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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 20, 1913)
The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page Copyright, 1915, by the Star Company Qrrat Britain lUghts Ueaerved. What Became Of the Race's MISSING LINK? By WILLIAM LEE HOWARD, M.D. BY the missing link I mean Morally that form ot human being which must have existed at como time. First came the man-ape, and lator tho up right man and one who had learned to use his hands and live In family -groups. This missing link was tho man who" spans the period between ape and savago man during the evolutionary eras ot life upon this earth. "Wo know something: about tho blc apes and more about man, but nothing; about what scientists agTCO must have been a link between theso two extremes of living beings. To-day the gorilla's- brain measures about 550 cubic, centimetres; that of the lowest form ot man about 1,150 centimetres. Where has gone tho . Intermediate man whose brain measured midway ot those figures T Ho existed at one time; there can be no doubt about this fact, unless all scientists are at fault and evolution Is a chimera. The probable fact is that at one tlmo more momentous, tremendous changes took place upon Jbls earth than we can comprehend. Life in trees and a diet of fruit gave way to one on the seashore and lianks of rlvorB and to the eating of fish und flesh per &apa human flesh. All land animals originally came out of tho ocean and wamps. Some of these mammals wont back to the eea real animals like tho whale, the sea cow, tho seal. These had existed on land and were migratory animals. What caused them to take to tho deep waters of the ecean? This missing' man was the middle link in our process of evolution; for at this period he was chasing and killing off tho big animals for food, eport and as a moasuro of personal safety, just as tho wild boasts are sow being exterminated by mat). How the Extinction of MAN'S ANCESTORS Brought About the COLOR LINE During tbo period'tho brute-man existed ho overcame the big nnlmals. Ho probably multiplied rapidly for a time, learned tho Use of flrb and to cook his food. Ho killed off the mammoth, tbo cavo bear, tho nabre toothed tiger, tho Irish elk, but left their skeletons for us to see and study. All trace ot his own exlstenco has disappeared, for thoso skulls and bonos lately found do not belong to his period, but to a much lator one. Was tho missing link a man of gigantic stature., as Professor Dawson believes? Was ho capable of deeds ot daring and feats of overcoming Nature's barriers,' such as man individually to-day is not? Undoubtedly ho was a powerful mid-man in tho way of killing and exterminating. Anything that would not obey him or could not bo tamed and mado to work for him was put out of existence. All animals capable of being domesti cated by the women wore saved; and It is due to this fact that wo havo tho horse, cow and tho other domestic animals. This missing link bocame a wnndoror and one ever athlrst for tho blood of thoso whom ho could not en slave. There Is ono prominent trait in our own nature wo can trace from this mid-man the hatred of races differing in mero color and the desire to war with even our own kind. For war breeds war; blood-hungor 1)05018 blood-hunger. Not until theso traits are absent from man's make-up caii wo claim to have loft bohlnd the missing link. We oro still killing. Present man exterminated the North sea cow, the great auk, tho buffalo. Tho Indians are disappearing, and many of tho races ot Polynesia havo been completely exterminated, Man to-day is ruthlessly killing all bird and ahtmal life through sheer love of slaughter and vanity. Why? It is an inherit ance from our missing link ancestor. Only by studying tho history of man In his treatment ot those differing in color from his tribo or family can wo arrive at any Insight as to tho causo of the exter mination ot tho missing link. Nor is this color or race hatred confined to man. It exists to-day among ani mals. The gray squirrel, for instance, will not allow the presence of rod squirrels in tho same grovo or trees they inhabit They will kill or drive away every red squirrel coming into their territory. Alan has always made ruthless war on every living thing lowor In scalo his follow man or animals. Only thoso animals and men which could bo enslaved wore saved from extinction. Man in tho dim past not only wiped out his own pedigree, but wo havo well-known incidences of this In modorn times. Tho Beothuk tribo, of Newfound land, was so venomously hated by tho whlto mon that the thousands comprising the tribe wore reducod in tho year 1819 to ono survivor- Mary Nash. Vfhen Bho died, in 1824, tho raco coaBcd to oxlst. Tho natlvo Newfoundlander is ono ot tho lost tribes. No living bolng oxlsts to-dny In whoso blood flows ono drop frqm an original natlvo. Tho sanio Is truo at tho othor oxtromlty of tho globo. Tho Tas man inn has coased' to oxlst becauso this primitive raco was considered by tho whlto mail unlit to llvo. An man roso In his mental powers there probably was a distinct raco of whitc-aktnnod pooplo who determined to rule. They mado war on all thoso whoso skins woro outsldo tho whlto color lino. In return, thoy woro over como by tho hordo of black and yellow mon. Tho ox- A Remarkable Drawing of a "Missing Link" Mothor and Her Child. tlnctton of the raco wo call tho missing link was duo, In all probability, to this passion for killing each othor. dt is also probablo that tho numbers ol white peoplo woro greatly reduced until but fow remnants woro loft. Thoso fled to regions whore geological changes swal lowed up all traces of their oxtstoncc. It seems rational to bcllevo; that something ot tho sort happened to that semi-human link all sclontlsts hnvo bcon hunting. In sonio ot tho faatouosses of tho Thibetan .plateaus a family or two found safety, and from thoso sprung again our whlto raco. Hurled under geological upheavals may bo found tho bonos of our primitive ancestors. But why our present and porslstont hatred between tho whlto and dark colored pooplos? Tho explanation Is to bo found In our knowledgo of psychology. It la in our BUbconBclous memories. Momory Btuff passed on through thousands and thousand ot years. For the yonr of n raco is as tho day of man. It Is a fixed, un controllablo nncostrai momory, and ns much n part of ourselves ns is tho color of our skin also an nncosai trait, Tho bloody killings, tortures and horrlblo doods ol our old-ttmo onemlos, mutilating sex orgies, covering tho Uvea ot hundreds of generations, fastened in out brain momory colls which aro brought Into activity upon tho sight of thoso whoso skins are colored black, red, coppor or bronze. This memory trait is ns flxod as tho ono which causos us to shun and foar snakos, Wo aro born with it; It is tnoradicablo, and may .bo for tho best. Just as tho whlto man has tho tralto of straight hair, high instop, tho nogro woolly hair aud flat foot as ways leal marks ot inheritance, so do wo possess in our brains memories ot tear, disgust and hatred for thoso who oxtermlnated our forebears tho missing link. To a certain extent dopondlng upon tho mental develop mont, so do tho dark-flklnnod peoplo havo ancestral momorleB of killings and torture. This deep, subconBoIous hatred or dtsllka of whlto people for black pooplo Is tho result of past ancostral sensation and oxporionca, Its universality is shown by tho law of uftlnltlos, in which, when tho affinities come togethor, thoy both Increase In strength and vitality. Tho whlto men in tho Antipodes, tho whlto men in Alaska, tho Englishman In India, tho Gorman in Africa, all nnd each aro of ono footing about tho color line, duo to tho lnhoritanco ot th6 same ancestral momories. Simple Ways of KEEPING WELL Even in the HOTTEST WEATHER TWO men about tho samo ago and surroundings, equal opportunities in life and both successful in their respective vocations, were walking together one hot Summer day. Ono fell from sunstroke and waa taken to tho hospital. Apparently the heat had no ef fect upon tho other man. . This incident demonstrates what the public shpuld know about tho danger of excessive heat upon certain conditions of tha body. It is not the sun's rays nor tho great heat that directly causes sunstroke. The. man who was stricken whllo walking with his friend had been heedless of all doctors' advice. His nervous sys tem was below par through careless living, He wora a black hat and black clothes and would not adjust tbo weight or toxturo of his underwear to the weather. Ho dressed by the almanac not by the thermometer. Ho ato beet and drank heavy ale for his mid-day meal. Ho heated his blood by excessive eating; Just as bo did his skin by his stupid dressing. He died in the hospi tal "a victim of sunstroke." Nothing ot the kind, ha died' from his own Btupldity. His companion ato and dressed io fit tbo weather and, ot course, escaped tho effects ot the most sultry and hottest days. Irif these few 'words are summed up the whole secret ot escaping Bunatroke in our climate. The condition of tho inside and outsldo ot the body determines tha amount of resistance to atmospheric heat and humidity. If one is inclined- to fatness, Spring is the time to get rid of superfluous fat. This can be done by changing tho Winter habits of living and eating. Alcoholic drinks should be let alone, green vegetables and light soups should replace red meats and spiced foods. Fish and etalo bread take the place ot ham, pork and hot rolls. Tho body should be covered by light, porous How Ice Keeps out Cold REFRIGERATOR cars are kept pool In Summer with Ice. In Winter thero is Just as much danger that vegetables will be spoiled by freez ing as there Is danger In Summer that they will spoil with tho heat, and for a while it waB held to bo more difficult to keep out the frost In Winter than the heat In Summer, But now the same thing that keeps out the heat in Summer Is used to keep out the frost in Winter, and that is Ice. In Summer salt Is frequently mixed with the. Ice to help lower the temperature, and cars filled with all sorts Ot fruls and vegetables can travel across the continent with the assurance that their contents will bo fresh and wholesome at the end of the Journey. Nowf for Winter travelling, especially for cars con taining fruits and potatoes and such things that have to be Bent through Canada o through the northern part ot the United States, the cars contain tho ice without the mixture of salt There are large galvan ized Iron cylinders in theso cars. It Is In these that tha mixture ot salt and ice is used in Summer. In Winter the plain ico Is used. The reason why this keeps out frost Is simple . enough, when Understood. Ice has a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and Ice, being a poor conductor of either heat or cold, maintains this temperature and prevents the escape of beat that is furnished in the cars. Still another device whereby ice is employed for protection against cold consists In throwing upon the car, when tho weather Is near the zero-point, a plenti ful stream of water, which, freezing at once, forms a complete coat over tho car. The action of the ice is said to he the same as in tha other case. A similar plan Is sometimes adopted In the trans portation ot bananas, a fruit that Is particularly sus ceptible to cold. The bananas are put In paper bags inside of heavy canvas sacks and covered with salt hay when the temperature is dangerously low- clothing to allow of free perspiration, for evaporation through the skin Is tho way to keep down tho body heat. Cold water not lcod water should bo freoly used Inside and outside, and tho intestinal tract must bo kept tVeo and active. Mental excitement, anger, passions of all sorts, will soon put your nervous system and brain In a good condition to succumb to tho effects of heat. The majority of cases of sunstroko brought to tho hospitals show an overloaded stomach or else a physi cal exhaustion from carelosa living as the real causo, Of course this excludes those cases of heat strokes duo to working in Are rooms, refineries and other placos where the temporature is always abnormally high. No girl should go bareheaded In tho streets of a city where tho radiation from pavements and buildings sends up an enormous amount of unnatural hoat In the country and at the sea shore, whoro the breezes blow, It is not bo dangerous. But under all conditions, when the sun Is high the head should be protected by some light colored and light weight material. Blondes especially should keep out of the glaring sun If they do not want their skins mottled and their hair to bo come brittle. When a person falls from sunstroke immediate ac tion 1b necessary. Don't wait for the doctor or tho ambulance. Five minutes' delay may mako a differ ence between life and death; or worso still, a living but useless brain, Remember that tho blood Is over heated; every minute it is allowed to pass through the brain in this state injures tho brain colls.s Loosen all ( the clothing; strip the body it necessary and apply cold water to the whole surface. Not Just to tho head and temples. Modesty and life saving are not com patible attitudes. Put Ice to tho temples and tho ankles. If it is a child wrap its body in a sheet soaked In cold or Iced water, Keep up this method of cooling tho blood until the doctor arrives. Why BIRDS Are NOT KILLED by the THIRD RAIL WHIIB waiting at a railroad crossing after tho gates woro down, but bo foro tho train had whirled by, you may havo boon horrified to soo n fat robin or a portly etarling flutter to earth and calmly step upon tho third rail. Ot course, you ex pected to witness a piteous wiggling of tha dainty body, a fluttering of tho wings and then death. Instead, wholly unconcerned, tho bird hopped along the rail, meandered to earth and hopped hack again, and all tho while you watched him in fascinated atnazo mont, wondering what magic Baved tho bird from electrocution. The problem is very simple. It is not due to any biological difference between birds and other animals or human beings, but to the nature of electricity. At overy power house 12,000 to 30,000 volts aro generated, tho number varying according to tho distance to bo traversod. In short services, such as tho ordinary suburban sorv lcc, about 12,000 volts ofe gonorated, which aro reduced to 070 volts before bolng sent through tho' third rail to tho substation, from whonco the eleclria current Is returned to powor hpuso, so that a continuous circuit is onBitrod. Tho brush of tho motor car picks up the current, and In passing through motor tho olectrlo current drives It, then returns to tho third rail. Now tho tendency of all electric currents is to return to tho earth, and when any con ductor, that Is, any body through which oloc trlclty will pass, Is placed on third rail at ono ond and allowed to rest on tho earth with tho other, tho entire electric current contained In third rail Will rush through this body Into tho earth. This is what oloctrla ians term a abort circuit. Now whon a hu man being or a dog places ono foot on tho third rati, remaining In contact with earth at tho Bamo time, as anything on logs is hound to do, a short circuit is formed, tho C75 volts of electricity rush through tho ant mill's, or through tho human body, and, in tha caso ot a small animal such no a rabbit or a dog, it Is bound to bo fatal. A human being requires from 1,500 to 1,700 volts to bo killed, but C7C volts will burn a man badly perhaps bo badly that ho may dlo from tho offqets. It Is necessary to clearly undorstand tha foregoing before wo can undorstand why a bird is not killed by tho third rail. A robin or a starling, to return to our example, will not reach down to tho earth with ono foot and upwards to tho third rail with tho other, Ho solidly plants both his little feet on tho dangerous third rail, which lmmodldtoly in rendered non-dangerous, becauso the bird rests ontlrely upon it and in no way has established a oonnoctlon with tho earth. Tho dangerous C75 volts pursuo tho dangerous tonor ot their way, leaving tho fat robin un molested, nut, were a waddling goose to come along, and to lift ono foot to tho rail whllo thq othor remained on tho oarth, its fato would bo the same as tho rabbit's or tho dog's. A New Way of MAKING THE DEAF HEAR IT is not generally known, oven among doc tors, that there are many victims of doaf ness who cannot hear the loudost cornet playing, tho shrillest counter tenor, tho hcavIoBt Wagnerian overture, or tho nolsest of Bpeechos and sound, yet whoso ears aro most sensitive to tho noises that Just fit their brain mechanism. Comes now Professor Dr, Marage, an emi nent otologist of Paris, France, with a scrapie but practical method of treating such deaf persons. After he describes in detail his ex planation of detective hearing, and thus shows that tho auditory canal has less to do with loss ot the sense ot autltion than tho paths in the brain, Dr. Marage explains his method which has brought relief to many who are "bard ot hearing." Ills plan is to Btlmulate tho ear with an Ingenious but small siren. This tiny Instru ment is a replica of the sirens usod on motor cars, tug boats and on small engines. It has tho capacity of transmitting to tho drum hoad in tho car, sonorous waves of a meas ured Intonslty of air-pressuro. 1 Tho special quality ot each vowel noto is produced by Bonding the waves of sound through little boxes or "resonators," which are moulded In tho form of a mouth andthroat as It expresses each vowol. Therefore, if aomo ono will use the siren methodically upon a deaf person, tho oar will bo stimulated by tones that as regards both quality and strength are natural to It, in- itead of tones which aro Bpoken, or sung, or produced by musical Instruments or tuning forks. In this way tho ear and tho brain channels ot hearing can slowly but surely be re educated by a kind of drilling which Is tho result of this now "siren method." Deafness, partial or complete, deaf-mutism, and all kinds and grades of auditory troubles havo of lato been thus encouragingly treated by Professor Marago and his studonts. A regular series of vowel sounds and vowel forms producod by such a eiron, can ba mado to fit each individual caso. Thero Is no doubt that this original and highly practical plan ot treating deafness will re sult throughout the world In the relief ol many of these unfortunates. The STABLE FLY a Serious MENAGE to HEALTH ,A. PLAGUE ot stable flies in Texas last Summer gave rise to a special study of this insect by the Government Bureau of Entomology; and nn outcome of the investigation Is the discovery that the stable fly Is responsible for vastly mora mischief than was hitherto supposed. Not only does it causo great loss to owners of live stock, but it Js the carrier of several diseases ot cattle, horses and other domestic animals. In tbo Old World It transmits and distributes the dreaded "surra," which destroys immense numbers of camels, horses and cat tle. A yet this particular malady has been kept out ot the United States, but It may arrive at any time. Tha stable fly Is a carrier ot both glanders and "swamp fever" among horses. It distributes anthrax among domestic animals, and probably to aomo oxtent among human beings. That it is the carrier ot In fantile paralysis has only recently been ascertained. This fly ia one ot the moat widely distributed ot in sects, being found In all inhabited parts of the world. The presumption Is that it was Introduced into the United States from Europe with livestock brought by the earliest colonists. It attacks all warm-blooded ani mals, causing severe Injury to horses, mules and cattle, which often die. 8heep and goats, hoga (especially in pastures), and even chickens suffer. During the outbreak ot 1912, in northern Texas, mqny dairymen found their output of milk reduced from forty to sixty per cent. In some cases the cows dried up. All cattle, horses and other domestic animals were greatly reduced In flesh, losing ten to fifteen per cent of their weight. Dairy herds were not fit to exhibit. Farm ploughing had to ba suspended because the horses and mules suffered so much, Even the men engaged in the fields were frightfully bitten, the flies getting at them through their garments. Observation showed that after a while the cattle and horses gave up tha tight, allowing the flies to swarm over them. The blood taicen by a siame ny at one feeding Is soon digested, and tho Insect Is ready for another meal. The loss of blood is very serious. Al- Head of tha Stable Fly Showing IU Hu Coraneund Eye and Biting Beak lowing several drops per fly for each meal, thousands of the pests will tako a large amount of blood from un ox or a horso in tho course of a day. An interesting discovery made was that, in tho afflicted region, a great majority of the flies wero bred in straw which, after the grain harvest had boon scat tered moro or less over tho fields and wet by rain. Even the straw in stacks, when it happened to be damp, was Infested, 300 pupae bolng found in a Blnglo cubic foot of It. Tho moral of which is that straw should cither bo formed carefully into woll-made staoks with cortical sides, rounded up on tho top to shed rain, or elso burned unless (which is beat ot all) It be ploughed under tho soli. All of us are sufficiently well acquainted with stable flies. They look so much like the ordinary housofly that tho averago person would not notion any dlffercfice between the two. But the stable fly, uullko its domestic cousin, has a biting beak and knows how to use It, In tho Suramor tlmo persons who wear low shoes aro liable to suffer from attack by tho Btablo fly. Stable flies breed, like the housefly, in manure. But damp straw in warm weather seenm to suit -their requirements admirably. The female lays nearly 300 eggs. In stables they cause an Immense deal of suf fering to horses everywhere. During tho Texas plague It was found expedient to protect tho horses by putting trousers on their legs, which wero suppdemonted with burlap suits to cover the back, sides and neck. It is the stable fly and not tho housefly that causes such distress to horses everywhere in tho Summer time. Tho poor animals endure agonies from tho at tacks of this insect. With all tho muokralting of tho housefly, there has been up to Uio present tlmo nothing said that Is worth mentioning In., regard to the daugorous character of tho stable fly. Now that the latter has suddenly come to be recognized as a carrier of diseases, among human beings as welt uh animals, stringent measures of ono kinjl or another looking to its extirpation, or at all qvents to the restriction of Us brooding, will presum ably be undertaken. Fish with No Mouths IF you havo over visited a Blde-Bhow, circus or mu seum, you cannot have fallod to see armless "won ders" who write with their toes; elastic skin mon Who stretch their hido for six to twelvo inches; tattoed women who have tbo whole Doomsday Book inked into their flesh; fat men, bewhlskered women, and oven liv ing skeletons. Even men who swallow reptiles, frogs, flsh and whole aquaria are known. But none of these marvels are in any way as Strang as tho species ot flsh of the carp family Just brought to tho knowledge of zoologists by Professor J. W. Fehl mann, Master of Arts and naturalist, ot London, Eng land. Professor Fehlmann hlmsolf was astonished at find' Ing these carp, experienced collector that be Is. These strango flsh can llvo and thrive without any mouth whatsoever. They are in this respect like a Pullman car without an ontranco at either end. For four years these carp lived, digested and grew in a normal fashion Thero was neither an ontranco or an exit for food, Tho fish war wxactly the same as a closod pipe as fai as was ovlaont from without. When, however, Dr. Fehlmann dissected tho carp de scribed, tbo stomach and digestive canal was found tq bo llteraly swarmng wtth the usual victuals ot tho plsolan tribe. There wore numerous mayflies, larval, grubs, plants, little crustaceans and slmalar aliment ot flsh in the food canal. This explainod how tho mouthless creature flourished Not only wore they able to breathe through their gill clefts, but they were also able to both drink and oat by means ot theso respiratory openings. Although the carp llvod in good health four years, thero was not the slightest signs ot adipose tissue to be found in the bod; Professor Fehlmann Is not convinced that there it a true species ot mouthless flsh, but ha la determined to find out, if possible, whether theso freak flsh can u developed i