CHEMISTS' RESEARCH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21640, 4 November 1933, Page 8 (Supplement)

CHEMISTS' RESEARCH

INTERESTING RESULTS

Anions the many interesting features of* the recent chemists' exhibition in London, there are some which are of world-wide importance. Research students hare been more assiduously at work, and the result of their labours is finding expression in certain valuable preparations, says the London correspondent of the Herald. In recent years it has been proved that thero is" 60 times the quantity of vitamin A in halibut oil as compared with cod liver oil, but the quantity of vitamin 1) is le>s. A preparation has, therefore, been inado ot halibut od, which is 60 times more powerful than the old mixtures of codliver oil, the vitamin 1) content being added from another source. Two drops of the oil are equal in their effect to a teaspoonful of cod oil. One di*op in a glass of milk is tasteless, and a child taking the preparation need not know ho is doing it. Although the halibut is a rarer fish than the cod the price of the preparation, when the difference in doses is taken into consideration, is no more than that of cod oil. Considerable attention lias been given to a new tonic, which is claimed to be a revitalising treatment for organic deficiency and the rejuvenation of dormant tissues. The preparation owes its origin to the work of an Italian professor and represents some 20 years' research. There is no secret made of the formula which is given in detail. The three metals —gold, platinum, and palladium—form the basis of the treatment, but these are in colloidal solution form, and easily assimilable, and because of this the medicinal value of other components contained in the preparation, such as iron, iodine, phosphorus, and formic acid, is greatly increased. It is claimed that the tonic effect of this preparation and the healthy flow of blood reacts on the whole body and removes a variety of ailments.

EMOTIONAL ELECTRICITY The human body is generating sufficient electricity to run a small train, states a contributor to the News Chronicle. Sceptical people could test this statement on a machine exhibited at the Model Engineer Exhibition held at. Westminster recently. This machine, which is called a radio-teleeontrollor', was invented by Major Raymond Phillips,, of Warwickshire. All the " subject " has to do is to hold two metal, tubes. The machine does the rest. There are no shocks. The amount of electricity one generates is registered on a meter. This indicates the subject's supply of nervous energy. Temporary or permanent exhaustion will send the figures down to 00. Keen emotion can send it up to 130. The average is between 70 and 100. Energy that is very pronounced rings a loud bell. Major Phillips says he thinks this machine should be of use to the medical profession.

MEN OF THIRTY A. new theory to which he gives the name of the " thirty-fifty man," is advanced by Sir Ernest Benn in a book entitled " This Soft Age." In searching for an explanation of the -weakness as he sees it in modern life, especially in public affairs, the author finds that the shortage of men between thirty and fifty-years of age since the war lias corresponded with the stages \of the economic depression, year by year, to a striking degree. It is suggested that the real work of the world falls on those in this 'category, and statistics show that 19.'}3 is the first post-war year in which the population contains a normal proportion of men of thirty who are completely free from the handicaps suffered by those who went through the 1914-1918 period. ELECTROCUTION OF INSECTS A Viennese, Dominik Fillier, has perfected two inventions for electrocuting insects on a large scale. The inventions will be invaluable in the tropics. The first is the creation in parts of a mosquito net of an electric field which is harmless to animals and mankind and uses practically no current, yet. instantly kills every insect which comes in contact with it. The second invention is one to attract and electrocute the insects in the open. As it is usually the males which enter houses, this apparatus will do special execution among the females.