620 HOUSEHOLD MISCELLANY. 



WHY MILK SOURS DURING THUNDERSTORMS. 



BY MALVERN W. ILES, PH. D. 



There have been vai'ious surmises in regard to this subject ; none, so 

 tar as we have been able to learn, have been substantiated by experiments. 



In order to see if milk did really sour during heavy thunderstorms, I 

 made several observations which proved to me that this was not an erro- 

 neous opinion which is so commonly held by the dairymen. My experi- 

 ments to arrive at the cause of the phenomena thus observed may be stated 

 as follows : 



I took skimmed morning's milk, filled a eudiometer tube (300 c. c.),then 

 introduced 100 c. c. pure oxygen gas. 



Then by the use of an ordinary battery, and a small Ruhmkoff coil, 

 caused sparks of electricity to pass through the oxygen for five minutes. 

 The current was then broken, the tubes shaken up and alloAved to stand for 

 five minutes. The milk does not appear quite as opaque, and shows a no- 

 ticeable acid reaction. 



On continuing the current for five minutes longer, making in all 10 

 minutes, the milk curdles very perceptibly, and shows a decided acid re- 

 action. 



The contents of the tube on standing for twenty minutes had reached 

 the consistency of ordinary sour milk or bonny-clabber. 



Prom the above experiments it will be seen that the oxygen was con- 

 verted into ozone, which we think may be stated as the cause for the rapid 

 souring of milk during thunderstorms. 



The increased acidity is due to the formation of lactic acid, and most 

 probably some acetic acid, by means of the ozone. One or both these acids, 

 then, causes the casein to be precipitated. — Scientific American. 



A SIMPLE METHOD OF VENTILATING ROOMS. 



Dr. H. N. Dodge informs us that ho has found the following plan very 

 satisfactory for the ventilation of rooms that are much used during cold 

 weather : Nail or screw a neat strip of wood, from one to two inches high, 

 upon the window sill, just inside of the sash and extending entirely across 

 from one side of the window frame to the other. Upon the top of this strip 

 fasten a piece of ordinary "weather strip " so that there will be formed an 

 uir-tight joint between the " weather strip " and the lower sash of the win- 

 dow, whether the latter is shut down tight or raised an inch or two^ the 

 lower cross-piece of the sash sliding on the rubber of the "weather strip " 

 as the sash rises. With this simple fixture in place the lower sash may be 

 raised enough to admit a stream of air between the lower and upper sashes, 

 where they lap over each other at the middle of the window, without ad- 



