238 



Popular Science Monthly 



Eradication of Weeds Will 

 Prevent Hay-Fever 



AN authority on the subject states 

 1\ that from the standpoint of the 

 number of patients affected hay-fever 

 ranks among the first of the non-fatal 

 diseases. According to him goldenrod 

 is only responsible for a small percentage 

 of cases, but the common ragweed, with 

 its insignificant green flowers, is directly 

 responsible for a majority of cases. 



Besides the ragw-eed, of which two 

 main varieties, the wormwood and the 

 giant, are the most important, there are 

 ten other plants indigenous to the South- 

 ern States, the pollens of which produce 

 hay-fever. They all have the same char- 

 acteristics: they are wind-pollinated; 

 very numerous ; the flowers areinconspicu- 

 ous, with no bright color or scent because 

 insects are not to be attracted, and the 

 pollen is formed in great quantities. The 

 development, duration, and conclusion 

 of hay-fever are synchronous with the 

 pollinating period of the ragweeds, and 

 any elevation under six thousand feet 

 may produce the weeds and the disease 

 to susceptible persons. It would appear 

 that there is a wide difference in the de- 

 gree of susceptibility of different indi- 

 viduals to the pollen. An attack would 

 develop, therefore, only when the expo- 

 sure overcomes the resistance of the sub- 

 ject and only to this extent. 



It has been asserted that the pollen, 

 under the influence of the nasal secretion, 

 germinates and sends out its germ tubes, 

 thus producing the irritation. This 

 germination takes place only in the 

 presence of sugar, which is absent in the 

 nasal secretion, and is inhibited by- 

 sodium chloride, which is present. The 

 process of germination usually takes 

 al)out two hours, while the local reaction 

 of hay-fever may take place in a few 

 minutes. The majority of hay-fever 

 patients present no unusual abnormal 

 intransal condition except during the 

 attack, and ojierations for nasal ob- 

 struction, unless indicated for other 

 reasons, have been seldom successful in 

 their intended results, and are rarely 

 advisable. Any of the various treat- 

 ments for hay-fever have not met with 

 conspicuous success, and the sure means 

 will be in the eradication of the weeds 

 causing the disease. 



Protecting Jewelry Store Windows 

 With a Burglar-Proof Curtain 



THE thief, brick in hand, awaits his 

 opportunity. When the policeman 

 on beat passes out of sight he slinks 

 down the quiet avenue and takes up a 

 position in front of a jewelry store with 

 an expensive and elaborate window 

 display. Reposing in the right-hand 

 corner of the window is a tray of 

 diamonds. This the thief decides to 

 steal. 



Choosing a section of the window 

 where the glass will make the least noise 

 in falling, the thief draws back his right 

 arm and the brick crashes through the 

 window. With lightning agility he 

 thrusts his hand through the broken 

 pane, and then, startled and utterly 

 dismayed, as quickly withdraws it. Had 

 he not done so a burglar-curtain of steel, 

 released from the top of the window at 

 the instant of contact of brick with glass, 

 would have severed his arm at the wrist. 



In other words, he was thwarted in 

 his attempt to steal by a burglar-curtain 

 designed to drop and cover the window 

 the instant the glass is broken. In 

 making his superficial examination he 

 had failed to detect the minute strands 

 or wires stretched across the window, 

 several of which were severed when the 

 glass was broken, setting into action a 

 mechanism which released the curtain. 



The wires, stretched tight and an- 

 chored at their lower end to a rigid 

 frame and at their upper end to a latch, 

 are arranged close enough so that an 

 object thrown through the pane will 

 sever one or more of them. When this 

 occurs the latch is drawn downward, 

 permitting the retaining rods to mo\e in 

 under forced pressure of their tension 

 springs, which releases a ratchet engag- 

 ing with a shaft round which the curtain 

 is wound. The curtain falls due to 

 gra^•ity. 



The dc\ice has been patentetl by Max 

 Richtcr of Chicago, but he does not 

 specify any particular kiml of curtain, 

 although he suggests that steel would be 

 the most effective. A simple safety 

 a|)pliance prevents the curtain from 

 accidenlly falling when the window is 

 being cleaned. It is wound up on the 

 shaft in a "set" position by means of a 

 sprocket wheel. 



