The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-08-02
Art Serves Science
BY FREDERIC }. HAsKiN

WASHINGTON, D. c., Aug. Am
artist who paints queer. interesting
pictures is Leonard H. Wilder of the
Public Health Service. A water color
painting of grains of dust so highly
magnified that you can see the sharp
edges of some grains and the jagged,
saw-like edges of others is one OF
his latest works. A different style OF
art is represented by a pen and ink
drawing on mis- studio wall, showing
a cross section OF straw tick with
myriads of parasites swimming in its
blood.
All about the wall hang other ex-
amples of the scientific artists skill.
They are not the sort of pictures that
you would buy to hang in the parlor,
but they are painted, many of them,
for the benefit of the public.
You may have seen some of this
artists work in Public Health Service
publications-maps of cities showing
disease areas, pictures of the muscle
groups of the body, flea highly mag
nified, a shoe that will cramp the foot
Ald W SAON AOH NllN OloLO4 I'LL
occurs.
In its attempts to show the people
the dangers of disease and the great
need for preventive measures the Pub
| lie Health Service keeps Mr.. Wilder
| busy at his easel making several hun
| dred illustrations year. The govern
| ment doctors and scientists have found
| that a detailed verbal description oil
| how a mosquito implants malaria par
| asites in the badly is far less impress
sive than a highly magnified picture
of the parasite entering the probosciS
| of the mosquito. A shoN description
with the picture may tell how the
malaria germ gets into the mosquito
salivary ducts and is transferred Il
the wound that the mosquito inficts
The observer seeing with his owl
| eyes the enlarged mosquito in all it
dangerous ugliness goes out determin
ed to STAY the pests with increased
! vigor. The picture does it.
Just now a number of Mr.. Wilder
| newest art works have been sent t
I Rio de Janeiro to the centennial ey
position. Some of them, painted OIL
glass. represent a new development Il
scientific art.
Using a Microscope
1 A microscope has always been re
garded as the most lucid way of show
ing scientific wonders to the public
But if you have ever been offered
peep into high power microscope yol
know that short glimpse at the OF
Ject on the plate is rarely satisfactory
Even a person accustomed to usinj
scientific apparatus may have diff
Guilty in focusing the instrument. Nj
Wilder says that he never likes TO us
any microscope except his own be
cause it takes several days 70 ge
used to a strange instrument, even j
it is of the same make and type a
his own. So it is not strange that tn
public, offered a quick view of q fey
, interesting germs at soma exhibition
rarely gets a good look. Nothing, how
, ever, seemed so convincing 10 tn
layman as microscopic plate, and tn
Public Health Service often packe
and sent out Is instruments to healtl
exhibitions.
A few months ago. though, Mr.. Wi
der experimental with some waite
color paintings of parasites on fiv
inch squares of glass. Each Of thes
was put in the bottom of fairly dee
box and glass cover was fitted O.
the top. The result was a view tina
, stood out in relief just as the micro
scopic plate did, and the painting wa
! larger and did not have to be squinte
) at or brought into focus. The trans
parencies went to an exhibition IN CHI
cago and doctors and other visitor
approved of them highly
Among the glass paintings sent t
r Rio de Janeiro are a number of piC
lures showing the dangers of dus
Mr.. Wilder went into the street an
t got some samples that he thought tyI
J ical of municipal dust He magnife