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always, but the satanic invention of high heeled shoes, the straightjacket of a corset, together with old maidish notions of propriety, are at the foundation of many physical ills.

COFFEE; ITS USE AND ABUSE.

EXTRACT OF AN ESSAY BY DR. 1. N. LOVE, ST. LOUIS, MO.

I venture opinion that there is no beverage on earth to-day which, used in moderation, expresses more comfort, contentment and calmness to the cerebral centres than coffee. But in excess, it is undoubtedly most dangerous. I doubt if the victims of alcoholic excess are as numerous as those who over indulge in coffee. Alcohol has two advantages-in that it is a food and that its excessive use is not respectable. The infusion of coffee in proper quantities aids digestion, and is a safe cerebro-spinal stimulant which is not followed by perceptible reaction.

Liebig drew attention first to the fact that this beverage contains the elements which stimulate the flow of bile. It is a decided laxative, a pronounced diuretic. The fact that the coffee belt of the world is also the "bilious belt," and the malarial belt as well as the field where noxious germs and suppurative processes most abound, is evidence of the fitness of things. No one knows better than the citizens of the hot regions of the world the value of coffee to open up the secretions which have been checked by excessive heat or the malarial influence. They know well and have known for centuries, that which has recently been receiving much attention by the medical world, particularly in Germany, viz.: the antiseptic properties of coffee.

Carl Luderitz, in the Zeitschrift fur Hygiene, has recently presented an interesting report concerning the influence of infusions of coffee on micro-organisms, in which he determined the influence of coffee infusions of different strength (varying from 10 to 30 per cent.) upon the growth of various forms of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms. The coffee used in these experiments was roasted Java, and the infusions were made by adding from 10 to 30 parts of coffee by weight to 70 or 90 parts of boiling hot water. The coffee freshly roasted and ground fine, was covered with boiling water, and the infusion thus prepared was placed in a closed flask in a water bath for about

ten minutes, and was then filtered through a sterilized filter. This infusion was used for making gelatin and in part directly. Where nutrient gelatin was made with this as a menstruum, it was inoculated with various forms of fungi and other micro-organisms to determine the possibility of their growth in such a medium. In other cases the organisms were added directly to the infusions of various strength, and after different periods of time inoculations were made from the infusions into other nutrient media. Luderitz found that the forms of fungi experimented with, showed more or less growth in the coffee gelatin, but the abundance of growth was in many cases distinctly less than in other media. The other micro organisms he used for his experiments were the staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, the streptococcus erysipelatosus, the typhoid bacillus, the spirillum of cholera asiatica, the bacillus anthracis, the bacillus prodigiosus, and the proteus vulgaris. All these forms of micro-organisms were greatly influenced in their life and growth by the exposure to the infusion of coffee, but some were far more susceptible than others. The bacillus prodigiosus was totally destroyed only after exposure in a 10 per cent. infusion for four days, or in a 30 per cent. infusion for one day. The typhoid bacillus was completely destroyed after exposure in a 5 per cent. infusion for three days, in a 10 per cent. infusion for from one to three days, or in a 30 per cent. infusion for one or two days. The proteus vulgaris was killed after an exposure for four days in a 10 per cent. infusion. The staphylococcus pyogenes aureus was destroyed only after an exposure for six days in a 10 per cent. infusion and for three days in a 30 per cent. infusion. The bacillus of Asiatic cholera was destroyed in a 1 per cent. infusion after 7 hours' exposure, in a 5 per cent. infusion after four hours, and in a 30 per cent. infusion after two hours. The streptococcus erysipelatosus was destroyed after an exposure of one day in a 10 per cent. infusion. The bacillus anthracis was destroyed in a 10 per cent. infusion after three hours, and in a 30 per cent. infusion after two hours.

The fact that coffee blunts sensation and increases secretion, would suggest that we educate the laity in the direction of at once giving the victims of accident a good cup of coffee, rather than the usual over stiff toddy, which, in many cases, given in excess, places the individual not only in an unfavorable condition physically, but also renders him. liable to the charge from those not familiar with the facts, of having been injured on account of drunkenness.

The custom which prevails in New Orleans and generally throughout the South, of taking a cup of strong black coffee in the early morning, is an intelligent one. The people of those malarial regions have long since demonstrated the fact that the custom referred to is of great advantage as a prophylactic. The individual experience of the writer for five or six years past is strongly in favor of taking a cup of black coffee without sugar or cream, sandwiched in between two glasses of hot water before rising every morning at least one hour before breakfast. The various secretions are stimulated; the nervous force is aroused; an hour later a hearty meal is enjoyed and the day labor is commenced favorably, no matter how the duties of the day and night preceding may have drawn upon the physique. Another cup of coffee at four in the afternoon is sufficient to keep the energies unflagged for many hours thereafter. Taken in this manner the full effect is secured; the stimulant devotes itself strictly to business, none of it is lost, and if the proper diet be taken at the proper times between (and the ideal diet for those who make large drafts upon their nervous systems and expect to have them honored, is hot milk), and if the above regimen be followed and accompanied by at least eight hours of sleep out of the twenty-four, the capacity for work is almost unlimited.

How many who are the victims of disease are ever consulted as to whether they have been accustomed to the habitual use of coffee or not? Take for instance typhoid fever a long siege of suffering—a racked and wrecked nervous system, the chances largely in favor of the patient having been an habitual drinker of coffee, but whether so or not, the coffee is usually not given, though strongly indicated, for the reason that it sustains and supports weary, worn nerves, aids digestion, keeps the alimentary canal, which is alive with germs and putrefactive material, in a more or less antiseptic condition; helps to gently open the sewers of the system, being as it is, a diuretic, a stimulator of the bile flow and other secretions; allays the sense of fatigue and lessens tissue waste; braces up the heart's action and raises arterial tension. We all know that to prevent a chill nothing is superior to a cup of good strong black coffee.

As an antagonist to opium narcosis, strong black coffee stands pre-eminent.

In excess it disorders digestion, removes the desire for food, creates an indisposition to sleep, excites headache, vertigo, mental confusion and disturbing heart action.

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TELLING THE TRUTH FROM FEAR OF THE "COP."

BY S. H. PRESTON.

"Do you know what an oath is?" inquired Coroner Hanly the other day of an Italian lad, in an inquest case of murder.

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No, sir," replied the bright boy, "I never swear."

"Do you know what will become of you if you tell a lie?"

"Yes, sir; you'd tell the cop to get me." The Coroner then administered the oath.

It is no longer necessary to believe in God and future punishment for perjury for one who thinks the "cop" will get him if he lies. Probably a boy believing his father would beat him if he did not tell the truth, would be qualified to take the oath before Coroner Hanly.

But the Coroner is not without a precedent in this matter of juvenile swearing. A boy in charge of the Christian Brothers was called as a witness in a Philadelphia court.

"If you should swear to a lie here, who is it that would surely know it?" solemnly asked the judge.

"The Brothers," promptly replied the boy.

"But who is it who would punish you for it?"

"The Brothers. They would beat me."

"But who else would punish you?"

"Me pap.".

"But isn't there some one else who would know if you told a lie?" "Yes, sir; Mr. Jenkins," (one of the counsel who had talked with him.)

"But," persisted the judge, "isn't there a Great Being above who punishes bad boys who lie?"

"O, and is it God yez is askin' me about?" And he was sworn.

The administration of the oath, even to adults, especially in our city criminal courts, is not calculated to convert a constitutional liar into a George Washington. "U-sholmly-swar-ell-troot-nat-ig-ut-troot-ulltroot-shelp-u-got-'is-de-buk," mumbles the judicial mouthpiece as he lifts to the lips of the witness a battered book, stained with smacks from scores of tobacco-spitting bums and unclean creatures of the slums. Physicians have found that infectious diseases are communicated in this manner; and a particular person would have some sanitary scruples, if not of conscience, against kissing the lip-soiled volume.

It is absurd to suppose that any form of oath will deter folks from swearing falsely when prompted to do so by considerations of pecuniary gain or personal safety. Nothing will prevent them but the prospect of incurring the legal penalty. If they tell the truth it is from fear of punishment for perjury. And it matters not whether the foundation. of this fear be a boy's belief in a parent who will beat him, a "cop" who will arrest him, or a God who will send his soul to hell for false swearing.

The man of conscience speaks the truth under all circumstances, whether sworn or not. He acquires a reputation for veracity among all his acquaintances. They accept his statements without the formality of an oath. Thus, in the preliminary inquiry as to the competency of a witness, the question is asked, What is his reputation for truth and veracity? When Mr. Doe was asked this question about his neighbor Roe, he answered, “His reputation for truth is all right, but there is a good deal of talk about his veracity." "What do you understand by veracity?" asked the judge. "Why, that he is rather rough among the wimmin."

which the credibility of his "If Mr. Norton should swear

Uncle Uriah was witness in a case in neighbor Norton was called in question. to something he saw, would you believe it?" asked counsel. "Wall, yes, I guess I would-if I knew it was so." "From what you know of Mr. Norton would you believe him if he was sworn as a witness?" interposed the judge. "'Fi was you I wouldn't swear him," responded Uncle Uriah.

A notorious, deliberate liar is not believed, even though he kiss the Bible and swear by all that is sacred. So that it is just as well not to swear him. A just and conscientious man will tell the truth on all occasions, whether under oath or not. So that there is no need to swear such a man.

If it be held that folks only tell the truth through fear of punishment for falsehood, then the boy that thinks the "cop" will take him to the Tombs for telling a lie is as worthy a witness as the man.

THE MYSTERY OF A LOST LIMB.

BY HERMAN FASCHER.

A recent article in The Progressive Thinker, headed "A Deep Mystery," caused me to ask a neighbor of mine, Mr. Seth A. Pymm

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