vx A PACIFIC TRIBUNE MEDICAL FEATURE

The conquest of d

———

’ REVOLUTIONARY. new ap--
proach to man’s everlasting
struggle to conquer disease is be-
ing opened up by Soviet medical
science. =

Recently at the International
Cancer Congress held in Brazil,
the Soviet delegation told a press
conference:

“A. healthy central nervous
system has the power to oppose
the chemical and physical fac- .
tors from within and outside
the body, which cause cancer.”

There in one sentence, lies a
profound new concept of how the.

brain of the human being can
become the instrument of attack
and conquest of disease.

How it will accomplish this,
how the brain—the central ner-
vous system — will function to

cure and prevent one of the great

scourges of our age, cancer, is
not yet clear. But the path along
which science must proceed is
being worked out by Soviet medi-
cine, based upon the theories and
practices developed by Ivan Pav-
icv. For his work on condition-
ed and unconditioned reflexes
Professor Pavlov was ‘conferred
the title “princips physiologorum

mundi” (leading physiologist of
the world).

Man’s central nervous system
is an amazingly complicated and
intricate structure: For instance:

When a motorist brings his car
to a stop at a red traffic light,
something more than the law
makes him stop.

He- stops, to protect himself
from injury. Over years of ex-
rerience his brain has learned to
take a red spotlight as a warning
signal against physical injury.

What happens?

Signals flash from the eyes to
the brain. There they coincide
with thousands of signals from all
parts of the body, muscles as well
as internal organs. The informa-
tion from all over the body is
sorted out by the brain with tre-
mendous ‘speed and, once digest-
_ed, signals are dispatched to parts
of the body which then carry out
the proper actions to bring him
to a stop. :

The motorist was conscious of
only noting the red light—the
rest occurred without any con-
scious awareness.

It is, of course, a most com-

’ By RALPH PARKER

MOSCOW
‘HE story of how two per-
manent Arctic. obsérvation

floes drifting in the vicinity
of the North Pole has thrilled
every Russian who has ever
watched his country’s great
frozen rivers break up in the
Spring:

The 1954 expedition — a
complex affair consisting of
the establishment of two float-
ing stations and the carrying-
out of an elaborate air survey
of the Polar region—is. a con-
tinuation of work begun in

resumed on a modest scale in
1950 and now being pushed
forward with new techniques.

- The fundamental aim of this

stations were set. up on ice .

1937, interrupted by the war, ’

Study of the central part of
the Arctic Ocean is the study
of natural conditions to enable
accurate weather forecasts to
be made for the benefit of
navigation along the northern
coast of the USSR and of the
Soviet land mass as a whole.
This involves study of the
movement of the ice mass,

_and this in turn means study-

ing the bed, currents and com-
position of the entire Arctic
Basin. For it goes without
saying that the ice drift. is
. dependent on atmospheric and
hydrological conditions and on
the relief of the ocean bed.

It was when they combined
polar flying with ice-floe drift-
ing that the Russians introduc-
ed a note of novelty into Arc-
tic exploration. :

That was in 1937 when a
Soviet heavy transport plane
landed on an ice floe near the
North Pole and left four men
led by Papanin to establish
a camp. NP-1 (North Pole-1)
as this scientific research post
was known was located ‘on a
floe about ten feet thick.

The fioe began to drift fast
in the direction of the Green-
land Sea where in a six-day
storm it broke up. Its occu-
pants had been drifting for
274 days during which they
covered over 1,500 miles when
they were picked up by Soviet
icebreakers.

Among the scientific ach-

ievements \of NP-1 was the

measuring of the depth of the
Arctic Ocean,’ the discovery of

- warm currents and the gather-
ing of much new data about
the variability of the Arctic
climate.

In 1941 the polar flier Ivan

_ Cherevichny took a flying lab-
oratory equipped for meteor-
ological, hydrological and mag-

netic research on three flights

A Soviet scientific research station on the Central Arctic ice pack.

to ice floes, on each of which
he and his plane spent several
days. In 65 days Cherevichny
covered a distance of over 15,-
000 miles.

Intensive polar research in
the post-war years led Soviet
scientists to conclude that the
Arctic Ocean was divided by
a massive submarine range.
The ice to the west of this
range drifts in an anti-clock-

_ wise direction;

east of it in a clockwise di-
rection. The hypothesis was
advanced that the magnetic
anomaly which gave rise to
the theory of a second mag-
netic pole was in fact connect-
ed with the submarine moun-
tain range. :

In 1950-51 an expedition un-
der Dr. M. Somov drifted for
13 months. :

E:) *
With this experience behind
it the Northern Sea Ways
Board, jointly with the USSR
Academy of Sciences, set about
organizing the 1954 expedi-
tion.

Early last spring well-known
polar fliers made_ several
sweeps over the eastern and

central area of the Arctic |

Ocean in search of ice floes
suitable for the establishment
of permanent camps. They al-
so had to chart a route along
which supplies could be drop-
ped to the camps.

‘At a point 85 degrees N. a
large level ice floe was sight-
ed and a landing made; but
this floe was found to be a
one-year-old and one-year-olds
have a tendency to split. A
second heavy plane landed on
this floe.

Soon afterwards an. oval-
shaped floe consisting of old
ice some nine feet thick was
sighted and supplies shifted to
it from the original landing

Life on a polar ice floe

place by light plane and heli-

‘der the supervision of Ivan

that to the.

copter; thus was NP-3 estab-
lished. -

The scientific stations which\

are now drifting in the Arctic
consist of tents designed on
the model of the yarangas of
the Chukchi people, with
duralumin frames and special
insulating materials, and ‘col-
lapsible huts. Gas and coal
heating enables the occupants
to dispense with sleeping bags
and to sleep in bed.
_ Each camp has tractors,
jeeps and helicopters; can-
teens and bath houses. Emer-
gency sites equipped with
wireless and, caches of food
and fuel are ready and the
camps can be swiftly trans-
ferred by motor vehicle or
helicopter in the event of the
ice floes splitting.

During the three months of
research into all branches of
knowledge concerning the Arc-
tic that has been going on
since the camps were establish-
ed an elaborate air survey un-

’

‘not clear from the reports.

_ ent.

Cherevichny has been conduct-
ed. Flying weather observa-
tories have been upsdaily giv-
ing systematic data about
weather over the Arctic Ocean
and carrying out observations
on, the ice cover.

The regularity of communi-
cations has added much to the
amenities of life at the North
Pole. Mail, even fresh flowers,
from Moscow, coal supplies,
gas cylinders, fresh food, visi-
tors come frequently. Reports
from the ice floes speak of ,
film - shows, musical “even-
ings” and radio operators
raising onions, radishes and
lettuce in indoor frames.

Whether the drifting sta-
tions are intended to remain
through the coming winter is

True, the director of the Main
Northern Sea Ways Board re-
fers to the stations as perman-
But permanence is pre-
sumably a relative conception
to men living on an ice floe.

: fie 4 \ es _ t 4
New rose is named Atom Bomb
thee man who brought “Peace” and Wheatcroft said: “Just sland

-——the most popular new rose
since the war — to Britain, is
showing a new rose, made in Ger-
many, and called Atom Bomb. _

He is Harry Wheatcroft, well-
known Nottingham rose grower.
He showed Atom Bomb, a bunchy,
bright crimson flower, at the Au-
tumn Show of the National Rose

Society in London last week:

“IT begged its creator to change
the name,” he said, “but his line
is that while people are foolish
euough to allow the making of
atom bombs, they should be con-
stantly reminded of their exist-

ence.”

Not many people, however, will
cerder a rose with such a name

by and hear the comments on what
a horrible name it is.”

Wheatcroft is organising the
supply of roses being sent from
Britain to Lidice, the Czech~ vil-

rebuilt, for a memorial garden.

But he will not include Atom
Bomb among the varieties he
sends there, although when asked
what varieties would be sent he
only waved his hand and replied:
“All the best.”

‘Outstanding among new vari-
eties at the show is a brilliant
crimson climbing hybrid perpetu-
al, called Dance de Feu, and a
blinding scarlet polyantha called
Korona. ;

“the like,

lage destroyed by Hitler and since

plex mechanism. Consider just
ene small phase of the action, the
uiuscle component. The centres
which control the muscles até
signalled and their action chang
ed. The previous pattern’ of
stimulations which were connect
ed with operating a car in M0
tion, is altered. A new nerve
stimulation pattern is brought 1
to action which causes the car t0
be brought to a stop.

Then the light turns green and
the whole new complex of ner
vous stimulation is sent into the
brain to be interpreted for action
to get the car into motion agaln-

This example of how the cet

tral nervous system operates 15) _

of course, greatly over-simplified.
Rut it will serve to illustrate one
of the jobs our brain does for
us

the traffic light signal principle

ve

to check the operation of the ce”

tral nervous system. Thousands -
of experiments have been per
formed and are still being Pet
formed at_ scientific 1
throughout the Soviet Union,
each adding more and more facts
about the intricacies of the way.
the system affects all aspects of
body functions. ies

*

Pavlov began his work at the
turn of the century and contil-
ued them for the remaining
years of his life. He sho
how every body function from

the heart beat to kidney functioD, —

to heat regulation and so 0%

can and does get associated with ea,

many “traffic light” signals: _
He showed that this phenome-

- non is carried out by the ‘highest

part of the central nervous SYS
tem — the cerebral cortex, oF
brain. ©
He showed how disturbances
are produced in organs and other
systems when the brain is made
unhealthy; and how the bralt
has ways of compensating for
disturbances in its signallin’
pathways. Meee Tae !
This man, whose work was
lauded by Canada’s great med
cal scientist. and co-discoverer °
insulin, Sir Frederick . Bantine
has pointed the way in which
Science can come to understand
the processes of the entire net
vous system and from them
work out principles to maintallt
health and restore it when it has
been lost. :
That goal is within the reach
of science—impeded only by the
eold war. ©
Could there but be—and there
must be—peace and the friendly
‘interchange of. scientific knoOW
ledge among all men of science,

~ the dread disease-killers such 45

institutes >

isease

Pavlov and his co-workers used vie

‘

cancer, polio, heart disease av@

Man could learn to react to dis
ease as he does to a traffic light

But most beautiful is a bis
‘apricot-colored single flower, Ca”
ed Meg, created in ‘his back garde?

could be conquered.

by a modest doctor. Dr. A.C. V> —

Gosset, of Liphook, who wins the
Soeiety’s gold medal for it.

Dr. Gosset grew the rose first
in 1936, but was “too busy to at
anything about exhibiting it” til
now. : ‘

And he doesn’t know who Mes’s
parents were because “the names

got rubbed off the labels during

the war.” ;

She may.be a foundling, but

her exquisite sprays of long buGS
and glowing, slightly frilly flow
ers, make it certain that sh ill
go far. NS : ‘

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 24, 1954 — PAG

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