TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7421, 21 September 1889, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The supposed "elixir of life" which till eminent French physiologist, M, Brovm> Sequard, claims to have , excited a good deal of interest in America, The newspapers, with the irreverent tewe» ness of the Yankee Prees, have it the , "lamb-juice and'stjttirt" rtoeds A number ot American physicians haw been applying practical, tests to,thaiup< posed discovery, and the resnlta Hrary bsß* siderably. At Louisville, Dre. Wilson Yoe, and Dungan, jtf the, Hospital-College of tried-the elixit on<ft rhen* mafcic patient jeventy years old, at&M report haa , obtained atoW complete .relief. He feela yonag sad re> tln the case oian aay>matiil paralytic, who'was not informed dth nature of the treatment; we are toli'tfjhe patient haa partially seeoverei fesa paralysis and has new energy andstreagflj." On the~other hand> a Cmoiuna6t"tele|piSi eaye.— <• Dr. Harper, of the City Inflrmaiy, has tried Brown-Sequard'a elixir oa £re inmates of the infirmary. They weroefl infirm men, over seventy years of age, except one, who .was about forty, bat w rheumaisie- >«ncl *• cripple. The doeto reports that only one observed asy result whatever, and he felt as if he had beia taking an alcoholio stimulant. The tat« concludes foqad elsewhere m the result of mental excitement." . Tbi» ia the view talten ty several other leading medioal'men-in the United Stafee, fOs« doctor said to have injected mttk ssl water into a dbzen elderly patients, lte#3 them toOtoalieve fbut. ,ftoULzmt» W«l inoculated with Brown-SSquard'a eM The result was that- all declared they B much better. and the old felt frisky; but in twenfey-f* , hours the effects o£ the injeotion hsA& appeared;:.;while* those: patieflte were, told what they were,. b#% ** jectedwith felt no effects from iti "to* Louie .Batefc, of Ban Franoisco, with the injection a patient suSqring s locomotor ataxy; The earn© patient been previously treated by the cure" already described in this coto The result was the same under &# courses. The patient felt benefited H a time, but the -effecfe of S»e 't&&t eeenied to 'p$ and it had: to b»,»ej«tA Dr. i , . Base, who ie a friend-otlteJW* Sequard, and haa often attended st hitter's laboratory in" London, was interviewed. Hβ said that he *® doubt "that the elixir ike^eww 11 . properitiM, j|>ut ,ttmt they are li|# to r passingr That the results sonie i: caees-ere-'aae ,: to 1 the s: mind he thinks there is no doat& "WM

we have a hysterical woman to tieat," SKJ | fie; ; "Vβ inject distilled water, "■?£*[ very' soxm'recovers her compqsßra.' *»£ is not because of any virtue in the *&*• but because ehe thinics that eomeiW very much more; powerful' baebeeape* Dr. J. H. , Stailard, another who was interviewed, made what a PP* to a lay mind to be some commoa «»* remarks on the subject. Hβ reaulta obtained in the experiments are due to the efert * -Jr mind, cannot be laeMhg. © continued:—; - "-<' :'.' j^i "Advancing age and aboufe a general change in the tfce body. The nerves ertf"»fce wfL, the arteries ere thioker end"B* w /i, daßJtfoi<9> AU the tissues of Mβ* j change and" the organs are I* B * "Tv!***. see how it can reaMi&W' m the- injection o* *f° *L« centimetres of any fluid can pwr***i4 manent >aiueliorafcion. of the t^JE*best I think it can only be Whether ttfo Amelioration «saw • constantly repeated injecfciottie » S l *! of eXjperhnextt.*' ' ?at, a brief compass, we tiie, whole *ftai£; amounts *»- B*own-86quard'8 remedy may turn ojs-te.]b9 in-tb» , Wttu?e« * beneficial "to old people in P Even iihie reinalns to be p<b*e« W "JJ J Bxperimehts. Aβ ;of life, or anything -to make ol* I jroung .again,,ha.vjng been Ik view of ; 'ihe sudden and < for New Zealand flax, a e 0 j reminds ua that fceeidee the tenar we ariotheff' ■ *&f fib| ?^fla|^ overlooked. ; are *eoine points about tlie ga j* and unassuming cabbage tree, j which should raise it in the « sta New At present the W

fcjf cnirtence to the fact that it will not burn j and can flourish In barren and ■ragged places. Its palm-like grace has won it a position in a few gardens,'ana, owing to it being so distinctly characteristic of the country, we find it flourishing by the side of tree ferns and Maori chiefs on the fronts of illustrated guide books. There is a legend that it owes its name to its use in the absence of ordinary vegetables when the pioneer eettlera required something with which to flavor their dish of salt pork. Even now its bunch of tender green shoots i 3 looked upon as an edible delicacy by people with more dainty palates than the Maoris possess. As a matter of fact, it ie worthy of a more dignified name. The Maoris call it the whanaka, a very good name, and easily pronounced. Scientists have christened it the CordyKne Australis, which our correspondent thinks ought to sound appropriate even to unlearned ears, since "cords" and "lines " ess be manufactured from its leaves, which in quality of fibre rank next to the phorminm tenax. One variety, the CordyJine indivisis, has a fibre that will stretch like elastic, and is stronger in proportion than flax. The Maoris have long used the gjjre of the cabbage-tree for snares for birds, small nets, and anything where delicacy and strength are required j they make from it their commonest article e{ dress, the piupiu, or shoulder cape, vhfch ie stfH seen in pictures of Maoris, though in actual life discarded for the more absorbent and accessible blanket. Aβ English firm reports that the leaves of the cabbage-tree make a most valuable for the manufacture of paper; md since it has been demonstrated that books m&de from, linen rag «raer decay rapidly, there should be some demand for paper on which valuable books »nd documents may be printed. Why should not such paper come from the cabbage tree ? Paper that has lasted thout&ody of years vas made from a similar It cannot be said that the cabbage tat jg difficult of propagation. If the trunk ifl cut into 2ft lengths it will send up shoots of leaves from each piece. Each «]ip of leaves will grow and flourish like Califcunian thistles, and if the trunk is robbed 3 tf its leafy crown it will grow toother one ihe next season. Once the cordyline used to produce cabbage tree hats j ie( famous amongst genuine Australians, l equal Panamas, but the poet pjeered at "The cabbage tree hat young mm/, bo he hung it in the bid house tad came back to the new mansion m ijiat of hard black felt. This made $£b grow prematurely bald, and gave him numerous headaches; but it was ordained 'ftiionilble, and the comfortable airy wfibage taree hat was snubbed out of existence. Now, a few Maoris in the Roeth Island manufacture cabbage tree jstfe, which are eagerly sought after and purchased by the tourists. These are jtblefotell their friends that the hats are Whanata3 or Ti Koukas, manufactured from a beautiful palm-like tree, bearing a flower so rich in perfume that butterflies and bees come hundred of miles to taste it, and carrying berries so delicious that tMnb would leave their homes in the forest and fly against strong nor*-westers to eat them. Could anything so poetical <br romantic be said of a "pot hat?" These is a sort of dogged persistency about a steamer well known in these waters which we cannot help admiring. ■We refer to the s.B. Triumph, Wβ are «se -afraid to cay how many times she fcae come to grief since she first sank in Harbor some years ago. When %tt the 22nd October last year, after coliJaioa wdta tfeeiSpanietesteamer Bfvaersbe pank at .the entrance of tie Tyne, we j&aaght we had heard the last of her; TJofc so, however. The authorities of &6 pert apparently were not satisfied with the position in which she was lying, jk> recently they set about disturbing: her 'teefc First they lifted her stern, so as to jnrt her parallel with the channel, instead jof athwart the etream as before, which no doubt was an objectionable attitude for her t» take, up from a nautical point of view. Then with the assistance of a number of tugs "she was towed into the river, and placed on the south side of the harbor, ijßflpth Shields, out of tbe way of traffic. "What is going to be done with her next, Hot stated. A writer in a Home papsr eriioJy observes:—" Considering the col, iteeax with the Spanish steamer, above water, and the sundry collisions which inerhas experienced with passing vessels bebar water, I should imagine that the triumph would require Eome trifling repairs." He is no doubt quite safe in' thia SSSJScture. Far be it From us 'to"'say, however, that those repairs will not be executed, or. that we shall not again ,see to* f.f. Triumph acting tip to her nauie, andlonce more proudly .riding the ocean. Inventors in search of a .design for a Pj&tenl ** tmwreckable ship—nbt unsink; *tslebear in mind—should study her con