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ON GOING ABROAD
220 forms which may differ in biological activity. There is also another consideration ; with such a molecule added methionine as such would be expected to suppress any toxic effect, and Heathcote,11 working in the St. Albans laboratories, has in fact shown this to be the case with the bacterium Leuaonostoe mesenteroides P 60. A similar mechanism may be at work in the higher animals. MARRIAGE IN OUR DAY IMPRESSED by the growing number of marriages which fail, the Society of Friends, in 1947, appointed a commission, with fourteen members, to study causes and possible remedies. The medical members were Dr. Mildred Creak, Dr. Cynthia Harris, Dr. Maeve Marwick, and Dr. Kenneth Southall. In a liberal report 12, the commission note that refusal to tolerate a marriage regarded as a failure is, in one a mark of healthy idealism and, as such, shows way, much promise.* Many people are aiming high in marriage and are refusing to tolerate a second-best." This is qualified by the reflection that such an attitude may lead to disbelief in the permanence of the marriage relationship. First in their list of causes of failure the commission put the fading of our religious background and a decline in standards of personal truth and honesty. They give the next place to current social conditions, dwelling on our lost sense of security. Moreover shared local life has disappeared in many places ; people living in large cities and dormitory towns feel they have no roots in their community, and hence no responsibility for it-and such an attitude may well spread to the marriage relationship. Housing shortages mean lack of privacy. The difficult personal adjustments of the newly married may have to be made in the society of other members of their families : Themother-in-law problem ’ becomes even more acute when the parties concerned are sharing the same kitchen sink." Too much sexual stimulation by poor films, books, and advertisements ; too few outlets and creative opportunities ; too much social drinking, especially among girls ; the breakdown of parental control ; the misuse of contraceptive knowledge ; the disruption of family life during the war ; the old-fashioned habit of regarding a wife as a possession -all these have their bearing on the present picture. Young people are not taught, what marriage will require of them in personal relations, and many are ignorant and selfish in their approach to the sexual function. Few are trained in, home-making and parenthood, and many enter marriage for inadequate reasons. Moreover, emotional and personal maturity are needed to make a really fine marriage." Many of those who marry cannot face the demands of a completely adult relationeven this, the commission affirm, is not beyond remedy. The engaged couple who reach a point at which they feel expression of their love to be essential should forthwith marry, the commission consider, even. if it means a hard life, many sacrifices, and the postponement of childbearing. Those who hesitate to commit themselves to this step should examine their motives more closely. The question of divorce does not asa -rule arise for those whose marriage is an expression of a Christian way of life ; but it is human to fail, and: where the nature of the difficulties are such as to drive the couple apart in bitterness, the commission believe there can be little reason for keeping within the bonds of legal marriage two people for whom "
"
"
ship-though
.
physical
spiritual marriage exists. As a preventive of this and other types of failure, they advise sex education which begins with a tranquil acceptance by the parents of the child’s curiosity about his own body and- the .process of birth. His questions
be told, at every stage, only what he asks. He ’will iii any case learn much from harmonious relations between Children and young people should be the parents. in creative pleasures, enjoyed at home encouraged - hobbies, music, play-reading, and the like. Young people should be prepared for marriage as a growing creative relationship, an adventure requiring much hard work and understanding. Neighbourliness should be fostered ; and the social services should be directed less to supplying specific needs of mother and child than to improving the status of the family as an economic unit. The commission end, where they began, with the belief that a religious background makes for greater stability in home life. They have done their work with wisdom and charity, as well aware of half-tones as they are of black and white. Even a wayward generation living in a troubled time should be able to accept -their guidance, if they are willing to accept any guidance at all. °
AN ATOMIC GARDEN ONE of the radioactive isotopes of carbon, C14, has a half-life of 5100 years ; and from this isotope a relatively stable carbon dioxide can be made. Plants grown in an atmosphere containing this radioactive carbon dioxide would contain radioactive carbon atoms ; and the marked " foods and drugs from these plants could be used for metabolism studies in animals. This theoretical possibility has been put into practical effect at the Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago ; and the New York Times1 has described a visit, arranged by the United States Atomic Energy Commission, to this Argonne Atomic Garden. The plants growing there will not differ visibly from normal plants ; but if an appropriate detector is brought near to them, or their leaves or stems, it will signal the fact that they contain The garden a radioactive substance emitting p-rays. must be carefully guarded, and it is perhaps as well that C14emits only &bgr;-rays of relatively low intensity and not the more lethal y-ray ; otherwise the poisoned apple of the fairy stories would take a back place and " the gardener in white " truly herald death. Even as it is, a whole new world of possibilities is opened to our writers of detective fiction. Plants being grown in the garden for studies include opium poppy for radioactive morphine, manila hemp for radioactive marihuana, foxglove for radioactive digitalis, belladonna for radioactive atropine, and hyoscyamus for radioactive scopolamine. Other plants being raised are tobacco for nicotine studies, sugar-beet for studying carbohydrate metabolism, alfalfa which will be fed to animals from whose pancreas it is hoped to obtain radioactive insulin, and buckwheat for radioactive rutin. In addition, algse and moulds are being grown.. The algae are a convenient source of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, which will be traced in their metabolic journeys. It is proposed to grow Streptomyces griseus in this atmosphere and see whether radioactive streptomycin can be obtained from the mould ; by adding a radioactive cobalt isotope to the medium it may be possible to prepare radioactive vitamin B12 and so help to discover the site of this anti-anaemic agent’s activity. If this technique succeeds, the results are likely to raise as many questions as they answer ; but at least we should have a better idea of where drugs go when we give them, and what path food substances follow "
pharmacological
after absorption
’
no
should be answered easily and naturally, but he should 11. Heathcote, J. G. Lancet, 1949, ii, 1130. 12. The
London : Euston Road, N.W.1.
Marriage Relationship.
Friends House,
of Friends, Pp. 27. 9d.
The Society 1950.
ON GOING ABROAD Now and again travellers find themselves in trouble when arriving in other lands, especially in the tropics, because they are not carrying the necessary certificates of vaccination or inoculation. How these difficulties may be obviated is explained on p. 224 in a note from the Ministry of Health. ’
1. New York
Times, Dec. 15, 1948.
"
"
ship-though
.
physical
spiritual marriage exists. As a preventive of this and other types of failure, they advise sex education which begins with a tranquil acceptance by the parents of the child’s curiosity about his own body and- the .process of birth. His questions
be told, at every stage, only what he asks. He ’will iii any case learn much from harmonious relations between Children and young people should be the parents. in creative pleasures, enjoyed at home encouraged - hobbies, music, play-reading, and the like. Young people should be prepared for marriage as a growing creative relationship, an adventure requiring much hard work and understanding. Neighbourliness should be fostered ; and the social services should be directed less to supplying specific needs of mother and child than to improving the status of the family as an economic unit. The commission end, where they began, with the belief that a religious background makes for greater stability in home life. They have done their work with wisdom and charity, as well aware of half-tones as they are of black and white. Even a wayward generation living in a troubled time should be able to accept -their guidance, if they are willing to accept any guidance at all. °
AN ATOMIC GARDEN ONE of the radioactive isotopes of carbon, C14, has a half-life of 5100 years ; and from this isotope a relatively stable carbon dioxide can be made. Plants grown in an atmosphere containing this radioactive carbon dioxide would contain radioactive carbon atoms ; and the marked " foods and drugs from these plants could be used for metabolism studies in animals. This theoretical possibility has been put into practical effect at the Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago ; and the New York Times1 has described a visit, arranged by the United States Atomic Energy Commission, to this Argonne Atomic Garden. The plants growing there will not differ visibly from normal plants ; but if an appropriate detector is brought near to them, or their leaves or stems, it will signal the fact that they contain The garden a radioactive substance emitting p-rays. must be carefully guarded, and it is perhaps as well that C14emits only &bgr;-rays of relatively low intensity and not the more lethal y-ray ; otherwise the poisoned apple of the fairy stories would take a back place and " the gardener in white " truly herald death. Even as it is, a whole new world of possibilities is opened to our writers of detective fiction. Plants being grown in the garden for studies include opium poppy for radioactive morphine, manila hemp for radioactive marihuana, foxglove for radioactive digitalis, belladonna for radioactive atropine, and hyoscyamus for radioactive scopolamine. Other plants being raised are tobacco for nicotine studies, sugar-beet for studying carbohydrate metabolism, alfalfa which will be fed to animals from whose pancreas it is hoped to obtain radioactive insulin, and buckwheat for radioactive rutin. In addition, algse and moulds are being grown.. The algae are a convenient source of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, which will be traced in their metabolic journeys. It is proposed to grow Streptomyces griseus in this atmosphere and see whether radioactive streptomycin can be obtained from the mould ; by adding a radioactive cobalt isotope to the medium it may be possible to prepare radioactive vitamin B12 and so help to discover the site of this anti-anaemic agent’s activity. If this technique succeeds, the results are likely to raise as many questions as they answer ; but at least we should have a better idea of where drugs go when we give them, and what path food substances follow "
pharmacological
after absorption
’
no
should be answered easily and naturally, but he should 11. Heathcote, J. G. Lancet, 1949, ii, 1130. 12. The
London : Euston Road, N.W.1.
Marriage Relationship.
Friends House,
of Friends, Pp. 27. 9d.
The Society 1950.
ON GOING ABROAD Now and again travellers find themselves in trouble when arriving in other lands, especially in the tropics, because they are not carrying the necessary certificates of vaccination or inoculation. How these difficulties may be obviated is explained on p. 224 in a note from the Ministry of Health. ’
1. New York
Times, Dec. 15, 1948.