Evening star., 1935-05-28
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

in this sample Of space are near
enough to be within reach of our
telescopes. The dwarfs are much more
plentiful than the giants and the red
dwarfs more numerous than the yellow
dwarfs like our sun.
We do not know that the distribu-
ton of stars throughout our galaxy
is exactly like that in the neighbor-
hood of the sun. but we may feel sure
that the dwarfs far outnumber the
giants and that when counts are taken
suitable allowance must be made for
the preponderance of stars Of low
luminosity.
The great duststorms which have
swept over the Great Plains are far
from new phenomena, according to
meteorologists of the United States
Weather Bureau. who have been max
ing a study of such disturbances in
the past.
One of the most remarkable dust
falls in history resulted from great
storm which ragged over the dry steppes
of the Southern Ukraine in 1928. blow
ing up such dense clouds of dust that
it was dark as midnight at MONDAY.
1t was estimated that more than
fifteen billion tons Of earth was swept
up from the soil.
In the Spring of 1901 there were
heavy duststorms in the deserts of
Southern Algeria. A cyclonic storm
sucked up dust and deposited it over
an area extending as far as 2,500
miles from the place of origin. Nearly
two billion tons fell in Europe. at
least third of it north of the Alps.
In 1902 a duststorm swept nearly
all of Australia. At Melbourne, ac-
cording to one account, "the dust was
at times suffocatingly dense and the
upper air was so loaded with it that
the sun was rarely visible. At many
inland towns the blackness produced
almost equaled that of the blackest
night. and in the houses nothing could
be done without lights. In some
places the storm was accompanied
by sort of globular lightning and
fire balls were seen falling on the
fields and roads,"
Few professional soldiers have de-
voted such intense study to military
tactics and strategy as DR.. Maurice
c. Hall Of the Department of Agri-
cultures Bureau of Animal Industry.
DIR. Hall is one of the country's
foremost experts on the parasites of
animals. internal and external He
has. taken a prominent part in ma
tional campaigns against such pests
as the fever tick of cattle Some years
ago, he told the Biological Society of
Washington the other night. the idea
came to him that the basic principles
of warfare always are the same,
whether the war is with men or bugs.
And the science of warfare is military
science-the coordination of infan-
try, artillery, service of supplies and
intelligence service on the one hand
and the cutting of lines Of communi-
cation, shutting off supplies, and iso-
lating the enemy in detachmentS OF
inferior strength on the other hand.
1t is lack of this basic science, DR..
Hall says, that has resulted in some
ineffective parasite campaigns in the
past. The successful campaigns, to
the contrary, have peen carried out
on sound military principles, even If
unconsciously. 1t was with this in
mind that he turned to the study of
the campaigns of Napoleon, Frederick
the Great, Robert E. Lee ct al.
One revelation, he said, has been
that while entomologists and others
have blundered in their military STRAIT
egy. the generals have been far worse
offenders. needlessly sacrificing lives
where simple tactics would have re-
suited In ,ploodless victories.