Evening star., 1938-10-01
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
Ry THOMAS r, HENRY,

smoking q cigarette by prospective
mother raises the heartbeat rate OF an
unborn child. sometimes by more than 80
beats per minute.
The rate Is first discernible from eight
to twelve minutes after the cigarette has
been smoked, leading to the hypothesis
that the nicotine is conveyed to the child
through the mothers blood
These findings are reported to the
Society for Research in Child Develop
ment of the National Research Council
here by Drs. l.. w. Sontag and T. W.
Richards of Antioch College. They
measured specific reactions to a single
cigarette, paying no attention to whether
or not the smoke was inhaled. The in
crease in heartbeat, they found, Is great
est within the last three months before
birth.
While definite increase was the most
common response noted, in some in
stances small fall in heartbeat was
recorded.
Excavation of an enormous burial
mound of long vanished race of early
migrants from Asia across the Aleutian
Islands and the first archaeological ex-
ploration of the Russian-oWned Com
mander Islands between the tip of the
Aleutlan chain and Asia are reported by
DR.. Ales Hrdlicka, Smithsonian Institu-
tlon curator of physical anthropology
who has just returned from summer
in the Far North
Dr. Hrdllcka first encountered traces
of the "pre-Aleut' people in the lowest
levels OF his excavations on Kodiak
Island. on the coast OF Alaska u few
years ago. They appeared to have been
Il race OF the same general stock as the
Indians, EsklmoS and AleutS who were
pioneer Immigrants to the New World.
Later, scattered traces Of these people
were found in the Aleutian Islands. This
summer DR.. Hrdlicka found the richest
deposit OF all belonging to this long
vanished people near the little village
of Nicolski, on the island of Unmak. A
short distance south of the village school
he found hill approximately 80 feet
high, 600 feet long and $50 feet broad.
1t was the site. according to tradition
OF The first Russian church and its top
Is marked by Russian cross
superficial excavations here last sum-
mer had yielded two oblong headed skel-
etons. Deeper excavations this wear
'AAo"Su ti'os lIt IidIIl part Oh lnt NIL
was not natural knoll as was at first
supposed, but great accumulation of
human refuse. The maximum thickness
OF the layers on the south side, facing a
httle lake, was at least 20 feet and
the whole, except for the topmost strata,
dated from pre- Russian times.
The skulls found here were oblong
SNAPPED. This is an unmistakable sign
OF the mysterious pre-Aleuts. DR..
Hrdlcka and his companions, volunteer
college students. spent three weeks exca-
Vatlng the site. They recovered whole
series OF skeletons. many fragments of
large, Well-made stone pots, many bone
and stone implements, some beautifully
shaped black basalt blades, bone har-
poon points and a few ivory articles.
ms material has been brought to
washington, where it will be subjected
10 intensive study during the winter in
order to get as detailed as possible
picture of the life of the vanished race.
Alter this work the party spent five
days on the Commander Islands, which
DR.. Hrdllcka has felt hitherto might
nave constituted a stepping stone for
the southern route of migration from
hamchatka to Alaska. Several old set
tlement sites were located, but examina-
llOn showed that none of them dated
from before the Russian occupation.
ms negative result, DR.. Hrdicka saws,
Is OF considerable value. 1t proves rather
definitely that the Commanders were not
a part of the migration route and that
II ancient peoples crossed by way of the
Aleutlans they must have reached them
by way Of the Kuril Islands now
owned by Japan, Or from north of Kam-
chatka. The negative finding, he saws,
throws doubt on the early people of
kamchatka itself, sometimes considered
the ancestral home of the American
Indians. If an early people had lived
there and struck out westward they GER
tainly would have chosen the obvious
Commander Islands route. II they had
stopped on the Commanders conditions
are such they almost certainly would
have spent some time there and left some
signs of their habitation.
The work this summer, DR.. Hrdlicka
reports, marks the end of 10 years of
excavations for prehistoric remains in
the Far North in an effort to trace the
migration routes into North America.
Ihere still remains the necessity for
intensive study of the vast accumula-
ton OF collections of human bones and
artifactS.