Kissing the Book.

The danger of kissing a greasy book, so often tendered in police and law courts to a witness about to be sworn, is at last appreciated by some officials and in some quarters. We see it stated that when the Duke of Fife appeared lately at Stratford in a prosecution, the Testament on which he took the oath was enveloped in some clean white paper for his use-a precaution which might with advantage be more generally adopted. Why should not the formula and method of taking the oath in English courts of justice be altered and adopted, possibly in imitation of the method adopted in Scotland, which is that of raising the hand in lieu of kissing the book?

How Diphtheria is Spread by Corpses.

In March, 1890, two corpses, woman and child of same family, dead of throat disease, certified by attending physician to be not "dangerous to the public health," were conveyed from Montmorency County to Lapeer County, Mich., where, just one week from the day the coffins were opened and the remains viewed, a person who was thus exposed came down with diphtheria. Many others would probably have been exposed except for the action of the local health officer, Dr. C. A. Wisner, who, suspecting that the cause of the deaths was diphtheria, warned the neighbors and forbade the opening of the coffins at the funeral. He promptly isolated the first case that occurred, and no epidemic resulted. This is quite different from the result of a similar occurrence at Zanesville, Ohio, last Spring, where many deaths resulted from exposure to a corpse brought from Chicago. It shows the importance of notice to the local health officer of the arrival of every corpse, so that he may take every precaution which may be necessary.

Powdered Meat.

As long ago as 1874, Dannecy, Chief Pharmacist of the hospitals of Bordeaux, prepared an excellent article of food for invalids by making a powder of meat. He took meat, chopped it very fine, and spread it upon muslin, drying it by means of a current of air. In this way he obtained a friable mass, which was easily powdered. It was administered by adding it to beef tea, or spreading it upon bread. It could also be mixed with the ingredients used for making biscuits, and this combination was found to be especially suitable for administration to children.

In the same year Yvon suggested the following method of preparing a palatable meat food: Take of raw meat (fillet of beef) 250 parts; of charred sweet almonds, 75 parts; of bitter almonds, 50 parts; of white sugar, 80 parts. Rub slowly in a mortar until a homogeneous paste is obtained, adding from time to time a sufficient quantity of water to give a proper consistency for a semi-solid or a liquid mixture. In the liquid preparation the meat will settle after awhile, but may be dispersed through it by shaking. The preparation may be preserved for a long time if bottled and kept in a cool place, and its nutritious character may be enhanced by adding to it the yolks of one or more eggs.

Consumption in Cows.

The State Board of Health of Oregon has taken hold of the matter of stamping out consumption in cows. A wealthy banker of Portland, Ore., owned a herd of 158 Jerseys, which cost him $35,000, one-third of the entire sum having been paid for twenty-seven of the animals, bought in the East. A few months ago consumption was discovered in several of the cows, which led to the condemning of the animals by the State Board of Health. He was forbidden to sell either the milk or the butter made from the milk of any of the diseased animals, or others that had been in contact with them, and thirtyfour of the animals were killed, others that had been exposed being placed in quarantine.

The Pollution of Streams.

There is one (among many) hygienic dogmas that may be asserted and should be accepted as such, namely, that the dejecta from a typhoid fever patient should never be thrown into a stream; for if a stream or river has received such discharges, it cannot be considered, at any lower point, a safe source of water supply. However pure the water may be chemically, there is no certainty that it does not contain the specific cause of this disease. The only safe thing to do with such discharges is to throttle the cause of the disease by treating the dejecta with a solution of corrosive sublimate, and then burying it, if in the country, or emptying it into the water-closet, if in the city. In this course, and in this alone, is there absolute safety.

Summer and its Dangers.

'Why is it that so many persons return to the city after a Summer's outing, and soon are taken sick with fever?" This question is often asked of physicians; and that it is so often asked implies that there is some basis for it in fact. We imagine that there are many reasons, some of which are known, and others, probably equally potent factors, which are as yet unknown.

In the first place, healthy homes are left behind for a more or less prolonged stay in malarial regions. Again, the capacity of hotels which are designed to accommodate fifty persons is stretched until more than twice that number are lodged within their walls, and the means provided for the disposition of the waste of the smaller number are so inadequate that soil-saturation and water-pollution inevitably result. Then, too, city houses are closed for months, and no provision is made for the filling of traps, the water of which gradually evaporates during the absence of its inmates, and when in the Fall the family returns, it is to a house into which, it may be, the air of a feverinfected sewer has been pouring for weeks.

Of course, the remedies at once suggest themselves to the thoughtful physician, and he should consider it his duty to advise his patients as to what they should do to avoid these dangers, not only to health, but to life as well.

Consumption of Snails.

Nearly one hundred thousand pounds of snails are sold daily in the Paris markets to be eaten by dwellers in Paris. They are carefully reared for the purpose in extensive snail gardens in the provinces and fed on aromatic herbs. to make their flavor finer. One snailery in Dijon is said to bring in to its proprietor seven thousand francs a year. Many Swiss cantons also contain large snail gardens where they are grown with much pains. They are not only regarded as a great delicacy, but are reckoned as very nutritious. It is said. that they contain 17 per cent. of nitrogenous matter, and they are equal to oysters in nutritive properties. Snails are also extensively used as an article of food in Austria, Spain, Italy and Egypt, and the countries on the African side. of the Mediterranean. Indeed, the habit of eating snails as food has existed in various parts of Europe for many centuries.

Opium-Smoking in London.

Some startling facts are brought to light by a writer in a recent issue of the Medical Press concerning the increase in the habit of smoking opium in London. A gentleman who had been told that this habit was growing, determined to make some inquiries himself. After some time he learned that application for information should be made to a certain well-known medical practitioner living in the West End. The gentleman's wife wrote to this practitioner, asking information, and received in reply a copy of a pamphlet entitled "OpiumSmoking as a Therapeutic Power, according to the Latest Medical Authorities." The pamphlet describes in detail the method of preparing and smoking the opium, and recites the conditions which are said to be specially benefited by taking the drug in this form. The physician who is supposed to be the author of the pamphlet is himself a confirmed opium-smoker, and he seems to be actuated with a desire to drag others down to the level of his own degradation.

To Cleanse Books.

Grease spots, if old, may be removed from books by applying a solution of varying strength of caustic potash upon the back of the leaf. The printing, which looks somewhat faded after the removal of the spot, may be freshened up by the application of a mixture of one part of muriatic acid and twenty-five parts of water. In a case of fresh grease spots, carbonate of potash (one part to thirty parts of water), chloroform, ether or benzine renders good service. Wax disappears if, after saturating with benzine or turpentine, it is covered with folded blotting paper and a hot flatiron placed upon it. Paraffine is removed by boiling water or hot spirits. Ink spots or rust yield to oxalic acid in combination with hot water; chloride of gold or silver spots to a weak solution of corrosive sublimate or cyanide of potassium. Sealing wax is dissolved by hot spirits and then rubbed off with ossia sepia (cuttle-fish bone). India ink is slightly brushed over with oil, and after twelve hours, saponified aqua ammonia, and particles of color still remaining must be removed with rubber.

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Doctors and Wine.

Nothing indicates more plainly the healthful advances in regard to diet than the changes that have occurred in physicians themselves. Two hundred years ago, and even much later, doctors were notorious for their eating and tippling, and were generally very fat. Dr. Beddoes was so stout that the ladies called him their walking feather bed, and Dr. Fleming weighed 291 pounds until he reduced his weight by abstinence and eating a quarter of an ounce oî Castile soap every night, and Dr. Cheyne weighed 384 pounds. It is said that it was during the seventeenth century, when doctors drank so heavily, that it became fashionable for them to write such illegible prescriptions, which were the result of their trembling hands. The man who remains abstemious where no liquor is to be had, does not deserve much credit, but the man who is temperate when the sparkling champagne stands beside his plate merits our approbation.

His Age was 7777.

An Irishman was ordered to make a coffin, which he did; and to paint the inscription on the lid, which he did after a fashion that caused a little excitement in the churchyard. By dint of following the written copy, he managed to get as far as "Michael O'Rafferty, aged-;" but try as he would, he could not represent the 28. At last he remembered that he could write seven, and that four sevens made 28. So he finished the inscription, which read "aged 7777." When they came to bury Michael, the coffin stood at the graveside, and the priest spoke as follows: "Ah, he was a fine lad. He's lying there so still, taken away in the very prime of life. Young as he was, too, only-" Here the priest looked down at the coffin plate to see how old Michael was, "He was only," said his reverence again, and he put his glasses on and went nearer to see how old he really was. "He was only," he continued, "seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven years!"'

Children's Diseases.

The impression abroad in the land to day, that children must have scarlet fever, measles and the like, and that being inevitable, the sooner they have them and are done with it the better, is not only erroneous, but it is a very dangerous belief as well. In the first place there is no more necessity for a child to have scarlet fever than for an adult to have typhoid, both are equally preventable. In the second place, the longer we shield the child from these diseases, the less likely will they be to prove fatal. That is to say, with every year added to the age of the child the liability to these diseases becomes less, while, at the same time, the ability to successfully overcome them, should they occur, becomes greater. Certainly, those of us who are worthy of the name of men and women are anxious to rear our offspring, and when we tell you that the majority of those born into the world die during the first few years of diseases that we know, and you can learn, how to prevent, is this not sufficient incentive for you to familiarize yourselves with the laws of hygiene?

Finger-Nail Dirt.

The British Medical Journal says: The progress of bacteriology has shown that aseptic surgery means scientific cleanliness. The same lines of investigation show how very dirty people can be. Seventy-eight examinations of the impurities under finger-nails were recently made in the bacteriological laboratories of Vienna, and the cultivations thus produced showed thirty-six kinds of micrococci, eighteen bacilli, three sarcinæ and various varieties. The spores of common mould were very frequently present. The removal of all such impurities is an absolute duty in all who come near a parturient woman or a surgical wound. It is not enough to apply some antiseptic material to the surface of dirt; the impurity must be removed first, the hand antisepticised after. It is sometimes said that the scratch of a nail is poisonous. There is no reason to suspect the nail tissue; it is more likely the germs laid in a wound from a bacterial nest under the nail. Children are very apt to neglect to purify their nails when washing hands, and this matter is not always sufficiently attended to among surgical patients. Personal cleanliness is a part of civic duty, and, as Dr. Abbott well expressed the matter in his address to teachers, should be taught to school children and insisted on in practice.

The Hygienic Training of Women.

Mr. Frederick Treves called attention to a perfectly new branch of the work undertaken by the society with reference to physical education. Within the last few years an immense deal of attention had been directed to the matter of physical education. It had been pointed out that the education of the mind was well looked after, while the education of the body was practically allowed to look after itself. Parents did not realize that proper physical education must be conducted on as precise and as careful scientific lines as the ordinary education of the mind. Parents were quite content to send their children to gymnasiums, and when they had done this, felt that their physical education was complete. They were unaware that there was no proper control over the teachers of gymnastics and calisthenics, a large number of whom were people totally unfit for their work. The particular object of the Society had, perhaps, rather more reference to children and to women than to men and boys. As a matter of fact, the latter class was admirably looked after. No one could find much to criticize in the athletic pursuits of our public schools. When they came to the London shopboy, they found his condition had been materially changed; he had taken to bicycling and other pursuits. When they came to schools, and especially to girls' schools, it must be confessed that the conditions were about as bad as they very well could be. They heard a good deal of the enormous advances of civilization during the last fifty or hundred years, and their marvellous improvement on the unfortunate savage, who had straight limbs, graceful carriage, and an absence of the ordinary aches and pains, and he was not disposed to be always taking tea or to be living in an atmosphere of tonics. People did not seem to be aware that by a judiciously supervised sys