Scientific.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2236, 6 November 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific.

An ItkM for Smokbks.— lt is stated on tho authority of an Amenc-m contemporary that tho waterrross destroys the toxic principle of tobacco without diim.'iginar -itstither qualitie--. It ih said to bo su'uoient to nioi-ten the tobacco with the juioe of the _ waterciess to deprivo tho tob.iooo of its del. toriom effort-. If this information may be relied upon, it will provo of especial". service to beginner.-, an I may help to spare them tho pangs of physical iemoi.se which not UKfreqnently attend theeailiev efforts to acquire win t is, at bo-t, an expensive and wasteful ha 1 it. It, ,(, o,ll'u to question, howovei, whether if tliis o'id b> obtained, Mnolors would nit after all pr> f»r tho unsoj hisMYatcd articlo. Tobacco without ni-jotii.e i^ like certain teetotal beers without alcohol (hoiiib teetotal bocr,-i mo, howevc.-, not cxemj>t), whi«ih only satiify when thii>t i> very urgent. — Medic. il Prcs^. E\rr/).sioN.s ok Hollow Cvstlron' Pistons.— No los 3 than five have occutred in French workshops in the last twenty years in reheating these pistons —generally for the purpose of removing the piston-rod. Investigation into the interior of a piston in use for eleven years showed the existence of a brown substance containing fatty matter, oxide of iron, and carbon. It is thought that a certain quantity of water had been forced into the cavity in service either through the iron or through imperfections in the plugs with which the ordinal core support cavities were filled. This water, in forming oxide, of iron, set free its hydrogen, which filled the poston cavity. The recombination of this hydrogen with the oxygen at a low red heat would prodroduce the explosion and it is recom mended that all such pistons be tapped before reheating. A Strange Case. — Paris medical journals report that Euosie Helouin, a woman of forty-seven years of age, who has been for many years a pitienb at the Salpetriere, sufToring- from paralysis and hystfiii, has been now lying for several ilaya in a cataleptic sleep. She seem? to be in a condition of almost total insensibility, and shows no sigu of pain even when needles are plunged pretty deeply into any part, ot the body. Fluid uourishmeut is administered to her, wine, milk, soup, eggs, etc. The patient is excessively stout. Some years ago she weighed 140 kilograms (22 stone), but subsequently lost 30 kilos (4 stone 101b), after which she tell into a long and deep sleep. It is unnecessary to say that she is most carefully watched by the medical men connected with] the Salpt>tri<sre. Hydrophobia in the Ass.r-Reoently, at Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, an ass alarmed 'that neighborhood by hia terrible braying and violence. It was surmised that he had been bitten by a mad dog whu'h p:issed through that district Borne time before. After a couple of days the unfortunate- animal died. A few days later a heifer showed apparent signs of rabies, and succumbed within four days. In a day or two another ass went mad. He became more vicious, and, rushin/r into an outhouse, attacked a wom.vn, and bit her iv the leg. Tho women had a miraculons oscape. Through the limb is severely bruised, the teeth did not penetrate the clothing. Hydrophobia. — The singular discovery has been made that the New York legislature in, 18C6 appropriated lOOOdols. to pay a certain Hessian quack doctor named Oous, for an <c infalliable remedy for hydrophobia." The so-called remedy consisted of an ounce of the jaw bone of a dog, burned and pulverised, the false j tongue of a newly-foaled colt similarly treated, and a scruple of verdigris scraped ! from the surface of an old and rusty copper coin, tho whole to be mixed and taken internally. Perhaps eight years j from now the latest experiments will bo , considered as Grange aa Dr. Crous's ! prc-oription appear.-* to-day. i A Curs for Sekeplknsxess. — Daniel R. Claymer, ex- Mayor of Reading, Pennsylvania, states that onions inhaled J cau<e sleep, rest and repose. The soldier I on his march and the exhaustad iron worker gets great strength from eating the onion. Tio a fresh onion around the neck und bruise it to make its odor thorough, and yoa secure sound sleep from its n:ghtly inhalation.