Evening star., 1940-06-18
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study

In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.
A hitherto unrecognized malady, vas
cular headache, has been added to the
ills to which flesh Is heir.
Discovered about . year ago at the
Mayo Clinic, the condition appears to
be quite rare. The first Washington
case has just been reported in the Medi-
cal Annals Of the Medical Society Of the
District of Columbia by DR.. Wallace M.
Yater, professor of medicine at George
town University.
In the past the malady has been con-
fused with migraine, the condition Of
splitting, recurrent headaches whose
cause is unknown and which is generally
believed to have some relation to epi-
lepsy. The great distinction is that the
new condition is relieved by injections
with histamine, which has no effect on
migraine.
The headaches appear to be due, DR..
Yater reports, to an abnormal dilation
OF the blood vessels of the head. The
majority Of patients are between 40 and
60 years of age: The attacks occur from
twice to 20 times a week and last from
IS minutes to several hours. The at
tacks come both night and day, often at
the same time day after day. The pain
is usually limited to one side of the head.
1t is described as "a constant, excruiat-
ing. burning. boring pain involving the
eye, the temple. the neck and often the
face" 1t Is accompanied by swelling of
the temporal arteries and the soft tissues
OF the eye. plugging of the nose, profuse
watering Of the eye and nose, and flush.
ing of the side of the face. Use of alco-
hol sometimes makes the condition worse
but abstinence does not stop the attacks.
During the attacks the temperature
goes up on the affected side of the head.
Apparently, DR.. Yater says, the con-
dition is due to an histamine sensitivity
and can be cured completely and prob
ably permanently. The cure is brought
about by histamine immunization.
Specimens Of strange ant trees" Of
orchids with strong. spicelike odors, and
many other curious varieties of plant
life have been added to the collections
Of the Smithsonian Institution by O. L.
Taught, oil geologist and explorer in the
sparsely inhabited, tropical country of
western Colombia.
The ant tree is known as the bar
rasanta. 1t Is small. slender tree with
snowy. red flowers, which grows rs to 30
feet In height. Both trunk and
branches are hollow and filled with
masses of vicious, biting ants As soon
as the tree is disturbed the insects swarm
upon the invader.
AS result. Mr.. Taught says. the tree
Is generally left alone both by Indians
and white settlers. The ants are protected
by the branches and in turn protect the
host with their fighting prowess. They
cause painful bites and are dificult to
combat. Several similar trees. known As
mymecophyls. or ant lovers. are known
in South America.
Mr.. Taught also collected specimens
OF curious shrub which grows out of
enormous anthills found through the
llanos region Of western Colombia and
which furnishes quite a different ex-
ample of insect-plant association. The
ants are leaf cutters" All other plant
life avoids their immediate neighbor-
hood. This particular shrub exudes
viscous, milky juice which traps any ants
trying to climb toward its leaves.
Hence the insects have learned to leave
1t alone and it enjoys the rich ant hill
soil without competition from other
plants.
Among the curious specimens brought
back by Mr.. Haught is a tree Of the
banana family Of species found only
IN eastern Colombia and on the other
side OF the world in Madagascar. The
indications are that in some remote past
1t grew generally over the tropics but
has long since been wiped out except in
these two places. Specimens have been
introduced into Florida as an ornamental
In the jungles and in the forest belts
along the streams Mr. Haught collected
an enormous variety of orchids, most of
them growing on trees. Their roots fnd
precarious foothold in tiny bits of earth
gathered in bark crevices and the plants
obtain their moisture from the air. They
cannot be considered, Mr.. Haught says.
as parasites on the trees. Very few of
these orchids he points out, are "showy"
most Of the blossoms are inconspicuous,
small and dull colored Some. however
are extraordinarily fragrant, filling the
whole region with clovelike odor Cul-
tivated orchids seldom have any frag-
rance.
Practically all greenhouse orchids, Mr..
Taught explains, are hybrids Of two or
three closely related species among the
hundreds now known to botanists.
His collections for the most part are
from q botanically unexplored country,
still very difficult of access. 1t is a
country, he says. where the flowers
grow on top of the jungle" An aviator
flying low over the treetops sees a mag
nif1cent blOSSOminp garden heneath him