Awake!, October 22, 1969
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Can Religion Appeal to Youths Today? PAGE 5
A Warning from Ancient Rome
PAGE 9
Dog Towns of the American West
PAGE 134
Women of the Far East in the Twentieth Century PAGE 21
OCTOBER 22,1969
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awake!" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; it is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
The viewpoint of "Awakel" is not narrow, but is international. "Awakel" has its own correspondents in scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.
In every issue "Awake!" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting
the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awakel" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awakel!" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of God's righteous new order in this generation.
Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!"
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CONTENTS
What's Happening to
Heart Transplants? 3
Most Widely Used Languages 4
Can Religion Appeal to Youths Today? 5
The People Who Farm 8
A Warning from Ancient Rome 9
A Mosquito Killer 12
Dog Towns of the American West 13
Fantastic Light with a Future 17
'Gaps in Man's Knowledge' 20
Women of the Far East in the Twentieth Century 21
The Little Dots That Move People 24
"Your Word Is Truth"
Bible Prophecy Is Not of Private Interpretation 27
Watching the World 29
London, England, October 22, 1969
Number 20
What's Happening to HEART TRANSPLANTS?
THE death of Philip Blaiberg in South Africa marked the end of an era for many in the medical profession. Blaiberg, who died in August, was the world's longest-surviving heart transplant patient. He had lived over a year and a half since the operation, a total of 594 days.
Blaiberg's death prompted a sobering review of the future of heart transplants. As Houston heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley said: "As long as he was alive, so was the heart transplant program. But now we must consider whether to continue or not."
What is the major problem that is causing such a reassessment? It can be noted in a statement that gave the cause of Blaiberg's death as "chronic heart rejection." While the technical aspects of the transplant surgery had been a success, at the very moment that the new heart was received a fierce struggle began, one that Blaiberg would be losing every day thereafter. That struggle was his body's "rejection" of the "foreign" element, the second heart.
God created man with a marvelous mechanism for protection against disease-bearing germs and viruses. This mechanism enables the body to go to work immediately to begin attacking any foreign substances introduced into it. While not fully understood, it appears that the main factor involved is a type of white blood cell, called the lymphoid, or lymph cell. Humans have thousands of millions of these lymph cells. These have a "built-in" ability to recognize other cells in the body. When they recognize cells that belong to the body, the lymph cells remain passive. But when they recognize cells that do not belong to the body, then they manufacture antibodies that attack the invaders, either neutralizing or destroying them.
In acute, or immediate, rejection the transplanted cells that are attacked swell up and die a sudden, massive death. However, in other instances, the rejection proceeds at a slower pace. In Blaiberg's case, the rejection was slow. But while slow, it was relentless. His body's defenses never let up attacking the foreign cells of the new heart.
The medical profession tries to counteract this rejection process. But doing so presents them with a serious dilemma. If the process can be slowed by the use of various drugs, the new organ will not be rejected as quickly.
However, the more the suppression, the less the body can defend itself against disease-bearing germs. So while drugs may delay the rejection process, they also lower resistance so that the patient may contract other illnesses.
Blaiberg contracted hepatitis in about six months. Then he got pneumonia. By a delicate balance of drugs that counteracted the rejection process and drugs that counteracted the new illnesses, he was kept alive. Yet, all the time the rejection continued without letup.
What condition was his second heart in at the time of his death? The New York Times of August 19, 1969, reported: "So much of Dr. Blaiberg's heart muscle was destroyed, in fact, that his heart was back to the condition of his original heart before the transplant operation, doctors said."
Another heart transplant was out of the question. Why? Because, as Time magazine of August 29 stated, his deteriorating new heart "could no longer pump enough blood to his lungs to pick up oxygen for his body's needs, or to his kidneys to sustain their vital filtering function. As a result, these organs had also deteriorated."
A sober reappraisal of heart transplants comes because doctors know that they cannot halt the rejection mechanism at this time. As Dr. Christian Barnard, who performed Blaiberg's transplant, admitted: "I have never bluffed myself or the world that we have a cure. It is not possible to prevent rejection, but only to slow down the process." That is why there are so few long-term survivors. As of August, of 141 patients who had undergone heart transplants, only 29 survived.
A similar rejection is at work in other types of transplants. Figures reveal the following: lung transplants—20 recipients, one survivor; pancreas transplants—10 recipients, one survivor; liver transplants—100 recipients, 14 survivors. In kidney transplants, among persons not related 58 percent die within a year, persons related having a higher survival rate.
Because of the low rate of survival, and the short term, many institutions have taken a hard look at transplantes, particularly those of the heart. Cleveland cardiologist Dr. Irvine H. Page said: "The results in heart transplantation do not warrant the time, expense and risk." A New Orleans cardiologist Dr. G. E. Burch declared: "It is an injustice to hold out hope to a sufferer at this time that a heart transplant is the solution."
No person in his right mind wants to die. Life is precious, so man wants to live. But cannibalizing human organs is not the answer to longevity. The answer can come only in Jehovah God's new order after the end of this system of things. As God's inspired Word guarantees at Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more."
Long life, yes, everlasting life, will then be available, not if one can find a heart donor and can afford the medical bills, but to all who exercise faith in Jehovah's provision for eternal life through the ransom sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ. What a delight life will be then! It is with good reason that the Bible calls it "the real life"!-1 Tim. 6:19; John 3:16.
Most Widely Used Languages
Chinese is used by more people than any other language, but is confined mostly to Asia. English is used by about 400,000,000 people, more than any language except Chinese. But English is used in many more places on earth than Chinese is.
CAN RELIGION APPEAL TO YOUTHS
DO YOU realize that almost one-half of all people living today are under twenty years of age? These hundreds of millions of youths are growing up in a confused world. Many are becoming increasingly disillusioned by what they consider to be the failure of their elders. In their despondency some have turned their backs completely on God.
The principal of a Catholic high school in Victoria, Canada, revealed that 75 to 80 percent of his Grade 12 students admitted that God had little or no meaning for them, that high-school religious instruction made little or no impression on them. "I love God but
I hate the church," one teen-ager said. This reflects the increasingly common feeling that the church is just another part of the "Establishment," and has abdicated its position as exemplar and guide.
TODAY?
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Why are youths often soured on religion? Is any religion attractive to them?
But is religion really incompatible with youth? Is it simply not possible for progressive-minded young folks of today to find answers to their problems through religion? Are you one who feels that religion and youth just do not mix?
Whatever you personally believe, undoubtedly you would like to hear both sides of the matter. To do this, consider how two students with different viewpoints might discuss the subject.
Hypocritical Religion
"Cesar, it's good to see you again. I thought I'd meet you at the youth rally we held last week, but
I didn't see you there. I notice
you don't run around
with the old crowd anymore.
Where have you been keeping
yourself?"
"Well, Pedro, I have been quite busy lately. You know, I have been studying the Bible."
"You? Studying religion? I'd never have believed it! What could religion possibly offer a fellow like you? I haven't been to church in a long time. I think religion is outmoded and dying out."
"I know how you feel. That's exactly what my sentiments were before I began studying the Bible. But look at it this way, Pedro. If a lawyer failed
to keep up with the law and began to advise his clients simply on the basis of his own ideas, would you blame the law because the clients were misled?"
"Of course not. It's the lawyer's fault."
"Exactly. And that's how it is with God's law. The majority of the churches today are not applying God's laws found in the Bible. Instead, they follow their own traditions and philosophies. It was like that when Jesus was on earth. He told the religious leaders of his day: 'You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.' And then he quoted God as saying: 'It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.' (Matt. 15:6, 9) True, some of the clergy have made attempts to 'modernize,' but instead of applying God's law they have ended up merely conforming to the world and so have lost their influence.
But the Bible itself is really up-to-date and has given me some excellent counsel."
"Well, I have nothing against the Bible, but it's all those sanctimonious 'holier-than-thou' airs that disturb me. I see people go to church pretending to be good, then come out and act worse than before. If there's one thing I hate, it's hypocrisy. I think I'm as good as they are even without going to church."
"At least you're honest in your views, Pedro, and that's good. A hypocrite claims to be one thing and does another. But look at what the Bible says about hypocrisy, here at Matthew 23:3: 'All the things they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say but do not perform.'
"Also in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 it says that many hypocritical persons would arise in the 'fast days' and that we should avoid them. It says that they would have a form of godly devotion, but prove false to its power. So it's not surprising that there is so much hypocrisy today, but still this shouldn't embitter us against God or make us feel that all religion is wrong. If you had lived during the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, I don't think you would have rejected Jesus as 'just another Pharisee,' would you? So, it wouldn't be wise to judge all religions as false because many of them fail to set the right example."
"Well, I think you've made your point there, Cesar. But, really, is there any religion today that has that 'power' you were talking about?"
Religion Free from Hypocrisy
"Yes, there is. Since I've been studying with Jehovah's witnesses I have found a people who really do practice God's principles without hypocrisy. As to the 'power,' I can testify that it is really there. Take my case, for example.
"You remember how at night I'd wait until everyone in the house was asleep and then I'd sneak out quietly to join the rest of the gang. And you know how we used to 'live it up,' vandalizing property, stealing, smoking 'pot' and getting drunk. Looking back, I realize that I was the hypocrite, pretending to be one thing to my parents' face, and doing just the opposite behind their back."
"I guess you're right at that, Cesar, although I'd not thought about it like that before. Here I am condemning hypocrisy, but I've practiced my share of it too."
"Well, I used to think that all young folks acted like that, so I suppose I just went along with the crowd. But one day I was invited to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses and I saw some young people there who were really serious, clean and happy. It made me think. At first, I was cynical and some of my questions must have sounded a bit belligerent, but the Witnesses were understanding and their answers made sense.
"Since then I've spent quite a bit of time associating with Jehovah's witnesses and have found them to be sincere people with high standards, and they really try to live up to them. So I began studying the Bible, and now I have changed quite a few of my views as well as a lot of my bad habits."
Realizing Genuine Freedom
"But don't you find that religion stifles your freedom? I mean, you won't be able to have good times with us anymore, will you?"
"That's what I thought at the beginning, Pedro, but it just isn't true. I thought I was really free and enjoying myself when we were going around with the gang with nobody to interfere with us. But now I realize that I was a slave to my own desire to be 'mod' and conform.
Besides, weren't we always hiding our activities from our parents and the authorities, ending up frustrated and tense?
"I've learned from the Bible that man was given freedom by God, but it is a limited freedom, bounded by reasonable restrictions. At Revelation 4:11 the Bible tells us that we were created because of God's will, and so we exist primarily to do that will of God. When we have proper guidance then we can safely enjoy the freedom God gave us, but without that guidance we may well abuse our minds and bodies, especially since we are still young and lacking in experience. Only now am I experiencing real freedom—freedom from wrong thinking, bad habits and a bad conscience. It is a safe freedom, since it is bounded by the supreme authority, Almighty God."
A Time for Serious Consideration
"But I have always felt that youth is a time to enjoy myself, to be happy-golucky, leaving more serious matters until we're older."
"That has been the thought of many, but you notice now how many high school and college students, including yourself, Pedro, are taking a more active interest in serious things than before. In fact, youth is the time to think deeply and lay the foundations for future life. Why, it is possible to ruin your entire life by just one bad mistake when you are young! What the Bible says at Galatians 6:7 is really true: 'Whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.'
"Look at the number of suicides among young people. In the United States, for example, suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, and there may be as many as 5,000 suicides a year in the age-group from fifteen to
nineteen. What a shame to have lost all desire to live, when in fact the best years of life are still ahead! Isn't it better to listen carefully to more experienced people, thus laying a good foundation for future life?"
Materialistic Goals Unsatisfying
"But if youth is a time to prepare for the future, wouldn't it be better to get a good education and prepare for a good job, rather than study religion?"
"I agree that a good education is a fine help and I have tried to study hard myself to lay a good foundation of knowledge, but materialistic goals alone are not enough. Take, for instance, our own city. Would you say that the only ones who are restless and in many cases violent among the youth are the children of poor parents?"
"No, in fact I have read in the newspapers that a large number of those who commit crimes are sons of the more affluent."
"So, doesn't that show that a purely materialistic philosophy is impractical? Many of these young men and women are materially self-sufficient, but still they lack something. They are restless. They need spiritual and moral guidance if they are to avoid the frustrations of today's world.
"As you know, Pedro, I was very ambitious when in high school. I wanted to land a good job and really be somebody in the world. But since studying the Bible I have learned to be more balanced. My goal now is not just to make money or 'be somebody,' but to serve God and respect his principles so as to gain the hope he offers of eternal life in real happiness."
Student Efforts Insufficient
"Don't you think, though, that these student demonstrations we have been staging are for the ultimate good of the community?"
"It's true that many of the students are sincere in their desire for a change. But really, Pedro, are not many of the students demonstrating about local school problems, often minor injustices, rather than about major wrongs?
"Also, there is always the danger in a demonstration of losing one's control or of having radical or criminal elements take advantage of your cause. You have to admit that during the recent demonstrations at the university quite a bit of damage was done to property. Then again, if the demands of the students are met on one point, this will encourage more agitation and more demands until law and order may break down in a state of anarchy. Then the community would suffer rather than benefit, wouldn't it?
"We often hear of 'student power' and it is a very real power. But power without control can be very dangerous, just as an atom bomb in the wrong hands would be disastrous. I'm sure you remember what happened in Communist China not too long ago. The 'Red Guards' were sent out to implement the government's cultural revolution, but eventually the government had to control the 'Red Guards' stringently because they got out of hand."
"Yes, I can see that, but at least youth is trying to get things accomplished."
"True, youth is idealistic. But keep in mind that the 'Establishment' of today is composed of men who were once youths. No doubt they too felt that they could solve all the world's problems if given the chance. But once in power they often find
that the problems are far more complicated than they had realized, and that they are becoming more difficult as time goes on."
"What does the Bible say we should do, then?"
"The Bible counsels us at Romans 13:1 to 'be in subjection to the superior authorities.' That means obeying the laws and respecting authority. That is what Jehovah's witnesses do. This doesn't mean that they are satisfied with the present system of things. Far from it."
The Bible's Solution
"The Bible explains that neither adults nor youths, no matter how sincere their efforts may be, can solve the world's problems. Rather, it is God alone, through his kingdom, who will bring an end to the entire unjust system and establish a righteous rule that is far beyond our greatest expectations.
"This is where I have placed my hope, Pedro, and this is where I am devoting my time and energy, because it is only through the true worship of God and this way of life that I have found real meaning to life. I would like to recommend that you look into this for yourself, Pedro, and I'm sure you will find the answers to the questions you have about life and the future."
"Well, Cesar, you've certainly made me think. I never dreamed that I would think of taking up religion again, but from what you've said I would like to sit in on your Bible studies. If that religion can make such a change in you and give you a real purpose in living, then maybe that's really what I'm looking for."
THE PEOPLE WHO FARM
In the United States and Canada, fewer than 8 of every 100 persons live on farms. In Asia, South America, and parts of Europe, over half the people are farmers. About 70 of every 100 Africans farm as a way of life.
A WARNING FROM
LYING for business advantage; crime in the streets; sexual immorality and easy divorce; entertainment that features brutality. Does that sound like a description of the world in which you live? It is! But did you know that it is also a description of ancient Rome?
These very practices so weakened the Roman Empire that, in 476 C.E., it collapsed before its enemies, just as a mighty tree that is rotten inside crashes to the earth in a storm. There is a warning in this for us.
Lovers of Money
The Romans were materialists who lived for the possessions they could gather about themselves. Since money bought these things, they sought it with avarice, having no scruples as to how they got it. A Roman writer by the name of Martial revealed the general attitude of the Roman gentry when he urged a friend who tended to be honest to leave Rome. Why? Because this friend was not a parasite, could not tell lies like an auctioneer, could not cheat old ladies out of their property, sell false political or gambling rumors or in other ways get money by corrupt means.
Love for money made wealthy old men who were bachelors very popular in Rome. They were fawned upon by acquaintances who had hopes of being mentioned in their wills. Describing this, the book A Day in Old Rome, by William S. Davis, observes: "The rich bachelor is sure of obsequious service from innumerable quarters. The more he coughs and the paler he grows, the more the presents he receives
and the more do loudly condoling friends press to his bedside. They reach the very depth of servility, and sometimes they are rewarded." Once mentioned in a will it was not beyond one of these friends to hasten the bachelor's death.
As might be expected among these money-loving people, street crime was high. After sundown people did not venture out on unlit streets unless accompanied by friends or slaves with torches. Dagger men were lurking on the streets. There were also lawless young nobles who would room the streets in groups, taking evil pleasure in beating up poorly guarded persons found traveling the streets at night.
Justice in the courts was for the man who had money and who was able to put on an appearance of wealth by wearing handsome rings and a fine toga. If a person's appearance did not reflect riches, the jurors would assume that he was a nobody and would vote against him. Regarding this, the book Beacon Lights of History by John Lord states: "What shall we say of the boasted justice, when judgments were rendered on technical points, and generally in favor of those who had the longest purses; so that it was not only expensive to go to law, but so expensive that it was ruinous?
What could be hoped of laws, however good, when they were made the channels of extortion, when the occupation of the Bench Itself was the great instrument by which powerful men protected their monopolies?"
Even in the days of the Christian apostle Paul, 400 years before the fall of Rome, bribery of public officials was not uncommon. The Roman Procurator, Felix, kept Paul in prison for two years, awaiting trial, in hope of getting a bribe from him. Acts 24:26, 27.
Without Self-Control
Being materialists, the Romans catered to the lusts of the flesh in every conceivable way. The book Decline and Full of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon states: "The greater part of the nobles, who dissipated their fortunes in profuse luxury, found themselves poor in the midst of wealth, and idle in a constant round of dissipation. Their desires were continually gratified by the labour of a thousand hands; of the numerous train of their domestic slaves, who were actuated by the fear of punishment; and of the various professions of artificers and merchants, who were more powerfully impelled by the hopes of gain."
Wives had their extramarital love affairs and husbands had their mistresses. Even teen-age boys frequented the brothels and had affairs with women and men. Divorce was easy. All a person had to do was to tell his mate before witnesses: "Take away your property!" It was not uncommon for a couple to separate, marry elsewhere, separate again and resume the
old marriage. Some women boasted, as is commemorated on their tombs, of having had eight husbands in five autumns.
The book Roman Imperial Civilisation by Harold Mattingly remarks: "There was room for many virtues of private life, for devotion of husband and wife, for firm family loyalties. But there was much to justify the Christian protest. Standards were too low; immorality was taught by theatre and public shows, and marriages were too easily undertaken and broken."
When it came to eating and drinking, the Romans here too manifested lack of self-control. Their banquets very often developed into orgies. Emetics would be served to the guests so they could vomit in a place specially designed for that purpose and then return to the banquet table and continue indulging in the sensual pleasure of eating and drinking.
An actual tomb inscription expressing the self-indulgent attitude of the Romans says: "Bathing, wine, and love-affairs—these hurt our bodies, but they make life worth living. I've lived my days. I revelled, and I drank all that I desired. Once I was not; then I was; now I am not again—but I don't care."
A Brutal People
The fine qualities of compassion, mercy, kindness and empathy were not common among the Romans. They were so morally corrupt that they were insensible to the welfare or sufferings of others. Gibbon states: "In the exercise of domestic jurisdiction the nobles of Rome express an exquisite sensibility for any personal injury, and a contemptuous indifference for the rest of the human species. When they have called for warm water, if a slave has been tardy in his obedience, he is instantly chastised with three hundred lashes; but should the same slave commit a wilful murder, the master will mildly observe that he is a worthless fellow, but if he repeats the offence he shall not escape punishment."
In Roman arenas the people took particular delight in watching gladiators kill one another and wild beasts tearing humans or other beasts apart. The book The Historian's History of the World by Henry Smith Williams observes: "We must remember that these things were not done casually, or under the influence of some
fessor at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said: "No sexual act between persons competent to give mutual consent should be prohibited, except when it involves either the seduction of minors or an offense against the public order." Is this not like ancient Rome?
Sexual promiscuity, the use of sense stimulating drugs and overindulgence in alcohol are all part of the frantic pursuit
strange fit of popular frenzy. They were done purposely, systematically, and calmly; they formed the staple amusement, I had almost said the normal employment, of a whole people, whose one audible cry was for 'panem et circenses,' 'bread and blood.'"
You Reap What You Sow
By living for sensual pleasures and for material things the Romans selfishly sowed with a view to the flesh, and so reaped corruption as a result of it. This is
of sensual pleasures that has engulfed not only young people but adults as well. As a result venereal diseases are reaching epidemic proportions despite modern forms of treatment; illegitimate births and abortions are on the increase, and alcoholism and drug addiction are rapidly growing problems.
From World War II to 1961 male homosexuality in Great Britain alone rose 600 percent, and in 1967 illegitimate births there reached 70,000. According to the Chicago's American of March 11, 1968.
a fundamental law expressed in the Bible: "Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap; because he who is sowing with a view to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh." (Gal. 6:7, 8) The cultivation of vices can lead in only one direction and that is downward to ever lower levels of depravity as was so vividly demonstrated by the Romans.
We see today the same process in operation world wide. Moral decay is grow-
the illegitimacy rate in the United States between the years 1938 and 1965 skyrocketed, not only among youths, but especially among adults. The paper reported that the illegitimacy rate "for the 15-19 age group of mothers increased 123 per cent." Then it said: "But in the 40-and-over age group, it increased 300 per cent; the 35-39 group, 400 per cent; the 30-40 group, 673 per cent."
A mother in Rhodesia said: "My daughter had an abortion just after she was 17.
ing steadily worse. Many groups of young persons advocate sexual freedom; many male college students think nothing of bringing co-eds into their room for the night or of setting up housekeeping without being married; and some religious leaders speak out in defense of homosexuality.
Expressing the free and easy view being taken of sex, Dr. Joseph Fletcher, a pro OCTOBER 22, 1969
... Today no young girl is safe. If mothers dare to ask their daughters the truth (and get it) they may get a nasty shock." How much like ancient Rome!
Entertainment
As with the Roman Empire, entertainment today is not usually conducive to instilling good morals, respect for human life, compassion and unselfishness. In The Saturday Evening Post of November 5, 1960, the following observation was made regarding popular literature and theater: "Realism [in literature] turned out to be sex, sadism, shock and degeneracy.
. . . Likewise in our theater the only valid material has come to be obscenity, blasphemy and decadence, our tastes so jaded that the nuances of normal human behavior no longer interest us. There is a grim historic precedent for this. The stuffed and bored Roman aristocrates, for kicks, ate a sauce made from putrefied fish while they watched people being torn apart in the arena."
With every imaginable form of human brutality, sadism and moral degeneracy being depicted regularly on television and movie screens as "entertainment." is not the present generation like the Romans who eagerly watched similar things in their theaters and arenas?
We also see today the same overpowering love for money that contributed to the corruption of the Roman Empire. In business and in government right principles too often give way before the greedy pursuit of money. In countries all over the world moral decay is manifested in the regular practice of bribing government officials in order to get a contract approved, get things past customs, and so forth. From time to time misconduct by political leaders in taking bribes or misusing public funds becomes so scandalous it gets into the newspapers. So people are usually well aware of the existence of political corruption.
With respect to this greed for money Dr. Stuart A. MacCorkle, director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, remarked: "It seems to me that the theme of the day is to take all you can regardless of how you get it—and a lot of this attitude is seeping down from high places." It manifests itself in growing employee dishonesty, the underhanded practices so common in the business world and in the persistently rising crime rate. Out of love for money lawless youths and adults are making city streets as unsafe to walk as were the streets in ancient Rome.
What are we to conclude when we see all these evidences of moral decay in the world today? Is it not obvious that the world is following a similar path? This time, however, it is not only one nation, or one empire, that is infected; it is the entire global system of things.
Seeing the trend of things back in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the historian John Lord said, after writing about the fall of the Roman Empire: "But if amid our magnificent triumphs of science and art, we should accept the Epicureanism of the ancients and fall into their ways of life, then there would be the same decline which marked them. I mean in virtue and public morality, and there would be the same penalty." This time, however, there will be a difference.
The ultimate fall of the present system of things will come, not at the hands of men, but as a judgment from God, as was foretold long ago in Bible prophecy. It is there in the Bible that we also find hope for something better—a righteous new system of God's making that will never develop internal moral decay. We do well to inform ourselves about it.
Fish are the chief enemies of mosquitoes, which in many areas spread the dreaded diseases, malaria and yellow fever. Fish destroy mosquitoes by eating their eggs.
DOG TOWNS of the American West
STRANGE, is it not, that there are animals that build their own towns and prefer the civic atmosphere to isolation? Stranger still that they should have housing regulations, police service, precinct divisions and a considerable measure of civic pride. Like the Indians and the buffaloes, however, they are a swiftly disappearing feature of America's Great Plains. Yes, we refer to prairie dogs—now mainly to be found in protected parklands.
At one time these dog towns were numerous and vast—one of them, in the Staked Plain of upper Texas, extending a thousand miles in width and some 250 miles long, and having an estimated population of 400,000,000. The advent of the cattlemen and their huge herds brought with it a declaration of war upon these dog towns—a war of extermination. Human combatants did not hesitate to resort to poison gas. No mercy was shown. Young and old, male and female, all were to be slain.
In the process of justifying this slaughter, the claim was made that the forage of the Great Plains was insufficient to support the millions of prairie dogs as well as the swiftly multiplying herds of the
cattlemen. Every 256 prairie dogs, it was said, ate as much forage as one cow, 32 of them as much as one sheep. Besides, did not their burrows constitute a grave danger to the livestock—resulting in broken legs? So the campaign went on and on, without regard to any possible benefits that might accrue to the land as a result of prairie-dog activities.
Meet Mr. Prairie Dog
Of course, you are in for a surprise when you meet Mr. Prairie Dog, for he is not a dog after all. He is a yellowish-brown little rodent, twelve to fifteen inches long, standing some five inches at the shoulder, plump and short-legged, and having a stubby tail that wags up and down instead of sideways. He looks more like the cottontail rabbit—that is, without the rabbit ears, for his ears are tiny, round things, closely set and giving him a somewhat flathead look. In weight he varies between one and a half and three pounds.
Note some of his other characteristics. His forepaws are equipped with long claws, ideal for digging. His eyes are quite unusual. They have orange-colored lenses that act as filters to help him withstand the intense glare of the sun.
Placed well forward, they are about the first thing to appear above the surface when he is emerging from his home.
In his youth Mr. Prairie Dog is quite playful. When excited, even in adulthood, he lets out sharp little barks. Perhaps you can begin to appreciate why the little rodent should get the name "prairie dog," what with bark and wagging tail and other characteristics that remind you of playful little yellowish puppies. In zoological circles, however, he gets a name that means "dog-mouse."
Town House à la Prairie Dog
The prairie dog lives and breeds underground. His burrow is really engineered—not merely a hole in the ground. The entrance hole, six to eight inches wide, is set in the midst of a miniature volcano crater. This is because he has purposely built a rampart one or two feet high, having a circumference of from twelve to fourteen feet. And there may be as many as twenty of these to every acre. The burrow entrance leads into a precipitous tunnel descending perhaps fourteen feet, then turning sharply and continuing horizontally for some distance before gradually inclining toward the surface again to what is apparently a dead end. Actually, however, that dead end is so close to the surface that the prairie dog can use it as an escape hatch whenever danger threatens.
The main tunnel has several short branches turning off to the right or the left. One of them not far from the surface seems to be a sort of guardroom or listening room as well as a place to turn around to check whether intruders are following. In the other passages there may be bedchambers, one of them at least the delivery room where the tiny half-ounce pups are born in litters of about five-blind, hairless and voiceless. By the fourth
week they are already well furred; by the fifth the eyes are open, and they make their first feeble barks; by the sixth they are ready to accompany mother on the first trip to the surface.
A New Neighbor Moves In
When a prairie pup is grown up and decides he needs his own home, he will first select the spot, and begin digging with sharp claws, passing the loose earth under his belly and kicking it backward with rear feet. At times he will be seen pushing the loose earth before him with strong forepaws; at other times, emerging backward, kicking out the earth with powerful strokes of the hind legs. Perhaps a younger animal will peer into the hole inquisitively only to be met with a barrage of flying earth that sends it tumbling backward in surprise.
The first of the loose earth is used to form that circular rampart around the entrance. The dog carries loads of the moist earth to the desired spot, and then rams and packs it into a firm condition by repeated drives with his flat nose. As the creature works he holds his body in a curved position, shoulders bent, so that the body can act as a powerful tamping machine, driving the hammerlike muzzle into the earth. Before the dwelling is completed, the little builder may bring as much as twenty bushels of material to the surface.
That circular rampart serves as a protection against flooding when unduly heavy rainfalls soak the plains. The far end of the burrow is very useful too. Not merely does it provide refuge when some burrowing enemy has pursued the prairie dog into its home, but also it provides an air pocket in which the dog can find refuge until floodwaters subside. The craterlike entrance porch serves both as a lookout station and a convenient point from which to exchange gossip with the neighbors.
In a prairie-dog town each animal finds itself a member of a clan or "coterie," as it is called. Each "coterie" occupies a distinct precinct of the town, and dogs of another clan are not welcome. At the approach of a strange dog the first one noticing him will jump abruptly on his hind legs, raising its forepaws in the air and giving a loud yip. That constitutes a territorial warning, and right away there are responses from neighboring mounds as, one after another, local dogs express protest at the intrusion. On the other hand, dogs of the same "coterie" use one another's burrows, groom one another's fur, and are constantly at play.
During the heat of the noonday, activity is at a minimum as the little creatures retire to their burrows for a siesta. But early in the morning and in late afternoon the whole town will be astir. Scores of dogs will be stretched out on the ground while companions go over their fur, cleaning and dressing it. Others squirm and wriggle in the dust to rid themselves of fleas and ticks. Younger animals will engage in games. One will chase another until, like a football tackler, he can bring him down. Then they reverse positions, and the chased becomes the chaser.
There are always sentries on the watch, standing at rigid attention, scanning now the earth and now the sky with beady eyes. At first sight or sound of the unusual, they will yip out a warning. Two sharp barks and every prairie dog within earshot scurries to its own mound and stands upright. As soon as they see the enemy approach they duck into their burrows. And many an enemy they have, in addition to humans. Badgers, coyotes, foxes, black-footed ferrets, rattlesnakes and ground owls will invade the burrows at times. Eagles and hawks will swoop down
from the sky on any dog-town citizen that has ventured too far from the home base.
Prairie dogs have been known to seal off a burrow into which a snake has trespassed. And as a precaution against skulking ground enemies, citizens keep the plant life around their entrances for many yards cut quite short, thus depriving unfriendly intruders of cover.
Shopping and Socializing
The prairie dog simply forages for what he needs as he needs it. And his diet, though largely vegetarian, is varied. He relishes wheatgrass, bromegrass, grama grass, Russian thistle, sagebrush, prickly pear and saltbrush. For water he relies on his ability to manufacture fluid in his body by metabolic conversion of carbohydrates—something he has in common with many denizens of the desert. A tiny form of milkweed as well as a miniature mallow called "Cowboy's Delight" are special treats. The black-tailed species of prairie dog will also eat some grasshoppers, particularly when these threaten him with a shortage of forage. The white-tailed species will eat grubs, adult beetles, larvae of moths and butterflies. Still, shrubby plants, weeds, grasses and seeds make up the bulk of his diet.
During the winter season, though they do not hibernate in the strictest sense, prairie dogs drowse away most of the time in their burrows. But even then, on a bright sunny day when the temperature hovers around zero, they will come up on top to enjoy a change. Wintertime is when they live on the reserves of fat they have built up during summer and fall. Some animals get so layered with fat that when they look back over their shoulders their sides crinkle like corrugated paper.
Whenever prairie dogs meet while out foraging, they pause for greeting, touching noses as though bestowing a kiss, fomoiling and patting one another, at times even sitting on their haunches, the forepaws of one resting on the shoulders of another.
Two have been known to sit facing each other, placing their forepaws together with repeated pat-a-cake movements, then dropping to the ground and rubbing noses. Can you imagine what gossip they indulge in on such occasions?
Some authorities claim that some of
their antics when meeting each other are really a system of determining which is a dog from their own precinct and which from another. Whatever the purpose, they
little creature might confer benefits upon humankind. Only in 1939, and perhaps too late, the United States Department of Agriculture issued its report on the subject. Was it true that these little creatures seriously threatened the forage supply for livestock? Neither Russian thistle nor rabbit brush are suitable for cattle, yet the prairie dog thrives on them. One dog's stomach was found to contain 20,000 seeds
Is There Harm in Rock 'n' Roll?
How Safe Are Oral Contraceptives?
Thanksgiving Day—What Does It Mean?
In the next issue.
are fascinating to watch. One observer, for example, saw two females meet while out foraging. They bowed and then, standing straight up with forepaws touching, put their muzzles together as though kissing. But when two old males met, they whirled around and tried to kick up dirt at each other.
Vanishing-for Better or Worse?
There was a time when the three- to four-hundred-mile belt of the Great Plains, extending from Canada southward to Mexico, was populous with dog towns. The gently undulating reaches of this treeless, semiarid region were once alive with the play and work of millions of prairie dogs. Now a great stillness has descended upon it. Unless one visits some specific, protected park areas, no longer can one hear the yips of excited prairie dogs or see them playing and foraging in surroundings that were well suited to their way of life.
As is often the case with shortsighted human policies, the campaigners for extermination of the prairie dog appear not to have considered the possibility that this
of the poisonous knotweed. In Montana it was noted that as high as 70 percent of the food consumed by prairie dogs was locoweed, rank poison to livestock. And 14 out of 20 stomachs examined in the month of May contained cutworms as much as 35 percent of the food consumed.
And not only does the prairie dog star in the field of poisonweed disposal, but he also confers another signal benefit on the land where he pursues his instinctive way of life. His numerous burrowings serve to turn over and churn up the soil, aerating and sweetening it, supplying water drainage, and generally readying it for cultivation by man.
There is something inhuman about man's dealings with this little relative of the squirrel. On the other hand, there is much about the prairie dog to remind one of imperfect humans: the gossiping on the front porch, the socializing, the community activities and prejudices, his 'getting up on his hind legs' when angry over some matter, one old dog's 'doing dirt' to another, and so forth. Nevertheless, it does seem regrettable that a little creature that crams his eight years of life to the full with the joy of living should now be pushed so close to the brink of extinction.
Fantastic Light with a future
JUST nine years ago, in 1960, a radical new kind of light was first produced. Never before had it been known to exist on earth. It is the purest, sharpest, most intense light with which man is acquainted, burning billions of times more intensely than the light at the sun's surface. It easily cuts through diamond, the hardest substance known, and it can vaporize any substance on earth.
The idea for producing this fantastic light was first proposed in a paper published in 1958 by two scientists, Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles H. Townes. Two years later Theodore H. Maiman built the first device that successfully produced short bursts of the proposed light. The device is called a laser, which word stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. What the laser does is to amplify or strengthen light.
When it became known that such a light-amplifying device could be built, the laser received an unprecedented amount of publicity. Its potential fascinated the imaginations of men. The military saw in it, for example, a super weapon—a death ray. On the other hand, grand applications of the laser were foreseen in medicine and industry.
Development and Sales
In the beginning, however, there were disappointments as efforts were made to transform the laser from a laboratory
curiosity to a working item of practical value. But recently the laser has started to live up to its early raves, as more powerful and efficient lasers have been developed and an increasing number of profitable applications have been found for them. Evidence of the laser's success is seen in the sale of thousands of them each year.
In 1965 an estimated 97 million was spent on lasers. Nearly 60 percent of this amount was on research, but the rest was accounted for by sales of lasers and laser products. Now the general business connected with lasers is estimated at as high as300 million a year. But so rapidly is the market growing that some experts predict that lasers will become the next "billion-dollar-a-year industry," probably sometime in the early 1970's. Lasers are now sold for as low as $200, but others cost tens of thousands of dollars each.
It is true that they are still in their early stages of development. As Dr. Schawlow noted: "Lasers are still very primitive devices. They're still about at the crystal-set stage of radios, or airplanes around 1910." But when one considers what they can do, it is understandable why industries are devoting so much time and expense to their development.
Fantastic Power
The power of light increased in intensity by a laser is truly fantastic. Describing a demonstration of this power, one observer wrote: "The technician aims [the laser] at a piece of steel the thickness of a quarter, using a lens to focus the beam to a fine point.
. . you hear a whine, a sharp report. This time a shower of incandescent sparks flies from the piece of steel. It has been pierced all the way through by that awful blast of light."
As ever more potent and efficient lasers are developed, the prospect of actual "death ray" weapons being produced comes closer to reality. In fact, there is serious talk among scientists regarding the possibility in the future of lasers being used against unfriendly missiles.
But even though some lasers can be focused to provide light powerful enough to kill, others are very gentle, weak enough so that one can put his hand in front of their beam without harm. Yet the intensity of even a very weak beam is fantastic. This was demonstrated not long ago with a Surveyor spacecraft that landed on the moon.
The spacecraft had aboard a television camera, which was aimed toward the part of the earth experiencing darkness. On the earth several laser beams were pointed toward the spacecraft on the moon, some 240,000 miles away. These were beams of only one or two watts, hence much weaker than an ordinary 60-watt bulb. Nevertheless, the television camera on the moon very easily picked up the laser beams and radioed back a picture of these bright spots on earth. Amazingly, the laser beam of two watts showed up brighter on the moon than all the hundreds of millions of watts of electric lights in such population centers as New York city and Los Angeles!
Incoherent and Coherent Light
What is the secret to producing such intense light? Just what is a laser? How does it operate?
The characteristic of ordinary visible light is that it is incoherent, that is, the waves are jumbled. They are of varying size and frequency, and travel in divergent directions. By using reflectors, such as in a searchlight, ordinary light can be made to move in one direction. However, there is still general disorder within the beam of light, and it eventually fans out and disperses.
The laser, on the other hand, is a device that produces coherent light, that is, light that is all of the same wavelength, and these light waves are all in phase or in step. It might be likened to a column of soldiers all in step marching down a street. Then another column joins in, and it is also in step with the first column. As this group continues, another column joins, always in step, until the original column is increased or amplified manyfold. The laser is a device that assembles light waves in such an orderly way and emits them in step in the same precise direction with the same timing. Thus, light is increased in intensity or brightness to a fantastic degree.
The first laser beam, produced in 1960, employed synthetic ruby. However, the ruby laser is only one of many kinds of lasers. It is an example of a solid-state laser, that is, the "lasing" material is a solid. Various gas lasers also have been made, such as the helium-neon, ionized-argon and carbon-dioxide types. The gas laser beam is generally more coherent than the solid-state laser beam, and it is also somewhat easier to operate continuously.
The radiation emitted by lasers, in the majority of cases, is visible to the human eye, because it is a wavelength to which the human eye is sensitive. However, there are other electromagnetic radiations that are not visible to the human eye, such as radio waves, infrared or heat waves, microwaves, X rays and cosmic rays.
Back in the early 1950's Dr. Townes invented a device that produced microwaves that were all in step and amplified manyfold. This device is called a maser, which stands for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. On the suggestion that the maser could be applied to visible electromagnetic radiation, the laser was invented. The laser is thus sometimes called an optical maser.
Uses of the Maser
The very weak microwave signals the earth receives from the heavens must be amplified in order to study their source properly. It is here that the maser is ideally suited. The maser amplifies these weak signals and does not introduce any "noise" or other spurious radiation that other types of microwave amplification devices do. The maser was used, for example, to measure the 1.25-inch-wavelength electromagnetic waves coming from the planet Jupiter. This information enabled astronomers to determine that the temperature of Jupiter is about 141\circ F. below zero.
The maser is also suited as a clock. An ordinary clock keeps time by periodic motion, which is achieved by a pendulum or a balance wheel. The electromagnetic wave oscillations in a maser are very constant and are periodic, not varying with temperature or position on the surface of the earth. These inherent oscillations of the maser are so accurate that a maser clock would not gain or lose any more than three or four seconds in a thousand years.
Applications of the Laser
However, it is the laser, or optical maser, that is finding by far the majority of uses. Hundreds of ingenious applications have been found for it in industry,
medicine, military technology and space exploration.
Some applications of the laser stem from the fact that its light can be focused to an extremely small point. Just as a "burning glass" can be used to focus the sun's rays to a small area and cause flame, so the laser can be concentrated on an infinitesimally small area.
Due to its intensity, tiny holes can be drilled into extremely hard substances. The Western Electric Company has successfully employed a ruby laser system to drill and resize diamond dies that it uses in making extremely fine copper wire. A drilling operation that once required long hours or even days by conventional methods, the laser now does in two minutes or so.
The laser is used also to vaporize small amounts of material from very delicate instruments, such as a balance wheel in a watch. If desired, the vaporized material can be analyzed by a spectrograph to identify its chemical elements. The Jarrell-Ash Company in Waltham, Massachusetts, has sold scores of lasers at $15,000 each, designed for use in making spectrographic analyses of objects.
In one instance, a painting that was supposedly done by a sixteenth-century painter was exposed as a forgery by this laser device, which is called a microprobe. The painting was placed under the microprobe, and a carefully calculated blast of light from the laser vaporized an infinitesimal amount of paint, leaving a tiny, unnoticeable crater in the painting. The plume of vapor, under analysis by a spectrograph, revealed a trace of zinc, and zinc-based paint pigment was not used until 1820!
The laser is also finding wide application as a measuring device. Boeing and other large aerospace firms use laser techniques for a variety of measurements and calibrations.
Small spot welding of metals is also done using a laser beam.
The laser, too, is finding wide application in medical areas. Particularly has it been successful in welding a detached retina into place in the rear of the eyeball. The light passes through the transparent cornea and other parts of the eye to the retina, where the light is absorbed and fuses the retina to the tissue behind it. Melanoma cancers, the type containing
cally, one laser beam could transmit the entire text of the Encyclopedia Britannica in a fraction of a second, or it could carry all radio, TV and telephone messages of the world simultaneously.
On the other hand, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are experimenting with a rock-pulverize laser to be employed in boring underground tunnels for highways and railroads. And, remarkably, lasers make practical the
black pigments that absorb laser rays, also have been successfully treated.
Its Future
However, undoubtedly the most spectacular applications of the laser are yet to be realized. Dr. Schawlow predicts that within twenty years it will be a common tool "in the office, in the factory, and in the home, where it could be used for peeling potatoes." Already a laser is soon to be marketed that will be used to erase typing mistakes.
idea of three-dimensional photography, as well as enormous, wall-size TV screens. Dr. Townes explained in an interview:
"We should someday have TV screens the size of a movie-house screen. . . . Today, if you project a picture from a TV tube on a very large screen, it would be too dark. The laser beam, however, can be swept across the screen and you can get a pretty good picture with enough illumination—and in color, because you can get various colors of laser beams. . . . I would think this will be simple and prac-
Dentists also envision using a laser to remove caries. Since the carious area of the tooth is darker colored, light will be absorbed in that area and thus vaporize the decay, leaving the white part of the tooth unaffected.
The laser's use in the field of communications is particularly exciting. Theoreti-
tical enough. So it is very likely to come along sooner than the three-dimensional TV."
In just the nine short years since its birth, this fantastic new kind of light is finding amazing applications. But apparently this is only the beginning. Truly, it is a light with a future!
'Gaps in Man's Knowledge'
The theories of men in connection with the earth and life upon it are often not built upon a firm basis of factual information. This is shown by the comments
built onto a film basis of factual information. This is shown by the numbers of W. H. Bradley of the United States Geological Survey. In the book The Fabric of Geology (1963), page 22, he writes of the growing realization that "the earth's history and the processes involved in shaping it are vastly more complex than was thought even a generation or two ago. We have, so to speak, become more conscious of the number of variables and the magnitude of the gaps in our knowledge. . .
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