SHEARED BY THE BLASTS OF ENGINES. On the main business and residence street of Tecumseh, Mich., the right of way of a railroad is on one side of the street and overshadowed by large maples. The photo shows how clean cut the blasts from locomotives in passing below have sheared the branches. From the upper side of a tropical gorge through which runs the Rio Blanca, the observer gazes through the vine-hung tropical forest where Mount Orizaba bathed in sunlight rises, more than 18,000 feet, its head crowned with perpetual snow. In the foreground are various birds, from motmots and tanagers to humming birds. By the panorama or a painted background the onlooker is shown how the character of the country changes as one goes upward from the plain, passing through the dense forest to the barren higher levels of the mountain and its top capped with snow. THE PARADE OF THE LEAGUE OF NUMEROUS FAMILIES. The league of the French fathers of numerous families has been organized in France. Its object is to fight against race suicide and to induce the government to assist large families to bring up their children. To rouse public opinion a demonstration took place in Paris recently. silks and satins were taken, hats, shoes, gloves, handkerchiefs and ribbons galore, while it was indeed a poor "grabber" who failed to sport a fine new "sombrero," carved leather belt and holster. Pistols and daggers of the best make adorned the person of the craziest-looking peon, and most stores looked as though a cyclone had visited them. One in particular had nothing left except broken show cases and battered shelving. shown in one of the accompanying photographs, suspended from the pole held by the two Filipino laborers, with a section of the python's skin. The great swallowing capacity of the python is due to the wonderful rubberlike structure of the monster's head, which expands widely and rapidly during the swallowing of prey, that except, for the presence of the eyes, all semblance of a head is lost. The snake can swallow an object five times the diameter of its skull. The skull of the giant here pictured is quite interesting, as it shows that the teeth are not grooved to carry a poison, but are curved backwards and made to reach forward alternately in quick succession so as to draw in the prey. At the New York Zoological Park, a forty-pound pig is the largest ever given for a month's meal to the twenty-foot python that is to be found in captivity there. THE HEAD OF THE PYTHON THAT SWALLOWED THE 125-POUND BOAR. After they have eaten these creatures become very sluggish, in fact remaining in a state of torpor during the whole period that the digestive process is going on. FAMOUS DIAMONDS OF THE WORLD AVERY interesting comparison of the sizes of famous diamonds of the world is shown in the accompanying photograph below. This gives an unusual opportunity to compare the various well-known stones, some of whose names are known wherever language is spoken and news and history read. By number, the stones are as follows: Kohinoor, after second cutting; 2, Loterie d'Angleterre; 3, Great Mogul of Russia; 4, Orlow, 19434 carats, cut in rose form; 5, Kohinoor, after 1. 8, Etoile de Sud, found by a negress in the river Bogageux, sold for $450,000; 9, Etoile Polaire, forty carats; 10, Tiffany yellow diamond; 11, Blue Diamond d'Angleterre ; 12, Sancy, for which $70,000 was paid; 13, Emperatrice Eugenie; 14, Scheik of Russia; 15, Massuk; 16, Pacha d'Egypt; 17, The Great Premier Diamond; 18, Tiffany diamond. The styles of cutting are worthy of study. Greatest care was taken by the experts, of course, when these stones were found, to get from each its finest shape and brilliancy. Hence the choice of the differing forms and methods of cutting. The two uncut stones in the photograph will give one a good idea of the problem that confronts the cutter of precious gems. A PUZZLING REFLECTION. Without a close examination it is diffi cult to tell which is the top of this picture. The reflected picture of the lady is almost as distinct as the original object. first cutting; 6, Regent, from South African mines, bought for $20,000 and now valued at $2,500,000; 7, Duc de Tuscane; GIANT TERMITE NEST. It was found 6,000 feet up among the Blue Mountains on the Island of Jamaica. Termites, or white ants. travel in covered galleries which they construct along every branch of the tree. The termite nest is made of wood pulp and placed usually in trees. although RAISING LETTUCE UNDER CHEESE CLOTH. that an artificial How lettuce is and transmitter mounted in a locked iron case. Twenty-one of these stations are installed throughout the city of Pittsburg and its suburbs for the exclusive use of the taxi-cab drivers. In the system in practice before the adoption of the taxicab stations a passenger making a fourmile trip to one end of the town would pay his fee, and if the car on its return was not flagged by a chance fare the return trip would have to be charged up to loss by the company. With the adoption of the present system, however, the cars are run much as on a well-regulated steam railroad. The wires from the twenty-one stations of the company converge at the main office of the company in a switchboard at which a special operator constantly stays on duty. Here a record is kept of each taxi-cab, where it is bound for, the fare, and the distance it has to |