Part 20

A motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, or to take from the table, cannot be renewed unless some other motion has been made in the interval.

On motion to strike out the words, "Shall the words stand part of the motion?" unless a majority sustains the words, they are struck out.

On motion for previous question, the form to be observed is, "Shall the main question be now put?" This, if carried, ends debate.

On an appeal from the chair's decision, "Shall the decision be sustained as the ruling of the house?" The chair is generally sustained.

On motion for orders of the day, "Will the house now proceed to the orders of the day?" This, if carried, supersedes intervening motions.

When an objection is raised to considering questions, "Shall the question be considered?" Objections may be made by any member before debate has commenced, but not subsequently.

LETTER COMBINATIONS.

When King Stanislaus of Poland, then a young man, came back from a journey, the whole Lescinskian House gathered together at Lissa to receive him. The schoolmaster, Jablowsky, prepared a festival in commemoration of the event, and had it end with a ballet performed by thirteen students, dressed as cavaliers. Each had a shield, upon which one of the letters of the words "Domus Lescinia" (The Lescinskian House) was written in gold. After the first dance, they stood in such a manner that their shields read "Domus Lescinia"; after the second dance, they changed order, making it read, "Ades incolumnis" (Unharmed art thou here); after the third. "Mane sidus loci" (Continue the star of this place); after the fourth, "Sis coumna Dei" (Be a pillar of God); and finally, "I! scade solium!" (Go! ascend the throne). Indeed, these two words allow of 1,556,755,200 transpositions; yet that five of them convey independent and appropriate meanings is certainly very curious.

POINTS OF CRIMINAL LAW.

You cannot lawfully condone an offence by receiving back stolen property,

The exemption of females from arrest applies only in civil, not in criminal matters.

Every man is bound to obey the call of a sheriff for assistance in making an arrest.

The rule "Every man's house is his castle" does not hold good when a man is accused of crime.

Embezzlement can be charged only against a clerk or servant, or the officer or agent of a corporation.

Bigamy cannot be proven in law if one party to a marriage has been absent and not heard from for five years.

Grand larceny is when the value of property stolen exceeds $25.00--When less than that, the offence is petit larceny.

Arson to be in the first degree must have been committed at night and the buildings fired must have been inhabited.

Drunkenness is not a legal excuse for crime, but delirium tremens is considered by the law as a species of insanity.

In a case of assault it is only necessary to prove an "offer or attempt at assault."

Battery presumes physical violence.

Mayhem, although popularly supposed to refer to injury to the face, lip, tongue, eye, or ear, applies to any injury done a limb.

A felony is a crime punishable by imprisonment in a State prison; an "infamous" crime is one punishable with death or State prison.

A police officer is not authorized to make an arrest without a warrant unless he has personal knowledge of the offense for which the arrest is made.

An accident is not a crime, unless criminal carelessness can be proven. A man shooting at a burglar and killing a member of his family is not a murderer.

Burglary in the first degree can be committed only in the night time. Twilight, if dark enough to prevent distinguishing a man's face, is the same as "night" in law.

Murder to be in the first degree must be willful, premeditated and malicious, or committed while the murderer is engaged in a felonious act. The killing of a man in a duel is murder, and it is a misdemeanor to accept or give a challenge.

False swearing is perjury in law only when willfully done, and when the oath has been legally administered. Such qualifying expressions as "to the best of my belief," "as I am informed," may save an averment from being perjured. The law is that the false statement sworn to must be absolute. Subornation of perjury is a felony.

TO TELL PURE WATER.

The color, odor, taste and purity of water can be ascertained as follows: Fill a large bottle made of colorless glass with water; look through the water at some black object. Pour out some of the water and leave the bottle half full; cork the bottle and place it for a few hours in a warm place; shake up the water, remove the cork, and critically smell the air contained in the bottle. If it has any smell, particularly if the odor is repulsive, the water should not be used for domestic purposes. By heating the water an odor is evolved that would not otherwise appear. Water fresh from the well is usually tasteless, even if it contains a large amount of putrescible organic matter. All water for domestic purposes should be perfectly tasteless, and remain so even after it has been warmed, since warming often develops a taste in water which is tasteless when cold.

HAND GRENADES.

Take chloride of calcium, crude, 20 parts; common salt, 5 parts; and water, 75 parts. Mix and put in thin bottles. In case of fire, a bottle so thrown that it will break in or very near the fire will put it out. This mixture is better and cheaper than many of the high-priced grenades sold for the purpose of fire protection.

HOW TO GET RID OF RATS.

Get a piece of lead pipe and use it as a funnel to introduce about 1-1/2 ounces of sulphite of potassium into any outside holes tenanted by rats. Not to be used in dwellings. To get rid of mice use tartar emetic mingled with any favorite food; they will eat, sicken and take their leave.

FRIENDLY ADVICE ON MANY SUBJECTS.

Tomato in Bright's Disease.

When Thomas Jefferson brought the tomato from France to America, thinking that if it could be induced to grow bountifully it might make good feed for hogs, he little dreamed of the benefit he was conferring upon posterity. A constant diet of raw tomatoes and skim-milk is said to be a certain cure for Bright's disease. Gen. Schenck, who, when Minister to England, became a victim to that complaint, was restored to health by two years of this regimen.

Relief for Asthma.

An old friend of the editor of this book writes: "I have been a sufferer from asthma for twenty-five years, and for more than a dozen years have used the following recipe with great benefit. It is not a cure, but in my case gives almost instant relief. Take equal parts of powdered stramonium leaves and powdered belladonna leaves and mix thoroughly; to each ten ounces of the mixture add one ounce of powdered saltpeter (nitrate of potash); mix all thoroughly. I always keep some of this in a small tin box. When I wish to use it I pour a little of the powder into the cover of the box, light it with a match, cover the whole with a little paper cone with the point cut off. I place the point of the cone in my mouth, and breathe the smoke into my lungs with the air. The first trial is very hard; it almost strangles, but if persevered in will give great relief. This is much better than stramonium alone. The saltpeter makes it burn freely, and also helps to give relief. When my home was in Northern Indiana, I used to buy the leaves in Chicago already powdered. Now I send to New York. I find it cheaper to do this than to gather and dry the leaves. It is also almost impossible to dry and pulverize the leaves at home. By using a paper cone and breathing through it, little or no smoke is wasted, and the box and paper can be carried in the pocket and used as occasion requires."

For Swollen Feet.

Policemen, mail carriers, and others whose occupation keeps them on their feet a great deal, often are troubled with chafed, sore and blistered feet, especially in extremely hot weather, no matter how comfortably their shoes may lit. A powder is used in the German army for sifting into the shoes and stockings of the foot soldiers, called "Fusstreupulver," and consists of 3 parts salicylic acid, 10 parts starch and 87 parts pulverized soapstone.

Rules for Fat People and for Lean.

To increase the weight: Eat to the extent of satisfying; a natural appetite, of fat meats, butter, cream, milk, cocoa, chocolate, bread, potatoes, peas, parsnips, carrots, beets, farinaceous foods, as Indian corn, rice, tapioca, sago, corn starch, pastry, custards, oatmeal, sugar, sweet wines, and ale. Avoid acids. Exercise as little as possible, and sleep all you can.

To reduce the weight: Eat to the extent of satisfying a natural appetite, of lean meat, poultry, game, eggs, milk moderately, green vegetables, turnips, succulent fruits, tea or coffee. Drink lime juice, lemonade, and acid drinks. Avoid fat, butter, cream, sugar, pastry, rice, sago, tapioca, corn starch, potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, and sweet wines.

When Quinine Will Break Up a Cold.

It is surprising, says a family physician, how certainly a cold may be broken up by a timely dose of quinine. When first symptoms make their appearance, when a little languor, slight hoarseness and ominous tightening of the nasal membranes follow exposure to draughts or sudden chill by wet, five grains of this useful alkaloid are sufficient in many cases to end the trouble. But it must be done promptly. If the golden moment passes, nothing suffices to stop the weary sneezing, handkerchief-using, red-nose and woe begone looking periods that certainly follow.

A Mistaken Idea.

The old adage. "Feed a cold and starve a fever." is characterized by the Journal of Health as very silly advice. If anything, the reverse would be nearer right. When a person has a severe cold it is best for him to eat very lightly, especially during the first few days of the attack.

Hints on Bathing.

There has been a great deal written about bathing. The surface of the skin is punctured with millions of little holes called pores. The duty of these pores is to carry the waste matter off. For instance, perspiration. Now, if these pores are stopped up they are of no use, and the body has to find some other way to get rid of its impurities. Then the liver has more than it can do. Then we take a liver pill when we ought to clean out the pores instead. The housewife is very particular to keep her sieves in good order; after she has strained a substance through them they are washed out carefully with water, because water is the best thing known. That is the reason water is used to bathe in. But the skin is a little different from a sieve, because it is willing to help along the process itself. All it needs is a little encouragement and it will accomplish wonders. What the skin wants is rubbing. If you should quietly sit down in a tub of water and as quietly get up and dry off without rubbing, your skin wouldn't be much benefited. The water would make it a little soft, especially if it was warm. But rubbing is the great thing. Stand where the sunlight strikes a part of your body, then take a dry brush and rub it, and you will notice that countless little flakes of cuticle fly off. Every time one of these flakes is removed from the skin your body breathes a sigh of relief. An eminent German authority contends that too much bathing is a bad thing. There is much truth in this. Soap and water are good things to soften up the skin, but rubbing is what the skin wants. Every morning or every evening, or when it is most convenient, wash the body all over with water and a little ammonia, or anything which tends to make the water soft; then rub dry with a towel, and after that go over the body from top to toe with a dry brush. Try this for two or three weeks, and your skin will be like velvet.

Tea and Coffee.

Tea is a nerve stimulant, pure and simple, acting like alcohol in this respect, without any value that the latter may possess as a retarder of waste. It has a special influence upon those nerve centers that supply will power, exalting their sensibility beyond normal activity, and may even produce hysterical symptoms, if carried far enough. Its active principle, theine, is an exceedingly powerful drug, chiefly employed by nerve specialists as a pain destroyer, possessing the singular quality of working toward the surface. That is to say, when a dose is administered hypodermically for sciatica, for example, the narcotic influence proceeds outward from the point of injection, instead of inward toward the centers, as does that of morphia, atropia, etc. Tea is totally devoid of nutritive value, and the habit of drinking it to excess, which so many American women indulge in, particularly in the country, is to be deplored as a cause of our American nervousness. Coffee, on the contrary, is a nerve food. Like other concentrated foods of its class, it operates as a stimulant also, but upon a different set of nerves from tea. Taken strong in the morning, it often produces dizziness and that peculiar visual symptom of overstimulus which is called muscae volilantes--dancing flies. But this is an improper way to take it, and rightly used it is perhaps the most valuable liquid addition to the morning meal. Its active principle, caffeine, differs in all physiological respects from theine, while it is chemically very closely allied, and its limited consumption makes it impotent for harm.

To Straighten Round Shoulders.

A stooping figure and a halting gait, accompanied by the unavoidable weakness of lungs incidental to a narrow chest, may be entirely cured by the very simple and easily-performed exercise of raising one's self upon the toes leisurely in a perpendicular position several times daily. To take this exercise properly one must take a perfectly upright position. With the heels together and the toes at an angle of forty-five degrees. Then drop the arms lifelessly by the sides, animating and raising the chest to its full capacity and muscularity, the chin well drawn in, and the crown of the head feeling as if attached to a string suspended from the ceiling above. Slowly rise upon the balls of both feet to the greatest possible height, thereby exercising all the muscles of the legs and body; come again into standing position without swaying the body backward out of the perfect line. Repeat this same exercise, first on one foot, then on the other. It is wonderful what a straightening-out power this exercise has upon round shoulders and crooked backs, and one will be surprised to note how soon the lungs begin to show the effect of such expansive development.

Care of the Eyes.

In consequence of the increase of affections of the eye, a specialist has recently formulated the following rules to be observed in the care of the eyes for school work: A comfortable temperature, dry and warm feet, good ventilation; clothing at the neck and on other parts of the body loose; posture erect, and never read lying down or stooping. Little study before breakfast or directly after a heavy meal; none at all at twilight or late at night; use great caution about studying after recovery from fevers; have light abundant, but not dazzling, not allowing the sun to shine on desks or on objects in front of the scholars, and letting the light come from the left hand or left and rear; hold book at right angles to the line of sight or nearly so; give eyes frequent rest by looking up. The distance of the book from the eye should be about fifteen inches. The usual indication of strain is redness of the rim of the eyelid, betokening a congested state of the inner surface, which may be accompanied with some pain. When the eye tires easily rest is not the proper remedy, but the use of glasses of sufficient power to aid in accommodating the eye to vision.

How and When to Drink Water.

According to Doctor Leuf, when water is taken into the full or partly full stomach, it does not mingle with the food, as we are taught, but passes along quickly between the food and lesser curvature toward the pylorus, through which it passes into the intestines. The secretion of mucus by the lining membrane is constant, and during the night a considerable amount accumulates in the stomach; some of its liquid portion is absorbed, and that which remains is thick and tenacious. If food is taken into the stomach when in this condition, it becomes coated with this mucus, and the secretion of the gastric juice and its action are delayed. These facts show the value of a goblet of water before breakfast. This washes out the tenacious mucus, and stimulates the gastric glands to secretion. In old and feeble persons water should not be taken cold, but it may be with great advantage taken warm or hot. This removal of the accumulated mucus from the stomach is probably one of the reasons why taking soup at the beginning of a meal has been found so beneficial.

What Causes Coughs.

Cold and coughs are prevalent throughout the country, but throat affections are by far more common among business men. Every unfortunate one mutters something about the abominable weather and curses the piercing wind. Much of the trouble, however, is caused by overheated rooms, and a little more attention to proper ventilation would remove the cause of suffering. Doctor J. Ewing Mears, who was thus afflicted, said to an inquirer: "The huskiness and loss of power of articulation so common among us are largely due to the use of steam for heating. The steam cannot be properly regulated, and the temperature becomes too high. A person living in this atmosphere has all the cells of the lungs open, and when he passes into the open air he is unduly exposed. The affliction is quite common among the men who occupy offices in the new buildings which are fitted up with all modern improvements. The substitution of electric light for gas has wrought a change to which people have not yet adapted themselves. The heat arising from a number of gas jets will quickly raise the temperature of a room, and unconsciously people rely upon that means of heating to some extent. Very little warmth, however, is produced by the electric light, and when a man reads by an incandescent light he at times finds himself becoming chilly, and wonders why it is. Too hot during the day and too cold at night are conditions which should be avoided."

PHYSICAL EXERCISE.

The principal methods of developing the physique now prescribed by trainers are exercise with dumbbells, the bar bell and the chest weight. The rings and horizontal and parallel bars are also used, but not nearly to the extent that they formerly were. The movement has been all in the direction of the simplification of apparatus; in fact, one well-known teacher of the Boston Gymnasium when asked his opinion said: "Four bare walls and a floor, with a well-posted instructor, is all that is really required for a gymnasium."

Probably the most important as well as the simplest appliance for gymnasium work is the wooden dumbbell, which has displaced the ponderous iron bell of former days. Its weight is from three-quarters of a pound to a pound and a half, and with one in each hand a variety of motions can be gone through, which are of immense benefit in building up or toning down every muscle and all vital parts of the body.

The first object of an instructor in taking a beginner in hand is to increase the circulation. This is done by exercising the extremities, the first movement being one of the hands, after which come the wrists, then the arms, and next the head and feet. As the circulation is increased the necessity for a larger supply of oxygen, technically called "oxygen-hunger," is created, which is only satisfied by breathing exercises, which develop the lungs. After the circulation is in a satisfactory condition, the dumbbell instructor turns his attention to exercising the great muscles of the body, beginning with those of the back, strengthening which holds the body erect, thus increasing the chest capacity, invigorating the digestive organs, and, in fact, all the vital functions. By the use of very light weights an equal and symmetrical development of all parts of the body is obtained, and then there are no sudden demands on the heart and lungs.

After the dumbbell comes exercise with the round, or bar bell. This is like the dumbbell, with the exception that the bar connecting the balls is four or five feet, instead of a few inches in length. Bar bells weigh from one to two pounds each and are found most useful in building up the respiratory and digestive systems, their especial province being the strengthening of the erector muscles and increasing the flexibility of the chest.

Of all fixed apparatus in use the pulley weight stands easily first in importance. These weights are available for a greater variety of objects than any other gymnastic appliance, and can be used either for general exercise or for strengthening such muscles as most require it. With them a greater localization is possible than with the dumbbell, and for this reason they are recommended as a kind of supplement to the latter. As chest developers and correctors of round shoulders they are most effective. As the name implies, they are simply weights attached to ropes, which pass over pulleys, and are provided with handles. The common pulley is placed at about the height of the shoulder of an average man, but recently those which can be adjusted to any desired height have been very generally introduced.

When more special localization is desired than can be obtained by means of the ordinary apparatus, what is known as the double-action chest weight is used. This differs from the ordinary kind in being provided with several pulleys, so that the strain may come at different angles. Double-action weights may be divided into three classes--high, low, and side pulleys--each with its particular use.