Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-05-09
'Curd' of MIX Essential
To Growth and New Life
Substance Stored in PIosm
For Generations, Tests Show
By Thomas R. Henry

" SHVbuuS n. ITCHY
Crude casein, the "curd" Of milk, con-
tains some unknown substance essential
to growth and reproduction. Apparently
minute amounts Of it can be stored in
the germ plasm for two generations.
This finding has been reported to the
American Association for the Advance
ment Of Science here by three Italian
scientists, Drs. M. Piccioni, A. Rabbi
and G. MoruZzi Of the University Of Be-
logna, who were working with the aid
OF the univerSity'S American commit
tee.
They were seeking for still unknown
vitamins. Experimental rats prospered
for generations on a diet which con.
tanned a half Of one per cent Of the
crude casein, such as would be obtained
from milk and would be contained in
cheese. When this was purified by a
chemical process, the rats to which it
was fed seemed to prosper as well as
ever. But 10 per cent of their first gen.
Grafton descendants died in few weeks.
In the second generation the mortality
was 100 per cent in few days. Curious
liver deficiencies were found which ap-
parently were responsible for the deaths.
Third Age Group Handicapped.
The first generation, it seems, had
stored up enough Of the material in
their bodies before the experiment was
started to last them for their normal
lifetimes. Some of this in a mysterious
way was retained by their immediate
offspring but was exhausted by the third
generation.
II hoe hoav, raooo,oi1od Ror eo,,oa f;v,on
that there is an animal protein factor, +"
an unidentified vitamin, which is es-
sential to health. Now the new findings
indicate that there probably are at least
two such factors. The effects on rats
in all probability would be duplicated,
although not according to the same
time scale, with humans.
Artificial rain making, now apparently
accepted by the general public and many
scientists as an accomplished fact, may
be delusion. This is a warning by a
group Of the country's foremost weather
men, reporting on the phenomenon for
the American Meteorological Society.
Much Of the confidence In the ability
to produce rain, at will, sometimes over
large areas, has been due to the high
reputation Of the chief sponsor Of the
projects, DR.. Irving Langmuir of the
General Electric Co., one Of the fore
most living physicists. The system con-
Sists Of sailing clouds with silver iodide
salts, the particles of which are nuclei
around which the extremely minute
water dropletS Of clouds coalesce to
form raindropS.
Local Rains Followed Experiments.
Experiments have been conducted
chiefly in New Mexico They have been
followed by heavy local rains. On one
occasion, it is claimed, they resulted in
heavy rain as far east as the Mississippi
Valley.
The committee which conferred with
DR.. Langmuir and analysed the results
consisted Of DrS. Gardner EmmonS and
Bernhard Haurwitz Of New York Univer-
sity and DrS. George p. Wadsworth and
Hurd G. Willett of the Massachusetts,
Institute Of Technology. Their investi-
CATION OF the claims certainly does not
disprove them, they emphasize in the
report which they have just made. They
do, however, raise certain doubts which
prevent complete acceptance at this
time.
Statistics and past history rear their
ugly heads. These are the ancient
bugbears of weather prophets. It is true,
they say, that rainfall followed the salt
ing experiments after long dry spells.
It cannot be concluded, however, that
it would not have rained anyway, re-
gardless of the sailing.
In fact, they find, the widespread
effects claimed are suspiciously like past
weather patterns for that part of the
country.