HERE AND THERE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16506, 17 August 1921, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

BAD TEETH AND BOLSHEVISM. A prominent London physician advances a novel reason for Bolshevism (says an American paper). It is all due, he says, to the fact that Lenin, and Trotsky suffer from bad teeth. N«> man whoso teeth are good is likely to fall into ill-health, and no really healthy man ever becomes a * 4 lied.” It is being generally realised that many functional and nervous disorders may bo traced directly or indirectly to infection from decayed teeth. There is obviously close connection between indigestion and defective mastication. That many men dig their graves with their teeth is an old saying. It has reference to the evils of over-feeding or reckless eating. Cassius was lean and hungry in all probability because of a failure to Fleteherise and to assimilate his food. The London physician but confirms the judgment Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Caesar that “ such men are fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.” If we are going to destroy Bolshevism, it might not be a bad idea to ship into Russia a ship load of tooth brushes and tooth powder. After wo have drawn the dictator’s bad teeth, we might furnish him with a new set of good American make, warranted to bring about the iTtons sano in corporo sana that may prove the beginning of a new and brighter era for Russia. There remains, however, the great question, ‘ £ Is Lenin's nasty disposition due to his bad teeth, or his bad teeth to his nasty disposition?” As a man thinketh. so he is; hut it is also well settled that while grief and worry may indue© cirrhosis cf the liver, that very condition of liver increases the tendency to grieve and worry. Once the vicious circle is started there is no telling where it will end. Watch your teeth, boy ! 7000 PRODUCTS FROM COAL. We have just come to realise that coal is valuable for no fewer than 7000 substances useful to society. Only onetenth of the product is converted into these thousands of invaluable compounds, which means an annual waste to the United States of two billion dollars of coal by-products. The Hoppers oven is the latest for decomposing coal into its crude components, from which about 7000 compounds may be obtained. Each oven has a capacity for 10 tons of coal, which is carbonised for about 20 hours. Batteries of ovens are arranged in series daily consuming thousands of tons of coal. The coal is fed into the ovens by a charging waggon, which runs on top of the setting. The middle oil distillate (from 5 to lo pel cent of the tar) yields carbolic acid foi pfcenois and cresois, synthetic resins, plastics, salicylic acid, dye stuffs, organic compounds, picmc a*cid, explosives, aspirin, flavourings, neutral oils for paint thinners and stains, lamp black, naphthalin, for organic acids, insecticides, naphthois, etc. The heavy oil distillate {from 14 to 30 per cent of tho tar) yields carbolic acid for phenols, cresole, disinfectants, wood preservatives, anthracene for lubrication, organic compounds, dye stuffs and timber preservatives, lamp black, etc. The residue bevond all the distilled fractions is refined tar and pitch.—“ Popular Science.” DANGEROUS HOUSES. Ever since- the war people of moder* ate means have been obliged to take houses juet where they could find them, and in many cases have found, to their dismay, that the health of themselves and their children was not nearly so good as formerly (says an English paper). The reason can in most cases be traced to the soil on which tho house is built. Take the case of a family who have been accustomed to live on a gravel soil, and let them mo’v o on to clay. In nearly every case, unless the ground is extremely well drained—as it is in London—their heal tit will suffer. Tlie elder people will develop rheumatism and the children colds. Marshland is always dangerous, bringing on ague and siraiiar coraj plaints. Whatever the soil, you arG fairly safe if you live on a hill top. but a hill side may be highly dangerous. The worst of all soils is made ground,” and you will find this sort of poison land in the environs of nearly every large town —tracts where in past time all sorts of rubbish have been shot. Much of this is decayed animal and vegetable matter dumped to fill a hollow. Injurious gases will rise through such 6oil for many years afterwards, and a house built on it is nothing more nor less than a death-trap. * • KEEP SMILING AND KEEP FTT. Tlie latest short cut to health is known as the '‘smile cure,” and it is claimed for it that it will put to flight all the minor ills from which human beings suffer (says ” Pearson’s Weekly ”). Special smiling exercises are recommended for regular practice every clay before a mirror. After a few weeks of this training we are told that there will be a marked change for the better in our lives : our whole outlook will be brighter and our health wonderfully improved. Not only this! Tlie adherent of the smile cure will discover that in carrying it out he gams many good qualities as well. Few of us really

know what sort of an expression wo habitually wear, for when we peer into the mirror our thoughts are diverted from their ordinary* channel for the moment in the absorbing occupation of arranging our hair or clothes. Consequently we do not take notice whether we are looking bright or tho reverse. But the smile cure patient knows, and tries to live up to it, radiating cheerfulness, until after a time the exhilarating conviction comes to him that he is not such a had sort after all. and with the knowledge comes contentment and good health. PECULIARITY OF CATS EYE. Tho pupil of a cat's eye ordinarily appears as a long, narrow oval, or a straight vertical black line (says a contemporary). Tho animal seems to b© looking through mere slits in the iris of its eye, especially when it faces the light. In semi-darkness the pupil widens into a beautiful oval. One is disposed to regard the narrowness of the pupil as the distinguishing peculiarity of the eyes of cats. All animals of the cat family share this peculiarity, according to the authority we quote, yet the natural shape of the pupil of the cat's eyo is circular. By varying the quantity of light entering the eyes experimenters have seen the pupils of the eyes of cats and tigers change from straight lines to perfect circles, and while under the influence of art opine. which suspends for a time the muscular contraction of the eye. they are always circular. Tho normal shape of the cat's pupil is the Fame as that of the human pupil, hut when submitted to the influence of light ;Is behaviour differs In a bright light our pupils become very small circles, while those cf a ca* turn into ovals or narrow slits. Th© j general effect in either case is the same ! namely, to diminish the amount of j light parsing into th 6 eye.