SCIENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 197, 14 May 1908, Page 4

SCIENCE NOTES.

WORLD COVERNED BY ETHER, EVERY LAW OP SCIENCE - CHALLENGED. "Ether is a fluid which permeates every--thing. It is 'omnipresent.' It regulates the smallest chemical alteration. Consequently- it regulates :■ the,: largest "and-" most complex alterations. Hence it regulates' all life. It is, - therefore, :' omnipotent." 1 " ■ This was the conclusion to which I the four lectures which entranced audiences at'tho London Institution were brought on March 2G by Mr. Frederick Hoveudeu, F.L.S., F.G.S., .F.It.M.S. ...Tlie ; lectures- have-pic-tured an entirely new ■ conception of ! theprinciples of nature, and have run counter to all preconceived reasonings ,of. physicists.' They have been illustrated by many marvellous experiments,; designed to show that electricity,, licat,- and ether -are-the-sauri thing—a fluid which, -if property ; illuminated j is. visible to the' naked, eye;,,. 'Some of the experiments were -made with the help of a box. known as .an analyser. In this box tho .invisible .air- was -made, visible, and ether was seen;p6uring' oiit in V rising stream from-the professor's fingertips, ascending also from a heated glass rod, and from an'electric wire." Reactions of the■>ether, on 1 liquid and gaseous molecules' were shown - experimentally to 'be re- : sponsible for heat-, and cold:- Low temperature merely- means,-.'according to-Mr.- Hovenden, molecules-.nearly devoid of other. " Chemists and-physicists cannot' see thia" very simple • issue,".< : -he -. said. " Tho ■ scientific ;; world generally ••■'will not allow the t.ex-.: istence of .this fluid. • But I feel that my experiments are so conclusive,', becausb-they liavo • made tho fluid ether.: visible;' that I may venture to;,challenge.' mpst: eminent : authorities.' -v; " So I shall challenge Lord Rayleigh, Sir - Oliver Lodge, Professor J. J. Thompson, and ; all the learned metaphysical host i to explain the experiments in other terms than:.! have done; lii making this challenge-1, ani-.aware of the .responsibility I>,tako; .but ;I,regard it as a sacred duty. , "I say , that ; evety. organic being -.is governed by tho flow of the King, ' and I were all. formed, by the' same : means as the chicken was, formed,-:.'ahd when this,is understood a new order:-of'thought will, arise which: will add materially to the happiness of mankind..; : V. . ".Wo want a 'system to exnlain the millions of forms wo find, in nature, and it is a sublime idea. that - every 0110: of them -is regulated by this subtle force,' this': other or spirit, omnipresent. and . omnipotent—a power without which animal,:and,.-vegetable ■ lifo , would ccase to exist,, without which' there would be 110 water and-no fire, and all would bo • frozen.'.' • 'V ; , •' ' PTOMAINE POISONING'.- ' hen people speak of ptomaine poisoning they are commonly making: uso of an; expression .which' conceals an by no means confined to unscientific. circles, of •the chomical reaction which has in., fact ' taken place," says tho "Morning Post."? A paper recently read by. Dr. William ,F. - Boos summarises rather effectively,;'some-of/' tho known facts concerning the , actual poisons which can.be distinguished-when so-' called ptomaine poisoning .takes* place.-'' Of these the most important, and in, : fa.ct .the':' only .one ; which has b.een isolated in the puro.' (state..,is .'sensin,' 'and' twenty milligrammes of this would'probably poison .anyone.' Ihe symptoms .'and: effects.of, it are very,'similVr ' to those of- arsenic 1 , poisoning.''- By;, heating tj?. about GOdeg. Centigrade for ,an hour, 'sepsm' is changed to 'cadaverine' and reu-1 de'red .inncicuou? : fronv !wh'ieli ~ one might" jump .to-, ".the Conclusion-.that; since the'■ frombad; iiieat' is' .due 'to U'lie ; presbnee of. 'sepsiiij 1 . cooked meat : ought 'nover '' to.be.poisonous..' That is riot'quite tlie'caso, 1 ' because, in - ordinary .'cooking '.processes''lio' interior porJ;ions.'.;p£"tlie meat orVllsli'' .' not. reacli a- temperature■ ; 'suscicritly' to destroy the poison if present:'' Bes'ides'the ' poisoning b'y ptomaiiies, the, question of bac-'' terial poisoning lias also ' to: be /considered,'• there is no '. essential differento in" the poisonous effect: "One point that 'ehi'erge'd'. from a discussion on Dr. Boos's'paper was ' that 'sepsin ? is present in small' quantities' 111 all 'high''' meat or game, but that by ' practice a certain, amount of artificial im-"nranity'.-a'gainst":the poison, caii be gained."

MORPHIA. VICTIMS.. Tho Superintendent of Excise, Rangoon,'in his current roport, relates the following in- ' , struct'ive facts:—"The'.present' belief is/that .: . persons who 'habitually, practise hypqdermio ; , injections of morphia .to excess only live for ■ : a few years. . The superintendent'and assist-' ant superintendent of. Excise visited, a morphia den 111 June, 1900, and .took |the.namea, ; and addresses of thirty persons presents Oil making inquiries in March, 1907) it. was found , > arid verified that .all :those.jpersqns were.dead. t Some five.'! died from plague; and-the' re-' , ■ mniiider from various other caUMS. : ''7..;Tliis'ia ' probably'a very' extreme , in^ance,'..but'other' evidence shows that the habit/is as'physically •' ■ .dogradijig' as : 'it'' is 'morally."'" . At::tne sug-... gestiori'of tho'pollector, Rangoon, the' Government of J3urma has now ordered that a"' leaflet, describing tho'. fatal iof th'o' -• drug, bo printed arid circulated in quarters' where the morphia 'habit is', known to hold sway.. • ' K , . . V.-'-.':Y' ■'■ ' ■ v- : - ; • f/*■■/ A DRUG WHICH :MAIvES ASSASSINS. By tho way,, Hashish, that strange drug' which; has'V given 'our language 'its worn'' " assassin " —a man so frenzied by tho drug tlvat ho accomplishes muitler —is used by the Persians, Turks, and Egyptians in a'mariner, akin to tho use of-'opium in India and China. It, is tho product or a plant'growu in largo . quantities i-ri the Peloponnesus -, (Southern '; Greece). The plant grows to" a 'height of about-four feet'and ifcs branches are'-thickly: covered, with' small leaves and; studded' witii' v t-inyrseeds.-.. The branches';-:are rubbed'' to':' separate the seeds : ,and these in turn aro' ground into a flno powder, which constitutes : t-ho drug.,_ The drilg has tho power of indue- ' f ing-V-'rieep ; and "producing" pleasant* and"' fantasticVdreains.v. Continued use' of hashish ■ renders - ite'devotees. : wild arid reckless/- and • results in-a oompleto wreck of . their! mental and . physical ; constitution';' 1 'o •" Sftieiioo" 1 -. . • . j , .THE CURE FOR. CARBUNCLES. - Dr. Reissman, after numerous experiments,' . now':advises': : that-carbuiibles -.should not be poulticed or cut unless there is.a very-serious arid: extensive involvement of. tho- adjacent''* ■flesh. Tho best -plan ''.treatment,'.while,s' course, -.modified; to suit individual cases,' is>':■ this: If tho-inflammation-has. attained quite considerable proportions with a ; good deal of hardness and.no opening or outlet, a-small l incision'should bo made a{>out a* quarter inch-, in length, after, deadening t-ho: sensation: by . means of ethyl chloride, and' then a''" cup'." . large enough to extend a littlei beyond- the : external margin of tho swelling; should ba applied. -This cup: is left in: place- 1 - from ten to twenty minutes, .at cach ;sitting.- -On. re-,', inoval of the cup the'surface is l cleansed and a plain wqt dressing is applied. ; This treat-.-, ment carried out for. five to'six days'will-'ia - inearly. all cases effect a • painless' cure,: frco' from discomfort. A serviceable. cup may bo devised .by simply heating the .inside- or a glass arid applying it to the carbuncle: .