Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-08-02

I 1t takes several days to get used to
a strange instrument, sven If it 10
of the same make and type as his
own. SO it is not strange that the
public Offered a quick view of a
few interesting germs at some ex-
hibition, rarely gets a good look.
Nothing, however, seemed so con-
vincing to the layman as a micro
scopic plate, and the Public Health
Service often packed and sent out
sixteen instruments to health exhi-
billions.
A few mouths ago, though, Mr..
Wilder experimented with some wa
ter color paintings of parasites on
five inch squares of glass. Each
Of these was put in the bottom of a
fairly deep box and a glass cover
was fitted on the top. The result
was a view that stood out in relief
just as tho microscopic plate did.
and painting was larger and did
not have to be squinted at or
brought into focus. The transpar-
encies went to an exhibition in Chi
cago and doctors and other visitors
approved OF them highly.
Among the glass paintings sent to
Rio de Janeiro r a number of pic
lures showing the dangers of dust.
Mr.. Wilder went into the street and
got SOME samples that he thought
typical Of municipal dust. He mag
niied them highly and painted them
on glass.
Seven-eighths of the grains had
cutting edges. The grains with
sharp edges like glass were crys-
talline products probably the finest
sand. Cinders were in the dust,
too, and the microscope showed that
they had saw-like edges, injurious to
the ears and eyes. 1t took a micro
scope charging the dust 500 times
to show clearly the character of or
binary dust. The moral was so OBJ
vious that it vas scarcely necessary
to write on the label "a plea for
cleanliness. The sharp grains. tiny
as they are. may do damage to the
lungs and leave them susceptible TO
the attacks of germs.
For another picture, Mr.. Wilder
took a tiny piece of cotton from the
floor of a cotton mill ana u piece of
wool. He leased them out to the
finest possible condition and magni-
fed them. The resulting picture
showed that in these fine leased
ibers there was a certain amount OF
organic matter which, If taken into
the system Of a human being, would
cause serious inconvenience. These
fine atoms Of cotton and wool are
breathed in by workers in mills.
He also made a picture of flour
dust. which blows about in the air
of a flour mill. His picture showed
the floor and then blows up into
~. A~ry as- a., Ioroayxy ivanrnorofod
with organic matter. The sample
pictur es Of dust we're all sent to Rio
to show the people that such indus
tries may be dangerous unless work.
ers are clearly.
Artists Varied Career
MI. Wilder's work takes in every
phase of art training. AMI he says
that If he had not had a varied
career he would not me able to
paint all Of the pictures hat gov
eminent investigators casually re-
quest. Before doing government
work. he had a long career as a
landscape artist. portrait painter and
teacher OF art. He studied engrav.
ing and etching and was regarded as
an expert etcher. Then scientists
persuaded him that science needed
dTJlStS With d passion LOT truth anu
exactness. FIFE gave ur producing
beauty and began to make his art
serve science. first at the University
Of Chicago and now for fifteen years
at the Public Health Service labora-
tory. His scientific art attracted at
tention in England and he was made
a Fellow of the Royal Art Society.
He chose an extremely difficult
field. In drawing a fly, magnifed 90
that it is as large as a hand. the
artist must reproduce ever the num-
Der of hairs on the leg of the insect.
The delicate colors of the wings, the
marking and the modelling must be
perfectly copied and the drawing
must be enlarged accurately to scale.
Much harder, however. is the task
of painting from memory. Often a
laboratory expert sends for Mr.. Will
der to come and sketch a rat or
guinea pig that has been inoculated
with some disease. The picture is
generally wanted to accompany a
| report on the experimental work,
and it may be necessary to sketch
the animal at once because its con
| dition will change. The artist seizes
pad and pencil and hurries to the