SCIENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 20, 18 October 1907, Page 4

SCIENCE NOTES.

BIGGEST MOSQUITO ON RECORD. The largest mosquito on record is being put together (says i( (science Sittings") by Dr. B. E. Dahlgreen and his assistants, it is being made in its four forms, male, female, larva 1 , and pupa, each ono 400,000 times the size of the live original, it is as well to know this king of. pests —as he is looked upon in many parts—to " know your mosquito "■— to look ,him over, observe the poison shaft, the hundreds of eyes—a perfect chorus of eyes that see in the dark —and, armed wit. tlio real truth, to join the modern crusade that may result in leaving not a mosquito to tell the tale. ■■ 1 Nothing of the sort has ever been attempted before. These four mosquitoes have been a year and a hair 111 the making. Each part has been constructed with scientific exactitude, of wood, wax, celluloid, 'glass, paper, and paint. It has taken all the work of live men to complete them. The figures have not yet been entirely put together, but the parts aro ready for assembling. . Tho finished result will be'a triumph of applied microscopy; Every' one of the myriad of parts of the mosquito has boon 1 studied, under tho microscopc, and then lias been copied on a scale 400,000 times bigger, precisely as. tho instrument has shown it).'not only in detail of form, but 111 colour and texture. . It; is a gigantic, qlmost terrifying sight, this brobdignagian mosquito. Ho is ■four and a half feet long, and correspondingly high., Male and female are approximately alike. The body is of wax, with its wing-frames of glass, over which oiled paper' has been stretched to produce tho translucent effect. Tho. feather-IiKO scales along the veins of the wings are of celluloid. They aro numerically exact. Collections of the scales make the spotted appearance of. the wings under the ordinary microscope. The leg of ,tho mosquito is of wood, jointed. log is covered .with tne same scales as aro on the wings. This nas been one of tho most laborious details of . the construction. For </ach scale a tiny hole must be bored, in tho wooden leg and the scale inserted by hand. One man,working all day long could cover only.about three inches. < Tlio making of the eyes has been a tremendous., job. The mosquito has two eyes,each mado up of 350 minuter eyes. One can imagine how small these 350 eyes are in tho ordinary; mosquito whon in the mammoth roplica each ono is about the size of a pin.liead., Can anyone conceive:; of anything 400,000 times smaller than a pin-head ? f The oyes have a peculiar iridescence, something ■like that seen on coal tar. Each of tho litti; eyes; has been put into the big eye ' independently, a distinct piece, part of a harmonious whole. ..... , The biting apparatus will interest: the average beholder most of all. Here'one' may see plainly and distinctly just why the mosquito, bite is painful and how it.bites. The,adult mosquito has'a genuino armoury that, does as hiuch damage as any standing,army does to the lives of, men., It is responsible for. ; much of' the' disease' ilu 'thb 'Avorld. Minute as la sting is, it is a deadly thing.. : ,■■■'. r " The armoury comprises two saws ■ and • two lances. ;These 1 are in, a tubular sheath, in the giant mosquito about a foot long. VJ I '' tubular sheath has , lips on its end. The sheath projects out from the head, and is; ofa hairy," yellow substance. "When the lips aro pressed against a surfaco and the mos- 1 quito starts to bite, tho .enveloping coven ovor the tubular sheath 1 slips back, leaving tho two saws and 'the'-two lances exposed. In the models lances arid saws are'made of whito glass, and the effect is oxtremely'striking; ll , Tho two antennie (feeders or horns) in the giant mosquito have been beautifully -mado ' of glass) and, following closely'tho design of nature as they do, they present exquisite dolicacy of design'and form. In tho model tlioy; aro fit'teon to eighteen inches long, and aro marked by whorl after whorl of points, grading down to' the end, an offcct that can best bo described by. saying that it is exactly like that of tlio horse-tail plant. The model of the larva shows the ombryo mosquito after it has left the egg and is floating in the water.' In the pupa stage the mosquito is shown after it has -■ stored up" sufficient energy, to; form . legs 1 and wings. Thero is ' also under construction a cross section'model ; of the body of the: mosquito, showing with exactitudo, aud with all possible perfections of . colour, the interior organs. 1. An important feature.of this cross section model ,wil! bo tho reproduction of tho mosquito's salivary glands,. where tho_ parasites of the mosquito, which introduce disease into the human organism, • 'probably- lodgo. Altogether the modols aro a wonderful work of art—the similitude of magnified nature.'/ 1

j HOW TEA_ AFFECTS THE BODY. / Dr. Lauder Br.unton believes that tea, when properly, prepared and taken in moderation, is both useful, and agreeable. I lie avoidance of danger from impuro water is not tho, only advantaj*o to' ,be gained by drinking vegetable infusions. Tea is a stimulant and the use of stimulants is almost universal., The'effect of tea, coffee, or cocoa seeins to bo threefold—on tho circulation, on the spinal cord, and on the brain. >\hen these substances roach tho circulation, tho (low of blood through the brain is increased, tho brain colls are supplied yrith extra ivutrinient, and thought is quickened. It is probable that tho brain cells themselves arc affected- by tea or coffeo, so that communication between them' becomes more rapid, more complete; and more permanent, than under ordinary circumstances. But it must not be.forgotten that ,thcso substances tend to keep up mental .action when it is not needed. • Tims by tea drinking, sleep, which restores the tired brain, is prevented. Those hoverages lessen the sense of fatigue, and givo a sense .of well-being and of, power, and actually add to the power of endurance. Ten is liable to abuse, and may thon bring about most disastrous results, our authority states in the "Practitioner." Tea may interfere with nutrition by lessening the feeling of hunger, by rendering food: less digestible, and by interfering with tho digestivo power of tho-stomach. Tho different kinds of-tea vary in • tho amount 1 of tannin which thoy contain. The leaves'< should never bo boiled or stowed. Boiling water should bo poured on tho loaves, and. after standing -for a fen" minutes should again be poured off. Taken with.meat it toughens tho fibre. Hard water and water containing iron do not make goid tea. A pinch of bicarbonate of soda, when bard water is used, improves tho infusion. , INFECTION BY THE FLY. . The recent stress which has been laid on foot] infeotions in consumption should lead to a more careful consideration of the means by'which the germs may reach the digestive system. Tho recent studies of Dr. Lord show that the übiquitous fly may play an important part. The germs not only pass tho digestive, tract of the fly unchanged, but undergo a marked proliferation there. Fly specks may contain as many as 5000 germs, and, according to Dr. Lord's computations, thirty infected flies may deposit within three days from 6,000,000 to 10,000,000 consumption germs.' The danger does not sepm to bo from tho liberation of the germs in the air, but from the deposition of the lly specks on the food. That this can and does occur 1 under certain circumstances has boon abundantly' demonstrated by' experience with typhoid fever during war. Wo should bear in mind tho possibility of infection by tho fly and be much more strict than wo are at present.

SIXTI'-ONE DAYS' FAST CURES PATIENT. Mi. G. E. Hufford, a Chicago lawyer, hag recently completed a sixty-one days' fast, contenting himself with water -only. He undertook tlio long fast to cure' himself, of and throat troubles, cat.ll rn, biliousness and nervousness, and claims tuese ailments have been routed by his lonar horn eating. Mr. Hu fiord's weight decreased from 194 pounds to 159 pounds. He is forty years old. ,NAIL BITING: ITS TREATMENT: , a recent meeting of the Academy of Medicine, Dr. Didsbury said that the treatment of nail biting was a source of difficulty. Instead of protecting the nail, as has hitherto been the practice, he thought that it was letter to prevent complete closing of the teeth. He showed an 'appliance which served tins purpose; it,fitted the lower molars'and was fastened beliihd the front teeth. Other methods consisted in the use of a gold cap fixed to 0110 molar tooth, a false tooth , purposely made too long, or an . apparatus removable at meal times, which seemed to bo thp best of all. . > ....... A PROFESSOR AND TELEPATHY. Professor Ugo Janni,, of' San' Remo,'gives an instance'of telepathy which came,under his notice recently. Signor'na Louisa Bernatto had a quarrel with an intimate friend; she retired to bed that night much.agitatadby reason of this, .and could not sleep. She deeply regretted the quarrel, .and. felt that she had been more to blame than her friend. About eleven o'clock she thought of getting some small pebbles outside 1 her window and ™r°wmg them against her friend's window, which was opposite to her, to arouse her and. effect a but the thought passed from her mind, and she did nothing.. About two o'clock, still unable, to sleep, the idea recurred, and sho got up and decided to .act;, but again she changed her mind, and resolved to wait. Great was her surprise next morning when, 011 going to her friend, the latter said: "Tell me, were you about to throw pebbles against m.v window twice during the nicht?" "I? :When?,"..replied Signorina B. Twice," answered the other; "at eleven o'clock and again at two." These were precisely the times when the-thought took'defi--nite form-in' Signorina li.'s mind..

BEARDED WOMEN TO COME. ' " Hoarded women mil not be confined for cvei." to the' circus and freak shows; but they will ! become so common that' the women without hirsute adornment will be regarded as a novelty. Thus Professor Samuel W.; Willitsou, a. distinguished paleontologist.: The picture that he draws of. the : bearded ■woman of 1 the future, will - probably send a shudder through. our young ( women, though, the I prediction of the Professor; will" be hailed, possibly, .with delight by. the barbers. The, Pr- .1 fessor adds, however, that :it will - bo v a long time before; the ; bearded woman becomes the vogue, and chances,are that the present generation will have been buried many centuries before lovely woman; will take her seat:.in t'ae barber's chair. .Everything ; is tending towards" boards for .women! .Girls . have more hair on, their faces, than, the girls . of-a decade ago, says the Professor.; ; „

canals ox mars. - ' The.theory of Martian Canals advbcated so'-./.' ably by Professor Lowell is opposed-.by many-,., woll-known astronomers, and by ( none more so than by Professor A. E. Douglass, and wo hero propose to, give the version of tlioso , who are-so opposed.to thetheory. Inholding up to ridicule the canals on Mars as illusions ~ of the vision, Professor Douglass is reminded of the eminent German, scientist who declared ;' that, wero a .journeyman to ; fashion him a, piece of mechanism so ill adapted to its pur- - pose as'.the human eye, he would refuse, to pay forit. see to-day, astronomers of; world-wide eminence , basing, .says iProfessor..;..,. Douglass, a . theory ,of tho habitability of a ~ remote planet upon a, series. of, optical,phan-, - tasmagoria. dostitute, of all objoctivo reality , j 'and resulting.from so; simplo a thing as t s , 'fixed staro or the, position .'of tho.head.as the • eye. scrutinises.', its ,own,; ,vain.,..imaginiiigs i -J, through; a..tubq.- ; -Not- only are, there- ; no ■ canals on Mars, but. there, are 1101 markings on. ; the plaiieVoftn? sort,-mado familiar, by recent, , text-books. To 'bo sure,' eminent astronomers ~ deny that the things they think they seo can,, : be'illusions of vision. They call them oases and lakes, from which networks of canalisation radiato everywhere., A little knowledge "of tho tricks played gjir own-eyes,'; will, thinks Professor Douglass, explode all. contemporary Martian hypotheses. He has 'carefully studied tho " faint canals " by the methods of cxpcrimental/nsychology, only to find that they, do not exist.' All the markings' on Mars 'with which tho latest works'On that planet acquainti us ,imay not bo dclu-.... sions of the sight, of course, but the most ; significant of t-hem : certainly are. ~ t y