774 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



en ill Llie fact mentioned, that plantain- 

 leaves arri often nsed for greens. The great- 

 er part of all these plants and herbs are 

 harmle-ss. A person might drink the jnice 

 or eat the leaves in almost any quantity, 

 without j)eiceiving any effect whatever ; aiid 

 I am inclined to tliink the different kinds of 

 herbs used in medicine— at least tiie greater 

 l)art of them — produce absolutely no effect 

 whatever. It is true, w^e have some plants 

 that are poisonous. In that case a small 

 do-ie ijroduces some effect on tlie system; 

 but how often does it happen that the effect 

 l)ro(hiced has any thing to do in making the 

 d sease better or worse V A dose of lobelia 

 te;i given to a person with a b:id cough may 

 ]ir.idu(e a sickness at the stomacli, enough 

 t)s(tii) the cougli. There is sense and rea- 

 son in tliis ; that is, tiie cough is diverted, or 

 stopped for the time being. I do not think 

 the poisDuous ])lant accomplishes any thing 

 further than this. You may say the cough 

 does not commence again after the influence 

 lias passed off. To which 1 reply, that if you 

 by a powerful mental effort keep back the 

 cough — that is, do not yield to the inclination 

 to cougli, the inclination will, after say fif- 

 teen or twenty minutts, cease of itself. The 

 le.sult accomplished is. as I understand it, the 

 same in both cases. May be I am wrong in 

 doubting whetlier catnip tea has any influ- 

 ence whatever in easing tlie pains of the lit- 

 tle one ; but I should like to see the matter 

 tlKHOughly investigated by competent medi- 

 cal authority. Very likely the dose gave re- 

 lief ; but may it not be that it was the sugar 

 and milk and water, instead of the catnip V 

 I should like to see the whole matter of doc- 

 toring witli herbs and plants sifted to the 

 bottom. No doubt they are harmless ; but 

 is there any virtue in them at all V We ten- 

 der you our thanks all the same, good friend 

 E., for suggesting a temperance remedy for 

 bee-stings ; and while I am about it, permit 

 me to seriously doubt that even the whisky 

 liad much if any thing to do with the recov- 

 ery. People have serious times with bee- 

 stings every little while ; but they almost in- 

 variably recover after a little, and the recov- 

 ery is, as a matter of course, almost as sud- 

 den as the approach of the disagreeable 

 symptoms. 



SUNSHINE ]N OUR HOMES. 



ALSO SOME SUGGESTIONS FHOM FRIEND TERKY IN 

 UEGARD TO GASOLINE-STOVES. 



fKIEND ROOT:-In my last letter I spoke of 

 pure air in the working- part of the house, 

 where our wives and daughters spend much 

 of their time. Of course, it is needed in the 

 rest of the house also, particularly in the 

 sleeping-rooms. We should take pains to have 

 every part of the house well ventilated at all times. 

 Like you, I Mnll have fresh air. Jtistoo blessed a 

 gift to be despised because it costs so little. Many a 

 time have I come in from active work outdoors, in 

 the winter, feeling vig-orous and clear-lieaded. Very 

 soon I would feel right the reverse. Then open go 

 all the doors and windows, so the wind can sweep 

 through for a few minutes, changing the air almost 

 entirely. My wife and daughters being in the 



house all the time hardly notice that the air is be- 

 coming impure, it comes on so gradually. 



But there is one point I wish to bring out at this 

 time whicli is fully as important as good ventilation; 

 and thtit is, plenty of sunlight in our homes. It is 

 time more were written on this subject, as it is get- 

 ting to be so fashionable to shut out every ray of 

 sunshine from our dwellings, with blinds and thick 

 curtains and shades. Blinds are nice, and so are 

 shades, if rightly used, which would be to shut out 

 the sunshine during the middle of the day, or when 

 the direct rays shining on us would be unpleasant. 

 When they are used to keej) rooms almost as dark 

 as night, for fear of fading the carpets or furniture, 

 or for fear the young ladies may get a little color 

 on their hands and faces, then their use becomes an 

 abuse. Is a little color in the carpet of more ac- 

 count than rosy good health? The exact reason 

 for it, and the c.\act way in which sunlight has a 

 sanitary influence, is not known yet; but the fact 

 is acknowledged. Dio Lewis once wrote, that at the 

 rear end of his parlor it was not so dark but that 

 one could easily see to read fine i)rint. At that 

 )ioint he put a bracket on the wall and transferred 

 to it a ))lant from the window. In four days it look- 

 ed sickly; in two weeks it was yellow; in five weeks 

 it was apparently dead. Another plant was placed 

 on the center-table, about in the middle of the room, 

 and at the end of five weeks that had lost its healthy 

 color, and was evidently failing. "The girls in our 

 parlors," he says, " who were not out more than 

 an hour or two a day, on the average, when the 

 sun shone, were as pale, yellow, and sickly as the 

 plants, and we think for the same reason— a lack of 

 full strong light." Ths same writer also says that 

 he has cured many cases of rheumatism by advising 

 patients to leave bed-rooms shaded by trees or pi- 

 azzas, and sleep in rooms constantly dried and pu- 

 rified by the direct rays of the sun. Doubtless 

 shaded houses are responsible for much of the pale, 

 feeble, nervous, and neuralgic condition of wives 

 and daughters. I once heard a celebrated lecturer 

 on home surrouudings say in substanpe that our 

 homes should be hid among trees, so as to be 

 scarcely discernible to the passer-by; ' that the 

 home should be a nest, so to speak, and hid away as 

 the bird hides hers; that nothing is more unhome- 

 like than a fine building standing out in full view of 

 every one. This is all very nice; but the bird stays 

 hid away in her nest for only a short time. The 

 most of her life is spent in the broad sunlight. Our 

 homes where we spend so much time can not be 

 perfectly healthy, and be hidden away from the 

 great source of all life and heat. Trees should 

 ncv'cr stand so near our dwellings that the sun can 

 not shine for a part of the day into every window 

 that it can reach. If we allow them to we must not 

 be surprised if we are troubled with inflammatory 

 and nervous diseases. And it will be the same, of 

 course, if the sun is kept out with blinds and shades 

 at all times. Such is the great law of health; an(^ 

 if we violate it, sooner or later the penalty wilj 

 have to be paid. 



Your home, like mine, friend Root, stands out 

 where the health-giving sun can shine in at every 

 window, and 1 have no doubt your wife lets it in, iu 

 liberal doses, just ag mine does. As for the carpets, 

 I tell her to let them fade; that it is better than 

 faded children. In the morning tny wife throws 

 open the bed in our room, and the blinds and cur- 

 tains on each of the four large windows, and lets 



