CHIMPANZEES AND APPENDICITIS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 80, 28 December 1907, Page 14

CHIMPANZEES AND APPENDICITIS.

The "Matin" (Paris) lately contained tho portrait of. a human-looking ape sitting at .attention;..and' giving the military' salute. His name, Antoine, may ono day be famous as the-passive pioneer in the search for'.a ciiro for appendicitis. The Pasteur Institute has for, some time-past been experimenting with a viow of, disbovbrring'the germ of this dreaded disease, and, having, as it alleges,' ascertained its existence, it is nowj trying to Compound a serum against it.- : It is nselsss, however, to draw deductions from tests on thedowor animal creation, and it is only the anthropoid monkeys who can bo of any.reiil use in this research'. Unfovtunately, chimpanzees and'gorillas aro expensive, and even a poor specimen costs from £30 to £40. For this' reason Professor Metchnikoff is'very cautious, and lie has not yet gone,far enough with his experimental injections of the serum into Antoine to give him any tangible results. I-lo.is waiting for tho munificent legac.v of M. Osiris,-bequeathed last year, but this is still • apparently likely to remain for another year or two swathed in red tape before'it can be used. ■ ' \ CAPITAL PUNISHMENT REFORM. •Capital-punishment reformers have asked that electrocution shall. replaco hanging, but it'appears to us that electrocution methods must undergo some reform before this can be agreed to as desirable. ' Dr. Stephaue Leduc, tho celebrated: French electrical. investigator, says: "In the production of the cessation ; of life by electricity.all the-functions of, the vari.otis nervo centres 'are' successively stopped, and if the intensity of tho eurrent is'gradually increased the action: of the heart centre is also'stopped. After that, the centre of. the breathing movements: ceases.' One can for a whole minute maintain, a complete immobility of tho. heart,; whilo the breathing movements continue intact, and if the intensity of .the current be but slightly diminished the .heart'begins again'to beat. 'So. life can practically'be stopped as regards tho motion of the heart and'breathing, and then bo recommenced again." Dr Leduc tried tho following. A liirgq dog is placed iiv position .with a positive electrode fixed to his back' and a negative qn his cliest, and circuit of 110 volts turned on.' Instantaneously,' without a sound or a movement, the animal fell rigid on its side, with life extinguished suddenly and simultaneously. For a minute it remained thus, then the'current is turned on again in a less degree and life-returns. • • • '; ."DIAMONDS" TO ORDER. M. A. Charetto, a clever young French chemist, lias informed tlie Academy of Sciences that he has succeeded in producing by .artificial mean's, crystals' of larpo sizo, having all tho characteristics' bf/liamonds. Specimens bf considerable sizo were placed before tho Academy, and MM. Lacroix and Le Chatelier, two members, were nnppointcd to submit them toviinalysis. M. Charetto declares that his • method enables him to' produco crystals as big as They result from tho decomposition of sulphate-of carbon in a vacuum.\ i\l. Lacroix' admits that, the crystals exhibited are. exceedingly brilliant and pure, .hut-, states that it is impossible to. say .whether. thoy are true diamonds .until an analysis ,Ims been made.' Hitherto the most successful-ex-periments in diamond making have been,those of,.Profcs3or Moissan. :but;the: crystals 1 ho-pro-duced wore so exceedingly small as to be commercially, valueless, , , ~ ' :V. THE.NEW/ ANAESTHETIC.; The . .now anaesthetic," ''stovaine;'' ; is wondorfully interesting in its\ action. A contemporary says:—"lt produces paralysis ,of the, body below the'point of injection and removes all sensation from the limbs, so that it lias been found possiblo to amputate a man's ..le» while " the patient rotaiiiod consaiousness, -and -could,~had he been allowed .to do so, liavo even witnessed the operation. The patient could feel no pam, and after - the operation, • ,and. when .sensation returned, experienced nothing, but the sense of bruising, which is one of the sequels, of grave operations. The anaesthotio is, of course,'of, tho greatest nse in minor operations,,. and where, owing to the: patient's age or'Tioart weakness, tho administration of chloroform would be dangerous. . ITEMS OF INTEREST. The poison of a snake, taken' internally, isn't much worse than a dram of-bad wliisky' composed :of wood alcohol and> fusel 0i1..,'1t doesn't enter into the circulation; unless if. comes in contact with a soro or. wound.- ; The cure of Lamartre, in the; Department of the Var (France), has instituted a novel mothod-.of saying mass. Having neither precentor nor choristers in his church, he has installed a phonograph, which not only makes tho customary responses in due order and at the proper time, but also sings the canticles! When one "record" ; is completed tho cure leaves the 1 altar, changes tho cylinder, -winds up, the' machinery,; and then proceeds with the service. Dr. Seneca Powoll, a professor of chemistry; met his death recently owing to an experiment which he made in the presence;of his medical school class. 'He swallowed somo carbolic acid, and thon took some alcohol to ' provo . its , virtuo as an antidote. He had made tho" same experiment before without harmful-results. Dr. Huchard a few years ago saw a fashionable young lady who had ..constant and painful palpitations of the,heart, and who thought she had an organic disease of that organ. Ho found there was none, but that tho patient' was in tho habit of paying a number of calls overy aftornoon, and of drinking several cups of tea. He advised hor .tb give. up the tea,; which to his surprise she did, and in 'a very short: time tho palpitations ceased. ' Suicides-.among school children and young persons are stated to'be greatly on ; the increase in Germany. Professor Eulonburg is roportod as saying that'during tho last 12 years ho has traced 1152 cases of children's suicidos, more than half of whom were driven to it by failure in their. school examinations or overwork at school. An inquest was recently held on the child of a man .employed by tlie Lewisham Borough Council. Tho mothor dreamt that tho child was dead. Tho husband said his wife told him'-of this two hours after her dream, and on taking up the child ho found it lifeless. ' • . The alleged increase in insanity in. England and Wales, Dr. Noel A. Humphreys considers not accurate, tho apparent,increase being explained by the changes in the degree and nature of mental unsoundness for which asylum treatment is thought, necessary. A Norwegian explorer is preparing for a new. Polar expedition, and intends using Polar bears . instead ;of dogs to draw Ilia sledge. He says the Polar bear is quick to loariij and as faithful as a dog, _ J