to his height within a margin of safety, fixed by Dr. Boulton at 7 pounds, a sign is given which no careful parent or physician should venture to neglect. A growth below the characteristic rate is indicative-if there are no other pathological symptoms of arrested development, and a growth above that rate points to a tax on the system above the powers of most children. And arrest of growth, or loss of weight, also points to specific disease; in consumption, especially, loss of weight always precedes cough, although the cough nearly always is the first symptom to attract attention. The value of these figures to preventive medicine must thus be plain, but the point may well be emphasized by a single illus tration. In 1875 the children in a certain institution did not grow 2 inches in that year. There was no special cause of alarm and no obtrusive symptoms of disease; ordinarily the fact would not have been noticed. However, the authorities were not satisfied, the children's dietary and sanitary conditions were more carefully attended to, and the next year the average growth in height was over 2. inches, and the increase in weight was 64 pounds. Thus, while it still remains true that a man can not by taking thought add a cubit to his stature, it is not too much to say that he can, if he will take thetrouble, materially affect the development of his child. FRO HOMEOPATHY IN THE UNITED STATES.. ROM the report of the Bureau of | lished in this country, quarterly, month-Statistics made to the American In- ly, and semi-monthly, with an anstitute of Homœopathy the present year, nual total of 8,784 pages, and an aggreit appears there are 6,000 homœopathic gate of 23,450 copies. In addition there physicians registered in the United States. are national medical societies, medical There are 23 State societies, of which 17 schools for special subjects, a publication are incorporated by their respective society, and a very prosperous life insurStates. There are 92 local or county so- ance company, called the New York cieties and 7 clubs, partly professional Homœopathic Mutual. Evidently the and partly social. Of the 38 homœop- time for pooh-poohing at Homœopathy. athic hospitals in this country, 30 report has passed. 1,682 beds, which provided, in the last year, for 14,959 patients, with a mortality of 367-about 21⁄2 per cent. The cost of building 25 of these hospitals has been $1,549,175, and they are mostly supported by contributions and paying patients. Of the 29 homoeopathic dispensaries, 25 report having treated, in the last year, 117,564 patients, with 272,772 prescriptions, at a cost of $10,639.19, or about 4 cents for each prescription. Eleven hom-taining qualities. An entire grain of œopathic medical colleges are established, and instructed, last year, 1,192 students, of whom 387 were graduated. The total number of graduates from these colleges is 4,922. The cost of establishing 5 of these colleges has been $230,000; the cost of the others is not given. There are 16 homœopathic journals pub WHOLE-MEAL BREAD.--Dr. B.W. Richardson, the eminent English physician, presided a few weeks ago at a large meeting held to advocate the use of what is technically known in England as "wholemeal bread," and in America as brown or Graham bread. One of the speakers maintained that the bread in common. use was forty per cent. deficient in sus wheat contained everything that was required for nourishing purposes, and yet the better half of it was wasted, and this half was a much healthier food. Children fed on white bread were very liable to. suffer from rickety bones, consumption, . and bad teeth, because their food did not. nourish them properly. 1881.] NOTES IN SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. BREAD WITHOUT YEAST.-A great many recipes have appeared in this department of our work for the preparation of bread without yeast. But fresh readers send us fresh requests for advice on the subject. We might refer inquirers to the "Hygienic Home Cook-Book generally for recipes, but a good and easy method of making rye and Indian bread has come under our notice, which we place here: Mix rye and Indian meal in equal proportions into a soft dough, with cold water in hot weather, but warm water in 103: cold weather. Mix and knead with the hands until it is light, and lay it softly, so as not to press out the air confined in it, in deep tin pans. Now smooth over the top with the moistened hand so as to give it a neat appearance. Let stand overnight, then bake in an oven, hot at first, but gradually cooling. If the mixture could be made late enough in the evening to be allowed to remain in the oven overnight, it would make a very nice breakfast bread, such as would please any palate. NOTES IN SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. Movement of Storms.-Prof. Elias Loomis, of Yale, at the last meeting at the National Academy of Science, gave a report of his investigations respecting the "causes which determine the progressive movement of storms," the principal results of the investigation being as follows: (1). The lowest latitude in which a cyclone center has been formed near the West India Islands is 10°, and the lowest latitude in the neighborhood of Southern Asia is 6° Violent squalls and fresh gales of wind have, however, been encountered directly under the equator. (2). The ordinary course of tropical hurricanes is toward the west-northwest. In a few cases they seem to have advanced toward a point a little south of west, and in a few cases their course has been almost exactly toward the north. (3). Tropical hurricanes are invariably accompanied by a violent fall of rain. This rainfall is never less than 5 inches in 24 hours for a portion of the track, and frequently it exceeds 10 inches in 24 hours. (4). Tropical storms are generally preceded by a northerly wind, and after the passage of the low center the wind generally veers to the south-east at stations near the center, and the southerly wind, which follows the low center, is generally stronger than the northerly wind which preceded it. "This fact appears to suggest the explanation of the origin of the cyclone and the direction of its progressive movement. The prevalent direction of the wind in the neighborhood of the West India Islands is from the north-east. Occasionally a strong wind sets in from a southerly quarter. The interference of these winds with each other gives rise to a gyration, and a fall of rain sometimes results. When rain commences, the latent heat which is liberated causes an inflow of wind from all quarters, by which the rainfall is increased; and since the winds are deflected by the rotation of the earth, an area of low pressure is produced and the force of the winds will be maintained as long as the rainfall continues. The effect of this strong wind from the south is to transport the lowcenter in a northerly direction, and by the combined action of the south wind and the normal wind from the north-east the center of low pressure is usually carried in a direction between the north and the west." The Current of Rivers.-A very slight declivity suffices to give the running motion to water. Three inches per mile in a smooth, straight channel gives a velocity of which gathers the waters of the Himalaya about three miles an hour. The Ganges, Mountains, the loftiest in the world, is, at 100 miles from its mouth, only 300 feet above the level of the sea, and to fall 300 feet, in its long course, the water requires more than a month. The great river Magdalena, in South America, running for 1,000 miles be-feet in all that distance. Above the distance tween two ridges of the Andes, falls only 500 of 1,000 miles, it is seen descending in rapids and cataracts from the mountains. The gigantic Rio de la Plata has so gentle a descent from its mouth, large ships are seen which to the ocean that, in Paraguay, 1,500 miles have sailed against the current all the way by the force of the wind alone-that is to say, which, on the beautiful inclined plane of the wind, and even against the current, to an stream, have been gradually lifted by the soft elevation greater than our loftiest spires. Rule Farming.-It is very difficult, says the Boston Journal of Chemistry, to con-duct the management of a farm so as to be able to follow fixed methods, or to be guided by principles. It is amusing to watch the course of some retired merchants or business men, who buy farms and suppose they can work by methods as exact as the rule in a well-conducted business. They soon find that all their rigid rules and precise proceedings. fail to work as well as they do in commercial affairs. Almost every rule in farming must be flexible, as circumstances or conditions are constantly changing, and hence the industry is vexatious and discouraging to men trained to exact methods. Lord Palmerston, the great English statesman, could conduct the affairs of a kingdom, but he could not turn his hand to successful farming. Late in life he bought a farm, and, after devoting considerable time to it, he remarked in despair: "I can find no guiding principles in this business. It is all a rule of thumb." He did not understand that nature in some of her moods is capricious, and that farming is greatly influenced in its results by this caprice. Drought, extreme wet, high winds, low temperature and high temperature are important factors in agriculture; and success depends greatly upon these influences, which can not be controlled. After a farmer has learned all that can be learned regarding the tilling of his soil, the planting of seeds, the care of his crops, there remains to be learned patience, foresight, and constant vigilance. There is no vocation or industry which demands the exercise of more hope and patience than farming, and any attempt to reduce the labor to rules, so that work will run in grooves, must prove abortive. We must watch the seasons, and prepare as well as we can for adverse influences. Crops should be planted upon upland and lowland, so as to guard against entire loss, when seasons are unduly wet or dry; the different natures and capabilities of soil must be understood; and when failures occur, as they will under the best management, there must be no yielding to despondency. ropean countries, he remarks that, as a rule, the poor are more given to gluttony than the rich, the peasant than the tradesman, the women than the men, children and old persons than adults, the weak than the strong, fanatics than free-thinkers, etc. According to the learned doctor, the profession or calling in modern French society most remarkable for vivacity at the dinner-table is the clerical profession. First on the list of good feeders he places prelates and priests; secondly, diplomatists; thirdly, magistrates; fourthly, superior State functionaries, such as State councillors and others of similar rank; fifthly, bankers and financial men; sixthly, independent persons, who live on their income in idleness; and lastly, artists and literary men. Dr. Delaunay's theory is, in a word, that the more refined the intellect, the more mind is engaged or the brain works, the less disposition there is for eating; and following up this theory he points out, we presume from personal observation, that among artistic classes musicians, whom he considers are the least intelligent, are the most fond of good cheer, and in the category of singers, tenors are greater eaters than baritones. With regard to gentlemen of the brush and chisel, it is the painters who are more addicted to inordinate eating than sculptors, painters of what is called genre being more gourmand than landscape painters. Women, this young laureate of the Academy tells us, are more greedy than men; milliners, adds the doctor-who seems to enjoy the privilege France-being decidedly greater feeders than of penetrating into all the dining-rooms of dress-makers. Health of College Girls.-A writer on the health of women who pursue advanced courses of mental training, says that at the colleges where they are educated, young Barren Land Reclaimed.-A few years since a resident of New York State bought a tract of over four hundred acres of mining land in Juniata County, Pa., about one hundred and forty-four miles from Philadelphia. Upon examination it proved worthless for mining. It appeared altogether useless, most of the land being steep and stony and covered with forest, and therefore unavailable for agricultural purladies' amusements are much more varied poses. Notwithstanding all the natural obstacles, to-day it blossoms like a rose. Fif- than in early days. Among them may be teen thousand and five hundred peach-trees, mentioned romping in the gymnasium, on ten thousand quince-trees, and nine thousand the grounds, and in the woods; croquet, boatSiberian crab-apple-trees, are to be found ing, archery, coasting, snow-balling, botanizupon its once unpromising acres. It is probing, geologizing, zoologizing, and walks, long able that most of the fruit will be canned and dried, instead of shipping to market. Many a farmer has upon his land portions of just such seemingly useless soil, that could be turned to proportionately profitable purposes. Indulgence of the Appetite in DIFFERENT CLASSES.-Dr. Gaetan Delaunay, in a recent essay on biology, addressed to the French Academy of Sciences, devotes a chapter to the study of gourmandise or gluttony, which, in the opinion of the scientific writer, is more commonly observable in men in proportion as they are lower down in the scale of civilization. High intellectual development and immoderate love of eating and drinking are rarely to be met with in the same person, those who are most addicted to gluttony being savages, negroes, idiots-all, in short, whose brains lie dormant. In Eu and short, besides the quieter amusements indoors. In reply to the frequent assertion that the discipline is too severe, and that many girls ruin their health by hard study, it is stated that no death has occurred in the Mount Holyoke Seminary, for twelve years. The following table shows the comparative longevity of graduates from that institution, and from several colleges for young men. each case they include a period of thirty years, and the war mortality is, of course, excluded: Mount Holyoke Seminary In 1881.] THE MODERN PESSIMIST. Growth of American Cities.-The present census shows a striking increase during the last decade in the population of a number of Western cities, of which the inhabitants thereof may justly feel proud. Thus, Cleveland has grown from 92,000 in 1870 to 158,000 in 1880; Indianapolis, from 48,000 to 77,000; Milwaukee, from 90,000 to 130,000; and Detroit, from 79,000 to upward of 100,000. In several cities the number of inhabitants has more than doubled in ten years. Thus the population of Minneapolis has increased from 18,000 in 1870 to 45,000 in 1880; of St. Paul, from 20,000 to 42,000; and of Kansas City, from 32,000 to 65,000. St. Joseph, Mo., has run up from 19,000 to 35,000. But the most remarkable growth has been in Denver, Col.: its population in 1870 was 4,700, it is now 34,000. M. Pellet of the French Academy has determined the value of different substances in manures for beets to be in the following order: (1) phosphoric acid, (2) magnesia, (3) lime, (4) potash, (5) soda, (6) nitrogen. 105 mercial interests of New England is expected to be completed in two years. It will run through the town of Sandwich, a little below old Plymouth and will strike Buzzard's Bay at a distance of about eight miles. Its estimated cost is a little less than ten millions of dollars. It will accommodate a commerce of over 100 millions annually, and will save, in shipwrecks, expense of navigation, and insurance, more than a million. Three hundred and eighty men are already at work, and the force will soon be increased to twelve hundred. It is estimated that six thousand tons of shipping and twenty-five lives are sacrificed each year in rounding Cape Cod, besides the loss of time. Cement for Leather.-One who has tried everything, says that after an experience of fifteen years he has found nothing to equal the following as a cement for leather belting: Common glue and isinglass, equal parts, soaked for ten hours in just enough water to cover them. Bring gradually to a boiling heat and add pure tannin until the whole becomes ropy or appears like the white of eggs. Buff off the surfaces to be joined, apply this cement, and clamp firmly. is the best method of proving one's loftiness of aim, purity of aspiration, and grandeur of idealism." The writer of this makes allusion to sentiments that are very prevalent in the circles of cultivated society, and which indicate an unhappy moral condition there. The world has not gone backward; man has not deteriorated. On the contrary, the average for mind and body, for character and capacity, for power and resources, is higher than it ever was before. Men to-day have a deeper insight into the fundamental causes of physical and moral prosperity. Else, how is it that the community is teeming with industrial enterprises, in each of which appliances for the economical use of human labor are employed which were unknown a century ago? and how is it that so many instrumentalities are in exercise for protecting the helpless and weak, for curing the sick, for restraining the vicious and disorderly, for correcting abuses of a pub lic and private nature? Men are more kindly disposed toward one another than they were a hundred years ago; there is less of prejudice, bigotry, egotism, and selfishness. It must be so, else what mean the numerous and rapidly increasing institutions of philanthropy and benevolence? But the pessimist looks upon all these things with a jaundiced eye. His field of view takes in only their unpleasant side. The prison, the asylum, the hospital to him represent only the vicious and diseased phases of human nature, and he will have it that they exhibit an increasing tendency toward vice and disease; that the burden which the strong and virtuous must bear in supporting the weak and restraining the vicious will ever increase. He consults the statistics of crime and pauperism, disease and death, and makes them the text for gloomy reflection and discouraging predictions. The growth of population, the increase of wealth, business activity, social amenities, are practically disregarded in his calculations. Can we suggest a reason for this onesidedness? We think that it is in part due to the ure of life, and in chilling rhetoric declare that men are miserable, brutal, and degraded by reason of their very constitution—because they can not be otherwise. The fact is, the "advanced thinker" is a veiled fatalist. However adroitly he may reason, you can detect the fatalistic thread. He boasts of devotion to truth, whereas his voice and pen are enlisted in behalf of that specious sort of falsehood which consists in offering a part for the whole, and making it the sole premise for his argument. The pessimist seems to be at war with the higher impulses of the mind, or at least to regard them as fanciful and not deserving a place in the serious operations of thought; hence his survey of life can not be otherwise than imperfect, one-sided, and sad. Let none who would aspire to a noble usefulness, or approximate to a grand ideal of manhood or womanhood appeal to the pessimist for counsel lest they be chilled into a condition of despondency, and partake of his notion that the world is a delusion, and life not worth living. A SIDE VIEW OF HOLIDAY ENJOYMENT. philosophical teaching of the day. The WE like holidays, especially those of "advanced thought" which gives tone to many of our literary and scientific publications, is marked by a lack of warm and generous sentiment. It is rationalistic even to extremes-repelling the cheerful rays of faith and hope as unreal and vulgar relics of an ancient superstition, and setting up gloomy portents in their place for its disciples to worship. Having no future, no "life beyond" in their scheme the champions of this "advanced thought" descant in long and measured terms concerning the unsatisfactory nat Christmas-tide. In this we are by no means in the minority, for moral and physical reasons which are so obvious that it would be wasting space to mention them with anything like particularity here. The underlying motive of a holiday is the withdrawal of one's self from the customary routine of thought and action, and giving attention to matters which refresh, recuperate, and please mind and body. With the masses the holiday is regarded as a season of enjoyment. The clerk can then absent him |