mpossibility
of being able to see into the middle of next week, from known facts with
regard to the equation of time. He stated that, supposing it possible for
a person to ascend in a balloon sufficiently high for his vision to
embrace a distance of seven hundred miles from east to west, he would then
only see forty minutes ahead of him; that is, he would see places where
the day was forty minutes in advance of the day in which he lived. Thus he
might be said to see forty minutes into futurity. It has also been proved
that, in sailing round the world in one direction, a day's reckoning is
gained; so that the sailor on his return finds himself to be 'a man in
advance of his age' by one day. This one day, however, is the farthest
attainable limit; and it is therefore impossible to see into the middle of
next Week!' 'Mr. TITE, proprietor of the 'Metropolitan Bakedtatery'
brought forward his new 'Low Pressure Potatoe-Can,' upon an improved
principle. It was constructed of tin, and warranted to sustain a pressure
of twenty potatoes upon the square bottom. Mr. TITE explained that the
steam had nothing to do with the warmth of the fruit, but was quite
independent of it.' 'Mr. FLIT brought forward his new and improved Street
Telescope for looking at the moon. It was most ingeniously constructed,
being to the eye a fine instrument of six feet long. Mr. FLIT explained,
however, that the telescope itself was only an eighteen-inch one, the case
being manufactured to increase its importance, in which the real glass was
enclosed. The chief merit of this invention was, that the moon could be
seen equally well on cloudy nights, or when there was none at all, the
case enclosing an ingenious transparency of that body, behind which a
small lamp was hung. Mr. FLIT could always command a view of any of the
celestial bodies by the same means.' Here are a few items of law from
'_The Comic Blackstone_:' 'The statute of EDWARD the Fourth, prohibiting
any but lords from wearing pikes on their shoes of more than two inches
long, was considered to savor of oppression; but those who were in the
habit of receiving from a lord more kicks than coppers, would consider
that the law savored of benevolence.' 'Unlawfully detaining a man in any
way is imprisonment; so that if you take your neighbor by the button, and
cause him to listen to a long story, you are guilty of imprisonment.'
PUNCH'S idea of '_Woman's Mission_' differs somewhat from other reformers