He was one of the first to welcome the English poems of Rabin- dranath Tagore, for whose Gitanjali he wrote an introduction. Another late influence with him was represented by the Noh- plays of Japan, and he wrote an essay on the subject which is included in the prose collection, The Cutting of an Agate. Under the Japanese influence he wrote his plays At the Hawk's Well (1917), and Two Plays for Dancers (1919). He married in 1917 Georgia Hyde Lees, by whom he^had first a daughter and in 1921 a son.
An elaborate critical study of Mr. Yeats' poetry, by Forrest Reid, appeared in 1916; also, in the series " Irishmen of To-day," W. B. Yeats: The Poet in Contemporary Ireland, by J. M. Hone; there is a good account of Yeats' work in Ireland's Literary Re- nascence, by Ernest A. Boyd (1916).
YELLOW FEVER (see 28.910). In 1918 the study of this disease was carried a stage forward by the discovery of Noguchi
that the disease could be transmitted to guinea-pigs, and that
the blood of these, examined by dark-ground illumination, con-
tained numbers of a delicate Spirochaete which he called Lepto-
spira icteroides. This organism is closely allied to the Leptospira
icteroida morrhagicB, the organism of infective jaundice.
It was found possible to cultivate the new organism under anaerobic conditions without excessive oxygen supply in solid media containing blood serum. Different strains of the organism vary greatly in virulence. Some are so virulent that o-oooi c.c of a culture is sufficient to induce fatal symptoms in a guinea-pig. The organism is killed within ten minutes at 55 C. and by desiccation or freezing. It is an extremely delicate filament, 4-9 /LI in length by 0-2 /i in breadth. It breaks up into a number of refractile granules, and the virus can pass through Berkefeld filters V. & N. The organism is scanty in the blood of yellow fever patients.
Those early statements were confirmed by later work, and the chain of evidence in favour of this organism being the cause of Yellow Fever was well-nigh complete by the middle of 1921. Noguchi prepared a serum by infecting horses with his organism, and this exercised marked curative effects on guinea-pigs when administered within a short period of the time of infection. It was further found possible to infect a guinea-pig from a culture of the organism and then use a mosquito (Stcgomyia fasciata) to carry the infection from this animal to another. The whole course of the disease could thus be reproduced by means of new organism. (R. M. Wi.)
YOSHIHITO (1879- ), i22nd Emperor of Japan, third son
of the Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito), was born on Aug. 31 1879, at
Tokyo. The Prince was physically somewhat weak during his
early life and Marquis Tadayasu Nakayama and Marchioness
Nakayama were appointed his guardians. On the eighth anniver-
sary of his birthday the Prince was proclaimed heir apparent, the
first and second sons of the Emperor Meiji having died in infancy.
In Sept. 1887 the Prince commenced attending the Peers' school
and on Nov. 3 1889 he was declared Imperial Crown Prince. In*
1892 the Crown Prince was appointed to the rank of a first
lieutenant in the imperial army, and two years later left the
Peers' school to continue his studies at the palace under private
tutors. In 1895 he was promoted to the rank of captain and in
1897 took his seat, in accordance with prescriptive right, in the
House of Peers. In 1898 he was promoted to the rank of major
of infantry and appointed a lieutenant-commander in the im-
perial navy.
On May 10 1900 the Crown Prince married Sadako, fourth daughter of the late Prince Michitaka Kujo, and on April 29 1901 a son, Hirohito, was born, followed by a second son, Prince Yasuhito, on June 25 1902, and a third, Prince Nobuhito, on Jan. 3 1905. In 1903 the Crown Prince was promoted colonel in the army and captain in the navy and in 1909 lieutenant-general and vice-admiral. On July 30 1912, at the moment of the demise of his father, the Crown Prince ascended the throne; but, owing to the national mourning, the formal ceremony of enthronement did not take place until Nov. 1914. In the following year a fourth son, Prince Takahito, was born on Dec. 2.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (see 28.940). For
several years before the World War the British Y.M.C.A. had been doing effective work in the summer camps of the Volunteers
and Territorials. When the war started it had therefore the
necessary experience, together with trained personnel and a
programme adapted to meet the needs of men on active service.
It entered the field at once, and within ten days of the outbreak
of war had opened up 250 different centres for the recreation and
welfare of the troops in all parts of the United Kingdom. The
whole organization of the Y.M.C.A. was brought to bear on the
national emergency, and the Red Triangle, unknown before the
war, soon became as familiar as the Red Cross itself. It touched
the men at every point and in almost every place. It became a
habit they found it in the training camps; the base camps over-
seas; the support trenches, and sometimes even in those in the
front line. The Y.M.C.A. meant warmth, shelter, comfort and
rest to the soldier on active service under Christian auspices.
It was a counter-attraction to the " wet " canteen, and helped
to keep the men from undesirable places in the towns and villages
adjacent to the camps. It kept them in touch with home-
more than a thousand million sheets of writing paper and en-
velopes being sent out from headquarters in London for free
distribution at home and overseas. The steadying effect of the
work on the moral of the men was universally admitted. Sports
and competitive games were organized on a large scale by the
Association at a time when the army authorities had no leisure to
devote to looking after the recreation of the troops. Education
classes and lectures were included in the programme, and the
Y.M.C.A. was appointed agent for carrying out the army
scheme of education on the lines of communication in France.
From May 1918 till the end of the following year 70,067 separate
students were enrolled in the educational classes, and over
670,000 attended the lectures on the lines of communications.
Wimborne House, London, was loaned by Lord Wimborne as
headquarters of the overseas library, and more than a million
books and magazines were sent to the front. The total cost of the
educational work, which was carried out under the direction of a
special committee on which all the universities were represented,
exceeded 140,000. More than 150,000 concerts by professional
artists were given, and in every case admission was free.
The primary object of all the work of the Association was the building and safeguarding of character. Religious work amongst the troops was organized on an extensive scale. Testaments, Gospels and religious booklets were distributed in hundreds and thousands. Family prayers in the huts usually closed the proceed- ings for the day, and, wherever possible, a quiet room or chapel was included as part of the equipment. Many distinguished preachers and evangelists served with the Y.M.C.A. The huts and tents were placed at the disposal of the official chaplains Protestant and Catholic alike every Sunday morning, and similar facilities were extended to the Jewish chaplains.
Personnel. Twelve members of the Y.M.C.A. won the Victoria Cross during the World War, and the names of 2,621 are inscribed on the Roll of Honour in the central building in Tottenham Court Road of those who were killed or died when on active service. For its war work the Association had to depend almost entirely on men over military age or disqualified for active service, together with clergy and ministers of all denominations, whilst for the first time in its history women took a considerable part in the executive work of the Association. At one time there were as many as 40,000 ladies working under the Red Triangle. A splendid lead was given by H.H. Princess Helena Victoria, ably assisted by some of the leading ladies of the United Kingdom.
The Navy and Mercantile Marine. During the war men of the Royal Navy had comparatively little shore leave, but many large institutes were opened in the naval bases and extensively used. After the Armistice work was opened up for the men of the British fleet based on Copenhagen. Y.M.C.A. cabinets, each containing a small library, writing materials, games, a gramophone and records, were supplied gratis to 200 centres for the use of men serving on coastguard, wireless, hydrophone and war signal stations.
Munitions. To meet an urgent national need the Munition Workers' Auxiliary Committee was formed in 1915, with H.H. Princess Helena Victoria as president and Lord Derby as chairman. Two hundred canteens were opened before the end of 1918 in shell factories and other munition centres. Fifteen large hostels were established and more than 50 million meals supplied at cost price. Seven thousand voluntary women workers assisted. Lectures and concerts were given.
