Evening star., 1932-02-19
DR., COBB PREDICTS
WORLD LANGUAGE
BASED ON ENGLISH.
Universal Tongue Will Evolve
Naturally From Existing
Systems, He Says.
COSMOS CLUB HEARS
HIS RETIRING ADDRESS
Federal Biologist Advances Pos
sible Explanation of Alleged
Telepathic Phenomena.

Radiations of unknown frequencies
operating between minds were advanced
as possible explanation of alleged tele-
phonic phenomena by DR.. NJ A. Cobb,
noted Department of Agriculture biolo-
gist and retiring president of the Wash
ington Academy Of Sciences, in his re-
firing address at the Cosmos Club last
night.
DR.. Cobb also predicted the develop
ment of universal language with Eng
llsh as its basis, and proposed the in
PRODUCTION of such scientific apparatus
as the miscroscope into the primary
schools as an essential step In the type
Of education needed to fit individuals
into the tempo" of the present.
The biologist saw far-reaching posi-
billt1eS in the So-called mitogenetic rays
which are supposed to be produced in
cell division and affect other cells.
M-rays Mentioned.
I'VE know" he said, that one human
mind is affected by another by means
other than the ordinary senses, possibly
by means Of some of the as yet unex-
plored frequencies At any rate, the
fact is beyond dispute. Lately there are
serious claims. based on elaborate ex-
periments, that the stimulation OF one
isolated organism by another is affected
by definite rays-the so-called M-rays.
"Once we can control these forces
that act between minds without the in
tervention of the senses. or of any sense
We are aware of, We shall have at our
command an agency more powerful than
all the printing presses and electrical
transmittors in the world"
DR.. Cobb expressed his conviction
that the world language which is bound
to come will not be any artificial sys-
tenn invented for that purpose but will
evolve naturally from existing languages
"a process already on the way. The
growth in communications. he said, has
Of late so removed barriers between peo-
piles that the great multiplicity of Ian
guages not only serves no good purpose,
but it is a great hindrance to progress,
yet no people will deliberately forsake
it's mother tongue. either for an artif1-
cial one or for one already in existence
among some other people.
But with the increasing proximity
OF peoples, he said, each great language
affects its neighbors. Words with
common root in several languages are
becoming fixed in their primary mean
ings. Newly invented words are be-
coming worldwide. Simpler and more
appropriate words in one language are
replacing less suitable ones in other
languages. Thus we see a tendency
toward universal language"
Preponderance of English.
1t is a foregone conclusion, he con-
tinued that this world language of
the future will contain a preponderant
element of English, due to the wide
migrations and accomplishments Of the
English-speaking races Besides, he
stressed it is one of the most perfect
languages. elastic. rich in words and
suitable equally for exact scientific ex-
preston and the highest flights of lit
erary genius.
Apparently nothing short Of
catastrophe" he continued, can pre-
vent the final dominance of the
liguistic principles of the English
language. But English will have to be
greatly modified if it becomes universal
and it is doubtful if specimen Of the
future language would be recognized as
English"
Even 5-year-olds. DR. Cobb said. "are
not too young to learn from the start
to use such instruments as the micro
scope, WHICH now are llOt ulllOOuCcO
into education until late high school
and college years. His own experiments
with very young children. he said have
convinced him that they are able to
grasp the essential principles involved
in understanding microscopic life.
The needs of the time, he said, de-
mand that special attention be paid in
the schools to gifted children, who can
be discovered through tests devised by
the psychologists, their special aptitudes
ascertained and their training planned
in the light of such knowledge. Extra
appropriations for such program, he
stressed, are at least as essential as for
special schools for moron children
which now are in order.
The great difficulty with the present,
he stressed, is due to the discrepancy
between the advances of scientific
knowledge and the tardineSs with which
the world adjusts its conduct to them.
With the great mechanical civilization,
he said, a new life tempo has come
about to which the race must adjust
itself or fail
DR.. Cobb compared the present day
world to a man in a nightmare, the
crushing weight of the new time upon
him, his right hand tied to gun and
his left to a bag of gold, and mutter-
ing incoherently first in one language
and then another. 1t IS at this most
terrifying stage of the nightmare, he
concluded, that the sleeper is about to