ed with which they reach
patients whose symptoms indicate more than a minor ailment.

But all the emergencies of country life are not serious even though
they call for action. There are scores of little things that the house
owner can do for himself. Take rats and mice. They will get into the
most carefully built and best run house. When this happens it is a
matter of either traps or the new scientific poison baits that
domestic pets will not eat. There is also the old farm method of
mixing equal parts of plaster of Paris and corn meal, an entree
harmless in itself but with fatal results for the invading rodent. In
summer there is the possibility of a plague of ants. For this there is
now a cheap and scientific liquid bait that works rapidly.

In summer, also, come those occasional nights of abnormal heat when no
breeze stirs. Bedrooms stay hot and sleep is difficult. For this, set
an electric fan on the floor of each room, pointed toward the ceiling,
with a chair before it to serve as a barricade. The current of air so
produced dislodges the hot air in the room that is above the level of
the window openings and also provides a mild breeze that does not blow
directly on a sleeper. By actual tests with an accurate thermometer,
the temperature of a bedroom can be lowered a full five degrees. It is
this difference between 80 and 85 degrees that can make an otherwise
stifling night bearable enough for refreshing sleep.

Also at the time you want it most, usually with the house full of
week-end guests, the hot water supply turns tepid. The means of
heating the water is functioning properly but the storage tank is
cold. When this happens, unless all water piping is of copper or
brass, the chances are better than even that your tank is clogged with
rusty sediment. This does not mean a new tank. It is just a matter of
draining and flushing until most, if not all, of the sediment is
washed out. Turn off the pipe that supplies heater and tank. Then with
garden hose attached to the faucet at the base of the tank, drain out
all the water that will come. For a thorough job unscrew this faucet
and the piece of pipe connecting it to the tank. Then turn on the
water supply quickly for two or three minutes at a time so that a
sudden flow of clean water disturbs the sediment. At first it may be
almost as thick as a heavy soup but gradually the water will become
clearer. When it is normal you can replace pipe and faucet, relight
the wa