Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-29
CAMPBELL NAMED
TO HEAD NATIONAL
SCIENCE ACADEMY
New President Is Astronomer
and Director of Lick
Observatory.
SUBJECTS PRESENTED
COVER WIDE RANGE
Work in Psychology, Medicine,
Botany and Evolution Is
Described.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

DR.. William Wallace Campbell di-
rector of the Lick Observatory at Mount
Hamilton, Calf, was elected president
OF the National Academy of Sciences
today for four-year term. succeeding
DR.. Thomas II. Morgan of the Cali
fcrnia Institute of Technology
David White of the Geological Sur
vey was elected vice president and
Fred E. Wright of the Geophysical
Laboratory was chosen as home secre-
tary. DR.. Walter B. Cannon OF the
Harvard Medical School and DR.. Roger
Adams Of the University of Illinois
were elected to three-year terms as
members Of the council Of the academy
The following new members were
elected:
DR.. Henry B. Bigelow Of Harvard
University, Dr. Edwin B. Fred of the
University of Wisconsin, DR. Edwin c.
Kemble of Harvard. Dr. Adolph Knopf
of Yale, DR. Robert II. LOWE of the
University of California, Dr. Joseph II.
Moore of the Lick Observatory. DR..
Robert Lee Moore of Austin. Tex: DR..
Herman J. Muller of the University of
Texas; DR.. George L. Streeter of the
Carnegie Institute of Washington and
DR.. Margaret F. Washburn of Vassar
College.
Mother Love Hit by Diet.
parent complete disappearance of ma
ternal love when the element manganese
is removed from the mothers diet was
announced before a scientific body for
the first time yesterday when it was
explained to the National Academy of
Sciences.
1t was found, the scientists were told
by Elsa r. ORIENT of Johns Hopkins
University. in recent experiments at the
cI7 Lob
female rats were kept practically from
birth on diet free of this element.
They began to produce filters at the
normal age, and the young rats were
born alive. But the mothers did not
build nest, collect their young, or
hover over them, and the stomachS Of
the young never contained any milk.
All the young died of neglect.
The trouble seems to lie, it was ex-
planned, in the young of manganese
starved mothers rather than in the
mothers themselves. There is something
about the babies that apparently makes
1t impossible for any mother to love
them. Mother rats ordinarily will per-
nit young from other filters to be in
troGuced to their nests and tend them
Just as solicitiously as they do their own
babies But none of the normal mothers
would care for the baby of one of the
AAA'AA5H'aNSS- AAASIAA~ASs
Other Mothers Refuse Care.
Dr.. F. v. McCollum, who conducted
the experiments, was unable to detect
tie difference. The changelings are re-
fused By the normal mothers even when
they have been wrapped in cotton for
an no11 after birth with normal stock
filters &c destroy any peculiar odor they
may have.
But the addition of one five-thou-
sanoth OF per cent of manganese to
The oiet makes the mother rats Just as
so. Citous OF their babies as ever and
makes the babies themselves acceptable
to otEfr mothers.
Another chapter was added to the
long dispute over the comparative eff
fectS of heredity and environment be-
fore the National Academy yesterday
afternoon when DR.. G. M Stratton, psy-
chologist Of the University of California,
announced the finding of slight but
valid emotional differences related to
color of hair and eyes and shape of
head. Thus he found light haired per-
sons more timid and irritable than
other groups. But the greatest differ
ence was found, he said, between light
and medium hair rather than between
dark and light hair. The same differ
ence was found between both extremes
of eye color and head shape and the
mediums.
Points Difference Between Races.
This may mean, DR.. Stratton said the
discovery of "a new feature in the in
nate emotional equipment of the hui
man mind" and with further work may
enable psychologists to find valid emo
tlonal differences between races.
A new method for locating genes
within chromosomes, recently developed
at the Carnegie Institution station at
Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y, was de-
scribed by Dr. Albert F.. Blakeslee.
Fundamental researches on the ma
ture of nerve and muscle stimulation
were explained by Dr. w. j. V. Oster-
hout of Harvard University. II was
found that electrical impulses spread
through plant cells in a manner very
similar to nervous impulses, which are
the basis OF sensation, along the nerve
hberS OF animals. But the movement is
at the rate of only about a centimeter
second, so that. in a large CELL its
progress may be traced.
The animal nerve can be stimulated
IN many ways, but for long time the
only way of setting up the impulses in
the plant cell was by electrical stimu-
iatlon. Then 1t was found that by put
ting a drop of alcohol on one part of
the cell an impulse would be started.
probably due to the fact that alcohol
draws potassium out of the sap into
the oily film which surrounds the cell
DR.. OSterhout found that the plant
cell was extremely sensitive to alcohol
He was unable to stimulate the nerves
OF a frog by placing drops of alcohol on
the skin. The same concentration of
alcohol could be tasted
A microscopic bodybuilding plant
believed to be new to science was
described by DR.. Marshall A. Howe
of the New York Botanical Garden.
This plant through the ages has been
precipitating lime creating pebbles and
sometimes more extensive rock fcrma-
tons in the hard water streams of
pennsylvania and West Virginia, he
said: 1t belongs to the group known
as the blue-green algae.
DR.. John C.. Merriam, president of
the Carnegie Institution of Washing
ton, told of work under way under
the auspices OF National Academy. to
make the scientific wonders of the
Grand Canyon of the Colorado avail
able to visitors He also outlined some
of the problems now before students
OF evolution-eSpecially the question as
TO whether the physical development
OF man Is complete and that hence
forth the human race will develop
only through social evolution There
is no evidence, he insisted that mans
body has reached its final state. DR..
Ales Hrdlicka of the Smithsonian In
stitution said that evolution may be
expected to continue, especially in the
human BRAIN" which contains enor-
mons S4oSsihilitfer of ftIrthor deuaIon