The Detroit times., 1911-07-10
DID YOU EVER co
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.?
Smithsonian Institute Tell. How To
Do It-system Is Part of Conser-
walton Movement.

WASHINGTON, July 10.--Did you
ever go bobbiHg for blobs2
No. this Is not a new game neF IL
II something that is likely to be TAX
en- up by all sportsmen--it is merely
a little diversion highly and warmly
advocated by the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition, for the conservation of a few
natural resources.
There has been so little converse
ton regarding conservation lately that
the Smithsonian evidently thought
that the matter needed stirring up, for
they have just issued letter con-
corning the determination of the blobs
and advocating this determination as
a highly patriotic and an eminently
proper pastime.
But before the blobs can possibly
be eradicated, the public will have to
be told what they are, for IL Is doubt
full II there are many persons, outside
OF the Smithsonian, who would recog-
nize one IL they met II on the street.
That IT Is something live Is rather
evident from the title of the institu-
tons letter, The determination or
the Blob" but whether the would-be
exterminators should tempt II with
peanuts, lure II with bird seed or
smother 1t In pop corn Is not men
toned.
So, the dictionary being the natural
haven of refuge when one desires to
find definition, the IBIS" are search
ed until the word blob" Is reached.
But even then a look OF wonderment
M foh a IN antfIa
on the searcher's face, for the deftnt-
tion there Is weird and wonderful.
II Is almost enough to produce a
parody on Oliver Herford's such as the
following:
i've never met blibsy blob.
never hope to meet one,
But this know, hope. trow,
I'd rather meet than eat one"
Here is Webster's definition. lifted
bodily:
Understanding blunt or round,
small drop or lump OF something
viscid. drop, bubble, blister. A
small fresh water fish (Uranidea Rob-
insonD. the miller's thumb"
So there Is very little use trying to
dope out from the dictionary exactly
what Is a blob. There is no escape
from II, the institutions letter must
be read. A study OF the learned dis
sertation shows that the next TO the
last bet In the dictionary Is the right
one to play and that the blob spoken
about in the article in question Is a
fish which has the pernicious habit OF
swallowing several salmon for break
fast, few more for lunch and adding
some to the collection when dinner
time came around. Therefore, says
the institution, they should be ex-
terminated.
Blobs, says Messrs. Bean and Weed
OF the institution. are not particular
how they eat their prey. Head or tail
first--it Is all the same to them, and
they eat an average Of six day.
This, for fish which IL some twelve
or fifteen inches long, Is going some.
Some OF the blobs eat so many sal
mon that they choke themselves to
death and the bureau of fisheries IL
not troubled with discriminating them.
When Il is noted, however. that 81
900 of the pernicious blobs were
caught and killed In twenty days on
the Helm Bay Stream, IL would not
seem that the bureau OF fisheries
would have much trouble In getting
rid of them.
But, they say that there is great
need for an active movement against
the salmon-eaters, so the public Is
asked to Swat the blob" just as they
are desired Ito swat the fly"
Says Cancer 10 Germ Disease.
That cancer il germ disease and
not due to other causes is the claim
of DIR. Frank F. Smith, chief Patholo-
gist OF the bureau Of plant industry
of the department of agriculture.
For seven years DIR. Smith has held
to his theory and now he says he has
proved that plant cancers-or tuneors
ARE duo germs, and he claims that
there is not the slightest doubt but
that human cancers are due to the
same cause.
Physicians" said DR.. Smith, to
day." claim that cancer il not a germ
disease, simply because they have
never been able TO find the germ, but
I have proved conclusively that plant
are nothing more than
cancers In the vegetable world7-are
due to a parasite, despite the fact that
I have never seen or found the organ
ism. But by thousands OF expert