Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 11 April 1912, Page 59

Science Siftings

By ' Volt ’

.Sterilising Surgical Instruments. In these days of modern surgery the patient is prepared for an operation in the most painstaking .mannerby careful scrubbing and wrapping in sheets and bandages. The surgeon washes and re-washes himself a dozen- times and then appears in the ; operating room like a ghost in his grotesque head wrappings and white garments. In keeping with all these : other precautions it is 'of course necessary that the instruments be made absolutely -■ sterile by boiling and the use of antiseptic solutions. For this purpose an electric instrument steriliser is often used, and has many advantages.' Man as a Machine. It is a little startling to learn that man is superior to all mechanisms. In the best artificial machines the efficiency is only 14 per cent. The human machine gives a profit of from 25 to 30 per cent, on the fuel! In other words, on the food consumed. A.man always wastes energy during the first five minutes of work. Monday’s labor in man is the worst, and Tuesday’s the best in the week —that is, according to a large number of experiments made by a distinguished professor. Cement Gun.’ Mr. C. F. Akeley, the taxidermist and naturalist connected with the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago, was hunting about for a rapid and economical method of building up forms over which the skins of large mammals, such as elephants and hippopotami, might be stretched, when he hit upon the idea of spraying rough frames with Portland cement. The scheme worked perfectly. When the exterior of the art gallery (one of'the World’s Fair buildings in Chicago) needed renovating, it occurred to Akeley that his spraying system might be used. The work was done under his direction so well and expeditiously as to demonstrate the practical possibilities of the new method, beyond any question of doubt. After this most successful . experiment the apparatus was taken up in the laboratory and in the field, and was subjected to various practical tests. Numerous mechanical changes, were made as were shown necessary by experiment, adding to the efficiency of the apparatus and broadening its field of usefulness, until to-day the ‘cement gun,’ as the apparatus has been named, is being used for placing cement in some of the most important engineering work, that is now in course of construction. Of course the machine is not a gun in the ordinary sense of the word, but 'is so called from the fact' that the cement mixture is projected from a nozzle with considerable force, and is literally ‘ shot ’ into place. . ■ . .- . Operatorless Telephone. . All the temper-trying troubles ‘ which now. exasperate telephone users will vanish when the new automatic Strowager-telephone system, in which no operator is required, is generally adopted. A demonstration of the advantages of the new system was given in London by the British Insulated Helsby Cable Company, and Mr. Sinclair, the manager, explained how it would work a revolution in .present-day telephone methods. * Every man,’ he said, ‘ can be his own operator. A system of electro-mechanical devices or switches at the central exchange dispenses with the use of the old style switchboards operated by manual labor. By this means every telephone user secures his connection from his own telephone by manipulation of a dial, the rotation, of which causes the switches at , the • central office to select automatically the telephone to which he wishes to be connected. By this, means the use of operators at the central exchange is-entirely eliminated. One experienced switchman will be able to look after all necessary adjustments, and keep 1000 lines in working order. The automatic service is absolutely secret, and every user has a private line, there being no exchange operators to interrupt the 'connection or overhear ; the conversation. There are already 300,000 automatic Tines at work in the United States and Canada. : - -