November 04, 1993 - Finding Nature's Magic in Hidden Places4•6A;► T0q Suffolk Times - „Novemb9r, 4j_1993
Finding Nature's Magic in Hidden Places
By Paul Stoutenburgh
Those of you who have fol-
lowed my articles through the
years know I'm pretty dedicated
and excited about the world
about us. I've photographed it,
I've written about it, I've lec-
tured about it and I taught it
throughout my whole life. Yet
every once in a while there will
be that skeptic, the nonbeliever,
who, after a bit of superficial
chatter will
Focus on remark,
"But what
Nature good is that
little insect
or that
roadside flower ?” or what they
consider some other insignificant
part of our world.
It often catches me off guard
and for a moment I have to stop
and collect my thoughts for most
of the people I meet are sympa-
thetic to the world around us. But
no, there are those whose tunnel
vision and small -world thinking
put them on the defensive and I
find myself defending what I consider
important.
I'll usually try to use some examples
they can relate to such as the great pota-
to famine in Ireland back in the 1840s
when the country starved because of the
poor crop of potatoes. If it wasn't for the
wide diversity of potato types we would
have lost the potato and had none at all
today, but because we could fall back on
other varieties the potato was able to
rebound and we can all have our baked
potatoes, potato chips, french fries and
more.
Along those same lines an obscure
wild potato found in the high Andes
Mountains of South America may prove
a new weapon against the Colorado
potato beetle that gives our local farmers
such a hard time and costs so much to
control by the use of pesticides. This
newfound wild potato produces a chemi-
cal called leptine in its leaves and when
the common potato beetle goes to eat the
leaves the leptine repels it. By breeding
the repellent into our common potatoes,
Photo by baroara arou[e
though it was put back in
muddy, bacteria - infected water.
He had done hundreds of opera-
tions like .this but never realized
the importance of the frogs'
healing power. With much
research and study he found a
powerful antibiotic produced in
the skin that can kill a wide vari-
ety of bacteria, fungus and para-
sites such as those that cause
malaria. The material found is
called magainins (from the
Hebrew word for shield) and it
may in the future hold promise
to work agginst cancer and other
viruses.
Here is an example that strikes
closer to home. It is about ticks
and something we should all
know about by now. They are
not too nice and anything we
can do to prevent tick bites
would be welcome. There is a
chemical gum that repels ticks
and it comes from an African,
"°pry" sweet - smelling plant called com-
miphora erythraea. It has been
tested by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and scientists in
Tanzania, and there is hope of a new
repellent that will ward off ticks. It cer-
tainly will be welcome here on Long
Island where the deer tick problem is
still very much alive.
All these examples are shown so that
perhaps those who question the right of
plants and animals
to share space on There is
our planet will start
to realize how hope of a
important all aspects
of our natural world new repel -
are. Usually to make lent that
those who question
these rights of will ward
plants and animals
there must be a dol- off ticks.'
lar sign attached to
them. For me those characteristics are
important but they should not be the
only ones. To me the wonder of shape,
variety, beauty and the mere fact of their
being part of our whole world are equal-
ly important and reason enough to pro-
tect them.
GRASSHOPPER — Although the grasshopper may cause crop damage and be repulsive
to some, who knows what use science might find for him in the future?
perhaps we can eliminate the problem
that has troubled potato farmers through-
out the world.
Every Part Is Important
Every organism on the face of the
earth is part of the diversity of life that
can help man in his struggle to survive.
Many forms of life are still to be dis-
covered and who knows what part they
will play in our future? This is why there
is so much concern about the loss of
tropical rain forests that we are just now
starting to understand.
Just last year Dr. Todd Gusek, a food
specialist from Cornell University, dis-
covered an enzyme that can withstand
temperatures of 175 degrees and still
function. Through studies he found that
this enzyme can work 13 times better
than the current enzymes used in deter-
gents today. But guess what? The only
place this enzyme has been found is in
the mangrove swamps of the Yucatan
Peninsula of Mexico. Already compa-
nies from all over the world are trying to
get on board this new discovery that has
■ _s9_ ■ __V_
82 Years Ago
Nov 4, 1911
Raised $3,700 in Two Days: A feat in raising
money was accomplished last week by Rev. William H.
Longsworth of the Orient Congregational Church. There
had been a debt of $3,500 standing on the new parsonage
for the past two years, which the officials greatly desired to
see canceled. At a meeting of the official board, the pastor
volunteered to see what could be done and in less than two
days had secured pledges for $3,700. Mr. Longsworth is
well liked in the community and it is highly probable that
his salary will be increased at the annual meeting in
December.
50 Years Ago
Nov 5, 1943
The Lights Come On in Greenport: The lights
are on in Greenport — for which we are all glad. After over
a year of gloomy dimout conditions, once again street
lights, store lights and lights in private homes shine through
the darkness. For about a year and a half dimout conditions
have prevailed in this community. Now the dimout is offi-
cially over I wish to thank the village officials, merchants,
businessmen and householders for the manner in which
they cooperated in this dimout during the long months.
such potential use for all of us.
Down in Sarasota, Fla., a worm has
been found in a local pond that secretes
a toxin that will help control the mosqui-
to population. Some might say we
already have methods of controlling
mosquitoes. The thing they don't know
is that there are many kinds of mosqui-
toes and the one named planaria gets its
oxygen from the roots of plants and
therefore escapes conventional methods
of control at the water's surface. Such
promise does this new worm hold that
the county mosquito control is making a
special study to see how this toxin can
be used in their mosquito- control pro-
gram.
Frog Has Its Place
Let's look at the work of Dr. Michael
Zasloff, who is chief of genetics at the
National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development in Washington,
D.C. He was working with an African
frog and had done some surgery on it
when he noticed that the incision had
healed quickly and dramatically even
Your voluntary cooperation made the work of the air raid
wardens, whose responsibility it was to enforce these regu-
lations, much easier. — F. Langton Corwin, Chief Air Raid
Warden
25 Years Ago
Nov 8, 1968
S.I. School Project Defeated: A $985,000 Shel-
ter Island school expansion proposition was defeated Tues-
day by an 86 -vote margin. School district residents voted,
492 to 406, against a $985,000 proposition to construct
seven new classrooms and a new gymnasium. Three void
votes were also cast.
Guests from England Visit Plum Island:
Following the recent outbreak of foot- and -mouth disease in
Great Britain the British Minister of Agriculture appointed
a committee to investigate the outbreak and to make recom-
mendations on what particulars should be followed in the
future to prevent such devastating outbreaks. In connection
with this committee's responsibilities, on Oct. 30 the Duke
of Northumberland, Professor D.G. Evans, professor of
bacteriology and immunology at the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and J.N. Jotcham of the
Ministry of Agriculture visited the Plum Island Animal Dis-
ease Laboratory to confer with members of the scientific
staff engaged in research on foot - and -mouth disease.
Banquet to Honor
The Rev. Dozier
MATTITUCK —A banquet buf-
fet dinner to honor the fifth an-
niversary of the Rev. Marvin
Dozier's service to Unity Baptist
Church will be held on Saturday,
Nov. 13. The dinner begins at 5
p.m, at the Southold American Le-
gion Post 803.
Tickets are $40. For more infor-
mation, call 722 -3406.
Scout Food Drive
Mattituck - Cutchogue Cub Scout Pack
39 will hold its annual food drive during
the week of Nov. 6 -13. Donations of
canned and nonperishable foods, as well
as cash, will be collected at the follow-
ing dates and locations:
Saturday, Nov. 6: Mattituck A &P,
King Kullen in Cutchogue and Main
Street Market in Mattituck.; Monday,
Nov. 8, 10, 11 and 13, Mattituck A &P
and Cutchogue King Kullen. Collection
times will vary. Food will be distributed
to local families in need