Lauterbrunnen is a deep part of an Alpine pass, where the sun hardly shines in winter.  It abounds with falls, the most remarkable of which is the Staubbach, which falls over the Balm precipice in a drizzling spray from a height of 925 feet; best viewed in the morning sun or by moonlight.  In general, it is like a gauze veil, with rainbows dancing up and down it, and when clouds hide the top of the mountain, it seems as poured out of the sky.

In Canada, the falls of Montmorenci are 250 feet high, the falls of Niagara (the Horse Shoe Falls) are 158 feet high and 2,000 feet wide, the American Falls arc 164 feet high and 900 feet wide.  The Yosemite Valley Falls are 2,600 feet high, and the Ribbon Falls of the Yosemite are 3,300 feet high.  The waterfall of the Arve, in Bavaria, is 2,000 feet.

THE PERIODS OF GESTATION are the same in the horse and ass or eleven months each, camel 12 months, elephant 2 years, lion 5 months, buffalo 12 months, in the human female 9 months, cow 9 months, sheep 5 months, dog 9 weeks, cat 8 weeks, sow 16 weeks, she wolf from 90 to 95 days.  The goose sits 30 days, swans 42, hens 21, ducks 30, peahens and turkeys 28, canaries 14, pigeons 14, parrots 40 days.

AGES OF ANIMALS, ETC.—­Elephant 100 years and upward, Rhinoceros 20, Camel 100, Lion 25 to 70, Tigers, Leopards, Jaguars and Hyenas (in confinement) about 25 years, Beaver 50, deer 20, wolf 20, Fox 14 to 16, Llamas 15, Chamois 25, Monkeys and Baboons 16 to 18 years, Hare 8, Squirrel 7, Rabbit 7, Swine 25, Stag under 50, Horse 30, Ass 30, Sheep under 10, Cow 20, Ox 30, Swans, Parrots and Ravens 200, Eagle 100, Geese 80, Hens and Pigeons 10 to 16, Hawks 36 to 40, Cranes 24, Blackbird 10 to 12, Peacock 20, Pelican 40 to 50, Thrush 8 to 10, Wren 2 to 3, Nightingale 15, Blackcap 15, Linnet 14 to 23, Goldfinch 20 to 24, Redbreast 10 to 12, Skylark 10 to 30, Titlark 5 to 6, Chaffinch 20 to 24, Starling 10 to 12, Carp 70 to 150, Pike 30 to 40, Salmon 16, Codfish 14 to 17, Eel 10, Crocodile 100, Tortoise 100 to 200, Whale estimated 1,000, Queen Bees live 4 years, Drones 4 months, Working Bees 6 months.

The melody of singing birds ranks as follows:  The nightingale first, then the linnet, titlark, sky lark and wood lark.  The mocking bird has the greatest powers of imitation, the robin and goldfinch are superior in vigorous notes.

The condor of Peru has spread wings 40 feet, feathers 20 feet, quills 8 inches round.

In England, a quarter of wheat, comprising 8 bushels, yields 14 bushels 2-1/2 pecks, divided into seven distinct kinds of flour, as follows:  Fine flour, 5 bushels 3 pecks; bran, 3 bushels; twenty-penny, 3 bushels; seconds, 2 pecks; pollard, 2 bushels; fine middlings, 1 peck; coarse ditto, 1 peck.

The ancient Greek phalanx comprised 8,000 men, forming a square battalion, with spears crossing each other, and shields united.

The Roman legion was composed of 6,000 men, comprising 10 cohorts of 600 men each, with 300 horsemen.