| Dollars. | |
|---|---|
| By manual labor with the pan | 15.00 |
| By manual labor with rocker | 3.75 |
| By manual labor with the long tom | .75 |
| By the hydraulic process | .15 |
But this process, even if effective or profitable as a mining operation, may be prejudicial to the interests of the general public, if conducted on a large scale, as the vast quantity of material which it so suddenly removes is merely shifted into the shallows beneath, to be redistributed by every freshet to points lower and lower down until it reaches the sea-coast, creating bars at the mouths of rivers in its course, and changing the hydrography of harbors—as it has done with the Bay of San Francisco by its silt.
The hills behind, torn up and washed by the gold miner, are abandoned as desolate and irredeemable; and the costly canals, constructed with peculiar conveniences for mining purposes, eventually fall into disuse from being too expensive to maintain or alter for general agricultural uses.—Journal of Science.
THE TREATMENT OF CHOLERA.
From the host of remedies and suggestions that are now deluging the European medical press, we select the following from Dr. Henry A. Rawlins, in the London Med. Times, July 12. 1884:
The man suffering from cholera has been suddenly deprived by diarrhœa of an enormous quantity of the fluid part of his blood. This loss is one of simple transudation, increasing as the powers of life decrease. This sudden loss produces intense prostration, and renders the heart powerless to perfect the circulation. The body, thus deprived of oxygen, speedily runs into decomposition, even before life is extinct. Have we any agent by which we can collect and press forward these scattered and lethargic drops of blood to the heart, and enable it to renew the circulation, and with it the blessings of oxygen to the body? My reply is emphatically—Yes! Flannel bandages from the toes to the trunk, around the abdomen, and from the fingers to the body, will effect this object perfectly. Remark that the effect is gradual, increasing with every turn of the roller, but would be in full force in about twenty minutes. By thus exposing the blood in the lungs to the action of oxygen in its diluted form, as it is in the air, instead of pure oxygen, the reaction would neither be too rapid nor too dangerous. In confirmation of my views, I have this day learned that it is the custom in India to wear a double roll of flannel around the abdomen, as a preventive to cholera. The other advantages resulting from the use of the flannel bandages are:
- That they prevent the escape of heat from the body of the poor creature who is already in a state of refrigeration.
- By their firmly and equally grasping both flexor and extensor muscles alike, they are steadied, and rendered much less likely to be affected with spasmodic action or cramp.
- By their steadyelastic pressure and support of about 160 pounds, they persistently keep up and sustain the circulation of the blood, which they had previously restored.
- That the oxygen thus well secured to the blood will, I believe, prove quite sufficient to neutralize the original poison, and also destroy its effects.
- That this much can at least be claimed for their use—that they remove from nature a stumbling-block, which prevented her from exercising her marvelous recuperative powers. Diluted sulphuric acid is the best medicine to arrest the flux from the bowels, acting also as a tonic. It should be given in five-minim doses about every half hour, with rice gruel. By adopting this plan, the natural process is brought about, that of the starch being converted into grape sugar. Plenty of white of egg, well whipped up, so as to nourish the body and convey oxygen into the stomach, which it will appropriate, should be given. Opium, in small quantities, and other stimulants, should be given according to the necessities of the case. May it not be well, through the medium of wet sponge over the thorax, to apply a continuous but gentle current of galvanism, so as to stimulate the heart's action, keep alive the respiratory movements, and thereby assist in the maintenance of the functions of the body?