HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1905, 25 May 1888, Page 35

HEALTH COLUMN.

Mechanism of the Heart. In Dr B. W. Eichardson's recent Canton lectures, in Speaking on the mechanism of the' heart, he described the number of the pulsations of the heart in different animals — in fish.-'frog, bird, rabbit, cat, dog,sheep; horse— and made a fetv comments on the remarkable slowness of the heart — 40 ' Strokes penminute— -in the horse. Then the number of pulsations in man'; at' various periods of life,, and at differentdevels, from the level of the sea up to 4000 ft above sea level, was brought under review, and was followed by a computation of' the. average work" performed'by the heart-in a healthy adult man. The work iwas traced out by the minute, the hour, and' the day, and. was shown to equal theieat of raising s,tone-4owt lft per hour, 1 or 125 tons in 24 hours. . The excess of this work > under alcohol* in varying quaivtitie^ formed a corollary to ,the history of the work of the' t hears» Parl*es\ calculation showing an Excess of 24 tons from the imbibition of eight fluid ounces of alcohol,'! The -facts -'■re-, jating to the work of the'he'art'by the of work 'accomplished was supplemented by ; a new,calgulation,;in ; which i the course of calculation was explained by mileage.' i Presuming the -blood 'was thrown out of the heart at each pulsation in the proportion of 69 strokes per minute, and at the assumed force of 9ft; the mileage of the blood through the body might be taken at 207 yds per minute, 1. miles' per?hour, 168 >miles per day, 61,320 miles per year, or 5,150,880 miles in a lifetime of 84 years. The number of. beats of the heart in the same long life would reach the grand total of 2,869,776,000. A Useful Recipe.— To apply a mustard, plaster so as not to blister the skin, mix the mustard with the white of "an egg 'instead of water. The plaster will draw thoroughly without blistering the most delicate skini The following is recommended as an efficient means of removing particles from the eye: Make a loop by doubling a horsehair. Eaise the lid of the eye in which is the foreign particle ; slip the loop over it, and, placing the lid in contact with the eyeball, withdraw the loop, and the particle will be drawn out with it. The results of the " hot- water cure" are said by a physician to be the stimulation of the stomach at first, but after repeated use a lessening of the tone of the digestive tracks, which causes congestion and dyspepsia. Hot drinks tend to lessen bronchial irritation, and- may be used profitably in some cases of consumption.A Powdkb fob. the Feet.— A powder is used in the-German army for sifting into the shoes and stockings of the foot soldiers. It is called " Fusstrlupulver," and consists of three parts salicylic acid, 10 parts starch, and 87 parts pulverised soapstone (Speckstein). ; It keep the feet dry, prevents chaffing, and rapidly heals sore spots. It is is to be recommended 1o mountaineers. DYING.— A leading physician says that a patient" who is lying dying of exhaustiop is generally dying of starvation. We give him beef tea, calf s-foot jelly, seltzer, and ,milk — that is, a small quantity of the sugar of milk and some fat ; but the jelly is the poorest sort of food and the beef tea is a mere stimulant.. ,The .popularbelieithab beef tea contains " the very strength of" the meat," is a terrible error — it has- no food value. , ; • , The Use of Yinegab.-*- Experiments ! have shown that even so small a quantity of vinegar as one part", in 5000 appreciably diminishes the action of saliva 'upon starch. One parfc4n ( J-000' renders it very s^ow, and twice the latter jquaritity arrests it altogether.' From this it is evident, says our contemporary, that vinegar pickles, salads, and other preparations in which vinegar is used are unwholesome, especially when taken with farinaceous food,' such as bread and otherpreparations. ' • . ' Mind Diseases.— The power of inqagin.ation is supposed to be .strqnger in women' than in men ; but this was, npJt sHown ia a recent hospital experiment. 'A' Dr Burand, .washing to test the practical effect .of ,'mind diseases, gave JOO ' patients a.^dose^of sweetened; waiter. f Fifteen-.! , minutes., after,- < ehijering, apparently! mi great excitement, he announced that he had by mistake given a iriust b& made accordingly. Eighty out of the 100 patients became thoroughly ill and exhibited

! the usual result of *an> emetic ; 20 were an- i affected. The curious part of it is that; .with" f .veryifew exceptions, the 80 " emeticised !' dubijects were men, while the .strong-minded l •few, who were not to be caught 'by.-ohaff, » ,were wpmen; ' • .r w v.t <>, • Hydbofluobic Acid fob Consumption ■ — So many reputed methods of curing con- > sumption have at ; different times .beenipub- • lished, raising false hopes in the minds' of the victims of that distressing malady, that ; we feel some hesitation in giving publication, to another. ,■ But, according to an American scientific paper, the,, method of M. Garcin s has been -prdyedi to-be, of real -benefit to, sufferers. Observations 'had been previously made at certain glassworks that the use of • hydrofluoric aoid— which. *we may remind our readers, is used for., etching' glass— had a 1 very; favourable! effect upon those workmen who were' suffering .from 1 pulmonary tuber- ■ culosis, From thisciroumstance.M^Garoin ■ was induced to try* the experiment of.sub-.; mitting his pati<*nts to an atmosphere containing this acid. His method is to enclose, the sufferers for an hour every day in a small • chamber charged with , air ■ mixed with the vapour from, the - acid , the strength of , the charge being regulated according to whethern they are bub slightly attacked, or whetner they are seriously affected with -the disease..! The effect of, this treatment is said ; to .be,, most satisfactory, the attacks of coughing, diminishing in frequency, the appetite imn proving, and the terrible night-Sweats djs-,1 appearing altogether. It is to be hoped' that further experiments w,ill ' demonstrate th,e •- value of this new remedy. • ,< • >