curred in twenty -four hours. "The cause of the discrepancy is easily seen," says a Western" paper, "the French are much more cleanly in their habits than the Italians." The latter are paying a terrible penalty for their grossly filthy habits. The excessively warm weather is not alone an all-powerful factor in producing an epidemic of cholera. In verification of this an ex change points to the fact that "the second cholera epidemic through which Chicago passed came to the city in the winter of 1848-9." There is no reason why there should be the slightest relaxa tion by the authorities in their efforts to ward off the .approach of the dreaded scourge. Unless all signs fail, the Uni ted States is likely to be beseiged by the cholera next year; and every ounce of preparation previous to that time will be worth a pound of cure afterward." The New York Financial Chronicle has compiled some elaborate statistics in re gard to the production and manufacture of cotton in the world in the last eighteen years which show that in the last twelve years there has been an in crease in the average annual production of 59 6-10 per cent., and during the same time an increase in the average an nual manufacture of 61 8-10 per cent. This is at the rate of doubling the pro duction of manufactured cotton goods in twenty years. This fact if taken as an index of the increase of the other manufacturing industries is very sugges tive, because it snows an increase of com modities greater than the increase of population. The doubling period of population in the United States is vari able, owing to the fluctuations of em igration, but is probably not far from twenty-five years. The average period which the population of Eu rope doubles is about seventy-five years. The doubling period of the Oriental countries is not ascertain able with even approximate certainty, but it is unquestionably a much longer period than in the United States. It therefore appears that the population of the world must consume more and more cotton goods per capita each year in order to furnish a market for the manu factured goods. The Chronicle1 figures also snow the interesting fact that the entire increase of production and a very large part of the incease of manufacture have been in the United States. In 1866-7 the total supply was 4,408,000 bales of 400 pounds, of which the United States furnished 2,330.000, and all other coun tries 2,178,000.' In 1882-3 the supply was 10,408,000 bales, of which the United States furnished 8,058,000, and all other countries 2,350,000, or only a trifle more than the same countries sup plied in 1866. Consumption by manu facturers in the United States during the same period has risen from 822,000 to 2,375,000 bales, and in Great Britain from 2,500,000 to 3,800,000 bales. A Gum Game. The finest grades of crude rubber come from Para, the trees being tapped and the sap gathered by means of pad dles which are dipped in the tub of sap and held over a smoky fire that the coat ing may harden. This process is repeat ed until a cake of gum of the size and shape of a squash is formed, when the paddle is cut out and the lump is ready for market. The scraps and droppings from the process are carefully collected and sold as an inferior grade. Ameri can rubber manufacturers make as much complaint of the rubber gatherers as English manufacturers of American cot ton packers, and even with more reason; for rubber being such an expensive raw material affords a greater profit to the wily native, who increases his gains by stuffing the rubber with stones, wood, and dirt. These adulterations are of course charged back from manufacturer to dealer and from dealer to importer, but the original offender is seldom reached. Boston Bulletin. Chinese Soldiers. The Chinese troops are uniformed in the hues of the rainbow, beside black and white. Imagine one hundred laun drymen in scarlet blouses and royal pur ple trousers drawn up in line, adjoining them a company in pure white, then a company in bright geeen, then one in light blue, and you have a Chinese regi ment. When they march they lift up their feet like cats in the snow. , Magnetized Watches. Some very curious things concerning watches come under a watchmaker's ob servation at times. A watchmaker says : I remember a lady who used to bring me her watch sometimes as often as once a week it was either too fast or too slow with her; while it hung up in the shop it ran as steady as the State house ttock. I studied that watch and -one day I came across something in an English horolog ical magazine that opened my eyes. It was simply a little item saying that sometimes delicately adjusted watches were affected , by the temperament of their wearers. Affected by personal magnetism. The whole thing flashed upon me in a moment. The woman's watch was affected by herself. I found out that she was of a highly nervous temperament, but would at times suffer from attacks of despondency. The watch only recorded her temperament. When she was vivacious it went fast, when she was in a low mood it went slow. Very often it is impossible to regulate a watch for some men by keeping the timepiece in the shop. There is some physical peculiarity about the man; it may be his gait, his temperament, or an excess of bodily electricity. In these cases I let the man wear the watch continually, and then regulate it to his peculiarities. Bodily electricity is very marked in cer tain persons. I knew a young watch maker in whom it became so strong that he was obliged to give up that branch of the trade because it was found that he magnetized the delicate hair-springs. Horrors of Former Warfare. In Anton Gindely's "History of the Thirty Year's War" we find the follow ing: Such were the atrocities committed upon their victims by these robbers, that the old chroniclers have produced noth ing more frightful even in regard to the Huns, Avars and Mongols. They would unscrew the flint of a pistol and screw up the thumb of the unfortunate in the place, they would skin the bottom of the foot, sprinkle salt in the fresh wound and then make a goat lick the salt off; they would pass a horse-hair through the tongue and draw it slowly up and down; they would bind about the forehead a knotted rope and draw it constantly tighter with a lever. If an oven was at hand, they would force their victim into it, kindle a fire in the front of it, and compel him to creep out through this fire. They often bored holes in the knee- pans of those whom they would torment, or poured disgusting fluids down their throats. To these thousand - fold torme nts were added, in the case of matrons and maidens the basest assaults. When . the robbers had, by tortuie, compelled the surrender of hidden treasures, when their lust of plunder was satisfied, they com pleted the proof of their vandalism by destroying that which they could not carry off. Agriculture in Alaska. Alaska has very little to -offer in the shape of agricultural resources, as there is very little flat ground near the sea shore. In some of the towns small vege table gardens are kept, and the products are quite as good as those in any part of the Pacific slope. The only possible chance for the agriculturist will be one of two things to invent a process of curing hay without the sun and utilize the small grass plains at the mouth of the river, or start a small cattle ranch, fro. 1 . . -.A n i i i 3 me lauer proiect. on me wnoie. WOUia be the best, as the meat would command a ready sale, and there is no need of storing hay, since the cattle will find enough the whole year round, for the climate during the winter in the south eastern portion is less cold than that of New York. The chances for disposing of milk are good, as there are only six cows, two mules and no horses in Alaska and all these domestic animals are owned at Sitka. Boston Ilerald. The Armies of Europe. The last official repoVt gave the strength and annual cost of Europe's armies, on a peace footing, as follows : Soldiers. Cost. Austria 290,218 $50,680,000 Belgium 40,277 8,787,909 France 470,000 100,007,623 Germany 419,059 92,573,403 Great Britain 133120 65,000,000 Greece 12,397 1,494,860 Italy 199,577 87,953,755 Netherlands 61 ,03 10,206,995 Portugal 25,733 4,342,923 Roumania. 1:10,158 3,310,198 Russia 787,910 144,000,008 Servia 14,150 809,138 Spain 330,000 49,146,491 Switzerland. 106,102 2,419,210 Turkey 157,607 24,703,090 A New Word Frequently Seen. The origin of the word "mugwump" is thus given in the New York Critic by J. Hammond Trumbull, who is 6aid to be the only man in the country who i3 able to read Eliot's Indian Bible : In the language of the Indians of Mas sachusetts an$ Connecticut, " mug quomp" (or, as now written "mug wump)," means literally "great man." It was the title of a captain or superior officer. In Eliot's Indian Bible it stands for "captain" and in one passage (Gen. xxxvi., 40-43) for "duke" of the author ized version. In a Paris restaurant: "I say, sir you are carrying off a silver sugar bowl 1" "Oh! a thousand pardons; I thought it was my hat 1" Le Figaro. Forty years ago there was not a tele graph office in existence. To-dav the number is 51,840. Washington's tomb, at Mount Vernon. i Va'., is seventeen miles south of the cap lital. . "MOUNTAIN OF PITY." The Great National Pawnshop of Mexico Its Origin and Method. Everybody who knows much about Mexico has heard of Senor De Peter Romero de Terreros. Peter Terreros, a shop-keeper of limited means, conceived what was at first considered the wildest of ideas. It was to drain the aban doned Real del Pasos by means of a tunnel through the hard rock a mile and a quarter long , from the level of the stream till it should strike the Santa Brigada shaft. He toiled with varying success from 1750 to 1762, when he struck a marvelous bonanza which for the next twelve years yielded an amount of silver that in our day would appear fabulous. Plain Peter became a count, so wealthy that he furnished the people with more fables than Croesus of old. He it was who founded the celebrated Monte de Piedad in the City of Mexico one of the most beneficent institutions in the world and in the year 1775 en dowed it with $300,000. The name Monte.de Piedad, means literally a " Mountain of Pity" and was not mis applied, for more than a hundred years this national pawnshop was a sure pro tection to the public from the ruinous ex tortions of usurers, by whom, no douot, Peter Terreros had suffered in his days of obscurity. It was sumptuously regu lated and protected by the government, and was intended solely to. assist the needy in times of temporary embarrass ment by lending money, on liberal terms and at reasonable rates of interest, on deposits of jewelry, plate, merchandise and other movable articles. Alike in peace and war, and through changing forms of goverment, its honor was held sacred and the trusts unmolested during the revolutions and overturnings that devastated the country. It is estimated that for a period of one hundred and nine years it afforded assistance to more than two hundred people daily. As early as 1836, official records show that up to that time it had given aid to 2,232.611 applicants, andhas distributed $31,674,702, beside having given $132, 746 in alms alone 1 It was ruled by a general board of directors, who received the pledges. These articles were ap praised at a fair valuation, the full amount of which (deducting the interest) was immediately paid to the pawner. The articles were retained six months, during which time the owner was al lowed to withdraw them upon refund ing the sum advanced. Ir the debt was not paid at the end of that time, the pledges were disposed of at public sale, and if they brought more under the hammer than the original valuation, the difference was refunded to the owner, a proceeding not much like the business principles of our Chatham street "uncles!" The Monte de Piedad occu pies a palace built by Cortez opposite the great cathedral, and is one of the most interesting places at the capital. Every species of garment may be seen there, from the tattered reboso of the lepera to the lace mantilla of the noble dame; from the blanket of the beggar to the military cloak and jeweled sword of the impoverished officer. Some of the most splendid table services oi silver and gold I ever saw are crowded into the plate rooms, and as for jewels Aladdin would have considered his fabled palace a poor affair compared to the caskets of blazing dia monds and every known precious j stone, for the magnificence of which 1T-.J. U!.l T a. Jiicwiau imuics are uruverui&i. xu me year 1880,' having an available fund of $1,000,000 and unimpeachable credit, the directors of the Monte de Piedad determined to increase its capacities for usefulness by adding to its pawnbroking business the operations of a banking es tablishment. Under the new charter then obtained it was authorized to issue notes of circulation, called certificates, of denominations from $1 to $1,000. These notes were issued only from the mother bank,, and were redeemable there or at any of its branches in silver coin. They were also receivable for Federal taxes, duties and for all local imports in the federal district and in several states of the republic. The Monte de Piedad had eight branches in the city of Mexico, and had recently established others in various cities. The amount of its paper in circulation was not publicly known, as no reports were published; but its honor was considered like that of old Caesar's wife till one fine morning peo ple woke up to find its doors closed and a bewildered crowd clamoring in vain outside 1 Nothing is sacred in these days which can bring gold to the coffers of the president and his advisers not even the benificent institution which had prevented so much disgrace and misery through a century of revolutionary diffi culties, and it was utterly ruined by a demand from the government upon it for more money than its treasury con tained. It still carries on a limited pawn business, but is so crippled and impov erished as to be little like the old "Moun tain of Pity." Springfield Republican. The Stomach and the Conscience. ' The theory that the stomach domi nates the conscience through the appe tite was unfolded by Carlyle. He pro phesied that the kitchen-range was to be throne and altar of the future. He said that the grid-iron would be brandished as a censor in the coming temple of hu manity. It is plain that religion will not thrive with a bad stomach, and that poor cooking will show itself in wretched feelings. "Take care what you eat," said a theological professor to his stu dents; "for if you have sour bread it will show itself in your sermons." The science that only touches the head and forgets the stomach is vitally defective. Wars have sometimes been traced to dyspepsia on the part of a king or prime minister. The kitchen has had a long probation, and it is still on trial. Governor Fish's Diplomacy. Governor Hamilton Fish was noted for1 his deportment, and he took great pride, while secretary of state, in sending to the courts of Europe in a diplomatic ca- pacity gentlemen whose dress and man ners would not excite comment. He was much concerned, however, when it be came his duty to commission Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, a3 minister to Turkey, and Godlove S Orth, of Indi ana, as minister to Austria. Neither one was remarkable for his observance of the social proprieties, and it was some time before Governor Fish could devise a plan, for giving them a lesson in dress. At last, so the story goes, an idea struck him, and sending for Orth he said some thing like this to the Indiana states man: "Mr. Orth, I have a favor -to ask of you." "Anything I can do for you, Mr. Sec retary, I'll be glad to." "Thank you Mr. Orth, thank you, sir, you are very good. Mr. Maynard, you know, is an excellent gentleman, but he is not accustomed to the ways of so ciety as you or I are," and the secretary smiled pleasantly at the guileless Orth, who had on a sky-blue necktie and un- blackened boots. After having clinched his point he continued : "I am afraid he will invent some startling innovation on the costume usual nmong gentlemen when they are out in society. He may startle the foreign courts with a red; necktie and a sack coat, and now what I want to ask you, Mr. Orth, is to give him a hint, as you are both going over on the same steamer, about what you or I should wear on social occasions the dress coat, black trousers and waistcoat, and the simple white tie. You will know precisely how to do it, and you will oblige me greatly by attending to the matter of so much importance, as you, as a member of polite society,! know." i The hint was taken, and Mr. Orth was noted among the diplomatists at Vienna for his faultless attire. Mr. Maynard, with his long black hair and Indian fea tures, was not so apt a scholar. Ben: Berlcy Boore. Feminine Navigators. The Washington correspondent of the ' Providence Journal relates the following funny incident: Mr. Key, the agent of our society with the long name, who has to look after abused animals used on the canal, impounded, a few days since, a sorry-looking old sore-backed mule, but it was not long before three women en tered the society's office an elderly dame and two young mademoiselles, all robust, tanned and hardhanded. ' "I say," said the older one to the clerk in charge, "my name is Armenia Ander son. These two girls are my daughters. We run a canalboat together without the assistance, too, of men. We are thor oughly independent of men. The two girls act as tow-boys,' while I direct the general management of the boat. Through no lault of ours the mule's back became sore." "But " interjected the stationkeeper. : "No buts about it, sir. The mule is my property, and I must have it, and have it quick, too." "Don't you know it is a violation of the law to work a sore-backed mule V asked Agent Key, who had sat quietly in one corner of the room. Turning to him, the woman said, sharply : "You are the little fellow who took my mule; now, give it up to me at once. I must have it, and I won't leave this place till I get it." Key looked nonplussed. He knew he couldn't convince the woman that she had violated the law, and, after a short conversation with the stationkeeper, Mr. Key said: "Madam, your mule is in the back yard. Go, take him ; the charge against you is withdrawn." The three women caught hold of the long rope attached to the animal's neck and drove him off to their boat, which lay a short, distance off, and a few hours later they were on their way back to Cumberland. One of the girls was driv ing the mule, the other was steering, and the old lady was cooking dinner as they passed the station-house in . triumph. Who says that women are not claiming; and receiving their rights ? Empress Eugenie and her Son. I have seen the ex-Empress Eugenie at table perhaps a dozen times, and I never saw any one eat so little that seemed to be in as good health as she did. Her son (poor boy!), however, made up for her, lor he had a very healthy appetite. While at Shoeburness Military school he had several photographs taken by one of the soldiers, who had some talent that way, and he gave me a copy with his au tograph on it. Another embryo artist at Shoeburyness wished to make a plaster bust of the young prince, and accord ingly they arranged the sand and mud to take the mold, and he got down on his knees and bravely pushed his greased face into the mud, but not far enough to suit the artist, who put his hands on the young Napoleon's neck and pushed it still further in. When the plaster cast was taken out there was a nose like a gourd squash about a foot long, as the plaster had somehow forced a channel for itself. This remarkable bust now stands on a pedestal in the mess room at Shoeburyness, and is marked Napoleon IV. To think of the brave, bright young; man as I knew him, full of life and boy ish earnestness, as having died as he died makes my heart ache for him, and more for the mother who loved him so. After my visit to Chislehurst I never saw either of them again. Olive Harpei Reminit cences. " Cremation has been adopted by author ity at Lisbon, Portugal. In time of epi demic it is made compulsory. A writer in Nature says he saw a wasp attack a fly and cut its head off.