2328. Vaseline in the Stable
When mixed with graphite, vaseline affords a valuable lubricant for application to the axles of light and heavy carriages of every description, and for all bearings in machinery of any kind, especially where great speed is required. A paste is also prepared from it which renders leather harness soft, pliable, impervious to wet, and free from any tendency to crack, thus increasing its durability. Another preparation is found most useful for the cure of injuries and diseases of cattle and domestic animals. This, which is supplied under the name of Veterinary Vaseline, has been found to promote the growth of the hair, unchanged in colour, in the case of broken knees. Its use will also improve the condition of the coat on horses, and will keep off the flies, and cure the mange, and all skin diseases commonly met with in the stable, including injuries to the frogs, hoofs, and fetlocks.
2329. Damp Situations, Remedy for
People who live in damp localities, particularly near undrained land, are apt to think that there is no help for them save in removal. They are mistaken. Successful experiments have shown that it is possible to materially improve the atmosphere in such neighbourhoods by the planting of the laurel and the sunflower. The laurel gives off an abundance of ozone, whilst the sunflower is potent in destroying the malarial condition. These two, if planted on the most restricted scale in a garden or any ground close to the house, will be found to speedily increase the dryness and salubrity of the atmosphere.
2330. Plant Skeletons
The leaves should be put into an earthen or glass vessel, and a large quantity of rain water poured over them; after this they must be left in the open air, and to the heat of the sun, without covering the vessel. As the water evaporates and the leaves become dry, more water must be added; the leaves will by this means putrefy, but the time required for this varies; some plants will be finished in a month, others will require two months or longer, according to the toughness of their parenchyma. When they have been in a state of putrefaction for some time, the two membranes will begin to separate, and the green part of the leaf to become fluid; then the operation of clearing is to be performed.
The leaf is to be put upon a flat white earthen plate, and covered with clear water; and being gently squeezed with the finger, the membranes will begin to open, and the green substance will come out at the edges; the membranes must be carefully taken off with the finger, and great caution must be used in separating them near the middle rib. When once there is an opening towards this separation, the whole membrane always follows easily; when both membranes are taken off, the skeleton is finished, and it has to be washed clean with water, and then dried between the leaves of a book.