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How Much and What?
In answer to a question from a corre
spondent, in relation to fluids (drink)
taken at meals and other times, w r e
reply :
The human body contains over sev
enty per cent, of water. This water
is received from the drink we take
and the food we eat. It is found in
all the fluids and tissues, in the blood,
in the organs of secretion, as the nu
merous follicles of the body. It is’not
itself an ingredient of nutrition, but it
dissolves the atoms of the food we take
holds them in solution and transports
them to every point in the structure.
The growth and health of this struc
ture depends largely upon the purity
of the water we may drink. Vegeta
bles and fruits contain over eighty per
cent, of water and so help supply the
means of growth.
Water is an essential ingredient of
mus ;les, tendrons, cartilages, bones,
glands, skin and other membranes, as
may be shown by evaporating the
water they contain; they become
comparatively light and are unable to
execute their diflerent functions.
Without water in abundance the nu
tritious atoms could never enter the
circulating fluid and penetrate the
substance of the solid organs. It en
ters the organs and membranes of the
body and mingles with each other the
organic and inorganic matter, that
aids largely in raising the structures of
the body. It enables them to act upon
each other, produce changes of various
sorts and so assume new relations and
new duties. Water is, then, essential
to the executing of absorption, combi
nation and decomposition. It is
worthy of note, that the different or-
gaus and tissues of the body contain
different percentages of water. The
muscles contain 75 percent., the bones
13; the brain 89; and the various
fluids vary in their percentages of
water, as themilk contains88, bile, 88,
blood, 80, pancreatic juice, 90, gastric,
juice, 98 ; so that the various organs
of secretion not only have the power
secretion, but also of determining he
per cent, of water each one contains.
The blood also varies in the per cent,
of water it contains. It conveys not
only the elements of nutation to every
point within the outer skin, and aids
these several points to take from the
blood as it passes its wonted rounds,
those particles of nutrition it needs to
build its structure ; the muscles in
health do not need bony matter; the
bones do not need muscular, the arte
ries and veins have no need of osseous
material.
Water containing a large amount of
lime does harm. It may be retained
here and there and so injure the proper
workings of the animal machinery.
Water, like other elements we take
passes the bowels but in part. The
mucous membrane, or inner lining of
the food and waste canal absorbs it and
minute tubes convey it to the arteries,
that are over on the move depositing
means of growth and health. Its vulue
is seen in various other ways. One cause
of constipation is, that water sufficient
to keep the bowels moist and pliable,
has not been drank. Hence the proper
means of curingthls annoying malady
is freely drinking water, milk or other
fluids, that may do no harm. Some
times the kidneys cannot execute their
proper duty, then give the suflerer as
much water as he can drink, and the
kidneys will soon be ]able to resume
their duty.
The water-cures are based upon the
fact that the animal system needs a
certain per cent of water. Some dis
eases may be cured by freely drinking
water. Does drinking water do no
harm? It does only good if taken in
proper quantities and at„proper times.
Science teaches us that drinking a
large amounQof this priceless fluid di
lutes the gastric juice and so impairs
digestion. This may be true, if the
water drank is cold, and yet it may do
no appreciable injury to those whose
etomachs have not been long abused
by taking stimulating drinks—or to
those who, from any cause, are annoy
ed by indigestion. No doubt so far as
digestion is concerned, warm water—
not hot—is always to be preferred to
cold. Cold water, even in moderate
quantities, reduces the temperature of
the stomach, and so lessens its diges
tive forces. A cup of warm water, or
other simple fluid taken after eating
promotes the solution of the food. It
1 should be drank after eating,especially
by dyspeptics, and only a small
pimount with meals, much less should
'any drink be taken before eating. The
stomach does not secrete the digestive
fluid before some food has stimulated
the digestive surface to activity, and
Irinklng before eating diminishes the
trength of the gastric juice an
freely as the system reeds to execute
its functions. It stimulates the stom
ach to do its duty and urges the food,
that the stomach cannot digest, to
move along into the duodenum, or
second stomach, and there aid in di
gesting those kinds of food that the
stomach could not dissolve.
The Yard Measure.
Every one is acquainted with the
nature and utility of the yard measure.
It is the British standard of length,
regulating all other measures, and
consequently^ the foundation of busi
ness transactions and professional
operations of many different kinds.
But its high utility is entirely depen-
dend upon its fixed and uniform di
mensions. It would be in the greatest
degree inconvenient and unsatisfactory
if a yard in one part of the kingdom
meant something different to the meas
ure which, passed under the same name
in another, or if the least variation
were found in the yard measure of dif
ferent parts. Hence it is nee ssary to
have some authoritative standard by
which the dimensions of the yard
shall be accurately adjusted, and ac
cording to which the legality or other
wise of any measurement may be deter
mined.
Many curious particulas are connec
ted with the formation of this author
itative standard, of the country ; and
few persons unacquainted with the
facts would have any idea of the
interest which thus attaches to so com
mon an object as the yard measure.
Iu our early history disputes often
ar ise in the measurement of cloth, etc.,
and frauds were frequently commited.
To check them Henry I. ordered a
standard yard to be made and kept at
Winchester, and decreed that it
should be of the length of his own arm.
This was a rough aud ready mode of
settling the matter, which presents the
greatest contrast to the formation of a
standard measure to the present time.
The disadvantage attending it was
that in the event of the standard being
lost or destroyed, it would be next to
impossible to construct another of pre
cisely the same dimensions. To avoid
any such difficulty, a scientific basis
has been taken in modern times for
the formation of the standard yard
measure. Plainly stated, this basis is
the exact length of the clock pendulum
which vibrates seconds of time in the
latitude of London. This may appear
to some to be a simple rule, by which
the standard may be determined with
comparative ease ; but on the contrary,
it is a matter requiring the most mi
nute and accurate research, which
only astronomers and mathematicians
of the highest attainments are com
petent to undertake.
Conscious Automatons.
power of digestion.
eating,
d lessens
Wait an hour
In an insect’s body, says Mr. Grant
Allen, there is no regular subordina
tion of all the parts composing the
nervous system to a siugle central
organ, like the brain in man. The
largest knot of nerve-matter, it is true,
is generally to be found in the neigh
borhood of sense organs, and it re
ceives direct nerve-bundles from the
eyes, antennae, mouth and other chief
adjacent parts; but the wings and
legs are moved by separate knots of
nerve-cells, connected oy a sort ot
spinal cord with the head, but capable
of acting quite independently on their
own account. Thus, if we cut ofl a
wasp’s head and stick it on a needle
in front of some sugar and water, the
mouth will greedily begin to eat the
swiet syrup,apparently unconscious of
the fact that it has lost its stomach,
and that the food is quietly dropping
out of the gullet at the other end as
fast as it is swallowed. So, too, if we
decapitate that queer insect, the pray
ing mantis, the headless body will
stand catching flies with its out
stretched arms, and fumbling about
for its mouth when it has caught one,
evidently much surprised to find that
its head is unaccountably minting.
In fact, whatever may be the case
with man, the insect, at least, is really
a conscious automaton. It sees or
smells food, and it is at once impelled
by its nervous constitution to eat it.
It receives a sense-impression from the
bright hue of a flower, and it is irre
sistibly attracted toward it, as the
moth is to the candle. It has no
power of deliberation, no ability even
to move its own limbs in unaccus
tomed manners, It whole life is gov
erned for it by its fixed nervous con
stitution, and by the stimulations it
receives from outside. Aud so, though
the world probably appears much the
same to a beetle us to us, the nature of
its life is very different. It acts like a
pieceof clock- work mechanism, wound
up to perform a certain number of
fixed movements, and incapable of
Reaching Conclusions.
Conclusions, indeed, are not often
reached by talk, any more than by
private thinking, that is not the profit;
the profit is in the exercise, aud above
all in the experience ; for when we
reason at large on any subject, we re
view our state and history in life.
Here we may apply the fable of the
father and his sous ; there is, after all,
no hidden treasure, no sounding dis
covery is made; but the soil is labored
and oxygenated, and yields more
freely of its natural products. From
time to time, however, and especially,
I think, in talking art, talk becomes
effective, conquering like war, widen
ing the boundaries of knowledge like
an exploration. A pcint arises; the
question takes a problematical, a baff
ling, yet a lively air; the talkers begin
to feel lively presentiments of some
conclusion near at band ; toward this
they strive with emulous ardor, each
by his own path, and struggling for
first utterance; and then one leaps
upon the summit of that matter with
a shout, and almost at the same mo
ment the other is beside him, and be
hold they are agreed. Like enough,the
progress is illusory, a mere cat’s ciadle
haviug been wound and unwound out
of words. But the sense of joint dis
covery is none the less giddy aud in
spiriting. And iu the life of the talker
such triumphs, though imaginary, are
neither few nor far apart; they are
attained witli speed and pleasure, in
the hour of mirth ; and by the nature
of the process, they are always worth
ily shared.
This emulous, rigut, progressive
talking, the pick of common life, is
most usually enjoyed in a duet. Three
iu spite of the proverb, is often excel
lent company, but the talk must run
more gently. When we reach those
breathless moments when there comes
a difference to be resolved, the third
party is either badgered by a coalition,
or the two others address him as an
audience and strive for victory ; and iu
either case, the necessary temper and
sincerity are lost. With any greater
number than three, fighting talk be-
cemes impossible ; aud you have either
indolent, laughter-loving divigation,
or the whole company breaks up into
a preacher and an audience. It is odd
but true, that I have never known a
good brisk debate between persons of
opposite sex. Between these it has
always turned into that very different
matter, a dispute. Instead of pushing
forward and continually changing
ground in quest of some agreement,
the parties have instantly fortified
their starting-point, and held that, as
for a wager, against all odds and argu
ments. To me, as a man, the cause
seems to reside in the superior obsti
nacy of woman ; but there is little
question that the fault is shared ; for
the prosperity of talk lies not in one
or the other, but in both. There is a
is a certai' attitude, combative at once
and deferential, eager to tight yet most
averse to quarrel, which marks out at
once the talkable man. It is not elo
quence, not fairness, not obstinacy,
but a certain proportion of all these,
that I love to encounter in my amia-
cab’e adversaries, they must not b^
pontiffs holding doctrine, but hunts
men questing alter elements of truth.
Neither must they be boys to be in
structed, but fellow-teachers with
whom I may wrangle and agree on
equal terms.
Stories About the Queen.
Some interesting stories are told of
the early days, when the Queen was
obliged to sign death-warrants, before
she was releived from that odious
duty, aud a sign inanuel substituted
by Act of Parliament. On several oc
casions the Queen may be said to have
begged off 1 lie life of offenders. And
on one occasiau, with a hand trem
bling with eagerness and emotion, she
wrote “pardoned” across the fatal
scroll. A great degree of reticence is
very rpoperly imposed on all con
nected with the Court. Her Majesty,
on principle, has always steadily dis-
coutaged anything in the way of gos
sip or trivial conversation respecting
the affairs of the household. So many
persons are brought into passing, aud
somewhat intimate, connection with
royalty,that it is obvious that the sane
tity of the vie intime of the Court
could not be obtained unless such a
rule were carefully observed. We re
member knowing a lady, who was
credited with being a private corre
spondent of her Majesty’s for years,
from her youth ; but the most distant
allusion to this interesting circum
stance never escaped her. Others
though not quite so reticent,
always guarded and careful.
A draft of a treaty of amity and
commerce was sent out from England
to Madagascar, aud on the margin
these words were written : “ Queen
Victoria asks, as a personal favor t-
moud the reformer, clad iu the state
robes of the sovereigns redresented,
weighed do ,vn with jewels, witli large
turbans bedecked with diamonds and
weapons of priceless cost. Thus the
dagger of the conqueror of Constanti
nople has for hilt an emerald two
inches long and nearly as thick. The
last of the ser es alone appears in
European costume, but with a plume
of bird of paradise feathers fastened
by au aigrette of diamonds. “There
are antique arms and armor heavy
with gold and jewels; innumerable
horse trappings aud saddles, covered
with plates of gold aud studded with
emeralds, rubies, topazes, diamonds
aud pearls, aud saddle-cloths embroi
dered with precious ’stones.” As
back-grounds to the articles in the
various cabinets bang sofa covers of
cloth of gold embroidered with seed-
pearls, some of them worth $150,000.
There arc golden bird cages, some
with clocks at the bottom, face down
ward, for the convenience of the dar-
liugs of the harem lying lazily on the
divans beneath; school satchels of
velvet embroidered with diamonds,
pearl and gold; “samplers” of red
velvet, on which texts from the Koran
have been worked in beads of dia-
are j monds; amber mouthpieces for pipes,
studded with diamonds and rubies;
cofFee-sets and tea-sets oi all degrees of
magnificence, and vases of crystal,
agate and onyx, some of them pro
fusely bejeweled.
There are royal knives and forks
herself, that the Queen of Madagascar | aud spoons of solid gold, with jewels
Courage.
A great deal of talent is lost to the
world for the want of courage. Every
day sends to the grave a number of
obscure men, who have only remained
in obscurity because their timidity has
prevented their first eflort, and who,
if they could have been induced to
begin, would in all probability, have
gone ^reat lengths in the career of
fame. The lact is, in order to do any
thing in this world that is worth
doing we must not sfand shivering on
the brink, and think of the cold and
danger, but jump in and scramble as
we can. It will not do to be perpetu
ually calculating risks and adjusting
nice chances. It did very well before
the flood when a man could consult
his friends upon a republication for
one hundred aud forty years, and then
live to see It a success for six or seven
centuries afterwards, but at present a
man waits, and doubts and hesitates
and consults his brother, and his uncle
and ills particular friends, that he lias
no time left to follow their advice.—
There is no time tor oversqutmishness
at present, the opportunity so ^isily
slips away, the very period of hVlfte
at which man chooses to venture, if
ever, is so confined, that it is no bud
rule to preach up the necessity iu such
will allow no persecution of the
Christians.” A month afterward the
treaty was signed in Madagascar with
the insertion of the following words:
In accordance with the wish of
Queen Victoria, the Queen of Mada
gascar engages there shall be no perse
cution of the Christians in Mada
gascar.”
A pleasant little story went the
round of Cambridge University illus
trative of wonderful old AVheweli,
who raised himself from the position
of a sizar to be the Master, and subse
quently the benefactor of bis college.
When the Quoen was bis guest at
Trinity Lodge, or rather took posses
sion of it in her own right, the morn
ing after her arrival Whewell saluted
her with friendly but uncourtly
warmth. “ Grod morning, your Ma
jesty. How d’ye do? Hope your
Majesty slept well. Fine morning.”
The Queen returned a gracious answer
—it would not be in her Majesty’s
nature to do otherwise—but the lords
and ladies in attendance were awe
stricken at the frightful breach <»f eti
quette that had commenced, but of
which, probably, no one thought lees
than did the Queen herself. A simi
lar breach of etiquette is related by
Lord Campbell of Lord Brougham.
Brougham had quarrelled with all the
world, and among the rest he was
wrathful toward the blameless Prince.
The Prince thought to appease him
by asking him to diue with the
Queen. He went and dined; but
widened his breach with the Court by
leaving the palace immediately after
dinner, instead of going with the rest
of the gentlemen into the gallery, into
which the Queen had retired with the
ladies, and where the habit
of conversing with her guests. He
afterward tried to make amends by
attending the Queen’s drawing-room
—a condescension he had not before
practiped since her accession ; but
here agaiu he was unfortunate (al
though I really believe be wished to
be civil and respectful) by speaking to
the Queen ex merornotu as be passed
her, and telling her that “ he was to
cross over to Paris in a few days,
where he should see Louis Philippe,
and that if her Majesty had any let
ters or messages for the King of the
French, it would give him much plea
sure to have the -honor of being Hie
bearer of them.” Lord Brougham
was certainly honored by no commis
sion from the Queen on that occasion.
on their handles, aud there is an im,
mense array of clocks. Of toys th
are many. For instance, there
tea-set of tortoise-3hell as thin as
per; a parasol of white silk exq
sitely embroidered with gold and ha
mg for its staff one single spray of r<
coral, unique in the world ; there
fans innumerable. “ After every coij
ceivable use lias been made of jewel
the surplus uumouuted stones ai
gathered by handsful into eryst:
bowls at one end of the cabinets in th
second room,” among them
such trifles as three uncut emeralds
the largest as big as a man’s ti
smallest larger than a hen’s
Apart from the historic value
treasures there collected, the intr
wealth is almost incalculable,
ing the last war with Russia th
ernment borrowed $30,000,000 fronri
bvnk, the officers of which took awa’y
to their own vaults as many jewels as
would secure the loan. They carried
away three small boxes of precious
stones, and yet no appreciable gap was
left in the collection. Such is the
treasure-house of the most hopelessly
bankrupt ruler in the world.
iuuvcuiouw ... — instances, of a little violence to feel-
over coing beyond the narrow circle ings and to efforts made in defiance to
or wS it i* desk— A 1 aMak anH Bohflr
The Sultan’s Riches.
•
Our Miuister to Constantinople was
recently permitted, with Mr. Phelps,
the Austrian Minister, to visit the
Sultan’s treasury at Constantinople.
Guard^in black broad cl
motion^s around the wall
terval four or five fee
heavily vaulted
h stand
t an in-
In the
d light-
js the
jasuinet,
front rocl
ed by ski"l grated window
royal or: < J of solid gold,J
and rockeij' the two ends, a foot high,
connected by a golden bar on which
to hang a cur'ain or veil. Every inch
of it is crusted with rubies, diamonds
aud
efflglss.
Women in Russia.
In Russia, where in the midc
classes the seclusion of women
even a few years ago nearb^as grj
as in a harem, the aavocj
women’s rights would
little to demand
males aboy^^^f^^^Tihe peasai
The moujifiTstill administers corpl
chastisement to his wife as he wol
to his child, and. his right to do si
though denied by the written lawj
tacitly acknowledged in practice. Tl
girl, however, whose brother has bee
described as going to the Lycee anj
subsequently to the university,
nearly as independent as her male re
lations. %ike her brother, and from’
similar causes, she too often becomes
disgusted with her home, aud deter
mines to seek what she imagines to
be the delights of the independent life
led by the numerous female students
who follow various university courses,
and particularly that of medicine.
Sometimes, when her parents refuse
her pi emission to leave home, she
simply runs away, and having
passport, her position at once beoome
illegal, and site naturally fmds li§
companions among those
herself, have got into somel-roubT
with the authorities. In some cases
uthusiasts like SoloviefF, who fired
he late Czar in April 1879, marry
gin^with whom iliey have scarcely
any t^kmintance,™d for whom they^
have ldl^Miugof^^Kion, merely
free of.
tabling a
and their c<
young huB
gether to tlfe uurve
there, having no particul
each others’ society, they 1
arate immediately, aud even
they would desire to luaintain
mutual connections, the pressu
erty and the difficulties o
ition frequently oblige th
company