COLBORNE 



1469 



COLD STORAGE 



coal. Sec COAL, subhead Bituminous Coal; 

 CHARCOAL. 



COLBORNE, kol'bohrn, JOHN, first BARON 

 SEATON (1778-1863), English general and co- 

 lonial administrator; lieutenant-governor of 

 Upper Canada from 1830 to 1837. He served 

 with great distinction in Egypt, Spain and Bel- 

 gium under Sir John Moore and the Duke of 

 Wellington, and was especially conspicuous 

 at the Battle of Waterloo. In 1830 Sir John 

 became lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada. 

 Having resigned his position, he was about to 

 depart for England when the Upper Canada 

 rebellion broke out (see CANADA, subtitle His- 

 tory). By special order of the home govern- 

 ment he took command of the British forces 

 and quickly crushed the outbreak. Later he 

 held several other high offices in the service 

 of his country and in 1860, on his retirement 

 from the army, was created field marshal. 



He was raised to the peerage as Baron 

 Seaton, in 1839. 



COLCHICUM, kol'kikkum, the poisonous 

 meadow saffron, a plant of the lily family, 

 valued because of the medicinal properties of 

 its seeds and root, or corm. From these is 

 obtained a poisonous, bitter alkaloid, called 

 colchicine, used in preparations for the relief 

 of gout. The meadow saffron grows wild in 

 the moist meadow-lands of England and Ire- 

 land, Middle and Southern Europe, and in the 

 Swiss Alps. Its pale purple flowers, which 

 bloom in the autumn, are much like those of 

 the crocus. As it is one of the most beautiful 

 of the autumn-flowering plants, colchicum is 

 often found in gardens. It is easily cultivated 

 if planted in a light, sandy loam where there 

 is plenty of moisture. 



COLD, an infection of the mucous membrane 

 of the nose and throat and of other organs to 

 which it may spread. It is accompanied in 

 severe cases by fever (in the early stages), 

 running of the eyes and nose, cough, lassitude 

 and headache. If neglected, a cold may cause 

 serious inflammation of the lungs, kidneys, 

 heart or other organs ; tuberculosis, pneumonia 

 and bronchitis are some of the diseases that 

 may result from taking cold. As infections are 

 due to germs, one may take cold by breathing 

 foul, stuffy air or by being in the same room 

 with someone who is suffering from the mal- 

 ady. Sneezing and coughing are often responsi- 

 ble for the spread of colds through a household. 

 Intemperance, constipation and other unhy- 

 gienic habits of living predispose one to colds, 

 for when the body resistance is weakened dis- 



ease germs more easily affect the mucous mem- 

 branes. 



When the first symptoms of a cold appear, 

 vigorous measures should be taken to arrest 

 the infection. Rest in bed with little food, hot 

 foot-baths and hot drinks and the use of a 

 purgative will be found helpful. It is well to 

 consult a physician if a cold persists and does 

 not yield to home remedies. Colds that "get 

 well of their own accord" are aided by the 

 antitoxins which the body manufactures (see 

 MEDICINES AND DRUGS). It is well to have in 

 the home a mild, antiseptic nose and throat 

 spray, as a guard against attacks. A prescrip- 

 tion may be obtained from any reliable nose 

 and throat specialist. The practice of taking 

 cold baths, sleeping with the windows wide 

 open and taking plenty of exercise tend to keep 

 the body in a resistant condition. W.A.E. 



COLD STORAGE. We are all familiar with 

 the refrigerator or ice chest used in the home 

 to preserve articles of food in hot weather. 

 The chamber in which these articles are stored 

 is kept cool by ice, placed in another chamber. 

 The heat which melts the ice is drawn from 

 the air in the refrigerator and in this way the 

 ice reduces the temperature. 



In Turkey and other Eastern countries 

 earthen jars and bottles with thin, porous walls 

 are used for cooling drinking water. Some of 

 the water oozes out through the pores of the 

 vessel and evaporates. The heat required for 

 this evaporation is drawn from the water, 

 which is thus kept at a pleasing temperature 

 for drinking purposes. 



These two simple devices illustrate the prin- 

 ciple upon which all plants for reducing tem- 

 perature are constructed. The principle is as 

 follows : 



A solid changing to a liquid or a liquid chang- 

 ing, to a vapor or gas absorbs heat "which it 

 draws from surrounding objects, thus reducing 

 their temperature. 



A Cold Storage Plant. The necessary parts 

 of a cold storage plant are the machinery for 

 cooling the air and storage rooms for the arti- 

 cles to be preserved. Practically all large 

 plants use the method of evaporating a volatile 

 liquid (one that evaporates readily) for reduc- 

 ing the temperature. Ammonia, sulphuric 

 ether, sulphurous acid and carbonic acid are all 

 suitable for the purpose, but ammonia (which 

 see) because of its cheapness and the low 

 temperature at which it changes to a gas is used 

 much more extensively than all the others. 

 The ammonia used is a liquid, formed by con- 



