Evening star., 1940-05-24
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field. Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

The million dollar drive gets an early
start among American boys.
It's beginnings are shown in a report
ON the wishes of children to Is years
old just made to the child development
section OF the National Research Coun-
Gil by George S. Speer, psychologist of
the Springfield Qll) school system.
The teachers tabulated the wishes ex-
pressed by the children in order to get q
picture of their outlooks on life. An un-
looked for difference was shown between
boys and girls.
LAS was to be expected" DR.. Speer
reports, "a number OF wishes for money
were expressed. Although girls ex-
pressed more wishes to have things,
boys expressed twice as many wishes for
money. They were specific in the
amounts of money desired. The girls
tended to be general in their expression,
desiring only to be rich
Boys also wished for great deal
more money. When specific amounts
were mentioned the median wish of the
girls was for $50, with range from 81
to $2,0O0,000 The median request of the
boys was for 100000, with a range
from one cent to 100000, 900 900.
"A number of girls expressed wishes
for love, two of them qualifying this by
adding in the right way No boy wished
for love. On the other hand, a number
OF boys expressed wishes for wives, vari-
ously requiring them to be the most
beautiful, good cooks the incest, etc. No
girl expressed wish for husband.
Girls expressed more wishes for
things, personal wishes, wishes about
other people and more immediate wishes
than boys Boys expressed more to be-
come wishes. Older children expressed
more personal and to become wishes
while younger ones expressed more i'm
mediate wishes and more wishes for
things"
AAAC SAPSi ihICllG was CdIIlcu Out WIFI
approximately 200 children in both city
and rural schools. The number Of boys
and girls was essentially equal.
A wish which was not anticipated
among children of this age range, DR..
Speer says, was that for world peace.
The subjects were at the most Warlike
age, supposedly filled with daydreams Of
mjlitQYv p1Orv T1oo
expression of this wish may indicate
decided change in the psychology of
American youth, it is pointed out, or may
be the result of hearing so much peace
talk from the parents.
The order in which wishes for peace
were expressed, the psychologist reports,
shows both age and sex differences. The
closer the age group comes to possibility
OF contact with war the greater is the
expression of desire for peace. The wish
appeared strongest in the older boys,
followed in turn by the younger boys,
older girls and younger girls.
A considerable difference in outlook
was shown between the country and city
children. The rural child, the psychol-
ogist believes, is exposed to fewer things
which 1t might desire than is the city
child. Also, he believes, the range Of
possible vocations is smaller, so that the
rural child is less likely to be swayed in
Its choice of occupations by the intro
duction of alternate types of livelihood.
- +4&
The venom of the dreaded black
widow spider is approximately is times
more potent than that Of the rattle
snake, according to report of expert
ments by Fred E. D'Armour, Frances E.
Becker and Walker van Ripper pub
lshed in the annual report of the Smith
sonian Institution.
The comparison was established by
determining the relative amounts of
rattlesnake and spider venom neces.
sary to kill rats of the same weight.
The extreme toxicity of the insect be-
comes of considerable significance, it
is pointed out, since the creature has
been reported from practically every
State in the Union and is allegedly on
the increase in the neighborhood OF
cities and towns.
The probability Of being bitten, they
decided from a study of the spiders
habits, is ordinarily very slight. The
black widow is timid creature, except
towards her natural prey. At the first
molestation of her web she retreats
/ quickly to her central nest and does
not venture out again for hours. She
makes no attempt at defense, to saw
nothing of aggression.
There can be little question that the
spider is increasing in numbers. they
say. They are such strikingly marked
creatures that they are almost certain
to be noticed wherever they exist in
any considerable numbers. They are
constantly being reported from new
localities. Moreover, farmers and fruit
growers usually are quite observant of
the kind of insects found on their crops.
Only few years ago. however, did the
first reports come out of infestation of
Colorado tomato fields so bad that har-
vesters were advised to wear gloves, In
some places they have become SO numer-
Gus in vineyards that pickers have
refused to work and the fruit has rotted
on the vines. Peach growers notice
many OF them in their orchards.
The conclusion that they are increas-
ing in thickly settled communities, they
say, Is a corrallary of the increase in