New Britain Herald Newspaper, April 24, 1928, Page 19

3 isible and Plants Feeds LL life goes arcund in circles. Plants, pro- vided by tiny micro-organisms with nour- ishment made from the soil and from dead organic matter, grow up to feed the animals, which eventually become the food of man. Dead organic matter, as fertilizer or in some other form. eventually reaches the earth to be made into food again for more plants, for more ani- male and more men. Men, animals, insects and plants are not the only living things in the world, as popularly be- lieved, for there is a microscopic world, with & population running into billions, that lives snd moves and multiplies in every shovelful of garden soil. Now science has discovered that under almost every square foot of ground are more living inhabitants than the entire human population of the globe! Living and working and multiplying for centuries before animals and lants ever appeared, they form a living world n themselves, upon which the larger forms of life developed. And new studies have revealed that without the work of the whole underground world, all the plantsand animals man knows about would quickly die—and so would man himself, They would starve to death be- cause they could not get any food they could digest. With- out the work of the tiny citizens of the soil as butchers and chefs, the lants would be as help- ess as & starving man with & dead rabbit m;gred to his stomach. s whole marvelous new field of knowledge, which is changing man’s onderstanding of his entire relationship to the world about him, is so important that the First International Congress of Soil Science was re- eently held in Wash- ington, D. C., with foremost scientists of all the great nations attending, and with one of America’s leading sof! scientists as president, Dr. Jacob G. Lipman, dean of the New Jersey Agricultural College of Rutgers University. = This congress dealt with a subject, as Myron M. Sterns puts it in Popular The Strange BLUE PPER BURMA, Tibet and the western frontier of China is the home of the rare blue poppy that flourishes in the rarefied air 16,000 feet above the leve] of the sea. Mr. F. Kingdon Ward, a noted explorer, is heading en expedition to the Far East in search of s fmens of this™ exqui and strange sky-blu scented poppy, which found in great abu dance on the so-called Rhododendron moorlands of the mountains of the Far East. » The blue poppies of the genus Meconopsis sre confined to the high mountain ranges of the Himalaya, Tibet, far Upper Burma, and west- ernmost China, in the remote inaccessible wilds A Specimen of the Exquisite Sky Blue, Scented Poppy Which Grows Abundantly in the Moorlands of the Mountains of the Science Monthly, *“so im- portant that the slightest change in balance, the least disturbance of Nature's equjlibrium, may bankrupt nations, change the history of untold millions of human being through disease in a single year. "l’)\e reason we have not known before of thess un- derground citizens," Dr. Lipman etplains, “is tha : they are o minute they can be llll_‘dll‘d only with powerful micro- scopes. One little fellow, the Bacterium An. thracis, which is shaped something like a diminutive finger, is about one twenty-five thousandth of an inch wide, and nearly one five-thousandth of an inch long! He is one of the giants! One of his really small cousins, belonging to & numerous family called micrococcus, is only one and a quarter millionths of an mch through. * Forty thousand could march abreast through the eye of a fine needle. “Even after microscopes had come into general use,” Dr. Lipman says, “for dec- ades nobody suspected that minute plants and animals did work on which all f- r life was dependent. Then, about the mid- dle of the last century, Louis Pasteur dis- covered them. Since then much has been learned of the workers in the soil, but most of the whole new world is still unexplored. “The whole undel&muhd world of life is made possible by the formation of the ground. Soil is made up of salid particles of mineral matter, and the space between these particles. This space, when dry, is known as ‘spore space. Two scientists named Lyon and Fippin set out to count the mineral particles in & small amount of soil—one gram. In a gram of gravel they found 252 particles; in fairly coarse sand, more than 13,500. And with finer materials they had to count s small portion and estimate the total. Then A Microscope of Suficient Power Shows in Any Handful of Earth Millions of isms Estimated that Fifty Millien Micro-organis Prepares Food for Growing Crops in the Average Soil Conrtess of Popalar Gctence Wonthly. scientists learned of another one of Nature's astonishing provisions. Lyon and Fip“ found that even in “air-dry” sand like that of the Arizona desert there is from one-half to POPPY of CHINA far from the haunts of men. About fifty spect are known to science, but not a quarter of the: are in cultivation, and none ef them is common. Some species have flowers that are sulphur-yel- low, violet, or more rarely deep red tn color, but the finest and rarest of all are sky-blue, agure or tortoise in hue. These w in the lofty rain. drenched meadows, on cliffs, or on the bare wind-swept screes as high above sea level a3 flowering plants are found. Throughout the Summer they are lashed by stinging rain, but for seven months in the year they sleep snugly be- neath the snow. Another variety is a true poppy of violet hue which grows to & height of six feet in the mhzl mountains of Upper Burma. precious plant of the Far East is an ivory- white poppy which languishes on the Tibetan Himalayas at & height of 14,000 feet. Some fifty varieties are already known te science. Cream from Sugar Cane NEW product called “cane cream” has been originsted as & result of experi- ments by the United States Buresu of Chemistry, and 1,000 cases of this mew product are to be made by a Louisiana sugar factory for trial distribution te retail trade. The new product is made entirely from the juice of the sugar came. N is added end nething is taken away It has the color of cane p and the sm o ve eonsistency of e soft centers of. chocolate-costed cream candy. In fact, cane cream is made by the same process as is used iy candy factories fer making candy cream centers. Cane cream cas be made of widely varying consistency, but it always Shas the same attractive smeothaess. thin made of ‘th::\-::.‘ Gfifllmem flows like cl P, an ex syrup on bread, hot cakes, wafes, etc. orld Idustrious Animal 1 per cent of water! In “air-dry” silt 2 to 4 per cent! And in clay, 8 to 12 per cent! “Around each mineral particle,” Dr. Lipman explains, “is & film of moisture known as ‘hygro- scopic water.’ This film in even seemingly dry soil is about three one-hundred thousandths of an inch thick.” The underground empire grows to best ad- vantage in moderately coarse, well-irrigated #oils, where the mixture of air and water is most favorable. The soil census shows a wide range. In newly-broken peat, like that of a Minnesota bog, the population may be scanty—650,000 to each cubic inch. In well-tilled and cultivated soils, such as are found around New Brunswick, N. J., it runs up to 100,000,000 o= more. Dr. Lipman says that most of these under- ground soil creatures live near the surface. The first half inch or so is not so populous, because it dries out too fast, but after that the number increases rapidly down to seven or eight inches, where it is greatest. Then it diminishes again down to two or three feet, where it usually stops entirely. Below that there is not enough sir. A more marvelous thing is how the life of il prepares food for the larger plants and als. Since there is only a limited amount of plant food in the world, the continual return of lant and animal forms to the earth is abso- “m{dn. sary for further life and growth,” Dr. n says. “Most people think of the proc mply as decay or decomposition. But it comes about only through the presence of the micro-organisms, and is solely their work. Wherever they are killed off, or not present, it does not occur. “All plants, insects and animals are com- posed of fats, sugars, proteins and other ingre- dients. After they die and before they can be used as food by other plants they have to be broken down into their simple chemical con- stituents; the proteins have to be separated into amino-acids, and so on. With the ingredients into which they separate organic matter the micro-organisms mix various necessary minerals “from the particles of the soil. “Every dried leaf, every cornstalk, every dead rat, every particle of organic matter from which life has departed has been temporarily ‘withdrawn from circulation.’ If it were mot re- stored to circulation, the whole volume of ma- terial available for new life would be lessened. After a while we would have only an earth piled high with carcasses and dead plants.” Dr. Lipman says that man can stop for & while in a limited space the work of the sofl population. When food is canned, for example, the micro-organisms are killed by heating, and the sealed-up contents will keep indefinitely. But open the: can and a new set of the micro- scopic workers gets at it fram the air or from water or from the earth. “We can also use extremely low tempera- tures—{reezing or cold storage,” he says. “We can use poisons—as with embalming, or preserv- ing In ;rcuhol. or pickling. We can use disin- fectants, like carbolic acid or formaldehyde. “Mummies have resisted decay for thousands of years; embalming killed off the micro-organ- isms. The Egyptians were aided by the fact that the air of the Nile Valley is very dry. “Science is not alone in checking, at least temporarily, the work of the invisible empire. | Since the microscopic workers require moisture, | she needs to proteet Nature dries out the thin, against the processes of decay- -the plant seeds that have to be kept from season to season.” In the world of the soil are both plants and animals. There are different races and nations and tribes. Some clans are bitterly at war, some are friendly. S ‘“The biggest class,” Dr. Lipman says, * made up of bacteria. Some can move about, and others can't. Some partake of the habits of ani. mal life, some almost as fast as speeding automobiles! Some use feelerlike legs. thers move by doubling up and undoubling. “The plant life,” Dr. Lipman continues, “is composed chiefly of algae and fungi—tiny forms ;:umbllng slightly some of the larger plants we oW “Protozoa can be classified as animals. They are largest and least numerous of all. Mostly they are roughly globe-shaped, or like tiny eggs dented on one side. When they want te eat anything they fold themselves around it, like liul, living stomachs—which is sbout what they are.” organisms are the vil- eating millions and mil- algae and fungi. g brute of a protogean surround. ing and eating one of the little bacteria, as a. octopus might seize and crush and eat a kitten! n an average soil population of, say, fifty million, in & cubic inch of earth, it is estimated that six or seven million may be algae and fungi and allied forms and a far smaller number pro- tozoa. The balance of forty-odd million are usuaslly bacteria. P Different soil population races what different functions. of the bacteria are kmo of others are still § “One of th species to be classified,” Dr. Lipman 'was the nitrogen-fixing bacillus that lives in the roots of alfalfa. Whether it breathes out nitrogen while still alive. or gives ave some- The duties of some d; the exact functions stamps letters has been invented in Ger many. The sender drops In his miasive and then {nserts coins to pay the postage He pulls » lever, and an lnhntamp within prints on the letter a mark that shows the postage has been paid. A When the spring is wound the blade in a razor %nnud in England oscillates from side to side & metal holder The user simply directs it here and there at will over his face and emerges clean. shaven. The holder also serves as s safety ’ N sutomatic mail box that weighs and off nitrogen when it is dead, has no termined, but some way or other it s nitrogen in the soil. Alfalfa, like oth of the pea-and-bean family, trogen. Without the aid of nitrog takes what it finds already E gove shing it greatly. But when the part acillus is present in great number: drawn from the air by the plant and as food to the bacillus in its roots. then grow larger, richer, and more | And the soil, instead of being impove actually enriched even though Alfa 5 cut and taken away, and only the roots are allowed to remain. “When you realize,” Dr. Lipman goes on to say, “that there may be as much nitrogen in an acre of fertile soil, soils may have less than a quarter of a t value of this nitrogen-fixing bacill evident. We have aiready importe two million tons of mitrogen from C wore than alone, to be used in commercial fertilizer. Germany has developed a factory for nitrogen manufacture capable of turning out a product worth $100. 000,000. But through the aid of science we now know how to enlist the underground population in the manufacture of nitrogen for us, and cam do it almost without expense!” Already agriculture experiment stations are selling, for fifty cents or less apiece, thousands of bottles of legume-bacteria culture for the innoculation of alfalfa seed. History records that during the fourteenth century, black plague killed over 40,000,000 people in Europe alone. Soil science today reveals that the underlying cause of the bubonie bacillus in black rats was a change in the under. ground population! No one can say where the investigations into this new science will lead. Obviously, if the present civilization and aceumulation of scientific knowledge continue, the history of na- tions may be changed, ELECTRICITY for TOOTHACHE N electri- cal gelf- treatment beater, for the relie? of faclal neuralgia, ear- ache or toothache, is the inven- tion, of Leo J. Haessly, of Cleveland. The device has a handle that is hollow, and through it runs an electric con- ductor into the hollow body of the instrument, where the two wires are separated and at- tached, for insulation, to the two binding screws on a porce- lain disk. ~Coils of resictance wire, connected to the binding screws, are wound back and forth across the disk. The business end of the fn- strument terminates in a ring- shaped flange, over which | fitted and tightly clamped « metal cap. Over the cap is fastened a thick pad composed of several layers of quilted cotton and provided with a cover of woven fabric. The circular cover piece has a hemmed edge to receive a drawstring, which is pulled tight and tied in a groove just above the cap. Thus the metal of the instru- ment does not come into con- tact with the skin of the user when the steam- heated pad is applied. The electric cord that enters the hollow han dle is provided with a plug, to be screwed into any convenient light socket. When the instru of Neural The Padded End of the Electric Heater Is Dipped in a Saucer of Water and Then Used to Massage the Face, the Moist Heat Acting to Relieve the Pain N , Earache ment is to be employed, the user dips the padded end into a saucer of water and turns on the “juice” with a thumb switch on the handle, Then the moisture is converted into stesm and the heat is ready to be applied locally, the de- gree of heat being controlled by turning the switch on or off. For the convenience of tourists and other travelers a neat carrying case is provided for the electric heater, which is always available for use wherever electricity is to be found. An APPLE PIE That Weighs ONE TON a big wi and as one example of this there was recently baked in that city an apple pie that weighed more than a ton. The pie plate for this monster piece of pas- try had to be specially Made. The pie contained a barrel of flour. 100 pounds of sugar. two and YAKIMA. Wash., believes in doing things in a half pounds of cinnamon and 400 gallons of prepared apples. ‘o roll the requisite quantity of dough, a fifty-pound rolling pin, made expressly for this pie, of course, was handled by nine girls. The pin was six feet long and ten inches in diam- T, The dough for the crust was cut into <trips, and laid strip by strip in the pie pan. When the bottom of the pan had received its allow- ance of dough, several barrels of cooked apples were dumped in, and then raked to a level with garden rakes. Then the top crust was put on, Insert 8 stick of sealing wasz in the top of a new electric heating device and the cylinderical reservoir flls immediately with molten wax, which you can drop in desired quantities. It ean be operated with one hand and avoids the messy use of muben.' An end to the fraying of electric wires that run a toaster or vacuum cleaner is claimed in an ingenious hook for the attachment plug that makes it as easy to pull the plug with your fingers as by ferking on the wire No rewiring is needed e finger grip is slipped over the plug and then tightened with a screw driver. and carefully crimped around the edges by twenty girls working together. It was some job. The giant pie thus pre- pared was lifted with blocil and tackle, and drawn into the huge oven (built specially for this pie) by a winch. \ghen baked to & turn, the pie was hauled out with a tractor and cut un with @ knife that namon. Nine Girls Shem c“lfl d Po Rolling Pin. had a blade four feet long. Served on paper plates to the crowd assembled, it was pro- nounced the most delicious, as well as the great- est apple pie ever made. How High Blood Pressure Acts as an Aid to Efficiency IGH blood pressure may be, as physicians contend, a eign of danger to individual health, but from the viewpoint of the so- cial biologist it indicates a short life but & use ful one, eccording to a revolutionary opinien expressed before a recent meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Sciemce, by the English biologist, Dr. J. B. S. Haldane, of Cambridge University If the human body s considered as a machine, which modern biole- gists insist is true of its physical portion, what ever may be believed of the mind, the eficiency of this machine depends, Dr. Haldane pointed out, upon the rate of circulation of the blood, bringing food and oxygen to the living cells that compose the body If the average blood pressure is high the supply of food and oxygen is greater, the body operates at a faster rate. efficiency is increased. Other things equal, 'a person think faster, work faster and accomplish mere in an hour when his blood pressure is high than when it is low. Dr. Haldane did not deny that some organ of the body might be “burnt ewt” more quickly, thus shortening life.