Evening star., 1938-08-02
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
By THOMAS r. HENRY.

By THOMAS r. HENRY.
For the first time. perhaps, in four
thousand years man is considering add
ing new domestic animal to his estab-
lishment.
The domestication Of COW, hog, horse,
sheep. dog, cat and all the others was
an accomplishment Of primitive humans
which long preceded history. These
creatures were adapted to serve various
human needs and their temperaments
were such that they were willing to &C
cept servitude in return for care. Their
domestication presumably arose through
series @. accidents rather than through
any deliberate planning.
The new candidate for admission to
the barnyard is one Of the worlds
strangest animals-the musk-ox. Its
home is above the Arctic Circle in North
America. It is one of the hardest ami
mails known, being able to thrive on
the dwarf willows, small herbage, and
grasses that flourish in favored locali-
ties almost to the North Pole. In win
ter the herds paw away the snow to get
crate, other than by retreating to shell
tered spots in very severe weather. and
it prefers to remain in the same To-
cality, grazing quietly and moving only
as its pasturage becomes exhausted.
full Ia vayoiohfQ
from 500 to 600 pounds. The flesh, it Is
said, compares favorably with beef.
Under its long hair the creature has
conserve its body heat in winter and
protects it from flies in summer. Be-
cause of its long horns and the thick
ness Of Its coat the musk-ox appears to
be much more formidable animal than
actually is the case. 1t is. however, well
able to protect itself. When alarmed
the enemy and fighting savagely with
their horns. This is q splendid defense
against other animals. It Is the poorest
possible defense against man. who can
easily slaughter whole herd in such
q formation.
Only within this generation, however,
mas Ll1cTc UCCIl AIuCll lllSCAGlSC 4OA AAAeAA
to slaughter the creatures. Then mar
ket for their hides arose and within a
few years the species was in grave dan
ger Of becoming extinct. There IS
total of about $4,000 left, according to
the latest survey of the Canadian De-
partment of Mines and Resources and
upon these have been placed the most
rigid protection. An area of more than
lac xIyton
favorable to the survival and propaga-
ton of the animals has been set aside.
It includes practically the whole drain
age basin of the Thelon River north of
the 63d parallel. Here all hunting, fish
ing or even collecting Is strictly prohib-
tied. In addition, a region OF nearly
100000 square miles, including large por-
tions of the Arctic islands north of Cam
ada, has been closed to all except the
few Eskimo who normally live there.
Even they are prohibited from shooting
a musk OK, except in cases Of greatest
necessity.
The object Is not merely the preser-
vation of an interesting species from ex-
tinction. Recent experiments have in
dicated that this animal, however for
midable in appearance, takes readily to
OOII1CSUlCdtlOll. ny SdACAuA ~ SoSA vHeAoAA
and breeding 1t may be made an lnvalu-
able food resource in the barren North
land which is being opened up more and
more to settlement through mining op-
erations.
Already the government apparently
has succeeded in preserving from ex-
tinction another rare big game animal
which, however. offers no prospects for
w.; t. %H,A hy1ff O
very closely related to, If not identical
with, the bison of the western plains.
An area of nearly $4,000 square miles,
thickly wooded with spruce and balsam
in most places, but with large open
pastures, has been set aside for these
animals. This is the largest single
game preserve on the North American
Continent.
The Weather Bureau has been explor-
ing a horrible possibility and finds that
it is so close to impossible that nobody
need worry about 1t. This possibility is
that the Ohio, Missouri and the Upper
Mississippi River should reach at the
same time flood stages Of comparable
magnitude to that of the Ohio in the
spring of 1887.
If it ever happened admittedly there
would be flood along the Lower Missis-
sippi dwarflng anything on record. But
the combination is practically impOs-
sible, the Weather Bureau experts con-
clude, because of the very nature Of the
storms that cause excessive floods in
the Mississippi basin. Heavy rains in
the middle of the United States all
come from moisture moving in from the
Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf areas. The
moisture-laden air must bump into an
Arctic high, mass of heavy, cold air,
and climb over it before there is rain.
For heavy rains in any single area over
an extended period it is necessary that
such a high remain stagnant for days.
Its nature Is to move very rapidly A
blocked cold air mass Is in itself very
rare occurrence.
But for floods in all three river sys-
TENS simultaneously three such condi-
tions would be necessary. The probable
tiles against such meteorological setup
are almost infinite. It is entirely pos
sible, however, to have heavy rainfall
within a relatively short period over all
three of the drainage basins. This is
likely to occur when the polar air masses
and the moist, tropical air masses are
active, advancing and retreating from
day to day, and causing heavy rains first
in one basin and then in another. But
such a condition will not result in ex-
cessive floods in all three areas at once.
The chances are that If any one OF
the great river systems is getting ex-
.>..;,,o ro;ofo1I is eating tho henofit