South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-09-14

Solving the mystery Of life as you
know has been the quest OF many
scientific men. I dare say that today
not a thousand. but actually thou
1ds Of meGics have dedicated
their lives TO a vain attempt 10 peek
through Dame Natures" keyhole
and discover her pet secret Some
~ you perhaps have seen the deft
chemist mix up a concoctiOn in a
test tube or flask and bring forth a
pIant-lilse creation beautiful 20 look
upon. deceiving I'm its close simila-
tIon 20 natural vegetation plant
which actually grew before your
eyes
This trick Of the. chemist, how
ever is not 10 be confused with the
actual production Of life The only
points OF similarity between the ar
tIdCial and the natural creations are
outward aspect and ability TO grow
The latter quality is acquired In a
totally different manner from ma
tural growth-the artificial plant
neither breathes. fights for its life
nor assimilates food-au character
istics OF the living machine, be it Of
plant or animal origin
F'rcnchmen Came Nearest.
The closest approach 20 the actual
production OF life was achieved
few years back by a French scien-
fist. who went the incubator one bet
ter and succeeded in artificially fer
tilizing eggs as we'll as incubating
them-only in his experiments ne
used frog eggs and Matched out tad
poles
The chief attributes OF the living
machine are its ability 10 take i'm
food. 20 cause that food to undergo
chemical change which gives rise 10
bodily heat and mechanical move
ment-tO discard or throw off the
waste products Os this chemical &C
tion in several different ways and
through various channels, and TO
reproduce itself Of hand, we
would say that there IS life where
he body Is warm, where It moves
where IL eats and where 1t breathes.
- I tell you that the engineer has
taken a mass OF pig-iron and COM
rounded IL with much brain matter
and brought forth a machine which
actually measures UP to these re-
quirements. you are going 10 smile
incrodluously II / tell you that un-
der the hood OF every last Ford
On the hold Of every submarine-On
the frame OF every farm tractor and
i'm the fuselage OF every airplane.
there IS mechanism possessed Of
OH these animate qualities and a few
more. your smile will broaden into a
laugh-perhaps. Yet the internal
combustion motor OF the gasoline
or gas engine under which appella-
ton II probably is best known TO
YOU, which in it's modern conception
and application Is distinctly the
brain child OF the automOtive en-
eineer. has more qualities attributed
heretofore exclusively TO living be-
ings than anything the Psychologist
has been able 10 produce in simila-
ton Of life itself
Some Human Attributes.
Dash pep" reliability. perver-
sity. meanness and sickness are
nmong the human attributes pos
Eessed by different engines to n
greater or less degree according 10
design. workmanship, treatment or
conditions. And when aught goes
wrong, the engine will actually
speak. as many Of YOU know. first
IN a whisper. but always with rising
infection as TO intonation when its
us are not attended 10 or its wants
provided.
And II IS 70 point out the various
organs OF this near-living mechau-
jsm. 10 describe their functions in
comparison with similar organs OF
the human body. and more speci-
hcallv 20 point out the crying need
at the present time for TeIl-train-
pa motor doctors who can correctly
diagnose the symptoms OF the var
Gus Ills 20 which these organs are
subject and correct them that this
story Is written
In the human ma chine we take
food into the mouth. masticate it,
mix Il with saliva and otherwise
prepare Il 20 undergo more or less
rapid chemical change when It
passes down the food passage con-
7ecting the mouth with the stomach
and enters that cavity Referring
now 10 the diagram which shows a
vertical crOss-sectional view OF a
GASOLINE engine. we find that the
foufd -EasoIine-enters the
chamber which we call the carbure-
tor. in which Il is pulverized or
atomfzed, exactly as the food was
In the mouth. and mixed with pure
air I'm preparation for the chemical
change II is to undergo. A passage
connects the carburetor with this
internal cavity IN the motor even as
me food passage connected the
mouth with the stomach in the Nv
ng body. and through this passage
he fully prepared motor food flows
when the inlet valve is opened.
In the body q slow chemical de-
imposition sets in giving rise 20
heat Immediately the food enters the
stomach. and this chemical action
-ontinues until the last oft OF heat
has been extracted from the food.
The waste products are then expell-
"a 20 make room for new food
Same Action I'm Engine.
This same action takes place I'm
he combustion cham0pr-ouly the
chemical action and the liberation
heat take place 40 very rapid