SCIENCE SIFTINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 7 February 1918, Page 46

SCIENCE SIFTINGS

By “Volt."

What is Meant by Ideography ? ■ ! .- : '} ... :-■ Picture-writing, as distinguished r from phonetism, or sound-writing. Before the modern art of writing letters representing a / certain sound was developed, the former system was' exclusively used; / Certain symbols or pictures stood for -certain ideas, and .there were as many different letters or pictures as there were words or ideas. China still has this system of writing, though considerably simplified from the most ancient forms. Evidently in those early days it was considerably, more difficult to learn to read and write than it is now.

Wounded Officer with Mechanical Limbs.

Driving a motor-car through the streets of London (says the Daily News) you may happen any day to see a young French officer, Lieutenant Lerat by name. He wears the ribbons of the Legion of Honor and of the Croix de Guerre (with two of the Verdun Army stripes)—but he has no hands, only stumps instead of arms, and but a single eye. Lieutenant Lerat is the possessor of a pair of "Cauet" mechanical arms, hence the apparent miracle, how he can take a matchbox out of his pocket, select a match from the box, and light a cigarette; how he can write a letter rapidly and legibly; how he can raise his cap with his left "hand," while shaking hands with the right, and perform many other similar surprises. Thousands of Cauet hands and arms are already being used in France. Indeed, 25 French officers, wearing the appliance, including several airmen, are actually back at the front. The new arms are •to be carefully compared with the best that can be -produced at Roehampton. The Cauet limbs are controlled, through Bowden wires (similar to those used for bicycle brakes), by movements of the shoulder and lower chest muscles. A fully equipped hand and forearm of this pattern only weighs IMb.

Ophthalmic Surgery. Ophthalmic surgery has made much progress during the past quarter-century (remarks the Adelaide Advertiser). Surgeons perform wonderful operations on the eye, and they are assisted to an amazing degree by electricity in the form of magnetic force. The magnet plays an important part in the treatment of many ophthalmic cases, and the surgeons of the Adelaide Hospital have had the use of a powerful magnet for many years. Dr. J. Lockhart Gibson, ophthalmic surgeon of the Brisbane Hospital for Children, who went to the war as ophthalmic officer of the Australian General Hospital, has used a giant magnet in his private practice for years, and part of his equipment at the front was a magnet of 100 volt-power, which proved a most valuable instrument for the extraction of small splinters of metal from the eye and other parts of the body. Dr. Gibson's magnet was the only one in any of the Mediterranean or Egyptian hospitals, consequently sufferers were often sent long distances to be treated. Not only Australian soldiers, but those of the British regiments injured at Gallipoli and elsewhere, were taken to Dr. Gibson's surgery, and the magnet was the means of giving relief to large numbers of men who had been wounded in' the eyes. When a bulky piece of metal enters the eye there is not much chance of saving the organ, but the removal of small pieces of iron and steel prevents the destruction of the sight, and they are easily withdrawn by means of the magnetic force. ;. , , :