CANCAN 322 CANCER with an extinct crater, circular and per- fect, 800 feet deep. Palma, a classic spot for geologists, has an area of 718 square miles, and a population of 36,000. Its highest peak, Pico de los Muchachos, has an elevation of more than 7,600 feet. The ancient crater of the Caldera is of enormous size, though open to the sea on one side. Cap- ital, Santa Cruz de las Palmas, on the E. coast. The area and population of the other islands are as follows: Lanzarote is 323 square miles, pop. 19,000; Fuerte- VENTURA, 326 square miles, pop. 15,000; GOMERA, 169 square miles, pop. 13,000; HiERRO, 82 square miles, pop. 5,000. In former times the first meridian of longi- tude was commonly drawn through Hierro. The chief towns of these islands are small. The Canaries are supposed to have been the Fortunate Islands of the an- cients. The geographers of Greece and Rome were acquainted with their po- sition, and King Juba's account of them has been preserved by the elder Pliny. For many centuries they were lost sight of, and not rediscovered until 1334, when a French vessel was driven among them by a storm. In 1402 the Norman Jean de Bethencourt fitted out an expe- dition for the purpose of subduing the islands, and in 1404, having obtained as- sistance from Spain, he succeeded in mastering four of them. His successor having sold his rights in Spain, they were afterward acquired by the King, who sent a large force in 1477 to conquer the Guanches, a brave and intelligent race of large stature, and comparatively fair. Their origin is unknown, but they are assumed by many to have been of Berber or of Libyan stock. Their resistance was so stubborn that it was not until 1495 that the last of the islands was mastered. They have been ever since the property
- of Spain. The Guanches suffered ter-
ribly from their conquerors, and have long ceased to exist as a separate people ; but in the local museums may be seen specimens of their mummies, skeletons, weapons, and pottery works. On Tene- riffe is a wireless station for communi- cation with Spain. CANCAN, a dance, something of the nature of a quadrille, but accompanied by violent Jeaps and indecorous contor- tions of the body. The earlier and usual meaning of the word in French is noise, racket, scandal. ^ CANCER, "the Crab," the fourth of the 12 constellations of the zodiac. The constellation is one of Ptolemy's original 48, but contains no stars brighter than the fourth magnitude, hence it is some- times called the Dark Constellation. Two of its stars. Gamma and Delta, are called Aselli, "The Little Asses," and between them is the cluster Praesepe, "The Crib," out of which they are feeding. Cancer is bounded by Lynx, Leo Minor, Leo, Hy- dra, Canis Minor, and Gemini. It lies entirely N. of the equator. CANCER. To the pathologist cancer means a special form of malignant tumor of which the technical name is carcinoma. As commonly used, however, cancer indi- cates a malignant tumor of any form. The essential difference between a cancer and a so-called benign tumor, is that the former has a tendency to grow out into neighboring tissues by root-like projec- tions, and finally to destroy the tissues themselves. The benign tumor injures its victim only because of its size or in- convenient location. It is not uncommon for benign tumors to take on cancerous properties. For this reason the surgeon advises that all tumors, all suspicious lumps, as one doctor phrases it, should be promptly cut out. Many cures are achieved by the surgeon, where the lump is extirpated while small. The larger and older it is, the less is the chance of curing the victim by surgery. In certain superficial cancerous growths, radium and the x-rays have proved useful ; cures have been effected by their application. But when the malignant growth is deep- seated, or very active, no form of rays can, as a rule, stay its progress. ^ Re- garding the cause of cancer there is as yet no general agreement among experts. The latest experiments indicate that heredity has little part in causing it. The theory that cancer is caused by a germ is also rendered doubtful by mod- ern research. The following summary from the last annual Report of the Brit- ish Cancer Research Fund, will, perhaps, best indicate the present status of the cancer problem: Spirochsstas in Cancer. — These organ- isms claimed by several recent observers to be the true cancer germs, were found in mice not afflicted with cancer, and were not found in cancerous tissues, which leads the doctors of the Fund to conclude that Spirochseta has no causal relation to cancer — is not the long-sought cancer germ. Heredity. — Experiments carried out with successive generations of mice, ex- tending over five years, showed no tend- ency to the inheritance of cancer. Immunity. — It was found possible by the use of inoculations to immunize mice against cancer from other mice. "These achievements must not be confounded," says the report, "with successful vaccina- tion against spontaneous cancer arising."
