Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 7, 25 February 1925, Page 62

Science Siftings

(By Volt)

ONE FOR THE MAYOR. The Mayor of Mumpsville, who had taken it upon himself to examine the Mumpsville Seminary for* Maidens, was also owner of the principal Mumpsville drapery establishment. At the conclusion of the visit he gave the girls a little lecture on the importance of Mumpsville in the world’s history, and the necessity of patriotism in Mumpsvillans. “Before I go,” he concluded, “has anyone a question to ask?” Slowly and timidly one little girl raised her hand. “What is the question, Sally? Don’t be afraid. Speak out!” The little girl fidgeted in her seat. Finally, in a desperate outburst, she put the question: “Mr. Mayor, please how much are those yellow gloves for girls you have in your window?” WWW A CRUEL “CHEST.” There was a solemn hush in the big, panelled dining-room, for the last will and testament, of the old lady who had owned the place was being read. “And I will and bequeath to Dr. Bolus, to whose care (and the use I have made of all his medicines) I attribute my long life, all that is contained in the old oaken chest in my boudoir,” read the lawyer. The faces of the heirs fell, for they foresaw a diminution of their shares; but Dr. Bolus’s face was a pleasure to look upon. The reading finished, a key was obtained, and the old oaken chest was opened. But the smile faded from Dr. Bolus’s face when he perceived that the old lady had carefully stored away every bottle of medicine he had sent her. <X*X*X*X> SMILE RAISERS. Vegetarian’s Husband (timidly): “Do you know, my dear, I really think we ought to have a bit of meat once in a while. Three times last night I caught myself whinnying.” < ‘ St City Boarder: “I suppose you hatch all these chickens yourself?” Farmer: “No. We keep liens for that purpose,” St Harry: “Until this evening my life has been a desert.” Carrie; “Oh, that accounts for —ever since we started dancing I’ve been thinking of camels and things.” St Husband: “You accuse me of reckless extravagance. When did I ever make a useless purchase?” Wife: “Why, there’s that fire extinguisher you bought a year ago. We haven’t used it once.” Si ■ ; “Why, dad, this is roast beef!” exclaimed Willie at dinner one evening, when a‘guest of honor was present. “Of course,” said his father. “What of that?” “Why, you told mother this morning that '• you were going to bring an old mutton-head for dinner this evening!”

Science and Nature. Science is gradually leading us more and more back to Nature. We now open our windows wide, day and night, fine or dull, and believe in the value of unstinted air for infancy, old age, or any age, in a way our Victorian grandmothers never, did. Even railway travelling is scarcely the penance it used to be, owing to our fellow-travellers’ superstition in regard to draughts. Perhaps the motor-car and a' practical experience of the stimulation of cold moving air has done as much to convince us of its value as Professor Leonard Hill’s experimental work. The value of sunlight to health has been strikingly demonstrated in such Nature Cure Stations as Prof. Rollier’s Clinic at Leysin, in Switzerland, and the Treloar Homes, at Alton, in England. Tuberculous disease of skin and joints in particular are found to heal completely sounder no other treatment than exposure to sunlight and hygienic living in the open air. Even hopeless cases recover completely. Science has come forward with an explanation of these “miracles,” showing us that the ultra-violet rays of light kill the germs of tuberculosis at the same time that they stimulate the tissues to healthiness and healing. Science explains how rickets also loses its depressing and deforming power under the influence of these same rays of sunlight. So little patients of city hospitals are no longer found in wards, but on the roofs, and the toddlers attending Infant Welfare Centres take sunbaths in the back yards of their city homes—when there is any sun to shine upon —and many of us submit more willingly to the inconveniences of the Daylight Saving Bill, knowing that light and health are one. Far more frequently than before do we see salads and fresh fruit and unfired food of every kind on our breakfast and dinner tables, for science has shown —as a result of one of her most romantic discoveries that in such foods Nature supplies us at first hand with those vitamines that are the very food of life. In much else we are discovering “the Entente” that exists between Nature and Science. Lighthouses Without Lights. On an island in the Firth of Forth there stands a queer-looking structure of steel lattice work. It is the latest thing in lighthouses, but in appearance it is far removed from the conventional pattern. It is a wireless lighthouse; instead of flashing out beams of light, it sends forth “flashes” of sound beams by means of a system of wireless transmission. To profit by these signals a ship must, of course, be fitted with special receivers, which will also indicate the direction from which the signals are coming. This new sort of lighthouse is going to

provide captains of ships with something they have hitherto sighed for in vain—means. of keeping exact track of the position of their ships when near a coast in fog. The great want of such help was demonstrated by the recent stranding in fog of a cross-Channel steamer near Dieppe. Mariners will now look for an extension of these lighthouses without lights. In the thick and foggy weather so common on our coasts, and so impervious to the most ■ powerful old-fashioned lighthouses, the new “beams” will be welcome and of incalculable value. But in clear weather the oil lighthouses will still be popular. For, after all, seeing is believing, and there is something very reassuring in the strong, confident wink of a lighthouse which you know as an old friend. Perhaps the new application of wireless against fog will not stop short of lighthouses and lightships. Ships themselves carry strong lights, but something that can penetrate fog has been wanted ever since Noah’s Ark went a-drifting. In thick weather at sea ships have to make use of foghorns and steam whistles they hope— clear of each other. An apparatus with a restricted range which would enable ship to locate ship at a distance of a mile or two would be a boon beyond estimation to fog-bound mariners. At present you take blind chances ,at in fog; with directional wireless at your ‘ command chance would cease to be blind. Jay Pollock in the Daily Mail. Flying Boats with Sails. At a lecture on all-metal seaplanes, given by. Dr. Rohrbach at the Royal Aeronautical Society (the Morning Post states), a film was shown of a flying boat that can sail. After landing on the water the crew , step two masts, one close to the nose of the machine and one abaft of the main plane. “Leg of mutton” sails are hoisted, and a speed of four or five knots can be made.. The value of (this ingenious device is very great, for, after engine failure, the flying boat would always have a chance of sailing home. This flying boat possesses many unique features. It is a monoplane with two engines mounted above the plane and very close together. The wings are constructed on the cantilever principle, and the leading edges and trailing edges, or extreme front and Tear portions of the wings, are detachable. The strength of the wings was well illustrated when, during trials at Copenhagen, 16 men walked on them without damaging them. The boat is certainly one of the, most interesting machines that has been produced since the war. Exact performance figures are not . available, but with Rolls-Royce .Eagle engines, . the . maximum speed is about 120 miles per. Hour, . and the landing speed between 65 and 68 r miles per hour. In still air the machine takes off from the water in 27 seconds. '