Evening star., 1940-01-25
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
BY Thomas r. Henry.

Probable length of persons life Is
influenced by the rate at which the
heart beats.
Evidence for this conclusion has Just
been reported to the National Academy
Of Science here by Drs. Raymond Pearl
and w. Edwin Moffett Of Johns Hop
kins University.
1t long has been known, they report,
that longevity runs in families and
presumably is hereditary. Barring epi-
denies and catastrophes. the human
race might be divided into long-lived
and short-lived groups entirely regard
less of the causes of death. They have
been trying to isolate the factor, passed
down from parents to children, which
either is responsible for the difference,
or will serve as an indicator.
Their observations are based ON 1882
adult males for whom complete physical
examinations, showing perfect health,
were available for some years before
death. In no case had any discernible
trace of the malady which eventually
would kill the individual made it's ap-
pearance. They used life insurance
tables based on the average life ex-
pectancy of the American population at
different ages to estimate how long the
man might expect to live at the time of
his examination.
At death these men were assigned to
one of two groups, based on whether
they fell below expectation or exceeded
it. With these long-lived and Short
lived groups established, Drs. Pearl and
Moffett went back over the first physical
examinations in search of something
which would be constant for each.
The one difference they found which
held regardless of the cause of death
was the heart beat rate. For healthy
males in early middle age it averages
u a minute. Very few individuals, how
ever, fall exactly on this average. The
investigators found that the rates of
the short-lived regardless of the cause
of death averaged higher than those Of
the long-lived group-in some cases as
much as three beats minute.
1T is perhaps not unreasonable to
suppose DR.. Pearl says, that the heart
of the average man that had beat more
than 18,246000 times more in the first Al
years of life would not be likely 10 last
so long thereafter. Many diverse lines
of inquiry have led to the conclusion
that the duration of life in general varies
inversely with the rate of living. The
present findings appear to add further
confirmation to this generalization
They tested such other criteria as
stature, weight, chest girth, chest ex-
panSion and relation of height to
weight, but found no consistent differ.
ences in the two groups as whole.
The findings do not mean, it is
stressed, that everybody with fast
heart at 40 is doomed to short life.
They only indicate that the average
expectation of life for persons with fast
heart beats is less than for those with
slow-beating hearts. but any individual
may be an exception to the average.
X
A tidal surge of weeds is sweeping over
American farmlands.
Four or five noxious varieties, accord
ing to DR.. M. A. Mccall of the Depart
ment of Agricultures Bureau of Plant
Industry, now are taking over at least
half million acres of productive soil
year. They have swept over 100000
acres since 1920.
Once an invasion has become estab-
hshed, DR.. Mccall has reported to Secre-
tary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace,
the land is practically ruined for crop
purposes since useful plants cannot
thrive in the same soil with them. He
estimates the loss in property values at
tens of millions of dollars" and the loss
In crops at many millions more.
The worst of these invaders is the
wild morning glory. Another bad actor
is the Canada thistle. Both rob the
soil of its fertility and strangle all COM
petition. They spread so rapidly and
occur in such abundance that the
struggle to keep ahead of them may
cost more than crop is worth.
The invasion is particularly bad, DR..
Mccall reports. in the West. 1t is due
to two factors, first of which has been
the dry summers which are favorable
to seed formation in these particular
plants. Second has been the economic
distress of the farmers which has pre-
NnHfad tho of land