* * * *

=The Largest Tree in the World.=--In San Francisco, encircled by a circus
tent of ample dimensions, is a section of the largest tree in the
world--exceeding the diameter of the famous tree of Calaveras by five
feet. This monster of the vegetable kingdom was discovered in 1874, on
Tule River, Tulare County, about seventy-five miles from Visalia. At
some remote period its top had been broken off by the elements or some
unknown forces, yet when it was discovered it had an elevation of 240
feet. The trunk of the tree was 111 feet in circumference, with a
diameter of 35 feet 4 inches. The section on exhibition is hollowed out,
leaving about a foot of bark and several inches of the wood. The
interior is 100 feet in circumference and 30 feet in diameter, and it
has a seating capacity of about 200. It was cut off from the tree about
12 feet above the base, and required the labor of four men for nine days
to chop it down. In the centre of the tree, and extending through its
whole length, was a rotten core about two feet in diameter, partially
filled with a soggy, decayed vegetation that had fallen into it from the
top. In the centre of this cavity was found the trunk of a little tree
of the same species, having perfect bark on it, and showing regular
growth. It was of uniform diameter, an inch and a half all the way; and
when the tree fell and split open, this curious stem was traced for
nearly 100 feet. The rings in this monarch of the forest show its age to
have been 4840 years.

* * * * *

=Sweet Scents.=--Perfumes were used in the early times of the Chinese
Empire, when ladies had a habit of rubbing in their hands a round ball
made of a mixture of amber, musk, and sweet-scented flowers. The Jews,
who were also devoted to sweet scents, used them in their sacrifices,
and also to anoint themselves before their repasts. The Scythian ladies
went a step farther, and after pounding on a stone cedar, cypress, and
incense, made up the ingredients thus obtained into a thick paste, with
which they smeared their faces and limbs. The composition emitted for a
long time a pleasing odor, and on the following day gave to the skin a
soft and shining appearance. The Greeks carried sachets of scent in
their dresses, and filled their dining-rooms with fumes and incense.
Even their wines were often impregnated with decoctions of flowers. The
Athenians anointed pigeons with liquid