The Clock-tower in Darmstadt Palace.

The residential palace in Darmstadt, where Queen Victoria made a brief
stay in the spring of this year, has a clock-tower the chimes in which
discourse sweet music four times every hour. At the first quarter they
strike up a verse of the stirring "Watch on the Rhine;" at the half-hour
the familiar notes of "God save the Queen" fall upon the listener's ear;
at the third quarter an air from the well-known opera of the "Marriage
of Figaro," enlivens the palace; while the hour is hailed with the
bridal chorus from Wagner's "Lohengrin."

Oiling the Waves.

During the last two or three years a good deal has been heard of
experiments for calming an angry sea by pouring oil upon the troubled
waters. This has been proved to have a marked effect, but it is
interesting to note that the idea is by no means new. In 1844
experiments were made in the North Sea, with a view to test this special
property, and though several gallons were used on the occasion, no
diminution of their rage was noticed in the waves. Captain Wilkes,
however, the commander of the United States Exploring Expedition in
the Antarctic Ocean, 1838-42, observed that the oil leaking from a
whaler had a stilling influence upon the sea. And this quite agrees with
the result of nearly, if not all, recent trials.

[Illustration: ACTIVE VOLCANO IN REUNION.]

Spider Knicknacks.

A large trade is done at Santa Barbara, in South California, in the
preparation of stuffed specimens of a big, ugly, vicious, poisonous
spider. Cards decorated with these insect monsters are readily bought by
tourists, by museums, and by science schools. This spider excites great
curiosity on account of the nest with trap-door which it constructs with
much skill, but though its native valleys abound with countless numbers
of the homes and tunnels, yet hardly a living spider can be seen. It is
for this reason, doubtless, that the demand for stuffed specimens is so
considerable as to engage wholesale merchants as well as retail
shopkeepers in meeting its supply.

An Affectionate Dog.

Early this year, a lady died in New York. She had had a Skye terrier as
a pet for twelve years, and during the two months of her illness it
remained by her bed. After the funeral it took up its old position by
the bed, refusing to eat. A few days afterwards it found a pair of its
mistress's shoes which had been thrown out of doors. The faithful animal
brought them in