How to Rest. The genial president of the New York Central Railroad, Chauncey M. Depew, lets it be plainly seen that he knows "how to rest," when he tells us that during his recent trip to Florida he was not there to "study the race problem, nor the necessity for a Federal election law, nor the industrial development of the new South, nor any other novel or brain-straining question, but only to chase alligators, smell magnolias, suck fresh-picked oranges, get outside of juicy steaks and honest milk, and take in ozone." To Clear Waste Pipes. At night, pour into the clogged pipe enough Banner lye to fill the trap or bent part of the pipe. Be sure that no water runs in it until the next morning. During the night the lye will convert all the offal into soft-soap, and the first current of water in the morning will wash it away and clear the pipe clean as new. One thing is very important to remember, namely, that the lye is a most powerful caustic and very dangerous if used carelessly. It should never be left where children could possibly get at it. Harvard's “Sabbatical Year.” A little paragraph recently caught our eye wherein it was stated that a certain professor of Harvard University will have leave of absence next year; it being his "Sabbatical Year"-the one in seven when he has twelve months' vacation on full salary. What a wisely glorious rule this is. A man thus periodically refreshed will do infinitely better work than he who is forever and eternally driven to his duty. We doubt not that this wise regulation has had much to do with the great reputation as a seat of learning that is enjoyed by Harvard. Royal Fees for Royal Work. The doctors who attended the late King of Portugal during the last few weeks of his illness, presented bills for their services amounting to nearly $100,000. One of them demanded $14.000 for ten visits, another demanded $17,000 for fifteen, while a third thought that $30,000 was not too much to ask for his attendance at eighteen consultations. Eventually, the new king succeeded in effecting a settlement of their claims by means of a lump sum of $60,000. The present infant king has a staff of nine physicians to look after his health. Cosmetics. Dr. Albert E..Ebert, in a paper on Cosmetics," shows that the public is flagrantly swindled by manufacturers of cosmetics. He gave as an instance the case of a little pot of "cream," which has a wonderful reputation on the strength of its secret formula. It is sold for $1.50, and costs 10 cents, being composed of common zinc oxide, ground in equal parts of water and glycerin, and perfumed with rose. Another well-known wash, which retailed at $18 a dozen, was shown to consist of water and calomel, which cost 66 cents per dozen to manufacture. Aristocratic Drainage into Philadelphia's Water-Supply. Marshall P. Wilder, of New York, recently interviewed a colored hotel waiter on the subject of Schuylkill water: "Sam, I hear the water you give guests to drink soaks through a graveyard. that so ?'' Is "That's right, boss, that's right, shu' enough; but de people buried in dat yer graveyard am mighty high-toned people, sah: mighty so.' A Double Monster. There is now on exhibition in England a double monster, known as the Tocci Brothers. The children are thirteen years of age, and were born of an Italian woman living in humble circumstances. The body as far as the shoulders is single, but is double above. The stomach is common to the two children, and if one eats heartily the other has no desire for food, yet it is said that the two are very unlike in their appetites and tastes, one being fond of sweets, while the other cares only for substantials. The genital organs are male, but the face of one of the children is very feminine in its appearance. Cremating the Garbage of New York. A New York company has offered to enter into a five years' contract with the city, under good and sufficient bonds, to take charge of and dispose of all the garbage, ashes, and street refuse of every kind at a sum not to exceed the present outlay for the disposal of garbage, which is about $250,000 a year. The company has a capital of $1,000,000 and purposes, if its offer it accepted, to erect crematories at each dumping station-fifteen in all, with extra ones for emergencies, making a total of eighteen-and to have the first of them in operation within three months, and all within a year. "The End Crowns the Work.” Henry M. Stanley, emerging from the "Dark Continent," writes to a friend, beginning with the words of our caption and referring to those whom he had rescued, saying: "The end crowns the work,' did I say December 10, 1886? I say it again this date of 1890. I have brought exiles back to their homes. I have re-united parted families. I have rescued those who were in sore straits. I have borne the young and aged and placed them in their loved land of Egypt. I have brought the beleagued Governor out of his threatened bondage; wherefore as these were the aims of the work and they have been accomplished, I say: The end crowns the work.' True, I am blanched and white, but what matters it? I have naught to regret, and if any mission of like nature presented itself I should still wish to do it. For whatever here or there life stays not, but rushes on apace, and men must work and strive; but let us do it bravely and fitly with all our strength.'" And the whole civilized world is ringing with the praises of Stanley. That which this intrepid explorer has done for a handful of his fellow-creatures, the sanitarian is doing for the whole of humanity. He is exploring the hitherto "Dark Continent" of disease, that he may rescue afflicted humanity from its slough of despondency and bring it out of its threatened bondage, into the glorious happiness of a sanitary enlightenment. A Newly Reported European Epidemic. According to cablegrams from the Continent a new plague has sprung up, called Nouna or Noma, in Russia, Austria and Italy. It bears no resemblance to any malady of recent times. The marked feature of the attack is a stupor or prolonged sleep, of twenty-four to forty-eight hours duration. This may come on suddenly in the midst of apparent good health or may be preceded by two or three days of insomnia, headache and malaise. Fatal cases have occurred, the patient never awakening; or the stupor passes off and recovery follows. Whether the disease is contagious, or otherwise, is not yet known.-Jour. Am. Med. Ass. Healing Salve. The following salve will be found a useful application for chapped lips and slight abrasions: The above may be perfumed by the addition of a few drops of attar of roses, if intended for a lip salve. Chapped Hands. The following is a pleasant and efficacious application for chapped hands: B Quince seed, 1⁄2 oz. Glycerin, Alcohol, I OZ. 4 Oz. Macerate the quince seed with a pint of water for twenty-four hours, stirring frequently, strain with gentle pressure through muslin, and make the volume up to one pint with water; then add the glycerine and finally the alcohol containing the perfume and stir briskly. Polluted Rivers. At the meeting of the Public Health Association, held recently in Brooklyn, Dr. L. S. Kilvington, of Minneapolis, then presented a paper on Statistics of River Pollution," with some observations relating to the destruction of garbage and refuse matter, and said that the majority of health officials in this country favor the cremation system. He also stated that in the Mississippi River, during the past year, eight cities alone deposited 152,675 tons of garbage and offal, 108, 250 tons of night-soil, and 3,765 dead animals. In the Ohio River, five cities, in the same period, dumped, 46,700 tons of garbage, 21,157 tons of night-soil, and 5,100 dead animals. In the Missouri River, four cities cast 36,000 tons of garbage, 22,400 tons of night-soil, and 31,600 dead animals. No theory of self-purification of running water will dwarf the magnitude of this sanitary crime.-Medical and Surgical Reporter. Aids to Digestion. 1. Proper selection of food. 2. Best treatment of food as regards cooking, flavoring and serving. 3. Proper variety of food, with occasional change of diet. 4. Moderate exercise; warmth and a genial state of mind. 5. Sufficiency of sleep. 6. Pleasant social surroundings at the table. 7. Thorough mastication. 8. Regularity in eating, and proper intervals between meals.-Anti-Adulteration Journal. Waxy Concretions in the Ear. The following formula is proposed in La Clinique for a preparation to aid in removing accumulations of wax in the ear: Boric acid Distilled water I dram. 11⁄2 fl. ozs. 11⁄2 fl. ozs. This should be warmed and instilled into the ear, leaving it there for a quarter of an hour, repeating the process daily for several days. The result is to soften the plugs and make their removal comparatively easy by means of the syringe.—Druggists' Circular, February, 1890. Eau Dentifrice. The following is indistinguishable from the well-known Eau Dentifrice de Dr. Pierre: Dr. Lancaster, a London physician and surgeon, recently analyzed a man and gave the results to his class in chemistry. The body operated upon weighed 154.4 pounds, The lecturer exhibited upon the platform 23.1 pounds of carbon, 2.2 pounds of lime, 22.3 ounces of phosphorus and about one ounce each of sodium, iron, potassium, magnesium and silicon. Beside this solid residue Dr. Lancaster estimated that there were 5,595 cubic feet of oxygen, weighing 121 pounds; 105,900 cubic feet of hydrogen, weighing 15.4 pounds, and 52 cubic feet of nitrogen in the man's body. All of these elements combined in the following: One hundred and twenty-one pounds of water, 16.5 pounds gelatine, 1.32 pounds fat, 8.8 pounds fibrin and albumen and 7.7 pounds of phosphate of lime and other minerals. An Athletic Lady. An English paper asserts that there is a titled lady whose chief pleasure is found in exhibiting her muscular powers in her own drawing-room to a circle of admiring and astonished friends. Attired in a long and clinging gown, she lies down at full length upon the floor, with arms held closely to her sides. A friend is then requested to fasten her skirts securely around her feet and place her handkerchief upon them. This done the handkerchief is conveyed by her feet to her mouth. She then resumes her first position, and, without moving her arms, gradually raises herself until she stands upon her feet, without a hair out of place or the tiniest bead of moisture on her brow. Indian Corn. Says an exchange: When Dr. Johnson, in preparing his dictionary, defined oatmeal as something on which the English fed their horses and the Scotch their men, Boswell remarked: “Yes; but what men and what horses!" An enterprising American how wants to show the Scottish people the advantages of Indian corn as a wholesome and strengthening food, and proposes to make an exhibit of it Edinburgh International Exhibition, which is to open on May 1st next. has an advantage over oat-meal in the varied methods of preparing it for the and in the fact that it can be used not only as food, but as an addition to the dessert. There will be an economic value in such an exhibit. Corn-meal table, Important in Fumigation. Dr. Squibb, of Brooklyn (Medical News), in a recent address on sulphur fumigation in the prevention of infectious disease, directed attention to the important fact that, in the absence of moisture, the penetrating power of sulphurous acid gas is only slight, and for this reason there should be an abundance of aqueous vapor in the apartment in which the sulphur is burnt. Boards of Health neglect to emphasize this fact, which is not known to the laity. The Medical recommends that water be kept boiling in the room in which gas is being generated. Dr. Squibb also called attention to the relative uselessness of chlorine gas disinfectant in the absence of aqueous vapor.-The Pacific Record. Hereditary Transmission of Peculiarities. News as a been A singular instance of the transmission of hereditary peculiarities has brought to the notice of the German Anthropological Society. The correspondent tells of his meeting a farmer by the name of Loewendorf, who had a peculiar habit of writing "Austug" for "August," his Christian name. Some years later he was inspecting a school, and heard a little girl read "leneb" for "leben," "naled "for "nadel," and so on. Upon inquiring, he found that her name was Loewendorf, and that she was the daughter of his former friend, the farmer, now dead. This defect was noticeable in the speech and writing of both father and daughter. It appeared in the father as the result of a fall that occurred some time before the birth of his daughter. |