RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 195, 15 May 1936, Page 10

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current Events (By Kickshaws.) We seem to have entered a political era of billing and “ooing.”* Those British budget secrets, it is declared, must have leaked through the cabinet. Perhaps one of the party planks got loose. » » ♦ Japan declares that her hand has been forced as regards armaments. Moreover, if she is to keep up with Britain and America she will require a leg up. t » “It would oblige me greatly if, from your inexhaustible sources of knowledge. you would settle a small wager. I maintain that, in the days of gladiatorial combats, ‘Thumbs up,’ meant ‘Let him be killed’; my friends, that it meant ‘Spare him.’ We are prepared to abide by your decision,” says “Sir Ingoldsby Bray.” [When a gladiator was vanquished it rested with the spectators to decide whether he should be slain or spared. They “shut up” their thumbs in their fists if they wished his life to be spared. If they wished him to be slain they “turned out” their thumbs. Our saying “thumbs up” expresses popular approval.] * * * The comment on the part of an English newspaper “stands Scotland where she did?” regarding the setting of a time limit of 20 minutes a day in a certain part of London for bagpipe practice, is a half-truth. For some reason or other, it is always taken for granted that the bagpipes and Scotland are one and the same. It must be admitted that for some curious reason the Scots are pecul'arly impressed by the skirl of this musical instrument. That does not make the musical instrument Scottish. The real truth is that the bagpipes are not Scottish at all. Scotland is not the home of this peculiar instrument, although it may have been a Scotsman who first Inserted the word “musical” in front of it. Bagpipes were in existence before Scotland was Scotland. Some say they were imported from Ireland. Be that as it may, bagpipes did not originate in Ireland. The canny Irish merely passed on the “noise” to the Scots, with whom they were not particularly friendly at the time.

Just who was the first man to invent the bagpipes is mercifully shrouded In mystery. All that is known is that bagpipes can be traced to ancient Persia over 100 centuries before the birth of Christ. The ancient Egyptians played them before the Scots and the Picts were introduced to one another It w:ll be seen, therefore, that the skirl of the pipes is by no means peculiar to Scotland. No doubt Alexander the Great had his bagpipes, but we do not know just how particular this monarch was about his music. At any rate flterra cotta figure dug up near Susa, represented musicians busy with the bagpipes. This figure has been identified with the eighth century before Christ. This indicates that long before Scotland stood where she did her bagpipes were standing whore they don’t now. Some musical experts declare that Daniel’s dulcimer was no more than a set of bagpipes. Others insist that Nero used to coax music out of bagpipes. By the year A.D. 100 Greek shepherds had adopted the bagpipes. To this day. it is a fact that sheep respond to this form of music. If blame "must be apportioned for the introduction of the bagpipes to Brita'n, well then, we must blame the Romans. They even instituted bagpipe colleges of music. *

The two photographs iu “The Dominion” yesterday of Lambton Quay before and after the new lighting system was installed are interesting as a guide. Before one could make scientific comparisons from the point of view of a human eye, all manner of factors would have to be taken into consideration. Snapshotters may be interested to know that neither the camera lens nor the sensitive surface of the film or P late sees eye to e ' e with the human eye. The camera may never lie, but it often sees things from a different point of view. This does not mean that the two photographs in question do not afford a comparison. Actually, when using panchromatic plates a mercury vapour lamp, candle power for candle power, has less effect than a half-watt bulb. The sensitive surface of a film is affected in varying degrees by certain portions of the spectrum. The spectrum consists of violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. When these colours are mixed together they give us white light. On the mixture depends the effect of the light on a photographic plate. Some plates are insensitive to orange and over sensitive to violet. The eye, on the other hand, is not so particular.

The art of photographing objects lias reached such a stage these days that it is possible to photograph the invisible. It is quite possible to take photographs through clouds with the aid of special films and special light filters. One can go one better and take photographs with light rays that are completely invisible to the human eye. It is a fact that photographic films may be prepared that are capable of taking a photograph by the “light” emitted from the family hot-iron. This light is quite invisible to the human eye. It will be seen, therefore, that when comparisons are made between what the eye sees and what the camera depicts, one has to know quite a lot about the details before it is possible to say if the comparisons are scientifically comparable. Indeed, by the use of special films it is possible to photograph beauty that is more than surface deep One can thereby discover all manner of interesting facts regarding the family tree. « » •

“I have been told that it is dangerous to health to li v e where there are many brees growing in close proximir? to a house—that they take much oxygen out of the air.” writes “Anxious.” “If this is a fact, would you kindly say in what way health may be affected? Might this be the cause cf heart weakness, anaemia and general debility? I have lieen told of two cases of serious ill-health where the trees near the house li:i<l to be removed, and it has made me tbuik. [Trees do not take oxygen out ot the air: they put it back iuto the ait, theie bv making it fit again for animals to breathe. Trees too close to a bouse are however, usually not healthy. They shut off Mie light and sun, they keep the around damp, and the continual drip causes decay. The dampness brings human ills connected with it such as rheumatism and the attendant heart troubles caused by it It is wise to remove trees that overshadow a house, but in the case of old trees one bus not always the heart.]