POPULAR MISCELLANY 



283 



bed, intervene between this poiut and the 

 falls. At the first rapid the width of the 

 stream is not more than one hundred and 

 seventy-five yards, and from thence rapidly 

 contracts until reaching a point above the 

 escarpment proper, where the entire column 

 of fleecy water is compressed within rocky 

 banks not more than fifty yards apart. Here 

 the effect of resistless power is extremely 

 fine. . . . An immense volume of water pre- 

 cipitates itself over the rocky ledge, and 

 under favorable conditions the roar of the 

 cataract can be heard for twenty miles. Be- 

 low the falls, the river, turning to the south- 

 east, pursues its maddened career for twen- 

 ty-five miles shut in by vertical cliffs of 

 gneissic rock which rises in places to a height 

 of four hundred feet. The rocky banks 

 above and below the falls are thickly wooded 

 with firs and spruces, among which the 

 graceful form of the white birch appears in 

 places." The height of the falls was found, 

 by as accurate a measurement as could be 

 made with cord, to be three hundred and 

 sixteen feet. The highest elevation reached 

 by the expedition was in the vicinity of the 

 falls, and appeared by aneroid measurement 

 to be somewhat in excess of fifteen hundred 

 feet. From the point where the river leaves 

 the plateau and plunges into the deep pool 

 below the falls, its course for twenty-five 

 miles is through one of the most remarkable 

 cafions in the world. Besides the topo- 

 graphical and meteorological data, valuable 

 botanical collections and ethnological collec- 

 tions illustrating the life and customs of 

 mountaineer (Montagnais) Indians and Eski- 

 mos were obtained. 



Hair Stimalants. The best promotive of 

 hair growth is general vigor, which, prevail- 

 ing where hair should be as well as in the 

 rest of the b:.dy, stimulates its development 

 along with that of other functions. For 

 baldness, hair lotions containing canthari- 

 des, attracting an increased blood supply to 

 the part, may be useful when the affection 

 is caused by mere sluggishness of the cu- 

 taneous circulation ; but it fails to reach the 

 cause of disease where the hair is lost 

 through seborrhoea. Such cases are bene- 

 fited by remedies which kill microbes, such 

 as sulphur, mercurial applications, and anti- 

 septic drugs. The effect of the microbe on 



the greasy and dry scales in seborrhoea 

 which causes proliferation of "the epithelium 

 is such as to lead to atrophy of the hair, 

 and if the disease is not arrested, atrophy of 

 the whole follicle, and consequent perma- 

 nent alopecia. Where the damage to nutri- 

 tion is not so great, the hair is without luster 

 and turns more or less gray, and then the 

 hair restorers which color the hair from 

 without and not from within are resorted to. 

 Sulphur and acetate of lead are often in- 

 gredients of these applications, and perchlo- 

 ride of mercury is too frequently the lead- 

 ing constituent of many vaunted remedies. 

 It is doubtless of much value as a destroyer 

 of microbes when used in suitable cases, 

 but when applied indiscriminately for long 

 periods is in danger of producing injurious 

 effects. Pilocarpine hypodermically inject- 

 ed, or given internally as tincture of jabo- 

 raudi, is of value as a promoter of growth of 

 hair, but is too powerful a remedy for in- 

 discriminate use, besides inducing copious 

 perspirations and depression of the heart. 

 Less direct means may be found in tonics 

 of iron, strychnine, quinine, etc. ; but more 

 powerful are cod-liver oil and change of air, 

 generally to a bracing climate. Baldness is, 

 however, a symptom of such diverse condi- 

 tions that there is no routine treatment for 

 it, but the cause should be carefully sought 

 out and intelligently dealt with. 



Hygiene of the Teeth. "Writing of the 

 hygiene of the teeth, the Lancet observes 

 that all caries of the teeth begins from with- 

 out, no such thing as internal caries having 

 ever been demonstrated ; hence, if the sur- 

 faces could be kept absolutely clean there 

 would be no decay. To the question, " When 

 ought the cleansing of the teeth to begin ? " 

 the certain answer is, " As soon as there are 

 teeth." "A small toothbrush, charged with 

 some precipitated chalk flavored with an 

 aromatic drug to make it pleasant, is per- 

 haps the best means not a towel, which 

 only removes the secretion from the labial 

 and lingual surfaces and not from between 

 the teeth, where decay is most rife." If 

 this habit is acquired early, the very de- 

 sirable result is likely to follow of immu- 

 nity, to a greater or less extent, from dental 

 trouble. Later on something more can be 

 done by passing a piece of waxed dental floss 



