Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 7.djvu/259

Rh The total white population of Richmond is given as 33,452, and the deaths for January 25 males and 16 females. The colored population of the same city is given at 27,213, and the deaths as 40 males and 36 females. Norfolk had, for the same month, in a white population of 12,000, 3 male deaths and 5 female, while its colored population of 8,000 gave 6 male and 7 female deaths. The white population of Lynchburg is 6,500, and the colored population the same. Among the whites there were 4 males died and 1 female, while among the colored people 8 males died and 10 females. In Richmond, the number of still-born infants in the white population was 5, in the colored 11; in Lynchburg the number was 3 and 7 respectively. In Norfolk the number was even.

Temperature of the Body in Disease.—The normal surface temperature of the human body, in temperate climates, is about 98.°5, any persistent variation from this, whether by depression or by elevation, indicating disease. In the tropics, the normal temperature is one degree higher. Hitherto it has been supposed that, when in fevers the temperature rises over 108°, recovery is impossible, unless a reduction is effected by the cold bath. The Lancet gives an instance of recovery where the thermometer indicated a temperature of over 122° in the armpit of a patient suffering from injury to the spine. The history of this extraordinary case is as follows: On September 5, 1874, a young lady met with an accident in the hunting-field, whereby two ribs were fractured; at the same time she complained of-pain in the back. A surgeon, Mr. J. W. Teale, was soon in attendance. A few days after the accident the temperature was 101°, but, in the space of a fortnight, it became normal. The fractured ribs united, but pain and tenderness still existed over the sixth dorsal spine. On October 3d the temperature rose to 100°, and then to 101°; and it still continued to rise in spite of the application of ice-bags to the spine, till, on November 6th, it was 106°. After many fluctuations, the temperature, on the 13th of November, reached the astonishing height of 122°, the index of the thermometer becoming buried in the bulb at the top of the instrument, which registered only up to 122. During that day there was a fall of 8°, but, in the evening, 122° was again reached.

As a general rule, an increase of 1° above the normal temperature is attended with an increase of ten beats of the pulse per minute. In the present case, the pulse appears to have been the same (120) at 122° as at 108°. The normal temperature was not reached till January 10th, and, during the space of seven weeks, it never fell below 108°. We must add here that every precaution was taken against error in the indications of the thermometer. No fewer than seven different instruments, made by Harvey & Reynolds, were used, of which four had received certificates of correctness at Kew. Further, they were inspected by two or three trustworthy witnesses before and after each application, and the results were always immediately recorded in writing. Sometimes, when the thermometrical readings were highest, the hands, feet, and forehead, were icy cold, and the patient felt as if "her blood was on fire."

"Cotton Gunpowder."—This is the name given to a preparation of gun-cotton which, by the use of certain chemicals, is rendered perfectly safe for storage or carriage, though possessing enormous explosive power. The following account of some experiments made with cotton gunpowder we take from the Journal of the Society of Arts: "Cartridges were held in the hand, lit with fuses, and burned with a steady blaze, while, when ignited by detonators, they exploded with a loud report. Ten pounds of the substance was placed on an anvil, and an iron pile-driver weighing one-half ton was allowed to fall 15 feet upon it, without causing an explosion. Two barrels, each containing 40 pounds, were placed in a pile of fagots. Upon these being fired, the powder burned with a steady but intense flame, and without any tendency to explosion. A solid block of steel, about one-half ton in weight, was bored to the depth of 6 inches, and a 6-ounce cartridge was inserted in the hole. It was split into two pieces. But the greatest exhibition of force was made in two experiments with