Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-27
Brain Cortex of Leaders of
Children Studied by Re-
search Council.
WORKING GIRL SORROWS
ARE OBJECT OF SURVEY
Experiments Reveal Two Kinds of
Sweating-With Temperature
and Brain as Causes.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.


1t is possible to become intoxicated
on water.
Experiments with rabbits by DR..
Hirotada Misawa, japanese physiolo-
gist, showing this possibility, are re-
ported by the Committee on Child De-
velopment of the National Research
Council, together with numerous other
advances in scientific knowledge touch
ing upon the bodies and minds of chill
dren from laboratories throughout the
world.
DIR. Misawa administered to his ex-
perimental rabbits so cubic centimeters
of water per kilogram of body weight
every 80 minutes, according to the re-
port and soon reStlessness, an increase
in saliva and tremorS began to appear.
At the end of four hours, when the
water given amounted to one-third of
the body weight, the animals went into
commissions.
Decrease in Protein.
Tests then showed a decrease in the
protein content of the blood serum and
marked reduction in the chlorine,
phosphorus, sodium, potassium, calcium
and magnesium content of the blood.
There was a slight increase in the
hemoglobin and red cells and an in
crease in the blood sugar and white
blood cells. The body temperature de-
creased about degrees when con-
WILSON'S started Further administra-
ton of water caused death.
Preparation of two substances, pos
sibly hormones, from the thymus
gland, a rather mysterious gland OF
internal secretion at the base of the
neck which reaches its greatest de-
veloprnent in children and then tends
to disappear, was reported by the Ger
man physiologist A. Nitschke. One OF
these isolated substances when inject
ed into animals, he found, reduces the
amount of calcium in the blood serum
and brings about tetanic muscle SpaSrns
and extreme eXcitability to electrical
stimulation. This is a condition some
what similar TO that produced by
strychnine.
Cuts Phosphorus Content.
The other substance reduced the
phosphorus content of the blood by so
per cent. But DR.. NitSchke was puzzled
by the fact that complete removal OF
the thymus did not appear to have any
effects in the opposite direction. and
came to the conclusion that other in
ternal secretion organs in the body sup
piled the same substances necessary TO
keep the proper chemical balance and
that the function of the thymus In
childhood was to take the burden on
some Of these other organs, such as the
spleen and lymph glands.
A study OF the qualities which make
a child a leader of his companions,
made with 400 groups of children, by
E. Checaleva- Ianovshaia, Russian
psychologist, is reported from Paris. He
applied to the leaders of these groups
the principles of mind mechanism de-
veloped with dogs by the Russian physi-
ologist Pavlov. According to these
principles, stimulation, depending on
the previous associations of the indi-
vidual with it and the nature Of the
individuals brain cortex, produces
either stimulation leading to a positive
reaction or inhibition, acting as bar
to action and causing shrinkage away
from the situation.
He found that the child leaders ap-
parently have the sort of brain cortex
which is hospitable to stimulation.
When stimulated to talk he talks longer
than other children. He forms associ-
atoms more rapidly. He acts with more
originality or variation to a specific
ally his reactions are more adequate.
Working Girls Studied.
The sorrows of young working girls
were studied by the psychologist M.
Kelchner at the University of Leipzig.
From $50 girls employed in the factories
Of that city he secured essays on 'sor-
row." Most Of the girls wrote about
their own lives, and each essay was
rw{.r ~ nIAI Ixyefr
He found that life is a surprisingly
serious affair for them" but love affairs
did not play much of a part in their
sorrows. THE most common causes of
grief" he reported, ARE economic
need, loss of a job, illness and death.
There Is evident q very marked intel
lectual dependence on the mother,
whose influence is especially great in the
middle-class family. Such consultations
as those arising from religion are pres
ent to a very limited degree"
There are two kinds of sweating"
reports the Japanese Psychologist, Y.
Kuno. The sweat glands on the palms
and soles, he found, are not especially
affected by a change in temperature
but secrete perspiration only when
stimulated by the brain, with which
they appear to be closely tied out. The
sweat glands over the rest of the body,
he found, are not especially affected by
the brain, but come into action when
the temperature rises. But in each
case the sweating Is over the entire
area of one set of the glands. The
whole body surface. except the palms
and soles, is notably affected by a rise
in temperature, and both hands and
feet by an appropriate mental stimula-
ton.