SCIENCE SIFTINGS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 22, 7 June 1923, Page 54

SCIENCE SIFTINGS

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Singing for Health. Choral singing is a tremendous aid to health, stated Dr. Henry Coward the other day. Figures showed (he said) that vocalists who ignored doctors’ orders, frequented close rooms, and afterwards braved the cold and dangerous night air, had actually escaped the dreaded influenza germ, while non-singing people were falling victims. Parents and teachers had the notion that choral singing injured the voice! That was a great mistake, as many of the principal soloists in the North of England had graduated in choral societies. / Candle Test for Eggs. There is an absolutely certain test for the freshness of eggs which anyone can carry out. Egg shells seen under a powerful microscope are found to be full of tiny pores, ~~ through which air gradually leaks in as the egg grows older. When it is quite fresh the egg contains a bubble of air > little bigger than a pea. This increase in size day by day until at the end of a fortnight it is almost the size of a walnut. . ( The air bubble can be seen quite easily if the egg is placed between a strong light and the eye. The best way of carrying out the test is to make a cardboard screen containing a hole the shape and size of an average egg. Place this in front of a lighted candle and hold the eggs Up one by one to the hole.

The air Space can now be seen quite easily. If the egg is quite new laid, it will be no larger, the little finger nail; but, in the case of an old stager, it will appear as large as a shilling. Substitute for Cotton. A new substance which it is claimed ill take the place of cotton is undergoing experiments. Arghan-, as it is called, is said to be immune from the diseases which destroy cotton, capable of resisting the action of acids, less affected by changes of climate, and ready for manufacture almost as soon as it is picked. It can bo used in the making of sheets, shirts, and so on, and articles made from arghan cloth will cost very much less than those manufactured from cotton.. Scientists have reported favorably on the new material, and enormous fields of it are being laid out in the Malay States and India, where it flourishes. - Arghan was introduced from the jungle by Sir Henry Wickham, the pioneer of rubber. It is a hardy tropical growth, and already large quantities have been ordered by big Lancashire Mill-owners. Animals’ Eyes. No two animals have eyes exactly alike. In every case they are adapted to the Special needs of their owner. The eyes of flesh-eating creatures are closer together than those'of vegetarians. This is said to be due to the habit which the former have of fixing their gaze on their victims before springing. Human eyes are closer together than those of any other creature that eats flesh. Tigers, lions, cats, and others of the same family are unable to see at great distances, but for objects pear at hand their sight is very keen. Lions and tigers have round pupils, which grow bigger when the animal is angry. Cats have pupils which can be dilated enormously. In the dark, or when the cat is angry, the pupils look almost round. In the first case, what little light there is is reflected by the retina, -which is the explanation of the fact that a cat’s eyes look green at night. Animals that live on grass have large eyes, placed as a, rule at the sides. This gives a. wide range of vision and enables the creatures to watch for danger while cropping grass.