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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



uct. In Provence the freshly gathered fruit 

 is plunged into pots of boiling water, where 

 it remains till the water again comes to the 

 boiling-point. It is then shaken in baskets 

 till cool, and dried in the sun on trays. At 

 Digne the fruits are peeled with the nails 

 and strung on sticks in such a way as not 

 to touch, and then are stuck into straw 

 frames and exposed to the sun till the prunes 

 easily detach themselves from the stick. The 

 pit is then removed, and the fruit is placed 

 upon trays exposed to the sun. In some 

 other districts the prunes are dried in im- 

 mense ovens. The first cooking of the fruit 

 should be at a temperature not exceeding 

 50, the second 70 C, while the third may 

 be performed at 80 or 90, or occasionally 

 100 C. A well-cooked prune is dark pur- 

 ple, has a solid and brilliant surface, is 

 malleable and elastic to the touch, with the 

 kernel well done and intact in the shell. 

 When these conditions are not fulfilled, the 

 kernel ferments, and the prune becomes 

 moldy and worthless. Bordeaux is the prin- 

 cipal center of the prune industry, and has 

 a trade that is increasing. 



Climate and Phthisis. The question, 

 Does climate cure phthisis ? is answered by 

 Dr. James A. Lindsay, of Belfast, Ireland, 

 in the affirmative, " beyond question." It 

 does it, not usually by a single or specific 

 quality of the air or by any definite combina- 

 tion of meteorological conditions, but by re- 

 moving the consumptive from the evil in- 

 fluences of unfavorable meteorological con- 

 ditions and of an injurious soil, and trans- 

 ferring him to a climate where fresh air, 

 sunshine, and outdoor life may be enjoyed 

 and their concomitant advantages realized. 

 The best climates to cure phthisis are found 

 at marine resorts and mountain resorts. 

 The best marine resort is a seagoing ship 

 a sailing vessel preferred and the longer 

 the voyage the better. Next are ocean isl- 

 ands, coast islands, and shore places, of 

 which Algiers, Tangier, and Malaga are 

 among the best. Of the dry inland resorts, 

 the best are Nubia, the interior parts of 

 Algeria, the Orange Free State, and the vast 

 interior plains of Australia of which the 

 Orange Free State is recommended on ac- 

 count of its altitude. The mountain resorts 

 have proved most efficacious in cases of de- 



layed recovery from pneumonia, with threat- 

 ening tuberculosis, chronic pleurisy with 

 much fibroid change, incipient catarrh of the 

 apex, and chronic tubercular phthisis, with 

 good reaction and the retention of fair con- 

 stitutional vigor. They are not good for 

 advanced and much weakened cases ; and, 

 speaking generally, only chronic cases with 

 fair reaction are suitable for climatic treat- 

 ment. 



The Crofter's Question. The English 

 newspapers have had much to say concern- 

 ing the agitations of the " crofters " of the 

 Highlands and islands of Scotland. The 

 crofters are small farmers, living on rental 

 holdings which have generally been occu- 

 pied by the family through many genera- 

 tions, or perhaps centuries, coming down 

 from the times when the clan system pre- 

 vailed. During the present century their 

 holdings have been abridged by the develop- 

 ment of sheep-farming in which the land- 

 lords have become interested, and more re- 

 cently by the absorption of the land in im- 

 mense deer parks. The crofters naturally 

 object to being dispossessed of estates which 

 they have come to regard as in a measure 

 their inheritances, and have manifested their 

 objections in ways common to rude and igno- 

 rant men. Deprived of their accustomed 

 homes and of the only resources which they 

 knew how to make available, their situation 

 became so distressing ancj desperate as to 

 awaken public attention and form a lead- 

 ing question in Parliament. They claim a 

 right to security of tenure, to the fixation 

 of rent by a land court, and to opportuni- 

 ties for enlarging their holdings. As de- 

 fined in the " Westminster Review," their 

 troubles are not the growth of a few years, 

 nor are they due to any faults of their own, 

 but rest upon claims of right far older than 

 the present civilization and regime of the 

 country. The historic claim of the crofters 

 is, that the fertile lands in the Highland 

 glens and pastures and on the hill-sides were 

 the common property of the clan under the 

 chief, and that, even though the chief may 

 have been in the eye of the law the absolute 

 owner of the land, still in point of fact and 

 immemorial custom the clan shared his pos- 

 sessions, and had an undisputed and undis- 

 turbed right to their crofts and their past- 



