circumstances the action of these powerful 
compounds is so rapid that but little chance 
of escape is afforded to the patient. Little 
can be done, even for the relief of the unfor¬ 
tunate victims. There are three strong min¬ 
eral acids in common use,—sulphuric acid, 
or oil of vitriol; nitric acid, or aquafortis, 
and hydrochloric acid, or spirit of salt, 
known also ns muriatic acid. There is little 
difference in the treatment which Should be 
pursued when cither one of them is taken. 
Large quantities of chalk and water, or soda 
and water followed l> 3 r an emetic, is the best 
course. It is possible that the powerful ac¬ 
tion of the acid may so paralyze the stomach 
as to prevent the action of the emetic. In 
such cases the stomach pump should he used 
to withdraw the acids, warm water being 
used in large quantity to wash out the last 
traces of the poisonous matter, and a little 
alkali should be administered to neutralize 
' the remainder. 
When the acid fills on the clothing and 
saturates it so as to reach the skin, a little 
heat will probably be felt, owing to the fact 
that the removal of the acid and its dilution 
with water is prevented. But. this need cause 
no uneasiness. Use plenty of water, and no 
difficulty will he experienced. If water is 
not at, hand, wipe off the acid as carefully as 
possible with a cloth. If the acid should 
get into the eyes, plunge the face instantly 
into the water, and open the eyelids with 
the fingers, so that the eyeballs may he 
thoroughly washed. If this could he done 
instantly, m cases where vitriol has been 
thrown in the face, the sight might he saved, 
hut the delay of even a few seconds will al¬ 
low the acid to act to such an extent as to 
destroy the power of vision. 
Among the organic acids there is only 
one in common use which has been fre¬ 
quently the occasion of difficulty, and that 
is the oxalic, 
CHURNS AND CHURNING 
remembered, however, that those had effects 
arise from nothing truly poisonous in these 
liquids, but simply from their powerfully 
corrosive action, and to prevent or stop this 
action should he our first object. The ac¬ 
tion of these acids seems to depend largely 
upon their affinity for water, and when they 
are greatly diluted they cease to injure the 
skin, unless in cases where it is exposed to 
them for a very long time. Hence one. of 
the best remedies for such accidents is water. 
Plunge into water the part on which the 
acid has been spilt, move it about rapidly in 
this liquid, and in a few seconds all further 
evil effects wiil he stopped. We may here 
note an objection to the use of water which 
we once heard urged by a lecturer on chem¬ 
istry, who was evidently not au fait in this 
matter. “If,” said he, “we pour water on 
sulphuric acid, great heat will he generated, 
and the flesh will he scalded, which may be 
worse than the action of the acid.” it is 
true that when one part of sulphuric acid is 
mixed with two or even three parts of water, 
great heat is generated—enough, if the acid 
be strong, to boil water. But one part of 
acid and fifteen parts of water form a. mix¬ 
ture which is not much warmer than blood- 
heat. Nothing need be feared, therefore, on 
this score, provided abundance of water 
is used. 
rtslnntbrp 
To the best, of our recollection, very few, 
if anyone, in the household contends for the 
privilege of churning. Of our boyhood days 
the old dash-chum in the corner for evening 
exercise, will not early lade from remem¬ 
brance. Now-a-day they have applied in¬ 
vention to lessening the labor and also put 
in claims to improvements in other respects. 
We present the readers of the Rural illus¬ 
trations of the Blanchard Churn. Little 
need be said by way of description, as the 
cuts tell the most of the 6tory. The manu¬ 
facturers claim that it is made of the best 
material, the few joints are cemented with 
white lead, so they cannot leak; it lias no 
zinc about it, so there will be no trouble 
with butter sticking to it. 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., EDITOR, 
Or I.ITTI.K Falun, Cockty, Ni» Vokk. 
CHESTER WHITES NO BREED, 
I see many interesting articles in your pa¬ 
per in relation to the different breeds of swine 
and their respective merits. I wish to say a 
word on the hog question, especially in rela¬ 
tion to the breed called Chester White, if 
there is such a breed, which I seriously 
doubt; for I have often traveled through 
Chester couuty. Pa., which is said to he the 
home or origin of this wonderful liog. I 
have been in nearly every township in Ches¬ 
ter county, and all through Eastern Pennsyl¬ 
vania. By what right is this title of “ pure 
blood Chester Whites” claimed? From 
what source did they derive their origin? 
The anaiyer will settle the question in rela¬ 
tion to their right to the title of pure bloods. 
I have 3 r et to learn that there is aily regular 
shape or form to the so-called Chester White; 
for I find that nowhere in Chester county, 
Pa., here or elsewhere, that I have seen him, 
does lie possess an 3 r distinctive features that 
are so marked as to he transmitted with any 
degree of certainty. 
Now, we say that, we believe that the law 
that “like begets like” is true, and that, if 
the Chester White was a pure blooded race, 
like all other races of animals, it would pos¬ 
sess certain characteristics so marked as al¬ 
ways to he transmitted. The hog called 
Chester White is very often a coarse-haired, 
coarse-honed, long-sided, long-snouted, large, 
lop-eared creature; at others, a fine-boned, 
fine-lmired, quite good - proportioned hog; 
and very often we find a soi l of wool next 
to the skin, which holds the dirt, and unless 
washed often and kept in clean straw, will 
become very scurvey, 
Now, sir, from all the experience I have 
with these creatures called Chester Whites, 
I am forced to say “ humbug I” and that they 
are not a race of pure blooded stock. They 
are unlike the Suffolk, Yorkshire, Berkshire, 
Essex or Cheshire, for these all possess char¬ 
acteristics unmistakable that they transmit 
to their progeny with certainty. 
The people have been humbugged long 
enough, and it is time to put a stop to it. 
We w ant good stock sent over the country, 
and we know that the people are willing to 
pay for it. Breeders and shippers, no matter 
what kind of stock 3 T ou ship, send out none 
but the best. The prices you ask are high 
enough to entitle the purchaser to a good 
hog, at least, though he be not a pure blood. 
Should the truth, on careful investigation, 
bring this so-called Chester White into dis¬ 
repute, it will have done the shippers of 
worthless creatures justice, and the people 
will say—So mote it be. 
E. A. Hewitt. 
Groton, Conn., April, 1870. 
The self-adjusting arrangement of the 
floats to the dasher, gives two motions to 
the cream with only one revolution of the 
crank, so that it does not require to he turned 
quickly. The irons are tinned, to prevent 
rusting. The hollow on the inside of the 
dasher carries air into the cream at each 
revolution, thus applying the aerating prin¬ 
cipal of the atmospheric churn. 
This acid is frequently found 
among the articles provided for household 
use, being used for cleaning brass and vari¬ 
ous metals, as well as for removing stains of 
ink and iron mould. In former times it was 
used for cleaning boot tops and for some 
other purposes. In appearance it resembles 
epsom salts so closely that even experienced 
chemists might be deceived, if it, were not 
for the taste, for while the acid is intensely 
sour the salts are as intensely hitter. 
The proper antidote to oxalic acid is some 
form of lime, and the best, method of admin¬ 
istering it Is to mix finely pulverized chalk 
with water to the consistency of cream and 
swallow it. It is a singular fact that when 
oxalic acid is largely diluted with water, it 
acts very rapidly and energetically, destroy¬ 
ing life almost with the rapidity of prussic 
acid. Hence to administer soapy wait r, or 
any other very diluted remedy, would be 
almost fatal. And yet this course was ac¬ 
tually recommended by one of our popular 
monthly agricultural journals!! 
Potash and soda neutralize the acid pro¬ 
perties of oxalic acid, but not its poisouous 
qualities. Oxalate of lime, however, is as 
perfectly insoluble and perfectly inert as 
any substance known. As, however, the 
combination of oxalic acid with lime may he 
disturbed by some of the acids of the stom¬ 
ach, it is well to remove the offensive matter 
b 3 r means of an emetic as soon as possible. 
Oxalic acid is present as oxalate of lime 
in many plants, the most important being 
rhubarb or pie plant. It is supposed that 
the acid exists in combination with lime in 
the leaf stalk, or that part generally used as 
food while it exists in combination with 
potash, as binoxilatcof potash, in the leaves. 
Hence it has been found that while the foot 
stalks of the leaves may in general he eaten 
with impunity, the leaves themselves have 
frequently produced serious consequences. 
In one recorded case a family of four per¬ 
sons w r ere attacked with severe vomiting 
after eating freely of the leaves of the do¬ 
mestic rhubarb or pie plant, which had been 
boiled and served as “ greens.” And it is 
not many months since five pigs were poi¬ 
soned in Pennsylvania by having a quantity 
of rhubarb leaves thrown to them. 
This shows that the leaves ought to be 
avoided; and it might he -well to suggest 
caution in the use of the stalks. Some per¬ 
sons may eat them with perfect impunity, and 
even with benefit, while others are seriously 
injured by them. This may, perhaps, be 
owing to the peculiar acid or other secre¬ 
tions of certain individuals. We know that 
oxalate of liute, although insoluble in pure 
water, is slightly soluble in some of the se¬ 
cretions; for it is very Ifee’.y excreted by 
the kidneys, and while in this dissolved con¬ 
dition it is not impossible that the lime com¬ 
pound may he decomposed by some stronger 
acid, and the oxalic acid tbu3 set free so as 
to act injuriously. Where evil arises from 
the use of rhubarb or rhubarb leaves, chalk 
finely powdered, mixed with water and 
speedily followed by an emetic, is the best 
treatment. 
It sometimes liappens that these acids pro¬ 
duce external injuries of a serious character. 
Oil of vitriol, or nitric acid, when brought 
into contact with an> r part of the body cor¬ 
rodes it with great energy, and produces 
wounds of a serious character. It should be 
SUGAR SIRUPS 
or Win tori ini Beet 
I will give a little of our experience in 
regard to wintering bees on sugar sirup. 
Last season was the poorest one for bees in 
ibis part,of the country that has been known 
for many years. We had so much cold, wet 
weather, that when the bees could get out 
of their hives, there was not much lioncy 
for them to gather. In the spring of 1869 
my brother and myself had one hundred 
and forty-three colonies, all in movable 
comb hives. They did very well the fore 
part of the season, gathering considerable 
honey from the maple and dandelion, and 
rearing much brood. Tiny began to swarm 
the 17th of June, and we went to work di¬ 
viding them. We increased them to two 
hundred and fifty swarms. Had we known 
that it was going to be such a poor season 
for bees, we should not have increased them 
much. Some colonies that we did not di¬ 
vide! stored nearly enough to winter them. 
They stored honey slowly until about the 
lOtli of July, when the honey harvest 
failed, and they began to drawn on the 
stores, and by the 1st of October they did 
not have more than ten pounds of honey on 
an average. 
We never had much experience in winter¬ 
ing bees on sugar-sirup before, and did not 
know as they would do well on it, but 
thought we would try. We reduced the 
number of our colonies to two hundred and 
eleven, nearly all Italians, by uniting the 
weakest ; then fed them in September and 
the fore part of October with sugar sirup, 
made by taking good coffee sugar and put¬ 
ting in half as many pounds of water as su¬ 
gar, bringing it to a boiling point and skim¬ 
ming it. We intended to have fed them 
enough to have lasted until we set them out 
in the spring; but owing to the winter hold¬ 
ing on longer than usual, some of them be¬ 
came light, and we had to feed them more, 
which we did by hanging in frames of comb 
filled wit h sirup. 
We winter our bees in a dark, dry cellar, 
and do not like to disturb them much unless 
it is absolutely necessary, as it, makes them 
uneasy. They have wintered finely so far. 
Those that we fed nearly all sirup have done 
just ns well as those that had all honey. 
There has not been a day that bees could 
11 y, without losing a good many, since the 
4th day of November, making nearly five 
mouths that they have been confined to the 
lilve. We have lost but four colonies, and 
those were lost by starving. The bees will 
nearly all starve in this section, as there is 
not much attention paid to them. I think 
three-fourths are already dead. One man 
not a great way from us has lost one hun¬ 
dred colonies—nearty all he had. We-ex¬ 
pect to have to feed enough to make about 
3,000 pounds; hut our courage is good yet. 
L. W. Baldwin. 
Sandusky, O., March, 1870. 
It will bring the butter as quickly as it 
ought, as every dairymaid knows that it is 
not the butter that comes quickest that is 
best, temperature and state of cream having 
much influence therewith. It claims to 
work the butter free from buttermilk, in the 
churn, without any change of dasher, quicker 
and better than it can be done by hand. 
This is done by the well known principle in 
mechanics called the “ cam-pressure,” one of 
the surest and strongest known, and to work 
in the salt in the same way. The chum is 
cleaned by' putting into it a dipper full of 
boiling water, and giving the crank half a 
dozen turns. 
To those of our readers who desire further 
information, reference may he had to the 
advertising columns of the Rural. 
MILK AND MILK-TESTERS, 
Milk tor n Pound of Cthvosr—Instrument!* 
for Tenting Milk, Arc. 
Harvey II. Walhatu, Kalamazoo, Mich., 
who has recently erected a cheese factory 
and proposes to purchase the milk to supply 
liis factory, makes the following inquiries:— 
“ How many pounds of milk will it take 
for a pound of cheese ? 
“ VVhat, are the best instruments fortesting 
the quality of milk—showing whether it 
has been diluted with water, and where can 
they be obtained ?" &c. 
Milk varies in quality at, different seasons 
on account of food of the cows, length of 
time from the period of calving, and from 
various other circumstances, affecting the 
cows. 
Toward the close of the season, when 
cows begin to fall off in milk, it is richer 
and will make considerably more cheese 
than the same quantity yieided by them in 
June. When milk is to he purchased for 
cheese making, the purchaser should flx a 
price for the whole season’s milk, or else 
make t wo prices, one for tho summer and 
the other for the fall milk. 
At the New York factories ten pounds of 
milk are usually taken as an average during 
the season, for one pound of cured (market¬ 
able) cheese. This is considered a safe esti¬ 
mate, though some factories occasionally 
over-run this quantity, while many others 
report a pound of cured cheese from nine 
|V, ami a-half pounds or Jess of milk as their 
average. 
Hi lu New York the milk is not generally 
rdk purchased by the proprietors of factories, 
pT hut is made up into cheese for patrons at a 
fixed price per pound. The system, tlicre- 
fore, of weighing t he milk at the factory is 
often very loose. Manufacturers desiring to 
make a favorable record, not uufrequently 
J\_ £>ve light weights, taking a few pounds every 
ngicnic information 
POISONS—II, 
Popular Information in Regard to Poisons 
and their Antidotes. 
It would he impossible to classify the va¬ 
rious poisons in a popular article like the 
present, therefore we shall not attempt it. 
Wo propose to give merely a list of the more 
common and dangerous articles which have 
produced serious consequences, whether by 
being sivallowed directly, as, for example, by 
mistake, accident or with suicidal intent, or 
indirectly, as when food is poisoned by the 
corrosive of the vessels in which it, lias 
been contained. For convenience, however, 
we shall follow nearly the order in which 
the poisons have been enumerated by Tay¬ 
lor, in his work on this subject. 
Acidi. 
The stronger acids, whether of mineral or 
organic origin, are powerful poisons, and 
have frequently caused death. At first sight 
it would he supposed that their very harsh 
and corrosive character would prevent their 
ever being taken into the stomach, and this 
is true, at least as to the administration of 
these substances to others with criminal in¬ 
tent, Cases have occurred where the min¬ 
eral acids have been mixed with food, but 
their intensely sour taste has invariably 
caused their detection and rejection. When 
taken into the mouth or stomach, they cause 
instant and most excruciating pain, and yet 
in. the face of this they have been swallowed 
with suicidal intent, and women have ad¬ 
ministered them to young children for the 
purpose of destroying the little innocents. 
It is unfortunately the case, that under such 
Lameness in Uocs 
Is sometimes caused by the large pores in 
the back part of the legs getting clogged. 
They are sometimes called air holes. They 
are a little above the knuckles iu back part 
of the legs. Wash the lame legs with soap 
and lukewarm water, using a stiff brush and 
rubbing hard till the pores open, and when 
the pores are washed open the lameness will 
leave. 
A Heavy Hog. 
Francis Buck writes us:—“Mr. E. G. 
Arnold, Boonville, Oneida county, N. Y., 
killed a hog last Monday that weighed 808% 
pounds. He was fed meal about four months 
before killing, and was three years old ; the 
pork brought $14 per hundred.” We do not 
regard this very remarkable weight for a 
three -year-old. We wish correspondents 
would name the breed, and he more specific 
in details as to food and manner of feeding. 
Poison Cheese,— E. A. VARNUM, Parle Co., Col. 
Ter,, writes “There is one thing that will 
make cheese poisonous, and that is hog’s ren¬ 
net. 1 don’t know why. The symptoms are 
about the same as those described In the Rural 
M arch o, Page 158.” 
Diiii-y Inquiries.— A Subscriber, East Randolph, 
N. Y., asks the correspondent who makes fifty 
pounds of butter more per annum from a cow 
by churning all the milk, to give the process iu 
Rural. 
