as in the case of linen, allowing the fluid to rapidly evaporate, and thus cool us quickly and dangerously. In other words, a person after violent exertion may sit down on a cool bank, if dressed in a flannel shirt, with less danger than if his dress were linen. For cold climates a multiplication of layers tends to warmth. Two shirts, one over the other, are warmer than a shirt of thickness equal to the two. Garments of loose thick texture, and dark in colour, are preferable to those of thin and close texture. The cavities of the chest and abdomen are the most important parts to be thoroughly protected from chill. The feet should be kept dry and warm, but the head, especially in children, should not be heated by too closely-fitting coverings. In temperate climates like our own, the great danger lies in the abrupt transitions from wet to dry, from cold to hot. These transitions especially occur in autumn and spring, and in those seasons the weakly should pay especial attention to their clothing, and dress according to temperature. Days occur in the summer in which the heat equals occasionally that of the tropics, and chiefly owing to improper clothing, especially about the head, deaths from sunstroke are Large, light straw-hats should always be worn in the hot days of summer by all classes of society. common. Clothing has frequently been the agent through which infectious disease has been propagated. Judging from Stark's observations on the power of absorbing odours, the probability is that contagion is absorbed after the same manner. Stark found that the absorption of odours was in proportion to the hygroscopic absorption, and that it depended in a great measure upon colour-black absorbing most, then blue, red, green, yellow, and lastly white; hence, theoretically, a black or dark-coloured woollen garment is the worst possible dress for a nurse attending cases of fever, a light-coloured cotton dress the best. Dr. Guy, in his lectures on public health, tells us that the plague which ravaged London in 1665 was carried to Eyam, a small hamlet among the hills of the Peak of Derbyshire, by clothes. "Quite early," writes Dr. Guy, "in the month of September, when the plague was at its worst in London, there was sent from London to one George Vicars, a tailor, a box of clothes. He opened the box and hung the clothes to the fire, and while he watched them was suddenly seized with violent sickness and other alarming symptoms. ... On the third day the plague-spot was on his breast, and he died on the following night, the 6th of September." The jail distemper has frequently, beyond doubt, been carried to the outside population by means of clothes. One of the most remarkable examples of typhus communicated by clothes was the "Black Assize" at the Old Bailey in 1750. Here the prisoners had not the disease which with such fatal effect they communicated to the court that tried them.-(PRINGLE.) From Foderé we get a remarkable instance in which typhus was communicated to the inhabitants of fifteen towns and villages by the soldiers of the French army, where, retreating from Italy in 1799, they halted on their route. Parry relates two remarkable instances in which relapsing fever was transported to a distance by infected clothes; and Bretonneau and Geudron believed that the poison of enteric fever could adhere to the clothes and bedding of the sick, and that the disease might be thus propagated, and Murchison cites the following case as illustrative of this idea: The wife of a butcher residing on the Cornish moors travelled to Cardiff, in Wales, to see a sister who was ill, and soon after died, of "typhoid fever." She brought back her sister's bedding. A fortnight after her return another sister was employed in hanging out these clothes, and soon after was taken ill with typhoid fever, which spread from her as from a centre. The woman who had been to Cardiff never took the fever herself. There had been no cases in the village previous to her return, neither were there any cases in the neighbouring villages either before or after. The writer of this article has seen diphtheria unmistakably propagated by clothes being sent from a diphtheritic house to be mangled, and similar instances may be found in medical literature. Clothing and bedding are best disinfected by exposure to a dry heat of about 240° or 250° F. Dr. Ransome has proposed to disinfect clothing by placing it in layers in a box, at the bottom of which is sand sprinkled with carbolic acid. See DISINFECTION, &c. Clouds To the meteorologist clouds are extremely important, their form and aspect never failing to assist his predictions as to the prospect of fine, wet, or stormy weather. The classification and nomenclature now adopted is that published by Luke Howard in 1863. Mr. Howard divided clouds into seven kinds. Simple Forms. 1. Cirrus (Lat. cirrus, a curl).-This cloud consists of parallel wavy diverging filaments which by association form a brush, or woolly 2. Cumulus.-Convex or conical heaps of clouds, increasing upwards from a horizontal base. Very dense, formed in the lower regions of the atmosphere, and carried along in the current next the earth. Cumuli are often compared to balls of cotton wool. 3. Stratus.-A widely-extended continuous horizontal sheet, called the cloud of night, since it generally forms about sunset. Modifications. The volatile oil is the important ingredient. It consists of a hydrocarbon (C10H16) and of eugenic acid (C10H12O). It also contains a crystallisable body, caryophylline (C10H16O), which is isomeric with camphor, and eugenine, a body probably isomeric with eugenic acid. Cloves are aromatic and stimulant. The oil of cloves is used for microscopical purposes, to render tissues transparent. It does not mix with water; the latter must therefore be removed from the tissue before the oil is applied. The chief adulteration of cloves is the exwell-haustion of the oil. They are then dried, brightened up with sweet oil, and exposed for sale. The only certain way of detecting this fraud is to distil the oil and estimate it. Cloves should yield at least 17 per cent. of 4. Cirro-cumulus. Small, rounded, defined masses in close horizontal arrangement. It is formed by the breaking up of the fibres of the cirrus-cloud. When the sky is covered with such clouds it is said to be fleecy. 5. Cirrostratus. This cloud partakes partly of the characteristics of the cirrus and stratus, and consists of horizontal masses or strata more compact than the cirri. At the zenith they seem composed of a number of thin clouds; at the horizon they look like a long narrow band. This cloud is markedly a precursor of storms. 6. Cumulo-stratus. with the cumulus. volatile oil. Cocculus Indicus-The fruit of the Anamirta paniculata, a shrub growing in Malabar and several islands in the Indian Ocean. As met with in commerce, it is an extremely bitter, dark, tough, wrinkled berry about the size of an ordinary cherry. The outside or husk is hard, enclosing a soft fatty - Cirro-stratus blended substance. The shell is an emetic, but the 7. Cumulo-cirro-stratus, or Nimbus.-This is the well-known rain-cloud, consisting of a horizontal sheet, above which the cirrus spreads, while the cumulus enters it laterally or from below. Estimation of Amount of Cloud.-To do this the scale generally adopted in this country is 0 to 10. 0 expresses a cloudless sky, and 10 a perfectly clouded sky; the intermediate numbers, various degrees of cloudiness. To get these numbers, look midway between the horizon and zenith, and then turn slowly round, and judge as well as possible of the relative amount of clear and clouded sky. Height of Clouds.-The height of clouds varies from 1300 feet to 10 miles. Of all clouds the cirrus is the lightest, and found at the greatest elevations. In seed is a very active poison, containing a glucoside called picrotoxine (CHO). This substance crystallises in colourless needles, or well-marked prismatic crystals, or fine silky filaments, or transparent plates, or granular crystals. The crystals have an intensely bitter taste. They melt at 320° Fahr., and give a sublimate; heated on a porcelain plate, they darken, effervesce, give off vapour, and leave an abundant carbonaceous residue. common with other glucosides, when boiled with an alkaline solution of sulphate of copper, they reduce the copper to the state of suboxide. Picrotoxine is soluble in 150 parts of cold, in 25 parts of boiling water, in one-third of its weight of alcohol, and in less than half its weight of ether. It is not changed in colour by strong nitric acid, but gives an orangeyellow colour with sulphuric acid, changed into green by the contact of a crystal of bichromate of potash. Cocculus Indicus is used for poisoning fish and other animals. It is said to be the active Pen-principle of "Barber's poisoned wheat," and Cloves - The unexpanded flower - bud, dried, of Caryophyllus aromaticus, a clovetree growing in the East Indian Islands, ang, Bencoolen, and Amboyna. has been used, and possibly continues to be employed, for the purpose of adulterating beer. Dr. Taylor, in reference to the symptoms, &c., produced by Cocculus Indicus, says: "Porter, ale, and beer owe their intoxicating properties in some instances to a decoction or extract of these berries. The fraud is perpetrated by a low class of publicans. They reduce the strength of the beer by water and salt, and then give to it an intoxicating property by means of this poisonous extract. A medical man consulted me some years since in reference to the similarity of cerebral symptoms suffered by several of his patients in a district in London. It was ascertained that they were supplied with porter by retail from the same house. The effects produced by this drug are remarkable. There is a strong disposition to sleep, and at the same time wakefulness. There is a heavy lethargic stupor, with a consciousness of passing events, but a complete loss of voluntary power. It is a kind of nightmare feeling, altogether different from healthy sleep. Cocculus Indicus is sometimes used by robbers to intoxicate their victims, and to this form of intoxication the term 'hocussing' is applied."—(TAYLOR'S Medical Jurisprudence, vol. i. p. 395.) No antidote is known. Acetic acid has in some cases given relief. For processes for the detection of picrotoxine in organic mixtures, see BEER. Cocoa and Chocolate-Cocoa is the roasted seeds of the Theobroma Cacao, natural order Byttneriacea. Chocolate is manufactured from cocoa by mixing it with sugar and other substances. There are numerous varieties of cocoa-such as Trinidad, Grenada, Caracas, Dominican, &c.-the seeds differing a little in size and in quality, but very little in the proportions of the different chemical constituents. The average composition of cocoa seeds is as follows: Average Composition of Cocoa Seeds (WANKLYN). Fat (cocoa butter). Per cent. 50.00 Albumen, fibrine, and gluten 18:00 Starch 10 00 Gum 8:00 Colouring matter 2.60 6.00 Theobromine. Water Ash Loss, &c. 1.50 3.60 0:30 100.00 Thus the lowest determination is 3'06, the highest 4.58 per cent. The nibs show a lower ash than the shell. The nibs of the Caracas gave 3.95 per cent. of ash, 200 being soluble and 1.95 insoluble in water. The nibs of Mexican seeds gave 2:59 per cent. of ash, 89 parts being soluble and 1.70 Structure of the Cocoa Seed.-The seed is insoluble in water. The ash of the shell is composed of husk and seed proper. The husk has on its surface a number of tubular fibres containing granular matter and minute corpuscles. rich in carbonates; the nib is almost devoid of carbonates. According to Mr. William Bettell the composition of the ash of cocoa seeds is as fol It is composed of three membranes: the lows: Adulterations. - Sugar, reddle, Venetian red, amber, chicory, cocoa husk, cereal grains, arrowroot, sago, or potato starches, sugar. According to Normandy, brick-dust and peroxide of iron are met with to increase the weight. Chocolate, according to M. Chevallier, is adulterated with the following matters, besides those already mentioned as being mixed with cocoa: Copper, lime, lentils, maize, beans, olive oil, almonds, yolk of egg, veal or mutton fat, storax, balsam of Peru, benzoin, rasped almonds, Arabic and tragacanth gum, cinnabar, red earths, red-lead, red oxide of mercury, &c. Many of these are obviously very improbable adulterants. Detection of Adulterations.-The microscope will detect most of these. If any mineral substance has been added, an examination of the ash cannot fail to detect it. The ash is apparently never more than 5 per cent. ; indeed, in soluble cocoa it is very small. Thus Mr. Wanklyn gives Soluble cocoa (by mixing with starch 1:45 Dunn & Hewett's commercial cocoa Chocolate 171 1:11 phosphate of soda. After standing several hours, the resulting precipitate is washed first by decantation, then filtered, and again washed; lastly, dried, ignited, and weighed. Pyrophosphate of magnesia x by 06396 = phosphoric acid. The ash of the entire seeds contains 24 per cent. of its weight of phosphoric acid. The Society of Public Analysts consider that cocoa should be called adulterated in which the cocoa butter is reduced below 20 per cent. The fat can of course be estimated by extraction with ether. Cod-Fish-As an article of diet, cod is inferior to mackerel, eels, salmon, and trout, for these contain a much larger amount of fat. The flesh of the cod contains but little fat (2.9 per cent.), it being largely accumulated in the liver. The following table will show the nutritive value of this fish : Cod-Liver Oil (Oleum Morrhuce)-The oil extracted from the fresh liver of the cod (Gradus Morrhua, Linn.) by the application of a heat not exceeding 180°. Other species besides the Gradus Morrhua also yield this oil, such as G. callarius, G. carbonarius, G. molva. There are three chief varieties of cod-liver oil in commerce, distinguished by their colourthe light, the pale brown, and the dark brown. The two former are usually the purest. Cod-liver oil contains oleine, margarine, certain colouring matters of the bile, phosphoric acid (09 per cent.), sulphuric acid, salts of lime, magnesia, and iron, free phosphorus ('02 per cent.), iodine, and bromine; but the proportion of all the different substances is not accurately known. Cod-liver oil gives, in common with all oils An infusion in cold water of good cocoa nibs of hepatic origin, a lake or crimson colour yields the following percentages : when heated with sulphuric acid. Cod-liver oil is said to be extensively adulterated. If mixed with an oil not of hepatic origin, it may detailed under OILS; but, practically speakbe tested with sulphuric acid in the manner ing, the adulterations of cod-liver oil are difficult to detect. See OILS. Coffee-The seeds or berries of the Caffca Arabica, or coffee plant. This plant belongs to the natural order Cinchonacea, and to the sub-order Caffea. It is said to be a wild plant in Abyssinia and in the low mountainous districts of Arabia Felix; but it is cultivated on a very large scale in various parts of the earth, and it has been computed that no less than 600,000,000 lbs. of coffee are annually consumed by the whole world. Of this large quantity England uses only 40,000,000, which is in a great measure supplied by our own plantations in the West Indies; the finest Mocha, however, comes from Aden. The leaves possess in some degree the qualities of the plant, and have been used in a similar way to the leaves of tea, but it is the seed or berry that is principally employed in all countries. Preparation.-The seeds are roasted to a chocolate brown, and are then ground to powder in a mill, and used in the form of infusion or decoction. Chemical Composition.-The properties of coffee depend upon an aromatic oil and an alkaloid called caffeine. The following is the composition of coffee, both before and after roasting. The analyses are by Schrader : Raw Coffee. Peculiar caffeic principle 17 58 The roasting does not destroy the caffeine, and it is in a large degree free and soluble. Aubert found in a cup of coffee made with 16.66 grammes, from 1 to 12 grammes (1.5 to 1.9 grains) of caffeine. Microscopical Structure of the Coffee Seed.— The berries consist of a hard and tough tissue that resists even long soaking. The testa covering the berry is made up of lengthened cells with oblique markings, resting on a thin membrane almost structureless (fig. 21). The Gum and mucilage Extractive Oil and resin Solid residue Loss (water) Roasted. 12.50 3.64 10:42 The amount of caffeine in coffee has been very variously stated; it is probably about 80 per cent. Graham, Stenhouse, and Campbell give 87 per cent.; Aubert found it between 709 and 849 per cent.; while Boutron and Robiquet put it as low as 238 per cent., and Payen as high as 1736 per cent. See CAFFEINE. The effects of roasting on coffee are to swell the berry (this is from the extraction of various gases, but principally carbonic acid), to drive off a large quantity of water, and to change the sugar into caramel. For instance, Graham and Stenhouse found the following difference in the amount of sugar between raw and roasted coffee : oblique markings of the cells are so characteristic that they may be distinguished from every other tissue. The substance of the berry is made up of angular cells closely adherent to each other, and each containing droplets of oil. The process of roasting dissipates in some measure this oil, but leaves the structure, where it is not charred, unimpaired. Physiological Action of Coffee, and its Value as an Article of Diet.-The action of caffeine by itself, and the action of coffee, is widely different, and the two must not be confused, as they have been by some authors. Yet, who would undertake to deduce the properties of opium from its alkaloid morphia? Coffee appears to act decidedly on the nervous system; it is essentially a nervous stimulant. It causes wakefulness, increased brain power, and, in large doses, tremors. According to Edward Smith, it lessens the action of the skin and promotes that of the bowels. Lehmann asserted that coffee and tea lessened the waste of the system, decreasing the urea and phosphoric acid; but this has lately been doubted: if true, coffee would be an indirect food. According to the present state |