Evening star., 1927-04-25
CHEMICALS SPEED
PLANT PROCESSES
National Academy of Sci
enCes Told Heat Production
Trails Nerve Impulse.

ing. Twenty-frst and E streets.
The first deClt with remarkable eX-
periments by which the natural
processes Of plants are speeded up
greatly by the application of certain
chemicals, notably ethylene and Varl'
Gus compounds, which do not act as
fertilizers, but in some way not un-
derstood.
DIR. +. IT. Denny Of the Boyce
Thompson Institute Of Yonkers, N. Y,
showed members Of the academy pota-
toes sprouted from tuber cuttings to
which Chlorhydrin had been applied
and others planted at the same time
without any application, both plant
Sings from the same stock. The first
group showed potato plants from six
% eight inches high. The others were
barely coming through the ground.
Heat Along Nerve.
The other announcement this morn
ing was by DR.. A. V. Hill Of University
college. London, that there is a def
mite heat production which accom-
panies an impulse along a nerve--in
other words, that nerve impulse is
not like wave of sound, light or
electricity, but rather alike the process
of Il flame along a trail of gunpowder,
consuming as it goes.
The nature Of nerve impulses long
has been in dispute among nhysiolo-
gists and this discovery, which re-
Corded n heat rise of as much as
ten -millionth of a degree. goes far
TO bring about a better understanding
Of the problem. It long had been
thought impossible to measure the
minute rise of heat which was eX-
pected as the impulse Travelled along
and the measurement was accom-
~ ,4,-fx- - m
exceedingly delicate thermOcouple
oontrivance by Dr. Hill and his as
sociates.
Nerve impulses, it was shown, con-
sumo food and exhaust nerve fibers
Just like other physical actions and
Are purely physical in their nature.
Start Plant Cuttings.
The experiments described by DIR.
Denny have been applied primarily
10 starting tubers and plant cuttings
INTO life from period of dormancy.
rhey also probably are applicable to
Sther processes in the growth of
plants and constitute one of the most
important advances in agriculture.
they started from the observation
that a small amount of ethylene gas
released in a compartment filled with
partly green oranges or lemons on
heir way TO market had the effect OF
greatly Fastening the yelloWing proc
ess of the fruit. 1t formerly was the
practice to keep green fruit in room
heated with kerosene stoves to bring
lbout this effect, but finally the
sthylene was distinguished as the ac-
i've agent.
The discovery is likely to prove of
ixtreme value to florists, enabling
hem to control the blossoming period
sf various Towering shrubs so that
they will be available for the holiday
market.
The gain in time for the sprouting
Sc potatoes is from two to six weeks,
depending on the extent of the period
be dornlaney. The probable explana-
ion is advanced that the chemicals
nave a slightly destructive effect on
blant tissues, thus giving the growth
factors freer play. Shade trees eX-
oosed over a considerable period to
he ethylene in Illuminating gas are
killed.
InsensibIe PerspiratiOn.
An insensible perspiration is going
An from the skin surfaces, detachable,
Inly by delicate instruments, which is
IN important factor in keeping the
equilibrium of body heat, the academy
VAS told by Francis G. Benedict who
has devoted intensive study to the
tarious factors of loss of heat from
the body.
The embryology of a variety of
horse tail through the process OF de-
Feloping the various plant organs was
described By Douglas I'll. Campbell.
rhe observations show, DIR. Campbell
believes, that the horsetail, one OF the
three oldest families of plants, is more
closely related to the fern group than
% the mosses.
Florence r.. Sabin told of expert
nents at Yale University on the Ell
tect of tubercle bacilh on the cells OF
he connective tissues of rabbits.
Sound Kills Animals.
"Death whisper waves" of sound OF
sueh high frequency that they cannot
be heard, but which are capable OF
killing small animals and of breaking
down the corpuscles of the blood, were
described to the academy this morn
ing by Prof. r. w. Wood of Johns
Hopkins University, who told OF ex'
periments with them at the private
laboratory of A. l.. Loomis at Tuxedo
Park, n. Y.
These rays Of inaudible sound are
produced from slices of quartz crystal
driven by oscillating electric currents
pf freuuencies of around 500,0 900 a
second. They travel through any
LIQUID or solid object and heat it meas
hrably as they go, but do not come
out into the air. Blood corpuscles in
salt solutions are broken down, ting
ing the whole body of the fluid clear
red If tiny particle Of gelatin i
added TO the solution, however, II
somehow protects the corpuscles and
they are not broken,
lee Resists Waves.
II a block Of artiicially frozen ice
IA subjected to the action of these
waves, they apparently have no effect
npon it unless it is placed under pres
sure, increasing it's density as a
medium, when it at once breaks into
a mass Of tiny crystals. A piece OF
bond ice, frozen under different condi
tons resisted the waves and did not
crumble, Finely powered solids
stirred up in water to make a sus
pension, are driven together by the
waves until they form a closely
packed, round mass just under the
Surface
Things that cannot ordinarily bt
mixed with water, like oil, paraftiI
and mercury, are forced by the vibra
tions to become exceedingly fine sus
pensions or emulslOns. A paraifiI
candle was fioated on water and the
current turned on. The wax melted
from the surface ana came down lnt'
the liquid in the form Of a cloud o
microscopic white drops, giving th'
entire LIQUID the appearance Of milk
In another experiment, LITTLE
mercury was poured on the bottom
of a beaker full Of water. The waves
broke it up into drops so small tha
they could just be seen with th
highest power of the microscope. The,
were scattered evenly through tn
water In a dense cloud.
"Twigs Of apple, grape and lila
also have this dormant period 4
Autumn, and the buds of these specie