Evening star., 1949-03-02
Stars, Men and Atoms
Changes in the Air Affect
Blood Pressure, Nerves
Total of Large Ions in Atmosphere
Is Doubled in Cold Weather
Bv Thomas r. Henry

DD HOWUS H. 11eUTp
The air American city folks breathe Is
decidedly different in winter from the at
mosphere of summer.
The effect of the difference on bodies and
minds is quite debatable. but it may be
reflected in changes in blood pressure and
nervous tension. Any effect on respiratory
diseases which naturally increase in cold
weather. would be quite indirect.
The marked difference in the compost
ton of the air was found by physicists OF
tie Carnegie Institution here a few years
ago great deal of the atmosphere is
composed of So-called "ionS - molecules
which carry positive or NEGATIVE electrical
charges. The great majority OF these are
extremely small They are hardly larger
than aggregations Of two or three atoms.
These remain constant summer and winter.
Much fewer, but still an important atmos-
pheric constituent, are giant ionS-aggre-
cations of many molecules which are as
much as million times greater than the
small ions Recently. according to DR.. R. G.
Wait of the Carnegie staff, who was an
original worker in this field third type
has been found which are intermediate in
size but so rare that they cannot be OF
much Importance.
The number of large ions approximately
doubles as soon as cold weather starts. In
winter the number of giant ions reaches two
peaks each day. in the morning and the eve
ming. 1t subsidies to minimum about noon.
In summer there is a maximum in the eve
ming but none in the morning.
The best explanation for this, DR.. Walt
says, is that smoke from chimneys provides
tiny particles which serve as nuclei around
which the air molecules converge to form
the giant ions.
All three types of air particles must be in
hailed indiscriminately. but, DR.. Wait says,
the little work done in the United States to
date has been inconclusiVe and has tended
to throw doubts on any physical effects.
Quite different conclusions have been
reached by scientists in both Germany and
Russia German workers carried out great
deal of research both before and during the
war. Results of the preWar experiments
were published freely
Some of the giant ions carry positive and
others negative electrical charges. The two
are about equal in number. The German
conclusion was that an excess of positive ions
caused measurable decrease in blood pressure
and tended to make people less irritable.
an cYcess of negative ions brought just the
opposite effect.
Considerable war research was carried out
alont the same line. The results were
described in published papers and manu-
scripts considered secret which were among
the material found by American and British
scientific teams who followed the Allied
armies across the Rhine. The papers are
now in the United States, but have not been
thoroughly studied. The indications are,
DR.. Wait says, that the findings were essen
TALLY the same as those published before
the war. Russian scientists have shown
much interest in the phenomenon and their
findings, so far as publications to date are
available agree essentially with those Of
the Germans.
So it must remain an open question
whether an excess of negatively charged
giant ions in the air he breathed on his
way to work may not be responsible if the
boss seems particularly irritable or the wife
more than usually hard to get along with
on winter day.
The excess of giant ions is about the
only difference between summer and winter
air which is discernible DR.. Wait says,
and there is no reason to believe that it
should, per Sc, make noticeable difference
in general health. But this remains to be
determined by future experiments.
Enthusiastically colored red and black bug
which preys on the milkweeds of American
pastures may be the source of a powerful
new germ killer, of the same type as penicil-
lin and streptomycin.
From the blood of this insect. biologists OF
the Pennsylvania State College report, they
have obtained a substance which is very ac-
tive against various forms of staphylococci.
which are most often the cause of boils and
skin infections.
The material is active in dilutions of one
part in 10000 and remains effective even
after boiling for a half hour. The anti
bacterial activity from single bug. accord
ing to DR.. Hubert w. Fringe, who has di-
rected the work is equivalent or greater than
that of one unit of penicillin.
Dr.. Fringe points out that his experiments
have indicated that the substance is synthe-
sized in the body of the bug itself and is not
present in milkWeed seeds, which are its
chief food.
Antibacterial substances from the blood
of insects have been reported before but
none could be directly extracted or were
very similar to the familiar antibiotics in
action. The milkWeed bug, Dr.. Fringe says.
can be kept in culture throughout the year
with little care and expense by feeding 1t on
milkweed seeds and water. 1t is a prolific
breeder and requires only about three weeks
for development from egg to adult.
In nature, according to entomologists OF
the Smithsonian Institution, this insect feeds
on both milkWeed seeds and sap and in one
OF two forms, is quite familiar in American
pastures. 1t Is known to be the carrier of a
virus which causes serious milkweed dis
ease.