76 



Efficacy of Ammonia in cases of Poison. — S^-c. 



Vol. X. 



F-lGcacy of Ammonia in cases of Poison. 



Exirnct of a letter from Dr. Church to the 

 Editor of Hill i marl's Journal of Science, 

 dated Cooperslown, A. Y., February 6th, 

 lb29. 



A young man in this place had accidently 

 overset a hive of bees, and before he could 

 escape, they had settled, in great numbers, 

 on different parts of his body and limbs and 

 stung him very severely. It was about half 

 an hour after the accident happened, when 

 he came to my office in great agony, and he 

 iiad scarcely time to give an account of it 

 (before he fainted. I immediately applied 

 the ammonia to the parts that had been 

 stung, his legs, arms, and breast. He di- 

 rectly recovered from his faintness, and ex- 

 perienced no pain or other inconvenience 

 afterwards. 



It is several years since I first used the 

 aqua ammonia, to counteract the effect of 

 the bites of insects and stings of bees, and 

 it has invariably produced instant relief — 

 generally .complete. I have often seen chil- 

 ;djren crying in excessive pain from the sting 

 of a bee, and ,on application of the ammonia 

 ithey wou'ld immediately cease complaining 

 and bqcoine cheerful, so complete and sud- 

 .den is the relief it produces. I always use 

 it for mosquito bites, and they never trouble 

 ms farther. J was 1-ed to use it in these 

 ^ases, from the instantaneous effect it was 

 s^id ,to tiavie in counteracting the operation 

 x>f prussic acid. In the second number of 

 the Arnericao Journal of Medical Sciences, 

 ^(Philadelphia,) for the last year, it will be 

 seen that Dr. IVIoore, of Alabama, used it 

 with great sux^ess in the cure of bites of 

 venomous serpents. From his account, it is 

 probable that the pure uncarbonated aqua 

 ammonia is most efficacious. I have some- 

 times noticed, and think it must be on ac- 

 count of its being sometimes carbonated and 

 at others not. 



Water in a Sheep's Head.- — Mr. John 

 Scurr, farmer, of Greenside Trimdon, near 

 Sedgefield, a short time ago had a sheep, 

 which, for a fortnight had been ill. Three 

 days it was unable to get upon its feet. Mr. 

 Scurr happened to have a friend who called 

 upon him on business, and they together 

 went to see the sheep. His friend pro- 

 nounced the animal all but dead, it being ill 

 of the "sturdy," or water in the head, which 

 he said was incurable. They consequently 

 left the sheep to die. A servant boy, named 

 Gilpin, who lived with Mr. Scurr, overheard 

 their discourse, and immediately went to his 

 piaster's house and procured a gimblet, when 



he returned to the field where the sheep 

 was, and, without practice or skill in the 

 art, began cautiously to operate upon tiie 

 head of the animal, by boring a hole exactly 

 upon the top of the scalp, which done, the 

 water streamed out of the head, and, strange 

 to say, in a very few minutes the sheep got 

 upon its feet and started to eat grass, and is 

 now doing as well as any of its fellow grass 

 eaters. — 'New Farmer's Journal. 



To DIMINISH THE DRAUGHT OF PLOUGHS. 



— We may consider that upon an average, 

 35 per cent, of the labour of ploughing is 

 attributable to the weight of the implement, 

 55 per cent, to the operation of cutting the 

 furrow-slice, and only ten to the action of 

 the mould board. This conclusion, if it be 

 correct, reverses most of our pre-conceived 

 opinions on the subject: the attempts which 

 have been made to diminish the draught of 

 ploughs have been mostly directed to the 

 alteration of the form of the mould board ; 

 let our plough-makers direct their efforts 

 more to facilitate the action of the sock and 

 coulter, and to diminish, within safe limits, 

 the weight of the implement, and they will, 

 probably, be more successful in lessening its 

 draught. — Gardeners'' Chronicle. 



Windows Cleansed by Steam. — A very 

 simple method of cleaning windows is now 

 coming into general use in England. The 

 window is first dusted with a bunch of fea- 

 thers or dusting brush, and when the dust is 

 thoroughly removed, place a bowl of boiling 

 hot water at the base of the window; the 

 steam immediately covers the glass, which 

 is removed by a wash leather, and finished 

 off with another quite clean and dry. The 

 method saves time, prevents that cloudy ap- 

 pearance left by whiting, and produces a 

 more brilliant and durable polish than any 

 other. 



Animal Gratitude. — An English writer 

 says, "Animals are so capable of showing 

 gratitude and affection to those who have 

 been kind to them, that I never see them 

 subjected to ill treatment without feeling 

 the utmost abhorrence of those who are in- 

 flicting it. I know many persons who, like 

 myself, take a pleasure in seeing all the ani- 

 mals about them happy and contented. Cows 

 will show their pleasure at seeing those who 

 have been kind to them, by moving their 

 ears gently, and putting out their noses. 

 My old horse rests his head on the gate with 

 great complacency when he sees me coming, 

 expecting to receive an apple or a piece of 

 bread," 



