4^2 
'I HE STRAXD MAGAZINE. 
T 
WHERE 
ROYALTIES ARE 
MEASURED. 
MIE stone column 
shown in this 
photograph is one of 
the greatest historical 
relics of Denmark. It 
dates back to the time 
of King Canute, and 
stands in the Cathe- 
dral of Koskilde, near 
Copenhagen, where all 
the Danish kings are 
buried. In the course 
of time] it became 
customary for all the 
reigning Danish mon* 
archs to have them- 
selves and their most 
notable Royal guests 
measured against the 
*-* Column of Kings,” 
as it is called, and the 
mark and date carved 
in the stone. In 1716 
Czar Peter the Great 
was measured on the 
column, and up to 
the present no other 
Royalty has been able to beat his immense height of six 
feet eight inches, Amongst other names and measures 
engraved on the column the following are the most 
interesting : King Christian X., of Denmark, who is 
i he tallest prince in Europe — his measurement is given 
vis six feet four inches, coining very near to that of 
Czar Peter ; King Christian IX. of Denmark, father 
of Queen Alexandra, live feet ten inches ; King 
George of Greece, live feet nine inches ; King Edward 
VIE, five feet six inches; and King Frederick of 
Denmark, five feet eight inches. The smallest of all 
is King Chululongkorn of Siam. His height is 
given as five feet three inches.— Mr. K. P. Xors, 
19, St. Ann’s Road, Rrixton, S+W. 
WHAT SNAKES’ EGGS LOOK LIKE. 
M RS. SIMPSON SIIAW, of Avcley, Essex, from 
whose pen there appeared in our pages some 
mouths back an informing article on “ The Pandie 
Pimnont Terrier” in a symposium entitled “The Best 
Dog I Ever Saw,” now sends us a striking photograph of 
a large duster of the eggs of the common grass snake — 
“ the biggest duster I ever saw,” to quote her own 
words. In the course ol farming operations a snake _ 
was in process of being executed on a manure-heap, 
and in the disturbance the cluster was revealed. In 
the act of collecting them a few of the eggs were 
ruptured and the little wrigglers did their best to begun 
an independent existence. It is safe tosay that through 
the discovery the reptilian population of that part of 
Essex was deprived of a large addition to its number. 
Unfortunately the “ pieces ” of the matron snake did 
not lend themselves to being included in the photo- 
graph, which is by Mr. F. J. Kelley, of Avelcy. 
AN EXTRAORDINARY HOBBY. 
r | "'IlIS illustration shows the last page of what must 
be a unique book. Tt is a volume of five hundred 
pages, carefully bound, whose contents consist of one 
million dots, arranged in blocks of one thousand each. 
This extraordinary work was compiled about the middle 
of the last century by the then writing-master at 
Merchant Taykrs’ School, and it is executed entirely 
by hat . . 'e book was ruled throughout in pencil 
before the dots were placed in it, and the whole task 
was the work of many years. The daughter of the 
author gave it to an old friend after the death of her 
father as a keepsake and as a memorial of his untiring 
patience. One cannot help thinking, however, that 
his time might have been better employed. — Miss Violet 
A. Methley, 9, Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol. 
TO THE MEMORY OF ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 
\ MONUMENT which reveals a commendable 
departure from the conventional type of 
memorial is to be seen at Copenhagen. It is carved 
from a boulder taken from the sea, and was erected to 
the memory of the Danish Arctic explorer Mylius 
Erichsen and his comrades, who lost their lives in 
Greenland. — Mr. K. P. Nors, 19, St, Ann’s Road, 
Brixton, S.W. 
