MR JUSTICE BLACKBURN ON CONTEMPT OF (COURT.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 281, 28 February 1874, Page 2

MR JUSTICE BLACKBURN ON CONTEMPT OF ( COURT.

Thk appetite of the law courts for "contempt" evidently grows with what it feeds oil. The person last guilty of thu mvstenoim offeuee is the gasman of the Queen's Bench. Yesterday, says the Manchester Ovardian (Nov 19), there was something wrong with the lights in court, and Mr Justice Blackburn sterns to have ascribed it to the temper of the gasman. He accordingly sent for the unfortunate fellow, and told him that "if he did not attend more carefully to the lighting of the court, he would be committed for contempt." The gasman pleaded that he waa busy rather than scornful : there wu a want of- light in the Probate Court, and he had been at work there. The man will now have to neglect Sir J. Hannen for Mr Justice Blackburn until the former recalls him to a tense of duty by a committal. It is desirable to have this done as toon as possible, for tho case will make a valuable addition to the precedents. We (Echo, Soy. 19) quite agree with Mr Justice Blackburn that j stice cannot be satisfactorily Hone in the dark ; that it is advantageous to see the counsel in, as well as the pmnts of a caie ; that a gasman who cheerfully illuminates the Court when the light streams in, who plung s it into the deept-sb Cimmerian darkness tvhen the fog gathers, and who turns on the gas without deigning to apply a light is an eccentric, tantalizing official, the value of whose services nviit be a fegal fiction, grosser than any which their lordships administer. But if steam-hammers are employed to crush a fly ; if threo judges, bewigged and in their ermine, thunder against a poor gasman, the effect is grotesque, awl not wholly edifying. More Jight, by all means, for the Queen'a LJenc'a and other dai k places of the e^rth ; but not a trial in banco of the court gasman — not the draggiug in of tho arcana of law to patch or plug a le-ik. People will be less disposed to be contemptiioiiß if fe«er cases of contempt of Court are discovered, an.i if the offences do 'not relate o the supply of gas

Almost every one has notion! that juicy fruits, such as plum-*, peacliea, go^Heburrii's, tomitoe-i, &" , w.ll become cracked by rain. Tins pheroraeuon has been o' frequont oci'urronco during the p<nt season. The cause is thus explain d by the American Agriculturist, who think* that it is properly attributed by Boussingault to osmose. If a bladder Oiled with syrup be immersed in a vessel of water, the water will, after a while, become sweet ; the syrup passes through tho membrane of the bladder into the water, and correspondingly the water passes into the interior of the bladder. But this interchange is not an equnl one ; the lighter liquid — lh<» water — pnssod in many times more rapidly than the heavier liquid — tho syrup — passes out. The consequence will be that the bladder will be distended to its utmost, and at ifiK'th burst. This is a general law, that where two liquids of unequal densities are saturated by a membrane, whether animal or vegetable, they will interchange, the weaker liquid passing more rapidly than the denw one, and tins will be kept up until the liquid upon both •ides of tho membrane is of the name densitr. A ripe tomato or plum may be considered in the condition of the bladder of syrup. Tho rich juices of the fruit correspond to the syrup and the thin me nhrane which forms the akin of tho fruit represents the bliiddor. When the ripe fruit is kept constantly wet with water bv rain, osmose takes place, and the water passing through into the frutt distends the skin, which, not being very qrrr.ng, is soon ruptured. If the fruit were to be surrounded by a liqu'd denser than its juice», it would, instead of expanding and breaking, shrink, and the ikin become shrivelled. When strawberries or current! are sprinkled w tli si i car, a syrup ii soon formed bv some of the juice of t^e fruit, and rhis being wmsidernbly denser than the juice* of the bjrrip-ib j rrip-i they aiv S"on fluhb^nn 1 shme'led Piofessor Boedeker has analyzed, the Medical Press and Circular ssab.y b. the milk of n health v cow at varions times of the da\, with the view of determining the chau.es in the relative amount of its constituents. Ho found that tho solid? of the evening's milk (13 percent ) exceeded those of the mo' nine's milk (10 p«r cent ), while the water contained ih the fluid was diminished from 89 per cut. to 86 per cent T ie fatty matters uradnally incivaiH us the day prooreii >s ; in the niornin? they amount to 2 17 per ppnt.. at noon t> 263 per cent , an I in the evening to 5.42 per e<'nl ; i«o fiat it 16 nz of mornme's milk will yield nearh hnl' an oiwoe (if butter, about double this quanhtv can he obtained from the c f nins's milk The cis.*ia i~ aim. inm>>n»i din the i voning'c p.ilk from ?.2-t to 2.70 per cent ; but the albumen 'is diminished from o<l4 per cunt, to 0.82 per <vnt. Sugar i-. lcn^t abii'idant at midnight (4 19 per cent ) and most pTenti fulv uoon (4 72 per cent). Tiio p-rcentnge of the suit unr'er^oes DlmjstD 1 mjst no change at any time of Hie day. Our uniljstw under the Adulteration Act will fiud thus, liurd nut to cr.ick.

Dr Brunton hus been writing ]« tter* to the Brituk Jaettenger on the temptation to drunkenmas paused by tho craving for stiinul'int? felt by sowe people. H© famishes, sn ys, the Medial Press and Circular, prescriptions which lio believes will ovrrc>me tins craving, tnd which, we presume, we «o bo obtained by his rea lers it the nearest ohfln&ists. Here are two of them :— " Ist. Put a quarter of an oanee of ,au)phate of iron and half an ounce of magnesia in an ordinary quvt bittle, and fill it up with peppermint wat«r A scine-«l»nful to be taken three or four times a daj. Instead of the peppermint water an infusion of dried peppermint ma/ be used. It maj be made stronger or weaker according to the taste of the patient, and should bt alb wet to 000 l before- H \i added to the sulphate of iron and magnesia. A little gum-arabic or gum-tragacanlh added to tho mixture will keep the magnesia better »u«pended, bat thu may perfectly well bo omitted. The bottlo should be •h iken before the dose is poured out. 2. Take an ounce of quissia ohips and pour them oTer as much cold water aa will fill three quart bottles. Let them stand an hour, and thnn ttrain them. Add to the strained liquid 6( fluid dradiarns of the aolution of iron, aold under the name of " Liquor Ferri Perchlondi." Two tableapoonfoli or half a wne.gliusful to be taken thrro or four times a day. The iron aolution may b* measured out, with s tenepoon, one teuspoonful being equal to one fluid draohm ; but teaapoona va-y in size, and it if therefore bettor to Uie a glnas measure, which may be bought at any chemists." JNo doubt there an* many caies in which chalybeate is indicated, but it may be questioned whether it would not be wiser of those who wi>>h to try the plan to ask & medical man firit The value of auch advice is indicated by tho following remarks appended by Dr Brunton to the recipes we have quoted :— " When the person's tonsjue i» pale, flabby, and marked with the teeth at the edges, the second prescription mtv be found more useful than the firat. When there u any tendency to flatulence the first should be taken a qusrter of an hour before meals ; and if either of them causes uneasiness when taken on an empty stomach, they should boused immedmtelv afier mealo^.. lathe pro»n<*~of s robust habit or florrid co npieiion, the followng prp^cnplion, whirh I owe to the kindness of Mr John Groom, of Hampstead, may be found more serviceable than either of the preceding * Add one ounce of bruised gentian root to one quart of boiling wafer. Let this stand four hours, then strain off the liquor, an 1 add two drachms of carbonate of ammonia A wineglissful may bo taken two or three times a day when the craving comes on. This prescription was used'by Afr Fox (now of Brighton) when surgeon of Bedford Gaol. Though I l.aye recommended it in certain cases in pieference to the other prescription, it may be used by all who are addicted to the Übe of intoxicating drinks." The Ballarat Star writes :—" Amongst the incidents of thu cricket match may be noted the following : On January Ist, one of the balls hit by Grace struck a man perched in a tree, and knocked him out of his position on to tne ground, but without injuring him much. On Saturday, tho ball sti uck by Gaggin, after hitting the stand, rebounded and hit a gentleman a seTero knock on the ribt. It was afterwards discovered that the ball had hit his watch, having stopped .it the exact time the ball hit it." A facetious senior asked a freshman to tell him the difference between a faosimilie and a sick family ; but the laugh was on the senior, for the freshman instantly replied, 'No diiference: a sick family is a family that is tick; and » facsimile means the same.'