ARTICHOKE. The common artichoke, Cynara Scolymus, is a plant belonging to the family Compositae, bearing some resem blance to a large thistle. It has long been esteemed as a culinary vegetable, the parts chiefly employed being the immature recepta cle or floret disc, with the lower part of the surrounding leaf scales, known as artichoke bottoms. In Italy the dried recepta cles of the cultivated plant, Carciofo domestico, and of the wild variety, Carciofo spinoso, are largely used in soups. Its origin has been traced to Asia, but because it grows wild in many parts of southern France it is often called the Paris or French artichoke, although the term "globe" is as frequently used. Commercially the globe artichoke is propagated by sprouts or suckers, usually 90o plants to the acre, 6 or 8f t. apart, in rows 6f t. across. Good, rich, well-drained land, with plenty of water and manure, is necessary for its best growth. Extreme heat makes it inedible and it cannot stand frost. A foggy climate is necessary. Most of the plantings in the United States are therefore confined to an area beginning with the limits of San Francisco, Calif., on the north and extending southward half way to Los Angeles, within not more than a mile from the coast for most of the way. For its best flavour the artichoke bud should not be allowed to stay too long on the plant but should be cut before it opens. In spite of the fact that the small, compact sizes are the most tender, the larger sizes seem to be in greater demand commercially. Several hundred tons of artichokes are canned each year in California, one-third of the pack being exported to South America. The first shipment sent east by express occurred in 1907 and amounted to a few thousand boxes; in 1925 this had increased to 1,15o car loads, while the total amount of space devoted to its culture moved up from a few hundred to 12,500 acres.
Fondness for this vegetable, which is rich in iron, mineral salts and iodine, is usually the result of an acquired taste. Al though delicious when boiled, baked, fried, stuffed or used in soup, the French artichoke is best known in a salad form. Served whole, halved or quartered; hot, with mayonnaise or butter; each leaf pulled off separately, the large end dipped in the sauce and the soft part eaten off, the globe artichoke affords a salad that is unique in appearance and flavour. The Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus or girasole, is a tuber rather than a bud. Originally considered a Brazilian plant, scientific investigation conducted during the decade 188o-90 established it as a native of the United States. The Jerusalem artichoke has been used in the past chiefly as a stock feed, in France for sheep and cattle and in the United States for hogs. Within recent years, however, due to the discovery that it stores its carbohydrates in the form of inulin rather than as starch, it is being used in increasing propor tions as a food for persons afflicted with diabetes. At present, too, it is being investigated in Europe as a source of industrial alcohol. Its greatest interest though, lies in the laevulose, an other form of inulin, that it contains. The Jerusalem artichoke being a common sunflower, is highly productive and inexpensively cultivated. Each type contains from 1 o to 12% of laevulose. One of Edinburgh in 1903. This simple method provides for the compression of the thorax thus expelling "poor air" from the lungs and for the sudden release of the chest wall which by its elasticity expands, with the resultant intake of fresh air. Air is not forced in but is drawn in, as with natural respiration, between the intervals of compression. For further particulars of the Schafer method see DROWNING AND LIFE SAVING.
In cases of gas poisoning recovery may be hastened by using an air mixture rich in oxygen. If about 5% of carbon dioxide (not to be confused with carbon monoxide) is mixed with the oxygen, a return to normal breathing may be even more rapid as carbon dioxide acts as a stimulant upon the respiratory centre in the brain. The oxygen displaces the carbon monoxide which, in poisoning due to that gas, forms a temporary union with haemoglobin in the blood.
There are now widely used various forms of inhalers through which there is supplied either pure oxygen or oxygen mixed with tions. Mobile artillery is subdivided, again chiefly in respect of its employment, into types adapted to every kind of terrain in which field troops may be employed and work they may have to do. Immobile artillery is used in fixed positions of all kinds, and above all in permanent fortifications; it cannot, therefore, be classified as above, inasmuch as the raison d'etre, and consequently the armament of one fort or battery may be totally distinct from that of another. "Fortress," "Coast" and "Foot" artillery are the usual names for this branch. The dividing line, indeed, in the case of the heavier weapons, varies with circumstances; guns of position may remain on their ground while elaborate fortifications grow up around them, or the deficiencies of a field army in ar tillery may be made good from the materiel, more frequently still from the personnel, of the fortress artillery. Thus it may happen that mobile artillery becomes immobile and vice versa. But in normal circumstances the principle of classification indicated is maintained in all organized military forces.
BY COURTESY OF U.S. HEALTH SERVICE FIG. 2.-SECOND MOVEMENT OF THE SCHAFER PRONE PRESSURE METHOD Fig. 2.-SECOND MOVEMENT OF THE SCHAFER PRONE PRESSURE METHOD While counting "one," "two," and with arms held straight, swing forward slowly so that the weight of your body is gradually brought to bear upon the patient carbon dioxide. This apparatus is used in conjunction with the prone pressure method of resuscitation. It must be remembered that such an inhaler is not a mechanical appliance for the ad ministration of artificial respiration, but rather a device through While counting "three," swing backward, thus removing all pressure from the subject. After an interval of 2 seconds return to movement one which there may be administered gases which accelerate recovery. Inhalation apparatus can usually be obtained from gas companies, fire headquarters or hospitals. (See DROWNING AND LIFE SAVING.) (W. WR.)