Scientific American Suppl. No. 299
by
Various
Part 3 out of 3
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
BLEEDING FROM THE THIGH (ART. FEMORALIS).
It needs no other explanation, as Fig. 3 shows the mode of stopping the
hemorrhage from that region temporarily.
Bleeding from the front part of the leg (Art. Tibialis Ant.), same as
Fig. 3.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
Bleeding from the posterior part of the leg (Art. Tibiailis Post, et
Peronea) same as above, with the addition of a tampon or compress under
the knee joint, or like Fig. 4.
BLEEDING FROM THE FOOT (ART. PLANTARIS ET DORSALIS PEDIS).
Flexion of the leg upon the thigh, and flexion of the foot upon the
front of the tibia.
Objections might also be raised to the above method on account of the
pain which it may produce; but the flexion never needs to be so forced
as to be unendurable to the patient; the position may be a little
uncomfortable to a very sensitive person, that is all. Furthermore, it
has been proven that a limb can be kept in a flexed position for several
days, "nine by some authors," without any injury, and with a complete
closure of the arteries. We do not expect, however, that this method of
arresting hemorrhage will ever be adopted as "the" method in surgery,
neither will it be necessary here to point out any cases where the
practitioner can have and under certain circumstances be obliged to have
to resort to this simple method. Military surgeons may also profit by
it, for it is certainly a valuable and admirable mode, and so easily
applied in cases of emergency by any one, if the unfortunate should be
distant from surgical aid. I also believe that it would be advisable and
certainly humane, to instruct the people in general, by popular lectures
or through the press, the manner of stopping hemorrhage temporarily.
[Illustration: Fig. 4.]
The simplest of all methods, however, to arrest hemorrhage is the
rubber bandage. It has displaced in surgery the old tourniquet almost
completely, which required a certain skill and anatomical knowledge to
apply it; not necessarily so with the rubber bandage. Any one can apply
it, for the amount of pressure needed to arrest the hemorrhage from a
wound suggests itself. The rubber bandage produces but little pain; the
patient is comparatively comfortable and out of immediate danger and
anxiety; while in the meantime the proper attention can be secured.
I think it would be well if our health officers would direct their
attention a little to the accidental hemorrhages, and if they do not
possess the power, to refer the matter to the proper tribunal to enact
a law that would compel all owners and corporations of factories, saw,
planing, and rolling mills, and, in fact, every establishment where
the laborers are constantly in danger of accidents, to keep on hand a
certain number of strong rubber bandages, according to the number of
men employed, and that at least several of the men, if not all in every
establishment of that kind, be instructed in the application of the
bandage. Steamboats and other vessels should carry a supply, and
railroad companies should be obliged to furnish all watchmen along their
respective roads with rubber bandages, and see that the men know how to
use them in case an accident should occur. Every train that goes out
should have some bandages on board in care of some employe, who knows
how to handle them when needed. Many pounds of precious blood may thus
be saved, and danger to life from this cause be averted.--_Indiana
Medical Reporter_.
* * * * *
HOT WATER COMPRESSES IN TETANUS AND TRISMUS.
Sporer has successfully treated cases of tetanus by merely applying to
the nape of the neck and along the spine large pieces of flannel dipped
in hot water, of a temperature just bearable to the hand (50-55 deg.
C.).--_Allg. med. cent. Zeit_., January 15, 1881.
* * * * *
TRIALS OF STRING SHEAF BINDERS AT DERBY, ENGLAND.
After a week's postponement, rendered necessary by the unripe condition
of the crops on the first of the month, the trials of sheaf-binding
machines, using any other binding material than wire, instituted by the
Royal Agricultural Society of England, began on Monday morning, the 8th
of August. By nine o'clock, the time appointed for beginning operations,
there was a very large number of gentlemen interested in these trials
already collected on the farm of Mr. Hall, at Thulston, and the
distances that many of them had come testified to the importance of the
interests involved. The morning was perfect for reaping, though
ominous clouds in the southwest led many to hazard conjectures, which
unfortunately turned out too well founded, that the Royal Agricultural
Society would not on this occasion escape the fate which had visited
them so often. The corn stood ripe and upright in the various plots into
which the fields had been divided, and the ground was level and dry. The
published list of the competitors contained twenty entries, not by as
many firms, however, for many names appeared more than once; but the
rules of the society, which objects to different machines being used for
different kinds of corn in these trials, together with non-attendance
for unknown reasons, had reduced the actual list of competing machines
to seven. These were as follows: Mr. W. A. Wood, the McCormick
Harvesting Machine Company, the Johnston Harvester Company, Messrs.
Samuelson & Company, Messrs. J. & F. Howard, Messrs. Aultman & Company,
and Mr. H.J.H. King. All these machines were to be seen at the show,
except the second named, which was delayed by the stranding of
the steamship Britannic, and had only lately arrived in rather a
weather-beaten condition. The trials were to be made upon oats, barley,
and wheat, and the plots for the preliminary trials were about half an
acre in extent. Shortly after half-past nine o'clock, the judges and
engineers of the society having arrived upon the ground, a start was
made upon the oats by the three machines belonging to Mr. Wood, Messrs.
Samuelson & Co., and the Johnston Harvester Company. It should, perhaps,
be mentioned that the strength of this crop of oats varied a good deal
in different parts of the field. These three machines all belong to the
class which has the automatic trip--that is, the binding gear is thrown
into action by the pressure of the straw accumulated arriving at a
certain value, independently of any special action on the part of the
driver. The sheaves from Messrs. Samuelson's machines were extremely
neat and well separated from each other, a point to which farmers attach
great importance.
It would appear that it is impossible to secure the binding of every
single sheaf. Here and there, even with the best binders, an occasional
miss will occur, in which the corn is thrown out unbound. However, with
Messrs Samuelson's machine this was extremely rare, and the neatness of
the sheaves produced was remarkable. No doubt the shortness of the crop
in the portion allotted to this machine may have had something to do
with this, as a longer straw is more likely than a shorter one to
connect two sheaves and produce that hanging together which in other
machines is so often observed to precede a miss in the binding. Mr.
Wood's machine had a stronger crop and longer straw to deal with, and
the hanging together of the sheaves occurred far too frequently, and was
almost always followed by a loose sheaf. The Johnston harvester went
through a very fair performance; there was no hanging except at turning
the corners, and the piece of work was finished in a shorter time than
with the other machines. Notwithstanding the automatic character of the
gear for binding, we believe it will be found that the sheaves produced
in these machines vary very much in weight.
At about 10:20 the next lot of machines started. They were those of
the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, Messrs. Howard, and Messrs.
Aultman & Co. Of these, the first-named only has the automatic trip. We
believe it made no miss in binding during this trial, and the sheaves
were neat, though, perhaps, rather too tightly bound. There was no
hanging together or check in this run. The machine of Messrs. Aultman &
Co. was not so successful in separating the sheaves, though this was
not so often followed by an unbound sheaf as in some other machines.
Sometimes as many as three sheaves, clinging closely together, were
ejected at one time. To avoid this a man walked by the machine, and
assisted the delivery of the sheaf. The tension of the string which
binds the sheaves varies a good deal in this machine, some of the
sheaves being rather too loosely held together, while at other times the
fault is in the other direction. In Messrs. Howard's machine there is a
tendency in the sheaves to cling together, but this is not accompanied
to any extent with missing the binding. Mr. King attempted a run after
the three last had finished their plots; but his machinery had not been
fully adjusted, and after one course the trial stopped. As far as one
could judge from this short performance, the chief fault in the sheaf
produced was the uncertain position of the string upon it. Sometimes
this was near the bottom of the straw, and sometimes among the corn.
Unfortunately at 11:25 the rain began, and experiments were stopped till
the afternoon. It was no light shower which could give a check to the
ardor of the judges and other officers of the society, but a heavy
downpour of some hours' duration, which soaked the crop through and
through. Indeed, we think it a pity that the experiments should have
been continued at all under circumstances in which practical harvesting
would have been out of the question. However, after a short lull in the
rain, the machines of Mr. Wood, Messrs. Samuelson, and the McCormick
Harvesting Company went into the wet barley. The machine of Mr. Wood
worked most rapidly, but the clinging of the sheaves and the failure to
bind were again very apparent. The stubble left by this machine was the
shortest and most even of the three. The machines of Messrs. Samuelson
and the McCormick Company left a very ragged, long, and uneven stubble
in this trial, though the delivery and binding of the sheaves seemed to
be as good as in the oats trial. The binding in the former was rather
too tight.
The remaining machines, with the exception of that of Mr. King, then
attempted a trial; but Messrs. Howard's machine having too smooth a
face to the driving wheel, was unable to drive all the gear in the wet
condition of the ground. The damp weather had no doubt tightened up the
canvas carriers, and thereby added to the work to be done; but this was
the only machine that was found incapacitated through the action of
the rain. Unfortunately the plots assigned to this machine and to the
Johnston harvester were in juxtaposition, so that the latter machine
was blocked by the former, and could not proceed, and that of Messrs.
Aultman alone went through with its work. There was no improvement in
the separation of the sheaves, and the misses were rather more frequent
than in the trials among the oats. The sheaves, too, that issued singly
were somewhat wanting in neatness. The whole of these barley trials must
be looked upon as unsatisfactory, on account of the condition of the
crop, and it is to be hoped that before the investigations are brought
to a conclusion all these machines may have a more favorable opportunity
of demonstrating the advantages which are claimed for them. It may be
here said that throughout these trials there has been as yet no wind
at all, which, as the investigations are in other respects to be so
thoroughly carried out, is a matter of regret. Probably Messrs. Howard's
machine was as well protected from the wind as any other of the seven
competitors.
The following are the awards of the judges, which were made known
on Wednesday evening: Gold medal--Messrs. McCormick & Co. Silver
medals--Messrs. Samuelson, Messrs. Johnston & Co. Highly commended--Mr.
H. J. King, for principle of tying and separating sheaves. The only
gleaning binding machine which entered the field was that of Mr. J. G.
Walker, made by the Notts Fork Company, but no official trials of this
were made.--_The Engineer_.
* * * * *
THE CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES.
Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry, of the Mount Hope Nurseries, at Rochester,
give the following directions for setting out and cultivating
strawberries, the result of long and successful experience, in their
recently issued Strawberry Catalogue:
_The Soil and Its Preparation_.--The strawberry may be successfully
grown in any soil adapted to the growth of ordinary field or garden
crops. The ground should be _well_ prepared, by trenching or plowing at
least eighteen to twenty inches deep, and be _properly enriched_ as for
any garden crop. It is unnecessary to say that if the land is wet, it
must be thoroughly drained.
_Season for Transplanting_.--In the Northern States, the season for
planting in the spring is during the months of April and May. It may
then be done with safety from the time the plants begin to grow until
they are in blossom. This is the time we prefer for setting out _large
plantations_.
During the months of August and September, when the weather is usually
hot and dry, _pot-grown_ plants may be planted to the best advantage.
With the ball of earth attached to the roots, they can be transplanted
without any failures, and the trouble and annoyance of watering,
shading, etc., which are indispensable to the success of layer plants,
are thus in a great measure avoided.
GARDEN CULTURE.
_To Cultivate the Strawberry_.--For family use, we recommend planting
in beds four feet wide, with an alley two feet wide between. These beds
will accommodate three rows of plants, which may stand fifteen inches
apart each way, and the outside row nine inches from the alley. These
beds can be kept clean, and the fruit can be gathered from them without
setting the feet upon them.
_Culture in Hills_.--This is the best mode that can be adopted for the
garden. If you desire fine, large, high-flavored fruit, pinch off the
runners as fast as they appear, repeating the operation as often as may
be necessary during the summer. Every runner thus removed produces a new
crown at the center of the plant, and in the fall the plants will have
formed large bushes or stools, on which the finest strawberries may be
expected the following season. In the meantime, the ground among the
plants should be kept clear of weeds, and frequently stirred with a hoe
or fork.
_Covering in Winter_.--Where the winters are severe, with little snow
for protection, a slight covering of leaves or litter, or the branches
of evergreens, will be of great service. This covering should not be
placed over the plants till after the ground is frozen, usually from the
middle of November till the first of December in this locality. Fatal
errors are often made by putting on _too much_ and _too early_. Care
must also be taken to remove the covering in spring just as soon as the
plants begin to grow.
_Mulching to Keep the Fruit Clean_.--Before the fruit begins to ripen,
mulch the ground among the plants with short hay or straw, or grass
mowings from the lawn, or anything of that sort. This will not only keep
the fruit clean, but will prevent the ground from drying and baking, and
thus lengthen the fruiting season. Tan-bark can also be used as a mulch.
A bed managed in this way will give two full crops, and should then be
spaded or plowed down, a new one having been in the meantime prepared to
take its place.
FIELD CULTURE.
The same directions with regard to soil, time of planting, protection,
and mulching, as given above, are applicable when planting on a large
scale.
_The Matted Row System_.--The mode of growing usually pursued has its
advantages for field culture, but cannot be recommended for the garden.
In the field we usually plant in rows three to four feet apart, and the
plants a foot to a foot and a half apart in the row. In this case much
of the labor is performed with the horse and cultivator.
_How to Ascertain the Number of Plants Required for an Acre_.--The
number of plants required for an acre, at any given distance apart, may
be ascertained by dividing the number of square feet in an acre (43,560)
by the number of square feet given to each plant, which is obtained
by multiplying the distance between rows by the distance between the
plants. Thus strawberries planted three feet by one foot give each plant
three square feet, or 14,520 plants to the acre.
* * * * *
SOME HARDY FLOWERS FOR MIDSUMMER.
Pretentious gardens are now gayly decorated with glowing masses
of pelargoniums and vincas, belts of rich coleuses and fiery
alternantheras, patchwork of feverfew and mesembryanthemum, and
scroll-work of house leeks, but amid this gay checkering it is wonderful
how few flowers there are for cutting for bouquets. As tender plants,
except the few that may have been wintered in windows and cellars, are
beyond the reach of most of our country folks, I will consider those
only that are perfectly hardy and in full blossom now, July 21.
Koempfer's irises, blue, white, purple, streaked, marbled, and otherwise
variegated, are in bloom; they are the grandest of their race, and as
different varieties succeed one another, they may be had in bloom
from June till August. They are easily raised from seed or by
division--prefer rich, moist land, and if in a partly shaded place,
their blossoms last longer than in full sunshine.
Trumpet lilies are bursting into bloom; the scarlet martagon is at its
best; _speciosum_, tiger, and American Turk's cap lilies are yet to
follow. I find the trumpet lilies have done better this year than any of
the other sorts in open places. Most of the yellow day lilies are past,
but the tawny one is at its best; they are all hardy, and seem to thrive
alike in wild or cultivated land. Seibold's funkia (called also day
lily) has pale bluish flowers, and large, handsome glaucous leaves: the
undulated-leaved funkia has beautifully variegated leaves, and pale
bluish blossoms; these, together with several others of their race,
are in bloom. They like to grow in undisturbed clumps in rich and
faintly-shaded nooks; if grown in full sunshine they bloom well enough,
but their leaves get "scorched."
The European meadow sweet (_Spiraea ulmaria_), two feet high, and the
Kamtchatka one, four feet high, are in bloom; the double varieties are
far finer, whiter, and more lasting than the single ones. They will grow
anywhere. There are many fine kinds of sedum or liveforever in season;
some of them like _album_ (white), _pulchellum_ (pink), _spurium
splendens_ (pink), _hispanicum_ (white), may more properly be called
stonecups, but the stronger-growing sorts, as _S. warscewiczii_
(yellow), should be regarded as liveforevers. They like open, sunny
places, and dislike artificial waterings.
_Dicentra eximia_ (pink-purple) is free, neat, copious, and a perpetual
bloomer, as is also _Corydalis lutea_ (yellow). The climbing fumitory
comes up of itself from seed every year, and is now running over bushes,
stakes, and strings, and is full of fern-like leaves and flesh-colored
flowers. The long, scarlet wands of _Pentstemon barbatus_ are
conspicuous in the borders; this should be in every garden, it is so
profuse and hardy. Many speedwells still remain in fine condition,
notably _Veronica longifolia;_ they are a hardy and a showy race of
plants, and will grow anywhere. The main lot of perennial larkspurs are
past, but by cutting them over now many flower spikes will be produced
during the fall months. The yucca or bear-grass is in perfection; its
massive flower scapes are very telling. It will grow anywhere, and once
established it is hard to get rid of.
Many kinds of perennial bell-flowers are in fine condition, as the
carpathian, peach-leaved (second crop), nettle-leaved, common harebell,
and vase harebell. In the case of many of the tall-growing kinds, better
results are obtained by treating them as biennials than perennials. No
garden should be without the double white feverfew; the more you cut it
the more it blooms. _Anthemis tinctoria_, yellow or white, the yellow is
by far the best, and the lance-leaved, large-flowered, larkspur-leaved
and eared coreopsises are fine, seasonable perennials, as are likewise
the yellow, white, and pink yarrows, double sneezewort, the cone
flowers, and large-flowered fleabanes, and all grow readily in
any ordinary garden soil, and with little care. Hollyhocks are in
perfection; feed them well and prevent many sprouts to each stool. Many
kinds of meadow rue, as garden plants, have a bold, graceful appearance;
they love moist soil.
In good soil and a partly shaded spot we have no handsomer plant in
bloom than the tall bugbane (_Cimicifuga racemosa_); from a bunch of
thrifty leaves arise a dozen scapes of racemes, creamy white, and six
feet high. The scarlet lychnis and its many varieties are nearly past,
but the large-flowered, Haag's, and others of that section, are in their
prime, and showy plants they are. They are true and lasting perennials,
bloom well the first season from seed, quite hardy, copious, and
effective; any ordinary garden soil. The pyrenean prunella has large
purple heads; the false dragonhead (_Physostegia_), pale rose-purple
spikes; centranthuses, cymes of red and white; centaureas, heads of
yellow, blue, and purple; pinks, divers shades of red and white; and
monkshoods, hoods of blue or white; and all are very hardy, ready
growers, and copious bloomers. The bee balm, one of our handsomest
perennials, has bright red whorls; it spreads upon the surface of the
ground like mint, and thus may be divided and increased to any extent.
It loves rich, moist land, but is not fastidious. Among the evening
primroses the Missouri one is the brightest and biggest; _speciosa_,
white, from Texas, of blossoms the most prolific; _glauca, riparia,
fruticera_, and _linearis_, all yellow; many others, though perennial,
are best treated as annual or biennial. The spiked loosestrife planted
by the water's edge of a pond is far finer than in the garden border. It
has hundreds of red spikes.
Add to these, everlasting peas, musk mallows, spiderwort, globe
thistles, bold senecios, the finer milkweeds, _Scabiosa, Gallium_,
Chinese _Astilbe_, various kinds of loosestrife (_Lysimachia_), and many
others as perennials, and _Coreopsis_, balsams, zinnias, marigolds,
stocks, Swan river daisy, mignonnette, sweet peas, sweet alyssum,
morning glories, larkspurs, canary flowers, cucumber-leaved sunflowers,
verbenas, petunias, corn flower, Drummond phlox, double and single
poppies, snapdragons, _Phacelia, Gilia, Clarkia_, candytuft, red flax,
tassel flowers, blue _Anchusa, Gaillardia_, and a multitude besides of
seasonable annuals, which can all be raised quite easily without a frame
or green-house, and what excuse has any farmer for having a flowerless
garden in midsummer?--_William Falconer, in Country Gentleman_.
* * * * *
THE TIME-CONSUMING MATCH.
Mr. Edward Prince, splint manufacturer, of Horseshoe Bay, Buckingham
township, is authority for the statement that there are about twenty-two
match factories in the United States and Canada, and that the daily
production--and consequent daily consumption--is about twenty-five
thousand gross per day. It may seem a queer statement to make that one
hundred thousand hours of each successive day are spent by the people of
the two countries in striking a light, but such is undoubtedly the case.
In each gross of matches manufactured there are 144 boxes, so that the
25,000 gross produces 3,600,000 boxes. Each box, at least those made
in the States, where a duty of one cent upon every box of matches is
levied--contains 100 matches, so that the number of matches produced and
used daily amounts to 360,000,000. Counting that it takes a second to
light each match--and it is questionable whether it can be done in less
time than that, while some men occupy several minutes sometimes in
trying to strike a light, particularly when boozy--to light the
360,000,000 would take just that number of seconds. This gives 6,000,000
minutes, or 100,000 hours. In days of twenty-four hours each it figures
up to 4,166 2-3, and gives eleven years and five months with a couple of
days extra, as the time occupied during every twenty-four hours, by
the people of North America--not figuring on the Mexicans--in striking
matches. Figuring a little further it gives 4,159 years time in
each year. The fact may seem amazing, but it is undoubtedly quite
correct.--_Ottawa Free Press_.
* * * * *
A catalogue, containing brief notices of many important scientific
papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this
office.
* * * * *
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