NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2816, 27 November 1924, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

Insulin, the recently-discovered remedy for diabetes, first held to be produced exclusively in the pancreas, has now been found to exist in many oilier parts of the body (says a Toronto correspondent). Two of the original discoverers now have evidence of its presence in considerable concentration in the thymus and thyroid glands, which lie in the throat; in the submaxillary gland, under the jaw; and in the liver, spleen, and muscle tissue. An English chemist has succeeded in extracting paying quantities of insulin from codfish.

Tn a recent speech in London Sir Harry Davies, a veteran , exofficer of the Post Office Savings Bank, told the following stories: One letter received by the Lost Books Department was to the effect, that the investor’s wife had used his book to singe a fowl. Another worried man informed the department that his dog had eaten the book, but that he could forward the sanie if desired. The department which dealt with annuities once inquired of a man of what his father died. The answer was: “I forget now. but, it was nothing serious.” One man who was applying for an annuity could not produce his birth certificate. ITe was told that Ihe certificate of baptism would do. In a fortnight he returned, and, placing a baptism certificate on the counter said, “There yon are, but I’ve had a terrible job to get it." The clerks took it, and found that the man was baptised on the previous day!

Formerly cats were supposed to influence the weather, and dogs the wind. Even to-day it is said that for a woman to have a rainy washing day is a sure sign that tlm cats have a spite against her. In the Scandinavian countries it is a popular fancy that rain on a wedding day indicates that the brido has forgotten to feed the cat. Similar notions are current about dogs and the wind. Tt is from these legends that we derive the expressions about “raining cats and dogs,” meaning heavy rain and a boisterous wind. The phrase “Getting the sack” originated from the habit of workmen carrying their tools in a bag. These were kept in safe custody by the employer to save employees the trouble of .carrying them to and from work every day. When g workman left one employer to go to another lie was handed back his sack of tools, as was also the case, of course, when lie was dismissed. It was from this custom that the phrase came into currency. Before pay envelopes came into vogue, people as a rule received their wages wrapped in a screw of paper. T’he custom gave rise to the other phrase about “Getting one’s screw,” familiar to wage earners even in these times.