SCIENCE SIFTINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 20 October 1921, Page 46

SCIENCE SIFTINGS

===== By "VOLT" ======

SOMETHING ABOUT HEADACHES. Dr. James J. Walsh, well known in Catholic literary circles, writes interestingly in a late issue of The American on the important topic of headaches. "A Headache Is a Warning Bell in Your Alarm Tower," according to the title of Dr. Walsh's article, and he substantiates this assertion in the course of a laicized scientific article. The most prevalent pain that the human body is heir to is probably the common, everyday headache. These aches are not, however, the fault of the head, as a rule, but generally are warnings that something has gone wrong with the stomach, the liver, the muscles, or the heart. "When your head aches your whole body is probably suffering, even though you may not be conscious of pain except in the head." Years ago it was believed that this affliction was the. result of too much blood and consequently people were <! bled" to relieve them of the supposed excess. There is no.remedy for headaches, properly speaking. Being merely symptoms, i.e., results of a condition in some other part of the body or organ, it is necessary to locate the real seat of the trouble before attempting to cure the pain in the head. In fact, as Dr. Walsh points out, it is dangerous habitually to "relieve" a chronic headache, not so much because of the direct evil results as for the fact that this method serves to cover up evils in some other part of the system that should be unearthed and taken care of. Improper diet, too, especially in these days of devitalised and adulterated foods, is a frequent cause of headaches. We should take more vitamines in raw vegetables, fruits, etc. Cooking impairs the valuables in these particularly the highly seasoned, "well-cooked" mode"?} variety of preparation. AX EXTINCT SPECIES OP MARSUPIAL. \ From time to time discoveries are made in various parts of Australia which prove the biggest kangaroos of to-day to be .but the puny descendants of enormous creatures, whose skulls alone reached a yard in length. The latest remnant of these giants of the past is a phenomenal jaw which has just been found in a fossilised state on the bank fof King's Creek, near the Darling Downs, in South Queensland. The Director of the Queensland Museum states that it represents i!he incomplete lower jaw of the giant' extinct marsupial known as" the diprotodon Australis. Numerous remains, he says, have' been found in Queensland of this very large animal, and complete skeletons have been secured in the bed of Lake Callabonno, South Australia, Some idea of the size of this marsupial may be gauged from the length of the skull, which in an adult may be fully a yard long. The diprotodon was undoubtedly herbivorous, and its upper and lower teeth somewhat resemble those of the kangaroo, although very greatly larger. The fore and hind limbs were of about the same length, and in this respect there is a likeness to the modern wombat. The diprotodon was probably a sluggish and inoffensive animal, and evidently roamed over the greater part of Australia. Its marsupial nature is abundantly revealed by many features of the skeleton, including the marsupial bones. In 1838 the late Sir Richard Owen first used. the name diprotodon, which means "two front teeth," having reference to the two large incisors in the front of the lower jaw.

, -'M Because Jesus was acquainted with grief, because He endured tormentsto suffer as He suffered is a veritable joy to the soul filled with His holy love. Abbe A. Sandrean.