Science Sittings

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11, 18 March 1909, Page 435

Science Sittings

BY « VOLT

Motor 'Buses in War. Until last year German soldiers returning from manoeuvres to their regular quarters had made the journey by train, but a -few months ago the military authorities decided to bring them home by motor. 'bus.' This was in the form of an experiment to prove the possibilities of- employing 'buses in time of war. Several vehicles were lent by - the Berlin Motor 'Bus Company, and successful journeys were made. „ _ . A New Brick-laying Machine. A recent Canadian invention., worked by two men and a boy, will lay 400 to 600 bricks an hour. Door and window spaces cause only a slight delay. The machine is suited for all plain work, such as walls, sheds, mills, factories, rows of cottages, and piers or bridges. The invention will do the work of six or seven skilled bricklayers", ' and it is believed that a machine adapted to. build a fac-"-tory covering about 60 feet by 40 feet could" be put oh the' ' market for £100. - - - ' ■ --- Nature's Methods. - • Nature has provided almost countless ways of scattering and distributing the seeds of plants so that the various »_ species may be propagated. Some seeds are borne on the wind, as those of the dandelion and the thistle, the elm and the ash. " Others are thrown from- their pods by the explosion of the latter when -the time comes. But these methods are effectual for only a limited area. Where a wider distribution takes place, say from one part of a "continent to another, or from island to island, birds,' animals, and men are the carriers. It has been noticed that many plants not native to the region grow in au<l near the yards of trunk line railroads, showing that the "seeds have been brought by the cars in one way or another. The new soil suits them, and they thrive and gradually ~ spread over the surrounding country. Many plants, for example, are found in the Mississippi valley that were brought by railroads from the Atlantic seaboard, from the gulf region, and from the west side of the Rocky Mountains. All through the East are found weeds and grasses that are peculiar to the West and South-west, and there-.' is no doubt that the seeds from which they sprung were brought in the hoofs of cattle imported by the meat dealers. Common Sense and Tobacco Smoking. Now we would not have it supposed (says the Hospital) that we favor in the least degree excessive indulgence in tobacco or any other luxury, nor do we shut our eyes to the demonstrated facts that nicotine, or some other' constituent of this herb, exerts a most deleterious effect on the muscxilature of the heart and on certain nerves. But to instance a half-dozen or so of eminent men who do - not smoke, .and about as many lives of exceptional longevity, backed up by a case in which the onset of phthisis is believed (without evidence) to have been induced by smoking, is to provoke the production of equally inconclusive examples of similar feats by inveterate smokers. The truth of the whole matter is probably to be sought somewhere half-way between the positions of the extremists. There is . little question that the majority of mankind can enjoy tobacco-smoking in moderation without any obvious harm ; resulting j and it is equally true that to many, 'especially brain-workers, ±he habit does bring a certain soothing and beneficent influence. It is also certain that many men misuse the drug by excessive and harmful indulgonce in it, to their physical and mental deterioration; and this is particularly true of boys and adolescents, in whom the habi-fc of excessive smoking' is a real and pressing evil. Again, there are • some whose idiosyncrasy to nicotine is such, that they are far better off by total abstinence' from tobacco. But, because the latter class exists, it is as hopeful to attempt to root out smoking as it is to abolish tea drinking and alcohol taking -for - a similar reason.