Evening star., 1942-01-01
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henri.


There Is Q thermostat~ in the brain.
Location Of what Is essentially an
hitherto unknown organ has Just been
announced by Drs. Lindsay Z. Beaton,
William A. Mckinley, G. M. Berry and
g. w. Ransom Of Northwestern UNI
versity.
1t is q tiny bit of gray matter buried
deep in the front of the top Of the
brain which automatically causes sweat
ing and dilation of the external blood
vessels whenever the blood which bathes
it reaches a higher than normal body
temperature.
It long has been known. they explain.
that when the carotid artery in the
neck, which carries the blood supply to
the brain, was heated there would be
sweating and flushing designed to re-
duce the body temperature. The same
effect can be produced by direct heating
Of the brain tissue when warm water Is
circulated through 1t by various surgical
techniques.
In the past 1t has been suspected that
this thermostatic effect is not function
of the brain as whole. but efforts to
locate 1t in various animals have met
with Indifferent success. In cats it
seemed to involve a considerable area
Of the front Of the brain.
The Northwestern University expert
menters worked with monkeys whose
cerebral mechanism approaches much
closer to that Of humans. They heated
various parts of the cerebral cortex and
its underlying areas with electricity.
The natural thermostat, they found,
Il about ~ millimeters long and 8
millimeters In width. It lies near the
"optic chiasma," the point where nerve
fbers leading from the eyes to the
visual cortex at the back Of the brain
are crossed. Around 1t is . girdle of
nerve-cell tissue which had the same
thermo effect, but In much lesser degree.
The body heat reduction, they say.
cannot be attributed to destruction of
brain tissue since nothing is injured by
the electrical heating method. Also the
sweating and dilation Of the blood vessels
designed to bring down the body heat
stops Immediately the electrodes are
withdrawn.
They believe that this heat-regulating
center may be even smaller in man.
but in the same general position as in
monkeys. These animals have about the
same heat reducing mechanism as hu-
mans-that is. they lose heat by sweating
instead Of painting.
The atmosphere has an attic.
Over the temperate regions Of the
earth is . pseudo o-stratosphere," con-
cludes DR.. Henryk Arctowski, noted Polish
meteorologist, now conducting investiga-
tions at the Smithsonian Institution
from study Of radio sounding records
Of the United States Weather Bureau
A roof of the world long has been
recognized. For certain distance
depending on latitude. temperature
decreases with altitude. With greater
heights the decrease stops and 1t may
even become . little warmer. The point
where this occurs Is known as the tropo-
pause. All the atmosphere above it Il
tho stratosphere. vaguely explored field
Of the air voyagers Of tomorrow and, 1t
generally has been supposed. region OF
almost perfect calm.
Tho tropopause. 1t long has been
known. Is highest over the equator
There. at any season, Is 'the coolest
spot on earth" 1t slopes down, like the
roof Of house, to the two poles
-Four years ago the French meteorolo-
gist. Jaumotte, fixed the base level OF
the tropopause at approximately 1s
kilometers above the equatorial regions
This level corresponds, according tc
Jaumotte, to the level Of increase OF
nelium, of ozone and of the electrical
conductivity Of the atmospheric real
atmospheric roof Of the planet.
But the radio soundings show, DR.
Arctowsh insists, that in middle lati.
tudes one must admit the existence Of
two stratospheres. For certain distances
the temperature goes down according to
schedule, the rate of decrease increasing
with altitude. Then there is q narrow
region with little or no decrease. aftel
which the decrease sets in again. The
middle region might be compared to
the worlds attic
Soundings at Batavia, Java, DR.. Arc.
towski points out, show steady decrease
in temperature up to about II kilometers
Then the lapse rate diminishes and the
decline finally stops at 18 kilometers
At Miami, Fla, the break in the lapse
rates comes at l3 kilometers. Over the
mid-Atlantic the tropopause is nearly
1000 meters lower. At Sault Ste. Marie
Mich, the first tropopause is found al
II kilometers and q second at 16 kilome.
ters, the same height as at Miami. Ir
Alaska there is only one stratosphere, 9
kilometer lower than at the Michigan
station.
The conclusion he draws is that there
Is q polar tropopause sloping upward
towards the equator and an equatoria
tropopause sloping downward and thai
the two overlap in middle ATTITUDES.
Upper air data is becoming OF increas.
ing importance in weather forecastine
and DR.. Arctowski's findings may have
important effects on current theories.
In our latitudes," he says, I'VE really
must admit the existence of two strato.
spheres. One of them, the real strato.
sphere, belongs to equatorial regions
The other belongs to high latitudes
The tropopauses Of both may be CO.
existent"