Straw hats should be worn, ventilated at the top, and the crown of the hat filled with green leaves or wet sponge. It is better to wear thin flannel shirts, in order not to check perspiration. We may expose ourselves for a long time in the hot sun, and work or sleep in a heated room, and enjoy perfect immunity from sunstroke, if we keep our skin and clothing wet with water. 2o8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Unrecognized Qualities in Charcoal. — Among the numerous and varied properties possessed by charcoal there is one — one, too, of the most wonderful — which does not seem to be adequately recog- nized, probably from its being imperfectly known except to physicists. It is that of being able to condense and store away in its pores many times its own bulk of certain gaseous bodies, which it retains, thus compressed in an otherwise unaltered condition, and from which they can be withdrawn, as required, as from a reservoir. It is this enor- mous absorptive power that renders of so much value a compara- tively slight sprinkling of charcoal over dead animal matter as a pre- ventive of the escape of the odors arising from decomposition. A dead dog having been placed in a box in the warm laboratory of an eminent chemist, and covered with charcoal to the depth of between two and three inches, could not be discovered to have emitted any smell during several months, after which time an examination showed that nothing of the animal remained but the bones and a small por- tion of the skin. Worth Remembering. — Persons travelling by railway are subject to continued annoyance from flying cinders. On getting into the eyes they are not only painful for the mom^t, but are often the cause of long suffering, that ends in total loss of sight. A very simple and effective cure is within the reach of every one, and would prevent much suffering and expense were it more generally known. It is simply one or two grains of flaxseed. These may be placed in the eye without injury or pain to that delicate organ, and shortly they begin to swell and dissolve a glutinous substance that covers the ball of the eye, enveloping any foreign substance that may be in it. The irritation or cutting of the membrane is thus prevented, and the annoyance may soon be washed out. A dozen of these grains stowed away in the vest pocket may prove, in an emergency, worth their number in gold dollars. A horse hair twisted into a loop care- fully inserted under the eyelid will remove cinders. Cure for a Felon. — The cure is said to be certain, and is pub- lished at the particular request of a person who has experienced its THE PPIYSICIAN IN THE HOME. 2O9 success for a great number of years. Take a piece of rock salt about 'the size of a walnut and wrap it up closely in a green cabbage leaf, but, if not to be had, in a piece of brown paper well moistened with water; lay it on hot embers and cover it up as if to roast for twenty minutes ; take it up and powder it as fine as possible ; then take some hard soap and mix the powdered salt with it so as to make a salve. If the soap should contain but little turpentine, which its smell will determine, add some more, but if it smells pretty strongly of it, none need be added. Apply the salve to the part affected, and in a short time it will totally destroy the felon and remove the pain.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Straw hats should be worn, ventilated at the top, and the crown of the hat filled with green leaves or wet sponge. It is better to wear thin flannel shirts, in order not to check perspiration. We may expose ourselves for a long time in the hot sun, and work or sleep in a heated room, and enjoy perfect immunity from sunstroke, if we keep our skin and clothing wet with water. 2o8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. Unrecognized Qualities in Charcoal. — Among the numerous and varied properties possessed by charcoal there is one — one, too, of the most wonderful — which does not seem to be adequately recognized, probably from its being imperfectly known except to physicists. It is that of being able to condense and store away in its pores many times its own bulk of certain gaseous bodies, which it retains, thus compressed in an otherwise unaltered condition, and from which they can be withdrawn, as required, as from a reservoir. It is this enormous absorptive power that renders of so much value a comparatively slight sprinkling of charcoal over dead animal matter as a preventive of the escape of the odors arising from decomposition. A dead dog having been placed in a box in the warm laboratory of an eminent chemist, and covered with charcoal to the depth of between two and three inches, could not be discovered to have emitted any smell during several months, after which time an examination showed that nothing of the animal remained but the bones and a small portion of the skin. Worth Remembering. — Persons travelling by railway are subject to continued annoyance from flying cinders. On getting into the eyes they are not only painful for the moment, but are often the cause of long suffering, that ends in total loss of sight. A very simple and effective cure is within the reach of every one, and would prevent much suffering and expense were it more generally known. It is simply one or two grains of flaxseed. These may be placed in the eye without injury or pain to that delicate organ, and shortly they begin to swell and dissolve a glutinous substance that covers the ball of the eye, enveloping any foreign substance that may be in it. The irritation or cutting of the membrane is thus prevented, and the annoyance may soon be washed out. A dozen of these grains stowed away in the vest pocket may prove, in an emergency, worth their number in gold dollars. A horse hair twisted into a loop carefully inserted under the eyelid will remove cinders. Cure for a Felon. — The cure is said to be certain, and is published at the particular request of a person who has experienced its success for a great number of years. Take a piece of rock salt about 'the size of a walnut and wrap it up closely in a green cabbage leaf, but, if not to be had, in a piece of brown paper well moistened with water; lay it on hot embers and cover it up as if to roast for twenty minutes ; take it up and powder it as fine as possible ; then take some hard soap and mix the powdered salt with it so as to make a salve. If the soap should contain but little turpentine, which its smell will determine, add some more, but if it smells pretty strongly of it, none need be added. Apply the salve to the part affected, and in a short time it will totally destroy the felon and remove the pain.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home