Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1959-07-30, Page 2Russian Doctors Far Advanced A pistol -like machine that in- geniously uses tiny metal staples Instead of thread to close surgi- cal wounds A miniature sleep machine that uses electricity to nudge pa- tients into unconsciousness , A surgical carnera that takes • color pictures of a patient's In- sides These and other advanced scientific instruments, all prod- ucts of the growing ingenuity of Russian medicine, may soon be manufactured in the United States. The Rand Development Corp. of Cleveland announced last month that it has paid $50,- 000 for a nine-month option to buy the designs of these and thirteen other kinds of Russian instruments, "If American surgeons think that these instruments are as good as they look," Rand's ener- getic president. H. James Rand, said recently after a visit to the Soviet Union, "we will pay $50,000 for the blueprints." (Af- ter that, Rand says he will "rent" the rights from the So- viets for $50,000 a year for ten years, and in turn will license these rights to American manu- facturers.) U.S. surgeons will get a chance to examine the instruments next September, when a Russian sur- geon and a technician will begin a three - month demonstration tour of Am e ri c a n medical schools, performing operations on animals. Many of the instru- ments -like the surgical camera -are simply refinements on American devices. Both the suturing and the sleep machines, however, are radical departures. How does the Russian sleep machine work? Rand, 'who himself has been put to sleep by it, explained: "This isn't shock therapy. There are no muscular contractions, Instead, a small amount of elec- tric current is pulsed into the brain to suppress certain wave patterns. In from a few seconds to twenty minutes, the patient falls asleep,and only intense • pain will wake him while the two electrodes are fastened to his head. It's the weirdest sight, SECOND • THOUGHT DEPT. The "stop" is much better in- formation than the "right turn only" on this street sign in the Twin Peaks area of San Fran- cisco. Anyone turning right would wind up atop houses di - wetly below and beside road. to see sixteen patients in a Rus- sian mental ward all wired up and fast asleep." The sleep machine, comes in a large model which treats sixteen "patients at once, and a small, one -patient model which looks like (and will cost about as much as) a transistor pocket radio, Besides quieting mental patients, Rand said, it may be used to soothe surgical patients under local anetheties just be- fore and after surgery. The suturing machine, Rand said, has been used in Russia with dramatic effect. Its Speed and accuracy have been among its, advantages which have en- abled Soviet surgeons to perform such daring operations as the grafting of a puppy's head on the neek of a full-grown dog. "The Russians showed us mo- tion pictures of a woman whose hand was caught in a punch press," Rand reported last week, "They amputated the hand, rinsed out all the blood clots in a heart-lung machine, refriger- ated it, and then stapled it back an. The woman, they told, me, now plays the piano." The stapler comes in 40 dif- ferent sizes and models, for such highly different organs as the blood vessels, nerves, lungs, and stomach, and was developed by the Russians during the war, ac- cording to Rand, because of a shortage of military surgeons: "Now, once an engineer has pre- pared the machine -and it takes about half an hour todo this - all the surgeon need do is push a button. This gives even a medi- ocre surgeon a gifted hand." In major stomach operations, Rand said, the stapler reduces the sew- ing time from about two hours to twenty minutes, and an add- ed advantage is that the metal staples do not irritate tissues as thread sometimes does. To Rand, who took along a prominent U.S. doctor on each of his three trips to Russia, these surgical instruments are a result of "the tremendous amount of men and money the Russians put on a project, At the Insti- tute for Surgical Instruments in Moscow, they have 400 experts, many of them both surgeons and engineers. In manpower, this would be equivalent here to an investment of about $15 million. When you put that amount of money into a problem, you are likely to come up with a solu- tion," -From NEWSWEEK. Big Difference In Sizes And Numbers Exactly 119 years ago on July '4th a trim 207 -foot wooden pad- dle steamer put out from Liver- pool for Halifax and Boston. The little vessel carried 63 passen- gers, mail and a soft -eyed mulch cow whose job it was to have on tap nourishment for the ship's passengers and crew. Prominent among the doughty - vessel's passengers was a mer- chant ship -owner of Halifax, N.S. When after 14 days and eight hours steaming the little ship reached Boston the Can- adian shipowner. received pre- cisely 1,800 invitations to dinner. The little paddle -steamer was the Britannia and her promin- ent passenger was Samuel Cun- ard, the man who with this pio- neer voyage had introduced regular passenger and mail ser- vice on the North Atlantic. In contrast to the Britannia's 63 travellers of July 4, 1840, the G4unard liners Saxonia and Syl- vania sailed from Montreal re- cently with 1,834 passengers.' From. New York on July 1st, an- other Cunard vessel, the 81,000 - ton Queen Mary, sailed for Eur- ope with 1,942 vacation -bound Canadians and U.S. citizens. In Southfield, Mich., High School Teacher Richard Welken- bach keeps discipline by writ- ing on the black board, "I'm in a bad mood today," and adding a drawing of a bullwhip, CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS t... A long wav 4. T3nburnabte matter 9. Weaken 13. Past 13. whinny 14 Cretan mountain 15. Discussed 17, protection 19. Asiatic noun try 20, Do up 21. Coal tagger 23. Moderate drinker t1 rrelntive of rlthrr 27. Shield 29. Coarse hair 20. Stuff 79 Mort sound mentally 71 Mat 15 Paradise 77 {Mbar. .a Dewnvprefix1 411(110015 4'L of (robing lamp 44 The birds (n Perz.lpn rain, 471 7)np, a "sed radar se.p 51 lie Indebted x Inma slowly '. A relrmoilye 47 i1, tf1na 1 W " i r'r 11 v.,: 0. een 9. Less complex 10. Fuss 11. Equality 15. Courtway 18. Knocks 20. More learned 0, Large thrush ll. Cut 4. Brighteststar "2' decreeb in Scorpio 5. Search 6, Concealed 7. For example (ah.3 23. Prongs 24. Musical study 26. Storms 28. Pants 81. Time unite 0. uppuslte 26. Body of a churolt 88, Father 41, Repairs 42. Moro pleasant 46. Apple seeds 46, Tool 400 digging poet holes 47. Veneration 40, Noise 49, Beverage 60. Crafty 58. Musical note I 2 3 4 5 6 7 $ 9 10 11 12 * 13 14 15 16yd. - 17 15 19 oC 20 Sr:Y 21,' 22 .. 23.r.- 24 25 26 Nf 27 25 029 30 31 ' 'VA37 32 33 V34 34 35 36 35 frj" 34 40 44!42 43 �. 44 J 45 � rs 44 47 n",.4 4e 49 50 51 ' 52 53 s4 5556 1 p,'{.:57 4-26 Answer elsewhere an th's page Time out for refreshment in wheat cutting time. Cutter Bus Edwards helps Randle Gorham to a swig from vacuum [ug. • TIff 1A1M 1'RONT Joka With all the present concern over the dangers of so-called vertical integration and the threat it imposes on the individ- ual farmer and grower, it is most encouraging to find a group of growers forging ahead through whole -hearted co-operative ac- tion, An outstanding ease in point is the Klondyke Garden Co-operative Limited at Grand Bend. This co-operative was started in 1954 with 25 original mem- bers who purchased shares at $100.00 each. Additional financ- ing was provided by a Federal Government grant of one-third of the approved cost of the build - loan of 60% repayable over a twenty-year period. „ 6 4. Membership has climbed from the original 25 to 49 at present. Sales volume has increased from $222,000 1n 1954 to $424,000 in 1958. C,rops handled are onions, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, celery, turnips, radishes, cabbage, cauli- flower and a few other products to a small extent, states a writer in The Grower, * * * The market area for the Co- operative is primarily in the. London, Windsor, Chatham, Stratford, Hamilton, Toronto areas but shipments have gone to the Maritimes and as far west as Edmonton and in the U.S. from Maryland to Chicago, The management of the co- operative is in the capable hands of W. V. Elewett who formerly managed the Thedford Cold Storage. Most of the members are post- war immigrants from Holland. Starting about 1948 these men and others like them started in from scratch to develop the Grand Bend Marsh. With very little capital, a lot of hard work and ingenuity these people have developed the marsh to where they have about 1200 acres in cultivation. ', 4. Mr. Blewett reports that the membership of Klondyke Gar- dens gives the co-op excellent support, Almost all of the pro- duce goes out under a voluntary Provincial or Federal Inspection. The fact that these men so free- ly ask for certification of their shipments is one big reason for' 'the excellent acceptance of their produce wherever they send it. The inspection staff report excel- lent co-operation with a very low incidence of detentions and viola- tions in this area. At the annual meeting of the Klondyke Gardens Co-operative Limited the excellent turn -out of members indicated the inter- est taken by the members in their co-op. By contrast some p other growers co-ops have re- cently had difficulty getting enough members out to con- duct the affairs of the annual meeting. 0 0 The discussions and comments at the annual meeting clearly indicated that the Klondyke growers are confident they can more than hold their own through co-operative action and steadfast adherence to putting Out a quality pack. Perhaps if more farm people would divert more of their atten- tion to doing a job at their own level instead of dissipating their energy worrying about the bogy of vertical intergration, the vari- ous elethents in the trade chan- nels would find less need to try and integrate producer market- ing. » Horticulture scientists at the Michigan State University are trying out a new way of plant- ing small vegetable seeds that may help farmers cut crop pro- duction costs. Small seeds, like those of let- tuce and cauliflower, are being imbedded in plastic strips. These strips are water soluble and wil dissolve in a fewhours af- ter planting. w • Seeds are imbedded or folded in the strip at the desired inter- vals. Time and labor needed to thin or block out such crops would then be reduced, Usually with these small seeded crops, the planting rate cannot be pre- cisely controlled and the stand must be thinned after the ,plants emerge. * * * John Carew, horticulture spe- cialist in charge of the project, says the study should provide Deadly Lightning Nature's Killer Since dawn, Leslie Mueller and his two brothers 'had been driving their tractors hard. They had 1,000 open acres to plow and harrow and plant in corn near Deerfield, Mieh., and they ig- nored the mild thunderstorm and the passing sprinkle of rain, Les- lie's tractor was pulling a foul' - bottom plow. His y o u n g e r brother Robert was spreading fertilizer about 800 feet behind him. Oliver, the eldest, had just gone on an errand. Suddenly Robert felt a strange tingling in his body. Startled, he looked up and saw a puff of blue smoke coming from Leslie who was slumped on the seat of the tractor, his clothes on fire. Rob- ert rushed to get Leslie off the tractor and pot out the flames. Leslie Mueller was limp. FIe had been struck by an unseen bolt of lightning, From that moment eight weeks ago, 32 -year-old Leslie Mueller has been ' in a deep coma at the University of Michigan Medical Center, Capricious, powerful, and often deadly (it kills an estimated 180 Americans a year), lightning can strike almost anywhere outdoors, in the middle of cities as in the most remote rural areas. Its ominous peculiarity is that it. seeks the shortest route between earth and clouds Trees are among its favorite targets, and when it hits a tree it spills over persons nearby as 1t did this spring when a bolt killed two children in New York City's Central Park. Almost invariably, • a person who is hit by lightning either dies immediately from hemorr- hage or rupture of internal or- gans, burns, or electric shock, or he recovers in fairly short time. Leslie Mueller is a unique case because he has lingered so long in that shadowland between life and death, Now doctors have a chance to study, in ,a live patient, the human damage which light- ning can cause - particularly to the brain and nervous system of the victim. The bolt that hit Mueller flared some guides as to whether this method of planting small seeds is practical, from the standpoints of both plant growth and cost. No recommendation of this method is yet being made. Research plots are being set up at the university's muck soils farm near Bath, at the horticul- ture farm at East Lansing and in the lettuce producing areas around Imlay City. along his arms and ruptured hlo. eardrums.. Since he entered the hospital, elfin burns he suffered when his clothing caught fire have been repaired by grafts. Prof, Basu K. I3agchi of the UM-, versity Neuro -psychiatric Il inti- Lute used an electroencephalo- graph to trace Mueller's brain waves an Round "diffused Pune- tional and non-specific changes in which both the upper and lower parts of the brain seem to be affected," There were times last month when Mueller's eyes came open, rolled aimlessly and closed. Ile swallowed. But these movements were part of the coma and he was still carried as "poor" on the hospital records. Continued elec- troencephalograph readings have found none of the brain -wave changes that may give the first sign that the young farmer is recovering from the coma, Meantime, all the medical ex- perts can do is care for him and wait. Also waiting are his broth- ers, his wife and three small chil- dren, GAME CALLED, WET GROUNDS After a few words, mostly spoken by the young wife, her husband sprang to his feet. "You've gone too far," he ex- claimed angrily. "This is, dur last quarrel. I'm going right out of your life." "Oh, Henry, darling, where are you going?" she cried. "Where I'll never trouble you again," he replied as he started to open the door, "I'll find a place where wild adventure Will wipe out the memories .of this moment -perhaps in the jungle -or on the stormy seas. As he spoke he opened the door, then closed it again and turned sternly to his frightened wife. "It's lucky for you it's rain- ing," he said, Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking A 'i. 5 tl 3 1 tiS 3 5 3 5 o31 9 S N a O 5 3 N 5 5 d 5153 0 3M N3aV 3 W A V O 3 O 3 a 5 n a J. 3 5 v. 3 0 a hi 1 d W d a 3 3CI a 5 ov 3 1 3 N M Ntla t� C331V93 ciV5,53HsV�a(v3 d a 3 5 e 3 N 5 v 3 N a.9 3 M 0 Vd a ISSUE 29 - 1959 On the way from field to breadbasket, golden wheat spews from combine spout during full -gear harvesting. With crop ready and weather ideal, wheat harvesting in the grain belt does not stop after an eight-hour day; This operator continues work long after sundown. The comb bine is equipped with lights for cutting at night.