Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, WED., MARCH 23, 1927. THE SPAN OF LIFE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16297, 23 March 1927, Page 6

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, WED., MARCH 23, 1927. THE SPAN OF LIFE

Although instances such as that quoted in our cable news of a fewdays ago of the ancient Turk who at the age of 154, having survived eleven wives, declares himself to be happy ami still desiring to live on, or •oflho Turkish lady who has beaten this record and reached ,the ripe old ago of .100, arc certainly rare, it must have struck many of our readers that one hears a good deal more of centenarians in these days' than was usual a decade or two ago. Eminent physicians and statisticians declare that the span of life is lengthening, and insurance companies must certainly be gaining by the increased percentage of the instiled who pass well beyond the allotted span of life. If the visions of Dr. Seige Vcronoff, the ominenjt Paris surgeon, are given realisation it may be necessary before long for the-e companies to radically revise their rates. Dr. Voronoff conjures up in a 'remarkable interview with an English newspaper a picture of a world peopled by a race of supermen, great in intellect and strength, all made, possible by the strides of medic il science. Progress of scientific knowledge, he says, has advanced 'so Par that fifty years hence human beings should live twice .the normal span, while a backward child may be tur.ie.d into a genius by the simple operation of grafting glands from monkeys.'' "I look into Ihe future," he asserted, "and see clearly the possibility of a race of supermen, rich in thought, strength and intelligence. •'' This, as may be thought, is not the idle boasting of a medical quack, but the calculated statement of a man cf science, whose experiments along the line of medical research loading to prolongation of life, and the greater development of human kind have been so successful that the French Government has secured for him the Castle Grimaldi, with its extensive and beautiful park set high on the hills above Mentone. to enable him to carry on his work. The French Government has also spent large sums in purchasing for Dr. Voronoff monkeys with which to carry out his experiments. "The salvation of the human face," says Voronoff, "will come from monkeys. A monkey i.s very very near to the human race. Put a drop of monkey's blood under a microscope nnd nobody can tell whether the blood is that of a monkey or of a man. In the time of the ancient Romans we should most probably have used slaves as subjects from whom we should have removed glands necessary to The Well-being of human beings, but as there are no slaves wo must use monkeys." Tt: is noteworthy that no monkey gland grafting operation has ever been performed in England because of the vivisection law, but in Franco there is no bar. In England," remarked Dr. Voronoff, with a smile, "a man may give any part of his body, but an animal must not; in France no man may give any part of his body, because according to the Napoleonic code a human body is the property of the State. Science," he went on to say, "has advanced so far that wo know the human body is like a piano, and by adding or extracting glands we can achieve any effect we desire. In fifty years' timo there is no rpnson at all why we should not be able to double the normal span of human life. I look into . ,fho future nnd see clearly the possibility of a race of supermen. It is nil very Well grafting glands from monkeys on aged human beings. That

sets the clock back; but if we reverse the process and graft glaiuls on male children between the ages of eight ami ton, a race of supermen will be produced. Not all children "would be chosen, but if the grafting were carried out on a child who at the age I have indicated had shown signs of a bent in some particular direction, then the operation would provide the necessary urge which would make that child a genius." In order to help the human race, Dr. Voronoff requires •thai. There must be an adequate supply of monkeys, and the French Govern ment has not only furnished his estate- with many of thorn but has issued a decree that there should be no destruction of chimpanzees in French colonial territory and that none should bo exported except for medical purposes. King Albert of Belgium and King Alfonso of Spain have issued similar decrees. A slice of Belgian Congo has been made a monkey preserve. Voronoff claims to have successfully grafted pancreas glands from monkeys on two Italians, resulting in a euro from diabetes. The grafting of glands, he declares, has become quite a banal operation. "Monkeys," he said, "provide us with sets of glands, which act on the heart and the brain: a gland that gives intelligence where none existed, and a gland which controls our growth. Giants have this gland abnormally developed, and dwarfs have none ac all." The seionr-st's investigations have not been -'onfined wholly to the elevation of the hunvin r.ice. He has done really wonderful w'-rk in I'iie improvement of the breed of c heep. This month he was to return to Algiers, :whcre the French Government has been carrying out experiments which will revolutionise their wool industry. Tt has been found that rams which have been submitted to a gland operation produce progeny which are super-wool producers. Experiments were made with a iioek of ten thousand sheep, which included three ihousand rams. The results have been extraordinary. "Last your," said the doctor, "France spent £20,000,000 in buying wool abroad, mostly from Australia. In six years we shall be able to reduce the purchases by one half, and in twenty years France, instead of being a wool purchaser, will be a wool seller. That does not mean any great economic upheaval, because the present production of wool is 20 per cent below the demand." At the samo time it opens very interesting possibilities for New Zealand and Australian wool producers. Dr. Voronoff will begin in May a series :of lectures to French veterinary surgeons from all parts of France, and when they have received sufficient instruction they will open, under Government auspices, grafting centres in every county of Fre.ncc, where farmers will bring their rams for' operations. The movement : s worth watching, and the New Zealand Agricultural Department would be well advised to send one of its ex-perts-to France to witness and report upon the experiments. New Zealand cannot afford to lag behind in this important matter. ♦ NEW ZEALAND TRADE An antidote to the pessimism which is abroad in some quarters to-day should Tie found in a. report of the British Trade Commissioner to the Department of Overseas Trade. Mr. Boale shows that the total value of the export and import trado o*f the Dominion has stood at a remarkably high level for the past few years, totalling £101,140,314 in 1924 and £107,718,679 iu 1925. These figures have only once been exceeded, having in the boom year, 1920, reached £IOB,000,000, but whereas in 1920 there was a. great excess of imports, in the two years reviewed' .the values of exports and imports have been fairly evenly divided, the balance being in favor of the exports. The showing for the current year is not going to be so good, but there is this note of optimism in the Trade Commissioner's report to comfort us: "A comparison of the exports during the past three seasons with the average volume during the pro-war period shows, however, the decided progress effected by the Dominion, a progress especially satisfactory when the increasing local consumption of many of the commodities is taken into account. The striking development of the dairying industry of New Zealand is due to the natural advantages of the country and a tribute to the skill and hard Avork of its people." The Trade Commissioner, whilst not shutting his eyes to the less favorable features of the situation, has no hesitation in pronouncing the general economic position as thoroughly sound. "The State finances, under shrewd and capable direction,' ho remarks, "are showing satisfactory results, the banking position has been wisely handled, and there is no evidence of any excessive timidity in commercial circles. The efforts to stimulate and improve production are bearing fruit, and any favorable movement of price levels will not only maintain but enhance the prosperity of the Dominion. The psychological effect of a temporary reaction has been undoubtedly to cause too pessimistic a view to be taken locally of the immediate future by some sections of the community, but the high credit enjoyed by the Dominion in the London money market in itself bears evidence to the justly favorable regard in which New Zealand is held by the most expert and dispassionate critics." These views coming from ono whose position and experience entitle him to speak with authority and sound judgment should hearten our people.' As the Dominion says "there as a tendency iu scime quarters to exaggerate the importance of the slight wave of depression which is pass:.sg. over the,country. This is almost invariably the case where a community has grown accustomed to long periods of prosperity and a high standard of bring. The least check, a pinch of hi rdship, and the pessimists get to work and picture the worst. The conditions in New Zealand to-dny arc tar i'»c.m being bad —they merely ate not quite so good as they have been .Moreover, there are many signs wn'a.h go to show that the falling off is of a temporary nature That some measure of caution is, commendable cannot be questioned; and economy in the right direction is desirable"; but these virtues can be carried to excess, and the general soundness of the position of the Dominion should serve to encourage a moro optimistic spirit."