Evening star., 1938-08-23
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progres.
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
By THOMAS r. HENRY


Now Montezumas ZOO must take its
turn at being "debunked."
1t has been repeated by historians
over and over again that the high priest
not emperor" by the way-of Mexico
at the time of the conquest by Cortez
had large geological park In which,
for the entertainment and education OF
his people, he had assembled all sorts OF
birds and animals from far and near.
Here, 1t also has been repeated over
and over again, white men saw for the
first time the North American bison.
Ethnologists of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution's Bureau of American Ethnology
accepted this story like everybody else
until repeated letters Of inquiry led
them to trace down the statements to
their original sources.
The search brought to light 18th
century yellow journalist-one Antonio
de Soils, "historiographer of the In
dies who published book on the con-
quest of Mexico in 1884. At that time
Soils had recourse to most Of tle original
documents but he apparently didn't
bother to look at them.
In the diary of Bernal Diaz, one Of
Cortez's soldiers. there was a reference
to 'house of idols" in which were kept
many birds of brilliant plumage, snakes
with bells on their tails" two kinds of
wolves, lion" and various other carni-
vores. They were all presumably AMI
mails for use as sacrifices by the priests
of the temple. Diaz mentions nothing
remotely resembling Cow" His
snakes with bells on their tails" is un-
Io,,h htoIl ho Rrcf n or
to the rattlesnake.
Cssenada. who took part in the Coro-
nado expedition in 1891, gave a detailed
encountered on the plains of the South
west and there can be little question but
that he is attempting to describe the
bison.
Soils, the bureau ethnologists found,
simply combined the accounts OF Diaz
and Castenada to make a good story.
The research, however. results in find
ing the real discovery Of the bison. These
curious COWS were mentioned for the
first time by certain Babesa de Vaca-
perhaps appropriately named cow
head'-Who was one of the four sur
vivors of the Inflated NarvaeZ expedi-
ton in 1928 His reference hardly could
be to any other animal, the ethnologists
believe.
The idea Of Montezumas ZOO, they
say, should have been discredited long
ago if anybody had stopped to think
about it, since the provision OF enter
tainment and education of other than a
strictly religious nature was foreign to
the Aztecs.
Do the northern lights "sing?"
This is a physical impossibility SEEM
ingly voucned for by reputable witnesses
and the illusion must result from curl
Gus condolences, according to a study
of the aurora borealis by DR.. A. S. Eve
Of McGill University. published by the
Smithsonian Institution.
Witnesses assert that accompanying
an auroral display there is sound like
the swish of silk dress. sword NOV
ing with the blade broadside to the air
or the whistle of wind in the rigging of
a ship. Some insist that the sound
sWells and fades at the same instant
the light increases or diminiShes in in
tensity.
But it now is established, DR. Eve says,
that the lights are at least so miles away
in the rarified upper levels Of the at
moSphere. There conditions are very
close to those of vacuum in which
sound does not travel at all. Thus, even
if there is some mysterious mechanism
for producing sound waves associated
with the auroral phenomenon there is
no medium through which these waves
can travel to reach the ears of an OBJ
server on earth.
Yet DR.. Eve does not question the We
racity of the stories. Various explana-
tions have been offered-such as that
the men have heard blood surging in
their own heads or the tinkling of the
ice of their frozen breaths. But, says
the Canadian physicist. I'VE may safely
dismiss these suggestions as trivial. 1t
seems more probable that they hear
something real in the same sense that
we hear church bells ringing.
In dry, cold weather there may be a
small brush discharge from snow or
bushes similar to ST. Elmos fire, seen on
discharge from the masts and rigging
of ship when the earths voltage diff
fers considerably from that of the air.
Men cannot possibly hear the Northern
lights, which can make little or no noise,
but they may hear something else not
far from them, such as local brush
discharge"
Other reputable observers have writ
ten DR.. Eve that they have seen the
northern lights close to the ground al
though all physical measurements show
them to be at great attitudes. One
Canadian clergyman wrote that he &C
tually had driven his horse and buggy
close to an aurora and that the horse
shied from it. A probable. but not Ger
tain, explanation, says DR.. Eve, is that
a patch of mist close to the ground vas
lit up by the vivid lights of an aurora