138 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



The banks are made by bullocks; a board 

 about eighteen inches long and twelve inches 

 broad is attached to a pair of bullocks, who 

 drag it, along almost vertically until a heap 

 of earth is raised in front of it ; this board 

 is then thrown flat by means of a cord and 

 dragged on to the bank, with the earth on 

 top of it and there its load is deposited. As 

 soon as the water has sunk into the ground 

 plowing commences, and the seed is sown " ; 

 millet is the chief crop. They kill all male 

 colts as soon as they are born. " The reason 

 for killing them is that they can not be taken 

 on marauding expeditions owing to their 

 neighing on seeing a mare." They use the 

 Persian saddle and are very good horsemen. 

 Adultery is punished by the death of both 

 man and woman. They firmly believe in the 

 ordeal by fire. One of the most ti-ying of 

 their tests is the following : In a large 

 vessel filled with scalding hot water are 

 placed two stones of different colors; one 

 of these stones, unknown to the supposed 

 criminal, has been labeled the guilty-stone. 

 In order to establish his innocence he has 

 not only got to choose the other stone, but 

 also remove it from the boiling water by 

 using his naked hand and arm. 



The Care of Milk. The composition of 

 milk admirably adapts it to the growth of all 

 kinds of bacteria; this growth causes in it 

 undesirable chemical changes. As secreted 

 in a healthy animal milk contains no micro- 

 organisms of a dangerous character ; but 

 during and subsequent to the process of 

 milking its contamination is inevitable. Va- 

 rious forms of disease consumption, typhoid 

 and scarlet fevers, diphtheria, etc. have 

 been in numerous instances traced to an in- 

 fected milk supply, and it is unquestionable 

 that much of the stomach and intestinal 

 trouble so fatal to young children during the 

 summer months is caused by unhygienic 

 milk. It is plain, therefore, that the elimi- 

 nation of living germs from milk is quite 

 essential to its safe use as a food, especially 

 for infants. The most scrupulous cleanliness 

 has been found inadequate ; hence some 

 artificial process becomes necessary. There 

 are two methods in common use, pasteuriza- 

 tion and sterilization. The former heats the 

 milk to about 160 F., and the latter to over 

 212 F. The pasteurizing process, while not 



quite so thorough, kills any growing bacteria 

 that may be present, and has the advantage 

 over sterilization, of leaving the physical 

 condition and flavor of the milk practically 

 unchanged. A method of pasteurization for 

 family use is as follows : " 1. Use only fresh 

 milk (not more than twelve hours old) for 

 this purpose. 2. Place the milk in clean bot- 

 tles or fruit cans, filling to a uniform level. 

 (If pint and quart cans are used at the same 

 time, an inverted dish or piece of wood will 

 equalize the level.) Set these in a flat-bot- 

 tomed tin pail and fill with warm water to 

 same level as milk. An inverted pie tin 

 punched with holes will serve as a stand on 

 which to place the bottles during the heatmg 

 process. 3. Heat water in pail until the 

 temperature reaches 160 F. ; then remove 

 from fire, cover with a cloth or tin cover, and 

 allow the whole to stand for half an hour. 

 4. Remove bottles of milk and cool them as 

 rapidly as possible without danger to bottles, 

 and store in a refrigerator." The following 

 suggestions to buyers of commercially steril- 

 ized milk are worthy of note : " 1 . Label on 

 bottle should show that the material was 

 pasteurized not more than one day previous 

 to delivery. 2. Shake the bottle thoroughly 

 before opening, so as to remix the contents 

 as much as possible. 3. The paper disk 

 should not be replaced after it is once re- 

 moved. Invert over neck of the bottle a 

 clean, dry tumbler or glass to prevent anything 

 from falling into the bottle. 4. Any unused 

 milk or cream that has been put in another 

 vessel should not be poured back into ori- 

 ginal bottle again. 5. Keep the original 

 bottle in the coldest part of the refrigera- 

 tor as much as possible. When so treated, 

 properly pasteurized cream or milk ought to 

 keep perfectly sweet for several (two to four) 

 days, even in the height of the summer sea- 

 son." 



Improvement of Crops. In presenting a 

 new theory respecting the improvement of 

 crops, J. C. Arthur propounds as fundamental, 

 interacting principles, that a decrease in nu- 

 trition during the period of growth of an 

 organism favors the development of the re- 

 productive parts at the expense of the vegeta- 

 tive parts. The converse, that an increase 

 in nutrition favors the vegetative parts at 

 the expense of the reproductive parts, is also 



