Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-02-04

life, the unicellular structures. He
tribute of living matter or necessar-
lily associated with reproduction; but
rather an acquired advantage to the
species. If an animal of the higher
order were immortal, escaping all
fatal accidents, slight injuries would
in time be likely to overtake it and
one portion of the body after another
might lose Its integrity, the creature
becoming untitled to represent it's
kind, or for other uses. He further
states that although capable of being
destroyed by heat or poison, an i'm
mense number of low organisms do
not die. They carry the potentially
of unending life so long as necessary
conditions are fulfilled.
The theories of Prof. Loeb, of Chi
cago university, attract great deal
of attention just now. He has charge
here of the best equipped biological
laboratory in the country and each
summer conducts experiments at the
Marine biological laboratory at
Woods Hoil Mass. He has certainly
proved that cell life may be indefin-
itely prolonged-whether he will ever
discover means of increasing the
number of years person may re-
main on this earth is problematical.
Just why SO many people who expect
to be "better off" when they are un-
hampered by their material bodies
should cling to earth life as they do
is a mystery that will never be salts
factorily explained. With those who
believe that matter is all and that
when their own particular atoms get
into quarrel that will be the end
of them the case is, of course, differ
emit.
But however this may be, nearly
every individual would, when death
came near, be grateful for an elixir
which would delay his approach to a
more convenient season. The results
of Prof Loeb's studies of the phenom-
eua of life are, at least, very interest
ing. They have been largely along the
lines of muscular contraction, nerve
impulses and the development of eggs,
| these processes being all essential to
life. His conclusions are that death is
| but neurological process and not a
cessa tion of action, that electricity is
the basis of life acting upon the nerves
and involuntary muscles. He is said to
believe that all life is the result OF
physical processes, and that the pro.
cess of death may be arrested by the
employment Of certain agents. He has
been very successful in his expert.
ments along the latter lines with the
unfertilized eggs of sea urchins. II
these be taken from the mother and
placed in sea water, they usually die
| within "a hours. If fertilized OF
course the death process is stayed and
the animal develops. hence on fertiliza'
ton an agent is introduced which
counteracts the death process. 1t oc-
CURED to Prof. Loeb to search for
some artificial agent which would
serve the same purpose. Cyanide po-
tassium is one of the most deadly
known poisons. This was selected be:
cause it does not destroy cell struc:
ture, while checking life phenomena
His idea was to suspend all animation
in the life cells for period OF time
For one week the eggs remained in
weak solution of the poison and when
removed at the end Of that time were
tfound capable of being fortified either
naturally or artiacially, ssvsauv'aT Il