The Sunday Oregonian., February 25, 1912, SECTION SIX, Page 6, Image 70

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TIIE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAN, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 25, 1912.
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Jntfeasfe The Nation's
Pfodultivenei$iS,
Theft Tasft.
Uncle Sam Maintains Greatest Army of Scientific
Workers Ever Under One Command. These
Knights of the Test Tube Work for the Benefit of
the Ninety Millions. In Their Great Campaign
They Conduct Investigations That Are Strange
and Curious, Such as Poi'
son Gardens, Bug Farms
and Kite Flyers.
T WII.IJ A Jl ATKERTOX tU PCT.
HOCLD our Uncle Samuel order a
"fall In" to the men of sclent who
" are employed In hla Department of
Agriculture. those responding would
number an army of upward of J 000.
Were this army to go roving about
the world with Ita mlacroscop In on
hand and lta teat tub In th other. It
would find no almllar fore to do It
battle, for nowhere le under th
un are ao many scientific men bund
e-d together In on caua. Nowhere alnc
th beginning- of time haa so large a
working- orsanixatlon of aclentlala been
built up.
Her would ha line of men a mil
lonr. practically all of whom might.
with authority, writ before their
name th hand! "doctor." Her would
be th greatest collection of R. 8 a and
Ph. D.a. M. S.a and I.I. Da ever shown
tinder one tent. Her would be an array
of spectacles that would mak a Bos
ton Institute for lady teacher green
with envy. The dandruff from the coat
collars above their rounded ahoulders
would start a bran store. Lexicons suf
ficient to tranalat Into United State
th scientific terms they would us
In describing how a fro; hops could not
Tb found In th Congreeelonsl Library.
It would be a scrag-sly line from a mil.
itary standpoint, yet on that la fight
ing th greatest battle of them all.
Muter ( fffraase Sefeaees.
Her would bo found a body of men
nearly every on of whom I an au
thority upon some certain thins; that
has to do with tb well-being- of th
crop that grow on Unci Barn's wtd
acres, and. therefor, with th well
being of th ninety millions. On might
Tb an authority upon th boll weevil
that attacks th cotton of the South;
another would know of wheat that
grows In Siberia; a third could tell how
to establish and bread muakrata at a
profit; a fourth how to mak turkeys
hugely fat at Thanksgiving; a fifth
now to Indue th peach to mat with
th apricot; a sixth how to distinguish
"between butter and oleomargarine, and
a seventh why th winds blow from
Medicine Hat. Th gamut might thus
be run throughout th list, for her are
men who know practical science a
science that affects everyday Ufa of
all th peopl.
Th Department of Agriculture haa
been going at a breakneck par for
1 years along- th line of development.
Today It employs nearly IS. 000 people.
Tet In ltOO there were but 3000 em
ployes of th department, and In ISS0
but 1000. Of tbes 16.000 employes of
the present time, on In five Is a sci
entist. There art a dosen great scien
tific bureaus In th department, and
th chiefs of these bureaus as th di
vision commanders of this scientific
army. Th commander-in-chief la a
frrtuled veteran of soil and science,
James Wilson, who bears th title of
Secretary of Agriculture.
Th biggest division of this bookish
fighting fore comes under the Bureau
f Animal Industry. Most of th erlen-'
tista of this bureau have laboratory
methods of telling when th product
of th great packing-houses Is good or
bad. and th great mass of their work i
ct ' " j .. ' 5 I th plg-tatled kingdom would carry a I -. ' . V
f r .". I I bit of this root In their pockets and I - . I "Z. f , V
t V I 1
M' , J
Is in connection with th enforcement
of meat Inspection regulations. In th
Bureau of plant Industry there ar 00
scientists whnir sole Interest Is the
manner In which plants grow. Over In
th Forest Servlc are S00 degree men.
who study the trees of the Nation from
every conceivable standpoint, ranging
from the little buga that bit them to
th great bridge timber Into which
they may be cut. The Bureau of Cbim.
Istry ha 240 men who are chiefly In
terested in determining- what food Is
good or bad. and In tying the can to
Fldo when he masquerades as corned
beef.The offlcs of experiment stations
has more than 100 scientists, who ar
tickling th soli of all the state to
ascertain what manner of a smll of
productiveness may result. There are
00 scientists whose business it Is to
add fuel to that ever-present topic of
smsu laiK. tn weather. There ar
scientists studying roads, eotls, coun
try life, swamp drainage and th pip.
Ther are scientists devoting much
time to research In all manner of
things large and small. Their activities
may be beat understood br taklnsr a
look at th tasks they ar tackling.
Grswlaar Raak Poloaa.
Ther Is, for Instance. Dr. Rodnev H.
True, whos chief business It Is to jug
gle with those plants that ar pernic
iously poisonous. Dr. True has a gar
den In which h grows scores of plants
witn medicinal properties. In that gar
den may be found th big whit opium
inn na aegeneratea in orient. This
Government does not want opium
grown In America, and. In fact, guards
against Its Introduction, but a few of
these popples ar grown for expert- I
mental purposes. In a bed nearby la
another medicinal plant of th Orient.
a sort of first love of th Chinese. This
Is ginseng. Ginseng- Is a root plant, a
sort of potato, that has always grown
wild In the dense shades of the forest
of the Atlantic seaboard. A generation
ago th Yankees found that they could
pull up these ginseng roots and send
them to China, wher th millions of
th pig-talled kingdom would carry a
bit of this root in their pockets and
nlbbls it upon occasion that th Inner
man might be kept fit. So profitable
was this Industry that all the ginseng
In the United States was pulled up and
exported. The supply is now almost
exhausted. Dr. True is showing farm
ers how they can go into the cultlva
tlon of ginseng and produce a crop sim
ilar to potatoes, which' sells for 15 a
pound. Golden seal is another drug
plsnt similar to ginseng which may be
grown and sold at similar prices. Ther
Is th Dalmatian daisy from the stormy
Balkans, which furnishes the insect
powder of th world. It Is being grown
in this poison garden. Camphor trees
ar being raised profitably besides th
oran&b grove of Florida as th result
of Dr. True' Investigation. All manner
of herbs inu things which have pre
vlously been gathered from supplies
grown wild In nature ar here being
domesticated, their secrets ascertained,
and they are being handed to the
farmer for cultivation as a new In
dustry. Thus la the drug aupply of th
nation to be put on a more dependable
basis than when Its raw material Is
gathered In th wilds,
Swapplaa- laser ta.
There Is Dr. L. O. Howard, who, la
chief of th bureau of entomology. Dr.
Howard knowa more about Insects than
anybody els In th world. He knowa
how houaefllea multiply in the Summer
time and how to keep them from doing;
It. He knows how the Texas tick trans
mits fever In cattle and how to stamp
It out. He knows how th Gypsy moth
got Into New England and he knowa
other Insects that will combat th
spread of that pest by eating it up. He
is farming insects In New England by
th wholesale and liberating them In
the Gypsy moth territory. Bat most
strange of all. ha haa developed a
world-wld commerce in Insects, and It
has coma to pass that this nation Is
swapping them with other nations th
rid around.
Tb chief Gypsy moth parasite !s a
certain fly that la well known In Eu
rope and Japan. Certain of our scien
tists have gone to those countries,
studied these files, captured them,
brought them to America and bred
them In great numbers. They lay their
eggs In the larvae of th Gypsy moth.
and thene eggs, hatching into young,
devour the larvae. So la the Gypsy
moth to be fought. Th gadfly Is a pest
that Is known the world around, and
ita pernicious habit of stinging ani
mals fn the heels while Inserting its
eggs under their skins has resulted in
many a mild-faced cow turning her
tall over her back and starting at
break-neck speed for a water hole. Th
gadfly attack th camel a similar way
in Africa,
There Is a certain digger wasp In
Texas that preys upon the gadfly.
Texas is exporting these wasps to
Africa that tb pest may be reduced.
Bumblebees carry the pollen from
flower to flower and In this way fer
tilise given flowers that their seed
may produce like plants. If this fer
tilization did not take place the seed
ould not grow. It would not take
piac without the bumoieDee. wnen
we began to plant clover In the Philip
pines we found that the seed it yielded
would not grow. Ther had been no
fertilisation because there were no
bumblebees. So Dr. Howard and his
assistants set about capturing (Treat
numbers of bumblebees and sending
them to the Philippines. This occa-
sloned, a great deal of difficulty be
cause a bumblebee has a very ener
getic business end. The question was
solved by putting these live bumble
bees in cold storape, which caused
them to think it was Winter, to hibern
ate and remain inactive until they were
allowed to thaw out In Manila. They
and their descendants are now carry
ing pollen from one clover blossom to
another and the seed of a Philippine
meadow Is going forth and reproducing
Itself.
Pnckerlenn Pernlmmoiift.
Professor H. C. Gore of the Bureau
of Chemistry has worked five years
upon the problem of removing the
pucker from persimmons. Travelers
in Japan have for a generation told
of the persimmons that were served
In that country that were firm and
palatable and entirely without the bit
terness of American persimmons be
fore the coming of the frosts and their
subsequent softening. The Japanese
had a way of robbing these persim
mons of their pucker. Prof. Gore was
assigned the task of discovering the
secret of that method.
The first key to the Japanese meth
od came with the discovery that the
persimmons of that country were
packed in sake casks and kept there
for some time before use. Prof. Gore
secured some of these casks and sealed
American persimmons In them. Presto!
the pucker disappeared. Prof. Gore,
however, decided to go further and dis
cover the scientific secret back of this
change.
He attributed it to the presence of
alcohol in the casks. He used an
American butter tub as a container and
saturated It with alcohol. The same
result was obtained. The persimmon
was robbed of its pucker. Each of
these steps, however, required a year
during its development. The third year
blotters saturated with alcohol were
substituted and the same result was
obtained. The fourth year Prof.
Gore, merely as an experiment, sealed
up one cask with no alcohol whatever
in It. Much to his surprise, when this
cask was opened the persimmons it
contained were likewise puckerless.
Four years' experimenting had led to
the discovery of the fact that the
pucker could be removed from persim
mons by merely Inclosing them In air
tight casks. An analysis of the air In
the cask showed that it had lost all
of Its oxygen. This oxygen had been
taken up by the persimmons. This led
to a remarkable discovery to the ef
fect that fruits breathe and consume
oxygen as do human beings. When
the oxygen is all gone from the air in
the cask and replaced by carbon diox
ide a change Is brought about In Ihe
cellular structure of the persimmon
which makes the tannin, which is the
bitter portion. Insoluble and therefore
tasteless. So the result of a five-year
search on the part of one of these men
of science has resulted in a discovery
that may make It possible to put the
persimmon on the market alongside th
pear and the apple. j
William it. aiair is the official kite
flyer of the Nation. He Is one of the
best kite flyers in the business. He
can put the boys of the Nation to
shame in the results he accomplishes
with his kites. He has a record of
live miles to which he has sent a kite
on the end of a string. But thia kite
flying Is not done for boyish amuse
ment. It Is a part of a scientifically
mapped-out campaign of determining
conditions that exist In the air at ele
vations three and four and five miles
up, with the idea of learning: more
of the secrets that appertain to the
business of forecasting the weather
that the multlulle may be prepared
for balmy breezes or inclemency.
Until recently little was known of
temperature, pressure, humidity and
wind velocity, except in regions near
the surface of the earth. This small
layer of atmosphere is most variable
and untrustworthy because it Is inter
fered with by every object rising in
its path, but upon its condition have
had to be based the considerations
that have heretofore figured in
weather forecasts. Obviously, it is un
warrantable to conclude that the great
mass of air Is following courses indi
cated by the strata resting upon the
earth. It is now being demonstrated by
Dr. Blair that currents of air observed
from kites and balloons are entirely
different from those observed on
mountain peaks or at similar heights.
Scientific instruments are sent up in
these balloons. They record tempera
tures and velocities and directions of
winds that are very Important to the
forecaster. Kites that reach four and
five miles into the air are by no means
the greatest sky explorers. Rubber
balloons eight or ten feet In diameter
that expand as the air grows rarer,
climb to elevations of from ten to 15
miles.
The Instruments that they carry of
ten record temperatures that are as
low as 100 degrees below zero in the
Summer time. At those great altitudes
there are strong winds that sweep
steadily In one direction or another
and that are much less erratic than
the surface storms. Under the dlrec
tion of Dr. Blair a similar work is be
ing carried on In many communities
throughout the Nation, and It is ex
pected that before long complete
charts of the upper air of the whole
country will be in hand.
Measuring Food Value.
Dr. C. F. Langworthy, who has
charge of nutrition investigations, has
a machine by means of which he can
register the value of a food taken into
the human system as accurately as
may be weighed a bucket of coal. He
does this through the use of that re
markable instrument, the calorimeter.
The calorimeter is a complicated In
strument devised for the purposes of
measuring the forces of man. It Is
built on the plan of a large refriger
ator, with the idea of excluding- from
It all such Influences of the outside
world as heat, moisture and air. It is
filled with the most delicate instru
ments in the world, which register any
change of condition within it.
The exact conditions of a man, his
weight, strength, vitality, food content
and all manner of things with rela
tion to his condition, are ascertained.
He is put In the calorimeter and fed
a pound of cheese. He Is given four
hours' hard work riding a machine re
sembling a bicycle, and called an engo-
meter. which measures the amount or
energr he expends upon it. Then he
is taken out. If his weight and gen
eral condition are the same as when
he went Into the machine, then a
Dound of cheese is equal to the amount
of energy he has expended upon his
dummy bicycle. He may be given a
pound of beefsteak and put through
the same paces. If he is not in aa
good condition after expending the
same amount of energy, then the beef
steak has not produced as much energy
as has the cheese.
Upon this principle It Is possible to
test the relative energy-producing qual
ities of all manner of foods. This ex
ample is, however, but a rough one,
showing the work of the calorimeter.
One of the nfain principles upon which
It is worked is that to the effect that
In using up energy the body generates i
cdaclix
heat. The mstrument Is so delicate
that when a man is lying on a couch
within it and raises his hand to scratch
his head a change" of temperature is
registered, the heat causing it having
been generated by the lifting of the
hand.
Now, in this calorimeter men are reg
ularly put and kept for days and weeks.
They take their meals within its nar
row walls, and make down a couch
and sleep there at night. They are
given regular courses in various diets,
and accurate records are kept of the
food administered. At the end of a
given period a very accurate measure
of the amount of energy produced by
a given diet Is- to ba had. Certainly
In the end it Will be possible to com
pare the energy-generating power of
any food with its competitors. Its
power production may be measured as
accurately as may that of a shovelful
of coal burned and tested.
Maintaining a Rat Apartment.
Dr. E. C Schroeder is the keeper of
a building which is given over entirely
to rats. In tier after tier the cages in
this building rise to the celling. In
every cage are many rats. Every rat
has a family tree of many generations,
which Is accurately known. All these
rats originated from two families that
were in the beginning strikingly un
like. One of these was the ordinary
gray rat, while the other was the so
called hooded rat one that is white
with a black head.
These two rats were cross-bred, and
the object in maintaining this rat
apartment is to ascertain what propor
tion of the peculiar traits of each occur
in the generations that follow. This
means that a law of heredity is to ba
established that will be true in all the
animal world. It has already proved
that the peculiarities of the stronger
member of the cross predominate in the
first generation. In the second genera
tion one-fourth revert to the weaker
parent. In the third generation cer
tain traits of each of the parents be
come fixed in the offspring and con
tinue fixed, while certain other traits
continue to recur with a certain math
ematical exactness.
The value of this experiment Is in
determining the qualities that may be
expected in stock breeding, or of even
forecasting generations of mankind.
The possible recurrence of consumption,
of harelip or of red hair might be thus
worked out to a mathematical certainty.
Logan W. Page, who is at the head
of the Government office of good roads,
has found out how to take the sticki
ness out of gumbo roads. He does this
by piling the mud up and burning it
until it is converted into a clinker,
when It becomes as good road material
as Is macadam.
Henry Oldys Is a scientist in the Bio
logical Survey. He Is a great authority
upon birds. He has gone further than
to merely specialize upon these little
feathered creatures; he hJfs specialized
upon one thing with relation to them
their song. Mr. Oldys can reproduce
the song of almost any of the well-
known birds. He can write the mu.iic
for these songs in such a way that it
can be reproduced on the flute or on
the piano. So has one of these Gov
ernment scientists actually recorded
the songs of birds and written them
down in such a way that he who will
may reproduce them.
Professor Wlllet M. Hays is the As
sistant Secretary of Agriculture and
the second In command of this army of
scientists. He it is who has had ih
greatest influence in Increasing the
productiveness of Western acres by
breeding seed to yield greater crops.
(Copyright. 1911, by W. A. Du Puy.)
The New Fable of the
Night Given Over to
Harmless Revelry.
ALL. those who had Don Tim at
a certain endowed Institution for
shaping and polishing Highbrows
had to clove In one a Tear for a Bin
qikL They called It a Banquet Because
It would hav ba a Jok to call It a
Dinner.
Th Invitations looked Ilk real Type
Writing and called upon all Loyal Bona
of Old Bohunkoa to dig up t Seatarcea
and gat ready for a Big Night.
To tnaur a Riot of spontaneous Gay
ety th following Organisation was ef
fected :
Commute on Invitation.
Committee on Reception.
Committee on Lights and Music
Commute on Speakers.
Committee on Decoratlona.
Commltte on Police Protection.
Commute on First Aid to Injured.
Commute on Maynew.
Commute oa IJquld Nourishment.
Flach Commute held numerous Meet
ings, at th Call of the Chairman, and
dlacaeacd th impending Festivities
with that solemn rrgard for piffling
Detail which marked th Pc Confer
nc at Th Hague.
Th Frolic was to b perpetrated at
a Hotel famous for th number of Eic
trie Lights.
The Hour was to b .J0. sharp, so
that by 45. four old Grads. with va
riegated Belshassars. wer massed to
gether In th Egyptian Room trying to
fix th Data on which Dr. Mllo Lobs
uoeset becam Emerltua Professor of
fcaraeenle Phlebotomy.
Along about 7:I a Pub-Commit te
wearing Satin Fadgea waa sent downstairs-
l round, tin soma recent Alumni
who wer trying to get a Running I was sent oat to find the Rescu Party.
Start and at 7:4S a cond Detachment Finally at o'clock th glad Thron
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rot R Ol.n CHADS, WITH VARIKOATED BFll.t II XT. A HS, WtlRK MAKD
TOliETRKg Hi TIIK EOYPTUJI ROOM TRYING TO FIX THK TlATK
Of WHICH IR. MII.O LORSitl OSSET BECAUU KSLEHITL'S I'UOFklS
BOR OV ttAKACCMG riLLEBOTOJa V,
moved into the Main Banquet Hall,
which waa a anug Apartment about the
aise of the Mammoth Cave of Ken
tucky, done In Gold and various shades
of Pink, to approximate the Chamber
maid'a Dream of Paradise. The Style
of Ornamentation was that which pre
cipitated the French Revolution.
Besides each Plate was a blonde De
coction named In honor of the alartlni
Rifle, which Is guaranteed to kill at a
Distance of 2000 Yards. The com
pounding had been done In a Churn
early tbat morning and the Tempera
ture was that of the Room, in com
pliance with th Dictates of Fashion.
Those who partook of the Hemlock
were given Courage to battle with th
Oysters. These came In Sextettes,
taring a slight ptomaine pallor. On
th iOLh Proximo they had said good
bye to their Friends in Baltimore and
for Hours they had been lying naked
and choked with thirst In their little
Canoes and now they were to enter the
great Unknown, further sacrifices to
the Votaries of Pleasure.
Luckily the Consomme was not hot
enough to scald the Thumbs of th
jovial Stevedores who had been brought
in as Extras, so the Feast proceeded
merrily, many of the Participants de
voting their spare Moments to bobbing
for Olives or pulling the Twin out of
the Celery.
The Flrsh had a French Name, hav
ing been In the Cold Storage Bastll
for ao long. Each Portion wore a heavy
Suit of Armour, waa surrounded by Li
brary Paata and aerved aa a Tee for
two Golf Balls billed as Fommea de
Terr.
It was a regular Ban-quet, so there
was no retting away from Filet d
Biff aux Champignona. It waa brought
on merely to ahow what an American
Cook with a Lumber-Camp Training
could do to a plain slice of Steer after
reading a Book written by a Chef.
Next, in accordance with honored
Tradition, a half-melted Snowball im
pregnated with Eau de Quinine.
Just about the time that the Whit
Vinegar gave way to the Aniline Dye,
a nut-headed Pwozzle. who could get
Into Matteawan without Credentials.
moved down the Line of Distinguished
Guests asking for Autographs. His
Example was followed by 10 other
Shropshires. so that for the next 30
JUnutes tii Festal Chamber resemblod ,
the Auditing Department of a large I ored by the appearance of a genuin
Mercantile Establishment. I petrified Quail. And the Head Lettuce
During this Period the Department I carried the Personal Guarantee of th
of Geology in the University was hon- Goodyear nubber Co.
AROUSED BIS WIFE TO TELL HER XT HAD BEEN A GREAT SUCCESS
Between the Rainbow Ice Cream and
the Calcareous Fromage, a member of.
the class of '08 who csuld not Sing
arose and did so.
Then each Guest had to take a
Tablespoonful of Cafe Nolr and two
Cigars selected by a Farmer Student
who had promised his Mother never to
use Tobacco.
It was now after 10 o'clock and time
to go Home. Those who had started
to tune up along the Afternoon were
dying on the Vine. Others, who had
tried to catch even on the $3 Ticket,
felt as if they had been loaded with
Pig Iron. Up at the Long Table enough
Speakers to supply a Chautauqua Cir
cuit were feeling of themselves to
make sure that the Manuscript had not
been lost. Each thought that he was
the Orator of the Evening.
The Committee had put on the Toast
Programme every one who might pos
sibly take Offense at not being Asked.
Also they had selected as Toast-
master a beaming Broncho whose Vo
cal Chords were made of seasoned
Moose-Hide and who remembered all
the Black-Face Gravy that Billy Rice
used to shoot across at Lew Benedict
when Nlblo's Garden was first opened.
After every 30-mlnute Address he
would spend ten minutes in polite kid
ding of the Last Speaker and then an
other 10 Minutes In climbing a Moun
tain Height from which to present the
Next Speaker.
Along about midnight the Cowards
and Quitters began crawling out of
Side Doors, but most of the Loyal Sons
of Old Bohunkus propped themselves
up and tried to be Game.
Before 1 o ciocK a Member or the
Faculty put them on the P.opes with
40 Minutes on projected Changes in the
Curriculum.
At 1:30 the Toastmaster was making
Speech No. 8 and getting ready to
prlng the Oldest living Graduate.
Protected by all the Gray Hair that
was left to him. he began to Reminisce,
going back to the Days when it was
considered a Great Lark to put a Cow
n the Chapel.
The Toastmaster arrived home at 3
, M. and aroused his Wife to tell her
t had been a Great Success.
Moral If they were paid $3 a Head
to stand for it, no one would attend.
(Copyright, 1912, by George Ade.)