A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 104, 26 January 1935, Page 13

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

T Reindeer

Reindeer purchased by the Government of Canada have reached their destination from Alaska after the longest migration of live stock in the world's history. Reindeer are clumsily built animals, with large lateral hooves, hairy muzzles with a curious kind, of antler, larger and more complex in the male, with the brow-tine directed downward. Its throat is maned, and the compact, dense coat is clove-brown in colour above, and white below, with a white tail-patch. The reindeer has been domesticated by the Lapps and introduced as a domestic animal into Arctic Canada and Alaska. It feeds largely on lichens, one species of which is the so-called “reindeer moss.” It is a mistake to suppose that the brow-tine is used to scrape away snow; this is done with the hooves, the horns being shed at the beginning of winter. Faith Healing. The secret police in Berlin .have ordered the amazing figure of Joseph Weissenberg, octogenarian and faithhealer, to close the church of the sect which he established. Faith-healing is a form of “mind cure” characterised by the doctrine that pain and disease really exist, but may be neutralised and dispelled by faith in Divine power; Christian science holds that pain is an illusion, and seeks to cure the patient by instilling into him this belief. In the Christian Church the tradtion of faith-healing dates from the earliest days of Christianity; upon the miracles of the New Testament follow cases of healing, first by the Apostles, and then by their successors. After the third century it became transformed into trust in relics, though faith cures still occurred sporadically in later times. With the Reformation faith healing proper reappeared among the Moravians and Waldenses, who, like the particular people of our own day, put their trust in prayer and anointing with oil. In the 16th century faith cures were recorded of Luther and other reformers, in the next century of the Baptists, Quakers, and other Puritan sects, and in the 18th century the faith healing of the Methodists in England was paralleled by pietism in Germany. In the 19th century Prince Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfurst, canon of Grosswardein, was a famous healer on the Continent; the Mormons and Irvingites were prominent among English-speaking peoples; in the last quarter of the 19th century faith-healing became popular in London, and Bethshan homes were opened in 1881. Since then it has found many adherents in England. Under faith healing in a wider sense may be included the cures in the temple of Aesculapius and other deities in the ancient world, the practice of touching for the king’s evil, in vogue from the 11 ch to the 18th century, the cures of Valentine Greatrakes, the “stroker” (1629-83), and the miracles at Lourdes and other resorts of pilgrims, including Saint Winifred’s well in Flintshire, Treves with its holy coat, the grave of the Jansenite, F. de Paris, in the 18th century, the little town of Kevelaer from 1641 onward, the tombs of Saint Louis, Francis of Assisi, and Catherine of Siena. Many New Zealanders will remember the successful faith-healing visit of Mr. J. M. Hickson to this country some ten years ago. Cancer in New Zealand. A report has been published of the progress in the campaign against cancer in New Zealand. Next to diseases of the heart, cancer is the disease responsible for the most deaths in this country, the annual total being in the vicinity of 1500. The death rate in 1933 was 11.07 per 10,000 of the population, and an average death rate over five years of 10.4 per 10,000 of the population shows that New Zealand has a higher death rate from this disease than most' countries, although 12 European countries show death rates ranging from this figure to 14.8 per 10,000 of population, the Austrian rate. Ceylon has the lowest cancer death rate, it being only .9 per 10,000 of the population. Since 1875 the cancer death rate has risen steadily in New Zealand, and the prevalence of the disease is a cause of no little concern, as indeed it is throughout the civilised world. There are about 20 known types of the disease, and the parts of the body most commonly attacked in New Zealand are the stomach and the liver. Although cancer may prove mortal at any time in life, it is seldom that death occurs under the age of 35. Ninety-one per cent, of the deaths from cancer during 1933 were at ages 45 years and upwards, and 63 per cent, at ages 60 and upwards. Females predominate generally at the younger, and males at the older, ages. Exhaustive statistical inquiry covering the period from 1872 to date tends to show that in New Zealand death from cancer is, on the average, now occurring later in life than formerly. It would seem that this is the case, even if allowance be made for the fact that the age-constitution of the Dominion is increasing, that is, that the average citizen of New Zealand is now older than the average citizen of 10, 20 or 50 years ago. Papyrus. The British Museum has acquired fragments of Greek papyri believed to be older than any known New Testament manuscript. Papyrus, the paper reed, was in ancient times cultivated in the Delta of Egypt, where it was used for various purposes, and especially for writing material. The widespread use throughout the ancient world of the writing material manufactured from the papyrus plant is attested by early writers, and by documents and sculptures. Papyrus rolls are represented in ancient Egyptian painting and extant examples of the rolls themselves are numerous. The early use of papyrus among the Greeks is proved by the reference of Herodotus to its introduction among the lonian Greeks, who had previously been accustomed to writing on skins. In Athens it was doubtless used for literary as well as other purposes as early as the fifth century B.C. The account which Pliny in his Natural History has transferred to us of the making of papyrus referred doubtless only to his own time. In one important particular, however, affecting the primary construction of the material, there can no longer be any doubt. The stem was cut into longitudinal strips, those from the centre of the plant being the broadest and most valuable. The strips were laid side by side to the required width, thus forming a layer, across which another layer of shorter strips was laid at right angles. The two layers thus “woven”—Pliny uses the word texere — formed a sheet, which was then soaked in the water of the Nile. Of the papyri recovered hitherto, the bulk has proceeded from the ruins of ancient houses and villages. A second principal source is tombs. The first discovery of Greek papyri of which we have record was made at Herculaneum, where in 1752 the charred remains of a library were found.