McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1946

It is odd that in any work on economics it should be necessary to discuss the importance of studying economic change. The classical school of political economy never gave the problem a thought; to it the study of economic development was synonymous with the study of all economics itself. However, after Karl Marx there arose a completely new way of approaching this subject: phenomena were now always studied in relation to a static model, from which all element of time was removed. This method of economic analysis was so highly developed and has become so ingrained in the minds of …  Lire la suite

Because anxiety is a term which is used in a variety of contexts, a definition of it, as used in this paper, is necessary. Warren’s Dictionary of Psychology defines anxiety as “an emotional attitude or sentiment concerning the future, characterized by an unpleasant mingling of dread and hope”. MacKinnon (1944) writes that anxiety occupies the intermediate position in the series of prospective emotions made up of confidence, hope, anxiety, despondency and despair. Mowrer (1939) defines anxiety as anticipation of painfully intense stimulation. Masserman (1944) sees anxiety as “a diffuse, pervading apprehensiveness without specific or clearly recognized (conscious) reality referents”. Billings …  Lire la suite

The investigation to be described in this thesis forms part of a larger research on blood preservation and plasma substitutes that has been carried on in the Department of Biochemistry since the first year of the war [...] The present study was conceived at a time in the evolution of blood preservation when there was little agreement amongst workers on this Continent and in Great Britain on the matter of so-called preservative solutions for the preservation of erythrocytes. Special committees had been formed in the early years of the war under the Research Councils in Canada and the United States …  Lire la suite

It has been thought since the early days of medical practice that the liver and gastro-intestinal tract play a very important role in the pathogenesis of mental disorders. References to this belief may be found in the literature of the classical ages. Indeed, one of the principle symptoms of mental disorder, melancholia, derives its name from the Greek word ,”melagkholia”, which means “black” (melas) “bile” (khole). In the fourth century B.C. Hippocrates expressed the belief that bile was the cause of madness. A sudden flux of bile to the brain was thought to bring on unpleasant dreams and feelings of …  Lire la suite

This investigation comprises a search for a suitable microanalysis for gelatin, as required for a study of the gelatin concentration in the cathode film during copper electrodeposition, no suitable analysis being found in the literature. Measurements of cathode polarization, in a Haring cell of small capacity, proved unsuitable for microanalysis of gelatin in the cathode film during copper electrodeposition, even with closely controlled experimental conditions, owing to depletion of the gelatin content of the electrolyte on continued deposition. The substitution of SO cycle alternating current for direct current in the same cell showed that electrode polarization measurements gave promise of …  Lire la suite

It can be said without fear of serious contradiction that among the notions of mathematics, none imposed so difficult a task in formulating a definition as that of infinite applied in the theory of sets. Indeed, the whole subject of theory of functions is so preeminently based upon a proper understanding of the infinite that it is not surprising that early writers in analysis, having no clear concept of the infinite, were led to erroneous results. It was Dedekind, who perceiving mathematics as a free creation of the human mind and consequently independent of spatio-temporal relations, set about rendering analysis …  Lire la suite

The term “rearrangement” refers to an irreversible reaction which produces a change in the structural arrangement of a molecule, “Essentially the processes of rearrangement are basically in every case accompanied by intramolecular oxidation and reduction. This oxidation reduction mechanism involves electron transfers within the molecule and consequently is best explained on the basis of an electronic mechanism. This concept was first advanced by Jones and later expressed by Stieglitz , Robinson and Ingold.” Molecular transformations are relatively rare because simple adjustments that can occur within a single molecule have usually been accomplished in the process of synthesis. However, molecules may, …  Lire la suite

The Bishop of Norwich was descended from the baronial Despenser family. The name was originally Despenser or le Despenser, but in his case the contracted form of Spencer or le Spenser was often used. The origin of the name goes back to the Latin word dispensator, which is defined as a man who spends, accepts, compensates and impends or weighs out. It means one who administrates money or handles loans and debts for another man, for example the despenser of the public money of the state of Carthage. A despenser was a servant who corresponded to the maitre du palais, …  Lire la suite

The calibration of a microphone consists of finding the ratio of electrical output to incident sound pressure as a function of frequency and angle of incidence. The amount of non-linear distortion and the effect of temperature and static pressure may also be required. The calibration may be given in terms of the sound pressure actually acting on the microphone diaphragm (“pressure” calibration), or in terms of the sound pressure that would be present in a plane progressive wave if the microphone were not there. It is this latter quantity, termed the “field” calibration, that is of most interest in microphones …  Lire la suite

It has become increasingly more obvious during the past few years that various hormones have an effect upon renal structure. The fact that thyroxin is capable of producing kidney enlargement has been known for some time. In 1934, during the course of some experiments to determine the effect of androgenic extracts upon the accessory sex organs of castrate rats, it was incidently noted that the weight of the castrate kidney returned to normal after the injection of these extracts. No systematic study of the effect of steroid hormones on the kidney was made, however, until 1939. At that time testosterone …  Lire la suite

No discussion of the women in Mrs.Woolf's fiction would be complete without a brief survey of some previous English heroines, and the methods by which their characters are revealed. Earliest in the line of English novel heroines is Samuel Richardson1s Pamela— the virtuous lady's maid whose campaign to preserve her virtue against the repeated onslaughts of Mr. B. is minutely described by the author.\ The novel is in many ways a penetrating study of the adolescent girl, half-child in the face of her master1 s bold and unprincipled attacks; half-woman in her intelligence,\ determination and conscious self-valuation. She makes skilful …  Lire la suite

Stimuli which cause the accumulation of increased amounts of fat in the liver have interested both the clinician and the biochemist. To the former, they are of import, not only because fatty infiltration of the liver is found as a frequent pathological finding associated with various diseases, but also because this change has been shown to result in an impairment of hepatic function (129,380) and, if severe, to terminate in cirrhosis (79,83, 84,110,112). They are of interest to the latter as aids in the elucidation of fat metabolism, and therefore, indirectly, of other phases of metabolism. There is no doubt …  Lire la suite

Among the many methods for measurement of frequency, there is a bridge circuit devised by Kennelly and Velander. The circuit of this bridge is shown in Figure 2. The advantage of this bridge over others involving Mutual Inductance, Self Inductance, Capacitance, and Resistance, is that the behaviour of this circuit is independent of impurities in capacitance. Furthermore, this bridge is particularly well adapted to use at low frequencies. However, it has one outstanding disadvantage in that it has a following balance condition. There is another point, too, which limits its practical usefulness. This is the presence of a self-inductance in …  Lire la suite

This investigation is concerned with the effect of trauma inflicted on the living animal on in vitro protein metabolism. A discussion on the chemistry of protein breakdown and factors affecting it is therefore indicated. This will be followed by review of investigations concerned with the effect of trauma on protein metabolism and of the role of the adrenal cortex in protein metabolism, [...]  Lire la suite

The most disturbing paradox in the world today is war. All men desire to live, yet every so often large sections of mankind strive to destroy each other in deadly combat. Although the causes for this unfortunate dilemma are manifold, and stem from various directions, I believe that among the most preponderant causes are those pertaining to irrational elements in man’s thinking and acting. In this thesis I have not ventured to consider any absolute criteria of what is rational and what is irrational, but have rather relied upon a comparison of certain relative merits of two systems of human …  Lire la suite

The use of the electron microscope as a powerful instrument in the study of crystal structure, colloids, fibres, and bacteriological specimens has now become widely recognized. In an effort to obtain images of higher quality, an electron microscope using magnetic lenses was constructed in this laboratory during 1939-40. The writer’s work along this line was interrupted by war work from the summer of 1940 onward. In the spring of 1945 the University acquired a Type EMU (R.C.A.) instrument which has been used for a variety of studies in electron microscopy; the writer has taken a number of photographs of pulp …  Lire la suite

In this thesis the problem of wide-band matching will be discussed with special attention to antenna matching in the U.V.F. range. A method of attack is suggested and several examples worked out. The author does not claim to have produced anything original and unknown heretofore in circuit analysis. He can declare, however, that the bulk of the material was developed by himself and is neither a resume or a summary of previous work, treated somewhere else, unless this is explicitly stated and references are given. It seems to the author that he merely took the obvious step from single frequency …  Lire la suite

La plupart des gens connaissent Maurice Constantin-Weyer comme l’auteur d’Un homme se penche sur son passé. C’est ce livre qui lui valut le Prix Goncourt en 1928. A part ce livre dont l’histoire se déroule dans l’ouest du Canada, Constantin-Weyer a écrit une trentaine de livres. Parmi eux, il y a une quinzaine où le lecteur se trouve dans un milieu canadien. De ces livres l’auteur a consacré sept à l’histoire du Canada. Le premier livre historique à paraître fut Vers l’Ouest en 1922, suivi en 1925 de La Bourrasque et en 1927 de Cavelier de ua Salle. Les autres …  Lire la suite

This Thesis concerns the influence upon the properties of cellulose nltr~te exerted by the moisture history of the original cellulose. It is shown that the wetting and direct redrying of highly swollen cotton llntera, followed by technioal nitrition, yields a nitrate whose nitrogen content is perceptibly diminished from the normal value. Systematic fractionation of such nitrates suggested that degredation during nitration was slightly less severe. In an effort to discover whether wetting and redrying of the cellulose eventuslly yielded nitrates in which the distribution of the nitrate groups in the cellulose\ macromolecule wae abnormal, technically nitrated products were oxidized with …  Lire la suite

The work reported in this thesis was part of the general wartime plan to investigate unexploited sources of vegetable oil in Canada. In spite of a potential supply of 2000 tons annually, according to an estimate for Canada in 1943, very little effort has been devoted to Canadian tall oil. This oil is a by-product of sulfate pulp mills and of the seven such mills in Canada only one or two are making an attempt to market tall oil. Its use is discouraged by its complex nature and in the unrefined grades the color and odour are additional handicaps. [...] …  Lire la suite

Maxwell used conjugate functions to solve problems in electrostatics. His method depended on a guessing of the suitable complex transformation for any given problem. In 1867 Christoffel, and in 1869 Schwarz discussed a general theorem in Transformations which became finally known as the Schwarz-Christoffel Theorem. [...] In this paper the essential elements of the function theory and the required electrostatics background are briefly developed or discussed and it is shown why and how the one may be applied to the other. Proofs of the invariance of charge, equipotentials, and lines of force under complex transformation, which are not usually found …  Lire la suite

Experiments were carried out to determine the effect of factors, other than vitamin C, on the development of odontoblast cells in the guinea pig incisor tooth. Using the “odontoblast” method of vitamin C bioassay, it was shown that guinea pigs may be assigned to experiment at a fixed initial age or a fixed initial weight, the odontoblast development remaining unaffected. Odontoblast development was not different whether the guinea pigs were penned and fed individually or in groups of two. A natural, an artificial and a fortified source of vitamin C were assayed simultaneously by the “odontoblast” and by the “increase …  Lire la suite

Up to the present, investigations of the organic matter characteristic of soils have not yielded much specific information respecting the major components. Individual organic compounds of a considerable variety have been isolated in small amounts. From the study of decomposing plant residues, of synthetic mixtures of isolated lignin fractions and proteins and of soil organic matter itself , it has been inferred that the major part of the latter consists of a complex of protein-like and lignin-like materials, and that a carbohydrate-like compound occurs next in amount. [...]  Lire la suite

The results of nutritional investigations made on head lettuce are presented. Sand cultures involving the use of twenty-seven different nutrient solutions, including three levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and their various combinations, were used. Certain of these treatments were selected and subjected to continuous illumination. Yield records of tops, trimmed heads, and roots, based on green weight and oven-dried weight values, were tabulated and analyzed statistically. Observations on development of tipburn were examined. It was shown that increasing the nitrogen concentration produced increases in yield up to a critical level, beyond which a deleterious effect was noted. Over a …  Lire la suite

Manganese is widely distributed in soil. It occurs in all soils, though usually in low concentrations, and is found in deposits as the ore, pyrolusite. Analyses of plants (25, 33, 37, 39, 40, 44) show that it is absorbed by them and stored in the leaves and in the germ and pericarp of the seeds. That plants absorb manganese has been known since Scheele’s work in 1774, but recently it has been shown that different quantities will be absorbed under changing conditions (17,52); that the amounts absorbed will differ with various stages in the development of the plant (68); and, …  Lire la suite

[...] In experiments (2) which demonstrated the importance of the sulphonation of ohlorobenzene, it was found, using 98.5% sulphuric acid at 30° C, and keeping the molar ratio of chloral: sulphurio acid at 1:20, that the crude yield obtained with one mole of chloral per mole of ohlorobenzene (i.e. half the theoretical amount) was 51% of that obtained with two moles of ohlorobenzene. There was a decrease of rate within 15 minutes, indicating that the DDT reaction was not far from completion, and that the ohlorobenzene was nearly all consumed.[...]  Lire la suite

Conditions were found whereby a maximum yield of the isomeric cis-cis-cis-, cis-cis-trans- and cis-trans-cis- 1,2,3-trihydroxycyclohexanes (pyrogallitols) was obtained by the high pressure hydrogenation of pyrogallol over Raney nickel. The individual amounts of the three triols, together with those of the cis- and trans-cyclohexanediols simultaneously formed, were determined for various times of hydrogenation. Theories were advanced to account for the various yields. The geometrical configurations of the three pyrogallitols were definitely established for the first time by a study of their relative rates of reaction with lead tetraacetate and periodate. The cis- and trans-1,2-dinitrates of cyclohexanediol and the three trinitrates of …  Lire la suite

The germ, or embryo, of cereal grains is the part of the berry from which the new plant develops. In wheat the germ is readily distinguished as the small wrinkled portion of the grain on the opposite side of the crease. It makes up about 1.2 percent of the weight of wheat. Structurally, the scutellum is closely associated with the germ, both being separated from the endosperm by a layer of compressed cells, the hyaline layer. The scutellum and embryo together make up about 2.7 percent of the weight of the wheat kernel (27). Bailey (7) reports 2.23 percent in …  Lire la suite

One of the present difficulties of soil chemistry is a satisfactory evaluation of soil fertility. The answer to this problem lies quite obviously, in no simple criterion such as crop yields, but in a critical consideration of yields, fertilizer response and soil analysis, bearing in mind also the effects of soil type and past management. To help interpret all these factors, under such a wide range of conditions, in as short a period as possible, the rapid, semi-quantitative tissue tests and soil tests have been developed. This investigation is a comparison of the tests more widely used in the United …  Lire la suite

In special rocket propellants, burning of the nitro-celluose-nitroglycerine (cordite) tube must be completely restricted to the inside surface of the cordite by applying suitable coatings to the outside surface. Various methyl allyl celluloses containing about 0.5 to 1.5 allyl groups per glucose unit have been prepared from an alkali soluble methylcellulose. Three studied in detail contained 0.70 methyl and 0.79 allyl, or O.59 methyl and 0.95 allyl and 0.59 methyl and 1.47 allyl groups. The solubilities and properties of these substances, together with the acetate and dibromide of the latter, were noted. Methods for estimating the degree of unsaturation of …  Lire la suite

Religious developments in the later seventeenth century form, by common consent, a neglected phase of English history. Changes of many kinds affected the Church of England during this period. Regarding most of them I have nothing to say. I have deliberately restricted myself to changes in thought, and the subtitle of this thesis indicates its scope and purpose. I have said nothing about the organized life of the church, or about its government or liturgy. I have even avoided any mention of the change in the favoured style of preaching, though this is closely related to the thought of the …  Lire la suite

Le problème des nullités forme, au dedans des cadres classiques, une partie très importante de la théorie des obligations, et, sous ce caractère, elle a été etudiéeet approfondie par tous les grands commentateurs. Hais le problème ne semble pas susceptible de donner lieu a une théorie générale sur le Droit, et comme cette étude a pris ce point de vue, il est nécessaire de la justifier. L’investigateur qui désire s’approcher d’une question juridique avec le but de connaître la vérité, doit se dépouiller de toutes ses préventions; il commencera par poser ses prémisses, qui ne sont pas autres que celles …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse concerne l’étude critique de la traduction anglaise du livre “le six octobre”, premier volume de “Les Hommes de Bonne Volonté”, de Jules Romains. On a cherché à déterminer avec quelle exactitude la traduction rend la valeur des oeuvres de Romains et avec quelle fidélité l’atmosphère du roman français est rendue pour le lecteur américain. Cette étude a été provoquée d’abord par un cours de stylistique qui attire l’attention sur la vie mouvante et changeante des langues modernes. On trouve intéressantes les différences de valeur de deux “synonymes” dans deux langues modernes, les expressions qui se disent dans une …  Lire la suite

Hydrozoa, phylum Coelenterata, having high regenerative powers, have often been employed by investigators in the study of problems of regeneration, polarity, form regulation etc. Because of their long stems, Tubularia and Corymorpha have been most often used as material, but studies have also been made on Obelia, Campanularia, Pennaria, Eudendrium, Podocoryne, Hydractinia and others. Hydras, too, have been frequently utilized, and experiments on this form were the first to be reported. [...]  Lire la suite

One of the main purposes of the science of Psychology is the prediction of human behaviour. To attain such a goal, the nature of the behaviour in question must be adequately and reliably known. Therefore, the initial step is one of observation and description, and, when the results of these activities are substantial, one may attempt to predict the behaviour of the individual. As applied to the educational field, Psychology has made extensive efforts to estimate, in advance, the lively scholastic success of the college student. In particular, the present study seeks to predict the success of a sample of …  Lire la suite

This investigation deals primarily with the behavior of aluminum-alloy beams in pure bending, where fibre stresses have exceeded the proportional limit of the material; and includes an extension of the bending theory to take into account plastic stress-strain characteristics. A comparison is made between experimental test data and theoretical studies based on simple tension and compression relationships. The advantage in structural analysis of using theoretical moment values in the plastic range is discussed, and practical methods of applying the plastic bending theory to light-metal design are outlined.  Lire la suite

In the preparation of GR-S using the Mutual recipe considerable gel formation occurs after about 80% conversion, producing polymer of such inferior quality that the reaction must be stopped before this point has been reached. Efficient plant operation then depends upon recovery of the unchanged styrene and butadiene[...] In both the recovered butadiene and styrene, polymerization may occur to produce a polymer, which is practically insoluble in any of the usual rubber solvents. This polymer usually occurs as a deposit in the condensers, in the styrene recovery unit, while the counterpart in the butadiene recovery occurs mainly in the rerun …  Lire la suite

The idea of extracting U.H.F. energy from a wave guide by means of slots, is shown to be of importance in the design of two-dimensional arrays. A description is given of the apparatus and method used in impedance measurements in wave guides. Several characteristics of slots are investigated. Graphs are drawn for the variation of the admittance of a shunt slot with the slot length, width and position on the guide. Considerable work was done on the frequency characteristics of slots, and the results are given in graphical form. An interesting and important use of slots, that of the coupling …  Lire la suite

Because total amount of lignin in the stems of cured hay plays such an important role in determining nutritive value and digestibility, this investigation was undertaken to study the process of lignification within red clover stems and relate the findings thereof to digestibility. Plants were cut at 5 different stages of maturity, and the degree of lignification determined for each stage by methods of plant histology. These individual stages were then fed to sheep and feces examined for undigested lignified elements. Lignification is initiated in the xylem, very early in the life of the plant; bundle cap cells and parenchyma …  Lire la suite

An inquiry into the chemical nature of the vegetation that surrounds us readily reveals that cellulose is the cheapest and one of the most abundant parts of the organic matter built up by the green plants. Cellulose, especially when associated with lignin, makes up the bulk of the common feedstuffs supplied to cattle in the form of hay, straw and grain. None of the mammals is known, however, to produce an enzyme that will change cellulose and lignin into soluble compounds, but among the microbial associates of many animals are found, in some parts of the digestive tract, forms that …  Lire la suite

The general reaction involving the condensation of two moles of an aromatic compound with one mole of an aldehyde to form a 1,1-diaryl alkane, has come to be known as the Baeyer Condensation. The reaction requires powerful electrophilic catalysis, concentrated sulfuric acid, chlorosulfonic acid, anhydrous aluminum chloride, boron fluoride and hydrogen fluoride being among those condensing agents used successfully. [...]  Lire la suite

[...] The determination of amylose and amylopectin in wheat starch is of particular interest to Canadian agriculture and industry. Indeed, the staling of bread may well be attributed to changes in the physical nature of the starch fractions on standing. (19). Hixon has suggested that if a wheat starch containing no amylose was found, the bread from such flours would not be susceptible to staling. More recently, Noznick (34 has presented evidence that bread staling is associated with changes in the amylopectin fraction. A study of the nature of the polysaccharide fractions in wheat starch, their quantitative determination, and of …  Lire la suite

A formula portending to predict the pressure drop due to flow of gases accompanied by a large temperature change, derived from the differential form of the Bernoulli equation by J. H. Holden and W. Gauvin of McGill University, is presented for verification. Heating runs are made for air flowing through a horizontal steam-jacketed commercial pipe, throughout a Reynolds number range of 6000- 15,000. The observed pressure drops are found to agree very closely with those calculated by means of the given equation. The method of evaluating pressure drop for turbulent non-isothermal runs by assuming that these runs occur isothermally at …  Lire la suite

2,3-Butanedlol (diol)* has long been known as a product of carbohydrate fermentation, but prior to Pearl Harbour interest in it was purely academic. The loss, to the Japanese, of the principal source of natural rubber created an urgent need for four carbon compounds to be used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber. It was suggested at that time that if diol could be produced in substantial volume it could be used as an intermediate in the production of butadiene. The first investigation was undertaken by the Northern Regional Research Laboratories, United States Department of Agriculture, in 1942, to study the …  Lire la suite

Howes, F. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Purves, C. B. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

For many years the Engineering profession, and especially the structural field of that profession, has been very interested in the application of welding to the fabrication of structures. Arc welding has come more and more into use as time has passed, and as confidence in its results increased. Even now, however, large factors of safety are employed due to certain unknown conditions which arise in arc welding. The first of these unknowns is the personal element, the fact that no two welders using the same materials and equipment will obtain exactly the same results. The importance of this factor has …  Lire la suite

Canadian history from the beginning can almost be written in terms of her foreign trade. It was not only the inquisitive interest in discovery, the lust for adventure, and the sudden patriotic fervour that sent the little wooden ships across the Atlantic to Canada, from France and later from England, to poke tentatively around the Maritime coast and sail up the St. Lawrence; it was trade. In the same way that the famous East India and French East India Companies with their strong mercantile backing opened India and the treasures of the East to Europe, so French businessmen (such as …  Lire la suite

Despite rapid advances in medical knowledge, the alimentary tract still presents a clinical problem. Complaints referable to this system are, it is recognized, among the most common of clinical symptoms, and frequently the most baffling. Thus, while the pathologist recognizes a variety of intestinal lesions, cases which reach autopsy represent only a fraction of patients with digestive complaints. Similarly, the Roentgenologist and the surgeon often cannot demonstrate a cause for digestive symptoms. To the internist falls the unhappy task of treating that large number of patients with gastro-intestinal disorders lacking any apparent organic basis.[...]  Lire la suite

McLean's description of the syndrome in 1864, is possibly one of the first attempts to correlate active military life with Neurocirculatory Asthenia (117). He believed that the disease was limited to soldiers and that a definite pathological change in the heart occurred in this syndrome. The following excerpts from McLean18 article epitomizes his views on the subject. "And, f i r s t are diseases of the heart and great vessels more prevalent in the army than in civil life? I think so." McLean's description of a heart, typical of Neurocirculatory Asthenia is suggestive that his pathological exhibits were those …  Lire la suite