Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-02-12

| less given to excess. and where the gene
raj custom is to cook all meat very thor
oughly, these accidents are much less COM
mon; and yet certain number of partial
epidemics have been reported particularly
| III the army, which is put on regimen of
preserved meat to much greater extent
| than the ordinary population.
Among other examples NM. Labit and
| Collin refer to the serious cases that oc-
cured at the Camp d 'Avor. and which dis
| abled 227 men belonging to the Thirty
| hcst brigade Of infantry. a minute in
| quest proved that these accidents could be
attributed neither to fatigue nor of over
| crowding, nor to any atmospheric cause,
hut purely and simply to the use of some
! cold meat that ha1 undergone a marked de-
! gree Of alienation without the competent
! authorities being aware Of it. This vas
also the case in the epidemic at Lille, in
| which seyenty-eight persons were taken
sick, out of whom three died.
The cause in this case was a hash
made of veal and ham. of which no one
suspected the freshness or the nutritive
qualities If we had sufficient space we
csuld relate here many other cases similar
to these.
PTLOMAINES.
| The products which go by the name of
| ptlomaine, have a considerable power of
resistance against the different causes of
destruction, and particularly against the
| action of high temperatures. This remark
is important, as it gives US the explana-
| ton OF the fact that certain forms OF food
are still harmful, in spite of cooking SO
| a cooking so thorough as to seem sufficient
to annihilate every trace of germs. 1t also
| explains the fact, that is in appear
ance unaccountable. of meat in which
the closest microscopical examination
| fails to detect any mlcrObe, and which,
nevertheless, produces serious accidents in
| those who make use of it.
Can we draw any practical conclusions
| from these facts? Most assuredly, and it
is evident that in choosing our ar
ticles of food it is of prime necessity to
set aside any substance suspected of hav-
irg undergone the slightest degree of fer
mentation. 1t is especially necessary to
use the greatest caution with preserved
| food of all kinds, as its freshness is often
doubtful, and its nutritive qualities not
very great, in spite of the promises printed
! On the prospectuses with which they are
accompanied.
| But are there any signs which enable us
with certainty to determine the existence
and degree OF this alteration? Yes, and
among them some have a very high value;
| for instance, when we find the gelatine
| iquifed, the fat altered, and the odor
and consistency changed. These digerent
| characters, either by themselves or togeth-
er, show that the work of putrefaction has
| begun, and are sufficient to engble us
| to refuse any substance in which they APP
| per.
There are special signs in fish, such as
the appearance in certain species of red
| dish tint when in their natural condition
their flesh is white This change is quite
! frequent in Goldfish, and is attributed to a
microscopic fungus which develops and
| lives on the flesh of the animal. Whenev-
| er this appears the alimentary use of such
| Goldfish should be entirely forbidden. Sim
| liar remarks could be made Of various 9TH
er forms of food, and especially OF game,
| which number of persons persist in eating
when III an advanced state of decomposi-
ton, in spite of the quantity of poisonous
matter that they absorb in this way.
FIGHT WITH BIG WEAPONS.
| Hints for Married People Who Are Deter
| mined to Quarrel.
| Oh, if married folks, and big brothers
and sisters, and loving friends everywhere
would only take hold of this and lay it up
New Years maxim. If you are bound
to quarrel, use suitable switches; dom
descend to pin points. Let your cause for
grievance take good round methods, not
inuendoes and heart thrusts. To over
whelm an enemy with sarcasm is like
touching tender spots with your finger ii pz
| and pretending to be amazed that it hurts
| despise torture; if you want to kill a
chicken chop its head off quick; don't pick
out its feathers one by one until it dies
from the slowIpain, If you are determined
to destroy the happiness of your fami' y
and murder It's peace, do it quickly Uy
open deeds of revolt, but don't sit day by
day picking out feathers and touching
nerve centers.
l would almost be willing to say that
would rather be a drunkard S wife than the
wife OF cold blooded, sneering pessimist
who ;tande over against every bright i'm
pulse and warm enthusiasm of the heart
with ready sarcasm, who meets out
bursts of natural indignation with the
snowy blight of sheer or congeals every
generous aspiration as frost locks up a
bright-fowing brook In moveless ice. Ger
tainly heart will break as surely whatev'
err means you take to break it, and the
heart that is slowly crushed in the press Of
petty tyrannies that tread out all its swee
and vital juices is just as much murdered
as the heart that is ground under the iror
heel of the demon rum. Oh, my dear,
there are myriad ways of killing hearts as
we'll as bodies. Let US he civilized, al
| least, in our methods, and fight our bat
ties like white men and not like Sepoys.