524 



NATURE 



[January 6, 191 6 



question will arise whether it is worth while to run 

 mains from the nearest gas or electrical supply; or 

 whether it is not more economical, for a temporary 

 installation, to rely exclusively on portable illuminants 

 such as those described in the earlier portion of the 

 article, and to avoid the use of piping altogether. 



The fact that petrol-air gas can be readily applied 

 for heating is also an advantage, especially in labora- 

 tories where bunsen burners and small heating appli- 

 ances are much used. In country houses petrol-air 

 gas may also be used for small cooking ranges, the 

 usual size of which consumes an amount of petrol 

 equivalent to about twenty lights. Stoves for use in 

 the fireplace to heat rooms can also be supplied, but 

 as a rule the small householder finds it preferable 

 to use a coal or wood fire rather than incur the 

 expense of installing the exceptionally large plant 

 necessary to heat a number of rooms. 



There remain to be mentioned the systems of lisht- 



FiG. 4. — General view of WiUett pelrol-air gas plant. The plant consists of 

 three chief parts— air compressor, petrol container, and spiral carburetter. 

 The air compressor contains a cylindrical drum having in it a number of 

 "scoops " so shaped as to produce a series of helical channels ; the lower 

 portion of the drum is filled with water. The petrol drum contains a 

 number of srnall cups attached to the ends of rods which are fixed to a 

 revolving spindle. These cups discharge their contents into a funnel- 

 shaped receptacle, which in turn \^ controlled by the petrol regulator. 

 Both the scoops in the air compressor and the spindle carrying the cups 

 in the petrol drum are actuated by the suspended weight and work in 

 perfect uniforniity. The helical scoops in revolving t.^ke up a measured 

 quantity of air which is compressed and dischargeii into a rectangular 

 tank at the side, froin whence it passes into the carburetter. Meantime 

 the carburetter receives a regulated amount of petrol in the manner 

 described. The inter-connection of the apparatus for supplying air and 

 petrol maintains the correct jiroportions of these constituents : no holder 

 is needed to store the gas which is generated as required, the machine 

 automaiica ly increasing its speed as more lights are turned on and vice 

 versa. 



ing and heating which generate gas from heavy oils, 

 fats, etc., which require heat for distillation. These 

 systems are claimed to be highly economical on a 

 large scale, and are usually employed for large build- 

 ings, institutions, factories, country railway stations, 

 etc. Many railways make their own oil gas, which 

 is compressed and used for carriage lighting. 



The Mansfield oil gas producer is widely used for 

 generating this quality of gas, and is claimed to be 

 applicable to a wide variety of fuels, such as creosote, 

 palm oil, kerosene, and even tallow and unrefined fat. 

 The oil is stored in a suitable tank and guided in a 

 fine stream _ into a retort heated by a wood or coal 

 fire. In this way a permanent oil gas is produced 

 which, after purification, is stored in a holder and 

 supplied through pipes in the usual way. The gas 

 produced may be used either with mcandescent 

 mantles or in a flat flame burner. It may also be 

 used for heating, having a high calorific power. In 

 NO. 2410, VOL. 96I 



some cases a portion of the gas is used for cooking 

 and heating water, and the remainder is utilised to 

 drive an engine and dynamo, furnishing electric light. 

 A system of this kind naturally requires some atten- 

 tion, but is claimed to be capable of being worked by 

 unskilled labour, and to be very simple in operation. 



RESEARCHES ON SPRUE.-^ 



SPRUE is a disease of chronic course, the main 

 features of which are a frothy diarrhcea gener- 

 ally accompanied by a sore tongue; the disease as it 

 progresses producing severe anaemia and exhaustion. 

 The word sprue in English medical literature was 

 first used by Manson in 1880, and is apparently the 

 anglicised form of the Dutch spruw. One would like 

 to know something of the origin of this Dutch word. 

 The form sproo was also used in the year 1825 in 

 Scotland for "a disease affecting the mouth of very 

 young children." This disease is in all probability the 

 same as thrush, and it is important to note in this 

 connection that the condition of the tongue in thrush 

 is similar to that in sprue. The word thrush, the 

 origin of which is obscure, is not known before the 

 seventeenth century, when Pepys speaks of " a fever, 

 a thrush, and a hickup." It may also be mentioned 

 that sprue in Scotland was the term used for " that 

 which is thrown off in casting metals " (scoria). 



The present work deals with the disease in Ceylon, 

 where "Ceylon sore mouth" is one of the names for 

 the disease. There are no figures available to show 

 its frequency in Europeans or in the natives in the 

 island, but that it does occur in the latter in various 

 countries appears to be fairly certain. It i§ appar- 

 ently also a disease determined by long residence in 

 the tropics, though on all these points one speaks with 

 hesitation as accurate data are not available. That 

 dysentery is a common predisposing cause there 

 appears to be no doubt, but whether there is any other 

 closer connection between the two diseases is doubtful. 



A sore tongue is one of the features of sprue, and 

 microscopically the epithelium is found to be des- 

 quamating. This dead epithelium is infiltrated with 

 yeasts, and in some cases the yeast threads appear to 

 be actually invading the living cells. This is not, 

 however, found to be the case in the stomach or gut, 

 which are also inflamed, though the gut contents 

 contain masses of yeast, and yeasts are the commonest 

 organisms in motions passed shortly before death. 

 This infection of the gut contents with yeasts does 

 not, however, occur in other wasting diseases, the 

 author very properly having made adequate control 

 observations. Yeasts, then, not only can be cultivated 

 from the majority of sprue stools and salivas, but in 

 the acute^stage they are the most prevalent organisms 

 in the tongue lesions, saliva, and motions. 



Now thrush, a common disease of infants in tem- 

 perate climates, is generally believed to be due to 

 yeasts, and in some respects — e.g. atrophy of the 

 tongue epithelium — resembles sprue. The author, in- 

 deed, inclines to the view that yeasts are in fact the 

 cause of the disease. One might object, however, that 

 if this were so one would expect sprue to be a far 

 commoner disease than it is, as yeasts in the tropics 

 are ubiquitous. The view held by some authors that 

 it has affinities to scurvy is an " attractive " one. and 

 is supported by the beneficial effect of a fruit diet 

 such as strawberries or bael fruit. This work is an 

 interesting record of a careful research, valuable 

 although inconclusive in its results. The plate of 



" A K'port on Researches on Sprue in Ceylon, 1912-14." By Dr. P. H. 

 Hahr. Pp. !x + 155- (Cambridge : At the University Press, 1915.) Price 

 7X. 6d. net. 



