Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1864-08-19
Position In SleeD.


rent to be ranged north and south. We
quote the closing part of his article:
'That this earth is kept steadily in
its orbit, and derives it's motion from
electricity there can be no doubt. The
! manifestations of the common magnet
| are, no doubt, referable to currents of
electricity pressing around it, and SINH
| lar ones passing round the earth. That
| currents pass round the earth, and give
it the properties of magnet is well
| known; and that one magnet will re-
voive around another, is easily demon
strated. The indicative action of this
earth upon pieces of steel, when laid in
the direction OF its magnetic meridian,
is proof that the earth is a magnet. The
| fact can be easily demonstrated; for if
any person stiffen himself, and be prop
erly suspended, the head will range to
the north and the feet to the south.
"We remarked that if a piece of steel
be ranged north and south, and be left
| in that position for week or two, that
the steel becomes magnet. If, now,
| that end of the piece of steel that was
toward the north, and which CORES
ponds with the north pole of the needle,
be placed to the south, the polarities of
the magnet will soon become weakened
and finally lose their magnetism, and
at last become reversed. This would,
of course, be the case with the compass
needle. If so, would it not be the case
with the living human body? 1t ap-
pears that the normal or physiological
condition of the human body is to
possess magnetism so arranged, that the
head shall correspond to the north pole,
and the feet to the south pole of steel
magnet. If any concurrence transpire
to weaken this normal condition of the
system, OF course we should look for
disturbance of that condition, or the
production Of condition of i'll health.
AS the magnet gets it's polar condition
disturbed, and finally annihilated, by
lying in a position the reverse of its nor
mai magnetic one, SO therefore should
we expect such to transpire, in meas
ure, with the human system, as we
perceive that it, too, is magnet, and
therefore subject to the same disturb
ances as the steel magnet.
This we find to be true, and by con-
tinually lying the reverse of the mag
netic meridian, we should finally eX-
pect that the magnetic condition of the
body would finally be destroyed if vital
ity were not continually resisting it.
eff, therefore, any person sleep at
night with his head to the south and
feet to the north, he must expect to
have his condition of health distuabed.
1t is true that a strong, robust, healthy
person will not feel these disturbances;
but weakly, nervous patient will feel
them quite sensibly, until health is
almost or entirely ruined.
"We know person who cannot lie
one night with his head pointing either
south, east or west without rising in the
morning with headache, and enfee-
bled as If he had risen from bed of
sickness. If, on the contrary, he sleep
with his head directly to the north, he
rises entirely free from headache, and
with an elasticity of body that will en-
dure through the day almost any amount
of fatigue. This we know to be the case
with many persons, especially those
who are weakly and nervous.
1--WE therefore feel that we cannot
recommended strongly to the physician
the practice of placing the patients bed
north and south, so that his head shall
be north and feet south. Patients who re
ever complaining, it will be perceived,
will soon cease to complain, and the
roseate will soon begin to suffuse cheeks
that were blanched for years. The per-
son will soon be astonished at the
amount Of fatigue or exertion she is en-
abled to sustain; and even diseases of
long standing will gradually depart to
return no mOre.'
Opinions differ on the nutritive
value of sugar as an article OF diet. A
correspondent says "the experiment has
often been tried Of feeding sugar to dogs,
cats, hogs, sheep, and other animals, but
the result has uniformly been-stwUa-
ton. Sugar is not food, but only an ele-
ment of food. If chemical analysis
teaches that we should eat sugar, it
also teaches that we should eat gum and
starch. IF we can do without gum and
starch, we can do without sugar. Only
the elements which contain nitrogen
are said to be capable of being trans
formed into the substance of the body.
1t contains no nitrogen. 1t cannot be
converted into bone Or muscle. 1t is
strange that the Almighty should make
a mistake in the matter. If the chem
lists are right, He omitted the proper
proportion of sugar in our food. But not
SO. Wheat, rye, oats, corn, rice, potatoes,
beets, grapes, apples, bears, peaches, etc,
contain all the lime, iron, sulphur, phos-
phorus, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, ETC.,
and the gluten, gelatin, albumen, fat,
starch, sugar, ETC., that is necessary
and that, too, in precisely the proper
quantities. The natural food is just the
thing. We have no reason to desire
change in it's chemical quality. If we
prepare it right, it's physiological effects
will be right.
THE BIGGEST BABY.-What is the
reason of the singular passion which
mothers seem to have for enormous ba-
bies. From the delight and triumph
with which ten-pound baby is exhibit
ted, one would imagine that babies, like
Chinese wives, were valued according to
their weight. 1t makes modest wo-
man whose baby only weighs six or sew
en- pounds, feel certain kind of morti-
fication az if she had failed in her duty
in some way. In fact, to be admired ithas
become necessary for baby, in some
sort to be monster. 1t must have
very large head, or quantity of unnat-
ural hair, or a development of intelli-
gence totally at variance with all re-
ceived ideas of babyhood, or limbs which
give promise of a young Hercules, or
premature beard, to elicit EXPLANATIONS
of wonder, surprise and pleasure which
are so gratifying to maternal instincts.
A simple plump, round, rosy baby, who
knows just enough to attend exclusively
to it's particular business of eating and
sleeping and does both well ,isnot half up
to this fast age-it finds no special favor
in any but its mothers eyes until long
when it is found that the
baby faculty of doing everything well,
and at the right time, clings to it and
makes it useful and valuable as well as
pleasant member of the family and of
Jane.
WIT AND WISDOM.
If you would have good servant,
AXE neither kinsman nor friend.
What state has the greatest number of
N he hitopfc Sfoto IF MotriroOOu