16 
POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 
[January, 1891. 
A REFLECTION UPON DOC'J'ORS, MORTAT^ 
ITY, AND ATHLETICS. 
Our esteemed and reflective contemporaiy, ii/e, 
has been engaged of late In certain contemplations 
upon mortality and death. 
In re the subject of sickness, it wonders \\hy 
Mr. Richard Croker, whom the doctors pronounced 
incurable, Incontinently got well ; and it deduces 
some conclusions unfavorable to the certainties of 
medical science. Perhaps its reflections are not 
altogether without justice, although medical men 
are, we think, particularly careful in giving posi- 
tive unfavorable prognoses. T\lien given, they 
are generally correct, for most fatal and incurable 
diseases are readily recognized. We must believe 
that in the case of the eminent statesman above 
refeiTed to there is a mistake. Either the doctors 
did not in fact say he was incurable, or else his 
time will come later. We trust Mr. Croker will 
not forget what he owes to the science of prog- 
nostics and the stability of professional reputation. 
But Life is also puzzled over the careers of the 
late Cardinal Newman and John Boyle O'Reilly. 
The former was a frail, slight man of infirm consti- 
tution, but despite this he lived to a very advanced 
age ; the latter was a man of splendid physique, 
who kept his system in training by physical exer- 
cise, athletic sports, and followed all the sugges- 
tions of modern physical culture. Yet he died in 
the prime of life. Shall we not, then, live quiet, 
ascetic lives, ignoring the body and cultivating 
the spirit? or shall we cultivate l)oth Iiody and 
mind? The latter course is the one so much com- 
mended today; yet it is not a sure passport to 
longevity, as manj' cases prove. In fact, the 
brain-worker is better if he lives a regular, temper- 
ate life, and pays no attention to the development 
of his muscles. A little walk, some fresh air, and 
sound sleep are all he needs. Some people, to be 
sure, can be athletes and do brain work also, but 
it is not the rule. A sound mind should have a 
sound body, but it does not need herculean mus- 
cles. The best athletic work is done by growing 
boys and adolescents, who have an extra supplj' 
of vitality. WTien they have matured, and under- 
taken the responsible work of life, they speedUy 
drop out of the championships. And the lesson 
we would draw from the opposite cases brought 
up by Life is, tliat athletics are not needed by 
brain-workers, and will, if carried to excess, 
shorten life rather than lengthen it. — Medical Rec- 
ord. 
f»* 
STERILISED MILK. 
So-called " sterilised milk " by no means ah\ ays 
deserves its name, in some cases being much fuller 
of germs than ordinary unboiled milk fresh from 
the cow. Herr Kohlmann, of Leipsic, on subject- 
ing two specimens of milk sold as sterilised to 
examination, found that one of them really was 
so, no germs being discoverable ; while the other 
specimen contained 350,000 germs per cubic centi- 
metre. For the purpose of comparison other ex- 
aminations were made, and it was found that a 
sample of fresh milk bought in the street con- 
tained about 160,000 germs per cubic centimetre— 
that is to say, less than half the number of the 
second sample of so-called sterilised milk. Milk 
boiled in the kitchen contained 158 germs per 
cubic centimetre ; distilled water, 1,064; and water 
from the Hof brunnen 12,000. Herr Kohlmann sug- 
gests that the failure of whatever process was 
used to sterilise the mUk, may have been due 
either to water having been mixed with the milk 
before the process was commenced, or perhaps to 
too long a time having been allowed to elapse be- 
tween milking and sterilising. This last point 
exercises a very great effect, as is shown liy Preu- 
denreich's observations. He found tliat milk which, 
when received, contained only 9,300 germs to the 
cubic centimetre, after being kept for thi-ee hours 
at 60° Fahr. contained 10,000; after six hours, 
250,000 ; and after twenty-four hours no less than 
5,700,000. It would therefore appear that our 
knowledge of the conditions under which milk 
may be really sterilised, is at present somewhat 
insuflicient, and that reports of the results of the 
feeding of infants with milk which is reputed to 
be sterilised, must always be received with a good 
deal of scepticism, unless specimens of the milk 
have been frequently examined by a competent 
person. — Lancet. 
A HEALTH BOARD ON CHEWING GUM. 
The following bit of useful information is pub- 
lished in the monthly bulletin of a certain State 
Board of Health: "Chewing Gum a Healthful 
Exercise. — We have seen the most excitable young 
lady, with a highly strung nervous organization, 
under its magic influence become as quiet and 
contented as the well-fed cow that lies in the 
barnyard chewing its cud. We know of notliing 
that will with anything like such undiminishibility 
(sic) endure so much mastication. We have 
chewed a piece of this gum contentedly for two 
hours without any perceptible change in its bulk, 
and after remaining imdei' the seat of the chair, 
on the under side of the table, or on the bedpost 
over night, if not found and confiscated, it was 
ready for as grand service as when first pressed 
between the molars. We believe that every ship 
sailing upon the high seas should be well supplied 
with chewing-gum ; and in time of danger of ship- 
wreck the passengers should be furnished w ith at 
least a half-dozen pieces, so that if cast iipon some 
barren and uninlial)ital)le coast or island, they 
might have something witli whicli to beguile the 
weary hours ; and we know of nothing so inno- 
cently beguiling." — Boston Medical and Surgical 
Journal. 
FATAL RESULTS OF LACING AMONG 
SAVAGES. 
^V'e have been told that the vices introduced by 
white men are depopulating the South Sea Islands, 
but now it would appear that white women are 
also responsible for the rapid depojjulation of New 
Zealand. When female missionaries went among 
the Maoris they insisted that the Maori women 
should wear clothing. The latter could not be in- 
duced to overcome their prejudice against skirts, 
but discovering that the missionary women wore 
corsets, they decided that the latter was a gar- 
ment not wholly devoid of meiit. The result is 
that every Maori woman now goes about her daily 
work neatly clad in a corset laced as tightly as 
the united efforts of half a dozen stalwart warriors 
can lace it. Being unaccustomed to tight-lacing, 
the women are dying oft' with great rapidity, and 
the repentant female missionaries now regret that 
they ever asked their dusky sisters to consider the 
question of clothing.- — Medical Record. 
<♦►- 
Wife — "AVhat are you busy at?" 
Young Physician — "I am writing a letter to the 
newspapers, abusing Dr. Blank, the great scien- 
tist." 
"But Dr. Blank has never done you any harm, 
and you agree with his theories." 
"True; but it is against the rule for physicians 
to advertise, and I must get myself before the 
public somehow." 
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