34 
boys’ department. 
330^0’ ©apartment. 
WHY THE FIBRES OF COTTON ARE IMPRO¬ 
PER FOR SURGEON’S LINT. 
It has long been observed that cotton cloth, 
however fine it may be, cannot, without injury, be 
substituted for linen in the preparation of surgeon’s 
lint; and some authors, particularly Leuwenhoek, 
have imagined that they had found the reason of 
this, in the shape of the fibres of the cotton, which 
were conceived to have two flat sides, and that each 
of their minute parts must consequently have two 
acute angles or edges. These acute edges were 
conceived to be not only thinner and more subtle 
than the fleshy globules of which a wound is com¬ 
posed, but also more firm and stiff. Hence it "was 
argued, that, upon the application of the fibres of 
cotton to a wound, their edges must not only hurt 
and irritate the globules of the flesh, but also inces¬ 
santly cut the new matter brought to them to pro¬ 
duce new flesh; whereas, on the contrary, it has 
been contended that the linen ordinarily used in 
wounds, is composed of little round parts, situated 
very close to each other, and when employed in 
large masses, is incapable of hurting or irritating the 
globular parts of the flesh. 
The above explanation, which at best is ridicu¬ 
lous, has been admitted by authors of note on 
chemistry, notwithstanding it is obvious that the 
minute fibres of cotton, even if they were as sharp 
as supposed, could do but little harm when sepa¬ 
rated from the living flesh, by an inert coagulum or 
pus. Besides, the microscope assures us that this 
shape of the fibres of cotton exists only in the im¬ 
aginations of those who have not observed them. 
The fibres of cotton consist of minute tubes anala- 
gous to the small hairs of the grasses, although 
much larger, which are ascertained to be merely 
elongated cells, closed at both ends, and filled with 
a substance tending to organize. They become flat 
by drying, after which they present the appear¬ 
ance of a band with fringed edges and a raised bor¬ 
der. It is also certain that these bands or fibres of 
cotton are much more flexible than the tubes of 
hemp or flax. If then, the lint acted mechanically, 
that which is made of hemp or flax would be more 
hurtful than that which consists of cotton; and yet 
experience shows the contrary. We must then 
seek the explanation elsewhere, and a very natural 
one is to be found in the phenomena of capillary 
attraction. The fibres of hemp and flax are tubes 
open at both ends; and the watering to which they 
are usually subjected, empties them of all the juices 
which they contain. Those of cotton on the other 
hand, are hairs shut at both ends, and filled with a 
substance tending to organize, which no water nor 
washing can remove from them. It is, then, evi- 
lent that the tubes of linen will be more proper 
Jhan the hairs of cotton for imbibing blood or pus; 
for lint made of the latter will not imbibe anything, 
but will only allow a free passage among its fibres 
to any liquid which would have run off just in the 
same manner without it. 
How to Scour or Clean Cloth. —This is best 
done on a small scale, as for articles of wearing 
apparel, &c., by dissolving a little soap in water, 
and afterwards mixing it with a little ox gall, 
touching over all the spots of grease, dirt, &c., with 
the mixture, and rubbing them well with a stiff 
brush until they are removed. After this, the 
article may be well rubbed all over with a brush 01 
sponge, dipped into some warm water, to w hich the 
previous mixture and a little more ox gall has been 
added. When this has been properly done, it only 
remains to thoroughly rinse the article in clean 
water, until the latter passes off uncolored, when 
it must be hung up to dry. 
MODE OF KEEPING A STOCK REGISTER. 
Presuming you will not be unwilling to hear 
occasionally from a young correspondent, I have 
ventured to introduce myself to your notice in pre¬ 
senting, for the benefit of numerous worthy readers 
of this Department, who may find themselves un- 
occupied-during some of these “ nice long winter 
evenings,” a few pages from my Stock Register, 
which may be explained as follows :— 
The title page contains the name and residence of 
the owner. 
The index shows the numbers and names of the 
animals, and the pages where they may be 
found. 
Page 1, denotes the list or register belonging to a 
cow, called “ Brindle,” by way of distinction. It con¬ 
sists of three principal divisions, the two lower ones 
being subdivided. The upper one is appropriated 
for the name, number, birth, and pedigree ; the mid¬ 
dle, for the names of males she is put to, with the 
dates of such union ; and the lower for the names 
and numbers of calves, with the times of their 
births. The narrow column at the left hand con¬ 
tains figures which correspond to each of the two 
lower divisions, so that if prefixed to a calf, it will 
show, by looking for the same in the middle divi¬ 
sions, its sire, etc., and vice versa. 
Page 8, differs only from the preceding as regards 
the filling up of the middle divisions, females being 
inserted instead of males. The figures in the 
column are continued from page 7. 
Page 30, is headed “ calves.” Four columns are 
there seen designated, for reference to this explana¬ 
tion, A, B, C, D. 
A, contains the numbers of calves. 
B, do names do. 
C, do number of dams. 
D, do concise remarks. 
Here calves are entered soon after being dropped 
Those considered of value as future breeders are 
named, whilst those sold to the butcher or others, 
are merely mentioned by their sex. The privileged 
ones remain in this list until they become parents, 
when they are transferred to the blank register in the 
preceding part of the book. A note of this trans¬ 
fer is made in column D, by a “ Y. p.” For illus¬ 
tration, see Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7. No. 8, a male, 
from No. 2, or Kathleen, is remarked as “B. 116, 
4w. 3c ,” wdiich simply means, “butchered weight,” 
116 pounds, 4 weeks old, 3 cents per pound. See 
also Nos. 9, 30 and 31. Dolly Varden (25) is seen 
to be noticed as “D. Y. Mem.,” meaning “dead, 
vide Memoranda.” Nos. 28 and 29, are “ S. J. 
Brown, lw. $5,” or sold to J. Brown, 1 week old. 
Price $6. 
Page 40, is devoted to “ Memoranda,” or general 
Remarks more in detail than could he elsewhere a) • 
lowed. Calvin Coulter Jr 
_October 29, 1847. 
