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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1955)
Is That So? To answer the abiding prob lem of protection, most animals insects, spiders, shrimps, crabs and lobsters simply grow their armor-plated skele ton on the outside instead of Imbedding it deeply as in man. This exterior skeletal archi tecture reaches its highest per fection perhaps in our wide spread crabs and lobsters some of which become quite large. In fact, I have seen giant crabs in the Aleutians weighing more than 20 pounds. This external skeleton is made of a substance called chitin, secreted by the actual skin which lies immediately in side it. Except for the thin joints of the body, this chitin is often reinforced by salts of lime which strengthens it consider ably. Obviously such a constraining envelope does not allow for more than a limited amount of growth. Hence, whenever the wearer gets too big for his britches, he must shed them. To do so the underlying skin tis tues loosen, the tough shell bteaks open in one region usually along the back or the mouth and . the body then escapes including legs, feelers and all. Before shedding its covering, the lobster or crab retires to some hidden, sheltered nook. This it knows to do, not for mod- estv's sake, but because it ia then highly vulnerable. With the hard case shed, it is clothed in a soft flexible skin of no pro tection until the ' new armor hardens, a matter of days. Once out of its shell, the hid den animal swells immediately and enlarges rapidly for a few days, while it lays down once again on the outside of the skin the reinforcement of chalky chitin. Then, when the new shell is fully hardened, growth ceases again. The molting is controlled by special glands which produce hormones. ' Besides giving the wearer a WHO GETS THE WORM? BE AN EARLY BIRD let us put your money to work in local opportunities FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN ASS'N of Medford ,, 27 North Holly An Institution Dedicated To ThoM Wh Save ' 1 iy Eugtne Bums . Rjr jar-Naturalist protective armor, this marve lous exterior skeleton also gives its owner structural support something to which to attach its muscles. And better yet, to se cure movement, this rigid armor is usually divided into separate plates which are held together by pliable, chitin-impregnated membranes. These not only pro vide wonderful movable joints but also . prevent the jointed framework from collapsing, and also control the familiar bend ing and telescoping of the body and the movement of legs, mouth parts, and feelers. But simply to produce form- fitting, jointed clothes . which serve as a skeleton is not the only reason for the persisting molting of the crab and lobster. Actually, the chitin covering is a complex .chemical compound of ammonia a waste material which is formed in all animals due to activity. Somehow this waste must be thrown off. Be ing an economical animal, the crab uses this waste to' manu facture chitin hence molting lets it throw off this waste through the skin. Talk about an efficient use of waste products! Restrictions Imposed Exterior-borne skeletons im pose some restrictions. Mainly, they limit size. The larger the animal, the heavier, its coat of chitin impregnated with heavy calcium must become. And the larger it becomes, the less sup port to - its deep-lying tissues. Hence, animals ' with these I l P ' I & 1S oPb mi rLftZ exoskeletons remain relatively small. And smallness usually means a shorter life span, hence a comparatively rapid reproduc tion is called for. . But this bestows its benefits. It means, usually, that changes occur more rapidly and with it a greater variety of species oft en results. The family becomes more diverse and much larger able to survive when smaller families perish. In the lobster and crab, the family is large numbering about 20,000 species many more than all warm-blooded species put to gether. Hence should some ca tastrophe occur, crabs and lob sters would survive when man might perish.' (Copyright, 1955 By Eugene Barns) (Released by -' MeCIure - Newspaper Syndicate) ' .. Free; Byspecial arrangement with the editors of the Encyclo pedia Americana, my panel of judges will award each week to the reader . who sends me the NEW ROLE Above is interior view of San Francisco's Cow, Palace that has accom modated everything from basketball to rodeo. Even Liberace will use the huge structure for a "pop" concert Feb. 27. The arena is destined for new renown as the setting for the 1956 Republican national convention. The GOP National Committee, meeting in Washington, voted unanimously to open th e 1956 convention in San Francisco Aug. 20. Dating of Calendars By J. HUGH PRUETT Astronomer, Extension Division Oregon Higher Education System . The recent article on the Ju lian and Gregorian calendars brought ' inquiries from several. H.C.L. of Portland asks: "If the Julian calendar was started in 45 B.C., then when was the calendar changed to start year 1 with the birth of Christ? Why then was not Jan uary 1 started with the birth date? Or why not on the equi nox change?" . We who are accustomed to use so glibly various dates with the letters B.C. and A.D. at tached to them, seem to assume that the system we employ was adopted at the time of the birth f ILLERS! TILLERS! "GREATEST ROTARY TILLER EVER MADE for lhao Gsrdsnkj Ttllhg Cultivating Small i Stye t'Pc-4&t ' Outperforms any other low-priced rotary tiller greatest ever made for home gardeners! TUtt, culti vates, weeds, mulches easy to handle in small plots, corners,. . . close to shrubs. 2V4 HP engine. 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Please address your questions to: IS THAT SO! co Medford Mail Tribune, Box 575, Sausa- lito, Calif. , McChord Official Slated to Attend GOC Event Monday Lt. -,; Col. Albert B. , Sporer, wing commander at McChord Air Force base, Wash., will be one of the Air Force represen tatives attending the first anni versary of the formal organiza tion of the Medford Ground Ob server corps post set .Monday, Feb. 21. The meeting will start at 8 p.m. . at the VFW hall, 42 North Front st. Part of the ceremonies will include presentation of a flag to the GOC by officials of the VFW, and presentation of GOC wings to about 35 volun teer workers from the Medford post. - " Pilot During War Sporer, a versatile athlete at Butler university, served during World War II as a B-25 pilot in the Italian, Africa '. and Sicily, China-Burma-India and .Indian campaigns, including 70 combat missions. He has been awarded the distinguished flying cross, air -medal with three oak leaf clusters and the unit citation ribbon. - . He has had numerous assign ments after the war. The mission of his present command is to maintain radar surveillance and to conduct active air defense op erations within its assigned sec tor of responsibility. of Christ and has been in use continuously ever since. Numerous Systems Used Iii' the history of the world numerous systems for dati ng events have been used. The old time Jewish calendar had their year 1 .starting with what cor responds to our 3760 B.C., the supposed date of the creation of the world. Archbishop Usher at about A.D. 1600 , decided this should be 4004 B.C. In Roman history we find dates given fol lowed by the letters A.U.C. This stood for Anno Urbis Conditae, the Latin for "In the year of the founding of the city." Thus 100 A.U.C. was the 10th year aft er the founding of Rome. Julius Caesar's revised calendar was put into effect in 708 A.U.C. This corresponded to our pres ent . 45 B.C., but Caesar knew nothing about B.C. The begin ning of the Christian era would then be dated 753 A.U.C. The Mohammedan calendar has for its year 1 the date we call A.D. 611. This marks the Hegira, or the flight of Moham med from Mecca. Various other methods of starting dates were employed by ancient peoples. Introduced by Dionysius When then was our present system of dates, now followed by all so-called Christian na tions and some others, put into use? The best authorities tell us that this method was introduced by Dionysius the Little, an ab bot of a Roman monastery al most 600 years after "the time of Christ. Previously the Chris tians evidently used "the meth ods of dating extant in the coun tries in which they lived. Dionysius system ! gradually was adopted by various coun tries, but not without great con fusion. He used March 21, about the vernal equinox and nine months before Christmas, as the start of year 1. Others used March 25, the supposed date of the Annunciation. (It is said this method prevailed in England until A.D. 1752.) In the 8th cen tury after Christ, the Dionysian chronology was in use in Gaul; in England, before the close of that century. In Germany and some Italian cities about the 11th century, the year was start ing on Christmas day. .. . Present day scholars believe the birth of Christ most likely occurred in 4 B.C. Those who care to study further on our present system of stating dates will find much in any good enclyclopedia under the topic Chronology. - NAMED PRESIDENT Corvallis-4U.R) Arthur Hurl burt of the Portland Dairy- Co operative Association was elect ed president of Oregon Dairy In dustries Thursday at the conclu sion of the co-op's 44th annual convention. He succeeds Gordon Coleman of Eugene. . N WE GIVE S&H GREEN STAMPS Cascade Lara & airdeoi 1228 N. RIVERSIDE MEDFORD SAMSON'S FEED PRICES Watch for this Ad each Sunday, for Samson's money-saving Food Prices This Week's Special HAY FOR SALE $28.00 to $34.00 per ton in load lots .... While It Lasts NEW FERTILIZER PRICES Superphosphate per ton $42.00 Sulphate of Ammonia per ton 68.00 Gypsum per ton 19.50 1 6-20 V : - ner ton 91.50 $2.00 per ton less off car .Cracked Corn Whole Corn Hen Scratch in 1,000 lb. lots cwt. $4.15 cwt. ewt. ) A AC 1.UJ 4.20 Samson Feed & Seed Co. Poultry b Dairy Feed Hay Fertilizer 4TH & FRONT MEDFORD ' Phone 2-5295 Child Safety Meet Scheduled at SOG A Southern Oregon Child Safety conference will be held in Ashland at Southern Oregon college on Friday, March 25, 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., it was an nounced Saturday. Dr. Harry F. Dietrich, division of pediatrics, Beverly Hills, is to speak at the conference, which is jointly sponsored by the Med ford Safety council, Josephine County Safety council, and the Oregon . State Board of Health under its Home Safety program. Demonstrations and discussion on fire safety, firearm safety, low - voltage, and community safety programs will be included in the day-long conference. Any one interested in child accident prevention has , been invited to attend the conference for which there will be no registration fee. Those interested in attending are asked to write Dr. William J. Thompson, Fluhrer Building, Medford, so that the size of the crowd. may be anticipated.. . Dr. Thompson said that "Dr. Dietrich says that serious acci dents can be prevented and he has a practical, common - sense theory to help parents think about 'first things first . . , that is,- living, uncrippled children" Sunday, February 20, 1955 ' MIDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBU3Z FIT Dodele Murder Trial Arguments Monday . Hillsboro (U.R) Closing arguments in the first degree murder trial of 16-year-old Jerry Eugene Dodele of Timber, Ore., will be heard in Circuit Court here Monday. When Judge Arlie G. Walker of McMinnville recessed court Friday testimony of the , state's 15 witnesses and the defense's 14 witnesses had been complet ed. The trial began Monday. Dodele is accused of shooting UAL To Request Two Stops Be Eliminated Redmond (U.R) represen tatives of United Air Lines have indicated they will apply to the Civil Aeronautics board to el iminate the line's Bend-Redmond stop. United officials stated that ip eration at Roberts field here is uneconomical and that the lim ited traffic could best be served by a feeder airline. Peter Ribbers, 64, with a bor rowed .22 rifle. SNIDER'S MILK Use tribune Want Ads The I retaliation of the SENSATIONALLY NEW 1H?I mm .,M1 W- r Finer Drapery Finishing is assured with POSITIVE LENGTH! ; ' Even Drapes which no longer fit the window due to old fashioned cleaning processes may be restored to their proper size. ONE DAY SERVICE FREE PICK-UP & DELIVERY ACME DRY CLEANERS Phone 2-4263 lMIWKOHCr U e .. "iss WITH TOE? IAdKOPHILK? Could be, at least if you feel old beyond your years weary, restless and rundown. : Enough doctors have put enough nervous children and adults on enough diets of enough milk to prove pretty definitely that three glasses of milk every day help to reduce fatigue and promote mental serenity. In fact, miHc does more for your mind and body than any other food. Try it for a month, three glasses a day. Let it soothe you, build you, is it did when you were a baby. Relax.., V M iwm 1 I I f t i i i
