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THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



pain of it. Don't you think the company 

 would do something ? " 



" I don't know anything about the 

 company," said the drug clerk, emphati- 

 cally. 



"Supposin' I brought her over for you 

 to look at it, and see what ought to be 

 done for it^" 



Couldn't think of it. You'll have to 

 see a regular physician." As the woman 

 went out reluctantly, the clerk turned to 

 a customer with a meaning wink. "No," 

 he said, "I am too old a bird to be caught 

 with such chaff. I know just what she 

 was after. I don't mind telling you that 

 I've been caught in my time. 



"She is after some of the company's 

 money. The sister may have been hurt 

 through a conductor's carelessness, but 

 that is no reason why I should mix my- 

 self up with her case and get subpoenaed 

 and go to court and lose days from my 

 business waiting to tell the judge that I 

 don't know one fact about the case. 

 That's what a drug man gets when he 

 goes playing the good Samaritan with 

 cable-car victims. I've got as big a 

 heart as the next man, but I have my 

 living to earn, and my family to support, 

 and I can't afford the luxury of being a 

 witness in any more cable-car cases. See?' ' 



DYSPEPTIC ORANGES. 



A mysterious disease which has at- 

 tacked many orange trees in Florida has 

 been discovered to be indigestion. The 

 Department of Agriculture in its " Year 

 Book" pays special attention to dyspeptic 

 oranges, and describes the disease and its 

 cure. Its cause is the same as that 

 which so often brings on dyspepsia in 

 human beings — overfeeding. Excessive 

 cultivation and too much much nitro- 

 genous manure affect tbe orange tree 

 just as too much heavy table d'hote din- 

 ners affect a man. Instead of looking 



pale and taking pepsin tablets, however, 

 the orange tree turns a very dark green, 

 and a reddish brown sap exudes from the 

 twigs. The tips turn up and shape 

 themselves into S-like curves. The fruit 

 turns a lemon yellow color before it is 

 half ripe, and has a very thick rind. As 

 it ripens, the fruit splits open and be- 

 comes worthless. The reddish brown 

 resin gets on the fruit before it is ripe and 

 renders it unsalable. 



Most of the diseases of the orange tree 

 are due to a lack of cultivation, audit 

 was thought that a tree would not take 

 more nutriment from the soil than it re- 

 quired. This is not so, for the tree takes 

 up all it can get, and then, like a small 

 boy who has eaten too much plum pud- 

 ding, becomes sick. 



The dark green color which the foilage 

 then assumes is ver}^ handsome, but it 

 means no oranges, or at least, none that 

 are any good. The disease is known as 

 die-back, because the twigs begin to die 

 at the tips and then gradually die back 

 to the branches. To cure the disease all 

 that is required is to withhold the fertil- 

 izer, but when the disease has gone too 

 far and gum pockets begin to form on 

 the bark there is no cure for it. — Kansas 

 City Journal. 



Experiments reported by Breslance 

 Lancet show that staphylococcus pyo- 

 genes aureus can survive immersion in 

 carbolized oil 5 per cent, for three days, 

 in carbolized petrolatum one day only, 

 fat four hours, in lanolin thirty minutes, 

 and in cold cream twenty minutes. Zinc 

 ointment exerted no germicidal action 

 whatever, and it would appear that the 

 only trustworthy ointment bases for anti- 

 septic purposes are such as contain or 

 will absorb water, as does wool fat. or 

 cold cream. In addition, the oil or fat 

 employed should be free from any ten- 

 dency to become rancid. 



