Evening star., 1937-12-29
WORM DISCOUNTED.
AS MAN ANCESTOR.
Geological Society Is Told
0ne.Ce|Ied Organism
Fathered Humans.

Fathered Humans.
All vertebrate animals including man
may Be directly descended from q one
celled organism Of the dim geologic
past instead Of from some primordial
worm ~ commonly supposed by
scientists.
This hypothesis has been laid by
DR.. A. A. L. Mathews Of Virginia Poly
tschnic Institute. before vertebrate
section OF the Palsontological Society
Of America, meeting at the Warrington
Hotel today IN conjunction with the
60th annual meeting Of the Geological
Society Of America.
Tho great division of the animal
kingdom, the chordates-animals hay
ing dorsal nerve cords eliminating In
. brain, the higher forms OF which
have skeletons and are termed verte-
brates-probably develop from 4 one
celled organiam whose nerve csnters
tended toward combining into q spinal
cord ana 4 brain, DR.. Mathews postu.
lates.
1,o0o, ,ooo. 900 Years Old.
The age OF the tiny beaat, termed by
him "chordata ancestrula." was placed
today by DR.. Mathews at over l,o0o,-
900. 900 years.
Worms and all other invertebrates
have ventral (along the stomach)
nerve cords eliminating In Z nerve ring
around the gullet. With this In view
it seems highly unlikely that primitive
worms branched into the higher forms
which gave rise first to vertebrates and,
ultimately, to man." he said.
he Geological Society heard that
use OF a material considered unusabls
had effected a saving Of 800, 900 in
the cost Of the constructing a water
storage dam on the Savage River, %
miles southwest of Cumberland, Md.
The dam is United States Army
Engineer Once project designed to
store water for diluting Cumberland
sewage In the Potomac during low
water in summer. Plans are now COM
pleted and construction awaits only
funds from Maryland and the Federal
Government.
DR.. Edwin B. Eckel, dam site spe-
cialist Of the United States Geological
Survey. called in by Army engineers
to make recommendations on choice OF
site. revealed In a paper before the
society today he had effected the xav-
ing out Of the expected $4,000. 900 cost
Of the dam by proving that shale ex-
cavated to make room for . spillway
could be used for construction of the
dam. 1t had previously been thought
this material was unusuable.
DR., Eckel further pointed out In his
paper that his experience with dam
sites had enabled him to choose q
nearly perfect site for the structure
on q hard non-leakable sandstone
and to warn engineers OF the dangers
to be avoided in planning the dam.
Cites Saving.
Speaking impersonally, DR.. Eckel
said:
This is 4 classic example of an in
stance in which not over $1,000 Of the
simplest geological work may effect
great saving, both in money and pos
sibly in lives and property"
In private conversation he added
that many OF the major dam disasters,
such ~ the bursting Of the st. Francis
Dam In California about 10 years ago.
could have been avoided il 4 few dol
lars had been invested In geolosical
advice. The dam. which cost hundreds
Of lives and loss Of millions In prop
erty when 1t burst, was partly on
slippery slatelike rock and partly on q
pebble conglomerate cemented with
gypsum talabaster) an easily dissolved
mineral.
When water behind the dam had
dissolved the gypsum, the whole
structure slithered downstream to COL
lapse.
Evidence that the great glacial ice
sheets Of Europe and North America
connected across the North Atlantic
has been found at depths Of nearly )
miles on the bottom Of that part Of
the ocean.
Samples and records of sound waves
from exploding r. NJ r. show there
are three or possibly four glacial
stages represented continuously across
the ocean from the Newfoundland
Banks to the Irish Coast.
Deposits Give Clue.
An abundance of small marine ami
mails and lime defines the layers of
sediment laid down in interglacial or
warm periods and . predominance OF
sand and silt, likely deposited by the
melting OF huge ice flows containing
rock material ut the surface, defines
the glacial or cold periods when the
North American and European con-
tinents were. for the most part, cloaked
with great ice sheets Thousands of feet
in thickness.
These findings of deep sea research
were described in two papers delivered
by Dr. w. H. Bradley of the United
States Geological Survey and DR..
Maurice Ewing of Lehigh University.
The samples were taken and the ex-
plosive soundings made with the aid
Of the Woods Hole Oceanosraphic In
stitution and the Geophysical Labora-
tory of the Carnegie Institution Of
Washington.
Connection Of glacial epochs on the
two continents, 1t has been pointed
out, further substantiates the theory
that some Of the North American
aborieinss may have come to this con-
tinent via North Atlantic Ice foes.
Bears Ancestor Described.
Rsmaitas Of giant creodont-primi-
tive carnivorous animal-of 4 group
thought to foreshadow the modern
bears were described by Or. Loris Rus
sell, expert on fossil mammals, before
the vertebrate section of the Paleonto-
logical Society.
The beast, which DR.. Russell stated
was about the same sise a. q Kodiak
bear-now the worlds largest carni-
vore-vas formerly known from 4
lower jaw. two teeth and two thigh
bones. Recently, however, an in
complete skull vsS located in Westarn