K. DOMESTIC AND HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. 453 



the cover fastened upon it. It is then turned into a hori- 

 zontal position and rotated for fifteen minutes, part of the 

 time to the right and part to the left. The zinc cylinder is 

 thus rolled upon the clothes, and operates by pressure, and 

 not by friction. 5 C, XIV., 1875, 108. 



A NEW SUBSTITUTE FOR COFFEE (sACCA COFFEE). 



Lehfeld, of Hamburg, has introduced into the market an 

 article intended to be added to ordinary roasted coffee, pre- 

 pared from the pulp of the berries and the membranes sur- 

 round ins; the beans. It is claimed that while it is much 

 cheaper than coffee, it imparts a fuller and stronger flavor 

 to the beverage, and exercises a preservative effect upon the 

 aroma and other qualities of the coffee, when ground with 

 it, so that it can be kept without deterioration. 6 C 9 May 

 13,1875,188. 



IMPROVED DWELLINGS, AND THEIR EFFECT ON HEALTH AND 



MORALS. 



Mr. Charles Gotliff, in a paper read before the Statistical 

 Society of London, states that in 1841 his attention was 

 first turned to' the subject of the importance of the improve- 

 ment of dwellings occupied by the laboring classes. On 

 the fifteenth of September in that year an association was 

 formed for the purpose of providing the laboring men with 

 an increase of the comforts and conveniences of life, with 

 full compensation to the capitalist. During the four sub- 

 sequent years the stock of this association had been taken 

 up to the extent of $100,000. Other societies were also 

 formed for the same purpose, and at the present time 6838 

 improved dwellings, capable of containing a population of 

 32,435 persons, have been erected in London by these agen- 

 cies. As regards the advantages of these habitations, Mr. 

 Gotliff, from personal knowledge and exact inquiry, finds 

 that in the case of the 1060 families accommodated by the 

 Metropolitan Association of London, the rate of mortality 

 during the past eight years has not exceeded 14 per thou- 

 sand. This diminished death-rate is shown to be accom- 

 panied with a very small proportional number of deaths 

 from zymotic and developmental diseases and from vio- 

 lence. The death-rate is even lower in these improved 



