SCIENCE NOTES & NEWS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 596, 4 January 1921, Page 4

SCIENCE NOTES & NEWS.

WRITING NAME REVERSED ON PAPER PLACED OX FOREHEAD. The following is an entertaining 1 experiment in a party of young 1 people. One those present is asked if he can write his name, and will, of course, .answer '''yes." lie is then subjected to the following tesl: lie i.s asked to sit down in a chair, a paper, folded several times, is piaccd on his forehead, a lead pencil is handed to him and he is asked to write his name on the paper. As little time as possible to reflect should be left him; if he hesitates, he should be told to just go ahead, hud in most case's it will be found that he starts writing' his name at the left temple and, to the amusement of the others present, writes it in the way of many left-handed persons, thai is, so that it is legible only when held in Iron; of a mirror, unless one is practised in reading" reversed writing". MACHINE FOR ADMINISTERING ANESTHETICS. A machine to replace the''manual method of administering ancsthestics during" an operation, has been brought out in France. By means of a pump, an evaporation chamber, anc an automatic device used for introducing" a s measured quantity of chloroform, for instance, the apparatus maintains a. continuous How of a definite, standardized mixture of anesthetic ,and air. A valvelcss mash enables the patient to breathe in a current of ah" containing" a known amount of chloroform, and the clanErer'and annoyance attending a 100 lapid or too*slo\v admiuistraisun of the anesthetic are eliminated. A tube passed into the nose or mouth can be used instead of the mask after anesthesia has been produced, for operations upon the face. The advantage of the machine lies in the fact that !he surgeon knows exactly how much anesthetic he is giving", and the continuous flow eliminates much of the discomfort attending" the taking of an anesthetic. BEVERAGES FOR THE NATION. Norwegians are one of the most temperate of Northern nations, .consuming, but i.G} pints of beer and -IV of brandy per head of population. The Dane.drinks on the average 156 pints of beer, but little wine, and only 36 pints of brandy each year. The Swede manages to consume 8-1 pints of beer and 13 of spirits. The Russian drinks 7J pints of vodka and the same amount*of beer. ' The Frenchman, however, takes 160 pints of wine, 15 of beer, 48 of brandy. The _ Britisher soothes himself .with !) pints of whisky or gin,, 3 of claret, and 223 of beer. The Dutchman will drink •;-! pints of beer and 12 of brandy. Talking every German province to obtain an average, it is found that the German consumes 187} pints of beer,. HH of wine,'and 0:} of spirits. In Munich, -however, the average amount per heacNrises to 8j0" pints-'-being the highest of any province, whilst the lowest /average obtains in the northern province of Alsatia. ifero>sbc inhabitants arc satisfied with .'only'l-f-l pints of beer per head. The Italian is the least of all..addicted to alcoholic beverages, taking duly 3 pints of be.ur, 11} of alcoholic beverages, and 1-11 of wine per head.

WHAT WOULD i'FAPPEN Iv THE EAUTU TURNED FASTER. It has been calculated that tr tno earth were to rotate ciiflitc.cn times as fast as it does now a man at the equator would weigh nothing and that if he jumped in 4he air he would remain there. The man who would weigh nothing' at the e(pialot would \yeigh 200 • pounds ai the poles, and varying weight between the "jrioles and the ciiuiilor. There arc no planets that turn eighteen times as fast as the earth, but there are. some where the gravity is entirely diflereni to what it is here, On the moon the average man would -weigh 'Jib inure than fifty pounds, it has been estimated, and could jump as many feet—thirt is, fifty feet—without trouble. Tins*- however, would f>ai>pen on any part'of the moon, not because of the centrifugal force, as would be the ease if we were spinning- about eighteen times faster, but due to a" lack of gravitation force on the moon. Measuring labour from our present standards, a labourer would have to receive enormous prices at the poles and scarcely anything' at the equator, for at the poles everything would be extremely heavy, while at the equator 'a man might pick up a small cottage if he could get a good grip on it, and carry it about, | To go south under such circumstances would mean more than it does now, for in the south a man would feel light and springy. He could walk all clay without tiring, and jump over almost any obstacle, like a tree or a house, landing' lightly. . 'Unless railroads ran cast and west, 'the problem would be difficult to solve, it seems, inasmuch as a locomotive could scarcely pull the train in the north, while in the south they would have to run under the lightest If pressure or else, with full steam on and no gravity, the train 'would pass the, equator at about '.he literal speed of lightning. | All this is, of course, conjecture, but it is based on careful studies oi Centrifugal force and its action oi> 'gravity.