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New Anesthetic. A family of white rats thrived, multiplied, during a period when they were repeatedly rendered unconscious, sometimes for seven hours on end, with "propylene," a gas similar to ethylene and acetylene.—Dr. Lloyd K. Riggs and Harold D. Goulder, New Brunswick.
Vacuum Tubes. Thorium, oxygen and caesium fused upon tungsten elements, produced an indestructible vacuum tube for radio sets.—Dr. Irving Laugmuir, General Electric Co.
Cell Compounds. "Cholesterol," a substance abundant in the skins, brains and certain glands of animals, was designated as the agent that carries the healing effect of the ultraviolet ray in sunshine to the interior of the body, whither the ray's short wavelength cannot penetrate through the skin. A similar substance, "phytosterol," native to vegetable oils, was found to retain the activity imparted to it by ultraviolet rays. The latter discovery shed light on the elusive vitamins by showing that a simple chemical compound may be endowed with radiant energy.—Dr. Alfred F. Hess, Columbia University.
*The alewife, a fish common to New England waters, is caught, rotted, used in large quantities for fertilizer.