Earlier text: Try the SpiritsThe Commentary.
By Mrs. E. G. White
NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
The Resurrection of Lazarus.
WHILE still at a distance from the house, Jesus heard the wailing of the mourners. When a Hebrew died it was customary for the relatives to give up all business for several days, and live on the coarsest food while they mourned for the dead. Professional mourners were also hired, and it was they whom Jesus heard wailing and shrieking in that house which had once been his quiet, pleasant resting place. Jesus did not desire to meet the afflicted sisters in such a scene of confusion as their home then presented, so he stopped at a quiet place by the road-side, and sent a messenger to inform them where they could find him. Martha hastened to meet him; she told him of her brother's death, saying, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." In her disappointment and grief she had not lost confidence in Jesus, and added, "But I know, that now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee."427 Jesus encouraged her faith by declaring to her, "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha, not comprehending the full meaning of Jesus, answered that she knew he would arise in the resurrection, at the last day. But Jesus, seeking to give a true direction to her faith, said, "I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this?" Jesus would direct the thoughts of Martha to himself, and strengthen her faith in regard to his power. His words had a double meaning; not only did they refer to the immediate act of raising Lazarus, but they also referred to the general resurrection of all the righteous, of which the resurrection of Lazarus, which he was then about to perform, was but a representation. Jesus declared himself the Author of the resurrection. He who himself was soon to die upon the cross, stood with the keys of death, a conqueror of the grave, and asserted his right and power to give eternal life. When Jesus asked Martha, "Believest thou?" she answered by a confession of her faith, "Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." Thus Martha declared her belief in the Messiahship of Jesus, and that he was able to perform any work which it pleased him to do. Jesus bade Martha call her sister, and the friends that had come to comfort the afflicted women. When Mary came she fell at the feet of Jesus, also crying, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." At the sight of all this distress, Jesus "groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see." Together they all proceeded to the grave of Lazarus, which was a cave with a stone upon it. It was a mournful scene. Lazarus had been much beloved, and his sisters wept for him with breaking hearts, while those who had been his friends mingled their tears with those of the bereaved sisters. Jesus had also loved Lazarus, whose faith had ever been strong in him, never wavering nor failing for a moment. In view of this human distress, and of the fact that these afflicted friends could mourn over the dead, when the Saviour of the world stood by, who had power to raise from the dead,—"Jesus wept." His grief was not alone because of the scene before him. The weight of the grief of ages was upon his soul, and, looking down the years that were to come, he saw the suffering and sorrow, tears and death, that were to be the lot of men. His heart was pierced with the pain of the human family of all ages and in all lands. The woes of the sinful race were heavy on his soul, and the fountain of his tears was broken up, as he longed to relieve all their distress. Seeing the tears and hearing the groans of Jesus, those who stood about said, "Behold, how he loved him!" Then they whispered among themselves, "Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?" Jesus groaned within himself at the unbelief of those who had professed faith in him. They thought his tears were because of his love for Lazarus, and that he who had done such mighty works had been unable to save Lazarus from death. Burdened by the blind infidelity of those who should have had faith in him, Jesus approached the grave, and in tones of authority commanded that the stone should be rolled away. Human hands were, on their part, required to do all that it was possible for them to do, and then divine power would finish the work. But Martha objected to the stone being removed, and reminded Jesus that the body had been buried four days, and that corruption had already commenced its work. Jesus answered her reproachfully: "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" The stone was then taken away, and the dead was revealed to sight. It was evident to all that putrefaction had really commenced. All is now done that lies in the power of man to do. The friends gather round with mingled curiosity and awe to see what Jesus is about to do. Lifting up his eyes, the Saviour prayed: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." The hush that followed this prayer was broken by Jesus crying out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." Instantly life animates that form which had been so changed by decay that the friends of the deceased recoiled from looking upon it. Lazarus, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and with a napkin about his face, rises, obedient to the command of his Saviour, and attempts to walk, but is impeded by the winding-sheet. Jesus commands his friends to "loose him, and let him go." Human hands are again brought into requisition to do the work which it is possible for them to do. The burial clothes which bear evidence of the corruption of the body are removed, and Lazarus stands before them, not as one emaciated from disease, and with feeble, tottering limbs, but as a man in the prime of life, and in the vigor of a noble manhood, his eyes beaming with intelligence and love for his Saviour. He bows at the feet of Jesus and glorifies him. A dumb surprise at first seizes all present; but now succeeds an inexpressible scene of rejoicing and thanksgiving. The sisters receive their brother back to life as the gift of God, and with joyful tears, brokenly express their thanks and praise to the Saviour. But while brother, sisters, and friends are rejoicing in this reunion, Jesus retires from the exciting scene, and when they look for the Lifegiver, he is nowhere to be found. This crowning miracle of Christ caused many to believe on him. But some who were in the crowd about the grave, and heard and saw the wonderful works performed by Jesus, were not converted, but steeled their hearts against the evidence of their own eyes and ears. This demonstration of the power of Christ was the crowning manifestation offered by God to man as a proof that he had sent his Son into the world for the salvation of the human race. If the Pharisees rejected this mighty evidence, no power in Heaven nor upon earth could wrest from them their Satanic unbelief. The spies hurry away to report to the rulers this work of Jesus, and that the "world is gone after him." In performing this miracle, the Saviour took a decisive step toward the completion of his earthly mission. The grandest evidence of his life was now given that he was the Son of God, and had control of death and the grave. Hearts that had long been under the power of sin, in rejecting this proof of the divinity of Jesus, locked themselves in impenetrable darkness and came wholly under the sway of Satan, to be hurried by him over the brink of eternal ruin. The mighty miracle wrought at the grave of Lazarus intensified the hatred of the Pharisees against Jesus. This demonstration of divine power, which presented such unquestionable proof that Jesus was the Son of God, was sufficient to convince any mind under the control of reason and enlightened conscience. But the Pharisees, who had rejected all lesser evidence, were only enraged at this new miracle of raising the dead in the full light of day, and before a crowd of witnesses. No artifice of theirs could explain away such evidence. For this very reason their hate grew deadlier, and they watched every opportunity of accomplishing their secret purpose to destroy him. (Lesson 15.—Sabbath, July 31.) “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4 2. In what condition are all the world? “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23. 3. Then in what service are all men? “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” Rom. 6:16, 17. 4. If men are overcome by sin, in what condition are they? They are in bondage. “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19. 5. What is it that declares that all men are thus in bondage? “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Rom. 3:19. 6. What are the works of the flesh? “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Gal. 5:19-21. 7. What are the fruits of the Spirit? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law.” Gal. 5:22, 23. 8. With what are the fruits of the Spirit in harmony? After enumerating the fruits of the Spirit, Paul says: “Against such there is no law.” Therefore they are in harmony with the law of God. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit is obedience to the law. 9. Then of what must the works of the flesh be the transgression? Since the fruit of the Spirit is obedience to the law, and the works of the flesh are directly contrary, it follows that the works of the flesh are simply the transgression of the law. 10. In what condition are those who are not led by the Spirit? “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” Gal. 5:18. 11. Then what is it to be “under the law”? It is to be in a state of sin and consequent condemnation to death. 12. In order to redeem man, what position is it necessary for Christ to take? “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” Heb. 2:17. 13. Then since he came to redeem sinners, those under the law, how was he made? “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4, 5. 14. Was Christ indeed counted as a sinner? “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Cor. 5:21. “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isa. 53:12. 15. What curse is pronounced upon transgressors of the law? “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:17. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23. 16. How did Christ redeem us from this curse? “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Gal. 3:13. 17. For what purpose did Christ thus take upon himself sin and death? “That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Cor. 5:21. 18. What is the righteousness of God? “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. Isa. 51:6, 7. 19. Since “in Christ” we become doers of the law, what does that insure to us? “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. 20. What then may we say Christ is to us? “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 1 Cor. 1:30. Curious Features of New Mexico.
THERE is one remarkable case in New Mexico where the lost tributaries are plentiful but the main stream does not exist. This is in a valley which lies between the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers. The valley begins near the Sandia mountains; and shuts out the streams on each side by broken mountain chains. It is a well-defined valley, not very broad, but having a length of perhaps 300 miles. Flowing into it, especially on the western side near the upper end, and on the eastern side toward the lower end, are numerous lost tributaries; but the primary stream has so completely disappeared that its bed can only be found at intervals. In this valley lie the ruins of the Gran Quivira, the existence of which is not only attested by the ruins themselves but also by the accounts of the earliest Spanish settlers. The records of the Spanish up to the latter part of the seventeenth century, when they were expelled by the Indians, are incomplete, as the Indians destroyed all that was left behind. That the Gran Quivira was well known to them, however, is shown by the fact that the most prominent ruin there is that of a church. There is now no water for many miles from the river. That there must have been once, can well be granted, for no large city would have been built by human beings at a distance of fifteen or twenty miles from a scanty water supply. The valley may be named from this city, and would then be the Gran Quivira Valley. About half-way down the valley it is broken by a long, narrow, thin layer of lava, now much broken up, and making a desolate region, locally known as the Mal-pais, or "bad lands." The crater from which the lava was derived was near the northern end of the Mal-pais. Just above the Mal-pais an old river-bed is reached at the depth of about 250 feet; below it the river-bed, when found, is at a slight depth. Southwest of the Apache reservation the old river-bed runs into a large salt marsh. A stream of no mean size seems to have once run down this valley. Not only has it now disappeared, but its bed is covered by lava and loose soil sometimes to great depths. As to the cause of the disappearance, it may have some connection with a tradition of the Indians, which tells of a year of fire, when this valley was so filled with flames and poisonous gases as to be made uninhabitable. When this occurred the chronology of the Indians is not perfect enough to tell us. That it was long ago is attested by the depth to which the old bed is covered by detritus, probably washed down from the mountains, and by trees of considerable size, which are found in some places in it. But that it was not so extremely long ago that it became entirely uninhabitable is made probable by the comparatively late desertion of the Gran Quivira. It is entirely possible that the Indian year of fire may have long preceded the drying up of the valley in which Gran Quivira was situated.—Popular Science Monthly. At one time in her early married life, when Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss was struggling under a pressure of care, ill-health of herself and her children, united with the soreness of bereavement, we find her saying: "A little room all my own, a regular hour morning and night all my own, would enable me, I think, to say, 'Now let life do its worst.'" And out of her own experience many a tired, worn housewife and mother echoes this cry from her very heart. What a boon would be the undisturbed quiet of a little room! It would ward off many a nervous headache; it would help to keep from utterance many a sharp, hasty word, which, when tired and tried, comes too easily to the lips; it would give clearer thought for domestic tangles, and fresh vigor to take up the domestic burdens. A little time "all her own," she will not spend the brief moment selfishly; she only desires a breathing spell, as it were, to — "Mend the nets of usefulness,
And rest awhile for duties." Said an aged woman: "I used to take my baby and go to a little closet under the stairs and pray." Her room was full of little children, of those passing in and out; there was no place of retirement for her save the closet under the stairs. Father has his study, or the sitting-room, to retire to when he returns from business. Hattie and Carrie have their own pretty rooms; Tom and Ned have theirs; all may turn the key, if necessary, to keep out intruders—but mother? She writes her letters (if she can), and answers little Will's and Nellie's thousand and one questions, confers with Bridget or Dinah, who enter without knocking, on culinary matters, and tells father where the tack hammer is, and promises Tom to clean his coat collar. She performs her afternoon (or any other) toilet in the most hasty manner, liable to interruption from any member of the family; she reads her Bible amid the ceaseless questionings of the little ones, and the hum of conversation among the older ones. "But she is used to it. She doesn't mind it." Is she? Doesn't she? There was no tenderer wife and mother than Mrs. Prentiss, yet hear her long for the little room all her own. And I care not how loving and care-taking for her household a mother may be, there must be hours when every earnest soul longs to be alone with itself. Is there any remedy? I trow not. Yet the household, aye, even the guests, might be more considerate of the mother's privacy. The Home Circle.
By Eleanor Kirk
HAD I the power to choose to-day
The path wherein my feet should stray
The remnant of this earthly way,
I wonder where 'twould lead?
To right or left would first step be,
Eastward or westward, land or sea,
And if in choosing to be free
Should I be free indeed? How much of courage should I bring
To this unguided journeying;
How many anthems should I sing
Of hope and trust and praise,
Of gratitude for dangers past,
For sunlit paths and skies o'ercast,
For troubles that do bring at last
God's blessing on our ways? This way or that? Ah, me! how blind
These human eyes we soon should find,
This human choosing how unkind,
That knows not how to choose!
That finds no comfort in defeat,
No healing balm for bleeding feet,
No tender Presence near and sweet—
Ah, this is Heaven to lose! Dear Father, closer clasp my hand;
And if I may not understand
The devious paths to thy fair land,
Teach me to trust, I pray.
Help me to feel from sun to sun,
That on thy errands I shall run,
To say "thy will, not mine, be done,
Till comes the perfect day.
—Eleanor Kirk, in Zion's Herald. Cats have the reputation of resembling those men and women whose gratitude is a lively sense of future favors. But the Rev. J. G. Wood, an English naturalist, tells of a cat that he formerly owned whose expressions of gratitude shame human beings who accept a favor without the slightest acknowledgment:— “He is, with regard to his meals, a most grateful cat, and, however hungry he may be, never thinks of eating until he has purred his thanks and rubbed his head against my hand. This trait of character was once displayed in the most affecting manner. “One day ‘Pret’ had been shut up in the loft, on account of a lady visitor who had a strange antipathy to cats. I was gone to town that day, and did not return till after midnight. “As I was going upstairs, I heard ‘Pret’s’ voice calling me in a very anxious manner, and on inquiry I found that the poor cat had been forgotten, and had been shut up the whole day without a morsel of food or a drop of milk. “Of course I immediately procured some milk and meat for him, and carried it up to him. “The poor creature was half wild with happiness when he heard my footsteps, and on seeing the plate of meat and saucer of milk, he flew at them like a mad thing. “But scarcely had he lapped a drop of milk when he left the saucer, came up to me with loud purring, and caressed me, as if to express his thanks. “Then he went to the plate, but only just touched it with his nose, and again came to thank me for having attended to his wants, both of food and drink. “It quite brought the moisture to my eyes to see the affectionate creature, though nearly wild with hunger and thirst, refraining from enjoying his food until he had returned thanks.” The First Birth, the First Minister, Etc.
THE first white child born in North America was Virginia, daughter of Ananias and Eleanor Dare, and grand-daughter of Governor John White. She was born on the 18th of August, 1587, in Roanoke, North Carolina. Her parents were of the expedition sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in that year. There is no record of her history, save that of her birth. The first minister who preached the gospel in North America was Robert Hunt, of the Church of England, an exemplary man, who came out in the same company with Captain John Smith, in the year 1607. He was much esteemed as a man of peace, and was in many ways useful in the colony. There is no record of his death, or his returning to England; he most probably died in Jamestown. He had a good library, which was burnt, with all his other property, in the burning of Jamestown, the next winter after he came out. The first females who came to Virginia proper were Mrs. Forest and her maid, Anne Burras, in the expedition of Newport, 1608. The first marriage in Virginia was in the same year—John Laydon to Anne Burras. The ceremony was probably by the same "good Master Hunt." The first intermarriage between the whites and Indians was John Rolfe to Pocahontas, in April, 1613. Pocahontas was also the first of the Virginia Indians that embraced Christianity and was baptized. The first legislative assembly in Virginia met in July, 1619, at the summons of Governor George Yeardley. One month later, negroes were first brought into the colony by a Dutch man-of-war. The first periodical in North America was the Boston News Letters, which made its appearance in August, 1705. The first in the Old Dominion was The Virginia Gazette, published at Williamsburg, by William Parks, weekly, at fifteen shillings. It appeared in 1736, and was long the only paper published in the colony. Slavery preceded the periodical press by 117 years. The Blue Ridge was first crossed by whites in 1714. The first iron furnace erected in North America was by Governor Spottswood, in 1730, in Spottsylvania County, Virginia.—Independent. The Opium Curse in China.
Not long since Mr. Atwood, of the Shanse, China, Mission, writing of the “Opium Curse,” said:— “A large number of patients have received medicine and treatment, not only from this village but from other villages not far away. We concluded to charge a fee of about a dollar for admission to the Opium Refuge. Although this caused some dissatisfaction at first, and some would not come on account of it, they are now coming in, and we shall soon have more applications probably than we can provide room for. “We are having a better class of patients now than we had last summer—men from whom we expect better results than followed the work of last summer. A large share of those men have confessed that they have returned to the use of the drug, though in smaller quantities. . . . I suppose we ought not to expect permanent reformation until the stronger motives presented in the gospel are known and felt by them, and even then we are told by those older in experience that a church member who is a reformed opium smoker is to be spoken of with fear and trembling. “The prospect before us is not bright when we take into account the fact that in the cities nine-tenths of the men and all the women, probably, are slaves to the drug; while in the villages the number of those who use it is far above one-half, and probably more than two-thirds, of all the people. At the present rate of increase in the use of the drug, a few decades more will suffice almost to depopulate the plain. Should another famine occur soon, it would precipitate this calamity upon them with dire certainty, so great is their poverty. The most discouraging feature about it is that they do not want to give up the habit. They cling to it as if it were the dearest boon.” CONTRARY to a popular belief, which seems to have not yet been thoroughly exploded, the art of porcelain manufacture in China properly belongs to modern history. Those much-talked-of Chinese vases, found in Egyptian tombs, are now known by the very inscriptions upon them to have been manufactured about the eighth century of our own era—certainly not earlier; and it has been efficiently shown that up to 202 B. C., the Chinese had little knowledge of porcelain. It is true that the invention of porcelain, which occurred under the Han dynasty, may be placed between 187 B. C. and 87 A. D.; but we have no precise knowledge of the date; and the probabilities are in favor of the younger era. There were no famous porcelains prior to the seventh century; and the first really beautiful manufacture would seem to have been under the Heou-tcheou dynasty, of about the middle of the tenth century. The porcelains then made by the order of Chi-tsong were sky-blue in color and very celebrated. Nothing of that manufacture is now known to exist; and the Chinese authors themselves declare that even a broken fragment of those porcelains would sell at the price of a precious stone, and be mounted in gold like a jewel. Remarkable porcelains are known to have been made in the twelfth century, under the Song dynasty—in the Youen period, under the Mongol Emperors—in the Ming periods, between 1368 and 1649. But, except through the descriptions of Chinese historians, little is known to us of porcelains older than the latter part of the fourteenth century; and the vases which have come down to us from the Ming era are, for the most part, coarsely and clumsily executed. The manufacture of Chinese porcelain reached its highest development in the period called the Tcheng-hoa (from 1465 to 1487); but it had made great progress between 1426 and 1435, in the Siouen-te period. Nevertheless, the art of using cobaltiferous manganese for blue decoration belongs to the much later Tcheng-te period (1506–1521).—Sel. Henry VIII. and His Wives
HENRY VIII. married Anne Boleyn "much about St. Paul's day," January 25, 1533. Catharine, his lawful wife, was divorced on the 23d of May following. On May 19, 1536, he had Anne beheaded. The next day, May 20, he married Jane Seymour. Jane died October 24, 1537, and on that same day Cromwell, his minister, wrote to Lord William Howard that "his grace would again couple himself" and that the king desires that Lord William will report of "the conditions and qualities" of the French king's daughter, and those of the widow of the Duke de Longueville; and similar instructions to inquire into the conditions and qualities of particular ladies, were sent to other courts of Europe. On December 9, Henry's ambassador at Brussels wrote in recommendation of the duchess of Milan that, "She is not so pure white as was the late queen, whose soul God pardon; but she hath a singular good countenance; and when she chanceth to smile, there appeareth two pits in her cheeks, and one in her chin, the which becometh her right excellently well." By a kind providence, however, the dimple-cheeked duchess was saved her dimples and perhaps her head. Manufacture of Stone Brick
ONE of the most recent enterprises brought to the notice of the New York public is the manufacture of a so-called stone brick. The process consists in grinding quicklime and silicious sand together, and then mixing intimately with more sand in the presence of moist steam. The mixture is then moulded under heavy pressure and blows, and the bricks stacked up and plentifully sprinkled while hardening. They are not put on the market until at least three months old. Health and Temperance.
By Editor
Dr. Graham on the Use of Butter.
THERE is much questioning of late in regard to the use of butter. This may be increased by the knowledge of the fact that imitations of butter are everywhere in the market, and it is impossible to tell whether one is eating butter or something else called butter, when he sits at the table in a hotel, boarding-house, or restaurant. In our judgment the genuine is bad enough, without any adulteration or imitation. We have seen butter made and put upon the market that could not be told from the very best article, which we would not taste for any consideration. In one sense it was good butter; it was made from good, rich cream, and therefore looked well, but there was filthiness in all its surroundings and in its manufacture. We are always safe from imposition in this matter, for we entirely abstain from everything bearing the name of butter. The following remarks of Dr. Sylvester Graham are worthy of candid consideration:— “Concerning the use of butter as an article of diet, it is somewhat remarkable that with all the diversities of opinions in regard to the food of man, nearly all who have written or spoken on the subject of human aliment with reference to health, have been entirely agreed in considering this favorite article as decidedly objectionable; and some have spoken of it in the severest terms of condemnation. Dr. Beaumont’s experiments and observations fully prove that when butter is taken into the stomach, with other substances, it becomes a fluid oil and floats upon the top of the chymous mass, retaining its oily character and appearance till all the other contents of the gastric cavity are nearly or entirely chymified and emptied into the duodenum; and it, like all other animal fat, is digested only by being first acted upon by a portion of bile and converted into a kind of saponaceous substance, and then it receives the action of the proper solvent fluid of the stomach. The point is therefore forever established beyond all controversy that butter is better avoided than eaten by mankind.”—Temperance Reformer. White of Egg in Diarrhea.
The Allg. Med. Zeit. says that Celli has recently called attention to the curative properties of the albumen of hens’ eggs in severe diarrhea affections. In a discussion before a medical society at Rome he advocated its use, and related two cases of chronic enteritis and diarrhea which, having resisted all treatment, speedily made complete recoveries under the use of egg albumen. The same remedy is strongly recommended in the diarrhea accompanying febrile cachexia, and in that of phthisis. In two cases of diarrhea dependent upon tertiary syphilis, it was found of no avail. On post-mortem examination diffuse amyloid degeneration of the arterioles of the villi was found in these cases. The whites of eight or ten eggs are beaten up and made into an emulsion with a pint of water. This is to be taken in divided quantities during the day. More may be given if desired. The insipid taste can be improved with lemon, anise, or sugar. In case of colic, a few drops of tincture of opium may be added.—Medical Compendium. How John B. Gough Gave up Smoking.
By John B. Gough
WHEN in Worcester, England, twenty-six years ago, I was the guest of a gentleman, a member of Parliament, who resided just opposite the city on the banks of the river, a delightful place, with a lawn, rockwork, and trees artistically planted. I was at that time a smoker, and though I never smoked in a gentleman’s house without an invitation, I deemed it necessary to have my smoke after dinner, if by any means I could get it with no annoyance to others. So after dinner I strolled down to the river-side, out of sight of the house, took out my cigars and matches and proceeded to light a cigar. The wind blew out the match. Another was tried and another. I took off my hat to shield it from the wind. It was of no avail. I got some brimstone down my throat, or something as bad; but the cigar would not ignite. Then I kneeled down close to the rock by the path at the side of the river, and with my hat off endeavored to secure the object. Now, I never go on my knees but I am reminded of prayer, and the thought came, “If any one should see me, they would probably think that some man had sought that retired spot for private devotion and that he was saying his prayers; and what am I doing? I am sucking away at a cigar, hoping to obtain fire enough from the match to get a smoke.—What would the audience say, who heard me last night, should they see me now? The inconsistency of my practice with my profession struck me so forcibly that I said, “I’ll have no more of it.” I rose from my knees, took cigars and matches and threw them into the river, and I never touched a cigar to smoke for eighteen years.—Sel. Moderate Drinking Makes Drunkards
Stop all moderate drinking, and in five years there will be no drunkards, and the 250,000 liquor saloons in the United States will be closed up. Moderate drinking leads to immoderate, and immoderate drinking makes drunkards. All who uphold moderate drinking uphold making drunkards, and Christians should clear themselves of this sin. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God,” —Baptist Weekly.