EFFECTS OF FRUIT ACIDS.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 661, 10 February 1909, Page 6

EFFECTS OF FRUIT ACIDS.

Many Kinds of Bacteria Are Qtriclcl? Dftapa.t«had T»y Lime and Lemon JnUe»,

It is a matter of common knowledge that fruit juices exert a most beneficial effect in the treatment, of scurvy and similar ailments, and their action on the typhoid bacillus and the colon bacillus, which are the cause of many forms of acute intestinal and other diseases, has been studied on a considerable scale by Dr. Reynolds, health commissioner of Chicago, says the London Telegraph. He finds that the juices of different species of lemons vary very materially in germicidal effect, that from some specimens requiring as much as ten per cent to kill all the exposed germs. Lime juice, apple juice and grape juice all have a more or less inhibiting effect, but the bottled grape juice sold at grocery stores gave the most conclusive results. •Distilled and tap water were infected with the bacteria, and bottled grape juice added in proportions varying from one to five per cent. Examination showed that some brands had killed the germs at the end of the first minute, as did also the lemon juice of a proper strength. Strangely enough, the freshly extracted Juice of the grape, prepared in the laboratory, had no effect, even in the proportion of 100 per cent. >* "**>*&s •f~" Telegraphic Shorthand. K complete telegraphic system of shorthand has been laboriously worked out by Mr. A. C. Barono and named "Pentelegraphy, Section Pape." It consists in a reduction of the Morse alphabet, to ten short characters or sounds, which are so manipulated by a key as to express anything and everything by them in such a way as to give the public greater privileges, while at the same time immensely reducing the work of the telegraph operator. A set of automatic instruments is now being made which will, it is said, make messages so cheap that thoy will be largely used instead of letters, finisher from Umlevgrronnd. Rubber that grows underground is an interesting product of the French Congo. It is obtained just beneath the bark of several plants, the best samples being from the. root bark of the Landolphia tholloni, and it is of the finest quality. When the bark is broken the two pieces are held together by the rubber lining, which is of great elasticity. Slave* in Africa. Ninety per cent of the inhabitants of western and northern Africa are Mohammedans, and every man of note in central Africa owns slaves, his station in life being rated by the number of' slaves he owns and the wives he possesses. When the girls reach the age of 13 they are as a rule wedded. S;tf»:»:>i - t of the I'onr.y Gre.at liriiain spends $112,500,000 a year on ~r support of the poor. This does no: include private charities.