HERE AND THERE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18044, 3 January 1927, Page 8

HERE AND THERE

AN EYE FOR EVERYHING. Man to Live Longer. Professor Julian Huxley, the’biologist, prophesies longer life for ran in an essav on “The Meaning of Dath ’ one of his "Essays in Popular Sonce” (Chatto and Windus). “By euenic measures.” he savs, “we could unties* tionablv raise the average span o human life, even without further proress in hvgiene. If. as we may confidently predict, the present trend of afLirs continues, more and more men fill attain an advanced age. whether nasally or by rejuvenation: the death rta of infants and young people will Cntinue to fall: the birth rate will cn* tinue to fall also; and as a result u shall in a few decades have a popuition in which the relative numbers t voting and old people will be quit different from the present ” Professc* Huxley reaches this conclusion afte tracing what happens in the death (. trees (many of an age numbering thoi sands of years) and of lower forms o life. Of tree life he says; “There i nothing in the tree that causes it death. merely the long-con tinuou shocks and buffets of the world, pre ventable things, one and all; by w’hich I mean that if one could shelter the tree from storms, keep off its active enemies, and provide it with a reasonable and constant suply of food, water and air. we must suppose that it would go on living for ever.” Mr Huxley docs not prophesv such eternal physical life for man. He refers to the records of Steinach, Band and \ oronoff, and their methods of grafting for rejuvenation. “One is scientifically impressed, if not morallv edified, by the record of one patient who, after successful rejuvenation. began leading a very gay life. To his friends’ remonstrances he replied. ‘What ffiatter? I can always go to Voronoff again.’ There are, however, some facts which make it clear that rejuvenation cannot he repeated indefinitely."

Men of England! Patriotism is not mere flag-wagging and boasting of military and naval prowess. True patriotism is worlcpatriotism. a constant desir* to see all nations prosper under the banner of peace and progress. It is tl* thought which Thomas Campbell Streses in the following lines: — . . Men of England l who inheit Rights that cost your sits their blood! Men whose undegenerate split Has been proved on land ad flood By the foes ye’ve fought. unounte<& By the glorious deeds ve’ve one. Trophies captured—breaches munted. Navies conquered —kingdoms -on! Yet. remember. England gathe-. Hence but fruitless wreaths olfame. If the freedom of your fathers Glows not in your hearts the saje. What are monuments of bravery Where no public virtues bloom What avail in lands of slavery, Trophicd temples, arch and tome World’s Cleverest Thieves. Human nature presents few more i teresting studies than the crimin. tribes of India, says a writer in the Xc vember "Wide World Magazine.” They number about a million and live entirelv by organised crime. Roaming the length and breadth of the country, thev prey upon native and British society alike, with a cleverness that i* almost uncanny. Quite uneducated, thev are nevertheless the most ingenious’ and resourceful rogues in the world so much so that all the forces of law and order arc incapable of curbing their activities. The “crims. * as thev are called, consist of different sects or castes, who form themselves into tribe®, villages, or clans, each sect pursuing its own type ol crime. Thera is a sect, for instance, which is addict-

ed solely to housebreaking! another whose members are coiners; and neither would ever dream of encroaching upon the province of another triba or clan, whose special forte might bo picking’pockets. The members of on® tribe devote their time exclusively to jewel robberies in railway trains, carrying out their thefts with almost inhuman stealth and dexterity. Again, many of the sects will on no account commit violence: others, on the contrary. do not hesitate to murder. Some rob 'only at night: other.* only during the day. These eccentricities of conduct are so strictly observed that thev have assumed the nature of rites, and are adhered to most religiously. » Walking the Channel! The challenge of Mr Everets. a deepsea diver, to a walking match on the sea bed, recalls other strange contests that have taken place at. the bottom of the ocean. When Dover Pier was 4 being built, for instance, it was noticed that two divers, who had gone down ! in diving bells, staved below longer I than usual. On investigation, it was | found that the men had been catching I crabs, marking them, and making them orawl from one bell to the other.

Violet Ray Milk. That violet rays enable cows to give an increased milk supply is revealed in the annual report of the Development Commissioners. Experiments carried out at Aberdeen University on cows showed that irradiation decreased the loss of calcium and phosphorus from the body during lactation, increased the period of maximum yield of milk, and safeguarded the health of animals. These results showed the importance of exposing milk cows as much as possible t«> direct sunlight. They also indicated that irradiation of cows with artificially-produced ultraviolet rays during the winter months might become a practical and profitable procedure The addition of a mixture of inorganic salts to a ration common lv fed to dairy cows produced favourable results. In the first lactation there was little difference in the milk yield, but in the second lactation those cows receiving the mineral mixture vieldcd on an average 100 gallons more milk than those fed on the ordinary ration, and in the third lactation the results were in the same direction Experiments in ploughing by means of electricity showed that, the work could be done more easily with voltages -very much lower than those previously used. Electrical discharges had been found to increase the grain yield in growing \ crops. Electrified flowers had fewer sterile flowers, so that more grata I produced.