Science.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 406, 18 February 1904, Page 7

Science.

: DIARRHCEA. ;SQPI AREHCE A in small babies is mrm always caused by wrong aiare dfet- or waQ t of cleanliness in scm3 particular. Baby's stomach is exceedingly delicate, and quickly shows its resentment or improper treatment of any kind. &. badly washed feeding-bottle is quite enough to cause it. In any case it is well to call in a doctor as soon as possible. If a thing of this kind is allowed to go en unchecked, a perfectly healthy child may be so emaciated in a few days' time as to be almost unrecognisable. It is far commoner in summer than during, the colder months. NETTLE RASH. . An attack of this is generally due to some error in diet. The best thing to do is to give the little one a dose of castoroil, and a soda-water bath (two ounces to three gallons). Well dry, and then thoroughly dust the skin all over with oxide of zinc ointment. The intense irritation may be prevented by occasionally dabbiog the places Kith the following lotion: One tahlespoonful liquor oarbonia detergtns to one pint cold boiled water.

GLANDS,' Children who suffer from swelling o* the glands need abundance of fresh air both by day and night, and constant change of air. The air on the coast is particularly beneficial to children, who suffer in this way.. .Cod-liver oil, either aa an emulsion of in malt, is also valuable, and the food should always be very nourishing. • A gland should never be allowed to burst, or it may go on discharging for months, and leave a very bad scar. A far better plan, if it gets bad and the swelling will not go down, is to have it removed. The scar in this case will be much smaller than if it had been allowed to burst. FOR CHAFED SKIN. The best boracic ointment, obtained from a reliable chemist, is invaluable for rubbing on chafed skin ; far better than dusting powder over only, as so many peopH dp. a Many chemists mix a specially soft boracic ointment for this purpose, SOFTENING WATER. A little milk added to the water in which children are bathed keeps their skins free from roughness and spots, more especially if the water used is hard. If rainwater be obtained, the best plan is to boil the water before using. Hard water that has been allowed to boil ten minutes is beautifully soft, if a little oatmeal or milk is added to it. RECENT EARTHQUAKES. The crust of the earth is constantly being shaken by vobanic disturbances and fractures of rock mosses, and the earthquakes thus produced are felt over an area large or small according to their violence. The instruments used to record these tremors are now so sensitive that they respond to disturbances which occur thousands of miles from them, and scarcely an hour passes but some earth tremor leaves its mark upon the records. So it comes about that, though the British Isles are fortunately far removed from places where large earthquakes usually, occur, the ripples of the earth-waves reach us, and are recorded upon the instruments specially constructed to detect them. For instance, Professor Milne reports that one hundred and thirty earthquakes were recorded at his observatory in the Isle of Wight during laat year, .and most of them were also detected in Kew. From the character of the records it is possible for aa observer in any part of the world to name the district in which the disturbance originated; and applying this fact to the records of 1899, Professor Milne finds that.all but five of the one hundred and*;- thirty earthquakes came from centres beneath the ocean, and in most cases from : very deep' water. As -there are, reasons for believing that each of these earthquakes was accompanied by very large displacements of the ocean bed, the determination of the sites where such changes are frequent is important in connection witbythelselection of routes for. deep-sea cables. Another point of interest is that changes in the rates'of delicate pandnlnmp have been shown to be produced by unfelt movements of distant' earthquakes, which so frequently disturb all countries of the wjorid.