SCIENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 183, 28 April 1908, Page 11

SCIENCE NOTES.

' v A BABOON COMMITS SUICIDE. . ; .'Malali,- a big Indian baboon, died threo weeks ago from a broken heart-oauscd by the suicide of( hi 3 - mate. 'Tho pair; wpre on tho steajnsfup .Gordon Castle," winch ran into q -' November 9, ■'-sovcral.-waterspoiits -were seen .circling around th 4 shiji. Shots from a small cannon < demolished .all but three, when Jennie, who. had been cowering m a corner over sinco, tho '' ; . Rjwuts :Wore ' sighted,: suddenly ,gay<* a shrill ecream and, plunged,; overboard. ;'After- tho . galo-was ov'sr and,y t thq ship safe, t it lvas no- '. tiCed. that.Malah .sulky; .. He refused to eat, grew savage,,and finally, on Nm ember 15, died. "It was tho plainest case of broken heart. I over saw,',' said Mr. Lcbocq, the owner. DISAGREEABLE-- EXPRESSION: CURED, i r l^^'Mey: are. continually twitching. . ' t,K6ir-features. under . the' play,: of tho.' slightest emotions, lind:tho muscles so. contracted.may; -te timo.'become pormansntly shortened, giving ft fixed expression to tho face. Thus, we hayo agroup of .musclos .which advanco .tho lower lip m tho conti:e,::ai)d are frequently broughti . '. .into • action-,.particularly when thero is a feel-; ing of moro or less despondency. This advaneoqftho.,lower lip :is.; acoompanied'by a :. slighi ;i»nt¥aet'ion' of-cortain muscles, so that the corners of : tho mouth-turn downward, giving . the ■ appearance- of sadness. This display, of emotion bccomes'a. habit, the features are 'drawn out of ■ shape, -by tho over-use-of the muscles,. so_ that finally tho angles of ; the l mojitli' aro .'deflected,- 'whether, the .'person be sat} or glad, -- A -well-known foreign-, • the muscle?, used to excess.*-"Scicnce Sittings., COLDEST 'AND WARMEST The : remarkable" statement 'Was recently made: bjy Professor-Hergeselly* of -Strasburg Univarsityi'; : at; a- 'meeting foil scicritists ;' that tho atmosphere. is. war'mest.'above the, poks and coldc-6t .-over: tho .equator. '■ His experiments ,were<m4de with:.unmanned-.balloons m July, and m -various/ latitudes,, Balloons, . whlclvreaohod-altitudea of-.12i-nnles-in the tropics, wero found to have registered 140 , degrees below zero,' Fahrenheit, while in tho -".'latitude' of Centrak-Europe the temppraturo v was 76 to 85 belo.w-at'.th.o Earae height. Ano- : , ther ,faot'.that : the- ( -Prdfessor.';plaims to have '~; Rstablishofl ia' tliatvtlio greatest cold of tho ■ ■ : ■ tipper ■ ntmosphere is reached at from six to . six.' miloV.and three-quarters, varying, somewhat iiii :• differeiifa,- localities. . ( Abovo • that height; Contrary j<o tho previous-belief of scientisfcs, tho air actually,'grows warmer.'PREVENTION OF DISEASE ; ' :^The: twenfy.-fifth 'annual ' dinner 'of the -Sanitary Inspectors'-Association was held at tho . Hotel Cecil, London, recently, . Sir . James. Orichton-Browni!', the president, • said that . sanitary inspection,: however• coerr . f cive! it;:/might r v superficially, appear,,> was really; contributory to personal liberty, and made forfa'Ander freedom. Its mission: was. not-,to, eilSldVfl, -but- to omancipaie. AVo saw; ; r. : aroundius'^thousands'bf:stunted," debilitated, r - . c'achepti6;.beihg3 in the thraldom of degenera-. , changes .due to-proventible-disease, who. i might' hax'o bben -.enjoying' tho glorious lih-: 'erty'of ''health, had 'tliero been'adequafo ''iii- ; : spection in bygono times.- Disease was a • public nuisance. , There .would come a timo, ' ;.. rio'::doubi;3vheri their- 'occupation,Vlik'o;.that>'pf • Othello,' ,wonld>."bo4 gone, vwhenr-. every, man,. , and child, would. bo deeply. imbued . with sound i sanitary j. prmciples..v i ln. -tho-. ; -' m&nitinia '.and. .'fojt&'wjtdte-' rator were .-still,.Qiigaged devouring thatdofenfiekss. lamb,Vths'British, public. Infant mortality was engaging. serious attention, ..: . arid'(Well -:it;might,when -they, found,■ for, ex-; :/ahiplej;; t .that 'in Shbreditcli; of.;overy;,1000: ill-, fants 163. perished Within the, first year. : of .lifo;- while: ui 'Hainpstead,- of'-.every. :1000' born, only 77 passed away in tho samoptSribd. He.idid..HptVßu^est? ; that^tho';hugo'••infant: 'jrith'' • : r aJtogthdr -due.--to. - silutary ■ ■ - defectSj: Overcrowding,-, niatdrndr. neglect; bad' and insufficient feodmg; but lie was sure . . that the infant: mortality oT Shoreditth might. ;beW' enc^busly^reducieUby''- 'improved - housing, imnroved • mothennn:,. and' - nnproved. -, milk. ;supply: ' Tho, milk , s^PP'y.' '"as , a- ' question-: of' paramount importance,' on which* we' 'were- to have' login-'-', I'si^sKri^snS' not'- a i minute too" r soon,v.when'-ono found Di'.- Rob- : ort»n, lt tho.'medica)..ofn9(!r. of health-for .'Bir'V. mingham/i^epprtljig' ; that : li' per cent;,, of the ■ iriilk'.sent 'into. Birriiingham was infected with ' tho^living-^er^sfof^tTiberciilosisl'v;^;:■; i"^}: 'THE. EIRST OPERATION FOR " . ■'APPENDIGI-TIS, '•"Thev.qfiestioir^is',oftep-,asked," says -tho•■ ' the .first 'operation for •; appendicitisr-performed? .-We have boon _ asked it almost . oXficLly in -' these -words. . The .. .answer j mu§tV „depend' greatly on ....... what is meant-by'operations for appendicitis Ifj 'we; may liflqlude.;: among : such . ; operations ■ •; .the. eyacuationyof:an': abscoss': resulting 'from '' ; an attack of appendicitis wo must go back a! very long way indeed Doubtless -many ■. Buch absccases were opraed ages before any ... record of ..such operatioris'waS':']tiado.''':Han",.■>:.cock.'.in;,;lß4B incised an appendix abscess before fluctuation could be felt;. Kronloin in ; 1884.-. removed a perforated appehdix-'but 'the . ..• pat!e.nt, -died; and-.Morton' in 1887.; had the first' successful case of, appendicectom}-." WHEN TnE WORLD ...WILL BE OVERPOPULATED. , Siftings").. ™bojFcrtilo lands of.the clobo amount to W a ro miles,, "the steppes 'to . 14,000,000, and the deserts to Fixing 207 persons to tho square mile for ; fertile, lands,,, ten,, forsteooes , and - one"- for 1 -.. deserts;. as : th*e greatest population that 'tho' earth could .possibly,nounsh,'.sClentists'have " arrived :'at,' the conclusion .that -when ''tho number v of>.inhabitants ; 'reaches'.six''bill'ions' ' the-.earth,will .boDeopled.fq/itß.full.capacit.v., l At present it;-c6ritains:tsom6what s 'more:tha!v ' . . - one-quarter -of. that number. •; If: the rate of inpreasi s_hown.,by the latest census statistics should be 1 uniformly ;maintiiincd. the globe ' . «'ould .bo fpllyspeopled about the year 2072. 1 ■ The, year..after it will, .of course, be overpopulated. JEALOUSY SIMPLY,A, DISEASE.. . A -Paris physician',Dr.,-Mairet,-has' formulated tho. 'stjjtling-; theory'"that- jealousy. ■ js/simply-a-physiological; disease. He'says - it ouglit -to be treated' like other ailments 7 ■ ; medically,-:and.>that- if .so .dealt with ' it can' be j cured. w v , He" considers" there "are three' ' forms of ; jealousy—first, jealous hyperaesthema- Or excessive , morbid; excitement of tho ' sentiments-,with deep feeling: of uneasi- • ness. Sedond, jealous monomania, which is- , ~. closely ,akin'"to a'.meiital malady, since itfrequently; engendors !a,feeling .'in'; the 'af-i • . fli(ited person that lie or she "is being per- '■ . Becuted. --Thirdly, jealous madness, or-the. last and. acute stago of jealous nyporaesthenia, .which should be treated as a form ' 'of •; madness. The doctor's opinion is that - sufferers"-:from acute'jealousy' should be' treated by'df-Jly >nd . frequent .'cold douches. ' He; lias it to be a -valuable' dreat-' ■ . nitfiit, fluently - bringing a: complete- cure,, snd nearly..: always ( a', great alleviation.:' r J!. lj] PLANET MARS.' i -~ .Lrnyell, the, chief astronomer at' i'laßbtall -Obsorvatory, Arizona, who is-one of v -tli6 principal authorities: on the .planet Mars," recently reported another discovery of; - tho;,. greatest importance. Professor Lowell is. one of the astronomers who bei lieves that tho Martian "canals" are not optical illusions, but, artificial worts, and his study of these canals,' from a temporary observatory in -South America last year, ■ strengthened,his .belief that animal and other life' may exist on tlie planet. One of the objections to the "canal" theory has been the apparent absence - of : " water v'apour'-from the atmosphere of ,Mars. Since returning to. Flagstaff,.'ProfesßOr 'Lowell..has,,:beeri. : study4 . ing, Mars hvith' a"' sp'ecially-conijtructed "spec-' .troscope, and he now claims "that he has succeeded -in ; demonstrating the" prese'neo of water.vapour, though;iti : small proportions. - Professor Lowell received: the Janssen medal from the.Fronch Astronomical Society in 1904 for his researches on Mars..