Evening star., 1925-03-29

Science.
True advance in medicine will not
come until men study physiology as
pure science-men who have i'm
agtnation enough to discover the
secret functions of the body. This is
the conclusion reached by DR.. Alexis
Carrel, surgeon and scientist of the
Rockefeller Institute, as reported in
a speech last week in New York.
While modern science protects men
against such disease as cholera and
smallpox, 1t leaves him exposed to
slower diseases, such as cancer and
mental deterioration, he said. He
believes there has been little real
advance in medical science over the
knowledge of the middle ages.
Army air pilots at Mitchell Field,
Long Island, put to the test last
week the theory that a man loses
consciousness when he falls from a
great height and knows nothing when
he strikes the ground.
The test was made by aviators who
jumped from planes in parachutes,
not allowing them to open until they
had fallen about 1000 feet. The fact
that they were perfectly conscious
disproved the theory. they say.
Navy aviators have begun flights
over the Capital each day to a height
of 10000 feet to observe meteorological
conditions with the idea in view of
cooperating with the Weather Bu-
reau in making weather forecasts.
The planes will be equipped with re
cording apparatus, which will regis
ter the conditions above Washington.
After the flight is over the instru-
ments will be read and the results
telephoned to the Weather Bureau.
AS long ago as 1000 years before
Christ there were medical "quacks"
who were advertising methods of
making an old man Into a young
man of 90" and at the same time
there were scientists with enough
medical knowledge to permit the
discovery that a paralysis of one side
Of the body is caused by a, detection
of the brain on the other side. These
and other interesting facts concern
ing the state of medical knowledge in
the centuries before Christ are con-
tained in the Edwin Smith Medical
Papyrus," treatise on medical
science and surgery written on
papyrus and now being studied by
scientists Of the New York Historical
Society
Young men in America are forced
to live 100 years while those in
Europe are living 25, according to
Emil kraepelin, noted alienist and
head of the psychiatry department of
the University of Munich, who has
come to the United States to con-
tinue his 40 years studies of diseases
of the brain. Such intense living,
surrounded as they are with luxuries,
vIFn 81 H.. l.
nervous systems of young men In
America, said the scientist, although
he admitted that such speed" in
living may proves advantageous to
race development.
Bromine, which heretofore has
been obtained for it's use in medicine,
motion pictures and motor fuel from
mineral springs and the potash de-
posits of Germany. is to be sought
from the wild, free waves of the
Atlantic Ocean. The Ethyl, spe-
cially fitted ship, left Wilmington
last week on an experimental cruise
to find out whether extracting the
valuable chemical from sea water
will prove practical. Chemical ex-
pertS estimate that about one pound
Of bromine may be extracted from
LOO gallons of sea water. A new
process of obtaining it from sea
water Is expected to produce 100000
pounds of the chemical monthly.
Bromine Is extensively used in ethyl
gasoline and the development of that
fuel has resulted in a shortage of
the chemical. The Ethyl steamship
is specially QUILTED to extract the
chemical from the sea-
Dispatches from London recount
the capture by scientists of another
one of the rays which are given off
by radium. Radium gives off three
rays-alpha, beta and gamma So
far the gamma rays have been the
only ones which scientists could iso-
late and harness to do some of the
wonder work of radium. Now an
nouncement comes that another ray
the beta-has been successfully
isolated, captured, put in a glass tube
the thickness of human hair and
made available in large quantities
for medical use. 1t is hoped to be
used in the treatment of cancer and
kindred diseases.