.4^ 



NATURE 



[March 15, 1917 



proveiiieavls, for here large savings might be possible, 

 because at present about eight units are thrown away 

 for every one doing useful work. 



The steam turbine is reg^arded as combiniagf the 

 greatest number of advantages among the prime 

 movers of to-day, and as an interesting novelty 

 the Lundholm turbine is mentioned, consisting of 

 two discs and blades* revolving in opposite direc- 

 tions. 



"As there is no difference of expansion of the two 

 discs there is every prospect that the clearances of the 

 blades can now be reduced to a minimum, and that 

 this very serious source of loss will be materially 

 reduced. 



The possibilities of the gas-engine, and particu- 

 larly of the internal-combustion turbine, perhaps 

 in the near future, appeal to Mr. Stromeyer and 

 lead to the following : — 



From a national economic point of view the combina- 

 tion of the internal-combustion engine with electric 

 distribution of power would seem an ideal one. Our 

 collieries would then be encouraged to mine even our 

 dirtiest coal. This coal would produce by-products for 

 farmers and for the coal-tar industries and supply the 

 engines with suitable gas, and our factories would 

 receive their power at a lower cost than they could 

 produce it. 



The general attitude of the author seems to be 

 that of an experienced engineer, convinced that 

 economy in power production is going to be so 

 vital to us after the war that strenuous effort and 

 a bold and encouraging policy as regards both 

 invention and research are primary conditions of 

 our continued commercial progress. 



Although in all probability no such effective 

 blight could be laid upon the work of scientific 

 investigation in any field as that of undue cen- 

 tralisation and impossible regimenting, enough 

 has perhaps been said to indicate that the scale 

 of research necessary for adequacy in the domain 

 of fuel necessitates, among other things, liberal 

 financial support, and if the Government is going 

 to provide that support it will naturally seek for 

 guidance. Presumably the new Board of Fuel 

 Research is to guide. Its director is Sir George 

 Beilby, whose varied industrial and scientific 

 experience should prove of the greatest value. 

 Sir Charles Parsons, Mr. Richard Threlfall, and 

 Sir Richard Redmayne will assist him as mem- 

 bers of the board, and Prof. W, A. Bone will 

 act as consultant. This form of organisation for 

 research is new to the country and its working 

 will be watched with great interest. There are 

 pitfalls in the way, which it may be difficult to 

 avoid, and would certainly be folly to ignore, but 

 an administration directed with liberality of spirit 

 to really national ends will go a long way to com- 

 mand success. John W. Cobb. 



THE SEPTIC PROBLEM IN WAR. 

 /^F all the many varieties of wounds with 

 >->' which surgery has to deal, incised, con- 

 tused, lacerated, etc., the most dreaded one is the 

 punctured variety. This is because the inflicting 

 we9po^ is almost neces,sarily infected with patho- 

 NO. 2472, VOL. 99] 



genie organisms, and because these organisms 

 arc therefore implanted in the depths of a long 

 and narrow track, into which antiseptics can be 

 made to penetrate only with considerable difficulty. 



Of all punctured wounds those produced by 

 gunshots are the most difficult to deal with. The 

 reasons for this become obvious- upon con- 

 sideration. The mere force of impact, in the 

 first place, is an unusual and important feature. 

 The energy in foot-tons of a projectile of known 

 weight and velocity can easily be calculated, and 

 it is to be remembered that this energy is con- 

 centrated upon a small area, with the result that 

 the actual track of such a missile in human tissues 

 is a tunnel the walls of which are dead tissues. 



The importance of this , fact in favouring 

 bacterial growth is immense. Moreover, the 

 tunnel is surrounded by a cylinder of tissue of 

 which the constituent elements are bruised and 

 under the influence of local shock, so that their 

 vitality and resisting power to bacterial invasion 

 are reduced. If such a missile strikes hard bone, 

 a high degree of shattering and splintering takes 

 place, while portions of broken bone are driven 

 into the surrounding muscles, sometimes lacerat- 

 ing important vessels and nerves, and even burst- 

 ing through the skin, and forming a large open- 

 ing known as an "explosive exit." Owing to 

 the ballistic properties of the pointed bullet, 

 which is now used by all countries, and which 

 tends to turn over on its short axis on impact, 

 the proportion of these severe wounds is some- 

 what greater than in previous campaigns. 



Another difficulty in the case of gunshot in- 

 juries is their special liability to severe forms of 

 septic infection in the circumstances of the present 

 campaign. In South Africa military surgeons 

 found that a large number of wounds, even when 

 bone was involved, showed small ■wounds of 

 entrance and exit, and, so far as infection was 

 concerned, merely required cleaning and sealing 

 to heal without trouble. This was in part due to 

 the shape of the bullet and its tendency to traverse 

 the tissues by a straight course without turning 

 on its short axis. This meant small external 

 openings, and therefore less liability to infection 

 from them. But the chief cause of the immunity 

 from inTection was the comparative dryness of 

 the' country, and a soil for the most part uncon- 

 taminated by human occupation or cultivation. 



The conditions in the European area of the 

 present conflict are very different. The humidity 

 of the climate is greatly in excess of that of 

 South Africa, and intensive cultivation means 

 copious manuring of the soil, so that most of 

 the ground occupied by pur troops is thoroughly 

 sown with bacteria of faecal origin, which in- 

 clude, besides those ordinarily called pyogenic or 

 pus-producing, the .special germs of tetanus, 

 malignant oedema, and gas gangrene. It is in 

 ground thus infected that our soldiers sleep, take 

 their food, and are occasionally buried alive. 

 Their skin and clothes are plentifully smeared 

 with bacterial mud, and it is no matter for sur- 

 prise that when a bullet passes into their bodies 



