Evening star., 1939-03-14
Of Stors, Men i.
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

BY ThOn1dS f. Henri.
The "wondermonger naturalist" who
tries to explain evolution by the sup
posed remarkable adaptations Of certain
animals to their environment is talking
IN the face OF facts says DR.. w. L.
McAtee, Department of Agriculture biol
ogist, in the current issue of the Scien-
tific Monthly
prevalent popular idea of the
mechanism of evolution ever since
Charles Darwins day has been that out
of almost infinite variations to be found
In any species those individuals have
the best chance of survival. who best fit
into the exigencies of life in their par
ticular surroundings. Hence they have
the best chance of perpetuating their
kind and give rise to new forms of ami
mails and plants.
Thus certain insects supposedly avoid
their bird enemies by looking like leaves,
etc. Others are supposed to frighten
away their foes by looking like dangerous
reptiles. This mimicry, DR.. McAtee
claims, actually protects them very little,
a. Ho OLA. LANAAl6 Ill CIlC odIIlC ClltlIOI.
ments with the highly protected Gre
.atures, he insists, are others without their
supposed natural advantages who get
along just as we'll.
Says DR.. McAtee: 1.-THE elaborately
adapted are advanced specialists Like
human specialists who have been defined
as those who progressively learn more
anH bo,
cessively specialized creatures are more
and more adapted to less and less
moity of their environment. The more
extremely they are specialized, the more
restricted is the fraction of the highly
varied environment in which they can
live. Thus they cannot be increasing
IN numbers and do not answer to the
criterion Of a successful species under
the natural selection theory. Thus they
are following the course of all highly
specialized creatures toward senescense
and extinction. The process, like all
evolution, is orthogenetic and natural
selection has nothing to do with 1t.
Natural selection. by definition, is sur
vival Of the flttest, but beneficiaries Of a
PAoSSSS Va oA4NANol Va VIC 1lttcSC COulQ
not become extinct. It is qualification
to assert that the handspring of evolu-
ton as it evidently occurred is survival
OF the f1ttest.
I'm every geological age the habitable
world has been occupied by animals in
variety. They were fit in their time.
They were adopted, just as much as
those Of today, but they are gone. Among
them may be instances of forms un-
doubtedly superior to anything that
exists today, as the great aquatic and
terrestrial predacious birds, the pre-
dacious dinosaur, that human battering
ram the triceratops, the imperial ele-
phant, giant bison and ilks, cockroaches
and dragonf1ies, sabre-toothed tigers, etc.
In their lines these animals have never
been surpassed. They did not perish
from competition.
There have been wonders, both great
and small, in every age and to hail
creatures Of today as the fittest for their
particular types Of environment shows a
lamentable lack of perspective. AS a
rule, indeed, it seems that the great are
gone and only mediocrities remain.
What would the adaptionists have done
in another age? Judging from their
present behavior they would have ex-
ploded from overenthusiasm But they
are still here and in some instances very
active"
With total of 2,5O0,000 tests up to
fhn Av,l ~ . I,lS 80
Duke University is more convinced than
ever Of the validity OF "extrasensory per-
ception"-the ability to guess concealed
cards with an accuracy better than that
expected from pure chance.
AS the experiment now stands, DR..
Rhine says, the probability of his results
to date being due to chance is one in
figure that could be printed only on two
solid pages. 1t would have at least 1000
digits.
IF we choose to regard only those
experiments which are done under the
most careful conditions, he reports, with
cards sealed in opaque envelopes or con-
cealed from the subject by wooden
screens or removed to another room or
building, there are still over 100000 trials
Taking all the results available that were
obtained under these conditions, we still
obtain almost the same average and
again it would take number of 300
digits to express the improbability of
such result occurring by chance"
He is now at work, DR.. Rhine reports,
on more elaborate test machines, some
of which are already being tried, which
will reduce the human element as far
as possible without in anyway interfer-
ing with the delicate ability itself. Still
another type of apparatus is being de-
vised to test the factor of time in
extrasenory perception and the pos
sibility of knowledge beforehand of COM
ing events.
The research, which has attracted
worldwide attention and aroused much
criticism, now is in its eighth year. 1t
has progressed to the point, he holds,
where the phenomenon itself can be
considered as proven and further work
should be with the goal of providing
some explanation for it.
Believes Mob Violence
Will Follow Strikes.
To the Editor of The Star:
March saw our Capital City disgraced
by strike of employees of its hotels.