TOPICS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4260, 21 January 1901, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

TllF. MTD OF A KATITO. The only merit in the paper lie read rn the bite of the kalipo. at last meeting of the Philosophical Society. Dr r. v,)l ' \i vy modestly 'claim* d, lay in the mec that as fa • as lie could ascertain, n) account had over been given of the exact- effects of such a bite. Os \- vembev 23th last a mar, came_ to him from Pctou.i suffering from a cite limn kalipo spider. He had been collecting driftwood on the beach, when he. fell a sudden sharp pain in the hack <d Id.-- left hand. On looking, be di-lev-ered a red spider making its cscriin-. Mo killed ii. handing the remains', which he had preserve-!, to the doctor. I Imre was no doubt about the animal, it wns a genuine katipn. 'She patient, aged cighte.cn. whom the doctor saw three h-H.r-s after the accident. staggered into the consulting room, shortly afterwards fainting. On examining the hand. the doctor found acute inflammation of the sulk tissues spreading up into tlm forearm. The lymphatics up the arm on til v exttjior’ surface wore rod, ami standing ( v.t like- cords as far as the dhow. The giands at the end of the elbow wen; enlarged, aud very painful. Tim exilianglands were painful but. not enlarged. The interesting part of the case _ was the general condition of (ho patient. He had come in by train from Petenc. and had been driven loathe house. Tim heart’s action was feeble in the extreme. the pupils of the eye were dilated and acted badly to light and r.eeemmodation. There was some involuntary muscular twitching, chickv in the face. The man felt- sick, am. his tongue was dirty. His temperature was 101 degrees. Visiting the patient an Insnr later, Dr Fyffc found that the inflammation had increased, and the patient was delirious, with a temperature of 1,03 degrees. The. symptoms gradually abated, and the patient thereafter made an uninterrupted recovery.. Had ‘he man used a knife freely When bitten, and suckeij the wound, ho- would! probably have escaped with little trouble, but instead ot doing so. bo loft the bile alone. Vim effe.-t; was not unlike that of a scorpion's sting, though not by any means so severe. Tim poison was an irritant of a very powerful order, having a general as well ns a local effect. Dr . Fyffc concluded his pap' •• with some interesting remarks on the possibility of denture alhnmose (found also in snake poison) being a factor in the spider's poison.

STEAM v. ELECTRICITY. At a. recent meeting of the London Institution of Electrical Engineers, Mr W. Langdon, vice-president, read a paper on “The Supersession of the Steam by the Electric Locomotive.” The process of supersession, Mr Langdon said, resolved itself primarily into a question of profit and: Joss. If its adoption would enable railways to bo worked more economically than under steam, then it would, with its attendant advantages, sooner or later, bo adopted. For the purpose of illustration, Mr Langdon took that portion of tho Midland Company's line between London (St. Paneras) and Bedford, emitting the .suburban and local traffic applicable to tho Metropolitan and Tottenham lines. Tim length of railway m this section is practically fifty miles, and £470,000 was given as am estimate of tho prime cost for generation and distribution of current in an electric system. Tito cost of working the section of lino mentioned by electricity as against that of tho steam locomotive wan given as 7.021 to 8.943 pence per train, per mile, being mi apparent saving of 1.922 pence per train per mile, or £260,155 on tho average yearly cost for the twenty-four years from 1873 to 1896. The fact that dear coal enhanced the comparative value of our electrical system—especially with the possibility of coal at a higher rate than 7s 11-id —could not bo too strongly emphasised. Taking all economics into consideration, he estimated the net annual advantage in tho case under consideration, at approximately £208,124, or deducting interest on the primary outlay, £191,674. And to sum up, the supersession of' tho steam locomotive by the electric locomotive would bring with it a purer and a more cleanly atmosphere, cleanly railway stations, cleanly railway carriages, and a higher and purer sanitary condition of life.