Word: britton
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1930-1939
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...BRITTON Cranford...
Physiologists S. W. Britton and R. F. Kline used to sit in their laboratory at the University of Virginia and wonder why the sloth is so slothful. As good Darwinians they realized that the basic reason for the slothfulness of the sloth is that he is beautifully adapted to his environment. He hides from his enemies instead of fleeing; being a vegetarian, he does not have to chase his food. But other animals have been known to alter their innate behavior because of outside influences.* Why not the sloth...
Physiologists Britton and Kline went down to Panama, collected a few sloths (which are fairly tame and amenable) and got to work. First, they clocked the animals' normal progress along the underside of a horizontal pole. Speed of a two-toed sloth: a third of a mile an hour. Speed of a three-toed sloth: two-ninths of a mile an hour...
Sloths are not only undermuscled for their weight but also have an uncommonly low temperature. So Scientists Britton and Kline left their sloths out in the tropical sunshine long enough to raise their temperatures by five or six degrees, and the change was miraculous: they moved 50% faster. Similar speedups were also obtained by injections of adrenalin and prostigmin (an intestinal stimulant), and by scaring them. Subjected to such speedup techniques as this, the Virginia physiologists were pleased to report in Science last week that one thoroughly stimulated sloth hustled along the pole at the relatively dizzy pace...
...Cleveland, on his 60th wedding anniversary, William W. Britton, 78, recalled that before his marriage: "I used to pass Sarah's house every day on the railroad. She lived one block from the tracks and I could hop off the front of the freight train, sprint that block, snatch a kiss and then catch the rear end of the train. Used to do it all the time but I had to move fast. I met Sarah at a train wreck. I crawled out from underneath a pile of tank cars and saw her when she walked down to look...