Iht  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
775 
Health  Notes 
Things  to  Eat 
Herb  Remedies  for  Bright's  Disease 
On  page  547  I  find  among  health  notes 
an  article  on  Bright’s  disease  signed  W. 
Iv.  The  formula  given  for  remedy  con¬ 
sists  of  various  herbs.  I  have  inquired 
at  six  different  drugstores  which  I 
thought  would  carry  these  old-fashioned 
remedies,  but  cannot  buy  them. 
New  York.  mrs.  h.  f.  a. 
I  am  afraid  that  you  will  have  trouble 
ing  getting  these  herbs,  as  only  the  popu¬ 
lar  names  are  given,  and  popular  names 
vary  so  much  in  different  localities  that 
they  are  nearly  useless  in  identifying  a 
plant.  If  your  druggist  cannot  get  them 
through  the  regular  wholesale  drug 
houses,  it  is  because  they  are  not  ordi¬ 
narily  used  in  medicine  and  there  is  no 
call  for  them.  Should  you  be  able  to  get 
“tumbleweed.”  for  instance,  you  would 
have  no  assurance  that  you  had  the  tum¬ 
bleweed  of  the  originator  of  the  formula, 
for  there  are  many  “tumbleweeds,”  or 
plants  that  shed  their  seeds  upon  being 
tumbled  along  over  the  ground  by  the 
wind.  However,  you  need  not  feel  that 
you  are  losing  anything  by  not  being  able 
to  find  these  herbs;  there  is  no  reason 
whatever  for  thinking  that  they  could 
cure  or  materially  help  a  case  of  Bright’s 
disease,  and  if  dependence  upon  them  to 
the  neglect  of  rational  measures  was 
practiced,  the  administration  might  easily 
do  harm.  It  is  hard  to  get  rid  of  the 
feeling  that  there  must  be  healing  virtue 
in  various  combinations  of  herbs,  for  that 
feeling  has  become  ingrained  through 
generations  of  doctoring  by  amateurs  and 
professionals.  There  is  enough  mystery 
about  such  medication  to  make  it  appeal 
to  all  who  like  to  “doctor,”  and  there 
seems  to  be  complaisant  or  cowed  invalids 
who  will  drink  the  concoctions.  M.  u.  d. 
Measles,  Cats  and  Birds 
A  physician  in  attendance  on  a  case  of 
measles'  made  the  remark  that  “house 
cats  would  spread  the  disease  through  the 
neighborhood.”  Are  cats  dangerous  pets 
in  epidemics?  G.  S.  T. 
Middletown,  Conn. 
Cats  not  being  subject  to  measles.  I 
know  of  but  one  way  in  which  they 
could  spread  the  infection  through  the 
neighborhood,  that  is  by  carrying  the 
poison  of  the  disease  upon  their  fur.  This 
is  such  a  wholly  unlikely  method  of 
transmission  that  it  need  not  be  taken 
seriously,  though  it  would  not  do  to  say 
that  it  is  impossible.  Measles  is  spread 
almost  entirely  by  direct  contact  with 
a  patient  suffering  from  it,  probably 
rarely  in  any  other  way.  The  contagion 
of  this  infection  is  found  in  the  secre¬ 
tions  of  the  nose  and  throat.  These  se¬ 
cretions  may  be  sprayed  into  the  air  by 
coughing  and  sneezing,  reaching  those 
who  may  be  within  a  distance  of  a  few 
feet,  and  they  may,  of  course,  soil  ob¬ 
jects  which  others  will  handle  before  the 
poison  has  lost  its  virulence.  Still,  de¬ 
spite  the  rapidity  and  certainty  with 
which  measles  spreads  among  those  who 
have  not  previously  had  it,  its  striking 
distance  is  believed  to  be  short. 
The  difficulty  in  controlling  measles, 
and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  control  its 
spread  by  quarantine,  lies  in  the  fact 
that  both  old  and  young  are  susceptible 
to  it.  and  that  it  is  most  contagious  be¬ 
fore  it  is  recognized.  It  begins  with  the 
symptoms  of  an  ordinary  cold,  about 
three  days  before  the  eruption  appears, 
and  during  these  three  days  the  one 
about  to  “come  down”  with  it  mingles 
freely  with  others,  in  school  and  else¬ 
where,  receiving  condolences  upon  having 
such  a  cold  and  handing  out,  in  return 
for  them,  the  germs  which  are  no  re¬ 
specters  of  persons.  Only  those  who 
have  previously  had  the  disease  need 
expect  to  escape,  but  none  should  ex¬ 
po  ;e  themselves  needlessly.  While  or¬ 
dinarily  a  mild  affection,  there  is  always 
danger  of  disabling,  and  even  fatal,  com¬ 
plications.'  The  pneumonia  which  often 
follows  in  adults  is  a  particularly  fatal 
form,  and  in  children  measles  may  lay 
the  foundation  of  most  serious  disorders. 
The  younger  the  child,  the  greater  the 
danger,  consequently  the  longer  it  can 
be  avoided  the  better. 
As  to  cats  being  a  source  of  danger  in 
other  epidemics,  there  seems  to  be  little 
evidence  of  it.  There  is  a  popular  belief 
that  they  are  subject  to  diphtheria  and 
may  convey  diphtheria  to  human  beings 
with  whom  they  associate.  Cats  certainly 
are  subject  to  a  disease  which  closely 
resembles  diphtheria  in  humans,  but  the 
evidence  that  the  two  diseases  are  identi¬ 
cal  and  may  be  transferred  from  the  fam¬ 
ily  pets  to  the  family  is  very  slight.  The 
studies  that  have  been  made  to  determine 
the  possibility  of  this  are  far  from  con¬ 
clusive,  and  there  is  yet  no  known 
ground  for  any  panic  over  the  supposed 
danger.  As  in  measles,  diphtheria  is 
conveyed  by  contact  with  the  secretions 
of  the  nose,  mouth  and  throat,  and  it  is 
these  which  must  be  guarded  against. 
There  is  one  disorder,  however,  which 
cats  may  convey  to  their  owners,  that  is 
a  form  of  ringworm,  but,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  number  of  cases  of  ring¬ 
worm  is  small,  in  comparison  with  the 
number  of  cats  daily  fondled,  the  danger 
of  this  does  not  seem  to  be  great. 
Upon  the  whole,  I  think  that  we  may 
give  the  domestic  cat  a  pretty  clean  biil 
of  health.  When  we  consider  that  hydro¬ 
phobia  may  be  contracted  from  the  dog, 
glanders  from  the  horse,  tuberculosis 
from  cows,  tapeworms  and  other  para¬ 
sites  from  the  meat  of  fowls,  cattle  and 
hogs,  and  other  and  very  serious  diseases 
from  such  vermin  as  rats,  fleas,  lice  and 
mosquitoes,  we  shall  have  to  admit  that 
the  lower  animals  play  a  part  in  the 
spread  of  disease  among  humans,  but  we 
shall  hardly  feel  able  to  dispense  with 
our  domestic  animals  because  of  the 
comparatively  infrequent  eases  of  infec¬ 
tion  for  which  they  are  responsible.  In 
the  main,  disease  is  spread  from  man  to 
man,  not  from  the  lower  animals  to  man. 
While  not  free  from  faults,  the  cat 
is  one  of  our  useful  domestic  animals. 
The  part  it  plays  in  keeping  down  the 
number  of  mice  and  rats  fully  counter¬ 
balances  any  harm  it  does  in  destroying 
birds,  probably  far  more  than  counter¬ 
balances  it,  for  birds,  despite  the  senti¬ 
ment  which  their  beauty  and  song  have 
won  for  them,  number  among  their  species 
some  of  our  most  destructive  pests.  Both 
birds  and  cats  have  their  place  in  nature, 
and  the  lovers  of  one  who  would  destroy 
the  other  are  as  simple  in  their  reason¬ 
ing  as  the  Chinaman  who  is  said  to  have 
burned  his  house  in  order  that  he  might 
enjoy  roast  pig.  M.  B.  D. 
Cancer  Cures 
Some  years  ago  I  read  of  a  remedy  for 
cancer.  I  believe  I  read  it  in  the  New 
York  Witness.  It  was  composed  of  car¬ 
bolic  acid  and  glycerine,  and  was  highly 
recommended,  but  I  do  not  know  now  the 
proper  amount  of  each,  and  if  the  mixture 
was  intended  to  be  taken  internally  or  to 
be  applied  locally.  I  thought  perhaps 
some  of  the  large  family  of  R.  N.-Y.  read¬ 
ers  might  know  something  of  this,  and 
be  able.  to  give  information  regarding  its 
composition  and  the  method  of  applica¬ 
tion.^  a.  w.  c. 
Washington,  la. 
It  may  be  that  some  reader  can  supply 
the  formula  for  this  remedy,  but  I  trust 
that  no  sufferer  from  cancer  will  be  mis¬ 
led  into  trying  it  at  the  expense  of  more 
rational  treatment.  You  may  be  quite 
sure  of  this,  for  it  is  the  statement  of 
those  best  qualified  to  speak,  that  there 
js  no  medicine  that  can  be  given,  either 
internally  or  administered  externally, 
that  will  cure  cancer.  If  there  is  any 
exception  to  be  made  to  this  statement, 
it  is  in  favor  of  radium,  though  this 
would  hardly  be  called  medicine.  The  use 
of  radium  has  proved  curative  in  many 
cases  and  holds  out  hope  for  others,  but 
it  has  not  been  uniformly  successful,  by 
any  means,  and  is  still  rated  as  uncertain 
in  its  effects. 
The  best  medical  scientists  living  are 
working  “night  and  day”  on  the  cancer 
problem,  but  they  are  yet  compelled  to 
admit  that  the  cause  is  unknown  and 
that  no  cure  has  been  found,  other  than 
early  removal.  Cancer  is  at  first  a  local 
disease  and.  if  it  is  entirely  removed  be¬ 
fore  it  has  had  an  opportunity  to  send  its 
poison  through  blood  and  lymph  streams 
to  other  parts  of  the  body,  the  chances  are 
very  good  indeed  that  it  will  not  recur. 
If  neglected  until  this  has  happened,  how¬ 
ever.  recovery  is  always  a  matter  of  grave 
doubt. 
It  is  the  necessity  for  this  early  re¬ 
moval  that  makes  temporizing  with  “can¬ 
cer  cures”  so  deplorable.  If  you  have 
any  reason  to  suspect  cancer,  do  not  lose 
a  moment  before  obtaining  the  best  medi¬ 
cal  and  surgical  advice  available  to  you. 
m.  n.  n. 
Early  Spring  Vegetables 
A  fat  robin  redbreast  is  singing  out¬ 
side  my  window.  The  fresh  green  leaves 
of  the  dandelions  show  along  the  edges 
of  the  grass.  Spring  has  come !  We  are 
glad,  because  it  is  so  welcome  after  a 
long  Winter,  but  we  are  glad,  too,  be¬ 
cause  it  brings  us  new  delicious  things  to 
eat.  Tattle  stalks  of  asparagus  are  peep¬ 
ing  up  in  the  garden,  dandelions,  dock 
and  sorrel  invite  us  to  bring  our  baskets 
to  the  fields  to  cut  a  mess  of  greens  for 
dinner.  The  spinach  sown  and  covered 
so  well  last  Fall  is  almost  ready  to  add 
variety  to  many  meals. 
If  we  use  these  fresh  Spring  vegetables 
with  a  lavish  hand  we  will  give  our  sys¬ 
tems  a  pleasant  tonic  that  they  need 
after  a  Winter  of  much  meat  and  other 
heavy  foods.  These  Spring  -vegetables 
clear  the  skin,  brighten  the  eyes  and  do 
away  with  that  tired  feeling  popularly 
known  as  “Spring  fever.”  It  will  pay  to 
eat  plenty  of  them  now.  and  can  and  dry 
all  vou  can  for  next  Winter’s  use. 
The  following  recipes  offer  suggestions 
for  iserving  these  vegetables.  Season 
them  well  and  serve  them  attractively, 
and  your  family  will  enjoy  them  without 
tiring  of  them. 
Asparagus  with  Cheese. — -Tie  aspara¬ 
gus  stalks  together  in  bundles  of  six,  cut 
off  to  an  even  length,  and  cook  rapidly  in 
boiling,  salted  water,  for  10  minutes. 
Then  put  layers  in  a  buttered  baking 
dish  with  a  rich  white  sauce  and  grated 
cheese  between.  Lightly  brown  one  table¬ 
spoon  chopped  onion  in  two  tablespoons 
hot  butter,  pour  over  the  top,  sprinkle 
with  grated  cheese  and  brown  in  a  hot 
oven. 
Asparagus  Jelly  Salad — Allow  the 
coarse  ends  left  from  the  above  recipe  to 
stand  in  the  water  in  which  the  aspara¬ 
gus  was  cooked.  Next  day  strain  the 
water  and  heat  to  boiling.  To  each  1)4 
pint  add  two  teaspoons  granulated  gela” 
tine  previously  soaked  in  one-half  cup 
cold  water.  Add  bits  of  asparagus  tips, 
and  pour  into  individual  molds  to  harden. 
Arrange  each  form  on  lettuce  leaves.  Gar¬ 
nish  with  a  tablespoon  of  chopped  parsley 
and  slices  of  onion.  Serve  with  mayon¬ 
naise,  to  which  has  been  added  chopped 
pimento  peppers. 
Spinach  Salad— Prepare  and  cook  spin¬ 
ach,  seasoning  well  with  salt,  pepper  and 
butter,  or  use  left-over  spinach.  Pack 
into  molds  that  have  been  chilled  with 
cold  water.  Set  away  to  chill.  'When 
ready  to  serve,  turn  on  lettuce  leaves  and 
garnish  with  hardboiled  eggs  and  mayon¬ 
naise  or  boiled  dressing. 
Spinach  ar.d  Chicken  Pudding. — To  one 
cup  of  chopped  cooked  spinach,  add  two 
cups  of  chopped  cooked  chicken  and  one 
well-beaten  egg.  Make  a  sauce  of  one- 
fourth  cup  of  milk,  one  teaspoon  flour,  one 
tablespoon  butter,  one-half  teaspoon  salt 
and  a  little  pepper ;  cook  until  smooth. 
Add  sauce  to  the  chicken  mixture;  mix 
well  ;  pour  into  buttered  pudding  dish 
and  bake  in  a  hot  oven  one-lialf  hour. 
Serve  with  tomato  sauce. 
Gravy  Dandelions.  —  Cook  one-fourth 
peck  young  dandelion  greens  until  tender. 
Chop  fine ;  season  with  salt  and  pepper. 
Melt  two  tablespoons  drippings,  add  two 
tablespoons  flour  and  stir  thoroughly ; 
add  two  cups  of  soup  stock  and  stir  until 
the  mixture  thickens.  Add  the  chopped 
dandelions  and  serve  at  once,  garnished 
with  hard-boiled  eggs.  Spinach,  dock  or 
fresh  cabbage  may  be  cooked  and  served 
in  the  same  way. 
Dandelion  Salad  with  Bacon. — Thor¬ 
oughly  wash  one  quart  of  tender  young 
dandelion  greens.  Dress  with  a  mixture 
of  two  parts  hot  bacon  fat  and  one  part 
vinegar,  a  little  scraped  onion,  salt  and 
pepper.  Garnish  with  tiny  cubes  of 
cooked  bacon  and  serve  at  once. 
Dandelion  Soup. — Make  a  white  sauce 
with  one  tablespoon  butter,  one  table¬ 
spoon  flour,  one  cup  of  milk,  salt  and  pep¬ 
per  .and  the  yolk  of  a  hard-boiled  egg. 
Add  to  the  white  sauce  one  cup  of  dan¬ 
delion  pulp.  Just  before  serving  add  the 
yolk  of  the  egg  pressed  through  a  sieve. 
A  similar  soup  with  spinach  is  delicious, 
and  a  welcome  addition  to  meatless 
means. 
Sorrel  Soup. — Take  two  large  hand¬ 
fuls  of  sorrel  leaves,  wash  them  and  pull 
them  into  shreds.  Have  ready  three  pints 
of  clear  lamb  broth,  which  has  been  well 
strained.  Drop  the  sorrel  into  the  broth 
and  simmer  one-half  hour.  Season  to 
taste  and  serve  with  croutons. 
Sour  dock  may  be  cooked  and  served 
according  to  rules  for  spinach.  It  is 
particularly  good  served  as  “gravy  dock,” 
and  makes  a  good  accompaniment  to  salt 
beef  or  pork.  In  some  sections  poke 
shoots  form  a  common  green  in  early 
Spring.  They  are  sometimes  sold  in  the 
markets  in  bundles,  and  may  be  cooked 
and  served  like  asparagus.  Lambs’  quar¬ 
ters  is  another  common  garden  weed  that 
makes  delicious  eating  in  the  Spring.  It 
is  prepared  like  spinach,  and  is  the  most 
delicate  of  the  so-called  greens. 
MRS.  F.  WM.  STILLMAN. 
Advertise  the  Vegetarian  Diet 
Some  weeks  ago  wre  tried  to  give  a  little 
advice  to  the  nut-growers  and  vegetarians. 
In  talking  with  some  of  these  people,  we 
find  that  they  are  disappointed  because 
their  ideas  do  not  travel  faster  into  the 
thought  of  the  people.  They  cannot  under¬ 
stand  why  the  average  man  and  woman 
should  still  prefer  a  thick  slice  of  beef¬ 
steak  or  a  big  round  of  juicy  ham  to  a 
diet  of  salad,  bread  and  nuts.  Our  vege¬ 
tarian  friends  know'  that  the  nuts  and 
the  salad  will  make  a  far  better  diet  than 
the  meat,  but  what  is  the  use  of  knowing 
a  thing  if  you  cannot  make  others  under¬ 
stand  it  and  believe  it?  Our  suggestion 
was  to  make  a  practical  example  of  the 
value  of  nuts  as  a  diet.  Go  up  to  the 
island  of  Newfoundland  or  the  coast  of 
Labrador,  and  pick  up  one  of  the  tough 
human  giants  who  go  out.  after  codfish  or 
seals.  Some  of  these  men  are  gigantic 
in  size  and  tremendous  in  endurance. 
They  are  so  storm-bitten  and  frosted  that 
they  have  practically  no  sense  of  pain. 
Their  hands  and  feet  are  larger  than 
hams,  and,  take  it  all  in  all,  it  is  doubtful 
if  there  are  any  tougher  specimens  of 
humanity  anywhere.  Now,  in  order  to 
show  the  practical  value  of  nuts  as  a  diet, 
we  suggest  that  our  vegetarian  friends 
go  and  get  one  of  these  giants,  bring  him 
down  to  the  latitude  of  New  York,  feed 
him  on  fruit,  nuts  and  greens,  and  put 
him  into  the  ring  against  Jack  Dempsey, 
the  present  champion.  Our  opinion  is 
that  one  of  these  fishermen  could  be 
trained  so  that  he  would  pick  the  cham¬ 
pion  up  and  toss  him  from  the  ring  into 
obscurity.  Then  make  it  known  that 
this  giant  obtained  his  strength  from 
eating  nuts  and  vegetables.  That  would 
be  enough,  and  within  six  months  meat 
men  would  be  bewailing  their  fortune, 
with  little  demand  for  their  meat.  No 
one  seems  to  take  this  suggestion  seri¬ 
ously.  however,  but  it  is  about  the  only 
way  in  which  the  true  value  of  a  vege¬ 
tarian  diet  can  be  demonstrated. 
Rut  now  comes  a  woman  named  Alma 
Cummings,  who  promises  to  do  much  for 
the  vegetarians.  The  record  shows  that  she 
started  dancing  at  57  minutes  past  six. 
and  kept  up  her  dancing  continuously  for 
27  hours.  She  used  almost  every  dance 
that  is  known  to  the  public — the  fox  trot, 
the  waltz,  the  polka  and  various  others. 
She  wore  out  six  men  who  attempted  to 
dance  with  her.  and  she  ended  up  her  per¬ 
formance  of  27  hours  while  the  band 
played  the  “Star-Spangled  Banner.”  This 
young  woman  is  32  years  old,  and  is  a 
native  of  Texas.  She  attributes  her  suc¬ 
cessful  endurance  to  her  vegetarian  diet, 
as  she  lives  very  largely  on  nuts,  fruit  and 
milk.  The  best  record  that  the  various 
men  made  who  tried  to  dance  with  her 
was  seven  hours,  but  it  is  related  that  the 
man  who  endured  for  that  time  is  not  a 
vegetarian.  Now  here,  it  seems  to  us,  is 
an  opportunity  for  our  nut  friends  to  tell 
the  world  about  Miss  Cummings,  and 
prove  from  her  record  what  the  vegetarian 
diet  can  do  for  humanity.  The  average 
person  will  listen  to  the  argument,  no 
doubt,  agree  that  it  is  a  good  record,  and 
then  see  if  he  can  raise  money  enough  to 
buy  a  piece  of  roast  beef,  for  the  habit 
of  meat-eating  seems  to  be  so  firmly  im¬ 
planted  in  the  human  mind  that  nothing 
but  disease  or  a  shock  from  some  reliable 
physician  will  drive  one  away  from  it. 
One  Egg  Cake  With  Sour  Cream  Filling 
A  sour  cream  filling  that  never  fails  to 
please  calls  for  sour  cream  one  cup 
(thick),  brown  sugar  one  cup,  nut  meats 
one  cup.  Cook  until  thick.  Try  this 
“one-egg”  cake  with  the  filling :  One  egg, 
one  cup  sugar,  one  cup  sweet  milk,  one 
tablespoon  melted  butter,  three  teaspoons 
baking  powder,  1)4  cups  flour,  salt.  Beat 
egg,  add  sugar  and  butter,  then  milk,  salt, 
flour  and  baking  powder.  Bake  in  two 
layers.  mrs.  l.  s.  b. 
Young  Dobbs  :  “I  want  to  try  on  that 
suit  in  the  window.”  Assistant :  “Sorry, 
sir,  but  you’ll  have  to  use  the  dressing- 
room.” — London  Mail. 
Fun  With  the  Pony 
