Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-05-03
DUST N DISEASE.

lectures are illustrated by curious and
beautiful experiments, some of which
can>be repeated without any trouble,
or the need of any apparatus, except
such as is commonly within reach.
Darken 4 room, leaving only'a crack
for the sunbeams to enter, and, as lis
we'll known, this stream Of light seems
full of notes and floating particles.
Take 4 tube, glass or other, having first
warmed it to prevent the condensation
of vapor on the inside; then blow the
breath gently through this tube across
the beam of light, and, ut first, there
will be simply current of notes, the
breath inhaled having as many parti-
cles as the ordinary atmosphere. But
toward the last the breath exhaled cuts
a sharp black line through the notes
in the sunbeam. The air you have
breathed has left its dust in the lungs,
and the last breath exhaled is free.
Now, empty the lungs as far rs posi-
BILE !; inhale a deep breath through n
handful Of cotton batting; breathe
this filtered air through the sunbeam,
and it cuts a black line through it at
once. If you place the tube below the
beam and blow upward, the air from
your mouth rises through the dancing
particles like black smoke. Is you
have in the house 4 pair Of old-fash-
toned bellows, OH which the grand
mothers Of the present generation re-
lied to kindle wood fires, You can ex-
pertinent and save your breath. Blow
through the beam with the bellows
pipe free, aud you only make a dance
of dust. Fill the nozzle of the bellows
with cotton wool, not too tightly
pressed, and the current through the
beam makes a clean band Of darkness.
The curious fact thus developed is, that
though we sometimes say we cannot
see for dust, yet with absolutely no
dust or floating particles in the atmos-
phere, we could not see the light.
These infinitesimal particles reflect the
rays. The lungs serve as 4 sufficient
| r%eSpirator or filter for all ordinary
healthy air. Without air nothing pu-
trities, and with air absolutely fl
tered from all these floating notes,
themselves invisible, but making the
light visible, it is claimed that nothing
putrifies. Among modern improve
ments in surgery is the opening of
assesses with instruments which eX-
clude the air from contact with the
wound. And it Is found, also, that
in injury to the lungs, by
fractured rib, the blood which es-
capes into the plcural cavity does
not purify. The general conclusion is
that air is necessary to cause putrefac-
ton. The special point claimed by
Professor Tyndall is that it is not the
air, but the particles with which it is
charged, which causes the p~utrefaction.
Professor Joseph Lister, Of Edinburgh,
is \ convert to this theory, and now
avails himself Of the flltering power
Of cotton in treating a numerous class
Of wounds. He first destroys the
germs adhering to the cotton, and with
a proper lotion washes the flesh, and
then covers the wound with the pre-
pared cotton ; thus giving the wound
the advantage of air filtered from the
noxious germs. The practical con-
| illusions deduced from these expert
ments and observations are {: That in
ordinary healthy air the lungs Of 4
person in sound health filter the air
which purities the blood; and that in
times and places where contagion Is
suspected, 4 cotton ''respirator' should
be used, 4 small roll of batting answer
ing every purpose. The germs of dis
ease corrupt the living respiratory
apparatus by lodging in the air pas
sages. All the substances which we
inhale are not necessarily unhealthy.
Cotton and oakum, the latter being
tarrcd rope UNFINISHED and picked back
to its original fibre, have been largely
used in the army hospitals in this
country, and with very good effect. In
the dressing of burns and scalds, cotton
in its raw state is widely used. These
appliances have proved their useful
ness, and the experiments OF Professors
Tyndall and Lister come in, after the
fact, with the rationale. We observe
that in some Of the cotton manufac-
turing districts in England the opera
tiyes are said to hold in their teeth
a roll of cotton sufficiently large to
protect the apertures Of the nose as
we'll as the mouth. Probably this is
only to escape the Inconvenience Of
the dust. We have seer farmers, when
at work with threshing and winnowing
machines, using the same precaution.
The subject OF contaSion anu the srans-
mission Of disease is one which non-
professionals a only attempt to treat
by giving a popular account Of the
experiments and theories of the gem
tlemen educated to the science of med
icine. But there are indicated in these
experiments certain practical precau-
tions, which it were we'll to follow,
though doctors disagree" We may
remark in closing, as an illustration Of
pure mulishness, TINT within a few
years the introduction, of a guard for
the mouth and nostrils was prevented
by the workmen in an English needle
factory. The men argued that to
lengthen their lives would lessen their
wages, by introducing more workmen.
So many people cling to customs which
destroy them.
OUR New Minister to Japan is evil