Evening star., 1936-12-31
Carbon Dio*ide Key Unlocks
Mysteries of Plant Life
Instrument Measuring Concentration
of Chemical Also Proues Useful in
Cauging Mans Physical State.

ANIMAL tnaC lives In human lnCeSllneS
may be the cause OF many cases of
lowered vitality and susceptibility to
colds and other infections, it was re-
ported by DR.. D. H. Wenrich Of the
University of Pennsylvania. This
denizen Of mans internal menagerie
is a very delicate protozoan known as
Dientamoeba fragilis. Known by
parasitologists for many years, it has
been supposedly harmless, but DR..
Wenrich found reason to suspect it
in more than 10 cases.
An unidentified plant growth hor-
none in yeast was reported by DR..
Philip r. White Of the Rockefeller
Institute. He grew excised tomato
root tips in nutrient solutions contain
ing yeast. Progressive fractionaliza-
tion of the yeast showed that two
distinct parts were functioning in
keeping the root tips alive. One was
identified as a compound of amino
acids. The other, constituting about
S per cent Of the weight of the yeast,
was found to be the outstanding
growth-promoting factor.
Thoughts Are Analysed.
An effort to analyze the creative
thought process Of artists and poets
was reported by DR.. Catharine Pat
rick of Coral Gables, Fla.
With what must have been extraor-
dinary persuasive powers she induced
80 artists Of ability. whose work has
apeared in the better exhibits" to
think out loud while each drew a
picture suggested by a verse of poetry.
Meanwhile stenographer took down
every word spoken. She did the same
with so well-known poets, who wrote
poems based on a picture. Then she
induced two control groups of so
each, who didn't claim to be artists
or poets, to produce similar pictures
and verses while they talked to them
selves.
The net result reported by DR.. Pat
rick was the conclusion that creative
thought proceeds in four stages
preparation, incubation, illumination
and verif1cation. She didn't report
what the poets and artists thought
about the experiment.
Progress Against Cancer.
Two developments of possible far
reaching significance in cancer study
were reported. DR.. James B. Murphy
Of the Rockefeller Institute told of
extracting from the placenta and skin
Of embryonic animals and from the
breasts of cows and rabbits Just
previous to or early in the milk-giv-
ing stage substance which definitely
inhibits certain tumor growth.
From the material left over from
the extraction he also obtained a ma
terial which stimulated cancer growth
in chickens.
DR.. Murphy and his co-workers pro-
ceeded on the theory that cancer
might be due to an upset balance be-
tween two hypothetical constituents
of most normal cells-one stimulator
of growth and the other an inhibitor.
A cancerous growth might be due
either to too little of the latter or too
much of the former.
They made an extract from cancer
Gus growths in chickens which, they
found, stimulated tumor development.
BY progressive extractions of this
product they obtained a more and
more potent product. But, when they
injected into fowls the residue from
the extractions. they found that it
had measurable inhibiting effect.
II these two substances were con-
stituents of normal tissue, they rea-
soned, the place to look for the in
hibitor would be in tissue where it
would be most needed-where there
is an especially strong growth urge,
as in the tissues of embryos and ac-
lively developing adult tissue.
Mixing Of Extract.
The second development was the
announcement by DR.. James w. job
ling of Columbia University of OBJ
tanning an extract from chicken tumor
which, when mixed with muscle ex-
tract. produced the tumor in a large
number of cases. Always it was nee
essary to mix the extraction with
some tissue extract to get results, but
an extract from mouse muscle had the
same effect on chickens as did the
use of chicken tissue itself in the
mixture.
Some men 60 through life with the
sign of the cross on their foreheads-
and the fact throws serious doubts on
some generally accepted ideas Of evo-
luton. Thus declared DR.. Horace H.
Evans of the Long Island College Of
Medicine at a sectional meeting.
The popularity, known as metropism,
is due to failure of the two bones con-
stituting the forehead to close after
infancy. Thus there persists q suture
in the middle Of the forehead which
makes cross-like junction with the
parietal suture which runs across the
top of the head.
women in the abilities supposed to play
q part in automobile driving were re-
ported by DR.. A. r. Lauer Of Iowa
State College. based on q study Of
2.425 individuals with q portable psy-
Geological laboratory.
He measured the differences of the
two sexes at various ages in such
characteristics as acuteness Of vision
and hearing, range Of seeing, emotional
stability. strength, activity. judgment
Of distance. etc.
Said DR.. Lauer: up to the age Of
Is, girls seem to be about as apt as
boys. Above IS there Is little differ
ence. The greatest differences were
found between the ages of Is and 40,
and women seem to be less apt than
men"