A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 109, 1 February 1935, Page 9

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Italy and Imports The Italian Government has published a further list of goods the importation of which is prohibited. This includes wheat, flour, citrus fruits, and fresh chilled meat. This is witii a view of encouraging agricultural pursuits among the people, and to make , Italy as self-supporting as possible. Italy is, however, severely handicapped by the relative poverty of her industrial resources in her endeavour to rank with the other leading Powers of the world. In an economic sense she is far less developed thap any other country with all equivalent pretensions. Much of her soil is poor; for a large part of Italy is mountainous and difficult to cultivate, and there are also considerable marsh areas which require a high expenditure of capital before they can be brought into effective use. Moreover, in an industrial sense she is poor in the raw materials required for the characteristic industries of modern capitalism. She has hardly any coal, and only a small supply even of lignite. Her resources in most of the important metals are scanty, and accordingly she has to' import very large quantities, not only of coai, but also of iron for the use of her industries. Despite this, she has a big motor-car export industry, and the cotton and 'silk industries, as well as woollen industry, are prominent in the country. The efforts to increase the area under cereals have met with a substantial amount of success, partly at the expense of other crops, but also in some degree by bringing uncultivated land into use; and further progress is looked for from the substantial drainage .schemes now in progress in the marshy areas with the object of bringing addi- ■ tional land under cultivation. Also, the Italians have been trying hard to improve the quality of farming as well as the crop area. Italy produces substantially more foodstuffs, now than she did a few years ago. She needs this increase for her rapidly increasing population. Canonisation. A message from Vatican City states that the Pope presided ata secret congregation to consider the canonisation of Sir Thomas More and John Fisher. Canonisatiflß is a solemn declaration by which the Pope publicly proclaims a servant of God to be numbered among the saints honoured by the whole Roman Catholic Church. In the early ages there was no formal act of canonisation, as it was only in their own locality that martyrs were venerated. During the early Middle Ages it rested with each bishop to decide which saint should be honoured in his diocese, and on what day. However, much carelessness crept in, and several scandals arose from the seventh to the tenth century. The earlies t known case of canonisation by the Pope is that of Ulric of Augsburg by John XV in 993. At the end of the twelfth century, by decrees of Alexander 111 (1170) and Innocent 111 (1200). the right was exclusively reserved to the Roman Court. This rule was made more stringent by Urban VIII in two constitutions (1025 and 1634), and the procedure of the process was then laid down. With slight modifications it is in force at the present day. It was strictly forbidden publicly to venerate in any fashion any person not papally canonised. The procedure of formal canonisation is as follows : Fifty years’ must elapse after the death of the candidate. A court is then instituted by the ordinary of the district where the claim is made, and material is gathered on which the case may be judged. The materials are then sent on’to the Congregation of Rites at Rome, and after a lapse of ten years the case is introduced. The claimant may now be called Venerable, After proof of two miracles performed at the candidate’s intercession, and also that the candidate possesed Christian virtues to a heroic degree, his Beatification is performed, that is, the candidate is entitled to be cailed Blessed. After the proof of two more miracles since beatification, the Pope then proceeds to canonise the Beatus, assign him a feast day and mass, and propose him for universal .veneration. Overseas League.

At a reception in his honour, Mr. William Teeling, a member of the London Council of the Overseas League, gave a brief sketch of the activities of the league. The Overseas Club . and Patriotic League is a non-party society of British subjects residing in all parts of the world. Largely organised by the present secretary, Sir Evelyn Wrench, C.M.G., LL.D., and an offspring of the “Overseas Daily Mail.’ it was founded on August 27, 1910.. It amalgamated, March 31, 1918, with the Patriotic League of Britons Overseas, a society founded in August, 1914. In August, 1918, it became associated with the League of the Empire, which was started in 1901. Viscount Northcliffe was president of the Overseas League before his death. Its chief Objects are to draw together in a bond of comradeship and mutual help Britons all over the world. It issues a monthly journal, “Overseas,” and has well over 1000 honorary corresponding secretaries. The home of the Overseas League is Vernon House, which was opened by the Duke of York in February, 1922. His Majesty the King is patron of the league, which is incorporated by Royal Charter.

Wet & Dry Bulb Thermometers.

The illustrations page in yesterday’s “Dominion” showed, among other weather recording instruments, wet and dry bulb thermometers, which are used * to record the humidity of the atmosphere. The wet and dry bulb thermometer consists, in fact, of .two thermometers placed side by side. One of the instruments has its bulb free, while the other is covered with soft muslin which is connected by means of strands of cotton with a small reservoir of distilled water. The thread constantly sucks up the liquid, just as the wick of a candle draws up the melted wax or tallow, and the bulb is in this way kept moist. Whenever a body passes from the state of liquid to that of vapour, heat is absorbed; hence a little water dropped upon the hand gives rise to the sensation of cold as it evaporates. The evaporation of the water from the wet bulb, therefore, lowers its temperature, and the more rapid the evaporation the greater will be this difference of temperature between thd* wet and dry bulbs. If the air were saturated with moisture there could be no evaporation, and consequently the two thermometers would stand exactly alike. When, on the other hand the air is very dry, evaporation becomes exceedingly rapid, and the temperature of the wet bulb consequently falls much lower than that of the other. From a comparison of the temperatures shown by the two thermometers, the dewpoint, relative humidity of the atmosphere, and the quantity of vapour in a given volume of air can be determined by methods of calculation.