Science Sittings

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 1, 7 January 1925, Page 62

Science Siftings

By "Volt"

Chemistry, of Emotions. Even saints and martyrs are dependent on carbohydrates and proteids for their excellence. "King Lear'.' itself was made by means of beer and 'beef (says the London Daily Telegraph). But the man of science who has just told the world that the cause of anger is a superfluity of sugar in the blood goes far beyond .the fact. Orthodox physiology disowns him. That in moments of rage we have in our blood rather more sugar than in our hours of ease is quite true. But to suggest that the sugar produces the rage is as reasonable as to suggest that a cold day sets the fire alight. The sugar is in the blood on account of the rage. We have in us a gland ' which when we feel angry is influenced by the emotion and sends more sugar into the blood. The sugar is provided in order that, if our anger demands action the body shall not lack the necessary energy. The sequence is therefore not that a change in the chemical constitution of the blood produces emotion, but that emotion affects the blood's composition. It is the spiritual which rules' the material. A stubborn materialist may reply that there is no lack of cases in which the chemistry of the vile body is plainly the dictator of emotions. If ,we consume too much sugar we are very likely to suffer from anger. If we never have a square meal we shall probably be children of sorrow. But this does not weaken • the • evidence that we are so made as to be subject to appeals to the spirit. Since men are such that the chemical processes by which their bodies are made and maintained are affected by the injustice and the misery which others suffer, it is plain that they are not merely the creatures" of physical laws. ... : Toll of the Fogs: What. They Cost in Human Life. _ An eminent authority has stated " that i single fog may cost more in lives than a pitched ' battle (states a physician in the London Daily Mail). . In support of this statement our experience in London may be advanced; a day or two of fog will double the number of deaths from bronchitis during the succeeding month. A fog is nothing more than a cloud which has settled on the earth—it is the condensation of vapor upon minute particles of soot and'dust floating in the air. In. London we have what are called "dry" fogs, those in which the particles on which the moisture is deposited are large, and the amount of

water small. The “wet” fogs of the seaside and country are composed of droplets of water-suspended near the earth. . Under this ' wet' blanket, those affected with lung disease are indeed in parlous condition. With their respiratory apparatus performing its function with difficulty under ordinary conditions they., are- called upon to breathe air which is saturated with moisture. Eng-* land’s : greatest prevalence of fog is in' December, ' with the two preceding and the

succeeding months a, little behind, and it is worthy of note that it is during this period that the death rate from lung diseases is at *.£■ its height. -jj|^ But fog exacts a toll from others tha"# those who suffer' from respiratory: trouble. Part of its deleterious effect comes from the depression of vitality due to the deprivation '• of sunlight. For a "place in the sun" is being more and more emphasised as being necessary to the maintenance of physical efficiency. Similarly still further depression of the body's forces results from the chilling of the skin by constant contact with moisture. The greatest effect of all is that on the mentality. Shut out from the usual sights, a prey to anxiety concerning delays and missed appointments, the fog-invested traveller accents the bodily effects of fog by his fall in spirits. Experts tell us that fogs are preventable. They say, and every scientist must admit that there is truth in their statements, that a smokeless city means practically a fogless city. Public opinion will some' day drive this home into the comprehension of those who sit about to govern us. Who Made the First Paper. The credit for making the first paper is due to a Chinese named Ts'ai-lun. ' ' In A.D. 75 he made the first hand sheet . of paper from the bark' of a mulberry tree. Before this ' leaves ' of trees * and' various barks used in crude form, had, been good .:■'< enough for the Egyptians, ; Romans,'Ca fid % other nations. .■ The . not use- the crude : inher. bark :6f ,4e- tree as■■:.' the final material : o : 4 which 1 ; tp,.make"his reHe used the bark ;'." merely,, as.a raw material from : wliich he : prodiicW 'a! finished sheet of paper by a series of processes which, primitive as they may seem to us now, were the forbears of paper manufacture to-day. China monopolised the art of paper-making for about 800 years, until the secret' was learned from her by the Arabs, who improved' upon the Chinese process by using linen or cotton rags instead of mulberry bark. •Soon after 1800 the first paper to he made with wood pulp came into the market. Nowadays, to meet the enormous demands of the press and commerce generally, over 400 varieties of wood and grasses have been called into requisition. Linen and cotton rags are used only in the making of the finest, note-paper. Of the paper now manufactured, 99 per cent, is machine-made. '" ' " "