McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1946

The toxicity of synthetic organic compounds was evaluated by techniques involving impregnated substrata (filter paper or glass), direct spraying of the test animals (Drosophila melanogaster), and exposure to vapours only. The techniques are described and compared. Eighteen compounds were tested. 666 and the difluoro analogue of DDT were the only compounds more toxic than DDT. Of these, 666 exhibited a strong fumigant effect, while the difluoro analogue rapidly lost its toxicity. In compounds having two phenyl groups para substitution in both phenyl radicles is essential for high toxicity. No other halogen can replace the chlorine atoms on the phenyl groups …  Read more

The basic purpose in undertaking the present thesis was to determine to what extent the election as an essential element of the democratic process performs the function which democratic theory assigns to it. In order to test the validity of this theory the election campaign in the Montreal Area in the Quebec Provincial Election of 1944 has been used as a case study. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part briefly outlines the theory of Representative Democracy. The second part deals with the background of the election, that is the effect of the war on Quebec politics, …  Read more

Einstein’s famous equation E = hν represents a. fundamental relationship between energy E and frequency ν where h is Planck’s Constant (6.62 x 10^-27 erg-sec.). Further, according to the special theory of relativity, a particle at rest mass m0 (measured with reference to its own associated co-ordinate system) has an inherent energy m0c^2, c being the velocity of light in free space (3 X 10^10 cm.-sec.^-1 ). In his original statement of the Wave Mechanical Theory (0), de Broglie postulated on the above basis that a rest mass m0 should have associated with it an inherent frequency ν0 = m0c^2 …  Read more

Biological response is characterized by variation: different organisms do not react in exactly the same way to identical situations; nor do individual organisms, on different occasions. Such lack of uniformity of response causes many difficulties in the interpretation of biological data. This has resulted in the development, in recent years, of special techniques for obtaining and analyzing experimental results. In particular, there has been great improvement in experimental designs, to which modern statistical methods may be applied in a satisfactory manner. While some statistical techniques have long been recognized as valuable in the reduction of large masses of data to …  Read more

The present study was undertaken with the hope that something further could be added to the question of cerebral localization of speech. To know the anatomical location of a lesion in a patient with a specified type of aphasia is of interest to the neurologist but in the majority of cases it is only a matter of interest, and does little to help the patient. To the neurosurgeon, in planning and executing an excision of cortex, it becomes a matter of paramount importance. He wants to know what areas can be removed without affecting speech, and if known speech areas …  Read more

The term “liver function test” was originated in the days when investigators envisioned discovering a single procedure which would measure accurately the status of all the functions of the liver. Over a period of about fifty years many tests have been developed, some on a sound physiological basis, others quite empirically; few have proved to be of value. Within the last few years research in this field has followed a different trend. There has been an increasing interest in investigation into the physiological principles underlying these tests, with the result that great improvements have been made in some of the …  Read more

World War II has come to a close, and the leading democracies of the world have started to reconvert towards a peace time economy. Many objectives have been put forward, and are in the process of accomplishment, but a Tax policy which will effectively contribute towards these objectives is still lacking. Although taxation, and particularly business taxation, as a part of the Fiscal Policy program, has been the subject of much discussion, and several proposals have been advanced, much revision will have to be undertaken to incorporate the discussions and proposals in the Full Employment peace Time Economy towards which …  Read more

The amazing rise in importance of the synthetic rubber industry in the United States and Canada during the war years is now a well-known fact and requires no further description. To-day this industry has ceased to be merely an alternative source of rubber, and has achieved the status of a major industry with an annual capacity of one million tons. The maintenance of this position, in a peace time economy, depends on its ability to produce a low cost product with properties approaching or surpassing those of natural rubber. The properties of the present GR-S type synthetic rubber, are mainly …  Read more

The functional significance of the testis has been known since the time of Aristotle (121) who ascribed post-pubertal changes to the function of the gonads, as such manifestations were absent in castrates — both in man and in birds. Accurate knowledge of the nature and metabolism of the androgenically active substance secreted by the testis has, however, been acquired only during the past decade. It was not until the first half of the Nineteenth Century that the gonads were recognized as being ductless glands, and capable of secreting a substance into the blood-stream. That the testis is normally the main …  Read more

This study was undertaken to determine the effect of the large amounts of citrate administered in massive transfusions of blood. [...] Before blood transfusion could become safe enough for universal use, the dangers of incompatibility and clotting of bloods had to be overcome. Incompatibility difficulties were minimized by the discovery of blood groups in the early years of this century and all but eliminated by the recent discovery of the Rh factors. Clotting also has been largely eliminated as a source of trouble in transfusions, although the ideal anticoagulant has yet to be found. The administration of clotting or clotted …  Read more

The development of the frog egg into the terrestrial adult is a discontinuous process divided into two periods of intensive morphogenetic activity. The first of these developmental periods leads to the aquatic larva or tadpole. The second developmental period, termed metamorphosis, results in the rapid transformation of the aquatic tadpole into the profoundly different terrestrial frog, adapted to a totally different mode of life. The rapid reorganization during metamorphosis distinguishes that process from the gradual post-embryonic development of most animals. Metamorphotic phenomena lend themselves readily to a study of development, and many investigators have attempted to elucidate the causative factors …  Read more

Although the reaction between cellulose nitrates and alkali has been frequently studied, the conditions used invariably brought about severe degradation and produced low molecular products. Nevertheless, the nitrate groups in the second, third and sixth positions of the glucose residues constituting cellulose almost certainly differ in reactivity. Proper experimental conditions should therefore make it possible to remove one nitrate group selectively without substantially affecting the rest. The discovery of such conditions was the initial object of the present research, which forms part of the confidential N.R.C. war project XR-74 on the thermal and alkaline stability of nitrated celluloses.  Read more

Purves, C. B. (Supervisor)  Read more

The study aims to show the kind of social situations which tend to produce delinquency in an urban area which has not been markedly and only intermittently delinquent. [...] The area dealt with is a suburban, largely English speaking middle-class area. It was found that urgencies variously growing out of Montreal’s cultural bifurcation, the social and horizontal mobility of the population type of the area , and its intermediary class position reinforced by ecological factors have tended to isolate a smaller sub-area with a somewhat less homogeneous population, creating thereby an institutional gap. With regard to the adolescents mainly involved …  Read more

An essential measurement far the exact comprehension of the physical properties of macromolecular substances, as well as far the study of the rules through whi eh their polymerization reactions occur, is the determination of the molecular weight. A theoretically unquestionable method far the determination of the molecular weight of high polymers, in the ranges between 104 and 106, is the application of osmotic pressure measurements, or measure~nts of the sedimentation equilibrium (1) using a Svedberg ultracentrifuge. The importance of these methods depends upon the fact that in the case of their evaluation, only the gas constant R is assumed (2}. …  Read more

Ce travail s’efforce de déterminer dans quelle mesure une civilisation de langue française s’est maintenue au Nouveau Brunswick et si son domaine tend à s’étendre ou à se restreindre. Il comporte d’abord une partie historique rappelant les origines et les vicissitudes des établissements français dans la région considérée. La deuxième partie examine les facteurs qui ont favorisé le maintien du français et les secteurs de la vie publique ou privée où cette survivance se manifeste, sans négliger les revendications actuelles des francophones de la province. Pour la documentation on a naturellement utilisé un certain nombre d’études parues sur ce sujet …  Read more

With the realization (1) that lipid extracts of urine contain material possessing the biological properties of adrenal cortical hormones and (2) that the physiologically active and some inactive crystalline adrenal steroids contain an α-ketol in position 20 and 21 (a functional group which has intensive reducing properties), it was proposed that a method be developed to determine the quantity of reducing material in the neutral lipid soluble urinary extracts and to determine if any correlation could be found between the quantity of reducing material and the degree of activity of the adrenal cortex. This project would represent a pioneer work …  Read more

An experiment is described which was designed to study the effect of storage of livestock feeds for ninety days on the nutritive value of their proteins, as measured by the growth of young rats. Initial weight of the rats, the amount of feed consumed and other experimental data are examined in assessing nutritive value. The proteins of whole wheat did not decrease in value on storage. Fish meal gave greater growth after storage than before, when combined in the ration with fresh or stored whole wheat. The proteins of skim milk powder deteriorated rapidly in ninety days, while mixed hog …  Read more

The story of art, viewed in its broad pattern, is largely the story of its growth from speculative beginnings, through a succession of critical conceptualizations, towards a more rationalistic frame of reference. No inevitable or evolutionary trend is implied in the sequence ‘speculative-scientific’ except to point out the thin thread apparent throughout the history of art investigations from initial ‘a priori’ generalizations and subjective recordings concerning the nature of esthetic experience to the more scientific approach of objective inquiry into the function of art in specific social situations. An attempt is made to classify material in the field around ‘classical-speculative’ …  Read more

In the story of his life published posthumously as “a report to history” under the title of “The Point of View for My Work as An Author” Kierkegaard sums up his own position as a thinker. “I was conscious” he says, “of being a religious author and as such was concerned with ‘the individual’ (‘the individual’ - in contrast to ‘the public’), a thought in which is contained an entire philosophy of life and of the world.” Reality, he believes, must be sought for and can only be found in the individual’s own existence; and although existence has aesthetic and …  Read more

In projective techniques personality is described and interpreted in terms of the individual’s reactions to certain visual stimuli presented to him. These stimuli are essentially of an unstructured nature, so that the stimuli have specific meanings for different individuals and elicit specific behaviour. The individual expresses himself according to his life experiences and to his own personality. It is assumed in this method that the mental procedure which the individual adopts and the emotional reactions which he displays in the experimental procedure operate similarly when he meets other life situations. In so reacting he is simply giving a sampling on …  Read more

When Charles Fletcher was appointed Dominion Entomologist in 1884, the codling moth was already recognized as a major pest of the apple in Eastern Canada. While control of the insect by trapping the larvae in tree bands had been practiced since 1846 (Slingerland, 1898), it was only about the time of Fletcher’s appointment that the use of poison sprays for the control of this insect had become well established. From the time of his earliest reports, he recommends both methods of control. The available records indicate that for awhile after the turn of the century the codling moth markedly decreased …  Read more

In the mammalian species, the concentration of plasma electrolytes determines to a great extent the physical properties of extracellular fluids. The bicarbonate ion is under respiratory control, but the other electrolytes, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate and sulphate are regulated by the kidney. Maintenance of normal plasma values of the various ions is an indication of the degree of success attained by the regulatory mechanisms of the kidney (129). Intracellular fluids are in osmotic equilibrium with the extracellular fluids. Sodium is the dominant kation of the extracellular fluids, while potassium is the chief cellular base. The degree of hydration …  Read more

This study was prompted by purely practical needs. In clinical psychological work, especially in diagnostic testing, it is often useful to have a rough idea of the mental age of a patient. This can be obtained from the Stanford-Binet (1937) Vocabulary List, for which mental age equivalents are available. However, one of the tests most commonly administered in a diagnostic situation, the Wechsler-Bellevue Adult Scale, includes a vocabulary subtest, but this does not yield mental ages*, and one would have to administer the Stanford-Binet Vocabulary Test as well. This procedure is time consuming for the psychologist and undesirable from the …  Read more

Probably at no time in the history of English Literature did the poets reflect their environment as in the Victorian Age. It was an age of achievement in every field, especially in science, politics and literature. At the same time, however, as time passed, it became an age of doubt and uncertainty. Old standards were destroyed under the force of the new science and the new industrial power, and the end of the century saw the rise of a cynicism which made itself felt in many phases of Victorian life. One of the most striking occurrences of the age was …  Read more

Although the problem of shock is an ever-present clinical one, its study has, for obvious reasons, received great impetus during time of war. The term shock is in itself a controversial one, mainly because the condition which it describes is not capable of concise definition but rather of description of its unmistakable attributes. Since one of the main features is a circulatory deficiency, Cannon suggested the use of the term “exemia” rather than shock. Latta, in 1795, is reported to have first used the term shock, and other early workers made general reference to the condition, describing it in such …  Read more

The development of microorganisms, as well as other forms of living cells, is based on the requirements of those organisms or cells for certain essential nutrients; not only are these substances needed for building up cellular material but also for certain catalytic actions and for the maintenance of various factors in the physical environment. Foster (4) states that a nutrient may serve two purposes: (a) structural, or comprising the cell substance, (b) functional, or associated with some specific physiological activity or reaction within the cell matrix. An examination of the variety of substances required to serve these purposes reveals that …  Read more

The detailed study of the larval development of the tongueless Anuran Xenopus laevis Daud, as reported in the present thesis, is made desirable by two factors. One is the increasing interest in the adult toad since Hogben (‘30) has established the usefulness of Xenopus as a human pregnancy test animal. Many investigators since that time have elaborated on this discovery, among them Weisman (‘38), Elkan_(‘38), Landgrebe (‘39), et al.; the information on the clinical aspects of the adult toad has recently been summarized by Weisman and Coates (‘44). Secondly, detailed work on the embryology of the tadpole has been justified …  Read more

It must have occurred meny timsto anyone oonneoted with or interested in our rather unique educational. "status quo" here in Montreal how valuable em beooticial it would be tor all or us it each of us knew just what was actually taking place in his neighbor's classroom. This thesis is a humble beginning· step in that general direction. To the best or the author's knowledge no one else has enjoyed the privilege or making e study or conditions in all three of the Montreal gr~ings - English-Catholic. French-Catholic and Protestant - or it they have, do not seem to have …  Read more

The compound l,l-di(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane.(DDT I) has assumed great imrortanca with the discovery by the Geigy Chemical Company that it is a vary potent contact insecticide. Their results are surrnnarized in a paper by Lauger, Martin and Muller (1). Patents were issued to cover this work (2). To most cow~cn insects, it is the most powerful contact insecticide known. The Geigy paper is chiefly concerned with the testing of a large number of chemicals on various insects. DDT is included in a list of contact insecticides. These materials are effective only when the insect's body mnkes.contact with the chemical.[...]  Read more

A derivation of the Kozeny equation relating specific surface and permeability of a bed of unconsolidated particles is given in detail. The equation is applied to liquid permeability measurements with sand, glass rods, copper wire, glass wool, fiberglass and celanese fibers. Close agreement is obtained between the specific surfaces calculated from permeability data and from the geometry of the particles. Comparisons are made of gas and liquid permeability measurements with fiberglass, wool fibers, acetylene black and respirator filter pads. Satisfactory correlation is obtained for all materials except acetylene black. An analysis of the effects of stationary surface layers of fluid …  Read more

Maass, O. (Supervisor)  Read more