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The British Museum has approved of a suggestion for the preservation of phonograph records of the voices of prominent singers, orators, actors, and the works of instrumentalists. When the idea was flrst submitted to the trustees, the, objection was raised that the records would not be of a sufficiently permanent character. This objection has, however, now been removed; and the records for the national collection will be master records of nickel, from which records for service may be molded as desired. A similar collection is already being formed in Italy. The collection for the British Museum is to be started immediately. All the most prominent public men, singers, and musicians of the day will be requested to make records. As years go by, the collection will increase in value and size, and it is certain to become one of the most valued of the nation's treasures. The records, however, will not be available for immediate use, but will be reserved for reproduction in the next generation. If the open country is to be made attractive to the best minds, it must have an attractive literature. There must be a technical literature of the farm, and also a general artistic literature portraying the life and the ideals of the persons in the country. The farm literature of a generation ago was largely wooden and spiritless, or else untrue to actual rural conditions. The new literature is vital and alive. The new, however, is yet mostly special and technical, with the exception of the growing nature-literature. Artistic lit-' erature of the farm and rural affairs is yet scarcely known. Where is the high-class fiction that portrays the farmer as he is, without caricaturing him? Where is the collection of really good farm poems? Who has developed the story interest in the farm? Who has adequately pictured rural institutions? Who has carefully studied the history of the special farm literature that we already have? Who has written the biological evolution progress that attaches to every domestic animal and every cultivated plant? We need short and sharp pictures of the man at his work and the woman in her home--such quick and vivid pictures in words as an artist would throw on his canvas. There is nobility, genuineness, and majesty in a man at useful work--much more than there is in a prince or a general or a society leader, whose role it is to pose for the multitude. The man holding the plow, diggiii, ditch, picking fruit, the woman sweeping or making bread--what stronger pictures of human interest can there be than these? It is said that Dr. D. Dakin has discovered how to prepare adrenalin from coal tar. Adrenalin is the active principle of the suprarenal glands whose isolation has made bloodless surgery possible. Dr. Jokichi Takamine, the Japanese chemist, originally showed the world how to make adrenalin. Over the kidneys of men and animals are two little glands shaped like a cocked hat and, in man, about as big as marbles. Their function was long a mystery to physiologists. Even now, it is not thoroughly understood. It has long been known, however, that they had some effect on the circulation of the blood, and that their secretion is a powerful astringent. Physiologists and chemists began experimenting with this secretion. In 1893 two European investigators discovered that it had a'strong effect in driving away blood from living surfaces to which it was applied. In its fresh state it was not of practical use; what science wanted was its active principle. Chemists worked at it for years, and finally, in 1901, Dr. Takamine succeeded. It turned out to be one of the important discoveries in surgical chemistry. In the first place adrenalin drives away the blood from any living tissue to which it is applied. This makes it especially useful in delicate surgery, especially of the nose and throat. Formerly, an operation in the nasal passages, for example, was followed by a rush of blood which hid his work from the operator. Now the surface is treated with adrenalin, and it can be cut like fresh meat. Adrenalin is used by oculists in reUeving congestion of the eye. Moreover, it is the most powerful heart stimulant known. Surgeons inject it into patients dying from the shoetr of operations. It drives the blood ahead of it, giving the heart a quick squeeze, which will sometimes start the engine going after it has practically stopped. Adrenalin is used to relieve violent infiammations and to stop hemorrhages of all kinds--persistent nose-bleed for example. It is rather a costly drug, however, since the process of manufacture from the glands of sheep is long and delicate. A cheap mechanical process of manufacture would greatly extend its use.
