NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20162, 24 January 1929, Page 10

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE USE OF STATISTICS

" It is not enough to seizo upon the results of intermittent or continuous statistical inquiry and swallow them, with the faith of a dog in the bona fides of his beloved master, as unquestionably wholesome food," says the Monthly Review of the Midland Bank. " Tho process of arriving at tho results must bo examined, and care must bo taken to ensure that no more is read into the results than they are qualified to convey, either by themselves or in conjunction with other figures. And to this end it is very desirable that in putting forward any new scries of statistics some authoritative guidance should bo given as to how thoy are prepared, and what significance they bear. Tho problem at tho moment is not so much to increase the volume of available statistical data, but, rather, to learn just how to use the material to tho best advantage and with the smallest risk of being led astray. Statistics are like proposals of marriage—they should bo, but rarely are, studied and considered, very deliberately, upon their all-round merits."

CANCER AND RADIUM. Recent issues of tho British Medical Journal contain some interesting observations on the use of radium in the treatment of cancer, directed principally to correcting extravagant claims regarding its value. Dr. Malcolm Donaldson, a London gynaecologist, says the present enthusiasm will "inevitably be followed by a reaction and much disappointment." He says the actual facts are:—First, that, as a palliative measure in a great many malignant conditions, radium is by far the best agent that we have ever had, and the way that the local condition clears up is simply astounding. Secondly, as a curative measure, many of us believe that itis superior to "exoisional surgery" in malignant disease of the uterus and tongue. There is no doubt that as the technique is improved it will be used for early cases in other malignant conditions, and tiie curative results will be much greater. This process of improvement must, however, be somewhat slow. Mr. R. H. Jocelyn Swan, surgeon to the Cancer Hospital, where radium has been used since 1903, remarking that cancer is a generic term covering many forms of malignant disease wrote:—"Some of these are amenable to radium therapy and some are not, and only the experience of the surgeon seeing many of these cases will decide the question of the suitability of the individual case for this line of treatment. The indiscriminate use of such a remedy in the hands of many will only bring discredit on the work which is being done. Treatment of cancer by radium should be encouraged to tho full, but let it bo in centres which are adapted for that purpose, and which have attached to them not only surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists who are familiar with radium work, but also competent physicists to deal with tho element. Much work requires to be dono yet before wo can hail radium as a cure for cancer, and I anticipate many changes with respect to dosage, filtration, etc., will take place before it is put on a sound foundation."

FAMOUS SCIENTIFIC HONOUR. Tho famous Copley medal was presented at tho anniversary meeting of tho Royal Society to Sir Charles Parsons, whoso work on tho steam turbine has brought about a revolution in power plants ashore and in engine rooms afloat. Ho had already received the Kelvin Medal, tho Albert Medal, tho Faraday Medal and tho Franklin Medal. The Copley Medal is tho blue riband of tho British Scientific world. Founded by funds left by Sir Joseph Copley, who died in 1709, the first awards were made to two workers in electricity, Stephen Gray and Theophilus Desaguliers, win were given prizes in 1731 and 1734 respectively. Tho terms of tho Copley bequest made tho award available to eminent men of science of all nationalities, and a history of science could well be written around the names of thoso who havo received it. Among naturalists have been Darwin, Huxley, Wallace and Virchow; anions astronomers, Hersehol, Leverrier, Bradley, Adams and Newcomb; among chemists, Priestley, Liebig, Hofmann, Bunsen anH Pasteur; among physicists. Volt a, Faraday, Joule, Clausius, Kelvin, Rayleigh and Helinholtz; and now to a very long list of names of great men of science has been added that of a great engineer. Sir Charles Parsons was born on June 13, 1854. Thirty years later, on April 23. 1884, ho obtained his patents for " improvements in electric generators and in working them by fluid pressure," and "improvements in rotary motors actuated by elastic fluid pressure, and applicable also as pumps." Tho first Parsons turbine, a double-ended parallelflow machine running at 18.000 r.p.m.. was shown at tho Inventions Exhibition in 1885, and is now in tho Science Museum. From that small machine have come tho gigantic turbines of 60,000 h.p., or 70,000 h.p. of to-day.