DISTEMPER 



1808 



DISTILLATION 



advocated by the Young England party, of 

 which he was a member and in later days the 

 leader. 



In his early years in politics he was a rigid 

 protectionist, and in 1846, when Peel advocated 

 the repeal of the Corn Laws, Disraeli attacked 

 him in many bitter speeches. Later he aban- 

 doned his protectionist principles, stating by 

 way of apology that he thought the needs and 

 feelings of the nation had changed. His first 

 official position was that of Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer, which he held in 1852 and three 

 times subsequently, and in 1868 he succeeded 

 the Earl of Derby as Prime Minister. Shortly 

 after he took office his party was defeated at 

 the elections, but he was again in power from 

 1874 to 1880. 



As Prime Minister. One of Disraeli's earliest 

 acts as Prime Minister was to introduce certain 

 of the reforms, such as poor laws and factory 

 legislation, which he had advocated in his nov- 

 els. The most noteworthy feature of the 

 administration, however, was its imperialistic 

 foreign policy. The purchase of the Suez Canal 

 shares, the proclamation of Queen Victoria as 

 Empress of India, and the thwarting of Russia 

 in 1878 in its designs on Turkey were the most 

 memorable acts of his Ministry. In 1876 he 

 was created Earl of Beaconsfield. 



His Character. Disraeli's personality has 

 always remained more or less of a mystery. 

 In his own day there were few, if any, who 

 pretended to understand his character, and stu- 

 dents of his life have been baffled at every turn 

 by apparently inexplainable acts or character- 

 istics. This is perhaps best explained by the 

 fact that, devoted as he was to England, he 

 was in no sense an Englishman, but was 

 Oriental in his ideals and tastes and in the 

 theatrical touch which was evident in every- 

 thing he did. No public man of his generation, 

 however, left a stronger impression on the 

 popular mind of England or has been remem- 

 bered with more lasting affection. The anni- 

 versary of his death, April 19, is still celebrated 

 in England as "Primrose Day"; the primrose, 

 for some unaccountable reason, is popularly 

 supposed to have been his favorite flower. W.F.Z. 



DISTEM'PER, an infectious and contagious 

 disease which attacks various animals, and 

 causes the death, especially, of many young 

 dogs. Animals over three years old are rarely 

 affected. It is caused by a germ which pro- 

 duces catarrhal inflammation, and is found in 

 the lungs, nose, eyes and nervous 'systems of 

 animals. The symptoms of the disease vary 



according to the organ in which it settles. The 

 first signs of distemper, however, are loss of 

 appetite, fatigue, trembling, chills and a dry, 

 hot nose. Other and later symptoms are wat- 

 ery and inflamed eyes, sneezing, itching of the 

 nose, coughing, restlessness, red spots on the 

 skin and loss of weight. 



Treatment. To check and cure the disease, 

 the animal should be placed in a clean, warm 

 place free from draughts, and be carefully 

 nourished with milk and strong meat broth in 

 which the yolk of an egg has been beaten. Ac- 

 cording to the organ especially affected, various 

 other measures must also be taken. If the eyes 

 are inflamed they should be washed with a five 

 per cent solution of boric acid or a one per 

 cent solution of carbolic acid. If the digestive 

 tract is affected one-grain doses of calomel 

 three times a day bring relief. For coughing, 

 two grains of compound licorice powder two or 

 three times a day will be found effective. 



Horses, mules, cats, wolves, hyenas and mon- 

 keys are also subject to forms of this disease. 

 If domestic animals are attended to at the 

 first sign of infection, warmth and careful 

 nourishment will effect a cure. 



DISTILLATION, distila'shun. That water 

 left exposed to the air will disappear by drying 

 up is a familiar fact. The warmer the water 

 the more rapidly will it "dry up," but when 

 this happens the water is not annihilated. It 

 has simply changed into a gas, that gas which 

 we call water vapor, or steam. The word evap- 

 oration, applied to the drying up of water, is 

 a very appropriate one. When water is boiling 

 it forms the same gas. The clear space just 

 above the spout of a boiling kettle is filled 

 with this water vapor. The cloud which we 

 see above the clear space consists of droplets 

 of water, which have been formed by the cool- 

 ing of the gas. We say that the gas has con- 

 densed into liquid water. In the ordinary 

 boiling of a kettle of water, however, not all 

 of the water vapor by any means condenses 

 into liquid droplets; even many of the droplets 

 which are formed evaporate again- if the air 

 of the room is warm and dry. If we invert a 

 cold milk bottle or fruit jar above the spout 

 of the kettle, a larger proportion of the gas 

 will condense, and we may be able to collect 

 enough of the condensed water to drop or run 

 in a little stream from the mouth of the 

 bottle. A still larger quantity will be ob- 

 tained if we arrange to keep the bottle cool 

 by wrapping a wet towel around it. 



The process of boiling a liquid, such as water, 



