Evening star., 1939-08-22
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field. Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.


And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.
Sanity" may be little more than the
ability to dissemble.
Such Is the viewpoint advanced by DR..
c. McFie Campbell, professor of psychi-
airy at Harvard, in the current issue
of the Scientific Monthly.
We must get rid he says, "of the
traditional gap between the so-called
normal and the mentally disordered
Our normality consists in the ability to
maintain a conventional surface so that
our neighbors, perhaps we ourselves, do
not have insight into the underlying
forces at the basis of our moods, our
interests, our behavior, our code of
values, our attitude to the universe.
Personality is etymologically derived
from the word persona the mask put
on by the actor for the benefit of spec
tators In mental disorder of certain
degree of severity the mask Is broken
and we see revealed the processes of
human nature and are instinctively re-
PEELED"
This attitude, DR.. Campbell believes,
may have been responsible for some of
the slowness with which research into
mental health problems have progressed
But eager investigation, he says, soon
overcomes distaste and avoidance.
Instead of seeing a human wreck
alien and unintelligible he says, 1--WE
now see a particular instance of our
common human nature dealing with
the familiar issues of human life. The
tracing of the underlying forces of hu-
man nature help to develop an attitude
towards our patients and to our fellows
which is in striking contrast with our
intuitive reactions which we so seldom
take pains to correct.
Il suspect that dinner party is rather
complicated by the presence of a psy-
chiatrist among the guests. He is sus-
pected OF looking on his fellow diners as
on his patients. The suspicion is true.
But if he does look on his fellow guests
as he looks on his patients it is because
he looks on his patients as fellow mortals,
as friends and colleagues of the same
stuff as himself, facing the same human
problems as himself, only making rather
heavy weather in the actual life situ-
alton"
Coming back from ones acquaintances
and ones self to the patients in a mental
hospital-not such violent jump after
all-one must first recognize the great
diversity of conditions with which the
patients are afflicted 1t may be neces-
sary occasionally to use the term in
sanity but it is well always to keep in
mind that one is dealing with human
individuals in difficulty"
X X X
Some of the most curious insect be-
havior is found in various life stages of
the small lace-Wings, or golden-eyed
flies commonly seen during the summer
months on aphid-infested shrubbery
The story of these creatures is told
by DR.. Lee H. Townsend of the Uni
versity of Kentucky in the current issue
of the Scientific Monthly.
The larvae of the lace-wings are
known as aphis lions because they feed
mainly on aphids. A few species cover
themselves with debris and thus are
known as trash carriers"
AN interesting fact in the life history
of these insects" says DR.. Townsend,
'is the way in which the female cares
for her eggs. Just before laying an
egg she emits from the end of her body
minute drop of a tenacious substance
which she applies to the object upon
which she is standing. She draws this
substance out into slender thread by
lifting the hind part of her body. Then
an egg is placed on the summit of this
thread. The thread dries almost i'm
mediately and holds the egg in midair.
THE cocoons are composed of dense
layers of silk and are generally found
on the leaves or supports of plants.
Before emerging the insect cuts circu-
lar lid from one side of the cocoon. This
is done by the pupa, which crawls about
for short time before changing to the
adult
The dominant group of this order. DR..
Townsend says, are the ant-lion lace
wings, better known from its familiar
ldl val AO1Alo h1iOWlI dllb 1lOAlo Va
"doodlebugs," rather than from the slen-
der, delicate adults. These larvae are
stout with large jaws curving inward
and having at least three internal teeth
on each mandible. Most of them live
hidden in sand or debris
These larvae, DR.. Townsend points
out, are much more common in the
Southern and Southwestern States than
in the North. They dig pitfalls and
feed chiefly on ants. The pitfalls usually
are found in sandy places which are
protected from rain, as beneath build
ings or protecting rocks. In making
these traps the larvae throw the sand
out by upward jerks of the head, which
is used as shovel.
The pits differ in depth according
to the kind of soil in which they are
located. The sides as generally as steep
as the soil will permit. When some
wingless insect, such as an ant, steps
on the edge of one of these pits the
sand crumbles beneath it and it falls
into the jaws of the ant lion, buried
at the bottom of the pit.
Personal Safety Up