Evening star., 1940-05-14
Strange Evolution Of Fauna
Found in Eons- Old Lovo Beds
Science Congress Is Told Of Animals
Developing Weirdly in South America
~ THOMAS 4. HENRY.

~ THOMAS 4. HENRY.
A weird and fearsome fauna In Z
world that came to IN end In Z
doomsday OF IRE more than 20,0O0,-
900 years ago was described to the
Eighth American Science Congress
here today by DR.. William Berry,
man Scott Of Princeton University,
one Of the worlds foremost stu
dents Of extinct mammal life.
South America was an islolated
continent. A shallow but impossible
sea covered the present Panama
and Central America. Consequent
", Prof. Scott explained, the warm
blooded land creatures came into
no contacts with their fellows else
where In the world and developed
IN their own strange roads Of evo-
luton. Meanwhile for long inter-
walls there was free passage back
and forth between North America,
Europe and Asia, 80 that In the
source Of milleniums the mammal
life was forced into 4 common
mould.
In the miocene geological period.
about 25,o00,000 years ago. South
America would have seemed to a
traveller from the outside world like
part Of another planet. The story
would have beeen lost entirely had
it not been for q peculiar succession
Of events. Early In the miocene
period the southern end Of the
continent was submerged under the
Atlantic. It remained sea bottom
for several millions years, during
which SEVERAL strata Of marine life
deposits were laid down In Its ooze.
Invaded by Ferocious Marsupials.
Then 1t was raised above the sea.
The bizarre menagerie or its i'm
mediate ancestors thronged into
the new land from the north. There
was none Of the flesh eaters-cats,
dogs and bears-of the north. Their
place was taken ferocious, preda-
cious marsupials, vaguely similar to
the kangaroos and similar crea-
lures found In Australia. The place
Of the hoofed mammals which
roamed over the north in countless
herds was taken by several families
OF creatures which had started to
develop along the same lines but
diverged in curious lines. Such
were the marvellous entelonychias.
herbage eating animals with claws
instead Of hoofs. There were other
species which initiated the three
toed horses Of the north.
There were also the bizarre astra-
potheres, somewhat like the hippo
potamuses which were developing
IN the rest of the planet. The
dominant creatures Of all were ami
mails Of the now primitive sloth
family. Some achieved large size.
Over the plains crawled great ar
mored armadillos. Rats were abb
sent. but their place was taken by
creatures of the porcupine family.
OF which there were none in North
America at the time. Remains Of
q few monkeys have been found,
all distinctly OF the divergent South
American type.
Buried Under Hot Lava
The skeletons Of these creatures,
Prof. Scott said, are preserved ex-
cellently in Southern Argentina
IN rocks which originally were lava
3roW volcanoes. All living thiuss.
mature being through With theFn'
and their kind, were the victims Of
horrible catastrophe. Apparently,
1t is shown by the positions Of the
skeletons, great hosts ofstheM ere
buried alive In the hot lava which
rained upon them.
Finds Cause Of NAL de Pinto,s
BY inoculating himself with an
organism superficially ind:stin-
guishable from the germ of syphilis.
q Mexican doctor has demonstrated
the cause of a highly Infectious
human disease widespread in Mex
leo and parts of Northern South
America.
The disease is "mal de pinto"
AS high as 10 per cent of all the
inhabitants of some Mexican VII
lagos have been found suffering
from 1t. 1t is characterized by the
appearance Of red, white, black and
blue patches on the skin all over
the body.
The malady was long supposed
to be due to . fungus. Two years
ago for the first time DR.. Jose
Alonzo Of Havana obtained the
syphilistke organism from q lesion
on the body Of . pinto patient. The
experiments by which DR.. Leon y
Blanco OF Mexico City has now
demonstrated the true nature Of
the disease were described to the
medical section of the congress to-
day by DR.. Salvador Herreton OF
the Mexican Department Of Pub
lie Health.
The organism found by the Cuban
physician was so close to the syphilis
germ that 1t was impossible to dis
tinguish the two. The fact that
1t was found in a pinto lesion
proved nothing because the man
might incidentally be q syphilitic.
So far as DR.. Leon y Blanco knew
ne and some volunteers who a..
sisted him were deliberately inoc.
ulating themselves with syphilis.
So strong were his convictions
and those Of his colleagues, how
ever, that they were willing to take
the chance. They produced on
themselves typical pinto patches,
but no symptoms Of syphilis, other
than that = positive Wasserman
test was obtained. This Is also OBJ
tanned in leprosy and several other
diseases.
Z Disease Il Curable,
The pinto is durable, DR.. Herrejon
reported, with essentially the same
remedies used in the treatment Of
syphilis.
Chronic alcoholics in the Amer
1cas are often victims Of . hiRhly
fatA disease which Il indistinguish.
able from the dreaded beriberi Of