Short Papers and Notes. 229 
diameter of the earth’s orbit, or 183,000,000 miles, as the base, 
the observations being taken at intervals of six months. Even 
with this immense line, however, the parallax is so small that it 
can only be detected by the most careful observations and accu- 
rate instruments. The parallax of about a dozen stars has now 
been ascertained, and is found to vary between o-g19 second and 
0'046 second. The star, a (Centauri), is the nearest to the earth, 
and its distance is estimated at 20,496,000,000 miles, while the 
average distance of stars of the first magnitude is probably three 
or four times as great as this.—Sczentific American. 
Everlasting Flowers. 
The zmmortelle of the east (Helichrysum Ortentale), a native of 
Asia, has been known in Europe since 1629, but was only first 
cultivated in gardens about 1815. Its-flowers—the symbols of 
friendship, or tribute to talent and genius—serve to make the 
garlands of zmmortelies which ornament the tombs of the dead in 
Roman Catholic countries. It is cultivated in France in the 
communes of Lower Provence, where the soil slopes towards the 
Mediterranean. It succeeds very well on the slopes of Bandols 
and Clota, which are exposed to the south and enclosed by walls 
of stone. It blossoms about the month of June. It suffers from 
heavy and continuous rains and strong dews, and only vegetates 
well on light, stony, and permeable soils. It is propagated by 
offsets, which are separated from the old stocks. The gathering 
of the flowers is made in the first days of June, before the burst- 
ing of the buds. As the flowers which are insufficiently formed 
or too full blown are rejected by the trade, it is important not to 
cut them too soon or too late. The collection is made by women, 
who tie them in small bundles, which are ordinarily dried on the 
walls of the inclosure. Finally, young girls are employed to 
remove the down which covers the ramification. A kilogram 
(nearly 24 bs.) of these plants contains about 400 stems, each 
containing about 20 flowers. Each growing tuft of zmmortelles 
produces 60 or 7o stems. A hectare (23 acres) will contain 
40,000 tufts, producing annually 2,400,000 stems, yielding 16,000 
to 20,000 bundles, or 54 to 6 tons of zmmortelles. 
Torpid Diver. 
One of the best and simplest remedies for a torpid liver or 
biliousness is a glass of hot water with the juice of half a lemon 
squeezed into it, but no sugar, night and morning. A person to 
whom this was recommended tried it, and found himself better 
almost immediately. His daily headache, which medicine had 
failed to cure, left him; his appetite improved, and he gained 
