Evening Star Newspaper, December 9, 1923, Page 85

Part 5—8 Pages Great Contributions to Science Ma BY HAROLD K. PHILIPS. ICTION makes much of Aladdin and his performing lamp, but here in the Naticnal Capital there is a real wonder house whose modern miracles daily prove that “truth is stranger than fiction.” It is the Carnegie Institution of ‘Washington, an everlasting monu- ment to the founder whose name it bears, Andrew Carnegie. Its fleldyis as limitless as the universe, and its avowed purpose is: “To encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner iInvestigation, research. and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind.” To attain this end, the many bu- reaus and laboratories that consti- tute the institution are dresting from nature the long-buried secrets of her creation—from the heayens the un- told wonders of strange other worlds—from antiquity ing story of its history tinct inhabitants In short, wherever the Carnegie Institution finds a problem whose so- lution might help mankind in his slow progression, it sets out to dis- cover the answer. And the com- Wined story of its researches is one of Intriguing romance, and of mar- velous facts about our 1hat only a short span of years back sclence itself suspected might Teally exist. The Carnegie Institu fngton was founded b nesie on January 28, gave to a board dowment of registered bonds of the yar value of ten milllon dollars. this he added two million dollars on December 10, 1907, and ten mil- lion dollars on January 19, 1911. The present endowment of the institution has a par value of twenty-two mil- lion dollars, yielding an annual in- come of 5 per cent. In addition, the income of a reserve fund of about three milllon dollars, accumulated in accordance with the founder's speci- fications in 1911, is now ilable for general use its and only on of Wash- Andrew Car- 1902, when he * % PACKED by this rich endowment. the Carnegle Institution reached out in the seant twenty-one vears of its existence and now is con- ducting exhaustive investigations and researches into many fields of scien- tific and historical endeavor, includ- ing American history, genetics, evo- lutlon, eugenics, p physiology, embryology, nutrition, marine blol- ogy, tertestrial magnetism, physic: chemistry, seismology, the structure of the universe, astronomy and the evolution of celestial bodies. It will thus be seen that it reaches not only Into the farthest realms the universe In f{ts eceaseless| search for knowledge, deep into the | darkest rec of the earth and down to the sea’s bottom. but that it | has undertaken in addition to know | something more about man himself | than medical selence has learned up 10 the present time. For one phase its studies in that direction the institution has established a nutri- tion laboratory. There a scientific study is made of the fundamental laws gove erning vital actlvity—what causes the loss of body heat, the Influence of digestion and of muscular exer- cise in chemical and physiological functions. Apparatus has been de- veloped which records just how much heat a man produces when he walks, the calorific values of foods and even the measurement of the perspiration of human beings. One of the most important re- searches at the nutritlon laboratory concerns metabolism, or the building up of life tissues. At present much thought is being devoted to the ques- tion of just what reaction mental effort has on metabolism and the chemlcal analysis of foods. Already the work of the laboratory has been of tremendous value to medical acience und some of its measuring in- struments have been adopted by large liospitals throughout the country. In the years to come, as a result of such researches, the doctor will be able to determine exactly how much energy a man uses in different kinds of work,«the foods that will restore haf energy most efficlently and why certain phenomena occur in the hu- man body that are still a mystery to the specialist. That a more thorough knowledge of such matters will re- sUit In the lengthening of man's lite 1s not doubted by doctors. * % ox ok OUNT WILSON OBSERVATORY of the Carnegle Institution of Washington, located about fourteen miles from Pasadena, Callf., is one of the most complete and successful observatories in the world. More than 5,000 feet above sea level, It was selected because of its advan- tageous atmospheric conditions, after a oareful test of promising sites in other parts of California, Arizona and Australia. There, some of the; world's best known astronomers peer out into the universe through power- ful instruments and study its struc- ture and the evolution of celestial bodies. The sun, being the only star near enough to the earth to be ex- amined in detall, Is being Intensively studied. Old Sol, however, still spins many, many miles away and is too strong for the human eye to look upon. So the sclentists have learned to bring him “down to earth,” so to speak, when they wish to look him over. Three telescopes on Mount Wilson accomplish this task. One is known as the Snow horizontal telescope, an- other {s virtually a vertical tower sixty feet high, and the third a 160- foot tower. The largest telescope re- wolves and reflects sunlight vertie omlly downward from a clock-driven mirror at its summit to an object glass. The latter focuses this light down into a laboratory, where it forms an image of the sun more than sixteen inches in diameter. “Here a sun spot or other solar detail may be studled by aid of a spectroscope mounted in a well excavated in the rock beneath the tower. All three telescopes are used daily for photographing the sun's surface and its atmosphers; for investiga- tions of the eolar magmetic flelds ‘connected with sun spots, the gen- ! magnetic field of the sun, the nt ses a the enthrall- | its ex- own selves, of trustees an en-| To | * | has | being | Administration Buildiu which the bureaus an law of ‘the sun's rotation and other matters that have been of vast im- portanceé to sclence. Three more telescopes, including” the 160-inch Hooker - instrument, the largest tel- escope in the world, ,are: used for observations by night. The mirror of the Hooker telescope welghs four and a half tons and per- mits. the faintest known stars to be photographed. This instrument and many others emploved at the observ- atory were made in jts own shops, in Pasadena. Special attention s given there to the inventfon of new instruments and the application in astronemy of devices previously em- ployed ‘In other branches of science. Only recently a new instrument was used to measure the diameter of the star ‘Betelgeuse, Which was found to exceed 200,000,000 .miles. This' was the first time a fixed star was ever measured. d* ok Kk ANOTHER important tork of the observatory is the imitation and interpretation of celestial phenomena. by means of laboratory experiments. Its physical laboratory in Pasadena is provided with special electric fur- naces, flames, acrs, sparks and vacuum tubes—apparatus for producing in- tense ‘magnetic and electric fields, high and' low ‘pressures, and other devices for imitatingthe conditions existing in the sun, stars-and nebu- lae. - Auxillary -apparatus. is . then used to-examine and ‘analyze the light emitted from this:man-made sun ‘or star, whichever the case might be. -Still -apgther ;department—known as the department .of. meridian as- tronomy,: which works in_co-opera- tlon with.the Dudley Obsgrvatory, at Albany, . N.. Y.—Is concerned mainly with determining the positions and motlons, of the stars. Twenty-five thousand celestial travelers, stretched across the sky, are to be studled for that purpose. Southern stars which are not visible as far norti’ as Al. bany ere being observed and chart- ed at another station, located at San Luis, Argentina. The department of meridian as- tronomy has undertaken to fix the position and movements of the heav- enly bodies so accurately that it will be possible to calalogue them. Al- ready one such publication has been completed, containing statistios of about 6,188 stars. Research in ‘biology was one of ‘the first subjects to receive consideration from the institution, and the depart- ment of genetics, which embraces o station for experimental evolution and a eugenics record office, was es- tablished the first year the. institute functioned. The .two. stations forme ing the department are located at Cold- Spring Harboer, - Long Island. Thelir work comprises.an exhaust- ive investigation Into ‘the laws of Measuring the body heat ¢ WASHINGTON, D. C, MAGAZINE SECTION Sty Star. UNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER -9, 1923. at Sixteenih and laboratories.are d P.Streets NW, from irected as a unit .- Northern Portion of the moon. showis its many voicanoes. taken atlast quir- ter with the big 100 1nch Hooker Tele- scope at Mt.Wilson. inheritance in ‘plants, animals and man;, of variation in organisms and of the physiology ‘of reproduction; the nature.of sex and, in general, the factors of organic evolution. In view of present-day debates on ‘the ques- tion of " evolution, the work of the laboratories may ‘have' far-reaching results in the near future. *ok kK ACTUAL experiments with the laws controlling heredity and sex are being made with plants and animals. Many of the things learned about flowers and the lower animals apply also to man. The architecture of the germ-plasm, ‘heredity of tumors, the heredity. of behavior in mice and the genetics of multiple 'births are some of the subjects. Not only has research into_ theory . of - chromosomes—those most infinitesimal elemerits of the al- germ plasm that determime heredity —established, according to experts in the department of génetics, the individuality of the chromosome, but some of the steps by which those. of one species may have. evolved into another have been traced at:the sta- tion for experimental evolution. At- tempts are now being made to con- trol the evolutiop of the - chromo- somes of one genus of flies and are meeting with some success. The studies of sex have been con- ducted with pigeons' <eggs, and -a chemical gifference in the eggs that are to produce males and female: respectively, has been - dlscovered. Femalo eggs; it has been learned, are characterized by great activity' in the manufacture and storage of food- stuffs, male eggs by a greater flexi- bility of constitution, with-a larger| water. content and.rapld. oxid| processes. e largest teles FEATURES Carnegie Institution of Washington, in Its Twenty-one Years of Effort to Wrest From Nature the Long-Buried Secrets of the Universe, Has Made Discoveries in Many Realms—Founder’s Purpose to Apply Knowledge to Improvement of Man- {| kind—Many Millions of Dollars in Foundation for Investigations—First Measurement of the Diameter of a Fixed Star Is Made—Biology Developed. . 2 5 s P T T < cope in the world. With tfis ansirument, observers at Mt Wilson California caw bring the farthest sturs . dows to. earth for thesreareful inspection. The Nommagnetic Yacht-Carnegie. In the eugenics record office there re 980,000 cards indexing an analy- sis of the important traits of Amer- iean 'families. Studies bave been made of many strange sects in this country, and at present workers are attempting to investigate the rela- tive social value of the various “races” of Europe that have recently migrated to America. Many other: eugenical factors, such.as mate se- lecfion and differential survivAl,"srg to be attacked. . A complete descriptfon. of tha mul- tiple studles being undertaken by the several departments of the Carnegie Institution of Washington has al- ready required the publication of more than 400 large volumes. So brief an outline as this could not hope to cover such a vast field, but B0 review of the Carnegle Institu- tion would be complete. without some, mention. of its departmant of terres- | trial magiietism andits geophysical laboratory, both of which are located | on. the border of Rock Creek Park, in ‘Washington. AT the deépartment of terrestrial magnetisth a careful study of the powerful magnetic field of the earth and atmospheric electricity is being made. To do.this the depart- ment has . established a number of observation stations, stretching from ‘within - less“than 12 degrees of the morth: pole -to far-off . Australia, and has several times circled the globe * kN K de by Endowed Research Here in the most remarkable ship in the world, the Carnegle, making charts that have proved invaluable to sci- entist and mariner alike. The Carnegle, which is operated by the department, is the only non magnetic ship in the world. It con tains only a it few hundred pounds of iron and this is stowed far aft, where it may not interfere with the instruments that record the deflection of the compass needle. It is hoped that some time in the fu- ture, the combined studies of the de- partment may discover the nature of that terriffic force compelling the hand of the compass to move at will. The purpose of the geophysical laboratory is to study the physical and chemical conditions that lie burled In the vast bulk of the earth's interfor. Of the 5,000 miles diam- eter of the earth, we have now au moderate knowledge of the outer mile. Of the remainder. which is of importance in a great riety of ap- plications in evervday life, our knowledge is scant. The study of this still unexplored field is under taken by the geophysical laboratory through a study of the materlals that seep from it through volcanoes, hot eprings and other apertures. The remarkable decvelopment physics and chemistry during thas past two generations has made it possible to prepare silicate solu- tions—or, in the language of the lay- man, just plain rocks—of high chem- ical purity in the laboratory and re- produce the actions of nature in the manufacture of rocks and minerals Thus the geologis no longer is obliged to rely largely upon sup- position for his knowledge of the contents of rocks and the manner of thelr formation. 1ie may actually watch them being made in a com fortable laboratory, under terrific pressures and seve heat, even impove on nature by making them entirely free of the impurities that are found in mother earth's product * % ok % 'HE departme of marine biology embryology and historical re- search have their own stories to tell, but their recital can not bLe attempted here. Each one in itself would make a story of enthralling interest. In addition there the worics of assoclates and research associates, with their own tales of discoveries Suffice it to say that there probably is no bureau, laboratory or depar: ment of the Carnegie Institution of Washington that is without its grip- ping stories of science's search for light and truth about ourselves, our world and our universe The administration buflding, whera its president and directing officers have thelr headquarters. is located in Washingtog, together with several of its departments. It may have been moticed, however. that other of the institution’s departments have been placed in their most favorab geographic location nowever. are working as a unit, altho joving the advantage functioning fn the most roundings suitable to studies The board of directo stitution will meet at the adminis- tration building, 16th and P streets northwest, in a few days to @iscuss the institution's accomplishments an. provide funds for its we future. In connection visit, an exhibition will the administration bullding. ing some of the marvelous ments used by the scier ™ exhibition will bo open to the p lic, the dates already been announced, and it will repay any person to visit the dl. ideal s the respective of the in be well Swimming by Machinery. A N ingenious apparatus designed to Pcarry even persons unskilled in swimming has been devised by a French engineer. The apparatus con- sists of an air-filled cushion fixed on the back of a person, which, by sup plying the desirable floating capac- ity, prevents him from sinking Fastened to the chest by means of leather straps is a shield fitved tn front of the head for protecting the moss ! and mouth against the impact of the waves. This, as well as another shield, likewise fastened to the chest carry the propelling device proper, consisting of a small screw which | moves to and fro on a worm shatt. The propeller is actuated by a hand- driven lever system. Both hands selze the end of a long lever arm to pro- duce the reciprocating motion, result- ing in the rotation of the propeller on its worm shaft. The Invention is held to be useful for sport as well as for life saving. Cosmic Rocks. NE of the curious facts about meteorites is that they often contain previously unrecognized min- erals, although their chemical ele- ments are familiar on the earth One of the stones that fell in a meteoric shower at EI Nakhla twenty-five miles east of Alexandria. in Egypt, some time ago, was anal- vzed by Meunier of Paris. It is pen- tagonal in outline, about four inches long, an inch and a half broad, and an Inch thiok. Its composition is peculiar and Prof. Meunler, believing that the mineral of which it con- sists is an entirely new compound, has proposed to call it nakhlite. The source, or sources, from which me teorites come cannot be as yet desig- nated, but their customary great relative density suggests an origin in some massive body in space. \ A Projectile’s Speed. XPERIMENTS with improved in- struments for measuring the ve- locity of projectiles have shown that the speed continues to increase after the missile has left the mouth of the gun. Leaving the muzzle with a ve- locity of about 1,474 feet a second, a projectile has been observed to in- crease its speed to about 1,689 feet per second within the first six feet It is only after having traveled sbout twenty-five yards that the projeotile’s velocity becomes reduced to the speed that it had on leaving the wmuszsle This is ascribed to the impulse of the expanding gas being feit for some distance beyond the gun's mouth