26

THE
President of the British Institute of Civil En-
gineers claims to have discovered that the fogs of Lon-
don, which have hitherto been looked
upon as an intol-
erable and unmitigated nuisance, are really one of Lon-
don’s greatest blessings and more than anything else the
source of its general healthfulness. He says that it is
the sulphur emanating from ’combustion of coal which
causes fog; that in London about 350 tons are thrown in-
to the air on one winter’s day, and that it is just this
large quantity of sulphur which counteracts the effects
of the death-laden germs discharged from refuse heaps
and
sewers, by its deodorizing and antiseptic properties.
THE CAPITOL’S BAD SANITARY CONDITION.
LAST
March a commission of sanitary experts were
appointed to investigate the alleged unsanitary con-
dition of the National Capitol at Washington. This re-
port has just been submitted to the Senate. They rec
ommend extensive changes in the ventilating arrange-
ments of the Senate chamber in particular, and that the
whole
system of plumbing of the building, which was
put in from forty to ninety years ago,
be overhauled and
remodeled. The plumbing of the toilet-room of the
Supreme Court chamber is specially condemned as a
“sanitary curiosity and little better than a pest hole.”
They recommend also a new kitchen for the Senate’s
restaurant. The improvements suggested will cost
$33,500.
VINES ON WALLS.
IN
a recent report of the Secretary of Agriculture it is
asserted that the common notion that vines covering
walls tend to produce or promote dampness is so far
from being true that the contrary is the case,
such cov-
ered walls being drier than those exposed. A moment’s
reflection would
suggest that a thicket of leaves acts as a
thatch, throwing off rain and keeping walls dry. They
also have the further effect of preventing walls from
being heated by the
sun, so that in case of dwellings
where the walls are covered during the summer the rooms
are perceptibly cooler in consequence.
The ivy, in cli-
mates suited to it, is probably the finest evergreen for
clinging to and covering the walls, but the persistency
of its foliage has been objected to, inasmuch as it pre-
vents the sun from warming the walls during clear days
in winter. A vine which possesses an abundance of foli-
age in summer and becomes deciduous in winter is
therefore to be preferred, and the best plant to meet these
requirements is the Japan ivy. This plant is nearly
allied to the Virginia creeper,
which adorns and enriches
the wood with its rich autumn columns.
In the
year 1829 the Chinese completed an imperial
canal that traversed a distance of 1,000 miles, a forty
days sail for the Mongolian junk.
EATING BEFORE SLEEPING.
IT
used to he considered prejudicial to good health to
partake of food
just before going to bed. But
many
physicians now recommend to their patients alight meal
before retiring. On this subject Dr. W. T. Cathell, in
Md. Med. Jour, says :
Many persons, though not really sick, keep below par
in strength and general tone, and I am of the opinion
that fasting during the long interval between
supper
and
breakfast, and especially the complete emptiness of the
stomach during sleep, adds greatly to the amount of
emaciation, sleeplessness and general weakness we so
often meet.
Physiology teaches that in the body there is a per-
petual disintegration of tissue, sleeping or waking; it is
therefore logical to believe that the supply of nourish-
ment should be somewhat continuous, especially in those
who are below
par,
if we would counteract their emacia-
tion and lowered degree of vitality ; and as bodily exer-
cise is suspended during sleep, with wear and tear cor-
respondingly diminished, while digestion, assimilation
and nutritive activity continue as usual, the food fur-
nished during this period adds more than is destroyed,
and increased weight and improved general vigor is the
result.
All things except man are governed by natural in-
stinct, and every being with a stomach, except man, eats
before sleep, and even the human infant, guided by the
same instinct, sucks frequently day and night, and if its
stomach is empty for any prolonged period, it cries long
and loud.
Digestion requires no interval of rest, and if the
amount of food during the twenty-four hours is, in quan-
tity and quality, not beyond the physiological limit, it
makes no hurtful difference to the stomach how few or
how short are the intervals between eating; but it does
make a vast difference in the weak and emaciated one’s
welfare to have a modicum of food in the stomach dur-
ing the time of sleep, that, instead of being consumed
by bodily action, it may during the interval improve the
lowered system. lam fully satisfied that were the
weakly, the emaciated and sleepless to take a light lunch
or meal of simple, nutritious food before going to bed
for a prolonged period, nine in ten of them would be
thereby lifted into a better standard oi health.
In my specialty (nose and throat) I encounter cases
that, in addition to local and constitutional treatment,
need an increase of' nutritious food ; and I find that by
directing a bowl of bread and milk, or a mug
of beer and
a few biscuits, or a saucer of oatmeal and cream before
going to bed, for a few months, a surprising increase in
weight, strength and general tone results. On the con-
trary, persons who are too stout or plethoric should fol-
low an opposite course.
It is proposed to cover the surface of the sea around
an endangered vessel with a thin cotton or silken
net,
rendered unsuhmersible and even floating by means of
being dipped in a special chemical
preparation. The
idea is due to the fact that, when crossing the track of
the gulf stream, it has been noticed that the vast spread-
ing fields of floating seaweed within the confines of the
stream, though upheaved by the swell, remain glossy
and smooth. The net acts in the same manner as the
seaweed.
An invitation is extended to all the architects in the
South to join the Southern Chapter of the American In-
stitute of Architects.
A BLESSING IN DISGUISE.
249
THE SOUTHERN ARCHITECT.