Part 93

The various parts of the body, including the gums, are connected by a lymphatic tissue, which is practically a series of canals. If the teeth are not properly attended to and kept in good condition, both as to cleanliness and repair, the microbes or germs collect on the gums and teeth, and increase in numbers. Soon the mouth is over-populated with microbes and are pushed off the gums or teeth into the lymphatic canals, where they succeed in developing a disease in your body.

Now the ache in the tooth becomes a blessing very promptly if it begins soon after the tooth begins to decay, because in that event the dentist is visited and the tooth filled or pulled. Therefore, while it hurts terribly, it might be well to remember that a toothache is a timely warning of danger which, if not heeded, will likely develop into something quite serious.

What Causes Toothache?

The ache comes when the tiny nerve at the heart of the tooth is exposed to the air. When the tooth begins to decay, it starts to do so generally from the outside, and after the decaying process has gone far enough, it reaches the nerve in the tooth, which aches when exposed to the air. The ache is the signal which the nerve sends to the brain that there is an exposure and a cry for help.

Of What Use Are Pains and Aches?

All pains and aches are helpful in sounding a warning. A headache may be the result of improper sleep and rest and, therefore, warns us to take the needed rest or sleep. A pain in the stomach is only nature’s way of telling us that we have been unwise in our eating and drinking. As a matter of fact, short though our lives are, they would probably be still shorter, on the average, if it were not for pains and aches, because without these warnings we would never have sense enough to stop doing the things we should not do if we lived normally.

What Causes Earache?

Earache is caused by the nerves in the ear being affected by something either from within or without which produces a swelling of the parts immediately adjacent to the nerves in the ear, and which press against the nerves; as the nerves cannot go any place else they send a warning to the brain that they are being crowded and pressed against. The pain you feel is the nerve in the ear warning the brain that something is wrong in the ear.

What Is Soap Made Of?

Soap is not a very modern product, although we have rarely read of soap in olden times. As long ago as two thousand years, the Germans had an ointment which was made in practically the same way as we now make soap. A soap factory was engaged in making soap in France in 1000 A. D.

Even before soap was manufactured, people knew that ashes of some plants, when mixed with water, gave it a peculiar, smooth, slippery feeling, and added to the cleansing qualities of water. Although they did not know it, this was due to the soda of potash which was in the ashes. Pure soda and potash both have excellent qualities for cleaning, but are likely to injure the skin, and other things coming in contact with them.

Soap is made by boiling together oil or fat and “caustic” soda or potash. Caustic soda is a substance made from sodium carbonate by adding slaked lime to a solution of it. The slaked lime contains calcium in combination with hydrogen and oxygen, and is known in chemistry as calcium hydrate. When calcium hydrate is added to a solution of sodium carbonate, the sodium present combines with the oxygen and hydrogen to form a compound, variously called sodium hydrate, sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda. A similar compound of potassium is formed when the same kind of lime is mixed in a solution of potassium carbonate. In both cases the calcium is converted into calcium carbonate, which is not soluble in water and settles to the bottom; but the caustic soda or potash is dissolved.

The word “caustic” means to burn. Both will burn the skin if allowed to touch the skin for a short time.

The fats used for making soap consist of glycerine, in chemical combination with what are called fatty acids. When these fats are boiled with caustic soda, or caustic potash, the fat is decomposed; the fatty acid combines with the sodium or potassium to form soap and the glycerine is left uncombined.

In modern soap factories the manufacture is carried on in large iron vessels. Some fat and oil are put into the vessel and a little lye, which is really caustic soda or potash, is added and the mixture boiled. The fat and the lye combine very quickly and form a whitish fluid. More lye is now added and the boiling continued. This process is repeated until nearly all the oil or fat has combined with the lye. If yellow laundry soap is being made, some rosin is put in, and this gives the yellow color. If toilet soap is being made, common salt is put in instead of rosin. The addition of the salt has the effect of separating the water and the glycerine from the soap. The soap rises to the surface and is skimmed off. As soon as the separation is complete, and the soap is then cut or pressed into cakes after it has become hard.

Soaps referred to above are the ordinary hard soaps. In making soft soaps no salt is added to separate the soap from the liquid. As the water and glycerine do not separate from the soap, the entire mixture remains of a soft consistency. Soft soap is also made with a lye, that is obtained from wood ashes. The ashes are placed in barrels and water poured upon them. The water drips down through the ashes in the barrel and dissolves the potash contained in them, making lye or caustic potash. This lye is then in liquid form and is mixed and boiled with grease or fat to make soap.

There are many different fats used in soap making. Palm oil is perhaps the most common, but tallow, olive oil, cotton seed oil, and many other fats are used. The hardness of the soap varies with the kind of fat and lye used. Palm oil or tallow soap is very hard, and other oils are sometimes mixed with it to soften it.

These are the main facts connected with the making of soaps. There may appear to be different kinds all of which look and smell differently. The difference in them is largely due to the presence of different perfumes and coloring matters.

The savage Indians found their system of smoke signals quite effective in sending messages from place to place. With a good burning fire before him, and a blanket or shield at hand, the Indian was equipped to send his messages. The code consisted of the varying kinds of smoke clouds produced. These were made large or small by covering the fire at intervals with the blanket or shield, thus making interruptions of various lengths in the rising clouds of smoke. By dropping moss or other things into the fire, he made the smoke clouds either light or dark at will.]

The Story in a Telegram

How Man Learned to Send Messages.

From the time when man had learned to protect himself from the beasts of the forest, and thus was able to move about more freely, and live by himself rather than remain with the tribe, he has found it necessary to send messages.

One of the most interesting of the early methods for sending messages was the Indian way of smoke signalling with the simple equipment of a fire with its rising column of smoke and a blanket or shield. Messages were sent, relayed, received and answered, at points hundreds of miles apart. Among savages still found in remote parts of the earth this and other primitive methods are still in use. In the wilds of Africa to-day at points where the electric telegraph service has not yet penetrated, the natives by the simple method of beating drums, which can be heard from one relay point to another, are able to send the “news of the day” across the country with marvellous rapidity. In some parts of South America, the natives long ago discovered that the ground is a good conductor of sound and send their messages almost at will, making their signals by tapping against poles which they have planted in the ground at various points and which constitute both their sending and receiving instruments.

The Signal Corps in the army uses flags for sending messages, where the telegraph is not available, the flags being of different colors, and the signals are produced by waving the flags in different ways. The army heliograph is also used as a telegraph line--a mirror which reflects the sun’s rays in a manner understood by a prearranged code. These and other similar methods are merely elaborations of devices developed and used by the savages as a solution of the ever present need of sending a message to some other point.

THE GREEK RUNNER.

In this picture we see the Greek Runner on the last leg of his journey and the man to whom he is to deliver the message waiting for him. This method of sending messages was not very fast, although the runners were picked because of their speed and endurance.]

Here we see the fast riders of the Pony Telegraph, which increased the speed of delivering messages quite a good deal, but, of course, there was danger of losing the message to enemies or through accident, so that it might be difficult under such circumstances to send a secret message or to even be certain that it would arrive at destination.]

RINGING THE CALL BOX.]