SCIENCE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 73

SCIENCE NOTES.

—“ Taking the Meter ” by Photo. —

Gas meters in Now York hereafter will bo read by photograph. Meter-readers employed by the gas company will be equipped with small cameras which fit over the indicator of the meter. By pressing a button light is thrown on the dial and' exposure made showing the amount of gas consumed since last photograph. These photos are to bo kept on tile by the company for the confutation of people who object to the size ol the bill. —A Combined Knife and .Fork. — A novelty which will appeal to those who have suffered the deprivation of one arm is a combined knife and fork, which has been placed upon the market recently. The knife-blade, instead of being straight as m the ordinary utensil, is curved at its lower end to terminate in four prongs similar to the conventional fork. The outer curve of the bend is given a sharp edge to serve as the knife, and the curve is designed to facilitate cutting. The utensil requires only a partial turn of the hand to convert it into a fork. —Paper Uniforms. — Both Japanese and Russian soldiers are wearing paper clothes. “Kamiko,” as paper clothing is called in Japan, is made of the real Japanese paper manufactured from mulberry bark. The paper has little “size” in it, and, though soft and warm, a thin layer of silk wadding is placed between two sheets of the paper and the whole is quilted Japanese soldiers realised the value of this kind of clothing when they had to weather a Siberian winter, but. .ts only drawback is that it is not washable. A company In Yokohama is supplying large quantities of paper shirts to the Russian army. They state, says the American Con-sul-general at Yokohama, that paper clothes are extensively manufactured in Japan. Ihe garment sold by the firm is made of tough, soft fabric, strong enough to hold buttons sown on in the ordinary way, and appears to be very serviceable. —German Hospital Records.—• A German official report dealing with the results of the treatment of wounded soldiers in German “homo” hospitals during the first nine months of the war shows that 88.5 per cent, were returned as fit for service, 9.6 per cent. w r ere unfit or on furlough, and 1.9 per cent. died. Since the first month of the war, when 84.8 per cent, of the wounded soldiers were classified as fit for service after treatment, 12.2 per cent, as unfit, and 3 per cent, died, the percentage of fit for service increased steadily, and the mortality percentage decreased until the month of April this year 91.2 percent were returned as fit for service, 7.4 fer cent, as unfit, and 1.4 per cent, died, n the Franco-Prussian war the statistics based on the reports of all hospitals abroad ns well as at home shows that 83.93 per cent, were returned to the front fit for service, whereas 11.07 per cent. died. —A Bullet-proof Stretcher.— Fighting conditions have become so strenuous in the war zone that there is no certainty tv hen or where hospital attendants or Red Cross men will be given immunity from attack when performing their duties of rescuing the wounded, and this is especially the case when working between the lines of opposing trenches, for the everpresent “sniper” :s always on the look-out for a victim. To meet these conditions a bullet-proof stretcher cover has been invented, which appears to meet the conditions perfectly. This consists of a long metal shield, arched at the top, and high enough to enable the attendants to stand upright within. At the front end the shield is rounded and sloped backwards to deflect bullets, and two “eyes” are provided, through which the attendants can see to direct their course and locate the wounded. The whole contrivance is mounted on four wheels, and is provided with arrangements for supporting a stretcher. With this contrivance two hospital attendants can make their way in safety over a field exposed to rifle fire, and, after rolling the shield over a wounded soldier, he is placed on the stretcher, when a retreat is made to a place of safety. —Ancient Anaesthetics.— To suppose that the surgical use of anajsthetics, either general or local, is peculiar to modern times is a popular fallacy. Dr J. de Fenton, in the South African Journal of Science, points out that various anaesthetising media and methods were, in fact, well known both in antiquity and during the Middle Ages. Homer mentions the anassthetic effects of nepenthe; Herodotus states that the Scythians obtained similar effects from the vapours of hemp, produced by throwing hemp seed on hot stones. A Chinese physician of the third century b.c. gave his patients a preparation of hemp to make them insensible during surgical operations. Tbe most important anaesthetic of ancient and mediaeval times was, however, wine of mandragora, the use of which is mentioned by a great number of early writers, and is referred to by Shakespeare. More recently, in the year 1760, the German surgeon Weiss, bettor known as Albinas, amputated the foot of Augustus 111, King of Poland, while under the influence of mandragora. Two other anaesthetising agencies were employed' in very early times —viz., arterial compression and hypnotism. It is said that the ancient Assyrians produced a lethargic state by compression of the carotid artery before performing the operation of circumcision. —A New Wine Discovery.— The American Department of Agriculture announces that there has been discovered at Washington a method for concentrating grape juice, which promises, to bo the greatest discovery in the wine industry since Pasteur discovered the method of preserving light wines for the French Govcrmracnt. This now method is altogether novel, as it consists not in boiling down the juice, but in freezing the juice. The ioe is then cracked into small pieces sluJ H;hirled in a centrifugal machine; by

this means all the sugar and thick syrup is separated from the ice, which is almost pure water. By this means a gallon of the syrup is reduced to one quart. A peculiar phenomenon incident to this process is the fact that the cream of tartar crystallises out with the ice and makes the acidity of the juice much less than normal. This, is particularly true of tho Concord grape juice, which has a large percentage of tartar in it. This new method of freezing the juices to concentrate them preserves in a wonderful degree tho natural purple colour of the juice and makes the drink very much more beautiful in its rich purple appearance and more sparkling. When the concentrated juice is sterilised afterward *by heating it Keeps indefinitely as a thick syrup. It can bo used at soda fountains, as flavourings for cookery and other dietary purposes. The Government hopes to exploit this latest discovery on a commercial basis this year, as it promises not only to give a fine quality of goods from the best grapes, but also tho freezing method takes out the “rough” tasto of many cheaper grades and gives a very fine article from the cheaper and coarser varieties.