Show ski VE S BIRD SECRET I 1 prof michelson discovers cause of Me metallic tallio colors brilliance of plumage as welt well as insects luster Is due to light absorption lon prof cutler on arid problem I 1 Clit chicago cago peacocks and pigeons butterflies ter flies and beetles the gayest of we bird and insect tribes have yielded the secret of their brilliant attire to prof albert A michelson head of the department of physics of the city of chicago who has discovered la in hla his laboratory the real causo cause of the metallic colors observed in hla his feathered and buggy specimens prof who won tho the nobel prize in for his bla achievements in optics announced hia bla latest find in a paper read at the annual conference conte renco ot 09 the tha illinois linola ll state academy of 0 science in the botany building of the un of 0 chicago the professors experiments prove that the colors stud led are the result of light absorption duo due to the shape of the surfaces and are not caused by the pigment cells or any means that the amateur naturalist might imagine the discovery according to the scientists at the meeting furnishes achal ars ara with a now new theory for important olor phenomena it overturns th tho e position held by many distinguished investigators that the glitter of beetles and the ahe tints of the humming erds are the result of ordinary interference and diffraction the ihei total number of at specimens w which have bato been examined said the investigator Is perhaps not so BO largo as aa it should be to draw general conclusions clu stong and it la Is clearly desirable that it should be extended but so ao tar far as aa the evidence tar or surface films as the source of the metallic colors in birds and insects la is entirely con lualzo lu alvo prof john 11 II coulter head of tho the university of chicago botany department sald aalde practical plant breeding la Is now on a practical basla basis ind botany has baa at wt attached tho fundamental problems and may inny be of some practical cat bervice for it includes plant breeding in of tho the possibilities of converting arid land into wheat and corn lands prof coulter nidd attempts are being maile made to secure i combination of hardiness to drought which wp desire and quality of grain which wo we possess I 1 see ace no reason why tho tha vision should not be realized but you need not invest in arid land tor immediate use as wheat holds fields in lie ha case casa of corn ns its of wheat we wa are lot act breeding it for drought resistance il lone ione and it will take many plant gen orations of the highest type of scion tile platt plant breeding to determine vI whether lether we can combine this drought resistant esl esi stant tru cure tIlTe with the high grado lu allty and yield we have already obtained in aur ur cultures |