Science.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 390, 29 October 1903, Page 2

Science.

A SHINY SKIN. Swjf F your facet looks shiny after washing, sin B P° n 6° i* quickly with a little eaufffjlj de-Cologne, and then dust over with oatmeal. Leave the oatmeal on for a few minutes, then wipe it off with a soft chsmois leather. VIOLET SCENT. A pleasant violet scent is easily made with orris-root and spirits of wise. Cut half an ourca of orris-root inte little pieces, put it in a bottle, and pour over it an ounce of spirit. Cork tightly, aHd leave for about a week. A few dreps of this on a handkerchief will have a smell of the sweetest and freshest of violets. TO CUBE CHAPS, The only way to cure these quickly is to tie up the fingers affected. Spread some beracic ointment on lint or clean rag, lay this over the top cf the finger, and tie up in the usual way. The rubber fingerstalls that can be bought at any chemist's are invaluable for people who must constantly be putting thoir hands in water, as they .can be washed and dried in the same way as the hasds themselves. FOR HOT HANDS. If your hands get very hot and clammy try wazhing them in rather hot water with any gocd toilet soap. Dry thoroughly, and then rub in a very little alcohol. Eau-de-Cologne or any othor good scent answers the purpose equally w?ll. if your hands are inclined co be very hot never sit with your arms hanging straight down, This naturally makes the blood rush to them, and makes the trouble worse, FIRST UNDEE CHLOROFOHfiL The first patient ever operated upon under the influence of chloroform was a boy four or five years old, who could only speak Gaelic. He seemed frightened when the sprinkled handkerchief was held before his face, but fell asleep after a few inspirations. The boy was suffering from necrosis of one of ; he bones of the forearm, and Dr. Simpson thus described his experience in this historic case:—' Daring tli? operation, and the subsequent examination of the wound of the finger, not the slightest evidence of the suffeiiagof pain was given. He still slept on soundly, and was carried back to his ward in that state. Half an hour afterwards he was found ia bed like a coild newly awakened from a refreshing sleep, with a clear, merry eye and placid expression of countenance, wholly, unlike what is found to obtain after ordinary, etherisation. He stated that he had never felt any pain, and felt none now. On being shown his wounded arm he looked much surprised, but neither cried nor otherwise expressed the slightest alarm." The introduction of chloroform into general practice was not < ff acted without a storm of prejudice and bigotry, which combats every discovery and keeps back every great reform. On medical, moral' and religious grounds the new anaesthetic was condemned, and a bitter c)ntro?«rsy raged round Dr. Simpson and his assistants. But the doctor stood out bravely, and was bold enough to declare that overy operation without chloroform was a piece of the xnest deliberate and cold blooded cruelty. In 1850 he was awarded an international priza for " one cf the most important benefits due to humanity," and in 1853 Dr. Simpson was informed that Queen Victoria had used chloroform at the birt-a of Priuce Lao-; pold, and was much pleased with the result. The triumph was complete, and cboloroforni took its pUce as the universal soother of pain under the surgeon's knife. The first child born under the influence o>f chlorofcim was the daughter of a doctor friend of Professor Simpson, and she was christened At tobhesia, to cakbrate the circumstances of her birth, as the first child to be vaccinated in Russia was christened Vacincff. Gradually the novelty of the drug passed away, and the days when Be. Simpson and his fiiends sat up into the small hours discussing chloroform and its sensations came to an end. The drug grew into such favour thut the demand for it kept the chemists up till 2 o'clock in the morning, and the firm whose founders sat up until that late hour to supply Dr. Simpson with chloroform works to-day beyond the Tweed, where in one year not long ago they prepared three-quarters of a million doses every week.