Vol. XXn. No. 3.] 



POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 



47 



cient nourishing food and sufficient fresh air, — 

 these are the sine qua non. The prime object in 

 every case of phthisis should be to secure a good 

 digestion and assimilation. Every thing that is 

 done should be done with this object in view. 

 (Jood, nourishing, and easily digested food should 

 be taken in abundance, and every care taken that 

 the stomach be not deranged by indiscretions in 

 eating and drinking, or by overloading. As soon 

 as the body begins' to be nourished, the lungs will 

 improve. As an aid to digestion, outdoor exercise 

 is very important. Without it the system cannot 

 be made to use up a large quantity of food. Inas- 

 much as warm climates offer greater inducements 

 to keep invalids out of doors, and make bedroom 

 ventilation a little more agreeable, they are highly 

 commendable to consumptives ; but they are by 

 no means essential to their well-being. A cold cli- 

 mate will do just as well, if the patient has the 

 courage to endure the discomforts entailed by it. 

 It is much better that a consumptive have home 

 comforts in the worst climate in the world, than 

 that he be compelled to undergo the tortures of 

 boarding-house or fourth-class hotel life at a health 

 resort. In all warm climates the houses are built 

 for warm- weather use, and no provision is made 

 for the stray blizzard that occasionally comes 

 along. Though the temperature may be very 

 equable from day to day, there is always a marked 

 variation between day and night. In consequence 

 of the rapid radiation of heat, the houses become 

 cool and damp during the night, against which 

 there is likewise no provision, except in first-class 

 modern hotels. In many places suitable food is 

 difficult to obtain, even at the most extravagant 

 prices. All in all, the average person who has 

 consumption had better remain at home unless his 

 home is in a large city, and then he should go into 

 a neighboring country, where he can secure home 

 comforts and plenty of suitable food. Let him 

 dress warm, take outdoor exercise whenever he 

 can, eat plenty of light, nourishing food, take 

 ample rest and sleep, and he will get along much 

 better in his native heath than he would with small 

 means in the most model consumption climate. It 

 is important that the entire body be warmly clad 

 in cold weather. Either silk or woollen clothing 

 ought to be worn next to the .skin. The circulation 

 should be kept equable throughout the whole body, 

 hence the extremities ought never to be allowed to 

 become cold. When the feet get cold, the lungs be- 

 come congested. Rubbing the body with a coarse 

 towel has a good effect in equalizing the circulation. 

 The ancients recognized this fact, and laid stress 

 on it. 'Balneum alienum est,' says Celsus. 

 Sponge baths, if carefully taken, will do good. 

 They should, however, be taken in a warm room, 

 and followed by a rest. Sea-voyages used to be 

 highly recommended in the early days of medi- 

 cine, and theoretically, at least, ought to be bene- 

 ficial in the first stages of the disease. The ocean 

 offers a pure atmosphere, and frequently the salt 

 air stimulates appetite and improves digestion. In 

 the advanced stages of the disease, they are, how- 

 ever, impracticable, and should never be at- 

 tempted. 



"Gypsy life, or travelling through the country 

 by easy stages, and camping out, is most beneficial 

 to consumptives, even in advanced stages. The 

 ancients had their patients carried from place to 

 place in chairs. In the territories most remarkable 

 cures are brought about by this mode of living. 

 Persons unable to walk are hauled in wagons on 

 improvised beds, and it is astonishing what a 

 revivifying effect constant exposure in the open air 

 has. But, though much can be done to ameliorate 

 the condition of the consumptive, the most impor- 

 tant duty of the medical profession at the present 



day is to lend its aid in bringing about such a 

 change in public and private hygiene as to give the 

 disease less chance for development." 



THE DOCTOR'S WIFE. 

 An unfortunate physician who signs himself 

 " Coelebs, M.D.," writes to The Boston Medical and 

 Surgical Journal as follows : " Your remarks in 

 the last issue of your valuable journal upon " The 

 Doctor's Wife" call forth from my heart certain 

 personal reminiscences not unmixed with pain. 

 ' Pins, ' says the infant prodigy, ' save a great many 

 people's lives, because they don't swallow them.' 

 So doctors' wives ruin the prospects of hundreds 

 of us young fellows, because we don't have them. 

 Shall I tell you my sad fate V Two years ago, on 

 the death of old Dr. Gamboge, two of us, as is the 

 custom, moved into town to take his place. My 

 friend and classmate Dr. Benedict (alas ! no longer 

 my friend) and I each arrived on the ground 

 about half an hour after the old doctor had 

 breathed his last. We were pretty well matched 

 in what is popularly but erroneously supposed to 

 be the preparation for practice, and we entered the 

 race neck and neck. We were, as Virgil says, or 

 might have said, Et secare pares, et exercere parali. 

 Well, we took lodgings on opposite sides of the 

 main street, and the fight began. As fast as I 

 scored a point, Benedict scored another, and some- 

 how his points always seemed to count for a little 

 more than mine. I went to the brick church, which 

 was larger; and he went to the wooden meeting- 

 house, which had the most old families. My chim- 

 ney blew down, and I got it in for a five-liner in the 

 local paper; but the next week one corner of his 

 house took fire, and he got it in for ten lines. I 

 put on my door an old-fashioned knocker, and he 

 put in an electric bell. The country people knew 

 all about knockers, but the electric bell was some- 

 thing they couldn't quite grasp (figuratively, I 

 mean ; they grasped it often enough literally). Fi- 

 nally I fell into the common pit, and bought a horse 

 long before I needed it or could afford it The 

 first time I passed Benedict on the street he smiled 

 in an unpleasant way, and said, ' Oho! I've got on 

 to a racket worth two of that ; ' and the next thing 

 I knew, he was married. His wife distanced my 

 horse in no time. She went to the sewing-circle, and 

 every good patient he ever had was brought into 

 the conversation in some way. Even if he was 

 only called into a house to see the cook, the women 

 all learned that he had been there, though they 

 didn't know (for 'I mustn't talk about my hus- 

 band's affairs ') who the patient was. Then, when 

 the wedding-calls were returned, into every house 

 went some mysterious hint, not too definite, of 

 Benedict's wonderful success. Were there any 

 children in the family, ' The doctor is so fond of 

 children, and they all take to him so quickly I ' Had 

 any of the household met with an accident, ' The 

 doctor is very fond of surgery.' AVere any little 

 dresses in making, ' My husband is such a good 

 baby-doctor 1 Wiiatever should I do if it weren't 

 for him ! ' She always found out who the family 

 physician was ; and this information, of course, 

 was the first and most important step toward oust- 

 ing him. If a new-comer moved into town, the 

 grocer and butcher were hardly more prompt in 

 leaving their cards at the back-door than madam 

 in presenting ker business-card at the front-door. 

 If little Susy Simmons swallowed a pin, and the 

 horrified mother was running amuck for the near- 

 est doctor she could find, she was beguiled in by 

 Mrs. Benedict to wait for her doctor, whom she 

 'expected in every minute.' No emergency cases 

 ever would wait for me to come home ; and when- 

 ever a patient eager for immediate healing turned 



away from my door, he was invariably gathered in 

 by the siren across the way, who either entertained 

 him till her partner's return, or else got his name 

 booked for a visit. They were two, or more than 

 two, to my one. It takes two men to run the 

 Punch-and- Judy show, — one to work the figures, 

 the other to do the talking, get in the crowd, and 

 take up the collection. I had to run my show 

 alone, and didn't take up much money. I wonder 

 if King Lemuel's mother did not have such a doc- 

 tor's wife in mind when she told him the memorable 

 story of the virtuous woman. There are certain 

 internal evidences that she did. ' She perceiveth 

 that her merchandise is good : her candle goeth 

 not out by night. . . . Her husband is known in the 

 gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the 

 land.' By the way, Mrs. Benedict has already 

 got her husband on to the school committee, and 

 I hear is thinking of sending him to the Legis- 

 lature next year. There is nothing left for me 

 but to move on and try it somewhere else. Vce 

 victis ! I fondly thought, when I spent my money 

 for a horse and carriage, that I held the ' right 

 bower ; ' but I have found that Benedict has the 

 'joker.' And now, before trying my fortune in 

 a new field, I must have, cost what it may, a wife. 

 Bitter experience, as well as the tenor of your edi- 

 torial, convinces me of it." 



— « — 



ON MEASURING LIQUIDS BY DROPS. 



The size of drops depends upon the form of the 

 surface from which they hang. The following ex- 

 periments were made with a hundred-grain pipette. 

 The number of drops in burettes varies with the 

 position of the stopcock. A pipette was therefore 

 preferred. 



1. The number of drops increases with the time 

 taken, thus: — 



Water at 2° C, about J drop per second, 141 drops. 

 " " 2 or 3 drops " 136 " 



2. The number of drops increases with the tem- 

 perature. For example, — 



Water at 170° F. 2 or 3 drops per sec, 156 drops. 



" 160° F. " " " 155 " 



" 150° F. " " " 154 " 



" 140° F. 153 " 



" 130° F. '• " •' 152 " 



" 120° F. 151 " 



" 110° F. " . " " 150 " 



" 100° F. " " 148 " 



" 90° F. " " " 147 " 



" 80° F. " " " 145 " 



" 70° F. " " " 143 " 



" 60° F. " " " 141 " 



" 50° F. " " " 139 " 



" 40° F. " " " 137 " 



" 32° F. " " " 135 " 



Near the freezing-point every 10° F. is increased 

 by two drops, at higher temperatures by one drop. 

 The number of drops decreases rather more rapidly 

 near the freezing-point. 



3. The number of drops is increased when a sub- 

 stance is in solution : — 



Saturated solution of ammonium oxalate 

 at 4° C, 2 or 3 drops per second .... 139 drops. 



Saturated solution sodium phosphate at 

 4° C, 2 or 3 drops per second 138 drops. 



The following are some other liquids at 12° C. at 

 the rate of about two drops per second: — 



Absolute alcohol 387 drops. 



Ether 452 " 



Carbon disulphide 428 " 



Sulphuric acid 340 



Hydrochloric acid 182 " 



This method may be used in determining the 

 relative quantities of alcohol and water in mixtures 

 of these liquids. — A. F. Reid, in Chemical News. 



