Evening star., 1931-12-10
|1(FlD INCREASE
| IN PLANTS GROWTH
| MADE ART|F|C|ALLY
Dr.. Abbott Describes Result
OF Test With Heat, Light
and Humidity.
REPORT ON SMITHSONIAN
SUBMITTED TO REGENTS
! ,022, $50 New Specimens Received
by National Museum Last
Year, Secretary Says.

A ten-fold increase in the growth of
plant, brought about by an optimum
balance OF light, heat and humidity, is
the striking scientific achievement
described In the report OF DR.. Charles
U. Abbot, secretary of the Smithsonian
institution, submitted to the regents
OF the institution at their annual
meeting today.
Efforts OF Smithsonian investigators
and those Of the institutions with which
they are cooperating, it was shown bv
the report, are being directed toward
discovery of fundamental laws under
lying the relations of living things to
light and heat, upon which all life de-
pends. Results have been especially
encouraging In two flelds-the study of
variations received by the earth from
the sun and the study Of the effects
OF light and heat on plant growth.
one OF the most notable results came
from experiments carried out in the
DIVISION OF Radiation and Organisms
laboratory by Agriculture Department
workers In cooperation with members
OF the division. A date palm, tropical.
dry land plant, was used. Ordinarily it
grows very poorly in a greenhouse,
aitnough proper temperature condi-
tons are maintained The scientists
experimented with it until a growth rate
was induced 10 times greater than that
oi con1roi plants In greenhouse.
Humidity Aided Growth.
Far-reaching implications may be
drawn from these results regarding the
possibility OF cultivating tropical plants
under cover in temperate climes. It is
explained, however, that the observed
growth was compared with the growth
attained IN an ordinary greenhouse.
The date palms probably did not
attain the growth they would have
made in the same time In their GUS
tomary habitat, the California desert.
But the strangest feature of all is
that, while these palms are desert
plants, the chief factor in bringing
about the enormously increased growth
appears to be humidity. The more
humid the conditions, the better they
grow.
1t also was found that variety of
ephedra, Chinese plant whose long
slender branches are used In medicine,
produced two crops under the optimum
conditions, both larger than the single
crop produced in the greenhouse.
Another experiment concerned the
curious phenomenon Of photo -trophism,
or the bending Of plants towards the
light. This experiment showed that
they bend 10000 times as much toward
blue light as toward yellow light, where
the response Of the plant is barely
measurable. When the blue light Is
changed to shorter and shorter wave
lengths, approaching the invisible
ultraviolet. the bending curve tends
to go down again.
Laws Grow More Complex.
The deeper the Smithsonian scient-
lists penetrate into these underlying
phenomena Of life the more compli-
Gated do the laws governing the reac-
tion OF protoplasm to radiation appear
and more and more delicate measuring
instruments are required A special
adjunct has just been devised for the
thermocouple. extremely delicate heat
measuring instrument, by which the
galvanometer reflections caused by
minute changes can be magnified 1000
times without loss of accuracy.
All life on earth depends fundament-
ally on the light and heat received from
the sun. This is subject to minute
variations from day to day. For years
the accurate measurements of these
variations and determination OF the
laws governing them has been a pri-
mary objective of the Smithsonian In
stitution, and this has been the special
field of Secretary Abbot. The relation
ships are extraordinarily complicated.
The solor radiation variations admit
tedly constitute a primary underlying
factor In weather.
During the past year, DR.. Abbot an
nounced today, the results of 10 years
Of intensive study have been brought
together and they encourage great
hope that the causes of weather may
be traced in solar variation to such
degree as to enable skilled meteor
ologist to forecast principal changes in
weather far in advance" The years
work, he continues. confirms the i'm
preston stated in last years report
that temperatures and barometric
pressures in the United States respond
by opposite trends to positive and Mega
tive sequences Of change in daily solar
radiation values. A new instrument
designed to discover and evaluate
periodicities in solar and weather rec
ords has been designed" Or. Abbot
presented statistical analysis showing
five regular solar radiation periodic
tiles of "a, As, rs, II and 8 month
intervals.
20 Expeditions Sent Out.
During the year, Secretary Abbot re-
ported to the Board of Regents, Of
which Chief Justice Hughes Is chan
cellor, the institution has sent out 20
expeditions to conduct investigations in
geology, biology, anthropology and astro-
physics. Besides numerous localities in
the United States, there were expedi-
tions to Spain, Africa, Alaska, Canada,
China, Haiti, San Domingo, the South
Sea Islands and the West Indies. Many
unique specimens were brought back.
Under special grant from Ambassador
Charles @. Dawes, European archives
have been searched for material bear
ing on early American history and some
very significant documents have been
brought to light. Grants have been
Of Anthropology in New
Mexico for the study of various Indian
The National Museum, a Govern
ment t-supported branch of the Smith
sonian Institution, has received during
the year a total of 1922 $50 new speci-
mems, Secretary Abbot reported. This
Ia the largest accretion ever received in
a single year. The Department Of An
thropology received valuable material
from Alaska resulting from the explora-
tions OF DR.. Ales Hrdlicka and n. B.
Collins, jr. Another unique collection
came from Haiti and San Domingo.
About 5000 specimens Illustrating the
life of the American Indian were re-
ceived from the estate of the late Victor
J. Evans of Washington. Much mate
rial representing the native tribes OF
West Africa was given by c. c. Roberts.
Collection Bought for $50,e0e.
The most important accession in the |
of Biology was the Barnes |
collection of Lepidoptera, purchased By |
a special appropriation Of $4,000. A
total Of $4,000 specimens, mostly Of in
sects. yas receiyed from Rev. David O.