FILM FOUNDATION SHOWS BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTION

Tomorrow afternoon at 4.45 o'clock in Room 202 of the Zoological Laboratory, undergraduates will have their first chance to see a new film, the result of three months' labor on the part of R. H. Woodworth, instructor in Botany, assisted by the Harvard Film Foundation.

The film, called a photomicrograph, since it was taken through a microscope, portrays in greatly magnified form the complete life cycle of the Fucus Vesiculosus, that brown plant with the air filled bladders so often seen growing at the tide levels of rocky sea shores. Panoramic views of the habitat of the plant are shown first, followed by close up views of the plant as seen in everyday life. After these shots cross sections of various parts of the plant are shown revealing the organisms necessary for maintenance of life and the continuance of the plant.

Great Difficulty

In making this picture, unusual difficulties presented themselves. The panoramic shots were made without much trouble at Nahant, but the microscopically made views were all done in the laboratory. For this reason the work had to be carried on at night, since at no time in the day was the building quiet enough to permit the thin plates covered with the plant water to be free from ripples. Since the films were made between 1 and 3 o'clock in the morning, powerful lights were necessary to insure results on the movie film, and the lights, if not kept at a rigid brilliancy, killed the minute cell life under scrutiny.