Awake!, October 8, 1955
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THE ONE SOURCE OF REAL SECURITY
Sun Power to the Rescue
Meet the Marvelous Hypothalamus
Guard Against Infidelity in Marriage
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News spurce* that are able to keep you iwsk* to the vital Issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish Intereats. '‘Awake 1” has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, Is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden on; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may Speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
"Awake I*' uses the regular, news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on-the-* scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal’s viewpoint is not narrow, but is international. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.
"Awake I” pledges Itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of a righteous New World.
Get acquainted with “Awake 1” Keep awake by reading "Awake 1”
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CONTENTS
Is Money Your God?
The One Source of Real Security
The Greatest Wealth of AT.
,Sun Power to the Rescue
Harnessing the Sun for Power
The Gypsies of Austria
The Scorpion—Nature's Mr. Sinister
Sewage Gas Packs Power!
Interested in Health?
Perfume Makes You Lovelier
Human Sacrifices on “Good Friday"
Meet the Marvelous Hypothalamus
The Defense Mechanism
Making Life Livable
"Your Word Is Truth”
Guard Against Infidelity in Marriage When Caruso Sang at the Bank Gilead’s Twenty-fifth Graduation Do You Know?
SUS
Watching the World 29
IS MONEY YOUR GOD?
WTHOUT money these days you could do very little. Yet too much interest in money can keep you from doing very much. When recognized for what it is money can be your servant, your slave. It can provide necessities, meet your obligations and aid you toward sound goals. But when allowed to get the upper hand it can enslave you in a web of greed, hatred and jealousy. It can make you too busy to enjoy your family and too grumpy to be enjoyed by them, too occupied with your own troubles to see a better thing, even when that better thing is set before you.
There are many levels of money worshiping. 'Some people’s love of money is so strong that it leads them into graft, crime, violence and murder. But there are other persons who are totally honest, who would commit no crimes to gain money—none, that is, except against themselves and their families. They may physically damage their bodies, developing ulcers and heart attacks, or becoming so hardened in their search for money that they become greedy and mean. Then, too, there are many ordinary people, perhaps a majority of people today, who are so busy in their search for money and so encumbered with the things that they buy with it that they have no time for true worship or for the true God. They may be very good people. Frequently they are very charitable—toward everyone except themselves! They will look out for the needs and best interests of others, but will take a course that does not meet their own needs and best interests.
To prove that this view is real, and that a tremendous number of people do make money their god, just go along with one of Jehovah’s witnesses on a typical Sunday morning as he calls upon the people In their homes, encouraging Bible education and showing the people how to live happier lives. This is a public service, for the good of humanity, but spend your time warmheartedly helping others and common responses are; “What does it get you?” “Who pays you?” “There has to be a catch to it somewhere!” And, most common of all, the simple objection: “I’m too busy,” Too busy to look to a better thing, too enmeshed in the economic struggle to examine God’s Word, too occupied with things that are considered “important” to gain life!
This is nothing new. Nearly two thousand years ago a rich young ruler, bound down with worldly cares, asked Jesus: “What good must I do in order to get everlasting life?” He was told: "Observe the commandments continually.” This he said he did. He did not murder, steal, bear false witness, and he honored his father and mother and loved his neighbor as himself. But he asked: “What yet am I lacking?” and Jesus told him: “Sell your belongings
and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come be my follower.” The Scriptural account tells us: "When the young man heard this saying, he went away grieved, for he was holding many possessions?’ (Matthew 19:16-24, New World Trans.) How similar this man's attitude was to today’s view of putting financial wealth ahead of spiritual welfare!
Why do money and wealth get this attention? Because they raise a man’s position in the eyes of the world, and because they are worshiped as the things that bring security. But money will not buy sound friends, it cannot buy God’s favor and it is not the thing that leads to the greatest happiness. Even further, it is a god whose rewards are short-lived, fleeting and untrustworthy, It is not a sound security.
Obviously it is a necessity and sr defense. But its value can be undermined. The Bible remains true when it calls the wealth of this system "uncertain riches,” and when it advises: “Riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.”—1 Timothy 6:17, New World Trans.; Proverbs 23:5, Am, Stan. Ver.
Your search for money is a search for security. But the facts are that money does not bring real security. It may not buy as much next year as it does now. And when man has to fight with the thing he worships as security, then it is time to look to something firmer in which to trust. There is such a better thing. Many happier people have trusted in it What is it? and how will it benefit you? The following article answers.
Down through. the ages mon have sought security. Yet all too often they have considered Its real source too simple to be worthy of consideration. Are you interested in yottr own security? and willing to spend a few minutes* time to learn where it really car be found? Then this article is for you.
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SECURITY
MONEY is almost a necessity today. We need it to buy food, clothing, shelter and other requirements of Mfe. But many persons go much farther than that, not just using money as their servant but unwisely becoming its slave. Yet money'does not prove to be a firm security. Everyone knows that the purchasing power of a dollar, a franc, a peso or a shilling changes. Fluctuations in mone/s value have often destroyed in days the wealth men spent their lives accumulating.
Money did not prove a firm security in Germany in 1923 where if you had saved even a trillion marks (1,000,000,000,000) you would have seen that tremendous sum
dwindle to the value of just one solitary mark! -It did not prove a firm security in Hungary in 1946. And even if you live in the United States and are now falling back on savings that you put aside as a young man in 1900, the money that you put aside for a chicken will now buy only the drumstick. The money that you put aside for a shirt will buy only the collar. The money for shoes will now pay for only the heels and laces.
Even further, money can be lost through war, theft, poor management, or in any of numerous other ways. Thus, while money is a daily need, it becomes increasingly evident that for a real security we must have something firmer in which to trust— something that could not be lost, stolen or destroyed. There is such a firm security, and many men have set the example of trusting in it. Are you sufficiently interested in a real security to want to examine the examples they have set for you?
They Found True Security
We can refer to ancient examples of men who looked to that which is of greatest value, and can find those examples in the Bible. Think back, for instance, to Moses’ situation. He lived amidst the majesty'and splendor of ancient Egypt. -The mighty Pharaohs were its rulers, and Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s palace, raised as though he were the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He had prestige and honor and the security of Egypt’s military might— the very things that men unsuccessfully attempt to obtain with money today. Yet what course did Moses take? "By faith Moses, when grown up, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh, choosing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, because he esteemed the reproach of the Christ as riches greater than the treasures of Egypt.” Quite clearly Jehovah, and not money, was Moses’ God, and Moses received real security, security that came from God, plus great blessings and divine protection for putting his trust in the right place.—Hebrews 11:24-26, New World Trans.
Consider also the outstanding example set by ancient Job. A man of great wealth, he was called "the greatest of all the men of the East.” Though Satan reduced him to a childless poverty-stricken state, Job proved that he considered his service to his heavenly Father to be of far greater importance than material wealth. He said: “If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; if I haye rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God that is above.” Job knew where to put his confidence, and his loss of material wealth had no effect upon his allegiance to his Creator. He was greatly blessed for this, in both spiritual and material ways.—Job 31:24, 25, 28, Am. Stan. Ver.
Of course, there is the outstanding example of Jesus Christ himself. This Son of God could heal the sick—what a moneymaker he could have been had he taken collections as modem faith healers do! He could read men’s minds—what wealth and power and untold commercial accomplishments could have been his if he had wanted them! He was even sought by the people as a king—what political power he could have wielded! But he did not even own a house! He said: “The Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.” When they wanted to make him king, Jesus “withdrew again into the mountain al! alone.” The greatest man who ever lived wanted only to serve his heavenly Father! Could you gain more than he could have? In trying to do so, are you happier or more secure than he was? Or are you rejecting the true source of happiness and of real security through an overemphasis on commercial gain? Could you spend a little more time in studying God’s Word, and a little more effort in his service, without thinking, as some people do: “What does it get me?” “What do I get out of it?’’ And could ■ you, as Jesus was, be happier for doing so?
—Matthew 8:20; John 6:15, New World Trans.
Consider, too, Jesus’ apostles and their attitude toward real wealth. Could you imagine them asking, “What’s it going to get me?” when they had the opportunity of proclaiming that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah? It got them peace of mind and assurance that they were doing right, plus the security of Jehovah’s rich blessings, and those are things that no amount of money could ever buy! Paul’s example is outstanding. Though educated at the feet of noted Gamaliel, he gave up any opportunity of worldly position to become a willing slave of God’s. He says he was “in labor and toil, in sleepless nights often, in hunger and thirst, in abstinence from food many times, in cold and nakedness.” Yet he was not disappointed. Rather, he said he was “as poor but making many rich, a^Kaving nothing and yet possessing ^JltKin^^Such spiritualriches are 'firm andsure. Thus, Paul did not put aside his missionary tours to gain financial security. Rather, he put his service to God first and securely said: “For all things I have the strength by virtue of him who imparts power to me.”—2 Corinthians 11:27; 6:10; Philippians 4:11-13, New World Trans.
Having set such a good example, the apostle Paul also gave sound advice on whether to put our desire for wealth or our service to God first. He wrote: “Let your manna? of life be. free of the love of money, while you are contenCwith the present things.” Further: “For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things. However .J^hose who are determined to be rich fall intoJemnUp tion and "a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires which plunge men'intoU^ structionafitr ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains." There is nothing wrong with money in itself, butjfis. the love of it, the greed for more^the fceling~TEaKTriTlhe oVre^Blng'that brings security, and therefore the making of it into a god, that leads the individual away from real security and out of true worship.—Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:7-10, New World Trans.
Do you think that these good examples were set by some special kind of men, and that they could put God’s service first and be happier for it, but that it does not work today and is not practical for you? Well, do not be mistaken; it does work today! True, Christians of the first century were different from the rest of this world. But this was not because they were lunatics or freakishly oiFbalance. Rather, itwasbe^ cause they^Avere^devoted to truth and righteousness., andj^tfiy^s^^ff^joSZ^ ^SsFfljlH^^aTTTiey'wreTntclligent men and^womenTTar* smarter than their opponents who were too dull of hearing to recognize the way that really does lead to happiness, security and life.
The reason these early Christians had zeal, enthusiasm, determination, power and endurance in far greater measure than did the devotees of other religions is .because their God is worthwhile! They considered itareall)opoi\and_£he^gi^atgst^~IPys to fellow creatures aboukthe^nar-velous proyJ^onferliaTmade for their salvation and deliverance. This brought them more Joy than any other course they could take, and nothing was going to hinder them from this service. And, though most modem church members are apathetic, True Christianity Jias the sany joy, zeal and security even today !
Better than Money
Money will riot buy many of the things that man most needs and desires. First of all, it will.not buyfsourdTrier.dsyhe prodigal son found that~out. When hls money was gone, so were his friends. However, friends made, not with money, but with God and Christ and by doing right in the Christian congregation, are sound, sure and trustworthy.—Luke 15:11-32.
Another thing that money cannot buy is ’God’sfavor?gimon found that outwhen he JrieTTo^offer Peter and John money to grant him the power to bring holy spirit onto people. The answer he got was: ^May your silver perish with you, because you thought through monFy to get~possessiorF of the free gift of God.*'—Acts 8:2C, New' World Trans.
fighting, cheating and even, thievery. So It Is that a worT^cordmoried to serving money finds it difficult, almost impossible to understand the Christian principle of love. The world having made money its ‘god, love is net foremost, hut greed and competition are. Yet, thgLiare people who, while earning ajiying andjneeting~their Q^^fiMfs?§titf^aEeJetj^aj\j)otn:oheyr ffielr6o3,'^anSwhcTsKovrFeal love arid fiiSvir'TOntentment and peace of mind. Theirs is the wiser, happier, more secure course.
It is foolish to say that this course will not work, until you have examined it for yourself. And it is even more foolish to say that Jehovah's blessings are not of greater value than an excess of money, before you even know what those blessings are. The psalmist David wrote of God’s instructions, and even of his commandments: “More to be desired are they than gold, yea^ tha?Frhucli~fine goldf sweeteF also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb.”—Psalm 19:7-11, Am. Stan. Ver.
A third thing that money will not buy isdSrbtectionSin the coming day of God’s anger. Worldly-wise men heap up treasures that they hope will provide protection from the troubles they see ahead. But the Bible shows that this world’s greatest trouble will come from God, and then “they shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of
Do you believe that is true? The wise man Solomon said It was, and he was speaking both under inspiration and also from experience. In the Bible book of Ecclesiastes gfoiomoriyells us that he built houses, planted gardens.and parksT had servants, gatheredsilver and gold and “the t^g^sme qf kings and of the_ provinces?^ ‘SuclF' weaJtlT"wduldTbe ’ the~5imEftlon of many people today. Yet Solomon came to realize that it did not bring true happiness.
Then I looked on all the works that my.
Jehovah.” Thus, though money is a de- ____
tense, its defense is only- temporary; while^ hands had wroUghff and on tfie~labor that knowing Jehjwals^n lie a permanent de- Ihad labored todo; and, behold, all was fense agaiffst the aJlproachinjg-dteasterSat vanity andTa striving after wind, Armageddon.—Ezekie?'<C19, Am. Siting ‘waFrto_profit TmderJTiF^un. T saw aif
Ver. labhrahd evSyslcilftowork, that for this
Love of. money does not lead to the a man is envied of his neighbor. This also greatest happiness. Rather, it leads to is vanity and a striving after wind. Better^ grged and£elfishness,.wrangling, bickering, is a handful, with quietness, .than two
handfuls with labor and striving after wind.”—Ecclesiastes 278, 11; 4:4, Stan. Ver.
He concludes: “This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: Fear God, and keep his commandments; far this is the whole duty of mar.. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Thus the theme of the entire book of Ecclesiastes is that a^ar£.from God’s apprqx'aJGan you profit frofrfTlfisadvIce and strivefor God’s favor, the only thing that provides real security? —Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14, Am. Stan. Ver.
The Greatest Wealth of All
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No amount of money will buy it, but God’s favor will provide the one thing that is of greatest value, namely, everlasting life itself. Genesis chapters one and two, the only reliable account of creation anywhere ir. existence, says nothing about men’s dying, except as a punishment for disobedience. And after human death came into existence as a result of disobedience, Christ’s ransom sacrifice made it possible that the present unnatural dying £ man would ritjF last forcvgn.The Bible-pointedly shows that theunflatural state of death is to be abolished and that peace and permanent life will remain.
How can you receive such a blessing as that? Jesus answered: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life, and I should resurrect him at the last day.” To receive this blessing of everlasting life, true knowledge is required: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”—John 6:40; 17:3, New World Trans.
Is there any amount of money that you would not spend to gain such an everlast-ir.g security? Well, you do not have to spend money to receive it, hut you do have to spend time and energy in study and in God’s service. It is certainly worth that time because those who have such a rare and costly treasure are richer than if they had gained the whole world! Should anything, either your love of money, or your search for prestige and position, or any other time-consuming act, stand in your way of receiving that sure promise of everlasting life—a promise backed up by the Creator of the universe? No amount of wealth or position or honor could equal it! So, do not long for the evilly gotten gain of the old system, but look with confl dence to the righteousness of everlasting life in the new.
Of course, it is true that you must support your family, must care for your needs, and if you have obligations you may need to set aside a small sum for a future emergency. But <to not become ensnared by the creeping tentacles of financial greed, It is always a temptation to want a little mere . . . then a little more . . . then a little more than that, until your time and offers are so occupied that you have no time either to study God’s Word cr to prove zealous in his service. Most of the world is in this position today.
But remember, it is only from God that true riches will be obtained. Only by lovingly serving him will you receive the real security—protection through the destruction he will socn bring upon this corrupt old world’s systems. No amount of money will help you through that destruction, but the sure wealth of God’s protection will. It is a security that can never be deflated, stolen or undermined by anyone except yourself. It is the best thing you could ever obtain..
So, there is every reason to take the sound, Biblical course and to make Jehovah, not money, your God!
r"pHE sun has always represented an in-1 exhaustible storehouse of energy to man. To harness it for civilization's needs has been one of his aspiring goals. If only one second of the sun’s work could be trapped, say solar experts, tnankind’s power requirements for the next two million years could be supplied!
Every hour the sun floods the earth with a deluge of thermal energy equal to 21 billion tons of coal. Every day it pours out more than a quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) kilowatt hours of energy, greater than the energy content of all the reserves of coal, oil, natural gas and uranium in the crust of the earth; and greater than all mankind’s muscle, fuel and working waterfalls have generated since the beginning o: time. Multiply 684 million tons, the approximate figure of both anthracite and bituminous coal mined annually in the United States, by the number 500 million million. Even that figure would not equal the yearly
solar energy. Fortunately for us, not alt of this energy strikes the earth or else we would have perished long ago. We do receive about 1/200-millionth of it, or 4,690,000 horsepower for each square mile. The rest goes to other planets or is lost in space. At current power rates our sun bill would be at least a billion dollars a minute. What a wonderful God we have to give us all this power free!
Suppose the sun would cease to shine. How long would earth’s fuel supply last, that is, if it were to give us energy at the rate we enjoy receiving it from the sun? All the earth’s combustible fuel—wood, oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, thorium, etc., would be gone in about three days. After that, the earth would begin its descent toward some temperature only slightly above absolute zero—460 degrees Fahrenheit below the usual zero. The land would become snowbound in no time; the oceans, rivers and lakes would freeze and all vegetation and animal life would cease from the earth. The earth would become a dark, lifeless bail.
But there is r.o need to fear for such ever to happen. Scientists are confident that the sun will go on shining for billions of years to come. And our God Jehovah gives us his word that, like bis throne, the sun is established forever. (Psalm 89:36) However, there is cause for concern over the present rate of consumption of combustible material and the known sitf&lies on hand on earth. Eric Hodgins in raSyarti-cle “Power of the Sun” says: "In the hundred years that j, !l
ended in 1950, Industrial Man can-sumed two thirds as much energy as was used throughout the entire Christian era of the preceding eighteen and one-half centuries. That is a world figure." He goes on to say that the United States now consumes fifty times as much energy a year as it did when Thomas Jefferson was president; that, for room or “space heating” alone, this nation consumes “over three times as much fuel as the operation of all the country’s railroads; over twice as much as the running of all its automobiles, trucks, and airplanes; and fifteen per cent more than the total of its manufacturing and mining operations.”
In many other parts of the world, like India, the fuel shortage is real and no joke. Science News Letter for November 13, 1954, reports that lack of fuel has forced low-income families to use the only fuel available—the vegetation around them. This has resulted in deforestation and soil erosion. Where vegetation is scarce, dried animal dung is used as the only remaining cheap, available fuel. This authority contends that “in India, 78% of the yearly fuel requirements are filled by dried cow dung.” This practice of using cow dung for fuel, besides having health and esthetic drawbacks, has played havoc with agriculture. Animal fertilizer is heeded for the soil to revitalize it and increase its crop yield. The above report says: “Experts estimate that the use of animal fertilizer for cooking now cuts the productivity of the land by nearly half,” and this in areas that already suffer from food shortages and periodic famines.
An analysis made for the Atomic Energy Commission by palmer Putnam, whose figures were also accepted by fifty scientists as accurately setting forth the problem at hand, stated that the world’s usable supplies of coal, gas and oil will be exhausted by the year 2023. And in an additional 175 years usable supplies of uranium and thorium, the sources of atomic energy, would also be gone. These authorities predict that within 245 yeans man must be prepared to capture one per cent of all incoming rays from the sun and utilize them for heat and for power to drive the world's machinery, or else face a major catastrophe. “There is little enough time left,” say they, “for solving the problems of capturing solar energy.”
Harnessing the Sun for Power
Despite the fact that scientists have been experimenting with solar energy for the last two hundred years, the matter is still considered to be in the teasing, research state of infancy. As far back as 1818 Mou-chot designed an engine that produced about one horsepower from a twenty-square-yard reflector at the Paris exhibition. Adams in India built solar stoves around 1870, but neither his nor Mouchot’s contraptions were popular. In 1925, the Smithsonian Museum' exhibited a solar cooker designed by Dr. C. G. Abbot. Since then similar devices have been made,
A solar engine, which for a time pumped water on a South Pasadena, California, ostrich farm, was powered by 1,800 mirrors concentrating sun rays on a tubular boiler, which heated 100 gallons of water to the boiling point. The steam from the boiling water was used to work a pump, and the pump raised 1,000 gallons of water a minute. In Egypt irrigation power was obtained by rotating mirrors, which focused rays on a horizontal boiler. And, according to Russian claims, giant reflectors operate textile factories; high-pressure solar heaters cook fruit and vegetables in canneries, distill water, -make ice and heat laboratories. They claim that they have generated steam at 875 degrees Fahrenheit with rolled glass mirrors set in concrete. Professor A. V. Baum, head of the Soviel Union’s Heliotechnical Laboratory at the G. M. Krsyhishanovsky Power Institute at Tashkent, stated that Soviet engineers have succeeded in capturing solar energy with concave mirrors about thirty-three feet in diameter and thus generating some 130 pounds of steam an hour at a pressure of 100 pounds to the square inch, American scientists admit this is amazing—if true.
In the village of Mont Louis in the French Pyrenees, Felix Trombe, a solar engine designer, has harnessed the sun’s energy in the form of pure, directed heat which "can melt or vaporize substances without contaminating them with chemical alloys or impurities.” Trombe’s power plant is a giant, flat, 43-by-34-foot mirror that automatically follows the sun, deflecting the sun’s rays to a fixed parabolic mirror some 80 feet away. This 31-foot-high mirror made of 3,500 pieces of cheap window glass, acts as a gigantic burning glass, concentrating the heat into a single focal point, which has reached temperatures as high as 3,000 degrees centigrade or 5,432 degrees Fahrenheit!
This sun furnace can melt 130 pounds of iron an hour and has actually burned holes in aluminum oxide—the fire resistant material used to line electric furnaces! Only sun power can produce such intense heat. And only sun power can make a fire brick, which is made to withstand heat, radiate like a miniature sun. Under the 120-inch aluminum solar furnace owned by the United States navy, fire brick not only will glow like the sun but can be turned into a steamy vapor in less than ten seconds. Before you can count ten, the furnace temperature rises to three thousand degrees centigrade, and in a few seconds more it doubles that amount, and it is possible to cool the furnace off almost as quickly with the use of special shades.
Future Prospects
Experimental solar mocfels indicate that twenty to twenty-five per cent of the sun’s energy intercepted by man can be transformed into mechanical power. At this rate, the experts say, 750 square miles of desert territory in the United States could easily furnish all the electric power now required for heat, light, transportation and industrial purposes. A power plant covering one-fifth the state of New Mexico could supply 10 trillion horsepower hours a year —30 times the present annual electrical energy production in the United States. Such a power plant could now be built, only the project would be expensive, about 200 billion dollars.
Recently, the Bell Telephone Laboratories demonstrated a solar battery that can convert sunlight into usable electric current without costly intermediate steps. The battery produces enough electricity to power small radio transmitters and record players. Since nothing is consumed or destroyed in the energy-conversion process and there are no moving parts, the solar battery should theoretically last indefinitely. The Bell solar experts foresee in their new discovery a beginning of a solar era.
Scientists are positive that a solar age will arrive, but there appears to be some discrepancy as to when. Professor Farrington Daniels of the University of Wisconsin said that in the next twenty-five years solar energy would be used mainly for small appliances such as cookers and heating apparatus or air conditioning for homes. Solar power plants of 100,000 kilowatts or more, he said, are probably beyond the horizons of 1980. Dr. James Bryant Conant, former president of Harvard University, also a top scientist, predicted that by 1985 cheap solar stills would turn deserts into garden spots.
Future prospects of the sun’s coming to man’s rescue in his fuel crisis are bright.
By "Awoke!1* t&f-rwpandent In Austria
mOMETIMES you see them driving from K one place to another with their horse-ggg drawn carts. From their features you can tell that they are not natives of Europe, They have dark wavy hair, large black or brown eyes, dark skin and are of small stature. They are not understood by most people, and wherever they go they are not welcome. Who are they? The gypsies’
Where did the gypsies come from? Their origin is obscure. Their language is one of the clearest indications of their origin that exists. It belongs to the Indo-European language family and is called Romany; all of its dialects are clearly connected with Sanskrit, the oldest-known written language cf the group. So it is now generally believed that the gypsies came from southeastern or central India, reaching Persia about the beginning cf the tenth century A.D. The first gypsies appeared in Europe at the beginning ^of the fourteenth century.
< Persecuted wherever they wandered, they have been accused of crimes from petty thievery to witchcraft. They have been subjected to much suffering, even in modern times. During the Nazi regime many male gypsies were sterilized and both sexes were put to forced labor. In 1938 there were about 15,000 gypsies in Austria; after they came out of Hitlers concentration camps, just 4000 were left.
i The gypsies are an intelligent people, whose IQ often is much higher than that cl the people among whom they live, 'They have had to yield to the surrounding people, if they wanted to get along relatively well- -n spite Of this their pride and a certain feeling cf superiority are unbroken. These outcasts from human society have built up a tight relationship among themselves. They claim to obey and follow only their clan chief, who has the right to demand unconditional obedience. All quarrels are brought before him and severer cases before a regular gypsy court. So gypsies, in their own affairs, appear very seldom !*■ fore the courts of the countries in which they live. In their own courts everything is done orally, and the most severe sentence is to be expelled from the tribe.
Tn gypsy family life the women play not an insignificant part in the support of the group, principally by means of their fortune-telling, in which they employ various forms of prediction, ranging from tea leaves to the tarot pack of cards. The parents have a real love for their children. Yet they do not pamper them. The belief that gypsies steal other children and take them along as their own, it appears, is largely a myth. It is not in keeping with their custom of extreme pride that the gypsies have in the purity of their race1. A gypsy couple have, on the average, between six to eight children; not Infrequently a family has up to eighteen members
Children marry early and within the tribe. The laws are very strict and marital unfaithfulness is rare. The penalty for it is a. visible cut with a knife from the mouth to the cheek; at the same time the guilty one is cast out cf the tribe. But these cuts are not found very often.
The many taboos stem from the gypsies rfuigicn, which In Austria is Roman Catholic1. But the gypsies have more suj^erstilions than many Roman Catholics have. This is because the gypsies absorb the religion of the people among whom they move, mixing with it (he accumulated mythologies and superstitions that they have picked up In their many wanderings. This results in a hodgepodge cf false religions, Gypsies even practice a kind of heathen ancestor worship, and they believe so thoroughly ir the spirits of the dead that they, for fear of being attacked, do not like to leave their camp at night.
1 It is heart-cheering to know that today in Austria, as well as in Germany, there are some gypsies who have abandoned false religion. These ones have renounced dishonesty, divination and superstition, and have taken up true religion. They now live according to the righteous principles of God's Word, being associated with the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses. The hope of these gypsies is to be among that "great crowd” of persons “out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues” who will gain everlasting life or. earth, after Armageddon, in God’s new world. —Revelation 7:9, New World Trans.
When a scorpion is exposed to the warmth of a fire, he does die
QIIE scorpion;'’.' has a repcta-- ■ tion almost-.", as bad as the myth- ~ ical fire-spitting dragon. In former times people be
lieved that the scorpion stung young giris to death on sight and caused lingering death of women; others were said to eat men. Some scorpions, it was believed, had feathers and flew afar to their fiendish villainy, while others had such a hatred for man that they would c'.imb to the ceiling and there hang, five or six deep, in a hideous chain so they could have the delight of inflicting a mortal wound. Today there arc fabulous stories about scorpion exploits. Having become nature’s Mr. Sinister, the scorpion has a reputation to live up to. It should be said for the scorpion that he does his best, but his best is not good enough.
What damages the scorpion’s reputation for ferocity the most is the fact that he harbors no hatred for man; he looks for bugs, not us. And the scorpion just cannot live up to his reputation of bringing death to every man he stings. This is because his poison, though instantly fatal to bugs, very rarely produces death in man. So, as the American Museum of Natural History recently pointed out, the scorpion just does not live up to tales told about him.
There is a widespread belief that when a scorpion is surrounded by fire he will commit suicide by stinging himself to death. This is ridiculous for the reason that the scorpicn is immune to his own poison and the poison of his own species. quickly, but not because he commits suicide. Another story about scorpions is that they always travel in pairs. This is not entirely true. It may happen occasionally; but when two are found together they usually are courting.
Ln a contest for sinister-looking animals the scorpion ought to take top honors; at least there are thousands of women who would cast their votes his way. Though he looks much like a small lobster, the scorpion has the added hideous feature of a dagger attached to his flexible tail. No doubt about it, that tail, as it waves in all directions, is really wicked-looking! The tail is usually carried upward and forward over the back; at its tip is a curved, hollow, poison-oozing sting. This is the scorpion’s heavy-caliber weapon. It is highly effective ir. protecting the scorpion’s life. Evidently the scorpion believes in preparedness, since his front end is also well protected. Here are two formidable pincers. These certainly ought to frighten enemies away.’But their primary function is to grab, hold and mash prey. A pair of nippered jaws completes the scorpion’s sinister-looking'equipment.
How Dangerous to Man?
If scorpions were as ferocious and deadly as many people believe, there would not oe many of the human family left, for scorpions live in almost all parts of the world south of the fortieth parallel of north latitude, a notable exception being New Zealand. Preferring the warm climates, scorpions live under a wide variety , of conditions. Some thrive in tropical forests; others do well on open plains and sandy deserts. There are a few at high altitudes with abundant snow in winter. About 400 species exist. These range from one to eight inches in length. Of course, things grow big in the tropics and some, such as the big black scorpion, may reach a length of nine or ten inches.
Generally, the scorpion does his best to avoid members of the human family. But his best is not always good enough. In his nighttime travels he sometimes blunders into human habitations. When day begins to break, Mr. Scorpion clambers into anything cozy and dark. So we sometimes meet this. sinister-looking animal. To prevent these chance meetings from being painful, the prudent man in tropical areas develops the habit of thoroughly shaking his shoes and clothing before putting them on. But what happens if a man fails to see the scorpion in time and he gets stung?
What happens depends upon the type of scorpion and the type of person stung. A scorpion sting can be most dangerous to an enfeebled, hypemervous adult or to a young child. On healthy adults, the sting of most scorpions has no serious effect other than to cause a very painful wound. But some very dangerous scorpions live in Trinidad, North Africa, Malaya, India and other tropical regions. An Egyptian scorpion is reported to have a death rate of over 50 per cent among young children.
The most formidable scorpion in the Western Hemisphere is the Durango scorpion found in the state of Durango, Mexico, and adjacent areas. A healthy, grown person has been known to die within less than an hour from the sting of one of these. Over a period of some 35 years about 1,600 deaths in Durango have been ascribed to these creatures. A good antivenom has now greatly reduced the deaths. In the United States scorpions do no worse than bees or wasps. But for children there is an exception. In southern Arizona there are scorpions, relatives of the Durango species, that reportedly have caused the death of two dozen children. But whether children or adults, all should give due respect to any scorpion. Remember, even the least dangerous stinging creatures, such as honey bees or hornets, may occasionally cause severe trouble in an especially sensitive individual.
The Scorpions1 Bill of Fare
When it comes to making a living, the scorpion, as you can well imagine, does all right for himself. Strangely enough, he is almost deaf and can see only a few inches; so he depends largely on touch. The scorpion’s large, powerful pincers are studded with hairs. These hairs are hypersensitive. The plodding beetle or the scurrying cockroach that blunders into these hairs has sounded its own death knell. With hair-trigger action the scorpion's pincers seize the bug in a vicelike grip. If the prey is small, the claws do the whole business of slaughter. A larger victim, however, is firmly grasped and held, while the tail is curved over the back and the sting is brought down to deliver the coup de grdce. After this there is no resistance, and Mr. Scorpion leisurely eats his meal. He may remain at the dinner table for an hour or more while dining on a single beetle.
It should be remarked that the scorpion’s meals are often made up of agile, elusive creatures (what is more elusive than a cockroach?). So in spite of his poor eyesight he does extremely well. But not too much credit should be paid the scorpion in this regard, because his potential dinners are not all keener of sight than their captor. If the tidbit-minded scorpion fails to stir up a juicy bug during the night’s prowling, he can bear it. If he has to, the scorpion can live without a meal for as long as thirty days!
Cannibal Bride and Baby-toting Mother
One item of diet has not been mentioned. It is the scorpion! The courting season often ends in tragedy. Before wedding bells the males woo most ardently. The male grasps a buxom female, greatly his superior in size and power; and, with their hideous faces brought into contact, they exchange what a scorpion poet might dignify with the name of a kiss. Then off they prance. This dance of the scorpions is truly remarkable (it was shown in the nature movie “The Living Desert’’). As in the tango, the male leads. He grasps the female’s claws and leads her after him. They may prance about for hours till finally he induces the future Mrs. Scorpion to approach a burrow that he digs for the wedding. Once the nuptials are over the bride settles down to the chores of housekeeping, and she sometimes dines on her bridegroom. Oh, he is not stung to death—merely eaten.
In due time the children arrive. Mrs. Scorpion does not deposit eggs like her cousins, the spiders; she gives birth to living young. Immediately after birth the baby scorpions scamper upon mamma’s back and cling to all parts of her body by their pincers. Perched on her back like so many passengers on a crowded bus, they are ready for a ride. Fortunately no conductor is present or there would be wholesale ejections: “No room on top” would be sounded. Once aboard and seated the babies are quiet and good. But the driving is careless and sometimes makes insufficient allowance for obstructions so that the passengers are swept from their seats. On these occasions the bus usually stops and waits and the passengers run up and climb back to their places. Babies or no babies, mother still likes to snatch a morsel now and then; so she runs down what game her burdened state allows. While mother, with knife and fork, the pincers and nippers, tears into a bug dinner, the young sit above, viewing the orgy with complete indifference. They are no more interested than human passengers are interested when their bus stops to refuel. After about a week the scorpion transit system loses its passengers as the youngsters, one by one, drop off and begin shifting for themselves.
So the scorpion, though not exactly a lovable creature, is curiously interesting. His villainies have been exaggerated. He is on the search for bugs, not you. If he meets you he shows a much more anxious desire to avoid notice than to attack. With proper provocation, of course, any scorpion is not adverse to testing his stinging weapon on human anatomy. So if you meet up with nature’s Mr. Sinister, and he starts to wave the business end of his tail, remember, he is simply saying: “You have been warned!”
Sewage Gas Packs Power!
■g Sewage gas, the result of the bacterial decomposition of sewage sludge, packs more power than most people think. It is now being used in the United States to heat buildings, generate electricity and operate engines for pumping sewage. At a meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, R. A. Hoot, sanitary engineer for Philadelphia, estimated: “'If all the energy contained in America's sewage could be captured, it would provide sufficient power to run a half-million horsepower engine continuously.”
Interested in llealln?
OME persons go to an extreme in being > ■! a man to get a transfusion Of blood. The dan-overconcerned about their health. A far : • ger is so great that I, personally, would not greater number are careless about their ’ have a transfusion given me unless I very
health. There should be a happy medium, and it is for the benefit of those who would avoid both extremes that the following items of interest are given.
Smoking and Lung Cancer
,■ At the American Medical Association’s convention at Atlantic City, New Jersey, early in June, 1955, more proof was adduced showing the direct relationship between lung cancer and smoking. One report shows that in 32 months lung cancer had killed only 33 per 100,000 of observed nonsmokers, but 246 per 100,000 regular cigarette smokers, or seven times as many.
As regards typical carcinoma of the lungs, the following statistics were reported: nonsmokers, 5 per 100,000; less than a pack of cigarettes a day, 128 per 100,000; one to two packs a day, 227 per 100,000; and more than two packs a day, 460 per 100,000, or 90 times the rate of non smokers!
Those reluctant to see the connection between lung cancer and smoking like to point to the fact that there is a higher incidence of lung cancer in the cities than in country areas. The report indicated that this was so because city dwellers smoked more heavily than did country smokers—Time, June 13, 1955.
Blood Transfusions and Hepatitis
, Dr. Walter C. Alvarez, emeritus consultant iri medicine, Mayo clinic, and emeritus professor of medicine, Mayo foundation, in discussing hepatitis had the following to say about it and blood transfusions:
/ "What is sad is that the virus is very hard to kill or to get rid of. It can be transmitted from person to person, even on a hypodermic needle which has been thrown in alcohol or boiled only a minute. To be safe, the needle must be boiled for many minutes. Many of the kind of persons who give their blood to a blood bank are, all unknown to themselves, carrying the virus. It remains in the body a long time. Obviously, then, it is dangerous for much needed it.”—Minneapolis, Minnesota,
Star, May 11, 1955.
. Agreeing with Dr. Alvarez is the Virginia Medical Monthly, which in its issue of May, 1955, told of the warning by three physicians that “blood transfusions should be given only when the risk of failure to use it is greater than the risk of the many complications which may arise from its use."
In view of the foregoing, of pertinent interest is what the Atlanta, Georgia, Journal and Constitution, February 27, 1955, reported under the heading: “Hepatitis Spread Puzzles Officials.” “In Georgia, as in the nation as a whole, the rapid spread of an old disease, infectious hepatitis—or yellow jaundice—is puzzling health ofiicials. Nationally, during the past three years, the number of cases reported has doubled annually." And according to a United Press dispatch, it is now the fifth-most prevalent communicable disease. Could it be that there is a connection between the increase of infectious hepatitis and the ever-increasing use of blood and plasma transfusions?
Do the hospitals and doctors have any responsibility in this matter? While there seems to be a division of opinion on it among legal circles, as far as the United States is concerned, the French Supreme Court upheld a decision handed down by the Paris court of appeals condemning the French National . Blood Transfusion Center to pay 400,000 francs (about $1,100) to a woman who had contracted syphilis as a result of receiving contaminated blood in a blood transfusion. —Le Monde, December 24, 1954.
. And that there is also another risk in blood transfusions is apparent from the following headlines that appeared in the public press in the past few months: “Mismatched Blood Blamed for Death,” Daily Breeze, Hermosa Beach, California; "Wounded Boy Dies of Transfusion," the Knoxville, Tennessee, Journal; "Death Blamed on Transfusion of Wrong Blood,” Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Daily Star,
AKING, selling and smelling perfume is a fabulous business. Over one hundred million dollars* worth is sold yearly in the United States alone! There are more than five thousand American and a thousand French brands to choose from. And their prices range anywhere from 50 cents to $400 an ounce. The bewitching potions come in bottles of all shapes, sizes and colors, and some of the names are simply fantastic: My Claw, Scandal, Mad Love, Snob, Savage, Frantic and Fanatic—to name just a few. Some firms have as many as 25,000 formulas stored away in their vaults. It takes just one good one to thrive in the business.
Even though perfumers direct their advertising largely toward the women, yet the American male is more marked as a perfume buyer than the American female. More than “60 per cent of all perfume is bought by men for women, who, to the dismay of perfume makers, are about 80 per cent wrong in the way they use the product.” Scent manufacturers report that women know little about perfumes, and men a great deal less. But, says wo r Id's perfume king, Pierre Wertheimer, “a trained woman's nose knows more about perfume than the hest technician.**
Maurice Talmage, who has been concocting devastating whiffs for 30 years, stated rather bluntly that “there isn't one woman in a thousand who can tell the difference between her favorite perfume and another similar brand.” He declared that women have dabbled with perfumes for centuries and yearly spend tens of millions of dollars on perfume to make themselves attractive to men. “But the funny thing is,” Talmage said, “they’re so interested in pretty bottles and exotic names they’re rarely aware of how attractive or unattractive a perfume actually may be.” Fanciful names, beautifully shaped bottles, various shades and colors—none of those things really count. His expert advice is that “women should choose perfumes by how they smell and nothing else. And then they should apply them very sparingly.”
Perfume reveals its carefully blended secrets when lightly and lovingly applied to the skin. The doctors of scent say that for best results chemicals in the individual's skin must harmonize with the perfume used. Otherwise, a fragrance changes or fades away. It should be applied with care at pulse spots, mainly in front of and not behind the ears, at the sides of the neck, at the temples, in the folds of the arms, inside the wrists and even behind the knees.
’ A light spray of perfume over i new hairdo will enhance its beauty.
Perfume, however, should never be put on clothing. It may ridn or injure the fabric* When applied about the person in small amounts, perfume is more effective than when put on in a single big splash- One other thing. Do not expect one application to last Indefinitely. The fragrance soon evaporates, but retouching as necessary wfU keep the delightful vapors alive.
Toilet Water and Scent Appeal
Toilet water is less concentrated than perfume. It may be applied more generously. “Perfume cologne” implies addition of other fragrances. In the United States colognes are merely perfumes diluted about seven times, and many times diluted as to cost. One authority says that a “woman who cannot afford Tabu can use Tabu cologne and smell just about the same. If she used no more than seven times as much cologne as perfume to get the same effect, cologne might be her better buy. The catch is that women hoard perfume, splash cologne.” These women fail to realize that fine perfume evaporates. So instead of economizing, they are actually wasting the precious aromatic oil.
When wearing several fragrant preparations at one time, be sure they are compatible. Or let your perfume dominate and use lightly scented accessory preparations. Talmage admitted that perfume makers have been “trying for years and years to develop a perfume that will make men fall in love at first sniff, but our best efforts have been in vain.” foren the most tantalizing aroma is powerless, he said, unless a man is more than casually interested in a girl in the first place. A good perfume used carefully can enhance a woman’s beauty even as a fragrance enhances the beauty of a flower. But if she expects the perfume to do it all, she is in for a setback. Because, said Talmage, “perfume just doesn’t have what it takes,” despite what advertisers say to the contrary.
It has been known for years, however, that perfumes produce actual physical reactions in both men and women, but there was no means of definitely determining the extent of the reactions. According to Professor R. C. Davis, who has been conducting experiments along this line with the help of the psychogalvanic reflex instrument, the human physical system does react to perfumes. His tests have shown that rarely do two persons react in the same manner to the same perfume. Therefore, buying the right perfume for someone else is risky business, unless you know the brand name. Lonnelle Aikman, writing for The National Geographic Magazine, April, 1951, says: “Most people agree on what smells good and bad. But there are surprising variations. In group tests some have been found to favor odors generally considered revolting.”
This authority further states that various colors can affect one’s judgment in selecting perfumes. For example, a large group was asked to test three bottles of differently colored perfume, nearly all gave reasons for favoring one over another although the odor actually was the same. A shaving-cream manufacturer inquired of thousands of men as to whether they preferred his product perfumed or unperfumed. Ninety-six per cent said they preferred the unperfumed articles. A little later, this same group of men was asked their preferences of two accompanying samples, 92 per cent favored the one that had been perfumed. Aikman states that customers are often unconscious of the lure in smell. The author tells of an experiment that was made with two sets of stockings placed on sale in a department store. The stockings were the same, except that those on one table were faintly scented with the rather unpleasant odor from the finishing process. The author says that decidedly more purchasers took the perfumed goods, though few consciously noticed the lightly applied fragrance. Their preference, they innocently explained, was dictated by “superior quality and finer texture.” Manufacturers today flavor most of their items with whiffs of perfume to boost sales. And it works like magic.
European and Latin-American men admittedly delight themselves with perfume, but North American men think the practice quite sissified. While these men shy away from labels marked cologne or perfume, they are easily wooed by a “ 'man’s cologne/ bottled in a sturdy container and decorated with horses and dogs.” F. A. Hampton, the author of The Scent of Flowers and Leaves; Its Purpose and Relation to Man, says that English people in general show a preference for rose, lavender, violet and the more definitely aromatic scents. The Latin races enjoy scents that northerners find unpleasantly sweet and heavy. In the Eastern nations the preference for heavy scents is still more marked.
Why So Expensive?
There is more to perfume than one can smell. The most delectable and expensive fragrances may contain tiny amounts of some of the worst smells known in nature. There are no less than thirty ingredients in each recipe, and some have as many as 2,000! These must be blended according to theme, taste and originality. In some of the complicated mixtures sometimes an infinitesimal amount—as small as one part in 50,000 of certain elements—is added to give a particular touch.
All finished perfumes must use both synthetics and natural substances. The rose, the jasmin and the orange flower unite to form the wonders of fine perfume. Perfumers say that the rose adds richness, depth and smoothness to their creations. It takes about two to four tons of Bulgarian roses to produce one pound of rose oil. Jasmin is more precious than rose oil and is more widely used in quality perfumes. Jasmin imparts smoothness and gives “life” to the perfumer’s creation. Just one fragile blossom will scent a room. But the blossoms must be picked before daybreak, before the dew rises, to prevent 20 per cent loss in their fragrance. Almost every perfume creation, regardless of its overtone, employs some natural oil of jasmin. It is the perfumer’s one indispensable! Without it perfume would not be what it now is. Almost as precious to perfumers is the essence of orange blossoms, it requires 880 pounds of blossoms to make but one pound of oil. The violet yield of oil is microscopiq. An entire acre of the finest violets will yield only a few drops of the highly prized essence. Oil of violet leaves, while different in character, is also invaluable, as it gives a “leafy” or “dewy” effect to the violet fragrance. But again, it takes 33,000 pounds or about 161 tons of violet leaves to yield but one pound of the oil! “If perfumers were completely dependent on the minute oil reservoirs of the violet plant,” says Jill Jessee in her Perfume Album, “only millionaires could afford to buy violet perfume.”
Regardless of whether the perfume is a solid, like the unguents, or a liquid or powder, it has three components, namely, the base of essential oils and aromatic chemicals that makes the odoriferous part, the fixative that gives “life” and durability to the odor, and the solvent or diluting vehicle that thins down the concentrated^mell to a weakness that can be handled. From ten to fifty nations provide the base, which is seeds, barks, roots, leaves and flowers. Animal scent-secretions supply the fixatives. They slow up and equalize the evaporation of the more volatile oils. Castoreum comes from the Canadian beaver. Putrid-smelling civet, worth 40,000 francs a kilogram, comes from the civet cat in Africa.
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