Evening star., 1948-11-10
stors, Men ond Atoms
Vitomin K New Values
Are Reported in Study
May Be Used as Food Prsservative
Or in Treatment of Skin Diseases
By Thomas r. Henry

Dy 0OW0S As 0SUTy
vitamin K, the substance necessary for
bloodclotting, also Is q potent killer Of fungus
growths. It appears to have an unsupported
value as a food preservative and as treatment
for skin diseases.
It's new functions have Just been reported
to the National Academy Of Sciences here by
DR.. Robertson Pratt and his associates Of the
University Of California. For the past decade
it has been known that absence Of this vitamin
prevented formation of the substances neces.
sary to bring about bloodclotting, and recently
1t has been found that some forms Of 1t prevent
the formation Of acid in saliva. This leads to
the possibility Of its use in dentifrices to pre-
vent carries.
Altogether there are six chemical forms Of
the vitamin, each of which may have slightly
different physiological action. Dr. Pratt and
his laboratory assistants first tested its action
on the growth Of the mold which secretes
penicillin. They found that this was greatly
inhibited when K was used In the growth
medium. They then turned to another fungus,
responsible for various skin ailments, and
found very much the same effect.
Tnhibitor Of Growths.
Apparently, 1t Is reported, this particular
type Of the bloodclotter is q general inhibitor
treney difficult for medicine to treat In the
past. Good examples are ringworm and ath-
lete's foot. These naturally, and perhaps for
tunately, have been resistant to any of the
sulfa drugs or to penicillin
The University Of California workers see O
more notable future, however, In the use Of
Vitamin X in extremely small amounts to
prevent the formation of molds In canned
ife ND (,a IL
preservation. Mold development, while usually
successfully avoided by the big packing houses,
has been bugbear for the home canner work
ing without the requisite equipment.
Mountains like trees, have roots"
These are veins Of granite or other light
rocks extending to depths Of many miles into
the earth's crust
few ranges, however, are rootless-uke the
Green Mountains OF Vermont contrasted with
the deeply rooted White Mountains Of New
Hampshire.
Such was one Of the deductions from study
Of parallel lines Of gravity anomalies in New
England which apparently extend, in more or
less broken lines, along most of the Appala-
chians. 1t is contained in q report to the
American Geophysical Union here by DR..
GeOfRe r WOOl1dIQ Oh princeton university.
The pull Of gravity generally is measurably
less along mountain ranges. This is due to
the fact that mountains are made up Of lighter
rocks than the basic stone Of the earth's crust.
The highest gravity is often found at sea, the
lowest part Of the earths crust.
Roots In Granite Areas.
The New England investigations have shown
this general situation to hold true for the
White Mountains with their preponderant
GRANTEES. Similar relations have been found
over granite areas in Finland, where 1t was
necessary to postulate roots" extending tens Of
miles deep.
belt of higher gravity, however, seems to
originate in the Green Mountains. Here also
the structure is primarily granite, but the great
peaks must be just afloat on the earth's solid
surface instead Of securely anchored in the
basic rocks
The explanation, is is pointed out, must go
far back in the 1earth's history to different
methods of mountain formation. Before this
is understood, Dr. woodland stresses, systematic
measurements Of gravity, and also Of magnetic,
differences all over New England will be neces.
sary. The former are extremely difficult both
to make and interpret but magnetic survey
now can be made very rapidly.