Evening star., 1951-09-05
Abundant Food Source
In Sewage, Tests Show
SIudge Rich in Vitomin BIZ,
Agriculture Studies Find
By Thomas R. Henry

Sewers of American cities promise to
prove an abundant food source.
The sludge obtained from sewage.
according to report from the Depart
ment of Agricultures Eastern Research
Laboratory at Philadelphia, is excep-
tionally rich in vitamin BIZ, one of
the most potent promoters of animal
growth.
Hitherto it has been used only for
fertilizer. The vitamin content, accord
ing to the report of DR.. Sam r. Hoover
and his associates, is much higher than
that required for animal feeds. Chicken
feeding tests with the material have
been conducted at the Agriculture De-
partment's animal husbandry labora-
tory at Beltsville, Md. These have con-
flrmed the chemical findings of the
Philadelphia workers.
Unlimited Quantities.
One Of the most effective food mix
lures was obtained with a sludge now
sold commercially as fertilizer. AL
most unlimited quantities of city sewage
now are available for processing.
Since its discovery about four years
ago. vitamin BIZ has taken on greater
and greater Importance as supplement
to animal feed. 1t presumably is essen
tial to normal growth, but in extremely
minute amounts. With larger amounts,
especially when combined with certain
antibiotics, it has been found to bring
about relatively enormous weight in
creaSes.
Sewage, according to the report of the
Philadelphia workers, also contains sub
stantial amounts of the other vitaminS
essential to growth. Most of these how
ever, are present in ordinary feeds In
creasing the content of the Elusive B-12
has been major problem.
The possibilities of sewage as a source
of biological materials. it is stressed.
barely has been scratched, and almost
anything which is the product Of animal
metabolism may be found.
Between attitudes of approximately
10000 and $4,000 feet is the region of
super ice water"
Through it float super-cooled clouds,
consisting Of countless billions of water
droplets at temperature of about 20
below zero Fahrenheit.
They should be ice cubes. Instead
they remain little round balls Of water.
The phenomena Of these clouds, which
play big part in weather now are be-
ing studied on top of Mt. Washington,
n. H., in Joint project Of the once Of
Naval Research, Army Signal Corps.
Weather Bureau and General Electric Co.
Many Of these strange clouds drift
over the mountaintop, especially during
the winter. They form frost coatings
foot or more thick on the walls of
the buildings in their path.
More Than Supposed.
A significant finding to date, accord
ing to an Office of Naval Research re-
port. is that there are many more such
clouds than had hitherto been supposed.
At least half the cloud formations in
volved IN the ordinary thunderstorm are
OF this nature.
Presumably ice crystals do not form
unless there are dust particles in the
atmosphere for them to form around.
In the same way ordinary water, abso-
lutely free of any contamination, can
be carried to extremely low tempera-
lures before freezing.
The limit, it is explained. is about
40 Fahrenheit. Beyond this point
water, as such. cannot exist, but changes
into something which might be described
as water glass without any crystal
structure.
The ultimate purpose of the study is
to get better understanding of the
processes Of rain-making. especially the
creation Of man-made rain.
Exaggerated reports have resulted in
much misunderstanding of this, accord
ing to the Navy report. There is a
general impression that control of the
weather now is within the grasp of Sci
ence. Actually. it is pointed out, rain
making experiments have been success
ful only under certain favorable atmos-
pheric conditions, and it still is unknown
how much Of a downpour can be
achieved under any conditions.