The herald., 1898-04-03


The right hand, which Is more sensitive
to the touch than the left, is less sensitive
than the latter to the effect of the heat and
cold.
| According to German publication, O
chemist of that country has prepared a
fluid that has the power, when injected
into the tissues of a plant near it's roots,
of anaesthetizing the plant, not destroying
1t, but temporarily suspending its vitality.
Fine coal or slack coal has proved very
effective in England as a filtering material
| for sewage. 1t seems to have, as Prof.
| Bostock Hill has pointed out, a special
| power of removing the putrescent organic
matter. The effluent is particularly bright
shows marked diminution in the quanti-
| ty of oxygen absorbed, and is perfectly free
| from odor. The interior of the filter, after
use of many months, has only slight
| earthly smell.
An "aseptic' ward of the London Tenn
perance hospital contains novel features.
| 1t is 14x11 feet in area and II feet high, be-
ing intended for only one patient at time.
The walls and ceiling are of enameled
| oiuSo, WIN IOuLQcu auSltS, anu Lie IlOOT Is
of marble mosaic, with angles also rounded.
a plate-glass window, with outside blinds,
forms three-ffths of the west wall. The
door is of ground glass. and the frame
the only wood about the wards a. hard
teak. No pipe or drain opens into the ward.
Great care has been taken with the ventil-
| ating arrangements, and the ward is cut
off from the rest of the hospital by ven-
/ filntad lphhv cbai r 10
locker, etc., are of metal. Everything in
1 the room can be washed in hot water with
out harm, and it is suggested that future
houses will give similar protection against
the entrance, growth or escape of harmful
| germs.
| A writer in Science describes a curious
monstrosity which has come under ..s OBJ
servation This is a cock with no signs of
| spurs upon the tarsi, but with couple of
well-developed spurs upon the head, on
either side of the comb, giving the creature
the appearance of being horned. These
mock spurs are not attached to the skull,
whatever they may originally have been,
but are loose. Instances are on record of
spurs being grated on to combs, but, so
| far, no similar case is known to have &C.
| Cured in nature.
/
One of the improvements worthy of men,
| ton in cloth manufacture, remarks the
Boston Commercial Bulletin in recent re-
| view Of textile interests, is an ingenious
method of preparing goods so as to insure
to the wearer less liability to the contrac-
ton of diseases from exposure to infection.
In carrying out this idea, the plan pursued
| is to mix three parts of quinine or antipy-
| rine with one hundred parts of water, the
| yarn for the fabric being passed through
this solution and dried. For the warps
| from one to three per cent Of the quinine
| or antipyrine is added to the sizing mater
ials before their passage through the size
and in the treatment of fabrics the same
proportion of the drugs named is added tc
the finishing mixture; in fact, this method
of treatment assumes that the proportion
of any substance capable Of acting ad
versely to fevers may be increased or dt
minished according to the nature of the ont
used.
The problem of the most available ani
efficient method of public lighting still re
mains to be solved, service and economy
being the great desiderata. The plan Of
| very high towers with clusters Of electric
lamps, calculated to light extensive areas
| Is generally declared to have proved fail.
ure, leading to their abandonment; towers
of 1875 to $50 feet, supporting two or foul
lamps, and placed at frequent intervals
are reported in few instances as being
successful, but in many other have beer
superseded by a different arrangement. The
suspension Of electric lamps at the center
of street intersections, the method mos
generally adopted, has been regarded a!
somewhat dsirable because of the superior
radiation, but, on the score of appearance,
the mast arm is pronounced much prefer
able. A height of thirty-five or forty fee
has many advocates as the most effectiv,
for arc lamps, but, as showing the differ
ence of opinion in this matter, differen
cities suspend their lamps anywhere from
eight to forty feet aloft.
A French investigator has found that b,
the addition of the leaves of fruit trees
which in themselves have no marked flavo
to saccharine solutions undergoing alec
holic fermentation, a very marked bouque
of the fruit is developed. Thus, by i'm
mersing pear or apple tree leaves in ten o.
fifteen per cent solution of sugar, and add
ing pure yeast, which by itself gave ris
to no marked flavor, after fermentation,
liquid was obtained which had stron,
odor of pear or apple, respectively, and al
excellent flavor, and on distillation gave al
alcoholic distillate in which this aroma wa
still more marked.
The average length of life is thirty-on
years.
900 feet above the sea.