Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-01-13
SCIENCE NOTES.
Civilization and Food.

wastefully into the blood, and OF
through the tissues into the execretor!
organs, and so out of the body before
it has been made fully and economical
lv available for the sustenance OF th
slow nutritive process. Moreover,
sudden Eruption into the blood of new
ly digested elements would tend t.
disturb the chemical equilibrium Q
that fluid, and so interfere with tR
transitional performance of it's fun&
tions. 1t would also tend to product
liver and other congestions, to tia
general disadvantage and discomfort
of economy. A too rapid digestion an
absorption of food may be compares
to feeding a fire with straw instead
slower burning coal. In the former
would be necessary to feed often an,
often, and the process would be waists
full of the fuel for the short-livet
blaze of the whole mass would hea
up the chimney To burn fuel zee
nomically and to utilize the heat T.
the utmost the fire must be dampe4
! down. so as to insure slow as web q
complete combustion.
/ So with human digestion, our highk
! prepared and highly cooked food re-
quires in the healthy and vigoroN
that the digestive powers should b
damped down in order to insure tn
/ economical use of food.
Coffee After Dinner.
! Why do many people take cone,
after dinner? 1t is, perhaps, a littt
difficult to give an adequate reasol
! for this practice. One explanation
is that coffee tends to neutralize tn,
effect of alcohol which may have bees
1 consumed with the meal The prat
/ tice of taking cheese at the close Of
meal is supposed to be justified OF
! the ground that it aids the secretion
Of gastric juice in the stomach, anc
thus favors digestion. This is prob
ably correct, for morsel of old cheese
certainly causes an increased flow both
of saliva in the mouth and gastri
juice itself But the coffee question
/ can hardly be solved on a like basis
Instead Of favoring digestion both tee
! and coffee distinctly retard it. Sir
William Roberts, distinguished
physician, questions whether this de
after all be beneficial feature in
modern life. His argument is that
the high advance of civilization and
| the perfection of cooking tend te
! present us with our food in a condi-
ton which favors not merely rapla
digestion but even too quick assimi-
! lation.
Limits Of Power Transmission.
There are limits, the Electrical Re
view thinks, to the amount of electric
| ity that can be safely carried with
/ wires and insulators such as are now
used The first of these is the break
down strength of insulating materials
of various kinds and of the
air itself. It has been lately con
sidered that about $4,000 volts is the
limit imposed by the resisting proper
ties of the air, as above this voltage
| the air seems to conduct reasonably
well and leakage occurs across the
line. From the present knowledge of
the subject it appears that insulators
of porcelain are strong enough &c
withstand any electrical strain whicf
can safely be borne by the atmos
phere. The present cost of conduct
! ing metals and insulation imposes
| fairly definite limit to length unde'
given conditions of Transmission. b
most places transmission lines az
subject to the competition of the Goa
| carrying railway Unless the pric
of fuel is materially advanced, or the
of conducting copper or aluminium
materially diminished, it is probab
that in the Eastern states, at any rat
the transmission distance limit wi
not be large.
The Physiology of Cwearing.
Prof G. Patrick ask sin a learmt
! review, "Why do Men Swear?" Dee
! ing with the question from the eW
utionary point of view, the Profe
sOr leads us from the mere growI
anger in the lower animal to what OF
may call the specialized evolution
| swearing in man. 1t is obvious tn
many swear words are really of
| ligious nature, and in the developme
of this art, if art it may be termed, Il
! suggestion is thrown out that VIA
may have originally been meant as
/ appeal for help has become tran
formed into a term either of co
tempt or Of violence, intended to te
rify or shock an enemy. VIZ
swearing is rightly considered an in
moral habit Professor Patrick 9,
plains from the consideration that til
| higher we advance in civilization IE
more distinctly are we taught to il
hibit and to repress the emotions
anger, while the same advance woul
render profane in the eyes of culture
persons the misuse of religious termi
A Temperance Reform.
New York Sun.-It is painful to rea
in the Kansas newspapers that Sheri