IMPROVING ON NATURE.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2644, 13 October 1919, Page 7

IMPROVING ON NATURE.

The idea that a -wooden leg or a I false hand can be clapped on to a j wounded man and the case dismissed | with a blessing is a thing of the disj tant past. A wooden hand is good i for very little except to look respeci table in the street. The thing for ! which the doctor’s are now striving jis to give back to the injured man : not a hand, but the w T ork of a hand, j And this opens possibilities. The work of a hand may be done in an extraordinary number of ways. Sometimes it is managed by a steel rod with tools clamped to it ; sometimes by a strong iron claw. Some of the most eager thinkers are asking ; “If we are to differ from nature at all, why not differ altogether ? Why not replace one arm by two steel rods, or even three, so long as they can be made useful ?” Men learn that the old motions by which they have been accustomed to get things done are not necessarily the ouly ones. A farmer with one arm can use a shovel ; he simply has j an implement with a longer handle, | which goes through a strap at his j waist. Then the one arm does noth- ! ing but press down on the handle, I ami the shovelful of earth is lifted I just as well as by the old method. If the man wants more power he ■ can use his knee. Large objects can i be moved by one arm and the hip. ' A neck-tie can be tied by one hand and the chin. The hand can be wash- i ed by the foot. i

Mrs. Gab : “Doctor, I need a tonic; I’m all run down.” Doctor : “Let me see your tongue.” Gab (sotto voce): “He won’t find much evidence of it there.” A retired American soap manufacturer has made a bequest of £2,000 for homeless cats and dogs, the carefully invested money, however, not to be available until 2163, by when, it is expected, it will have increased to more than £40,000,000.