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
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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
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Sorry, I simply can't answer
your many friendly letters.
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
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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.
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Enough doctors have put enough nervous children and
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In fact, miHc does more for your mind and body
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