at once observed by the asylum authorities. The danger to the consumer of this raw milk seems palpable, although it is not assumed to be in direct proportion to the positive results obtained in such susceptible animals as guinea pigs.".

STUDIES ON THE DIGESTIBILITY AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BREAD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA IN 1900-1902. By HARRY SNYDER, B.S., Professor of Chemistry, College of Agriculture, University of Minnesota, and Chemist, Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin No. 126. U. S. Department of Agricul ture. Fifty pages.

A valuable contribution to the differentiation in the digestibility of bread depending upon the different kinds of flour of which it is made.

"The results of these investigations are in accord with those obtained in former studies, and indicate that fine patent flours from both hard and soft wheat are more digestible than corresponding coarse flours, though they contain somewhat less protein and mineral matter pound for pound. The investigations also show that all flours are quite thoroughly digested, and furnish experimental proof of the generally recognized fact that wheat flours of all grades are among the most important articles of diet."

MANUAL OF INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF CAUSES OF DEATH. Adopted by the United States Census Office for the Compilation of Mortality Statistics, for use beginning with the year 1900, prepared under the supervision of WILLIAM A. KING, Chief Statistician for Vital Statistics, United States Census Office.

As a guide to the proper tabulation of mortality statistics, this manual should be a table book to every board of health registrar throughout the country; and its forms should be observed as the most certain means of correct returns.-Medical Education in Vital Statistics, Instruction of Medical Students in Registration Methods, etc.-Relation of Physicians to Mortality Statistics, The International Classification of Causes of Death adopted by the United States Census Office and approved by the American Public Health Association.-Legislative Requirements for Registration of Vital Statistics, The Necessity for Uniform Laws, Methods and Reforms. Practical Registration Methods: emanating from the Census Bureau, are also educational bulletins of practical utility to all health officers and others interested in vital statistics.

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE AND THE RISE OF THE UNITED STATES.

The international effects of the Louisiana Purchase were even more significant than its political effect. From it dates the end of the struggle for the possession of the Mississippi Valley and the beginning of the transfer of the ascendency in both Americas to the United States. Even the English veterans of the Napoleonic battles were unable to wrest New Orleans from Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. The acquisition of Florida, Texas, California, and the possessions won by the United States in the recent Spanish-American War are in a sense the corollaries of this great event. France, England, and Spain, removed from the strategic points on our border, were prevented from occupying the controlling position in determining the destiny of the American provinces which so soon revolted from the empire of Spain. The Monroe Doctrine would not have been possible except for the Louisiana Purchase. It was the logical outcome of that acquisition. Having taken her decisive stride across the Mississippi, the United States enlarged the horizon of her views and marched steadily forward to the possession of the Pacific Ocean. From this event dates the rise of the United States into the position of a world power.-From "The Significance of the Louisiana Purchase," by Frederick J. Turner, in the "American Monthly Review of Reviews" for May.

"STORY OF THE BIRTH OF NEW YORK."

To anyone taking even a bird's-eye view, the contrast between the Dutch settlement on the point of the Island of Manhattan in 1653 and the New York of to-day is tremendous. To one who knows nothing of New York save its name it may be said that the city of to-day spreads over three hundred and twenty-seven square miles, and houses in its five boroughs something over three millions of people. In the Dutch village of New Amsterdam there were less than three hundred homes and not twelve hundred people. Nevertheless, the charter that was granted to those twelve hundred people meant a great deal to them, and it means much to the present-day city, dating its birth from that morning when the people assembled to the beating of drums to listen to the first reading of the charter granting them municipal rights.

The houses of New Amsterdam were for the most part rude wooden structures, quaint in appearance and homely in arrangement, with tall, slanting roofs absurdly steep, surmounted by

weathercocks. They stood with gable end to the street, and to the door of each was attached a knocker combining the ornamental and the useful, as it was usually formed of some strangely devised animal head. Some few buildings were of yellow and black brick, placed so as to form fantastic designs, and having fixed to them figures of iron that chronicled the date of their erection. Some few, too, were of stone, but they were rare indeed, and witnessed to the dwelling-place of wealthy townsmen.

It was at the Feast of Candlemas, in the year 1653, that Governor Stuyvesant proclaimed the new city. But with the stubbornness, the belief in the justice of his measures, the absolute determination to be governor in fact as well as in name that marked him, he would not follow the directions of the Dutch West India Company under whom he held office. He refused to permit the people to elect their officers, and simplified matters very much by appointing them himself. After he had appointed them he told them as briefly as might be, and with a force that could not be misunderstood, that though they held office it would be well for them to understand that his own power as governor was not thereby one whit lessened. He explained that he would preside at all their meetings and advise them in all matters, both great and small. So, although the city got its charter, it was a boss rule from the start, a precedent from which New York was to suffer many and many a time thereafter, often struggling in the grasp of far less capable and honest men than Peter Stuyvesant.-From "Story of the Birth of New York," by Charles Hemstreet, in "The Churchman," May 2, 1903.

WHAT ARE WE?

We belong to a nation of "great readers." We devour popular novels with an unfailing appetite and a literary range which extends from the known to the unknown and does not necessarily discriminate greatly between Mrs. Ward and Bertha M. Clay.

We are fast becoming an out-of-doors people. Not only our heroines and heroes of fiction but our "real folks" sigh continually for "the open." Nature, to many of us, is a deity to be approached with bared head, thick shoes, and rolled-up sleeves; to be propitiated with golf clubs and fishing rods; to be entertained with athletic sports of varying kinds and degrees; and in return for our devotion she bestows on us a hearty appetite for beek steak, and lends increased zest to a soothing pipe in hours of meditation or stupor.

We are a practical people, much inclined to believe that there are few things in heaven or earth which cannot be reduced to a scientific formula.

Yet outside this world of superficiality and robustness and "common sense," there is another universe whose meanings no formulas can ever express, whose bounds can never be measured by sea or star or space, a world of immortalities that differs from the other as "the consecration and the poet's dream" differ from the multiplication table, and it is as true of this world as of the other that "to him that hath shall be given."-Mrs. Martha Baker Dunn, in the May "Atlantic."

OVERWORRY NOT OVERWORK.

One of Many Reasons Why College Girls Need Stimulus of Athletics.

College girls sometimes break down. So do society butterflies, and wage-workers, and hundreds of other girls who have not the wisdom or experience to establish a just relation between their physical incomes and outgoes. But it is overworry much oftener than overwork that sends the college girl or her non-collegiate sister into nervous prostration. Just here is the saving grace of athletics, that sugar-coated ounce of prevention that prevents the bitter pound of cure. In the rush and whirl of some exercise that uses every muscle and requires each instant the judgment of an alert mind, there is no room for the little blue demon of worry that eats into the foundations of health; the perplexing problem is forgotten; the player gains her poise and takes up the next task. with a freshened brain.

The physical benefits of judicious athletics are almost axiomatic. But they are not all. In the education of girls the incidental lessons of college contests are not to be despised-the value of patient work for an uncertain end, the sweetness of effort for the class, the grateful weariness of victory, and the pleasure of a just reward. From Alice Katharine Fallows's "Athletics for College Girls," in the May "Century."

THE BROAD JUMPER.

Go at It Systematically to Get the Best Results.

Every schoolboy thinks that he can broad-jump, and so he can to a certain degree. But this event is one which should be gone at systematically to get the best results. The jumper should first carefully notice his stride on going up to the take-off, so that he

can mark off a distance (say 25 yards back), and by stepping on this mark with one of his feet as he runs by he will be sure to strike the take-off when he comes to it. The jumper cannot be sure of getting his best efforts into his jump unless he is practically sure of hitting the take-off. After this has been acquired, the athlete can get to work.

In this run the jumper's highest speed should be reached at about 10 or 12 feet before the take-off, so that he can gather himself for the jump. After leaving the take-off he should shoot out and up. He must have elevation or his efforts will be in vain. He should go into the air at an angle of at least 45 degrees. A good way to get this elevation is by placing a hurdle in the jumping-pit and jumping over it. The jumper should gather himself together as he goes through the air, and at the finish, just before alighting, he should force himself on by a spasmodic effort with his arms and body. The legs should also be held forward so that they will strike the ground at the farthest possible distance. Practice will show how far out the feet can be thrown without the athlete's falling back into the pit. It must be remembered that the greater the speed the farther out the feet can be thrown with safety. A great deal of practice is necessary to become a good broad jumper, but this is an event which it is not well to practise too frequently, as it is very hard on the legs. The broad jumper will therefore not expect to get at his best during the first season.-From G. W. Orton's "Training for Interscholastic Athletics," in May "St. Nicholas."

THE IDEAL NURSE.

A nurse generally arrives in time of crisis, the patient is turned over to her, the family draw a long breath of comfort and relief, confide in her amazingly, question her about the doctor, the treatment, the patient's condition, her experience in similar cases, and unhesitatingly make her privy to their most personal affairs.

Besides possessing unblemished courage and professional skill, a nurse should be prepared to sweep, keep a room in order, arrange flowers, read aloud, write notes, unobtrusively quiet such family jars as might affect her patient. She must understand what to do herself, what should be left to servants, remembering that this will vary in every household. She must be quick to see when her presence is necessary, when she is in the way. She can allow herself no personal habits as to bed or board, no private existence or amusement while at a case, and when the patient is safely through the exciting period of illness, she has to settle down with good

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