NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1924, Page 1

NEWS BY MAIL.

THJE PRINCE ‘AND ANIMALS. LONDON, June I’tb Thu Prince of AYales, who is President of the Royal Society lor the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, presided at the centenary banquet, at the Hotel Cecil last night. The Prince, proposing prosperity to the soevtv, said that during its first year 11!) persons were punished for cruelty to animals. To-dav the convictions numbered more than -1,001) a year, but—what was more important—over •JL.lhh) persons were cautioned every year in regard to their treatment of auima'ls. The society xvoulil far rather prevent an animal from being badly treated than get anyone punished for treating an animal badly. “We can claim this evening.” said the' Prince, "to lie whole-heartedly a gathering of animal lovers. Life with-, out horses, dogs, and other animal friends would lie a. poor thing, and I feel that that view is shared by most—but not all—of the people of this country. fur love of animals i.s a great national characteristic of which we maxwell be proud.”

SELF-RELIANT GIRLS. LONDON. June “(i. Dr Charles E. Goddard, medical officer of health for the district of Wembley. in bis annual report says:— In the days of my youth it was a very common procedure, among all ranks of life, but especially in the domestic class, for young Women on being disturbed, distressed or distraught to become hysterical, often to get temporarily mil of control. All this is now changed, girls are liecoming self-reliant, they have nothing t" learn from their masculine friends, :iud while' there are many signs of lack ol stability they have acquired a very definite idea of xvorking out their ow n salvation, and certainly they have no intention of being exploited by the other sex. SUN CAUSES FIRE. LONDON. June The skating rink uL Dudley. Worcestershire. one of the largest buildings in the .Midland-, was 'lmproved hy lire yesterday afternoon.

A man was tarring the roof when the stm set lire to the tar. and within half an hour the rink xvas practically’ destroy'd. The building, which was mainly of steel, held IH.O’J!) people and #).u .C 10,000.

THE WORLD’S REST ANGLERS. A lew- months ago I saxv standing on a pier on the south coast more than 10J anglers. It watched them for an hour, and between them they caught one small dull, says 0. G. Pike in the ‘’Daily Alail.”

A little while before 1 xvas hiding oil a stream bank. On a txxig before me sat the finest angler in the whole world. For three days 1 watched him and during the whole of that time the kingfisher did not fail to bring up a fish even- time he dived.

lie sat on the brunch quite unconcerned. seeming to look at anything but the water. Suddenly ho would leave his porch, ily for a few yards up or cloxvii stream, hover over the water for a moment', dive in, making a t reinetidoii.s splash, and a moment later emerge with a fi.sli in his beak. I tried the experiment of dropping a small ]c';ible among the fish, and I i<iii in I that they scuttled oil in all directions, yet the bird, although lie made a far bigger splash, never tailed to capl lire Ins prey. If the fish was a big one, he brought the struggling captive to lii.s perch; llnn working it about in bis Leak, he grasped the tail. Noxv he struck the lidi’s head several times on trie branch nml I con’d distinctly hear the thuds ill my "hide” and when all the life was knocked out of it he tu.s-cd it into the air fur about six inches, opened bis spacious leak, and always sitci ceded in mi'luring it head lir-t. As it <lisappeared the bird gave several violent gulps, but at last the long beak clo-ci! and the li-li xvas seen no more. I'll' gie’i's • ju-t as successful angler.-. Instead of diving on to their 1 ivy Hl.,' tin' king-fisher, they cha.se it. In clear wnicr. I have seen thorn going al a great | n-e. using their wings as well as their feet as paddles, and a li-li rarely cs-npes. They bring it to the surface to swallow it, and many intcrc'ling struggles I have witnexu't. one alien'd, resulting in 'ho death of the Litcl. for the li'lt xvas really to large for the grebe to swallow'. However, alter great efforts it xxvnt (loW'll.

TUREIKTLOSIS VACCINE. PARIS. June 25. Ereuch hopes have been raised regarding. the possibility of vaccination against tuberculosis by an important memorandum read before the French Academy of .Medicine by the famous scientist Prol'e-sor Calmette, of the Taiis Pasteur Institute.

The professor has tried his vaccine on a number c 1 babies. Alore than •JUtl iif'w-burn infants v.lm presented svtnpto'fs of a predisposition to tidierctdeixis were, with the consent of their

parents, given a de e ol vaccine', administered not as an injection blit by llu* mouth. Tim "hole number haxo ia'en under observation lor periods amounting to IS months, and so far none ol them has shoxxn any sign ot the dread disease developing.

The Calmette vaccine Ita.s been propnred by the professor after innumerable experiments. It i.s composed of tuberculosis bacilli which have been carefully enfeebled. .

The bacilli are the results of 2.T0 -meessive cultures. Hundreds of experiment# "'ere made on cattle, monkeys and other animals before tests were made on human beings. I bough great hope is expressed in the value of this new method, it i.s stated that many years must elapse Lelore tlie full technique of the new* lorm ol vaccine and its full immunising effect can be ascertained.

NEW CANCER RESEARCH. LONDON, June 25.

A new liglit lias been thrown or the mystery of cancer as a result ol experiments which are being carried nit at tlie Imperial Cancer Rcsenrcli Laboratories, London, at the Research Hospital, Cambridge, the Lister Institute of Preventive Alcdienc, London and elsewhere. Eighteen years ago, Professor ResHarrison, in America, showed that the cells of embryo chick's heart could be induced to live and multiply and beat entirely outside the huffy. At the Rockefeller Institute yt New York pieces of heart tissue have been pro; ligated for countless gencations .since IS* 12 and the descendant' of tlie original cells still continue i" live and multiply in little glass-cells in I a be; rail) l ies.

Efforts are being made' by Dr. Thomas Enmsdon- a scientist working at the bister Institute to cultivate cancer tissue for the purpose of keeping special observation on the manner of i.ts groxvth. "I have already got il to groxv slowly." Dr. EnmscL'ti told a reporter, "ju-t as I have succeeded in growing other kinds of tissue, but 1 cannot- say yet what will lie learned from my experiments.

“Every avenue rf | cissilde discovery must l e explored if a cure is lo be found for cancer, and wlint 1 and others are now doing seems to me to

open up it nciv ami—it may lie—particularly promising one. One cannot take a short cut to solving tile problem of cancer, and any line of research must necessarily he followed slowly and with great caution." Dr l.umsden has cultivated tissues of chickens and rats with ease and rapidity. Me said that to preserve tissue before, it is cultivated in blood scrum it i- necessary to keep it cold. Animals' hearts have been made to heat after keeping them in ‘‘cold storage” for a week.

The fat t that it has been found possible to gre w tissue apart from (lie living body is likely to lead to discoveries of very great importance to ieal science.

J.l I’EIiOAT V.f'.’S LONDON, June 17. Seven ii'.eu who have done (hiring deeds on the -ea are to be received bv the King. They are holders of the "Lifeboat Y.C.," the gold medal which is the highest award of the Royal National Lil'ehoat Institution for gallant rescues or attempted rescues from -hij>wreek. Only 1 (!<I gold medals or Lars have been awarded in 10H years. Die men are visiting London in connection with the centenary celebrations of the in-titiition, and in addition to visiting 11 tick inglut m Palace they will he pretent at the centenary dinner in London oil July 2, at xvliich the Prince of Wal- (.., who is president ol the institution, will preside.