The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-03-11

circle of clay or cement rather LARGER
Than the intended hole; pour some ker.
osene into the cell thus made, ignite it,
place the plate upon moderately hard
support, and. with stick rather smaller
than the hole required and ham
mer, strike a rather smart blow. This
Will leave a rough-edged hole, which
may be smoothed with file. Cold wa
ter Is said to answer even better than a
blow.
PULSE MEAsURER.-A young phy-
slclan in this city has invented and per.
1ected curious little instrument for OBJ
serving and measuring the pulse-waves
OF the human circulation, which, in SIM
pnclty OF construction and application,
takes precedence of all the instruments
forthis purpose so far produced by human
ingenuity. A minute disk of hard rub
Der firmly fixed to the base of a grad
uated tube, such as is used in the man
ufacture of thermometers, forms the es-
ssentlal part of the instrument. At the
base, where the rubber diaphragm is
adjusted to it, the glass tube is some
what expanded in diameter as to form,
with the diaphragm for floor, a recep-
table capable of holding few minims
OF water colored with carmine. The re-
mamder OF the tube has the internal di-
ameter of that of our ordinary medical
thermometer. When the disk of the
instrument is placed firmly upon or
against the wrist, the vibrations of the
tissues beneath caused by the artery is
To
qu'd dances up and down in the tube,
registering to the eye of the practiced
physician the force and particlar de-
scription of each wave. Simple as the
Instruments, its delicacy and accuracy
are marvellous, while there are no ad-
Justments TO get out of order, and the
merest tyro can apply it successfully.
Few applications of the principle of the
vibrating disk since the invention of the
telephone startled the scientific public
have produced more curious or more ex-
act results than this little device for tax
ing mathematical register of the force
and graphic description of the human
pulse.-NeW York Times.
A NERVOUS PEoPLE.-ExcelIent med
ical authority asserts that the constant
strain of business, added to the dryness
of our climate, has so changed the consti
tuition that it is impossible for us to do
what our fathers did for us safely. "We
are," says DIR. Beard, "ten degrees
more sensitive to cold than they were,''
as the eases of sunstroke and heat pros
tration bear evidence. There is an i'm
mense increase in neuralgia, sick head
ache and hay fever, nervous exhaustion,
and especially in dyspepsia, in itself the
potent source of host of physical and
mental irritants and distresses. Now
with such systems as we have, high
strung, nervous and irritable, the use of
can not be otherwise than in
furious. 1t is impossible to use them as
they were used in the days gone by.
There is hardly a man of middle age
who does not remember that hospitality
and a sideboard of wines and liquors
were synonymous terms Both men and
women drank freely, and professional
men and the clergy indulged in the same
habit. 1t would be folly to say that
what is a vice now was a virtue then,
but it can be safely asserted that people
did indulge then without the same inju-
rious effects that follow the practice
now. The predominant nervousness of
the present time had not been developed.
Our ancestors could drink freely, smoke
extravagantly, indulge to excess in tea
and coffee, and yet live to a serene old
age; now it is simply impossible. True,
the traffic in ardent spirits has enor-
lvy by,f hoo hn
lation. True, people yet drink to excess,
but they do not do it with impunity.
Circumstances have altered cases, and
thirds of the present terrible effects
flowing from intemperance are due to
the changed physiological conditions of
the human race, and especially in this
country, where people are strung up to
a tension that will no more allow free
use of strong drinks than a barn filled
with straw will permit the introduction
of fire.-NeuGrb Adrertiser S~
TYPOGRAPHY FOR RAMATEURs.-In
recent paper read before the London
Society of Arts, Mr.. Thomas Bolas, F.
c. S., described Zincogrophy as SIM
pie and easy mode of printing in the
following fashion Zincography, he said,
is similar to lithography, except that
a zinc plate is employed in the place of
the photographic stone. The so-called
transfer paper is merely a moderately
fine paper which has been brushed over,
on one side, with mucilaginous mix
ture prepared by boiling together the
following: Water, 1000 parts; starch.
100 parts gamboge, six parts; glue, one
part. This paper is written upon with
the ordinary commercial lithographic
writing ink, which hes been rubbed up
with water like an artists water-color.
The writing being dry, it is necessary to
moisten somewhat the back of the trans
fer by means of a damp sponge; after
which it is laid face downward on
sheet of ordinary roofing zinc, which
has been previously cleaned by means
of emery cloth. Both being now passed
together under the roller of small