Wisdom Teeth; Why so Called.
The so-called wisdom teeth are the last two molars to grow, and they have no real connection with the possession of wisdom. They take their name from the time of their arrival, from twenty to twenty-five years, at which age the average person is supposed to have reached years of discretion.
Cutting one’s wisdom teeth means simply arriving at the point of completeness in physical equipment, and has no direct relation to mental equipment. The possession of these teeth is no guarantee of wisdom. They grow at about the same age in people whether they are wise or not.
Walnut Tree Forty-six Years Old.
Colusa, Cal., is laying claim to having the largest California black walnut in the world, but the dimensions of the Colusa tree do not come up to those of a tree that is growing on F. W. Schutz’s farm on Sycamore Slough, six miles northeast of Arbuckle, also in Colusa County.
Some time ago an account in newspapers first brought this monster tree before the reading public, and it received much attention throughout the State. The agricultural department of the State University wrote Schutz about it, stating that information sent by him would be used in a book that the department is compiling.
In answer to the request of the university authorities Mr. Schutz has taken accurate measurements of the tree, which are as follows: Circumference one foot from the ground, twenty-two feet, eight inches—below this the roots appear above the surface of the ground, making the tree about twenty-six feet; circumference nine feet from the ground, nineteen feet nine inches; height, 102 feet; width of shadow at noon, 120 feet.
The big tree is forty-six years old, having been planted in 1868 by D. Arnold, a Colusa County pioneer.
Virginia’s Oldest Cow Dies.
“Old Nancy,” said to be the oldest cow in Virginia, is dead. This cow was fifty-two years old when she expired with the old year, thus turning the recent holiday into a day of gloom for her owner and others. When young, the cow’s color had been a blood-red, but for more than twenty years her hair had been turning white, until at the time of her death her hair was as white as the snow that covered the ground.