Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-12-27

WHAT THEY ARE
TALKING ABOUT.

pr X. Romme, in La Revue, is tHdt
! which in reality characterizes modern
| surgery in its tendency to progressively
! invade the domain of medicine. Every
/ Gay surgery appropriates a little here,
| the physician we find now the energetic
surgeon. The druggists suffer there
! FROM but the sick find 1t an excellent
change. Take one by one the greater
part of our organs and see the bistoury
| replace the prescription and the plaster
amples will suffice. A few years ago.
when one had cancer in the stomach
| the physician was powerless to help the
| sufferer, who gradually wasted away.
| Today the physician diagnoses cancer
of the stomach. and calls to his assist
ence surgeon, who opens the stomach
and does not hesitate when necessary to
cut away the entire organ.
| There is another affection called the
round ulcer of the stomach which often
perforates the stomach, and is followed
by acute pertonitis, frequently fatal. In
this case the physician is again power
less, and 1t is necessary to rely entirely
upon the surgeon. Leaving diseases OF
the stomach, the case of appendicitis is
noteworthy. This has passed from the
bands of physicians into those of sur
geons exclusively. Physicians have not
readily given place to surgeons in this
matter, and the battle has been savage,
hut notwithstanding, these cases have
become today the work for surgeons.
Other cases might be mentioned In
which the surgeon has replaced the
physician, as in pulmonary gangrene.
surgery Of the heart, and even surgery
of the nervous system. Thus sciatica Is
cured by the elongation of the sciatic
nerve. This operation, however, is
nothing compared to the extirpation OF
! the ganglion Of Gasser. which cures GER
tain forms of neuralgia of the face. the
sufferings from which are so intense as
to frequently drive to suicide. To find
the ganglion of Gasser. 1t Is necessary
to trepan the skull, cut into the menin-
gen, raise the mass of the brain, and go
deep into the box of the skull. Epilep-
| sly is cured by the resection OF the large
sympathetic nerve, and microcephaly
| by a circular resection of the skull,
which is too small for the progress OF
| the developing brain. Remark that the
progress of modern surgery does not
| date back further than twelve years.
and already half the field OF the physl-
| clan has passed to the surgeon.
| The utilization Of waste products is
the subject of an editorial in the Scien-
! tific American. 1t says: Probably the
great slaughter-houses furnish the most
familiar illustration of the modern
thrift in the utilization Of what was
formerly considered waste: and even
the smaller ababttoirs, while they
haven't attained the scientific perfection
of the Chicago packing houses, are re-
formed characters. Chemists have been
called in. Methods for drying the refuse
and extracting all the grease have been
| developed. The grease goes into the
manufacture of soap. The residue Is
converted into fertilizer. After jelly has
been made from the hoofs the hoofs and
horns are used for buttons, knife-h han
| dies etc. The health Of the neighbor-
hood and the income Of the Slaughter
| men went up.
| The development OF the tremendous
aniline color industry is altogether due
| to chemical experiment with waste
products In the dry distnlation OF coal
or wood for gas, the gas passes thru a
succession of washers, which take out
| its impurities These impurities, in
Guiding ammonia, carbolic acid, acetic
| acid and various nitrogen compounds
| were formerly waste, but are now sep
arated and used. Five per cent of the
coal used in gas manufacture is coal tar,
and, by experiment, chemists found
that this coal tar, always regarded as
waste residue, contained substances
useful in the making of dyes.
| The dairy business is one of the in
dustres with which the chemist is
busying himself, and the results SO far
| Lave been most satisfactory altho a
much broader field for the use of casein
| is prophesied. The large creameries,
| having turned out their cream and but
ter, were confronted by great quantities
of skim milk for which there was app
parently no use. The chemist stepped in
and changed all that. The milk is cur
died with alkali, and dried product
produced which is soluble in water. This
casein has been used for paper sizing,
kalsomining. etc, and successful expert
ments have been made with it In the
manufacture Of artificial foods. Mois-
tened with water to a gelatinous con-
s!stency, put under q hydraulic press
and then washed in acid. 1t forms a hard
and insoluble substance, of which but
| tons and similar articles are made.
The glucose manufacturers have
called in chemists, and found a new
source of profit. The corn grain has. in
! addition to it's starch prodllct tiny
germ in which lies it's Life principle. This
germ was formerly crushed with the
starch and then separated and thrown
aside as waste. Very lately it has been
shown that this germ is rich in oil which
can be utilized. The germ is now sepa-
1 rated from the starch and crushed.
| When steel is melted in a Bessemer con-
| verter the phosphorus, which used to be
4 a nuisance is. separated from the steel
by the introduction of lime, with which
1 the phorphorus combines readily. This
1 phorphorus is then used as a fertilizer.
The Stag from iron furnaces Is converted
| into cement The tin is taken from old
| tin cans by chemical process and is used
| over and over again. Even the acids
4 used for chemical purposes are not al
flowed to outlive their usefulness with
the accomplishment of their purpose.
THE Standard Oil Company formerly
wasted great quantities of sulphuric
acid after It had been used to remove
the impurities from the OIL Now 1t is
used in fertilizer particularly adapted
| to soil where phosphate rock must be
/ dissolved.
Homo Seekers Excursions to the