Nebulium, the strange "element" that has been supposed to exist in such bodies as the great cloud of glowing gas in the star group of Orion, seems to be nothing but oxygen and nitrogen, of which we take in about a pint every time we breathe. This is the opinion of I.S. Bowen, of the Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics.
Following the discovery of helium, first as a strange line in the spectrum of the sun and then as an actual element on the earth, a mysterious group of lines was found in the spectra of some of the nebulae. As most of the spectral lines are known to be due to certain elements, it was thought that the strange lines, of which one was green, might be due to an element as yet undiscovered.
From the livers of dogs, Prof. W.H. Howell of the Johns Hopkins University has prepared an anti-coagulant that will keep a sample of blood in a practically normal condition for 24 hours.
Clotting is nature’s protection against bleeding to death, but this tendency of the vital fluid to congeal after its exposure to the air offers serious disadvantages in blood transfusions and certain types of important experimental work. This new clot-preventing substance, which has been named herapin, is of great interest, therefore, to surgeons, pathologists and other specialists who deal with blood, particularly those who make the various blood tests used in detecting disease.
Primitive man and his wife first took to wearing clothes in order to keep off stinging flies, sharp-billed mosquitoes, cooties, fleas, and other lively pests. This simple answer to the puzzle problem: "How did we come to wear clothes, anyway?" is advanced by Dr. Knight Dunlap, professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University.
"Crawling and flying pests are with primitive man abundantly and very intimately," Dr. Dunlap points out, in a paper to appear in the first issue of a new scientific publication, the Journal of General Psychology. Skins or cloth might be wrapped tight around the body for protection against stings and bites, but this is confining and in warm climates impossible. "Much more efficient protection is afforded by hanging string, leaves, strips of hide, animals’ tails, and similar articles so that they will flap with the movements of the wearer," he says. "In other words, the best fly chasers are exactly the garments most characteristic of savages and primitive man. These afford protection without undue warmth or exclusion of ventilation."
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