El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-11

tanicaI truth. For six years the ef-
fects of its gradual subsistence upon
plant life has been watched. The orig
inal maximum depth of 81 feet has
been reduced by an evaporation Of
about y inches year, about One-third
of which hast been replaced by in
flowing water. Here conditions which
existed in some places geologic ages
ago are being observed today, and the
resulting changes IN plant life are fol-
lowing, thus attOrdlng a miniature re-
production Of certain phases of geo.
logic history In the San Francisco
bay salt works the micro organisms in
the brine are being studied. They
have to live in brine that varies IN
strength from that of rain-diluted sea
water to that of an almost completely
saturated salt solution 1t has been
found that they not only change their
mode of living to meet these changed
conditions, but their modes Of repro
ductiOn as well
The botanists are taking cross sec
lions of some Of the oldest trees in the
world and BY studying their rings are
able to tell what sort of climate ex-
listed through some three thousand
years of American history. Forty thou
sand measurements have been taken
from these il is hoped that the story
OF the climate of ancient America will
be told accurately. These are only a
few of the many activities of this i'm
pOrtant department The study OF
plant heredity is being carried ror-
ward. and new species are being es-
tablished.
The institution has a department Of
economics and sociology which is lab
oring 10 gather together all Of the
sociological and economic literature of
the country
In the department Of experimental
evolution one finds in many ways the
most remarkable work of the institu-
ton 1t has been able to produce two
strains of tailless chickens, in which
the results are strikingly like those
/ in the case Of the Florida manatee,
whose hind legs have ceased to exist
/ except IN rudimentary form In con-
nectlOn with the Eugenics Record Of
l flee study has been made of cpl
/ IepSy IN man, using as a basis over
/ 299 families with one or more epilep-
I tics in them, 1t was found that if both
J parents are without the character that
/ makes for neural strength, all the
! children lack it; but if both parents
/ possess il and yet belong to weak
/ strains, One-fourth Of the children may
( be expected to be nervOusly unde-
/ velOped.
Find New Laws of HeredIty.
! , There IS a series of islands off the
] coast Of Maine, where, owing to their
, ISOLATION cOnSanguineOus marriages are
] very frequent, and the people living
/ there have consented TO assist the de-
partment in a thorough investigation
a s TO whether or not such marriages
/ have been deleteriOus. Little by little
( these intricate inyestiga are dis
I closing new laws Of heredity and re-
/ vealing the secret of seX-eOntrOl a Sc
I cret that has defied the ages and
/ whose possession would be of incalcu-
( liable value to the race.
One of the most interesting lines of
work underta ken by the Institution is
that being carried forward by the geo
/ physic laboratory. When IL began its
work II attempted to devise a Their
mOmeter which could measure the tenn
perature of molten rock. and also a
machine which could apply a pressure
/ great enough to form rocks in the
| laboratory Both ends, and many 9TH
A., erS OF equal Importance, have been &C
cOmpliShed. a gas thermometer was
devised, and a number of such Their
mOmeterS were carried TO Hawaii and
I let down into the molten lava Of the
volcano kil1uea. Three sets of appar-
] atus were destroyed by the heat, but
finally the temperature was ascer
I tanned, and 1t was nearly 1000 degrees
above the boiling point Fahrenheit
/ The conclusion has been reached that
some Of the vital questions about the
/ formal ton of the earth may yet be
solved by laboratory studies Of the re-
/ actions going on in the crater Of an
I active volcano
The department of historical re-
{ search is engaged in seeking out and
getting together the unwritten history
portant contributions TO American his
I tory already have resulted.
Solves Mysteries of Sea.
A thousand mysteries are hidden in
the life of the sea, and to their solu-
ucn the department of marine biology
has addressed itself. a well equipped
! laboratory has been established on
TOrtugas island. Florida, and a vessel
for the needs Of the work has been
built The department maintains its
own corps OF workers. and offers the
facilities at its command to all visiting
scientists. Last year Prof. Uric Dahl
gren. of Princeton, was sent to Hamp-
ton Roads to enable him TO collect
young specimens Of a little denizen of
the deep known as the star gazer, p
the eye muscles Of which develop into
! electric organs capable of giving q
F severe shock These are being studied
I in the hope that some new lessons OF
/ electricity may be learned.
During last year G. Harold Drew
/ carried out a series of observations