100 YEARS AGO

Recently during the course of an experiment I had occasion to boil water in presence of mercury. After ebullition had been going on for some time, I noticed that occasionally steam forming below the surface of the mercury carried with it a pellicle of mercury as it rose through the water in the form of a bubble. When it reached the surface of the water the pellicle usually burst, and the mercury fell back as a drop. By adjusting the intensity of ebullition, it was possible to bring the two liquids into such a state that, comparatively frequently — say ten times per minute — steam bubbles covered with mercury rose through the water and floated on its surface, and, hovering there for an instant, they cooled and contracted, and sank slowly down through the water. When the bubbles are formed in rapid succession, the phenomenon is one of great beauty.

From Nature 2 July 1903.

50 YEARS AGO

A number of clinical observations have established that recent immunization with diphtheria or whooping cough vaccines renders children more susceptible to poliomyelitis infection... A similar effect has been demonstrated in mice infected with the virus of mouse encephalomyelitis (GDVII strain) in experiments which are being reported fully elsewhere. During the course of the work, however, it was observed that the injection of vaccines which had been stored for several months no longer made the mice more susceptible to virus infection, but instead exerted a protective effect. It is felt that these findings, if confirmed, might have an important bearing on both clinical and biological problems.

ALSO...

To mark the centenary of the birth of Sir Henry Wellcome on August 21, 1853, a commemorative exhibition will be opened at the Wellcome Foundation, Ltd., on Wednesday, July 8, by Mr. Winthrop W. Aldrich, American Ambassador in London. This exhibition... will cover the whole period of Sir Henry's long life (1853–1936). The exhibits will range from interesting relics of his early days in the United States to sections on some of the world-famous research institutes which he established after he settled in Great Britain: the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories, Wellcome Research Institution, Wellcome Museum of Medical Science, and Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and Library.

From Nature 4 July 1953.