20 



THE ALUMNI JOUNAL. 



A SEIDLITZ POWDER SAVED IT. 



"If there be one thing, upon which I pride 

 myself next to my hobby of the strictest ac- 

 curacy," remarked Colonel Monkhouse to a 

 contributor to Judy, " it is upon my presence of 

 mind. It has often proved of the utmost value 

 to myself, and also to others. 



"On one occasion I saved thousands upon 

 thousands of pounds to a steamship company 

 simply by my habit of rapid thought, followed 

 by equally rapid practice. 



" It was on the Mediterranean, when I was on 

 my passage out of India. By some blunder of 

 the first mate, we ran on to a sand bank, and 

 there we stuck. The sea was calm and there 

 was no panic, but the question arose as to what 

 was to be done. 



" Wait till the tide rose ? There was no use 

 in doing that, for in the Mediterranean there is 

 only a rise and fall of an inch or two. 



"The Capi^ain proposed to signal the first 

 vessel that passed to take off" the passengers and 

 crew and leave the vessel to her fate, as she was 

 so fast that to attempt to get her off" by towing 

 would have been of no use. 



"A storm might have proved useful, the 

 captain said, by giving as a little more water, 

 owing to high waves, but there was not even 

 the most remote chance of one; but the obser- 

 vation gave me a suggestion. 



" I knew that the cargo we were taking out 

 consisted largely of chemicals. I asked the 

 captain if he knew what these chemicals were, 

 but he did not. We therefore examined the 

 ship's manifest, and I at once knew that the 

 steamer was saved. 



" Among the contents of the hold were large 

 consignments of tartarated soda, of carbonate 

 of soda and of tartaric acid. I caused the casks 

 to be brought up on deck, and had the heads 

 knocked out, the two former chemicals being 

 piled up on one side of the deck and the third 

 on the other. At a given signal the whole of 

 the crew started to shovel the material over- 

 board — there was altogether several tons of it. 



" Immediately the sea in our immediate 

 neighborhood rose and got into the utmost 

 commotion; though quite close at hand, the 

 water was as calm as a duck pond. There was 

 a heavy lurch, and the vessel slipped off" into 

 deep water. 



" How was it that throwing chemicals over- 

 board raised a storm ? The matter was simple 

 enough. I selected the ingredients that con- 

 stitute a seidlitz powder; but I did it on a large 

 scale. 



"No, I was not awarded salvage; but the 

 passengers and the owners presented me with 

 testimonials." — New York Telegram, 



Palatable Cod-Liver Oil may be prepared, ac- 

 cording to Standke {Dent. Med. Wochensch.), 

 by allowing freshly-glowed, granulated char- 

 coal to remain for some length of time in con- 

 tact with good oil, under the exclusion of air. 

 Every trace of disagreeable odor and taste may 

 thus be removed, it is stated ; and cod-liver oil 

 treated in this manner, has a mild and agreeable 

 taste, and is distinguished by its stability. Its 

 palatability may further be increased by the ad- 

 dition of saccharin and cinnamon oil. 



To detect Sesame Oil in Olive Oil, the Journ. 

 de Pharvi. recommends the following method : 

 Shake vigorously a mixture of equal parts of 

 the olive oil and a 1.14 solution of pyrogallic 

 acid in hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1.124), and set 

 aside until it has separated into two layers. 

 Draw off" the upper (oily) one, with a pipette, 

 and boil the remainder (acid) for five minutes. 

 If the sample contain any sesame oil, the acid 

 turns purple on boiling ; pure olive oil only 

 gives a yellow color. — It is claimed that the ad- 

 dition of even i per cent, of sesame oil can 

 easily be detected by this method. 



SIX HUNDRED ($600) DOLLARS IN 

 PRIZES. 



The special attention of our readers is called 

 to the advertisement of the Palisade Manufact- 

 uring Co. with the above title on second page of 

 cover of this issue. 



The prize contest which this well known firm 

 announces will no doubt attract a great deal of 

 attention, and result in the submission of many 

 articles of merit on " The Clinical Value of An- 

 tiseptics both Internal and External." The 

 prizes are extremely liberal, and the well known 

 professional and literary eminence of Dr. Frank 

 P. Foster, the talented editor of the New York 

 Medical Journal, who has kindly consented to 

 act as judge, is a suflScient guarantee of the im- 

 partiality to be observed in the awarding of the 

 prizes. 



We are assured that there is absolutely " no 

 string" attached to the provisions of this contest, 

 and any physician in good standing in the com- 

 munity is invited to compete on equal terms 

 with every other competitor. 



Further particulars as to conditions, etc., can 

 be obtained by addressing the above named 

 firm. 



