Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-22

AOOT0tOTy OF tne OeOtOgtcH Survey
Of being the first woman to belong to the dis
tnguished Geological Society Of America.
Working hand in hand with both men and
women geologists are two well known "paleonto-
graphic illustrators" Of the Geological Survey,
Miss Frances Wiser and Miss Mary King
Sumner In their chosen field these two experts
rate with the foremost in the land An inn
portant phase of their work consists in making
drawings Of fossil rock formations dating back
perhaps millions of years, and retouching photos
of other specimens. A powerful microscope is
usually necessary in this connection, for often
times the specimens used to make such pictorial
material are smaller even than the finest pin
point.
The dents cracks and crevices which such
drawings and pictures delineate are OF vast inn
portance to State and national biologists, for
they are the direction signs which indicate
where new supplies Of oil, coal and valuable
rock may be found, and at approximately what
distances below the earth's surface the deposits
are located.
If the rock specimens are tiny they are
mounted on special glass slides and studied
carefully under a binocular microscope which
magnifies as much as 200 times. This has
special n1crometer which helps measure the
magnified specimen so as to make the drawing
in the desired scale.
BY curious blow-pipe arrangement speci-
mems are sprayed with chemical solutions which
Whiten their surfaces so ChaC even the most
delicate lines and marks may be closely OBJ
served. This solution also destroys any discol-
orations that might obscure the an-important
lines indentations and bumps. After clasStf-
cation Of fossils in this manner it is possible
to establish the geologic age Of every rock for
nation and from this knowledge it is only one
more step to direct correlation Of oil or coal
producing strata.
TWO psychologists who have made notable
discoveries to aid the Governments relent-
less warfare against mysterious diseases are
Miss Alice Evans and Miss Sara E. Branham,
both with the hygienic laboratories of the
United States Public Health Service. Truly
Miss Evans is q living martyr to medical
science, for again and again she has risked her
life in connection with the important research
work. Already she has had Malta" or 'undu-
liant" fever, caused usually by drinking the in-
1ected milk Of goats or cows.
The strange ailnent has been q puzzle TO
the medical fraternity, both as TO cause and
possible cure. So far no cure has been found,
but science now knows that thorough pas
teurization Of milk viii serve as a preventive.
Miss Evans contribution to the worlds knowl-
edge of this mysterious disease has been of
great value As far back as 1918 she made the
discovery that there is very close relation
between the organism which carries "undulant"
fever to humans and that which causes conta-
gious diseases In hogs and cattle. 1t was found
that the two organisms are indistinguishable by
ordinary laboratory methods, although slight
difference can be detected by the use Of GER
tain complicated and tedious test. The dis
covery by Miss Evans was confirmed later by
qualified investigators in the United States,
Austria, Italy, The Netherlands, Egypt, Japan