The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-03-27

trio whistle for locomotives is now COM
ing into use in France. 1t is intended
to take the place of switch signals
opening the switch causes a copper
plate, a short distance off in the road
wav, to become electrified. A metallic
brush on the engine transfers the cur
rent to the whistle, which is opened
until steam is shut off by the engineer.
If the engineer is neglecting his duty
the fact is at once made known by the
continuous sound of the whistle.
ARE THE PLANETS INHABITED? PROF.
Proctor, the English astronomer, treats
largely upon the probabilities of other
worlds than this being inhabited, the
conclusion being that, of the inner
planets, Mercury, Venus, the Earth,
and Mars, our planet only was in condi-
ton to be inhabited by beings like the
dwelIers upon the earth. Mercury and
Venus must be too hot, and Mars too
cold. OF the other planets, their con-
dition was not probably such as to per
NIT of habitation by creatures such as
ourselves.
To TAN A SHREP-SKIN.-"On who
has tried ii" writes as follows: eff
any farmer wants a cheap ard conYe-
nient cushion to ride on, let him take a
sheep-skin as soon as it is off the sheen.
and scrape the flesh off, then lay it on a
smooth place. Pulverize one pound of
alum and one of salt, and cover the
flesh side of the skin, and let it lie for
a week or two, and it will be well tan
ned. They make the best seat for the
reaper, raker, corn-planter, and to
throw on the horse to ride from the field
TO the barn and if one should be
caught in a sudden shower, they would
answer for protection"
LIGHT WITHOUT MATCHEs.-To oh.
tain light instantly without the use of
matches and without the danger of set
ting things on fire, take an Oblong
phial of the whitest and clearest glass:
put INTO 1t piece of phosphorus about
the size of pea, upon which pour some
olive oil, heated to the boiling point.
filling the phial about one-third fuII
and then seal the phial Theoretically.
10 use 1t, remove the cork and allow
the air to enter the phial, and then re-
cork 1T. The whole empty space in the
bottle Will then become luminous. and
the light obtained will be equal to that
OF lamp. As soon as the light grows
weak its power eau be increased by
opening the phial and allowing a fresh
supply of air to enter. In winterEit is
sometimes necessary to heat the phial
between the hands to mere ase the
huldity of the oil. Thus prepared. the
phlal may be used for six months. This
cOntrIyance IS now used by the watch
men of Paris in all magazines where ex-
plOsive or inhammable materials are
stored.
A New IDEA ABOUT COMErs.-A ma
per was read before the Hackney Scien-
tltic Association on January LIST by Mr..
Reeves, advancing an entirely new theo-
~ with regard to comets and by the
use of diagrams, he showed that the
part of the comet termed the tail, being
always IN a direction from the sun and
therefore as often in advance as behind
the nucleus, is not really tail. That
as comets are transparent, and all mat
ter IS known to be either solid. liouid
or gaseous, comets must be the latter.
for solids and liquids are OPAQUE. That
the only known power by which this
gaseous matter can be held together is
gravity, which must necessarily have a
center, and, every part of the body be-
ing Tree to move, resolves itself into a
sphere, the center of which is in many
cases exceedingly dense, gradually
alternating toward the circumference.
That the rays Of the sun are refracted
IN their passage through the spherical
comet, thus Eliminating the position be-
yond the center or nuclueus, which illu-
mlnatlon forms the tail. He then ex-
planned all tho various and pecu-
liar phenomena of comets, such as their
shapes, colOrs, horns, Duclei, as we'll as
AL -
and that they are entirely in accordance
with the universal laws of nature.
CERTAIN CURE FOR EAR-ACHE.-We
have recently seen several receipts pub
lished as beneficial in cases of ear-ache:
but one who has a severe attack of that
malady will, we think, soon find the in
efficiency of them all. There is, how
ever, one remedy which theexperience of
twenty years has taught us is uniailing.
We have seen it repeatedly tried in our
family, and have frequently recommen-
ded it to others, always with the same
satisfactory result. No house should
be without bottle of arnica. It is in
dispCnsab,e Ill cases of cuts, burns and
bruises, and in ear-ache it is n sovereign
cure. As soon as any soreness is felt
in the ear-which feeling almost always
pracedes the ache"-let three or four
drops of the tincture of arnica be
poured in ard then the orifice filled with
little cotton 20 exclude the air: and
in a short time the uneasiness is forgot
ten. If the arnica is not resorted to
until there is actual pain, the cure may
not be so speedy, but it is just as GER
tain. If one applicant n of the arnica
does not effect cure, it will be neces-
70 I
times. 1t is a sure preventive for
gathering in the car, which is the usual
cause of ear-ache. We have never
known any harm or serious inconven-
fence to attend this use of arnica
though if the spirits with which it is
made are very strong it may be diluted
with little water, as the spirits-not
the arnica-will sometimes cause a tenn
porary dizziness of the head, which is
unpleasant.
How To Do Up SHIRT BosoMs.
two tablespoonfuls of best starch, add
very little water to it, rub and stir
with a spoon into thick paste, care
fully breaking all the humps and parti-
Cles. Add q pint of boiling water,
stirring it at the same time; boil half
an hour, stirring it occasionally to keep
lTOm burning. Auu piece OF starch
polish the size of large pea; if this
is not at hand use a tablespoonful of
gum arabic solution made by pour ng
boiling water upon gum arabic and
standing until clear and transparency,
or piece of clean mutton tallow half
the size of a nutmeg and tablespoon
fnl of salt will do, bu1 it is not as good.
Strain the starch through strainer or
piece of thin muslin. Have the shirts
turned wrong side out; dip the bosoms
carefully in the starch and squeeze ont,
repeating the operation until the bo-
SONS are thoroughly and evenly sat
urated with starch proceed to dry.
Three hours before ironing dip the bo-
SONS III clean water wiring out and
roll mp tightly. First iron the back by
folding it lengthwise through the CEN
ter; next iron the wristbands, and both
sides of the sleeves; then the collar
band nov place the bOsOm-board IN
der the bosom, and with a dampeRed
napkin rub the bosom from the top TO-
wards the bottom, smoothing and ar