1895

John Aitkin's Koniscope and What It Has Demonstrated.

The koniscope, the invention of John Aitkin, is a useful instrument for roughly testing the purity of the atmosphere. It consists of a small metal tube about 1½ feet or 2 feet long, which is closed at the ends with pieces of glass and is connected near one end to an air pump, a stop cock near the other end admitting the air to be tested. All the shades of blue, from nearly pure white to a deep black blue, are attached alongside the tube for comparison.

As the impurities of the air or number of particles present increase the color seen through the tube deepens, a color just perceptible being given by 50,000 particles to the cable centimeter, a very pale blue by 80,000, a pale blue by 500,000, a fine blue by 1,500,000, a deep blue by 2,500,000 and a very deep blue by 4,000,000.

In making a sanitary inspection the color given by pure air is determined first and is taken as the normal health color. In tracing the pollution a air by gas flames in a room 24 by 17 by 13 foot in size Mr. Aitkin lighted three jets in the center of the room, and in 35 seconds the products of combustion had reached one end of the room, causing a sudden deepening of color in the koniscope, in four minutes the deep blue color was obtained two feet from the ceiling, and in 30 minutes the impurity nine feet from the floor was very great, the color being an intensely deep blue. — Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.

Air Does Not Kill

1895

The old belief that projectiles sometimes kill men in battle without hitting them must be abandoned in view of recent scientific experiments. It was formerly supposed that the air compressed and driven before the projectile and technically called "the wind of the shot" was capable of striking a fatal blow, and even army surgeons have assented to this theory.

But experiments have shown that the air driven by a projectile, while capable of being instantaneously photographed in the form of a wave, does not possess sufficient energy to produce any destructive effect.

Another theory which recent investigations have overturned is that the explosive effect sometimes exhibited by bullets is due to compressed air driven into the wound.

Experiment shows that the appearance of explosion arises from the nature of the substance penetrated by the bullet. If this substance is plastic or watery, the impulse of the projectile is distributed laterally in all directions among its particles, and they are driven asunder.

Such an effect has been noticed in battle when bullets have entered the brain, and accusations of using explosive projectiles, contrary to the comity of nations, have been based upon them. By firing bullets into wet dough every indication of an explosion has been produced, although the same bullets, fired with identical velocity, into solid substances, like bone, made only round, clean out holes. — Youth's Companion.

How the Burmese Make Fire

1901

One day a Burmese messenger brought me a note. While he was waiting for the reply. I observed an object something like a boy's popgun suspended around his waist. On asking what it was he showed me that it was an implement for producing fire.

It was a rude example of a scientific instrument employed by lecturers at home to illustrate the production of heat by suddenly compressed air. A piston fitted into the tube; the former was hollowed at the lower end and smeared with wax to receive a piece of cotton or tinder, which when pressed into it adhered. The tube was closed at one end. Placing the piston at the top of the tube, with a smart blow he struck it down and immediately withdrew it with the tinder on fire, the sudden compression of the air having ignited it. I was so much struck with the scientific ingenuity of this rude implement that I procured it from the Burman and sent it to the Asiatic society of Bengal, with a short description of its uses. — "Recollections of My Life," by Surgeon General Sir John Fayer.

Healthy Open Air Life

1901

Modern humanity has done much to throw away the generous gift of robust health. By warm clothing, indoor fires and an overgenerous diet we have rendered ourselves comparatively independent of heat and cold.

And the direct result has been that modern skins are not as robust as were those of our ancestors. They are thinner, more delicate and less able to form an efficient protection for the body.

As originally intended, the skin is the great protecting mantle, which, properly performing its function, is able to keep the body as warm under the gray sky of December as in the sunshine of a summer afternoon.

Why is it that people in town catch cold more readily than their country cousins?

Why is it that soldiers on campaign, even though repeatedly wet through and without any change of clothes, are notoriously free from colds? Why is it that pampered people are so liable to take "a chill?"

The answer is: Country people, soldiers on campaign and all who lead an open air, natural life have healthier, stronger and more industrious skins than their more artificial fellow citizens.

Rules For Right Living

1902

For the man or woman, whether young or old, who wishes health, which means happiness, the following simple rules were gathered:

Pin them up where you will see them. But do not let that be all you do. Read them again and again, and, best of all, act upon them.

Eight hours' sleep.
Sleep on your right side.
Keep your bedroom window open all night.
Have a mat to your bedroom door.
Do not have your bedstead against the wall.
No cold water in the morning, but a bath at the temperature of the body.
Exercise before breakfast.
Eat little meat, and see that it is well cooked.
For adults, drink no milk.
Eat plenty of fat to feed the cells which destroy disease germs.
Avoid intoxicants, which destroy those cells.
Daily exercise in the open air.
Allow no pet animals in your living rooms; they are likely to carry about disease germs.
Live in the country if you can.
Watch the three D's — drinking water, damp, drains.
Take frequent and short holidays.
Limit your ambition.
Keep your temper. — New York American.

Note: This article and its advice is from 1902. Please check with your physician or neighborhood scientist before screwing up your life too much.

Protection For The Motorcycle Racer

1916

Novel Armored Suit That It Is Thought Would Save Life In Event of Accident

A pneumatic armor has been patented for the purpose of saving the lives of motor-cycle riders, and particularly racers, who, with this protective garb, may smash into each other or dive into a fence without the least regard for the consequences. The armor consists of a one-piece suit of stout material into which the wearer is laced.

Attached to the exterior of the suit is a long tube curled back and forth until the entire person of the wearer is protected by a cushion of air. Air is pumped into the tube in the same manner as a tire is inflated and when it is desired to pack the suit the air may be allowed to escape so that the outfit will take up as little space as possible. The inflation and deflation is done through the means of the check valves at the sleeves and at the trousers' top.