Canal Zone Crisis Detains Harvard Botany Professor

Elso S. Barghoorn professor of Botany and curator of Palcobotany Collections, was left stranded in Panama by last week's crisis in the Canal Zone. As of last night none of Barghoorn's colleagues in the Biological Laboratories knew of his whereabouts.

Barghoorn left Cambridge for Panama on Dec. 11 with Dorothy Osgood, his assistant, Alan K. Graham, a research fellow in Biology, and Graham's wife. The group intended to college rock core samples which had been taken from Lake Gatun by the Panama Canal Company as part of a geological study. Barghoorn hoped to recover fossil pollens from the rock samples.

The Grahams returned to Cambridge on Wednesday, Jan. 8, the day before riots in the Canal Zone resulted in suspension of diplomatic relations between the United States and Panama. Barghoorn had planned to leave a few days later, but the disturbances forced cancellation of outbound flights.

Last Saturday, Barghoorn telephoned the Biological Laboratories and spoke to Joan H. Langenheim, research fellow in Biology, about his predicament. One problem is that Barghoorn is teaching a fall term course (Biology 107: The Evolution of Plants in Geologic Time) which has a final examination next Wednesday. According to University regulation, a copy of the exam had to be in the hands of the Registrar yesterday.

Miss Langecheim said that Barghoorn mentioned the possibility of leaving Panama on a "slow boat provided by the United Fruit Company," but that he did not discuss his experiences at any length. She quoted him as saying. "This is a rather expensive call; I'll tell you about it when I get home." Reportedly, Barghoorn weathered the crisis in a very close to the scene of the rieting, and in now staying at the home of a friend of Miss Osgood.

Pan American Airways reinotated flights from Panama to the United States last Sunday, but nothing has been heard been Barghoorn since his call. The 107 will be given scheduled. A for the course, however, declined to say whether Barghoorn himself had composed it and phoned it in or whether is had designed it.

Last November, Barghoorn's brother, Frederick C. Barghoorn, a professor of Political Science at Yale, was detained several weeks in the Soviet Union on charges of espionage

Pan American Airways reinotated flights from Panama to the United States last Sunday, but nothing has been heard been Barghoorn since his call. The 107 will be given scheduled. A for the course, however, declined to say whether Barghoorn himself had composed it and phoned it in or whether is had designed it.

Last November, Barghoorn's brother, Frederick C. Barghoorn, a professor of Political Science at Yale, was detained several weeks in the Soviet Union on charges of espionage

Last November, Barghoorn's brother, Frederick C. Barghoorn, a professor of Political Science at Yale, was detained several weeks in the Soviet Union on charges of espionage