He Germs of Death
By the Editor of Collier's Weekly .
T may be maintained that nobody ever dies a natural death.
Old age, tbe premature old age, which is the only kind wo
know, is a pathological condition. Such are the opinions of
Dr. Elie Metchnikoff, not a fakir, but a serious person, who
studies things through a microscope at the Pasteur Institute.
Each of us 8 warms with tiny beasts of prey, which travel
up and down our body, seeking what they may devour. By
attacking our beneficent cells, previously weakened by the
unwise life we all lead, they produce an artificial senility.
tbe malady which kills those men whom in our ignorance, we call very old.
liooked at from Dr. Metchnikoff's standpoint, old age is merely a problem for
medical science. How shall we help our beneficent cells in their struggle
against the enemy? One way would be to take every baby and cut out his
larger intestine, an organ which ought not to have been included in our anat
omy. At present this can not be done, as the operation is risky. A second
method would be to destroy the beasts of prey. But we do not yet know what
they exactly are. Some are a legacy left by our ancestors, immediate and
remote, who suffered from heritable diseases. Others, more mysterious, are
perhaps the instruments of a sort of essential disease, of that old age which
precociously kills all who do not die still earlier of tuberculosis, pneumonia,
the bubonic plague, or croup. Until we know more we can only reform our
iiet, eating little meat or none, and subsisting chiefly on butter, cheese and
sour milk. By these imperfect means we may prolong life a little two
hundred years or so. Up to ninety, for example, we may be as active as the
President of the United States, and thereafter, for a hundred years more, as
reflective as the Prime Minister of England. This would still leave us half
a century for art, philanthropy, or croquet. But when death does finally draw
near, will not its approach be as distasteful as ever? By no means, says the
doctor. Under present conditions death is like an unnatural sleep, which over
takes us early in the day say before dinner. In the future it will come after
a full meal, when the day's work is done.
JS7
Ai Aristocracy m America?
ji m The Impossibility of an American
r" Aristocracy of Wealth :: :: ::
By Anna McClure Sholl
I990K HIEFLY upon two conditions depends an aristocracy the con-
unity of aims and ideals. The aristocratic body in England, for
instance, is self-conscious; its members are united by mutual
understanding. They acknowledge certain well-recognized laws
of life and manners. They depend upon each other to UDhold
these laws. Individually, wealthy Americans may be both self-conscious and
self-assertive, but collectively they are antagonistic to one another. The ac
cumulation of wealth implies struggle, and struggle does not bring forth
the kind of qualities which make the gentle and stately men and women
of Van Dyck's canvases one great family. ,
One of the greatest perils of the republic, and one reason why a genuine
American aristocracy can never be formed is that a strong class has arisen,
jwithout its strength being officially recognized, as in the aristocracy of rank,
and certain duties and obligations toward society are imposed upon it by that
recognition. For if wealthy Americans lack social unity among themselves, they
lack also to a greater degree, the sense of social responsibility, that mark of a
true aristocracy. The sense of his public duties, inborn in an English aristo
crat, is owing, to be sure, largely to the law of primogeniture, a law which
also insures to him that wealth without which the aristocratic ideal can not be
perfectly enforced. He is expected to take his seatin Parliament, to give his
aid in legislation, to perform certain public duties which have no connection
with his own material prosperity. Another bar to unity of social aims and
Ideals among the wealthy is their frequent lack of genuine culture. To know
rather than to feel is the aim, and ideals are not born of knowledge alone.
The culture which implies courtesy and humanity those aristocratic essen
tials, is too often lacking.
If this unity of social ideals upon which an aristocracy largely depends
does not now exist, is it likely to be evolved out of the present conditions?
Its evolution would depend largely upon the permanent power of one class,
exercised in the right direction. But though tbe second condition may be
possible, the first can never be. Under conditions peculiar to American life,
great fortunes are constantly changing hands. Accumulated by the fathers,
they are squandered by the sons, or divided among many children, or lost
through mismanagement or speculation. The aristocracy of wealth constantly
endangers its position by its very style of living, making large demands on
even large fortunes. The law of decay, which eventually protects society from
power of whatever nature, operates to disperse wealth so that the powerful
class can not be the permanent class, can not therefore form an an aristocracy.
It is the safeguard of the aristocracy of rank that its power la mystical as
well as material; can never, therefore, wholly perish. Another bar to unity
and permanency in the wealthy class is tbe constant inundation of newcomers.
Jnto the rose-lighted drawing-room may stride at any moment a breezy
iWesterner, or a member of the first generation, his riches raw upon him.
McClure's Magazine. , - ' "
I i
he Care of Children's Eyes
By D. T. Marshall, M. D.
I RIGINAL research in a large eye clinic has proved to me that
many parents, even of fair intelligence, are extremely neglect
ful of the eyes of their children. ,
Either from some congenital defect of tbe inner eye, or from
the presence of squint and the consequent inability to fix both
eyes upon an object, tbe work is thrown upon tbe better
eye, and the poorer eye gradually becomes less capable from
mere disuse. It would be well for parents to test the vision of
their children by covering first one eye and then tbe other with
a small card or book, and asking them to read some sign or
describe some object at a convenient distance. It is often a matter of great
surprise for one to find that a child sees very little with one of his eyes. If
children having such eyes are fitted with suitable glasses when young, the
.vision of tbe poor eye may be made equal to that of tbe other, and by use
become stronger instead of weaker. Children with squint can often be cured
.without operation by wearing proper glasses.
This is a contagious disease wticn Is characterized by the growth on the
Inside of the eyelids of small granules as large as pin-heads, or larger, which
look very much like grains of pearl sago after they have been soaked in
water. In some cases this disease gives rise to no symptoms, but in most
cases there is sooner or later redness, and sensitiveness to light Later on
there may be clouding of the cornea (the tranparent part of the eyeball), ex
treme sensitiveness to light, and in extreme cases blindness. Even when tbe
disease gives rise to no symptoms, later in life it may cause a contraction of
tbe inner surfaces of tbe lids, which causes tbe eyelashes to turn in and rub
on the eyeball, thus giving rise to great discomfort and loss of good vision.
The method of exposing tbe inner surface of the eyelid is very simple.
For the lower lid, tbe most common seat of trachoma, simply put the finger on
the lower edge of the lid. and pull down, at tbe same time telling the child to
look up. To examine the upper lid, take hold of the eyelashes with the
thumb and forefinger of one hand, and with the other hand gently press a
pencil-point or tbe edge of a card against tbe fold above the stiff part of the
lid, and fold the lid backward, at the same time telling tbe child to look
down. The eyelids turn back with a snap. It does not hurt. If tbe inside
f tbe lid is not smooth and clear, the child had better be taken to an oculist
for examination. The above method of turning the lid is useful when one
is called upon to remove a foreign body from tbe eye. Cinders and grains of
sand do get into the eye, and it Is not always convenient to get a doctor to take
them out. Turn tbe lid back, and with a toothpick or hairpin, around the
end of which a bit of cotton has been smoothly wound, gently wipe out the
offending object. If you have no cotton at hand, wet the end of a toothpick
-piid crush it up thus forming a kind of brush.
' ART OF DRESSING HAIR.
An Important Blatter With the TTp-to-
Dat Woman.
Perhaps never before has there been
a time when the hair was an object of
greater Solicitude to women at large
than at the present, or a more import
ant element of personal beauty. The
, low coiffure has caught on with a ra
pidity which shows how tired the pub
I lie generally was of the upward sweep
and bare nape, the small top-knot and
' the high effects that have been in vogue
; so long. For street and ordinary wear
the hair is drawn into a simple knot
low down on the neck, and for evening
wear the high coiffure remains in
vogue, although where a woman has
a good profile and a style which the
low knot distinctly enhances she is
sorely tempted to wear it all the time.
The low coiffure is pretty generally
becoming, as it shows the shape of tbe
head to better advantage, than does
the high coiffure. It also conceals the
nape of the neck, which is a weak spot
in many women's dressing of their
hair. Not every woman has a pretty
neck, or one that is decorative when
the hair is drawn away from it in the
severe lines that have been in vogue.
The hair is still worn pompadour,
but, instead of an even symmetrical
pompadour framing the face, the hair
Is pouched over the face in irregular
masses or puffs, and there is a general
movement to discard the rat as inar
tistic. Many women who have adopted
the low style of hair dressing have re
turned to the centre parting, the result
being something exceedingly womanly
looking and soft, provided they have
foreheads that will bear showing.
A narrow, long effect is sought for
by women whose heads are broad and
the nape of the neck plump and pretty.
These are in the shape of the figure 8,
In loose coils, or in oblong knots. With
the low style of hair dressing any orna
ment that may be added in the form
of flowers is worn at the side. Where
the hair Is worn in a broad braid
young women ornament the top and
bottom of the braid with black ribbon
bows. The lower bow is slipped through
tbe braid before it is turned up, and
protrudes on either side in a big broad
fan. All these low styles of hair dress
ing call for a good head of hair, if the
results are to be satisfactory. As hand
some hair is somewhat less common
than it was in the days before crimp
ing and rats were so generally adopted
not a few women, and even young
girls, are glad to avail themselves of
the black ribbon bow as a pretty and
innocent method of eking out their
locks.
One still sees innumerable high coif
fures on the street. Some of the best
dressed women wear them, and will
continue to wear them, possibly with
modifications, because they have found
that the mode suits their style. It
will probably be a long time before the
high coiffure becomes passe.
1
I The long coat seems to be "It" for
. .
general service.
A brown zibeline flecked with green
Is a chic example.
Hats in shaded beaver are among the
millinery novelties.
Felerines are the ultra-f ashlonable
thing in fur neckear.
White and moss green are an artistic
combination in millinery.
Tweeds are very smart for walking
suits intended for hard wear.
Gay colors are introduced into the
new suitings with fetching effect
Some of the rough suitings seem to
have been caught In a snowstorm.
The off -color whites, champagne,
mushroom and oyster, will be fashion
able.
The long boas in mixed black and
white ostrich reappear among the new
neck things.
Lovely evening coats of white broad
cloth have capes trimmed with deep
white fringe.
The old-fashioned Hercules braid ap
pears with a beautiful lustre and trims
gowns of all sorts.
The skirts of many gores threaten
to bring gray hairs to the head of more
than one dressmaker.
The new ruffs all incline to be low
and flat with long stole ends quite like
the quaint old-fashioned pelerines. .
Lace gowns will again be all that is
most desirable in the way of a toilette
of fashionable elegance for evening
wear.
Blouses of a heavy mercerized fabric.
in white preferably, are distinguished
by Chinese hieroglyphics worked in
dull blue, red, yellow and green silks.
This declaration is usually on the front
box pleat and on the collar and cuffs.
WORDS OF WISDOM.
Shirt Waists For Winter Wear.
What is more attractive to the eye
than a well-fitted plain tailored waist
with all accessories in accordance?
There are some women more suited
to wear this style of apparel than
others. When the tailored girl is pic
tured by us we see a tall, well-propor
tioned figure, with the coiffure severely
arranged, even tightly drawn from the
face, into a huge knot at the nape of
the neck, or dressed on tbe crown of
the head, but without the frowsy pom
padour or clustering ringlets.
The neck piece should be of the se
vere sort, either to match the waist or
one of the many pretty varieties
shown In the shops at present. The
linen stock with the black satin tie
Is decidedly mannish and severe, but
then we have the pretty drawn bands
or turnovers to be worn with the
plainer stock and give a touch of re
finement and neatness so much sought
for. Pittsburg Dispatch.
Play With Fingers and Toes.
At tbe meeting of the Ohio Congress
of Mothers, Cleveland, Mrs. James L.
Hughes, of Toronto, advised mothers
to play with their babies' fingers and
toes.
"I do not believe," she said, "there is
a motner in Cleveland, wneiner sue
be American, Italian or any other na
tionality, who does not play with her
baby's fingers and toes. And I venture
to say there is nothing she can do of
greater importance to baby's development."
Woman, Not Gown, a Misfit.
Isaac Abrams, a Chicago ladies'
tailor, who sued a woman for not tak
ing the garment she had ordered, made
a novel defense. "I do not like to go to
court," said he, "but what can a man
do when, after he has taken a wom
an's measure for a tailor-made suit, she
is taken ill, loses thirty pounds in
weight and then will not take the gar
ment because it does not fit her?"
Fashion Kotes.
Yards and yards of braid are used.
Pipings are ubiquitous in the new
modes.
Fringe Is one of the fashionable gar
nitures. - -
An obvious fact about habit fre
quently noted is that though we gain
no pleasure from doing a thing, yet
we suffer great discomfort from not
uoing it. And so great is the force of
habit that this is applicable to good,
bad or indifferent practices. The for
mation of a habit becomes a great
tyranny if the habit be bad, and, on
the other hand, a great prop to virtue
if the habit be good and desirable.
The more we look at the world with
intelligent and loving eyes, the more
the world means to us. The more we
look at each other's faces with intelli
gence and love, the more human be
ings mean to us. The more we think
of the fathomless depths and the lofty
heights of being, and 01 the Being that
fills being and is the source of it, the
more will it mean to us.
The sainthoods of the fireside and of
the market place they have their mar
tyrdoms, and their palms, and though
they get into no calendars, they leave
a benediction and a force behind them
on the earth when they go up to
heaven.
The things which, In our soliloquies,
we brag we will do, are apt to be In
inverse proportion to the things we
really do.
The best evidence of merit is the
cordial recognition of it whenever and
wherever it may be found.
Each of us must journey out of this
world into that which lies beyond
alone, with no comrade.
Experience is a keen knife and hurts
while it extracts the cataract that
blinds.
The future destiny of the child Is
always the work of the mother.
In this life there Is but one sure
happiness to live for others.
The more you speak of yourself the
more you are likely to lie.
Alligator Hatchery.
Among the unique "infant" Indus
tries resorted to for profit in the great
Sunshine State is that of hatching
alligators.
There is a constant and lively de-
maud during the tourist season on the
east coast for young alligators, and
the methods for supplying this de
mand have heretofore been eminently
unreliable,
To secure an abundant supply of
these infant saurians II. II. Jenkins,
of Courtenay, a charming little hamlet
on Merritt Island, has, for several
seasons past, conducted a hatchery,
from which he secures as many as
may be called for.
His plan is to carefully note the lo
cation of the alligator holes or dens
and nests throughout the swamps.
marshes and ponds in his vicinity and
when laj'ing time comes to quietly
steal the eggs away and place them in
an improvised nest on his own prem
ises, where they hatch out under con
ditions that correspond to those about
the original nests from which they
were taken.
Mr. Jenkins has been quite success
ful so far with his hatchery and has
this season a nest with seven hun
dred eggs. For a week or ten days
past there has been an average dally
hatch jof about twenty young alliga
tors, and as this is the season of the
year when they naturally hatch out
there will soon be a big crop of the
little reptiles within the precincts of
that unique farm.
Not all, however, of the eggs "set"
prove good and hatch, but only, about
sixty per cent, can be expected. Co
coa (Fla.) News. ' ' " I
A highly finished "sun chariot," late
ly found in a moor of Seeland, in Den
mark, is thought to be at least J00l
years old.
By dissolving a little gelatin in milk:
the milk can be carried in solid blocks,
and would gain rather than lose nu
trient value.
' The. most prized of the singing In
sects of Japan Is a black beetle called
"susumushl," or "insect bell." Its
singing resembles the dainty sound of
a sweet-toned silver bell.
A study of bird migration from the
Kentish Knock Lightship, at , the
mouth . of the Thames, twenty-one
miles from land, has been undertaken
by W. Eagle Clarke, of Edinburgh.
The lizard-like pterodactyl, which
had membranous wings, with a spread
air-ship wnich Professor Langley, of
the Smithsonian Institute, has built
and recently tested unsatisfactorily.
It is reported, according to an Eng
lish authority, that a firm of engineers
has offered to fit on board tbe Cunard
steamers about to be built turbiue en
gines to develop 75,000 horse power,
with a coal consumption of only half
what would be required by ordinary
engines.
Motoring on Scottish lakes promises
to become as popular on, keels as 011
wheels in the Highlands, thanks
largely to the work of Sir John Mur
ray, of Challenger Expedition fame
and the staff of the Pullar Trust Lake
Survey. No fewer than 300 lakes have
been fully charted, the soundings being
accurately given in feet. Hitherto all
has been, largely guess work on the
part of the old boatmen. ?
A power transmission Installation is
now being erected at Bagellne.in Italy,
In which a pressure of 40,000 volts will
be used the first instance In Europe
of so high a voltage being employed.
The project Is designed to distribute
power to the town of Brescia, and the
neighboring works. Power will be de
rived from the River Caffaro, rising in
Chiesa.
From 1890 to 1900 the average an
nual excess of births over deaths in
the United States was 17.7 per 1000 of
the population, while Prussia stood
next with 14.7 per 1000. Then came
Holland, with 14 per 1000; Norway,
with 13.9; the German empire, with
13.7; Denmark, with 12.6; Scotland,
with 11.9 and England and Wales with
11.7. The two foreign countries in
which there is the nearest approxima
tion to race suicide are France and
Ireland. ., .tr
Houses In Fez.
In Fez, the capital of Morocco, most
of the houses consist of several stories,
each being provided with a light ve
randa running around it and connect
ing the rooms. All the windows and
doors open out into the patio, or court
yard, the window openings in the up
per stories being covered with close
trellis-work. All the houses have flat
roofs, with a wall some four to six
feet high running around, and from 4
p. m. until sunset the roofs are given
over to the ladies exclusively, who can
then walk about and take the fresh air
without being seen by any of the op
posite sex. This reservation is a law,
which is never broken, and no man
would be guilty of being seen on hia
or on any other roof during the forbid
den hours. Owing to the fact that the
women of the house are not allowed
to be seen by any other man than their
lord and master all domestic offices
are situated away from the house pro
per. In many of the larger houses, be
sides the water fountains, others -.lay
ing scent or scented water are t be
found. Sections of the courtyard uIao
are slichtlv sunk, and these portions
are filled with scented oil, which is
used to perfume the rooms. The Moors
are exceptionally particular in discard
ing their foot gear before entering a
room or crossing a rug or carpet. They,
even change slippers before entering
the courtyard from the street Thus
the houses are kept beautifully clean
and sweet, and are not, as many people
would suppose, musty or close.
The Renaissance of Tennis. 1 '
The wonderful revival of interest in
lawn tennis is one of the most sig
nificant features of American outdoor
life to-day. The seven thousand peo
ple who watched the championship
games at Bay Itidge last year made a
bigger crowd than any country ever
knew even in the days when tennis
was a fad. Tennis is coming Into its
own. There is every reason why ten
nis should be popular. It costs less
than many games; it takes less time;
it requires few player; there is no
danger in it; it 'exercises the whole
body thoroughly, not partially or spas
modically; both sexes can play it, and,
finally, its whole moral tone is clean
and gentlemanly. From Countrv T4fe
In America - ' -