Newspaper Page Text
NV INCOVEEILS
How Our
EARS HFEAR
MUSIC
DISTINGUISHED French scientist, Professor B,
A Le Poutounel, has offered an ingenious solution
of the old problem why harmonies, intervals and
the other features of our musical system are pleasing
1o the ear. In short, he undertakes to explain just what
a musical ear is.
Many writers have argued that music is an arbitrary
arrangement of sounds which we have taught ourselves
to like. Against this is the evident fact that many per
sons are born with a much better appreciation of tones
and harmonies than others. Professor L.e Poutounel’s
investigations are in agreement with this unquestioned
fact, for he finds that musical harmonies fit the natural
form of the ear, producing a pleasant impression upon
it. This impression in its simplest form is no more a
matter of cultivation than the pleasure experienced by
the skin when a cool wind blows upon it on a hot day.
The earllest musicians discovered some of the combina
tions of tones that gave this natural pleasure to the
ear, and upon it was gradually built our present
musical art.
The mechanism of the ear is extraordinarily delicate
and complicated. At the bottom of the external ear
passage we find the drum, or tympanum. Beyond this
18 the chain of little bones or ossicles, which transmit
the impressions received by the tympanum. They are
called the mallens, or hammer bone; the incus, or anvil
bone, and the stapes, or stirrup bone. These bones and
the air in the middle ear transmit the impressions to
the inner ear.
The principal feature of the inner ear 18 the curious
snail-like structure called the cochlea, This is divided
lengthwise into three compartments, and in the centre
of these is the organ of corti, an arrangement of hair
Just What CHANGES FRUITS INTO JELLY
ST what makes jelly “jell?” The average
housewife who prepares many jars of felly
Jnevery season usually has not the faintest
ea. If she did know more about this and other
facte connected with the chemistry of preserve
making her heated sessions over the Kkettles
would be crowned with success more often than
§s now the case. .
) Jelly “fells” because of the presence of a sub
#tance called pectin, which is often absent in
raw fruit, but becomes present after boiling. A
certain amount of pectin can utilize only a cer
tain amount of sugar, and if increased beyond
that definite amount continued cooking will pro
duce only a gummy mass. Too little or too
much boiling after sugar is added to the juice
may cause the sugar to crystallize
Any housewife may easily make her own test
for pectin by adding to the fruit juice an equal
volume of grain alcohol. A gelatinous mass
will show the presence of pectin.
Do NEW HOUSES Make Us ILL?
EFORE you move into a new house better
B have a physician or sanitary expert look it
over and tell you if it is a safe place for
you to live. It makes no difference how expen
sive the dwelling is, how perfect the heating
and ventilation, or how up-to-date the plumbing.
Unless the fresh paint, plaster and woodwork
are given time to become thoroughly dry before
the house is occupled, even the costliest new
home may prove a veritable death trap.
According to Dr. A, Mearns Fraser, an English
medical officer, a large amount of serious {llness
can be traced to the prevailing custom of occu
pying houses before they have had time to dry.
He urges every municipality to require, as
Portsmouth, England, has for the past two years,
that no new building Intended for human habita
tion shall be occupied until it has been certified
as sanitary in every respect by some competent
authority.
How We Pay $100,000,000 a YEAR for a DISEASE NO ONE NEED HAVE
ÜBLIC interest im the fight against a particular
P disease $8 in direct ratio to its epidemic mor
tality. Diseases which we have with us always
recelve scant notice, says Dr. William H. Deaderick,
member of the Commission for the Study and Preven
tion of Malaria.
The discovery of malaria was not accomplished with
the dramatic suddenness of that off hookworm dis
ease: it does not sweep the country in devastating epi
demics as yellow fever and smallpox did formerly;
nor is its mortality so appallingly high as that of
cerebro-spinal meningitis, yet In economic importance
through loss of time, money expended, diminished effi
ciency and earning capacity, reduction of real estate
wvalues, difficulty of inducing immigration, retardation
in schools, etc., it must be placed at the head of the
list of diseases in the localities in which it prevails.
Whiie there are few accurate statistics available, it
1s probable that there are upwards of four million cases
of malaria annually in the United States. Though the
case mortality of malaria is low, it causes many deaths,
and, besides the high morbidity, it leaves its subjects
anaemic and neurotic and is responsible for inertia,
loss of will power, intemperance and general mental and
moral degradation.
in the past few yvears Dr. Von Bzdorf, Surgeon United
FISH ALL DAY with ONE MINNOW
VERY fisherman will be keenly
E interested in a new and very
ingenious contrivance which
makes it possible to catch fish all
day and use for bait only a single
live minnow.
The device which promises better
results for the angler at a great
economy of bait consists of a strong
clear glass tube fitted with metallic
rings to which are attached clusters
of hooks and a loop of wire. A live
minnow is placed Inside the tube,
which is filled with water, and the
2 ’
. .
% “
b L. 5]
v K C
- @W D
f v por @ 3A,
AT { BB
: #l\,‘ Ty ROR ,"..-' o o ip’
DO P | A . 7
R -+ v . g 2 o
r‘m.' ¢..0. . e y :“,
, 4 RLY \ / ; ’""{'
1o 1 D e vy
LS il
et R
N\ s\wwinws 7 ) . z
LA, Vf A 5 ) .
¥ AT 7 A A Ly d
7 N
i RS I e y Bt /‘4’2
§ , W e
Mg i!t | 4‘
-~ i
Section of a Good Musical Ear.
A—Semi-Circular Canals; B—Oval Fenestra (Win
dow); C—The Internal Ear or Cochlea Where
Musical Tones and Harmonies Are Transformed Into
Miniature Waves That Please the Auditory Nerve;
D—Cartoid Canal; E—Round Fenestra (Window);
F—External Ear Passage; G—Mastoid Bone.
like appendages which actually conveys the impression
to the nerve. The cochlea is filled with liquids called
perflymph and endolymph, which are nearly alike. Im
pressions are conveyed to these ligquids through two
soft spots called the round fenestra (window) and the
oval fenestra,
Professor Le Poutounel has found that this whole
mechanism has the ability to transform musical tones
(that is, sound waves having a certain rate of/ vibration)
into miniature waves when they reach the liquid in the
cochlea. The transformation occurs when the impres
sions pass the round and oval windows. This process
has a pleasing effect on the ear nerve. Non-musical
Advice that will help every woman to uniform
success in making jelly is found in experiments
recently conducted and reported by Miss N. E.
Goldthwaite, of the University of Illinois.
To very juicy fruit, such as raspberries, cur
rants, etc., Miss Goldthwaite says add one cup
ful of water to four or five cupfuls of fruit and
allow to cook slowly in an enamelled Kkettle.
When simmering, crush the fruit and when well
cooked transfer to cheegecloth and allow to
drain, but do not squeeze. One or two more ex
tractions may be made by returning pulp to
kettle, adding water, and boiling, the number of
extractions depending upon the pectin present.
Proceed in the same way with less juicy fruits,
such as apple, quince, ete., but cover with water
before cooking. The first extraction should be
treated by itself. The correct proportion of
juice to sugar varies from %:1 to 1:1 by vol
ume. Currants and partially ripened grapes de
mand 1:1, while 3:1 is better for raspberries,
blackberries, apples, cranberries, etc. The con-
“The principal evil that such a regulation will
prevent,” says Dr. Fraser, “will be the preven
tion of houses being occupied before they are
thoroughly dry.
“l would far sooner live in a house with de
fective drainage than in a damp house. The re
suits from dampness are more insidious in their
onset and more difficult to overcome.
“The dampness of new houses is undoubtedly
an important factor in the cause of much con
sumption, bronchitis, rheumatism, heart disease
and diphtheria. It is especially dangerous to
children, who are far more susceptible to its ill
effects than adults.”
American physicians are urging that munici
palities in this country take up this question. It
is suggested that most of them already have the
legal power necessary to require such certifi
cates, and the question is only one of making
the reputation and establishing the custom.
States Public Health Service, has been investigating
the prevalence of malaria and has made surveys of
several States in which malaria prevails extensively.
For the three years 1310, 1911 and 1912 his report
shows that in Alabama nearly one-third of all deaths
due to malarial fever occurred among children in the
first decade of life.
The annual! economic loss to the natjon through ma
laria has been estimated as $100,000,000.
There exists widespread ignorance among the peo
ple as to the cause and prevention of malaria, and
apathy among a conslderable proportion of the med
fcal profession as to the importance of preventive
measures. NO campaign has ever been conducted for
the eradication of malaria from the United States. Not
a dollar {8 or has ever been available for such a cam
paizn.
Yet malaria is a curable disease. For its treatment
quinine i 8 more nearly a specific than is now known for
any other disease. Malaria is preventable. A break
in the lite cyele of the parasite at any point from pa
tient to patient prevents the disease. Malaria may be
prevented by destroying mosquitoes, by preventing ac
cess of mosquitoes, and by destroying the parasites in
the blood by the use of the specific.
In Ismailia, on the Suez Canal, where prior to 1903
fish line it attached to the wire loop.
As the tube is so arranged that
frosh water {s constantly admitted,
-y A — — i
ol - )
_ NSt S 0 /=T g l
The Device That Enables a Fisher
man to Use One Live Minnow for
Bait Ali Day.
It's the Way the SOUND WAVES RIPPLE Through the WINDOWS in the HEAD
the minnow is not hurt in any way,
and will serve as bait for -at least
one whole day’s fishing.
That this new device makes the
most attractive possible bait for
many kinds of fish is seen when it is
cast into the water.
The glass tube filled with water
becomes invisible the instant it is
submerged, and the minnow is seen
moving about just as if it were not
a prisoner. Also, the glass magnifies
the minnow to a size sufficient to
sharpen the appetite of a very large
fish.
..--'o-"\; 4 ’/ @g" A W“".Lw N
bz = B .—”\A‘ e
3 "/ A\ 't et IN\ S
gl j . “! g_‘{f 4 :’"%.':;{ \,.;:3‘“
JEIIEm \ 4 ¢
7\ N |
The Chain of Ossicles or Little
Bones in the Middle Ear Which
Transmit the Sound Waves from the
Drum of the Cochlea.
sounds do not produce the same
transformation of wave motion, and
excessively loud sounds cause a bat
tering on the ear-walls that is pain
ful.
When two harmonious tones
reach the windows they create two
little rippling waves in the coch
lear fluid, which flow through it
evenly and strike two adjoining
spots on the nerve-ending, creating
a pleasant impression. The same
combination to tones always strikes
the same spots !n the nerve and
the hearer learns to look for them
with pleasure.
When the tones received are a
discord they produce conflicting
waves in the fluid and the result
is unpleasant to the nerve. Pro
fessor Le Poutounel shows why
our musical intervals are pleasing.
A series of vibrations having the
proper musical intervals gsends a
series of ripples through the liquid
that do not conflict with one an
other, while if the proper intervals
are not observed there is confusion
or disagreeable irregularity in the
wave motion with the cochlear fluid.
dition of the fruit may necessitate a change in
these proportions. When in doubt it is better tq
err on the side of too little rather than too much
unless a soft jelly is desired.
If the second and third extractions are boiied
down unti! they show about the same propor
tion of pectin as the first extraction contained
and then treated in the same way, there is no
need for any second class jelly.
For all extractions, boil the juice and skim be
fore adding the sugar (preferably hot), and con
tinue to®boil about the same length of time af
terward. Jelly should be made from the extrac
tions as quickly as possible. The juices men
tioned before as requiring the greater propor
tion of sugar need to be boiled only from eight
to ten minutes; the others from twenty to
thirty minutes. Long simmering of pectin in
acid changes it to substances which have no
jelly-making power,
The best test, and one which does not cause
delay, in determining when the jelly has boiled
sufficiently is to see whether the boiling mass
breaks off or sheets off as a portion drops from
the stirring spoon.
Jellies from but slightly acid fruits may be
made by adding a teaspoonful of acid powder
(citric or tartaric) to a quart of the juice, but
this process is not recommended except in the
case of sweet apple or quince juices. The white
inner skins of oranges and of lemons are pro
lific sources .of pectin, hence genuine jellies
from these fruits may be made. The pectin
from these skins may also be used for strength
ening other fruit juices. Apple-juice may be
made a basis for other fruit-jellies. Beet-sugar
and cane-sugar may be used ianterchangeably in
jelly-making.
Good jellies cannot be made from all juices
by rule o' thumb. Jelly-making as practised in
the home is an art—an art founded on scientific
principles. It consists in so controlling condi
tions by means of sugar (and acid), and by boil
ing, as to cause the pectin to “set” in a' continu
ous mass throughout the volume allotted to it.
there were 1,800 cases annually, the disease has been
completely eradicated. The campaign at Klang and
Port Swettenham, in the federated Malay States, was
very fruitful.
The most brilliant results in the prevention of malaria
were those obtained by Gorgas in Panama, one of the
most insalubrious regions upon the face of the earth,
It is a common report that in the railroad between
Panama and Colon every cross-tie represents the corpse
of a laborer. Breeding pools of mosquitoes were de
stroyed, houses were screened and quinine was dis
tributed. The result is that the death rate has been
lowered. until it does not exceed that of New York City.
Any plan for the eradication of malaria should con
sist largely of a scheme for educating, people in the
fundamentals of the causation and prevention of ma
laria. Present-day apathy is due in large measure to
ignorance of the prevalence and economic importance,
NE of the greatest difficulties in cooking
lies in knowing how long to keep food in
the oven and at what temperature.
Even the best cook books are very hazy on
this important matter., We read over and over
again directions like these: “Bake until thor
oughly done.” “Bake until brown and crisp
on the surface.” “Roast in a hotter oven than
tor fowl.” “Bake one hour or more.” “Bake
until done, the time depending upon the thick
ness.” All of these are, of course, much too
indefinite to serve as practical guides.
Many women rely upon the degree of heat
their hands feel when thrust into the oven to
decide whether the temperature is right. But
this method is also extremely unreliable. Tests
made a few days ago by a cookery expert
showed that when the hands of various women
indicated what is known as a “moderate” oven
the actual temperature ran~*s all the way
from 145 to 420 degrees Fahrenheit.
Judging the oven's temperature by the brown
ing of paper is almost as unreliable. In a
recent test when the paper showed the oven to be
“moderate,” its heat actually ranged from 376
to 463 degrees.
Good results in cooking can be obtained with
the greatest sconomy of time, labor and ex
Copyright, 1914, by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
Why Every Good GOOK Needs a THERMOMETER
SirIHE LAKTH
That Makes What We Call a MUSICAL EAR
;.:"'iii!f'fi!‘., e 2 R
A;H’.,.fl;’gg"rf"’” RS i
'.“ ""h!f!.-‘},"v‘fi‘.”‘\:;{i "
£ 5 g
y Wit 4
"lllf{ OLYMPH & 'gll!;"il“.;:ui
i |
q B 7:;?,,‘
a ‘ . All:i
\ S A
oTR 9 )
¥ 454 ”‘ Lo g
i ({w vy SAN it N
53\3\ Sy Jn" /i.~ oo T L TRONS
%)
'r% 7 #\ "t-‘.
G . "
7 : 8
gt i TPer
“,v\| C/ ILYMPEL., /A 8 |
Lz p, ; (G
I"‘2,‘ ,;-“\,’..x,
G ARy v i
”?3”“"-'i*'i:'.;r:f'f'if*‘”.::. ‘ s ‘Ju(‘:éix
3 ,(?‘,‘!!4';‘s‘!s; T ) il “'i‘iy’7i':;;9‘|f"l
iRI e e
s eTR PP f?f“"' s
Section of the Internal Ear Showing (A) the
Cochlear Canal Filled with Endolymph; (B) the
Organ of Corti; and (C) the Cortian Cells. The
Three Divisions Filled with Liquid Are Adjusted so
That They Form Delicate Ripples Which Touch
Agreeably on the Organ of Corti.
What we call a good musical ear I 8 one in which the
cochlea is of certain ideal proportions in length and
thickness and the two windows are properly placed so
that the transformation of the sound waves to a dif
ferent scale from that of the outside air may take place.
Musicians will be especially interested in the profes
sor's statement that he has demonstrated that when
the ear is accorded for a fundamental vibration it will
be so for all its harmonics. Thus he explains the dif
ference which the ear perceives betweem musical tones
made from a fundamental note accompanied by certaip
number of harmonics and the noises composed of any
vibration to which it cannot accommodate itself com
pletely.
In order to understand how this structure of the ear
has governed the creation of our musical art, we must
go back to the origin of that art. We must see, first of
all, how the scales, which are the chief feature of our
musical system, came into existence. Our musical art
was inherited from the Greeks, and from them Saint
Ambrose, in the middle ages, gathered the principles in
order to apply them to the chants of the church. How-
FIGHTING FIRES at Sea with GAS
Y FIGHTING fires on shipboard
B with gas instead of water it
is hoped to make a great sav
ing in the fire loss at sea, which
amounts annually to $100,000,000, or
enough to build a dozen great liners
like the Vaterland.
The great difficulty with a fire on
a ship is the fact that it usually
breaks out far down in the hold.
To fight it with water from the
For Cleaning Zinc.
FIR‘ST wipe carefully with a dny cloth. Then apply kerosene oil and
allow it to remain on the zinec over night. In the morning wipe it off
with a soft cloth and again apply kerosene.
Magic for Rust Spots.
TD remove rust spots on bath tubs and basins and discolorations in toilet
basing and sinks apply muriatic acid with a mop. As soon as the dis
coloration is removed the acid should be thoroughly rinsed off with clear
water. The acid works like magic; it is almost instantaneous in its effect
and the labor of scrubbing is saved.
: To Make Mucilage.
AMUC!LAGE which holds with surprising tenacity can be made by boll
ing a Spanish onion for a short time and then pressing the juice from
and of the methods of propagation and prophylaxis.
Informing one person on the etiology and economic
importance of malaria would avall more than the dis
tribution of a pound of quimine. All legitimate ave
nues of publicity should be used, especially the news.
papers, magazines and lectures.
Demonstrations of preventive measures should be
conducted in appropriate areas on an intensive scale,
the results being carefully recorded as object lessons
for other communities.
The United States has expended skill and millions
of money in eradicating malaria from some of her pos
sessions, but not a penny for that of our own land. The
eradication of malaria offers the largest dividends of
any investment on the exchange of philanthropy. It is
the greatest scourge of a considerable portion of our
country, is a virgin field, and no funds are available
for its control.
pense only by the use of a reliable thermometer
attached to the inside of the oven door. Even
this does not register the oven’'s heat with ab
solutely scientific accuraey, but it approximates
it nearly enough for cooking purposes.
For a slow oven the thermometer should
register from 250 to 350 degrees. This is the
right temperature for custards and meringues.
Other oven temperatures with their popular
names and the recipes which demand them are:
Making MONEY Growing WEEDS
PROFIT of one hundred dollars an dere
A from growing weeds which have medici
nal properties is a possibility for any
farmer, according to experiments which Profes
sor E. Kremer, of the State Agrieultural College
of Wisconsin, has been making on a four-acre
tract near Madison.
Catnip, boneset, spearmint, peppermint, sage,
horehound and tansy are some of the drug weeds
which Professor Kremer found could be grown
with profit. For all these there is a steady mar
ket, and they can be grown with no more care
or attention than ordinary timothy hay. While
the latter is high at one cent a pound, the leaves
ever cultivated the Greeks may have been, they could
not any more than ourselves have possessed a natural
faculty which would have permitted them to invent at
one stroke a musical system, of which we have so much
difficulty in understanding the beginning. No one surely
can believe that Apollo or Minerva gave them an arm
ful of lyres and flutes already keyed.
The Greeks began, no doubt, like other tribes, and
made use at the beginning of very {rregular scales.
But quite early they learned to accompany themselves
with -instruments, and instead %f making them give any
sound at random they had sufficient refinement to try
to produce accords, or consonances. That led them to
seek a system of harmonies, and this was a very long
process. The matter could only be done by having in
struments with fixed and invariable tones. :
As instruments they had only lyres and flutes. The
first do not keep the tone and the cords break quite
easily. It was therefore inevitably the flute which be
came tl)e diapason of ancient music. Those who play
it I?now that it should be pierced with six holes which,
including the tone produced with all the fingers down,
gives a possibility of producing seven tones. The Greeks
soon discovered the phenomenon of the octave in the
open tube. Between the lowest note of the flute and
its octave they inserted the seven characteristic tones
of our scale.
To fix them exactly we must refer to the theory of
accords already explained, which they endeavored to
make as agreeable as possible. That led them to fix in
a definite manner the intervals of the fourth and the
fifth. For the others there was variation—and that, no
doubt, was the orizin of the different minor scales, in
addition to the major. We should remember that it i 3
the latter which gives the best series of accords of
fifths. It seems that the interval of the fifth played a
great part in the origin of music. It is probable that
it then had the place which we give to the octave. .It
is as agreeable as the latter and the average person
would find difficulty in choosing between them. In an
cient music the notes were grouped in disconnected
tetrachords; that is to say, in groups of four notes, so
that the first of one formed with the first of the follow
ing an interval of a fifth—that resembles a reduced
scale.
In addition the Greeks made much use of the double
flute. This was made of two flutes keyed to the fifth
in which the player blew at the same time, This in
strument, no doubt, owed its popularity to the accords
it produced in place of the rather shrill tone of the
simple flute. It had something of the velvety quality
of the lyre to which Apollo was so favorable. This was
perhaps the cause of the furious jealousy which led the
zod of poetry to flay alive the unhappy Marsyas whose
sole crime was playing too well on the flute.
bridge deck, forty to sixty feet
above, is as hard as it would be to
fight a fire in the basement of a sky
scraper from the roof.
Gas as a substitute for water in
fighting fires on shipboard was dis
covered quite by chance when the
bark Whistler put into Portland,
Oregon, with a fierce fire raging in
the general cargo she carried below
decks.
The hatches had been battened
down, but the fire could not be
smothered nor could water puf {8
out. For two weeks tons and tons
of water was poured into the hold
without appreciable ecffect. When
the owners were on the point of
scuitling the craft the insurance
dompany obtained permission to see
what could be done with carbonic
acid gas.
- Half_a dozen barrels of marb}e
dust were mixed with three demi
johns of muriatic acid. The gas
which this combination generated
in closed casks was carried through
lines of hose into the hold. |
E Three days later the hatches wer#®
lifted and the fire, which a whole
harbor full of water had proved
' powerless to quench, was found-to
be extinguished. The cargo had
guffered little damage except by
water, The whole expense -of
putting out the fire in this way was
less than twenty-five dollars.
' This method is particularly well
suited to fighting a fire at sea, be
cause in a ship’s hold the air can
not circulate ag freely as in a bulld
ing and, therefore, the extinguigh
ing gas has a better chance to set
‘tle and smother the flames.
~ To understand how the gas oper
ates it must be understood that fire
'is merely heated atoms of carbon
combining with the oxygen of the
‘air. When a cooling substance like
water is thrown on a blaze the car
‘bon and oxygen will no longer com
bine, although in a bad fire water
may only increase the blaze by add
ing new supplies of oxygen. If the
oxygen can be crowded away by
some heavier, non-inflammable gas,
like carbonic acid, there can be no
combustion and the fire quickly goes
out.
All the newest ocean liners are
being equipped with the apparatus
necessary for fighting fire with gas.
In addition to this, the danger of 2
fire getting beyond control on mon
ster craft like the ' Aquitania is
greatly lessened by fireproof con
struction and by the addition to the
crew of a special force of men
trained in the most approved
methods of attacking a fire at its
weakest point,
“Moderate” oven, 350 to 400 degrecs; bread,
gingerbread, plain cake, cookies.
“Hot” or “quick,” 400 to 450 degrees; Parker
House rolls, popovers.
“Very hot,” 450 to 550 degrees; biscuit, pastry.
pastry.
Recent experiments have shown that the best
temperature for sponge cake and angel food is
between slow and moderate, and for baking
powder biscuit between het and very hot.
of the drug weeds when properly drled and
cured may be sold for from three to eight cents
a pound.
Spearmint is one of the many Wweeds ordi
narily neglected which Professor Kremer finds
can be grown with profit. Manufacturers of
wchewing gum and other commodities use large
quantities and it can be grown on wet, SOgRY
ground whieh is useless for any other purpose.
The finest quality of catnip can be sold for
eight cents a pound, while sage and peppermint
present good possibilities of profit. The boneset
is a wild plant usually growing in marshy ground.
It may be planted broadcast like timothy and
the dried plants are worth from 5 to 6 cents Ib.