Evening star., 1936-01-03
ELECTRON|C EYE
PENETRATES FOG
Scientists Demonstrate De.
vice Eliminating PeriIs
of Travel.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
sta6 correspondent of The Star.


ST. LOUIS, Mo-. January 3.-An
electronic eye which will enable one
TO see through fog and darkness with
out the use of visible light was demon
strated before scientists here todsy by
Dr.. v. X. Zworykin and DR.. George
A. Morton Of the Radio Corp. of Amer
lea.
1t promises to provide solution for
some OF the most pressing problems of
navigation and aeronautics. Among the
suggestions made for its use were the
enabling of motorists to see ahead
clearly through fog, enabling airplane
pilots to escape the perilS of fog, de-
tecting enemy battleships or planes in
darkness without revealing ones own
presence, and assuring the success Of
astronomical expeditions which often
are rendered futile by bad weather.
Visible Light Patterns.
The instrument translates an in
visible stream of electrons into visible
light patterns on a screen in front of
the observer. Three essential elements
are inclosed within q glass cylinder, a
photo-electric cathode, so-called
"electronic lens" and viewing screen
coated with luminescent material. The
apparatus registers on the viewing
screen as clearly as they could be seen
in the best visible light, objects illu-
minated only with infra-red or "black"
light, far below the spectrum to which
the human eye is sensitive. Fog, haze
and darkness offer no obstacle to the
nfra-red rays while they shut off all
the visible shorter wave lengths.
A cruder application Of a some
what similar idea has been in use re-
Gently on ocean liners feeling their
way through fog. A camera is carried
furnished with an infra-red filter and
special red-sensitive film. Photo
graphs are made in the fog and de-
veloped as quickly as possible. They
reveal any object in the vessels path,
hidden by the fog. The new device
obviates the necessity of developing
the film.
Focusing Of Objects.
Objects Illuminated either by the
infra-red rays of sunlight or by a
searchlight equipped with an infra-
red filter will be focused by simple
optical lens on the cathode of the new
tube. This is glass disc coated on
its inner surface with semi-trans-
parent photo-electric material, which
translates the infra-red image into
streams of electrons, which then enter
the field of the electronic lens.
This lens is the heart of the tube.
It Is actually no lens at all, but a
gap between two metal cylinders, on
which have been imposed two elec-
tric charges Of different voltages. The
so-called "lens" is focused by chang
ing the potential Of one of the elec-
trio charges and keeping the Other
constant. This focusing is equivalent
to bringing the electron stream from
the cathode to a single point, and
from that point projecting them to
the viewing screen.
This screen, which faces the opera
tor. is coated on its inner side with
willemite, luminescent material able
to translate the electrons into visible
light.
New Virus Discovery.
A filterable virus has been isolated
Instead OF the smallest of living
things 1t is a hfeless chemical sub
stance which is obtained in the form
Of crystals.
This announcement, one of the mos
significant In modern biochemical re.
search, was made before chemists at.
tending the sessions of the American
Association for the Advancement oi
Science here yesterday by Dr. w. M
Stanley Of the Rockefeller Institute oi
Medical Research.
The development was described BY
DR.. Oscar Riddle, noted biologist of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington
as possibly bridging a great gap be-
tween living and dead matter, for the
substance forming Dr. Stanley's
crystals undoubtedly acts as if it were
alive under certain circumstances. Yet
just as certainly. it is not alive in the
crystalline form.
The nature Of the filterable virus has
been one Of the most pressing problems
in recent biochemistry and medicine
1t Is responsible for many of the most
dreaded human, animal and plant
diseases. 1t cannot be seen under the
most powerful microscope. It will,
however. pass through a porcelain
flter and will reproduce itself end
lessly either in the animal body or In
nutrient solution. This faculty of
reproduction, supposedly possessed
only by living things, is responsible
Tor the generally accepted thesis that
1t is an organism.
Flea on Elephant.
Yet 1t has seemed almost impossible
that living thing could be so tiny.
Compared to the tiniest of bacteria or
protozoa, it would be like a flea on an
elephant.
The existence Of such a substance
hrst was discovered about 40 years
ago IN connection with a puzzling
disease of plants, tobacco mosaic.
Since then similar materials, strain
able through filters, have been demon
strated to be responsible for such
diseases as sleeping sickness, infantile
paralysis. rabies. dog distemper, yel-
low fever, measles, and parrot fever.
A virus is believed to be the cause
Of the common cold.
DR.. Stanley worked with the tobacco
mosaic virus-the earliest known and
believed to be typical of all the others.
After numerous trials he got a clue
as to its real nature from the fact
that it could be inactivated by pepsin.
one Of the digestive juices which is
chiefly active in the digestion of
proteins. such as lean meat, in the
stomach.
Believing that 1t might itself be of
the same nature, DR.. Stanley pro-
ceeded to obtain all the protein from
tobacco plants affected with the
disease. The extract was found to
yield from two to ten times more of