Evening star., 1948-08-30
By Thomas R. Henry
Science Editor Of The Stor

Science Editor Of The Stor
Chemists are forging new Weap-
ons for the last great Wa--the life
and-death struggle for control of
the earth between men and bugs.
Some of their triumphs and prob
lens were reported at meetings of
the American Chemical Society
which opened here today. The So
ciety is holding its annual meeting
at the Statler Hotel.
Even with the marvellous new in
sect killers developed during the war
the bugs seem to be holding their
own. They now are causing $4,000
600, 900 loss to American agriculture
each year, an all-time high, accord
ing to paper presented by Drs.
H. L. Haller and Ruth L. Busbey of
the Department of Agriculture S
Bureau of Entomology.
Development of one of the most
potent OF insect-killing chemicals
was reported by DR.. c. J. Krister of
the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Co.
1t is compound known as meth
oxychlor, especially fatal to various
types of flies, but almost nonpoison-
GUS to plants and all warm -blooded
animals.
Seen Almost Ideal.
I'll is an insecticide approaching
the ideal for many important past
control uses" DR.. Krister said.
The compound has been fed to
rats in very heavy doses for months
at time without observable bad
effects. 1t is not absorbed through
the skin nor stored in the fat. None
appeared in the milk of COWS which
were sprayed with it.
Thus, DR.. Krister said, it holds
out high promise for controlling in
sect pests of domestic animals. 1t
has proved especially effective
against the Mexican bean beetle.
1t seems we'll adapted to control
pests of peaches. early apples and
grapes.
Much of the havoc caused by in
sects each year can be averted by
more extensive application of avail
able chemical weapons, DR.. Haller
told the chemists.
Body Poisons Discussed.
The chemists also heard of dis
cussion today of how virulent
poisons are made in the body.
These are the so-called "amines" :"
Essential to life are the amino acids
complex nitrogen-containing SUBJ
stances from which proteins, the
building stones of tissue, are syn
thesized. Eleven out of % of these
must be contained in the diet.
In the intestinal tract these amino
acids are attacked by bacteria, the
microscopic one-celled plants al
ways found there In uncountable
numbers. If the wrong organisms
get the upper hand, the amino acids
are changed to sinister poisons OF
cadaverine and putrescine. One OF
them. histamine, is believed primar-
lily responsible for most of the aller-
gies, or hay-fever-like conditions.
The most delicate tests yet de-
vised for discovering the presence
of these poisons, some of which are
responsible for undiagnosable deaths,
we're reported by DR.. M. x. Sullivan,
professor of chemistry at George
town Medical School.
Malignant Amines Studied.
The body poisons are subject,
DR.. Sullivan said, on which he has
been working off and on for the
past 80 years. His work, DR.. Sulli-
van emphasized, is entirely directed
to providing more delicate methods
of detecting the malignant amines,
leaving to physicians the job of
determining their role in disease.
For some years the Georgetown
chemist has been engaged in study
ing the metabolism of sulfur-con-
tanning amino acids-particularly
cyStine, which enters largely into
the composition of hair and nails.
He has lately been consulted,
he said, on girls having extremely
fragile fingernails The major cause,
he explained, was the use of nail
polish. This usually is removed with
the use of a very strong solvent
which takes the oil out of the nails
and prevents the proper metabolism
of the cystine.
! His advice, he said, has been to
discontinue use of nail polish. use
remover with great deal of oil
or put in the diet a considerable
amount of the amino acid methio-
nine This is converted into cystine
in the body. Cystine itself is far
too expensive to be used as a
medicine except in extreme cases.
! Growth of Plants Altered.
| From behind the curtain of ex-
treme secrecy around the Chemical
Warfare Services Camp Detrick,
Md, came report on far reaching
experiments with the use of new
chemical substances in altering
growth of plants.
1t has been possible, reported DR..
Robert L. Weintraub of the Camp
Detrick staff, to induce some plants
to bear fruits without pollination.
The fruits are seedless, usually
larger than normal, and are likely
to be malformed unless extreme
care is used.