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Judges. A good judge of himself is a man mentally alert, socially inclined, cheerful, optimistic, moderately popular. A good judge of others is slow mentally, shallow, emotionally unstable, a physical and moral coward, independent, unsociable.—Psychologist Henry S. Adams, University of Michigan.
Super-Oysters. A. bivalve in a symmetrical shell, lacking the tough muscle necessary to attach itself to rocks; hardy, fast-growing, large, sweet and tender on the tongue, was evolved by selective breeding. The difficulty of changing the water in the breeding pans without losing the oyster eggs was overcome by using a modified "cream separator." The new species can take care of itself in natural beds after attaining a certain growth; it can be grown by the million.—Biologist William F. Wells, New York State Conservation Commission.
Diabetes Virus? Rabbits inoculated with urine from a diabetic patient contracted diabetes. The fluid was filtered through porous porcelain. Then it did not induce diabetes. Conclusion: diabetes is a communicable disease, caused not by a bacterium but by a virus or poison which may be isolated and for which a prophylaxis may be discovered.—Dr. David H. Bergey, University of Pennsylvania.
War of 1929. The earth is one organism, comprising atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), lithosphere (rocks), biosphere (life). This organism lies in the vast magnetic field of the sun, which fluctuates in regular cycles. Solar irruptions of the coming two years, the maxima of cycles large and small, will agitate the solar magnetic field and produce upheavals on earth, including the biosphere. Study of physicochemical history ("historiometry") shows large human wars occurring at times of maximum sunspots. Conclusion: a solar agitation of the human race during 1927-29 "of the highest historical importance," greatest since 1870.—Archaeologist A. Tchijovsky, University of Moscow.
"No More Work." If the hydrogen contained in two teaspoonsful of water were converted into helium, 200,000 kilowatt hours of energy would be liberated. In perhaps two centuries this and other feats will be performed with atoms, whose energy will then do all mankind's labor.—Dr. Carl Frederick Schlissel, of Germany.
Amazons. Archaeological evidence is now complete that the female warriors mentioned by King Priam in Homer's Iliad—the Amazons against whom he fought as a boy at the headwaters of the Sangarius River—were actually men of the Hittite tribe, whose practice of shaving earned them the scorn of the bearded Phrygians. Hittite sculpture found up the Sangarius shows the fashion of shaving coming to an abrupt end about 1250 B. C. (some 50 years before Priam spoke). Perhaps the razor was blamed for the Hittite reverses.—General Secretary John Linton Myres, British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Resolution. At its sectional meeting, the American Association of University Professors resolved to "take initiative in bringing about a more effective co-operation between all groups or organizations interested in opposing legislative restriction on freedom of teaching in state-supported institutions," i.e. to fight the organized minority of anti-Evolutionists lest a measure similar to Prohibition become the law of the land.