48 



POPULAE SCIEI^CE l!TEWS. 



[Mf 



1889. 



other experiments, brain, co\v"s milk, and blood 

 were found to contain small quantities of fluorine. 

 From these experiments, certain conclusions are 

 drawn, the chief purport of which is, that fluorine is 

 of greater physiological importance in the animal 

 economy than has hitherto been considered to be 

 the case. 



THE CONSUMPTION OF OPIUM IN CHINA. 

 A Chinese Customs jellow-book contains some 

 valuable and interesting information on the growth 

 and consumption of opium in China. The growth 

 of native opium has assumed large proportions 

 during recent years. Every province produces it, 

 the only large areas where it is not grown being the 

 islands of P'ormosa and Hainan. The opium is 

 chiefly consumed locally, only a comparatively 

 small percentage going out of the district or prov- 

 ince where it is grown. The quality of the native 

 article has much improved, and this fact, combined 

 with the increased growth, has led to a great 

 reduction in the import of foreign opium, as the 

 falling-off in the Indian revenue testifies. Even at 

 the treaty ports native opium is used very largely. 

 It is preferred in many cases, because it can be 

 smoked seven or eight times, while tlie foreign drug 

 can be smoked three times at most. The native is 

 often mixed with the foreign, but smokers object to 

 this being done, because it spoils the ashes, which 

 command a price. Economy comes into the ques- 

 tion of preference, for only the wealthiest consume 

 the foreign article. A great deal of smuggling goes 

 on in order to evade the tax. In the Far West 

 where cash and silver are scarce, opium takes the 

 place of money in many localities as the basis of 

 barter. When starting on a journey, a native carries 

 hTS estimated expenses in the form of opium, selling 

 here and there just as much as he requires. Even 

 students going to Pekin, carry their funds in the 

 form of opium. 



gallery and there left, while the operator turned his 

 attention to a young man who was engaged in the 

 dangerous pastime of catching crocodiles. On re- 

 turning to the ladies, Mr. CrofTut found that he 

 could not make them cognizant of his presence. 

 They did not appear to see him, or hear his voice, 

 and when he stood directly in front of them they 

 took no notice of him whatever. It was a new and 

 somewhat alarming experience, and a quarter of an 

 hour passed before the hypnotizer re-eStablished his 

 domination and brought them back from the land of 

 dreams. — Science. 



A New Sweet-Tasting Substance. — Dr. Noyes 

 announces (Am. Chem. Jour.) the discovery of a 

 compound analogous to saccharin and having an 

 intensely sweet taste. This substance is para-amido- 

 I benzolsulphinid, and its constitution is the same as 

 I that of saccharin save that one atom of hydrogen 

 has been replaced by the group NH2. Like saccha- 

 rin, it is with difficulty soluble in water. It displavs 

 a deep blue fluorescence in a hot saturated aqueous 

 solution. 



A Dangerous Combination. — A patient is at pres- 

 ent under treatment in the Boston City Hospital for 

 burns contracted in the following manner: Being 

 afflicted with rheumatism he anointed himself with 

 J oil (not in the Scriptural manner, but with kerosene). 

 He then stood up before his fire to bask in its pleas- 

 ant warmth, and the oil ignited. Mem., that kero- 

 sene oil and heat as therapeutic measures are some- 

 times incompatible. 



MEDICAL MEMORANDA. 



Dr. Vincenzo Tassinari, of the Pisa University, 

 has experimented with the effects of tobacco-smoke 

 on bacteria. He finds that delay in development of 

 the germs occur in every instance. 



Winter Clothing. — With a view to keeping the 

 people healthy, the Chinese Government steps in 

 between the individual and his peculiar fancy as to 

 when he shall begin wearing his overcoat, and de- 

 cides that winter clothing, or '-the warm cap," shall 

 be put on, on October 5. This is, perhaps, the only 

 kind of "state regulation" that the legislatures 

 of this country have not as yet attempted. 



The Human Heart. — A curious calculation has 

 been made by Dr. Richardson, giving the work of 

 the heart in mileage. Presuming that the blood was 

 thrown out of the heart at each pulsation in the pro- 

 portion of 69 strokes per minute, at the assumed 

 force of nine feet, the mileage of the blood through 

 the body might might be reckoned at 207 yards per 

 minute, seven miles per hour, 168 miles per day, 

 61,320 miles per year, or 5,150,880 miles in a lifetime 

 of 84 years. The number of beats of the heart in the 

 same long life would reach the grand total of 

 2,869,776,000. 



Hypnotism. — Hypnotism thrives in Washington. 

 Two gentlemen interested in psychological studies, 

 Mr. W. A. Croffut, executive oflicer of the Geologi- 

 cal Survey, and Gov. N. J. Coleman, Commissioner 

 of Agriculture, give occasional soirees hypnotiques, 

 at which they hypnotize numbers of "sensitives. ' 

 During some recent experiments by Mr. Croffut, 

 two young ladies, temporary victims of the hypnotic 

 hallucination, were taken into an imaginary picture 



HUMORS. 



It has been suggested that the paw-paw tree 

 ought to be regarded as the progenitor of all plant 

 life. 



Should you upset a bottle of castor oil on the 

 carpet the best treatment for removing the spot is 

 to place the bed over it. This is both cheap and ef- 

 ficacious. 



A Remarkable Remedy. — " Doctor, I can't 

 take this medicine; it tastes horrible!" "Oh, never 

 mind; I have the most extraordinary results from 

 this drug. I prescribe it for all my patients. None 

 of them take it; and they all get well ! " 



There is said to be a barber's sign near the Pal- 

 ais Royal, Paris, bearing the following legend in 

 the vernacular: " Callileucocapillaire water which 

 colors the hair white. For the use of young physi- 

 cians and magistrates." 



No Particular CoNSEquENCE. — The young 

 doctor, with a reputation to make, always feels 

 grateful when his patients get well. With the old 

 and well-established physician the case is different. 

 Ifhis man dies he simply says, "Everybody must 

 die," and the clergyman of his church comes to the 

 funeral and stands in with him and says, "The Lord 

 giveth and the Lord taketh away," and there you 

 are. —New Orleans Picayune. 



In the Wrong Pew. — James Payn, the novel- 

 ist, is editor of the Cornhill Magazine, London. 

 Next door to his office a medical journal has its 

 sanctum. One day Mr. Payn's door was cautiously 

 opened and a pale-faced, long-haired individual en- 

 tered. " I have brought a little thing about sar- 

 coma and carcinoma," said the visitor. " Very 

 sorry, sir," said Payn, politely, " but we have all 

 the poetry we want." "This isn't poetry I" ex 

 claimed the visitor. It is an essay on two varieties 

 of tumor." "Oh, I beg your pardon," said Payn, 

 " I thought they were a pair of Italian lovers." The 

 long-haired man was a well-known medical professor 

 who had entered the wrong office. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE 



Popular Science News Company, 



10 Pearl Street, Roston. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR IN ADVANCE. 



SETH C. BASSETT, 

 Manager. 



Publisljers' Colunin. 



Paper bottles are now used to hold ink, and are much lighter 

 than glass. Esterbrook' 8 Steel Pens will also be found to hold 

 ink well, and to have all the other qualities of perfect pens. 



Dr. T. F. Breck, Springfield, Mass., says; "I consider 

 Horsford*s Acid Phosphate very superior in diseases pertaining 

 to the nervous system, and am very much pleased witli results." 



The standard preparations of the C JT. Phillips Chemical 



Co., include some of the most valuable remedies used by physi- 

 cians, and are of superior purity and quality. A single trial 

 will be convincing. 



Messrs. Richards & Co., of BarcUiy St., New York, have 

 one of the hirgest stocks of pure chemicals and chemical glass- 

 ware and other apparatus in the city, and those intending to 

 purchase will do well to call upon or correspond with tlu-m, 



Graphite is now used as an ingredient in the composition 

 of pipe -joint grease, and paint for boilers and smoke-stacks. It 

 is especially adapted for such purposes, and the preparations of 

 the Dixon Crucible Co. of Jersey City, N. J., are of the highest 

 quality, and invariably give satisfaction. 



For the administration of phosphorus there is not a more 

 certain, a more efficient, or safer medium than the Chemically 

 Pure llypophosphites, and the adaptation of Dr. McArthur^s 

 Syrup to the treatment of Nervous Affections renders them 

 verv useful as adjuncts in a great variety of diseases, inasmuch 

 as the Hypophosphites are more readily absorbed by the sys- 

 tem than all other preparations of phosphorus. 



A Wonderful Flesh Producer. — This is the title given 

 to ScotVs Emulsion of Cod Liver Oil by many thousands who 

 have taken it. It not only gives flesh and strength by virtue of 

 its own nutritious properties, bnt creates an appetite fo'r food. 

 Use it, and try your weight. Scott's Emulsion is perfectly pal- 

 atable. Sold by all druggists. 



The open grate has always been a favorite in our homes, and 

 it is only because in the ordinary form it is such a great consu- 

 mer of fuel, and so feeble in its heating capacity that it has been 

 supplanted by other more economical kinds of heating appara- 

 tus. In the construction of the Jackson Vtntilatiny Grate it 

 will be seen that this defect has been avoided, and an economi- 

 cal method of heating has been secured, without the least im- 

 pairment of the properties of the open fireplace. The Jackson 

 Ventildting Grate has all the exposed fire surface of the com- 

 mon grate, thus being unsurpassed in the amount of its radiant 

 heat, as it is unequaled by any in its amount of conserved heat. 



Greenville Ice and Coal Company, 

 Greenville, Miss., Nov. 8, iSSS. 

 Mr. David Boyle, Chicago, 111. 



Dear Sir: — Your machine arrived here promptly according 

 to contract, and after our first season's experience, we are glad 

 to state that your machine has fullv come up to our expectations 

 and has exceeded its rated capacity at all times, and in fact, we 

 have gotten lo to 15 per cent, more ice during the hottest part of 

 the summer, than the amount guaranteed by you. We further- 

 more desire to state that all material used on your machine has 

 proventhe very best, and, in short, we can say without contra- 

 diction that your system and machine is a perfect success. We 

 take great pleasure in recommending your machine to all who 

 may desire a good and reliable machine. 



We are, yours respectfully, 



J. A. Wilcyniski, Sec*y. 



