TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14760, 2 September 1913, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Thoro is a revival of tho Votaries ancient religion of sunof tho worship, with modifications. Sun. Tho cult of Mithra is obsolete now, but tho . sunbather, tho renl vptary of the sun, is to be met everywhere. At our own bathing resorts it is an obsorvablo fact that the so-called bathe—on a warm summer's clay—is often largely a prolonged sun-bat-he,' interrupted at intervals, with dips in .tho sea. Tho medicinal value of tho sun-bath was * recognsod by tho ancient Romans, who had special rooms in their villas where, exposed to tho full gtore of the sun, they conscientiously baked out of themselves any threatening traces of rheumatism or gout. After the Romans, the cult of the sun languished, and until recently the eun-worsbipper was regarded as «T/n arrant faddist. Under the leadership "of a Swiss physician, Arnold Rikli, however, and still later, of several German, Austrian, and French medical men, special sun-eanatoria have been established, where the 'solar rays , aro utilised for the curing of disease and the strengthening of tho system. Some of tho most interesting results, a writer in tho "Daily Mail" tells us, come from tho sanatorium of Dr. Rollier, at Leysin, near Lake Geneva. Hero a regular formal routine of sunbathing is followed. At first the patient is exposed to tho sun's rays for fivo' or ten minutes only at a time. As most of ]>r. Rollier's patients were sufferers from bone-tuberculosis, the diseased wart only was bared to the light'for the first bath or two, gradually morp and more of the body being exposed. By this means excessive "burnins' was avoided, and the full therapeutic effect of the rays enjoyed. Tho effects on tubercular , disease of superficial parts, , such as wrist .and ankle, are claimed to be most hopeful, and the general tonic effect h wonderfully invigorating. The value of sun- ] bathing for. debilitated "run-down" ! patients is generally recognised on tho Continent. In places where.a blazing hot sun can bo expected . day after, day duriilfe the afternoon hours, not vous paticsnts are now quite commonly prescribed a course of daily halfhour sun-baths, and this is becomjflig an orthodox form of treatment in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria especially. An • interesting comparison of tho .disease rate in sunny and nonGunny houses in tho same streets was made a year ago by a New York physician. • Collecting the number of cases of pneumonia, 'consumption, and # kidney disease on the two eides of a number of streets running east and west, he found that the death-rate was much higher in the houses on the shady side than in those on the sunny side of j the street. In England, the fiult of the sun is naturally less followed than elsewhere, owing to the less propitious climate. .

Cable messages a few weeks The ago told of trouble ,m the Swiss ranks of the Papal Swiss Guards. Guards, who were disarmed owing to acte of insubordination. The history i of this curious body of soldiery, and the story of the grievances which prompted their insubordination, aro told by a correspondent of the "Standard." The body was first formed in the- sixteenth century by Pope Sixtus IV., who chose them becauso of their loyalty and trustworthiness. Their quaint, rcd-yollow-black uniform was designed, it is said, by Michelangelo. In 1905 .Julius 11. made a compact with the Swiss cantons for a regular supply, of these 6oldiers, and on several occasions their loyalty and devotion in protecting the Pontiff decimated the regiment. Sinco 1870 the members of the Swiss Guards have greatly decreased. During the Pontificate of-Leo XIII. they amounted, to 120, and now they are reduced to about 80. Their duty is chiefly to guard the Vatican doors and the person of the Pope, but of late years the pleaeures of much sleep and plenty of good Roman wine have detracted from the conscientious performance of their duties. As a corrective, a new colonel was recently I appointed, in the person of Colonel Ropond, a great disciplinarian. He at once provided tho corns with modern weapons, obliged them to drill like real soldiers, and introduced other drastic innovations. The Swiss Guard woke up, rubbed its eye» in a puzzled way, and began to protest indignantly against these outrages. They addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, demanding the dismissal of a certain objectionable officer, tho selection -of officers in the future from their own ranks, the raising of their numbers to 100, the suppression of "'useless" military exercises, such • as gymnastics, bayonet drill, target shooting, and climbing on the roofs to protect? the Vatican from imaginary attacks, and (by no means the least important claim) the abolition of the prohibition imposed on them from frequenting the wine&hops on the right bank of the Tiber. Ultimately, the ringleaders' we're punished,'

nnd tho troublo seems to have died down. It is curious to notice that during the dispute it was proposed to call in the Italian police to restore order. The relations between tho ecclesiastical nnd civil authorities have been strained since tho Popo lost his temporal power, and no doubt the Papal authorities were glad that the necessity for summoning help did not arise. Tho announcement that The tho "Saturday Eaview" "Saturday." is to have a new editor is a piece of unusually interesting journalistic news. For though not tho unique journal it was in mid-Victorian times, it is still hard to beat for sheer cleverness, while its history, especially the extraordinary number of eminent men who wrote for it, gives it a permanent place of distinction in the history of journalism. Herbert Paul, we arc reminded by a writer in the "Xew York Evening Post," says .of the "Saturday" that it represented "tho most highly cultivated form which philistinism has ever assumed," and the biographer of Leslie Stephen remarked that "as memoirs are published, it becomes always more evident that any one who never wrote for the 'Saturday' was no one." What an array of contributors it has had! It has been said that where other journal* depended on tho wit or intelligence of one man, the "Saturday" enlisted the services of a dozen, "and by making it a distinction in itself to contribute to its pages, soon secured contributions from all tho best men at Oxford and Cambridge, all the best men in the Templo and Lincoln's Inn, and all tho best men in the Church." Uoldwin Smith, Freeman (who did greai servico to accurate historical writing by his slashing reviews), J. R. Green, William Vernon Harcourt, Lord. Robert Cecil (afterwards Marquis of Salisbury), Charles and Edward Bowen, Fitzjames and Leslio Stephen, and Henry Maine, were all regular contributors; it is no wonder that the journal took up a confident attitude. Yet this notable band was collected and kept together by a man, who never wrote an article, but whose skill as an editor was so great that Sir William Robertson Nicoll calls him tho most remarkable journalist of the century. John Douglas Cook could not write, but he was able to get the best out of the people who could, and to rule them "with an iron club." The paper was high Tory, yet thero were several Liberals among the-oontributors. The explanation was that Cook never put pressure on his men to writo against their convictions. If he wanted a Tory article ho employed a Tory, while ho put tho Liberals on subjects that they would approach from a Conservative standpoint. "Cook's young men pro- J vided a tingling sensation for every week-end." The brilliancy is still in the "Saturday's" pages, though to a smaller degree, but the paper's influence is nothing like so marked as it was.