Evening star., 1956-08-31

date are a few primitive eels
and white blind crayfish.
1t probably is the most peril
Gus realm into which man ever
has ventured. 1t was described
to the American Institute of
Biological Sciences here yester-
day by Drs. George Salsman and
H. r. Heinemann of Florida
State University.
Underlying much of Florida.
they reported. is a mantle Of
limestone out of which nature
has hewn hundreds of caverns
in recent geological times.
Through these caves course sub
terranean streams. They are
filled with water up to the roofs.
There are no air holes any
where.
These rivers come to the sur
face as large. gushing streams
which join together into rivers
flowing into the Gulf of Mexico.
The frogman, equipped with
light and oxygen tank. must
descend through one of these
springs to the cave entrance.
This may be as little as Is feet
down, but in one instance it was
240 feet.
Go in Pairs
Most of the frogmen are uni
versity students. Two always go
down together. AS yet they have
ventured no further than 1000
feet from the cave mouth, barely
the Threshold of the black
world. for it is certain that many
of the rivers extend for many
miles. There have been about
$50 dives into two dozen caves
in the last two years since the
work started. DR.. Salsman said.
They have encountered enor-
nous water-filled chambers, so
big that it is impossible to see
from one wall to the other.
From the limestone walls they
are digging fossils of primitive
plants and animals and are max
ing collections of the minute
living things.
This cave diving. DR.. Salsman
said. combines all the perils
associated with other cave ex-
ploration combined with COM
plete absence Of air.
The underground rivers, he
said. probably account for at
least SO per cent of the drainage
of North Florida. Eventually the
cave roofs will collapse, probably
forming series of great lakes.
Life at 200 Degrees
Life can exist at more than
200 degrees below zero fahren-
heit-within four or five degrees
Of absolute zero where all mo-
ton of molecules stops.
This is the temperature Of
LIQUID helium. DR.. John KinS-
bury of Cornell University told
the institute of plunging blue
green algae, such as form the
scum on Stagnant water. into
baths OF liquid helium. and
bringing them back apparently
uninjured. The algae are one
celled plants, among the most
primitive living things on earth.
The cells. however. assemble into
chains of from 10 to 100. The
experiments were performed
with such chains.
All but one genius Of the or
ganismS survived. This hap
pened, however, when they were
lowered into the helium and
pulled out again very quickly
Most died when this was done
slowly.
The apparent necessity, it was
explained, is to get the organisms
through the ice-forming zone OF
cold, when the water in the cells
crystallizes, so rapidly that this
cannot happen. If it does the
ice crystals rupture the cells.
Below this zone, however. water
becomes a solid without crystal
lizing.
The time the algae we're left
in the absolute zero apparently
made no difference. DR.. Kings
bury said.
These algae are microscopically
minute. 1t probably would be
impossible, botanists at the
meeting said. to get the same
results with larger organisms.
Life on Mars
In discussions following the
meeting botanists speculated
that the blue-green algae prob
ably constitute the only possible
form of life on Mars, now ap-
preaching its closest conjunction
with the earth. They could easily
endure the extreme climatic
conditions on the neighbor planet
where the temperature at its
lowest is far above that Of liquid
helium.
There has been much specula-