Evening star., 1942-06-25
Of Sturs, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

IL is, perhaps, tne smallest living tnlng
1t preys on bacteria, themselves hardly
visible under q microscope, as lice might
prey on elephants.
The relative sizes are roughly COM
parable. Reports of the first successful
| vizualization Of this extremely minute
particle by means Of the electron micro
| scope have been made to the National
Academy of Sciences by Drs. S. E. Luria
and Thomas F. Anderson OF Columbia
University.
Apparently the bacteriophage is very
similar to the viruses responsible for
some of the most deadly human and ami
NAL diseases. 1t is, however, supposedly
a beneficent organism, attacking not
higher animals themselves but the in
f1nitestimably minute disease carriers
1t also is quite similar, the investigators
believe, to the genes of the cells Of the
animal body, carriers Of hereditary char
acters.
1t long has been suspected that bacter-
tophage, gene and virus are all pseudo
living things consisting Of only single
molecules. A disease carrying bacteria
has only single cell, but this may con-
tain millions of molecules. But in spite
OF its tiny size, the pictures of Drs. Luria
and Anderson show the bacteriophage
has the appearance Of a real animal, with
head and tail. Moreover the head
seems to be quite complex structure
One might almost suspect 1t Of contain
ing brain.
Seemingly, there are many species of
oacteriophages, each adapted to pray on
some particular sease-producing bac-
terra. They supposedly remain inert un-
I'll they come in contact with the species
to which they are adapted. Then they
destroy 1t rapidly. and at the same time
begin to multiply. Otherwise they do
not display the particular characteristic
OF life, that Of reproduction.
In this respect they may be similar to
genes, which do not come into action TO
influence heredity until they are placed
IN the right environment.
Thus far there has been little possi-
oihty OF making successful use of the
oacterlophage in medicine, although this
has been intensively investigated.
Inc Korean, Japan's most abused
victim. is the white man of the Orient "
More than any other ma jor Far East
ern people. says DR.. Ales Hrdlicka. cura-
tor OF Physical Anthropology of the
Smithsonian Institution, the prevalent
type OF the Korean peninsula approaches
some branches Of the white race.
The origin of the people, as is the case
with most oriental races, is obscure, DR..
Hrdlicka explains they may have been
part Of some prehistoric northward
migration from Northern India of a
group with similar ancestry in Central
Asia.
But the ancient Korean became much
more submerged in the Mongoloid peo-
pies through which he made his way
and 1t Is remarkable that so many
Caucasian traces remain Three major
physical types have been observed. The
nrst is characterized by short stature,
yellowish skin and other resemblances
to the Chinese. This type is found in
the Yellow Sea region nearest to China.
The second type also is rather short,
with swarthy skin and sparse beard. 1t
Is close to that of some of the original
Siberians, DR.. Hrdlicka says
The third type, which is in the great
majority and may be considered typi-
cally Korean, is of larger stature with a
light skin showing, especially in the
young. ruddy color in the cheeks. Among
the upper classes it is by no means un-
common to meet an almost European
face. Even light eyes are not unknown.
All these point, DR.. Hrdlicka holds, to a
strong white strain in the Korean blood,
regardless OF where it came from. These
features are portrayed by scores of
photographs Of Christian Koreans which
he took while making an anthropological
study of the people few years ago
An increasingly active interest in the
history and former ways of life Of this
ancient land. for more than quarter of
| a-century the hapless victim of Japanese
ruthlessness, is now apparent, say other
Smithsonian anthropologists who have
in their care one of the finest collections
of Korean artifacts in the Western
World.
Korea was long "the Hermit King
DOM" rigidly excluding outsiders Thus
it remained ethnologically one of. the
least known parts OF the earth until well
after the middle of the 18th century.
A major part of the Smithsonian collec-
tip,, uyoc 10 h,, 7 q
of the United States Navy in 1884. 1t
was considerably augmented in the clos
ing years Of the century by various at
taches Of the United States Legation at
Seoul and by travellers.
The material culture of the country
had already considerably deteriorated
when it came first to the attention of
Europeans. In the 10th and 18th CEN
turies the land was overrun by japanese
hordes and progress was brought to a
standstill. Then came the policy Of
extreme isolationism which shut off
progressive ideas from the outside. Add
ed to these influences was the adoption
Of form of Confucianism which stulti-
fed progress.
The story of this decline, and the
growth of the caste system. is we'll illus
trated in the Smithsonian collections
Castles were sharply defined and of
exceptional significance. First came the
mobiles. Just behind them was the mid
die class consisting of doctors, painters
interpreters, scribes and lower officials.
All who did manual labor were grouped
in a third class which itself observed
sharp distinctions. The lowest rank