CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 13935, 18 December 1905, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

CURIOSITIES OF THE SENSES.

Quit© recently an Engfc lish medical authority gave an interesting account of some conclu-

sions reached by physicians concerning the remarkable, though not unfamiliar phenomenon known as “ snyoasthesia,” the association of one sensation with another of a different kind. One of the most common .examples is the shivering sensation felt by many persons on hearing the squeak of a pencil drawn across a slate. Others have their teeth put on eelge by the filing of a saw. Such sensations are described as “ sound-feeling.” Colourhearing, or sound-seeing as it is sometimes called, is a rarer form of'eyasesthesia. It consists in‘the association of colour, with some definite sound. These colour sensations are constant in the same person, but vary considerably in different individuals. For example, the sound of the vowel “a ” may be red to one person, blue to another, and black to a third. "When light, instead of colour, is associated with sound, the phenomenon is known as “phqtism.” On the other hand, when a colour or some definite image suggests, a sound, .the condition is termed “ phonism.” A singular case is recorded of a clergyman who, with his three children, was affeoted in this manner. Since ' early childhood the father had associated the sound of each letter of the alphabet with a certain colour. The letters f, j, k, r and x for instance, were reddishbrown ; o and c were white, a, d, n, s, q and u were transparent. The remaining letters were of a. dull . lead colour, shading down to black. Whole words received a dominant colour from their capital letters. . When a child he was laughed at because ho asked why a certain bay horse was given “ the whit© name of Charlie.” In the case of one of his daughters, who was musical, .the higher tones were of light colour, the deeper ones dark, - the deepest black, on whatever instrument they were sounded. For some persons the combined tones of an orchestra have permanent colour correspondences. Thus, for one listener, th© prelude to Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” is prevailingly orange in colour, and a well-known woman musician says that she always sees the “ Rheiugold ” prelude, which might reasonably suggest the green ’ of deep waters, as of a rich purple colour. The theory is an interesting one even to the unsentimental layman, but the popular conviction will. probably hold that the individual temperament .and the power of suggestion have ’more to do with the allotment of such sense convictions than any more arbitrary

reason. America is the home

MILLIONS FKOM MAKS.

of strange enterprises in the matter of company floating, and it has been

stated that more than one famous •American millionaire owes the foundation of Ms fortunes ' to' the celerity with which ho has sold out of his own companies. The public, however, has a never-failing fountain of hope within its capacious breast, and a glowing circular headed, “ Millions from Mars,” is stated to b© producing a golden harvest for some company promoters in Arizona. These gentlemen an nounop; that they have joined together to usr earth a buried meteor alleged to oo'itain precious metals to the value c£i, about £2,500,000. The meteor feJ* many years ago near a settlement named Holbrooke. It was so large and struck the earth with such terrific force that it scooped a ravin© threequarters of a mile long and 600 ft wide before finally burying itself deep in the earth. Fragments of the meteor were scattered in all directions by tho shock of impact, and some of these fragments, according to the company promoters, have been found by oompo-

tent assayists to contain gold, silver and load in considerable quantities. They therefore ask the financial assistance of the pubuc in digging up and smelting the meteor, and promise fortunes to those lucky enough to secure shares in the enterprise. Their estimate of value is purely theoretical, being based on the quantities of metal found in the fragments and the reputed relation of the fragments to the computed size of the whole mass. The meteor has never been seen by human eyes, as it buried' itself deep in the earth, but the optimists who are forming the company express themselves entirely confident of their ability to remove it from its present restingplace to the smelting furnace. Tno gentlemen assert with bland confidence that the rock upon which they base their hopes came originally from Man?, and quote scientists in support of their statement. The grounds for their belief are not given. It seems hardly likely that the enterprise will ever reach a practical stage, but if it should, the meteor will probably be found to be composed of iron ore.

New Zealand is havX mission to ing a multitude of oomkew Zealand, plimonts paid her by more or less important people. At the moment it is tho quality of our football that chiefly impresses Great Britain, but on the other side of the,Atlantic the interest is still in our politics. We have had a number of journalists—and other people—among us studying our legislation, and still they come. The latest “man with a mission ” is a representative of “Everybody’s Magazine.” Tho magazine has made a name for itself this year by reason of its attacks upon American trusts and financial methods. It has published Mr Lawson’s articles on “ Frenzied Finance,” and a series of very vivid articles by Mr Charles Edward Rueaell, on the Beef Trust. Mr Russell is to bo the missionary to New Zealand. In an introductory article he explains that tho ultimate purpose of the magazine is not only to attack rotten institutions, but also to find an equitable solution of the perplexing economic problem. It aims not at an equal distribution of wealth, but at what President Roosevelt has forcefully described as “ a square deal ” for every man, and what we should call more politely equality of opportunity. Mr Russell does not despair of finding the solution. Ho knows a place, indeed, where, the solution is actually in operation, and Mr Russell is coming to New. Zealand to see it for himself. Wo hope that he is not building his hopes too high. “I am to tell,” he says, “.how New Zealand has contended with our problems and what kind of answer she has found for them in a system by which the Government owns and operates -railroads, telegraphs, telephones, banks, insurances; how it prevents strikes by compulsory arbitration, helps workmen to find employment, and conducts a paternal supervision of every citizen from the cradle to tho grave. I am to tell what has come of this, and what life is like in a country where there are no strikes, no lockouts, no contests between labour and capital, no very rich men, none very poor, no disturbances, no riots, no raucous polities, no 'pulls,’ no jobs, no trusts, no "Wall no Standard Oil, no Ogden Armour, no unpunished crime, no bribery,, no grafting, nothing to fight about and nothing to do but to live and die. The condition of New Zealand has been hold up as tho ideal and ultimate state to which all modern progress inevitably tends.” Mr Russell’s anticipation is all very bright and attractive, but it would have been bettor for us and for him if he had said nothing till he arrived.