The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-02-27


but at the same time it is recognized
that it is not always safe to take them
absolutely, but that their value to the
physician must depend very much on
his own experience and intelligence
A Novel Use for DOgvvOOd
The West Indies are very rich in for
est trees. Many Of these are turned to
singular uses. The bark Of the prune
tree is used in the making of a liquor
suggestive Of cherry brandy; the wood
of the ironwood, which sinks in water,
is turned into massive mallets for the
heavy work of the carpenter; the rub
Der tree is tapped by the negro boys,
and it's oozing juice is made into balls
for their games, or, if near the seaside,
for dressing the Oakum with which
the cracks in the fishing canoes are
caulked. The calabash bears a fruit,
the skin of which, when dried, gives
the nations drinking vessels and water
bottles; the fustic gives a beautiful
yellow die, and the logwood dyes
rich purple and is much used in the
manufacture of crusty old port. The
West Indian negro is born poacher.
He catches the quail by the cruel ex-
pedient of strewing tinely-powdered
cayenne or bird-pepper in the little
dust pits where the birds wash. The
burning powder gets into the eyes of
the bird, which, confused and helpless
is thus easily caught. When he wants
a wholesale supply of fish he explodes
q piece Of dynamite, which was prob
ably intended for the making of new
government roads over a hole in a
mountain stream, and the fish are
killed by the concussion. But his ia
vorite resource is the bark of the dog
wood. one of the most plentiful Of the
forest trees. This he drops into a river
hole, and the mullet, intoxicated, come
to the surface of the water This sin
gular property of the dogwood has
been made the subject of recent expert
mentatiOn, and it is now found that
the sap of the tree, specially prepared,
gives a solution which acts as a pow
erful local anaesthetic, and it is ex-
pected that the new extract will be of
great service in dentistry.
In view Of the prospects of the fut-
ure Developments in orange production
in this country, attention has been
drawn to the supplementary uses to
which the products of the orange tree
can be put. In their natural state the
orange flowers serve to flavor drinks,
candies, etc. When distilled, they yield
the much-esteemed Orange-foWer wa
ter, and an essential oil called neroli
When treated with sugar, the flowers
form delicious candy, which is said
to be not only exceptionally palatable
but more wholesome than many other
productions of the confectioner's art
The flowers are selected with care,
weighed and immersed in cold water
for twenty-four hours, after which
they are dipped in cold water, re-
washed and finally spread out on a
linen cloth or sheet to dry. When
quite dry they are laid out in low,
wide dishes, each flower separate from
it's fellow, and then sprinkled with
double their weight of sugar, adminis-
tered at intervals over a period of
eight days. They are, meanwhile, fire.
quently moved and kept in the shade
At the expiration of that time they are
once more placed in the sun, whose
rays dry them completely. The Or
ange flower is made of equal proper
tions in weight of the blossoms and
water, which yields on an average,
about one-fifth of a pound weight of
water and flowers and aqua nanfa,
with about .O0O7 per cent of essential
oil. At present the best manufactures
of orange flower water are to be found
i'll France, where spirit called petit
grain is produced by the distillation of
the leaves.