HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1951-12-13, Page 7People Are "rough
An elderly man who was struck
by a car and died in Boston,
General Hospital, recently became
one of the most celebrated cases
in medical history. When the doc-
tors performed an autopsy they
began to wonder why any of its
dies.
They found that the man had
had tuberculosis, extensive and in
both lungs, which had healed by
itself. He had had cirrhosis (hard-
ening) of the liver so severe that
all blood had been diverted by his
body to a new set of pathways
above and below the liver.
Ile had been a victim of chronic
kidney trouble with destruction of
parts of both kidneys, and there
bad been severe hardening of the
arteries—so hard that to compen-
sate for it the heart had greatly
enlarged 'itself.
In other words the man had had
four potentially dangerous diseases
and had not recognized one of
them. His wife reported that he had
always been cheerful and had never
complained of a day's illness in
his life. For twenty years his com-
piexion had been remarkably ruddy
and she had taken this as a sign
that he was in good health. He had
always been active physically and
mentally,
This man's case illustrates just
how tough, the human body really
is. Its amazing resistance to seri-
ous diseases has been revealed by
mass radiography (X-rays of the
chest) carried out in factories.
In thousands of cases lesions have
been detected on the X-ray plates
which tell doctors that the patient,
without any knowledge of it him-
self, has already been attacked by
tuberculosis and has healed him-
self without any outside aid or
conscious .effort on his part.
But this is hardly surprising
when we consider the toughness of
the human body in terms of figures.
One human shin bone, for instance,
can support a weight of two tons.
A human skull can be crushed to
within 10 per cent of its breadth
before it will crack. Ligaments sup-
porting our body organs and con-
necting bones could support, if
necessary, 1,000 1b: weights.
The muscles on the front of
the arm, bending the elbow joint,
which weight about three-quarters
of -a pound, can in a single con-
traction raise their own weight one
hundred feet. Yet what are they
made of? Jelly!
Take away the fibrous supporting
and packing tissues, and this pow-
erful but delicate substance is
found to have the consistency of a
rather badly set jelly.
Toughest muscle of all is the
heart. It normally beats 38 million
r c.tiniea:year and pumps 4,320 gallons
. of blood a day, expending energy
equivalent to that needed to raise
.a ton to a height of 82 feet.
They Burn the Coal
Right In The Mines
The United States Bureau of
Mines announces that, having
• achieved its purpose, the under-
ground fire that was converting
coal into gas right in the mine at
Gorgas, Ala., has been extinguished.
But this is not the end of the
project. More tests will be made
to prove the' feasibility of convert-
ing gas straight from the mine into
gasoline or chemicals.
There were two projects for
gassifying coal in the mine. The
first ran from Jan. 21 to March
12, 1947; the second from March
18, 1949, to Feb. 7, 1951. The first
showed that coal could be burned
in the mine and that the burning
could be controlled; in the second,
information useful to engineers was
collected. In the 1947 project entries
were driven to a depth of thirty
feet and extended 150 feet under-
ground. In the 1949-50 project the
entries went down as far as 150
feet below the surface and spread
as far as 1,540 feet.
During one phase of the operation
at Gorgas, reports the Bureau of
Mines, . two gas turbines were dri-
ven for about one hundred hours
by gas that came from the sealed
mine. The turbines in turn com-
Fun For Nuns—A miniature bowling game brings smiles to the faces of these nuns at a special con-
ference on child play at the Catholic Charities Center. More than 100 sisters from 30 Catholic
child -caring homes and day nurseries attended the meeting to discuss play, its techniques, equip-
ment and effect on children.
pressed air and sent it back to the
mine so that combustion could be
maintained. In commercial practice
so much gas would be generated
that engines in factories could be
driven. Over a four-month period
when 65 per cent of the heating
value of the coal consumed in one
area was realized, the energy yield
was greater than that from an
equal amount of coal mined in the
same area.
Though the Bureau of Mines is
unwilling at this time to state
what the practical future of its
experimentation may be, there is
no. doubt that any mine can be
converted into a gas generator and
the gas, either pure or mixed with
air, used to drive gas turbines or
to raise stearin in a boiler. Lastly,
there is the possibility of produc-
ing a synthetic gas with oxygen
and steam. The synthesis would
then become the raw material for
the production of gasoline or of
organic chemicals.
The Russians have been gasifying
coal in the mine for at least fifteen
years, but the results are not known
to this department. The first pro-
posal to gasify coal in the vein
originated in the United States many
years ago, Of course, the Russians
claim that the idea is theirs. The
late Sir William Ramsay, distin-
guished British chemist, suggested
decades ago that it was foolish
to haul tons of black lumps of
coal hundred of miles to a city
gas plant and advocated the gen-
eration of gas at, but not in, the
mine and its transportation by pipe-
line whither it was wanted. We
are far from realizing Sir William's
proposal. The Krupp works in Es-
sen, Germany, piped blast -furnace
gas for several hundred m'les long
before the recent war, and in the
United States they have been pump- •
ing natural gas from Texas to
Chicago and recently to the Atlantic
seaboard. No one doubts that gas
can be generated in the mine and
sent almost anywhere.
Experimentation with coal burned
in the mine to generate gas is to
be resumed at Gorgas with a new
electric installation. This new elec-
trical system will require no ela-
borate development of the site and
will dispense with much under-
ground labor.
Here's something that should be
of interest to everyone who raises
hogs. Scientists have come up with
a synthetic milk which, they claim,
will greatly increase hog produc-
tion.
* * *
Dr. Herbert G. Luther, who car-
ries on research for the Charles
Pfizer Laboratories, has produce&
a milk, the first of its synthetic
kind, which will increase hog pro-
duction. At a seminar on animal
mutation held at the University of
Minnesota recently he reported that
with Terralac, as he calls his pro-
duct, baby pigs, which normally
suckle for fifty-six days, can be
taken from the sow forty-eight
hours after they are born. Litter
sizes, previously limited by the
sow's milk production, can be ex-
panded to the capacity to produce
piglets. Not only is growth pro-
nnd'ted but suckling mortality is
reduced to only 5 per cent.
* * *
Luther was trying to incorporate
terramycin in the ration of suckling
pigs in the critical early period. He
.found that the sooner antibiotic
H.v4r
;
BY
HAROLD
ARNCTT
MAKE
EMERGENCY
PINCH THE
DROP INTO
A MEDICINE DROPPER IN AN
FROM TWO HAIRPINS AND A CORK.
HAIRPINS TOGETHER 10 RELEASE THE
THE SPOON..
feeding was begun, use earlier was
improvement in growth noted.
Thereupon he began a search for a
practical synthetic milk to which
terramycin could be added. Terra -
lac was the result.
* * *
On the basis of his analysis of
actual sow's milk, Luther included
in his formulation dry skim milk,
lard, fish solubles, vitamins, min •
-
erals and terramycin. The anti-
biotic served two functions in the
ration: it stimulated rate of growth
• and it warded off disease. With
this synthetic milk thousands of
pigs have been taken from forty-
eight hours after birth through
weaning with remarkable results.
* * *
Since the sow will not be needed
for lactation if suckling pigs are
fed synthet'c mill:, she becomes
an important economic asset to the
farmer instead of a huge and ex-
pensive provider of milk. She can
be sent to market within a few days
or re -bred.
A new non-selective weedkiller,
claimed to be destructive to more
weeds and grasses. than any bthei'
herbicide developed to date, has
come to Canada.
t: * *
Known as CMU, are abreviation
of 3-(p-chlorophenyl)-1, 1 -dimethyl -
urea, the chemical has undergone ex-
tensive tests during the past year
and found to possess remarkable
killing poii'r against our most tun -
desirable weeds and grasses. Ini-
tially it will be used chiefly for
the control of weeds and grasses
on railway roadbeds, oil refinery
yards and mantifacturng'plant sites.
It can also eliminate growth which
constitutes a fire hazard in lumber
For Deep Reading—A member of
the Paris Fire Department's
Seine River Brigade, Andre
Theis, above, reads a magazine
while resting on the river's
bank. Theis, in his diving suit, is
ready for any emergency call.
Whenever a would-be suicide
jumps into the Seine or an auto
plunges from one of the city's
bridges, Theis, or one of his co-
workers, is called intc action.
What a low Nei
yards, oil tank farms, arsenals, and
around telephone and power poles.
* * *
The new chemical will be avail-
able as an 80 per cent wettable
powder in limited quantities in
1952 and will be recommended only
for use on non -crop areas.
.* * *
CMU is also being experimented
with to determine its possibilities
in agriculture. Results suggest it
will find wide use as a pre -emer-
gence spray in crops and for per-
ennial weed patch control, But
more information is required as to
the duration of soil sterility after
application.
* * *
The chemical is being tested at
experimental farms and stations
across Canada. It has already been
established that corn and oat crops
are unaffected when CML! is ap-
plied as a pre -emergence weed
spray in light dosages, but whe-
ther it will damage other crops
grown in the rotation, is not yet
known,
• * *
Canadian railways, are expected
to be large consumers of CM\ftT to
lessen the annual cost of roadbed
maintenance. The object will be
to free the area bearing the nvooden
ties completely of plant growth, as
weeds and grasses prevent rapid
drying of the ballast. This ie turn
results in the deterioration of the
roadbed.
* * *
Tried on heavily -weeded stretches
of roadbed in both eastern and
western Canada last spring, CMU
gave almost a 100 per cent kill of
weed and grass species. It also gave
excellent results in controlling un-
desirable growth at refinery sites
and oil storage yards in Alberta
and Manitoba.
* * *
CMU is non -inflammable and
non -corrosive. It is relatively non-
volatile and is applied as a spray
using wettable powder dispersed in
water. Laboratory tests have shown
it to be extremely safe as far as
toxic effects on waren-blooded ani-
mals are concerned. Unlike 2,4-D,
which kills weeds by making them
literally "grow to death," the kill-
ing action of CMU starts in the
root system and works upward to
the leaves. Tips of leaves begin
to die, there is general discolora-
tion of foliage, plant growth slows
to a stop and the plant dies.
*: * *
Farmers can save up to 50 per
cent of their feed cost by giving
farm animals free access to salt,
according to the International Salt
Company. Experiments made re-
cently at the 'Kansas Agricultural
Experiment Station demonstrated
that "the amount of feed required
to produce 100 pounds of gain on
steer calves was almost twice as
high for steers not allowed access
to salt as it was for steers given
salt free choice," the company
reported. * * *
The experiments, which have just
been completed, involved lots of
steer calves which were wintered
on silage and 1 pound of soybean
pellets per head daily. One group,
in addition, received free access to
salt, while another received no salt.
* * *
The group which had free access
to salt gained 1.26 pounds per head
daily. Each animal was fed all the'
silage it would eat. Those which
had free access to salt consumed
28.2 pounds of silage per head
daily, while the steers which had
no salt ate only 26.15 pounds per
head daily.
* * *
The experiments bear out work
done at several other agricultural
colleges, the company pointed out,
as well as the experience of indi-
vidual farmers who give farm ani-
mals free access to salt. One far-
mer in Illinois reported to the
University of Illinois, for example,
that he lost 10 gallons of .milk a
day from a herd of 15 Holsteins
when he failed to give them salt.
He figured that the loss in milk
cost him at the rate of $105 a
month until he remedied the situa-
tion.
Pressure Cookers
The thousands of people who
have used pressure cookers sucess-
fully will be interested in the en-
dorsement given it recently by the
British Ministry of Food, whose
laboratory experiments highlighted
the value of this type of cooking
for retaining Vitamin C and Vita-
min BI in the food. Such support
gives momentum to the sale of
pressure cookers which have been
marketed with spectacular success
during the last few years.
The popularity of this type of
cooking device is not limited to
one country. Already popular in the
United States, Canada and Britain,
sales of pressure cookers are ex-
ceeding expectations in Norway
and Brazil, as the good word
spreads around the world about
this healthful, efficient instrument
for preparing food.
The medical officer was testing
the water supply.
"What precautions do you take
against infection?" he asked the
sergeant in charge.
"V\ -Te hciil it first, sir," the ser-
geant replied.
"Good!„
"Then we filter it."
"Excellent!"
"And then, just for safety's sake,
we always drink beer.
Still Ha.d A Kick
One day my parents were both
gone. They bad left us with stern
admonitions not to get into mischief.
Sbme of the neighbors' children
came over and we started to dress,
up in the old clothing hanging from
the great beams in our open cham-
ber. We had an immense chest made
years before by some old artist
There were grandmother's wedding
bonnet and an old hoop skirt and
various articles that gather in old
houses. There was grandfather's
powder horn with some of the priz-
priniing powder in it.
Thins powder horn was a museum
piece and was ornamented with
carving that was very ably done.
On it were a partridge, a man and
a gun, a man on snowshoes chasing
a deer, a canoe, a wigwam, and
other scenes. The horn was scraped
so thin that the grains of powder
could be seen through it. Attached
to it was a knitted cord of green
woolen yarn with which to hang
it over the hunter's shoulder. The
horn was closed with a wooden
stopper. We had been cautioned
not to touch this relic, and it rested
safe in its well-earned honor in the
old chest.
The chest itself had begun to
show signs of age. A big crack had
appeared in the bottom and the red
paint had begun to flake off. We
dragged the chest around to stand
on as we took down the various
articles we needed. The stopper in
the horn must have become loosen-
ed and, as we dragged the chest
around, a small stream of powder
trickled out on the floor.
It was noticed by my brother,
who always was fertile in thinking
up things to do that no one wanted
done. He got a match and lighted
the train. It flashed across the floor,
disappeared under the old chest, and
in an instant BANG! The old chest
erupted like Vesuvius, burying us
under a shower of hoop skirts and
bygone bonnets and other articles
of no great value.
The other children ran home in
dismay at the result of our enter-
prise, and I gave my brother a
little of what he needed a lot of
and then assessed the damage. The
old chest was not damaged beyond
repair, so I put in a few nails
where they would do the most good,
put back the old relics, and, as
far as I ever knew, this is the first
"time anyone has ever heard the
story of the mystery of the lost
powder horn.—From "Yankee Boy-
hood," by R. E. Gould.
Gardening Hint
Many people would be more en-
thusiastic about gardening if it were
possible to plant seeds and_ have
them grow without further work or
worry caused by weeds and drought.
This utopian state of affairs may
never arrive, but aluminum foil is
providing a fairly good substitute
for it. Used as a mulch, the foil
is laid in strips between rows of
growing plants thus eliminating the
weeds between the rows and en-
abling the plants to derive the max-
imum benefit from the moisture in
the ground.
Virginia (U.S.A.) Truck Experi-
ment Station tests with 17 kinds
of vegetables indicated that alu-
minum is especially valuable dur-
ing periods of moisture shortage.
It increases the yield of the vege-
tables, increases the initial growth,
plant development and harvest.
Aluminum foil appears to be valu-
able also in reducing the ravages
of insects. The technique is simply
to place it between the rows of
vegetables and cover with a little
earth to hold it in position.
Wheel -a -Way— Willie, a four-year-old dachshund it Wetwyn,
England, gets around town in a tiny chariot that takes the place
of his back legs, rendered useles by illness. He's good enough
at wheeling along to chase cats with the best of his four -legged
friends.
JITTER
1 RRou6KT-HE YOUNGSTERS
ANO JITTER TO YOUR Yom...
PRowuSEp'EM 1 WAULI
MOUTHS A60.
FINE...
tan SNOW
YOU AROUND.
TI4E TOURISTS OUYCt4000LATE MILK To
SEE GUS DRINK IT... HE TOOK CARE 0
NAL/ A CASE YESTERDAY/
By Arthur Pointer