bowls glistening and work board clean. Keed the disher in warm water so the cream will easily glide into the glasses, and watch that the cream adhering to the sides of the can is scraped off occasionally. Look after it that the disher is only "level" full, not "heaping."

Your sign on the door reads, "Pure crushed fruits and fruit juices used." But are they? Do you use true fruits or are they but cheap extracts? Are you placing yourself on a level with the Greek ice cream vender on the opposite corner? Are you treating him as a competitor or are you consideriwg him as a farce? Look at him in the light as one who doesn't exist; don't compete with him in either quality or price; ignore him. People like good soda and if they go to the fruit store they will fall far short of getting it.

Make a leader of chocolate; people appreciate good chocolate flavor. Buy the best obtainable; it is cheapest in the long run; but the greatest care must be taken in making it. Primarily procure a double boiler, a wooden paddle, and boil it to bring out its true flavor and aroma. Be sure and have the chocolate brought to a boil; this is imperative, as its true worth can be derived in no other way. Lastly, keep it right; don't place fruits and juices directly on the ice, keep them cold where cold air circulates.

Your window sign reads, "Ice cold drinks"; make them justify this motto. Too much stress cannot be laid on this one suggestion. Have your fountain iced, or see to it that brine is cold enough and not frozen hard if it is an iceless, every morning.

Few stores sell lemonade made from lemons. It is a popular drink, and few pharmacists realize that some people prefer it to soda water. Specialize it, and be sure you state in your advertisement that it is "Made from lemons.” Keep the marble slab on the counter wiped off. Never allow loungers to occupy the stools at the fountain or permit the tables reserved for soda patrons to be used for displaying samples of merchandise. Never serve intoxicating liquors at the soda fountain- or any other place, for that matter.

Treat the children as grown-ups; their money figures the same as the rest to swell up the day's

business. Have menus placed on stands on the tables setting forth the day's specials, and don't neglect to attach the price to everything listed; this is necessary, as people like to know the prices before ordering.

Lastly, display candy on the back part of the soda fountain and you will be astonished at the amount you can sell by so doing. These few suggestions, if followed and improved upon where possible, will do much to make the soda business a satisfactory and profitable venture.

Facts About Milk.

Some idea of the importance of milk as human food may be gained from the fact that about one-sixth of the total food of the average family is furnished by it and its products.

Of the various mammals whose milk is used for food in different parts of the world may be mentioned the goat in the hilly districts of Europe, the buffalo in India, the llama in South America, the camel in desert countries, and the mare on the steppes of Russia and Central Asia. Sheep's milk is used in some countries for making cheese and in other ways, and the milk of reindeers is commonly used as food in the arctic regions. With us the milk of the cow so far surpasses all other kinds in importance that unless otherwise specified the word milk is taken to refer to cow's milk only.

Good, unadulterated milk should contain about 87 per cent. of water and 13 of solids.

Milk contains bacteria in many kinds and in varying numbers. They cause the souring of milk as well as the ripening of cream and cheese, and produce many other changes in the appearance and flavor. The number present in freshly drawn milk varies enormously with the conditions of milking, and, as they are greatly increased with dirty and careless handling, cleanliness in all matters pertaining to the milking and marketing of milk and keeping it in the home cannot be too strongly insisted an. Dis. ease germs, notably those of typhoid, diphtheria, scarlet fever and tuberculosis, may also be carried in milk, so that the purity of the milk supply is of vital importance to every family and community.

The problem of keeping milk sweet is one of

checking the growth of the bacteria; and as they are inactive at a temperature below 50° F., milk should be kept in a cool place. Two common methods for preserving milk are pasteurization and sterilization. In the former the aim is to apply heat in such a way as to kill most of the bacteria without producing undesirable changes in the milk; in the latter, to apply enough heat to kill all the bacteria, but with the least possible undesirable change. Chemical preservatives in milk are considered injurious to health, and are forbidden by pure-food legislation in many States.

What is commonly known as the richness of milk depends upon the amount of butter fat it contains. There is so much diffarence in the composition of milk from different cows that many large butter and cheese factories now test all the milk they buy, and pay for it according to its butter fat content.

Mother's milk is best adapted by nature to the nourishment of infants. Cow's milk is the most common substitute, and when necessary is artificially modified to make it resemble human milk.

The value of milk for adults is in combination with other foods; not as a beverage merely, but to supply in part the material needed for the body..

Unless exceptionally high prices are paid for it, milk is fully as economical a source of nutrients as other animal foods, but dearer than most staple vegetable products. Milk, however, requires no preparation, has no waste, and is more thoroughly digested than most vegetable foods. As a source of protein, the most expensive of the nutritious ingredients, it is especially economical. Skimmilk, which is whole milk minus part of its fat, and which costs only half as much as whole milk, furnishes protein about four times as cheaply as beef. Foods prepared with either skim or whole milk are much more nutritious than those prepared with water.

Valuable information in detail about milk will be found in Farmers' Bulletin 363," The Use of Milk as Food," recently issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. This bulletin supersedes an earlier one of the series and may be

obtained free upon application to the Department of Agriculture at Wasnington, D. C.

Headache Medicines.

Acetanilid, antipyrin, and phenacetin (acetphenetidin) are three comparatively new drugs which are widely used to produce insensibility to pain, and proprietary headache medicines are very apt to contain one or more of them. The use of such drugs without the advice of a physician is dangerous, since they tend to depress the heart and the nerves and may lead to the formation of a drug habit. This is proved by reports from 400 physicians, made in response to inquiries from the United States Department of Agriculture. These physians state that from 1884 to 1907 they have known 28 deaths resulting from the use of one or another of these three drugs, besides 814 cases of poisoning and 136 cases in which the patient had formed the drug-using habit, with varying evil results. In 14 cases antipyrin was poisonous even when used externally. Even supposing the 525 physicians who failed to reply had no cases to report, what a terrible showing would be made if the 125,000 physicians in the United States could all give their testimony. Of the 400 physicians, acetanolid is rarely or never prescribed by 212, antipyrin by 307, and phenacetin by 180. In more than one-half the cases of poisoning the drug was taken by direction of a physician, a fact which leads one to reflect that if the physician is likely to have bad results in the use of these drugs the ordinary man should be doubly cautious in using them or anything containing them. Nowadays no one need take them unknowingly, for the National food and drugs act requires that labels of proprietary medicines containing them shall show the fact.

The statements of these 400 physicians are confirmed by those of a committee of the British Medical Association which investigated the matter in 1894. The medical journals also, from time to time, have contained articles describing cases in which the use of these drugs has resulted badly. Altogether medical literature makes a showing of 13 deaths and 297 cases of poisoning from acetanilid; 488 cases of

poisoning from antipyrin; and 70 cases of poisoning from phenacetin.

Physicians are using this poison less freely and with greater caution than when they were first introduced. But the general public, on the other hand, in response to ingenious advertising, seems more and more to be purchasing headache mixture containing these drugs and dosing themselves without advice from a physician. When considered in connection with the fact that cases of poisoning and death have been more frequent in recent years, this should lead the common man to be extremely cautious in the use of any remedy containing acetanilid, antipyrin or phenacetin.

These facts are shown in detail in Bulletin 126 of the Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, entitled "The Harmful Effects of Acetanilid, Antipyrin, and Phenacetin," recently issued.

Mouth Washes.

Mouth washes may commonly be divided into two classes (1) as a remedial measure (2) as a prophylactic measure. The scientific composition of efficacious bactericidal washes, says the Practitioner, has received but scant attention from medical men, and the usual form of antiseptic wash is as hopelessly insufficient as it is unscientific. The mouth may act as an incubation chamber for the growth of such organisms as gain admission; large masses of soft food are retained between the teeth, owing to irregularities, or mutilation by dental caries, and any organisms which reach these positions with the food find themselves in a natural incubation chamber of no mean capabilities. They are kept at blood heat, in a moist atmosphere, and with a plentiful supply of nutrient material. In such circumstances they may multiply with great rapidity, and when carried down into the stomach may set up serious or fatal disease. The oral secretions possess no bactericidal properties whatever, but there exists in the natural flora of the mouth a certain antagonism to the growth of extraneous organisms.

But even under the best conditions the mouth is very far from being a sterile cavity, and in some cases the normal bacteria may take on

pathogenic qualities. When gingivitis or any other septic condition prevails, a further pabulum is afforded by the septic discharges, and even by the inflamed tissues themselves. The vast majority of mouths are septic in a more or less pronounced degree, and the mouth of the average individual, instead of affording protection against disease, is rather an added source of danger. Here, then, is the value of a bactericidal mouth wash as a prophylactic measure against disease, and the thorough sterilization of the mouth morning and evening must afford considerable protection.

Very many antiseptics are used for purposes of mouth sterilization, but a large number of these are rendered of little value owing to the fact that, if used in sufficient strength to sterilize the mouth within a reasonable time, they are either too caustic, as carbolic acid, or poison ous, as perchloride of mercury. The scientific composition of mouth washes hence becomes of the utmost importance. Carbolic acid is comparatively useless as an oral germicide; on the other hand, the value of salicylic acid and benzoic acid has been clearly brought out, preference being given to the latter in spite of its slightly less powerful germicidal qualities, owing to the more beneficent action which it exercises on the mucous tissues. It is seldom that any one, in rinsing his mouth, will retain a wash longer than one minute, and an antiseptic mouth wash, to be efficient, should be able to

The Procrastinator.

The man who developes the faculty of cleaning up each matter which comes before him for attention and getting it off his mind at once enjoys a big advantage over the one who has permitted himself to become accustomed to put ting off matters from time to time in the belief that to-morrow he will have more time to attend things than he has to-day. It is not always O possible, says the Trade Journal, to take final action promptly on the various problems which arise in the life of every business man, but in the majority of cases a decision can be arrived at on most points now as well as to-morrow or next week.

The desks of some otherwise good merchants will be found cluttered up with memorandums,

etc., in regard to matters which it is intended to take up as soon as the principal has a little time, when nine times out of ten a little thought or effort exercised while the memorandum is being written would suffice to turn the matter over with definite instructions to some employé.

The man who unconsciously procrastinates is the one who generally thinks that he can't spare the time to get away from his business, for every time he thinks about his work he remembers the score or more of little subjects awaiting his attention and realize that until these are out of the road he cannot be spared from the business. On the other hand, the fellow who makes it a point to clean up everything as he goes along can leave behind him his business worries when he closes up the store at night, and if business or pleasure makes it advisable for him to leave home for a few days, he has little difficulty in so arranging his affairs that he can do so.

If you have never made any determined effort to acquire this excellent habit of taking definite and prompt action on each matter which comes up in the regular routine of business, it will be well worth your while to give some thouhgt to the question now.

Light Perfumes.

According to E. Mesnard, light is the principal cause of the transformation and destruction of odorous substances, and not oxygen, though the two agents act in concert in many cases. These effects of light are manifested both by chemical changes and mechanical action, the first being indicated in odorous plant products from their elaboration to their resinification, whilst the second regulates the periodical liberation of perfumes. The intensity of the perfume of a flower would seem then to depend upon the equilibrium maintained between the pressure of water in plant cells, which tends to drive out the elaborated perfumes, and the action of light which opposes the turgescence. These novel suggestions appear to be in accordance with the fact that flowers are less odoriferous in hot than in temperate climates, and also that trees and fruits in the East so frequently contain more or less resinified odorous substances.

Serum Manufacturers.

The Treasury Department, in a letter of instructions to collectors and officers of the customs regarding the execution of the act of July 1, 1902, relating to the importation of viruses, serums, etc., gives notice of the revision of the list of establishments which have qualified under the law and which have been regularly licensed to propagate and prepare the products referred to. The list, with numbers of licenses, is as follows: 1, Parke, Davis & Co., Detroit, Mich.; 2, H. K. Mulford Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; 3, Dr. H. M. Alexander & Co., Marietta, Pa.; 5, Fluid Vaccine Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; 8, Cutter Analytic Laboratory, Berkeley, Cal.; 9, Frederick Stearns & Co., Detroit, Mich.; 11, Pasteur Institute of Paris, Paris, France; 12, Chemische Fabrik auf Actien (vorm. E. Schering), Berlin, Germany; 14, Health Department of the City of New York; 15, W. R. Hubbert Serum Laboratory, Detroit, Mich.; 16, National Vaccine and Antitoxine Institute, Washingion, D. C.; 17, Lederle Antitoxin Laboratories, New York City; 18, Burroughs, Wellcome & Co., London, England; 19, Memorial Institute for Infectious Diseases, Chicago, Ill.; 21, Swiss Serum Vaccine Institute, Berne, Switzerland; 22, Institut Bacteriologique de Lyon, Lyon, France; 24, Farbwerke, vormals, Meister Lucius & Bruning, Hoechst-on-Main, Germany; 25, Tuberculin Society of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia; 26, Institut de Vaccine Animale, Paris, France; 27, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France; 28, Bacterio logisches Institut Lingner, Dresden, Germany.

Sugar and Alcohol.

Indeed, the rôle and importance of sugar as a rapid reliever of fatigue is one which we are only just beginning to appreciate, and which goes surprisingly far already. It has been incorpoated into the most hard-headed, cold-blooded, matter-of-fact diet on earth the German army rations, especially the "forced-march" emergency ration. No other food of its bulk can take its place. It is the belief of careful observers of men, particularly in the tropics, that the larger the amount of sugar, and sugar-containing foods they are supplied with, the less alcohol and other stimulants they will crave.

For in

stance, the United States Government now buys the best and purest of candy by the ton, and now ships it to the Philippines, to be supplied to the canteens and messes, finding that its use diminishes the craving for native brandy; and it has long been a matter of comment from thoughtful observers that the amount of drunkenness of a race or class is in inverse ratio to the amount of sugar it consumes. - Success Magazine.

More Leeches.

The total value of leeches in 1908 was $5,341, in 1907 $6,992, in 1906 $4,494, in 1905 $3,862, in 1904 $3,589, in 1903 $3,240, and in 1902 $2,412the commerce in leeches being thus of a growing character. The total value of the leeches imported into the United States in the decade ending with 1908 is about $40,000. Leeches, it may be added, are imported free of duty.

If kept going, the wheels of a watch travel 3,5584 miles in a year.

Next to iron, copper is the most important metal from a commercial point of view.