The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-31
SOLVING MYSTERIES OF DEATH
Experiments of Professor Loeb-1m-
 portant Announcement Made

Chicago, Dec. 30. - Experiments which it is claimed are beginning of the unravelling of the mysteries of death were made public by Professor Jacques Loeb of the fourteenth annual meeting of the American Physiological society at the University of Chicago tonight. During the last summer the noted scientist has been continuing his
 series of experiments with the eggs of the lower marine animals, especially
 those of the sea urchin and tonight in
 paper entitled ''On the Prolongation l of Life of Unfertilized Eggs of the Sea urchin by Potassium Cyanide" he told a group of the foremost physiologists in America that by means of observa- ton of the effects of certain chemicals upon these minute bits of protoplasm he was ready to make a tentative deh-
 milton of the heretofore unknown na-
 ture of death
 Death, Professor Loeb affirmed, was not negative process, a simple break ing down of tissues, as it has been re- garded up to this time, but an active agent born with the birth of the egg, and destined, if not checked, to gain
 liAS uPPCl idIu OL lIlG IllG HIS StlHCI dIlu
 bring about extermination But, great CT even than the apparent discovery of this death agent in all substance, is Professor Loeb's announcement that he has been able to check it in the eggs of the sea urchin at least, by means of chemical agents This it is claimed, means nothing less than that on a minute scale the secret of eternal life is in the power of mankind The ex- periments, Professor Loeb said, were very simple. Unfertilized eggs of the sea urchin were placed in weak solu- tion of potassium cyanide and abandon ed for several days. In ordinary con- ditions an unfertilized egg dies in a few hours, destroyed by the death agents born with it. At the end of several days the eggs were again examined and were found to be still capable of fertili- zation and of producing healthy ami mals.
 In explaining the results, Professor Loeb said that the 'mortifierous pro- cesses" were due to the actions of cer- tain ferments of an unknown nature, whose destructive tendency was coun- teracted by the potassium salts.
 Several other papers of importance were read during the meeting. Presi dent D. J. L. Ingle of the University of Chicago gave the results of his re- search into the effect Of common salt upon the heart beat. He affirmed with great emphasis that. contrary to the statements of Professor w. M. Howells of Harvard. salt is the sole agent re- sponsible for the rhythmic action of the heart.
 Professor F. s. Lee of Columbia uni versity made some interesting reports upon the action of alcohol upon mus cles. By experiments upon the frog he demonstrated that a small amount of alcohol increased the working power of muscle, enabled it to make more rapid contractions in a given space of time and delayed fatigue. In short it made the muscle a much better machine In larger quantities, however, alcohol was detrimental in all respects.
 Among the we'll known scientists which read papers were Professors G. T. Kemp of the University of Illinois, A. R, Cushney of the University of Michigan, G. Lusk of the University of New York, and l.. B. Mendel of Yale