Evening Star Newspaper, January 12, 1931, Page 16

REFLEX 10 NOSE ISHELD ALTONATE German Neurologist Finds “Fear Reaction” Exists Uni- . versally in Initial Stages. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Existence of a “fear reflex” to loud noises, which appears to be funda-!| mental in human behavior, is demon- strated in experiments recently con- cluded by the German neurologist Hans Strauss, which have just been reported to the Committee on Child Development of the National Research Council here. This reflex is an automatic bodily reaction operating over nerve arcs | below the level of the brain cortex, | which always occurs, at least in its initial stages, regardless of age, sex or | physical condition. It precedes “think-| ing” and presumably is a survival of a | mechanical defensive mechanism of life | which has been built into the organism. Response Found Complicated. Strauss, according to the Child De- velopment Committee report, set out to determine in the minutest detail just what a person does when suddenly startled. The subjects, standing at ease, did not know what was about to happen. A pistol shot was fired and & moving picture taken of each per- son’s reactions which could be slowed | up and analyzed at leisure. | Strauss found that the “fear” re- | sponse in every person was quite com- plicated, but always could be split into two phases—the first unconscious and largely invariable and the second dif- | fering widely among individuals because | the brain nerve connections had come | into action. The first move of every subject was to close the eyes. This movement, Strauss found, was followed in order by the followin, Contraction of the appropriate facial muscles to bring the “gtartling expression,” bending forward of the head, elevation and forward pre Jection of the shoulders, forward eleva- tion_and internal rotation of the arm, the elbow, closing the hand, forward bending of the trunk, bending of the lower extremities at the hips and knees. Everybody did some of these things in the correct order, but some halted the progress sooner than others, due to the speed of the cortex in inhibiting the automatic movements. | The movements varied considerably in degree of intensity but not in nature. Sequence Found Invariable. Strauss was especially impressed with the invariable order of the events. This order seemed to disregard the position of the various parts of the body in-| wolved. If the eyes were closed when the shot was fired the reaction was to| close them tighter. If the elbow was| bent it was bent still further, rather | than the arm being extended. Each| act, from the first closing of the eyes, | seemed to provide the nerve stimulus| for the next act, until the upper layers | of the brain had time to assert them- ‘The second phase of the fear reac tion, Strauss found, is that of the in- dividual rather than the race. It may delay for some time after the con- clusion of the reflex, be continuous with it, or even overlap the concluding sutomatic actions. It appears, he says, in three types: Spying, protective and flight movements. When the shots were repeated this second phase came more rapidly and sometimes without the in- tervention of the automatic phase, for by that time the inhibitory mechanism | ‘Two Rooms, Kitchenette and Bath Electrical Refrigeration THE ARGONNE 16th and Columbia Road Reasonable Rentals LANSBURGH’S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 of the brain had gotten in control of the organism. i Strauss was unable to establish any close relationship between the intensity of the automatic reflex and the onset or type of the secondary reaction. In only one type of persons, cases of legarthy and diseased states character- ized by failure of attention, was the primary reflex ever entirely lacking. Strauss tested it out with victims of various mental ailments. It was found to grow progressively feebler in victims of paresis at certain stages in the disease. It could be brought out in delirium tremens. “Acoustic-Motor Reflex.” He calls this newly discovered auto- matic response of the human body the “acoustic-motor reflex” and believes it | is set-off by the stimulation by sound | of the center of the motor branch of the acoustic nerve at the base of the| brain. Probably, it is pointed out, all the movements of the reflex were a| great value in the preservation of life | at earlier stages of evolution and have‘ become a part of man’s nepvous heri- tage. He cannot rid himsel of them, | | even though their biological value now | is greatly lessened. | Other studies of fear conducted re-| cently in European laboratories and reported to the Child Development Com- mittee deal with the relations of normal fear, such as every one experiences, and | pathological anxiety states where an| abnormal fear continues without any | apparent cause at all or long after the | cause has disappeared. Such are fears| of the dark, of being alone, and of space. Study of numerous cases, a cording to the British psychiatrist J. Hadfield, shows these are almost al-| ways conditioned reflexes which can be traced back to some terrifying ex-| perience of early infancy and the fear | is set up in the nervous system by any stimulus similai to the forgotten in-| fantile experience. ] | | Births Reported. The following births have been reported to the Health Department in the last 24 ours anc Henry M. and Willie B, Freema; owell, LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 | country storekeeper: THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, ROAST POTATO PEELS ONLY FOOD FOR DROUGHT-ST: RICKEN FARMER Case Discovered Accidentally in Virginia Is Example of Self-Respect Impelling Citizens Not to Seek Aid. Not to Seek Aid. Special Dispatch to The Star. CULPEPER, Va, January 12—The various benevolent bodies which were organized some months ago in this and the adjoining counties to have charge of the drought relief work throughout this_section during the hard months of Wintér and until another crop can be made are being confronted by a problem which, ahile reflecting credit upon the spirit of the people, is mak- ing relief work difficult, and that is the reluctance of so many families to ac- knowledge the fact that they need help, and it has been found that many of them have endured real suffering be- fore letting any of the relief agencies | know of their plight The needs of many of these people are now being ascertained from the who, naturally, | know when scanty purchases, or none at all, are being made by families in their vicinity, and by the teachers of | the rural schools from observation of the clothing and lunches of their pupils One teacher reported that a bright | little girl of about 10 years of age| had been wearing the same white dress to school every day for more than two Curb Catarrhl Quick! DoctorsWay “One of the greatest doclors 7 in_Brooklyn prescribed KON- DON'S Catarrhal Jelly for me. ing 1 ever used for ca- . R. Brooklyn, Best tarrh."—G. H. N. Y. ' 'KONDON'S doctors for 40 prescribed by years because it o auick. Just nose, throat ging. bad ad_breath, tarrhal “heada deafness. ON'S_ {0 Relieves dac! £ el KON- r few cents Al drugsi 5 today. Gy No Connection With Any Other Washington Store SPECIAL! Silk Flat Crepe or Canton Crepe .69 Yard Suede finished flat crepes! Two fashion leaders for Spring 1931—in our regular stocks for $2.45 a yard! Surely you will not miss such an opportunity to save on your Spring wardrobe! In 50 colors. $ canton crepes! SILKS—THIRD FLOOR. Pebble finished No Connection With Any Other Washingion Store Here’s Where Youw'll Save Money! ~ January Sale of Gold Medal Cloths—Napkins Single Damask Napkins ..........3425 Double Damask 5 72x72-in. Cloths, cuenrrses. $195 BMNENS—THIRD FLOOR. Regular $145 63x99-Inch . $1.19 Regular $1.58 72x99-Inch s 31,29 Pequot Sheets . Pequot Sheets L ' $8.95 22x22-in. Napkins . ...$6.95 $1.59 54x54-in. Linen Lunch Cloth—Six Napkins $1.15 $8.95 Hand - Embroidered and Scalloped Madeira Pillow Cases $2.69 $1.49 54x54-In. Linen Luncheon Cloths in Gold and Green 98c $3.95 70x70-In. Linen Dinner Cloths with Six Napkins $2.95 2c Soft, Absorbent Linen Crash Toweling 5 yds., $1.00 Pequot ‘Sheets At Remarkable Savings Regular $1.98 90x108-in. - Regular $1.70 81x99-Inch s ....... $137 Sheets Regular $1.89 81x108-Inch Shose oeecre. $1.55 Sheets ....... DOMESTICS—THIRD FLOOR. ns Famed Cannon Turkish Towels 29c 20x40-in Towels 6 for $1.10 39c 22x44-in. Towels Each, 24c #9c 24x48-in. Towels Each, 35¢ $2.95 72x99-1n. Handmade Filet Lace Covers for Table or Bed $2.39 $3.00 54x54-In. Linen Damask Cloth with Six Napkins $2.25 months and that, strangely enough, the little frock was always spotless. 'One day she expressed her interest and was told by the child that the Teason it was so was because “my mother washes it and irons it every night after I go to bed.” Further investigation of the home |from which this child had come re- vealed surroundings as spotless as the little white dress, but the most abject poverty that could be imagined, and yet not one of this family had appealed for the ald that was so generously given when their plight was made known. An incident which sounds almost un- believable, but hy MONDAY, State official and other- persons of un- questioned reliability, is of a workman in a neighboring county who had been observed by his fellow workmen to have very little in his lunch il. These men, it must be remembered, were not even among the unemployed, but were working for a smaller wage than ;xés]utl to keep from being absolutely . : Others were managing to get along on this reduced scale, but this man happened to have family of little children and, with the total loss of his garden and other things from the drought, was really in want. Finally one of his fellow workmen investi- gated the lunch bucket and found that all it contained was the peelings of potatoes, roasted. Horrified, each man contributed a piece of bread or, some other article from his lunch and the cover was replaced on the bucket. But when the owner came and saw these things he so strenuously insisted that the bucket was not his_that the ruse had to be explained. “But what,” he asked, “did you do with the potato peelings?” and when told that they had been thrown away exclaimed with “Oh, you shouldn't have done T could have eaten them JANUARY 12, 1931 saved these biscuit to ‘take to the l:hflfl!sl:m ‘This ily will eat no potato peelings this Winter, unless really prefer to do so, but this just illustrates ‘what many persons, who have always been _self. hat" they " look harif wha ook upon as charity, although, in view of the State-wide and Nation-wide extent of the drought. t'llfls is, of course, a wrong point of view. ‘The first edition of the famous En- cyclopaedia Britannica, in three vol- umes, came out in 1768-71. Subscribe Today It costs only about 1% cents per day and 5 cents Sundays to have Washington's best newspa- per delivered to you regularly grery evening and Sunday morn- ng. ‘Telephone National 5000 and the delivery will start immedi- ately. The Route Agent will col- lect at the end of each month. Fur Coats Are So Inexpensive Now Two Wonderful Groups $8 9.50 Furs may never be as inexpensive as they are right now—especially furs of quality, such as $80% found in these coats at $89.50. Pony coats, muskrat with fitch trim, two tone muskrats and sealines* trimmed with lapin or krimmer, Sizes 16 to 42. o An interesting group with individually styled models for women and misses. Beautifully moired caracul paw, natural and black pony coats and muskrat coats with fitch or silky beaver col- lars. Lined with heavy quality silks. *Dyed Coney. FURS—SECOND FLOOR. LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 .No Connection With Any Other Washington Store Occasional Furniture Of Character At Modest Prices A. Stately Colonial secretary with four spa- cious shelves and center drawer interior. Mahog- any veneer on 525 gumwood B. Wing back boudoir chair upholstered in col- orful glazed chintzes adapted from Early American and 18th Cen- tury English C. Decorated pier cabinet with four spa- cious compartments and with red, green, maple, bogany i $5°95 D. Cabinet style tele- phone stand with under- neath shelf for phone book and pads and an at- tractive chair. Gumwood with walnut or ma- Begesy & cuns FURNITURE—FIFTH FLOOR. LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 No Connection With Any Other Washington Store 9x12 ft. Rugs. Regularly $125. . . 8.3x10.6 Rugs. Regularly $115. LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 No Connection With Any Other Washington Store January Clearances At Great Reductions Silk Comforts $15.96 $20.00 $28.00 $30.00 $36.00 $19.95 Comforts, wool filled $25.00 Comforts, wool filled $35.00 Comforts, wool filled $37.50 Comforts, dewn filled $45.00 Comforts, down filled Sateen Comforts $15.00 Down Comforts $20.00 Down Comforts $22.50 Down Comforts. BEDWEAR—THIRD FLOOR. $2.95 to $4.95 End Table Lamps $ | ,9 5 Complete Imported and domestic pottery lamps, in warm rose, yellow, and green with parchment paper shades, deco- rated in gay colors. $1 and $1.49 Classware 50c A splendid place for bridge host- esses to pick up some lovely prizes very inexpensively! Flower vases, bowls, jugs, vanity sets, and sugar and cream sets of colored glass. LAMPS AND GLASSWARE—SIXTH FLOOR. $12.00 $16.00 $18.00 LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 No Connection With Any Other Washington Store Not Often Can We Offer Such Savings on World Famous Whittall Anglo- Persian Rugs Every six months Whittall bring out new patterns, and simultaneously reduce the patterns they are drop- ping. It's a wonderful opportunity to buy beautiful world renowned rugs at phenomenal savings. Designs of Oriental inspiration; deep luxurious textures with exquisite highlights on their silky surfaces. 395 6x9 ft. Rugs. Ragulitly 482 $63-50 36 4.6x6.6 ft. Rugs. Regularly $45 .. ..