to catch sounds we cannot now hear, and to be aware of bodies and objects impalpable at present to us, but perfectly real, intelligibly constructed, and constituting an organized society and a governed multiform state. Where does nature show signs of breaking off her magic, that she should stop at the five organs and the sixty odd elements? Are we free to spread over the face of this little earth, and never free to spread through the solar system and beyond it? Nay, the heavenly bodies are to the ether which contains them, as mere spores of seaweed floating in the ocean. Are the specks only filled with life, and not the space? What does nature possess more valuable in all she has wrought here, than the wisdom of the sage, the tenderness of the mother, the devotion of the lover, and the opulent imagination of the poet, that she should let these priceless things be utterly lost by a quinsy or a flux. It is a hundred times more reasonable to believe that she commences afresh with such delicately developed treasures, making them groundwork and stuff for splendid farther living, by process of death; which, even when it seems accidental or premature, is probably as natural and gentle as birth; and wherefrom, it may well be, the new born dead arises to find a fresh world ready for his pleasant and novel body, with gracious and willing kindred ministrations awaiting it, like those which provided for the human babe the guiding arms and nourishing breasts of its mother. As the babe's eyes opened to strange sunlight here, so may the eyes of the dead lift glad lids to "a light that never was on sea or land;" and so may his delighted ears hear speech and music proper to the spheres beyond, while he laughs contentedly to find how touch and taste and smell had all been forecasts of faculties accurately following upon the lowly lessons of this earthly nursery.

THE SEWAGE FARMS OF BERLIN.

The meeting of the International Medical Congress at Berlin in the first week of August afforded to the members the advantage of being conducted over the famous sewage farms connected with that city. Berlin is divided into twelve districts, each of which has its own pumping station, which sends out the sewage of its part of the one and a-half million of inhabitants composing the population of Berlin to the different farms purchased by the municipality. The total extent of the farms used for the purification of the sewage is about 19,000 acres. The farms are situated partly on the north and partly on the south of

the city. The southern ones are most beautiful and successful farms, and about 71 per cent, of the ground is irrigated by the sewage; 96 per cent. of this irrigated part is drained. The length of the pipes which convey the sewage to the farms varies from about five-eighths of a mile to about 11 miles, and the diameter of the main tubes varies from one meter to three-quarters of a meter. Once arrived at the farms the diameter of the pipes is lessened, and, finally, those used to convey the sewage to the fields do not exceed one-fifth of a meter. The conduits end at the highest point of the ground to be irrigated, and the most inclined fields are employed as meadows, whilst the flatter fields are used for the cultivation of roots; and some fields are covered in winter time by sewage for some months, and then used for the production of cereals in spring. The water is conveyed from the highest point of the fields by ditches, half a meter in depth, and where root crops are concerned the sewage is allowed only to touch the roots of the plants; but in the case of meadows it flows over the whole surface of the meadow. The idea that such farms become unfit for use in some years by clogging up, and then unable to purify sewage any longer, is now known to be erroneous, and after many years of use the sewage water is still only a slightly muddy fluid, and the effluent is pure, clear, and inodorous. The city of Berlin has taken the advantage of the existence of these farms to employ a number of persons in agriculture. Some of the workmen receive in wages and kind a value of about $300 yearly. The day laborers receive about $100, and women about $50, with lodging and farm produce, which makes the yearly income of each family about $300 also. There are also about 900 paupers who are employed on the farms, according to their powers. The produce of their labor is estimated as worth about one-fourth of that of the ordinary laborers. The health of the population employed on the farms has been examined by Professor Virchow, and found to be excellent. Eventually, I feel sure that all cities will imitate Berlin.

HERBA VITA REMEDY CO.

EAST SPRINGFIELD, Erie Co., Penn., Dec. 7, 1890.

The Herba Vita I got of you some time ago is all gone and I would like more. The small packages you sent me I distributed and probably you have heard from some of them. I do not like to be without it in my family. Send 1 doz. $1 packages by express via Nickel Plate R. R., and I will remit on receipt of bill.

Respectfully yours,

J. M. STRONG.

DIETARY.

Physicians always order beef for invalids that is cooked very little, in order that none of the nourishment in the meat may be dried away. Lean beef ground in a machine, salted to taste, made into cakes, and broiled just enough to heat, is excellent for invalids to whom the doctor has forbidden vegetables. A person in health may suit his

taste.

Eat all cold food slowly. Digestion will not begin till the temperature of the food has been raised by the heat of the stomach to ninetyeight degrees. Hence the more heat that can be imparted to it by slow mastication the better. The precipitation of a large quantity of cold in the stomach by fast eating, may, and often does, cause discomfort and indigestion, and every occasion of this kind results in a measurable injury to the digestive functions. Ice water drunk with cold food of course increases the mischief. Hot drinks-hot water, weak tea, coffee, chocolate, etc.-will, on the contrary, help to prevent it. But eat slowly, any way.

A famous doctor says: "Eat a good bowl of mush and milk for your breakfast, and you will not need any medicine. Indian corn contains a large amount of nitrogen, has qualities anti-constipating, and is easily assimilated. It is cheap and has great nutritive properties. A course of Indian meal in the shape of Johnny-cake, hoe-cake, corn or pone bread and mush, relieved by copious draughts of pure cow's milk, to which, if inclined to dyspepsia, a little lime water may be added, will make a life now a burden well worth the living, and you need no other treatment to correct your nervousness, brighten your vision, and give you sweet and peaceful sleep."

Rev. Mark Trafton says: "I am to-day as straight in my spinal column as a pine of my native State. At the age of 20 I was in the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and when I had been preaching two years a physician said to me: 'You must stop preaching or you will not live five years.' He has been in his grave 40 years; after this busy and exciting life of 60 years, I am here writing a word to my coevals, and 'my eye is not dim, nor my natural force (much) abated.' Why? Because, with the blessing of God, I have watched the operation of nature's teaching and obeyed the teacher, and taken care of myself. For eight or nine years past I have eaten no flesh of dead animals. For many years I have eaten whole wheat

or Graham bread. My breakfast is the principal meal for the daytwo soft boiled eggs, a saucer of oatmeal, mush, bread, and one cup of coffee. My dinner is bread, a slice or two, a cup of weak tea; at night, a half a pint of milk and a slice of bread. I hardly know, from any sensation, whether I have eaten or not. I have gained in weight, and suppose, unless some accident befall me, or I slip into some indiscretion, I shall be at last a centenarian."

TREATMENT OF FEVER.

For some years back the idea has prevailed that the great danger in fever is a high temperature, and the remedies at present most popular in the treatment of the various forms of febrile diseases, are known as anti-pyretics, among which are anti-pyrene, anti-fibrine, and a great variety of similar drugs. We have, from the first announcement of these remedies, opposed their use, for the reason that they have no hand in removing the causes of the disease for which they are administered. Professor Cantanni, of Naples, whose authority as an experienced and observing physician is second to no contemporary, has recently brought forward a very interesting theory respecting the relation of heat to fevers. It is not generally known that the high temperature connected with febrile disease is the result of the poisonous matters developed, but the germ causes of the disease. The cure of the disease necessitates the destruction of the germs. Professor Cantanni holds that the elevation of temperature is one of nature's methods of destroying the germs to which the fever is due, and that any medicinal agent, the administration of which has the effect to simply lower the temperature, is a direct damage, since it paralyzes the efforts of nature to antagonize the disease. This theory is one of great interest, and if generally adopted, will revolutionize the treatment of fevers. Dr. Cantanni recommends the use of water as the only safe and proper method of lowering the temperature in fever. The method of treating typhoid fever by means of baths, is obligatory in the French army. As the result, the mortality, which was 24 per cent. in 1865, had fallen to 11 per cent. in 1876, and to 9 per cent. in 1883.

FOR SLEEPLESSNESS.-HORSFORD'S ACID PHOSPHATE.-Dr. C. R. DAKE, Belleville, Ill., says: "I have found it, and it alone, to be capable of producing a sweet and natural sleep in cases of insomnia from overwork of the brain, which so often occurs in active professional and business men."

MISCELLANEOUS.

CAST IRON BRICKS.

What are termed hollow cast iron bricks form the subject of a recent German patent described in the technical journals, the article being the invention of an Erfurt mechanic. As the name indicates, they are made of regular brick form and size, the walls being 0.12 inches thick, but no mortar or other binding material is intended to enter into their use, the method of fastening adopted being as follows: The upper and lower sides of the bricks are provided with grooves and protecting ribs, which fit into one another easily and perfectly, so as to make a uniform and complete union or combination.

There are in addition two large circular openings in the upper side of each brick, arranged to receive suitably formed projections on the lower side of the brick above, one of these projections being also hooked shape, thus securing a more secure hold; and in order that the joints be made and remain air and water tight, a fluid is applied to the surface of the bricks with a brush. The non-conducting air spaces in the bricks, and the ease with which they may be put together and taken apart without injuring them, are cited as special advantages in their favor as a substitute for ordinary bricks and brick construction.

A LIVING EMETIC.-A servant who did not find her way very promptly to the kitchen one morning was visited by her mistress, who found her in bed, suffering from pain and violent sickness. She explained that she had a cold and had taken some medicine which had been recommended for the children. "How much did you take?" asked her mistress. "Well, mum, I went by the directions on the bottle. It said: "Ten drops for an infant, thirty drops for an adult and a tablespoonful for an emetic.' I knew I wasn't an infant or adult, so I thought I must be an emetic, and the pesky stuff has pretty nigh turned me insides out."—Medical Brief. STATISTICS Show that ninety-five out of a hundred men fail in business sooner or later, and the cases in which a firm sees fifty years of business life are extremely rare. It is certainly then a noteworthy case when a house dates its existence back to the close of the Revolution, as do Walter Baker & Co., the famous chocolate and cocoa manufacturers of Dorchester, Mass., who began business there in 1780, and for a hundred and ten years have made their productions the standard of purity and excellence all over the world. The immense increase in the consumption of their Breakfast Cocoa is largely due to their sagacity in setting and maintaining the standard of absolute purity in its production, thereby insuring its perfect healthfulness and the highest degree of nutrition. No chemicals are ever used in its preparation, but only the action of the cleanest and most exact mechanical processes upon the best materials; and at the Paris Exposition the gold medal for absolute purity and excellence was awarded to W. Baker & Co.'s preparations by the most eminent scientific authorities of Europe.