SCIENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 30, 30 October 1907, Page 4

SCIENCE NOTES.

KEEP CATS PROM THE SLEEPING CHILD. Cats are a menace to the health of young children, anfi fatal results not rarely follow from a pet cat being allowed unrestricted freedom of'the sleeping quarters of ah infant. For the second time, recently, Dr. T. Laidloy has bee ncalled upon to investigate the death of" an infant from a" cat sucking the.breath away from the tiny body; Dr. Laidley tells us that some time back he was called to investigate,the death of an infant. The child had died hi a mysterious manner, and ho was about to order an investigation aftor viewing the body, when he decided to take another look at the corpse. As' ho entered the death chamber lie saw a cat upon the breast of the baby with' its nostrils close to those of the infant. As soon as hd approached the cat made 'a- wild spring and attacked him. Twice ho was bitten in the leg by the enraged animal, he tells, us, and ho killed it: with '• the stick he carried. The lungs showed that the child had been suffocated, and the inference was that the cat had "sucked all the breath out of the body." There was no direct evidence, only a strong .string of circumstances that led him to bring in a verdict to that effect. It does seem strange that a cat would seek tho life of a-child-when the - oxygon ■in a room is more than sufficient to'sustain it. Somehow or other Dr. Laidley is inclined to the theory that the poisonous gases from the body must have the same effect upon a cat as: liquor has upon a man; that they produce a sort of intoxication or stupor that is appreciated by the. animal much as a user of •liquor or drugs appreciates their effects upon- himself: There, is no. explanation of the subject that lie enri think' of except this. He has discussed tho matter .with' a number of medical men, but they could not explain the- phenomenon. All had heard of such cases in print; but not a single medical man that he. talked with could cite a,case which had come under his personal observation. There is ;only one thing for parents to do, states our authority, banish the cat from tho house while a child is maturing. .

TREE; FROG A WEATHER PROPHET. Few animals have survived the attacks made' by science upon their reputation as weather prophets. ' The green tree frog" is a conspicuous exception. He is, to bo sure', a croaking■ prophet, but plenty of. people still pin their faith to] him. ■' In many houses'in Europe the frog is kept in a., bottle halffilled with water and provided with a ladder, and the little fellow is carefully ; watched 'iu uncertain conditions of the atmosphere. A number of weather maxims'.are based upon his posture and activity. If he remains oii one of the lowest steps of the latter it is considered a sure sign- that bad weather is coming. If he emerges from tho water and rests upon the steps above it, fine weather may be expected, and the higher ho sits' on the "steps the finer the weather is sure to.be/ He,is also supposed, "Symon's Meteorological! Magazine.' tells us, to give warning of bad weather by croaking loudly before a storm. ■■ . ■•■•„" .';-■:■ IS THEvPEARL ; :A DISEASE? The irritation' which • causes tho deposition of pearls in oysters appears to be variously produced. In' a-new report, on' the pearl oyster fisheries of Ceylon,, Professor M. A. Herdman states that some pearls appear to be formed round grains of sand, and some of inferior quality are probably disease calculi (stones), but most-and the best pearls are deposited round a parasitic worm. Pearly excrescences on the interior of the shell are due, to irritation caused by boring animals. Besides theso-there are. (1) ampullar pearls where the nucleus-and resulting pearl lie between ■the, 'dhell' and .the',.,body, (2) muscle pearls, forriied round ; riiin'uto.'.' calcareous (chalky) insertions of the muscles;-arid'•' J (3)X'c;|''st , '' , pearls, formed round encysted 1, p'ar^'s v artificial infection of oysters in Ceylon,, which has been proposed, seems unnecessary, as the parasites are likely' to find all pearl oysters unaided. .'.' ;'. '.' • v '. '' ', , HO Wj,DID'FISHES GET FINS? .' A controversy-has been long in existence •with regard to the .origin of the paired fins of fishes'; and thus' the limbs of tho vertebrates, .fyr it is admitted that tho limbs of all anjmals ; ',are. derived originally from the primitive'fin. According to', one theory, these fins are/derived from , gill-structures; tho' arches, or sujjports, of the gills having become'' modified ' into the shoulder-girdle (scapula |and. cora'coid) and !pelvis, while froml tho with their gill-rays; .the :fins. themselves. have, been evolved; '/According'to the,.alternative.view, the fins are' modified 'portions of:';,a dinal fold 'of ; skin running along each side of the body:-. Mr:, Goodrich, of,-Oxford, University; -recently drew, attention to the fact that tho paired -.fins'.and ,thc.,c,entre- (or, median) .fins'are structually similar,; and that while this is in! perfect accord with the lateralfold theory, it cannot possibly, be-'explained by the 'gill-theory, .--.:'•■ ■';;; ■' " " DANGEROUS AIR IN CLOSED ROOMS. M. Albert Levy, tho celebrated French chemist, who has been experimenting with the quality of air in closed rooms, particularly with the lack of oxygen produced in dwellings by'cooking) lighting, and' .the breathing-of'the inmates, has, declared that while some of the poisonous gases are easily discernible through tho sense of smell, one of the most important—the oxide of carbon —is odourless, and,' •therefore, 'especially dangerous. 'It'is apt to cause severe poisoning, without the.least "advance notice'! of the-effect,, and this with very'small, quantities .of tho noxious gas.. M.Lcvy has,-there-fore,, constructed an apparatus which.. lie claims will indicate a-quality as low as l-100,000th part of oxide of carbon in the air of a closed room. The instrument should prove very, useful in many houses, factories, etc. ■•'• : ' . •''" ''i ■'.''' '"'• : H,OW HEAT STROKE IS CAUSED.

An interesting suggestion in regard:to .the nature of heat- stroke is made by. Dr. Scnftleben, a staff surgeon in the German army. As- tho result of his observations among the troops, he offers tho following theory. Owing to tho excessive removal-of water through ,tho skin and. lungs attending prolonged exertion at high temperatures, a condition of haomoglobinaemia is caused,' i.e., the presence of haemoglobin in tho blood plasma which causes destruction . of' the white'blood corpuscles, with the liberation of

great quantities. of. fibrin sequence of events: that has been demonstrated by experiments on ' animals reported by numerous medical writers. The sudden setting free of the fibrin in the circulating blood leads l to abrupt rises. oftemperature, while at the same time through the occurrence of,.more or less extensive coagulation, especially in the lung capillaries, the Jircalation is greatly impeded. Less, and 'e-ss blood traverses the lungs, and the blood system is insufficiently filled; the blood tone falls until finally all of the organs, including the brain, cease their'proper work and death ensues, not so-much' throii,;h heart failure, as is often alleged, but throng brain failure. .... ( X-RAYS IN TABLOIDS. A Glasgow hairdresser, ■ Mr. William J. Robinson, claims to be able to replace copper with iron for conducting electricity.' He has also discovered, he alleges, a substance which, when exposed to the Rontgeu rays, absorbs the radiation. He . has, . .therefore, he believes, made it possible to take the x-rays in tabloid form. "One of'the obstacles of any beneficial X-ray treatment has been that their ■-'', strength sets up inflammation of the skin.'; but taken in. tabloid form.their, strength'.' ! we are told, "might be regulated.",,.' -He mixed some of the powered tabloid among;' food and gave it to a rabbit,'with the result;, that a good portion of the; animal's hair;-! came oil'. Although, as he points.out, that proved that'his tablet was too strong,' it also proved, that the X-ray had-been absorbed iii the tablet. People and the Press in ; Glasgow are taking Mr. Robinson -'■' quite'' seriously. • OX MARROW FOR, ANAEMIA. As the result of extended experiment, Dr. A.-Gordon Gullan has found that - the pre-,, liminary administration of arsenic in all eases';; of pernicious anaemia produces a fall-in. the '-. number of \vcd cells and colouring matter of the blood, but•• withdrawal of this drug,and the substitution of fresh bono 'marrow from the ox, as red as possible, given at every ' meal in the form of sandwiches, resulted iin-a steady rise both" in the number of red cells and m the amount of haemoglobin: (red blood material) present: in one case from ■ 1,200,000 red cells per-cubic millimetre, associated with 37 per cent, haemoglobin,' to 4,5110,000 red cells, and 98 par cent., haemoglobin after two months' treatment, and in another case from 2.500,000 cells, \vitlP67 per cent, haemoglobin to nearly 5,000,000 cells and 110 per cent, haemoglobin.; , .The point which Dr. Gullan emphasised was ithat notwithstanding disinclination,and nausea : on the part of the patient the,marrow must be persevered m'.>■ .':'> ..-; '•,-•.■■■.• '■' .';.•:•

BIGGEST: MAN IN THE; WORLD ■ : ? ;An 'Anglo-American ■" correspondent ot "Science Siftings" ;writes:—"We havo'|'the biggest man in. the world,,'and this is not boasting this..time,' He'\is f known as 'Baby Jim' 'Simmons, . V negro;' who weighs' 750 pounds . (almost 51' stone). There,are but few wlio will believe that an'y'human being c'oiild attain -such a -great weight unless they chanced to see this mastodon. One glimpse at the monster, however, allays all ,doubts as to the man's enormous physical proportions. Every one who saw his massiveness, went . away. telliiig.Jiimself.that the, negro weighed nearer a !tori,,than the weight, aboyo given.., The!monster.lives at Beaumont,, Texas: He.'., is 'twenty' years of ..age'; his .parents,, were, ;'- both.small, •! though,, his grandparents', each'., weighed over 3001b,' 'Ho says,he' does, not'", cat'or'drink any more than the average-sized., man,, and that he enjoys, the best of health, his heart behaving in a most satisfactory." ■'manner..! Ho! is o'nly sft. -.9iiiil tall,- and is 'further around than up and ; down.',. There is no'doubt!but that this is.one of tbe.most ■ gigantic human beings.-that oyer lived,',' con-.'! chicles' our, correspondent. ..., '..'.' ','' ..':.'■ : ','.,., AN ENGLISH OSTRICH.. I The first'ostrich over hatched in England' was on view recently at the Crystal Palace," whore'- it is occupying' a' "Hearson's Foster Motheiy'wliich-supplies all its-requirements. l ■ As ; might be 'expected;,' it vwa's' impossible' for the parent birds to' l arrange!, for'th'e'incuba-i----tion of.their'precious egg Under, normal con-' ! ditions, as -the- burning sands •of Africa-are 1 ; not features of :the"Etiglislr:soill■■'.■; A"perj." s ,-- fectly satisfactory I'substitute,' however," was ,' discovered in tho shape of-Hearson's Incuba-'" tor, in which the egg was placed for a 1 period'!; of. forty-tlirco days,* whon a healthy : young '-> ostrich ■ chipped the shell.: i- It' may be -'stated 1 '■' that the-period'of: incubation in' tho ca'sV'! of •the hen is 21 days and the duck 28' days',','■"• so the -powers of the HearsonVlncubator'-.' were'subjected-to a severe test'. • ALLIGATORS TRAINED.AS CHILD. .-..'. ..■ .. -NURSES.'. '•-.. .".;.: It'is the opinion, of some'experts that the ,:, alligators. '. will shortly be.,, extinct in the . United; States',unless ,nieans arc, taken soon v . for their" protection, : . One. expert estimates'.' that; 'in ,1890 the alligator population,, 0f.,,, Texas, Louisiana, and the other Gulf .States !! aggregated riot less than 50,000,000:''■ They . have been slaughtered'for! their hides since.) then until there are now'only, a few thousand . left. They are now so scarce that it.is found . profitable to raise them for market. Big al- . ligator farms are being established in many, place's. 'The demand for alligator hides has.'-, never, been properly supplied.'''lt is claimed! '■: by the men who run thc'alligator farms.that the animals are easily domesticated, and that, they can even be trained to' serve as caretakers for small children', ' '.' .

HOW THE ERECT APE : MAN ADVANCED'.,, A correspondent of "Science Sittings" ' ■ writes:—Your '"recent ■ remarks on the Pithecanthropus .Erectus (the erect,ape-man, ' some of whose fossil remains were found in -:' Java), has.much interested mo. Ages passed' ; in which Pithecanthropus advanced by slow ' degrees, adding,.to' the sureness with which' ' he walked erect,-and the precision with Wliich ' ho regulated his life and-that of his family. ' -Even : migration-took place, from ■ time.'to , time, aiuL'pnssing. over,.entire continents he ' made his way to colder ' climes, even going ' so far as; Europe, now, become colder on ac- v count pf the Ice Age..' With his necessities, ' inventiveness increased, the demand-for. 1 in- l telligcnco ,was more and. more; insistent.- His foes were many, and the life' was : far dif- -." t'eront now that cold-had-come. ■• Ho was' forced from the trees to the caves, and fircj ,' even clothing,, became-.necessary. How fir'o .' was discovered, or-when, no one will over ' tell us, but it was known to earliest mail of' ' the, oldest Stone Ago. ..He had, begun'to noed weapons-, other than ■ the branch' torn : : from'tho trees, and, first-using rocks shaped by Nature, he soon t began 'to 'shape ' flints rudely,with his own hands, tying them to the ends'of'.branches to bemused as spears, or'".'to the ends of arrows for. nioro lasting and' : '. v penetrating heads.--,-,: ' ';.• -■.■■• - >• '