The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1873-12-26


ash may be used in disinfecting cloth
ing and towels. Throw the articles
into tub of water, with an ounce of
the drug to every three gallons. of Wa
ter. The permanganate of potash
should be used in sufficient quantities
to give a purple tinge to the water.
Labanaque's solution may be used for
the same purpose. Neither of these
should be used for the disinfection of
colored fabrics, as they will bleach
them. Chloride of zinc is equally
good, and if pure and neutral will
neither bleach nor stain.
FISH AS FooD.-Those nations who
eat fish with one meal, each day, are
undoubtedly the most active in intellect,
and the most capable of brain labor
without exhaustion or fatigue. Not
only is such phosphate food conducive
to the activity of the brain, but it pro-
notes fecundity and increases the abil-
ity to endure cold, fatigue, ETC., and,
while the facilities for obtaining it are
constantly increasing, it would be well
for the rising generation were they
made to partake of and realize it as sec
ond only in many respects to the staff
of life; and the husband and father who
occasionally takes half day from his le-
gitimate business to fill his basket with
delicious fish, should not be considered
as a mere sportsman" but a "good
provider" for his family of those things
which are of vital utility.
STREET SPRINKLNG.-Ani improved
method of sprinkling streets has been
patented in England, by means of which
almost five-sixths of the expense of wa
tering may be saved. An experiment
made in Hyde park warrants the conclu.
sion that, with the permanent system
referred to, the services of one man
would be amply sufficient for laying the
dust over the whole of the drives and
rides in that park-a task which at pres
ent engages twenty men with as many
horses and carts. It is to be hoped,
however, that before long deliquescent
salts will be employed for this purpose
rather than water. The use of water in
summer hastens the decay of organic
matter, and thus is Objectionable from a
sanitary point of view. Deliquescent
salts will not only lay the dust, but will
also disinfect the streets by checking
decomposition.
HEALTHFUL DwELLINGs.-Amon the
indispensable requisites of a healthful
dwelling are, that it shall be absolutely
free from damp; because a damp house
is a most potent, and active, and ever
present cause of disease, especially of
rheumatism, neuralgia, colds, coughs,
consumptions and such like. The site,
therefore, if not naturally dry, must be
rendered so by means of asphalt or ce-
ment, throughout the foundation, and
the roof, and CUTTERS, and drainage must
be perfect. All the house-drains should
terminate outside the house on an open
grid or trap that is, they should be
cut off from the street drain, and they
should be ventilated by having a pipe
run mp from every soil-pipe and
every bend in the house. And sec
Ond, that the house shall be so placed
that the direct rays of the sun shall
have free admission into the living APP
artments because the suns rays i'm
part healthy and invigorating quality
to the air, and stimulate the vitality of
human beings as they do those of plants,
and without sunlight human beings, as
well as plants, would sicken and die.
The aspect, therefore, should be south
east.
UTILIZING THE MAGNETIC ELECTRIC
LIGHT.-A citizen of st. Petersburg,
Russia, is said to have overcome the
difficulties in the way of applying the
magneto-electric light to the purposes
of general illumination. He has con-
structed machine, rotated by three
horse power engine, which, he declares,
can keep several hundred lamps going,
the lights being regulated by a simple
continuance. Hitherto, the want of
steadiness has been Objectionable, and
was caused by its dependence on the
uniform proximity of two carbon points,
which, when heated by the current and
exposed to the air, were rapidly burnt
away. In this invention, only one piece
of charcoal is necessary. This is con-
nected with the electromagnetic ma
chine, and enclosed in a glass tube from
which the air is extracted. The tube is
then filed with gas which will not COM
bine with the charcoal at high temper
ature, and Theoretically sealed. On the
machine being set in motion the char.
coal becomes gradually and equally
heated, and emits a soft, steady light,
which will burn at the bottom of mine,
or even at the bottom of a river, rs
readily as in a street lamp, and at about
One-fifth of the cost of coal gas. The
discovery is Immediately to be tested in
several of the large continental cities.
THE MODEL OBSERVATORY TO BE Built
on THE SIERRA NEvADAs.-A rich Cali
fornian, with money TO give away, pro-
poses to link his name with the advance.
ment of science by building model
observatory on some high peak of the
Sierra Nevadas. It's location and APP
pointments are to be superior to any
thing of the kind now in existence.
The summit of the Sierra has been Sc
lected after careful consideration. It is
well known that the lower strata of the
atmosphere are constantly filled, even
in what we call clear weather, with par
tieles of dust and all the most noted
observatories are in countries where the
air abounds with a moisture which
greatly obstructs astronomical discov-
ery. When we reach an elevation of
$500 feet on the summit of Monte Di-
ablO, on an ordinary summer day, we
are astonished to perceive that, while
the valleys within 10 or 20 miles may
be rendered indistinct by the haze, we
can distinctly see Mt. Lasseu and Mt.
Whitney, several hundred miles distant,
but above the level of the floating dust.
Travellers who go to Yosemite are gener-
ally astonished at the intense blueness
of the sky, and as we ascend it increases,
Indicating the lack of moisture and
dust. Scientists on the Sierra and on
the Rocky Mountains have, by iustru-
mental observation, found that the tel
escope and spectroscope would give
much information not obtainable on the
sea-shOre.
CARBoLIC ACID NOT A DIsTNFEcTANT.
The southern cities that have suffered
from yellow fever, or been threatened
with it this fall, have, of course, resort
ed to a profuse use of disinfectants.
Principal among those used has been
caIbolic acid, which, according to pOpu-
lar consent, is the most effective of all
the remedies against infection. Now,
however, Prof. Cochran of the Alabama
medical college writes long communi-
cation to the Mobile Register, in which
the efficacy of carbolic acid is question
ed-nay, more, condemned as being
conducive to the spread of disease rather
than it's suppression. The professor
says, after Watching the effects of its