Scientific and Useful

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 20, 13 May 1908, Page 48

Scientific and Useful

SUGAR A POWERFUL. FOOD. The “London Lancet” says: “It seems inconceivable that the bountifulness with which the world is supplied with sugar should mean anything else than that it is designed for human food. .Sugar is one of the most powerful foods which we possess, as it is the cheapest, or at any rate one of the cheapest. In muscular labour no food appears to be able to give the same powers of endurance as sugar; and comparative practical experiments have shown without the least doubt that the hard physical worker, tl»e athlete or the soldier on the march is much more equal to the physical strain placed upon him when he has had included in his diet a liberal allowance of sugar than when sugar is denied to him. Trophies, prizes, and cups have undoubtedly been won on a diet in which sugar was intentionally a notable constituent. It has even been said that sugar may decide a battle, and that jam, after all, is something more than a mere sweetmeat to the soldier. “The fact that sugar is a powerful ‘muscle food’ accounts probably for the disfavour into which it falls, for a comparatively small quantity amounts to an excess, and exce’ss is always inimical to the easy working of the digestive processes. A strong solution of sugar is irritating to the tissues, will set up superficial inflammation, and may produce a form of eczema. It is well known that an excessive diet of sugar irritates the mucous membrane of the stomach, ami encourages the production of mucus and of a highly acid gastric juice. “The ingestion of much sugar spoils the appetite. Children who have been tempted jto overindulge in ‘lolipops’ between regular eating times do not want

their ordinary meal. The schoolboy spoils his dinner by eating too many sweet things before that meal. An overindulgence in sweet liquors, in sw’eet iees and in ‘crystallised’ fruits after dinner retards the digestion of the meal. “Sugar satiates; it is a concentrated food. Where sugar does harm, therefore, it is invariably due to excess. Taken in small quantities and distributed over the daily f k >od intakes, sugar contributes most usefully in health to the supply of energy required by the body. In certain diseas is, of course, the presence of sugar in the diet is plainly undesirable. Generally speaking, however, there is a prejudice against sugar which is not justified by physiological reasoning—at all events, when it is eaten in moderation : and it is a curious fact that the man who practically abstains from sugar, or reduces his diet to one almost free from carbohydrates in favour of protein foods such as meat, often shows feeble muscular energy and an indifferent! capacity for physical endurance.” TELEGRAPHING TO A STAR. If a row of telegraph posts 25,000 miles long were erected round the earth at the equator, and a wire were stretched upon these post for this circuit of 25,000 miles, and then the wire were wound no fewer than seven times completely about this great globe, we should then find that an electric signal, sent into the wire at one end, would accomplish the seven circuits in one second of time- To telegraph, however, to the nearest star it would take four years before the electricity would reach its destination.—Sir Robert Ball, in the “ Home Messenger.”

REFRIGERATION v. LIME PRESERVATION OF EGGS. Some interesting experiments have been carried out by a French scientist to determine the comparative effects of eggs preserved by freezing and lime respectively, the results of which have been communicated to one of the learned societies. He states that the former is much superior to the ordinary lime-sys-tem from the hygienic point of view, since under the influence of low temperature, even when maintained for several months, no perceptible change of appearance or taste of the egg results, and the article is suitable for any culinary purpose. One great advantage of cold storage preservation is that the yolk of the egg retains its position in. the white envelope and does not gravitate to the lower end, as in lime preservation. Nor does it spread out when the shell is broken. The albumen, however, becomes a little more watery, but there is no perceptible change in colour. It is essential that the temperature should be maintained at a constant point, and as near minus one degree centigrade, with a hygrometric degree as near seventyeight as practicable. In the United States refrigeration is the most generally practised form of preserving eggs, a practice that is, however, gradually becoming popular in Europe. ♦ + ♦ A NEW FREEZING-APPARATUS. There was recently on view at an exhibition in Germany a new type of refrigerator, the feature of which is its simplicity and inexpensiveness, a sovereign or so completely covering the whole outlay. The appliance comprises a double-walled tin vessel with an annular space all round, about an inch wide, and completely surrounding the inner chamber. Carbonic acid gas is slowly admitted into this annular space at the bottom, and this, filling the whole of the space, finally issues into the chamber itself through a cross-arm tube placed at the top, quickly and completely freezing any article stored -Within. In fact, so efficient is the apparatus

that water is frozen in less than a mt* ute. The refrigerative effect is produced by the rapid expansion of the earbonie acid gas. The apparatus is stated to be highly suited to the requirements of the household, and is very inexpensive to work, the carbonic acid gas being stored in the ordinary type of reservoir used for that purpose. ♦ ♦ + TRACING THE LOST UMBRELLA, Probably there is mo more elusive article than the umbrella, the loss of which) at some time or another every reader! has no doubt experienced. The most common form of loss is inadvertently to leave it in a vehicle, a shop, and so forth;; and it is estimated that some three hundred thousand umbrellas are lost annually in the United Kingdom. An ingenious and! useful invention, however, has! recently been devised, which will practically render much displacement an absolute impossibility; while at the samel time, when it is found, no confusion or. difficulty on the part of the owner in identifying his property will arise. The device consists of a small and neat tablet let into the handle of the article, bearing the owner’s name and address, and hidden from view by a slide. The boon will be especially appreciated by the clerks in the lost luggage departments of our. railways and the officials of the police departments, since upon an umbrella being found it will be possible for the owner to be communicated with at once. While, of course, the contrivance will not be proof against dishonest practices, it should serve to diminish the heavy loss: which in the aggregate must represent hundreds of pounds every year, arising from forgotten or misplaced umbrellas.