Evening star., 1941-10-09
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

By Thomas r. Henry.
Working part of the time in bomb
showered city and fearful that fortunes
of war may cut short his experiments
at any time, Finnish scientist Is trying
to extract from rocks almost as old as
the world the hitherto unknown "ele-
ment 237."
A drama of science across the gulf OF
battle is revealed in the report of the
National Research Councils Committee
on the Measurement of Geologic Time
which has received from Prof. Walter
Wahl in Helsinki request for samples,
however minute, of ancient rocks from
Manitoba and Dakota with which to
check his work.
He thinks he has found evidence of q
new radioactive element which exists in
nature and which is of theoretical impor-
tance in determining the age of the
earth. 1t also might be significant in
connection with studies of uranium
fission from which some day the worlds
superexplosive may be obtained.
There are, the report explains, three
known series of radioactive elements
starting from the elements uranium
thorium and actinium. These break
down through the ages and produce vari-
GUS kinds Of lead. The rate of break
down of each is known. Consequently
the amount of the different leads in rocks
tells how old they are.
In his Investigations of ancient rocks
with an instrument known as the mass
spectrOgraph Wahl found evidence of
minute amounts of material which did
not fit into any of the three known series
BY comparison with the behavior of
other radioactive evidence he calcu-
lated that it should produce a certain
kind of lead, the existence of which has
been reported and later denied If the
find could be confirmed 1t might make
considerable difference in the current
estimates of the age of the earth.
His new element 237, he believes, may
be one of the breakdown phases of a
radioactive element which existed in
minute amounts more than billion
years ago. but which has completely dis
appeared from the earth.
Prof Wahl Is not sure of his conclu-
sions. He would never have reported
them, he writes, If the fortunes of war
did not render the continuance of his
work very uncertain.
The committee is doing its best, the
report states, to keep in touch with the
Finnish physicist and much time has
been spent trying to obtain the right ma
terial to send him.
His appeal is for some coarse mineral
powder of your oldest samarskites eu-
xenites and fergusonites."
All are minerals occurring in some Of
the oldest known rocks.
High in Northwest China, almost un-
known to the outside world and reached
only with considerable difficulty. is a
land which for two brief summer months
Stimulates an earthly paradise"
1t is described by R. c. Ching. Chinese
botanist. in a bulletin just published by
the Smithsonian Institution dealing with
more than 1000 plants collected in the
Kansu Province, bordering on Tibet and
chiefly inhabited by Tibetan herders.
1t is a vast, rolling country, which late
in summer and in early autumn Is COW
cred with a carpet of intense color.
There is a riot of lemon-yellow, purplish
ral for the
eye can see across treeless steppes. The
winds and the winters are too severe for
trees.
The striking feature Of this region
says Mr. Ching, "is the suddenness with
which these flowers burst into bloom
usually In June. From then until late
in August the country is riot of in
tense and varying color, fairly dazzling
| the travellers eyes, Stimulating an earthly
| paradise"
As one goes higher and higher, Mr.
Ching records, human habitations grow
fewer and fewer, with lofty ridges Of
! MAGNIFICENT and savage grandeur or
every side. One finally arrives at the
! Tibetan Monastery of Labrang at an al
titude of $500 feet. Labrang Is an I'M
portant trading center and a meeting
ground for Tibetans, Mohammedans arc
| Chinese. Besides over 100 shops KEEP
by Mohammedan and Chinese mer'
chants, it boasts a magnificent temple
housing more than 5000 Tibetan lamas
Past the town runs river. the Labrane
Ho, spanned by fve-arch bridges. The
clearness of its water. Mr.. Ching says
suggests the existence of immense forests
at its source, far up in the Tlbetar
country.
The botanist entered the country as
member of National Geographic So
ciety expedition. The plants he collected
were studied at the United States Ma
ional Museum by DR.. Egbert H. Walkel
of the Smithsonian staff, who prepared
the scientific descriptions.