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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.