ANCIENT CEMENT. cen Some samples of the cement used in the antique water conduits of Ephesus and Smyrna were recently subjected to chemical analysis, and the various samples were found to be similar in composition. The water works from which the samples of cement were taken were constructed from a period, several turies before Christ to three hundred years after. The chief constituent of the samples was calcium carbonate mixed with a small percentage of organic material. This latter was found to consist of a mixture of fatty acids. Experiments were made with a cement such as burned lime and olive or linseed oil, but it was not found to be permanent. On the other hand, a mixture of two-thirds of either slag or lime and one-third, olive oil hardened readily and possessed such great endurance that it led to the belief that this was the composition of the ancient cements which were analyzed. 0:0 STONEHENGE. An attractive solution of the purpose of Stonehenge was put forward at the British Association recently. Dr. Alfred Eddowes, addressing the Anthropologica Section, advanced the theory that the building was a gigantic sun dial. The thirty great upright stones with their intervals showed, in his opinion. that the circle was divided into sixty equal parts, the grooved stone having been used for supporting a pole, which formed the pointer of a sun-dial for daily observation, or an indicator of the time of the year by the length of the shadow. Dr. Sebastian Evans, who presided, held that Dr. Eddowes had proved his point, that Stonehenge had been used as an observatory; but Mr. Arthur Evans protested against the attempt to introduce very precise and rigorous ideas into a rude monument; and contended that Stonehenge, which was on the site of an early Bronze Age cemetery, ought not to be regarded alone, but in relation to a large series of other stone monuments. One would like to know what is the date or period, to which the oldest authentic sun dial can be attributed. 0:0 CAN WHITE MEN LIVE IN THE TROPICS? Benjamin Kidd, who is well known for his writings on social subjects in the tropics, has recently published a series of articles which attempt to show that it is impossible for white men to become acclimatized in the tropics. He goes on to say that all of the attempts to within reverse by any effort human range, the long, slow process of evolution, which has produced such a profound dividing line between the inhabitants of the tropics and those of temperate regions will end in failure. Dr. Sanborn, on the other hand, has shown that the causes of disease, deterioration and death in the tropics are due to pathogenic germs which have their limited and peculiar geographic areas, and differ greatly in the various tropical regions. Of course, if heat were the difficulty in the way, acclimatization would be altogether hopeless. There appears to be good reason, however, to believe that the real difficulty is the microbe; and if so, we may hope to fight against it in the tropics as successfully as has already been done in the temperate zones by sanitation and the gradual acquisition of immunity. The Medical News quotes Dr. Manson, who has written a book on about six feet higher than the ordinary level, with half-inch boiler-plates. The sides are loop-holed with horizontal slits so that the men inside the trucks can either use their rifles or Maxims with as near an approach to safety to themEach selves as is possible to secure. vehicle is calculated to hold fifty to sixty men comfortably, and the whole train is painted in the regular khaki color. The armoring of the engine has greatly increased, its bulk, but special care has been taken to make it as impregnable as possible. Both driver and fireman will be completely covered from view, and instructions are conveyed by in bell signals. The engine is fitted front with the 'Valiant' steam-pumping engine, taking steam from the locomotive boiler. A hose is attached of sufficient length to enable water to be taken in from rivers or other sources of sup ply that may be passed on the journey. It may be remarked that pumping engines of this pattern were used in the Sudan campaigns for supplying the troops with water, each pump being capable of delivering 1,200 gallons water per hour through even three With a view four miles of hose pipe. and, rear of the engine and tender. The. latter is a capacious vehicle, capable of. carrying a large stock." 0:0 WOMAN'S EDUCATION. Mrs. May Wright Sewall, president of the International Council of Women, Indianapolis, says with regard to the education of her own sex: "In fundamentals I would not differentiate the education of woman from. that of man at all. I think what is gooà for the development of mental fiber in. one sex is equally good for the development of the same fiber in the other. In. advanced education I would differentiate. woman's education from that of man. by giving her more of history and philosophy. I would give her more history because she will get less of the value of history through her contact with life than man will through his. I would give her more philosophy for three reasons: First, her habits of life will probably give her more time in loneliness,. which to the untrained mind is almost. certain to induce a habit of day-dreaming and mental idling. Second, the habit of mind, induced by philosophical study results in larger patience and surer fortitude, qualities which women particularly need. Third, as her life is likely to be given to details, and to details of relatively small matters, she needs the horizon and inspiration derived considering large general questions, such as those which are the subject of philosophy. Practically I would differentiate her education by giving her more natural sciences, that her more limited contact. with life may be supplied by quick perception of the relationships and resources of nature." 0:0 from. COLD WEATHER AND HEALTH. of or to allowing the troops free scope for action, the trucks are marshaled in front when we ought to be enjoying the delights of spring. The influence of the -cold weather is to increase the liability to chest diseases, and rheumatic complaints especially. The death rate from all forms of lung trouble rises in the winter and spring, and it is the very young and the old that suffer most severely in this respect. The ordinary rules and precautions which we should -adopt for the preservation of health are well known, but most of us do not attend to their observance, with the result that winter is often a very dire season for the majority. Thus, no person in our climate should clothe in anything else than woolen undergarments, and we should look to the soundness of our understandings in the shape of our shoes. Women especially are great sinners against health laws in this latter respect. They will wear boots with soles of a thinness altogether inadequate to protect them against the effect of damp and chill. Many and many a case of illness is traceable to 'damp feet, and, yet the sacrifice of health proceeds apace. Then, I think it a wise warning to all that the first beginning "of a cold should never be neglected. It often leads to worse things. A day in the house at first may save many weary days at home in the hereafter. People who possess feeble circulations should sleep in flannels, and they should fortify themselves by taking plenty of fat in their food. Fat is typically a winter food because it generates heat, and this, although at all times fat is a necessity for healthy life. Delicate persons should take a little cod liver oil emulsion after meals in winter if they are unable to take the pure oil, which is a food and : medicine in one.-Dr. Wilson. 0:0 "The climate of Egypt is magnificent, and there are few winter resorts that are preferable, meteorologically speaking. The air is fine and dry and the sunshine is perfect, while with equable temperature, wholesome food and water, and gentle breezes, there is little to be desired. Unfortunately, the sanitary arrangements in Egypt are very bad, and most of the hotels, even in Cairo, are built on contaminated sites. 0:0 THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEDROOM AND BEDSTEAD. Perhaps the last article which the late Lawson Tait contributed to medical literature was "Hygiene of the Bedroom and Bedstead," which appeared in several British and American journals. It treats of the evolution of the bedroom and, of that now necessary article of furniture, the bedstead, in Great Britain. It tells us, says The "Medical Record," that in the days of the cave dwellers and through the various stages of savagery and nomadic life, dwelling space was used for all purposes in common. It was not until the wandering hunter had, so to speak, settled down, that he saw the advantages of putting aside a portion of his dwelling for sleeping purposes. The Briton in the time of the Norman era had a very fair notion of what constitutes a comfortable bedroom and bedstead, although his castle might be outwardly grim and forbidding. The walls of the castle were thick and solid, thus securing a fair uniformity of temperature, while the downdrafts of cold air were modified by hangings of tapestry. For their bedsteads there was no need of hangings. The Saxon farmer, however, had to live under very different conditions. His house was of wood, and carpentry at that time was at very low ebb, so that the doors and windows were ill-fitting, and drafts were the rule. This resulted in the evolution of that abomination of abominations, the four-poster bed; and as Dr. Tait preferred to put it, "A small apartment was constructed inside the bedroom in the shape of a fourposter, hung round with curtains, into which a whole family must have crowded, possibly with the addition of occasional visitors." The conservative Britisher clung to his time-honored four-poster until the fifties, when occurred the dawn of domestic sanitation. The first step in the right direction was the introduction of the metallic bedstead.-S. American. "From time to time," says Electricity, "startling and wonderful electrical devices are brought out, probably the latest being an arrangement for automatically feeding a horse, invented by an enterprising resident of Youngstown, O. The arrangement, according to reports, consists of an alarm clock connected by wire to a hopper in the horse's manger. The alarm clock is set at any desired hour, the hopper filled with oats, and, at the appointed time, the alarm clock, by means of an electric apparatus connected with it, releases the oats in the hopper and out rolls the breakfast under the astonished horse's nose." In 1897 in Germany 1,383,700,000 gallons of beer were consumed, 1,192,000,000 were drunk in Great Britain; 180,000,000 in France, and 90,000,000 in Russia. It is estimated that 36 gallons per head are drunk in Belgium, 32 in Great Britain, 25 in Germany, 21 in Denmark, 12 in Switzerland, 10 in United States, 9 in Holland, 5 in France, 31⁄2 in Norway, 22 in Sweden, and 1 in Russia. A writer in the "North American 'Review" declares that a large quantity of beer is consumed in order to satisfy the craving for the elements which are eliminated from wheat in making white bread. 0:0 PROF. MECHNIKOFF'S OPINION. "Every organ of our body is composed of two kinds of cells-common and, as it were, noble cells. The noble cells determine the peculiar functions of the organs. * * The common cells do not differ from each other; they are identical in all the organs, and their only functions is to connect and hold together the noble cells. "Between these two kinds of cells. there goes on an incessant struggle. The noble cells are stronger and for a long time they prevail-that is, they successfully resist. But eventually the struggle exhausts them, and the preponderance passes to the common cells. This signalizes the beginning of old age. The noble cells are crowded more and more, the common ones growing in size at their expense and interfering with the functions of the organ. Hence theabnormal, diseased appearance of the organs, and the increasing difficulties in in the way of living. Ultimately the peformance of the functions becomes entirely impossible, and we have death. [Mechnikoff gives the technical term macrophagi to the connective-tissue cells, while the noble cells, the leucocytes, he calls microphagi.] some "If, then, the subjugation of the noble by the common cells, after a protracted struggle, is the cause of decrepitude and shrunken old age, is it not possible to reinforce the former and stave off their defeat? If not, is it possible to weaken the common cells by artificial means? Professor Mechnikoff is of the opinion that it will prove easier to do the latter than the former. We possess the means of destroying certain kinds of cells in the organism. For example, it is possible to inoculate birds in such a way as to destroy the red corpuscles in their blood without affecting the white ones. There is nothing improbable in the belief that a substance will be discovered which, introduced into the human body, will exert a destructive or restraining effect on the common cells, without incapacitating. them for their proper function, and thus strengthen and prolong the life of the noble ones."-"The Literary Digest." DR. JOHN DAVIES, Spring Green, Wis. Dr. John Davies died October 8, at the State Hospital at Mendota, Wis., from exhaustion caused by an operation for strangulated hernia, which was performed on Sunday, October 1, 1899. The remains were brought to the home of J. W. Williams, 521 Fourth street, where the funeral was held, Rev. Stoddard, of Black Earth, assisted by Rev. J. W. Hargrave, officiating. Dr. Davies was born in Llanbrynmair, Montgomerysrire, North Wales, and was in his eighty-first year. He was one of the oldest pioneers in Sauk county. Dr. Davies was a man of exceptional ability in a scholarly way. In his younger years he was an instructor in mathematics and penmanship in the Mechanics Institute in Newton, N. W., England. In 1848 he came to America, locating at Evansburg, Pennsylvania, and a year later removed to Blossburg, that State, where he was ordained as a minister of the Welsh Congregational Church. He remained pastor of the church at that place until 1854. From there he went to Racine, Wis., where he took charge of the Congregational Church. In 1855 he removed to Spring Green. He was one to establish the first church in that part of Sauk county. It was the little Welsh church located a mile west of where the village of Spring Green now stands, in a little grove, and which is yet in existence, but was removed, some years ago to its present location, nearly a mile north of the village. During his residence at Spring Green he served as Town Superintendent of Schools for three years, and as postmaster of the place for twɔ and a half years, resigning both positions when he went to Bangor, Wis. Dr. Davies also held pastorates at Bangor and Fish Creek. In 1851 Dr. Davies married Miss Ann Edwards, who survives him. Six children were born to this union, three of whom survive: Mrs. A. D. McGilvra, Miss Mattie Davies, and Mrs. J. W. Williams, of Baraboo, Dr. Davies and family resided a mile north of Spring Green until 1884, when they removed to Baraboo, In the early days he possessed one of the most extensive libraries in the county. He received a liberal education in the mother country as well as in the county of his choice. He was a practicing physician as well as a minister of the gospel. As a mathematician he was a prodigy. The sum of long columns of figures could be discerned at a glance. He loved his books and made good use of everything he read. He took an active interest in the passing events of the day and his love for the best works in literature ever remained with him. He was thoughtful and independent in the formation of opinions, and possessed a dignity and firmness in maintaining his ideas of right and duty, and aimed to be just to all. He was also a great lover of children. These tastes remained with him to the last days of his life. Even at his advanced age and encumbered with paralysis, his penmanship was hard to equal. Of the hospital, where he had been for a number of years, Dr. Davies never could find sufficient words for its praise. His knowledge of medicine made it possible for him to realize that the treatment scientifically and from a humane stand |