Evening star., 1938-05-04
OPEN
SCIENCE SESSION
Production of 'ImmortaIity'
in Minute Creatures
Is Explained.

den corner of nature, a way of pro-
living things, and a new kind Of
anemia which explains some deaths
following Operati were demonstrate
ed at the annual scientific assembly Of
the Medical Society of the District of
Columbia which started this morning.
BY means of ''micro-polychroma
lens recently developed in Germany
and hitherto used only in the study
OF crystals. DR.. r. Lyman Sexton
showed weird goldfish bowl scenes of
the life processes OF microScopically
minute creatures. some of which prey
upon human beings. For demonstra-
ton purposes he used amoebae These
are single-celled. colorleSs animals
which require considerably magnifica-
ton to be seen. The German inven-
ton. by an ingenious ARRANGEMENT
OF light filters, allows the slide to be
illuminated by blue light, while the
amoeba itself is Illuminated only by
red light coming in at the sides.
The little creatures can be watched
at their play and life-and- death strug-
giles in a droplet of water like so
many brilliantly colored fish With
this method for the first time it Is
possible to see in detail the constant
flow of the protoplasm which makes
up the little creatures body Dr.
Sexton and his associates are develop
ing the method with the certainty
that it will have some eventual medical
application. What they have de-
Veloped is new tool for learning the
secrets Of some Of mans deadliest
enemies
Frozen Very Rapidly.
The method of achieving apparent
immortality in bacteria. similar in size
to amoeba, but supposedly plants in
stead OF animals. was demonstrated by
DR.. Mario Mollari, professor of bac-
terlolOgy at Georgetown Medical
School. The microscopic living things
are placed in milk, or some similar
nutrient medium and frozen very
rapidly with dry ice to about 40 de-
grees below zero. Then the ice is
placed in tube which is evacuated
In the evacuation process all the water
is drawn out, leaving only dry pow
der.
Years later such q tube can be
broken, the powder empted into
nutrient solution, and the bacteria
come to life.
The process is similar in principle
to some of the most fantastic proposals
for keeping higher animals, and even
human beings. in state of suspended
animation IN cold storage for centuries
They cannot be frozen that way how
ever, and this appears to be the only
practical application of the sleeping
beauty" process. At Georgetown it
has a very practical application, it
was explained. The local medical
school recently has been made the
depository of the American type cul-
lures collection, sponsored by the
American meteorological Society and
hitherto kept in Chicago
1t consists Of living cultures of
every sort Of microscopic life form
PROTOCOL yeaSts. molds and bacteria
important in medicine or agriculture.
The job of nursemaid to these cul-
lures Is heavy one-inVolving Shift
ing them from one tube TO another
filled with fresh culture medium
every few Weeks-or every few days
in the case of some of the more deli
cate, as the bacterium responsible for
cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Kept in Ice Box.
With this method a good many cul-
lures can simply be laid away in the
ice box and no further attention paid
to them until a call for that particular
organism is received.
The new kind of anemia also was
demonstrated by Dr.. Sexton and his
associates. Sometimes, it was ex-
planned, patients collapse ana die after
an operation from some inexplicable
kind of shock. Autopsies show the
only pathological change to be de-
generation OF liver cells. Such cases
are known to doctors as liver deaths
and hitherto have been ineXplicable.
The liver is vitality concerned in the
meta aboliSm Of proteins. Part of the
blood serum is made up OF serum al
bumin and globulin, which belong TO
the protein family. Hitherto little at
tention has been paid to them and
various anemias have been classified
according to deficiencies of different
kinds Of red and white blood cells.
The Investigations of the Washing
ton doctors lead them to believe that
something attending an operation
may act to prevent the renewal Of
this blood protein supply, resulting in
a condition described as hypoprotein-
anemia. This may be due. DR.. Sex
ton said, to poor supply of the
vitamin B complex in the diet or to
deficiency in one of the formones
from the pituitary gland, one of
whose functions seems to be to main
tain the protein balance
Annual Scientific Exhibit.
Actually, they believe this hypopro-
teinanemia may be may be rather
widespread in apparently healthy per-
sons. since recent Investigations have
shown that vitamin B deficiencies in
the diet are much more common
than has been supposed.
The annual scientific exhibit con-
tanned fantastic array of human and
animal monsters, such as two and three
headed children and animals, result
ing from malfunctioning in the en-
bryonic processes.
A report of two cases of so-called
Creeping uption"-common in the
Gulf States, but hitherto rare in this
part of the country-was made by DR..
I. Lewis Sander Of Georgetown Uni
versity.
This disease is a skin infection be-
lieved to be acquired on beaches and
supposed to be carried by dogs and
cats.
More than 100000 American chill
dren have hearing defects. according
to a paper presented by DR.. Victor r.
Alfaro. He stressed recent advances
to the use of sulfanilamide in mastoid