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The Dispensary,
Dark Rooms.—While absolute dark
ness destroys the eyes—as in the case
of the eyeless fish of the Mammoth
Cave—dark and dismal rooms must
impair their sight—hence, those occu-
pyiDg such rooms, and have special
occasion to use the eyes much, soon
find the light to fail. This results in
part from the fact that light stimulates
the sight—its absence falling to de
velop tne power—and partly from the
additional effort to see, of course tax
ing and weakening the sight. The sun
light in the' room, indeed, may fade
the carpet and effect some other tri
fling results, but all of them are more
easily remedied than deficient sight
or the utter loss of it, so likely to fol
low this foolish fashion of excluding
God’s glorious sunlight. And while
we remember that this same light is
one of the best purifiers, absolutely
necessary to health—animal as well
as vegetable—to attempt to exclude it
frim the rooms most occupied, or to
shun its healiug influences, is unwise
in the txtreme. The absence of it is
too well known in its results on vege
table life, to demand even a reference,
and yet animal life, if possible,, is still
more unfavorably affected. This light
is as free as the air, while as a reme
dial agent it is of the utmost imj ort-
ance.
The food of the eye is light, as is air
for the lungs, bread for the stomach,
and as the fins of the fish pre-suppose
water. To shut ourselves up in dark
rooms, with or without weak light, is
simply suicidal. Weak eyes indeed
are the accompaniment of dark rooms,
stained glass ai d gas.
Eating Meat and Nervousness.—The
London Lancet tays “Nervous dis
eases and weaknesses increase in a
country as the population comes to
live on the,flesh of the warm-blooded
animals, ‘Meat’ (using the term in
its popular sense) is highly stimulat
ing, and supplies proportionally more
exciting thau actually nourishing
pabulum to the nervous system. The
meat eater lives at high pressure anti
is, or ought to be, a peculiarly active
organism, like a predatory animal al
ways on tlje alert, walking rapidly and
consuming large quantities of oxygen.
In practice we find that the meat-
eater does not live up to the level of
his food, and as a consequence he can
not or does not take in enough of oxy
gen to satisfy the exigencies of his
mode of life. Thereupon follow many,
if not most, of the ills to which highly
civilized and. luxurious meat-eating
daises are liable.”
« Scientific and Instructive.
To render thick paper quite trauslu
cent, saturate it while warm with
Canada balsam or castor oil.
The greatest pressure in a steam
boiler is at ihe bottom. The wa er
adds 1 pound pressure for each 27
inches depth.
SoapstoA gfr und flue can be
moulded into different shapes by mix
ing with water glass, and when dried
closely resembles the natural stone.
It is stated by Dr. Billings, U. 8.
A., that 100,000 people die annually in
the United States from preventable
diseases and avoidable accidtnts.
It is said that belts made from
mineral-tanned leather are cheaper
and a good dial stronger than belts
made from leather tanned in the usual
way.
• The total pioduction (ft zinc in
Europe in 1880 was 203,880 tons. Ger
many produced 99,405 tons: Belgium,
35,010; England, 22,000; France,
18,715, and Austro-Huugary, 3200.
The influence of atmospheric elec
tricity on vines has been tried by Dr.
M .'cagno. Grapes were found to be
richer in grape sugar and poorer in
acid than those produced under natural
conditions.
Recently at Berna medical student
cut his finger while dissecting a dead
bo4y ; precautions were immediately
taken to prevent bloodpoisoning, but
the poor young fellow expired after
much suffering.
A colossal oak tree was reoently
fellel near Ollon, in the Canton of
Vaui', the circumlerence of which,
measired some ten inches above the
roots, was no less than tw T euty feet,
while its weight was considerably over
three tons.
A large canoe in excellent condition
has been found near Bex, 4000 feet
above the sea level and nearly 8600 feet
above the valley of the Rhone. No
Lacustrine relics have ever before been
found lu Switzerland at such an eleva
tion. 4
For a number of years a German
paper leaker has been utilizing the
waste Water from his engine, conduct
ing it by ditches to and upon the
meadows adjoining bis mill. He as
serts that bis profits from his grass cr< p
have been trebled.
Le Monitcur Scientfique says that
the Central Society of Chemical and
Commercial Industries has nominated
a commission for theievision tf the
analytical process used in determining
the value or the purity of commercial
products.
According to Byasson the tendency
which liquid chloral has to pass into the
solid form can be overcome by shaking
it with a little caustic baryta. The
presence of a trace of sulpl uric acid is
the ct use of its disagreeable polymeri
zation.
To produce light and dark shades of
gold leaf the metal is alloyed with sil
ver and copper. The adt ition of the
baser metals lessens the malleability,
and as the leaf Is sold by superficial
measure and not by wright, aduitera-
ion Is kept at the minium.
Cold Winters.
The following statistics of the good
old winters are curious : In 4i»l, the
Black Sea was entirely frozen over.
In 708, not only the Black Sea, but the
Straits of the Dardanelles, were frozen,
over; the snow in some places rose
fifty feet high. In 822, the great rivers
of Europe—the Danube, the Elbe, etc.
—were so hard rrozen as to bear heavy
wagons for a month. In 800, the
Adriatic was frozen. In 991, eveiy
thing was frozen; the crois totally
failed, and famine and pestilence
closed the year. In 1067, the most of
the travelers in Germany were
frozi n to death on the roads. In 1133,
the Po was fit z.n from Crtmona to
the sea ; the wine casks were burst,
and even -the trees split by the aoiion
of the frost with immense noise. In
1236, the Danube was fr* zeu to the
bottom, and ren amed long in that
state. In 1310, the crops wholly failed
in Germany ; wheat, which some years
before sold in England at six shillings
the quarter, rose to two pounds. In
1389, the crops failed iu Scotland, and
such a famine ensued that the poor
were reduced to feed on grass, and
many perished miserably in the fields.
The successive winters of 1432 33-34
were uncommonly severe. It once
snowed forty days without interrup
tion. In 1408, the wine distributed to
the soldiers in Flanders was cut with
hatchets. In 1084, the winter was ex
cessively cald. Must of the hollies
were killed. Couches drove along the
Thames, the ice of which was eleven
inches thick. In 1709 occurred the
cold winter. The frost penetrated
three yards into the ground. In 1710,
booths were erected and fairs held on
the Thames. In 1744 and 1745 the
strongest ale in England, txposedto
the air, was covered in less than fifteen
minutes with ice an eighth of an inch
thick. In 18( 9, and again in 1812, the
winters weie remarkably cold. In
J814 there was a fair ou the frozen
Thame \
Savage Clicks.
The “.click ’ which some writers
have noted as a curiosity in the \ p :ech
of Cetewayo and his suite is not pecu
liar to the Zulu tongue. It is a char
acteristic of many barbarous lan
guages, though the clicking of the
Hottentots seems to be the most elab
orate, or at all events the best known.
Mr. Oust, in a pap* r published by the
Society of Arts, sa}s: “ The great
feature of the (Hottentot) language is
the existence of foul-clicks, formed by
a different position of the tongue; the
dental click is almost identical with
the sound of indignation not uufre-
quently uttered by Europeans; the
lateral click is the sound with which
horses are stimulated to action ; the
guttural click is not unlike the pop
ping of a champagne cork ; and the
palatal click is compared to the crack
ing of a whip.” He adds that the
Bushm&n, in addition to the four
clicks of the Hottentot language, has a
fifth, sixth, and sometimes a seventh
and an eighth olick.
It is interesting to note that philo
logical authorities declare that the
Hottentot is entirely distil ot from
other languages spoken by black
raoes, and is i f kin to the Hamitio
languages of white races of North
Africa. For instance, the Kabyles, or
Barbers, of Algeria click. Mr. Bar
clay (In his “ Mountain life in Al
geria’) was, we believe, the first to
remark this elocuti* nary habit among
them. He understood their “ cl!ok ”
to express assent, and when several
Kabyles “ assented ” together, he
says it was “ like so many pistols be
ing cocked.”
Some Remarks on the Barber.
The barber, children, is of an t xtin?t
species. The hair-dresser and tonso-
rial artist of the present day are sup
posed, however, to be descendants of
the barber iu direct liue.
The barber is a trea *herous creature.
He is never to ba depended upon. He
has been known to cut his best
fripuds.
He is remarkably sharp in a busi
ness transaction, and he will shave
you if you give him a chance. In fact,
shaving may be said to be his business.
The barber is a strapping fellow,
and is ever ready to razor row. I have
frequently seen him take a man by
the nose without the least provocation.
He always wants his hone way, and
Is all ready for a brush.
He, has his shortcoir (b)ings, to be
sure and is apt to stir up your dander;
but he has a very smooth tongue, and
knows how to lay on the lather,
I can’t say that he was ever charged
with murder, but thousands of people
dye in his shop yearly.
Formerly the barber was a surgeon
also, and used to be paid for bleeding
his customers. Nowadays he draws
blood without extra charge.
The barber sees a y reat many affect
ing scenes. There is a great deal of
parting going on daily in his shop.
I suspect children are’ afraid of the
barber ; at all events they never call at
his shop when their mothers send
them for shavings.
The barber is a true homeopath. He
believes in the doctrine of Jike cures
like. When he w r ould remove the
bristles from a man’s face lie always
rubs bristles ou to it. •
The barber is a very secretive fellow.
You wiil find locks everywhere about
hisplaie.
He has little recreation. Curling is
his chief amusement.
He always stauds we’l in his profes
sion. You will generally find him at
the head.
He never makes game of his work,
unless hair dressing may be consid
ered a rare bit of pleasantry.
The barber has to stand a great deal
from his customers. He does not care,
however, how much cheek they dis
play in his establishment, and the
more chin they give him the better he
likes it.
The barber’s wife goes shopping,
just like other women, though she
ought to be able to get hir-sute at her
husband’s establishment. She proba
bly preferi to whisker round else
where.
Though the barber may have no
children to receive his inheritance,
there are always many hairs apparent
at his shop.
The barber’s motto is soap on, soap
over.
There are many more things I might
tell you of the barber, children ; but
he is a great conversationalist and
amply able to speak for himself.
Sanitary.
How to Eradioate Soars.
Sometimes the scars and cicatrices
left by disease can be almost entirely
obliterated by the use of a simple lo
tion for which we give the formula,
and which is obviously perfectly free
^rom any injurious element: Borax,
half an ounce; salicylic acid, twelve
grains; glycerine, three drachms;
rose-water, six ounces. The way to
apply it is to soak lint in the lotion
and bathe the scars frequently.
To Purify Rooms after Sioknesi.
Wash the furniture, woodwork,
door and walla (scraping off the paper)
with the carbolic solution and soap.
Then shut up tightly, and burn iu it
a pound of sulphur for every hundred
cubic feet of space it contains, and
allow the fumes to remain in the
closed room for twenty-four hours.
Lastly, open doors and windows so as
to ventilate freely for a week, at the
end of which time disinfection may
generally be considered complete.
The Best Way to Diainfeot.
Boiling is the surest way of disin
fecting contaminated clothing, or it
may be baked in an oven heated to
about two hundred and forty degrees,
Fahrenheit. After the disease is over,
the patient should be kept isolated for
about ten days after all the scabs fall
off in small-pox, or after desquama
tion (that is, “ peeling ” of the skin) is
complete in scarlet-fever; for the last
week of his seclusion, daily baths, each
dbntalniftg oue ounce of strong carbolic
acid, should be given, and every
square inch of the body must be thus
carefully disinfected, especially the
scalp, as the disease-poison is apt to
linger among the <audri’.ff at the roots
of the hair.
Dangeiou* Aueeathetlo.
Under the name of Baandiger or
“ Tamer,”i an Austrian chemist, some
time ago offered to sell to his govern
meutthe secret of an anre-ithetic which
he had discovered. This compound
had, he claimed, the property of ren
dering a human being utterly pros
trate and defenseless in the space of a
few seconds. The Austrian govern
ment not only r« fused to deal with the
matter, but forbade the inventor,
under pain of criminal proceedings, to
divulge the secret to any one, or to
coutiuue his experiments in the same
direction. Writers of sensational ro
mance have thus lost a most useful
auxiliary in carry ing out their plots ;
they must therefore .still continue to
credit chloroform with the same attri
butes, in spite of the well-known fact
that chloroform is far from instanta
neous in its effects.
Hygienio Clothing.
The very latest suggestion in the
matter of hygienic clothing comes
from Germany, some genius there
having recently invented and patent-
ed a line of underwear manufactured
from the porous substance. It is now
claimed that it can be more easily
cleansed than woolen ^oods, and, be
ing more flexible, do* s not chafe the
skin so much. It is a bad conductor
and tends to keep the temperature
uniform. One who wears this under
clothing is not liable totakecoid, for
it absorbs the perspiration without
checking it. After the mineral and
vegetable impurities in the sponges
have been sufficiently beaten by a
heavy hammer lo admit of being read
ily wi shed out, the sponges are dried
and pared with ashaip knife. These
parings are tnen sewn together. The
fabric is prepared without the use of
the poisonous dyes which, as incorpo
rated iu cloth underclothing, some
times prove very deleterious to the
system.
‘•rompin’' and Chic.
A word used by some of the ultra-
delicates of the eDd of the Second Em
pire, the word “tompin,” is beginning
to come into vogue again. One of the
smart young men of a leading boule
vard j ournal has written two columns
on the subject. I heard the word used
in the divan of the Cirque d’Eie on
Saturday. ' It is being adopted in the
clubs. Jn short, it is a word coming
into fashion. What doe9 “tompin”
mean? Jn general terms “tompin”
is an imperfect “chic,” of a kind be
tween “chic” and sham “chic.” Sham
“chic” is loud, parvenu ; real “chic”
is discreet, natural, distinguished, but
unobtrusive; “tompin” is a “chic”
that betrays effort, preoccupation, ex
cess of accentuation ; a “chic” where
the task is not irreproachable and the
initiative not discreet. The smart
young man of the boulevard journal
spoils the study of “tompin” by his
instances. The word “tompin” ap
plies to shades, to nuances of elegance;
and elegance is never absolute; it is
always relative to the person who dis
plays it. The question is at bottom
one of sentiment, ot tact, of feeling.
The truly “chic” person wiil give in
his manners and exterior, an interpre
tation of the sentiment of “chic” that
hi conceives within him with certi-
lude, butwhich he could not, perhaps,
explain. The man wuo is “tompin”
will be so from the want of this senti
ment or from the uncertainty nf it.
Matthew Arnold is “tompin” in his
eternal war against Philistinism. The
Prince of Wales is never ‘ ‘tompin.”
Matrimonial Happiness.
In the fhrst solitary hour after the
ceremony, take the bridegroom and
demand a solemn vow of him and give
him one in return. Promise each
other sacredly neve**, not even in jest
to wrangle with each other—never to
bandy words or indulge in the least
ill humor. Never—[ say never.
Wranglng in jest, and putting on an
air of ill humor merely to tease, be
comes earnest by practice. Mark that!
Next, promise each other sincerely
and solemnly, never to keep a s* cret
from each other, under whatever pre
text or ^whatever excuse it may be.
You must continually aud every mo
ment ste clearly iuto each other’s
bosom. Even when one of you has
committed a fault, wait not an instant
but confess it freely—let it cost tears,
but confess it. And as you keep noth
ing from each other, ao, on the con
trary, preserve the privacies of your
house, marriage state, aud heart, from
father, mother, sister, brother, aunt,
aud the world. You iwo, with God’s
help, build up your own quiet world ;
every third or fourth one whom you
draw Into it with you will form a party
aud stand between you two. That
should never be, promise this to each
other. Remember the vow at each
temptation. You will find your ac
count in it. Your souls will grow, as
it were, to each other, aud at last will
become as one. Ah, if many a pair
had, on their wedding-day known
this secret, how many a marriage
were happier than, alas, they are!'
Statistical.
Consumption of Cotton South.
The official report of the National
Cotton Exchange shows that the con
sumption of raw cotton has greatly
increased in the South. In the year
1881-1882 there were consumed 278,841
bales in that region, agalust 59,624
bales in the preceding year. These
figures reveal a remarkable Increase of
the cotton manufacture in the South.
The report says that a great many feo-
•ories are in course of construction in
the South, and that the next report
will show a still greater increase of the
consumption of cotton. The total cot
ton production of (he South last year
amounted to 5,456,018 bales, of which
3,582,622 were exported and 1.688,581
were consumed in the Northern
States.
Thp Forest Wealth of the United States,
VheManufatturer and Builder says
that the paper read before the Forestry
Congress at Montreal by Superintend
ent Bickmore, of the New York
Museum of Natural History, will give
to^many their first knowledge of Mr.
Morris K. Jesup’s generous provisio 11
of the funds necessary for a collection
to illustrate the forrest wealth of the
United States. Of the 429 arborescent
forms of vegetation growing spontane
ously in this country, 375 have already
been secured. It is proposed, also, to
secure as many species as are adapted
for this climate, to be planted in the
grounds surrounding the Museum ana
in Central Park, the whole being
catalogued, so that visitors may be
come familiar with each species by
name. It is the opinion of the journal
mentioned that the influence of the
Jesup collection will vastly exceed
that of the learned papets prepared to
awaken interest in the prtseivation of
American forests.
Arable Land in Colorado, New Mexico, and
Arizona.
It is generally known that large
level plats of iand in Colorcdo, New
Mexico and Arizona, of hundreds of
thousands of acres in extent, are ara
ble aud ready for the farmer, only
that there is no water. The riven
running much higtmr than these val
ley or table lands offer abundant wate r
for irrigation, provided that ditches or
channels be cut and dams constructed
to divert the water to them. There
are numerous enterprises of this kin i
already in operation upon a moderate
scale, and the Manufacturer and
Builder states that recently an El q-
lish company has undertaken tl e
cutting of a channel in central Co -
orado which will render some 200,000
acres fertile and ready for the farmer’s
crops. The sjime journal says that
another stupendous undertaking of a
similar kintf is on foot by the Colorado
Coal aud Iron Compauy. This chan
nel will be opened from a point on the
Arkansas liver three and a half miles
below Canon City, and be extended
across the table land in a south-easterly
direction to the St. Charles river.
The ditch will be thirty feet wide and
seventy-six miles long, carrying tiva
feet of water. Such enterprises are the
feature of the new development of this
new country.
The Masher Mashed.
There were plenty of seats in tha
car, but as he walked down the aisle
he looked sharply to the right and left
until he reached a pretty girl who Vvas
sitting alone.
“Seat engaged, Miss?” he askel
^ ith a knowing wink.
“No-no sir,” stammered the girl
looking around in dismay.
Dawu he plunged and braced him
self for the campaign. He was a regu
lar passenger, and held his commuta
tion ticket in nis hand.
“Shall I open—!”
“Tickets 1” roared the conductor,
who had watched him from afar.
The regular passenger smiled sweetly
on the pretty girl and put out his
paste-board, out of which two sides
were promptly nipped.
“Tickets!”
‘Hold on!” protested the regular
passenger ; “you punched thi3 twice.
This lady isn’t with me!”
“Sorry,” replied the conductor;
“but you walked in, sat down and
went to work ou the regular married
style. Supposed, of course, it wa*
your wife. Too late now. Take a
vacant seat next time. Ticktts!” .
Aud the passengers went to the con
ductor and asked him to drink and
offered hi in cigars, and bought out the
train boy for him.
“I knew they weren’t married,”
said he, as he squinted at a flask of ex
tra prime. “I’ve seen him before, but
this is the first time it cost him a
couple of dollars to play it.”
“Doytu know who the lady is?”
asked an irquisitive man.
“My wife, geutlemea,” replied the
conductor, and eveu the flask chuc
kled a merry ‘glug glug’ as he spoke.