MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Jsticniijk and olscful 
“ INFLUENCE OF THE MOON.” 
In the Rural New-Yorker of July 27, 
under the above heading, a correspondent 
signing himself J. O. It., in referring to my 
former communication,! says he “would 
like very much 1 would explain the cause 
of the effect of the intlucnce of the moon on 
timber; ” states he did not believe! “or any 
other mail Can explain it on scientific prin¬ 
ciples," and proceeds:—“I have always 
been skeptical on this subject, and expect 
to remain so until it can be more fully ex¬ 
plained.” 
Now, whoever read my communication 
must have been of the same “belief ’ with 
him in reference to my incapacity to ex¬ 
plain the “ CO use ” of the effect of the influ¬ 
ence of the moon on timber on scientific 
principles; for I had only stall'd tacts that 
I had proved to be correct by oft-repeated 
experiments. Is J- Q. R- an unbeliever in 
all and everything that lias not,been ex¬ 
plained on scientific principles? Does lie 
believe in his own existence? Can he ex¬ 
plain the cause of the various tints and 
shades of the growing grass, or the variety 
of stripes on different blades growing from 
the same root ? In short, “ can he compre¬ 
hend the Almight y, or find out his works to 
perfection!” 
It would certainly be very satisfac¬ 
tory to have the cause of the effect of the 
influence of tile moon on timber ex¬ 
plained; but many theories that at. first 
seemed equally incredible, have subse¬ 
quently been found to be quite in accord¬ 
ance with science. It has, for a long time, 
been generally believed t hat the moon had 
an influence on, or was the cause of the. 
ocean tide; and that it had an mfiuence on 
persons having an impediment in their 
speech, called stuttering; and 1 have my¬ 
self known, for a long time past, several 
such persons, who have stated t o me that 
thej r knew that the moon had an effect on 
them; and, from my experience, 1 should 
say it had on t he flesh of animals slaughtered 
in the waning of the moon, causing it to 
shrink on boiling, somet imes to one-half the 
lengt h of the bone that had been cut of an 
equal length. Experience also Inclines me 
to the belief that peas sowed in the waning 
or dark of the mown grow less straw, are 
less inclined to mildew, grow more pods, 
and ripen up better t han when sown in the 
increase of the moon that is, if the soil and 
weather are such that the grain will vege¬ 
tate at once, BO that it does not lie in a dor¬ 
mant state until the right time in the moon 
has passed by, for t have doubts as to t he 
moon having any iutiueuoe on what lies in a 
dead or dormant state, Nor do i believe, 
nor have 1 ever heard it said, as J. O. It. 
says lie has, “that there was a day in Au¬ 
gust, when the moon was right, on which, 
if an ax be struck into a living, healt hy tree, 
it would immediately wither and die; but 
Ido know, having been taught by experi¬ 
ence, that it trees (having but a thin sap) 
are girdled, as it is termed, or out round 
them through their sap, in the dark of the 
moon, they will wither and die in a few 
hours, when, if girdled in the same manner 
at another tilin', they will remain green and 
apparently healthy for a week, and some¬ 
times t wo weeks, 
,1. O. 11. admits the necessity of having 
this theory investigated, and says, “ it can¬ 
not be denied that the public need light oil 
this important subject. 1 It was for this 
reason I sent you my communication at the 
proper time for investigation — when the 
bark could be easily peeled off the tree; and 
I regretted that, the press of matter then on 
hand for the Rural caused some delay in 
its insertion; still there was ample time for 
your correspondent J. O. R. to have tested 
my theory, and then had the result pub¬ 
lished to the world. This would have been 
more in accordance with his professions, 
than to send you an inconsistent and uon- 
semical art icle on a subject he avows him¬ 
self to be skeptical and ignorant upon. Is 
it not of more importance to know the best 
time for cutting timber, than to know the 
cause of the effect, scientifically ? 
Port Nelson, Ontario. P. Fisher. 
—.- - — 
LIGHTNING RODS. 
Will yon please give ns through your 
columns some information about lightning 
rods? Are they any protection against 
electricity or not? If so, which is the best, 
which the strongest conductor—iron, cop¬ 
per or mixed metal? Are the twisted rods 
as good as smooth ones? Does the past 
history of rods show them to be a protec¬ 
tion or not? Did they ever fail to conduct 
electricity to the earth when put up on 
scientific* principles and in good repair' 
Would you advise to put them on a budding 
or not?* Is it our duty to protect ourselves 
by their use or not? J have written this 
much in regard to the utility of lightning- 
rods, because t here arc so many being put up 
all through the country. Now, if there is 
no prot ection in them, what an imposition 
ami humbug they must he! And what a 
shameful waste of property if they are use¬ 
less! But. if they are a protection to life 
and property, then is it not a duty to un¬ 
derstand their value, and t o avail ourselves 
of it.—Li. Ellis. 
I. We believe lightning-rods properly 
made and put. up, are a protection to build¬ 
ings, and that it will pay thus to protect 
them. 
J. Copper is the best material in use. 
Iron is used, however. A good authority 
recommends an iron bar one inch wide and 
three sixteenths of an inch thick; if a cop¬ 
per rod, one inch wide and a twelfth ora 
tenth of an inch thick. 
3. The best authorities do not, however, 
regard form so important as quantity of 
metal in securing conducting power. 
4. We advise our correspondent, however, 
if he desires to investigate this subject 
thoroughly, to send for a little work en¬ 
titled “Lightning Rods and IIow to Con¬ 
struct Them,” by Thin, It may be pro¬ 
cured at this office, 
-—--- 
SCIENTIFIC AND USEFUL NOTES. 
For Rc-Shftrponing Files.—The follow¬ 
ing is given by an exchange as useful and 
effective; but we have not tried it.— Wash 
the files in a solution of warm water and 
potash until thoroughly cleansed, after 
which wash the files in warm water; then 
put one pint of warm water in a wooden 
dish, in which place as many files as the wa¬ 
ter will cover; add to this two ounces of 
borax and two of blue vltrol, finely pulver¬ 
ized together. Stir up the files well and add 
two ounces of sulphuric acid by weight; to 
(his add one quarter ounce of vinegar 
The files will turn red. When they again 
resume their natural color, take them out 
and wash them in cold water, after which 
they must be thoroughly oiled with sweet 
oil, and wrapped singly in brown wrapping 
paper which will absorb the oil from the 
files. _ 
How to Fasten Rubber to Wood and 
Metal. — As rubber plates and rings are 
uow-a-days used almost exclusively for 
making connections between steam and 
other pipes and apparatus, much annoyance 
is often experienced by the impossibility or 
imperfection of an air-tight connection. 
This is obviated entirely by employing a 
cement which fastens alike well to the rub¬ 
ber and to the metal or wood. Such cement 
is prepared by a solution of shellac in am¬ 
monia. This is best made by soaking pul¬ 
verized gum shellac in ten times its weight 
of st rong ammonia, when a slimy mass is 
obtained, which in three to four weeks will 
become liquid without, the use of hot water. 
This softens the rubber, and becomes, after 
volatilization of the ammonia, hard and im¬ 
permeable to gases and tluids.— A un vieon 
Artisan. _ 
Fire-Proof Wood for Building.—Wood 
may be rendered nearly as capable of resis¬ 
ting lire as brick or stone, without great la¬ 
bor or expense, by soaking the dried lum¬ 
ber a short time in a solution of soluble 
glass, a silicate of soda or potash, and after¬ 
wards immersing it in lime water, by which 
the pores of the wood arc tilled with a silicate 
of lime. This substance is fire-proof, and 
cannot be dissolved iu water, and its pres¬ 
ence and effect iu the fiber of the wood are 
therefore permanent. Soluble glass is readi¬ 
ly obtained, being already largely used in 
this country. This is not patented. 
Simple Reading Chair.—A correspond¬ 
ent of the English Mechanic furnishes an 
illustration of a simple reading chair—de¬ 
vised to correct and prevent round shoul¬ 
ders and curved spines. The illustrations 
(see page 157) tell the story of construction 
completely. Evidently anyone who knows 
how to use tools can make one. It may he 
very plain, or it may bo elaborately uphol¬ 
stered. It is a good device, and one or two 
such chairs in a family would be found con¬ 
venient and comfortable. 
How to Stop a Pinhole in Lead Pipe.— 
Take a ten-penny nail, place the square end 
upon the hole, and hit it two or three slight 
blows with a hammer, and the orifice is 
closed as tight as though you had employed 
a plumber to do it at a cost of a dollar jor 
riugicnit ^Information. 
WHAT FOLKS ARE MADE OF. 
The number of bones in a human body is 
generally estimated at 245, of which there 
are. reckoned in the skull, head and fare, (51; 
in the trunk, 04; iu the arms and hands, 
60; and in the legs and feet, (HI. The weight 
of the skeleton is about one-tenth the 
weight of the whole body. 
Bone, when used as a lever, is 22 times as 
strong as sandstone, M.!times as strong as 
lead, nearly 2;\ : times as st rong as Elm and 
Ash, and twice as strong as Box, Y r ew and 
Oak t imber. 
The number of muscles in man is 540, be¬ 
ing more than twice the number of the 
bones. The bulk of the body, upon an aver¬ 
age, is equal to a cube of a litttle more than 
sixteen inches on a side, and the amount of 
water equals a cube a lit l ie more than four¬ 
teen inches on a side, or nearly three-fourths 
of the body. 
An adult drinks about fifteen hundred 
pounds of water yearly, and throws off, 
through the various waste-gates, nineteen 
hundred pounds. The difficulty of account¬ 
ing for the four hundred pounds has led 
si one to suppose that t he water is formed 
in the system by the union of oxygen and 
hydrogen. 
The salts that have been enumerated are 
found in almost every part of the body. 
Common salt (chloride of sodium) is found 
in every Jluid and solid, except enamel. 
The whole amount in the human body is 
277 grains. It serves many important uses. 
Carbonic acid is found in the lungs, ali¬ 
mentary canal, the blood and urine, llie 
amount of carbonic acid, however, varies, 
being from one to three pounds in twenty- 
four hours, and the causes of variation are 
temperature, age, sex, state of health or 
disease, development of the body, muscular 
exertion or repose. This gas (carbonic acid) 
contains iu every 100 pounds 28 pounds or 
carbon (charcoal) and 72 pounds of oxygen 
(gas), lienee, the maximum weight of car¬ 
bon which escapes in this form from the 
lungs of a full-grown man is about fifteen 
ounces in twenty-four hours. 
The average amount of air which passes 
in and out of the lungs at each inspiration 
and expiration is about 20 cubic inches; the 
amount passed through them iu twenty- 
four hours is about (122,000 cubic inches, or, 
as others estimate it, from 3.000 to5,000 gal- 
luus every day. This varies greatly. In 
t he first place, the lower the temperature 
t he greater the amount of animal heat to be 
generated, and, consequently, the greater 
the amount of air to be consumed. Also, a 
person laboring iu the open air breathes 
more deeply t han one confined to the house. 
From a series of 5,000 observations made by 
Dr. H tTTCHi vsjyx, the following principle is 
deduced:—“For every inch of stature from 
five to six feet, eight additional cubic inches 
of air are given out at a forced expiration 
after a full inspiration.” That is, if a per¬ 
son live feet six inches iu bight can expire 
422 cubic inches, a person live feet seven 
incites can expire 4M0 cubic inches. 
The nails of the hand grow about two- 
filths of a line per week, while those of the 
fei-t require four times that period for the 
same amount of growth. Cases arewn record 
where the. nails have been shed periodically, 
q’jje time necessary for a nail to grow its 
w hole length v aries from twelve to twenty 
weeks. The nails are thickest at their most 
convex portions, instead of their edges; they 
grow only so long as they are out, and among 
the literary class of the Chinese, who never 
cut their nails, they are said to attain only 
a length of two inches. 
In man, the average weight of the brain 
is 54 ounces; iu females, 45. The average 
capaoity of the crania of Germans and 
Anglo-Saxons is 90 cubic inches. Daniel 
Webster's cranium contained 122 cubic 
inches. 
The amount of blood in a healthy body is 
about eighteen pounds, or ten quarts. The 
heart is six inches in length and four inches 
in diameter, and beats 70 per minute, 4,200 
times per hour, 100,800 times per day, 80,- 
722,001 times per year, 2 505,410,000 times in 
t hree-score and ten ; at each beat 2 7ounces 
of blood are thrown out of it; 175 ounces 
per minute, 050 pounds per hour, 7/.i tons 
per day. In an ordinary life of a man, the 
heart beats at least 3.000,00(1,0011 times, and 
propels through the aorta 1,500,000 tons of 
blood. 
The amount of gastrio juice secreted by 
the stomach of a well-fed, grown person 
has been estimated at from 00 to 80 ounces 
iu twenty-four hours. A healthy stomach 
contains no gastric juice except where food 
is taken, and by its contact with the surface 
of the mucous membrane excites the secret¬ 
ing organs to pour out the gastric lluid in 
the requisite quantity. If the stomach is 
in a healthy condition, and the braiu 
healthy, the quantity of gastric juice gener¬ 
ated or throwm out will be just sufficient for 
healthy digestion. If the condition of either 
organ be impaired, t he gastric juice secreted 
may be either deficient in quantity or viti¬ 
ated in quality. 
Let us study ourselves, that we may un¬ 
derstand ourselves better. The proper 
study of mankind is Man. 
Leander G. Baooerly. 
South Butler, N. Y. 
-♦-*-•*-- 
HYGIENIC NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Anaesthetic Glycerole for Burns, etc. 
—Dr De BRUVNE.in the Journo? dc Brux¬ 
elles, extols the following liniment for 
burns, etc.:— 
H Freshly precipitated hydrateof lime,grammes iij. 
Glycerine... " cl. 
Mix, and heat moderately, and then add : 
Chlorinated cblorobydrie other. grammes iij. 
The liquid t hus obtained is transparent 
and clear. A compress of fine liueu is thor¬ 
oughly wet with this aud applied on the 
burnt part, immediately over this is to be 
placed a picco of gold-beater’s skin, imper¬ 
meable taffeta, or even flannel, so as to se¬ 
cure complete occlusion, and prevent the 
evaporation of liniment. 
Dr. 1 )k Bruvne is convinced of the bene¬ 
ficial effects of this dressing, not only in 
burns, but also in ill-conditional wounds: 
in atonic, callous, fungous, and foul ulcers; 
and likewise in certain cutaneous diseases, 
especially such as arc dry aud squamous, 
accompanied with pruritus. 
Arsenic in Dyspepsia.—Dr ,J. (’. Thor- 
owooop, in the Practitioner, speaks highly 
of the action of arsenic in many diseases of 
the stomach. lie has found that one-drop 
doses of Fowler’s solution in half an ouuce 
of infusion of Culumba had the effect, in a 
case lie treated, of allaying the pain, stop¬ 
ping the vomiting of food, and enublingthe 
patient to eat and digest small quantities 
of mutton. 11c states that the small irrita¬ 
ble tongue, with projecting papillic and yel¬ 
low or gray fur, indicates arsenic. The 
nmro purely local the gastric symptoms, 
the better is the chance of arsenic doing 
good. Where there is much general ex¬ 
haustion of tho system, with disordered 
urine or hepatic congestion, it does not 
promise much._ 
Remedy fox* Ague. —I promised some 
time ago to send you a recipe for ague 
which I never know to fail. There must be 
some good brandy, black pepper and a piece 
of flannel large enough to cover the bow els 
handy. When the chill is at its bight, let 
the person go to bed. Now let some other 
person dip the flannel in the cold brandy. 
Don’t wriiig out the flannel. Spread it on 
the table, dust it over with the pepper out 
of tho castor, then spread it over the 
bowels, pepper side down ; at tho same t ime 
give half a wineglassful of the brandy and 
half a teaspoonful of tho pepper to drink; 
Ibis must be done when the chill is at its 
bight.—NV ilh Irish Girl. 
Offensive Breatli.—For this purpose, 
almost the only substance that should be 
admitted at the toilet is the concentrated 
solution of chloride of soda. From six to ten 
drops in a wineglass full of pure spring wa¬ 
ter, to be taken immediately after the oper¬ 
ations in the morning are completed. In 
some cases the odor arising from curious 
teeth is combined with that of the stomach. 
If the mouth be well rinsed with a teaspoon¬ 
ful of the solution of the chloride in a tum¬ 
bler of water, the bad odor of the teeth will 
be removed,— Journal of Chemistry. 
Hygienic Rules.—Never eat when much 
fatigued; wait until rested. 
Never eat just before you expect to en¬ 
gage iu any severe mental or physical exer¬ 
cise. 
Never eat while in a passion, or when un¬ 
der a great mental .excitement, depressing 
or elevating. 
Never eat just bejore taking a bath of any 
kind, or just before retiring at night. 
Never eat between regular meals. 
Reuuly for Burns.— I send a remedy 
for burns, which we have tried w ith perfect 
success. It is SO simple that 1 think it pre¬ 
ferable to anything 1 ever heard of. Take 
oue teacup of lard and the whites of two 
eggs; work together as much as it can be, 
then spread on cloths aud apply. Change 
as often as necessary.—s. L. 
