CANCER SCOURGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21473, 22 April 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)

CANCER SCOURGE

REVIEW BY BIOLOGIST Cancer and its treatment was the subject of a recent lecture at Manchester by Dr. Anthony J. Capper Magian, chairman of the Biological Association. Present-day civilisation, he said, had nothing to do with cancer, which was no new disease; it had been known for a 1000 years before the birth of Christ, and had continued throughout the whole history of the civilised world. The lecturer said they were getting towards a solution of the mystery, and before long they should arrive at a solution which would enable them to do without many of the operative proceedings to-day, and very likely radium also. But lie had nothing to state at the moment; the thing was a sort of puzzle. They know something about one section of the question, and about another they had information from various sources, and they tried to piece the thing together. The time would come when all these pieces would fit together and they would solve the difficulty. Remarking that cancer was not contagious or infectious, nor could a person bo inoculated for it, Dr. Magian stated that on a certain occasion there were a number of specimens of cancerous growths assembled on a laboratory table. A hungry dog got into the laboratory and ato the lot, but nothing happened to the dog except that he got fat and seemed to like the place. Dr. Magian said he was inclined to believe that before long they should probably be able to dispense altogether with the surgery and even the X-ray appliances and go back to Bome method of injection. He was convinced that was the probable future treatment of cancer. " Wo cannot consider at the present day," continued Dr. Magian, _ " that radium is a cure for cancer. It is a help in the treatment of cancer, but there is scarcely any man bold enough to say that a surgeon or physican may treat a caso with radium alone. At the present day we have a combination of medical treatment, surgical operation, and radium. It is practically the best we can hope for."

NOISES OF TRAFFIC City dwellers are said to be growing deaf rapidly, losing the finer shades of hearing. Unless noise abatement is put into effect soon, they will some day be able to hear only loud aud harsh sounds, like those produced by subway and elevated trains, tram cars and motor trucks is the view of Dr. William Braid White, acoustical engineer of the American Steel and Wire Co., who has found that daily riders of the subway trains are losing their sense of hearing, in so far as the finer tones are concerned. Subway trains produce more noise than any other feature of the modern city, Dr. White's tests show, while the commercial truck in poor condition adds greatly to the din of street travel. Flat wheels on subway and elevated trains and street cars increase the din. In order to save future generations from partial deafness, Dr. White says, sound insulation must bo used. By insulating tracks from concrete, by lining subway tunnel walls with sound-absorbing materials and by keeping rolling stock in better condition, transportation companies might be able to reduce subway noises by as much as 70 per cent. The trackless trolley, with its rubber tyres, is meeting the demand for quiet street cars. Introduction of the rubber-tyred coach on American railroads is another 6tep toward silent travel, eliminating the rumbling and pounding of heavy train wheels on steel rails, and the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board is experimenting with loose metal for rail foundations. HEIGHT OF CHILDREN Dr. Bowles, of Harvard University, has reached a conclusion that the youngest child in a family is taller and mentally brighter than the rest after 18,000 measurements had been made. Dr. Bowles says that the more advanced a student is physically, the more advanced he is likely to be mentally. His measurements show that the present Harvard men are the tallest in the world, excepting the Saras of Africa. They are sft. 10in., exceeding their fathers by an average of one and onethird inches. College girls outclass their mothers, weighing 7ilb. more and averaging one-tenth of an inch taller.