County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

THE" TOMB OF ROMULUS." I If the attempt to be an up-to-date archaeologist did not sound like an attempt to achieve the impos- sible, the controversy which arises over each new discovery in the Forum (says the Rome correspon- dent of the Morning Post) would be an amusing study. When the famous Lapis Niger was dis- covered it was at once dubbed the "Tomb of Romulus," on the strength of some of the old commentators. This idea began to be accredited, when an Italian Archaeologist came forward with the theory that the black stone marked the spot when Curtius and his charger leapt fully armed into the yawning gulf. This theory has been seriously supported in a learned pamphlet; but hardly has the pamphlet been printed when the discovery of the conical stones, the ashes and the bones of the sacri- ficial animals, have given rise to another theory- that the black stone covers the spot known as the Regifugium, or the spot where the Priest-King sacrificed to the gods. Yet a fourth theory,' sup- ported by the results of further diggings, now dis- places the Regifugium idea. According to this latest speculation, the black stone covers the spot where great expiatory sacrifices were held as a recon- secration of the Forum either after the expulsion of the Kings or after the desecration of the Forum by the Gauls.

DECREASE OF RABIES. 1 Only 17 cases of rabies in 1898 were detected in the whole of Great Britain as against 151 in 1897, 438 in 1896, and 672 in 1895. Fourteen of the 17 cases occurred during the first half of the year, and two of the remainder prior to October. The single case subject to October occurred in a dog which had been completely isolated by order of the Board of Agriculture, on suspicion of having been in contact with a rabid dog. The figures manifestly support the hope that the disease, and its even more terrible concomitant, hydrophobia, will before long be com- pletely extinguished in this country.

FAMORA. I The Court Circular says: It is some considerable time since anything new in the way of perfumery has been produced, and it has been left to Messrs. John Gosnell and Co., Ltd., proprietors of the ever-popular 4 Cherry Blossom,' to reveal at the Chemists' Exhibi- tion something not only new but exceptionally nice. To describe Famora' is not easy, for it does not re- semble any other perfume, and that feature should ensure its ready acceptance. The best comparison we can make is to compare it to a jjerfect salad, in which no one flavour predominates. Famora' we consider a judicious blend of the most delicate per- fumes, resulting in something that can only be d scribed as exquisite in the extreme. Although it may be heresy to say it, we consider Famora Perfume, Toilet Powder, and Soap superior to 'Cherry Blossom.' The connoisseurs at the Chemists' Exhi- bition were loud in its praises, and in our opinion Famora' will be the scent of the season and for many seasons to come."

THE CANCER SERUM. I The report that two Brussels dectors had suc- ceeded in curing cancer by means of sermtherapy has resulted in an inundation of letters from sufferers from this disease. The doctors will not reply to'tbeso inquiries until they have finished their experiments and have obtained a sufficient number of cures to justify publication of their method. They will then address a report to the Academy of Medicine alone. According the MaiPs Brussels correspondent, it is stated that up to)he present no patient has consented to submit to the treatment till a complete cure has been established, on account of the painful character of the injections.

IT may have been noticed by many people that the dummy clock signs hanging outside jewellers' shops are almost always set at eighteen minutes past eight. Some people say that it is in commemoration of the time the memorable Charge of Balaclava took place others declare it is the exact time of day that her Majesty Queen Victoria was born. These theories would look reasonable perhaps, if true, but on ascer- taining the time of the abcve events, it will be found that neither the memorable charge nor the moment her Majesty was ushered into this world occurred at eighteen minutes past eight. On looking more closely into the case it will be to And that it is the only arrangement upon the dial which will admit of the jeweller's name and address being painted in large letters on it without intersecting the hands, which is submitted as the most plausible reason. Or all the Powders made by art There's none like that of KEATING, From Bugs or Fleas t'will free each part Of Blankets, Rugs, er Sheeting. And when in bed I lay my head His praise I'll be repeating, There is no man in all the world Who's down on Fleas like KEATING. SIR JULIAN SALOMONS has received the following telegram from Mr. George Reid, Premier of New South Wales, in reply to the message conveying the felicitations of the Colonial Party respecting the recent voting on the Federation Question: Sydney, June 28, 1899. Premier desires to thank the members of the House of Commons interested in the Colonies for cordial congratulations on the re- sult of the Federal Referendum."

THE PASSION PLAY. All the actors for the chief parts of the Oberam- mergau play have not yet been chosen, but the lingers have been selected, and are practising dili- gently, in conjunction with the musicians. Accord- ing to the Standard's Berlin correspondent, the part of Christ will be performed, as before, by Anton Lang. Workmen are actively employed on the new buildings which the Committee have decided to erect. The auditorium is being covered with an iron roof of not less than 45 metres span, at a cost of fully 150,000 marks.

TROOPS FOR THE TRANSVAAL. I Of course, it is sincerely to be hoped that the pre- sent tension between this country and the Transvaal will not result in war; but should that unfortunate state of things be brought about, two things will at once (says the Morning Post) become evident, viz., the absolute inaccuracy of the reports as to the despatch of infantry regiments from England to South Africa as reinforcements and the state of the home battalions, which is both the cause and the proof of the impossibility of despatching reinforce- ments from home in the shape of whole battalions. There is not an infantry regiment of the Line at home at the present time con- taining 250 soldiers fit to take the field in a campaign, and there is consequently not one infantry regiment at home which could be sent abroad relying on its present composition. If it should be decided to send one or two regiments to the Cape it can only be done by depleting several other regiments of the only men in them fit to set an example to the young recruits who are continually joining the ranks. After all that has been done by the Government during the last two or three years, our home army is still in a most miserable condition so far as fitness for fighting is concerned. If reinforcements have to be sent out the opportunity will arise, should the authorities prefer that method of testing for the first time the new arrangement by which 5000 of the least rusty of the Army Reserve may be called on to rejoin the Colours, but it is more than probable that the necessary troops will be collected from Indian and Mediterranean stations, which, moreover, would be far the wisest plan, for in that case each regiment would be a homogeneous whole instead of a con- glomeration of detachments hastily thrown together and absolutely unknown to one another. It is to be hoped that Majuba will not be forgotten, and that it has been held by many that one cause of the disaster was that the hill was occupied by detach- ments from several regiments instead of by the full strength of one only.

M. HOLT SCHOOLING, of Brussels, says Chambers's Journal, has been calculating the age to which a human being may reasonably expect to live. His calculation, however, is only applicable to cases in which the ages r inge between 12 and 86. The method is really an old one, and was originally discovered by the Mathematician Demoivre, who in 1865 emigrated from France to England, and became a member of the Royal Society. The rule is this; Subtract your present age from 86, divide the remainder by two, and the result will give the number of years which you may expect to live. The rule represents the nearest solution of an insoluble problem at which we can arrive.

UNION LINE for the SOUTH AFRICAN GOlt)- FIELDS. Sailings from Southampton every Sattirdayl. Calls made at Lisbon, Madeira, and Tenerifte. Apply to th*- UNION STEAM Suip Co., Ltl., Canute Rd.. Southampton, and, South African House, 94-98, Bishopssate St. Within, London. BORWICK'S The Best to World. TOOTH-ACHE CURED INSTANTLY BY BUNTER'S Neuralgic Headaches and all Nerve MP*If 1 Pains removed by BUNTER'S SH |H K H | ffg !■ NERVINE. All Chemim. it. i^d. II 1*11 W B81

QUEEN'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY. Queen Victoria (says the Penny Magazine) took her firt trip by railway on June 13, 1842, and not before Prince Albert had already made several trial trips, on one occasion expostulating with the engine driver "Not quite so fast another time, if you please," fast" being considerably under 20 miles an hour. The eventful day on which the Queen took her first railway journey, the engine was driven by Dan Gooch, afterwards known as Sir Daniel Gooch, add, in an interesting diary published after his death, the famous engineer wrote: In nearly all cases I took charge of the engine myself when the Queen travelled, and I have been so fortunate as never to have a single delay with her, and she has travelled undet my care a good many miles."

I SENTENCE you to attend Sunday-school and church for the next eipht Sundays, or go to prison for 21 days." The speaker was the Mayor of Bowl- ing Green, Ohio, and the prison3r was a lad of 13, who has been in gaol several times already. The boy accepted the milder "punishment," with the under- standing that if he missed an attendance he would undergo three full weeks' imprisonment. r- t,

CARTER" LITTLB 1 W UVER PILLS. ""OAPM DtH. lIMA I- Pri". AIPIA. y. Ctan TonM Uw. Mk MS* IMWHI pnimpUfi au •art than 10 MtOfCMT MM*. SFAUTWUL TiiTII tafftU wko mm Uh « Oh fenuh 1 few SOZODONT •• fli—««<«■* feattMM IK tmM. Cla&nM* th« teeth aod spaet* featweea them aancfchfagelM will. Sound and wlute. heth. rosy Hp*, and fragrant breath oupova. Ask fee BOZODOXT. Sc 4& L

I THE POTATO CROP. In some parts of the country the potatoes look- exceedingly good. In spite of the dry weather the plants have kept in good health, and have grown sturdily, giving good signs of a fine grade crop later on. There can be no doubt (says the Fruit Grower) that we shall, provided nothing unusual happens, have a really good yield of tubers in the coming season, and we see little fear of any- thing arising now to induce disease. Though the dry weather does not suit all plants, it is good for the potato, and as a result we look forward to a very clean, healthy, and satisfactory yield. In Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, the potato fields are in fine con- dition, and growers express themselves highly satisfied with the condition of the plants at present.

INTERVENTION IN DIVORCE SUITS. It is a matter of common knowledge that the Queen'* Proctor can and often does intervene in a divorce suit to prevent a decree nisi being made absolute; but most people are probably not aware that, under Sec- tion 7 of the Divorce Act, 1860, any stranger to the suit has a right of intervention us a member of the public. He runs the risk, however, as the Law Journal points out, of having to pay the costs of his inter- vention, over which the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1878,. gives the Court entire discretion; and in a recent. casejin which a friend of the respondent failed entirely to justify his intervention, the Court gave the- petitioner his costs as between solicitor and client.

M. HANOTATJX, a former French Minister for Foreign Affairs, has been giving some significant' advice to a correspondent on the subject of emigra- tion. He does not speak highly of the French Colonies. They are undesirable from a climatic point of view, they are too young, and a colonist can- not hope to get on without capital. Looking over the colonies of other countries, M. Hanotaux advises his correspondent to go to Canada, of which he speaks in very high terms. The Canadians are supposed to be very touchy with respect to references to their climate, bat the declarations on this subject of the ex-Minister should make M. Hanotaux very populai in the Dominion. ::¡"

FRY'S "PURE CONCENTRATED" COCOA MAINTAIN8 ITS PRE'EMINENOE MVLIGHT AND NOURISHING DRINK, bright brwl^.FR^-rUM-CoScENTRATET).

THE situation In tne xransvaai 18 reported to De quiet. Another Green Book has been issued at Pretoria, giving all the latest communications between Mr. Chamberlain and President Kruger. A fund for the relief of destitution at Johannesburg has been started. Mr. Cecil Rhodes sailed for the Cape on Saturday. Two fresh cases of the plague and one death are' reported from Alexandria. THE North German Lloyd Company has decided to build a twin-screw steamship faster than the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which now holds the record between Southampton and New York. IT is reported that King Menelik of Abyssinia is making preparations to visit the Paris Exhibition next year. A RECiPRoerrr Treaty between the United Statea and Jamaica has now been concluded, and has been forwarded to Kingston for the upproyal of the Colonial authorities A "1''7.¿ :r r

OUR LONDON CORESPONDENT, I The Honourable Artillery Company—<vliich, as the direct descendant of the old tr-ain-- "bands," claims to be the oldest vohnforce in the country—has had the disfeignishen honour of being reviewed by the Qaeen hemslf at Windsor. The high favour in which this body is held in the most exalted circles is suffi- ciently attested by the fact that the Prince of Wales is its Captain-General, and it was in that capacity that he rode at its feead before the venerable Sovereign. A chronicle of three hundred years is a very long one for a volun- teer force, and it is rendered the more signifi- cant by the fact that its still-flourishing child, the Honourable Artillery Company of Boston, Massachusetts, has a history of more than two centwriea. The City of London is proud, indeed, of this fine body of men, who, whether in the artillery or the infantry are the very pick of its younger and more active citizens; and no modern poet is likely to follow the example of the creator of John Gilpin, and to indulge in a sneer at a train band captain." The monarch might well be proud as she saw such a force defile before her; and the renewed prosperity which, after some temporary difficulties, has been the lot of the Honourable Artillery Company, cannot but be strengthened and maintained by this personal compliment from the Queen. At the beginning of July holiday hints begin most appropriately to appear in the newspapers, and these are accompanied by more than usually frequent references to the weather. As far as London was concerned, June went out in the midst of heavy rain, and it was amid thunderstorms and whirling showers that July came in. It is always, however, to be remembered that July is likely to be a broken month "in point of weather, for its average rainfall in the metro- Eolis is two-and-a-half inches, or more than alf-an-inch beyond that of June—a fact most probably accounted for by the'greater frequency of thunderstorms. As for the holiday hints," there is no mistaking their tendency to suggest that English folk should go further afield. Cycling in Sweden, for instance, is becoming almost as fashionable in certain circles as mountain-climbing in the Alps, while this latter pursuit nowadays draws many to the Carpa- thians and even the Caucasus. It is easy to censure this increasing tendency to go abroad for a holiday, if only the purely patriotic view is adopted; but there is much to be said on the other side, and not least from the point of view of relative cheapness, in which respect a Con- tinental tour has marked phases of advan- tage. This is'a matter which is incidentally touched by a suggestion that is just nowjeceiving attention to the effect that there is a wide field open for cheaper inns for cyclists. It is well known, of course, that already the Cyclists' Touring Club obtains for its members a reduction In the charges of the best country hostelries, but the idea is that this might be carried further if, in towns and villages which have a stream of cycle tourists passing through them, plain and simple inns could provide the plain and simple eating and sleeping accommodation required. One of the best things about cycling is that it enables all classes to get about the country freely and easily but the cost of staying out the night has either shortened or spoiled many an excursion on the wheel. Whether the idea now put forward is capable of being brought into practical application has yet to be tested, but no harm can be done by ventilating it, for it is only by public discussion that any change in the present system is ever likely to be effected. The permanence of "the confidence trick as a method of petty swindling, despite its inherent absurdity and frequent exposure, is proof in itself of how ready the world is to be robbed; and a notice issued two or three days ago from New Scotland Yard gives further Eroof of the truth. It appears that not far ■om three years ago the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police wrote to the London papers, warning the public against the action of certain classes of criminals. In that docu- ment prominence was given to the case of men who commit larcenies in houses, to which they gain access on the pretence of examining tele- graph or other electric wires, water cisterns, ventilating pipes, and the like. But although the warning has been more than once repeated it has had this week to be echoed, because experience proves to the police authorities that any plausible story suffices to excuse for the thieves the fullest opportunity to ransack a house; but they now suggest that any house- holder who would admit the rascal of this par- ticular type, and then quietly but immediately send for the police, would render a good service to the community. Innocent folk who know naught of the wiles of London may consider the sug- gestion of the Commissioner of Police to be uncalled for, but those of us who have to dwell within the limits known to our forefathers as the hills of mortality," will have a different opinion. The ways of the house- thief are many, and at this season of the year the very simplest of all appear to be the most effective. Many householders, and especially the younger and least experienced of them, leave their dwellings for a week or a fortnight's holiday, merely locked up and without a care- taker of any kind. There are always a number thieves on the look out for this kind of house, and their usual plan is to send a female con- federate in advance to knock at the dooi or ring the bell. If, by any chance, they have miscal- culated and there is someone on the premises this woman has needles or tapes to sell; but if she finds, according to their expectations, no one at home, the male thieves take advantage of the earliest darkness to raid the house. The trick is as old as the hills, but it is always succeeding in town. No one who has recently been travelling through Kent could mistake the growing place of a very large proportion of the strawberries that within the past fortnight have been coming in large quantities into the London market. Those which have most recently been pouring in have been of English growth, Kent, as has been indicated, taking the lead in the supply. Not only is the soil of that county admirably adapted to the growth of our most delicious fruit, but the cultivation is continually expand- ing there, especially under glass, which gives an advantage of about a month, as compared with the open field. Experts note, however, that an immense cultivation has also, during the past few years, been developing at Sambury-green, near Southampton, while Essex likewise has been adopting the culture of this particular fruit. It is averred that few crops are steadier or more to be depended upon, apart from liability to drought, than the strawberry; and, although this liability is a very serious one, it is to be noted that a com- pany in Essex which had taken the precaution —and gone to the expense—of irrigating its land, is said to have picked last year the vast quantity of eight tons of fruit a day, a result which may be hoped to have been handsomely profitable. Henley Royal Regatta has marked the close of this week for the boat-loving as well as the fashionable Londoner, and the popularity of this time-honoured fixture evidently remains undiminished. There is no regatta exactly like Henley, and assuredly none in which the admirers of the upper reaches of the Thames takes more joy. There is more than ever in these times of the lover of that portion of "the river," and this is a fact, which in itself has its drawbacks. Time was when it was possible to enjoy boating on Ttos-Tiios without being unduly orowded; but a proof that that time is gone has been afforded by the fact that the Thames Conserva- tors have felt under the necessity of recently erecting a stout iron fencing around Moulsey Locfc, because of the hindrance to the lock- keepers caused by the waiting crowds on the banks. A protest has been made against this I action as an interference with the picturesque, but business is business, and Moulsey Lock is now enclosed. B. I

NEWS NOTES. IN cricket there is nothing certain save the uncertainty of cricket. Never was this more exemplified than in the third of this season'* series of Anglo-Australian test matches, which came to an abortive conclusion on Friday night (for not a ball was bowled on Saturday), Oil the pleasant Headingley ground at Leeda. Two of the finest batsmen in the whole world— Sid Gregory and Montague Noble of the Antipodean team were dismissed without scoring in either innings and England's most reputable batsmen did but moderately during their single spell at the creases. The bowlers almost always held the upper hand on the rain- affected pitch; and it is by no means certain that the representatives of the Old Country would have triumphed had they batted on Saturday afternoon, though the advantage on paper was certainly theirs. But the wicket was absolutely ruined, and an indecisive" draw" was the result. Young and Hearne made the most of their oppor- tunities in the bowling department, and so did Trumble for the matter of that; but apart from the fine forcing innings of Worrall at the com- mencement for the Cornstalks and the splendid all-round play of Lilley, the Middlesex bowler's feat of performing the hat-trick formed the most notable incident of the encounter. It is the first time the feat has been accomplished in an international match in England, though Billy" Bates and the demon Spoffortn have both done it in Aus- tralia. England must now win both the Man- chester and Oval matches—which is more than we can confidently expect them to do-to get the better of our visitors. It is satisfactory to note that they held their own at Leeds, after the severe thrashing they received awhile back at Lord's and the unfavourable draw at Trent Bridge. MUCH sympathy is expressed with" Johnny" Briggs, the popular member of the Lancastrian team who fell ill after one day's bowling and fielding for England, and became so gravely indisposed as to occasion general alarm. His painful epileptic seizure followed a blow over the heart region received in the Yorkshire and Lancashire match early last week. Briggs is of the most highly-strung nervous tempera- 'ment imaginable, and plays with his whole soul. He was particularly anxious to dis- tinguish himself in this test match, as he has done in so manyi that have foregone; and, having been chosen, he strained every muscle and faculty to the utmost to quit himself like the grand little cricketer he is. "Johnny "is not so young as he was once, and he broke down under the ordeal. He was worried ment- ally over home affairs, apart from the stress of the srame, for his wife is frail and ill, and his children down with fever. Happily Briggs is- as we write-reported to be on the high road to recovery, but he will require to guard care- fully for the future against tension of every kind. CAPTAIN DREYFUS has been placed in a military prison at Rennes, there to await the new trial which France will give him. Thus we have arrived at the first stage of what may be a revision and a rehabilitation: but do what she will to the 'long-incarcerated exile of the Devil's Isle, France can never now wipe out the ignominy which has been in- flicted upon the unfortunate artilleryman and make amends for his wrongs. There is something farcical about the re-trial, for all save blind believers in the General Staff of the French Army have long ago made up their minds concerning the case. Nowhere save in France could such a travesty of justice as the Dreyfus case presents have occurred. DISCONTENT reigns amongst the Uitlanders of the Transvaal still, and nothing decisive has been done on their behalf. Perhaps before many days have gone the Raad may have made a move savouring of willingness to give heed to the clamour for reasonable reform— perhaps not. We must await the course of events. MR. CECIL RHODES has returned to South Africa, hopeful as to the future of the great interests he fathers there. He is a man of as much resource and energy as he is of bold adventure, and his bright lexicon knows no such word as fail." He may yet live to solve the problems which have puzzled all who would develope the Dark Continent." SOCIALISM is uglily aggressive in Belgium and elsewhere on the Continent at this present. The riots in Brussels recently were sufficiently disconcerting, and now comes news of grave disturbances in Barcelona and Valentia as well as other parts of Spain. The political situation in Italy is also far from tranquil, and Parlia- ment has had to be prorogued owing to the violence with which the new publip safely laws have been resisted. We may be on the eve of a great Socialistic outbreak. The portents are dark.

LAUNCING AT THE LIZARD. I r lizard visitors can always (says the Morning I HtraM) find plenty to do in the daytime during the summer. With boating, bathing, fishing, visiting the many points of interest, and watching the vast Channel traffic their time is fully occupied. In the evening after dinner few care to remain in their apartments. For an evening's pastime of a highly novel and enjoyable kind, nothing can surpass a right's launcing." The launce is a kind of sand eel of most delicate flavour, with a skin bright as bur- nished silver, averaging in length from 6in. to 12in., which is to be found embedded a few inches in the sands of the various sea beaches, and the modus operandi of its capture is by scratching in the sand with a launce-hook," a small steel implement with a wooden handle, made locally at a cost of a few pence, until an obstruction is felt, then on drawing up the hook the fish is drawn to the surface, captured, and placed in a basket carried for the purpose. The proper time for this sport is at dead low water, when the moon is at the full. The sea then recedes much lower than at any other time, leaving a large expanse of white, glistening sand. The scene in these sandy coves is then fairy- like, the bright moon above casting its clear white light on the rippling sea, the sands illuminated as with a powerful electric light, the little poolsshin- ing like mirrors let here and there into the rocks and crannies, every detail of the high, frowning cliffs around clearly depicted in the silvery light—all help tc to make up a scene of exquisite grandeur and beauty. Presently, perhaps, one of the big ocean liners will pass and signal with pyrotechnic light to the signal- station. Often launcing is made the excuse for mid- night picnics, and very enjoyable they are.

Is the new issue of the London Directory no less than nine pages are devoted to recording the names and the titles of the Smiths. IT is understood that Sir Arthur Collins, Chief Justice of the High Court of Madras, will shortly resign that appointment. ECiimëR heels are to be attached to the shoes worn by French soldiers. It is claimed that they decrease ht fatigue of marching. death is announced at Simla of Sir Ram the Commander-in-Chief of the native forces of Kashmir. j

SUMMER AND ITS PERILS. I The heat of summer, and its mild, relaxing weather, are often more dangerous to children and adults than is commonly supposed. Profuse perspiration and the use of cold or effervescing drinks impoverish the blood, and the patient is, as it were, starved. If any natural weakness exists, the system will break dow. at that point; or a general relaxation and langujp may set in almost unnoticed. Mrs. Christopher, of Sleaford House, Hitchin-hill, Hitchin, told the following story to a reporter who called upon her the other day. The subject of the conversation was her daughter, Mabel Christopher, Mabel Christopher. (Front a photograph.) aged nine ye a r a. Up to last sum- mer this little girl had at- tended school regularly, but about July last year she lost power in her limbs, and one day they gave way so that she fell dowLt in the street. She was put to bed, and there she remained for many weeks, for the use of her legs was soon ent ireh lost. She became gradually thin and pale, and was paralysed all over. Her mother, however, had read in the papers of the good which had been effected in cases of paralysis by the use of Dr. Williams' pink pills for pale people, and she determined to try them. Mabel was still getting worse. when the use of the pills was begun last August. Before she had taken the first box-a box lasted a good while-as she only had half a pill at a time-she had got over the worst, and gradually but surely began to mend. Three or four boxes of pills in all were taken, and it was in Novem- ber when the little patient first got out of doors after her long illness. It was generally thought," said Mrs. Christopher, that she would never get well. She could not bear to keep her legs straight, and I thought at first it was rheumatism. Her blood also was entirely out of order. She has not taken any medicine besides these pills, and now she is as well as ever she was, and is going to school as usual; she does not look like the same girl." This is an instance where an actual illness was caused by summer heat; in other cases, as we have said, there may be only a general debility and signs of runni ng down. A cure, or a safeguard which is better, will be found in Dr. Williams' pink pills for pale people—the pills with Dr. Williams' name on the wrapper, not a substitute—and the same remedy may be confidently recommended for anosmia, weak- ness, St. Vitus' dance, rheumatism, paralysis, and consumption. If substitutes are offered, the genuine pills may always be obtained of Dr. Williams' Medicine Company, Holborn-viaduct, London—price two shillings and ninepence, postage free.

I A BIU BLAST. In the 23rd annual report of her Majesty's In- spectors of Explosives, just issued, special mention is made of a big blast that was carried out on the 7th December at the quarries of the Welsh Granite Com- pany (Limited) at Trevor. The quarry is situated 600 feet above the sea level, and the bank to be operated upon was 100 feet high. The plan of opera- tion consisted in driving one heading 53 feet long, about 15 feet above the level of the bank; another heading, 23 feet long, to the left from this, and with a chamber at the end, and a third, 29 feet long to the right, but nearer the mouth of the first heading also with a chamber at the end. The chambers were charged with 63 tons of gunpowder, two high tension fuses being placed in each chamber, together with duplicate fases in case of missfire, and connected with a cable for firing, which was done by means of a small Siemen's dynamo of 400 volts. Eighty thousand tons of rock were displaced, and another 20,000 tons loosened by the explosion. The report adds that it is proposed to carry out a larger blast at ,-he same quarries this summer.