Evening star., 1941-07-19
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

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Before birth is an electric field.
1t becomes the individual-frog or
man. 1t is the thing that is made flesh
and comes into the world.
Such is the implication of experiments
just reported to the National Academy
of Sciences here by DR.. H. S. Burr of
Yale Medical School. He measured the
variations of the direct electric current
of frogs eggs when the bodies of tad
poles had just Started to develop in
them, but before they had taken on
any recognizable form.
Electrodes with which it was pos
sible to pick up very minute current
variations were placed at different points
on the membranes of these eggs and the
changes from one point to another
observed.
In every case" he reports, "the pri-
mary axis of the organism came to lie in
the plane of the greatest voltage drop.
In other words, 1t was possible to detect
from the voltage pattern where the
head of the organism would develop. 1t
is hard to escape the conclusion, there
fore, that the electric pattern is primary
and, in some measure at least, deter
mines the morphological. pattern. 1t
seems clear that, at least in frog eggs
and in those of some other creatures
there exists an electrical field which
appears prior to the appearance OF
formed structures and also predicts the
longitudinal axis of the future embryo"
In other words, DR.. Burr maintains,
the body of the individual tadpole is in
some way moulded around the electrical
field which preceded it.
In higher animals, it is pointed out,
the electrical structure becomes very
complex and-as the alternating current
aspect of it is revealed in heart waves
and brain waves-of considerable value
In medical diagnosis.
Up to the present, DR.. Burr says, there
has been no basic understanding of the
origin of the electrical energy, nor its
exact relationship to fundamental biolo-
gical activity. His own experiments in
dicate that in all living mechanisms cell
membranes set up potential gradients in
protoplasm and that the voltage grad
tents so created determine an electro
dynamic field in the living organism.
The alternating current phase of heart
and brain, which can be measured are
local variations caused by the specific
activity OF specific organs, he says.
The experiments promise to explain
which species and genera of plants and
animals are different and If the
measurements could be made fine
enough-might account for the differ
ences in physical structure and even in
personality of individuals.
The American Indian was a notable
gem collector and mining pioneer.
Some of the fanciful accounts of
Indian wealth in jewels which excited
the cupidity of Europeans had basis in
fact, according to a study of Indian
mining by Sidney H. Ball, just published
by the Bureau of American Ethnology
of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Indian made use, DR.. Ball finds,
OF at least "a kinds of gems and decora-
tive stones, and his acquaintance with
minerals suitable for decorative pur-
poses exceeded in number that of the
peoples of Europe and Asia at the time
of the discovery of America. The In
dian also was the first to use platinum.
Like most primitive peoples, Mr.. Ball
points out, the Indian saw in gems and
ctn
the supernatural and awe inspiring.
Among the pre-Columbian aborigines of
Ecuador large emerald was worshipped
and rock crystal and jasper appear to
have served the same purposes among
certain Peruvian tribes until they were
forced to adopt Inca sun worship
Diamonds, according to one account,
were used by tribe of Brazilian Indians
as playthings for their children. Emer-
aids were used ornamentally in CO.
lombia. Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia,
Peru and Panama. The Colombian
emerald mines had been worked for a
long time before the Spaniards con-
quered the country. The mining season
was inaugurated with religious cere-
monies and only certain persons were
permitted to dig for the gems.
Turquoise was used by the Pueblo In
dians as an ornament, a votive offering
and a fetish. They were working tur-
quoise mines in the Southwest long be-
fore the arrival of the Spanish. The
aboriginal trade in this semi-precious
stone was widespread, extending from
the West Indies and Yucatan on the
south to Ontario on the north, and from
California to Mississippi and Arkansas.
Turquoise beads have been found in an
Eskimo grave but they are believed to
have been of Chinese origin.
Rock crystal was widely used among
the North American Indians and was
sometimes mistaken for diamonds by
explorers. 1t was used both for decora-
ton and as religious talismans. Chip
pewas regarded it as the egg of the
thunderbird," and believed that a person
who carried bit of glittering quartz
was immune to lightning. The most
priced possession of the Cherokee medi-
cine man was bit of rock crystal be-