Life In Corea

[From tlie London Times.} One of the leading Secretarles of the Japahesë miBfiioü; which rteitRd Corea early in this year to negotiate the treaty between the 'two countries, gave, on his return, au account of the condition of Corea, so far as he could observe it on its southwestern coast and in the neighborhood of Kdk'wa; acid his statement, transmitted by Sir H. Parkes, is included among papers recentlv presented to Parliament. The Seéïetary saS that .the houses of tlie common pëople are little better than dog kennels. Though liok'wa is a fine place, the houses are only six or seven f eet high. Houses in Corea are wnrined by means of a horizontal passage extending under the whole length of the floor; a flre is lit at one end, and the smoke goes out at the other. Dried fish and persimmons, tobacco and straw sandals are apparently the chief objects of trade. Chairs of a very rude kind seem to have been made for the special accommodation of the Japanese mission ; skins of leopards were placed over the chairs. The Government offices are built of brick, and recognizable at a glance. In respect to conveniences thoy are very deficiënt; and, for like reasons, the public roads are filthy. The city walls are dbout flvè miles long, only from two feet to three feet , high, partly. elf mud and Ëtone aiid partly of brick; the gates have fallen out of repair. The Coreáis dress In garmënts undyed and unornamented, and which once were white; a long sleeve is the badge of higher rank. The headdress is a large round hat fastened by strings passing under the chin, and said tb be made df hbrsehair. Custom exacte that the hat be placed on the head when grbeiing a friend. The hair is worn long and fastened with pins into a búnch at the top of the head. The women are said to be dressed something like Europeans, but the Japanese did not see one; the women are excluded from the public gaze, and it is said that even among the Coreans themselves visitors are not permitted to see the wife. The writer of this account "inks it probable that there may be jiuch mineral wealth in Corea, but he says that only the iron mines are worked. Copper, gold and silver, if such metáis exist, are yet untouched. This, he thinks, may have arisen from a notion that their discovery would be prejudicial to the nation. He believes the soil to bepoor= There appears to be no old trees, the demand for fuel being such that they are not allowed to grow to maturity. The cattle and pigs are very fat, and the hides of the former are among the exporta of the country. The horses c 'e very small, and only about a third of the size of au Arab horse. The chief drink of the people is an infusión of dried ginseng or ginger and dried orange peel. Goma (sesamum orientalis) of excellent quality grows m tne country, and its oü is largely used in cooking and also for lamp fuel. The Secretary says: "The Coreana eat more meat and fat stuff than we do, but not much flsh; the beef and pork are excellent. When the treaty was signed we were entertained with a repast, at which music was perf ormed. There was a sort of confectionary made of sugar, flour and oil, cut into small square pieces; a great heap of boiled eggs; a pudding of flour, goma and honey; dried persimmons; pine seeds; honey-like food covered with roasted rice, painted red and white; macaroni soup with fovil; boiled legs of pork; and with e very - thing wine of about the potency of Ja panese sake of inferior quality; but the wine usually drank by the Coreana is a strong spirit. The dishes were of earthenware; the table was square, rudely made and painted with persimmon juice. Oiled paper was used for a I tableclötb, and the wine was served f rom copper vessels." Why Are Cirilized Kaces TVhiteï Some very curious physiological facts bearing upon the presenoe or absence of white colors in the higher animáis have lately been adduced by Dr. Ogle. It hes been found that a colored or dark pigment in the olfactory región of the nostrils is essential to perfect smell, and this pigment is rarely deficiënt except when the whole animal is pure white. In these cases the creature is almost without smell or taste. This, Dr. Ogle believes, explains the curious case of the pigs in Virginia adduced by Mr. Darwin, white pigs being poisoned by a poisonous root which does not affect black pigs. White sheep are killed in the Tarentino by eating hypericum ertscum, while black sheep escape ; white rhinoceroses are said to perish froin eating euphorbia candelabrum ; and white horses are said to suffer from poisonous food where colored ones escape. The explanation ha?, however, been carried a step further, by experiments showing that the absorption of odors by dead matter, such as clothing, is greatly affected by color, black being the most powerful absorbent, then blue, red, yellow, and lastly white. Por few, if any, wild. animáis are wholly white. The head, the face, or least the muzzle or the nose, are generally black. The eara and eyes are also often black ; and there is reason to believe that dark pigment is essential to good hearing, as it certainly is to perfect visión. We can, tberefore, understand why white cats with blue eyes are so deaf- a peeuliarity we notice more readily than their deficiency of smell or taste. But though inapplieable to the lower animáis, this curious relation of sense-acuteness with colors may have had some influence on the development of the higher human races. If light tints of the skin were arenerallv accompanied bv some ciency in the senses of smell, hearing and visión, the white could never compete with the darker races, so long as man was in a very low or savage condition, and wholly dependent for existence on the acuteness of his senses. But as the mental faculties became more fully developed and more important to his welfai-e than mere sense-acuteness, the lighter tints of the skin, and hair, and eyes, would cease to be disadvantageous whenever they were acoompanied by superior brain-power. - A. R. Wallace at the British Association. The Chrlstians ol' Asia JHicor. An Armenian in London sends to the papers the folio wing extract f rom an Armenian newspaper in Asia Minor " These (Turkish) oppressions, instea( of decreasiug, grow dailyin dimensions. It has become a crime for usto be Chris tians; we give the Government thi greater part of the fruit of our labora, wo never give them the least trouble, yei our elergy, our women and our ehil 'dren and ourselves aro dihonored daily Neither the captivity of the Iaraelites i i Egypt, nor tüe sufferings of the Bn'. gariaus, nor the past snfferings of the American uegroes, cnu pompare with the present miseries öf te Armenians of Anatolia. The European powerS Kns now considering how to insure the welfare of the people of European Turkey; but if they wish to perform a philanthröpic aud Christian duty, they will romember that, in Asiatic Tnrkey, also, there aie WüHons vrho are at this moment suffering merëlj b-5cmse they bear J-,ho name of Christ."