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An interesting discovery of old Roman and Anglo- Saxon relics has been made in the course of some excavations in a field at Mitcham, a suburb of London. Seven skeletons in a group accompanied by several spearheads were at first unearthed. A later this discovery was followed by the finding of three more all in an excellent of In every case, the skeleton was lying on its back with the feet toward the east, and in separate graves made in the gravel. Remnants of old-fashioned armor, some spurs, and a two-edged broadsword were found near the remains. Several three-inch lengths of brass or bronze rod, with eyelets at the head, and portions of an old handsomely carved glazed vase were found on the chest of one of the skeletons. Another skeleton had a spearhead to the left of the skull, with a buckle and knife or dagger at the waist. The skeletons and relics of the implements have been carefully examined by archeologists, and investigations incline to the theory that the bodies were buried about the year A. D. 400. As a matter of fact, there exists records of a battle having been fought near Mitcham about this period. The researches are to be continued carefully under the supervision of scientists and antiquarians, and it is anticipated that many more interesting links with the past will be discovered. It has been observed oysters grow much more slowly on some beds than on others--that in certain places they fail to fatten. These places were usually on overcrowded beds, and sometimes good results could be secured by transplanting or thinning out. Qualitative and quantitative study of the diatoms (which constitute the food of oysters) on beds where the oysters fatten well, and on other beds where they fatten poorly, showed that the number of diatoms per liter of water was very much greater in the former than in the latter. It was therefore believed that if the supply of diatoms could be increased on the unproductive beds the oysters on them would grow and fatten. Experiments along these lines were recently inaugurated at Lynnhaven, Va., under the immediate direction of Dr. H. F. Moore, of the Bureau of Fisheries. A small cove was selected where the bottom and the salinity of the water were favorable, but. where diatoms were scarce. Commercial fertilizers of certain kinds were used to furnish food for the diatoms, and it was very soon found that the latter greatly increased in abundance, and lean oysters transferred to this cove fattened rapidly. Details of the process need not be given here, but it is believed that the experiments will demonstrate the entire practicability of the artificial feeding and fattening of oysters on a commercial basis.-- National Geographic Magazine. Some time before the ashes and lava of Vesuvius in 79 A. D. covered up Herculaneum and Pompeii, a municipal election was held in the latter city. Mr. Joseph Offord read a paper before the Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts concerning this election, about which nothing would have been known but for the terrible eruption, whieh from 79 to 1755 buried the municipium and its electors alike in a lava tomb. Mr. Offord showed that many of the inscriptions uncovered on the walls of the city relate to elections and claims of candidates, much in the same way as do the placards posted in our streets to-day. Some were rudely inscribed, others set forth with artistic embellishment, and one, at, least, contained a topical verse written by some minor poet, and painted in red. Like our candidates, those in Pompeii were run by their supporters, who represented various trades and interests. The wood-cutters, fishers, perfumers, dyers, barbers, and the like had their men pledged to promote or their rights and privileges. There were fad- (lists, too, in Pompeii, who were looked after by such societies as the Ball-players, Long Sleepers, Deep Drinkers, and Little Thieves, to adopt a free translation of some of their titles. At Pompeii's ultimate civic contest the Long Sleepers and Deep Drinkers appear most appropriately to have run a candidate in common--the main plank in their platform being the suppression of street noises. Even Pompeii had its religious difficulty. As every visitor to. those wondrous unburied ruins knows, it was the home of a cosmopolitan and, for its age, cultured and tolerant people, and to this day stand altars erected to Egyptian gods side by side with those of the established worship of Venus. Naturally there arose some differences between them. It is suggested that further excavations may prove that at the 79 election there were Isis passive resisters. Thus near came imperial Rome to representative government.
