Capsules

P:Grand Rapids, Mich., one of the first U.S. cities to add fluorine to its water supply, celebrated the experiment's tenth anniversary with a look at the results. Among them:1) 30% fewer kindergarten children have decayed teeth, 2) first-graders have 75% fewer cavities, 3) eighth-graders have lost 50% fewer teeth.

P:In Rio de Janeiro, Physiologist Joao de Souza Campos, Biochemist Roched Seba and Botanist Geraldo Kulman reported the discovery of a native substitute for India's so-called "miracle plant," rauwolfia serpentina, which has proved highly effective (in drug form) in treating high blood pressure and nervous disorders (TIME, Nov. 8). Drugs made from the new plant, rauwolfia sellowi, act on the nervous system like their Indian counterparts, but with a lower toxic effect.

P:Patient Richard Herrick, 23, who in a remarkable operation had a kidney transplanted from his identical twin brother to replace his own damaged by nephritis (TIME, Jan. 3), left Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital for a vacation. Doctors reported that the transplanted kidney was "functioning adequately." Still ahead of him: a possible second operation for removal of his two poorly functioning original kidneys.

P:In the French seaside region of Brittany, a three-week smallpox epidemic slowed to a halt after catching 68, killing 14. Among the dead: two infants, a local health official. During the scare, more than 150,000 Bretons were vaccinated, along with all travelers and tourists. Cited as the bearer of the smallpox virus: a French army noncom just back from Indo-China.

P:Although the post-World War II baby boom is leveling off, the world's population is still growing by 1.2% each year, according to a new World Health Organization study. Biggest net population increases are mostly in high-mortality, high-birth-rate countries, with some important exceptions: Ceylon, 28.5 per thousand inhabitants, Chile 22.9, Canada 19.2. Lowest increase countries: England and Wales 4.0, West Germany 4.5, Sweden 5.7. Biggest exception to the rule: The Netherlands, with a 14.1 increase and a low 7.7 death rate. (The U.S. had a 15.1 increase and 9.6 death rate.)

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