THE HUMAN
INTEREST LIBRARY

VISUALIZED KNOWLEDGE

EDITORS

RT. REV. SAMUEL FALLOWS, D.D., LL.D.
HENRY W. RUOFF, M.A., Litt.D., D.C.L.

VOLUME I.

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CHICAGO
THE MIDLAND PRESS

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ITS
PURPOSE

ITS
METHOD

ITS ILLUS-
TRATIONS

CUMULATIVE

HOME

LIBRARY

PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT

Today — every day — there is something we
would hke to know and to understando "Learn one
thing every day" might be the legend of The
Human Interest Library. Its purpose is to
acquaint the reader with the human interest facts
of the world's knowledge through his devoting five
minutes of spare time each day to interesting read-
ing and to looking at instructive pictures.

In order that this knowledge may be acquired
agreeably and without special effort, the facts have
been woven into gripping human interest stories —
stories that give in concise manner and without
unnecessary detail, just what everyone wants to
know about a famous person, place, picture or
event. Each story is complete in itself and can be
read in a few moments of spare time. If one story
only is read every day, every day something worth
while will be learned, and the reader will be quite
unaware of any effort to acquire knowledge.

More than a thousand illustrations, selected
for their educational and inspirational value ; nearly
two hundred beautiful full-page engravings and
numerous drawings by special artists have been
used to fully illustrate all subjects treated and to
visualize to a remarkable degree the story of man's
achievements. Gathered from all available sources
throughout the world, the paintings and photo-
graphs reproduced form a veritable picture gallery
of the world's great men and great events.

The volumes now issued are the basic volumes
of a cumulative set of books to which additional
volumes are to be added from time to time. Each
volume as purchased is complete in itself but so
planned as to cover a special field, or to form a dis-
tinct part of the whole.

^141080

NO REPETI-
TION OF
MATTER

PERSONAL
TO THE
SUBSCRIBER

Succeeding volumes will contain no duplication of
matter, but rather an orderly continuation of the
departments already projected, or possibly new
departments. When all volumes have been issued,
The Human Interest Library will present in
picture and story the sum total of a practical and
liberal education in Science, Fine Arts, History,
the Kingdoms of Nature, Literature, Biography and
Travel. The final volume will contain a general
index, minutely analyzing and indexing the con-
tents of the entire set.

If some favorite subjects or authors, or perhaps
the story of what seems a most important event,
do not appear in the initial volumes of the set,
they may be confidently expected in the volumes
that are to follow. Each volume affords only a
given amount of space and the editors keeping in
mind the comprehensive plan of the complete
library, have exercised unrestricted judgment in
the selections they have made. Some favorite
human interest topic — the story that you may have
looked for and failed to find — is sure to be told in
its most interesting form in the volumes that are
to follow.

SAVE YOUR Upon inquiry the publishers will be glad to

A??OWANrE ^^^i^^ subscribers of the approximate date upon
FOR which succeeding volumes will be ready for delivery.

SUCCEEDING TJ^e advance subscriptions received for these vol-
umes will be filled with First Edition copies. Save
a portion of your annual book money for the forth-
coming volumes and your home will soon possess
a comprehensive library of the world's best
knowledge.

VOLUMES

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EDITORS

RT. REV. SAMUEL FALLOWS, D.D., LL.D.

Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church; Ex-President Illi-
nois Wesleyan University; editor Popular and Critical Bible
Encyclopedia; Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary, etc.

HENRY W. RUOFF, M.A., Litt.D., D.C.L.

Editor The Century Book of Facts; The Capitals of the World;
The Standard Dictionary of Facts; Masters of Achievement; The
Volume Library, etc.

CONTRIBUTORS AND REVISERS

ROBERT E. PEARY, LL.D., U.S.N.

Rear-Admiral U. S. Navy; Discoverer of the North Pole;
■author of Northward Over the Great Ice, etc.

RT. REV. WILLIAM A. QUAYLE, D.D., Litt.D., LL.D,

Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church; author of The
Poet's Poet and other Essays; Eternity in the Heart; God's
Calendar; The Song of Songs, etc.

WINFIELD S. HALL, M.A., Ph.D., M.D.

Professor of Physiology, Northwestern University Medical
School; author oi Essentials of Physiology; Sexual Hygiene, etc.

FREDERIC STARR, Ph.D., D.Sc.

Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago; author of
First Steps in Human Progress; Strange Peoples, etc.; editor of
the Anthropological Series.

DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER, Ph.D.

Author of Corneille and Racine in England; What Shall We Do
Now?; The Montessori Mother, etc.

CHARLES A. McMURRY, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology and Pedagogy, Illinois State Normal
School; author of The Eight Grades, Methods in Elementary
Science, Nature Study Lessons, etc.

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CONTRIBUTORS AND REVISERS

BENJAMIN C. ALLIN

Writer, Traveler, Lecturer.

GRANVILLE WALTER BARR, M.D.

Former Editor Keokuk Standard; Lecturer on Popular Science;
author of Shacklett, etc.

JAMES T. CASE, M.D.

Roentgenologist to Battle Creek Sanitarium, Battle Creek,
Mich., and to St. Luke's Hospital, Chicago; lecturer on Roent-
genology, Northwestern University Medical School, etc.

GEORGE LUCIUS COLLIE, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D.

Dean Beloit College; geologist; educator and traveler; writer
on Geological and Educational topics.

CHARLES AARON CULVER, Ph.D.

Professor Physics, Beloit College; author of papers on subject
of electromagnetic waves, etc. Contributor to Physical Review-
Electrical World; Science, etc.

HENRY PURMORT EAMES, LL.B., Mus.D.

Formerly Director Piano Department and Lecturer on Theory
of Music, L'niversity of Nebraska; founder of Omaha School of
Music; concertized in France, Great Britain and United States.

EMIL GERBER, C.E.

Late General Manager of Erection, American Bridge Company,
Pittsburgh, Pa.

CURVIN H. GINGRICH, M.A., Ph.D.

Professor Astronomy, Carleton College; associate editor of
Popular Astronomy, etc.

JEANNETTE RECTOR HODGDON

Teacher of History in New York City High School; author of
A First Course in American History, etc.

BEVERLY W. KUNKEL, Ph.D.

Professor of Zoology, Beloit College. Writer on zoology and
anatomy.

SAMUEL A. LOUGH, M.A., Ph.D.

Professor in the University of Denver; Educator, Writer.

ARTHUR MEE

Journalist and author. Editor Harmsworth'a Self-Educator;
Children's Encyclopedia; Children's Magazine; author of Life
Story of Edward VII, etc.

E. L. C. MORSE, B.A., LL.B.

Principal Phil Sheridan Public School, Chicago; periodical
writer, etc.

WILLIAM LEWIS NIDA, Ph.B.

City Superintendent Schools, River Forest, 111. Author, Ele-
mentary Agriculture; Farm Animals and Farm Crops; City,
State and Nation, etc.

CHARLES ELSTON NIXON, B.A.

Dramatic and Music Critic; writer of dramatic Sketches,
songs and historic dramas. Formerly western manager Music
Trades and Musical America, and The Philharmonic, Chicago.

ALBERT J. NORTON, B.Sc.

Writer and Lecturer on Spanish American Subjects; author of
Norton's Complete Handbook of Havana and Cuba, etc.

ETHEL COOPER PIERCE, M.A.

Editorial writer Home and School Reference Work; teacher
science and mathematics; contributor to periodical literature.

MARA L. PRATT

Author of America's Story for America's Children; World History
in Myth and Legend; etc.

GEORGE ROCKWELL PUTNAM, C.E.

United States Commissioner of Lighthouses; director United
States Coast Surveys, Philippine Islands, 1900-6; author
Nautical Charts, and numerous technical papers.

ANNA E. REURY

Assistant editor Home and School Reference Work; former as-
sistant editor The Freeman, Kingston-on-Hudson; contributor
to periodical literature, etc.

LEW R. SARETT, B.A.

Department of Rhetoric and Public Speaking, University of
Illinois; lecturer on out-of-door subjects; magazine writer, etc.

FREDERIC BENNETT WRIGHT, M.A.

Author, traveler, lecturer. Editor Records of the Past, etc.

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS

VOLUME ONE

Page

EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 11

This book concerns many of the commonest things in life about which we, and especially those
of us who are children, are continually wondering what the explanation may be. Very often these
questions remain unanswered through life; because, perhaps, they are so simple. Here is a very
marvelous book in which the ever recurring "Why" is answered. Whether it concerns the mysteries
of the body or the far-off wonders of sun, moon and stars, the explanation is equally lucid.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE .89

In an age replete with discussion of matters relative to our physical well being, with public interest
as never before focussed on physical culture, sex hygiene, eugenics and pubUc sanitation, nothing is
more timely than this very Book of Our Own Life. It traces human life from the cell to the full
grown man and shows how the tiny microbes, the enemy of man, enter the blood stream, and the havoc
they make. How the senses stand guard over the avenue of approach to the body and how the central
nervous system from its seat in the brain, guides and directs all, is beautifully told in text and
illustration.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 169

Here is a book prepared especially to aid the parent and the teacher. For the pre-school days
the book gives a delightful description of Dr. Montessori's system of self-instruction for children.
This is followed by courses in other elementary studies to aid the parent in instructing the child when
necessarily detained from school. The section on Rural Economy is especially adapted to rural and
suburban districts. Home life in the country has never been surpassed in natural environment. It is
the problem of today to enhance it still more by enlarging its educational and cultural opportunities;
by utilizing every product of invention and science for the improvement of scientific agriculture,
horticulture, stock raising and the domestic arts; by providing an improved system of rural banking and
credits; and by affording new facilities for the distribution and marketing of farm products.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK 263

The many things a boy or girl wants to do, whether work or amusement, is provided for here :
carpentry, wood carving, kites, flying machines, telephones, etc., for boys; sewing, millinery and fancy
work, for girls; and stories, plays, games, puzzles, private theatricals and magic for all. The section
on stories and plays is replete with fancy, anecdote, moral, description, episode and dramatic settings
intended to appeal to the imagination and moral sense of children. The play instincts of children
are so evident that it seems superfluous to argue the need of proper material in story and dramatic
form to keep pace with the growth and expansion of the child mind. The world of childhood is
peopled with fairies, myths, flowers, animals, ogres, and wonderful characters at once humorous-
pathetic, cruel and kind.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I

FULL PAGE COLOR PLATES

Page

The Archer Fish opp. 10

The Pygmies and Storks opp. 1 1

FULL PAGE ENGRAVINGS AND DRAWINGS

Spectre of the Brocken 12

How the World's Story was First Told 15

How a Magnifying Glass Makes Things Bigger 70

How the Camera Takes a Photograph 71

Airship Attacked by Aeroplanes . , 82

Birth of the American Flag 84

Ventilation of the Human House 90

Blood Circulation in the Human House 92

Brain Signals of the Human House 93

Machinery of the Ear 118

How Sound Reaches the Brain 120

Blindfolded Man's Walk Across Niagara 124

Pictures Drawn by the Human Voice 128

The Cells and Nerves of Smell 140

Inside and Outside of Brain 150

Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World 168

Dr. Maria Montessori 170

Self-Education by Montessori System 173

Montessori Sense Training Apparatus 177

Montessori Self-Instructing Devices 178

Children Directing Their Own Lessons 184

Grace Before Meals 199

Plowing by Machinery 248

Thumbeline Floated Down the Stream 264

Alphabet Illustrated 266

Picture Words 267, 268, 269

The World at Work to Fill the Paint Box 273

A Warrior of the Vanishing Race 310

Knots in General Use by Sailors and Builders 323

The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up 367

AND 110 ADDITIONAL TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS

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THE BATTLE OF THE PVG^^ES AND THE STORKS

Homer and other ancient writers frequently refer to pygmy races which they represent as waging desperate
warfare with the storks that came to raid their crops. Recently various expeditions have proved their existence
in several parts of the globe.

The Everyday Wonder

Book

WONDERS OF THE HUMAN BODY
WONDERS OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS

WONDERS OF LIGHT AND SOUND

WONDERS OF AIR, FIRE AND WATER

WONDERS OF EARTH, SUN AND STARS

THE CHILDREN'S "WHYS" AND "HOWS'

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTION-BOX

THE MYSTERIOUS SPECTRE OF THE BROCKEN

An enormously magnified image of the observer, cast upon a bank of mist, is sometimes seen in high mountain regions
when the sun is low in the heavens and the observer is between the cloud bank and the sun; it is seen oftenest in the Harz
Mountains, Germany.

THE REASON WHY

We are asking questions continually; all our lives we keep saying, "I Wonder
Why." Where does the day begin? How do I remember? What makes the rain-
bow? To all of us come such questions, and as long as we live, such questions will
come, however wise we grow. The questions will never stop as long as the world
lasts, because out of the answer to one question another arises; and so, all over the
world and down the ages of time, grown-ups and children have been saying, "I
Wonder Why." All through these volumes we shall find the answers to our questions,
but in this especial Book we shall find questions about many things which we par-
ticularly want to know. First of all, we learn how the world was peopled; then,
how nations lived; how men know things that happened long ago, and how they
gathered up the knowledge that is in the world. Later follows the answers to the
puzzling workings of our own bodies, and the multitude of questions that come
up from day to day about animals and plants; light and sound; air, fire and water;
earth, sun and stars; and numerous other things we want to know about.

HOW THE WORLD WAS PEOPLED

IN the childhood of the world, there
were not nearly so many people
on the earth as there are today.
We cannot tell exactly what happened
then, because it is so very long ago;
but we can make believe that all the
people lived in one small part of the
world all by themselves. They were
like a big family living together in
the same house. By-and-by the family
grew bigger; more boys and girls began
to come, and at last the house became
too small for them to live in. So some
of them had to go out and find another
home. They wandered up and down
over the earth, and when any of them
found a comfortable place to live in,
there they stopped and settled.

So, we are all one big family, and
though now some nations seem very
different from others, yet they are

each some relation to the other,
brother or sister, or cousin, or some-
thing. This is why we find so many
of the same words used by different
nations ; the words father and mother,
for instance, are alike in manv dif-
ferent languages.

Nations live and die and pass
away as you and i

Some of these early nations have
died, but others are still living today;
for nations, just as we do, are born,
grow up, and die, only it takes them
a great deal longer time than it takes
us. And perhaps some of the nations
that are alive today will die and pass
away some time in the future.

You may have wondered how we
know about what happened long ago,
before there were any books or news-
papers, even before there was writing

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

f c f. r <

of any sort. ' It is quite easy to find out
what happe)aed only^ 3, hundred years
ago, because there are plsutyo^t books
that will tell us all about it. But
what about things that happened
thousands of years ago.'^

How WE KNOW THE STORY OF
THE WORLD

The boys and girls who lived long
ago were just as fond of stories as the
children of today. They, too, would
ask for stories; and when they grew
up, they, too, would tell these stories
to their children. So the stories came
down to us, right from the earliest
time, when there was no reading or
writing, but simply story-telling. That
is the first way in w hich we know what
happened far back. Boys and girls
have been among the most important
people in handing on to us our story
of the world. What a great loss it
would have been if those boys and
girls who lived once upon a time had
forgotten the stories that were told
them!

The next way of finding out what
happened long ago is by reading the
earliest books. What do you think
these books were.'* Not books such as
we have now, but bricks; just clay
bricks, with writing and pictures
marked on them while the clay was
soft, and then baked hard in the heat
of the sun. Thousands of these bricks
have been dug out of the earth at
Babylon and other places. When these
cities were destroyed long ago, they
became gradually covered with earth;
the houses, the streets, the libraries,
and everything in them were buried
under the ground. And down under
the ground these bricks have been kept
dry and clean and fresh, and so today
we are able to read the writing and the
pictures, and find out what the people
in those days were doing.

In ancient times, also, when a king
did anything of which he was very

proud, such as conquering his enemies
and taking them captive, he had an
account of it carved on a big stone or
pillar, and set it up so that people
could read all about what he had done.
Thousands of these monuments have
been found, and there probably are
thousands still buried in Eg;y'pt, and
parts of Asia. The writing on these
stones looks very strange to us. Most
of those found in Egypt have pictures
upon them, instead of words and
letters. When you are in New York,
you should visit Central Park and
look at the tall column called Cleo-
patra's Needle. This was brought
from Egypt, and is covered with pic-
tures; we call these pictures hiero-
glyphics, which means sacred carvings.
When the first of these old pillars
was found, no one could read the
writing or understand the pictures.
It was like a hard riddle.

At last, when all the learned men
were very nearly giving up the riddle,
a great piece of good fortune hap-
pened. Some French officers who
were in Egypt about a hundred years
ago, in 1799, happened to dig up a
stone with writing on it, and, to their
great delight, the writing was in three
languages. One of these was the
picture writing, and another was
Greek. Now, it w^as easy enough to
read the Greek, and when they had
made out what that meant they
guessed that the picture writing would
mean just the same thing. And so it
did. That gave people the key to
the riddle, and the whole mystery
was made clear. They found that an
eagle stood for the letter a, a leg and
foot for h, a serpent with horns for /,
a hand for t, an owl for m, a chicken
for V, and so on. A man w^ith his
hands lifted up meant prayer.

After reading this one stone, it was
easy to read all the other writings on
stones and pillars found in Egypt.

HOW THE WORLD'S STORY WAS FIRST TOLD

The Egyptians painted tlie walls of their temples and tombs with strange letters and pictures which tell the history
Egypt. This is from the wall of a tomb where the paint is still fresh, though it Is thousands of years old.

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Cleopatra's Needle,
once in Egypt, and now
standing in Central Parli,
New York, shows the
strange writing on the
Egyptian monuments.

The Rosetta Stone, which taught us to read the strange
writing the Egyptians left behind. It said the same thing
in three kinds of writing, and one kind was the Egyptian.
Men knew one of the other kinds of writing, so that they
were able to find out what the Egyptian writing meant.

There was no paper
In old Egypt, and the
people wrote on bricks
and on the dried bark
ol the papyrus plant,
here shown growiag.

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An early way of writing was to mark soft
clay and bake it Into a brick like this.

This Is a piece of papyrus, showing how the Egyptians used it to
write unon. Nearly all these things are In the British Museum.
19

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

This precious stone is known as the
Rosetta Stone, because it was found
at a place called Rosetta, and it can
now be seen in the British Museum in
London.

Another way in which we are finding
out a great deal about early times is
by the opening up of many tombs
underground, especially in Egypt.

All kinds of things used to be buried
with people in those days; so dry and
air-tight were the tombs that every-
thing in them has been wonderfully
well preserved. Dolls have been found
buried with the little girls who played
with them long before Moses lived;
a baby's rattle that amused a tiny
brown Egyptian baby when Joseph
was in Egypt; ladies' combs and
mirrors, gold ornaments, and jewelry,
worn perhaps when the Children of
Israel were passing through the Red
Sea. And so, little by little, we are
finding out what life was like in the
old days, and are piecing together the
different bits of knowledge that we

pick up, just as you put together the
pieces of a puzzle to make the whole.

There is one more way in which we
are being helped to do this, and that
is by finding buried cities and towns
just as they were hundreds of years
ago. In parts of Asia, such as at
Babylon, men are digging out whole
towns that disappeared thousands of
years ago.

It is well to remember that nothing
happens by chance. There is a reason
and a cause for everything. If we
are wise enough we shall find out why
we live and how we are related to one
another. For we are really one big
family; or we may say that the dif-
ferent nations are like the beads on
a string — each bead is different and
separate, but they are all joined
together by the same string. Through
all the story of the world we find this
string joining up the beads; through
it all we find some plan at work, and
see God's hand in its guidance and
control.

WONDERS OF THE HUMAN BODY

Why we go to sleep

WE GO to sleep so as to rest.
The whole body rests when
asleep, more or less — the
brain, the heart, the lungs, the mus-
cles, stomach and all. Children want
a lot of sleep because children have to
grow, and they do most of their
growing during sleep; so if they will
not go to bed they will not grow prop-
erly. Sleep is more important for chil-
dren than for anyone else, just for this
reason, though no one can get on with-
out it. Many of the people who grow
up too small or weak, or poor in their
minds, are people who did not sleep
enough when they were children.
Time was when older people were
careless about children's sleep, but one
of the happiest and best things for

children nowadays is that their sleep

is looked after.

Where we go in our sleep

We do not go anywhere. We are
still there, only we are not awake.
That means that we are not awake
to what is around us; but though we
take no notice of what is about us, we
are still there; and even while we are
fast asleep we are often doing all sorts ,
of things, or, rather, we think we are. ■

This is so every time we have a
dream, and we have far more dreams
than we remember when we wake.
Long ago savages used to think that
men merely went away somewhere
when they slept, and dreaming was one
of the reasons that made them think
so; but now we are sure that that was
a mistake.

TEE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 11

Dreams do people all sorts of harm of all these muscles together that we

if they are not sensible about them; call laughter, and it is really a reply

but we must be sensible, and not to the tickling, just as drawing away

think that terrible things are going your foot is a reply when someone

to happen. Dreams show that we tickles the sole of it.

have not really gone away, because Why you cry

they are almost always due to some- You cry because your brain is made

thmg disturbmg us, and nothmg could g^ ^s to act that way. We do not

disturb us if we were not there, could know why your brain should be so

^^^ made, for though there is much use

So slight a thing as the wind in the i^ tears when we are not crying, yet

chimney, or a leaf tappmg on the there is no real use in crying when we

window-pane, may make us dream, g^j.^ \yxx\.

But the commonest thing that dis- ^^^n people g^ow older they find

turbs us is our stomach. If we eat this out, and usually they do not cry

too much before we go to sleep, and ^^en they are hurt. The highest part

especially if we eat things that do not ^f the brain— where people themselves

agree with us, then in the night they really live— is the master of the lower

disturb the brain, and make part of it p^^ of the brain, and can order it to

wake up, though not so much as to Jq things, and forbid it to do things,

make us know where we are. So, also, ^^ jt likes

noises often make us dream because Now, it is the lower part of the brain

they disturb the brain. But sounds that replies by crying when we are

could not disturb the brain if we were hurt, so that even the tiniest baby can

not still there to hear them. cry perfectly. But when we grow

Why you laugh ol^jer ^^ ^gH t^^ j^^e^ p^^.^ ^j ^y^^

You laugh because you are "made brain that it must not do as it feels in-

that way." Perhaps you do not clined to do, and so we stop crying.

think much of it, but that is the real „,„„ „ .„

T, , , ,, . Why the tears come
answer. It depends upon the way in

which your brain and body are built. There is no good reason why tears

After all, you laugh when you are should come when you cry, but there

tickled, even though you may not is a very good and beautiful reason for

be pleased, and that is really easier to ^^e tears which we are really making

explain. If a bright light suddenly all the time that we are awake, though

strikes your eye, you shut it because ^^ know nothing about it. You know

your brain is made so as to make you ^^}^^ well that every few seconds you

reply in that way. wink both your eyelids at once. You

That is a simple way of replying, ^o not do it on purpose, but you do it

And laughing when you are tickled is ^11 the same. If you purposely stop

really the same, only that instead of ^^i^g i^' as people often do when they

doing just one thing, you do a number stare at each other, your eye becomes

of things all at once. You move many very uncomfortable, and if you did

muscles of your face instead of merely "^t wink at all your eye would soon

moving the muscles of your eyelids, ^ease to work properly.

You also move the muscles that you What winking does for the eye

breathe with, in an unusual way, and When the eye is open, the front of it

also the muscles that you make sounds is exposed to dust and dirt, and also

with. It is this particular movement the front of it is apt to get dry, and if it

18 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

did we could not see properly. Yet erly, you know very well that when

how is it that, though we never wash you cry you make so many tears that

the front of our eyes, they are always you cannot see clearly at all.

clean? It is because we wash them What wakes us up in

every time we wink. Up above each the morning

eye, rather to the outer side, there is We do not sleep in just the same

a tmy little duct called the tear- way all through the night. To begin

gland, and all the time we are awake with, we sleep deeply. Now, it is

this is slowly making tears. Then, good to sleep deeply. It makes us

when the front of the eye feels itself look well and beautiful, and people

becoming rather dry, and perhaps a seem to have noticed this, since thej'^

little dusty, it tells the brain, and down call the first hours of sleep "the beauty

comes the eyelid for a second, with a sleep." But for some hours after this

tear inside it, and so washes clean the we sleep less and less deeply. We can

front of the eye. It is the most gentle easily find this out by noticing exactlj'^

and perfect washing in the world. how loud a noise is required to wake

Where the tears go anybody up at various times in his

Well, if you look at the inner corner sleep. And we find that when he

of your lower eyelid you will see a tiny has had nearly enough sleep he will

little opening. The tear runs down be wakened by a little noise which, a

this and finds itself — where do you few hours before, he would not have

think.'* Now, I will give you a hint noticed at all.

before I tell you. When you have Now, that is the sort of thing that

been crying a great deal, do you not happens when we wake. We have

have to blow your nose? The reason been sleeping less and less deeply for

is that the tears, as many of them as some time, and our brain has almost

can, run down into the nose. All the awakened of itself. Then there comes

time we are awake and not crying, this a sound or a light, or perhaps we move

goes on, keeping our eyes moist and in bed and feel ourselves moving, and

perfectly clean, and costing us no since we are already very nearly awake,

trouble. But when we cry we make the sound or the light or the feeling

far more tears than we need. Indeed, wakes us up. Of course, we live in

we make so many that they cannot a way that we have made for our-

even all run down into the nose, selves; but if we lived out of doors,

though many of them do. So, as as men did long ago, and as birds do

there is nowhere else for them to go, now, it would naturally be light that

and the eye itself cannot hold them all woke us up at last. That is what

as they come pouring into it, they are wakes the birds u]) now. When the

spilled over the edge of the lower sun rises, and the light gets stronger,

eyelid, and run down our cheeks. it wakes them up, though we are

But, though the tears, when we are awakened by a noise,

not crying, are so useful that we Do our eyes deceive us?

could not do without them, and Sometimes we can learn from the

though the way they are made and deception of our senses. Our eyes see

used by the upper eyelid when we wink things for a tiny fraction of a second

is one of the most beautiful things in after they are gone. For instance,

the body, yet it is no use to make too if you spin a little black and white disk

many of them. Indeed, though the you see circles instead of little bits of

real use of tears is to make us see prop- circles. That is because the eye goes

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

on seeing even when the lines are not
there, and sees until they come round
again. So if you take a card with a
gate drawn on one side, and a man on
a horse on the other side, and spin it,
you seem to see the horse jumping the
gate. It is this trick of the eye that
is used in the biograph or cinemato-
graph.

How A COAT KEEPS US WARM

A coat does not make us warm, but
all that any coat can do is to keep us
warm. Except when the sun is actually
shining upon us, or when we are
huddling over a fire, we make all our
warmth for ourselves. There is no
warmth in a coat or in any article of
clothing. So, of course, clothing can-
not make us warm — unless, indeed, we
hold it in front of the fire until it
is hot, and then put it on. Indeed,
when you come to think of it, we make
our clothes warm. Our clothes often
feel quite cold when we put them on,
but when we take them off they are
warm, and they have received the
warmth from our bodies.

How CLOTHES KEEP ICE COLD

The best way to understand how
clothes keep us warm is to learn how
to keep ice cold. Well, if clothing is
simply something that keeps back
heat, as a blind keeps back light, what
would happen if we put some clothing
on the ice? If we choose nice warm
clothing — which simply means that it
keeps us warm — ought it not to keep
the heat from outside from getting
into the ice?

Now, that is exactly what happens.
If we take the warmest kind of
clothing that we can think of, which
is flannel, and if we wrap the ice up
in flannel, we keep the ice cool, and
prevent it from melting. Now, do
you not think that is rather funny?
When we want to keep ourselves
warm we put on warm clothing, as we
call it; and when we want to keep

ice cold we put warm clothing on it.
Would you not almost have thought
that the clothing which made us warm
would make the ice warm too, and so
make it melt? Well, so it would if
the clothing were really warm, like a
hot bottle. But then, you see, there
is no warmth in it at all.

Why SOME clothes are warmer than

OTHERS

You know what a thermometer is.
It is something that measures how
hot things are. Now, if you take a
piece of flannel and a piece of linen
that have both been in the same room
for some time, and with a thermometer
you try to find out how hot they are,
you find that they are both just of
the same temperature. But on a cold
day you would rather put on flannel
than linen, because, as we say, the
flannel is so much warmer. Yet,
according to the thermometer, the
flannel and the linen are each just as
warm as the other.

What is the meaning of this puzzle?
It is simply that some things are better
barriers to heat, and keep heat back
better, than others.
Why SOME things are colder than

OTHERS

In an ordinary room without a fire
all the different things are equally as
warm, because, if it has time enough,
the warmth will spread itself over
everything about it, running from
anything that started warmer to any-
thing that started cooler.

Yet if you go and touch several of
the things in the room, one after the
other, you find that they feel very dif-
ferent as you touch them. A thing
like the fender will feel cold; the car-
pet will feel warm; wood would feel
colder than the carpet, but warmer
than the fender. Now, that is simply
because these things differ in their
power of keeping heat from running
through them, just as flannel and

20 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

linen differ. The brass of the fender nervous tissue is more richly supplied

lets heat run through it quickly, but with blood than any other tissue in the

the carpet lets heat run through it body, not even excepting the muscle

slowly, and so we say that the fender tissue of the heart itself. The blood

feels cold and the carpet feels warm, carries the food materials without

just as a linen sheet feels chilly when which nerve tissue cannot act, and

we get into bed, while a woollen nerve tissue has practically no reserve

blanket feels warm. If a thing car- at all of food supply in it. If the

ries heat quickly away from our fin- supply of blood is stopped for a

ger, it makes our finger cold, and we moment, nervous tissue "gives out"

say that the thing is cold; and we call sooner than any other tissue in the

another thing warm in comparison body.

with it, if that other thing, like flan- A simple and wonderful little ex-

nel, only carries away the heat from periment will show you this for your-

our finger slowly. self. The screen or curtain at the

What happens when anyone faints back of your eye, which receives the

^ . . . „ 1 (. 1 1 • ravs of light from everything you see,

Famtmg IS really a wonderful thmg. j/ ^^^^^^ ^f ^^^^^^^ ^-^^^^ It -^

What happens IS that the heart does j,^^ ^^j^j^ blood-vessels. If you

not send enough blood to the bram ^j^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ j^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^^j^^^^

and so the bram stops working, and j .i n n ^

, , , ^ - °' „ and then press your nnger hrmly on

the person drops to the ground. \\ hen ^j^^ (pressing on it through

you are standmg or sittmg, your heart ^j^^ ^.^^^ j^ ^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ everything

has to drive the blood upwards to your ^^.jjj ^^^^ ^^^-^^ ^^^^ ^j^^ ;^,^ j^

brain against the attraction of the ^^^^ ^1^^,^ i, l^ntv of light, but

whole earth, ^^'hlch tries to pull every- -^ j^ -^^ ^,j^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ g

thing down. But directly the faint mg ^^^ -^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^;^,^ ^^^ ^^,jU

person falls the hearts task of sending ^^^ .^_ ^j^^ ^^^^^^ -^ ^j^^^ ^^j^^^^

sufhcient blood to the brain is made ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^.^_^^11 ^.^^^ ^^^_

easy, and so very soon his ^ brain ^^^^^^^ ^j^^ ^j^^^j ^^^^^^-^^^ ^j^^^^^^j^ ^j^^

gets sufficient blood, and he comes ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^.^^.^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^j^^

round, as we say. If his heart has ^^^^^ ^^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^.^ ^^^^^^^^

not been actually strained he is all ^^^^-^^^ ^^.j^^^j^ j^ ^,^^ ^^^.^^^ ^p ^.j^^^^ -^

right again. So you see that the fall- j^^^^ ^^^j.^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^1^^^^ -^ ^^^^1^ ^^

ing IS I\atures method of relieving i u ur j

"° ; . ,, '^ no more, and your eye became bund.

the situation. ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^p breath

People who ha^^ not learned this ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ -^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^

try to raise up the fallen person which ^^ .^^ jt ^^^^r gets tired. But if

IS simply mterfering with Nature s ^^ ^unVery hard, or swim verv hard,

way and putting his brain in the ^^ ^^ anvthing of that kind, we sud-

worst possible position for getting the ^^^^j^ ^j^;^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^^1 ^^ ^^^^^ ^.^^j.

amount of blood it needs The feet ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ j^^^ ^^ ^^

of a famtmg person should be raised ^^^ ^,^jj^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ wonderful

to allow the blood to more freely ^^.^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ j^^^^^ j^ ^j^^ ^^^^^^^^^^

reach the bram. ^^ ^^^^^^^^ p^^,^^ ^.j^.^j^ -^ j^ ^^1^ ^^

DOES THE BRAIN NEED FOOD? Call upou at a moment's notice. When

The brain is made of nerves and we get out of breath we have already

nerve-cells. These taken together we called upon this reserve power, and

call nervous tissue, and we know that should take warning.

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

Why we have lines on our hands

Some people have said that the use
of these Hnes is to give us a better
hold upon things, but probably that
is not their real use. If it were so
we should really have to say that they
were scarcely worth having. It is
much more likely that the use of these
lines is to help the sense of touch in
our hands and fingers, where touch is
so very important. By making little
valleys and ridges they increase the
surface of the skin, and by going in
different directions they help us to
feel the kind of surface that anything
has which we touch. The little end-
ings of the nerves of touch are placed
to the greatest advantage by means of
these lines, and that seems to be the
reason why they are so very well
marked on just those parts of the skin
where delicacy of touch is most
important.

What is the best cure for fatigue
We must not take a large meal when
we are tired, because we are not then
fit to deal with food. We may take
water, or lemonade, or oranges, be-
cause water, in passing through the
body, always carries ail sorts of poi-
sons away with it and helps us to
get rid of them.

But, above all, we must rest, and
there is no kind of rest which can be
compared with sleep. In general, the
people who sleep best are those who
work hard. The man who works all
day in the fields usually has the best
sleep in the world, far better than some
unfortunate people who do little or
nothing, and who may even take medi-
cine to help them to sleep. Nature,
the best of all doctors, has her own
medicine to procure good sleep for
every healthy person who works;
and the most beautiful thing about
' tiredness, when it is the right fatigue
that everyone should feel when he
goes to bed, is that it produces in our

blood just the very thing that gives
us perfect and natural sleep.
Why we have ten fingers

Nature decided on five fingers, or
toes, at the end of each limb very long
ago indeed — ages before man appeared
upon the earth at all. It is true that,
at first sight, there seem to be many
exceptions to this. We find only one
obvious finger, or toe, for each limb in
the horse, two for the pig, and so on.
But the original figure was five. The
hen, for instance, has only three and a
half toes, and when we examine the
skeleton of its wing — which is really
its arm — we find three and a half
fingers there. The chicken, as we see
it, is the same. But if we examine
the hen's egg before the chicken is
ready to break through the shell, we
find that it has five fingers, or toes, on
the end of each of its four limbs; only
the birds have apparently found that
they could do as well with three and
part of a fourth, so they have stopped
developing the rest. We must go far
below the the mammals or the birds, or
even the reptiles, for the beginnings of
the five-fingered or five-toed ar-
rangement, and it is not till we study
the still humbler creatures that we
get to the real beginning. If we look
at a frog we can see that it has five
fingers and five toes just as we have.
So we may say that it was the frog, or
the remote ancestors of the frog,
which decided ages ago that we should
count in tens!

Why all our fingers are not the
same length

It might be very difficult to answer
this question if we had only the present
use of the hand to account for; and it
is a disadvantage to us that our little
fingers and ring-fingers, for instance,
are so short and weak, for this weakens
our grasp for things, which is the
principle purpose of which we use our
hands. Also, this inequality of the

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

fingers in length and strength is a
difficulty for the pianist and the
typist. We therefore cannot hope to
answer this question by referring to
the usefulness of the hand for its
present purpose. But we find the
answer when we consider the history
of the hand, and when we look at the
fingers of many kinds of lower animals
which have fingers more or less like
ours.

We learn that our hands were
originally used for standing and for
walking, since we inherit them from
"four-footed ancestors." If we put
the hand on a table, as if we meant to
walk on the tips of the fingers, I think
we shall see at once what a well-
balanced support it makes, just be-
cause the fingers are unequal in length
— the middle finger the longest, and
the short thumb and little finger
falling behind and balancing the
whole. We see the same thing in the
case of animals that have three
fingers — as the toes of the forefeet
might rightly be called — and we can
notice it for ourselves any day in the
dog or the cat. This is only one in-
stance of a very large number furnished
by our bodies which helps us to under-
stand why certain things, for which
we can find no particular reason now,
and which may even be inconvenient
to us, are as they are.

Why we have finger-nails and toe-
nails

Perhaps we may think that, at any
rate, there is a use for finger-nails, as
we can use them to scratch with; but
at the present day there is no explana-
tion of finger-nails and toe-nails so
far as use is concerned. If we turn
to the past, however, we find the
explanation at once. Our nails are
all that is left to us of the things which
the lower animals have and make
great use of as claws and hoofs. We
live by our minds, not by things like

claws; and as we have not sufficient
use for them, they have grown smaller
and weaker in us — just as our teeth
also have done, and our bones and
muscles in large degree — until we
have nothing left but nails.

Yet there is no doubt that they are
really the same as the claws the cat
uses for fighting and for climbing with,
and for tearing its food; and the hoofs
which the horse uses for walking
upon. The ancestors of the horse had
five fingers and toes, as we have, and
a nail, or hoof, at the end of each; but
all these except the middle ones have
shrunk in the modern horse, until we
find only one that reaches the ground,
and the remains of another on each
side. Occasionally we find a young
horse born with three or even four
toes. The horse's hoofs, then, are
really the nails of its middle fingers
and middle toes, and are very useful
to it. They are made of the same
material as our nails, and can be cut
without pain, as our nails can.

Why some people are dark and
some fair

The differences of color between
various people are a good instance of
those many difl^erences which are due
not to anything that happens to us in
the course of our lives, but to some-
thing that is inborn in us, and usually
derived from our parents. The chil-
dren of two dark parents are dark,
those of parents who are both brown-
eyed are always brown-eyed, and so
on. This way in which people re-
semble their parents is one of the most
important things in the world, and the
special name for it is heredity. We
say that the thing in question, such as
skin-color or eye-color, is hereditary.

All human beings may be divided
into races by their color — the fair-
skinned, the yellow-skinned, and the
dark-skinned, and they are each apt
to think the others ugly, especially

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 23

when these are accompanied by other irregular, or have thin, soft, crumbly

differences. In America there is a outsides, which easily break away or

great mixture of races, though nearly decay. Now we see why a second

all belong to the fair-skinned family tooth grows when the first falls out or

of mankind. Among us are a fairer is pulled out. But no third tooth will

and a darker race, and it is known grow when a second tooth has been

that at present, owing to some reason lost, because there is no other tooth-

we do not understand, the darker germ lying below the second tooth, as

people are increasing and the fairer there is below the first tooth. Thus a

people becoming fewer. It is probable third tooth cannot grow,

that ages ago differences in color Why onions make our eyes water
depended partly on the amount of Our eyes are really watering all the

sun, darker people having coloring time, or, rather, we are producing

matter in skin and eyes which pro- tears that pass over the eyeball and

tects them from strong sunlight; but keep it clean. That is why we wink

this is a question about which we do —to carry the tears that appear

not know much yet. under the upper lid over the surface

Why only two sets of teeth grow of the eye. These tears escape into

When we are born we have, hidden the nose, as we know. We say that
in our gums, all our first teeth. These our eyes water when the tears form so
twenty teeth are already completely quickly that they cannot escape
formed in all their parts at birth, and quickly enough, because then we see
only have to get through the gums in them water. Onions give off some-
order to be seen. A baby gets its thing to the air which excites the ends
food by sucking and not by biting, and of the nerves of smell in the nose, and
so it is better that its teeth should be also excites the ends of the nerves of
out of the way at first, below the gums, touch in the eyeball and eyelids, and
Still deeper in the gums, below each of so sends a message to the brain, telling
the primary teeth, and also farther the tear-glands to make tears quickly,
back in the jaw than the primary and then we say that our eyes water,
teeth extend, there are little groups of There is use in this, for the rapid flow
cells, called tooth-germs, which will of tears helps to protect the eyelids
some day make the second set of and the eyeball from the irritant the
teeth, usually called the permanent onions give off. In people who, for
teeth, though they are often not as some reason, cannot produce tears,
permanent as they might be. There such things as onions will make the
are thirty-two sets of these little cells ; eyes smart severely, because such
and though none of them are teeth, or people cannot protect themselves by
look in the least like teeth, they have making their eyes water,
in them the power of making teeth of Why we are right-handed
the various kinds that we possess. Some people think that babies are

We should take very great care of born with a natural tendency to use

the first teeth of children, brushing one hand more than the other, and

them, and having them filled if they that in the greater number of cases

decay, even though we know that they this is the right hand; but in a few —

will fall out soon; because if they are perhaps about six in a hundred — it is

neglected the tooth-germs underneath the left. They say it i.- not worth

them are very apt to be injured, and while to train both hands equally for

when the new teeth come they will be everything — for instance, for writing

2I^ TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

— as this would take too much time; keep the brain awake and make it

and we could not become so skilful aware that something must be done,

with either hand if we were taught to How shivering from cold helps to

use both equally for everything. make us warm

But others think that the inclination A very good reason for shivering
shown by a child to use one hand or perhaps can be found. Whenever a
the other is determined by the way it muscle works, heat is produced; in-
is held to the breast by the mother deed, a very great part of the heat of
when young. Some educators even the body is made in the muscles, which
favor teaching children to write and have been called "the fireplaces of the
draw indiscriminately with both body." Shivering consists of small,
hands. This is called being ambi- quick, to-and-fro movements, some-
dextrous. It is certain that there times almost quite regular, as when
is very little in the old prejudice our "teeth chatter," of most or all of
against the use of the left hand, for the muscles of the body. Now,
left-handed people as a rule write as though shivering often makes us aware
well as others, despite the fact that that we are cold, yet it helps to keep us
our system of penmanship was framed warm, for all these little muscular
for right-handed people. movements are producing heat. So
Why we shiver when we are very we may say that when a person, by
COLD keeping still, refuses to work his

There are more good reasons than muscles so as to keep warm, the brain

one why we shiver when we are cold, takes the matter into its own hands

The machinery of it, as we may say, and does what little it can by setting

is that cold, at first, rather excites and the muscles shivering,

disturbs the nervous system, just as why everything spins round when

heat usually soothes it. We notice we are dizzy

these contrary effects of heat and cold When anyone feels dizzy, and per-

in the case of a warm bath and a cold haps almost about to faint, his brain

dip. This does not say that shivering cannot properly control the working of

is at all the same thing as the feeling his eyes. They may move round from

of activity we have after a cold side to side, perhaps independently

plunge; but in each case the cold has instead of together, and so it may

been what is called a stimulant. But look as if things were spinning round,

now we have to ask whether the Another reason for dizziness has to do

shivering is of any use to us, or whether with a wonderful part of the body near

it is a wholly useless and purposeless the ear, and without which none of us

thing; beyond any doubt it is possible could sit upright, much less stand,

to show that shivering serves the pur- though few people have ever heard

poses of the body just as hunger does, of it. This organ, which used to be

and just as even fever often does, thought to have something to do with

though we think of these as things hearing, really controls our balance,

rather bad in themselves. One good In some people it suffers from a dis-

reason for shivering is that it makes us ease, and these people constantly

aware of cold as we might not other- suffer from dizziness and a feeling that

wise be, and so we can protect our- everything is spinning round and

selves. After the first stage of its round.

action great cold sends the brain to As every one knows, we can make

sleep. Shivering perhaps serves to ourselves dizzy, and can think that

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

everything is spinning round, by turn-
ing round ourselves several times in
one direction. This disturbs the organ
of balancing, and this disturbance
gives us the feeling. If you turn
round the other way you put things
right, by restoring the original state
of affairs within the balancing organ.
The name for the feeling that things
are spinning round is vertigo; and
vert simply means turn, as in such
words as convert, invert, and others.
Sleeping with the bed-clothes over

THE FACE

Mothers sometimes get anxious
about this, for they think — and quite
rightly, too — that a child, or anyone
else, should have its nose free when it
is asleep, and not covered with the
bed-clothes. But if they will watch
a sleeping child, they will see that
though often the child starts to go to
sleep by covering its face up, yet al-
ways, when it is asleep or nearly
asleep, the child's body will do the
rest for itself, and the head will be
moved until the nose gets free of the
clothes, so that fresh air can get to it.
So people who look after children
really need not worry if children like
to start the night with the bed-clothes
almost over their faces. The child's
brain, as soon as the child's self is
asleep and cannot interfere with it in
any way, will put things right.
What are freckles

What we usually speak of as freckles
are spots of a yellowish-brown color
which are seen on the skin of some
people, especially after they have been
exposed to strong sunshine for some
time. They occur chiefly on the face,
on the neck, and on the hands, because
those are the parts of the skin unpro-
tected by clothes. Some people are
much more liable than others to have
this coloring produced, and in some
it disappears quite quickly, while in
others it lasts a long time.

In all these cases the freckles are
the result of the action of the sun on
certain cells of the skin, which causes
these cells to produce coloring matter,
or pigment, which remains there for a
certain time. There are cases, how-
ever, in which freckles do not appear
to be caused by very hot sunshine or
exposure, but which come naturally,
just as the color of the skin itself is
either fair or dark, according to the
tendency inherited by the individual.
What makes a dimple

In order to understand a dimple, we
should know the structure of the skin
and what lies beneath it. In most
parts of the body the skin, with its
outer horny layer, and the inner living
layer, which carries nerves and blood-
vessels and makes the horny layer
afresh from day to day, lies very
loosely upon the layer of tissue be-
neath it. This is a loose layer, con-
taining a certain number of fibers
running in all directions, with fat-
cells lying between them in healthy
people — except under the skin of the
eyelids, where fat is never found even
in the fattest people. A few of these
fibers are attached to the under sur-
face of the skin, so that, though we can
move the skin about very freely over
what lies beneath it, there is, never-
theless, a limit to this movement.

But where there are dimples, as on
the face, and often round such joints as
the knee and the elbow, the number of
fibers attached to the under surface
of the skin is much increased, and they
are rather short, so that the skin is
depressed, or dimpled, at these points.
We see what is really the same thing
produced accidentally in the case of
scars, which are often a little depressed
below the general level of the skin
because they are tacked down in the
same way. But a scar differs from a
dimple, as the skin over a scar has
been lost, and is replaced by a new

S6 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

thing called scar-tissue, while the skin already contains a quantity of water,

over a dimple is true and healthy skin, and so does not easily take up more.

Why damp air often makes us ill and the passage of water from our

Damp air is often cold air, and the bodies is, to a certain extent, checked,

cold has usually been blamed for mak- All life, as we know, is lived in water,

ing us ill, though many facts prove and if life is to go on, enough fresh

that it is not blameworthy at all. water must always be supplied to the

There is one great difference between living body, whether it be a man or an

damp air and dry air, which accounts animal or a plant. When the pas-

for the fact that people usually feel sage of water is slow, as it is in damp

at their best in dry air, while many air, then the processes of our lives are

feel at their worst in damp air. checked, and our bodies are apt to

Water is always leaving our bodies get choked up with things which would

by many channels, such as the skin otherwise have been burned up and got

and the breath. When the air is rid of. This seems to be the real key

dry, this journey of water is readily to the effect of damp air upon rheu-

made, but when the air is damp, it matism.

WONDERS OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS

What the birds sing about most beautiful thing about the birds'

WHENEVER a child or a bird singing, which is, that they never sing

or anyone else sings naturally, that people may say "What a beauti-

it sings about its feelings. If ful voice you have!" b-'t always

you have no feelings you ought not to because they have som^ beautiful

sing. Sometimes we sing just to show feeling which makes them sing,

that we are brighter than other people. Why birds fly so high

and when we do that we do not feel If you stand on the top of a high

what we are singing, and everyone is building on a sunny day, you can see

glad when we stop. But the birds sing nearly over the city. The higher

only when they must — when their feel- you go the more you can see, if your

ings find their way out somehow, eyes are strong enough. These birds

Then they try to tell the world how have very strong sight. Their eyes

happy they are. The feelings that can see as well as ours would if we

birds sing about are always happy feel- used a telescope.

ings. When a bird is ill, or miserable. The big birds look down from the

or unhappy, it never sings. Generally great height at which they are flying,

birds sing to express their feelings of and they see many birds flying below,

love, and to call to their mates and These birds below watch the earth,

their friends when they want company. They see food thrown away by men

At other times they sing simply for and placed in the garden by children,

the joy of living, as the lark sings when and in a moment they fly down to get

he goes up into the sky. He sings for it. The bird which is right up in the

the joy of his nest on the ground, and air knows what they are doing, and

for the joy of the light, and the joy swoops down quickly to take its share,

of the air, and the joy of freedom. These birds get a good meal. If they

Perhaps the singing of the birds was did not eat that food it would soon

the first music that was heard on become bad in the sunshine, and make

the earth. But do remember the us ill; but it serves the birds for a good

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

dinner, and by eating it the birds save
us from being ill. So we see how in
all parts of the world Nature looks
after her big family.
The use of a moth

Hair and wool are rubbed off the
thousands and thousands of hairy and
woolly animals in the world, and, if
this hair and wool were never de-
stroyed, it would, in the course of
many years, become a great nuisance.
The moths eat this and so prevent us
from suffering from such a nuisance.

But moths eat our clothes, you say.

Moths never eat the clothes which
we have on, or the clothes which we
wear regularly. If you have too many
clothes to wear, you should give them
to poor people who have not enough.
So that moths teach us not to be
greedy, not to hoard up things which
other people would be thankful to have !

That is a lesson which not all of us
would expect. Other unpleasant things
teach us just as well. Those of us
who have relatives in hot lands know
how badly people there suffer from
fever.
Where the flowers go in winter

The flowers of most plants can live
and be useful for only part of one year,
when there is plenty of light and
warmth. When the summer goes
they die. You know how the roses on
a rose-bush die, but you know also
that the rose-bush itself does not die.

In just the same way the leaves of
most trees die at the end of the sum-
mer, but the trees go on living. When
the flowers and the leaves die and fall,
their death and fall is really a sign of
life in the plant, or bush, or tree that
bears them. If the whole bough of a
tree is killed by something in the sum-
mer, the leaves will remain on it when
the leaves of all the living boughs have
fallen. There is really no waste or
loss to a plant or a tree when its leaves
and flowers die.

Before a leaf falls it changes its
color, as we know, because the plant
or tree is taking out of the leaf all
the useful things that it needs for its
own life. Then, at the base of the
leaf, it forms a thin layer of something
rather like cork, so that, after some of
the useful things have been taken out
of it, the leaf is left to die. There
are still some useful things in the leaf,
however, only they need something to
be done to them before the plant can
use them.
what happens when a leaf falls

Many changes take place in the
leaf as the summer goes away. When
the leaf falls to the ground, there are
waiting for it many tiny living crea-
tures called microbes, which, as we
say, make it decay. But this really
means that the substance of the leaf
is changed in such a way that it can
be taken up by the plant from the soil
and built up again into the plant when
the spring comes. This is one of the
most beautiful and wonderful things
in Nature, and there is no greater
lesson we can learn than that what
looks like useless death and decay and
waste is really nothing of the sort,
but a living process that makes for
more life.

You will say. Why should not the
leaves and flowers live on all the year
round, as they do in some plants for
special reasons? But the leaf is made
in order to use the sunlight, and in
the winter there is not enough sun-
light, and so the leaf would be wasting
its time.

So the plant takes what it can use
from the leaf and the rest of the leaf
is changed, so that the plant can use
that, too, when the summer is coming,
and there is use for new leaves.
How the mosquito causes fever

And now, after all these years, after
many brave men have died from fever,
a doctor has discovered that fever

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

there can be checked, and can be done
away with. The fever is caused by
the sting of a httle insect called a
mosquito. What we call the "midge"
in this country is really one form of
mosquito. In the hot lands this
mosquito, when it stings, forces a
deadly poison into the blood of the
person it bites.

What the doctor does, having found
out the cause of the fever, is to get
rid of that cause. He finds that the
mosquito lays the eggs from which the
young ones are born in moist, swampy
places. So the stamps are drained
and the puddles dried up. Then the
mosquito eggs cannot be hatched, and,
there being no mosquitoes, men can-
not be poisoned. The mosquito has
taught men that they must be clean
and careful in their homes.

How A SPIDER SPINS ITS WEB

Great men say that nothing is more
wonderful than the cleverness of the
spider. The silk of which it makes its
web comes from its body through
tiny tubes, like the finest hairs.
Many of them come out at the same
time, but after leaving the spider's
body they are all formed into one rope
of silk, which is so thin that a hundred
of them together are only as thick as a
hair. The end of the silk is fastened
to a twig or a leaf or a piece of wood
Sometimes the spider makes the fasten-
ing itself, or it may let the silk float
from its body for the wind to blow it
about until it touches something and
clings there.

When both ends have been made
fast, the spider is able to run down the
thread and fix several more threads,
perhaps twenty, all fastened to differ-
ent points, but meeting in the middle.
These are the cross ropes of the web.
Then other lines have to be woven
round and round these, making per-
haps twenty rings. All this beautiful
silk has come from the spider's body.

The spider works hard and fast, and
when the web is begun the work is
finished in less than an hour. The
web is then so strong that the wind
cannot blow it away and the rain
cannot break it.

The purpose of the spider's web is
to catch insects, so the spider has still
much work to do. Insects would not
be caught in a web if they could walk

HOW NATURE HANGS HER BEADS UPON A
SPIDER'S WEB

This is a spider's web covered with dewdrops. The
spider makes its web with silk from its own body, which it
spins into rings and threads until the web is complete. A
web is so strong that wind and rain do not break it. There
is nothing prettier than the spider's web with the hanging
dew upon it.

or fly out of it, and to prevent their
escape the spider covers all the web
with a glue-like substance, which
sticks to anything entering the web
and holds it fast. We cannot see this
glue with our eyes, but there are
thousands of tiny beads of it dotted
all over the spider's web.

How THE BIRDS FIND THEIR WAY

We know that many birds fly away
home over the sea to warmer countries
when our summer ends, and return

THE EVERYDAY WONDER ROOK 29

when it begins again. This flight up sound like a telephone, but is made
across the seas is called migration, and by the bee itself. You have never
is one of the wonders of the world, heard a bee hum when it was crawling
We say that instinct guides them; but — nor any other insect. This tells us
this does not tell us how instinct is what we might have guessed, that the
able to do so marvelous a thing, bee's humming is made by the move-
When we cross the seas we are guided ment of its wings when it flies. The
by those who have been that way noise is not made by its voice-box, as
before. We have charts and pilots when you sing, for the bee has no voice-
and compasses, and even then we box. But its wings move very quickly
sometimes make mistakes. ■ — a bird would "hum" when flying if

But the birds have none of these its wings moved quickly enough — and

things. They do not even take pro- as they move to and fro, or vibrate, or

visions W'ith them; and we know that tremble, they set the air moving, and

some of them become exhausted with you know that waves in the air make

their long flight, unsupported by food, sound when we hear them,
while not a few are nearly dead. Yet, If the waves are too slow, as when

though this is so, the wonder of their you wave a stick in the air, or when a

flight, and their guidance, remains. bird flaps its wings, we hear nothing.

We can only guess that perhaps the If they are too fast, as they are in the

older birds teach the younger ones, as case of some insects, perhaps, and in

happens with ourselves; and if anyone other cases, like the scream of the bat

finds it hard to believe how they can we cannot hear them; or, to take the

remember, all we can say is that birds bat, some people can hear them, but

have wonderful memories for these many cannot. Thus there are many

things. The birds also have a wonder- sounds we cannot hear, as there are

ful sense of direction. many colors w^e cannot see. But the

We know that some people can never vibrations in the air made by the

find their way. They turn to the left bee's wings are of a rate that is within

when they should turn to the right, the range of our hearing — if the bee

and so on. Other people scarcely ever is near enough — and so we hear a

make a mistake, even though they humming. No doubt you will guess

have been only once in a place before, that that word, like "murmur," is

Probably birds and many other made to imitate the sound of which it

animals are even wiser than the wisest is the name,

human beings in this respect. Perhaps did tame flowers once grow
if you bandaged a bird and "turned it wild?

round three times"- — as w^hen you play Certainly all flowers did once grow

games — it would remember just how wild, and all animals, too. There are

far and often it had gone round. But certain kinds of flowers and animals

when they turn you round, you -don't which men have, so to speak, made by

know whether you are facing the fire- choosing the kind of thing they wanted

place or the window. Your brain and leaving the rest, and so gradually

can't remember the turnings as the getting such things as the garden rose,

bird's brain does. the pouter pigeon, and so on. These

What makes a bee hum are what we call cultivated varieties.

The humming of the bee and of so but all of them, even the most curious

many other insects is not like the and newest orchid, or pigeon, or breed

murmur of the seashell, which picks of dog, have been made from wild or

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

natural forms; and, of course, before
man started doing this, all flowers, all
plants, all animals, were wild. Even
now, if we are careless, our garden
plants will return sometimes more or
less completely to their natural state,
and so will domestic animals. On the
other hand, cultivated flowers may
escape from a garden, as we say, their
seeds being carried by insects or the
wind, and may then appear to have
grown wild. There is no end to what
we may do by cultivating plants and
flowers. Men used to try only to make
beautiful forms, but lately they have
tried to make useful ones, and have
succeeded, especially in making from
old kinds of corn new kinds which are
far more valuable for human food.
Does a worm breathe under

GROUND?

Every living thing breathes, whether
in earth, or on the earth, or in the sky,
or in w ater. If it cannot get air it dies.
The worm really has no trouble at all,
for there is plenty of air and to spare
in the earth anywhere near the sur-
face. Of course, if you dig deeply
into the earth, there will not be
enough air for a thing like a worm,
which needs a good deal; and you will
find only living creatures, like some
microbes, or tiny plants, which need
very little air. Further down still you
will find no living things at all. There
is no life at all in the inside of the
earth.

Do SEEDS BREATHE?

Seeds are no exception to the rule
that every living thing must breathe.
The seed gets its air, or, rather, its
oxygen from the air, just as the worm
does. So you must not plant the seed
too deeply, or it will not get enough
air, and then it will die. You may
wonder that a seed should breathe,
but that is because we always think of
breathing as if the only kind of it were
our breathing, w ith ribs and lungs.

The air in the earth, which enables
plants to grow from seeds and trees
from acorns, and keeps alive worms
and insects and many microbes, is
known as ground-air, and as its
warmth depends on the warmth of
the earth, it is very different at dif-
ferent times of the year. That is one
reason why certain illnesses attack
us at certain times of the year — be-
cause the warmth of the ground-air is
just right for the growth of the
microbes that cause those illnesses.
Remember, there is air in the earth as
there is in water.
Where the snail finds its shell

The snail makes its shell from its
own skin. The same is true of the
shell of the oyster, or that of the
lobster. Our own skins, we know, can
make things which are fairly hard,
such as our nails; and it is also true
that the hardest things in our bodies,
our teeth, which are, or should be, even
harder than the shell of the snail, are
really made from our skin, which has
been, so to speak, turned into our
mouths so as to line them. There are
really few things more wonderful than
the way in which soft, living creatures,
mostly made of w ater, are able to make
the hardest things, like teeth and wood
and shells and pearl, and so on. If we
look very carefully at the skin of
creatures like the snail, we can see
how its outside cells are specially
made so that they can gradually get
harder and harder, until they cannot
be called skin at all, but are really
nothing else than shell. We can
watch very much the same thing if we
look at the cells at the base of our nails
or the cells that make the horiK of
animals, and see how the soft skin is
gradually changed.
How Flies walk on the ceiling

The reason, no doubt, is that the
fly's feet, besides being just the least
little bit sticky, are made like suckers.

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 31

and hold on to whatever the fly walks shown in the spider's web or the bird's

upon. Then, of course, we have to nest, or a thousand other things, is

remember that the fly's body itself is quite different. There is no learning

very lightly made, just as a bird's body at all. Many animals have to do a

is, because both are meant to fly; and most difficult thing only once in their

this makes it easier for a very little whole lives, and after doing it they

force to prevent the fly from falling die; and we know for certain that they

even when it is upside down. have never seen any other animal do

Why spiders do not get caught in 't. They have never learned, they

THEIR OWN WEB havc Dcvcr practiced, and yet they do

It is the strength of the spider that it perfeclty. That is the power of

prevents him from getting caught in instinct; but the weakness of it is that

his web, which is only made for catch- it can do only what it is made to do,

ing creatures much weaker than him- and it is for this reason that intelli-

self. We know for certain that the gence is so vastly superior to the best

spider can cut his web when he pleases, instinct.

so that there is no fear of his getting Why fishes cannot live on land
caught in it. The spider is a wonder- Every living thing must have air or

fully clever animal, but he is not brave, die. The fish comes out of the water.

If an insect that is too big for his taste where there is very little air, into the

comes against his web, he will sit quite air itself, and there it dies for lack of

still in one corner and never move air. It is drowned on land for lack of

until it goes away, and sometimes he air, and dies of what is called suffoca-

is so frightened that he simply cuts his tion, just as you or I would be drowned

web rather than get into difficulties in the water.

with something that is more likely to But why cannot the fish help itself

eat him than the other way about, to the air around it when it is put on

In this he is cleverer than some men, earth? Why should it starve in the

who make nets to catch other people midst of plenty, like a rich man who

and get caught in them themselves, has something the matter physically?

In proportion to his size, the spider is The reason is, that in order to breathe

a very strong animal, and it is really air you must have lungs, or something

wonderful that he can cut his own like lungs, and the fish has none ; while

web, for they say that in proportion in order to get the air which is dis-

to its weight it is one of the strongest solved in water, which the fish does,

things known. you must have something quite dif-

How birds know how to build ferent from lungs, which are called

THEIR nests gills. The fish has no lungs, but only

It is by the power of what we call gills. We have no gills, but only

instinct. We human beings do very lungs. Therefore, we die in the water

little by instinct; we have to learn for and the fish dies out of it. If an

ourselves almost everything that we animal had both gills and lungs, then

do. We cannot write or read in- it would be able to get air from the

stinctively, and if we are to learn well air or to get the air which is in water,

we must practice, and we must have as it pleased ; and it could live both on

help from older people to teach us. the land and in the sea.

Only we have this advantage, that How we can tell the age of a tree
there is no limit to what we can learn. In the case of some trees you can

The instinct of animals, however, only guess at this, but in the case of

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

many you can tell exactly, because
the tree makes a fresh growth every
year under the bark, and as this differs
rather in the earlier part of the year
from the kind of wood which is made
later, you can easily distinguish be-
tween one year's growth and the next.
So when the tree is cut across — but
that, of course, means killing it — you
find that it shows a number of rings,
one inside the other, and each of these
rings corresponds to a year of the
tree's life.

In the case of a man or a woman,
the number of years he or she has
lived need not make any difference
or leave any mark. Some people are
far younger at eighty than other
people at thirty, for we do not live
by the changing seasons of the year.
But all plants do this in some degree
or other, and thus thev show the
marks of their age. Another way in
which trees differ from us is that, as
long as they are alive, they go on
growing, while we, of course, are quite
different, and after the earlier part of
our lives is past we never grow any
more. Some trees live to be many
hundreds of years old. even 1000
years or more.
Why the bark grows on a tree

If the bark did not grow on the
tree, the tree would not grow. The
bark is a necessary part of the tree, and
if you strip the bark off you will kill
the tree. In the first place, the bark
does one or two things which are use-
ful but not very important. The
outside of it is usually pretty tough,
and has become more or less dead
so that things do not hurt it, and it
protects the living part of the tree
inside. Often many animals and
plants live on the outside of trees
without doing them any harm, but
that is really a very small thing. The
inside of the bark is the most living
part of the tree, we may say; not only

so, but it actually makes the tree.
All the growth of the tree in thickness
is due to the making of the wood, and
it is the bark, the soft living part of
the inside of the bark, that has made
all the hardest wood of the biggest and
hardest tree-trunk. Also, there are
channels in the bark through which
the sap of the tree, its food and water,
run, in much the same w^ay as the
blood runs in our own blood-vessels.
What makes a cat purr

The noise a cat makes when it purrs
is really a kind of talking, for it tells
you that the cat has a certain feeling.
It feels pleased and happy, and it says
so in its own way, and no doubt
another cat would know and under-
stand what it felt, and very likely
would feel pleased and begin to purr
too, just as the company of happy
people usually makes us happy. ^Yhen
a cat purrs, if you put your hand on
it you can feel its whole body trem-
bling. But when anyone speaks or
sings — especially if he be a man with
a voice low in pitch — if you put your
hand on his chest you can feel him
vibrate, or tremble, just like the eat.
In the case of the man, we know that
it is his vocal cords in his throat
which he has set trembling, and they
have set the whole of his chest vibrat-
ing. Whether anyone is sure what
it is that the cat purrs with is doubt-
ful, but the cat has vocal cords just
as we have, and we may be sure it
uses them.
How a dog knows a stranger

A dog has wonderfully good eyes,
but it has a still more wonderful sense
of smell. Our own sense of smell is
so very feeble and unimportant that
only after we have made a long study
of animals can we realize how useful
and delicate this sense may be. Thus
a dog "knows a stranger" chiefly be-
cause the stranger has a strange scent.
If the stranger wore the clothes of the

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

dog's master, then the dog would take
him for his master, even though the
stranger looked very different. After
a time, very likely the dog might
begin to feel uncomfortable, and act
as if he thought something was wrong
somewhere.

But, you see, every creature forms
its judgments mainly by means of the
particular sense which is best devel-
oped in it, and which it has therefore
learned to trust best. We know
people by our eyes, and though some-
times a man's voice may be exactly
like the voice of a friend, yet we do
not think that it is our friend if our
eyes do not tell us so. Just in the
same way the dog trusts his nose
rather than his ej' es, because his sense
of smell is his best sense. Lastly, do
not forget that it is because the dog
has the wonderful thing called memory
that he "knows a stranger." It is as
if he said to himself, "This is not a
smell I remember" — that is to say, it
is a strange smell.
Why the leaves change color

In the autumn the beautiful green
color made by the sunlight in the plant
changes and goes. It is not that the
plant is dying, but that it is going to
rest for the winter, when the air is cold
and the days are short. After all,
many animals go to sleep all the
winter, and for the same reason.
Hibernus is the Latin word that has
to do with winter, and so we say that
some animals hibernate. Well, we
might just as well say that many trees
hibernate, and since they are not
going to use their leaves, they take
out of them everything that will be
useful. In doing this the tree changes
the green in the leaf, and so we get
various colors produced in the autumn.

Why certain seeds come up at
certain times

Young creatures come up, if they
are plants, or are born, if they are

animals, usually at the time of year
which is best suited for their particular
way of life. That is the general rule
throughout the whole world, both of
plants and of animals; and the case of
the seeds which come up in spring,
some sooner and some later, according
to the way they are made, is really
only the same thing. One exception
to it is ourselves. All the year round,
babies are born — Christmas Day and
Midsummer's Day alike. The reason
for this is that it does not matter what
time of the year it is when a baby is
born, because it depends, unlike a
plant, not upon the weather and the
particular amount of sun that is shin-
ing or the particular amount of
warmth in the earth, but upon the
love of its mother, and that it is the
same all the year round. While, like
all other living creatures, we depend
partly upon the sun, and so on, yet,
more than all other things, we depend
upon the care of those who love
us.

Why ANIMALS IN SNOWY COUNTRIES
WEAR WHITE COATS

The use of the white coat is to pro-
tect the animal from its enemies by
making it difficult to see. If the
animal keeps still it can scarcely be
seen at all when its coat is the same
color as the snow. But if it had a
white coat in summer, when the snow
goes, it would be easily seen, and so
often its coat changes in summer, and
the fur takes other tints, more like
the color of the ground and the plants
among which it lives. This is called
protective coloring, and is very useful
to many animals. But sometimes it
happens that an animal which lives
by catching others is also white in
winter snow, so that it can get near its
prey without being seen. Some in-
sects do the same thing, and when
they sit quietly among the leaves of
certain plants no one can tell which

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

is insect and which is leaf, so the birds

cannot find them.

What brings life out of dry seeds

We may be sure that the hfe is
there, or it would not come out of the
seeds. The seeds are the children of
plants that were alive before them,
and part of their parents' life is in
them. But it is quite true that a
dried seed is very different from one
which is sprouting, and it is fair to say
that its life is resting or passive or
suspended for the time. It is alive,
we know very well, for it can be killed
by boiling it or by a poison or in many
other ways, and a dried seed may be
dead or alive, as an egg may be dead
or alive.

You will never be able to get a
chicken out of a dead egg, or a plant
out of a dead seed, but you will get a
dried seed — provided it has not been
killed — to sprout if you add water to
it. It is because it is dried that it
seems to stop living, which is not the
same thing as to die. We know that
it is not the same thing, for when it
gets water it shows us that it is not
dead. The chemical changes which
are necessary for all active life must
have water, if they are to go on. The
water does not make the life come out
of the dried seed, but reveals it. If
you have injected a drop of poison
into the seed first, then the water will
fail to make it sprout, for it is killed.
Why some plants are always green

Though it is the common rule that
green plants lose their leaves in the
winter, when there is less sun for them
to use, yet we must remember that the
variety of life is infinite, and that one
plant has one way of living which
suits it, and another has another.
Thus, some plants, which we call ever-
green, develop a strong kind of leaf
which lasts all through the winter,
in spite of the wind and the wet, and
uses the winter sun whenever it shines.

Probably we shall find, at any rate in
some of these cases, that the plant
really belongs to a part of the world
where there is plenty of sun in the
winter, so that it is quite worth the
plant's while to keep its green leaves
all the year round. We must not
think that evergreen plants are neces-
sarily stronger or better than those
whose leaves fall in the winter, for we
know that the change and the fall of
the leaf is not really a process of decay
or of death, but a living process,
meant to serve the life of the plant.

Why birds eggs are of different
colors

We know, of course, that the dif-
ferences in color depend upon the
presence in the various shells of
various coloring substances or pig-
ments, and it is interesting to see how
a particular kind of bird always pro-
duces the same kind of color in its
eggs, just as it produces a particular
kind of color in its own feathers.
The particular kind of food the birds
feed on, nor yet the particular sur-
roundings it lives in, have likely
much to do with the special color of
its eggs. This must really depend
upon the particular chemistry of the
body of the bird. I do not mean
that you cannot change the color of
hens' eggs, for instance, by food, but
you will never get a hen to lay a
speckled green egg. The color of
the shell is really as special to the
particular bird as any of the things
by which we know one bird from
another.
Use of the different colors of i

BIRDS' eggs

If we compare the colorings and
markings of a great number of birds'
eggs with the places in which they are
found, we discover that in a large
number of cases the eggs are so like
their surroundings that they are
difficult to see at all unless we look

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

quite closely. For instance, a ringed
plover's egg has the same general
coloring as the sand on which it lies,
and it is spotted over with black dots
which look like tiny shadows. This
makes it difficult to see the egg at all.
In other cases the blotches or markings
on the eggs look like an irregular piece
of dark material lying, perhaps, on
the beach. Thus, the eggs of the
tern or gull sometimes look like stones
or spotted pebbles, and, on the other
hand, the stones themselves look so like
eggs as to be easily mistaken for them
at a slight distance; so that the reason
for the coloring of eggs is no doubt
to help them to be hidden from sight.

Why a bad egg floats and a good
egg sinks

A fresh eggs consists of a mass of
yolk, together with what we call the
white of the egg, and this, being
heavier than water, will cause the egg
to sink when it is placed in water.
But in an egg which has become
addled or rotten, the yolk and white
have split up into other things, and
produce gases which cause the egg to
be much lighter than it was before.
In fact, such an egg does not weigh as
much as an equal bulk of water does,
so that if placed in water it will float
and not sink.
Can a fish hear?

Although fishes are like some other
animals in having no visible signs of
ears, yet they have ears which con-
duct sound to the brain. Their organ
of hearing consists simply of an
internal ear placed inside a gristly
capsule. In some fishes — as, for in-
stance, the dog-fish — there is a fold
known as the false gill, which is no
doubt the remains of a real gill, but is
now used for transmitting sounds to
the internal ear. In the wall of the
capsule which contains the internal
ear there is a thin spot, and it is
through this thin part, corresponding

with what we call the drum of our
own ear, that the sound is conducted.
Thus, we see that in the case of some
of the fishes there has been a change
of function of an organ which was in
the first place a gill, but has now be-
come part of the hearing apparatus.
In other words, it is a structure at one
time used for breathing, but now used
for hearing.
Why fishes do not drown

All animals and plants must get air
in some way or other in order to live;
or, to be more strictly accurate, they
must have a supply of oxygen, which
is one of the gases in the air. Should
this supply of oxygen fail, death must
come, no matter whether it be from
drowning or from any other cause.
When a man is drowned, what really
happens is that on account of his
being so long under the water, his
supply of life-giving oxygen has run
short, and as he can only get it when
he is in the air, he dies.

But this is not because there is no
oxygen to be had in the water, for, as
a matter of fact, there is quite a large
amount of this life-giving gas dis-
solved in water, only human beings
and animals breathing by lungs can-
not make use of it. Their organs are
only adapted for breathing air. The
fishes, on the other hand, breathe by
gills, not lungs, and the wonderful
way in which gills are made enables
them to extract the oxygen from the
water. Being able to do this, they
can live under water perfectly well.
But if anything should happen to pre-
vent the fish from getting oxygen from
the water, or if something should
happen to the water to deprive it of
its oxygen, then the fish would be
drowned, as would any other animal.

Why a moth flies round and round

A candle

No one can say what it is in the
brain — or beginnings of a brain — of

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the moth that decides it to hke the
light; and it is quite clear to everyone
that this liking does the moth no good
— at any rate, in the case of such a
Ught as the candle. It may possibly
be that it benefits the moth, and other
creatures that behave like it, to fly
towards light from darkness; and per-
haps we should find this to be so if
we knew enough of the lives of these
creatures. But much study has lately
shown that animals and plants can be
divided into those which go naturally
from darkness to light, and those
which go naturally from light to
darkness. Learned names have been
applied to these habits — names which
mean that the creature turns sunwards
or away from the sun. Different
plants and different parts of the same
plant behave in similar ways; and if
we notice the behavior of a baby
towards a bright light we shall see
that it is really like the moth. We
find also that different creatures tend
to move towards or away from other
things besides light — such as heat,
gravitation, electricity, and all sorts
of chemicals and smells. Some grown-
up people are like the moth — they
move to the sunny side of the street;
and others are like insects that usually
live in darkness and fly towards it —
they move to the shady side of the
street.
Where plants get their salts

The salts of plants are necessary
for their own fives, and are very
valuable for us when we eat the
plants, or when we eat other animals
which eat the plants. There are very
few salts in rain-water; but the rain-
water, when it becomes what is called
soil-water, melts, or dissolves, into
itself everything that can be melted
from the earth around it. Exactly
what these salts are must depend, of
course, upon the particular kind of
soil, and this is very important, for

some plants require some salts and
some require others; so the quality of
the soil in various places decides what
kinds of plants can or cannot grow
there. The plaat gets all its water
and all its salts by its roots; and it can
get no salts in the solid state, but only
those that are dissolved in the soil-
water. If we want certain plants to
grow — such as grass or wheat, or even
trees — we may often supply salts to
the soil, so that they may be dissolved
by the soil-water, and taken into the
body of the plant.

Why wood rots away

Well, there are kinds of wood that
will not rot away, even though they
are kept in water. The ancient city
of Venice is actually built on wooden
piles buried in the shallow sea; and
these have lasted for many centuries
already. This wood does not rot
because the things that make wood rot
cannot attack it, and wood does not
rot without a cause.

We shall begin to guess what it is
that makes wood rot when we learn
what is done to wood that must be
exposed to wet and yet must not rot —
for instance, the wood of which railway
ties are made. These are often soaked
with a chemical substance called creo-
sote; and the particular property of
creosote which makes it so valuable is
that it is poisonous to microbes. So
the answer to the question, in one
word, is microbes; and wood will not
rot if it is charged with something that
kills microbes, or if it is made of stuff
so hard and tough that even microbes
cannot digest it ; or if, as in the case of
Venice, it is very good wood, and also
protected from the kinds of microbes
that can rot wood by being kept in
salt water.

The age of animals

The prize for the land animals has to
be given to the tortoise. This animal

TEE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

lives, under favorable conditions, for
between 300 and 400 years. One
died in London in 1906 which was
stated to be at least 350 years of age.
Another reptile is the crocodile, which,
given fair play in its native wilds, can
live for 300 years.

It takes an elephant a long time to
grow up, and it takes him a long time
to wear out. Well treated, he should
live to be a hundred. That is the
age to which the eagle is supposed to
live, but some people put down the
age he may reach as 200 years. Even
that is young compared with the life
of the whale. This can be shown to
last for 500 years.

In the following tables the extreme
ages of things like the whale and eagle
and tortoise are not given. The
tables merely set out the ages to which
certain animals often live.

THE NUMBER OF YEARS THAT BIRDS LIVE

Wren

Thrush. . . .

Robin

Blackbird. .

Hen

Goldfinch. .
Partridge. .
Pheasant . . .

Lark

Nightingale

Pigeon

Linnet

3 Canary 24

10 Crane 24

12 Peacock 24

12 Skylark 30

14 Sparrow 40

15 Goose 50

15 Pelican 50

15 Parrot 60

18 Heron 60

18 Crow 100

20 Swan 100

23 Eagle 100

THE NUMBER OF YEARS OTHER ANIMALS LIATE

Rabbit 5 Horse 27

Sheep 12 Camel 40

Cat 13 Lion 40

Dog 15 Elephant 100

Goat 15 Crocodile 300

Cow . 25 Tortoise 350

Pig 25 Whale 500

Why birds cast their feathers

Feathers become worn, torn and
broken, and must be replaced. The
moulting of birds is similar to what
takes place in other forms of animal
life. Horses grow long coats of hair
in winter which they shed in summer.
Dogs cast their coats. Snakes cast
their skins; crabs and other shell-fish
cast their shells. If a crab lived al-
ways in one shell his body could never
grow any bigger. At a certain time
in the year his flesh becomes very
watery, so he can draw his great
claws through the narrow opening at
the top of the shells in which they are
enclosed, and he comes out of his
shell almost as soft and pulpy as an
egg in its skin with its shell removed.
Birds are never left bare like this.
They moult gradually. Some are so
completely robbed of their strong
feathers that they are glad to go into
hiding until the new ones grow. They
are then as defenceless as is the stag
which has shed its mighty antlers.

WONDERS OF LIGHT AND SOUND

Where music comes from

MUSIC is simply a special kind
of sound. Other kinds of
sounds we call noise. All
kinds of sound are really the same, and
they simply consist of waves in the air.
If you say you can scarcely believe
this, because you have never seen them,
the reply is that they are not meant
to be seen but to be heard, and you
have certainly heard them. These
waves in air that we hear, though we
cannot see them, are really wonder-
fully like waves in water, which we can
see, though we cannot hear them.

The air, after all, is not so very difiFer-
ent from a great ocean of water. If
there were two fishes living in the sea
or in a lake, you can understand that
if one of them flapped his tail he would
make a wave of water which the other
fish might feel.

When we speak or sing, or clap our
hands, we make a wave of air very like
that wave of water, and other people
feel it in a particular kind of way,
which we call hearing. After all,
hearing is just feeling with our ears.
These waves in the air move very
quickly, and are very tiny, but they

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

are of many different sizes, even
though they are all very small. The
different kinds of waves make different
kinds of sounds. If you make a wave
in the air which is jerky and not regu-
lar, but just comes along "anyhow,"
then the ear, when it feels or hears that
wave, does not like it, and that is the
kind of wave that makes a noise. But
if someone is singing, or if you strike a
note on the piano, then the wave that
is made is a regular and even one, and
the ear likes it, and calls this a musical
sound.

How THE PIANO PLAYS

The simplest way of understanding
this is to take a piece of string and
stretch it tight at its two ends. This
piece of string is just like the wire
inside a piano, which you hit when
you strike a note; and the wire is
stretched just as the string is stretched.
When the piano-tuner comes, he goes
over all the wires inside the piano to
see that they are stretched just as
much as they ought to be. Well, if
you take this string and twang it, you
can see it moving backwards and for-
wards, and can hear a low sound.
When anything moves backwards and
forwards like this, we say that it is
vibrating, which simply means trem-
bling. Every time it moves it makes
a little wave in the air. If you make
the string shorter, or if you stretch it
tighter, it vibrates more quickly, and
the musical note it gives out is a higher
note, more like the treble of the piano.
When we speak or sing, we make two
cords in our throats, called the vocal
cords, vibrate, or tremble, just like
this cord or string that we can see
vibrate for ourselves.

Why we see ourselves
IN the glass

The glass is made with a layer of
quicksilver behind it. If that were
not there, we should see through the
glass as we see through the window.

But the quicksilver prevents the light
from going through and sends it back
again. The glass and the quicksilver
are both perfectly smooth and flat.

Now, we can see ourselves in any
thing that is perfectly smooth and
flat, and that is able to throw the light
from our faces back to us. Of course
we cannot see ourselves in what we
call dull surfaces, because they keep
the light; nor can we see ourselves
in things with rough surfaces, because
they do not throw the light back
fairly, but scatter it in all directions.
If you throw a ball against a perfectly
smooth wall, and throw it straight,
it will come straight back to you. If
you throw it sideways, you know that
it will come off the wall in a certain
way. You could easily throw it to
the wall so that it would bounce off to
a friend standing further along the wall.

But if instead of a smooth wall you
had a heap of loose stones to bounce
the ball against, you could never tell
where the ball would go after you had
thrown it.

Now, when you stand opposite a
good glass, the light from your face
hits the glass and comes straight back,
just as if it were made of a lot of little
balls; but if you stand opposite some-
thing that is rough, the light comes
back this way, and that, and the
other, just as if you threw a handful
of marbles against a heap of stones —
and, of course, you cannot see your-
self. The glass throws your image
back to you as your body throws its
own image on the ground in the sun-
shine. But on the glass your image
comes back light, and your shadow
on the ground is dark, because it is
made by your standing in the way of
the light.

What makes the colors of the

sunset

Now, when the sun is setting, its
light does not come so straight down

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

upon us as it does when the sun is high
in the sky, but, in order to reach our
eyes, it has to pass through a long
layer of air, just as if you stick a needle
straight into an orange it does not have
to go far through the peel before it gets
inside, but if you stick it sideways in
the orange it has a long journey
through the peel before it gets inside.
So the light from the setting sun passes
through so much air, and all the dust
and smoke, and so on, that is in the
air; and all these take something out
of the white light, and throw out what
they do not take. The things floating
in the air are of all sizes, and so we get
many different colors in sunset. So
it comes about that sunsets are often

and look again. Now you can see a
good many more of the houses, but
still not all if the row is long. Then
go to the far side of the road, and a
good many more will be found to
have come within the range of your
eyes.

To look for the horizon is much the
same thing. The earth is round, and
the farther we are above the ground
along which we are looking, the farther
we can see.

How FAR OFF IS THE HORIZON?

The word horizon is Greek, and is
derived from the Greek word for a
boundary, which is horos. Of course,
we understand that the horizon is not
really the boundary between earth

finer when the air is not pure, but has
much dust in it.

Why we see farther if we are
higher up

The scientific explanation of this
would be that "range of vision is de-
termined by the altitude of the ob-
server." In simple language, this
means that the higher up we are, the
farther we can see. That is because
our world is a globe. Perhaps you
can understand better how this is if
you stand in front of a row of houses
that form a bulging crescent. Stand
close to one of the houses, and turn
your head first to the right, and then
to the left. You cannot see much of
the row of houses — perhaps only a
little bit of the house on each side of
the one of which you stand in front.
Step back into the middle of the road.

and sky, but merely the boundary
between them as they appear to our
eyes.

This is a question often asked. As
we stand by the seashore, the sky and
the sea seem to meet. We can see a
line which seems to be the end of the
sea and the bottom of the sky. That
is the horizon. Similarly, if we stand
upon a plain of land we can, if there
are no trees or houses in the way, see
where the end of the land seems to
touch the bottom rim of the dome we
call the sky. That also is the horizon.

Its distance depends upon how high
our eves are from the level of the sea
if we are looking across the sea, or
from the level of the land across which
we are looking if we are looking over
a plain. The picture shows clearly
how this is so. The boy standing by

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the seashore is looking out upon the
sea from a distance about four feet
higher than the level of the sea — the
height of his eyes from sea-level. He
can see just a little more than two and
one-half miles in front of him, and
his horizon is just this distance away.
The eyes of the boy on the edge of the
cliff, on the other hand, are 100 feet
above sea-level, and he can see about
13| miles off,, and that is where the
horizon is. Again, the top of the
lighthouse is 150 feet above sea-level,
and if a boy looked out on the sea
from this point, he would see about
16j miles, and his horizon would be
the same distance.
Why we cannot jump off our

SHADOWS

Wherever we go, our shadows will
follow, of course. We all know what
makes shadows, but we do not all
know what wonderful things shadows
make. For instance, the moon is
lighted by the sun's light; and some-
times the earth "gets in the light," as
you do when yoii stand in front of
the lamp by which someone is read-
ing. So the earth prevents the sun-
light from reaching the moon, and
throws a round shadow, which we can
see across the moon as the earth gets
in the way. This is an "eclipse of
the moon."

Then shadows make strange things
when they are thrown far away. The
shadow of your hand becomes very
big if it is thrown on a wall far off.
And sometimes the shadow of a man's
body may look like a strange giant
and frighten the man who is making
it! There is a mountain'in Germany,
called the Brocken, nearly a mile
high, where a man's shadow is some-
times thrown on the clouds.
Why the sky is blue

This was found out last century by
John Tyndall. You would never
guess the reason. The sky gets its

light from the sun. When the sun is
away, the sky is dark. Therefore, the
blue of the sky must be somehow
thrown to our eyes from something in
the sky which keeps all the other
colors in the white light of the sun, and
throws back the blue, and that is what
happens.

The sky is filled with countless tiny
specks of what we may call dust.
These are of just such a size that they
catch the bigger waves of light, which
make the other colors, but throw to
our eyes the shorter waves of light,
which make blue. If you could do
away with all the solid stuff in the air,
the sky would be dark, and all the
light of the daytime would come
directly from the sun. Skylight is
reflected sunlight, but only the blue
part of it.
Why it is dark at night

If you take a ball and hold it near
a bright light the half of the ball next
to the light is shone upon, and the
half of the ball away from the light is
dark. If you mark a spot on the ball,
and then turn the ball round and
round like a top, that spot will be
shone upon half the time and will be
in the dark the other half of the time.
We live on a big ball called the earth,
which is always spinning round and
round, and it is shone upon all the
time, day and night, by a bright light
called the sun.

The place where we live is like the
spot on the ball, and as the great earth-
ball spins, part of the time we are on
the side next to the sun and part of
the time we are on the side away from
the sun. When we are on that side
it is dark at night, but while it is our
night it is daytime for the people wdio
live on the other side of the ball.
However dark it is where we live, the
sun is always shining somewhere, and
the earth is always traveling towards
it or away from it. The sun does not

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

come to the earth, but the earth comes
into the sunhght. If you think of the
ball and the light you will understand
that, however dark it is, the earth will
soon carry us round into the light
again. Have you ever heard one of
the most beautiful lines in all poetry:
"There is a budding morrow in mid-
night," meaning that every night a
day is being born.
The noise like waves in a sea shell

This pretty idea is only just a poets'
fancy, and nothing more. The truth
is, we only imagine a likeness between
the sound of the shell and the sound of
the sea; though I quite admit that
it is easy to imagine, and that we may
forgive the poet who said that the
shell is "Murmurous still of its
nativity" — its place of birth. Murmur
is a good word for this, made on pur-
pose to imitate the sound.

Really, then, the shell is one of those
things which can pick up and make
stronger certain kinds of sounds. The
wooden part of a violin does this: if
you take it away and play on the
strings without it they make a feeble,
thin, unpleasant tone. These things
that make sound resound are called
resonators. The body of the violin is
one, a sounding-board is another, and
a shell is a third.
The sounds which the shell

PICKS UP

"The shell," you may say, "makes
a murmur even when everything is
quiet; surely the sound is made within
itself — it murmurs still the sounds of
its birthplace." The answer is that
really it is never quite quiet, and that
the shell picks up sound so slight
that we do not hear them at all with-
out the shell. This has been shown
in a new way. A sound-proof room
was built. People inside it heard
their own hearts beating, and so on.
But there were cut out of the room
all the tiny noises that usually go on,

and when a shell was held to the ear
nothing at all could be heard. The
shell is only a telephone, and if no
sounds come for it to resound, it is
silent. But the beauty of the poet's
idea remains; and it is true as a picture
of what happens with men and women,
and their remembrance of the places
and people of their childhood.
Why a noise breaks a window

Noise is an irregular wave in the
air — which is a real thing, and has
weight and power, remember. A wave
of air may break a window exactly as
the wave in the sea will break a break-
water, though, as the name tells us,
the breakwater will break the wave,
as long as that wave is not too strong.

If you think a moment, you will see
that every time a noise gets through
a shut window it shakes the window.
If the noise is coming in from the
street, the air outside is thrown into
waves which pass through it until they
strike the window, and shake it; then
the window shakes the air inside the
room in exactly the same way as the
air outside shook it, only perhaps not
quite so strongly. And so the noise
reaches you, just as if you had heard
it outside, only not quite so loud.
Well, plainly, the noise has only to be
loud enough — that is to say, the waves
in the air have only to be big enough —
to shake the window more than it can
stand, and then it breaks. Now, since
air is a real thing which has weight
and power, the truth is that a noise
breaks a window just as does a base-
ball.
Why the kettle sings

Everything that sings, sings really
for the same reason, because it is set
vibrating. When you sing or speak
you make the little cords in your
throat tremble, and when a kettle
sings we may be sure that something
is vibrating somewhere. This sets
the air round it vibrating, and if it

1^2 TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

vibrates quickly enough we can hear our blood were green, we should see

it sing. If you only had a stick in green,

your hand, and could turn it quickly Can we see everything?

enough in the air, you could make the ^j^^^^ ^^^ .^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^j p^^pj^

stick sing. .in the world— the foolish, who think

Now, kettles do not always sing ^, ^^^ ^jj ^^^^^ .^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^

quite the same tune, and that depends ^.^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^j^j^

upon a number of things; but at any ^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^j^^g ^^-^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^f ^^^

rate we can understand that as the ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^.^^ ^,^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^

water gets hot and begins to boil. It is ^^^ minds-which you mean when

turned into water-gas, or water-vapor, ^^^^^^^ ^ j^ins something to you,

and It has to force its way out through ^^^ ^^^ . ,.q^ j ^^^ ,„

the spout, and past the lid of the ^^^ ^^ ^j^; ^^^^^^^ ^^;j ^.^^^^ ^^^

kettle. As it does this it sets various ^^^ ^^^^ j.^,^^ ^^.^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^-^^^^^

parts of the kettle trembling, and so knowledge a man could have was to

the air is made to tremble, and so the ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ nothing-nothing,

drum-head, or window, in j^our ear is ^^^^ j^^ compared with all that there

made to tremble, and your bram feels .^ ^^ ^^^^ p^^ ^^-^^ ^^^ ^^1^^^ g^^^^

this, and you say the kettle is singing. . ^^.^ ^.^^^^ ^^ men-his name

It IS the pressure of the gas coming ^^^ Socrates-was executed by his

out that sets the kettle trembling, f^n^^.^itizens over 2000 years ago.

When you speak or sing you nearly ^^^^ ^,^^^ ^^^^^^j ^^^-^^^ ^^^ ^^^

close your throat, and then squeeze ^^^^ ^^^ brightest eves, we see only a

the air in your lungs through the small j. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ j^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^y ^^^

opening; and it is the pressure of the ^^^ j^^ ^^^^^^^ ^j^^^ -^ ^^^ j^^jgj^^

gas that sets your vocal cords trem- .^ ^^^j^ ^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ wisdom: it

bhng^ So the kettle sings ]ust as ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^,^ ^^-^^

y^^ ^^- see into a thing. Then our eyes see

Why light seems red when we qj^j^ certain kinds of hght. There are

SHUT OUR EYES .111 1 • i j i *

^ ,. , 11 1- 1 p other kinds, which are darkness to us.

Eyelids cannot stop all light from ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ by

coming through to^ the eyes-that is ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^1^^ ^^^^ ^^^ be

to say, they are, in a small degree. ^^^^ ^y the lifeless eye of the camera,

transparent, and enough so for the ^^^.^^ has seen for us hundreds of

sunrise to waken the birds, even thousands of stars that our eyes have

though their eyes are shut. Yet ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^
when vou look at the window with

*^ 1 t u 4- ^ „ Do WE SEE WHAT IS NOT THERE?

your eyes shut, what you see — very "^

faintly, but still you see it— is a red Besides not seeing most of what is

color. Can you guess why this is? "there," our eyes often see— or think

It is because the light that is able to they see— what is not there. ^ Some of

pass through your eyelids has to pass the most remarkable events in history

through the red blood which, of have been due to mistakes of this

course, is always in your eyelid, kind. One of the great duties of the

Now, this red blood keeps all the reason is to judge of what the senses,

other colors that go to make up the like eyes and ears, tell us, so that we

white light, but lets the red color come shall not be deceived, or so that we

through it, and that is Vv'hy we see red shall learn all the more from our

with our eyes shut in the light. If mistakes.

TEE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 43

Does light weigh anything? ing with water, and yet, instead of

If light were made of a shower of being transparent, which means that
Httle sparks or specks, as Newton it lets the light through, it is white,
thought, then each of those must We understand at once when we find
weigh something. Light, however, out what snow and foam are made of,
we know, is not matter at all, but a or rather, what is the state of the
wave in the ether. So it has no water that makes them. In the case
weight. But that is not the whole of snow, the water is frozen and forms
story. Our study of light teaches us tiny little crystals of beautiful shape,
that it ought to have the power of These all lie loosely together, form-
pressure, which, in its results, comes ing the snow, and though, if you could
to the same thing as weight. Thus, take one of them by itself, light would
if you have a balance, and equal go through it just as it will go through
weights on each side, and then make a piece of clear ice, or many other
a beam of light play down on one side, crystals, yet when you have a heap of
it ought to press down that side of the crystals lying together, all turned
balance, just as if a weight had been different ways, they throw the light
added. back in all directions, just as salt does.

This is what was taught by a noted They do not keep any part of the
scientist, Clerk-Maxwell, many years white light that falls on them, but
ago, before this pressure of light had throw it all back, and so snow is white,
been proved. He foretold not only But, of course, if you have colored
that there must be such pressure, but light falling on the snow, then the
how much it must be. We can now snow throws back that same color,
show that pressure by experiment, and this gives some of the most
and have found that his prediction of wonderful sunset effects upon snow-
its amount — though he had never seen covered mountains,
it at all — was right. What causes a light to be yellow

It is possible to prepare what is What we call white light is made up

really a balance delicately hung on a of a vast number of lights of different

thread of quartz, and to see that when colors all mixed together in just such

a ray of light plays on one side of it, a proportion that our eyes call it

at once the balance turns as if you had white. It is almost as if every note

touched it with your finger, or thrown on the piano were played at once —

something against it. This pressure, with the difference that if this were

which is so like weight in its results, done our ears would call the sound

though it is not weight, is sometimes unpleasant; whereas, when our eyes

called light pressure. But it is com- see all these different kinds of light at

mon not only to the light that we can once, the result is pleasant. The

see, but also to the other radiations reason why it is pleasant is that this

or rays in the ether which we cannot is the kind of light which the sun gives,

see. The proper name for it, there- and so through long ages our eyes

fore, by which it is now known every- have become suited to it. Now,

where, is not light pressure, but radia- yellow is just one of the colors that go

tion pressure. to make up white light. The waves

Why the snow is white that make it are quite well known, and

You might have asked also why is are rather low down in the scale of

foam white when a wave breaks. In color, like a low note on the piano;

both cases we know that we are deal- while blue, for instance, is high up in

4-4

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the scale, like a high note. Though
we say that the sun gives white light,
yet really there is rather too much
yellow light in sunlight for the result
to be quite white.
What makes the rainbow

The rainbow is made by drops of
rain; it is due to the reflection of
sunlight from drops of water hanging
in the sky. As the sunlight passes
through the raindrop, and is reflected
from the inside of the back of the
raindrop, it is broken up into its
various parts, which correspond to the
various colors of the rainbow.

White light, we know, is a mixture
of many colors. The light waves
corresponding to these colors differ in
the extent to which they are bent by
passing through such a thing as a rain-
drop, and so, when they come out of
it, they are sorted out, so to speak;
and what was white light on going in,
comes out as a band of several colors.
Thus, what we see in the rainbow is
really a natural spectrum of sunlight —
the light spread out in a band of the
various colors that make it up.
Where the rainbow ends

As we trace the rainbow down
on each side it seems to touch the
earth, and there are stories of children
who have set out to find the end of the
rainbow. But the rainbow ends no-
where, for it is a mere appearance in
the sky, due to tiny drops of water,
and it "ends," if we are to use that
word, simply where the drops of water
end that are so placed as to reflect the
sunlight in this way to our eyes.
Really no two people see exactly the
same rainbow. Thev could not do so,
unless their eyes were in the same
place. And as we move, the bow we
see moves with us.
Why spinning lights make rings

When black and white have an
equal chance, the white conquers the
black, because the white is something

and the black is nothing; black is
simply no light.

The disk of a black and white top
looks all white when you spin it under
a bright light, because your eye remem-
bers the white when the black comes
round, and remembers it till the white
comes round again! And the black
lines make black circles because they
catch the eye and the eye remembers
them in the same way. It is the eye's
way to see a thing for about one-
fortieth part of a second after it has
gone! If you spun the disk in the
dark as fast as ever you pleased, and
then had a sudden light that came and
went very quickly, you would see the
spinning disk exactly as if it were still
— half white, half black, and with bits
of circles instead of whole ones. In
some lights, too, we see colors, probably
because the eye gets confused and
invents them.

A whole roomful of people may be

astonished at this experiment. The

eye sees what is really there, and then

the light goes out, and so, though the

eye goes on seeing for a little after the

light goes, it gets no chance to have

another look, and so do what it does

when the light stays on. This proves

that nothing happens at all to the disk

to make the change when it is spun.

It is the way the eye sees that deceives

us. The eye goes on seeing one color

even when another has come; it mixes

them — and then we see a new color

made of the mixture!

Why the center of a gas flame is
blue and the outside yellow

The color of a burning or a hot
thing depends largely on the tempera-
ture of it. A white-hot poker is hotter
than a red-hot one; and a white-hot
star like Sirius is hotter than a red-hot
one like Aldebaran or the sun. The
outside of a flame is far hotter than
the inside, and gives out a brighter
light in consequence — like a hot staf

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 45

or a hot poker. The color is due to sunlight reflected from the sky — that

"red-hot" particles of carbon. is to say, from the air. When a storm

Now you will ask why the inside is coming on, clouds gather, and these

of the flame is colder than the outside, clouds are thick and dense, so that

and the answer is easy. The outside they cut off the light of the sky, and

of the flame is the part next the air— so we say that the sky is dull. If we

next the oxygen — which causes the went up in a balloon above the clouds,

burning. The inside of the flame has we should find ourselves in brilliant

to be content with the very small sunshine, even when it was almost as

amount of oxygen w^hich gets to it, dark as night to the people on the

still unused, through the outer part earth below.

of the flame. Where the burning is why we have to develop photo-
fastest and most complete, there the graphs in a red light
heat is greatest, and therefore the We know that white light is a mix-
outside of the flame is hottest. ture of light of all sorts of colors — red.
Why Telegraph Lines Hum yellow, green, blue, and so on. Some

Anything that is stretched is apt to of these lights of various colors have
be thrown into vibration, or made to one kind of power, and some another,
tremble, by the force of the air blowing For instance, red light has far more
against it. If it vibrates so fast as to heating power than violet light, which
produce the air-waves that our ears has practically none at all, while red
can hear, then that is what we call light will soon show its power on a
sound. This is what happens to the thermometer. Now, the kind of light
telegraph wires when they hum; and that has the power of causing chemical
if we put our hand on the telegraph changes, which is the light we see by,
pole we shall feel that the wires and the light we photograph by, is
vibrate strongly enough to set the mainly violet light, or the violet part
whole pole trembling, too. If we of white light. We can see, in a way,
think of the way in which our own by red light; but red light has practi-
voices are produced we shall see that cally no influence on photographic
the telegraph lines hum in exactly the plates. We may say that photo-
same way as we hum ourselves, graphic plates cannot see red light,
Something stretched, in each case, is and so we can use it to develop them
made to tremble. When the air is by, without fear'ng that the photo-
quite still, you will not hear the graph of our faces or the walls of the
telegraph lines humming. room will be printed on the plates.
Why the sky is dull when a storm What colors stagnant water

IS COMING ON When water becomes stagnant vari-

The light of day is almost all due to ous forms of life grow on its surface,

the sun. The stars are shining, of Pure water alone will not support life;

course, as they do all the time, but there must be some other things in the

they are so far away that the light of water, and perhaps a fatty or oily

all of them put together counts for layer on the surface of it, before these

nothing compared with the sun; nor things — mainly microbes — will grow,

does the light of the moon count for Their growth covers the surface of the

anything when it happens to be up water with very thin layers of matter

during the day. Thus we may say from which the light is reflected to our

that the light of day is due to direct eyes when we look at it. But it

sunlight and to skylight, which is happens, as in many other cases, such

^6 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

as a soap-bubble or mother-of-pearl, that is compressed and then allowed to

that the light is partly broken up as expand is air which already exists as

it is reflected from these thin layers, or air. But there is no air or any other

as it passes through them if we were to gas in a cartridge, and the question is:

see the water from below; and so the Where does the gas come from that

colors are produced. The reason is makes the noise and fires the bullet

that the waves of light, as they return, when a gun is fired?

some from one layer of the surface, What happens is that we suddenly

some from another, interfere with each burn a powder which we have prepared

other, and the proper name for this is of materials such that when they are

the interference of light. burned a large quantity of gas will be

Why a pop-gun pops produced, and it must be produced

The "pop" of a pop-gun is a sound, very suddenly, if the full explosive

and all sounds are waves of a particu- power is to be obtained. We have

lar kind produced in air or in other another great advantage in trying to

things. If they are to be what we call make this kind of explosion, as w^e

sounds they must be the kind of waves have not when we fire a pop-gun.

that our ears are able to hear, That is that the gases produced are

and these are special, differing from exceedingly hot, for they are heated

waves of wind, because they are by the burning which makes them.

very short and quick. A hot gas naturally occupies a great

The question, then, really is: How deal of space — far more than a cold
does the pop-gun cause the kind of gas, and so when we fire a gun we
air-waves that we can hear.^ And suddenly produce a great quantity of
the answer is that air inside the gun hot gas in a tiny space, which is not
is compressed and then suddenly re- nearly sufficient to hold it. If this
leased, when the gun goes off. As it were done in a closed box it would
is released, it naturally expands or burst the box, but in the case of the
spreads itself out again to fill the gun we have prepared a way out for
space it filled before it was compressed, it — only that we put a bullet in the
This means, of course, that it gives a wayo Out comes the gas, driving the
quick push, as it expands, to the air bullet before it, and as it expands it
on all sides of it, and so it starts the starts the wave of sound we hear,
wave of air, which spreads out in all why houses seem crooked when we
directions, from the point where it look above a street fire
started, and reaches our ears. The Light is always bent in some degree
kind of wave is one which our ears by the various things through which
hear as a very short, sharp sound. It it passes — as when it passes through
is short because the cause of it acts the air to our eyes from a star, or as
for only a very short time, and the when a stick, half in water, seems to
sound of it is best represented by the be bent. Now so far as light is con-
word "pop." cerned the air is different according to
What makes the loud noise when its warmth. Warm air is less dense
a gun is fired than cold air, and when light passes

This noise also is due to an explo- from one to the other, in either direc-
sion, the sudden expansion of a com- tion, its path is more or less bent. So
pressed gas, as it escapes into the air when we look at the houses through
from the space in which it was con- the hot gases that rise from a watch-
fined. Now, in a pop-gun, the gas fire, the fight, as it travels from the

REMARKABLE SPECTACLE OF A FROZEN CATARACT

This is one of the most wonderful things ever done by Jack Frost. It is a picture of Niagara In winter. No man's
hand, no machine ever made by man's hand, could stop the mighty rush of Niagara over the cliffs; but winter does it,
and silently ends the roar of the waters. When winter comes parts of the great Niagara Falls are often frozen over, and then
the sight is one of the most beautiful in the world. Part of the frozen falls Is shown in this photograph. Imagine enormous
Icicles, far thicker and taller than the pillars in any cathedral, all sparkling like diamonds in the sunshine. The frozen
spray covers all the rocks and trees near the falls with wonderful hoarfrost, looking like beautiful moss and ferns of sUtteriag
wliite

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

houses to our eyes, is bent in passing
from the cold air through the hot gases,
and is bent a second time in passing
from the hot gases through the cold
air again.

Also, as the fire does not give off
the same quantity of gas at every
moment, the light is bent in different
ways, and not only do we see the
houses crooked, but they seem more
or less crooked as we keep on looking
at them. This bending, or breaking,
of the rays of light as they pass from

one thing to another is called refrac-
tion, which simply means breaking,
and is very important in every way.
Just as you see the houses crooked
when you look at them through the
gases from a fire, so we see all the stars
crooked when we look at them through
the air. The light from the stars is
bent as it passes through the air, and
so we do not see stars where they really
are, but always a little distance from
the real place, because of the refraction
of their light.

WONDERS OF AIR, FIRE AND WATER

Why we cannot see the air

THE reason why we cannot see
the air is that it is transparent,
I'ke glass — that is to say, it lets
light go through. It affects the light
in some ways; for instance, light com-
ing to the earth from a star is bent a
little as it travels through the air, so
that we never see the star where it
really is. But directly we change one
part of the air as compared with the
air around it, so that it bends the light
a little more or a little less, then we
notice something.

In a sense you can see the air moving
sometimes above a hot gas-jet or a
field on a hot summer day. Also it is
quite easy to change air so that you
can see it in another way. We can
make it cold so that it becomes like
water, we can see it as you see water,
and we can even freeze it so that it
looks and can be seen just like ice.
The air, fortunately, has no color in
itself, so it does not alter the color of
the light passing through it — which
would mean altering the color of
things.
What the air is made of

The air is a mixture of several gases,
and these are all colorless and trans-
parent. Among the gases in the air
are carbonic acid gas, which we give

off when we breathe — and which is
food for plants — and also a small
amount of various other gases found
only a few years ago. Most air also
contains not a little water in the form
of a gas or vapor. But all these taken
together do not amount to very much.
Very nearly the whole of the air is
composed of two gases only; about
four-fifths are made by a gas called
nitrogen, wdiich is very valuable to
plants and therefore to us, and the
remaining fifth is made by the won-
derful gas, oxygen, by which we live
every moment of our lives.

The air of crowded indoor places,
or the air that you will find in a bed-
room in the morning if only a single
person has been sleeping in it all night
with closed windows, is very different
from fresh air or open air. It has the
same things in it, but it has a great
many other things; it has too much
carbonic acid gas and too little oxj^gen,
and it has all sorts of poisonous gases
which the sleeper has given off in his
breath and from his skin.
What a dewdrop is

At night when the dew comes, great
dewdrops frequently hang upon a
spider's web stretching across the
trees. Those tiny beads of water look
very simple, but it took wise men

THE EVERYDAY WOhWER BOOK 49

hundreds of years to find out what when the sun draws up the water

they are. Then they found that a again and makes the rain it does not

dewdrop is part of something very suck up the salt with it.
important indeed. There is in the air You have just learned that it is

a great deal of moisture, which cools the water drawn up by the sun that

the rays of the sun so that we are not makes the rivers, and so the rivers

burned on a hot summer's day. At start with fresh water; but by the

night, when the earth passes out of the time they have reached the sea they

sunlight, the earth lets out the heat have taken quite a lot of salt, which

that it has stored up by day, and the they add to the salt already in the

moisture causes the heat to escape sea. So from day to day, and from

slowly. If it did not the earth would age to age, the sea gets Salter and

suddenly become so cold that we Salter; and we guess the age of the sea

should be frozen to death in a single by noticing how much salt the rivers

summer's night. carry into it every day.

Well, in the evening, when the Why a soap-bubble rises and falls
earth begins to give off its rays of It is quite true that if a soap-
heat, the moisture in the air drinks bubble lasts long enough, and does
in the rays, so that the moisture not burst too soon, it will begin to
becomes warmer than the earth and come down again after a little. The
the grass and the flowers, from which simplest explanation of this would be
the heat rays have come. The grass to remember the case of a balloon
and the flowers become very cold after filled with hot air. It goes up, for a
losing their heat, and as they grow time, and then it comes down again,
cold they chill the moisture near It goes up because the hot air inside
them. The moisture, when it becomes it is lighter than the air around it, and,
cold, turns to real water and falls being lighter, must rise, just as hydro-
towards the ground like rain, and the gen would have to rise. When it
blades of grass, or the leaves of trees, cools, then the weight of the covering
or the spider's web, catch the drops of the balloon brings it down again,
as they fall, and the water, trying to Now, a soap-bubble is really a little
keep itself together as much as it can, hot-air balloon, for the air that fills it
gathers into tiny beads. is warm air from our lungs, and the

These are the dewdrops. air is so much lighter than the air

Why the sea is salt outside that it goes up with force

It is the rivers that make the sea enough to carry the weight of the
salt. The sea was first made by the water that makes the skin of the soap-
water that was in the air falling into bubble. But this cannot last long,
all the deep places on the earth. That for water is a very good conductor of
was the first rain that ever fell, and heat, and the skin of a soap-bubble is
it was quite fresh — that is to say, very thin, and so the heat from our
there was no salt in the water, but breath that is inside the soap-bubble
the first salt in the sea was taken soon escapes, and the bubble becomes
directly from the crust of the earth, as cool as the air around it. Then
and later added to by rivers. There there is nothing to hold up the water
are all sorts of salt in the earth, and of the bubble, and it begins to come
as the rivers run into the sea they down. It is interesting to know that
take the salt out of the earth they run the early experiments for ballooning
over and carry it into the sea, although were actually made with soap-bubbles.

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

How A SOAP-BUBBLE HOLDS TOGETHER

The soap-bubble is really a bubble of
water — the soap merely helps; but, as
the bubble is made the water is spread
out into a sort of skin, and for a time,
at any rate, that skin holds together
because the particles of which the
water is made hold on to each other

what men of science call surface
tension. Tension simply means
stretching, and so the name hints at
the forces of stretching and holding,
which are shown when the matter
that makes up one surface meets
another. This question is very dif-
ficult.

THE WONDERFUL WAY IN WHICH A SOAP-BUBBLE IS MADE TO HOLD TOGETHER

This picture shows us how a soap-bubble holds together. There are millions of tiny molecules of water, like a won-
derful net of beads, blown out into ball shape by the hot air inside. Of course, no microscope could show us a bubble like
this, but the picture gives us an idea of how a bubble is made. The molecules of water should really be infinitely smaller
and greater in number than they are here, and the lines between the molecules are merely drawn to suggest the way in
which cohesion draws the molecules together. There are not really any lines.

and avoid the air on both sides of
them. Of course, the bubble cannot
last long, for the water which makes
it runs down by the force of the
earth's attraction until it becomes
too thin, and then it bursts.

The point for us to remember just
now is that the soap-bubble merely
raises a question as to the way in
which the surface of a thing behaves
when it is next to the surface of some-
thing else. It is really a question of

Why water quenches fire

Water puts out fire for two good
reasons. First, if a thing is covered
with water, the oxygen of the air can-
not get at it to burn it. But that is not
nearly the mostimportant reason why
water puts out fire. It is that water
has a great capacity for heat, and can
hold a great deal of it. It takes so much
heat into itself, and so quickly, that it
lowers the temperature of the burning
thing so that it can no longer burn.

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

Why a river runs into the sea

The surface of the earth is not level.
It has mountains and hollows, and
hills and valleys. Now, everything is
always drawn towards the center of
the earth, because the earth pulls it,
as the earth pulls a ball if you drop it
from your hand, or stops the ball and
pulls it back again when you throw it
up. So all the water in the world is
always trying to run to the lowest
places to get as near to the middle of
the earth as it can. The very lowest
of all places are the great basins of the
oceans and the seas, and that is why
they are full of water. A river runs
to the sea for the same reason that

it up into the air from the sea, and the
wind carries it over the land, and it
makes clouds and falls as rain on the
hills and the high places, where it is
gathered into little streams and makes
the rivers again, doing useful work all
the time as it flows. That is why the
sea is not too full and does not rise
and wash away the land even though
all the rivers in the world are always
running down into it. Did you ever
think that a river might be tired of
running down such a long way to the
sea.f* A poet thought so once, and
said:

"Even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea"

HOW THE RAIN RISES FROM THE SEA, AND HOW THE RIVERS CARRY IT BACK TO SEA

The sun draws up the water from the sea as moisture, which mixes with the clouds and is carried overland by the
wind, as the arrows in this picture show. When the air cools the moisture becomes water again and falls as rain. The
rain on the hills runs down into the valleys and along the rivers back to the sea, because all water, like everything that
can run, tries to find the lowest place on the earth, which is the bed of the sea.

drops of water run down a window-
pane. All rivers run downhill all the
time, even when to our eyes they
seem to be running on the level.

But the next thing you will ask is,
where does all the water come from,
and also why does the sea not get too
full? You will find that a wise man
in the Bible long ago said: "All the
rivers run into the sea, yet the sea
is not full ; unto the place from whence
the rivers come, thither they return
again." Now, that is the true answer,
though perhaps you cannot under-
stand it at first. The water returns
to the places where the rivers came
from because the heat of the sun sucks

What makes the water boil

To understand this you must know
what it is that forms the bubbles when
water boils. If you hold a cold plate
over boiling water you will find drops
of water form upon it, though you can
see no water passing upwards between
the surface of the boiling water and
the plate.

The truth is that, though we always
think of water as something liquid and
wet, just as we think of air as some-
thing that is always a gas, we have no
right to do so. Air and water, and
everything else, can exist in three dif-
ferent forms, either solid, or liquid, or
in the form of a gas. Air, for instance.

62 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

is usually a gas, but it is not very so much air above you. If now you

difficult to make air liquid, so that it heat the water, it begins to boil when

looks just like water, or to make it it is nothing like so hot as it needs to

solid, so that it looks just like ice. be made before it will boil at the bot-

Water happens to be usually fluid, but tom of the mountain; because on the

we all know that when it is cold it mountain there is less pressure of air

becomes solid, ice being simply solid squeezing the water, and so it can

water; and we must now learn that, more easily expand into bubbles of

when it is hot enough, water becomes gas. So if you put an egg in the water

a gas just like air. Indeed, the air at the top of a mountain, you may boil

contains a quantity of water-gas, or and boil as long as you please, but you

water- vapor, as it is usually called, and will never boil the egg hard, simply

when we find the weather close and because, however long you boil, you

"muggy," as we say, it is usually be- can never make the water hot enough

cause there is more of this water- vapor to make the egg hard. The water

in the air than we like. simply floats away as gas long before

When water boils, then, the bubbles you can do so ! You might almost

are bubbles of water-gas or water- drink boiling water if you were on a

vapor, and if this vapor strikes a cold very high mountain,

surface like a cold plate, it becomes Why air is fresher after rain

liquid or wet again. There are several reasons for this.

One of the things that decides For one thing, the rain washes the

whether anything shall be solid or air, as water will wash anything else,

liquid, or a gas, is heat; and so, of If the air has contained a number of

course, the simple answer to the smoke particles, as it does in large

question, "What makes the water cities, the rain has reduced their num-

boil.?" is heat. We apply heat to bers by carrying them down with it

water, and it begins to turn into gas, as it fell through the air. Thus the

which makes the bubbles. rain helps to rid the air of the sul-

Why water boils away phurous and other gases which are

If we go on boiling the water, of given off by these smoke particles,
course we boil it all away as gas, Then again, it now seems that the
until there is none left. In an falling of rain often, or always, de-
ordinary way water always begins to pends in part on electrical charges in
boil when it is at a certain temperature, the air, and these charges may help
and this is called the boiling-point of to produce small quantities of the gas
water. It is not possible in an ordi- called ozone, a variety of oxygen,
nary way to have water any hotter which has a fresh smell of its own.
than this point, no matter how much Then rain cleans the roads and washes
heat you apply to it. The result will away all sorts of things which give ofif
be not to make it any hotter, but unpleasant odors. We do not realize
simply to turn it into gas until it is all the extent to which rain is a cleanser
gone. in cities; and we must remember that

One of the things that decides the our noses are usually only a few feet

boiling-point is the pressure of the air, above the surface of the street, so that

at the bottom of which we live. Now, they are exposed to whatever arises

if you take some water up to the top from them. A few hundred feet

of a high mountain, the pressure of higher, the air would smell very

air is much less, because there is not different.

TEE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

Why the fountain plays

The puzzling thing about the foun-
tain is that the water comes upwards,
though we know that water always
tries to fall; it falls because the earth
pulls it. Now, something must be
pushing the water up more than the
earth is pulling it down, and the
question is what? The answer is that
the water in the fountain is being

pressed upon at the end which we
cannot see by the air, which is really
very heavy; and the fountain is so
made that the air pushes one end of
the water and makes the other end
spout up. If this sounds puzzling,
you have only to look at a syphon of
soda-water, which is a fountain. If
the spout turned upwards instead of
downwards, it would be just the same

^4iat the water runs until it finda the air again, when the pressure is released.

A fountain plays because the water comes to it from a
great height, or because the heavy pressure of the air upon
it pushes it. In the fountain shown in this picture, the
water falls from the reservoir through the water-course, so

5i THE HU3IAX LXTEREST LIBRARY

as any other fountain. The air, or rule. If you pour hot and cold water

gas, inside the syphon presses hard into a bath or into a tumbler, the hot

on the soda-water below it, and directly water will lie at the top and the cold

it gets a chance the soda-water rushes at the bottom, because water is less

up the tube in the middle of the bottle dense, and therefore less heavy, when

and out at the spout. When you make it is hot than when it is cold. Gases

the soda-water run, you do just the behave in exactly the same way. Hot

same as the gardener when he makes air behaves in the midst of cold air

the fountain play. just as hot water behaves with cold

Why raindrops are round water — it goes upwards.

First, why does the rain form drops Now, if you put the hot air into
at all? We know now that there is al- something very light, the hot air, as it
ways something which we may call a goes upwards, will take that something
particle of solid stuff in the inside of a with it. The first balloons were made
raindrop, and when the drop was in this way. Two Frenchmen, broth-
made it was made by the water-gas ers, made balloons of silk and linen and
or water- vapor in the air turning filled them with hot air and smoke, and
liquid upon this solid speck, as steam after making balloons which carried
from boiling water turns liquid on a animals, they persuaded some men to
cold plate held above it. be carried in this way. You under-

But you want to know not merely stand that this was simply because hot

why the raindrop forms at all, but air is less dense than cold air, and

also why, when it is formed, it is so therefore lighter,

nearly round. The answer is the What makes the balloon go

same as the answer to the qviestion But, of covu-se, hot air gets cold, and

why water forms in round drops on a then your balloon will come down,

plate, and the question why it runs So we ought to fill our balloon, if

in drops down the window-pane when possible, with some gas or other which,

it rains. When water turns liquid it even when it gets as cold as the air

really consists of tiny parts, each of around it, is still lighter than the air.

which is itself a part, or particle, as Nowadays balloons are filled with such

we say, of water, just as a human a gas. Its name is hydrogen, and it is

crowd is made of men and women. extremely light; indeed, it is quite the

How A BALLOON KEEPS UP lightest thing we know. Oxygen, for

This question is really the same in instance, is sixteen times as heavy,

its explanation as the question why and nitrogen fourteen times as hea\'y,

does a stick float. If there were no and as the air is a mixture of these,

air, the balloon would drop like a hydrogen, if let loose in the air, will fly

stone, just as if the water all dis- upwards at once, and, if you have

appeared from the sea, the fishes enough of it, it will carry not only a

would drop to the bottom. Things covering to keep it together, but also

float in the sea, or on the surface of it, many people in a car hung from the

because the amount of stuff in the covering. The interesting thing for

space they occupy is less than the us now is simply that it is so very light

amount of stuff in the same space of and therefore is more useful than any-

water. The less dense thing always thing else for filling balloons,

tends to lie above the more dense, and What makes a kite fly

if the things in question are gases or The case of the kite proves to us

liquids, they always will follow this that the air has a great power of

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

holding things up, since the kite has
no wings, and yet it does not fall. The
air supports it. If you took all the
material of which a kite is made and
rolled it into a tight ball, it would drop
like a stone.

So it is not that the kite is made of
something lighter than the air. A
balloon flies, we know, because it is
filled with something lighter than air
but the kite has no light gas inside it,
and yet it does not fall. The reason
is that it is spread out as wide as can
possibly be, so that it may have a
large surface for the air to support it.
But, of course, if there were no air at
all the kite would drop at once, just
as the bird would, whether it were
flying or not. Neither the kite nor
the bird could rise or swim in nothing.
Now, the Latin word meaning empty
is vacuus, and a place that is quite
empty, even of air, is called a
vacuum.
What clouds are made of

One of the reasons why we know
that there is no water, or scarcely any
water, on the moon is that we never
see the slightest hint of a cloud when
we look at it. If there were people on
the moon looking at the earth, they
would constantly be finding that the
face of the earth was hidden from them
by clouds. One of the things which
we are studying now in the wonderful
planet Mars is as to whether there are
any clouds to be seen there, because,
if there were, that would help to show
that there is water on Mars. Hence,
clouds are made of water; or, rather,
a cloud is made of many drops of
water, which, when they fall, we call
drops of rain. Men who study these
things are now beginning to learn how
it is that sometimes these drops stay
in the cloud, and sometimes they fall
and make rain. The water has come
from the seas and great lakes, and has
been drawn up by the sun.

Why coal burns and stone does not

The simple answer to this is that
stone is burned already and cannot be
burned twice; but that answer wants
explaining. What happens when a
thing burns is that it combines with
the oxygen of the air. When it has
taken up all the oxygen that it pos-
sibly can and has combined with it,
then it is completely burned, and can
burn no more.

We watch a candle, let us say, burn-
ing, and we are deceived because we
do not see the result of the burning.
The result in the case of the candle is
a number of gases which we do not
notice, real though they be; but when
various other things are burned the
result is not a gas at all, but sometimes
a liquid and sometimes a solid.

When the hydrogen gas is burned or
combined with oxygen, it forms water.
When the element silicon is burned or
combined with oxygen, it makes a
solid, and most rocks and sand are
made of this. An ordinary stone or
sand is really silicon which is already
burned. But coal is made mainly of
carbon which is not yet burned.
Burned carbon — that is to say, carbon
combined with oxygen — makes the gas
called carbonic acid, and that gas
cannot be burned any more than a
stone can, and for the same reason.
Both are burned already.
Why asbestos does not burn

Asbestos is alre&dy burned, like
stone or sand, and can be burned no
more. It is also very difficult to melt,
and will not melt with the heat of an
ordinary flame; and so it can be used
for many purposes — to line safes, for
gas-stoves, and so on. The very
word is simply taken from the Greek,
and means "unburnable." Of course,
both in this case and in the case of
stone and sand, we cannot doubt that
long ages ago all these things were
made by being burned or combined

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

with oxygen when the earth was a very
different place from what it is now.
What smoke is made of

Smoke is the result of imperfect
burning. Most of the things from
which we get so much smoke — like
coal — if they were properly burned,
would form nothing but gases, which
we could not see, and which would very
soon fly away and do no harm to any-
body. But in order to burn coal
properly some trouble and care are
required. When we burn coal in an
ordinary fire, we do not supply enough
air to it. We put the fresh coal on at
the top instead of at the bottom, as
we should, and so we only parth' burn
the coal, and small specks of it, un-
burned, are carried up in the draft,
and make smoke. The chief stuff in
smoke is simply coal, in specks of
various sizes. But the trouble is that
a great deal of oily stuff' comes out of
the coal, and covers the specks of it
in smoke, so that these stick to things.

At present the smoke makes black
fogs in many cities, and cuts off a
great quantity of the daylight by
which we live, besides making every-
thing dirty, destroying plants and
trees, and filling our lungs with dirt
which we ne^'er get rid of. There are
few things about which we are more
careless than smoke, and, besides, we
waste a great deal of our fuel.
Why flames never go down, but up

We might think, if we had not no-
ticed, that this question was not true,
and that flames only go upwards
because "a gas-jet, for instance, is
always directed upwards. But the
question is quite true, even in the case
of a gas-jet that is directed down-
wards, for we find that then the flame
turns upwards. If we must have a
flame going downwards or sideways,
then we must have a draft to blow it,
just as the wind will blow the flame
of a match in any direction.

But even where there is no draft
at all in any direction, and when we
burn something without sending any
gas in any particular direction through
a hole, flames always go up, and never
down, as the question says. And the
reasons are: First, that the gases
made in the flame are very hot, and,
as hot gases are always much lighter
than the cold gases that make up the
air around them, the hot gases of the
flame tend to rise; and, secondly,
every flame, as the hot gases go up-
wards because they are so light, makes
a draft for itself. As the hot gases go
up, the space they leave is filled from
below, and this goes steadily on, and
so makes a draft.
Why hot gases rise

A gas-jet, proi)erly used, may actu-
ally help to ventilate a room by mak-
ing a draft; and every fire does the
same thing, by increasing the natural
draft going up the chimney. The
gases which are produced when any-
thing burns are themselves burned,
once and for all; they can neither be
burned again, nor can they help to
burn anything else.

These gases consist chiefly of car-
bonic acid gas and water- vapor. They
are both of them completely oxidized
— the carbon of the one and the hy-
drogen of the other are combined with
all the oxygen they can hold. Nor
will either of them give up its oxygen
for the burning of anything else.
Thus, if hot gases did not rise, and so
make room for fresh air — which really
means fresh oxygen — nothing could
burn for long; for nothing can burn
in an atmosphere of carbonic acid and
water- vapor, and such an atmosphere
would at once surround every burning
thing if hot gases did not rise.
Why the sea looks sometimes blue

AND sometimes GREEN

On a black night, when there is no
light for the sea to reflect, the sea looks

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

black. When the sky is gray, the sea
reflects the hgiit that falls upon it, and
looks gray. The color we usually think
of as the color of the sea is blue, be-
cause the sky is blue, or ought to be;
and if it be blue light that falls upon
it, it is blue light that the sea reflects.
Yet sometimes the sea is green,
though the sky is never green. Parts
of the sea are shallow, especially near
the shore, and may be so shallow that
some of the light from the sky may
pierce the water, reach the bottom,
and be reflected from it to our eyes.
So, of course, the light will be changed,
partly according to the color of the
bottom of the sea, and partly because
of the greenish tinge of sea-water it-
self. Besides all this, we have to
remember that the same part of the
sea on a coast we know well may be of
a different color on different days, even
though the water is the same and the
color of the bottom is the same, be-
cause the sun is in a different part of
the sky, and so the light strikes the
bottom differently, or because the
sky is clouded, and so the light which
reaches the sea from the sky is differ-
ent. Thus, there are many different
things which will affect the color of the
sea, and that is why its color changes
so often and is so beautiful to see.
What changes the course of

THE WIND

Like almost everything else, the air
is always moving, more or less, and the
changes in the direction of its move-
ments are due to many different things.
There is, for instance, the movement of
the earth on itself, and also its chang-
ing position in regard to the sun as it
goes round the sun. These move-
ments mean that different parts of the
earth are exposed to the sun at differ-
ent times; and that means, of course,
that different parts of the air are ex-
posed to the sun at different times.
When the sun shines on the air it

makes it warm, and warm air is lighter
than cold air, and will rise, while cold
air will flow in to take its place.

But there is a great deal more in it
than this. Besides the fact that the
surface of the earth is not smooth,
but has mountains and hills that turn
the wind as the earth turns, and tracts
of water which cool hot air as it passes
over them, there are all sorts of elec-
trical changes always going on in the
air, and these probably affect its
weight — perhaps even the proportions
of the various gases in it — even as
much as the heat of the sun affects it.
You can scarcely ask more difficult
questions than these about wind, rain,
and weather.
Why flowers smell sweeter after

RAIN

Where there is any vegetation rain
has a great influence in making the
air smell fresher, for water has a spe-
cial power upon the activity of many
kinds of vegetable life that produce
pleasant scents. We say that the
rain brings out the fragrance of the
flowers, and that is true. All life
requires water, and all the processes of
living creatures are helped by a good
supply of water. When rain falls on
flowers, and on many kinds of leaves,
it sets going the chemical changes
which result in the production of
many pleasant odors which are added
to the air, and so help to make it
smell "fresh."
Could we live without rain?

The good of rain is that it soaks into
the soil and is sucked up by the roots
of plants, which must have it if they
are to live. If there were no rain
there would be life only in the sea.
In parts of the world where there is no
rain there is little life. In this country
we have no idea, just because we are so
well off, how rain is loved and treasured
and prayed for in other countries
where there is not enough of it, or

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

where it falls only at certain seasons
of the year. We must think of rain
then as something that cleanses the
air, nourishes the vegetable life upon
which our own life depends, and in-
sures a supply of fresh water all the
year round in every part of the world
where sufficient rail falls.

WHY THE BEDS OF RIVERS CHANGE

The earth's crust is shrinking all the
time, as the interior cools and shrinks
beneath it. This means that the land
changes from age to age, and one con-
sequence of this is that often the
water of a river finds that its steepest
and quickest course to the sea is
different from what it used to be, and
so the river-bed changes; the old one
is deserted by the waters, and a new
one is formed.

But the water itself, as it flows, rubs
and melts aw^ay the earth it flow\s over,
and so grinds a deeper and ever deeper
bed for itself. Thus it gets less and
less likely to desert its old bed the
longer it flows there.

Why it is easier to swim in salt
water than in fresh

Swimming really has two parts —
one is to keep up in the water, and the
other is to move along in it. The
question is: Why is it easier to keep

up, or to float, in salt water than in
fresh? The answer depends wholly
on the heaviness of our bodies as com-
pared with the heaviness of the water.
Our bodies are more than three-
fourths water, but most of the rest is
heavier than water. The fat of our
bodies is lighter than water, and so
helps us to float.

Now, fresh water is less heavy than
salt water, and so our bodies, though
only a little heavier, tend to sink in it.
Ordinary sea water is heavier than
fresh water, because it contains a lot
of salts, just as the water of our own
bodies does; so we find it easier to
float and swim in sea water. But in
some parts of the world there is water
that is much salter than even sea
water; this is the case, for instance,
in the Dead Sea, and the Great Salt
Lake in Utah. There is so much salt
in the water of the Dead Sea that it is
actually heavier, on the whole, than
our bodies are, so you cannot sink in
the Dead Sea! On the other hand,
there are some liquids much lighter
than water, and if a man were to fall
into a lake of one of them he could not
swim at all, however good a swimmer
he might be; his body would sink like
a stone in such a light liquid.

WONDERS OF EARTH, SUN AND STARS

Why an apple falls

NO one in the world knows why
an apple falls to the ground.
We simply know that the
earth and the apple pull each other
together — the apple, being small, mov-
ing a long way, and the earth, being
large, moving a very little way — no
one knows why they pull each other.
But everything in the wide world pulls
everything else in this way, as was
proved by Sir Isaac Newton. It may
be that as a boy while lying under an
apple tree in his father's garden, saw an

apple fall, and thought. "The earth
pulls the moon and keeps it running
round her, just as it pulls the apple,"
he said. If the moon stopped moving
round, it would rush to the earth as
the apple does. So he discovered the
law of universal gravitation.

Now, the more stuff there is in a
thing the more strongly it is pulled
by everything else. So the earth
should pull a big weight more strongly
than it pulls a small one, and it does.
Then the big weight will fall ciuicker
than the small one, men thought.

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

They forgot that it takes a stronger
pull to pull a heavier weight; the
heavier it is, the stronger the pull,
but the more the pull has to do.
Therefore, a heavy weight and a small
one fall at the same rate.

How THE LEANING TOWER OF
PISA STANDS

In the town of Pisa, in Italy, is a
famous leaning tower, which has stood
for hundreds of years.

There is nothing in the whole world
quite like the leaning tower of Pisa.
Its building was begun more than 800
years ago, since the people who lived
in Pisa wanted to have a tower as fine
as the great bell tower of Venice. Yet,
though the tower of Pisa met with a
strange accident that might have
ruined it, it still stands, and the tower
at Venice fell down a few years ago!
We know now that the tower was not
meant to lean, though it is 13 feet out
of the straight line!

The tower was built on wooden
piles, driven into ground so soft that
when the tower was little more than
begun it began to sink on one side.
There is no other tower iii the world
that leans so much as this at Pisa.
The tower does not fall because, as
they went on building it, they made it
in such a way that if you dropped
a straight line down from a certain
point in the tower, called the center
of gravity, which is eciually balanced
on all sides, by the weight of the tower,
that line would touch the ground
within the foundations of the tower.
If the line reached the grovmd some-
where outside the tower, it would fall.

But the tower is very interesting for
another reason, and the reason is that
its peculiarity was used by one of the
greatest men who ever lived, in order
to make one of the most famous ex-
periments. This man was the great
Italian astronomer Galileo, who, more
than 300 years ago, was a professor in

Pisa, and was thinking for himself.
The great Greek thinker Aristotle,
nearly 2000 years before the time of
Galileo, had declared that if you took
two balls of the same material, one
small and the other large, and dropped
them at the same moment, the large
one would reach the ground first. If
it was ten times as heavy as the small
one, he said, it would fall ten times as
ciuickly.

Nowadays, when anyone says any-
thing like this, we always make the
experiment at once, and let Nature
decide. But in the old days very few
men thought about this; they chose
some great man, and made him their
authority. So for nearly 2000 years
everyone believed and taught what
Aristotle had said about falling
weights, and no one made the experi-
ment to find out the truth.

At last, however, came Galileo, and
he was thinking for himself. He said
that the two weights would fall in just
the same time, even though one was
heavy and the other light, and every-
body laughed at him. It is always a
hopeful sign when everyone laughs at
you — at least, no one has ever done
anything in the world who has not
been laughed at. "Very well," said
Galileo, "come and watch me make
the experiment." So one morning,
before the assembled university, pro-
fessors and students, he ascended the
leaning tower, taking with him a ten-
pound shot and a one-pound shot. He
let them go together. Together they
fell and struck the ground.

And so, you think, everyone praised
Galileo for having found out a new
truth, and he was famous ever after-
wards. But one of the lessons we have
to learn is that that is not what men
usually do in cases like this. What
really happened was that everybody
abused the young man for daring to
differ from Aristotle.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

They started hissing at GaHleo's
lectures, and in a very short time he
had to leave Pisa — turned out for
finding a truth. The same thing
happened to many great men before
Galileo, and has happened to many
since.
Where the stars stay in daytime

The stars in the daytime are just
where they are at night, and if some-
thing could be put over the sun we
should see them again. Something is
put over the sun sometimes, for the
moon comes in the way, so that for a
time it cannot be seen, even though
it is daytime and there are no clouds
in the sky. When that happens, one
of the most wonderful things in the
world is to see the stars "come out
again." They were there all the
time, shining as brightly as ever, but
the sun is so very much brighter to
us — because it is very much nearer —
that we could not see them.

When you are listening to thunder,
or to a cannon, you do not hear the
quiet sound of your own breathing,
although the thunder is far away and
the breathing is near; and just as the
great noise swallows up the little
sound, so the great light of the sun
swallows up the little light of the stars.
There is another way of cutting out
the light of the sun so that the stars
may be seen in the daytime. Men
who work at the bottom of a pit or a
well, and look up at the little bit of
sky above them, see the stars almost as
brightly in the day as in the night.
What keeps the sun bright

You would think that the sun is
bright because it is burning — that it is
an enormous fire. But when a thing
burns, the stuff of which it is made
joins with the oxygen of the air in
which it burns. The sun, however, is
actually so hot that nothing can join
with anything else in it; nothing could
burn in the sun. There are plenty of

things which would burn there, and
plenty of oxygen to burn them with,
but they are kept apart by the heat.
Also, even if things could burn in the
sun, that would not keep it alight, but
it would have burned out ages ago,
and we should not be here.

Last century we found out to what
agency the sun owes its heat and light.
They come mainly because the sun is
shrinking. It shrinks, or contracts,
by gravitation — the power which
makes every piece of stuft' in the world
attract all other stuff to itself. The
sun has been shrinking for many ages,
just as the earth has been shrinking.
Indeed, long before the earth was
formed, the sun was stretched out as
far as the earth's present distance, and
even as far as the earth's farthest
brother, the planet Neptune. As the
sun shrinks its parts strike each other,
and their motion is stopped, and heat
and light are produced, just as when
one piece of flint is struck by another.

So it is gravitation that really gives
us the heat and light which keep us
alive. Astronomers have also come to
attribute the presence of radium as a
cause of heat. Probably the sun is
also kept warm, as the earth, we know,
is kept warm, by having in it some of
the wonderful element radium, which
produces heat from within itself.

How BIG THE WORLD IS

The world is nearly round. From
the North Pole to the South Pole,
straight through the earth, the dis-
tance is about 7899 miles. A pole
thrust through the center of the earth,
from side to side, would measure about
7925 miles. The distance right round
the outside is about 24,850 miles.

The round world is a vast mass of
land and water, surrounded by air.
It spins like a top, it travels round the
sun, and it moves forward with all the
stars in the heavens — forward and
forward, forever and ever. So tre-

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

mendous is the size of this huge
globe, that the mighty range of
mountains wliich we call the Alps are
only likely the burrowings of a mole on
the ground.

Now, if the Alps are so small in
comparison with the size of the earth,
how much smaller must man appear?

How MAN CONQUERED THE EARTH

Man conquered the earth, on which
he is like an atom, because he is not
content to stand still like the Alps.
Though he is so much smaller than
these mountains, he has a brain which
enables him to triumph over the
weakness of his body and the small-
ness of his size. He can move; he
can think; he can manufacture.

You can imagine how, in the far
past, our savage ancestors would
watch birds sailing through the air
over the deep waters, and long with
all their souls to have that power of
flight. For one of man's chief quali-
ties is curiosity. Man is always
wanting to find out things. And
naturally the first thing he most
wanted to find out was the kind of
earth on which he lived. So our
early ancestors looked across the
waters, and dreamed of lands on the
other side of the globe.

The curiosity of men is the be-
ginning of geography, for curiosity
led men to look about them and
observe the earth. When they had
learned to build ships, they sailed
across the seas, visited many foreign
lands, and returned with descriptions
of those places and the people they
had lived among. These descriptions
we call geography.

Do PEOPLE LIVE ON THE MOON?

We have seen only one side of the
moon, because, as it goes round the
earth, it turns slowly on itself, so as
always to keep the same side turned
towards us. But we are quite sure
that there are no people on the moon,

either on this side of it or on the other
side, which we have never seen.
People could not live on the moon
because the moon has no air and no
water. Even if people could live
there without air or water, they
would probably be burned to death
in the daytime, having no air to pro-
tect them from the heat of the sun,
and they would be frozen to death at
night, having no air to keep in the
sun's heat.

But possibly at one time there may
have been humble forms of plant life
on the moon, and some people sup-
pose that there may be a little of this
even now, for it is possible that there
may be a tiny amount of air and water
still left at the bottom of some of the
deepest valleys in the moon. If there
were a building on the moon as big as
the Capitol at Washington, we should
easily be able to see it through our
biggest telescope, but there is not the
slightest indication that intelligent
beings have ever made a mark of any
kind on the moon.
What the stars are made of

Not very long ago, a great thinker
declared that this great question was
one which men would never be able to
answer, however long they thought
and however hard they worked. Our
telescopes could never tell us; the
biggest telescope that could ever be
made would never tell us.

It would only make the star look
nearer and brighter, but would tell us
no more what the star is made of than
our eyes can tell us without a telescope.
But now we have a wonderful instru-
ment called the spectroscope by which
we can study the kind of light that is
given out by any star that we can see.
And since we find that the light of the
stars, thus studied, is exactly the
same as the light given out by things
we know on the earth when they are
made hot, we now know that those

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

same things are found in the stars.

So, the answer is that the same kind
of stuff of which this paper, and your
eyes, and our ink and pen are made
are to be found in the stars. The stars
are made of the very same kinds of
stuff as the earth is made of. Of
course, all the stars are not the same.
Even with our own eyes we can see
that some are redder and some whiter
than others. Some have more oxygen
in them, and some less, but the point
is that it is oxygen, the same element
as we breathe at this moment.
Why the stars twinkle

This sounds a very much easier
question than the last, but we are not
yet quite certain of the answer. Of
course, you know that it is stars that
twinkle, and not the other wonderful
things looking like stars, which are
called planets, and which, like the
earth, belong to the sun's family.

The planets shine by the light of the
sun, which they throw back, or re-
flect, from themselves, as the moon
does, and, like the moon, they shine
steadily. But the light of the stars is
made by themselves, and comes over
immense distances to us, so long that
the light by which we see the nearest
star left it about four years ago.

It is likely that this light interferes
with itself as it comes, so that it seems
to come in little beats, and people who
have studied this think that it is much
the same as what sometimes happens
with the piano or an organ when the
sound seems to get louder, and then
less loud, backwards and forewards.
In the study of sound this is called a
"beat," and it is probable that the
twinkling of the stars is really the same
kind of thing. It may be that the air
has something to do with disturbing
the light, and that perhaps starlight is
more affected by the air than the sun-
light by which we see the moon and
the planets.

How A STONE IS MADE

Stones are really pieces of broken
rock. By the side of the road you
can see stones being made with a
hammer. These are sharp, as they
have been rudely broken.

But rocks are broken up in many
other ways. Even the life in the soil
on a cliff, for instance, may gradually
break up the surface of the rock. If
the pieces rub against each other, and
are open to the wind and the rain, then
they get rounded and dull; but if you
take many of these stones and break
them, you will find the unchanged rock
inside them, often beautifully smooth
and bright. There are other kinds of
stones which are quite soft. Those
we have been speaking of are made of
real rock which long ages ago was made
under the action of great heat. But
you may pick up sometimes a soft
stone which you can quite easily rub
away — a piece of soft sandstone, which
is really very much the same as the
sand on the seashore.

Is THE MATTER IN EARTH AND AIR
ALWAYS CHANGING PLACES?

There is a ceaseless circulation going
on between the surface of the land and
the water, and the bottom layers of the
ocean of air which covers them both.
Wherever water is, for instance, it is
often being sucked up in the form of a
gas into the air, of which it then forms
part; while, on the other hand, water
vapor from the air often passes from
it to the earth — as, for instance, in the
form of dew. Then the gases of the
air, especially oxygen and carbonic
acid, are ceaselessly passing between
it and the bodies of all the living
creatures on the earth; then, from
moment to moment, various gases are
either leaving the air to be dissolved
in the ocean, or are leaving the ocean
to join the air.

If we could, it would be well for us
if we could mark an atom of oxygen,

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

and watch it for a year or two; and
see all the amazing things it does:
passing in and out of the bodies of
living creatures, in and out of the
earth, in and out of the ocean. Then,
if we remembered that all the other
atoms of oxygen and of other things,
too, were doing the same kind of
thing, we should begin to understand
how wonderfully alive, the whole world
is. Perhaps the whole world, indeed,
is really alive!
What keeps the stars in their

PLACES

The stars are not kept in position,
but are all in movement, and some-
times the stars do fall on to one
another, we now believe. Astronomers
now think that they can find in the
heavens two great streams, to one or
other of which all the stars belong;
and these two streams of stars are
moving through and past each other
in opposite directions.

No one has any idea at all how this
process started, nor what the results
of it will be, but at any rate we are
quite certain that there is no such
thing as what for so long has been
called a fixed star, anywhere. Some
people have thought that there may
be a center somewhere, which all the
stars move round, but we cannot find
any proof that this is really so.
Why EVERY CLOUD has a silver lining

The reason is simply that at its
edge the cloud is thinner, and much
more light can get through it, and that
gives it its silver lining. Some clouds,
however, are very thin, just like a
sheet of tissue-paper in the sky, and
we can scarcely notice a silver lining
to them. Of course, if we went up in
a balloon, above an ordinary cloud
which seemed to have a silver lining
to us when we were on the earth, we
should see the whole cloud bright be-
cause the sun would be shining upon it,
and it would throw back or reflect the

sun's light to our eyes. This is true
of the darkest and blackest clouds all
through the daytime. The sun is
always shining, and the darkest cloud
has a bright side.

The trouble for us is that we see the
dark side, but we ought to know and
remember that the bright side is there.
Of course, as we see, all this may have
a meaning that applies to the troubles
of life, big and little. That is why
people remind us that every cloud has
a silver lining. But it is even better
than that, for every cloud has a silver
side just as bright as the other is dark.
Some people's minds are always like
our eyes in a balloon. They seem to
see every cloud on its silver lighted
side. These are the kind of people
that it is good to live with.
Why all the worlds are round

It is true that all the worlds are
round, or very nearly so, and that, if
they are not quite round, there is a
reason. The earth, for instance, is
not quite round, but bulges a little at
the equator, simply because it revolves
so quickly that it gets a little out of
shape. There is something special
about roundness, for not only are all
the worlds round, but a thing like a
drop of water tries to make itself as
round as it can; and if you drop melted
lead from a height you get round shot.
The reason is that in all these cases
you have some force trying to pull all
the parts of the world or of the drop
towards each other. That shape is
the sphere, or a round ball.
What makes the shadows that go up

AND DOWN hills

The shadows that we see crossing
the face of the hills are the shadows
of clouds. They can be seen passing
over the sea, too, or running across the
field of play when you watch a game of
baseball. They are best seen when
there are small clouds quickly moving,
and with well-marked edges, passing

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

across the sun, as it seems to us, on a
bright day. Sometimes they move
more quickly than at other times.
This depends partly on the wind,
which varies very much in speed, and
on the height of the clouds.
The biggest shadow that we can see
There is one great shadow, thou-
sands of times bigger than any other,
which men have noticed at times in
all ages, and which has often made

whole moon for a little while, and we
call that a total eclipse of the moon.
When we watch this shadow — one
does not even need a glass to see it
with — it is easy to see that the shadow
is curved. It is the shadow of a
round thing, and this is one of the
proofs that the earth is really round.
In olden days men used to be very
much afraid of eclipses of the moon
and of the sun. They used to think

THE SHADOW Ol THE MOON BLOTTING OUT THE FACE OF THE SUN

This is one of the most impressive sights that men have ever seen — the moon passing across the face of the sun. It
happens sometimes that the moon gets directly in the way of the sunlight which would fall upon the earth if the moon
were not there, and we call this an eclipse, or covering up, of the sun.

them very much afraid. This is the
shadow of the earth itself, and it is
thrown upon the moon. It sometimes
happens that the earth gets in the
way of the light from the sun which
would fall upon the moon if the earth
were not there. And so we get what
we call an eclipse of the moon. As we
watch the moon, we can see a round
shadow begimiing to creep across it.

Sometimes it passes over only part
of the moon; sometimes it covers the

that it was a warning of something
terrible about to happen. But now
we know that an eclipse of the moon
is nothing more than just the throwing
of a great shadow upon the moon's
face, and that is the shadow of the
earth, by far the greatest shadow that
anyone can ever see.
What makes an eclipse of the sun

The kind of eclipse that used to
frighten people most is an eclipse of
the sun. It does not often happen

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 65

that the sun is totally eclipsed, but be that it is very much alone in the

when this does happen on a bright world of stars. The sun has no near

day, the effect is wonderful. It sud- star neighbor, while most of the other

denly becomes dark, until it is like stars are much more neighborly, es-

night; it turns cold; the dew falls; pecially throughout the whole circle

the birds go to roost; the flowers go of the Milky Way. We cannot tell

to sleep; all this, perhaps, in the at all whether the whole Milky Way

middle of the day, and with not a is moving through space, and we do

cloud in the sky. Then, just as sud- not know whether it is moving round

denly the daylight returns. An eclipse on itself; but we can study and photo-

of the sun is not due to a shadow, but graph it now, and long years after-

happens when the moon gets between wards our successors may compare our

the earth and the sun, and we see the photographs with what they then see,

moon pass across the sun. and may be able to learn about these

This happens quite often, but it is things,

not often that the moon passes across Look closely at the Milky Way on a

in such a way that, for a little while, bright night, and you will see that it

it exactly fits over the sun, and cuts is made of many stars, only they seem

off all the light. Those are the start- so closely packed together that their

ling times. We know beforehand light is all blended, looking like a

when they are to happen, and to what thin cloud or a milky streak spread

parts of the world we must go to see across the sky. If you use an opera-

thenij and exactly how long the period glass or a telescope, you see the sepa-

of real darkness will last. Great rate stars more clearly, and if you

preparations are made, and men go take a photograph through a tele-

with telescopes and cameras and all scope — which is quite an easy thing to

sorts of other instruments, perhaps to do — you find that the stars of the

Greenland, perhaps to some island in Milky Way are to be counted not in

the Pacific Ocean, just for the sake of thousands, or even in hundreds of

the forty seconds, or perhaps it may be thousands, but actually by the million,

as much as four minutes, during which From any one part of the earth we

the moon will exactly fit over the face can see only about half of the Milky

of the sun. For we can see things Way, but this great streak of stars

and learn things about the sun during really forms a mighty circle, the differ-

those few seconds as we never can at ent parts of which can be seen from

any other time. different parts of the earth. The sun

The milky way and the earth and other planets with

Students of the stars think that the it lie somewhere not very far from the

Milky Way is the boundary of our center of this great circle. Now every

world of stars. It is a complete one of these millions of stars is a sun

closed circle where the sky is crammed like ours, only some are smaller than

with stars; yet in places there are our sun, and many are larger. Any or

gaps where we can see through beyond all of these suns, for all we know, may

into nothing. We can begin to meas- have one or many planets circling

ure the diameter of this great circle, round it, just as the earth moves

Our own sun and system seem to be round the sun. We cannot see these

somewhere near the center of it, and planets, for they must be too small,

a very remarkable thing about the and without any light of their own,

sun, and therefore about us, seems to just as the earth is. So that if we

66 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

were to allow only two or three planets November, when the earth crosses the
to every star or sun that makes up the path of a shoal of meteorites called
Milky Way, that would mean hun- the Leonids,
dreds of millions of worlds of varying Is the earth hollow inside?
sizes. Though no one has ever seen, or
What the streaks of light are that ever can see, the inside of the earth,
SOMETIMES SHOOT ACROSS THE SKY we are Certain that the answer to this
These are called shooting stars. Of question is "No." We know that the
course, they are not stars, but quite earth has a solid crust, very thin, and
small things, often just like stones, very apt to crack and "buckle,"
though some of them are made of producing such things as mountain
iron. They look bright merely be- chains in consequence, and we can
cause, as they rush through the air, prove that this crust must be utterly
they get very hot. The smaller ones, different from what lies underneath it.
no doubt, get so hot that as they Now one of the many ways in which
pass through the air they burn all we can learn about the inside of the
away, just as a candle does, and so earth is by weighing the earth, and
they never reach the earth at all. noting its weight in comparison with
But larger ones actually reach the its size. This teaches us what the
earth, sometimes making big holes density or denseness is of the stuff
where they fall. You may have seen that makes the earth, and the result
such things in museums, and you can is a conclusive answer to the question,
look upon few things more interesting If you have a small ball which
if you think of their history, for in weighs tremendously heavy — far
the beginning these things did not heavier in proportion to its size than
belong to the earth at all ; only they any ball you play with — you would not
were rushing through space, many suspect it of being hollow, but rather
parts of which contain large numbers you would wonder how it came to be
of things like pebbles, and they were so tightly packed and squeezed to-
caught by the air of the earth and the gether. That is the case with the
earth's gravitation. ball we call the earth. Its denseness
Many of these meteorites, as they is very high, indeed, and the material
are called, are believed to have once in it is packed together with more
been part of the bright things called tightness than we can imagine. We
comets. Sometimes an accident seems have just scratched the surface of the
to happen to a comet and breaks it earth, and already in going down even
up, and in the path where this comet such a short distance we find the den-
used to travel round the sun there is, sity increasing, as it must, if we think
instead, a great shoal of meteorites, of the weight that lies over us at the
When the earth, in her path, happens bottom of a mine.
to cross the path of the meteorites. What causes an earthquake
many of them will be caught, especially The first reason that probably ac-
if it be just at the time when the counts for all earthquakes is simply
thickest part of the shoal is passing, that the earth is shrinking as it
So we know the times of the year and gradually loses the heat from its sur-
the special years when we may expect face. We know that the earth has a
to see a large number of streaks of light thin crust, which is comparatively
in the sky at night. The best showers cool, and hot inside. The crust rests
of shooting stars are usually seen in upon the inside of the earth, and as the

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

inside shrinks it is bound to leave parts
of the crust unsupported, so that they
are apt to sink or crack. This will
happen especially where the crust of
the earth is thinner and more liable
to crack than in other places. It is
very common in Japan, for instance,
and very rare in the Mississippi Valley,
But when an earthquake happens at
any part of the earth, it starts a wave
of disturbance that travels right over
the earth, and can be detected any-
where by means of the seismograph.
Then, if we notice the time when the
wave reached a place, and find out
what the time was when it started, we
can learn how quickly the earth-wave
travels. But sometimes no one knows
where the wave started, and then very
often we can guess that it started under
the sea; for earthquakes may start in
the earth's crust where it forms the
beds of great oceans as well as any-
where else. And so there may be
earthquakes at the bottom of the sea.

How THE PLANETS GOT THEIR NAMES

The names of most of the planets
are very old indeed, and they were
given to them for interesting reasons
worth knowing. Mercury moves very
quickly, for it is so near the sun that
it would be drawn in unless it moved
quickly, and its name — Mercury — is
after the "messenger of the gods,"
whom the Greeks and Romans invented
and believed in. Then Venus is very
beautiful and gets its name from
Venus, the supposed goddess of beauty.
Mars is reddish and so suggests blood,
and was therefore called Mars, after
the god of war. Jupiter is the biggest
of the planets, and is called after
Jupiter or Jove, the greatest of the
gods whom people believed in long
ago.

Then, to take one more instance of
the way in which the planets are
named, there is Uranus, now so named,
like the others, after an ancient god.

It was discovered by a German,
William Herschel, who lived in Eng-
land, and he wanted to call it Georgi-
um, after the King of England. Others
wanted to call it Herschel, after the
discoverer, which would certainly have
been wiser than to name it after a
king who had nothing at all to do with
it; but finally it was agreed to give it
an old name like the others.

As for Earth, the good mother of us
all, the ancients called her Ge, and so
now we call the study of the earth
ge-ology; while what we call the moon
they called Luna. Hence, we have
the word lunatic, because in ancient
times it was thought that when a man
lost his mind, it was through the in-
fluence of the moon.

Who GAVE THE STARS THEIR NAMES

Nowadays we know an enormous
number of stars— about 100,000,000—
and the smaller ones (or rather the
fainter ones, for they may only seem
small because they are distant) simply
get numbers or letters, for all the
world like automobiles, in order to
identify them. But the brightest
stars have been known for many ages,
certainly not less than 10,000 years,
and the origin of their names is lost,
like the names of the men who named
them.

Some of these names we call Latin
and Greek and Arabic, but certainly
many of them are far older than the
Romans or the Greeks or the Arabian
astronomers, and they got the names
from those who went before them,
just as we have got the names from
them. A star with a specially inter-
esting name is the Polar star, which
gives us the direction of the north.
No one can say how many millions and
millions of sailors' eyes, throughout
thousands of past years, have been
gratefully and often anxiously fixed
upon that star, by which they could
steer their way home across the path-

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

less sea. But for all those sailors that
star has doubtless been known by
whatever word stood for north, in
whatever language the sailors spoke.
The names of great stars like Alde-
baran and Sirius must be older than
any human record.

Where the day begins

The world is full of mysteries and of
wonders, and there is no need for us to
puzzle ourselves by making any that do
not really exist. We could quite easily
make all sorts of puzzles about time
and the way in which it is reckoned;
but we must understand that these
puzzles are not real, but are made en-
tirely by ourselves — not by Nature.

The real fact is quite simple. The
sun goes on shining all the time, you
know — it is well to remember that
'"the sun is always shining somewhere"
— and the earth is spinning all the
time. So the sun is always seeming to
rise somewhere, because at some place
or other the earth is just spinning
round, so as to face it, and the sun is
always seeming to set somewhere, be-
cause at some place or other the earth
is just spinning away from the sun.
That is simple.

And, of course, whatever we call
now, whether we call it six o'clock or
twelve o'clock, this now is now every-
where. The present moment is the
present moment here and on the
farthest star. Only when just oppo-
site the sun we call that midday,
whereas the people on the other side
of the world are then away from the
sun, and call it midnight; but this
present moment of ours is their pres-
ent, too, of course, and the difference
is merely a difference of name to indi-
cate that now we are opposite the sun,
and they are away from it. It would
be foolish for us to make a mystery
whei'e none really exists, or to forget
that now must be now everywhere.

But, simply because the earth goes
on spinning, and the sun is always
shining, the day is dawning somewhere
always, and really, therefore, the
answer to the question, "Where does
the day begin?" is that the day is
always beginning somewhere.

Two DAYS AT ONCE

Since people live in different parts
of the world, what we call night (when
it is our night) will be someone else's
day, and our midnight, when a new
day begins for us, as w^e reckon, will
not be the midnight of other people in
other parts of the world, so that what
we call Monday they may call Tues-
day, yet we and they are both talking
about the same moment!

Now, it would be very inconvenient
if all the different parts of the world
east or west of each other persisted in
talking of time as if they were the only
people on the earth, and as if their
midnight must be everybody's mid-
night — which it is not. So we reckon
by two sorts of time. One is local
time — the time reckoned by what is
happening at the particular place
whose time it is; the other is standard
time, which we agree upon, so that
we can catch trains, and so on, just as
if midnight in one place were mid-
night everywhere. Up to 1883 people
often missed trains through this diffi-
culty, and then "standard time" was
invented.
Where the day changes

A clock shows that it is never mid-
night at the same time at any two
places which are not the same dis-
tance from the line passing through
Greenwich — or, indeed, from any such
line, only we take Greenwich for con-
venience. Therefore it may be one
day at one place, and the day before
or the day after at another. In order
that we shall not get more mixed than
we can help — and we cannot help

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

getting rather mixed since we don't all
live on the same line, and the earth
will keep on turning ! — we have agreed
that we shall take a line exactly on the
other side of the earth from the Green-
wich line, and this we call the "date
line." What is called Sunday on one
side of this line is Monday on the other
side. If the "date line" passed
through a country or through a city,
this would be inconvenient. People
living on opposite sides of the same
street might have different days for
Sunday. They would have no doubt
that now is now everywhere, but they
would call now by different names.
Fortunately, however, the date line
scarcely touches any land at all, and
the little it does touch is very unim-

portant,
ocean.

The line passes across the

»rjf^?:iKsr«.v-

S U N D A, >

The international date line, with Sunday on one side and
Monday on the other

THE CHILDREN'S

WHYS

AND "HOWS

J >

Why we count in tens

YOU may w ell ask why we count
in tens, for it would be much
more convenient if we counted
in twelves — if we had a duodecimal
system of counting in twelves instead
of a decimal system of counting in
tens. If we should invent two extra
single figures for ten and eleven, and
then write ten to mean twelve, and
eleven to mean thirteen, 100 to mean
144 (twelve times twelve instead of ten
times ten), and so on.

Perhaps we will do this some day;
and the reason is that, while ten can
be evenly divided only by two figures,
two and five, twelve can be evenly
divided by four figures. Thus, for
many purposes it would be better to
count in twelves, and, indeed, we often
do so when we can, as, for instance, by
making twelve inches to the foot
instead of ten. This would also fit
in nicely with the number of months
in the year. But we count in tens
still, as a rule, and we shall doubtless
do so for many a long day yet, simply

because our ancestors have always
done so.

If you think how you sometimes
used to ■ reckon when you started
arithmetic, you will guess the simple
reason why. It is because we have
ten fingers. When we count on our
fingers, as childi-en do, and as the
first men did, it is natural to make a
fresh start after ten, because then we
go back again to the finger we began
with. So all over the world, we find
men counting by tens — using a decimal
system — just because men and women
everywhere have ten fingers.
Why a stone sinks

The stone sinks because it is
heavier, or denser, than an amount of
water occupying the same amount of
room; and the water floats on top of
the stone just as the stick floats on
top of the water. It all depends upon
the great law of the pull, or attraction,
of the earth for everything outside it,
and the heavier the thing is, the
stronger the pull. A lump of iron
sinks in just the same way.

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

HOW A MAGNIFYING GLASS MAKES THINGS BIGGER

^ -" ■« *•-

X .IT

These pictures how us how a magnifying glass makes things appear larger than they really are. What
happens when we look at, say, a leaf, is that rays of light are thrown off by the leaf and brought together
to our eyes. When we use a magnifying glass the rays of light pass through the glass and bend — as a stick

appears to bend if you put it in water, or as the pair of compasses seems to bend
in the glass of water shown on this page. When the rays of light reach the
eye, the eye imagines that they have come in straight lines, and it appears
to the eye that the light comes in lines as shown by the dots in this picture.
What we really see are rays of light. These rays not being able to go straight
through a magnifying glass as if it were a piece of ordinary glass, are bent in
passing through the glass, and what happens then is as if the eye having col-
lected all these rays to a point, throws them out again in straight, sloping
lines, at the end of which we see the image, looking much bigger than it really
is. So that what we see through a magnifying glass is not the actual leaf
but the rays of light thrown off by the leaf, first bent by the glass and then
straightened out again so as to appear to cover a much bigger space. A curious
thing happens if the rays of light are allowed to continue beyond the eye instead
of being focused by the eye. We can do this with the aid of a microscope, as
shown in the bottom picture. In this case we see the leaf upside down. This
is because the rays of light meet, and then as the rays must go straight, the line
of light coming from the top of the leaf goes down while the line coming from
the bottom of the leaf goes up. In the top picture the meeting or focusing of
the lines of light takes place inside the eye, but in the picture below we see the
1 rays focused through the glass instead of inside the eye, and we see them,
therefore, continuint;, u: '.il LUey are reflected in the looking glass, where we see the enlarged picture upside
down. This helps us to understand what happens inside the eye, as explained on the next page.

TEE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 71

HOW THE CAMERA TAKES YOUR PHOTOGRAPH

N'H

\ "^

These pictures show us how a camera takes a picture, why it takes the picture upside down and also
how the eye is like a camera in this way. The boat in this picture gives off rays of light which strike in all
directions. Some of these rays go out towards the camera, and as light always travels in straight lines, never
crooked ones, all the rays that can be seen from the lens of the camera travel
straight up or down towards the lens. Inside the lens they continue traveling
in the same direction and at last they meet and cross so that the lines of light
given off by the top of the boat strike the bottom of the photographic plate
and the lines given off by the bottom of the boat strike the top of the plate.
The small picture on this page shows a way in which any boy or girl can find
out how the lines of light cross so as to make an image upside down. Take
a white cardboard box without the lid and prick in one side a small hole with
a pin Hold the box, say, under a gas jet so that the gas will reflect through
the hole. The hole will then act as a focus of the rays which will enter the
box through the hole and cross, so that the inside of the box where they fall
will reflect the gas jet, which will be upside down. The bottom picture shows
us that the eye acts in the same way as the cimera but a very wonderful thing
happens in the eye, that no man quite understands. When the photographer
finds that his picture is upside down he turns the plate the other way and
everything is right. But what wonderful thing is it that turns the picture
printed inside the eye the right way up? The rays of light stamp themselves
upon the retina of the eye as seen in this picture and the nerve of the eye carries
them to the brain. What happens there nobody knows but when the brain
brings together these rays of light so as to make a clear picture, the picture is the

right way up. The picture is printed on the retina of the eye upside down, but our brain puts it right in the mil-
lionth part of the twinkling of an eye, and this is, perhaps, as great a miracle as anything that ever happened.

72 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Why a wheel stops round and round in space, but, as
One of the reasons why a wheel space is almost empty, and as the
stops when it has once been started is earth's air is part of the earth and goes
the resistance of the air. But wheels round with it, and as the earth is not
also stop through another kind of re- spinning on anything, as a top spins
sistance, which is called friction. The on a plate, the earth scarcely slow^s
w^heel of a bicycle, for instance, travels down at all throughout the ages,
round and round on something in the How fast a wheel can go round
center of it, which we call the axle, and You might think that if you applied
as the wheel rubs against the axle it sufficient force to a w^heel — say, the
is made to go slower. If you put your wheel of some kind oi engine that was
finger on your arm and rub it along driving something — li. would go round
your skin and press a little, you can faster and faster, and there need be
see how you are opposed by friction; no hmit at all to the speed at wliich it
but if you put some oil on the tip of went round. But that is not true,
your finger first, the finger will slide and sometimes when men forget it
along your arm quite easily, because and make wheels go round too fast,
the oil lessens the friction. accidents happen. If you take an
For exactly the same reason you umbrella that has been out in the
have to oil the bearings of a bicycle, rain, and twirl it round very gently
Perhaps you know that a special way and slowly, the drops of rain will hold
has been found in which to lessen the on to the umbrella tight enough to
friction of a bicycle, so that, after you go round with it, but directly you spin
stop pedaling, the wheels will go on the umbrella a little faster, the drops
running much farther than they other- of rain, as you know, fly off from the
wise would. A number of tiny steel umbrella. As long as the umbrella
balls are put between the axle and the went round slowly, the force of stick-
wheel, so that the wheel really runs on ing, or cohesion, as it is called, was
these little balls. This is w^hat is sufficient to make the drops stick to
called 'iiall bearings," and every bi- the umbrella, but when the umbrella
cycle has them, both for the wheels went round a little faster, the force of
and for the pedals. cohesion could not keep the drops
Could a top spin forever? sticking to the umbrella, and so off
Friction also helps to stop a top, they fly. But now, after all, it is
but if you spin the top on a perfectly nothing but cohesion that makes the
smooth plate, so that there is very parts of a wheel stick to each other,
little friction, it will spin much longer; and if the wheel went round quickly
and if you could spin the top on a enough, this cohesion would not be
smooth plate inside something from strong enough to hold the wheel to-
which you had taken away all the air, gether, any more than it is strong
it would not be difficult to get the top enough to hold the drops to the um-
to spin for hours, because things which brella if spun quickly,
have once started moving go on Could a wheel fly off an engine
moving until something stops them. Sometimes when an engine has been
If the top could be spun where there running too quickly, a great wheel,
is no air at all, and nothing happened perhaps made of hea\'^' steel, has flown
to hinder the spinning, the top w^ould to pieces. These pieces have gone
certainly go on forever. The earth flying out just as the drops do from a
is like a great wheel or top spinning spun umbrella, and sometimes these

TEE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK 73

have done terrible damage. This gas that acts on the engine in this
appUes to everything that spins — the case, just as the gases made by the
earth, or a wheel, or a top. There is burning of the gasoline act upon the
a limit to the speed at which it can engine in the commoner kind of auto-
spin without flying to pieces, because mobiles. Electricity is used in ordi-
there is a limit to the power of cohesion, nary automobiles to set the gasoline
or holding together, and directly that burning. Each time the spark passes,
limit is passed, the pieces of the wheel, a little gasoline is burned, and it is
or the top, or the earth — if the earth this burning that makes the noise that
were set spinning too quickly — must we hear, or part of it. The car is
fly away. For everything that is made to go, therefore, by a very large
moving tries to move in a straight line, number of little gas explosions,
and the reason why a wheel can spin Why soap takes out the dirt
at all is that the parts of it move in The answer to this question has been
circles instead of in straight lines, a great deal argued by chemists, and
because they are held by cohesion; but it is a very important thing, for clean-
if cohesion is not strong enough, all liness is necessary, and enormous
parts of the wheel, like the drops on quantities of soap have to be used,
the umbrella, will start moving in and it is well that we should know
straight lines instead of in circles, and how soap does its work, so that we
the wheel will fly to pieces. can make the soap that works best.
What makes an automobile go Now it is fat or oil that especially

The mystery of the automobile is, makes things dirty. If only we can

of course, only the old question of melt or get rid of the oil on things, we

using natural forces for power. In soon make them clean, and the real

nearly all automobiles it is a gas that use of soap is that it disposes of oil.

makes them move. In one way or an- It does this in at least two ways,

other this gas is made in the engine of Most soaps have in them a great deal

the car or is sent into it, and, as this gas of alkali. This alkali dissolves the

is made under pressure, its atoms fly oil that gathers on things, and makes

about in all directions, and so press them clean.

upon that part of the engine which is But soap takes the dirt from things

connected with the wheels. In most in another way, as we know when we

automobiles gasoline is burned with use soaps that have no alkali in them

air, which is admitted to the inside of at all. It has the power of breaking

the engine, and the gases which are up oil into a number of tiny little

produced by this burning make the car drops, which are easily washed away,

move. Gasoline is really a vegetable together with all the dirt that the

product, and has in it the power which oil has collected.

poured upon the earth from the sun A collection of tiny drops of oil,

ages ago. It is really the sun, then, held in some other fluid, is called an

that makes the car move; not the emulsion. Water alone will not form

sunlight of today, but the stored-up an emulsion of any oil, because oil and

sunlight of long ages ago. water will not mix. That is the reason

In steam automobiles the power is why we cannot wash well with water

produced as it is in a railway engine alone. But when water has soap dis-

or a steamboat. Something is burned solved in it, it is able to make an

■ — generally gasoline — and so boils emulsion of the oil on anything we

water, and it is the water-vapor or are washing, and so makes it clean.

'Tk

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

WHY DOES A STICK FLOAT?

We must remember that the earth is
all the time trying to pull everything
to itself; it pulls us, it pulls the air, it
pulls a balloon, it pulls the moon.
Now, the heavier the thing is the more
it is pulled, and water is heavier than

'"I's^^

~^«s^*,

WHY WOOD FLOATS AND IRON SINKS

Vvrod floats because it is full of tiny quantities of air,
and so is lighter, or less dense, tlian the water, A stone,
or a iump of iron, has no air in if. it is denser ttian the
water, and therefore it sinks. An iron ship floats because
it is hollow and full of air, so that as a whole it is lighter
than the water. If we filled it up solid with iron or stone,
or if It cracked and so let the air escape from it and the
water come in, it would sink, as shown in the second of
these pictures.

a stick. This does not mean that all
the water in a jiond is heavier than a
stick, because we know that. But it
means that if you have a cup and filled
it wnth water, and had another cup

WHY AN IRON SHIP FLOATS

the same size and filled it with stick,
the cup with the w^ater would be
heavier — that is to say, in a fixed
amount of space you can pack a
greater weight of water than of wood.

That is what we mean when we say
that the water is heavier than the
stick.

Of course, a pound of water is the
same as a pound of stick, and you do
not need to answer the question —
Which is the heavier, a pound of
feathers or a pound of lead? They
both weigh the same, only the lead
takes up less room, and so we say that
lead is heavier than feathers, though a
pound of lead weighs the same as a
pound of feathers. The proper name
for a heavy thing is dense, and, w^hen-
ever it is possible, the earth always
pulls the denser things further down,
and the less dense things float on the
top of it. That is why the stick floats;
that is why the cold air is found
nearest the floor, because cold air is
heavier, or denser, than warm air, and
the warm air floats on the top of it as
the stick floats on water.

WHY AN IRON SHIP FLOATS

Men used to think that a ship had
to be made of wood in order to float,
because wood floats and iron sinks.
But now all big ships are built of iron.
Why do they not sink like a stone or
an anvil? It is because of their shape.
When they are hollowed out the whole
space they occupy is filled with air,
which makes the ship, as a whole,
lighter than water, and so it floats.
You can even put things into it, but
the more you put in, the deeper your
ship rides in the water. You can store
iron in it, but if you packed it full
of iron, or anything heavier than
water, it would sink.

One brave man fought for years for
the lives of sailors, and at last got a
law made that a line should be painted
outside the hulls of ships, and that
the ships must not be packed so heavily
as to sink that line below the surface
of the water. Like everyone who does
anything worth doing, he was laughed
at, but his name will alwavs be remem-

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

bered, and that line, which protects
sailors, will always be called Plimsoll's
line, in his memory.
What a vacuum is
^ Vacuum is simply a Latin adjective
^ meaning empty, and we have an
English word, vacuous, which has the
same meaning, and which we some-
times apply to the expression of a
person's face when it seems to mean
nothing — to be empty of meaning.
In the study of Nature we often talk
about vacuum, meaning by that an
empty space. It is always necessary
to remember that there is really no
such thing as empty space, for what
we call the ether is everywhere.

But when we speak of a vacuum we
are leaving the ether out of account,
and are simply thinking of gases, such
as the air. We take such a thing as a
globe of glass, which cannot collapse
when the air is sucked out of it and we
attach a pump to it, so as to suck out
of it all the air we can. When we
have done so, we call the space inside
the glass globe a vacuum. As a
matter of fact, we can never get a real
vacuum, but only a space which con-
tains comparatively little air. No one
has ever made, or ever will make, a
perfect vacuum.

How A MACKINTOSH KEEPS US DRY

A mackintosh keeps us dry because
it is made of a material which water
cannot get through. Our ordinary
clothes are full of tiny little holes, or
pores, and so we call them porous.
The water runs into these little holes,
and so will make our clothes wet, just
exactly as it runs into a sponge, which
is also full of holes, or pores — only
these are so big that we can see them.
But if you take a thing like a piece of
india-rubber, you find that water can-
not get through it because there are
no holes in it to let the water through ;
or you can take a piece of ordinary
clothj which is porous, like a sponge,

and then, if you melt india-rubber and
put the cloth in it, the rubber will fill
up the holes in the cloth, making it
waterproof.

The name of the man who discovered
how to do this was Mr. Macintosh,
and that is why many kinds of water-
proof coats are called mackintoshes
now. For no particular reason we
have put a "k" into the word. Now,
there is another kind of material
which also keeps water out, or, at
least, in its natural state it keeps
water out, but we cut it up and put it
into bottles and use it to keep water
and medicine in. There is a special
kind of tree which makes this cork,
but really all trees have a layer of
cork inside the bark, and this makes
them waterproof. India-rubber is also
obtained from trees.

And so, when we wear a mackin-
tosh, we first of all take something
from the coat of a sheep to make wool-
len cloth, and then we take something
from the world of plants in order to
make the cloth waterproof.
Why ammonia cleanses things

Ammonia is really a gas, but like
other gases 't can be dissolved in water
and °s more soluble in water than
almost any otlier gas. The solution of
ammonia gas in water is what we
usually call ammonia, and it is largely
used for cleansing things. Indeed,
people add what is called, not quite
correctly, "liquid ammonia," to the
water of their bath, for they find that
it helps to make them clean. "Liquid
ammonia" is not a correct name, be-
cause what we call that is really water
containing a lot of ammonia gas.

Ammonia cleanses many things far
better than even strong soft soap, but
it is so powerful that we cannot use
it for everything. The reason why
ammonia is such a splendid cleanser
is that it is an alkali, and so dissolves
fats and oils, as the alkalies in ordinary

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

soap do. But aniinonia is different
from all other alkalies, because it is
really a gas, and the great fact about
a gas is that, if it gets "half a chance,"
it goes everywhere. Ammonia is thus
the most searching of cleansers.

Why houses are not made

OF IRON

We are doing just what men did long
ago when they passed from the "Stone
Age," in which they used stone for
knives and weapons, to the "Age of
Metals," when they used brcnze and
copper and iron. We may say we are
passing from the Stone Age to the Age
of Metals in buildings.

Of course, in the case of a bridge,
we simply use steel and do not think
it necessary to do more. One of the
most wonderful, though not the most
beautiful, bridges in the world is the
Brooklyn Bridge, which is made of
steel. When it comes to ordinary
buildings, however, the builder makes
his building of steel; but we are not
accustomed to buildings made simply
of steel, and they would look very
unusual to our eyes; so after he has
made the steel skeleton of his house,
or whatever it is, he covers it all up
with stone, so as to make it look as if
it were really the stone that was hold-
ing it up; yet really you might take
all the stone away, and it would stand
as before. The real reason for not
making steel exposure is that it is such
a good conductor of heat that w^e would
roast, whereas stone or brick is a poor
conductor.

How A BAR STAYS IN ITS PLACE

All solid things have cohesion, and
we can almost imagine the tiny parts
of which they are made holding on
to each other, as if they had little arms
or hooks. That is why things can be
solid; that is why they can have a
shape and keep it. You see, the earth
is so enormous, compared with any-

thing that we can make or move, that,
if there were nothing else to act against
the power of the earth's gravitation,
everything would crumble down quite
flat, so that all the stuff in it might be
pulled as near as possible to the center
of the earth.

A bar holds together, because,
though gravitation is always acting,
and is very powerful, cohesion is very
powerful too. You know, for instance,
the horizontal bar in the gymnasium?
How does this stand.'* How does
it come to stand so firm that it
will support your weight? The
answer is that, though the earth is
pullling it down all the time, the earth's
pull is balanced by the cohesion of the
bar. If you tried to make the bar of
something that has very little cohesion
like sand^well, you might try for a
very long time before you succeeded!
Of course, it is true that gravitation
acts between everything and every-
thing else. It acts, for instance, be-
tween the tiny parts of which the bar
is made, or of which the bar of sand —
if such there could be — is made.
What the first buildings were like

The first devices men ever lived in
began by not being buildings at all;
they were just holes or caves in the
earth. We have found some of these
caves with bones and teeth and other
things which tell us what these men
ate long ago. The first attempt that
man made to build was simply to
make the caves that he found rather
bigger and more convenient; and so
he scooped them out and made them
deeper, and often he scooped away
much of the roof so as to make the
cave higher, and let iiim stand and
walk upright in it. And when at last
man began to build for himself, he
made huts, such as many peoples live
in even nowadays, like the Eskimos.
And these huts are really very like
caves if you come to think of it.

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

Who invented arches for buildings

One of the remarkable things about
the great buildings of Greece is that
they do not have arches. Their
buildings, indeed, were in principle
the same as you can make with toy
bricks. Now, it is a curious thing
that somehow or other, though the
Greeks learned so much from the
Egyptians as regards science and art
and many other things, they did not
know about the arch. Yet, even in
very early Egyptian buildings, we
find various kinds of arches, including
even the pointed arch which you must
have seen in many churches. There
are two kinds of arches — one built up
from the two sides, and then at the
very top of the arch there is put in
last, a stone called the keystone, be-
cause it keys, or rather locks the
two sides of the arch together. People
who study buildings say that the kind
of arch they call Gothic does not have
a keystone, the two sides meeting in
a straight up and down line.
Who the best builders were

Now, you know that the Romans
came after the Greeks, and that nearly
everything they knew and could do
they learned from the Greeks. Indeed,
there was a great deal which
the Greeks knew and the Romans
forgot. The Romans did not build
beautifully as the Greeks. There
never was any building in Rome so
lovely as the Parthenon. But one

thing the Romans had which the
Greeks had not, and that was the
arch. No one appears to know
whether some Roman found out all
by himself how to make an arch, or
whether they found arches in Egypt
or somewhere else; but, at any rate,
the Romans had the secret of the arch,
and they seem to have been very
proud of it, and used it whenever they
could.

They were very fond of building
what they called triumphal arches in
honor of some great soldier or some
great event, and you will see such
arches in Rome and many parts of
Italy.

In our own times we have made a
great discovery as regards buildings.
You know that instead of building
ships of wood we build them of iron
and steel. Well, we do the same
thing now in building; instead of stone
we use steel.
Which travels quicker— heat or

COLD?

Complete cold, if we could get it,
would only be complete absence of
heat; and what we ordinarily call cold
is simply less heat than in something
else with which we are comparing it.
When a thing gets cold, it really gets
less hot. So we cannot speak of cold
traveling, unless we mean that it is a
cold wind that is traveling, or cold
water traveling through hot water, as
when you run cold water into a hot

A GREAT LINE OF ARCHES BUILT BY THE ROMANS. WHO WERE FOND OF ARCHES IN BUILDING

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

bath. But we can say how fast heat
travels, if by that we mean the rays
of heat or radiant heat that we feel
near a fire or a light. This kind of
heat is really the same as light, and it
travels at exactly the same speed,
which you know. But cold travels
at no speed, for there is no such thing.
What holds a building up

We all know that mortar holds the
bricks together; but we must remember
that the wise builder always uses the
weight of his bricks to make his build-
ing strong; and since it is the earth,
with its steady pull, that gives bricks,
and all other things, their weight, we
must not give the mortar all the credit.
No bricks and mortar would ever make
a strong building if there were not the
earth's pull to bind them all together.
Why a stick holds together

Mortar, as you know, "sets hard,"
like many other things — jelly and
water included — if you give them a
fair chance. And the power by which
it, or paste or glue, holds things to-
gether is called cohesion — a word
which simply means sticking together.
We cannot see what really happens,
but cohesion is one of the commonest
things in the world. When you move
one end of a stick, why does the other
end move? Because of cohesion be-
tween all the parts of which the stick
is made. All the parts of the stick
hold together as if drawn to each other
by a magnet.
Why we can'T make a rope

OF SAND

We can't make a stick or a rope of
sand, and you can't build with bricks
and sand. The sand has no cohesion,
except just the least little bit when it
is wet. Have you ever thought why
sealing-wax melts when it is heated?
The truth is that cohesion is one of the
most important things in the world,
and that the world itself, indeed, could

not exist as it is without cohesion.
Everything that we call solid is solid
because the tiny parts of which it is
made stick or hold together. A piece
of sealing-wax, for instance, if it is left
alone, is held together by cohesion. It
does not spill itself and run all over
the table, and if you lift it up by one
end the other end comes too. But if
you apply heat to the sealing-wax it
begins to run — it begins to lose its
stickiness, or cohesion. This shows a
second state in which anything may
be, and this state we call liquid.
Running water is liquid.

Why water runs

That is cohesion again; water runs
because it has no cohesion, or else very
litt'.e. While all solids have a great
deai of cohesion — ^without which they
could not be solids — liquids have very
much less. But all liquids are by no
means the same. Liquid water has
v^ery much less cohesion than liquid
sealing-wax or liquid gum, which, in-
deed, has so much cohesion, or sticking
together, that we appropriately call it
"sticky." On the other hand, liquid
alcohol or lic[uid air — did you know
that air could be liquid like water? — ■
has very much less cohesion even than
liquid water. But there is a third state
in which anvthing mav be, and that is
the state of a gas — like air in its
ordinary state, and like the gas we burn
for light. Now, the thing which marks
a gas is that it has no cohesion at all —
it runs wherever it can. However big
the space that it is in, the gas always
fills it. It goes under doors, out at
chimneys, and out at windows, and so
on. It has no cohesion.

Why the smoke of a train goes the
other way

When the smoke leaves the funnel
of the engine it is really moving for-
ward, like the engine itself, and at
exactly the same rate. If we could

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

imagine tliat tlie train was moving
onwards in nothing, then, since we
know that moving things always move
on in a straight Hne at the same speed
forever, unless something outside af-
fects them, the smoke would move
forward with the train, and would
actually pass on in front of it as soon
as the driver slowed the train. But
the smoke, we know, is really poured
into the ocean of air through which
the train is pushing its way. The air
tends to stop the train, as it tends to
stop everything that moves through
it, and every engineer knows how
important this air-pressure is; but
though it retards the train a good deal,
it retards the light, hot smoke that is
poured into it far more. The question
reminds us that the smoke seems to
go in the opposite direction to the
train; but really it simply moves for-
ward so slowly and for such a little
distance that, compared with the train
it seems to go the other way.

But if a strong wind is blowing in
the same direction as the train — and
perhaps this is oftenest seen in the
case of the smoke from a ship's funnel
— then the smoke is blown forward by
the wind far in front of the train or
ship. In this case and the last the
same principle works, though the
results are so different. The principle
is that the air affects the smoke more
than the train or ship. In one case
it holds both back, but it holds the
smoke back most; in the other case it
blows both forward, but the smoke
most.

Why some faces in pictures seem to

You are discerning to have noticed
this, and perhaps you have also no-
ticed that in other pictures there are
faces which are not looking at us;
but no matter where you walk, even
though it be in the direction in which
they seem to be looking, you will
never find the face looking at you.
Indeed, faces in pictures are either
looking at us, from wherever we look
at them, or else they are never looking
at us, from wherever we look at them.
The same is true of photographs.

The rule is very simple. If the per-
son who was being painted or photo-
graphed was looking at the painter
or at the camera, then, wherever you
stand, he will seem to be looking at
you. If he was looking on one side,
then, wherever you stand, he will
seem to be looking on that side of
you. This works very queerly if you
have a group of people who were
all looking at the camera when they
were photographed. If you look at
the photograph from one side, they
all seem to turn to follow you, and
then to turn back if you look at it
from the other side. But if they
were not looking at the camera, you
can never get them to look at you.

How BURGLARS ARE CAUGHT BY THEIR
FINGER-PRINTS

You have heard, perhaps, that now-
adays burglars wear gloves in order to
avoid leaving their finger-marks on a
window-pane or anywhere else. The
fact is that all men and women differ

These are the marks of men's fingers on things they have touched. Finger-prints lilje these help the police to catch
burglars. No two finger-prints from different people have ever yet been found to be alike.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

from each other in little things, and
there is nothing in which they differ
more certainly than the pattern of the
little ridges on their fingers. Two
patterns exactly the same from two
different people have never yet been
found. These patterns cannot change,
for they are formed by the innumerable
mouths of the tiny canals which con-
vey the sweat from the deep-seated
sweat-glands to the surface. They
can be destroyed, of course, but no
different pattern can be put in their
place.

Thus, of all the ways of knowing who
is who, this is the most certain, as well
as much the simplest and cheapest. It
is now being more and more used. If
a man's thumb-mark is the same as
the mark on a piece of paper where a
theft was committed, the evidence
against him is very strong. A bad
man who has become known to the
police may change his clothes and
the appearance of his face, he may
look like a different person, and have
not the slightest resemblance to the
photograph taken of him, but his
thumb-mark vrill tell him at once.
This is now known as the Bertillon
System.

How MANY WORDS THERE ARE IN THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE

A dozen great scholars might give
as many answers to this question.
One of them, some years ago, gave the
number as only 38,000. But a still
greater scholar, Professor Max Miiller,
who, was perhaps, the greatest au-
thority of his time on words, put the
number of words in the English lan-
guage at 100,000. He compared the
growth and development of our lan-
guage with the putting of grain in a
sieve. Most of the chaff has been
winnowed off, and with it have gone
many good grains. Good old English
words, which we now consider only
dialect words or "Americanisms,"

have gone out of the language. If
we include all the words which have
fixed places in the dialects of the
country, and include also many which
we know were spoken in earlier times,
we shall have to put the total at
300,000 for the English language.

That number is constantly growing.
Words have to be invented for new
industries, and they become part of
the language. When a new dictionary
was made, not many years ago, it was
found that the new words necessary
for use in relation to electricity and
electrical appliances numbered over
four thousand. A similar increase
had taken place with regard to other
arts and sciences. Most of them are
purely technical words, but, little by
little, they become common words
as all of us know more about science;
and so the language grows.
Have we yet discovered all the

WORLD?

No, the Arctic and Antarctic regions
still possess secrets which as yet no
man has been able to solve. Many
brave men in fine ships went into the
gloom and silence of the frozen
regions in the hope of discovering the
Poles ; but a great many perished in the
attempt. Each expedition brought
back a little more knowledge; until
finally both Poles were discovered.
The North Pole by Peary on April 6,
1909, and the South Pole by Amund-
sen, on December 14, 1911. There is
much land still to be explored in Asia.
There are parts in the far North of
the American continent of which we
know very little. So, also, in the great
sandy, stony heart of Australia.

The continent of Africa has been
traveled from end to end, and from
side to side, but we can fix a point on
the east coast of Africa and come out
at a point on the west coast, and cover
ground which no white man has pre-
viously crossed.

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

The aeroplane in warfare

The aeroplane enables us to take
real "bird's-eye" views of scenes on
the surface of the earth. At first we
might think that a photograph taken
from an aeroplane to be a mere curi-
osity, but to the military expert it
suggests possibilities of a startling na-
ture in connection with the art of war.
It lays bare the maneuvering of armies
and the interior of fortresses; robs
the decks of ships of their secrets, and
it is even claimed that the movements
of submarine boats are almost as
patent as though they were moving
on the surface of the water. So even
as a scouting facility the aeroplane
will be of first rate importance in the
war of the future. The various gov-
ernments, including that of the United
States, have recognized this use to
which the aeroplane may be put. The
United States has an aviation school
at Annapolis where students are
taught the use of the aeroplane in
connection with warfare. So far the
chief experiments at this school have
been in connection with the hydro-
aeroplane, which rests on three pon-
toons, attached centrally and at the
wing-tips, thus enabHng the machine
to rise from the water or settle on it
with the facility of a water fowl.

Whether the aeroplane may be
utilized as an instrument of destruc-
tion is a different question. Experi-
ments have been made in dropping
bombs on targets representing war
■ vessels but it is not yet estabhshed that
they can be dropped with accuracy
from a swiftly moving aeroplane so as to
be of practical utility. Better results
have been obtained from a new ma-
chine gun invented by Lieutenant
Colonel Lewis of the United States
Coast Artillery. This gun weighs
only twenty-five pounds and dis-
charges 750 shots a minute and the
discharge of the gun is practically

without recoil. It would seem that

a target on the face of the earth might

be hit with considerable accuracy from

an aeroplane flying at the rate of 60

miles an hour.

Why the united states is called
"uncle sam"

This term is used in reference to
America exactly in the same way as
"John Bull" is applied to England.
It arose at the time of the last war
between England and America. At
Troy, New York, on the Hudson, a
commissariat contractor named Elbert
Anderson, of New York, had a store
yard. A government inspector named
Samuel Wilson, who was always called
"Uncle Sam," superintended the ex-
amination of the provisions, and when
they were passed, each cask or package
was marked "EA-US," the initials of
the contractor and of the United
States. The man whose duty it was
to mark the casks, who was a facetious
fellow, being asked what the letters
meant, replied that they stood for
Elbert Anderson and Uncle Sam.
The joke soon became known, and was
heartily entered into by Uncle Sam
himself. It soon got into print, and
long before the war was over was
known throughout the United States.
Mr. Wilson, the original "Uncle Sam,"
died at Troy, in 1854, aged 84 years.

How THE AMERICAN FLAG ORIGINATED

The United States Congress passed
a resolution on June 14, 1777, declar-
ing "that the flag of the thirteen
United States be stripes alternate red
and white; that the union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field, representing
the new constellation." In 1794, Con-
gress decreed that after May 1, 1795,
"the flag of the United States be fifteen
stripes, alternate red and white, and
that the union be fifteen stars, white
in a blue field." This change was
made to mark the admission of Ver-

AIRSHIP ATTACKED BY AEROPLANES WHILE B0:M

BARDING A NAVAL BASE

Stationed in harbors and housed in floating slied,-. lua.^i defence aeroplanes must be ready to give battle in their own
element to such aerial invaders as may dare to approach their shores.

TEE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

mont and Kentucky into the Union.
The stars and stripes were then equal
and a star and stripe were to be added
with the admission of each new State.
It was reaUzed, however, that the
addition of a stripe for each new
State would soon render the flag too
large, and a resolution was accordingly
passed by Congress, April 4, 1818, re-
ducing the number of stripes to thir-
teen — representing the original Union
— and making the stars twenty in
number. It was, furthermore, enacted
that a new star should be added for
each new State admitted into the
Union.

The first American flag, known as
the "Stars and Stripes," was, according
to our best information, made by
Mrs. Betsy Ross of Philadelphia,
about whom succeeding years have
thrown a glamor of patriotic romance.

The official flag of the United States
bears forty-eight white stars in a blue
field, arranged in six rows of eight
stars each. Two stars were added in
1912 by the admission of Arizona and
New Mexico to the Union. The gar-
rison flag of the Army is made of bunt-
ing, thirty-six feet fly and twenty feet
hoist, thirteen stripes, and in the upper
quarter, next the staff, is the field or
"union" of stars equal to the number
of States, on blue field, over one-third
length of the flag, extending to the
lower edge of the fourth red stripe
from the top. The storm flag is twen-
ty feet by ten feet, and the recruiting
flag nine feet nine inches by four feet
four inches. The "American Jack" is
the "union "or blue field of the flag.
The Revenue Marine Service flag,
authorized by act of Congress, March
2, 1799, was originally prescribed to
"consist of sixteen perpendicular
stripes, alternate red and white, the
union of the ensign bearing the arms
of the United States in dark blue on
a white field." The sixteen stripes

represented the number of States
which had been admitted to the Union
at that time, and no change has been
made since. June 14, the anniversary
of the adoption of the flag, is cele-
brated as Flag Day in a large part of
the Union.

What are the three flags in the
union jack?

The Union Jack is made up of three
flags — the English flag of St. George,
the Scottish flag of St. Andrew, and
the Irish flag of St. Patrick. St.
George, who lived about 300 years
after the birth of Christ, was a heroic
soldier who gave up his life rather than
deny his faith at the bidding of a
Roman emperor. Edward III adopt-
ed his name as a war-cry for England,
and the red cross of St. George on a
white ground became the English flag.
St. Andrew was one of the twelve
Apostles, and he was crucified on a
cross shaped like the letter X. Some
relics of the Apostle are supposed to
have been carried to Scotland, and the
white cross of St, Andrew on a blue
ground long ago became the national
flag of Scotland. St. Patrick was car-
ried to Ireland as a slave at the begin-
ning of the fifth century. He lived
there for thirty years, founding many
schools and monasteries, and died
there a very old man. Many cen-
turies afterwards, the cross of St.
Patrick became the national flag of
Ireland.

Why the englishman is called

JOHN bull

Every country has a nickname, and
is represented in pictures by an animal.
The British lion is the animal which
stands for England, and John Bull
is its owner and master. The lion is
the country; John Bull is the nation.
The name of John Bull comes from a
work written by John Arbuthnot, a
witty doctor and writer, a great friend
of Swift and Pope. He was born in

i m.2

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

1667, in Scotland, and died in 1735.
The sketch that he wrote dealt with
the political affairs of Europe at the
time, and the countries were made to
appear as if they were men and women.

How THE AMERICAN INDIAN REACHED
AMERICA

This is a much discussed question.
In a recent paper Prof. Chamberlain
coincides with the more common opin-
ion that the American race came from
Northeastern Asia across Bering Strait.
However, he does not think that the
Indian came from an existing people of
Northeastern Asia, but thinks that
they came from a Mongolian race
which migrated at a very remote
period; that they changed consider-
ably in their habitat and that after
many ages there was a migration in
the opposite direction from America
to Asia, thus Americanizing a large
portion of Eastern Siberia. The red
race and the yellow races of North-
eastern Asia including the Chinese
and the Japanese, would appear to be
akin. This view is largely confirmed
by a similarity of facial contour, or
hair and eyes and of complexion, and
by the fact that the two races are very
similar in their mental traits.

But there are others who take a
different view: Prof. Ameghino of
Argentina, and Prof. Sergi, an Italian
anthropologist, believe that the Indian
is descended from the South American
monkey.
Where the alphabet came from

No one really knows all about
where the alphabet came from, because
it grew very slowly, like children and
like every other good thing in the
world. But we know quite well that
no ingenious man sat down and made
the alphabet, and we know quite well,
too, that the alphabet began as
pictures.

Just as a child reads or takes things
in by pictures long before it can read

letters, so men used to read and write
by pictures; and then these pictures
were gradually made simpler and
simpler, until at last they could be used
in every and any way, as our letters
can. We know for certain that the
letter O was at first the picture of an
eye, and that gradually men made the
picture simpler and simpler, until at
last they just drew an O. We know
for certain also that the letter I was
once the picture of a man standing,
and many people think that the letter
A was once the picture of a house; and
very likely a capital A may have been
at first the picture of a pyramid.

Ages and ages ago in Egypt men
used both kinds of writing. The
priests used the oldest kind, which
were the pictures. This was called the
sacred writing. But the ordinary
people used a different and newer kind
of writing, in which the pictures were
turned into letters. Not very many
years ago, men tried in vain to read
the old sacred picture writing of the
Egyptians, but they could not. Then
they found the wonderful Rosetta
stone, and this had wTitten upon it the
same thing three times — once. in the
pictures and once in the letters, and
also once in other letters, and so men
got the key to the picture-writing, and
now it can be read easily.

How MANY WORDS MOST OF US USE

We need not tremble at the number
of words it is possible to use. Our
greatest writers find quite a small
number sufficient for their purpose.
Shakespeare, with all his varied writ-
ings, used only about 15,000 different
words. Milton needed only 8000 dif-
ferent words for "Paradise Lost,"
while the Old Testament contains
fewer than 6000 different words.
Some people use only about 800
different words, and most of us use
no more than one or two thousand.

The beauty of writing and speech

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

lies not in the number of words used,
but in the choice and placing of them.
Simple language is the most beautiful.
The finest English writing is in the
Bible, in "Robinson Crusoe," and in
"The Pilgrim's Progress," and in
each of these books the language is
so simple that a child may under-
stand, while great scholars find equal
delight in it.
Why we have names

Well, we have names for the same
reason that everything has a name. If
we did not have names, we should have
to have numbers, like the numbers on
motor-cars, which serve just the same
purpose. Now, there are names which
have meanings, and there are names
which have none, and it is always well
to know how much and how little a
name means. There is something
which we call electricity, which means
really that it has something to do with
amber, for when you rub amber you
get electricity, but people sometimes
speak as if the name explained elec-
tricity, or as if it explained something
else to say that it was electricity. That
is because they do not know how little
the name means. We might just as
well call electricity X — which is the
name in what is called algebra for an
unknown quantity.

One thing you ought to know, how-
ever, is the meaning of your own name.
If your name is Theodore, for instance,
you ought to know that that means
the gift of God. Many of our names
have meanings, which you can some-
times find in the Bible.
What the cinematograph is

Cinematograph simply means "mov-
ing picture." You take a camera, and
run through a number of films one
after the other, perhaps at the rate of
forty or fifty in a second. Perhaps
the camera is looking at the sea, or at
a game of football. Then, if you take
a magic-lantern, and run the film

through it at the same rate as you ran
it through the camera in the first
place, you can throw a moving
picture upon a screen. The eye
remembers each separate picture after
it has gone just long enough to blend
it in your brain — where your real eyes
are, at the back of your head — with
the next picture that comes along;
and so you see the waves or the pro-
cession as if you were looking at the
real thing.

WHAT THE CINEMATOGRAPH TEACHES

We can learn from our senses even
when they deceive us. If the eye did
not deceive us so as to make us think
we see things for a tiny part of a second
after they are gone, the cinemato-
graph would merely perplex and tire
us, and would not give us the effect of
reality at all. Now, too often the
cinematograph was used for silly pur-
poses. But some wise people are
teaching us by it. For instance,
students can learn how a great surgeon
performs an operation a thousand
miles away by seeing a living picture
of him at work. And men have taken
living pictures of wild birds flying
home to their nests over the water, the
parent birds feeding their young ones,
the young ones learning to fly, and so
on. Other men have taken ])ictures of
terrible things which we ought to
know about, so that we can stop them.
Yet other men have made living
pictures of the blood running through
the little tubes in the web of a frog's
foot, so that thousands of people at
once can see with their own eyes
what the circulation of the blood is,
and how the little blood cells tumble
over each other as they scurry through
these tubes, carrying oxygen from the
frog's lungs to every part of its body —
just as our blood does for us. Before
very long the cinematograph will be
used all over the world for teaching,
as the blackboard is today!

THE EVERYDAY WONDER BOOK

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTION BOX

f^^hy does a ball bounce?

A ball bounces because its elasticity makes it
tend always to spring back into shape whenever
flattened. When it strikes some hard object
the ball is partly flattened by the impact. It
resumes its former shape with such speed as to
cause a recoil or bounce. The harder the ball
strikes the more it is flattened and the more
violent the rebound.

Why does wood icarp in damp iveafher?

When wood is alive it instinctively expands
in wet weather, to admit the moisture on which
it thrives. Wood that has been cut retains
that tendency. It absorbs moisture only across
the grain. This causes the expansion known as
'warping."

Why are shoes hotter when they are dusty?

Dull or dusty shoes absorb the heat. Brightly
polished shoes throw off the sun's rays by
reflection.

Why is toast more digestible than bread?

The charcoal on the toast's surface helps to
absorb the stomach's acid.

Why does wood decay?

The presence of myriads of parasitic microbes
causes wood to decay. The soaking of wood in
creosote prevents the microbes from carrying
on their work of destruction.

Why are there tivo buttons on the back of an
evening coat?

This fashion dates back to the days when
every well-dressed man wore a sword. The
two buttons on the back of the coat held the
sword belt in position.

What is pumice stone?

Pumice stone is volcanic. It is formed deep
in the earth and thrown out upon the surface
from volcanic craters.

What was the origin of the tvord "Lidlaby?"

Lilith, according to the legend, was Adam's
first wife and was a demon. Mothers, soothing
their children, would croon the words "Lilith
abi" (meaning, "may Lilith keep away from
you!") The phrase became corrupted to
"Lullaby."

Why does dampness make wood decay?

The oxygen of the water combines with the
woods carbon and forms carbonic acid. The
hydrogen of the wood is oxidized and decay
sets in

Why does a silver dish tarnish more readily
than silver bullion?

An alloy is used to make such vessels harder
and more lasting. This alloy oxidizes moie
quickly than the pure silver.

Why are glue and paste adhesive?

The water used with them evaporates
rapidly. They insinuate themselves so closely
into the pores of the substance to which they
are attached that when the water dries the
whole mass becomes solid.

Why does the exploding of a cartridge cause a
report?

The sudden release and expansion of im-
prisoned air causes a partial vacuum. The

report is caused by the inrush of fresh air to
fill this vacuum.

Why does dry wood burn more easily than green?

The dry wood's pores are filled with air,
which helps combustion. The green wood's
pores are filled with moisture, which tends to
put out the fire.

Why is a crowded hall likely to be struck in a
thunder storm?

The vapor and heat rising from so many
bodies make the hall a good conductor of
lightning.

Why wont a polished tin pan bake bread as
readily as an iron one?

The bright metal reflects the heat and will
not readily brown the crust on the sides and
bottom of the pan. Thus the top of the loaf
tends to burn before the sides are brown.

What is the origin of pin money?

Pins were once very expensive. Women
bought them as a luxury with their extra money.
Hence, money to buy luxuries became known
as "pin money."

Does a fan cool the air?

No. It makes the air slightly warmer by
imparting to it the heat from the face of the
person fanned.

What substances go to make jip common glass?

White sand silicate, soda ash, lime hydrate, a
little antimony, arsenic.

How did the phrase "a feather in his cap"
originate?

In Hungary an ancient custom forbade any
man to wear a feather in his cap until he had
slain at least one Turk. Hence the presence of
such a feather was a sign of prowess.

What is the effect of electricity upon water?

The water is reduced to its elements — two
parts of hydrogen to one of oxygen.

Why IS oak ivood stronger than pine?

Because the molecules of the oak have a
greater power of attraction for each other and
so would take a greater force to separate them.

Hoiv long must a pendidum be to vibrate sixty
times a minute?

The length of the pendulum that vibrates
just sixty times a minute is 39.1 inches in New
York; this varies at different points on the
earth's surface.

How is stoneware glazed?

By throwing common salt into the furnace.
This is volatilized by the vapor of water, which
is always present, and the silica of clay of which
the air is composed. This fuses over the
surface of the ware and gives a thin but excellent
glaze.

What becomes of the abundance of carbonic acid
gas from the cities?

Some of it is absorbed by vegetables, the rest
is blown a.vay by the wind and diffused through
the whole volume of the air.

Why does saleratus make cake light, particularly
if mixed imth sour milk?

The acid of the milk disengages the carbonic
acid contained in the saleratus.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Why does mortar become hard after afeiv days?

The lime reimbibes from the air the carbonic

acid which has been expelled by fire, and the

loose powder again becomes as hard as the

original limestone.

Why does an extinguisher pnt a candle out?
The air in an extinguisher is soon exhausted
of its oxygen by the flame, and when there is
no oxygen the flame goes out.

What are meant by latitude and longitude?
Latitude is the distance north and south of
the equator. Longitude is the distance east or
west of the line of Greenwich near London.
What is the weight of a cubic foot of gold?
About 1200 pounds.
How long ago was shorthand used?
Shorthand probably originated in Greece or
in the Orient. It is known to have been in
common use in Rome as early as 63 B. C. and
was employed by Tiro, Cicero's secretary, to
report his master's speeches in the Roman
senate.

Why are the edges of gold and silver coins
"viUledr

Silv'er and gold coins used to be "pared," or
scraped at the edges by unscrupulous people,
who collected and sold the fragments of precious
metal thus obtained. To prevent this the edges
were "milled." Copper and nickel are not of
sufficient value to make "paring" worth while.
So copper and nickel coins are not milled.
Why is ice slippery?

Ice is slippery because the molecules of water
are held together so smoothly and evenly that
no resistance or friction is offered.

What were the seven wonders of the world?
The pyramids of Egypt, the hanging gardens
of Babylon, the temple of Diana at Ephesus, the
statue of Olympian Jupiter at Athens, the
Mausoleum, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos
(lighthouse) at Alexandria.

Why are three gilt balls used for pawnbrokers'
signs?

The Medici family of Florence were money
lenders. Their coat of arms bore three gilt
balls.

What is the derivation of the zcord "spinster?"

In olden days a woman did not marry until

she had spun a full set of household linen.

Thus, till they were married, they were known

as spinners or spinsters.

Where did the United States get the decimal
system of coinage?

Gouverneur Morris in 1782 reported to con-
gress a decimal system of currency, using as a
basis the 1140th part of a Spanish dollar, which,
he calculated, was a common divisor of the
various currencies. With this fractional sum
as a unit he laid out a monetary system. Jeffer-
son in 1784 improved on this by suggesting four
standard coins — $10, $1, 1 dime and 1 cent.

When and from what country tvas the wearing of
orange blossoms by brides introduced into Europe?
From Syria, at the time of the Crusades.
How did the custom of throwing shoes after a
departing bride originate?

The dropping of a shoe on a piece of property

was once a symbol of new ownership. By
throwing shoes after a bride her parents signified
that they gave up all claim to her.

What is the origin of the word "hurrah?"

It comes from the Slavonic phrase "hu-ray,"
meaning "To Paradise!" This was a battle cry
among the Slavs.

Why are members of tropical races dark-eyed?

The dark color defends the eyes from the
intense heat of the sun, which would otherwise
scorch them.

Why does paint keep iron from rusting?

Paint prevents the moist air from coming in
contact with the iron.

Why is it hard to ivrite with ink on greasy paper?

Grease will not readily mix with water or ink
and prevents the ink from being properly
absorjjed by the paper.

What is the origin of the ring in the marriage
ceremony?

Its use began in Egypt, and then, as now,
signified a transfer of property — "With all my
worldly goods I thee endow."

What good effect has rain falling on dead leaves?

It hastens the decay of the leaves, thus helping
to fertilize the earth.

How is the red fire in fireworks produced?

By nitrate of strontian, which burns with a
red flame.

What are the uses of cast iron and steel?

Cast iron, being brittle, is used chiefly for
stoves, furnaces, etc. Steel's superior hardness
and flexibility renders it useful for making
springs, tools, etc.

Why does mother-of-pearl shoio so many colors?

It consists of many transparent layers over-
lapping one another and thus forming grooves
that run in all directions. The grooves act as
prisms, in which various colors are seen.

Why are dreams usually illogical and absurd?

The cerebrum (the reasoning part of the
brain) is at rest during sleep.

What is German silver?

It is an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel.

What are three forms of iron?

Wrought iron, cast iron and steel.

What are the most important uses for common
salt?

As a part of the diet and for freezing mixtures
and for purposes of manufacture.

What are the different kinds of coal?

Anthracite (hard) and bituminous (soft).
Forms of coal in transition state are lignite and
peat.

HoiD are mirrors made?

They are of plate glass, backed by an alloy
of thirty parts mercury and seventy parts tin.

What is plaster of paris?

Gypsum is heated and afterward powdered.
This produces plaster of paris.

Why is rain water better than any other for
plants?

It contains carbonic acid and ammonia, which
serve as fertilizers.

What is shale?

Shale is a form of slate that splits easily into
thin, brittle layers.

THE INVISIBLE ARMIES THAT MASTER THE EARTH

These pictures show us what is going on in our bodies almost every moment we live. Our bodies are inhabited by
millions of living creatures, always fighting to make us ill or keep us well. In the first circle we see the
little white things, called phagocytes, that live in our blood and keep it pure ; in the second we see them
devouring microbes which do us harm. The third circle shows the growth of a microbe. The small rings
are the seeds, which grow together like a little stick and split up. The long, thin things that are growing
out of them are the things they move with, what we should call legs and arms. The last picture shows
what a colony of microbes looks like, and we see separate microbes going out to form other colonies.

This is a row of our microbe enemies, shown 1,000 times bigger than they really are. The first are the microbes
that cause cholera, the second cause consumption, the third cause typhoid fever, and the last cause lockjaw.
These powerful creatures are so small that 140,000 could be placed side by side on a line as long as a pin.

This is a row of our microbe friends, shown 1,000 times bigger than they really are. The small microbes at
the top in the first circle make milk sour ; those below help to make butter and cream. In the second circle
are the microbes found in yeast, which make alcohol ; in the third is the microbe that makes vinegar ; and
in the last circle is a microbe that helps to make cheese. We could not live without such microbes as these.

€3

At the end
of an hour

A microbe About five After 15 It grows Both begin Both form The two
begmning minutes later minutes into two to develop "waists" become four.

Microbes cannot be seen without a magnifying glass, but we can watch them working with a microscope.

THE WONDERFUL WAY IN WHICH MICROBES ARE BORN WHILE WE LOOK. AT THEM

These pictvires show the way microbes grow. Some form a "waist" and add other microbes to themselves like
a string of beads. Others form buds, which break off and become separate microbes. Others join together in
long rods and break off afterwards. And so these little creatures grow, more quickly than any man can count.
In 24 hours, tf they all lived, the children of one microbe would form a line reaching from end to end of Englandi
and if the microbes were as big as shown here this line would be long enough to go 20 times round the earth.

THE ENEMIES THAT STEAL HEALTH

This shows what happens In a drop of blood when we are 111. The little black •"burglars," Invisible to the eye, are
phold Jever parasites, and the white cells of the blood are attacking them. If the white cells win the battle, we recover
they lose, we die. We see this under the microscope.

Book of Our Own Life

Our Body a Human House Smell and Taste

Story of the Eye The Forest of Nerves Within

Parts of the Eye Us

Seeing Colors Mystery of the Brain

The Marvel of Hearing Parts of the Brain

Balancing the Body How to Remember

Talking and Singing How We Think

THE VENTILATION OF THE HUMAN HOUSE

In this picture \vc see how the human house is ventilated. The air goes down the voiee-box and windpipe and into the
lungs, or bellows, whicli are very much \ike sponges, with thousands of tiny hollow spaces lined with living cells. These
cells lie between the air and the blood in the hollow spaces, and they purify the blood by taking the oxygen from the pure
air and sending it into the blood, and by driving the carbonic acid gas and water from the blood into the air, to be breatlaed
out again. The impure blood is always being pumped through the lungs to be purifled in this way. In the picture the
blood-vessels of the lungs are shown dark, and the air-passage-s light.

THE BODY

HUMAN HOUSE

THIS human house of ours is
the home of the soul. It is
the wonderful and mysterious
home which God provides for each of
us and of which we should learn to
take the best of care.

Just as with houses built of timbers
or of stone, so this house of ours is
made up of many rooms. Each room
renders its special service and demands
of us in turn, a special care. When
we are hungry, the stomach room, or
Great Furnace of our house is in need
of wholesome food. This food after
undergoing a wonderful change is
absorbed by the blood, and then
through a net-work of arteries and
veins is carried to the skin, the
nerves, the muscles, and the bones,
and thus nourishes and builds up
our body.
Need of fresh air in the house

But food alone cannot make this
house of ours a healthy place in which
to Hve. The lungs, the Ventilators of
the house, must be filled and refilled
many times each minute with pure,
freSh air. The air breathed deep into
the tiny cells of our lungs, meets and
purifies the impure blood which has
been sent there by the heart, the Great
Pump of our house. This Great Pump
of our house is kept busy every minute
of our lives: First, it must gather the
poisoned and waste-laden blood from
every part of the body and send it to
the lungs; then with tremendous
force the pure blood is pumped through
the arteries and the veins on its long
journey to every part of our body.
Sometimes, Enemies, or invisible living
things called Microbes, creep into our
house and try to steal away our
health, but wholesome food, fresh
air and an abundance of sunshine and
exercise will drive these Enemies
away.

The busy sentinels in the first

STORY

The top story of our house is sup-
plied with busy sentinels, the eyes,
the ears and the nose, which are
always on guard to protect our house
against its Enemies. For example,
if we breath through the nose, the air
is tested and filtered of impure parti-
cles; what we carry to our mouths is
closely examined and tested by our
tongue before it is admitted to the
stomach; and the knowledge thus
gained from touching and tasting and
smelling helps train the outer sentries,
the ears and the eyes to be on guard,
and to warn of approaching danger.
Our telephone exchange, the master

OF our house

We may correctly call the Brain our
Telephone Exchange. It is connected
with every room and every part of
our body by a network of nerve fibers
— Telephone W^ires. These nerve fib-
ers are usually gathered into insulated
cables called nerve trunks, and over
these nerve trunks travel the lightning
messages to and from the brain, the
master of our house. In this same
manner the sound vibration travels
over the Telephone wires that extend
everywhere throughout a city and
unite at the central exchange.

A wonderful story most wonder-
fully TOLD

How important it is to know how to
keep in perfect order the many rooms
of this marvelously constructed house
of ours ; what guests to invite there and
against whom every door should be
closed. All success and happiness of life,
even the house itself, may be wrecked
by a single act of ignorance or neglect.
The Book of Our Own Life tells the
story of the things we should know
about ourselves — how we should live
in the house not built with hands.

BLOOD CIRCULATION IN THE HUMAN HOUSE

This picture shows the wonderful pump, called the heart, in tlie middle ot the human house, and we can see here also
how the ovens and corridors are linked up with the top story. The heart pumps blood through the body, and if we start
at the right ventricle, and follow the arrows, we can trace the course of a drop of blood through the body back to the heart.

BRAIN SIGNALS OP THE HITMAN HOUSE

TOMATIC
UEPHONE
RELAY AND
EXCHANGE

The study at the top of the wonderful house which builds itself, and from this room run the telephones and te leeraoha
by whlcli we coDtrol all our affairs.

The first picture shows the eye of a fly, the sectjiitl that ot a fish, and the third that of a man, and we can see, by
comparing these, how much nearer the fish's eye is to a man's than is that of an insect.

STORY OF THE EYE

THE sense which we are now
going to study is vision, or
seeing, and the organ of this
great sense, as everyone knows, is the
eye. In many ways, this is the most
wonderful and important of the senses.
It is so for the purposes of prac-
tical living. It is more necessary
to see than to hear, or taste, or
smell. A blind man is at a greater
disadvantage than a deaf man. The
progress and ascent of living creatures
on the earth have very largely de-
pended upon vision, and we have al-
ready learned that the vision part of
the brain is largest in the highest
forms of life. It is much larger in
ourselves than in any other creature.

Vision is also of the highest impor-
tance for our ideas of the world in
which we live, just as it is for our
practical doings in that world. If we
could not see we should know very
much less of our own earth, and we
should know the sun only by the
radiant heat that it sends us; and all
the other heavenly bodies would be
unknown to us — from our own little
moon to the millions of stars. It is
upon our eyes, then, that our knowl-
edge of the great world beyond our
own earth depends, and on this claim
alone our eyes are entitled to special
respect. Unlike any of our other

senses, they put us directly in touch
with the infinite and the sublime.

One of the greatest men who ever
lived, said that there were two things
which filled him with awe — the feeling
of duty inside the minds of men and
the starry heavens above us. Let us
begin, then, by studying how, in the
course of long ages, living creatures
have been able to develop the eyes by
which the starry heavens are seen.

This question of the history of the
eye is deeply interesting. A short
time ago we should have begun at once
witii the history of the eye in the ani-
mal world. It would not have oc-
curred to anyone that there was any-
thing to say about eyes or seeing in the
world of plants, but it has just been
discovered that seeing, of a kind, at
any rate, is not confined to the animal
world. There are older eyes than any
backboned animal, at any rate, can
boast of, and we find them among
plants. If we are really to understand
our own eyes, therefore, we must
begin at the beginning, with something
much older and simpler than our eyes
or any part of us.

The eyes of plants are very simple.
The business of a green plant, and
especially of the leaf of such a plant,
is to receive and use the light that
falls upon it. It is therefore in the

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 95

leaves of plants that we find their straight at a thing, and the picture of

eyes. Simple experiments — which that thing falls, as we shall soon learn,

have now been made many times upon exactly the right place at the

over, with many kinds of plants — back of our eyes — the place where we

show, to begin with, that somehow or see best. But — when the leaf is not

other the leaf gets to know about the facing the light — not looking straight

light. at it, as we might say — the little bright

For instance, if the direction of the circle that should fall upon the middle

light is altered, in a very short time of the floor of the cells is thrown some-

the leaf turns itself, so as to get the where to one side of the floor, or may

light fair and square upon its surface; even be thrown not upon the floor of

and some leaves will do this as often the cell at all, but upon one of its

as the direction of the light is changed, walls; and the life of the cell knows

We may, perhaps, get rather wrong the difference.

ideas if we say that the leaf sees the Of course, these discoveries have

light, yet that must be what happens; excited the greatest interest, and at

only it is a very simple kind of seeing, first many doubts were expressed, but

The little eyes by which a leaf these have all been cleared away. In

CAN SEE the first place, it was necessary to

After it had been completely proved prove that the curving of the surface

that somehow or other the leaves can of the cells really made them act like

see, the next thing, of course, was to little lenses.

find whether the leaf saw as a whole, In two ways this can be proved;

or whether it had any special places either the surface of the leaf can be

where it saw — places which must be shaved down, so that it becomes flat,

called eyes of a kind. When the or else a little water can be laid on the

surfaces of leaves were carefully ex- leaf and then covered with a thin

amined, it was often found that there sheet of glass, in such a way that the

were places where there was developed water fills up the hollows between the

a kind of simple eye. That is to say, cells, and so makes the leaf flat,

certain of the cells forming the surface whereas before it was covered with

of the leaf were made of a special hundreds of little bulging eyes,

shape; it was found that the outside When these experiments were made,

of these cells is curved, just as the it was found that the plant no longer

front of our eyes is curved. responded to the light; the leaf no

The consequence is that light falling longer turned so as to face the light

upon these cells is focused, as we say, directly — in a word, it no longer knew

and thrown upon the floor of the cell, where the light came from. Its sight

just as a curved piece of glass will focus had been spoiled just as our sight

the sun's rays and throw a bright spot would be spoiled if something of the

on a piece of paper. If the leaf is at kind were done to our eyes,

right angles to the light, then the Photographs That Can Be Taken

bright spot made in this way will fall With The Eyes Of A Leaf

right en the middle of the floor of the And then, still more lately, the

cell. power of these little eyes was proved

What Happens When A Leaf Does in another way. If these cells with

Not Look Straight At The Light their curved fronts really act as lenses.

This corresponds to what happens then, with care and skill, it ought to be

in our eyes when we are looking possible to make them take photo-

96 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

graphs — that is to say, it ought to be This is usually called pigment, which

possible to use these little cells as the is simply the Latin for paint — in fact,

lenses of a hundred tiny little cameras, another form of the word paint. These

This has been done, and the most pigment - cells are sensitive to light,

excellent photographs have been taken When light shines on them, all the

— photographs so good that the per- pigment is gathered tightly up into

son photographed can quite easily be the body of the cell; but when the

recognized when the photograph is light is taken away, and they are in

magnified and thrown on a screen. shadow, the pigment strays out in

This subject is quite new, and we are all directions from the center of the

only at the beginning of our knowledge cell, and so is scattered,

of it. A beginning has been made. This explains why the color of the

however, with a new chapter in our animal changes, and it also tells us

knowledge of plants and their wonder- why and how the animal is able to

ful lives. Here, it is sufficient just know what the state of the light is,

for us to know that plants, which live and to act as it pleases accordingly,

by the light of the sun, and upon whose In the study of the history of the eye,

life our own lives depend, have little great stress has always been laid upon

eyes of their own, which they use for these pigment-cells; but now that we

their lives, and therefore, in the long have discovered such wonderful eyes

run, for ours. It is because all animal in leaves, fitted with lenses so perfect

life depends upon plants that we should that they will take photographs, the

know these things. And now we can pigment-cell, which we look upon as

go on and study the history of the the beginning of the animal eye, seems

eye in the animal world. to be a very poor affair compared with

In the very lowest forms of animal a plant eye.

life we find that there is response to the little cells in the skin upon

light, for we find that some of the which light acts

simplest kinds of animals will always We do not know exactly how it is

travel from shadow into the light, and that light affects the pigment-cells,

others will always travel from light but we may be sure that the action is

into shadow. These are creatures really a chemical one. Everyone who

whose bodies are so simple that we is interested at all in photography

should not look for any special organ knows that light has a chemical action

of vision. — as, for instance, on the salts spread

How the first trace of an eye is on a photographic plate. Every

FOUND in the skin houscwifc whose curtains fade, or

Probably the first trace we have of who puts clothes out to be bleached,

such an organ — that is to say, the first knows also that light has a chemical

trace of an eye — is where we find that, action. Its action on the pigment-

in certain lowly animals, parts of the cells is chemical also; and when we

skin are very sensitive to light. We come to study what happens in our

find in such cases that the color of the own eyes when the light strikes the

animal changes according to whether curtain at the back of them, we shall

it is in light or in darkness or in find that what happens there is very

shadow, and when its skin is examined like the action of light when it takes

under the microscope, we find that it the color out of a curtain or a gown,

contains a large number of cells packed What happens next in the history

with colored material. of the eye is that the pigment-cells,

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

which were at first scattered about the
surface of the body, get to be specially
collected in certain places. These
cells are not quite on the surface of
the skin, but are underneath the outer
skin, and the next stage is that, at the
place where the pigment-cells are
gathered together, the outer skin, or
epidermis, becomes thickened, and
bulges a little. Now, this is very
important, because if we have a
bulging or a curved surface, through
which the light must pass on its way
to the pigment-cells, we have indeed
a lens of the shape called convex, and,
as we know in the case of the burning-
glass or the lenses of leaves, the result
is that the light is focused.

The simplest kind of eye, and the
wonderful eye of a fly

Now, we have already learned
enough to be sure that these pigment-
cells, like every other part of the body,
are comiected by nerves with the
brain. So now we have reached the
stage where there is a lens to focus
the Hght, sensitive cells to be chemi-
cally affected when the light falls upon
them, and nerves that somehow con-
vey a record of these changes to the
brain, which therefore sees. Here,
then, is a simple kind of eye, complete
from the surface to the center.

All the eyes of animals that have
no backbone are to be looked upon as
simply improved patterns of this
kind. The eye in such creatures is
always developed from the skin in
the case of each individual, just as we
have learned that, in the history of
these animal forms, the eye has gradu-
ally become developed from the skin.
We shall soon see that the eyes of
backboned animals are of a much
higher type; but we must not under-
rate all the eyes below backboned
animals, because it is very certain
that the eyes of some insects are
exceedingly keen. It is generally

agreed that the dragon-fly is the most
wonderful insect of all in this respect.
Its eyes are extremely large and
powerful.

As in many other cases, the lens of
the eye, instead of being just curved
in one single simple bulge, is like a
large diamond that has had its face
cut into a number of little flat sur-
faces. These little faces of the lens
are usually called facets. The num-
ber of facets upon the lens of the eye
of the dragon-fly is very large.

How THE DRAGON-FLY AMUSES ITSELF
BY AMUSING MEN

Few things are more wonderful than
the certainty and skill with which the
dragon-fly will recognize, follow, and
catch the smallest insect on the wing.
One of the greatest living students of
this subject. Professor Forel, one of
the many wise men who have made
Switzerland famous, writes as fol-
lows: "By trying to catch them at the
edge of a large pond, one can easily
convince oneself that dragon-flies amuse
themselves by making sport of the
hunter; they will always allow one to
approach just near enough to miss
catching them.

"It can be seen to what degree they
are able to measure the distance and
reach of their enemy. It is an ab-
solute fact that dragon-flies — unless it
is cold or in the evening — always
manage to fly at just that distance at
which the student cannot touch them;
and they see perfectly well whether
one is armed with a net or has nothing
but his hands. One might even say
that they measure the length of the
handle of the net, for the possession of
a long handle is no advantage. They
fly just out of reach of one's instru-
ment, whatever trouble one may give
oneself by hiding it from them and
suddenly lunging as they fly off."

We must not suppose that all in-
sects have good eyes; there are all

98 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

stages between the dragon-fly, at one or other insect: "Come here; I have

extreme, and insects which are com- something that you will like." So

pletely blind, as, for instance, the the bee gets its honey and the flower

cave-dwelling insects and certain kinds gets fertilized. Thus we owe the

of worker-ants which live entirely pleasure our eyes get from most of the

underground. beautiful flowers we know to the fact

The house-fly that has learned to that the eyes of bees and other insects

KEEP AWAY FROM THE GAS-FLAME are able to sec them and to distinguish

The rule for most insects is that them. If there were no insects there

they fly towards the light. Artificial would be no beautiful flowers; there

lights, such as we use, do not occur would be nothing for the plant to

in Nature, and an insect flying towards hang out its flag for.

a lamp really supposes that it is flying It was also proved by Lord Avebury,

towards the light of day. It is most that ants, for instance, can see kinds

unfortunate, from our point of view, of light to which our eyes are blind —

that a good many domestic insects that is to say, the light which lies

have learned in the course of many beyond the violet, and which is known

years to know what artificial light is. as ultra-violet light.

We cannot now enter into the very Here we may notice, what has re-

difiicult question how it is that this cently been shown, that people's eyes

change has been brought about in vary in this respect. Just as old

their natural habits; but, at any rate, people do not hear high-pitched

it is the case that such an insect as sounds, which younger people can

the ordinary fly does not destroy itself hear, so we find that there are a good

by flying against a flame. many young people who, somewhat

The habits of flies are extremely like ants, can see a little way, so to

dirty; their feet are always laden with speak, into the ultra-violet, where,

filth. They are thus great carriers of to the rest of us, it is quite dark,

disease, and destroy many babies every Finally, Lord Avebury has shown

year by poisoning their food. That is that ants are able to recognize each

why it is very unfortunate that flies other after more than a year of separa-

have learned how to behave to arti- tion. Let us beware of judging the

ficial light in what, for their ancestors, value and power of things by their

would have been an unnatural way. size, and let us learn from this brief

Many years ago Lord Avebury account of one of the senses of insects

showed that bees and wasps were able that we still have reason to go to the

to distinguish colors; but wasps are ant to "consider her ways and be

very inferior to bees in this respect, wise."

Bees distinguish all colors, and very Now we must pass to the eyes of

rarely make any mistake except be- backboned animals. The lowest kinds

tween blue and green. The impor- of backboned animals are the fishes,

tance of this is very great, because it and we have all seen the eyes of fishes,

largely helps to explain how it is that Wonderful and skilful as the eyes of

bees are able to distinguish one flower insects may be, the eyes of backboned

from another. animals are of a vastly finer and more

Insects that can see what our eyes wonderful type. In the first place,

CANNOT see this secms to depend upon a change in

As a rule, the color of a flower is the making of the eye. We have seen

a kind of flag held out to say to a bee that the eyes of all the animals that

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

have not backbones are entirely formed
from the skin; but the higher type of
eye found in backboned animals has
its most important parts developed
from the brain, and not from the skin
at all.

True, the front part of such eyes
as our own is formed from the skin,
but that is only true of the parts
through which the light travels on
its way to the all-important curtain
which makes the back of the eye.
That curtain is really a part of the
brain which has been pushed out, as
it were, from the brain upon a kind of
stalk or stem.

The real reason why the curtain, or
retina, of the eye of backboned animals
has its great powers — vastly superior
to those of any lower type of eye — is
that this retina is, indeed, a part of the
brain itself. Vision is so important
that the business of receiving light-
rays could not be left to anything
developed from the skin; so a portion
of the brain itself extends forward to
form a portion of the eye and especially
the retina.

In main principles, the eye of back-
boned animals is much the same, no
matter which particular animal we
take. The eye of the fish is certainly
very much inferior to that of a bird or
a mammal, as we should expect, if we
consider that the fish has to see only
in water, where it would be impossible
for any kind of eye to see more than
very short distances ; but even the eye
of the fish is, in all the main points,
the same as our own, though much
simpler.

We need not discuss specially the
eyes of birds, though everyone knows
that they have some powers superior
to those of the eyes of any other
creature. These powers are in the
direction of keenness, so that we say
of anyone w4io is very sharp to see
things that he has the eyes of a hawk.

This keenness is at its best in the case
of the hawk and other birds of prey,
but other birds also have very keen
eyes. They could not catch flying
insects if they had not. In praising
the eye and the keenness of vision in
birds, and in studying their eyes, we
must not make the mistake, which is
commonly made by almost everyone
who has studied this subject and
written upon it, of supposing that
mere keenness of vision is everything.

It is easy to see what a mistake
that is, if we consider the case of a
sailor, for instance, who has very keen
eyes indeed, and can see far into a
fog, but who would perhaps never
cast a second glance upon the most
noble picture that was ever painted,
or upon the most lovely landscape.
On the other hand, a great artist may
be old and very nearly blind, and
though his vision is very dim, yet he
can see in a sunset or in a picture
things which mere keenness of vision,
whether in a man or a hawk, could
never see at all. This is worth
remembering, for it is just as true of
all the other senses as it is of vision.

Keenness is not the highest quality
of a sense, and the best proof of the
rightness of our view is to be found in
the fact that, when we test the matter
by the brain, we find that the vision
area is largest and most highly de-
veloped, not in the insect or the bird,
or in the men with the keenest eyes,
but in the brains of the highest type
of men, who have learned to see and
love what is beautiful and poetic.

The eyelid that washes the eyeball
and keeps it moist

And now we are prepared to look
at our ow^n eyes and see how they are
made. It is proper to mention the
eyelids, because they exist for the
sake of the eyes, and the eye cannot
get on without them. We are very
wrong if we suppose that the eyelids

100

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

merely exist in order to cut off the
light when we do not wish to see.
They have that purpose, but if we
had to do without them, and replace
them by an artificial shade, we should
soon find that that is not the whole of
their use, but that they have another
use that is of the greatest service to
the eyes.

Every time that we wink — which
we do every few seconds without
thinking about it — the upper eyelid
washes the front of the eyeball by
means of a tear which has come from
the tear-gland, and has been spread
over the inside of the upper eyelid.

7hf Pupil through ^fiicfi
the L'ght /jaan

(Jpprr Eyr/id.

Thf fris which 'cyufat*^
, ifit a/ni'unl of Light
that nyttrs

.Tf)f Oland

\\Mhrrt the

7>orJ art

ade

The Canal Ihraogh
which ihe Tears
pri.i.i to ihr h/ose

Lor^rCyehd

The left eye, showing the glands where the tears are
made and the ducts through which they are carried to the
nose after washing the eyeball. In weeping, the tears can-
not all pass through the ducts, and so they overflow.

The tear-gland lies above the eye-
ball, a little to its outer side. The
tear, after washing and moistening
the front of the eyeball, passes through
a tiny hole at the inner end of the
lower eyelid into the nose.

Why we cry when we are in sorrow
or distress

The reason why we cry when we
are distressed seems at first to be that
the part of the brain connected with
the tear-glands lies very close to the
part of the brain which is disturbed
when we are made unhappy.

The real reason, we may believe,

why we show signs of distress in our
eyes rather than anywhere else is that
we human beings live by one another's
help and sympathy and love. We are
meant to see when others are unhappy,
so that we may know, beyond any
doubt, when they are needing our
sympathy and help.

If a child's mouth merely watered
when it was unhappy, we should not
know, and therefore would not help
it; but when we see its eyes water our
sympathy is aroused, and we help it.
We cry, not because the brain happens
to be so made, but the brain has been
so made because crying is the most
useful and convenient way in which
our distress can be shown to others.

How THE FACE AND THE EYE EXPRESS
OUR FEELINGS

As the higher parts of the brain
develop we learn self-control, and cry
very much less readily than when we
are quite young; but it is still true
that our feelings find expression that
can be seen by other people, for the
face shows our feelings, and when we
make a general study of the way in
which our feelings are expressed by
the various parts of the face, we shall
see that crying fits in with these other
ways of expression as the watering of
the mouth would not, so that it is
more than a mere chance that sorrow
and sadness find expression in the
shedding of tears rather than in the
production of saliva or in some other
way.

The eyelids are provided with hairs
which help to protect the eyes from
dust. Besides the protection afforded
by the eyelashes, the eyebrows are to
be reckoned with, as they prevent
the sweat of the forehead from
running into the eye. Lastly, we
have to notice the well-contrived
bony structure of the skull around
the eye, which furnishes a very
wonderful protection.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

101

laahe

EytktW."''.

Y»WowJSp<*j

Rftl"'^

In the middle picture we see a section of a perfect eye, with the light focused correctly on the retina. The left-hand
picture shows an eye in which the cornea is too flat, and the light being focused beyond the retina causes indistinct vision.
The eye on the right hand has the cornea too convex.

PARTS OF THE EYE

WHEN we examine the eye, the
first thing we notice is that
the front of it is transparent.
This round, transparent part in front
is called the cornea, which really
means the horny thing. If we look
very carefully at it, we shall see that
it bulges forward somewhat. The
curve of it is not quite the same
as the general curve of the eyeball.
This shape of the cornea is very
important because of its effect on
the rays of light that enter it. It
acts just like the curved surface of
the eye-cell of a leaf.

The first and greatest business of
the cornea is to be perfectly transpar-
ent. It contains, therefore, no blood-
vessels, small or great; it would not do
to have red or white blood-cells in the
cornea interfering with the passage of
light. But the cornea is alive and
must be fed, and it is supplied by
materials that pass to it through the
walls of the tiny blood-vessels that
we find all around its edge. The
cornea is well supplied with nerves,
nearly all of which run to its front
surface, in order that it shall be very
sensitive.

This is necessary so that the least
speck of dust or anything else that
would injure it, shall be felt and wiped

away by the eyelids and the tears.
Only too often, however, a workman
gets what he calls a "fire" in his eye,
and then there is a great risk that,
when the cornea recovers from the
injury, the injured place will be
opaque for the rest of his days. Also,
when anything of this kind happens to
the cornea, blood-vessels grow into it
from the side. They must do so, for
they must supply food and other ma-
terials to the injured part, if it is to
recover; but these blood-vessels mean
that the passage of light is inter-
fered with.

Recently the first attempt that has
ever succeeded was made to remove a
piece of cornea that had become
opaque, and to graft there a piece of
healthy transparent cornea. It is
well for us to understand how impor-
tant and wonderful this part of the
eye is. All the light we see by must
pass through it; yet it is a living thing,
with all the needs and delicacy of a
living thing — very different from a
curved piece of glass. Lastly, it is
very much exposed, though, as we
know, the eyelid, eyelashes, eyebrow,
and the bony wall around the eye do
their best to protect it.

All round its edge the cornea passes
into the white, thick, strong coat of

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THE, BUM AN INTEREST LIBRkRY

This picture helps us to understand how the eyes grow out of the brain, the optic nerve projecting till it expands into
the hollow cup of the eyeball. The muscles that move the eyes are also shown.

the eyeball; indeed, the cornea is really
a special part of this strong outer coat
of the eyeball that has been made
transparent, and has been made to
bulge forward a little in order to help
in focusing the light. The white outer
coat of the eyeball is very strong, and
will stand a good deal of pressure. If
we feel one of our own eyes with the
finger, we shall find that it is quite
tight; and the existence of this pressure
in the eyeball, which is supported by
the outer coat, is of great importance
for good seeing.

Now, when we look at anyone's eye,
we see something through the trans-
parent cornea. We see a round,
colored ring with a black hole, small
or large, in the middle of it. The
colored part is called the iris, and it is
a ring of muscle with a hole in the
middle of it, which is the pupil. This
looks black because it is really the hole
leading into the dark chamber, or in-
side of the eye, which is like the inside
of a camera. Now, if we could be
shown an eye cut through sideways,
we should see that there is quite a
large space between the cornea and the
front of the iris. This space is filled
with a watery fluid, and the light has
to pass through this fluid before it
is able to reach the pupil.

The pupil of the eye that gets
bright in a dim light

The business of the iris is to regulate
the size of the pupil. The less the
amount of light, the larger must the
pupil be; and the more the light, the
smaller the pupil. So when a person
goes from darkness into light, or when
the eyes are opened in a bright light,
anyone may see that the pupil gets
smaller. We can also notice that the
pupil gets smaller if a person who has
been looking at something far away
suddenly looks at something close to
his eye. There is a special reason,
rather difficult to explain, why it im-
proves the clearness of vision to reduce
the size of the pupil when looking at
something near. The cause is to be
found in the shape of what lies behind
the pupil, as we shall soon see.

All the color of the eye is due to the
iris. The color is not to be found at
all in the muscle fibers that make the
iris; they are just like other muscle
fibers, and are the same in everybody.
But both on the back and front of the
iris there is a layer of cells, which may
or may not contain a certain amount
of pigment, or paint. It is this that
varies in different people. It is inter-
esting from the point of view of
beauty, because its variations in dif-

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

103

ferent people provide many different
types of beautiful eyes. But the color
of the iris has quite lately become
most interesting, because we are just
beginning to learn what are the rules
as to the way in which eye-color
descends from parent to child. This is
one of the subjects which is being
closely studied by scientific men all
over the world, and we are no doubt
going to learn a great deal from it.

The people with blue eyes and the
people with brown eyes

It seems that some eyes have brown
pigment in the cells on the front of the
iris, and others have not. This gives
us at once two great types of eyes —
those which have the brown pigment
on the front being more or less brown,
and those which have not being more
or less blue. There is far more to say
than this, of course, because, as every-
one knows, there are many different
blues and browns, and many eyes
which could not be called either. But
still we have already learned that a
father and mother with genuine blue
eyes never have brown-eyed children;
on the other hand, if one parent has
brown eyes and the other parent has
blue eyes, most of the children, at any
rate, will have brown eyes.

At present in this country it seems
quite plain that blue eyes are rapidly
becoming rarer and brown eyes com-
moner. One of the deeply interesting
questions is as to why this is so, and
what the consequences will be. Care-
ful study of the iris in thousands of
people in all parts of the country, and
especially the study of the eyes of
children as compared with their par-
ents, will teach us not only a great
deal about heredity, as it is called, but
will also help us to learn what is really
happening, and how far it is true that
the blue-eyed strain in our population
is dying out and the brown-eyed
people surviving.

The people with blue eyes who are
disappearing from the world

It is very likely that though the
blue-eyed seem less able to bear city
life, and the conditions of existence
nowadays, they may yet have many
valuable qualities, and their slow dis-
appearance threatens to be a great
loss to the world, and ought to be
thoroughly investigated, and some
means found to check it.

Now, if we pass through the door in
the iris, we find a beautiful transparent
thing called the lens of the eye. It is
a genuine lens, just like the lens of an
ordinary magnifying glass, and it is of
the same shape, convex on both sides.
It helps to bend the rays of light enter-
ing the eye, just as the cornea did, and
it is perfectly transparent. Unlike
any lens that any man ever made,
this lens, while able to do all that
artificial lenses do, can do far more;
for it is elastic, and can change its
shape as we please.

How THE LENS OF THE EYE IS KEPT INSIDE
A LITTLE BAG

The lens lies inside a little bag, and
that bag has little fibers attached to
it all round, which can be pulled upon
by tiny slips of muscle inside the eye.
When the bag is pulled upon in this
way all round, the lens inside it is
made flatter. When the muscles stop
acting and the pulling ceases, the lens
is free to bulge out again if it is per-
fectly elastic.

It is by this power of the lens that
we are enabled to see clearly both at
short distances and at long distances.
Now, as everyone knows, in the case
of an ordinary camera, it is equally
necessary to focus the light properly
if the picture to be taken is to be
sharply defined on the plate; or if we
are using a magic lantern, we know
that we must focus properly if the
picture is to be sharply thrown on the
screen. In these cases, and in all

lOJf

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

other cases where men use artificial
lenses — as, for instance, in the micro-
scope and the telescope — the same
method of focusing is employed, and
that is to alter the distance of the lens,
or lenses — for there may be several —
from the place where we want the
image to fall.

How OUR EYES FOCUS BY CHANGING
THE SHAPE OF THEIR LENSES

It is very interesting to discover
that in the fishes this method, which
men employ in all their instruments,
is employed in the eye: the lens has
its position shifted nearer to or farther
from the retina, or screen, at the back
of the eye. But in all the higher types
of eye, such as our own, this method
is not employed. There is no arrange-
ment for shifting the lens backwards
and forwards in order to suit the dis-
tance of the particular thing we are
looking at. Its distance from the
retina is fixed. The method of the
higher types of eye is not to alter its
position, but to change its shape
where it stands. That is why it has
to be most perfectly elastic, so that
after it has been flattened, by having
the bag in which it lies pulled upon,
it can spring back perfectly to its
rounder shape.

This means that the shape of the
eyeball, as a whole, is very important.
An eyeball may be long from back to
front, and then the lens is far from the
retina, or it may be short from back
to front, and then the lens is nearer the
retina. If the lens be of the same
shape in the two cases, one eye or both
must certainly not be quite suited to
its purpose. Thus, in consequence of
the varying shapes of eyeballs, the
variations in the curve of the cornea,
and the variations in the shape of the
lens itself, we find that there are a
very large number of people whose
eyes are not perfectly suited for all
kinds of use.

Near-sightedness has nothing to do

WITH the health OF THE EYE

Nothing is more important than
for us to understand, at the very first,
that this is not at all a question of the
health of the eye. An eye may be
healthy or ill, like any other part of
the body, but what we are now talking
about is simply a question of the mere
shape of the eye or certain parts of it.
The bending of rays of light is called
refraction, and so we usually speak of
"errors of refraction" to describe
those cases where an eye is near-
sighted or far-sighted, or has some
defect of that kind.

This has nothing to do with the
health of the eye or of any other
part of the body, except that, as we
shall see, if something is not done, the
rest of the body may be affected.
We are to look upon the eye for the
moment as a kind of optical instru-
ment or machine, and simply to
realize that the shape of this optical
instrument will affect the rays of
light that pass through it, just as in
the case of any other optical instru-
ment.

It is very commonly found that the
cornea is not quite regularly curved;
it bulges more or less in one direction,
say, from side to side, than it does in
another direction, say, from top to
bottom. This means that, if we are
looking at a cross, the one limb of it
cannot be seen sharply if the other is.
As a rule, this defect in the shape of
the cornea is so slight that it is not
worth bothering about; but often it is
worth while to wear glasses which are
more curved in one direction than in
another — more curved in the direction
in which the cornea is less curved, and
less curved where the cornea is more
curved — so that the little defect is
corrected. This particular error of
refraction is not nearly so important
as those we must now study.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

105

Near-sightedness is what happens
when the eyeball is rather too long
from back to front. This error of
refraction means that the light is
focused before it reaches the retina,
and when it does reach the retina the
picture it makes is rather blurred.
Sometimes, also, near-sightedness may
be due to the cornea being too much
curved, so that it acts as too strong a
lens, and the rays of light are focused
too soon.

Why it is that some people become
near-sighted

Near-sightedness is a very common
defect, and is very inconvenient. We
can see anything near quite well; the
things farther off are blurred. The
reason why we see things clearly
when they are quite near, and why we
therefore always hold a book close to
our eyes, is that, when a thing is held
close, the image of the object is
larger, and so more easily seen.

People who start near-sighted when
they are quite young, or who even are
far-sighted at first — as most young
children are — often become gradually
more and more near-sighted until the
age of, perhaps, thirty. Most of the
people who study this subject are very
sure what the cause of this is, only,
unfortunately, they do not agree with
each other.

Some of them who have not really
gone into it properly think that the
near-sightedness is a sort of disease
of the eye, and is due to over-use of
it, bad conditions during childhood,
and so forth. Others think that it is a
natural change which is bound to
happen in any case; and still other
people suppose that this increase in
near-sightedness is due to the con-
stant use of the eye at short distances.

The truth lies somewhere between
the last two opinions; each of them is
probably true in part. The eye, like
other parts of the body, does undergo

natural changes during life, and as it
gradually becomes more far-sighted
after a certain age, c^uite apart from
anything that is done to it, there is no
reason why it may not become more
near-sighted during the earlier years.

How NEAR-SIGHT IS CAUSED BY USING
THE EYE FOR SHORT DISTANCES

On the other hand, we can prove
that, when the eye is used for short
distances, certain muscles inside it
are used in such a way as to tend to
make the eyeball longer from back to
front, and therefore more near-sighted.

The reason for going carefully into
this is that very few people under-
stand the facts, and many doctors
even have not properly inquired into
them. Young people between the
Ages of twenty and twenty-five find,
very often, that year by year they get
rather more near-sighted; perhaps
they require to use glasses where
formerly they did not need them, and
the glasses have to be made stronger
or parents find their children require
glasses for near-sight.

People are alarmed if they think
that all this means a kind of disease of
the eye, or if they begin to ask them-
selves where this is going to stop.
That is why everyone should under-
stand that near-sight is not a disease
at all; that the changes which go on
are natural; that they only go on to a
certain point.

More than this, it is certain that we
may look upon near-sightedness in our
time as a kind of adaptation to our
needs — that is to say, in the case of
the great majority of people who have
to use their eyes at short distances.
For such distances the near-sighted eye
is just the best that one can have; it
lasts splendidly, and does not tire.

Near-sighted people may become far-
sighted AS they grow old

After a certain age, perhaps about
forty-five, or later, the eyes, after

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

having remained just as they were for
many years, begin slowly to become
far-sighted, or less near-sighted, as
the case may be. But before we look
at this we must return to the case of
the child.

Practically all very young children
are far-sighted. A certain number of
them remain far-sighted as the years
go on, and are still far-sighted when
they begin to learn to read and write.
There is no more disease or ill-health
here than there is in the other case,
but simply the eyeball is too short
from back to front, the cornea is too
flat, and so the rays of light are not
focused sharply j"n time, and reach the
retina sooner than they should. The
retina is too near the lens.

Now, in days that are gone this
was no serious matter, because people
lived far more natural lives than they
do now. They lired much more in
the open air. Instead of constantly
reading books at a few inches distance,
they had to read the book of the dis-
tant clouds and mountains; they had
to see animals or enemies at great
distances, and the use of their eyes for
short distances was only occasional.

The different uses tor which nature
has fitted different eyes

When the eye is tc be used at long
distances, evidently the far-sighted eye
has little of which to «*omplain.

But the far-sighted eye is too short
from back to front. The rays of
light are not focused ia time. Now,
if such an eye is to be used at short
distances, it will be very much
strained, because the muscles inside
the eye will constantly be trying to
change the shape of the /ens in order
to make the eye focus better; in fact,
the far-sighted eye requires to use
the muscles inside it in all circum-
stances. This means that it is liable
to get tired, and every far-sighted
person knows what it is to get head-

ache and eye-strain from the use ot
the eyes under conditions which would
not be at all inconvenient or dis-
turbing to a near-sighted person.

The FOOLISHNESS OF MAKING CHILDREN
USE THEIR EYES IN A WRONG WAY

In our ignorance and carelessness
regarding children, we at present
inflict very grave cruelty, and perhaps
often injury that is never recovered
from, upon large numbers of children
everywhere by compelling them to
use far-sighted eyes for purposes to
which they are not suited.

All over the country, children are
straining their eyes at reading and
writing, gaining no good, but only
harm, from what we do for them, and
all they need is a pair of spectacles
with rounded convex lenses that will
help to focus the rays of light quickly,
so that they are brought sharply
together by the time they reach the
retina at the back of these short
eyes. It is the short eye, we must
notice, that is far-sighted, and it is
the long eye that is near-sighted.

It is just beginning to be discovered
how important this subject is, and,
now that it is slowly occurring to us
that before we start educating a child
we must make it fit to be schooled,
we may hope that, within a few years
from now, no far-sighted child will be
allowed to be injured for the lack of
spectacles. The relief obtained when
proper glasses are employed is quite
astonishing.

As we shall readily understand, it is
concave lenses that are used in spec-
tacles for the near-sighted eye, and
convex lenses that are used in spec-
tacles for the far-sighted eye. We
may think this out for ourselves.

As people become elderly, the eye
becomes more far-sighted; this change
oftenest occurs at some time after
forty-five. If the person was near-
sighted, he now becomes less so.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 107

Indeed, if we take the whole course of regular way in parents and children,

life, there can be no doubt that, under Cataract is the name applied to

ordinary modern conditions, the near- opaqueness of the lens. Its conse-

sighted person is much better off than quence is blindness. The time was,

the far-sighted person, although at and that quite recently, when there

first it may not appear to be the case, was no remedy for this terrible afBiction.

The LENS OF THE EYE THAT CEASES TO BE We kuow that many of the very

ELASTIC AND CAUSES FAR SIGHT great men of the past became blind in

The far-sighteHress of elderly people their old age, and in many cases it was

is due to changes that occur mainly in cataract that was the cause. Nowa-

the lens of the eye. The all-important days science triumphs over this ca-

elasticity of the lens becomes impaired, lamity. Thanks to those who have

and it does not bulge, when the pres- studied the structure of the eye, and

sure of its coat is removed, as readily thanks to Pasteur and Lister, who

as it used to do; indeed, it becomes have taught us how to keep microbes

decidedly flatter. In extreme old age away from wounds, so that they shall

the lens loses its elasticity to such an heal easily and painlessly and cer-

extent that its shape cannot be changed tainly, it is now possible simply to

at all. make a little cut in the eye, then a

The commonest sign that the eyes little cut in the coat of the lens, and

are beginning to show this change is then, by a little squeeze, to push the

that the person finds it more difficult lens out through the cut which was

to read in a dim light. It is very made — and there it lies in the sur-

much better to be sensible about this geon's hand, looking almost like a

and wear glasses than to try to fight little lens of ground glass,

against it. This does no good, and, This would probably have to be done

on the other hand, it may do just the to both eyes, though it makes all the

same kind of harm as is done to the difference in the world if it were done

far-sighted child that is "educated," to only one eye when both were

as we call it, without having glasses affected. It is easily done, without

provided for him. The same is true pain. The obstacle to the light is

in this case, as has been seen, that now gone, and the light can pour

people suppose the need for glasses to through to the retina ; but the rays are

be a sign of weakness or disease, and not focused, and things cannot be

think they ought to fight against it. properly seen.

Now, it is good to fight against How science is able to give sight to

weaknesses, and there is not much the blind

hope for people who do not; but the The remedy is to supply the person

weakness is in being too proud to with spectacles, with strong convex

wear glasses or too careless. lenses that take the place of the lenses

Why many great men of the past he has lost. Few operations, so simple

became blind and so easy and so certain, do so

In old age, or sometimes before it, much for old people, and it would be

the lens of the eye may become worth while to study the eye, if only to

opaque. Much the commonest form learn how it is possible, by the applica-

of this misfortune is found in old age, tion of our knowledge, to give sight to

but there is also a very definite form the blind in this way, as is done all

which may occur in quite young people, over the civilized world many times

and which is known to appear in a daily.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

In the first pictiin wr sec a section of the eyeball between the blind spot and the optic nerve. The middle picture
Shows the interior ol the eyeball with the nerve fibers radiating from the blind spot. In the right hand picture a por-
tion ol the retina is highly magnified showing the various layers and the rods and cones.

SEEING COLORS

IN some ways, the most wonderful
of all the feats that the eye per-
forms is the seeing of colors, and
this subject of color vision, as it is
usually called, is also very important
from the practical point of view, be-
cause in many cases we require to
distinguish one color from another;
and sometimes the lives of many
people may depend upon the cer-
tainty with which this is done.

We know that light is a wave
motion in the ether. A better way of
putting it would be that there are
wave motions in the ether which,
when they fall upon an eye, give rise
to light. Apart from eyes to see, all
Nature is in darkness. Neither the
eye nor the ether alone can make
light, but both are required. We can
count the number of vibrations of the
ether that affect the eye in a single
second.

The smallest number per second
that we can see is roughly about four
hundred billions. When we see these
we get an impression of red. The
highest number we can see is roughly
about eight hundred billions, and
when such vibrations affect our eyes
we see a sort of violet.

Now in music a note that is an
octave higher than another has ex-

actly twice the number of vibrations
in a second; and so we may say that
the amount of light that our eyes can
see corresponds to one octave, the
number of vibrations of the violet
being about twice the number of the
red. We must clearly remind our-
selves once more that just as there are
sounds higher and lower in pitch than
the eleven octaves or so which we can
hear, so there are ether vibrations
higher and lower in pitch than the one
octave or so that we can see.

We know that our distinguishing of
colors depends upon the cones in the
retina. We are bound to suppose
that in those kinds of eyes where
there are only rods, colors cannot be
distinguished as they are seen by us;
and we begin to understand the
immense advantage of having a place
in our eyes which is the most sensitive
of all, and contains only cones.

From all this it follows that we do
not see the colors of objects whose
light falls upon the outermost parts
of the retina, where there are no cones,
or practically none. Also our eyes
vary in sensitiveness at different parts
of the color scale. At the actual
extremes, such as red and blue, we do
not notice slight differences in color
so sharply as we do in between the

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 109

extremes, as in the yellow and green, of comparatively few colors to which

Colors vary in several ways. For we give definite names. Of these

instance, they vary in brightness, as we various colors, which are commonly

all know. The brightness of a color described as seven, some give us the

depends simply upon the extent to impression of being mixed, and others

which it excites the brain. We cannot of being pure. For instance, what

say why one color, because it is that we call orange is mixed; what we are

color, should affect the brain more really seeing is a red and a yellow

than another; but it is so. together. Then, again, Prussian blue

Secondly, we find that colors vary is not a pure blue, but a mixture of

in their hue, or tint, and that depends blue and green.

on the number of vibrations in each the three pure colors that are not

second of the ether waves which cause made up of other colors

the color. Now contrast with these colors such

Thirdly, colors vary very much in a color as crimson red. Nothing will

what is called purity, or richness, persuade us that that is a mixture of

The best types of eyes are very keen other colors; it is simply red itself,

to appreciate this quality in colors. There is also a tone of green which we

A pure color is one which depends cannot imagine to be made up of any-

upon light of one rate of vibration, thing else, and the same is true of

The purity of a color is destroyed ultra-marine blue. Probably these

when it is mixed with other colors, are the only three colors of which this

or when it is mixed with white light, can be said. We therefore call red,

which really comes to the same thing, green, and blue primary colors. The

as white light contains all the colors, meaning of this is almost always mis-

The myriads of colors that we understood.

CANNOT SEE AT ALL When wc Call red, green, and blue

Now, quite apart from any question primary colors, we are not saying any-

of the eyes, the question of color is thing about light; we are talking about

simple, because it is exactly the same the way in which the eye sees. Light

as the question of the pitch of sounds, consists of waves of every rate of

Ten vibrations a second means one vibration, and any one of these rates

sound, eleven means another, twelve is as good as another. But the eye,

another, and so on. In the same way, instead of being able to see each of

between light made of waves running these, has only got within itself means

four hundred billions to the second for seeing three of them directly, and

and light made up of waves running these three are red, green and blue,

eight hundred billions to the second All the other colors it sees by mixing

there is really an infinite number of in various proportions these three

colors — hundreds of billions of colors, kinds of sensation, and that is why we

That is all very well, but when it call red, green, and blue primary

comes to our seeing them we find that colors. By mixing these in various

the case is different. ways we can obtain the impression

If we take white light and pass it upon the eye of every kind of color

through a prism, we get a band of that it can see. By mixing red and

colors called the spectrum, and when green rays in various proportions we

we look at it we quite clearly get the can get the effect of all the scarlets,

impression not of a regular even change oranges, yellows, and yellow-greens;

of color from one end to the other, but by mixing red and blue rays we can

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^HE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

get all the various violets and purples ;
and by mixing the green and blue
rays we can obtain all the various
shades of blue-green.

To the three primary colors we have
to add a fourth — the gray color which
we get from the rods of the retina.

A POWER THAT NO MAN UNDERSTANDS,

BY WHICH WE SEE DIFFERENT COLORS

AND SHADES OF COLOR

Of course, we now want to know
what are the things in the eye which
correspond to these various kinds of
color sensation or color vision. This
can be clearly answered as regards the
gray color, for we know that that is due
to the rods. We know also that the
cones are responsible for the other three
kinds of color sensation; but, unfor-
tunately, we can go no further than
this, except by guessing. For instance,
we do not find that there are three dif-
ferent sorts of cones, nor do we find, as
some have supposed, that there are
three different parts to each cone — one
for each kind of color.

Nor can we show that there are
three different kinds of nerves rimning
from the retina to the brain, as Dr.
Young supposed a century ago. It
may, indeed, be that we are altogether
mistaken in looking at the retina for
the key to the fact that we see colors
by these three sensations.

It may be that the key to the facts
is to be found not in the retina at all,
but in the gray matter of the vision
part of the brain. The fact that a
man may be color-blind in one eye is
rather against this.

As a rule, color-blindness occurs in
both eyes, but there are cases where it
Is found in one eye only, and that, of
course, suggests that it is the eye
rather than the brain that is respon-
sible for color vision. Color-blindness
is almost always a state of things
which exists from birth, and there is
no cure for it.

People who cannot see color pic-
tures

About four men out of a hundred, it
is said, have one form or other of
color-blindness, and about one woman
in a hundred. This is by no means
the only case in which peculiarities
are found more commonly in men than
in women. Color-blindness is passed
on from parents to children, and we
have lately gone far to understand the
laws by which it is inherited.

Very rarely we find people who are
cjuite color-blind. The spectrum of
sunlight to them appears in shades of
gray throughout, being lightest in the
position of yellow-green, and darkest
at each end. A colored picture to
them looks like a photograph or an
engraving. If we believe that our
three color sensations depend on the
presence of three special chemical
substances in the retina, then we
must suppose that in such cases all
these three substances are absent.

Very rare also is "blue-blindness,"
in which the possibility of blue sensa-
tion is absent. Then there is "green-
blindness," common, and very impor-
tant, in which we suppose that the
substance corresponding to the green
sensation is absent; in such cases
bright green is confused with dark
red, and a dark green letter on a black
background is not seen at all. If we
remember that everywhere on railways
red is used as the color of danger,
while green allows the train to go on,
we shall understand how very serious
it would be if a railway signalman
could not distinguish between a bright
green color and a dark red color.

Why railway signals are always

RED, green, AND WHITE

Lastly, there is "red-blindness," also
common, which is sometimes called
Daltonism, because it was this that
Dalton sviffered from. Here v.e sup-
pose that the chemical substance

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

111

affected by light and corresponding
to red sensation is absent from the
retina. In these cases light red is
confused with dark green, and a dark
red letter on a black background is
not recognized at all.

Now, as nearly all color-blind men
are either red-blind or green-blind, it
was suggested that signal colors,
instead of being red, green, and white,
should be changed; for instance, blue
and yellow might be employed. But
this does not do. The only convenient
colors to use for this purpose are red,
green, and white.

It is found that a red glass allows
about ten per cent of the light behind
it to come through, and a green glass
rather more, but a blue glass allows
only about four per cent of the light to
come through ; and yellow does not do,
for there are states of the light in
which yellow would not be noticed.

It is necessary, then, to test people
who are to be expected to recognize
lights, and if they are color-blind they
must find some other employment.

The best way of finding out if we
are color-blind

Scores of different methods have
been invented for detecting color-
blindness. The best method, which
is generally employed, is the use of
colored worsteds, and the person who
is being tested is asked to match
them. If a green-blind man is handed
a skein of pale green worsted, and if he
draws from the heap some worsteds
which contain no green at all, then he
must not be passed; or if a man takes
a dark green as a match to a dark red
skein, he proves himself to be red-
blind, and must therefore be rejected.

How WE CAN REST OUR EYES BY LOOKING
AT THINGS A LONG WAY OFF

Enough has already been said about
spectacles and their importance in
correcting the errors of refraction.
Here we must note a few points which

will help to preserve our eyes, quite
apart from the use of spectacles.

When the muscles inside the normal
eye are at rest, the shape of the lens
and other parts is such that the eye is
fitted to see distant objects. There
can be no doubt that the first and most
natural uses of the eye are for distant
and not for near vision. The course
of our lives is now such that we use our
eyes very much at short distances,
and this means the use of the muscles
inside them. That is especially true
of far-sighted persons, who should, of
course, not use their eyes at short
distances without glasses. But, apart
from that, it is a good rule for all of us
to relax our eyes, when we can, by
letting them rest upon something
which is distant, and so giving the
muscles inside them a rest, and lessen-
ing the risk of strain.

The best light for vision is daylight
— not direct sunlight, but diffused
daylight reflected from the sky. When
we use artificial light, which we do
more and more, it is a safe rule that
the nearer it resembles diffused day-
light, the better it will be. When we
call daylight diffused, what we mean
is that it comes from a large surface —
the general surface of the sky. What
we call a soft light is always one that
is diffused in this way.

The best way to light our houses
and to paper our rooms

In modern buildings the lights
themselves should be entirely hidden,
and we should see by light reflected
from wall or ceiling. Of course, this
is expensive, because more light is
required; but, though it costs more
money, it saves our eyes very much.

Another great fact about diffused
daylight is that it is steady, and so
should artificial light be. In this
respect gas is a great improvement
upon candles, and electric light is the
best of all.

112

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

It has lately been shown by some
French students that the different
qualities of light affect our eyes in
different ways, quite apart from their
brightness. The safe rule is that we
should, as far as possible, make our
artificial light of the same compo-
sition as sunlight.

In our houses, if we are wise, we
shall have spaces upon which the eyes
can rest. This means that we shall
think twice before we use wallpapers
with marked patterns; this is true
especially of bedrooms, because, sooner
or later, someone is likely to lie ill in
a bedroom, and, whatever healthy
people can stand, wallpapers with
patterns are a distress and a night-
mare to sick people.

The safe rule for reading by day
and night

Great stretches of Nature are green.
There is probably no color which
fatigues the eye less in proportion to
its brightness than the green of fresh
young leaves. This is good for bed-
rooms and living rooms alike. Dead
white is fatiguing to the eyes, and best
avoided. It is excessively foolish to
read with the eyes facing a source of
light, especially as the light is any-
thing but diffused. We should read
with the light behind us, passing over
one shoulder or the other — the left
shoulder, of course, when we are
writing.

So far as children are concerned, we
must remember that the great majority
of them are far-sighted when they are
very young, and that therefore the
strain of using their eyes at short dis-
tances is even greater for them than
for us. The fact that the child is far-
sighted ought to be hint enough to us
that the best employment fcr its eyes
at early ages is not at short distances.
Few and short stretches of reading
and writing are all that we ought to
require of these young eyes. On the

whole, the best work for a small child
is its play, and its best play is open-air
play with balls and hoops, and so on.

When children are obliged to read,
we must remember that they are
taking certain risks with their eyes.
We should take great care of the
lighting arrangements; we must pro-
vide glasses if the child is too far-
sighted; we should be most careful to
use large type deeply printed; and, in
any case, the periods of reading should
be brief. It is much better to employ
some kind of print that makes the
letters in very simple shapes.
What the eyes see when reading

When we come to think of the case
of a printed page, we shall see that
the letters which we distinguish are
the only places where the eye does not
not see. What we see when we read
is not the black, but the white; the
letters are not really anything that
we see, but gaps in our seeing. As the
white occupies a great deal more space
than the black, it is evident that our
eyes would be much less fatigued if
the state of things were reversed, and
books were printed in white letters on
black paper. If that were so, the
eye would be rested everywhere except
where there were the letters which it
wishes to see.

But reading is not the only use for
the eyes, and there are a great many
people who think that, while we spend so
much time upon reading, we are forget-
ting to keep our eyes open in other ways.

The time may come when the
education of the eye in other matters
than reading will always be included
in the upbringing of any child. The
time for this education, as for every
kind of education, is youth, and one
great difference between this kind of
education of the eye and the kind
that has to do with reading and
writing is that it is much more suited
to the young eye.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

113
i1

'rSr^r

fttrttttt/te
Srai» -9.

Vl/r Titbefitn.]

mty

;-■; :r ■ .'■■ ...'irssSSSsaSi-E, '

This diagram shows us how the sound-waves travel in ever increasing circles and how the outer ear collects the waves
as shown by the arrows, A, B, and C, directing them inwards so that they will strike the drum.

THE MARVEL OF HEARING

WE know something of the
brain and the spinal cord,
which together are called
the central nervous system, in the
upper part of which the Self of man
resides. But when we study the
history of the central nervous system,
we find that it has been developed
from the surface of the body, and
this fact in itself argues — as all the
other known facts do — that its first
business is to receive communications
from the outside world.

At the present time these communi-
cations take very definite lines, which
we call the senses. It is by the senses
that we gain all our knowledge of
outside things, and it is upon the
delicacy of the senses that, in the first
place, the high development of the
human being depends.

We have reason to believe that th?s
delicacy is, in the main, a matter of
the brain itself, rather than of the
channels from the world to the brain.
But, in any case, it must be distinctly
understood that this quality of sensi-
tiveness is so invaluable that all the
higher qualities of mankind are built

upon it. It is, no doubt, possible to be
unduly sensitive — sensitive to a degree
that upsets the balance of the mind;
but, then, nearly every good thing can
be exaggerated.

One of the most horrible conse-
quences of what we at present call
education, and of the dull routine
through which so many of us are put,
is that the beautiful delicacy of sense
that enables children to respond to
what is new, and to notice the small
differences between things, becomes
spoiled; the edge is blunted, so that
many grown-up people go through the
world having lost the sense of appre-
ciating everything which made it such
a beautiful, wonderful, and interest-
ing place when they were children.
Some day, when we learn more about
ourselves, we shall find better ways
than those at present adopted in
educating and dealing with children,
and then we shall get better results.

And now let us go on to study, one
by one, our senses, or highways of
knowledge. It probably does not
matter very much which sense we
begin with, for the great principles are

lllf

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the same in every case; only we may
begin by noting the names of the
various senses, and especially by dis-
tinguishing between the senses which
communicate with the outer world
and certain other senses which do not.

The senses by which we know the
outer world

The senses which communicate with
the outer world are — seeing, hearing,
taste, smell, and touch. But nowadays
we have learned that it is not sufficient
merely to say touch, for there are
several senses in the skin besides mere
touch. We must at least add the
heat sense, the cold sense, and the
pain sense to the sense of touch.

In addition to these senses which
communicate directly with the outer
world, there are other senses by which
the brain is informed about the body.
Of course, in a way, we may say that,
so far as the brain itself is concerned,
the body is part of its outer world.
These senses come from the organs
inside the body, from the muscles and
joints, and from certain wonderful
little canals in the inner ear, which
we shall study later.
Hearing

Now we can take the senses one by
one, and we shall begin with hearing.
We know that there is a special part
of the brain concerned with hearing.
If we were to use the word ear for the
part of the body that really hears, we
should certainly have to say that the
real ear is in this part of the brain.

The real ear in our brain that
cannot hear at all

But we are quite certain that sound
cannot be heard directly by this real
ear in our brain. The part of the
brain where we feel touch feels nothing
if it is itself touched, and this is true
of the senses generally. The brain
only responds if the communication
is made to it through the proper
channel. So what we now have to

study is the channel that leads from
the outside to the hearing center in
the brain. Perhaps the best use of
the word ear would be to describe the
whole structure, from the surface of
the body to the tiny nerve cells where
the hearing is actually done.

If we begin at the surface of the
body, we find in ourselves and in
most of the higher animals a pair of
organs projecting from the head,
which are the only parts of the organs
of hearing that we can see, and which
we therefore call the ears, though they
are by far the least important part of
the whole organ of hearing, especially
in ourselves. We have all observed
a dog prick up its ears, and so we learn
that the real use of the ear — or, as we
should properly say, the outer ear —
is to catch waves of sound.

It is the general rule that the outer
ear is provided with small muscles by
which it can be moved in various
directions. This serves two purposes.
First, it enables the animal to make
the most of the sound that comes to
it, for the sound-waves are, to a
certain extent, gathered up by the
outer ear, and so are made rather
more intense.
Why animals prick up their ears

AT ANY sound

But the second great advantage of
being able to move the outer ear is
that it greatly helps to decide where a
sound comes from. This is of great
importance to such an animal as the
antelope, which hears a sound and
fears that it may mean the approach
of some danger. We all have oppor-
tunities of observing how animals
prick up their ears, and we can
imagine them saying to themselves:
"Where does that sound come from?"

It is very interesting to find in our-
selves three little muscles attached to
the outer ear, by which it ought to be
pulled in various directions. These

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

115

muscles exactly correspond with those
that we find in the lower animals, but
in ourselves they have quite fallen
out of use. Though they are small,
they are still quite capable of moving
the ear; but we do not use them. A
few people have the power of moving
one or both outer ears at will, but there
is no record of any human being who
ever moved his outer ears when he
was straining to hear a sound, or
when he was trying to judge the
direction of a sound.

We are able still to judge the
direction of a sound, but we cannot
do so as well as do the lower animals,
and the reason, no doubt, is that our
outer ears no longer help us. Still,
we are able in some degree to compare
the intensity of a sound in the two
ears, and so we judge more or less
where it comes from. If the sound is
made at a point equally distant from
both ears, we are c^uite at a loss. A
simple and amusing experiment or
game will prove this.
An amusing came that teaches us a

LESSON IN science

If someone is blindfolded, we can
seat him in a chair and then make
little noises, and ask him to judge
where they come from. As long as
they are on one side he will judge all
right; but if we make the noises at the
back of his neck, in the middle line
of his body, or under his chin, he can-
not tell the one from the other.

If we try this experiment on one of
those people who can move their ears,
we shall find that he does not use his
power for this purpose. But one of
the lower animals could not possibly
be deceived in such a case. By prick-
ing its ears forwards and back, it
would in a moment discover in which
direction it heard the sound best. It
would have no more difficulty in this
case than when the sound was on one
side. When the sound comes from

the side, the animal judges, as we do,
mainly by comparing the intensity of
sound in the two ears.

The centers of hearing in the brain
that compare notes

This seems very simple, and we
none of us have any difficulty in
doing it; but it is wonderful, all the
same, that the two hearing centers
should be able to compare notes, so
to speak, and w^hen the left hearing
center hears loudest we should turn
to the right, and when the right hear-
ing center hears loudest we should
turn to the left. This is so because
most of the nerve-fibers cross the
middle line of the body on their way
to the brain.

The outer ear is not entirely useless
even in ourselves, for if it is all filled
up except just at the opening of the
canal that runs inwards, we hear less
clearly. This experiment can easily
be made. It shows us that to some
small extent the outer ear is still
useful as a sort of ear-trumpet,
though vastly inferior to that of most
of the lower animals.

From the outer ear there leads a
little channel, along which the sound-
waves pass. When we cleanse our
ears, we cannot and do not wash this
channel. It would be a very serious
matter if we had to do so, for there
would be grave risk of doing harm at
its inner end. Yet, as a rule, this
channel is kept perfectly clear and
open, even though it is never washed.
It is lined by tiny glands which pro-
duce a sort of wax, and as this wax
passes outwards it carries impurities
away with it. We think of this wax
as a rather unpleasant thing; but in
reality it is a beautiful means of
cleanliness and protection. At its
inner end this canal is closed entirely
by a thin, delicate membrane, which is
exactly like a drum-head, and it is called
the drum membrane or tympanum.

116

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The great importance of the drum
membrane

This membrane is exceedingly im-
portant for the purposes of hearing,
and it is a delicate thing. If it is
injured, it is, as a rule, injured per-
manently, and the hearing is affected.
It may be injured either from within
or from without. Sometimes little
children push beads or peas into their
ears, and they may do much harm in
that way. A child might have reason
to regret for its whole life such a
foolish action. When anything like
a bead has been put into the ear, we
should call in the doctor at once and
not attempt to get it out ourselves.

This precious drum membrane of
the ear is also liable to be injured from
within; and earache in children, or
indeed in anyone, should not be
neglected, because it means, as a rule,
more or less of a threat against the
health of the ear-drum. We shall
understand this better when we see
what is on the inner side of the mem-
brane.

If we could see beyond the mem-
brane we should find that it made one
of the walls of a little space, or cham-
ber, hollowed out inside one of the
bones of the head. This space is
known as the middle ear or tympanum.
The bone in which it, and also the
inner ear, lies is called the petrous
bone, from the Greek word for a rock,
because it is the hardest bone in the
whole body. This is interesting be-
cause a hard bone must undoubtedly
conduct waves of sound very much
better than a softer one.

The little tube that runs from the
throat to the ear

This middle ear is filled with air,
and naturally we must ask where the
air comes from; the answer is that it
comes from the throat. There runs
from the back of the throat on each
side a little tube which goes to the

middle ear and conveys air to it. If
we shut the mouth and hold the nose,
and then make a sharp movement as
if we were sneezing, we can feel some-
thing happening in our ears. This is
because when we made that move-
ment we opened the little tubes, and
drove some air along them into the
middle ears. It is a very important
thing for the safety and health of the
ear, and also for the immediate pur-
poses of hearing, that the air pressure
on both sides of the drum of the ear
should be the same.

If the air pressure were greater on
the outside than the inside of it, the
drum membrane would be driven
inwards and strained. If any dis-
turbance in the throat or nose closes
up these canals, so that air cannot get
along them, this is liable to happen.

Why a cold in the head causes deaf-
ness

Everyone knows that a cold in the
head often causes deafness. The rea-
son is that the cold, as we call it,
spreads along the tubes that run to
the ear. The lining of them becomes
swelled up, and so they are closed,
and cannot do their duty of keeping
the air pressure of the middle ear the
same as the air pressure outside.
Hence the drum head of the ear is
strained and cannot vibrate as it
should do to soundwaves, and so we
are deaf for the time. In more
serious troubles of the nose and
throat, such as may happen in scarlet
fever, the middle ear may be invaded
by the disease, and the drum head
may be broken through, and deafness
for life may result. It is probably
quite fair to say that proper care and
treatment from the first could prevent
this very unfortunate result in every
case.

But the most remarkable thing that
we find in the middle ear is a little
chain of three tiny bones, much the

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

117

smallest bones in the body, which are
there for a very special purpose.
They are called by Latin names,
which mean the hammer, the anvil,
and the stirrup, and the stirrup
especially is exactly like its name.
The handle of the hammer lies against
the drum membrane; the hammer is
jointed to the anvil, and the anvil to
the stirrup. The foot of the stirrup
rests against a membrane which sep-
arates the middle ear from the inner
ear, which is the most wonderful place
of all.

How THE HAMMER, ANVIL, AND STIRRUP
CARRY SOUNDS TO THE INNER EAR

The business of this chain of bones
is to carry sound-waves across the
middle ear. That is why it has to be
filled with air, for otherwise they
could not vibrate freely. Every time
a sound-wave causes the drum mem-
brane to vibrate, it sets in motion
the hammer bone which is fastened
to it, and so the vibration goes on.
If the joints between the bones
become fixed, the hearing is spoiled in
some degree. This may happen in old
age.

Lastly, we find two muscles, very
tiny but very useful, which pass into
the middle ear. They have opposite
uses, and we call them into action —
though we know nothing about it-
according to whether we want to hear
a sound more acutely or less acutely.
One of them is so arranged that when
it pulls it tightens the drum mem-
brane. That makes it vibrate more
energetically, and so we hear better.
Whenever we strain to hear, we throw
this little muscle into action. It is
called by doctors the tensor tympani,
which simply means the stretcher of
the drum.

The other muscle has just the
opposite effect. It is attached to the
stirrup bone in such a way that when
it pulls the bone cannot vibrate as

well as usual. So when this muscle
is in action it interferes with the
conduction of sound to the inner ear,
and when a noise is unpleasantly loud
we throw this muscle into action. It
is noticed that in certain cases when
there is anything the matter with the
nerve that supplies this muscle, loud
sounds become unusually painful.

That is all we need say about the
middle ear. The more closely we
study it, the more wonderful we find
it, and we become almost inclined to
think that there can be nothing
quite so exquisite and perfect in the
whole body until we come to study
the inner ear, compared with which
the middle ear is almost clumsy. The
whole purpose of the chain of bones in
the middle ear is to carry the sound-
waves from the membrane in its
outer wall to a similar sort of mem-
brane on its inner wall, on the inside
of which is the inner ear. The inner
ear is filled with fluid, and every
sound that we hear reaches the nerve
of hearing by conduction through
fluid.

We think of sound as a wave in the
air, and that is what it usually is; yet
in its last stage, before reaching
our nerves, every sound we hear is
made of waves in water. This has
a special interest if we trace the
history of the ear and notice how it
has slowly developed from its early
stages in the fish, which hears sound-
waves conveyed by water.

The INNER EAR THAT IS FAR MORE
WONDERFUL THAN THE OUTER EAR

The main part of the inner ear is a
tiny and very delicate bony structure,
rather like a snail's shell. We must
understand that all this is filled with
fluid. When the foot of the little
stirrup bone is thrown into vibration
by a sound, it vibrates the membrane
to which it is attached, and so there
is started a series of rapid little taps to

THE WONDERFUL MACHINERY OF OUR EARS

Picture-dia0>*«m of the EAR

This diagram shows the Inside of our ear, from the entrance to the end of the nerve that passes to the brain. Tiie
drum Is stretched across the end of the canal, and on the other side is the chamber of the middle ear, filled with air that
enters from the throat. In this chamber are three small bones, the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup, the last being fixed
to the drum of the inner ear, which is shaped like the coUs of a snail's shell.

Here we see a sound wave striking the drum of the ear. The vibration moves the handle of the hammer, which pulls
the anvil and pushes the stirrup, as shown by dotted lines, against the drum of the inner ear. Tiny waves of the fluid
inside this inner ear pass through a membrane which lines the shell, and, traveling round the coils in the direction of the
arrows, communicates its sensation to tlie nerve, and then returns by anotlicr canal.

In this picture the spiral coil is cut through from lop to
bottom. The little galleries are filled with fluid, and
contain very marvelous organs. The part in the dotted
square is shown in the next picture enlarged.

118

Over 3000 little hammers, jointed like those of a piano,
support thousands of hair-cells that rest on a membrane.
More than 10.000 strings are stretched across, like piano
wires, and these convey the wave sensation to the nerve.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

119

the fluid which is lying against the
inner side of that membrane, and the
waves thus started run right along
this spiral coil.

Now, when we carefully examine
the inside of this coil with the aid of a
microscope, we shall find that we have
really come to the essential part of
the machinery by which sounds are
received. All the rest that we have
studied is merely for conducting the
sounds. The outer ear, the canal
leading from it to the drum, the chain
of bones, and the spiral canal filled
with fluid, are all mere arrangements
for getting the sound in the best
possible way to the ends of the nerve
of hearing. We may compare all
these parts of the ear with all the front
parts of the eyeball. These front
parts simply serve to carry the
light to the curtain at the back of the
eye, where the nerve of vision begins
•7r ends, whichever way we care to
look at it. And the same is the case
•^-ith the ear.

The fibers of the inner ear that
are like piano wires

But we have not vet actuallv
reached the ends of the nerves of
hearing. The httle nerve fibers do
not hang freely in the fluid of the
spiral canal, for there is something in
between. We find that along the
whole length of the canal, stretched
across it from side to side, there is
a sort of platform made of delicate
fibers. Their number runs into many
tens of thousands.

If the spiral were arranged flat, in a
straight line — which it doubtless
would be but for the fact that a
spiral takes up less room in the head
— we should see that the fibers are
very like a series of piano wires, or
like those toy musical instruments
made of strips of metal that are struck
with little hammers. INIany people
suppose that there is a meaning in

the resemblance of these fibers to a
musical instrument.

There are cases where people have
been perfectly deaf to one or two notes
of the piano, but could hear all the
notes above and all the notes below,
and in some of these cases it has been
found that the piano in the inner ear,
so to speak, has been damaged in a
way corresponding with the gap in
the person's hearing.

The little fingers of the ear that
receive the waves of sound

Now, upon the whole length of this
series of fibers there are perched a
number of small but wonderful cells,
each of which has a few little things
like short hairs sticking out from it,
and these little fingers, or hairs, lie in
the fluid of the spiral canal. Probably
it is these tiny, hair-like fingers that
receive the waves of the fluid, and
then something happens in the cells.
Lastly, if we examine carefully the
lower part of each of these cells, we
find that the nerve of hearing, which
has come to this place from the brain,
has sent a few tiny fibers that end at
the base of these cells. The fibers do
not run into the cells, but the cells
are perched upon the ends of the
little nerve fibers.
The journey of a sound from the

OUTSIDE world TO THE BRAIN

Now we have actually traced the
sound from the outer world to the
ends of the nerve of hearing. We
have seen the path of its conduction,
sometimes along canals filled with air,
sometimes along little bones, then
along the canal of fluid, and lastly,
through their hairs into certain special
cells made for the purpose. Here we
come to a point which very few people
understand, and as it applies equally
to all the senses, we must know it
thoroughly. We might suppose that
the next thing to happen would be
that the sound, having got so far, runs

HOW A SOUND REACHES THE BRAIN

Tliis picture shows the wonderful strurture of the ear — the telephone receiver by which we are able to receive mes-
sages from outside Sound-waves of air strike the drum of the ear, which vibrates the bones of the middle ear, and they
in turn vibrate the drum of the inner ear. This sets in motion a fluid, and the wave motions are conveyed along the spiral
staircase to the wires, or nerves of hearing, and from there to the telephone exchange, or brain.

120

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 121

along the nerves of hearing to the we are not so much puzzled, because

brain. Nothing of the sort occurs. here is something which seems to cor-

Hitherto we have been dealing with respond with the sense of hearing,

things that are wonderful and com- There ought to be the power of

plicated enough — so complicated that noticing slight differences in sounds

what has been said is only a mere by means of an organ so complicated

outline of the facts — but at this point as the inner ear is. But the inner ear

we have reached something compared would not be of the least use without

with which all the rest is common- the nerve of hearing, and every one

place and simple. of these tiny differences in sounds

The sound which reached the hair means a tiny difference in the some-
cells of the inner ear does not pass thing that runs along the little white
along the nerves of hearing, but it threads that make up this nerve,
sets up in them a nerve current which jhe crea c marvel of nerve-currents
runs to the brain. That nerve current that very few people think about
is not a sound wave ; it is utterly Language cannot say how wonderful
different in every way from a sound these things appear to those who really
wave. But it is that current, and think about them; and it is a great
that alone, which excites the hearing pity that so many of us should go
cells in the brain, and enables us to through the world, hearing, seeing,
say that we hear. and moving, and yet never giving a

If we examine the nerve of hearing thought to these marvels upon which

through a powerful microscope, it our lives depend.

looks just like any other nerve. But The fact that nerve currents, and

to say merely that it is capable of not sound currents, travel along the

carrying a nerve current which we nerve of hearing is a general truth of

translate into sound is not to state all the senses. It is not light that

half the mystery, for we must consider travels along the nerve of vision,

the infinite variety of sounds that we The place in the brain where we see

can hear and distinguish. is enveloped, and lives always in utter

The many nerve-currents that pass darkness; no light ever reaches it.

TO THE BRAIN WHEN WE HEAR MUSIC What Fcachcs it is the nerve currents

What must be the number and from the nerves of vision. All that

delicacy and variety of the nerve the light does in entering our eyes is

currents passing along these nerves of to do something which starts those

hearing when a great musician con- nerve currents in the ends of the nerve

ducts a big orchestra, and can hear of vision.

every instrument separately, and know And all that sound does in entering

whether it is in tune or not! How our ears is to start certain nerve

delicate must be the varieties of cur- currents in the ends of the nerve of

rent that are possible when we hearing. When we study the variety

remember that it is scarcely possible of sensations that are possible for us,

for us to mistake the voice of one we see that a nerve current, though

friend for that of another. we talk about it so easily, must be

So long as we confine ourselves to nearly the most complicated and
the study of the inner ear, and see the wonderful thing in the world, com-
tens of thousands of fibers of different pared with which the waves of sound,
lengths, and the hundreds of thou- or light, or electricity, must be con-
sands of hair cells which it contains, sidered quite simple.

122

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

HOW THE BODY IS HELD IN BALANCE

THE inner ear would be quite
sufficient to make the bone
that contains it the most
wonderful in the body. We know
that that bone is the hardest in the
body; and this is necessary not only
because it forms part of the base of
the skull and should be strong, but
also, we suppose, because a hard
bone conducts sound waves better
than a more loosely -built one.

We must understand th^.^ the im-
portant thing in hearing is for sound
waves somehow or other to get to the
hair cells. Much the best way is
through the fine series of structures
about which we have read; but
though they are very useful, and
though we cannot hear anything like
so well without them, they are not
necessary.

From the teeth, or from the bones
of the head in general, sound waves
can be conducted — and, of course, are
conducted, whenever we hear — which
are conveyed very well by the dense
bone that contains the inner ear, and
so get to its hair cells. Sound waves
reaching the ear in this way contribute
to the keenness of our hearing, but of
course they cannot compare for ef-
fectiveness with those that travel
along the wonderful path made for
the special purpose of hearing.

But there is another reason why
the bone that contains the inner
ear is of very great importance
and interest. It also contains an-
other organ of a wholly distinct
sense, which lies close beside the
inner ear, and is, indeed, in more
or less direct communication with
it. For many years it was sup-
posed that this organ was part of
the inner ear, and was concerned
with hearing. We now know that it
has nothing to do with hearing.

The mistake was made more natural
by the fact that one and the same
nerv seems to run from the brain to
both parts — as they were supposed to
bo — of the inner ear. In point of
fa:t, what looks like one nerve, and is
still called one nerve, is two wholly
distinct nerves, as we can readily
prove if we trace the course of the
fibers towards the brain.

We find that the fibers which have
come from the real inner ear all run
to a certain part of the brain, the busi-
ness of which is hearing. But we find
that the fibers which have come from
this other organ all run to an entirely
different part of the brain which has
nothing to do with hearing at all.

In fact, what we are here dealing
with is the sense of balance, and it is
probably more or less of an accident
that its machinery happens to be such
a close neighbor to that of the sense of
hearing.

A LITTLE-KNOWN PART OF OUR BODY
THAT HELPS US TO STAND

This sense of balance is, in a way,
a sense that tells us about the outside
world, like hearing or vision; because
it does tell us where the outside world
is in relation to our bodies. But it is
quite unlike the senses we know so well,
as it is not arranged to receive any-
thing from the outside world at all,
and so, unlike the eye or ear, it has
no connection with the surface of the
body. We may say that this is one of
the senses which tells the brain about
the body, rather than about the world
outside the body.

Before we study the organ of this
sense, we must notice, in the first
place, that it is helped by other means.
We do not entirely depend for our
balance upon the organs of balance in
the base of the skull, though we cer-
tainly cannot balance ourselves with-

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

123

out their assistance. When we stand,
for instance — and standing is a very
much more difficult matter than we
usually suppose — our power of balance
is greatly helped by the feelings we get
from the soles of our feet. If some-
thing is painted on to the soles of our
feet so that the skin there can no lon-
ger feel, or in cases of illness which
have the same result, we cannot stand
so easily as we usually do.

But the sense of balance is also
helped by the eyes. As long as the
eyes are open, even a person who is not
helped by the soles of his feet may
balance himself; or, with his eyes
shut, he may yet balance himself if he
stands with his feet far apart; but if
he puts his heels together, and shuts
his eyes, he will probably topple over
on the ground.

The great use of the eyes in
balancing the body

People, however, can stand with
their heels together, and with their eyes
shut, thus doing without the assistance
of sight, if the organs of balance in
the skull are all right, and if guidance
is also coming to the brain from the
soles of the feet, and also from the
muscles and joints of the legs. If we
set ourselves the task of balancing on
a very narrow plank, or, still more
difficult, on a tight-rope, then our
eyes become more useful, and, unless
we are very skilful indeed, they are
quite necessary.

Everyone knows how the tight-
rope walker keeps his eyes steadily
fixed on a certain point, and
so greatly helps himself. If he is
very skilful, he may walk on the tight-
rope even though he bandages his
eyes; but this is far more difficult.
However, the eyes and the feelings
from the skin and joints and muscles
are all unimportant compared with
the guidance we get from the special
organs of balance, and no one was ever

yet able to stand or walk on the
ground, much less on a tight-rope, in
whom these organs were not working
properly. Now we must learn what
they consist of.

In the hard bone that contains the
inner ear, and close to the inner ear —
on each side of the head, of course —
we find this organ of balance. It con-
sists of three tiny tubes, in shape like
half a circle.
The six little tubes which tell

THE brain our MOVEMENTS

The proper name for a half circle
is a semi-circle, just as half a tone is
a semi-tone, and the corresponding
adjective is, of course, semi-circular;
not a difficult word if we know how it
is made up. The proper name for
these tubes, then, is the semi-circular
canals, and of these the head of every
human being and of all the higher
animals contains six, three on each
side. They are all filled with fluid.

Just as the nerve of vision runs to
the eye and the nerve of hearing to
the ear, so the nerve of balance runs
to the semi-circular canals. The ends
of the nerve — that is to say, the ends
of the countless nerve-fibers which
make the nerve — lie close to the fluid
that fills the canals, and if that fluid
moves, or if the pressure on it changes
in any direction, the nerve-fibers know
about it and tell the brain our move-
ments.

Now let us look at an ordinary
child's block, which we call a cube.
If we want to measure it, we find that
it can be measured in three directions
— from top to bottom, from side to
side, and from back to front. We
may pick up any solid thing and we
find the same is true of it. We
may want to measure a room, and we
find again that the same is true; we
must measure the floor in both direc-
tions, and we must also measure the
height of one of the walls.

A BLINDFOLDED MAN'S WALK ACROSS NIAGARA

One of the most marvelous feats of balancing ever performed was the crossing of Niagara Falls by Blondin, who walked
across the Falls on a tight-rope, blindfolded. The eyes are very helpful in enabling us to keep our balance, but they are
not really essential, and Blondin was able to walk over Niagara with his eyes covered, being aided by the six little canals
in his head, which are the organs of balance, as described.

124

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 125

In general terms, space has three balance are injured cannot balance,

directions — or dimensions, to give the They suffer from persistent giddiness,

usual word — and when we move our It has also been proved that where

head it must move in one or more of the injury affects only certain of the

those three directions. We may nod canals, the giddiness corresponds to

our head, or we may shake our head, the direction of the particular canal

or we may raise it up and down. All or canals in question. If it is only

the possible movements of the head the horizontal canals that are thrown

are either in one of these directions or out of action, then we shall be all

in a combination of two or all three of right so far as nodding the head is

them. Now, the business of the organ concerned, but directl}^ we start shak-

of balance is to acquaint the brain ing it, we shall become giddy, and,

with every possible movement of the if we do not receive support, topple

head, and it must therefore be so over.

constructed that all possible move- The history of the semi-circular

ments shall duly register themselves canals is deeply interesting. The

in it. lowest kind of creature with a back-

This is done in the most exquisite bone, as we know, is the fish, and we
way by the provision of three canals find in it no trace of these canals,
on each side of the head, these three Now, the fish is very clever at balanc-
canals being arranged in correspond- ing itself, and shows no signs of giddi-
ence with the three dimensions, or ness; but probably we can explain
directions, of space. One canal lies why the fish manages so well without
on its side or is horizontal; and the any semi -circular canals, if we remem-
other two are upright, but at right ber how great the pressure of water is
angles to each other. As there is an upon the surface of the fish, and there-
organ of balance on each side of the fore how much more information the
head, we may think of the canals in fish must get from its skin than we are
pairs, and there is no doubt that they able to get from ours,
act in pairs. For instance, the hori- How birds are able to fly without
zontal canal on each side of the head tumbling over
acts with its fellow when we shake As we ascend the scale of back-
tlie head, or when we spin round, as boned animals, we gradually find the
we do in dancing. appearance of these semi-circular ca-
The moving fluid in the six little nals, though they do not all appear at
CANALS IN OUR HEADS oucc. If our statements as to their use

The consequence of this arrange- are correct, we should expect to find

ment is that every possible movement them most beautifully and perfectly

of the head has a strictly correspond- developed in birds, which could not

ing effect upon the fluid inside one or succeed in flying without a perfect

more pairs of these six canals, and the sense of balance. In flying, the bird

center of balance in the brain is gains little from the feet and legs, as

informed. This center of balance we do in the very much simpler

probably exists in the cerebellum, or business of standing or walking; and

little brain. Sometimes we have an therefore its need of special organs of

illness in which the organ of balance balance is all the greater,

is thrown out of action, and just as a So we find the semi-circular canals

person whose eyes are injured cannot at their very best in birds, and we

see, so those in whom the organs of know also that, just as in our own case.

126

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

if the canals are thrown out of action,
the bird's power of balance is destroy-
ed, and in flying it will make mistakes
and show peculiarities corresponding
to the particular defect in its organ of
balance. It is probable that in this
way we can explain the peculiarity of
what are called "tumbler" pigeons.

It used at one time to be thought,
before these newer facts were dis-
covered, that the semi-circular canals
must have something to do with
hearing; and we can understand how
natural this idea was, seeing that the
canals look as if they were part of
the inner ear, and their nerve looks
as if it were a part of the nerve of
hearing.
The little organs in our ears that

HAVE ^IOTHING TO DO WITH HEARING

The idea used to be that probably
we somehow judge of the direction of
sound by means of these semi-circular
canals. No one could look at their odd
arrangement without feeling that their
business had something to do with
direction. But we now know that
their business is with the direction in
which the head moves, and not with
the direction of sound. It is much
more important to know what the
head is doing than to know where
sound comes from, and, in any case,
by having external ears that can be
moved, a creature can easily enough
judge of the direction of sound with-
out any special machinery inside its
head. If we human beings are not
so well off in this respect, it is because
we have lost the power of moving our
outer ears like the animals.
The FISH'S gills, upon which many

PRECIOUS structures ARE BUILT UP

We have lost this power that the
animals have, but we have gained
many things that the animals have
not. In the very lowest vertebrate
animals, such fishes, we find, instead
of lungs, have what are called gills.

To these the blood runs, as it runs to
our lungs, and in them it comes in
close relation with the oxygen dis-
solved in the water, just as in our
lungs the blood comes in close relation
to the oxygen of the air. The gills
have to be supported on something,
and so we find in the fish five gill-
arches, with slits between them called
gill-slits.

How THE SWIM-BLADDER OF THE FISH
BECAME THE LUNG OF THE MAMMAL

We can never tell what uses nature
will turn a thing to, and the history of
life upon this earth proves over and
over again that organs which would
appear to have lost all their use, and
of which nothing could be made, may
be turned to new and utterly different
purposes, rather than be wasted.
Nature took the swim-bladder, which
used to be filled with air, and helped
the fish to swim at the level it liked,
and when the creature no longer swam
under the surface at all, she made it
into a lung. Thus nature had gill-
slits and gill-arches thrown on to her
hands w4th their occupation gone. By
long and careful study of many animals
we have been able to trace what hap-
pens to each of these; and it is one of
nature's great triumphs in the develop-
ment of the bodies of the higher ani-
mals that she has been able to do with
these apparently useless things.

Out of them has been made the
whole of the semi-circular canals.
Thus nature has provided for the
balance of the bird out of the organs
which helped the fish to breathe.
From these organs, also, she has made
the whole of the ear, including the
little bones in the middle ear, and all
the wonderful structure of the inner
ear. As if this were not enough, she
has also made out of the gill-arches
an organ no less new and wonderful
than the voice-box, or larynx, by
which we speak and sing.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 121

THE VOICE AND ITS MECHANISM

IT IS much better, for two good rea- meaning in this arrangement, which, as

sons, that we should go on to study we know, makes it necessary for every-

the larynx. First, we should do thing we swallow, whether liquid or

this because then we shall be studying solid, to be thrown over the opening

together the various organs that have to the larynx without entering it.

been developed in the higher animals There is thus placed upon the larynx

from the gill-arches of the fish; and, another duty besides that of pro-

secondly, we should do so because it ducing sound, and that of attending

is well to study the means by which to our breathing, for it has to protect

we produce sounds, after studying the the air passages every time we swallow,

means by which we hear them. This organ is made of pieces of what

We all know something, at least, is called cartilage. Our ordinary name

about the larynx, because we have all is gristle, and we may describe it as

seen the front part of it pushing the something which is half way towards

skin forward and sometimes moving bone.

up and down. There is a foolish The narrow channel through which

notion that this is the apple which passes all the breath of life

Adam swallowed, and which stuck In old age the cartilages of the

in his throat, and so it is sometimes larynx get to be not exactly bony, but

called Adam's apple. A larynx, or more chalky and rigid than they are

voice-box, similar to ours is to be in youth; and this, probably, is one of

found in all the higher animals, and, the reasons why most people with

as we know, it is simply a stringed sensitive ears can readily distinguish

musical instrument. In the case of a young voice from an old voice,

the birds, many of which have such The business of the larynx is to

beautiful voices, there is besides this support and control the action of two

stringed instrument another, which is tiny cords or strings called the vocal

practically an organ pipe. But, in cords; that is to say, the voice cords,

all its forms, and whether with or The picture given in connection with

without this organ pipe, the larynx this article shows what the vocal

is evolved from one of the gill-arches cords look like when they are seen

of the fish. from above by means of a bright little

This voice-box, of course, is not mirror held at the back of the throat,

only concerned with speaking and We see that the vocal cords have a

singing; it has important duties to free edge towards the middle, and

perform every moment of our lives, that from it they pass outwards to

because it is the channel of the breath the sides of the larynx,

of life. Further, owing to the manner All the air by which we live passes

in which the lungs have been devel- through the narrow space between the

oped in long-past ages, it has so vocal cords. The arrangements by

occurred that the opening from the wiiich they can be put together or

throat to the voice-box lies in front separated are quite simple. They

of the opening from the throat to the part every time we breathe in, and

gullet. when we choke and cannot breathe

Only the study of the way in which in, it is because the vocal cords are

living things have developed one from not parting as they should. But if

another can enable us to see any the cords are to produce voice, they

PICTURES DRAWN BY THE HUMAN VOICE

No artist drew these designs. A thin sheet of india-rubber was stretched over a vessel like a cup which had a spout
at the side. Some light powder was then thrown upon the rubber covering, and when someone sang into the spout, the
powder formed itself into the design of the picture on the left. The right-hand picture, looking like a frosted window,
was drawn in the same way, but, instead of powder, moist paint was put on the rubber covering.

To obtain the left-hand picture, a sheet of glass was coated with paint and put over the cup, with the paint resting on
the rubber covering. Then, as the spout was sung into, the glass was moved round, and this beautiful design appeared.
The picture on the right — something like a fern-leaf — was made by singing louder and having moister paint on the glass.
The cup with a spout or tube is called an eidophone, which means "form of the voice."

12S

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

129

must be able to do much more than
this. It must be possible to hold
them tightly stretched, so that when
air is forced against them they will
vibrate. Nor is this all, for it must
be possible to stretch them in different
degrees. As we shall learn when we
come to study sound, the pitch — the
shrillness or the lowness — of a musical
note produced by anything trembling
depends upon a number of things,
such as its weight, its length, and its
tightness.

The wonderful musical instrument
with one string

Now, in the case of a piano, when
we want to produce notes of different
pitch, we have a number of strings
of different lengths laid side by side,
so that we can strike the one that
gives out the required note. Also,
we can have some of them made of
much heavier material than others.
In the case of the violin, it is possible
to have only very few strings, but we
can produce all the notes we want by
stopping the strings with our fingers,
so that the length of string that is
free to vibrate can be altered as we
please; and the strings are made of
different weight and thickness.

But in the larynx there are only
two strings, and these always act
together, it being impossible to produce
voice with one of them ; moreover, they
are of the same weight and length.
Outside the human body, a musical
instrument that had practically only
one string, and that could not be
stopped at different points like a
violin string, would not be able to
produce much variety of pitch. The
only possible way of getting any
variety would be to have some means
of varying its tightness. It is prob-
ably correct to say that there is no
material other than that made by
life that can be tightened in such
different degrees as the needs of music

demand, without permanent injury to
the strings.

The MARVELOUS POWER THAT A GOOD
SINGER HAS OVER THE HUMAN VOICE

But though our vocal cords have
only the one possibility of varying
pitch, due to the fact that they can be
tightened in different degree, with this
one means they triumph. A good
singer can produce all the notes in a
range of two octaves, and many
singers are able to exceed this com-
pass considerably. Outside the body
there is no parallel to this. It is
interesting, therefore, to know of
what the vocal cords are made, so
that they can stand such varying
degrees of tightness, within a few
seconds, without injury. They are
simply made of fibers of what we call
elastic tissue, such as is found in
various parts of the body wherever it
is needed. But an ordinary piece of
elastic is rubbish compared with the
elastic tissue made by the body.

How THE VOCAL CORDS ARE TIGHTENED
TO PRODUCE DIFFERENT SOUNDS

The next question is — How is their
tightness varied? In front, just be-
hind the part of the voice-box that
we see from outside, the cords are fixed
to the largest cartilage of the larynx,
but, behind, each of them is fixed to
a tiny little knob of cartilage which is
delicately jointed to the part that it
rests on, so that it can be tilted in
several directions.

What really happens when we sing
is that these little knobs of cartilage
are tilted backwards so that the cords
are made tighter when our voice
ascends in pitch, and are tilted for-
wards so that the cords are made
slacker when our voice falls in pitch.

When a singer is producing one of
his highest notes, the cords have to be
so tight as to vibrate four times as
often in every second as when he is
producing one of his lowest notes.

130

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Thus, in the whole range of nature,
there is scarcely anything more per-
fectly delicate than the control which
a singer has over this tiny little
machine to produce such results.

Why the human voice is much more
marvelous than a piano

Nor must we suppose that the
singer is merely limited to the number
of notes that there are on the piano
in two octaves. Pianos vary in pitch,
as we know, and a singer can tune his
voice to the pitch of any piano he sings
with. Skilful singers can produce
several tones, even as many as eleven,
between two notes that are next to
each other on the piano.

As we have said, all this depends
on the tightness of the cords, and the
tightness depends on the strength
with which certain tiny slips of muscle
pull upon the cartilages to which the
cords are attached; and that depends
upon the force of the nerve current
sent to the nerves through these
muscles from certain nerve cells in
the brain. The place, therefore, where
the unrivaled delicacy of this machine
really exists is the nerve center in the
brain.

As everyone knows who has tried
to read a song he was not sure of, or
as anyone may observe who watches
a child learning to sing, it is one thing
to have all the machinery for pro-
ducing a note that is easily within the
range of our voice, and it is quite
another thing to be able to produce
that note when we want to. There
are two stages of difficulty here, and
the second is marvelous beyond any-
thing we have yet described. The

first of these is where we simply
imitate a note we hear.

This is quite wonderful enough, for
it means the beautiful working to-
gether of the cells in the hearing center
of the brain with the cells of that part
of the brain which gives orders to the
muscles of the voice-box.

The mystery of the writing and
singing of music

But now take the second case, where
a singer sings aloud the notes of a
piece of music that he has never seen
before. What is it that he imitates
now-f^ What is it that guides him?
We can only say that the singer
imitates, or realizes, his idea of a
certain sound that he has in his mind,
but what and where the idea really is,
and how the ringer can do what he
does, no one can say, for we are here
in the realm of the mind — the most
mysterious of all things, and it baffles
us utterly.

Lastly, we have the case of the
composer sitting down with a pencil
and a sheet of paper, and creating
music "out of his head" for other
people to sing and play. Some of the
greatest music ever written — music
which has made miserable people
happy, and cowardly people brave,
and frivolous people solemn, and will
do so to the end of time — was written
by a man named Beethoven many
years after he had become stone deaf.
He never heard a note of the greatest
and most wonderful part of the music
that he wrote; and yet, in his mind's
ear, he heard it better than anyone
has ever heard it since, or he could
not have created it.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

131

lu these pictures we see the positions taken by the tongue and lips when diHerent vowels are pronounced. The posi-
tion of the larynx remains the same, the different sounds being produced by the changed position of the resonators, or
cavities above the larynx. The vowels shown are A, as in father, E, and U.

TALKING AND SINGING

WE know how the larynx, or
voice box, the musical in-
strument which we all pos-
sess, produces notes of any particular
pitch that we desire. But though
singing is very delightful and pleasing,
and though many books might be
written upon the voice box and its
use in singing, speaking is really
much more important than singing,
and therefore it is necessary to study
speaking from the point of view of
the machinery by which it is done.
We have already learned about the
wonderful center in the brain where
words and the meaning of them are
stored, and we understand that every-
thing else depends upon the .orders
given there, but now we must go on to
study the machinery by which those
orders are carried out. The voice
box is, of course, the central part of
this machinery, but it is not all; and,
indeed, everyone knows, who has
whispered, that it is possible to speak
without the voice box at all.

There is one point which has been
greatly discussed by many thinkers,
and which we must mention first. We
know that we ourselves both speak and
sing, and when we observe the birds,
we find that they sing, but do not

speak. The question is: Did singing
or speaking come first .^ And there is
a difference of opinion on this matter.
A great Frenchman, named Diderot,
at the end of the eighteenth century,
and Herbert Spencer, many years
after, supposed that singing came later
than speaking. Their argument was
that, after learning merely to speak,
the time came when men wanted to
make their speech more effective and
thrilling and moving, and so they sang
the words instead of only speaking
them. So on this theory speech came
first, and song is a sort of speech with
more effect added to it by the addition
of music.

But against these great opinions
there is another great opinion — that of
Charles Darwin. For many years he
studied the expressions of feeling in
man and in the lower animals. He
found, as he thought, that many of
the lower animals, especially the birds,
sing of set purpose, so to speak, and
perhaps sing very beautifully. He
supposed that the special reason for
the song of animals was to call each
other and to please each other. Now,
on this view, song came first and
speech afterwards with man, and that
is what Darwin maintained.

132

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

This is a subject which one writer has
specially tried to study, and what he
thinks is that in the case of mankind
speech and song have arisen together.
They are really two varieties of the
same thing, which is expression by
means of the voice. The argument
of Diderot and Spencer that speech
came first and song afterwards is,
not supported by the fact that
when we observe the growth of
very small children, w^e can see the
beginnings of speech and of singing
growing up at one and the same time
in them; nor is there any reason at all
why this should not be the case.
However this may be— and it is at
least an interesting subject to think
about — let us now go on to study
what happens when we speak.

Why it is that we use different
notes in speaking

First of all, let us discover what is
the difference between singing and
speaking. In both cases we produce
sounds by means of the voice box,
except in whispering; in both cases
these sounds are musical notes — that
is to say, the waves which form them
are regular; in both cases there are
changes of pitch.

No one speaks with his voice all the
time on the same note, even in the
shortest sentence. We raise the voice
sometimes, we lower it at other times,
as we go along, and we convey a great
deal by the way in which we do this;
so much so, that children or foreigners,
who do not understand the words we
are saying, may learn a great deal
from the pitch of the notes we speak
in.

Even a dog or a horse will learn
much from our voices in the same way.
If anyone doubts that we use a num-
ber of different notes when we speak,
let him get someone to say a sentence
all on the same note, without raising
his voice or lowering it. The Greek

word for one is monos, and so, when
something is spoken or sung all on the
same note, we say that it is a mono-
tone, and thus we get the word
monotonous.

How WE ARE ABLE TO PUT COLOR INTO
OUR VOICES

We could scarcely live with anyone
who spoke in a really monotonous
voice. Also, we use different loud-
nesses when we speak, and, apart
from the actual note we are speaking
on, we use d fferent kinds of what is
often called color in our voices. We
speak to a child in a more tender tone
than we speak to a car conductor,
though we may speak more loudly
to the child than to him. There are
many different shades of expression
which we can put into the same words
spoken on the same notes and with
the same loudness.

Now, the reason why it has been
necessary to go so carefully into this is
that we want to find out the difference
between speaking and singing, and
the first thing we find is that in all
real points the singer does no more
than the speaker does. He uses a
variety of notes, he uses a variety of
force, he uses a variety of colors. Both
singers and speakers use a variety of
rhythm and speed.

But, nevertheless, no one will say
that speaking and singing are the
same, and everyone knows what it is
to hear someone speaking in a sing-
song voice. There is a common Eng-
lish word which has a very interesting
history that bears on this point. It
is the word cant. We say that a
thing is cant or that a person is canting
when we mean that he is professing
high ideas that he does not really be-
lieve. The word comes from the
Latin canto, I sing. Cant and chant
are really the same word, and we might
as well say that a person is chanting
as that he is canting.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 133

What happens when anybody speaks but by tightening or loosening our

IN A sing-song way vocal cords. If we do not use these

The explanation is that at a very intervals when we sing, people say

interesting time in history there were that we are singing out of tune, and

certain people, having very strict go out of the room as quickly as

views on many things, who had the possible, and we are only asked to

habit of speaking in a sing-song way. sing by people who have never heard

When they spoke they rather chanted, us sing before.

Their enemies said that they did not Why different people have different

believe what they professed, and so kinds of voices

the word cant, w^hich really means But the violinist can also move his

singing, came to mean insincerity. bow across a string and make it sound.

Now let us ask what it is that hap- while, at the same time, instead of

pens when a person, who was speaking stopping the string at certain intervals,

in the ordinary way, speaks in a sing- he slides a finger right along the string,

song way, or actually sings. What So, as the string gets gradually longer

happens is that he now produces notes or shorter, he produces a series of

which have fixed regular intervals notes — thousands in number really —

between them, like the notes on a which cannot be imitated on the

piano. When we speak we do not piano. Now, our vocal cords can

use the fixed musical intervals of have any tightness or slackness, and

pitch, but slide the voice up and down, so it is possible for us to pitch our

without taking any notice of the fixed voices, as we speak, at any point we

intervals of music at all. It is true, like, just as if the violinist were to

also, that as a rule, when we speak, stop moving his finger at any point

we may keep our voice within the along the string of his instrument,

limits of, perhaps, half an octave or One of the great differences between

less, while when we sing we may range voices is in the person's choice of the

over a couple of octaves or more. But notes he speaks on. It might be

though this is evident directly we supposed that if one did not sing, it

think about it, it is not the real differ- would be all the same what notes one

ence between speaking and singing, spoke on; but we all know that there

which is that in singing we use only are people to whose speaking it is a

notes with fixed intervals between real musical delight to listen. It may

them, while in speaking we let our be noticed sometimes that well-trained

voice rest just where we please. If singers who sing quite well, but are

we think of a violin, we can, perhaps, not really musical, speak unmusically,

understand this better. A player gets and everyone knows cases of people

definite notes on the violin, such as who do not sing at all, but who have

the notes that are on the piano, by most beautiful speaking voices. To

placing his fingers firmly on the strings people with sensitive ears there is

at fixed intervals. scarcely a greater delight in life than

One of the great problems for the to be surrounded by people with

player is to get his fingers always at beautiful speaking voices, and one of

exactly the right places on the string, the reasons why we ought to study

Now, when we sing, it is as if we were this question here is that we are

using just those intervals, only that, running a grave risk today of losing

as we have seen, we do not get our the beauty of our speaking voices,

notes by the violin player's method, and for several reasons.

ISJt

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The great care that should be taken
OF the voice in large families

One reason is simply the way in
which we crowd together. It is prob-
ably safe to say that more pleasant
speaking voices come from small
families than from large ones. If we
are one of twelve children, and we
want to be heard — well, we are rather
apt to discover which is the most
piercing tone we can produce, and
then, perhaps, we use that all the rest
of our life. People should take great
care of their children's voices in this
respect, especially when there are
many children, and they all want to
speak at once and be heard.

Perhaps it would be a good rule to
listen first to the one who spoke most
nicely and quietly.

A person who speaks in a high-
pitched, harsh tone — as if he scarcely
expected to be heard, but meant to
have a try — tells us something about
himself and his surroundings. Con-
trast that with the woman who
speaks in a voice rather low-pitched,
quiet, and musical. In so doing, she
almost tells us — does she not — that
she is accustomed to live in surround-
ings of peace and quiet where people
do not interrupt each other, where no
one shouts, and that she, indeed,
would rather not be heard at all than
make distressing noises. In perhaps
the most heart-breaking scene he ever
wrote, Shakespeare makes poor King
Lear say of his daughter Cordelia:
"Her voice was ever soft, gentle, and
low, an excellent thing in woman."

To some children who read these
words, this may appear not very im-
portant; but if we wait until we are
unhappy, or until we are ill, or until
we have to live with one and the same
person all our life, then we shall find
out what a difference it makes to be
surrounded by people with soft speak-
ing voices.

The great value of cultivating a

SOFT and gentle VOICE

There are doctors and there are
nurses who are worth far more than
others are to their patients, not
because they are more skilful or more
conscientious, but because they have
the kind of voice that often goes half-
way to making a sick person well.

Every year hundreds of thousands
of dollars are spent on singing lessons
and on listening to singers. That is
all very well in its way, but it is a
curious thing that so few of us trouble
at all about speaking lessons or about
making any conscious effort at all to
speak nicely. Parents will cheerfully
spend large sums of money on having
their children taught to sing, and will,
at the same time, allow those children
to talk regularly in a way which would
distress any dog.

We already know upon what the
pitch of the voice depends, and we
know, too, that a tone of any given
pitch may have different shades of
color, or quality. This is, at first,
not easy to understand, but it becomes
clear as we study sound.
Why we can sing the different

VOWELS on the same NOTE

The fact is, that when w^e speak or
sing on a given note, that note is really
a mixture of a large number of notes.
The lowest of these is the principal
one, and is the one we hear best. But
mixed up with it there are several
others, called over-tones, which color
it and give it its quality.

Now, we all know that it is possible
to speak or sing any of the vowels on
the same note. When we read this,
we should quietly say or sing a, e, i, o, u
to ourselves on the same note — and,
of course, these are by no means all the
vowel sounds that there are. Now, if
these are all on the same note, what
makes the difference between them?
The whole difference between the

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

135

vowels consists of a difference in the
number and proportion and com-
parative loudness of the over-tones.
When we sing a, e on the same note,
the difference is that when we make
the e we do something which alters the
over-tones that made a; and so, again,
when we change the tone to o or to ah,
or to any other.

If we carefully notice when we do
this, we shall feel that something is
happening inside our mouths. We are
moving our throat in a different way;
we change the position and the shape
of the tongue, or, in some cases — as
when we change the sound to o — we
move the lips.

How WE CAN MAKE DIFFERENT SOUNDS
BY MOVING THE VOICE ORGANS

In all these cases the larynx is
unchanged, and the vocal cords are
just doing what they did at first; but
we are altering the shape of the
spaces above the larynx — the resona-
tors, as they are called — and so the
over-tones are changed, and, instead
of the particular set of over-tones
which we have agreed to call a, there
comes another which we have agreed
to call e, and so on.

Children learn to make these sounds
by imitation. That, by the way, is
no explanation of how it is done, but
still it is done. Now, youth is the
time for learning, and afterwards not
only is it difficult to learn new things,
but also it is difficult to unlearn what
we learned in youth. Different lan-
guages have different vowel sounds.
Probably, on the whole, none of them
is more difficult to learn to pronounce
than any of the others. The question
is really at what time in our lives we
are asked to do so.

Every nation calls the sounds of the
words of every other nation jaw-
breaking for this reason. In English,
for instance, we do not have the vowel
sounds represented by the German ii

or ue; nor has our o exactly the same
sound as the Italian o. So we find it
very difficult to make those sounds
when we try to speak those languages,
and, as a rule, we do not make them
rightly. We may talk very good
German or Italian, but the German
or the Italian knows very well that
these are not the languages we learned
from the cradle.

Why a foreigner can never speak
english correctly

In just the same way, a foreigner
may use English far more correctly
and wisely than we do ourselves, but
though he lives half a century in
America, rnd though he may be a
very musical person, yet he will not
make his vowel sounds quite correctly.
The lesson of this is to teach us how
marvelously delicate are the tiny
movements of tongue and throat and
cheeks and lips which decide the
difference between ham as we say it,
and hara as a German, speaking
English, says it.

Another of the consequences of the
fact that children learn by imitation is
that if people, as children, have
unfortunately heard the vowel sounds
not quite rightly made, it is hard
work, and perhaps impossible, for
them ever afterwards to get them
quite rightly. Now, to make the
vowel sounds properly is a mark of
having a delicate ear, and of having
been surrounded by people who rather
cared about these things, and so,
though a man may speak beautifully
and be a wicked man, or talk with a
"shocking accent," as we say, and be
a hero, it is worth v/hile, perhaps, to
pay more attention to this matter
than many of us do. The number of
possible vowel sounds is almost end-
less, for every possible position of the
parts of the body concerned in speech
will alter, by affecting the over-tones,
the sound produced by the vocal

136

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

cords, and so each of these positions
will correspond to a difiFerent vowel
sound. But, as we know very well,
speech consists not only of vowel
sounds, but also of consonants, like
b, c, d, f, g, and so on, and of these,
also, there are a very large number.

The difference between a vowel
sound and a consonant sound

The first thing for us to learn is,
what makes the difference between a
vowel and a consonant, and there is
no doubt at all as to the answer.
The difference between a vowel and a
consonant is the difference between a
musical note and a noise — that is to
say, the difference between a series of
regular sound waves and an irregular
disturbance of the air. All the vowels
are musical notes ; to be more accurate,
they are blends of many musical notes
— the principal one and its over-tones.
Now, i and o are just as much musical
notes as a or ah; but if, instead of
saying ah, we say ark, we are using a
consonant, and it takes very little
time to prove that we are now making
a sound which is not a musical note
at all, but a noise. There are many
proofs of this.

For instance, the ear tells us the
difference in pleasantness between a
language full of harsh consonants,
such as German, and a "liquid"
language, as we say, like Italian,
where two consonants of different
kinds are scarcely ever allowed to be
next to each other, and where the
most is made of the vowels. In
general, the higher the proportion of
vowels to consonants in a language,
the more musical we call it.

Some sounds that nobody is able to

SING

Again, we know that it is possible
to sing a vowel, and though we may
sustain the note for many seconds,
we are all the time quite certainly
producing the sound of that particular

vowel — if we sing properly. But no
one can sing a consonant, because
every consonant is really an inter-
ruption, and nothing else, to the
musical tone produced by the larynx.
We seem to sing the letter 7n, it is true;
but, in fact, when we listen to our-
selves, we find that, after the first
instant, we are simply singing through
our nose a note which is neither m nor
anything else. This fact of the nature
of consonants, as compared with
vowels, is very important, both for
the singer and the speaker, but in
quite different ways, and everyone
who speaks or sings knows the dif-
ference.

Why a SINGER likes to sing IN ITALIAN

The first business of the singer is to
sing — that is to say, to make music.
But the singer is, as a rule, asked to
sing words, though sometimes he may
be allowed to sing for a little while a
mere vowel like ah; and words are
made up of vowels and consonants —
that is, of sounds which are them-
selves musical, and sounds which
are the very opposite of musical; some
very unmusical, like s, and some less
so, like /.

Thus, for choice, the singer will use
a language, such as Italian, where the
proportion of vowels to consonants
is high, and when the consonants do
come in, which, of course, they must
if what he says is to be understood,
he makes a point of dealing with
them very quicklj\ Let them be
definitely uttered, so that the people
may hear what is being sung; but let
this be done very quickly, because they
are noises interrupting the music —
every one of them. When we begin
to learn to sing, we are all liable to try
to sing on the consonants, and the
first thing we have to learn is to do the
singing on the vowels, which alone can
really be sung. It is interesting to
note, by the way, that the air-waves

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

137

made in singing, and even in speaking,
will throw scattered powder into
patterns, and on an accompanying
page are some pictures drawn by the
human voice.

The great importance to a speaker
of pronouncing his consonants well

To return to speaking, the first
business of a speaker, as contrasted
with a singer, is to be understood, and
when we come to study the words of
any language, we find that the
differences between them are due more
to consonants than to vowels. The
rule for the speaker, therefore, is
exactly the opposite of the rule for
the singer. Whatever happens, he
must make no mistake about his
consonants. He must not drop his
voice at the ends of sentences or at
the ends of words. It may be just
at the end of the word that the con-
sonant comes which tells people what
the word really is. The fortunate and
rare speaker is he who manages to get
his consonants clearly enough sounded
so as to be understood, and yet is not
compelled to sacrifice all the music of
his vowels. Such a speaker is a
delight to listen to, for he satisfies
both needs of his audience — the need
of pleasant sound and of understand-
ing without effort.

We do not need to study the con-
sonants very long before we find,
either by noticing what happens in
ourselves or by looking at other
people, that they can be classed.
Certain parts of the organs of speech
are specially used in making one set
of consonants, and other parts in
making other sets. For instance, we

notice that we make p, h, and m with
our lips, and so they are called the
labial consonants, after the Latin
word for lip. The first two we make
by a little explosion of the lips, the
difference between them being due not
to the violence of the explosion, but
to the quickness of it.

The use of the tongue and the teeth
in pronouncing our words

Then we notice that the tongue is
mainly used in the making of such
vowels as I and r. There is certainly
no doubt about the r if we roll it.
Then there are certain consonants
where there is no doubt that we use
the teeth, as, for instance, d and t,
and these are called dentals ; and there
are others, such as the sound ng, in
which we evidently use the soft palate
— that is, the back part of the roof of
the mouth. So we call that a palatal
consonant.

The larynx has nothing to do with
the consonants, for, as we have seen,
its business is to produce musical
tones. We have also seen that the
quality of sound produced decides the
vowel, and that this is decided by the
position of the tongue, the lips, and
so on. It follows that if we allow air
to pass up between the vocal cords,
but without using them, we can still
produce all the vowels and con-
sonants; in other words, we can
whisper, and that is what whispering is.

Thus, just as there are defects in
speech due to defects in the machine,
as, for instance, loss of the teeth, so
also there are defects due to what
controls the machine, and the chief
of these is what we call stammering.

138

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

\ ^M

l^!E»fmi&r.|

\ Nerve oi
\ Smell ^

r^^]^-==-c:

W^. Fibres of the

/^tKtm

/ ^^^^^^^^HB

yHal^tt.

' /illllliPiKPP. 1

/ -^^H^ partition Bone ',
/ iHHHKf'^ the Nasal ca

■^

\ ^^^^^^VnJnsMBiRBP*

^^^1^

) ^^1^^.^-^

^^H/F^ Tongue ^[Hhk

In the first of these pictures we see the outer side of the nose, with the nerves of smell and feeling, and the second
picture shows the inner part of the nose, with the dividing plate of bone between the two nostrils.

SMELL AND TASTE

SMELL and taste are two senses have been carried through the air to

which are of very trifling im- the nose. This fact that smell and

portance compared with hearing taste are so limited in their range makes

and vision, and we certainly need them very inferior to hearing and

waste no time in troubling to ask how vision.

they may be taken care of; but they Only a very small part of our knowl-

are, nevertheless, very interesting, edge of the world in which we live

These two senses are often called the enters by these two gateways of knowl-

chemical senses.
Unlike hearing
and vision, they
do not depend up-
on waves, whether
in the ether or in
the air. We only
smell or taste
wdien the thing is
actually touching
the parts of the
body which have
this power; we see
and hear at a dis-
tance, so to speak,
but we cannot
smell or taste at a
distance. When
we seem to smell
at a distance, par-
ticles of the thing
we are smelling

M'imatfi^^. " wm^

m'' IH^^^H

1 ' IHkHH

M^ .iUA"^^^^^^^^

' ^^^KB^^^^Ktfx^£T^^^a£}:9''jr -'^//f i i^ ^

Tast

T-^^^^^^^jf

oud

t-^SKtlKBM^^KHi^^// // ^

m: sam^^^^

I^^^^^H^p /4'/

Buds ' ■ - ■ • •". !■ /'•■

In this picture of the tongue, the side has been removed
to show how the nerves run from the sense organs, or buds
of taste, to the brain. The taste buds are grouped at the
back and tip of the tongue.

edge — the senses
of taste and smell.
We know that
these two senses
are in great decline
among the higher
animals, and espe-
cially in mankind.
While the senses
of vision and hear-
ing have become
more important,
the senses of taste
and smell have
become less so.
These two senses
are closely allied,
and they very
commonly work
together. The
taste of such a
thing as cinnamon

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 139

is very like its smell. A very so does a thing like ammonia, which is

large part of what we usually call irritating, besides having a smell,

taste is really smell. This is true But this pair of nerves is not affected

not only of the aroma of coffee or tea, at all by scents that are not irritating,

but also of the flavors of ordinary The other pair of nerves that come

articles of diet. We can prove this to the nose are the nerves of smell;

for ourselves by noticing how differ- they are known as the first pair of

ently our food seems to taste when the nerves, because they come off from the

nose is thrown out of action by a bad brain in front of any others. These

cold. nerves are apt to wear out, so to

We do not smell with the whole of speak, in old age, so that old people
our nose. Careful study with the lose, in some degree, their sense of
microscope shows us exactly what part smell, just as they often become deaf,
of the nose we do smell with. Rough- As everyone knows, there is an end-
ly speaking, we may say that it is the less number of possible smells. Nat-
roof of the nose and the upper third urally, we wish to try to group them
of it that we smell by. in the same manner that we group

The rest of the nose is lined by cells tastes, but it really is very diflScult

which have little projections that to classify smells in any way that

wave backwards and forwards and people would agree upon. A very

keep the channel clear; but the smell large number of oils found in plants

region of the nose is lined by special have rather the same sort of smell,

smell-cells, which correspond to the though, perhaps, it is not very easy

special cells that we found in the inner to recognize any particular resem-

ear and in the retina. Each of the blance between such smells as turpen-

smell-cells is connected with a tiny tine and lavender,

nerve-fiber of its own. We find that family likeness of smells

this tiny nerve-fiber really grows out Still, on the whole, there is a gen-

of the smell-cell, which is therefore a eral family likeness between the smells

nerve-cell that has become changed, of plants and flowers; and, when we

This is different from the rods and examine the oils that cause these

cones of the retina, or from the special smells, we find that they are related

cells in the inner ear, because they are to each other in their chemical build,

not changed nerve-cells. The differ- There are certain other groups of

ence probably indicates to us how smells, such as the group, to which

very ancient the sense of smell is, carbolic acid belongs; and we can

dating back to a time in the history of learn enough to see that there is a

the body long before so many different connection between the chemistry of

cells had been made for so many dif- a compound and its smell, but that is

ferent purposes as we find nowadays, about all we can say. It is interesting

The nerves in the nose to notice that electricity can stimulate

The nose is supplied by two pairs of our sense of smell as it can stimulate

nerves coming from the brain. These all our senses, and the sensation it

two pairs of nerves are quite different causes is rather like the smell of

in their duties. One pair has nothing phosphorus. It has also been shown

to do with smell at all, but has to do that if we take a series of chemical

with ordinary feelings in the nose, substances which differ from one an-

Any thing tickling, or pricking, or other in a regular way, their properties

hurting the nose affects these nerves; of smell also differ regularly.

WHY WE SHOULD BREATHE THROUGH THE NOSE

All sensible people breathe through the nose and not through the mouth, and this picture shows the reason why. The
little hairs lining the channels of the nose act as a filter, keeping back dust and other harmful things, and the value of
ihis filter is lost if we breathe through the mouth, where dust and germs have free entrance into the lungs. This pic-
ture shows also the little cells which enable us to smell, and the picture on page 138 shows more clearly the nerve of
smell, seen at the top of this picture. When we smell a thing, small parts of it break away and touch the cells
which live on the nerve of smell, and these cells can detect a particle of musk that weighs only a thirty-millionth of a
grain, the sense of smell being more acute even than the eye aided by the microscope.

14&

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

For instance, there is a long series
of chemical substances beginning with
marsh-gas. This has no smell — a very
unfortunate fact for miners. The
next member of the marsh-gas series
has a faint smell, and farther on in the
list the smells become very strong.
It is also noticed that the things which
have the most smell are the things,
as a rule, which weigh heaviest.

Sir William Ramsay advanced a
theory about smell, more than a quar-
ter of a century ago, which is probably
nearer ths truth than anything else
we can say. He thought that the
power of exciting smell increases with
the size of the molecules of a substance,
provided, of course, that it is a liquid,
or a gas, and not solid. Hydrogen,
oxygen, and nitrogen have no smell,
probably because their molecules are
too small.
What smell depends upon and what

TASTE does not DEPEND UPON

The first member of the series of
alcohols has no smell; the next, which
has a larger molecule, has a faint
smell; and the still heavier alcohols
have very decided smells. All this is
very far from fully explaining to us
what happens when we smell.

It is interesting to notice that sneez-
ing cannot be excited through the
nerves of smell, though it can be ex-
cited through the nerves of ordinary
feeling in the nose, and through the
nerves of sight. Lastly, it is noticed
in the case of all the senses, more or
less, that they are aroused by differ-
ences outside them, and soon take
much less notice of what excited them
very much at first, if it remains the
same.

This is more striking, perhaps,
in the case of smell than in that of
any other sense. We have all noticed
how quickly we cease to be aware
of a smell which at first was perhaps
very unpleasant.

Taste

The sense of taste resides mainly
in the tongue, but does not depend
alone on the tongue. The special
cells which are concerned with it,
corresponding to the special cells
found in the organs of the other senses,
may also be discovered on the lower
surface of the soft palate, and scattered
over part of the throat in front of the
tonsils on each side. A person who
has lost his tongue does not entirely
lose his sense of taste.

As in other cases, special nerve-
fibers run to the cells of taste, which
are most rich on the back part of the
tongue, along the upper part of the
edge of the tongue, and its tip. Taste
is much less acute on the front part
of the surface of the tongue. We
can notice this especially if we place
a quinine powder there and then
swallow it.

Tastes can be classified much better
than smells. Most of them come
under the headings of bitter, sweet,
acid, alkaline, and salt. The last
three of these are probably not pure
tastes, but mixtures of taste and
ordinary feeling, so they can become
painful when they are very strong.
But bitter and sweet are probably
pure tastes, and, however strong, and
unpleasant, they can never cause such
pain as the others do.

If things are to be tasted, they must
be dissolved in a liquid.

With great labor and difficulty, the
nerve-fibers that have to do with
taste have been traced from the
tongue, palate, and throat to the
brain. The curious thing is that
there are not separate nerves of taste as
there are nerves of smell, vision, and
hearing; but the special nerve-fibers
of taste run along in other nerves
which have nothing to do with taste,
and they do so in a most extra-
ordinarily complicated way.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

In the left-hand picture, showing a nerve-cell magnified, we see the nucleus and nerve-fibers. These fibers may inter-
twine with those of another cell, as seen In the right-hand picture, but they never unite. The middle picture shows a
bundle of nerve-flbers in their sheath, with smaller bundles branching oft.

THE FOREST OF NERVES WITHIN US

IF we feel gently at the back of the
elbow, rather towards the inner
side, we find a thing that feels
like a sort of cord, and if we squeeze
it or knock it accidentally, we discover
that it is what we call the "funny-
bone." It is a nerve, and therefore
belongs to the most marvelous of all
marvelous things. If we take a
nerve and look at it, we find that it
is just a cord made up of tiny threads
which are called fibers. It is these
fibers that are the real nerves. The
big cord is simply a bundle of them
bound together into a larger cord.

A nerve-fiber is a thing which is
probably not to be found anywhere
in the vegetable world, but these
things begin to appear quite low in the
scale of the animal world, and their
importance and number become great-
er and greater as we ascend. There is
no part of the body that has not nerves
supplied to it, and there is no part of
the body that does not suffer in some
way or another if the nerves running
to it be damaged or cut.

When we examine a nerve-fiber, we
find that it is a very long thread,
usually surrounded by a sheath or
coat which contains a quantity of a
special kind of fat. There are a

great many points of view from which
we can think of a nerve as if it were
an electrical wire, and the sheath may
be regarded as what is called an in-
sulator — a thing to prevent the cur-
rent that flows in the nerve from leak-
ing outside it. It is very interesting
to take a modern electrical cable such
as men lay in the Atlantic Ocean, and
to cut it across and see what it looks
like; and then to take a good-sized
nerve and cut it across and magnify
it so as to compare it with the cut
cable. We see at once that men have
found it useful to make their cables
on exactly the same principle as nerves
are made, wath bundles of fibers big
and little, all carefully insulated from
each other. Of course, the nerve is
much more w^onderful, but the gen-
eral principles of the way in which the
nerve-fibers are packed together, and
the way in which each is sheathed so
as to prevent any leakage of its pre-
cious current, are really just the same
as in the case of the cable.

When we excite our "funny-bone,"
as we call it, by hitting it, we feel a
tingling in our fingers. We have ex-
cited the fibers which carry feeling
along the nerve from the fingers to
the brain. In other cases when we

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

excite a nerve, muscles will twitch.
We have excited fibers which carry
orders along the nerve from the brain
to those muscles. This shows that
nerves carry something, and may do
so in either direction, from the brain,
or to the brain. The nerve-fiber is
therefore a conductor. It is just like
the wires in the cable. They do not
make messages, but they carry them.
What runs along the wire will run in
either direction. Any particular nerve-
fiber carries what it carries only in
one direction; however, it has been
proven that it may carry messages in
either direction.

The living nerve that carries mes-
sages THROUGH OUR BODIES

The wire carries an electrical cur-
rent. As long as the wire is not bro-
ken, and is properly insulated, the
current will run. The wire is not
alive, and, though we by no means
understand what happens in it, yet
it has not about it the mystery which
we find when we look at a nerve.

For the noteworthy thing about a
nerve is that it will only carry what it
carries when it is alive. We can re-
move a piece of nerve from an animal
that has been killed, and can study it
in various ways. If we keep it moist
with water containing a little salt,
and if we keep it warm enough, it will
live for quite a long time, and as long
as it is alive things that disturb one
end of it will send something through
it. But when it dies it will no more
carry messages than a piece of string
will.

What makes the difference be-
tween life and death in the nerve we
cannot understand until some day,
perhaps, we shall learn what life is.
We can see no change under the
microscope to account for this differ-
ence, for we have to kill the nerve in
order to look at it under the micro-
scope.

The MYSTERY OF THE NERVE CURRENT
THAT NO MAN CAN UNDERSTAND

The thing that runs along the
nerve we call a nerve-current, or a
nervous current. Current simply
means something that runs, and that
is really almost all we know about it.
It is not the same as anything else in
the world; it directly depends upon
the life of the nerve, as we have seen.
It is not electricity. Curious changes
are produced in a nerve when a nerve-
current runs along it, and among these
changes is the production of electrical
currents of various kinds, which have
been long and carefully studied. These
show that an electrical change has
been produced in the nerve when a
nerve-current runs along it, and the
study of these electrical changes may
help us to understand the nerve, but it
is a very great and serious mistake to
suppose that the nerve-current is
electrical.

Electrical currents in a cable or any-
where else move at a wholly different
speed from that of a nerve-current.
Nerve-currents have been measured
again and again, and they travel at
rates which, compared with the move-
ment of electricity, are very slow.
The rate of a nerve-current seems to
be about the same as the rate at which
a baseball can be thrown. An elec-
trical current is hundreds of thou-
sands of times faster.

Nothing seems to be used up in a
nerve when it conveys a current, any
more than in the case of a telegraph
wire. So we cannot make a nerve
tired. As long as it remains alive, it
will go on sending currents as often
as we choose to start them in it. The
case of a nerve-cell is very different.

The NERVE-CELLS UPON WHICH ALL
OUR FEELINGS DEPEND

We have only been talking about
conductors, remember. We have, so
to speak, taken a piece of one of these

m THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

conductors, just as if one took a piece have one fiber coming out from each
out of a cable, and we have studied end of them. The fibers from any
that. But if we wished really to nerve-ce!l are very often found going
understand telegraphy, we should to meet the fibers from another nerve-
have to study what is at the ends of cell. Suppose, then, we can trace a
the cable, and that applies to the case nerve-fiber from a cell somewhere in
of the nerve, too. We found that we the brain, for instance, and we find
could excite a nerve by hitting it that it meets another fiber from
against something, as when we hit our another cell, perhaps at some other
funny-bone, or by pinching it; and place in the brain. It is interesting to
there are dozens of other ways, as, know whether the two fibers run into
for instance, by giving one end of it each other. Careful study shows that
an electrical shock, dropping chemi- the fibers never run into each other,
cals on it, and so on. But, of course. At their extreme ends they break up
that is not what happens naturally into tiny little fingers, so to speak,
in our bodies. We must find where and the fingers of the two fibers will
the nerve comes from. interlace; but they never run into
Every nerve-fiber grows out of a each other. If we study parts of the
nerve-cell. It is part of that cell, brain where many nerve-cells and
It is only the servant of the cell, nerve-fibers exist together, we find, as
carrying orders from it or messages to someone has said, that it is very like
it. The real thing, where the greatest a dense forest. Their leaves and
mystery lies, and upon which every- branches intermingle with each other
thing depends, is the nerve-cell. When in the closest possible way; but they
we study the development of the body, never actually join. We shall never
we find that every nerve grows out of find a leaf that belongs to two trees,
the cell that it belongs to; we find What the simple brain of a bee or
also that, if a nerve be cut across the wasp is like
part which is next the cell is unhurt All this is very important, because
but the part which is separated from it teaches us that just as a gas is
the cell invariably dies. We find also made of atoms, just as the body as a
that, if a nerve cell is destroyed or whole is made of cells, so the nervous
poisoned, the nerve-fiber running out system is made up of true units which
from it invariably dies, and if the are also cells, and though these cells
nerve-cell has been actually killed, are of a very peculiar kind and produce
that nerve-fiber can never recover, fibers which may run right away

So these "cable wires" are not from the body of the cell for inches or

merely alive, but they are created even feet, yet each cell remains a true

by living cells, of which, indeed, they unit.

are living parts. That is one of the In the very lowest animals that have

marvels which make a cable a very nerve-cells and nerves, the number is

simple thing indeed compared with very few, and the arrangement very

a nerve. simple. They are usually arranged

The dense forest of nerves that merely to carry feeling from the out-

GROWS UP IN OUR BODY sidc of the animal to its inside. But

A nerve-cell may have only one as we ascend the scale, nerve-cells and

fiber coming from it, or it may have nerves get more numerous, and often,

several. Very frequently, for certain for convenience, numbers of them get

purposes, we find nerve-cells which bunched together into little balls.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

each of which is a sort of nervous
center, perhaps somewhat Hke a tele-
phone exchange.

When these collections of nerve-
cells become very large, they make a
thing that we can only call a brain,
and such are the brains of a bee or a
wasp, for instance. The whole ar-
rangement of nerve-cells and nerve-
fibers is called a nervous system.

When the first backbones came
into existence, there also came into
existence a number of new nerve-
cells and nerve-fibers, and the central
home of this new nervous system was
inside the backbone. The old nervous
system, such as the insects have,
remained, and communications were
established between it and the new
nervous system.

How THE BRAIN SENDS AND RECEIVES
MESSAGES THROUGH THE NERVES

In all animals that have backbones,
both these nervous systems are found,
and we may say very roughly that
while the old one, which we ourselves
inherit from the days before backbones,
looks after the interior life of the body,
it is the new nervous system that is
the instrument of the mind. At its
upper end, the long tube inside the
backbone opens out, as we know, into
the hollow skull; and in the same way
the nervous matter which is found in
the backbone, and which we call the
spinal cord, becomes enlarged, and
forms what we call the brain.

The brain and the spinal cord form
what is often called the central nervous
system. Through holes in the skull
and through openings in the backbone
run nerves which connect the central
nervous system with every part of
the body, and every part of the body
with the central nervous system.

It seems quite clear that, whether
we. take the group of cells that forms
a mere hair or any other of the least
important parts of the body, we

always find that it has a perfect
double connection with the central
nervous system. The brain, or the
spinal cord, or both, can send to it
messages upon which its life depends,
and it, on the other hand, can send
messages to them.

When we come to study the central
nervous system, we find it so arranged
by means of this double connection
that every tiniest part of the body is
really in true communication, when
necessary, with every other part of
the body without exception. It is
this amazing fact that helps to explain
how the body becomes a whole in
spite of the infinite variety and num-
ber of its parts. In no city on earth,
however rich in telephones, and speak-
ing tubes, and telegraphs, and post-
offices, and messenger boys, is there
any arrangement a thousandth part as
wonderful as the arrangement by
which the nervous system connects
all the parts of the city of Mansoul,
as John Bunyan called it.

The FOREST of nerves running TO AND
FROM EVERY PART OF OUR BODY

We have already learned what is
necessary regarding nerves. If we
simply understand that the lining of
the heart, the wall of a vein, the
base of a nail, every muscle-fiber, and
all other parts of the body are doubly
connected by nerves with the central
nervous system, we do not need to
inquire how and where these nerves
run; though, of course, the doctor has
to spend long months and years in
studying this. We must devote our-
selves now to the central nervous
system, and especially the brain.

The central nervous system con-
sists, in a way, of a number of levels,
or layers, and, as the bodies of animals
have become more and more wonder-
ful, new layers have been piled up on
the older ones, and each new layer is
the master of all the layers below it.

U6 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

It is in this way that we can come to business, then these fibers are Uke the

understand the working of the brain private wires that do not come from

and the spinal cord. The spinal cord or go to the outer world, but connect

is very old; its business nowadays is one part of the place of business with

to attend to things which are beneath another.

the notice of the brain, as, for instance, the wonderful box in which the

the movements of the stomach and central nervous system is kept

that kind of thing. It is a sort of The usefulness of the spinal cord

highly trusted and responsible foreman very largely depends upon the proper

in the house of man, and, like other working of these beautiful arrange-

foremen, it not only looks after a ments which keep every part of it

great many small matters on its own informed as to what every other part

account, so as not to trouble the of it is doing, and enable different parts

master, but it is also the master's of it to act in harmony when they so

means of communication. As a rule, require — which is practically always,

the master gives orders to the foreman. The picture on another page shows

and then he does the rest. us the central nervous system as it

The spinal cord that acts as fore- appears when taken out of the won-

MAN TO THE BRAIN dcrful box — tlic skull and backbone —

On the other hand, tradespeople which exists to protect it. We see
and so forth, when they have any- how, at its upper end, the spinal cord
thing to say, do not go to the master, becomes slightly thicker so as to form
but interview the foreman, and he what we might call a bulb. That,
takes the message to the master; so indeed, is one of the names for this
also does the spinal cord. When we part of the brain. It contains the
close our hands, the brain, which gave group of nerve-cells which controls
the order, did not speak directly to the our breathing, and the destruction of
muscles of the hand. No nerve- which means instant death; also
fibers run directly from the brain to another group of nerve-cells which
those muscles, but nerve-fibers do run controls the heart; another group
from the brain to the spinal cord, which controls the size of the blood-
which is the foreman. They give vessels; another for the acts of sucking
orders to certain nerve-cells in the and swallowing; another which con-
spinal cord, and from those nerve- trols perspiration; and there are prob-
cells there run fibers which go to the ably more. All of these are contained
muscles of the hand. in a little portion of nervous tissue

If we cut across the spinal cord, and that is just about the size of the end

take a very thin slice of it and stain it of one's thumb. Above the bulb,

with various dyes that will show up the things become very complicated. If

way in which it is made, we find that we had to begin with the study of the

its structure exactly corresponds with grown-up human brain, we should

its duties. We find in it fibers and never find the key to it; but if we

cells. Some of these fibers are running study the brain as it develops, and if

to the brain, some from the brain; a we study the brain in animals, the

great many of them arise from cells in thing becomes clear. We see quite

the spinal cord, and run to other parts plainly that what is the lower under-

of the spinal cord, and end there. If, neath part of the brain in us, all

for a moment, we think of the spinal huddled and squeezed together and

cord as a huge exchange, or place of completely poked out of sight by

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE U7

something else that has grown over it, portant that our control of movement
is the old brain, the first brain that should be as fine as possible,
ever was, so to speak. It contains It can be proved that in the main
countless numbers of nerve-cells, ar- line of ascent of life, more and more
ranged in groups with different duties, delicacy and accuracy of movement
It is mostly concerned with move- have always appeared. Part of the
ments of the body, and in lower history of progress is the replacing of
animals it is also the place where strength by skill. Babies and small
hearing and seeing and feeling are children are very clumsy, and as they
done. In ourselves we know that gradually become more skilful, this
some of these senses have become so means mainly that the cerebellum is
delicate and wonderful that they developing and getting the powers
require new machinery, and the old which it has in grown-up people. In
centers which were good enough for proportion to size of the whole body,
lower animals are now, in us, only the clumsy, stupid animals are those
half-way houses towards the new that have a very small cerebellum,
brain. The best example of this is one of the
Behind the old brain there is a most stupid of all the higher animals,
large and important piece of nervous the hippopotamus. We can under-
tissue which has a name that really stand that when we catch anything,
means the little brain. It is called following it with our eyes, and then
the cerebellum. This cerebellum, we getting our hands or our mouth to it,
have found, gets larger and larger in we must be using the cerebellum,
higher forms of life, but we cannot The hippopotamus has practically no
find that it has anything to do with idea of catching at all. It takes a
feeling. We do not hear or see there, very long time to even see things that
it starts no movements, and certainly it likes, and if they get into a corner,
the will and the powers of thinking it is so clumsy that it has not sense
do not live there. We find that it is a enough to use either its feet or its
great instrument for making the body mouth to get them out again,
do what we want. The power of the little brain of the great hippo-
balancing the body lives there. A pot am us
drunken man staggers because he has All this depends upon the smallness
poisoned his cerebellum. Also the of its brain, and especially of its cere-
balanced use of the muscles for com- bellum. It is reckoned that the brain
plicated and delicate actions, like of the hippopotamus weighs about the
painting or playing the violin, depends same as that of the horse, the weight
upon the control of the cerebellum, of whose body is only one-fifth as
It may be thought that these duties great. It has been proved over and
are not very exalted, and we may over again that, in the history of life,
wonder, therefore, why the cere- success has always gone more and more
bellum should get bigger as we ascend to brains, to skill as against strength,
in the scale of life. But we have to mind as against muscle. The
already learned that the one thing in hippopotamus is a remarkable instance
the world that we can do is to move of an animal that has survived
things, our bodies and things outside through long ages from the days when
them. Through this power of move- brains in general were much smaller
ment, and only through it, our minds than they are now, and the explanation
can live and act. So it is very im- is not to be found in its huge size and

U8 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

strength, but entirely in its mode of to have special purposes of their own,

life. Its size and strength could never and every finger becomes precious,
have saved it against better brains. Cleverer even than the half-erect

In the past there have been far apes is man, who, after crawling baby-
bigger and stronger animals than even hood is past, frees his fore limbs for-
the hippopotamus, and they have all ever from the duty of locomotion,
died out, but the hippopotamus is and learns how to use every one of his
content to live upon grass and similar fingers separately, as with the type-
plants growing in rivers. It has its writer or the piano. There has there-
nostrils right on the very top of its fore been an immense development of
face, so to speak, and so it can lie with skill in man — though mere strength
its whole body in the water, and just has decidedly fallen off — and with it
leave its nostrils above to breathe by. there has necessarily gone a great
In this way it saves itself by hiding, development of the cerebellum,
and still lives on, while the other This is very interesting, because it
stronger and wiser animals have com- helps us not only to understand the
pletely disappeared from the earth. brain, but also to understand children.

As we pass upwards in the scale of Children belong to a race that lives

life, we find that with the growth of in the world by its ingenuity of all

the cerebellum, and the development kinds, and so they like to practice

of skill, there comes a time when even their skill. This is why children love

the mouth, that dogs and cats and games of skill, and this especially is

lions and sea-lions are so quick in why, ever since children existed, they

using, is not a good enough instru- were fond of balls,

ment for the clever brain. Why it is right that boys and girls
The use of the arms which gives should play

MAN his great POWER Of coursc, growu-up people do not

Something even better is required, like to have their windows broken;

and so, in the main line of ascent, we but still it is right and natural for

find that the animals called lemurs, children to play. What we call play,

which are a very humble and ancient and stupidly think of as waste of

kind of monkey, use their hands a time, is now known by wise people to

little for grasping as well as walking, be part of the necessary education of

though they prefer to use their a child, if it is to reach the best

mouths, as anyone can see who feeds possible for it in health of mind and

them at the Zoo. But when we reach body. Its play is really an essential

the highest apes, we see that they find part of the work of the child,
and examine, and lift their food with It is a pity that many children in

their hands, and then carry it to their America have nowhere to play but

mouths. The arms, then, limbs which the street, no one to teach them good

for countless millions of years have games, and no one to care what

been used by all sorts of different becomes of them, but the time will

animals for the same purposes as the likely come when all children will be

hind legs, and for no other, now come able to have happy playtimes.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

These diagrams enable us to compare a man's brain with the brains of other creatures. The size of each is drawn in
proportion to the size of the creature's body, and we see that man's brain is very large.

MYSTERY OF THE BRAIN

WE now know that, in our-
selves, the highest and most
important part of the ner-
vous system is what may be called the
new brain. One of our illustrations
shows what it looks like when viewed
from above, and the first thing we
notice is that there is nothing else to be
seen but the new brain. It is so large,
and has grown out so far in all direc-
tions, that the whole of the older part
of the nervous system is hidden under-
neath it. In an ordinary way, when
we talk about a man's brain or brains,
it is entirely of this new brain that we
are thinking. The proper name for it
is cerebrum. The word cerebellum,
which we already know, really means
little cerebrum.

Now, our first glance at the cere-
brum shows us that it is a double
organ. It has a right half and a left
half. These two are just like each
other, though it is probable that in
right-handed people the left half, and
in left-handed people the right half,
is very slightly larger. We have,
therefore, in a sense, two brains, just
as we have two arms; for our bodies
are built upon the principle of there

being two halves corresponding to
each other. If we slightly separate
the two halves of the cerebrum, and
look down between them, we see a
mass of white nervous tissue which is
evidently running across from one side
to the other. This is a great bridge
between the two halves of the brain,
by which they are made to work and
act as one. When we look at the
surface of the brain, we see at once
that it is very much folded; all over
it the surface has been turned inwards
into deep valleys. These vary in
depth and length, but on the whole
they form a very definite pattern,

The left-hand picture shows a section across one side of
the brain, and we see by the shaded border the thickness
of the gray matter of the brain, as compared with the white
nerve-flbers. On the right is a tiny specli of the gray
matter, magnified a hundred times, showing the pyramid-
like cells and the fibers.

THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF OUR BRAINS

In this picture we see what our brain would look like
If the top of our skull could be lifted like a lid. The
cerebrum, or new brain, is the part by which we reason
out things, and it completely covers the cerebellum.

Here we are looking up at the underneath part ol the
brain, and see the nerve-endings of the various sen.ses
and of the vital organs, all cut off short, except the nerve
of smell, which is shown ending in a bulb.

The ends ot /|'
IheNerves V
SL the Brain P

V thtfhet

Ntr^ ^t/tffae» rastt

Ntr*^ ollht Lar.

irer ' ^stomach
Pi<tur«-dlaaram of a section thtough the Brain

This section of the brain, as seen from the side, should be In this side-view of the brain, we see the proportion of

compared carefully with the picture of the brain seen the skull occupied by the bram. The convolutions or
from underneath In both pictures, the nerves are shown folds, are shown, and the position of the bram in relation
In the order in which they leave the bulb, or old brain. to the spinal cord and the backbone is easily seen

150

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

151

which is the same on both sides of the
brain, and the main hnes of which are
the same in all human beings. All
the folds and the spaces between them
have special names.

First let us understand what the
folding means. The use of it is that
it permits what is really the surface
of the brain to be enormously in-
creased, without requiring it to take
up more room. Now the surface of
the brain, as we shall see, is the all-
important part. Brains have been
growing bigger in the animal world
generally for countless ages past.
This means that there has been a
great deal more room required to
house the brain in, and so skulls have
been getting larger. The size of the
skull of man, compared with the size
of his whole body, is simply gigantic.
But though this is so, it very feebly
indicates what the huge growth of
man's brain has been, simply because
the brain has grown far more quickly
than the skull, as life has ascended,
and has deeply tucked in its surface,
here and there, as it went on growing,
until there is now as much, or perhaps
considerably more, of the surface of
the brain tucked away than shows on
the outside. In general, the higher
the type of brain, the more is its sur-
face folded. We can show this wheth-
er we trace the brain upward in differ-
ent kinds of animals, or whether we
compare different human brains with
one another. As animals have be-
come more and more clever, and have
trusted more and more to brain and
skill, rather than to size and strength,
the surface of the brain has become
more folded, and people who study the
subject can tell in a moment, by
looking at the surface of the brain
alone, whether it belongs to one of
the older kinds of animals or to one
of the higher animals that have more
lately appeared on the earth.

The many folds in the brains of
very talented men

A great many brains of famous
men have been examined; many
great men, indeed, have left orders
that their brains should be examined
for the advance of knowledge. As a
general rule, these brains are found to
be very highly folded. The contrast
is very great between them and the
brains of, say such an humble type of
mankind as the Bushman of South
Africa. Of course, this means that if
we could unfold all the brains in ques-
tion, and stretch out their surfaces
quite flat, the wiser brains would be
the brains with the biggest surfaces.

The size of the skull, its shape and
the bumps on it, can tell us absolutely
nothing whatever as to how much the
brain is folded; still less as to what
we shall find when we examine more
closely what the foldings are made of.
There is, on the whole, and in a very
rough way, some correspondence be-
tween the size of the skull and the size
of the brain inside it. But, for one
thing, skulls vary in thickness; and,
for another, no one can possibly tell
what it is that is making up the size
of the brain. Even if all skulls were
the same thickness, and even if bumps
corresponded to the brain, which they
never do, the brain inside might be
large because certain spaces inside it
were swollen with fluid, or it might
be large but have a comparatively
smooth surface. It is quite easy to
understand that a well-packed brain,
which will go into a much smaller
skull than another, may yet, if un-
folded, have a far greater surface.

Why the skull can tell us nothing
about the brain

About a hundred years ago, when
practically nothing was known about
the brain, men thought that, by feel-
ing and measuring the skull, they
could learn about the brain, and so tell

152

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the character of the person to whom
it belonged. Our modern knowledge
of the brain has taught us that it is
hopeless to expect this, simply because
the things that really matter do not
affect the skull at all. If a surgical
operation were performed, so that a
considerable portion of the brain were
exposed and could be seen, then we
might, perhaps, make a very rough
guess as to what the person was like;
but as we should have to judge how
far we were right entirely by what we
knew of the person in the ordinary
way, it is difficult to see where the
advantage of such an operation would
come in.

Now, we must understand why it
is that the surface of the brain matters
so much. When we cut through the
cerebrum of any of the higher animals,
we find at once that it consists of an
outside layer, which is gray in color,
and an inside layer, which is white.
This gray layer, which covers the en-
tire brain, always dips down and up
again wherever the brain is folded.
There would be no meaning in the
folds if it did not. It is often called
the mantle, that is, something which
is stretched all over the outside of the
cerebrum.

The real brain of man that is the
most wonderful thing we know

At no part whatever of either half
of the brain, whether we look at the
part it rests upon or in the depths of
any of the folds, do we find this won-
derful mantle lacking. It is the real
brain, and, as we find it in mankind,
it is the most wonderful thing of which
we have any knowledge. It owes its
gray color, and all its meaning and
wonder, to the fact that it is mainly
made up, not of nerve-fibers, but of
nerve cells. The rest of the brain is
made up of nerve-fibers or nerves,
and these give it a white appearance,
like that of an ordinary nerve in the

arm or the leg; but the gray mantle
contains only comparatively few nerve
fibers, which connect its different
parts in some degree.

How THE REAL BRAIN IS MADE UP OF
THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS OF CELLS

What really makes up the gray
mantle is thousands of millions of
nerve-cells. These nerve-cells are
vastly more wonderful even than
those we find in the spinal cord, or
those which are in the medulla and
control our breathing, for they have
to do with thinking, not to mention
seeing and hearing, and so on.

Only a very few years ago, it used
simply to be taught that when we
take a very thin layer of this gray
mantle, and look at it under the
microscope, we see five layers of cells
in it; one on the very surface of the
brain, and so on, until the fifth lies
next the white matter inside the
brain. We can recognize these five
layers because the cells in the different
layers differ rather from one another
in their size and shape and number.
But now we can go much farther than
that. It is, in general, true that we
find about five layers of cells in any
part of the gray mantle that we care
to examine, but we also find that the
cells differ very definitely in different
parts of the brain. Also, if we care-
fully examine corresponding parts of
the brain in large numbers of animals
of quite different kinds, we find that
the same arrangement of cells occurs
in corresponding places.

The LIKENESS BETWEEN THE BRAIN OF A
MAN AND THE BRAIN OF AN ANIMAL

If a microscope slide containing a
large number of cells shaped like
pyramids and arranged in a certain
way were shown a man who had
studied the subject, he very likely
could not be sure what animal the
brain has belonged to, but he could
say in a moment that that was the

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

153

part of the brain which the animal
used when it wished to move its
muscles.

Again, if he saw certain curious
little groups of cells lying not very far
from the surface of the brain, he
would say, without hesitation, "that
comes from the part of the brain the
animal smelled with." No one has
the least idea yet what this particular
group of nerve-cells has to do with
smelling, but we always find them in
the smell part of the brain, and
nowhere else. This is equally true of
creatures like the dog, in whom that
part of the brain is large, and of
creatures like ourselves, in whom it
is comparatively small.

The parts of the brain which have
to do with sight and with hearing are
just as definite in their structure, so
that it is vastly easier to tell that we
are looking at something taken from
the vision part of the brain than to
tell what animal it was taken from.

The whole of the surface of the
brain has been mapped out now very
completely.

Why a MAN'S BRAIN IS BETTER THAN
AN ANIMAL'S

Now, when we have carefully learned
to map out the various brain ccjiters,
as they are called, for the motion of
muscles, for feeling from the skin, for
sight, hearing, taste, and smell, we
find that still the greater part of the
whole surface of the brain is actually
untouched. It is almost as if the
greater part of the surface of the
brain had no duties. We cannot find
that it has anything to do with any
of the duties that we can think of.

Now, when we begin to examine the
brains of other animals, it soon
becomes possible to take, shall we say,
twenty different brains, and arrange
them in an ascending order, beginning
with the brain of some simpler kind
of animal, as, for instance, a rabbit.

and ending with the brain of man. If
we do this we find a very wonderful
thing. It is that the lower we go
down, the nearer together in the
brain are the different special centers
which we have already found in the
brain of man.

Indeed, when we go low enough, the
whole brain practically consists of
these various centers — for motion,
and seeing, and so on — all lying right
up next to each other. They make
the brain. But to look at it the other
way, as brains improve and get bigger,
what happens is, not that these
various centers get bigger, but that
they become gradually separated from
each other by the growth of new parts
of the brain which appear and come
to lie between the old centers. This
process goes on and on, until at last
in mankind, and only in mankind, it
has reached the stage at which the
various special centers, which long
ago lay all together and were the
brain, have become mere patches that
lie here and there on the surface of
man's huge brain.

What, then, is the meaning and the
duty of these great new places that
have come into existence, and to
which the growth in the size of the
brain is really due? When we ques-
tion them, they are silent ; indeed, they
have been called the silent areas. We
shall surely get some help in our
studies if we can trace the course of
the nerve-fibers that run out from the
nerve-cells in these particular areas.

The wonderful fibers that link all
OUR senses together

As regards the special centers, we

find that the fibers from the cells in

them run just where we should expect.

The fibers from the seeing centers run

straight to the eye, the fibers from the

hearing center are connected with the

ear, the fibers from the center for

movement run down into the spinal

15Jt

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

cord and are connected with the
nerves that go to the muscles. These
facts, of course, help to give us the
key to the duties of these centers. If
now we can find where the nerves run
to from the silent areas, we shall guess
what these areas really do, and it
must be something very important
indeed, because, whatever it is, it
seems to explain the real difference
between clever animals and stupid
ones, high ones and low ones.

We find, then, that these fibers
from the silent areas run in every
possible direction, but in very definite
groups and ways, to the other centers
of the brain. What they do is to
associate one part of the brain with
another. I think we can understand
that if there were no such things, then,
though an animal might see very well,
nothing that it saw would connect
itself in that animal's mind with
anything that it had heard, or felt, or
smelled. Now, when we come to
study the way in which we act, the
way in which we put two and two
together; when we notice how one
thing makes us think of another
thing, we begin to understand how
it is that the association fibers make
all the difference in the world between
a high brain and a low one.

Where a man's brain differs from
the brain of a dog

If we compare the spinal cord or
the medulla of a dog with that of a
man, there is nothing worth mention-
ing to choose between them. If we
compare the new brain of a dog with
that of a man, we find a difference,
but it is one which mainly consists
in association fibers and cells. If we
compare the vision center of a dog
with that of a man, we find the two
in the same part of the brain ' i each
case, and with the same special type
of cells.

The difference, however, is that the

gray mantle in the case of man is
much thicker; and when we come to
inquire into what makes it thicker,
we find that it contains a vastly
greater number of fibers, which are
running to it from other parts of the
brain, and of new cells, which have
nothing to do with seeing itself, but
which send fibers out from the seeing
center to all the other parts of the
brain. In general, then, we may say
that the differences between a high
brain and a low brain are, first, that
in the various special centers the gray
mantle is much thicker in the high
brain, because it is crammed with new
association cells; and second, that in
the high brain the special centers are
forced apart by the growth in between
them of new parts of the brain, which
do not mean the invention of any new
kinds of senses, but mean bringing all
the parts of the brain into closer rela-
tion and connection with one another.

Some of our senses that are more
noble than others

There are one or two very interest-
ing exceptions to this rule, and they
have a meaning. It must have struck
all of us, if we ever think of our senses,
that some of them are more noble
than others. We agree, do we not,
that it is a more dignified thing to
enjoy a picture than to enjoy a
chocolate.? Someone may say: "Well,
in either case, we are simply using one
of our senses; why is not one as good
as another?" But when we suppose
that vision and hearing are more
noble than taste and smell, we are
quite right, and the reason is that
they are more human. They reach
a higher development in us than in
any other creature, while so far as
concerns smell, about which a great
deal has been learned, it is probable
that our brains are far inferior to those
of almost any other creature that has
a brain at all.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 155

The sense of smell, that is weak in sense is the highest thing about it?

MAN AND STRONG IN ANIMALS ^ot at all. The point is the extent to

If we study the smell part of the which we can use the information that

brain in different kinds of animals, the sense gives us, and the way it is

we find that smell reached its per- linked up with every other part of our

fection ages ago, when vision and minds. The vulture can see a speck

hearing scarcely existed. But such on the desert sand at a tremendous

a sense as vision is far finer than distance, but will the vulture enjoy

smell, because not only does it act a fine picture, or feel itself made

at very great distances, but it gives humble and pure before a sunset?

us a thousand times more information Of course, when we ask questions like

than smell can possibly give. this, we see at once what it is that

Therefore, part of the history of really makes a sense high. No known

progress in the world of life has been animal has in the vision center of its

that sight has improved and has brain anything like the depth and

largely taken the place of smell. This variety of structure that we have in

is most marked in ourselves. The ours. This is the great fact for us to

dog is a very high kind of animal, and remember about the place where the

belongs to an order which ranks next seeing is really done,

to the monkeys themselves, and we all We have seen that smell and taste

know how splendid the dog's scent are comparatively unimportant in

may be. But in our own brains the man, and in both cases there was long

part which corresponds to smell has argument, and much work had to be

shrunk to almost nothing; it is, indeed, done, before we could be sure in what

so small that it took a very long time part of the brain these two senses really

to find where it was; while the vision lived. It might be supposed that the

part of the brain has become huge. sense of touch would not be greatly

The great growth of the back of the developed in man, and that perhaps

cerebrum in man is due to the im- it is rather falling into the back-

portance of vision to him, for it is the ground, like smell and taste. This is

extreme back part of the cerebrum, a very great error, however. The

on both sides, that we see with. Our most intelligent of all birds is the

real eyes are at the back of our heads, parrot. We notice this not only in

We have already learned that the its power of imitating sounds, but in

cerebellum is very large in us; but even many other ways,

though this is so, the vision part of why the sense of touch is called

the cerebrum has grown so enormously the mother of all the senses

that the cerebellum is completely Now, it is an interesting fact that

hidden from our sight by the cere- the parrot has a far more delicate

brum, when we look down upon the sense of touch than any other bird. It

brain from above. really has quite a good notion of using

The difference between one kind of its claws as fingers. It has the idea of

SENSE AND ANOTHER stroking and feeling what a thing is

It might be supposed that there is like as we say. Now it is not just a

something wrong here, because many chance that the most intelligent bird

animals, such as birds of prey, have is the bird with the best sense of

far keener sight than man has. That, touch. It is what we should expect,

indeed, is so; but are we right in sup- The sense of touch is the mother of

posing that the mere keenness of a all the senses, in a way, and good

156 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

education of the sense of touch is the creature. Not in a thousand years

foundation of all good education. could any other creature but man be

Probably some of those who read taught, for instance, to read with the

this will disbelieve it, but all the great fingers, even if that creature had a

students of the mind know that it is brain that could understand,

perfectly true, and have been saying The great brain puzzle that baffled
so for scores of years. We are learning men for years

to understand what games mean for For a long time it was a great

children, because they train the sense puzzle to find the touch center in

of touch and teach it how to work man's brain. It lay, so to speak,

with sight; and we are also beginning under our very eyes; but we never

to learn that drawing and carpentry, thought of looking for it there. A

and the sort of things that children very large area of the gray mantle on

do in kindergarten, are invaluable each side of the brain is the center for

foundations of education. There was voluntary movement, and it is here

a time when it was thought that that the will of man gives its orders,

anything good for a child must be For many years we knew this, and

something that it disliked, and that called it the motor center; and when

anything it liked must be mere we were looking for the center of the

amusement. Who would think that touch sense we never thought of

the real meaning of the word school is looking there. But now we have

leisure — doing what we feel inclined found that the center for will and

to do? Yet so it is. movement is the center for touch.

Now there is nothing we notice The two lie mixed up together, and

more positively about an intelligent the connection between them is the

child, and any child is intelligent closest of all connections in the

until foolish grown-up people begin to nervous system.

interfere, than that it loves using its jhe wonderful nerves of hearing
fingers. Of course it gets into mis- that enable us to enjoy music

chief, but the child that never got The sense of hearing lives low down

into mischief, and never touched on the side of the brain. As we all

things it ought not to have touched, know, this sense of hearing has led to

was never yet taught to read. There the possibility of music and all that

are such children, but they can be that means. As in the case of seeing,

taught nothing, and we call them of course there must be good machin-

imbecile. ery outside the brain if a sense is to

Whatever happens, the healthy develop, and the history of hearing,

child must constantly use its sense of like the history of vision, is partly the

touch; it must forever be fingering history of the ear and the history of

things. Now we find that the touch the eye. Here, however, we must

part of man's brain is simply magnifi- merely learn that the hearing center

cent. It is the delicacy and the of the brain is very large in mankind,

variety of his sense of touch and, far and that when we examine the cells

more than that, it is the marvelous contained in it we find a state of

way in which man's sense of touch is things that exactly compares with

connected with all his other senses, what we found in the case of vision.

that accounts for our skill, which is It may be that some animals can hear

almost the most wonderful thing sounds so slight that we cannot hear

about us as compared with any other them.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

15?

"Thought," as Expressed by Three Famous Artists

The first of these pictures is from Michaelangeio's statue of Lorenzo de Medici, the second is from a painting by Sir
John Millais, and the third is from a statue Ijy a great French sculptor, Augusta Rodin.

HOW WE THINK

THE putting of things together in
the mind, or association, as it
is called, is the beginning of
all the powers of which we are most
proud; but though the usual name for
it is the association of ideas, yet it
does not apply only to ideas, but
to everything that can enter the
mind — a scent, a pain, a tone of
voice, and thousands of other things
that cannot be called ideas at all.

We know that there is a stage be-
yond seeing, and that is perceiving,
and the proper name for a thing per-
ceived is a percept. Like everything
else, except mere sensation itself, per-
ception depends upon memory. The
case of a puzzle picture, where we
look for a long time and at last per-
ceive a face, is a good instance of the
difference between seeing and per-
ceiving, and the same applies to hear-
ing sounds and recognizing them as a
tune.

But these things that we perceive
and make percepts are not ideas; they
are simply a certain set of sensations
put together and made into a whole.
Perception is a great advance upon
sensation, no doubt, but there is
something better still, and the proper
name for that is conception, or con-

ceiving, as when we say, "I conceive
that the stars must all be suns." That
was the great idea, or conception, of
Giordano Bruno, and it is evidently
something beyond the mere perceiv-
ing, or recognizing, that certain colors
and shadows we see make a chair.

We have passed from the mere level
of things looked at, or sounds heard,
to the region of thinking. Here is an
idea, or a concept — a thought. Two
memories have been put together in the
mind and connected, or held together,
by it in a certain way. Previously
there were in the mind the memories
of certain percepts; first, the stars,
and secondly, the sun. But the mind
performed the great act of conceiving;
it associated, or put together, the two
percepts, the stars and the sun, and
it made a new and different thing — the
thought that the stars are suns.

For thousands of years men had
not only seen the stars and the sun,
but had perceived them, and had
carried in their minds clear memories
of the stars and the sun, so that they
could recognize them when they saw
them again. But not until the mind
of Bruno said 'The stars are suns and
the sun is a star" had anyone per-
formed this great association of ideas.

158

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

to use the old name. This instance
we have chosen is a great one, but
we perform Httle associations of ideas
every day, whenever we think at all.
A great instance has purposely been
chosen, because what we are trying to
understand is the building up of the
mind, and such a case as this helps us
to realize the orderly stages of the
mind's wonderful ascent from the
mere sensation of seeing up to one of
the greatest ideas in the world. Let
us just observe for ourselves how the
stages follow upon one another.

How A CHILD'S MIND IS GRADUALLY
BUILT UP

John Locke said that there is
nothing in the mind except what was
first in the senses, and that every-
thing which comes to be in the mind is
built up out of sensations and reflec-
tions upon them. Now, this is true,
even in such a tremendous idea in
astronomy as that the stars are suns.
This begins with mere sensation. The
mind begins its existence in babyhood
and childhood without any inborn
ideas of any kind. Its first experi-
ences are mere sensations. The eye,
as we know, is made from a part of
the brain which has come forward
outside the skull — "The brain comes
out to see," as has been said. The
eyes are turned upwards, and certain
impressions of light are gained. These
are mere sensations.

If there were no such thing as mem-
ory, they might be repeated every
night during a lifetime, and nothing
would come of it. But living matter
remembers.

So, beginning with sensation and
with the necessary help of memory,
we pass to the stage of perception
where the points of light seen one
night are more than seen, for they are
perceived to be the same as the points
of light that have been seen on former
nights.

Real thinking is putting things
together in the mind

Percepts are remembered just as
sensations are, and so we may go
about with the percepts in our mind
of the stars and the sun. Then one
man singled out from the rest puts the
two percepts together, and so makes
a concept by this process of conception,
or thought, and says the stars are
suns. This teaches us the slow and
necessary order in which the mind is
built and grows, and the dependence
of its highest deeds upon its humblest
deeds. It is also a good instance of
the truth that all thinking is associa-
tion of ideas. The word conceive
means "to take together;" the word
associate means "to make compan-
ions;" and all thinking is putting
things together — making companions
of them, making a relation between
them.

To some extent we all do this with-
out effort or intention, but beyond a
certain point we are very apt not to
trouble about it. The point where we
stop the process is the point at which
our interest ends. Thinking is not a
thing that happens to us, but a thing
that we do, and in all doing a motive
power has to come from somewhere.
The motive power in this great doing
of the mind, which we call thinking, is
interest. Here we come to the key of
one of the great differences between
men, and, if the study of the associa-
tion of ideas taught us nothing else,
it would still be well worth while to
study for this.

The SECRET of success in all great

THINKERS

We are right to admire the "kings
of thought," but we are very wrong in
our notions of what makes them great.
It is true that in certain departments
there are very special powers which one
brain has and another has not; this is
true of mathematics, for instance, and

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE 159

of music. But, apart from that, there good in it as a fancy; but the great

is nothing more certain than that most object of our minds is to make our

of the great thoughts, and most of thoughts genuinely correspond to

the great discoveries of mankind, things.

might have been thought or made by The great thinker is he who not

anyone if they had been interested only associates ideas, but makes the

enough. associations correspond to the asso-

The secret of most of the great deeds ciations in nature. The virtue and

done by the minds of men, in the way value of the thought that the stars

of pure thought or association of ideas, are suns is that that relation between

has been the great difference, not in the the two in our minds is the relation

way in which the great minds asso- between them in nature. The reflec-

ciate, but in the fact of interest and tion of things in the mirror of our

patience leading them to go on think- minds is so far perfect,

ing, endlessly revolving the ideas in If association is an act of the mind

their minds, and at last finding out the requiring power to do it, if it is vastly

truth. important as it is because right

For, of course, associations of ideas thinking goes a long way towards

may be false or true, or they may be right doing, and if interest is the great

merely fanciful, not pretending to be motive which makes the mind think,

true, as when we say the moon is made then, certainly, it is our business to

of green cheese. But the greatest find out how far we can help and

business of the human mind in its foster this interest in our minds, and

power of association is the discovery also to find out whether one kind of

of truth, and we ought to have a right interest differs greatly from another

notion in our heads of what we mean in its value for this purpose.

by truth. How we may help ourselves to be-

We may think of our mind as a kind come real thinkers

of mirror in which the outside world In the first place it is certainly

is reflected. Outside then there are possible for us to foster interest in our

things and the reflection of things in own minds and in the minds of other

our minds ought to correspond to the people, and there are few more useful

things as they are. Things outside tasks than that of the people who go

and thoughts inside ought duly to about trying to open other people's

reflect each other. Very often they eyes, as we say, so that they shall see

do not. Our image of the outside the interest of things and thereby

world is distorted and twisted, or start thinking about them,

there are huge gaps. But, to some There are false or doubtful kinds of

extent, our thoughts, the associations interest, as well as good ones. A man

of our ideas, do genuinely correspond may be interested simply in making

to the associations of things in the money, and the machinery of associa-

outside world; and then we can say tion in his mind will work, in conse-

that our thoughts are true. quence, with astonishing skill and

The things that make a man a great rapidity; or a boy may be interested

thinker only in passing an examination, and

Anyone can associate any ideas; so his machinery of association works

there is no difficulty about that. We hard for a time at something or other,

may say the stars are night-lights, and after the examination he seldom

and a fancy like that may have some or never thinks of it again.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The blame is not his but that of the
system that makes a victim of him.
Worst of all, perhaps, in its results, is
the kind of interest which sets men
studying things only in order to defeat
someone else, or to prove that they
are right, or to make a success for the
party or the class or the church to
which they belong against some other
party or class or church. This kind
of interest is extremely powerful and
very general and, according to the
universal laws of the mind, it pro-
duces its due result. Unfortunately
interest of this kind and interest in
money are the driving power of most
of the work of association or thinking
that is done in the world.

The harm of letting our thinking
be guided by wrong interests

If association done under interests
of this kind resulted in the discovery
of truth, that would be good; but, as
a rule, it does not. Interest in the
success of our party or our class or our
religion, or of the people who have
paid us to think and argue, destroys
the true working of association of
thinking in two distinct ways — both
are disastrous. One of them is obvi-
ous, and the other is not.

The obvious one is that it is to our
interest now to make the worse appear
the better reason. We do not now
make all the possible associations in
our minds until we find the one which
seems the truest, but we simply make
the associations w^liich best suit our
case, and then we try to persuade
other people that they are true.
Things are so complicated that most
men, if they think a little — and their
interest sees to it that they do — can
make the worse appear the better
reason, and so associations are formed
which are false. This may benefit
the person or the class or the country
or the party, but in the long run it
must injure mankind. We must be-

lieve that truth is far more worth
while than falsehood, or else we had
better stop thinking at all. But
there is the second less obvious way
in which the false kinds of interest
lead men astray. In the last case
men deliberately deceive other people,
but in this case they unconsciously
deceive themselves. This is because
the whole process of association can
be upset and changed by feeling.
Long ago this was quite forgotten by
men of science.

The way in which our feeling af-
fects OUR thinking

There was a time when men thought
that the intelligence, or intellect — the
part which knows and thinks — was
practically the whole of the mind.
They took no notice of feeling, and
they thought that our deeds proceeded
only from the resvilts of what we
thought. It is very strange how men
could have thought this, for everyone
knows how largely our feelings de-
termine our deeds.

But today we do not make the
mistake of supposing that the intellect
is the whole of the mind, and so we
are prepared to understand how much
the intellect is affected by other parts
of the mind. Thinking, or association,
is a kind of doing, and we have just
said that doing is largely determined
by feeling. When we feel angry we
are apt to kick, or hit, and so on.

Now, what is true of other more
obvious kinds of doing is also true of
that very wonderful, though less
obvious, kind of doing which is called
thinking. What we feel often decides
what we think. We want to win, for
money or for glory or for spite; we
are fighting another country and we
want to prove that we are right ; or we
are fighting for our class or our church
against people who dress rather dif-
ferently, or who arrange the service
rather differently in their places of

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

161

worship. We fancy that we are
seeking the truth, but we are not
seeking the truth; and just for that
reason we do not find it.

The wrongfulness of believing only
what we want to believe

This upsetting of the judgment by
feeUng so that as happens every day
all over the world, men come to believe
what they want to believe, is one of
the most important facts in the life
of mankind, and accounts for half the
facts of human history. If we are at
all sensible and watchful, we can soon
notice for ourselves what happens,
because it is apt to happen to every
one of us; and we need not wait
long for a chance of observing it.
What we shall find is probably this:
that somehow or other all the facts
and ideas and memories which suit
what we want to believe, or to prove
or persuade other people stand out
strongly in the foreground of our
minds. We know that the secret of
attention is interest, and these things
which we want to believe interest us
most, and so we attend to them most.

Unfortunately, we attend to them
so much that we do not attend to the
other facts and ideas which do not suit
our case. But we cannot form associa-
tions unless we attend, and so the asso-
ciations which we do form, and the
arguments which we use, are all based
upon the things we have attended to,
the things that interested us most,
the things that suited our case.
The REASONS why men do not always

SEARCH FOR TRUTH

We may be arguing with someone
else who is interested to prove the
opposite. Just as the points which
favor us press up into our minds, so
the points which favor his case press
up into his. But really we do not
listen to his arguments, and he does
not listen to ours, and neither of us
convinces the other.

This is the sort of thing that happens
in politics, and most of the things men
quarrel about. There is a certain
amount of deliberate deception, but
the great key to the differences of
opinion which divide even intelligent
men is self-deception, depending upon
the way in which our processes of
association are spoiled by our feelings
and our interests.

This danger comes into everything,
even into the discovery of truth.
There are many reasons why it enters
there also. It is not the discovery of
truth, but trying to persuade people
that we have discovered truth, that
often leads to money or glory. Quite
apart from that, when a man has said
a thing, he likes to prove himself
right and that, of course, is not quite
the same as liking to find the truth.

Then there are motives like jealousy,
or motives like trying to prove that
something which is believed by our
church or our class or the particular
school to which we belong is right.
All this only causes disaster. It means
that a man, instead of looking at all
the facts, looks only at some of them;
it means that he sees the importance
of facts that suit his case, and cannot
see the importance of those which do
not, and so he goes wrong.

But everywhere in all ages there are
a few men who are real lovers of truth.
They would rather give up their
beliefs than believe what is untrue;
they would rather believe the truth
and be despised and hated than per-
suade men of something that is not
true and be honored.

Why a thinker should be interested
only in seeking the truth

The success which in some measure
always attends these people, so that,
if their brains are of a high order, they
become the great thinkers of the world,
like Newton or Darwin, depends abso-
lutely upon the quality of the interest

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

which drives them. We must have
interest in order to make us think, or
associate, but we must have the right
kind of interest if we are to think
rightly.

We can see, if we study the work of
such a man as Darwin, exactly the
way in which this interest in truth,
and in truth only, keeps a thinker
right. He is afraid of only one thing,
and that is of going wrong. If his
object were to prove anything in
particular he would be more jnterested
in one set of facts than in another, but
as it is he is equally interested in all
facts, because all facts lead equally to
the truth. They do not all lead
equally to his theory, perhaps, but
that does not really matter — it is so
much the worse for his theory, and
so much the better for the truth.

The man who tries to find facts, and
the man who tries to prove a case

Darwin began with a theory which
came into his head, and then he spent
twenty years working at it. People
say that he spent twenty years trying
to prove it, but that is simply not the
case. If we study Darwin's mind,
and the lines of the work he did, we
shall agree that it is nearer the truth
to say that he spent twenty years try-
ing to disprove his theory. Indeed,

he was trying to prove or disprove
nothing, but simply to find the truth.
The success of the successful lawyer
is, of course, entirely different. His
business is to win his case. He there-
fore lays all the emphasis on the facts
which favor it, and purposely keeps in
the background the facts which do
not. He gets the verdict of the jury
but that is not the method to follow if
we wish to gain the verdict of no jury,
not even of all mankind, but the ver-
dict of Truth herself.

A WISE MAN WHO KNOWS LITTLE, AND A
FOOLISH MAN WHO KNOWS MUCH

It is of no use to store things in
the mind if we cannot recall the right
things when they are wanted. But
people who have not studied the mind
constantly make this mistake. A man
may be a walking encyclopedia, and
yet be very foolish. His mind is
crammed with facts, but he cannot
associate them rightly; they do not
suggest each other to him in their
true relations, and so they are simply
useless. Another man may have only
one-thousandth part of the knowledge,
but a thousand times more wisdom,
because the facts in his mind are
properly sorted and arranged and con-
nected and classified and compared,
or, in a word, the facts are associated.

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

163

HOW TO REMEMBER

We know the great difference between seeing and perceiving, and we must now
consider the memory, without which there could be no real perceiving. It is just
because memory makes perceiving and even higher things possible that its impor-
tance is so tremendous. If we could not remember, we should be nothing. Without
memory there would be no recognizing, there would be no learning, no knowing.
We are so accustomed to use this power of memory that, we think, we cannot realize
what we should be without it. We see something coming along a road, far away, and
then, after a while, we perceive that it is a human being. Later, by the dress, we can
tell that it is a man and not a woman, but who it is we cannot tell. Finally, we find
that it is someone we know. Here we see that the memory acts even in the simplest
kinds of perceiving, and that it is worth while to devote some time to the study of it.

NOWADAYS, in dealing with
such a great question as that
of memory, we do not make
the absurd mistake of trying to under-
stand our memories without studying
every kind of memory wherever we
can find it; and the first great dis-
covery we make is that, in some de-
gree or other, memory is a property
of every kind of living creature.
Formerly it was said that memory
was a property of every kind of nerve
and nerve-cell, and that is perfectly
true, but it is not the whole truth.

During late years men have studied
the behavior of humble forms of
plants, and of animals so simple and
lowly that no nerves or nerve-cells
are as yet developed in them. Yet
even here, almost at the beginnings of
life, long before there is the least
shadowy hint of even the simplest
kind of brain, we find some proofs of
memory.

All living matter is called proto-
plasm, and it is a fact that memory
is a property of all living protoplasm
everywhere. No matter how simple
creatures are, we find that their be-
havior can be made to change by
changing their surroundings. This
means that in some degree they re-
member; they act differently because
something has occurred perhaps three
times before, and the fourth time it
occurs they do not behave exactly as
they did the first time. What it is in
living matter, whether of a nerve-cell

or of any other kind of cell, that
enables it to remember, we cannot
say; neither can we say in advanced
cases of memory, as when we remem-
ber an idea. But even in the humblest
cases of memory, as where an animal
behaves differently towards light be-
cause it is the second time and not the
first time it has seen it, we can only
guess what happens. The light the
first time somehow made some kind
of mark, as we might say, in the living
cells, and altered them, so that the
next time the light came they were
different.

It is supposed by many people that
living matter never forgets. When we
say we forget, what we mean is simply
that we cannot recall. But the thing
we say we forget is still there in our
mind, and when someone names it we
recognize it; if we had really forgotten
we should not recognize it.

But even where we cannot recall
a thing for ourselves, and where we
cannot recognize it when it is recalled
for us by somebody else, it by no
means follows that we have really
forgotten. There are many cases on
record where a man appears to have
utterly forgotten, for instance, cer-
tain words of some language which he
learned and spoke when he was a
child; he cannot recall them, and they
mean nothing to him when they are
recalled; but he proves that they are
still there in his mind when, perhaps,
he is suffering from a very severe ill-

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

ness. His brain is greatly upset, and
these words, which he may not have
heard or used for fifty years, or more,
come from his hps. Very hkely they
are used without any sense, and he
does not know what they mean, but
there they are. The brain has not
really forgotten them.

The difference between remem-
bering AND RECALLING

Such cases as these teach us that in
all probability living matter does not
forget, but, more than that, they show
us that what we call memory is very
far from being a simple, single thing.
In what we call an ordinary act of
memory there are three things in-
volved. There is the pure remember-
ing, with which we have not much
more to do than a table has to do with
remembering a dent made in it ; there
is the recognizing of what we remem-
ber; and there is the power of recall-
ing. Everyone who has been asked at
an examination, "What is this.''" and
who knows perfectly well that he has
seen it a hundred times before, but
cannot put a name to it, knows that
memory is not such a simple thing as
we sometimes suppose.

But in every act of memory the
beginning of it is the making of an
impression on the brain. No doubt
this is a vastly different thing from
making a dent on a table, but we do no
harm if we think of it as if it were
something like that; and, indeed, the
only word which we can use to de-
scribe it, such as the word impression,
which just means "pressing in," sug-
gests a comparison of this kind. Now,
as this is the beginning of all memory,
it is very important for us to know how
far and in what way we can improve
this power of ours.

When the power of the memory is
at its best

We shall make nothing but mistakes
unless we learn first to distinguish

this part of memory from the other

parts; and, secondly, to discover any

natural changes in this power during

the time that we grow from childhood

to age. It is very likely that, on the

whole, memory is at its greatest when

we are young, and tends to diminish

steadily as we grow old. There is an

apparent exception to this, because at

certain ages boys and girls seem to be

able to learn poetry and many other

things by heart with greater ease

than they could have done a year or

two before. But this is because the

brain is, as it were, just being finished

in its making. It is likely, on the

whole, that after that the power of

being impressed steadily diminishes.

This explains to us some facts about

memory which seem peculiar. For

instance, we know that, in a general

way, we are more likely to remember

things that have recently happened

than things that happened long ago.

This is probably only because the

things that happened long ago are

lower down in the mind, so to speak,

and have been overlaid by many newer

things.

Why old people remember best the
things of long ago

Now we often find that old people
instead of remembering the latest
things best, remember them very
badly; but, though they are doubtful
about recent events, they remember
quite clearly something that happened
perhaps many years before. The ex-
planation is that the newer impression
was made on a brain that was losing its
power of being impressed, but the
older one was made on a young and
very impressionable brain; and the
passage of time has not destroyed the
deep impressions made in youth.

When we compare different people,
we find that there are differences be-
tween them in this quality of memory.
It is supposed by nearly everybody

BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

166

that education accounts for these
differences, and makes them. So one
of the great objects of education is to
"train the memory." But, if by
training the memory we mean making
the brain more impressionable than
it is by nature, nothing can be more
certain than that this was never yet
done by any kind of education, and
never will be.

To begin with, these differences
between people are natural. The
amount that a man remembers will,
of course, depend upon the amount
that he has tried to remember, and so
his education is immensely important,
because it largely means giving us
opportunities for remembering. But
that is an absolutely different thing
from any effect in actually improving
the power to remember, so far as this
first part of memory is concerned.

The only excuse for learning a
thing by heart

The differences between people in
this respect are enormous, but they
are natural differences, and we simply
have to accept them as they are.
Of course, they make a tremendous
difference in our lives, because we
have seen that memory is the basis of
everything else; and though different
kinds of memory are needed for
different people — as for instance the
painter, the engineer, and the musician
— yet these differences in memory are
the beginnings, at any rate, of the
differences in what the people achieve.

It is quite certain, then, that the
brain's natural power of being im-
pressed cannot be increased by any
of the methods which have been too
long adopted for that purpose. There
may be a good reason for learning by
heart, simply because there are things
which it is well to have in the mind,
and which can be made to stick by
repetition. But no kind of learning
by heart increases the brain's power

of retaining things. Learning by
heart does not train the memory; it
very often disgusts the mind and
disheartens it from thinking.

The only possible defence for learn-
ing anything by heart is that the
thing is worth knowing. There are
plenty of such things, and the time
will come when we shall carefully take
children at just those ages when
learning by heart is easiest, and
deliberately use those years to put
into their minds the best possible
selection we can make of the things
which everyone ought to know.
The things that we must know and

THE things that WE SHOULD KNOW

There are things that people must
know and there are things that they
should know if possible. The number
of these things is a million times
greater than could be remembered by
the wisest and most learned man that
ever lived. We must therefore do our
best for each child, and that best will
mean the careful selection of the
things it should learn and the using of
the time when remembering is easiest.
We must break up and vary the
lessons so as to avoid fatigue, because
when fatigue begins, memory ends.
Though education cannot improve the
natural memory, yet there are certain
things which education, in the widest
sense of the word, can do or fail to do.
Whatever the brain is meant to be
by nature, and whatever is in its
power to become, yet the building and
the health of its cells and nerves, and
therefore the success of their duties,
depend upon the supply of blood they
receive, and upon their never being
subjected to over-use.

What we call education, which is
sometimes just the opposite of real
education, very often means that we
injure the brain and spoil the memory
at the very time when we think we
are training it. School hours are

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

often too long. Light, and especially
air, may be defective. Foul air means
fold blood, everywhere and always;
and foul blood means that the brain
also is being poisoned.

A HEALTHY OUTDOOR LIFE IS THE BEST
AID TO MEMORY

Our great business, therefore, in
taking care of our memories when we
are young, is to lead healthy lives as
much in the open air as possible; and
no doubt w^e shall find that, in after
years, for every one thing we remem-
ber that happened indoors when we
were children, we shall remember two
things that happened out-of-doors.

Next we have to consider the various
special methods of impressing the
memory. The first of these is the
method of repetition. We all know
that repetition helps us to remember,
and, indeed, this method of going
over a thing again and again is the one
which has been most believed in since
teaching began. This applies equally
to our learning-memory and our
doing-memory, as we recognize w^hen
we say that practice makes perfect.
Now, so long as we clearly understand
that repetition and learning by heart
do no good to the memory itself, but
merely help to impress it, we are
quite right to use this method, and
there are certain things w^ell worth
noticing.

The best way of remembering what
WE have heard

One of the great methods of learning
is to listen to something spoken and
take notes of it. Now in such cases
we notice that the two processes of
listening and w riting down and read-
ing over result in much better remem-
bering if they are close together. If
we read our notes the same day as
w^e take them down, we shall remem-
ber more a month hence than if we go
over them a few days later. When
the repetition comes close on the first

impression, it is as if the iron were
made hot by the first impression, and
the second impression is more effective
than if we wait for the first to cool.

Another most important fact is that
one kind of repetition is very different
from another, and this is one of the
mistakes that almost all of us make.
We may hear without "taking a thing
in;" we may read or write a thing, or
we may repeat it out loud, while our
attention is somewhere else. In such
cases all our labor is wasted, as cer-
tainly wasted for remembering the
thing as it is wasted for "training the
memory." It is no use trying to learn
when we are tired or when we are
feeling cold, thirsty or hungry.

Why reading helps us to remember
better than writing

It is worth noting that intelligent,
careful, attentive reading of anything
is a more effective kind of repetition
than copying it out, though we should
not suppose so. In copying out, as a
rule, too much of our attention is
devoted to the mechanical part of
what we are doing, and so we are not
really attending so well, though we
seem to be working harder.

The secret of mere remembering
lies, on the whole, more in attention
than in anything else. It is most
difficult to find out exactly what
attention is, and exactly what happens
wdien we attend. The difference be-
tween attending and not attending is
probably that, when we are not
attending, the disturbances that reach
the brain from the outside world are
scattered in all sorts of directions
throughout the brain. The effects
of them are almost wasted, because
they scarcely go anywhere in particu-
lar; and it may be also that perhaps
the most important parts of the brain,
when we are not attending, are really
not in action at all, so that the results
of what is going on never reach them.

MEMORY TESTS ON THE BOOK OF OUR OWN LIFE

THE STORY OF THE EYE

What evidence have we that plants have
eyes?

What insect possesses most powerful eyes?

Why does the house fly avoid a flame?

How are bees able to distinguish one flower
from another?

In what respect is the vision of ants su-
perior to ours?

In what respect does the eye of a back-
bcned animal differ from that of an invertebrate?

What is the main purpose of the eyelids?
THE PARTS OF THE EYE

How does the cornea of the eye resemble
and how differ from a curved piece of glass?

What purpose does the iris serve?

What determines the color of the iris?

In what respect is the lens of the eye
superior to an artificial lens?

Why does a near-sighted person hold the
book close to him?

What is the effect of age upon near-
§ightedness?

How is a cataract removed?
SEEING COLORS

What is light?

What relation exists between the numbers
of ether vibrations required to produce the sen-
sation of red and the number required to pro-
duce violet.

In what three ways do colors vary?

How many colors are there?

Name the three primary colors.

What is the cure for color-blindness?

What forms does color-blindness assume?

Why are red and green lights used for
railroad signals?

THE MARVEL OF HEARING

How many senses have we?

What purposes are served by the outer
ear?

Why can a dog judge better of the di-
rection of a sound than a man?

How do we judge of the direction of a
sound?

By what means is the canal of the ear kept
clean?

To what is deafness in old age generally
due?

What control have we over the intensity
of sounds?

BALANCING THE BODY

What do you understand by the sense of
balance?

What four different things aid us in pre-
serving our balance?

How does a fish so easily preserve its
balance?

Explain the connection between fish-gills
and the semi-circular canals, ears and larynxes
of higher animals?

Are the lower animals "dumb?"

What three duties does the larynx perform?

TALKING AND SINGING

In speech are all the words given in the
same key?

Give the derivation of "monotone."

Give the derivation of "cant."

What is the essential distinction between
speech and song?

What is meant by a "musical voice?"

Give the connection between over-tones
and vowel-sounds.

SMELL AND TASTE

Explain the intimate relation existing be-
tween taste and smell.

What part of the nose do we smell with?

With what two pairs of nerves is the nose
supplied?

Through which pair is sneezing excited?

What connection exists between smell and
the weight of the substance scented?

Where is the sense of taste located?

Give the five principal classes of tastes.
THE FOREST OF NERVES WITHIN US

In what way does a bundle of nerves re-
semble an ocean cable?

Will a nerve fiber carry messages in both
directions?

How does the movement of a nerve-
current compare with that of an electric current?

Of what is a nerve-fiber a part?

What oflBce does the spinal cord perform
in the economy of the body?

What is the function of the cerebellum?

MYSTERY OF THE BRAIN

What connects the two halves of the cere-
brum?

Why is the surface of the brain folded in
convolutions?

Is phrenology based upon sound principles?

Whence do we derive the power of associa-
tion?

In what sense are our eyes at the back
of our head?

HOW TO REMEMBER

When we say we have forgotten a thing,
do we mean that there is no record of it in the
brain?

Distinguish between memory and recol-
lection.

What is the beginning of a memory?

Why is it easier to remember recent events
than those which occurred long ago?

The converse holds with aged persons.
Why?

HOW WE THINK

What mental process follows perception?

Give Bruno's great conception.

What is the motive power of thought?

What effect has perverted interest upon
our thoughts?

Explain how the judgment may be led
astray by feeling.

What is the distinction between a "walk-
ing encyclopedia" and a great thinker?

167

STATUE OF LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD

Sculptured by Bartholdi and erected at the entrance of New York Harbor as emblematic ot the civilizmg influences ot

liberty upon modern civilization.

168

Book for Parent and
Teacher

THE MONTESSORI SYSTEM OF CHILD TRAINING

Underlying Ideas of the System Montessori Exercises and
Purpose and Educational Value Games

of the Montessori Devices Use of the Apparatus

Necessity of the Montessori Spirit Discipline and Obedience

How a Montessori School Is Memory Tests on Montessori

Conducted System

THE SCHOOL OF REAL LIFE

What a Boy Must Do to Sue- What a Girl Must Do to Suc-
ceed ceed

PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC AND PROBLEMS

Tlie Fundamental Processes

Addition — Subtraction — Multiplication — Division —
Fractions — Decimals — Denominate Numbers — Per-
centage — Interest — Taxes — Insurance

Problems and Calculations in Connection with:

Education and Industry — Fencing — Drainage —
Plowing — Wheat — Corn — Potatoes — Birds and
Insects — Hay — Orchards and Spraying — Poultry —
The Dairy — Roads — Silos — Problems with the Lever
— Animal Power

Handy Values, Weights and Measures

FARM SCIENCE AND PRACTICE

Choosing a Farm Fifty Farm Birds

Rotation of Crops Stock Feeding

Preserving Foods Fertilizers

Plant Life Concrete Construction

DR. MARIA MONTESSORI

The famous Italian physician and educator who founded the Montessori
system of child education

17(y

MONTESSORI SYSTEM OF CHILD TRAINING

FOR HOME OR SCHOOL

This Book explains how to train and develop the special senses; how to keep
children properly occupied; how to train their bodies; how to use all necessary
apparatus; and how to enforce discipline and obedience.

THE Montessori method is a new
system of education for very
small children devised by an
Italian woman physician. One of the
first facts rediscovered by Dr. Mon-
tessori is the old threadbare truism

Underlying idea of the system

And here Dr. Montessori found her-
self in accord with another fundamen-
tal principle of the growth of child-
hood, which she had discovered or
rediscovered and which may be said

that every child is different from every broadly to be the master idea of her
other child. She found not only that system. The central idea of the
but also that not being a fixed and in- Montessori system, on which every
animate object, he is in a constant bit of apparatus, every detail of tech-
state of flux, and differs from himself, nic rests solidly, is a full recognition
from day to day, as he grows. His of the fact that no human being is
attention, his memory, his mental en- educated by anyone else. He must
durance, his intellectual interest and do it himself or it is never done. The
curiosity, are not only unlike those of learner must do his own learning, and
the child next him in school, but will this granted, it follows naturally that
be tomorrow different from what they the less he is interfered with by arbi-
are today. It was evident to her that trary restraint and vexatious, unneces-
Ihe usual "class recitation" and "class sary rules, the more quickly, easily
lessons" were out of the question, and spontaneously he will learn,
since they could at the best, possibly Everyone who wishes to adopt her
fit the needs of only one child in the system, or to train children according
class. And yet it is obviously im- to her method, must learn constantly
possible, as the world is made up, to to repeat to himself and to act upon,
have a teacher for every child. There at every moment, this maxim, "All
was only one way out — things must growth must come from a voluntary
somehow be so organized and ar- action of the child himself."
ranged that, for most of the time, the The system must fit the child
child can and shall teach himself. In this respect again Dr. Montes-

171

'172

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

sori took the stand that education
must be made to fit the child, and the
child not forced to fit a preconceived
idea of what education ought to be
or do. She laid down the principle
that one of the essentials of education
is that children shall get that indi-
vidual attention they need so much,
by giving it to themselves, each child
being his own teacher. She now
further stated as another essential
element that education should be so
organized that the child shall ardently
desire to teach himself and shall en-
joy doing it more than anything else.

Basic principles of

SYSTEM

MONTESSORI

To reduce, then, to the barest out-
line this new system of training chil-
dren, one can say that it rests upon a
full conviction of these three facts
about the nature of children:

First. — Children are all different
from each other, and hence need for
their fullest development, the greatest
possible liberty for their individualities
to grow; and that, though of course
there are many points in common,
they must not be treated in the lump,
but individually.

Second. — Children cannot, so to
speak, learn from the outside. That
is, that the impulse to learn must
come from within their own minds.
There are absolutely no exceptions to
this rule. Children must wish to
learn, or it is a physical impossibility
for them to do so.

Third. — Children are so made that,
given proper conditions, they prefer
educating themselves to any other
occupation.

A DAY WITH THE CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES

What has been said thus far is al-
most certain to have aroused in the
minds of many readers the question,
"How in the world does Dr. Mon-
tessori accomplish all this.'*" or, per-

haps the more skeptical exclamation,
"It can't be done, by Dr. Montessori
or anyone else!" How can children
teach themselves? How can they
learn without detailed verbal instruc-
tions from a teacher?

How does a boy learn to climb an
apple tree? By being turned loose in
company with the tree at that period
of his life when he feels a surging nat-
ural impulse to climb trees. A boy of
three can play about the foot of an
apple tree day after day and no more
think of climbing it than we of walking
the ridge pole of our house. A man
of twenty-one can play tennis, or
plough, under the tree's branches with
a similar lack of monkey-like desire
to climb from branch to branch. But
somewhere between those ages, there
is a period in every normal life when,
if the opportunity is present, a vast
amount of muscular agility, strength
and accuracy are acquired, together
with considerable physical courage,
some daring, some prudence, and a
fair amount of good judgment, all
without the slightest need either to
force or persuade the child to the
acquisition of these desirable qualities =

The purpose and educational value
OF the montessori devices

Now, for all intents and purposes,
the Montessori apparatus, so much
talked of, so scientifically and in-
geniously devised, is simply composed
of supplementary apple trees. Jt is
made up of devices and inventions
which are intended, first, to stimulate
the little child's natural desire to act
and learn through action; second, to
provide him with action which shall
give him a better control of his own
body and will-power; and third,
which shall lead him naturally from a
simple action to a more difficult one.
Trains the five senses

In the case of very little children
this is (as far as concerns the formal

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

173

SELF-EDUCATION BY THE MONTESSORI SYSTEM

At undirected play with the didactic 'or seuse>traiiiing materials

nh THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Montessori apparatus sold) largely when they feel like it, a quiet, gentle,
connected with the training of the alert, nearly always silent superintend-
senses. The importance of this de- ent, to whom all those little self-teachers
tailed, direct education of the five turn for advice in their educational
senses may not be at first apparent, career; a piano in one corner of the
But it is evident that our five senses room, to the music of which once in a
are our only means of conveying in- while those children who feel like it
formation to our brains about the dance and play. There are soft rugs on
external world which surrounds us, the floor, on which those children who
and it is equally evident that to act feel tired may lie down and rest when-
wisely and surely in the world, the ever they like. On the walls there are
brain has need of the fullest and most pleasant pictures of subjects suitable
accurate information possible. Hence for little children. There are window-
the education of all the senses of a boxes of plants, tended by the little
child to rapidity, agility and exacti- pupils; there are in one corner some
tude, is of great importance — not at little wash-stands with small bowls
all for the sake of the information and pitchers where the children wash
acquired at the time by the child, but their own faces and hands, whenever
for the sake of the five, finely accurate they are dirtied by their work or play,
instruments which this education puts In fact, the room and its furnishings
under his control. are exactly like what every mother
Montessori spirit is the first would like to give her own children in
ESSENTIAL her own home. The Casa dei Bam-
Much has been written and said bini is truly a "Children's Home" —
about the Montessori Didactic Ap- a place for self-reliant work and con-
paratus, but the use of her apparatus tented play,
without an understanding of the under- Feel a responsibility
lying principles and without the spirit The children learn to feel, because
that animates all true Montessori they are allowed to, a real responsibility
work will result only in confusion and for the condition of this, their very own
disorder. The Montessori Didactic home. Before they begin the morn-
Apparatus is a part of the system, ing's work, they clean the school-
but the most vital element is the room, using tiny brooms and dust-
Montessori spirit. The mother on a pans, just the right size for their
desert island who is dominated by little hands, and they make their
Dr. Montessori's love and respect for own morning toilets neatly and cheer-
the child would accomplish much fully at the little washstands. They
more without the formal apparatus all seem like brothers and sisters of
than a mother who uses it without one big family, living the happiest
the sympathy and understanding and sanest of family lives together in
requisite for success. one big, well-furnished nursery. They
The casa dei bambini form groups of two or three, over some
If you wish to see a typical Casa dei difficult problem; or four or five in a
Bambini (which means Children's game with some part of the apparatus
Home) you are to imagine thirty child- which needs a number of children
ren turned loose in a big room, fur- together; or ten or twelve in a ring-
nished with little chairs and tables, around-the-rosy game to the music of
with room outdoors, close at hand, the piano. Out in the playground,
where the children may run and play bright with flowers and plants of their

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 175

own tending, there are always some bility of setting the tables, bringing in
children playing "blackman" or the soup tureens, and serving their
"blindman's buff." No one makes the little mates. There is no better de-
slightest effort to induce them to stop scription of this most interesting and
playing in order to come and learn valuable part of the routine of the day
their letters or the simpler processes than the passage in Dr. Montessori's
of arithmetic. They do so of their own book, The Montessori Method^
own accord. It has been found, first, page 348: "Any one who has watched
that although they are free to do so if them setting the table must have
they wish, they no more w4sh to spend passed from one surprise to another,
all their time in playing children's Little four-year-old waiters take the
games than workers in a candy factory knives and forks and spoons and dis-
desire to consume chocolate drops all tribute them to the different places;
the time. they carry trays holding as many as
Value of free-will over enforced five water glasses, and finally they go
ATTENTION from table to table, carrying tureens
The second discovery is of even full of hot soup. Not a mistake is
greater importance than the first; made, not a glass is broken, not a drop
is in fact of such vital importance of soup is spilled. All during the meal,
that it cannot be too often stated, unobtrusive little waiters watch the
This is the discovery that one moment table assiduously; not a child empties
of real attention, given of the child's his soup-plate without being offered
own free will, with actual vivifying more ; if he is ready for the next course,
interest back of it, is worth more a waiter briskly carries off his soup-
educationally than hours of enforced plate. Not a child is forced to ask for
listening to a teacher teach. Such a more soup, or to announce that he
moment of real attention is worth more has finished,
because it is worth everything, while Exercise their own choice
the enforced listening to teaching is After lunch, the children again choose
worth nothing. freely their own occupations. Some run
Luncheon in the casa dei bambini out to play on the playground; some
— The children, as a rule, busy them- water the plants under their especial
selves happily with the different parts care; some take naps as long as they like,
of the apparatus most of the morning. By far the greater number, however.
Towards noon, preparations for lunch- return to the Montessori apparatus
eon begin. The children take turns and occupy themselves with that fas-
in doing this work, four or five being cinating material until time for them
charged every day with the responsi- to go home.

MONTESSORI EXERCISES AND GAMES

TWENTY-NINE LESSONS WITH FULL DIRECTIONS
TO MOTHER AND TEACHER
Including: How to fix the child's attention on size and form. How to co-ordi-
nate movements of the fingers. How to distinguish differences in size and form.
How to develop the sense of touch. How to train the sense of hearing. How to
teach the child to write. How to teach the child the abstract from the concrete.
How to teach the child the use of colors. How to train the child in bodily move-
ments. How to teach the child the alphabet. How the child learns self-care.
First steps in numbers. Arithmetical games. How to teach discipline and obedi-
ence. How to supplement Montessori apparatus.

WE IN America who have chil-
dren between the ages of
two and seven can not as yet
send our children to one of the special
schools. Therefore, if we wish our
children to profit by the great work of
Dr. Montessori, we must do the next
best thing, and give them the Montes-
sori training in our own homes. The
fact that we have only the children of
our own home to deal with should not
lessen the sense of responsibility or the
diligence with which we strive to
make daily application of the Montes-
sori principles.

A SCHOOL IN THE HOME

The mother has some advantages
which the superintendent of the Mon-
tessori schoolroom does not have.
She has the children constantly with
her, and she can, if she will, turn into
a Montessori exercise almost every-
thing the child does in the course of
his waking hours. These valuable
and constantly present opportunities
for supplementary Montessori work in
ordinary home life will be touched
upon as the regular apparatus is de-
scribed and explained in the following
lessons.

Let us suppose that the dox con-
taining the Montessori apparatus
comes into the home when the three-
year-old child for whom it is intended
is asleep. The mother takes her time
to look over the large collection of
queer-looking objects and, if she is
wise, puts away, for the present, every-

thing but the simplest of the Buttoning
Frames and the three sets of Solid
Geometric Insets.

EXERCISE ONE

TO FIX THE CHILD'S ATTENTION ON
SIZE AND FORM

Solid Geometrical Insets. — ^These
comprise three series of wooden cyl-
inders set in corresponding holes in
a thick, smoothly planed board. There
are ten cylinders to each of the three
series. In the first, the height of the
cylinders is constant and the diam-
eter varies; in the second series, the
diameter is constant and the height
varies; in the third series, the cylin-
drical form alone is constant, height
and diameter varying. With these
insets, the child, working independ-
ently, learns to discriminate objects
according to thickness, height and
size, and the material used controls
the error.

When the child wakes up, he is told
there are some new playthings in the
house, and one of the Solid Geometric
Series is shown him. As a rule, he
needs no further supervision in the
use of this piece of apparatus, since it
is self-corrective. If he gets a small
cylinder in the big hole, when he comes
to the small hole, the big cylinder will
not go in it, and he is forced to look
back to correct his own mistake.
Here, as in the use of all the Montes-
sori apparatus, it is well to remember
that the best thing one can do for the
child is to let him alone as much as

176

The Long Stair

(To be used in Exercise Six)

Solid Geometrical Insets

(To be used in Exercise One)

MONTESSORI SENSE-TRAINING APPARATUS

Sandpaper Boards

(To be used in Exercises Seven and Eight)

Color Boxes

(To be need in Exercises Sixteen and Seventeen)

Plane Geometric Forms

<To be used in Exercise Thirteen)

Part of Movable Alphabet

(To be used in Exercise Nineteeo^

Computing Boxes

(To be used in Exercises Twenty-three and Twenty-four)

Sound Boxes

(To be used in Exercise Ten)

Plane Geometric Insets

(To be used in Exercises Eleven and Twelve)

MONTESSORI SELF-INSTRUCTING DEVICES

178

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

179

possible. "Hands off!" is the motto
for adults in adopting the Montessori
system for a child. The important
thing is not that the cylinders shall
all be put back in the right holes, but
that the child shall do it himself!

Any ordinarily active, right-minded
baby of three will fight for this right
himself, pushing away help and cry-
ing "Let me," and the adults should
religiously respect this desire to begin
a life of self-independence. And yet,
of course, adult brains can often de-
vise some method of using the ap-
paratus which will make the process
of learning self-independence easier
for the child. One of the discoveries
made by Dr. Montessori is that the sense
of touch is very much more developed
in little children than the sense of
sight; that is, they can tell more
about an object after they have
handled it than if they have merely
looked at it. So that it is well to
explain to a child who has difficulty
in gettirig the cylinders back in the
right hole that if he holds a cylinder
by the little knob with the fingers of
his left hand and passes the forefinger
of his right hand around the base of it,
and then around the opening into
which he thinks it ought to fit, that
he will probably be more accurate
than if he merely looks at the two
objects.
Traits of child nature appealed to

It is well that the mother should
understand just why the child should
be interested in these exercises. There
are two fundamental traits of child-
hood involved: first, any normal child
takes a great interest in putting
objects in rows; second, any child is
delighted when he can put an object
into an opening. Combining these
two traits of childhood, we have a
fascinating educational device. The
child is not only happily employed but
he is learning something that is of

value. He is learning to discriminate
between different objects. Although
he does it unconsciously, he is forming
an idea of spacial relations.

When the child can successfully put
the various cylinders in their respec-
tive openings, the exercises can be
made more complex by giving all the
cylinders to the child and only one of
the bases. This requires a greater
discrimination, making the exercise
more complex. The cylinders can
also be used a little later in teaching
nomenclature, to show the difference
between thick and thin, thicker and
thinner, high and low, higher and lower,
etc.

After he has mastered the simpler
exercises, the child may be blind-
folded or, looking in another direction,
place the various cylinders into the
openings. These exercises bring into
play the tactile and muscular senses,
both of which are very acute in small
children. Since the child delights to
feel of objects, it will not be long until
he will take a great interest in the
game of "seeing with his fingers."
These sets of cylinders are perhaps the
simplest of all the equipment and at
the same time they have proved the
most fascinating for small children.

The tracing of forms, "the begin-
nings" OF writing

The child should be cautioned (and
his mother should take pains about this
in all Montessori exercises) to make the
motions always from the left to the
right, in the directions in which writ-
ing is done, for these exercises, un-
likely as it seems, are the beginnings
of writing and reading. Then he
should be left to "play" with this new
toy, as long as his interest lasts,
which will vary greatly according to
the degree of development reached,
the temperament of the child, and
even his state of health. When he
is perfectly well and rested and not

EXERCISE TWO

180 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

hungry, he can do much better work most cases he at once sets to work,

than otherwise. His attention to and even though his first efforts seem

the exercise must, of course, be spon- to the observing mother incredibly

taneous, brought about by the interest clumsy and slow, she must keep her

of the task given, and if the task does hands off, and let him work out his

not happen to interest that particular own problems,

child at that particular moment, Putting away the apparatus

nothing can be gained by forcing him The only rule should be that if he

or even coaxing him to go on with it. does not wish to play witn the ap-

He will return to it another day, or paratus, or when he grows tired of its

perhaps even an hour later, of his use, he should put it away; and for

own accord. that purpose it is very essential that

there should be a well defined place,
which the child can easily reach, for

FOR co-ORDmATiNG MOVEMENTS OF gvery one of his belongings— not only

for the Montessori apparatus, but for
The Buttoning or Dressing Frames, his other toys and for his clothing.
— There are eight of the dressing or The hooks should be low, so that little
buttoning frames. Any one or more arms can reach them, and the drawers
of these can be used effectively with- where clothing is put away should be
out association with the others. On easy to open and shut. Three years
six wooden frames are mounted six is none too young to begin the habit
pieces of cloth of varying textures, of order, which, like so many other
to be joined by means of large but- good habits, may be acquired pain-
tons and buttonholes, automatic fast- lessly at an early age, although so
eners, small buttons and buttonholes, nearly impossible to inculcate after
hooks and eyes, colored ribbons for the bad habits have become fixed,
bow-tying, and lacing through eye- The exercises with the dressing frames
lets. The remaining two frames are are not necessarily for the developing
mounted with leather pieces, one of of the different senses. The primary
which simulates shoe lacing and the object is to develop the muscular co-
other shoe buttoning, the latter in- ordination to strengthen the child's
volving the use of the button hook, little fingers. These materials carry
These exercises are for the develop- out Dr. Montessori's ideas of sim-
ment of co-ordinate movements of plicity, self-correction and general
the fingers. The child is taught to attractiveness. They are so simple
dress himself without his really know- that the child at once understands
ing that a lesson is being taught him. the meaning of the game, and in work-
The Buttoning Frame, or the frame ing with these various materials his
with "hooks and eyes," should be little fingers and hands are so
brought out first, and the method of strengthened that he may success-
fastening and unfastening explained fully take up more complex and
in the usual Montessori way; that is, difficult work.

as briefly as possible. It is often best Of course, one of the incidents of

not to say anything, but merely to go this work is that he learns to dress

through the exercises one's self, un- and undress himself. This, it should

buttoning or unhooking the cloth, be remembered, is not the primary

buttoning or hooking it up again, and factor that Dr. Montessori has in

handing the frame to the child. In mind,

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

181

EXERCISE THREE

Supplementary exercises teaching

the practical application of

knowledge gained with

the apparatus

One obvious result sought in all
these exercises is the beginning in the
child's mind of the habit of concentra-
tion to the task in hand. The insets
are primarily intended, as already
stated, to teach the child to distinguish
between differences in dimension and
form, and this can be taught by
supplementary exercises in almost any
room of the house.

First. — In the dining-room he can
be given a pile of spoons of differing
size, teaspoons, tablespoons, soup-
spoons, coffeespoons, etc., and the
suggestion made to him that it would
be fun to separate them into piles
according to their sizes. In most
cases, this impromptu Montessori
exercise can be depended upon to
amuse the child for an astonishingly
long period, and it is, of course, excel-
lent training for his capacity to dis-
tinguish accurately between objects
similar but of different size.

Second. — Out of doors, a pile of
stones of differing sizes can be divided
into several piles of the same size.
Most mothers will be surprised at the
vast and inextinguishable interest
taken in such simple exercises by the
average healthy child of three or over.
The gain in accuracy of eye and brain
is too obvious to need discussion.

Third. — The buttoning frames are
intended first of all to teach the child
to use his hands and fingers accurately
and well, and next to enable him to
dress himself as far as may be. This
is very important, for the first thing
to be done for a little child is to release
him as quickly as possible from the
prison of babyishness — to make it
possible for him to take care of himself,
and not to depend upon the services

of others. As his clothes are nearly
always fastened with buttons, it is
essential that considerable time be
devoted to teaching him how to
manage these, or, rather, that he
shall be allowed to take the time
necessary to learn this. For he has a
natural fund of desire to manage
himself which makes him eager to
learn.

The buttoning frames, being of
cloth tightly stretched on wood, are
easier for him to manage than the
buttons on his own clothes, although
as soon as he begins to try to button
his own coats and waists, he should
be allowed all the time he needs for
his first clumsy and ineffectual at-
tempts. Remember, he should be
allowed all the time he needs — not all
the help he needs! For if he is often
helped, he will fall into the vicious,
invalid's habit of waiting for other
people to serve him.

Fourth. — The lace and ribbon frames
are more difficult to use and are, of
course, to be held back until the child
is older, perhaps four or five. From
time to time, they should be brought
out and a simple experiment made
of the child's capacity to deal with it.
If he does not at once show interest
in the problem of bow-knots and laces,
and more of a capacity to struggle with
the construction of them than on the
last trial, the frame should be taken
away, without comment, and not
tried again until more progress has
been made in the other exercises. It
must be remembered, as a general rule
for the use of the Montessori exercises,
and in general in the training of little
children, that no prolonged attempt
should ever be made to coax them to
continue an exercise which does not
interest them. If they show no spon-
taneous interest, they are not ready for
it, and time is only wasted by any
attempt to force their inclination.

182

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

When they are ready, they can learn
in ten minutes what three hours of
dreary enforced practice was not able
to teach them.

EXERCISE FOUR

Exercises four, five and six are

also for the further cultivation

of the child's visual perception of

difference in dimension and form

The Block Tower.— After the child
has had a day or so of practice with
the Geometric Insets and Buttoning
Frames, allowing him to take them up
and lay them down at will, it is time
to bring out the blocks composing the
Tower. The Tower is a series of ten
wooden cubes, decreasing in size.
Almost every nursery possesses such
blocks, but few mothers are aware of
their educational value or of the dis-
tinctive use to which blocks of gradu-
ated size should be put. Their use
should not be confused with that of
the ordinary "building blocks," —
cube blocks of unvarying size. With
the Tower blocks there are definite
problems of classification and dis-
crimination to be solved, and to get the
benefit of them, the child must use
them in the one correct way.

Teaching the child to build
the tower

The mother builds up the Tower
before the child's eyes, placing the
largest block first, then the next
smaller one, and so on down to the
tiny little cube at the top. Then she
knocks it all down, and if her child is
the average child, he needs no more
incentive to duplicate the performance
and to begin to educate himself as to
graduations of size. When he begins
to construct the Tower himself, the
difficult thing for the mother to do is
to avoid giving him elaborate instruc-
tions: "No, no, Jimmy — not that one
— that's not the next size — don't you
see the one by your hand is bigger?"
etc., etc., etc. The only good Jimmy

can get of this exercise is by learning
to see for himself which is the bigger
block, and to do this his mother must
let him alone. She need not be sur-
prised if he makes one odd mistake
continually, even after he has learned
quite deftly to construct the Tower.
A great many children find it difficult
to begin the Tower with the biggest
block. They begin it with the next
biggest, and, when they have finished,
find that they cannot place the largest
one without tearing down the whole
structure. The psychological proc-
esses involved in this mistake are
too complicated to explain here. I
mention it, lest some anxious mother
should think her own three-year-old
especially deficient in the capacity to
distinguish between sizes.

One exercise that can be profitably
carried out is to give the Tower to
the child and have him carry it, let
us say, from one part of the room to
another. In all probability, his first
attempt will be far from successful.
Let him take his own time in the
building of it, and then make another
attempt. Finally, he will be able to
carry it very successfully from one
part of the room to another, thus
showing the self-control that is de-
veloped.

EXERCISE FIVE
Broad stair

After the Tower, the next exercise
is the Broad Stair. It is a set
of ten rectangular wooden blocks,
decreasing in height and width,
length only being constant. This is
another of the visual perception ex-
ercises. Here it may be well to
mention that when a new exercise is
given a child, the older ones are by no
means taken away. They are left in
the nursery, where he can get at them
himself whenever he wishes to, and the
new ones simply added to the store

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 183

of his riches. Often, when the more EXERCISE SIX

elaborate exercises are quite mastered. The long stair

a child will take pleasure in returning After the Tower and the Stair

for a time to the simpler old friends comes the third set of blocks, or

with which he began. He should be rods, called the Long Stair. This

allowed to do this quite as he wishes, is the most important of the three

his own instinct being a sure and ac- sets, as it is the foundation for instruc-

curate guide to what is best for him tion in arithmetic. With this set of

in this respect. He is doing what w^e short rectangular rods, the child

all like to do occasionally — he is "re- learns, as he grows older, a number

viev/ing" what he has learned, and of the simpler processes of numeration,

making sure of his grasp on something At first they are presented to the child

which he has not thought of for some just as a series of rods differing in

time. length, the smallest one being one

The Broad Stair is brought out in tenth of the length of the longest one.

the same quiet manner with which The mother builds up the series,

the child has been introduced to his having the child notice that all the

other Montessori "playthings." The rods are red on one end, and that the

mother arranges the blocks in regular stairs have a regular number of red

order, starting either with the biggest and blue spaces from one to ten, or

or the smallest, and laying the others from the bottom to the top of the

side by side, until a regular stair is stairs. Then the series is knocked

constructed. Then she mixes the over, the rods mixed up, and the child

blocks up, and goes away. The child, left to put it together again himself,

if he is ready for this exercise, at once Children who cannot definitely count

takes it up, and in struggling to repeat can often manage this series, and it is

his mother's feat, constructs the stair, the greatest pleasure for the child who

intellectually as well as physically, has just learned to count to be able

and learns a new variety of dimension, to verify his numbers in this concrete

Since all these blocks are .the same way. For the present, this is all that

length, and only differ in height and is done with the Long Stair, but as the

thickness, his problem is one degree child progresses and develops, it will

more difficult than in the construction be found one of the most valuable

of the Tower. parts of the apparatus, because the

It sho'-ld be remembered about rods can be combined in many different

these blocks, as about all Montessori ways, and illustrate in the plainest

apparatus, that they should be used and most unmistakable manner many

for the purpose for which they are of the simpler processes of mathe-

in tended and for no other. The child matics — addition, subtraction, etc.

should always have, in addition, an But this all comes later, and after the

ordinary set of plain building blocks, child has mastered other of the

with which he can play in any way he apparatus.

pleases, and if he begins to "make Order of exercises to be modified
houses," etc., with his Montessori according to circumstances

blocks, his little mind, incapable of It is not desirable that we give

more than one idea at a time, should be directions for the exact use and the

redirected to the regular exercise in- order of succession of the remainder of

volving the dimensions of these the apparatus. Children differ so

blocks. widely that the mother will be forced

18Jt

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

CHILDREN DIRECTING THEIR OWN LESSONS

A spontaneous
writing lesson. These
children have reach-
ed the point where,
as Montessori says,
they "explode into
writing."

%.'9^^'

Montessori Long Stair Game

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 185

to depend somewhat on her own judg- touch, over the two surfaces, and the

ment and intimate knowledge of the child asked to give the right name to

child. She will have grasped by this what he is touching. At the first sign

time the purpose of the exercises with of mental fatigue or confusion, this

the Montessori apparatus, which is to exercise should be discontinued,

give the child the fullest possible control although it may be taken up again

over his own body and will-power. The after a half-hour's rest and change of

order of exercises as hereafter indicated occupation. The child's fingers

is to be followed with any ordinary should always be trained from left to

child, but this must be modified accord- right,

ing to circumstances. EXERCISE EIGHT

EXERCISE SEVEN Sandpaper board number two

Developing the sense of touch When the simpler of the sandpaper

Sandpaper Board Number One. — boards has been mastered, the child

As a rule, the next piece of apparatus may go to the next form, in which the

to be taken up is the Sandpaper Board, sandpaper is arranged in alternate

a small board, one-half of which is strips on the smoothly planed board,

smooth and the other half covered This is, of course, more complicated,

with sandpaper. This fixes the child's and the blindfolded child may soon

attention on the difference between "lose his head" and not be able to

surfaces. Sometimes this is one of the distinguish accurately between the

very first apparatus to be used, as a sensations. He should be encouraged

distinction between rough and smooth is to take plenty of time, and to allow his

apttobeone which arouses the interest finger-tips to play freely across the

of a very little child. His mother surface. When he can tell quickly

takes the board in her lap, or lays it on accurately, and without mental fatigue,

the child's small table, and draws the whether he is touching a rough or

little finger-tips over the smoothly smooth strip, the beginning of the

planed board, saying at the same time, child's education of his tactile sense

"smooth, smooth." Then she draws is well made. He has taken the first

the finger-tips (always from left to step, which counts so much, and will

right) over the rough sand-paper, say- go on steadily to more complicated

ing, "rough, rough." The child very conquests. In this exercise, the child

soon associates the sound with the is also learning to follow a raised

sensation, to which his finger-tips are surface with his little fingers. This is

more alive than are deadened adult of great value to him as a preliminary

fingers, and says himself, as he touches to the sandpaper letters. After he

the two surfaces, "smooth, smooth — has mastered this simple exercise, he

rough, rough." After this distinction has one of the first requisites necessary

has been thoroughly learned (it may for successful work with the sandpaper

take only one lesson, or it may take letters.

two or three days), it is a good plan to EXERCISE NINE

try to see if he can make the distinc- for the further development of

tion accurately when he is not looking the child-s tactile sense

at the board, purely by the sense of In the formal Montessori apparatus,

touch. The finger-tips should then the small cabinet containing seven

be passed, always with the utmost drawers is filled with various fabrics,

delicacy and with the lightest possible These fabrics consist of two pieces

186 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

of the following materials: velvet, triumph when the matching bit of
silk, wool, fine and coarse linen, and velvet is discovered. It may be said
fine and coarse cotton. It is very in passing that it is usually well to
important that absolutely pure fabrics begin with either velvet or silk, as
should be used for these first exercises; those fabrics are so markedly different
in short, the mother should be quite from others that the problem is easier
sure that the linen she is using is not for a beginner. If two children play
partly cotton. Of course, if the regu- this "game," the victor is the one who
lar Montessori apparatus is used, all first finds the piece of velvet without
of these precautions are provided for. looking at his pile.
These can be supplemented by any Second. — The mother's ingenuity
ragbag, and from the infinitely diver- can devise many other variations on
sified fabrics used in the furnishing of this game, and can see to it that the
any home. When this "playing" with child goes on observing the fabrics
fabrics is first begun, the child is used in different parts of the house,
allowed to handle the different pieces the materials of which his own dresses
of cloth, and his attention is called are made, the stuff used in upholstery,
to the difference in their texture. He table linen, curtains, etc. He can also
is told their names, one or two at a be told the names of the different
time, the mother taking the greatest materials used in building a house —
pains to pronounce the words clearly, wood, iron, tin, glass, stone, and brick;
distinctly, and slowly. When he and the materials of cooking utensils —
has learned to distinguish them by china, tin, copper, etc. There is an
looking at them, the next step, as with infinite variety of material in the
the sandpaper boards, is to distinguish humblest home which can be the most
them by the sense of touch only. The valuable educational apparatus for
child can be blindfolded, or can look the well-trained child, even in quite
up at the ceiling, and, sitting in front early childhood. Once the child's
of a mixed-up pile of the pieces, takes interest in this problem is aroused, he
them up one at a time, pronouncing will in most cases go on educating
their names. When he has done this himself, and all the parent needs to
enough times so that he is quite sure do is to have the patience necessary
of himself (usually after a week of to answer innumerable questions,
playing with the pieces at intervals) Third. — Games with Balls, Squares,
he can go on to some of the fascinating Triangles, etc. — Another "game" for
"games" to be played with them. developing the sense of touch with
Supplementary exercises and games materials other than fabrics is played
INVOLVING THE SENSE OF TOUCH in the Casa dei Bambini with solid
First. — The pieces are divided into wooden geometric forms of differing
two piles, each having the same number shapes — balls, squares, triangles, etc.
of pieces of the same fabrics. Then The child is blindfolded, and pulls
the mother picks out a piece of velvet, these things, one at a time, out of a
without naming it, asks the child if he bag, identifying them solely by finger-
can find a piece like it in his pile (of ing them over. In the home this can
course, without looking). This is be "played" with any material at
always productive of much excited hand with which the child is familiar,
fumbling in the pieces, and much He can be blindfolded and try to
delicate fingering of them by sensitive identify objects in a miscellaneous
little finger-tips, and finally much heap on the table before him, consist-

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

187

ing of toy animals, spoons, forks,
brushes, combs, dolls, trays — any-
thing in the room which will not hurt
him, and is not breakable. Very
little children always experience the
greatest joy in thus proving that they
can see "with their fingers."

EXERCISE TEN

Training the sense of hearing

Sound Boxes. — But the sense of
touch is not the only one of the child's
five senses which can be improved by
direct training. The sense of hearing
is greatly developed and made more
serviceable for after years, if given
reasonable practice. The Montessori
apparatus provides the wooden Sound
Boxes, filled with different substances
— sand, gravel, flaxseed, stones, etc.,
which give out sounds differing in
quality and loudness, when shaken.
The child's attention can be thus
fixed, for the first time, on a definite
attempt to distinguish between loud
and low noises, as he shakes these
little boxes close to his ear, and
attempts to arrange them in order
according to their degree of noise.

In all probability, the child has
heard noises of this character, but
he has not had an opportunity to
compare or to contrast such noises.
This exercise affords an opportunity
for such discrimination. As a rule,
the children take a great deal of interest
in this simple exercise and they show
a marked difference in their ability
to discriminate between the various
substances.

Supplementary exercises and

"GAMES"

But this simple exercise needs
to be supplemented by other
"games" which fix the attention on
sounds. These can be devised most
easily with "hide-and-seek" games.
The mother hides and blows very
softly a little horn, by means of which

the child traces her; or she calls the
child's name in the lowest possible
whispers, as he, blindfolded, tries to
locate her in the room by his hearing.
Any of the common children's games,
"blindman's buff," "still - pond - no-
more-moving," etc., played with a
blindfold, are excellent exercises for
the same purpose.

Out of doors, long-distance calling
may be used for this purpose, to accus-
tom the child to determine the direc-
tion from which any noise comes.

As to musical sounds, most children
who are young enough for this Mon-
tessori training are too young to dis-
tinguish pitch at all accurately. Of
music they receive practically nothing
but rhythm, although they are fond of
marching to a tune which has strongly
marked time, and this is a good
exercise for them, in its place.

EXERCISE ELEVEN

Preparatory exercise for teaching
the child to write

Plain Geometric Insets. — Very
soon after the child's first introduc-
tion to the Montessori apparatus, he
can begin his use of the Plain Geomet-
ric Insets. These sets consist of a six-
drawer cabinet, thirty-six geometrical
insets, and a pattern in an adjustable
frame, making possible any desired
combination of forms. The insets
are made of pieces of smooth wood,
painted blue, cut in different shapes,
and with a little knob-like handle in
the center. These insets fit into holes
or openings cut in a rectangular
natural colored piece of wood. The
first of the series of six drawers contains
insets of strongly contrasted forms;
the second drawer contains a series of
six Polygons ; the third drawer, a series
of six Circles, diminishing in size; the
fourth drawer, a series of Quadri-
laterals containing one square and five
rectangles; the fifth drawer, a series of

188

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

six Triangles, and the sixth drawer
contains Oval, Ellipse, Flower Forms,
etc. These have such a vital part to
play in the training of the child to
write, that the mother should be
especially careful in the way they are
used.

The entire thirty-six different shapes
should not, of course, be put before
the child at the beginning but only a
drawer of the most strongly contrasted
shapes — triangles, oblongs, etc. He
should be taught at the very start (as
in the case of the solid geometric insets)
to aid his sight by touch. While he
holds the inset by the little knob with
his left hand, he traces the outline
of the inset with his right forefinger,
and from left to right, or in the direc-
tion in which writing is done. Then,
while still holding the inset, he traces
around the outline of the depression
into which he thinks the inset he holds
would fit. It is quite important to
establish this habit of tracing the out-
line with his fingers, as it has a vital
bearing on learning to write.

As the child masters the tray of the
more simple forms so that he finds it
easy for him to place the insets in the
corresponding opening, the less simple
forms should be given him, a few at a
time. After learning to distinguish
between a triangle and a circle quickly
and accurately, the next day he should
be given two triangles and two circles
of different sizes, to sharpen his sense
of shape and dimension. After a
time, he should be able to replace in
the correct openings six triangles of
differing shapes, and six circles of
differing sizes.

It is perhaps well to give here the
warning which can never be too
often sounded — not to force the child's
attention to this, any more than to
any other problem. When mental
fatigue sets in, and at the least sign
of inattention, the tray of insets

should be put away and some romp-
ing game outdoors played, or a quiet
story told.

EXERCISE TWELVE

Replacing the insets blindfolded

When the insets have become old
friends, it is well to try blindfolding
the child, and setting him the new
problem of replacing the geometric
forms by the sense of touch only.
Here it is well to go back again to first
principles and to begin once more with
the easiest forms, until he grows
accustomed to depending on his touch
only. This is splendid practice, and
a child who has had it grows astonish-
ingly keen in his capacity to take in
accurate impressions from his finger-
tips. How valuable the ability to
work without looking at what is being
done, can be estimated from the
experience of almost any variety of
hand-worker. The old grandmother
who knits without once looking at her
needle can work all day long without
a particle of fatigue, while the knitter
who needs to be verifying each stitch
by her eyes soon tires them out and
must either stop working or suffer
a violent headache. The stenog-
rapher who writes by touch has a tre-
mendous advantage over the other who
needs to use her eyes.

Dr. Montessori lays great stress
upon the value of the work with these
wooden geometric insets. They are
so practical and at the same time so
fascinating that the child learns a
great deal in working with them. The
primary object is that the child should
learn form; that is, that he should see
the difference between various objects.
Ordinarily, this is a very tedious task
for the child, but Dr. Montessori, by
means of her self-correcting apparatus,
has made a game that appeals to
normal children. The mother should
not be at all surprised if after a few

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

189

weeks of play with this apparatus the
child should begin to point out various
objects in his environment, comparing
them with certain insets he has
learned to know.

EXERCISE THIRTEEN

With which the child's comprehen-
sion PASSES FROM SOLID OBJECTS TO
THE PLANE LINE, FROM THE CONCRETE
TO THE ABSTRACT

Plane Geometric Figures Roro-
duced in Three Series of Cards. —
After the final mastery of the geo-
metric insets, the child is given a series
of cards, representing the same forms
as those of his insets. In the first of
these three series, the forms are cut
out of solid blue paper and mounted on
white cards; in the second, the forms
are .cut out of heavy line drawings
and mounted on the cards, and in the
third, the outline or form is represented
only by a thin blue line, such as is
drawn by any pencil.

The child mixes up, say six or eight of
these cards, and six or eight correspond-
ing insets, and then sets himself the
task of putting the insets on the corre-
sponding card. Here he has not the
sense of touch to guide him, and learns
gradually the meaning of the line,
passing from the solid blue form to
the form merely drawn in outline.

After the child has played with
these various cards for some time he
will have acquired a very definite idea
of symbolism. That is, it will be
comparatively easy for him to under-
stand how a series of lines can stand for
an object. Ordinarily, it is not diffi-
cult for the child to see the connection
between a photograph and an object,
but ^ath an abstract line it is entirely
different. What is there in the sym-
bols c-a-t that would connect them
with a cat.'' Dr. Montessori believes
that the child should understand
symbolism before the alphabet is
taken up.

EXERCISE FOURTEEN
Involving the first use of the pencil

Plane Geometrical Insets Made in
Metal. — And with this recognition of
the line, might go very well with the
average child the beginning of the use
of the pencil. This exercise is done
with the Plane Geometric Insets made
of metal. Accompanying the metal
insets in the formal Montessori ap-
paratus are two wooden trays with
sloping tops, large enough to hold
three of the metal insets and intended
to be placed by the child on his own
table. It is, of course, unnecessary
to point out that a small table and
chair, just the right size for a child,
are essentials in Montessori or any other
right training for childliood.

The child puts a piece of white
paper on the wooden tray or on his
own table, then places the square
inset over the paper and lifts out the
central piece by its little knob. The
white paper shows through the hole in
the shape of the inset. The child is
given a pencil and is shown, once, very
briefly and simply, how to hold it and
how to trace around the outline of the
inset. He is apt to make bad work
of this at first, as this is the very first
use of the pencil, but his interest
almost certainly carries him through
the first difficulties. To begin with
he simply traces the outline, lifts off
the metal inset and admires the design
on the paper beneath. The metal
edge of the inset is a guide to his
staggering little pencil and before
long he will be able to make a good,
clear outline, joining the ends neatly.

EXERCISE FIFTEEN
The use of colored crayons

First Lesson in Drawing. — When
this has been accomplished the child is
furnished with a box of colored
crayons, and invited to fill in the
"picture" he has made with strokes

190

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

of his crayon. The fact that he is
working in color stimulates his interest
and few children need more spur to
advance than the simple permission
to use the crayons. At first, and for
many days, his efforts to fill in the
outlines will be ludicrous in their in-
accuracy. He should not be corrected,
and should be allowed to pass from one
form to another as often as he pleases,
being supplied with an unlimited
amount of paper and leisure for this
new undertaking. Little by little,
as he works at this accomplishment,
along with other Montessori "games"
he begins to "get the hang of it," in
our vernacular phrase. The lines
become more and more parallel, fewer
and fewer go wildly outside the line
enclosing the outline, and finally the
geometric form is shown in color on
the white paper almost as though it had
been printed. This advance is not
rapid, however, in the case of most
children, and nothing should be done
to hurry it. Occasionally a child gets
tired of the whole process and will
play with other things for several days
without recurring to his "drawing,"
although on the other hand, some
children are, from the first so fasci-
nated by the problem that they can
hardly let it alone. The child should
be allowed to choose his own time for
working at this and to spend as much
or as little time over it as he wishes,
although if there seems any likelihood
that he has really forgotten it, his
attention may be called to it again.

EXERCISE SIXTEEN

Training the eye; the matching
of colors

Color Boxes and Color "Games." —
At about the same stage of develop-
ment that the geometric insets are
first given to a child, the color boxes
can be shown him and the color
"games" begun. The color boxes are

sets of spools, wound with silk of
varying shades, eight of the main
colors, and eight shades of each. At
first the child is shown only two
strongly contrasting colors, red and
blue, for instance. The name is
pronounced clearly and distinctly,
holding up the corresponding color.
When the child has grasped this the
colors are allowed to lie on the table
and the mother says, "Give me red,"
or "Give me blue."

When the child has progressed this
far (this may be the next day, or even
two or three days after the first in-
troduction) the teacher or mother
holds up a spool and asks, "What is
this?" When the child can answer
correctly, "blue" or "red," he has
thoroughly learned those two colors
and can progress to another one.
When the eight main colors have been
learned in this way, the child can
begin to match them. Four spools
are laid on the table, two red and two
blue (of course of exactly the same
shade). The child picks out the two
red ones and lays them side by side,
and then does the same for the blue.
From this he can go by degrees until
there are sixteen spools on the table,
eight pairs, which he must put to-
gether.

EXERCISE SEVENTEEN

Differentiation of colors

After the matching has been master-
ed, the next step is to differentiate
between light and dark shades of the
same color, dark red and light pink, for
instance, or dark and light blue. This
goes in pairs at first also, but little by
little, as the child's accuracy increases,
he may go up to the eight shades of the
different colors. Some Montessori
children become so proficient that they
can "carry a color in the eye," as it is
called. That is, they can look at a
spool of a certain shade of purple, go

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 191

across the room to a pile of spools and EXERCISE EIGHTEEN
pick out the color matching it. Special physical and gymnastic ex-
Games AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN ERCISES FOR THE YOUNG CHILD

MATCHING COLORS In Connection with all these exer-

With these color spools, a variety of cises with the Montessori apparatus

"games" can be played, which any there are a number of other exercises,

mother can invent, according to the chiefly gymnastic, which should be

number and age of the children wishing constantly in use. As soon as the

to play. They are all variations on child can walk at all, every effort

the principle which is used in the should be made to teach him further

game of "authors," and can be made and more definitely the art of equilib-

simple or hard as circumstances direct, rium of his body. When we walk we

Furthermore, as in the treatment of continually balance our weight so that

fabrics, the child's attention is we do not fall down, and more accura-

awakened to the presence of color in tely and unconsciously we do this, the

everything about him, and his interest better we walk. Now, bodily poise is

aroused in the problem of determining one of the very important factors in

the color of the carpets, curtains, bodily grace and even in strength,

dresses, etc., which he sees in his certainly in comfort,

every-day life. The chalk line exercise

The reason for using these little In the Casa dei Bambini the exercise

spools upon which the silk is wound is used for this need is arranged very

that the child's attention is primarily simply by means of a long chalk line

directed to the color and not to the drawn on the floor. The children are

object. invited to see how accurately they can

The spools in themselves are very walk along this line without stepping

unattractive while the richly colored off. At first the little tots cannot

silk is just the opposite. Silk thread manage this at all. Later they learn

is used because it gives a deeper, to walk very slowly along the line,

richer color, at the same time is more and later, when they are four or five,

practical and makes possible the to run as swiftly as deer along this

various gradations. line without swerving once from it.

Too much importance cannot be Walking the two-by-four

placed upon the developing of the A modification of this exercise can

chromatic sense in early childhood, be arranged out-of-doors by laying a

If the child at an early age acquires long piece of wood known as a "two-

a deep interest in shades and tints of by-four" down on the ground and

colorings, he will not only be able permitting the child to try to walk

to appreciate his environment much along it without falling off. He is

more, but this knowledge and ap- usually ready to spend a long time at

preciation of color will be of this exercise, and to return to it

inestimable value to him in later repeatedly. The benefit derived from

years. this is beyond calculation.

The ethical element in such train Rope-balancing and walking back-

ing is also very important. If the ward

child is taught to see the beautiful If a length of rope can be hung

and to appreciate it even in his early up where the child can reach the

years it must have a marked effect dangling end of it he will devise for

upon his later life. himself a variety of exercises in bal-

192

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ancing which will greatly increase his
mastery of his body. Another ex-
ercise of great value for little children, is
in walking backward. At first they need
to be helped, for their little brains are
so unused to reversing the processes
of ordinary walking that they are
quite helpless, but after a compara-
tively short time, they learn this new
trick and practice it with delight.
If possible every small child should
have a little swing, just the right height
for him, and a tiny spring-board
ending over a pile of hay or anything
soft, from which he may jump and
learn to balance his body in the air.
The baby ball

Most children of three are too
young to have the least capacity
for throwing or catching a ball,
but if a ball is hung on a long
string and tossed to them, the string
retards the motion just enough to
make it possible for their little brains
to set their muscles in action, and they
will play with great joy and profit for
a long time, at this variety of "baby-
ball."
Encourage child's inventiveness

Of course the greatest freedom should
be allowed for any exercise (not in-
jurious to the child) which his inven-
tion hits upon. The action so common
among little children of throwing
themselves on a chair or stool and
kicking their swinging feet in the air
is an excellent exercise for the muscles
of the legs and should never be dis-
couraged. To climb up and down a
short length of ladder, with the rounds
set at a distance appropriate for short
legs, is also very beneficial.
Should share household work

A child who is being trained in the
Montessori system should also, as
soon as it is at all possible, begin to
share in the work of the household.
If he is provided with a small broom
and dustpan, there is no reason why

he should not keep his room fresh
and clean, and also clean up any litter
of paper or dirt which he makes in the
course of the day. Setting the table
is a singularly good exercise for a little
child although of course it is enough
to begin with, if he does only a small
part of the whole operation.

The important element should be that
what he does, he does entirely himself.
If he is set to put a spoon at each place,
he should be left (after due explanation
as brief as possible) to wrestle with
the problem and to solve it with his
own unaided invention. Later he
can be given all the silver to put in
place, and as he learns in his Mon-
tessori exercises, mastery over his
muscles, can be entrusted with china
and glass at four and five years of age,
which an untrained child of ten or
eleven would be almost sure to break.

Summary of child's attainments in
the mastery of himself and his

WORLD

But to return to those formal
and ingeniously devised "play-things"
which so wonderfully and insensibly
lead the little child to a mastery of his
world and himself, let us suppose that
the child for whom the box of appara-
tus came into the home, has now been
"playing" with the different pieces of
apparatus described for about three
or four months, longer if he was only
three when he began, a shorter time
if he was older. He has learned to
replace the geometric insets blind-
folded by the sense of touch only, to
distinguish fabrics and materials, to
build the Tower, the Broad Stair and
the Long Stair, to match colors, to
distinguish between noises of varying
intensity, to balance himself deftly,
to manage a glass of water. His
mother may very well consider that it
is now time to begin to teach him the
beginning of reading and writing.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

193

EXERCISE NINETEEN

LEARNING TO WRITE AT THE AGE OF
FOUR

Sandpaper Letters. — The child is
told that there is a new game to play
and the little box containing the
famous sandpaper letters brought out.
This alphabet is composed of letters
in plain, round script, cut out of black
sand, or emery, paper and pasted
upon smooth white cards. Here at
once the child's past practice in learn-
ing about objects through touching
them, as well as looking at them,
comes into play. He is shown a letter,
the mother pronounces the sound of
it clearly, and shows him how to trace
around it wiih his finger in the way
one would write it. He should touch
it very lightly, as he has been taught
to do with all his work, and should,
at first, only trace the letters when
some one is watching him, to make
sure he does not do it backward, or
upsidedown. Make sure that he
knows the vocal sound of the letter or
figure he is tracing. Most children
of three-and-a-half or four have seen
so much of writing among the adults
of their acquaintance that their curi-
osity is deeply aroused as to the mys-
terious process and they are delighted
with the prospect of learning some-
thing about it. They need, as a rule,
no further incentive than the state-
ment that this is the beginning of their
learning how to write.
Testing the child's comprehension

As soon as a few letters are learned,
the teacher, or mother, should make
sure of the child's grasp of them in
the same way she tested his knowledge
of colors. She lays down four or five
on the table and asks for a certain one.
"Give me 'a,' please," or "Give me
*b.' " When the child can do this
quickly and surely she next holds one up
and asks him what it is. When he can
identify those first letters he can be

allowed to pass on to others; it will
not be long before he has mastered
all the letters.
Recognizing and spelling words

Before that time, however, if his
interest in the process is lively, he
can begin to recognize words, and to
compose them. If he has learned "p"
and "a" he can compose the familiar
word "papa," and will, in most cases
do this of his own accord if his atten-
tion is called to the pronunciation of
the word. If his mother says "How
would you make this word?" and then
pronounces it very slowly, separating
the sounds distinctly, the child will
analyze the word into its component
parts. "It begins with 'P'"' she says,
giving the phonetic sound and not
the name of the letter. Of course
the child reaches instinctively for the
"p," and thereafter recognizes the
sound of "a," puts the two together
and looks on delighted at the first
word of his composition.

EXERCISE TWENTY

Learning TO read the regular mov-
able ALPHABET

At this point the child should be
presented with the Regular Movable
Alphabet of cut-out script letters in
stiff paper.

These come in two large, flat,
pasteboard boxes with partitions di-
viding the same into separate com-
partments for each letter. There
are four or five duplicates of each
letter, making a like number of com-
plete alphabets and, of course, addi-
tional letters can easily be made at
home, if more are needed. These
letters are not pasted on cards, like
the sandpaper letters, and are easily
handled and arranged as the child
wishes, and with these begin his com-
position and recognition of words.
He is not troubled, as in the old
system, by the difficulty of forming

IH THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the letters, as all he has had to do is to several times a day, if his interest

take them from the compartments allows. It is almost certain that he

and make words with them, long before will ask to do this, as touching the

his little fingers have acquired the letters brings home their form to his

ability to handle a pencil surely and little brain much more certainly than

accurately. merely looking at them. Sometimes

Practice words children fail to recognize a letter when

Of course English-speaking children they look at it, although they can

have a much harder time to compose identify it perfectly after their fingers

words from letters than Italian chil- have traced it. This, being one of the

dren, whose language is phonetically essential steps in writing, must not

written. The English-speaking moth- be neglected.

er who attempts to teach her At the same time that these exercises
own child how to write and read, will are being repeated as often as the
infallibly become a convert to the child's interest makes possible, the
simplified spelling idea, but, since it exercises with "drawing," that is,
is out of the question for the present tracing the outline of one of the geo-
to change the wild insanities of metric insets on the par-er and filling
English spelling, we must possess our it in with colored chaiK, should also
souls in patience and exercise as much be steadily continued, for this tracing
ingenuity as possible in introducing teaches the child to use the pencil.
the little one to the life-long burden of The explosion into writing
an illogically spelled language. It is We quote from A Montessori
well for this purpose to choose for Mother a paragraph describing the
the first words, the very simplest ones, final success of these three exercises,
like "rat," "pin," "hen," "mama," "All these processes go on, day after
"papa," "dog," etc., words which are day, side by side, all invisibly con verg-
not only within a child's natural ing towards one end. The practice
comprehension but which offer no with the crayons, the recognition of
difficulties in the way of consistent the sandpaper letters by eye and
spelling. When the inevitable diffi- touch, the revelation as to the forma-
culties occur, the best that can be tion of words with the movable alpha-
done is to rel^'' on the naturally quick bet, are so many roads leading to
memory of childhood, and to fall the painless acquisition of the art
back on the helpless statement that of writing. They draw nearer and
"it's spelled that way because that is nearer together, and then one day,
the way it's spelled." However, there quite suddenly, the famous 'Montes-
is, even in English, quite a vocabulary sori explosion into writing' occurs,
of sensibly spelled words, which the The teacher of experience can tell
child can acquire as a working be- when this explosion is imminent,
ginning. First, the parallel lines which the child
EXERCISE TWENTY-ONE makes to fill and color the geo-
REViEw exercises WITH APPARATUS mctric figurcs become singularly even
ALREADY MASTERED and regular; second, acquaintance with

Although he may from now on, the alphabet becomes so thorough that

"play" with the movable alphabet, he recognizes the letters by sense of

the use of the sandpaper letters touch only; and, third, he increases in

should be steadily continued, causing facility for composing words with the

him t'^ trace them- as they are written, movable alphabet. The burst into

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

195

spontaneous writing usually only
comes after these three conditions are
present. It is to be noted that for a
long time after this explosion into
writing, the children continue inces-
santly to go through the three pre-
paratory steps, tracing with their
fingers the sandpaper letters, filling
in the geometric forms and composing
with the movable alphabet."
Cautions to be observed

There are several cautions to be
expressed about this whole process
of teaching a child to write and read
by the Montessori method. The
most important one is against hurry.
Even more consistently and steadily
than with the rest of the apparatus,
the child's natural gait ought not to be
in the slightest degree hastened by
urging from outside. He will go, in
any case, so very much more rapidly,
easily and surely, than children in
school, that urging him is not neces-
sary. The temptation with a bright
quickly adaptable child is to attempt
to "make a record." The mother
should always act deliberately, she
should take the greatest pains to be
sure that the child understands every
step before he passes on to the next
and that he has thoroughly mastered
one process before he is allowed to
progress to another more complicated.
Above all, she should refrain from
forcing the child's attention in the
slightest degree.

EXERCISE TWENTY-TWO
Undirected work; maintaining the

CHILD'S normal OR EVERYDAY LIFE

All the time that this work with the
drawing and filling in of geometric
forms, the tracing of the sandpaper
letters and the composition of words
with the movable alphabet is going on,
the child's usual normal life should be
continued. There should be plenty
of undirected outdoor play, where the
child's natural inventiveness has scope.

"hide-and-seek" games, "tag," etc.,
with plenty of fun in the company of
other children should be encouraged.
There should be much reading to him
of well-selected stories and poems
suited to his age; with long hours of
sleep, and a certain amount of helpful
service about the household work.
A "Montessori child" does not by any
means signify a child who devotes
most of his time to exercises with the
formal apparatus.
Plant and animal pets

He should have, if it is possible to
arrange this, a plant or two of his own
(even at the age of three) and a pet
of his own, preferably a good-natured
kitten, for he is rather young as yet
for a puppy. He should assume the
real responsibility for these plant and
animal pets, caring for them himself.
Later, he should have a little plot of
ground, and learn from actual ex-
perience the wonder of growth from
seeds.

How the CHILD LEARNS SELF-CARE

He should have in his own room, or
in a corner of another's (if he has no
room of his own) a tiny washstand,
with a little bowl and pitcher, light
enough for him to handle, and a
mirror hung low enough for him to see
if he has succeeded in getting his face
clean. He should be allowed the time
necessary to wash his face and hands,
and should be taught to empty the
bowl and to keep his washstand neat
and clean.

As soon as possible, he should be
encouraged and allowed to dress him-
self, his clothes being made with this
in view, although there must always
be some buttons which three and
four-year-old fingers cannot reach,
and should assume the responsibility
of putting away his cwn clothes and
knowing where they are. People who
have struggled with older children
on these subjects will be surprised

196

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

to note how naturally and easily a
little child will assume these helpful
and desirable habits. The important
point is to "catch him young," before
he has learned bad habits of irrespon-
sibility and sloth. Of course, there
should be, as far as possible, the great-
est amount of regularity and routine
in the little life. He should eat his
meals at regular hours, feeding him-
self and sitting at a low table; and he
should take his naps regularly.

And this simple, industrious, tran-
quil life, with no excitements of joining
in adult "pleasures"; full of profitable
"play" which is educational, and per-
meated with a sense of responsibility
on the child's part for the conduct of
his own life, is the Montessori life for a
child between two and seven. It
is not enough that he construct the
Tower, and the Long Stair, and learn
his sandpaper letters perfectly; he
must learn to be a self-dependent, self-
respecting, self-trusting citizen of his
little world.

EXERCISE TWENTY-THREE

FIRST STEPS IN ARITHMETIC

Counting Boxes and Sandpaper
Numbers. — We have now to consider
the question of arithmetic and the
Montessori application of the subject
to the child of the average American
home. There is a prejudice about
presenting mathematics to children
under six, no matter how simply it
may be arranged. But experience in
the Casa dei Bambini has shown that
children over three take a lively
interest in the sequence of numbers,
and in some of the simpler processes
of arithmetic, if those processes can. be
presented to them in a sufficiently
concrete form. The Montessori ap-
paratus for this purpose is very simple,
and can be supplemented by several
other devices, easily obtained in any
home.

These counting boxes comprise two
small boxes, with five compartments
or divisions in each. Accompanying
the two boxes are fifty smooth, round
sticks, exactly alike, and a set of
numbers from to 9, cut out of sand-
paper and pasted on white cards.
The counting sticks give the child a
concrete basis for the abstract names
of the numbers, and he learns to
associate the symbol with the concrete
object. At first the child does not
play with the sandpaper numbers.
These are removed from the boxes and
he but wrestles with the problem of
oral counting, using the sticks. One
good way to begin is by arranging one
of the boxes so there are no sticks in
the first compartment, one in the next,
two in the next, three in the next, and
four in the last. This exercise is, of
course, for a very little child who has
no idea of the definite sequence of
numbers, or of how to determine how
many objects he holds in his hand.
The other box is then emptied of all
its contents and given the child, with
an ample supply of the counting sticks,
and he is invited to make his box
exactly like the one his mother has
arranged. Most children can, even
at a very early age, quickly put one
stick in the second compartment and
two in the next. Here frequently,
at the very beginning, there ensues
some mental confusion, and much
eager gazing at the three sticks in the
box arranged by the mother. Anxious
attempts are made by the child to lay
an equal number in the next compart-
ment of his own box.

The mother should not help in this
process. It does the child no good if
she interferes and does it herself,
or corrects his mistake. If he has
arrived at the age when his brain can
master this simple arithmetical idea,
he will ultimately solve the problem
and place the proper number of sticks

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 197

in each compartment. If he has not please." When he has mastered this
yet arrived at the right age or state she should then hold up a card and ask
of development, he will not readily the child to tell her what it is. When
take in the significance of anything his he can do this accurately, he has mas-
mother may do, seeking to aid him. tered his numbers.
If he repeatedly performs this exercise According to his age and capacity,
incorrectly, or shows signs of mental this may take him two days, or two
fatigue, the boxes should be re- weeks. The next thing to do is to
moved, and the attempt postponed teach him to connect them with the
until a later day. right number of objects. And here

The mental growth of children at the counting boxes come again into

this age is so astonishingly rapid that play. He should arrange the series,

sometimes a child will be able easily and place the right number in each

to solve a problem only a week after compartment. The mother will be

he has found it perfectly impenetrable, surprised to see that even after

It is far better to trust this principle mastering the names and looks of the

of growth than to attempt to urge the number and the sequence in the num-

child to put forth powers which he ber boxes, the average child finds it

does not as yet possess. quite an intellectual effort to put the

Beginning to count two things together in his mind. He

As soon as he can complete the series will need plenty of time and quiet to

up to four, he can go on, one at a time, struggle with the new problem, and

to complete the series up to nine, as if it is too hard on the first trial, the

shown in the illustration; and then, number boxes should be taken away

if he is the normal child, with a wide- without comment, and some other

awake, intelligent, curious mind, he "game" suggested,

will be observed "counting" everything EXERCISE TWENTY-FIVE

in sight. He is delighted with his new an arithmetical game with the long

acquisition, and employs it on all the stair

material at hand. Another arithmetical game is played

with the Long Stair. The stair is
arranged in sequence and a cardboard

The sandpaper numbers are added number corresponding with the num-

Now is the time to bring out the ber of rods in the section is leaned up

sandpaper numbers. He is taught against the section; "1" against the

EXERCISE TWENTY-FOUR

"r:i"

these just as he learned his letters, section with only one rod, the "2

one at a time, and following the against the next one, and so forth,

three regular steps. First, the mother A game with money
guides the httle forefinger over the? About this time, or perhaps a little

rough sandpaper as the number would earlier, it is well to begin to teach a

be written, at the same time pronounc- child the significance of money. He

ing the name of the number, slowly is always interested in this, and will

and distinctly, and adding no explana-* play with it endlessly, and study the

tions. She should refrain from wordy possible combinations to be made with

comments simply saying, "8," and it, if they are suggested to his mind,

show the little fingers how to trace the It is better, if possible, to have new

outline. Then she should lay several money. If this cannot be managed,

down on the table, and ask the child, the coins should be thoroughly

"Give me '7,' or "Give me '2,' cleansed before the child plays with

198

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

them. The mother should teach him
the names of the different coins with
the same three steps used in teaching
him the names of the letters and
numbers; that is, first tell him the
names, slowly, one or two at a time;
then ask him for a given coin; then
point to a given coin and ask what it
is called. At first the little child likes,
as a rule, simply to sort out the money
into the right piles, all the pennies
together, all the nickels, all the
quarters, etc.
Arithmetical game with counting

STICKS

An interesting "game" which can
be played with numbers, if there are
two or more children together, is the
following: A certain number of the
counting sticks, or any other objects
such as clothespins, stones, spoons,
coins, etc., are placed on the table.
The mother then holds a bag contain-
ing the numbers up to ten. Each
child draws a number at random, and,
without showing it to his companions,
goes back to his seat. When all have
drawn their numbers, each child goes
up to the table and selects from it the
number of objects corresponding with
the number hidden in his hand. He
carries these back to his place and
arranges them in order, and waits for
the mother or teacher to come and
verify the correctness of his counting.
Teaches self-control

This simple game, which would not
amuse older children for a moment,
is of inexhaustible interest for little
ones, and has a various and complex
influence on them. There is a con-
siderable amount of self-control in-
volved in their taking only the number
of objects indicated by the number
they have drawn, since every child's
instinctive action is to grab all he can
hold and carry off his prize in triumph.
The mother should explain that this
spoils the fun of the game, which

consists in fitting the mysterious
written sign to the number of objects
chosen. Another conception which
is firmly settled in the child's mind by
this and other similar "games" is the
abstract idea of "zero," since the child
who draws zero selects no objects at
all.
Game with sandpaper numbers

Another arithmetical game which
can be played with one or many chil-
dren is played with the sandpaper
numbers, or any large numbers, such
as could be cut out of old calendars.
The mother or teacher holds up a
number and says, "Come and give
me this many kisses," or "Bring me
this number of pennies."
Game with movable alphabet

A similar game can be played with
the movable alphabet, with older
children, who have learned the begin-
nings of reading. The mother con-
structs the word, say for instance,
"pin," and, pointing it out to the
child, says, "Bring me this, please."
The child who is first to read the word
and select the article, wins. When
several children of the same age and
acquirements play this together, the
fun, and intensity of interest, and con-
sequent sharpening of wits, form an
invaluable exercise.
Hide-and-seek WITH MOVABLE alphabet

A game of hide-and-seek can also be
played with children who have begun
to recognize words formed with the
movable alphabet. The mother con-
structs, in different parts of the room,
different simple words which the
child has already seen, such as "pig,"
"hen," "dog," etc. The child is out
of the room while this is being done,
and is called back to be told, "I hear
something grunting." He then
rushes about, peering under the chairs
and on the table and window slils,
rejecting all other words he finds,
until he comes triumphantly to "pig-"

WHAT IS WRONG IN THESE PICTURES?

In each of tnese pictures the artist has purposely made some mistake. Look at the pictures carefully, ana see If vqu
fan discover what the errors In them are.

200 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

DISCIPLINE AND OBEDIENCE

There is one phase of the Montes- which his reason tells him it is neces-

sori idea which needs more explicit sary to obey.

expression than it is apt to get in the basis of parents' authority

general descriptions of the system. Qur children should understand

That is the question of disciphne and t^^t their duty is not to obey our per-

obedience. Those two subjects are g^nal wishes, because we happen to

so vital and so tragically misunder- ^e their parents, but to obey eternal

stood by most of us, that it may be j^ws which we represent and expound

well to go a httle more deeply into the ^nd enforce. To take an instance,

discussion oi them. familiar to all of us, which comes into

Intelligent obedience our everyday experience: Children

The first thing to do, in the con- should not, any more than they can
sideration of the obedience of chil- help, be "messy" over their meals;
dren, is to differentiate clearly in our should not spill food on the table-
minds between the obedience that is cloth, or on their clothes, or be un-
desirable for an animal, and that which pleasant in their way of eating. Why
is desirable for the young of the human should they not do these things?
race. We are apt to be confused Simply because their parents forbid it?
here, and to have a misunderstood Not at all. Because it is their duty,
notion that children should obey, as members of a community, to make
unquestioningly, passively, with no the common life as agreeable, as easy,
volition of their own, as does a well- and as economically conducted as
broken horse. But such unquestion- possible. Their parents' duty is not
ing obedience, as a moment's reflec- at all to cry, "You do it because I
tion will show, is a very dangerous men- say so!" but to explain reasonably the
tal habit for a child to acquire, as well underlying grounds of conduct, to al-
as a very difficult one to force him to low a reasonable time for an under-
acquire. The horse may obey un- standing of the principle to reach the
questioningly some human being; he child's brain, and then to be un-
will always have some human being flinching in their police duty of en-
set in authority over him. But in a forcing obedience — obedience not to
very few years, as human life goes, themselves, but to a law, which they
the child will be grown; will no longer must obey as well as the children. If
be subject to the authority of parents, there is no such general broad basis
and must in turn be able to secure the for a command given to a child, it is
obedience of others. It is essential, an unjust command, and should not
therefore, that he shall begin to be a be issued. No child should be forced
human being — that is, to obey intelli- to obey a whim of the parent, but only,
gently — as soon as possible. What some modification of one of the gen-
do we mean by the phrase "obey in- eral laws which he will need to obey
telligently?" We mean he must obey, when he is grown up.
not because some one has told him to jnt management of the very young
and will punish him if he does not, child of unreasoning age
for that is the obedience exacted of Now, of course, it is impossible
the animal; but he will obey because for very little children to make this
the command is a reasonable one, distinction. Babies under eighteen

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 201

months must be forced to obey, if the tory regime of reasonableness. Sup-
occasion rises, as other little unreason- pose, for instance, that a child is seen
able animals are forced, by sheer climbing upon a chair before the
physical compulsion. But, as this is side board in the dining-room. His
a very bad method of obtaining mother should not call out to him
obedience, the occasions for requiring simply, "Come away from there!"
obedience should be sedulously avoid- but should explain to him that it is
ed, as much as is reasonably possible, dangerous for him to handle the glasses,
during this animal-like period of the standing in rows on the top, because
child's growth. No one thinks of re- he would be apt to break them. If
quiring obedience of a week-old baby, the child then asks to be allowed to
and yet he is in many respects just as play with the spoons in the drawer,
capable of being obedient as many a there is no reasonable grounds for
year-old child. refusing that request. He has made

In general, w^ith very young children, a concession, and has learned self-

the method of procedure should be to control and obedience in refraining

so arrange their lives that there shall from touching the glasses, and his

be few needs to issue commands. A mother has, if she is alert-minded

child who is kept quietly at home, enough to learn a lesson, taken note

playing with objects designed for his that her command, "Come away from

use, who is not "shown off" to adults, there!" was not exactly fitted to the

who is not forced into such cruel situa- case. She should have analyzed the

tions as enforced participation in situation more acutely, and see that

adult life, like traveling on the cars, she need not forbid a harmless aniuse-

going to church, or to shops, or on the ment to the child because it happened

street cars, or asked to entertain a to be in proximity to a potentially

company of idle elders, will rarely be harmful one. Such frank explanation

insubordinate or think of such a thing and mutual concession are most valu-

as disobeying for the simple reason able and vital elements in the harmoni-

that the things asked of him are within ous relations of parent and child, and

his capacity to do. On the rare do more than anything else to prevent

occasions w^hen such a crisis arises, that bitter rebellion against authority

it is best frankly to treat the little which so often saddens the adolescence

creature like a speechless animal, of children with strong wills and a

w^hich he is, and enforce obedience to keen sense of justice,

something necessary. The mother should make the most

As soon as he begins to be able to careful distinction between the con-
understand simple statements, the scions, willful action of a child,
reason for various commands given and the sort of wild irritability which
him should be explained to him. One results in "naughty" actions, but
result of this rule is apt to be that which is the result itself of nervous
fewer commands are given, as they are fatigue, due to injudicious treatment,
often seen to rest upon utterly un- In the Casa dei Bambini, on the very
reasonable grounds. The child should rare occasions when a child is
be trained, first, to obey promptly, "naughty," he is treated as a "sick"
and then to expect an explanation of child; is put off in a quiet corner of
the action. In most cases this careful the room, allowed all the toys he
clarifying in his mind of the grounds wishes to play with, is soothed and
for action, results in a most satisfac- petted, allowed everything but (this

202

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

is the important point) to play with
the other children. In a short time
this reduces the most iniruly child to
submission. But in an ordinary
home, with only two or three children,
the "naughty" child is not privileged,
like the Italian child in the Mon-
tessori school, to see constantly before
him the precious example of the
orderly, peaceable, industrious be-
havior of thirty other children. The
principle, however, holds. Nine
times out of ten, the "naughty" child
is, in all sober reality, a sick child,
or at least a very tired child. It is
hard for adults to realize what a
nervous strain it is, for instance, for
a child of three to see strange faces for
a few hours.

Should not discipline or try to
reason with a child when nervously

EXCITED

The only thing the mother can do
in such a case is to remember that the
child is not himself when nervously
excited. There is no use trying to
"reason" with him, or to discipline
him, or arouse his better nature. For
the moment he has no better nature!
He is nothing but jangled nerves. A
tired or excited young child should
never be asked to exercise self-
control; there should be no occasion
for it. The only thing to do with him
is to quiet him as soon as possible by
purely physical means. If he is
hungry, get him something, very
easily digested, to eat; slip off his
clothing, give him a warm bath, if
possible, and lay him down in a com-
fortable bed, in a room not too light,
with plenty of fresh air. When he has
slept and rested, he will have "come
to himself," and the necessity for
punishment will be past. He will,
as he always does when he is in good
physical condition, desire to be a good
child. There will be something there
for the mother to work with. Even if

he has had no special excitement, there
may be times, in the life of an especially
nervous child, when his vitality is at a
low ebb, and the regular routine of life
is too much for him. If he shows
signs of nervous irritability, snarling
and snapping, or crying at nothing, he
should never be reproved. He should
be put to bed, not at all as a punish-
ment, but with the tenderest affection
and the most solemn pity for the poor
little sensitive creature. If there is in
this prescription of rest for nervous
fret, no hint of punishment or shame
the child will not resent it, but will
soon learn to yield himself up to the
soothing influence.

How TO AVOID A "BRAIN-STORM"

If, when several little children are
playing together, the mother hears one
begin to speak in a loud, excited voice,
and to have nervous, disorganized
motions, such as knocking the play-
things about, she should come up
quietly to the group and remark calmly
that "Johnny is evidently too tired to
play any longer. He'd better go and
rest for a time, until he feels better."
Then he is led away, very gently.
There should be the utmost care not to
seem to use this as a chastisement.
His face and hands should be washed
in cool water (there is very apt to be a
slight fever present when nervous
irritability sets in), his clothing
loosened, and he himself laid on a bed
in a quiet room. This treatment has,
in addition to the invaluable physical
effect, a very strong moral one. The
gentleness, the peace of the room, the
utter isolation, the inaction — there
seems nothing left for the child to
battle with, nothing for his "naughti-
ness" to feed upon.

Children do not enjoy the miserable
unhappy excitement of being naughty,
no matter what our misunderstanaing
reading of them may seem to indicate.
And if they have had a fair experience

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 208

of a sure escape form the "brain- unwise and harmful ones. And here

storm" of a fit of insubordination, the Montessori apparatus is of in-

they are very apt to resort to it of calculable value. It caters with scien-

their own accord. If it is evident tific ingenuity to the need for action

that the child cannot be sleepy, for of the small child, and relieves the

instance, only a short time after a nap, mother's inexperienced brain of a great

another calming expedient is to take part of the strain of inventing suitable

him gently away from the others to a exercises for children under six or

quiet place outdoors, where he is left seven.

to play in solitary proximity to the Montessori apparatus not enough

bosom of Mother Earth. But the Montessori apparatus, valu-

But of course this remedy cannot able as it is, is not enough. As has

be applied, if the nervous fit comes on been said many times in the preceding

while the mother is pricing lace in a pages, the mother's mind must be

department store and the child hang- alert and ingenious to supplement it

ing to her skirts, or if they are at an as the child grows. For instance,

"amusement park," with bands bray- blunt pointed scissors and plenty of

ing and tooting about them, and paper to cut are as indispensable as

crowds of excited pleasure seekers the geometric insets. Constant ex-

noisily going their way. ercises in the occupations of every-

This is another reason for never day life, such as washing and wiping

taking children away from the quiet toy dishes and setting a sma.ll table,

home life, except to some equally quiet sweeping the fioor with a small broom,

spot out-of-doors. learning to dust, etc., are as necessary

This rule may be relaxed, of course, as the sandpaper letters. If the
as the children grow older, but it children are initiated into these ex-
should be relaxed very gradually, with ercises young enough, before their
the fewest possible breaks in the tran- natural instinct for action and for
quil and unchanging life. helpful action has been atrophied by
NECESSITY FOR CONSTANT ACTIVITY IN the customary idling in early child-
EARLY CHILDHOOD hood, the mother will find the utmost

The final lesson we American eagerness for such activities, and not
mothers have to learn from Dr. at all the lazy, shirking attitude to-
Montessori and her wonderful success wards them so frequently seen in
with the training of little children, is older children, who did not have
the lesson of positiveness, as opposed proper training in their early life,
to negativeness in their lives. The The other kind of obedience, the
craving for constant, unceasing activity right kind, can be attained only very
in little children is intense. This is a gradually, for it is at least as difiicult
normal and blessed instinct of theirs, an achievement as learning the multi-
which does more than anything to plication table. The child needs to
develop them. And the mother begin with very small beginnings in
should constantly bear it in mind, this as in any other important activity
Her attitude towards her little child of his life, to be asked in early child-
should be as little negative as may be; hood to obey as seldom as possible,
she should set her grown-up wits in- because his life is rightly and care-
cessantly to work to devise wise, fully suited to his needs; to have the
harmless and beneficial actions for reason for obedience; the real, under-
the child, not merely to forbid him lying philosophic reason explained to

20If

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

him as soon as possible and as often
as necessary; never to be asked or
expected to obey when he is having
what amounts to a fit of hysteria;
and, finally, to have his life so filled
with interesting, profitable and enter-
taining occupations that the question
of obedience enters into it very little.
Through the daily experience of living
a well-ordered, industrious, purposeful
life, he learns, unconsciously the joys
of peace and tranquility, and he comes

to be as unwilling to wreck these
by insubordination as his mother
is unwilling to have him.

Like any other good habit, obe-
dience cannot come from one or two
violent efforts. It must come from a
long, long continuance in the right
conditions. And to secure these
"right conditions" the Montessori ap-
paratus, method and philosophy are
the most potent means as yet dis-
covered.

MEMORY TESTS ON MONTESSORI SYSTEM

Should a child's life have some unvaryingly
regular events?

Under what conditions do little children take
an interest in arithmetic?

How should the numbers be taught?

How can arithmetic be taught by means of
games?

How can the Montessori game of "Making the
Silence" be duplicated in the home?

Why should a child practice exercises in im-
mobility?

Why should a child's actions about the house
be as free as possible?

How can ordinary incidents in home life be
turned into Montessori exercises?

Should little children be allowed to play with
books? With delicate breakable objects? Un-
der what conditions? Why?

Should a little child use a tin, a silver or a
china cup?

What facts a'oout children did Dr. Montessori
rediscover?

What is the most important principle of her
Method?

What three principles may be said to sum
up the Method?

On what principles can children learn without
detailed instruction?

Why should the five senses be carefully and
directly trained?

What is a Casa dei Bambini?

Will little children learn useful things if not
forced to stop playing?

Why is spontaneous attention better than
forced attention?

Is it well to help the child with his Montessori
problems?

Do little children as a rule learn best through
the eyes or through the fingers?

What are some of the essentials for teaching
system and order?

Why should a child learn to dress and feed
himself as early in life as possible?

Why should the little child not be hurried?

Why is a very large rag doll to be especially
valued as a play-thing?

Should little children be allowed to handle or
play with small objects?

How can children be taught to "see with the
fingers"?

What are some of the advantages of learning
to do things by touch rather than by sight?

Does Montessori freedom for the child mean
upsetting all order in the household or school-
room?

Why the child needs training in bodily poise
and how this can be obtained.

Should children be allowed to play with
water? How? W'hy?

Should little children do housework? How?

How should the alphabet be taught?

What are the three signs by which a Montes-
sori mother or teacher can tell when the child
is nearly ready for the explosion into writing?

Should a little child have pets of his own?

What is meant by a "Montessori scheme of
existence" for little children?

About obedience and how it is
obtained

What should a mother always add to the
command "Don't do that"?

Why should the little child be trusted as much
as possible?

Should a child be taught to obey as is an
animal?

Should children be forced to obey commands
based on personal wishes of their parents?

Why should children always feel that they
are obeying a law, not an adult's whim?

How can unreasonable commands be avoided?

Under what general conditions of life is the
question of obedience simplified?

Why is there need for clear thinking in issuing
commands for children?

Under what conditions are "naughty" actions
not punishable?

Why is it important that the child's natural
impulse to see and to do things should not be
suppressed?

How does the Casa dei Bambini inculcate ab-
solutely quiet life for young children?

How treat a nervously exhausted child who is
acting as if it were naughty?

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

205

THE SCHOOL OF REAL

WHAT A BOY MUST DO TO SUCCEED

LIFE

EVERY boy looks eagerly for-
ward to the time when he will
be a man and will struggle for
the prizes that are offered to men in
the big world. Every man looks back
to the time when he was a boy and
feels that if he had a chance to try it
over again, he could avoid many mis-
takes. In America every boy has
great opportunities for success. With
good health, and energy, and honesty,
any boy may work his way to a suc-
cessful career.

But the mistakes which a large
number of boys make when they be-
gin to work for themselves, the nu-
merous blunders and failures among
men, prove beyond question that real
success in life's work is not easy, and
is not to be had for the asking. It is
not by plunging in recklessly and
carelessly that men succeed, but by
wise forethought, by faithful atten-
tion to business, by honesty and re-
liability.

In our time we are talking much of
the vocational training of boys, that
is, of a special training for business or
trades and professions. The common
school gives a general education, but
does not prepare boys for special
callings. Before trying one's chances
of success in the big world it is well
to take advice of older people who have
had experience, who have suffered the
hard bumps and discouragements, and
can give boys good pointers as to how
to conquer success.

That boy is most likely to win a
place for himself in life who is willing
to take advice, who will train himself
thoroughly, who is not in too big a
hurry to start out in the world, but
first gets a good education, and if
possible trains himself well for some
special calling.

The school of real life

Life itself is a great school, and when
we get out into the busy work of the
world, we shall have plenty to learn.
New problems and difficulties are
coming up all the time. From the
very start we must learn how to meet
and master hard problems, to do dis-
agreeable things, to stick steadily to
what we undertake in spite of difficul-
ties and discouragements. This big
school of life is like all other schools —
full of wise or unwise scholars. There
are some who go through it day by
day, week by week, year by year, as
if life did not matter, waiting always
for play-time, caring nothing for the
things for which schools were made.

It is these students who keep down
the proud reputation of the school.
It is these, in the big school of the
world, who are responsible for most of
the misery and trouble of mankind.

Nothing can keep the boy back who
means to go forward. The roads that
lead to success in life are widening
more and more. One may wander in
a hundred fields and pick his prize.
But no boy can get any farther than
he aims. He must make up his mind
where he is going and must remember
that it is not only the way he goes
that matters, but how far he goes that
way; whether, when he has chosen
the way, he quits himself like a man.
He must remember that all useful
work is honorable, and that the only
dishonor in it is if it is badly done.
And the task that is set before every
man is, not to be this, or that, or the
other — to mind a machine, to drive a
plow, to write a book, to paint a
picture; the great task set before a
man is, so to prepare himself in youth
that in carrying on his work in the
world he shall do all things well.

206 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The qualities that coin success We must be resolute; we must have
What, then, are the quaUties that determination. It is no use having
we need most on our way through the ideas unless we mean to carry them
world? There are few things that all out. One other thing goes with de-
men agree about, but some things termination, and that is concentration,
there are that every man knows to be One may have great energy, and may
true. And perhaps the first of these put it all into his work, but may use
things is that to do anything worth his strength in such a way that it
doing in the world we must have a simply fails. Everyone knows what a
definite purpose. We must have an spendthrift is — the foolish man who
aim in life. We must make up our throws away his money in stupid ways
mind what we want to do, how we which serve no purpose instead of
want to do it; and we must let nothing keeping it for something that is worth
come in our way. We must think of doing. Stick to the work — that is
time as what it really is — a treasure what is meant by concentration. It
given to us for our safe keeping. is wrong to try to do so many things
Time, it is said, is money. But that none of them can be done well,
time is much more than money, for Time is wasted that is frittered away
. time can do what all the money in the in little things that make no difference
world can never do. Time can heal to anybody.

all sorrows and cure all ills, and time, The boy who sticks to his work —

if it is rightly used, gives opportunity that is the boy the world is waiting

too great to be realized by the young, for. That is the boy who will paint

Time spent in watching others play the picture that everybody will go to

games, or in idling on the street is lost see. That is the boy who will be

time. We do not want forever to be manager of a big business. That is

bent on serious things, and there is the boy that every mother wishes her

time for all of us to play; but nothing son to be.

is so dangerous as amusement, and There are plenty of other boys;

we had better never play at all than plenty of boys who will grow up to

let play steal away our lives, and sell matches, or newspapers, and to do

lead us to forget our aims. nothing particular for anybody, and

And a boy must have ambition, worse than nothing for themselves.

He should not believe those who tell But the boy the world wants is the

him there is anything wrong in the boy in earnest, the boy who is ambi-

desire to get on well in the world, tious, the boy who is determined, the

There is a right getting-on and a boy who will "stick to it."

wrong getting-on, and when we say The use of difficulties

that we want to get on I hope we al- It is often said in these days that

ways mean, not merely that we want life is made too easy, and that, because

more money in our pocket, but that we have no longer to fight for our

we want to know more as well as to birthright as men fought in other

have more; that we want more op- days, we are not so strong and ready

portunities of well-doing and well- and daring as those who lived in

being. There are low ambitions and harder times. There is just enough

high ambitions. Let us see to it that serious truth behind that to make it

we aim at a high purpose; that in difiicult to contradict, because life

Emerson's splendid words, we hitch does, of course, become easier and

our wagon to a star. happier as knowledge grows. If it

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

207

did not, knowledge would not be
worth having. The things that do not
help us to live are not worth learning.

But it is not really true that life is
becoming so easy that character has
no chance to grow — which is what
people mean when they look back and
sigh for the good old times to come
again. There never was such wicked
nonsense as the talk about the good
old times, and the man who sighs for
them back again does not know what
he is sighing for. There never were
such good times as these in which we
live. There never were such bad times
as those that have gone. In the good
old times little boys were forced up
chimneys and down mines, and little
girls were whipped to work in factories.
That was one way of making them
strong, but the pity was that most of
them died without finding anything
worth being strong for. Nothing can
be more wicked than to wish for the
dark, ignorant, cruel past to come
back again.

Those who talk in this way imagine
that character grows best in hard
ground, and that therefore life must
be made hard and cruel, and boys
must be buffeted about, and perhaps
beaten, or at any rate in some way
brought to feel the cuts and blows of
some outrageous fortune. The great
untruth behind all this is the idea that
cruelty is necessary to breed strength,
that hardship is necessary to develop
firmness, that we must make diffi-
culties in order to develop the power
of overcoming them.

It is true that overcoming diffi-
culties is a fine way of growing strong,
but it is true, also, that life is always
difficult enough to develop the highest
strength of character. In the great
training grounds of the world the
noblest human qualities can always
grow, and life can never be so easy
that one need fear he will lose his

character, if he wants to keep it. The
difficulties of life do not disappear;
their nature changes — that is all.
The boy who is going to make his
mark in the world, how^ever pleasant
a place the world may be when he
grows up, will find difficulties to over-
come.

There will always be a world to
conquer, and nearly alw^ays it lies
about one, perhaps nearer than one's
own door. The boy who gets over
difficulties must make up his mind, at
the very beginning of anything, what
it is he wants to do, and having made
up his mind, he must do it. He
should let no difficulties turn him back
from the way he should go. Only
cowards count the cost of doing right,
and shrink from it. The thmg that is
easy is there for anybody to do; it
is the brave boy who will tread the
difficult way, who will run a risk, and
do the hard thing. There are people
in the world who think it right to go
through life taking all that life can
give them and giving nothing in re-
turn; but they live their selfish lives
and pass away and are forgotten.
Out of their ranks no hero comes.

It is perfectly true that where there
is a will to do a thing the way to do it
can be found. A story is told of how
Alexander the Great arrived one day
at the city of Gordium, and found
there a famous chariot fastened with
cords tied into knots that no man
could undo. And Alexander was told
of the legend that whoever should
untie the knots should rule the world.
It was not like Alexander to waste
his time untying knots, but he found
a better way. He cut the knots
asunder with his sword, and ever since
the man who chooses the bold way out
of a difficult situation has been said
to cut the Gordian knot.

It is right to be cautious but it is
wrong to be cautious even to timidity.

208

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The world is not in want of men who
will hold back. They are at the
corner of every street; every town is
full of them. It is the boy who will
go forward that the world is waiting
for — the Cohimbiis, the Washington,
the Livingstone of the future.
The glory of courage

What the world needs is the courage
that climbs over mountains or cuts
them through, the boldness of a man
who, knowing what is to be done, sees
the difficulties and conquers them.
We would not be living in a free coun-
try, the land we live in would still be
overrun with barbarism, if men had
chosen the easy way. One has only
to think for a moment of the things
which every boy knows to see the
spirit that conquers the world. Such
a spirit was that of Columbus at the
court of Spain, fighting against preju-
dice and ignorance and blindness until
his courage moved a queen to pledge
her jewels for the expedition that was
to discover America. It is the spirit
that General Grant displayed in his
military campaigns, that remarkable
persistence and steadiness of purpose,
which never faltered, and wrought out
his great victories. David Livingstone
shows this spirit, poring over his books
till midnight, getting up at six o'clock
in the morning, and working in the
factory till eight at night, going to
school from eight to ten, then poring
over his Latin grammar again as long
as his eyes would keep open, and then
sleeping till six o'clock brought back
another day. He worked half a year
in the factory, and spent his wages in
the next half at the university. He
never met, either then or as a man,
any difficulty that he allowed to stand
in his way. His stubborn will con-
quered the hot fever-laden climate of
Africa.

At a time when all America was
talking of Mr. Roosevelt, an American

paper said jokingly, "Just stop to
think that Theodore Roosevelt is
only one nine-hundred-and-forty-thou-
sandth of one per cent of the popula-
tion of the United States." But it
was the genius of Mr. Roosevelt that
he would not let America think that.
The man who means to have his own
way may count only one in the census
paper, but he may count a million ones
in history.

All things come to him whose spirit
will not die. The men who have
transformed the world — what sort of
lives were theirs? They read their
books by candle-light and lived in
garrets, they toiled long hours down
in mines and rarely saw the sun, they
prayed in vain for one word of sym-
pathy; for the bold man with the new
idea had all the world against him
until these modern times.

It is hard to believe the difficulties
that were put in the way of men who
looked into the future years ago, and
laid the foundation of comfortable
lives for those who live now, and of
prosperity for nations.

Robert Fulton, the man who made
steam navigation a success, was
scoffed and jeered at on every hand;
not one word of encouragement, not
one bright hope, not one warm wish
crossed his path, he said.

George Stephenson was denounced
as an impostor when he began
to make his railways; and one of the
saddest things in the history of any
nation is the story of the bitter
struggle to save the little children of
England from slavery. They were
whipped to work like dogs, until so
many died that they were buried in
secret to hide the awful truth.

Times have changed, but still it is
true that the path of the good man
through this world is strewn with
thorns. Men have so much to do, and
so little time, and so many things to

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

209

bother them, that it is hard to interest
them, and harder still to get their
help; and so we are discouraged and
downhearted, and noble causes lag
for want of friends.

It is always so. But the boy should
arm himself in the days in which he is
putting on his strength against the
disappointments that must come into
his life. They will come, whatever
happens, and at times it will seem to
him as if the sun had gone out, and as
if nothing matters and nobody cares.
But he will remember that, however
dark the clouds are, the sun breaks
through again. He must not let
despair seize hold of him because the
task is hard and there seems to be no
way out. He can sustain himself by
the proud thought that he is in the
line of heroes. Behind him stand
Captain Scott and David Livingstone
and George Washington and Abraham
Lincoln and Francis Drake and Joan
of Arc, and he will not shame these
mighty names by turning back.

The thing that is in the way is the
great test, the touchstone of an enter-
prise. Two boys meet a difficulty, and
it is like the instrument at the mint
which touches every sovereign, throw-
ing out the bad and keeping the good.
One boy turns back, but the other is
true as steel. The fear of danger,
the sight of a mountain, the touch of
risk, the wondering whether he will
really manage it, are new life to him.
He goes on with new zest and resolu-
tion, and almost before he sees the
difficulty it has gone. Like melting
snow difficulties go when a brave
heart comes along.

Especially must he be on his guard

against the difficulties that do not

exist.

Some of your hurts you have cured,

And the sharpest you still have survived;

But what torments of grief you endured
From evils which never arrived!

Half the people in this world spend
half their lives in wondering how
they will get over a stile that they
will never reach. One of the wisest
things ever written in a copy book is,
"Do not meet troubles half way."
Time is too precious to spend in im-
agining difficulties; they will come
soon enough.

Even wise men are wrong some-
times. Perhaps you have read how, in
the early days of railways, men spent
their time in trying to get over the
difficulty of making a smooth wheel
ride over a smooth rail. The wheels
would skid on the smooth lines, it
was said, and for years men saw no
way out. Then at last, somebody
tried a smooth wheel on a smooth
rail, and found that the difficulty did
not exist.

Only a great daring, an inflexible
purpose, an unquenchable spirit of
perseverance, can rouse the world
from its indifference and drive away
defeat. In little things and great,
in the trials of our own lives and in
the public things we fight for, we must
dare to do right, whatever the conse-
quences may be.

He either fears his fate too much,

Or his deserts are small,
Who dares not put it to the touch.

To gain or lose it all.

There are nobler things than bold-
ness, there are baser things than fear.
But there is nothing sadder than the
fear of doing right; there is nothing
nobler than the fear of doing wrong.
Let that be the only fear. Let the
soul be pure, let the heart be brave.
Be strong and of good courage. He
that overcometh shall inherit all
things.

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WHAT A GIRL MUST DO TO SUCCEED

YOU are sure to be wondering,
as you stand at the gates of
Life and look out upon the
world, what destiny the hidden years
can hold for you. As surely as the
leaves fall, in obedience to the Hand
that guides the heavens, so surely
:your unfolding life is dawning, and
will rise to noonday, and will sink
into the gentle sleep of night, to the
bidding of the universal law that none
can break.

But because your life is part of the
great world you will not believe that
therefore it is fixed for you, so that you
have no choice. You are free to do
as you will. You are free to use your
life or to waste it. In the great scheme
which even now is building up a perfect
world, your life must have its place.
But you are not a spectator looking on
at the world. You are an actor, taking
part in it, and the great play of Life
will fail so far as you fail in your part.

And you are wondering, no doubt,
what part you will play — whether you
will go out into the world to do great
things, or whether you will be content
to be of the multitude which moves in
quiet paths, doing good without ceas-
ing, making life a blessing, but winning
neither wealth nor fame. And you
must resolve for yourself the question
that every girl must ask herself —
whether you will seek first the natural
place of woman in the home, or
whether, in some wider sphere, you
will seek to carve out an independent
place. It is the most important thing
you can decide, and nothing can be
more difficult than to advise you.
Use of natural gifts

But of one thing it is easy and right
to advise you. You can do no wrong
in putting your natural gifts to any
natural use. You can do no wrong in
fitting yourself for any office you can

fill with profit to yourself and useful-
ness to others. You can do no wrong
in choosing any path that leads you to
your destiny with dignity and honor.
But you may do yourself great wrong,
and may betray the cause that every
woman holds in trust, if you cut your-
self off, knowingly and purposely,
from the noblest work that daughters
and wives and mothers are called upon
to do.

You are growing up in an age when
too many people are willing to sully
the fair fame of a woman. Of all the
sad things that happen in these days,
nothing is sadder than the things that
make us forget for a moment the
gentleness and graciousness of woman-
hood. It is a beautiful vision that
comes to us as we think of our mothers,
and of their mothers, and of mothers
all down the ages of time; but how
easy it is sometimes to forget the things
that make the thought of women so
comforting and uplifting! You will
have nothing to do with the vulgar
manners you will see about you, with
girls who would be men, forgetting
how nnich greater than men they could
really be. When you find yourself in
the company of a girl who smokes, keep
your modesty and leave her; she
is not going your way. In such small
things begin the end of modest girl-
hood. The manners of men are not
for girls to put on as they put on hats
and gloves.

The men for whose esteem a girl
should crave have no esteem to spare
for girls who ape their habits without
thinking, who break through the fine
reserve that is a girl's best safeguard,
who mix with men and come down to
meet them, when men instead should
rise to their higher level. All through
the world, and all through life, the
something better in a woman has been

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

211

the world's great blessing, and
nothing that the world can give will
be worth having if you lose this price-
less thing.

Whatever way you choose through
life, you will guard the noblest thing
your mother gave you — the charm of
being made in her own image. You
will cherish the thought that the love
for a mother is the strongest influence
in the world, and you will do nothing
to wreck the place a mother holds in
the deathless affection of mankind.

The great power you will have to
stir men to glorious things

You will not mind the scoffing of
those who are careless in small things;
you will be ready to give up lawful
pleasures rather than run the risk of
losing the fair name which is worth
more to you than rubies. The knight's
armor, in the days of chivalry, was
buckled on by his lady, and the
beautiful meaning of that should still
be true in these days. It was the
gracious way in which a lady sent out
her knight to fight with double strength.

This is the great power for woman
still, so long as she keeps her hold upon
her knight. The things that are
unseen are hers, the influences that
reach deep down in the heart of life,
and never wholly fail. How often it
is that the man who seems so powerful,
who seems to do as he likes and to
conquer wherever he goes, is really
swayed by a great love behind him,
and nearly always the love of a woman.

A BLOW THAT YOU MAY STRIKE AT A
WRONG VIEW OF LIFE

You may be rightly proud of the
gifts which enable you to win your own
way in the working world, and there is
no reason anywhere why you should
not place yourself by the side of men
in any sphere in which you can hold
your own. So long as your work fits
you, and does not unfit you, for your
natural destiny, it can be nothing but

a blessing. It can bring you nothing
but happiness to be conscious of a
power to face the world whatever
happens, and in the years when you
are building up your life you may
wisely seek the discipline and training
of some useful service. The useless
have no rights, and we must be useful.
Even though your lot be cast in
pleasant places, so that you may not
need to earn your living, it will do you
no harm to do some useful work.
The real wages for good work are not
made at the mint.

The girl who wins a place by her
own efforts has strengthened herself
in any task she undertakes. She has
struck the hardest blow she can at the
silly notion that woman must be a sort
of on-looker at the world.

The great temptations that will
come to you to waste your days

Thousands of lives have been saved
from ruin by a definite work in life;
thousands have been wrecked by the
want of it; and nothing will more
likely prepare you for the coming
years than a definite piece of wisely
chosen work, whether for wages or
for love of doing it.

"Our time," said Sir Walter Scott,
"is like our money. When we change
a dollar, the dimes escape as things of
small account; when we break a day
by idleness in the morning, the rest of
the hours lose their importance in
our eyes." Idle hours are temptations,
but idle years are worse, and it is not
surprising that the end of nothing-in-
particular-to-do for years should be a
consuming love of pleasure. And
then often in its train comes the sad
waste and vanity of it all — the love of
vain things.

The empty vanity that flaunts
itself before the world

We need not object to anything
])eautiful,but the vanity jf riches is not
the love of beauty; and the things that

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are worn because they are ticketed at
a high price in a shop, and so advertise
the splendid incomes of those who wear
them, are not things to admire. You
will learn to love things that are really
beautiful, to prize things that are
really valuable, and you will scorn the
empty show which flaunts itself so
much before the world and has nothing
lovely or noble, or really worthy behind
it.

Life is not simple, and it is not easy
always to know what to do; but it will
help you, now that you are wondering
which way you will go, if you make
up your mind to go the simple way.
The girl who loves her home

You have learned that happy homes
are not made with hands. The founda-
tions may be deeply set, the great
walls may rise high and the windows
may look out upon a noble scene, the
room may be rich beyond avarice and
beautiful beyond compare, and there
may be nothing wanting to please the
stranger's eye; but the seat of happi-
ness is not in these things. If one
invisible thing is absent no visible
splendor can atone for it; nothing that
we can touch or taste or hear or see can
help us if this thing is missing. Every
day, for want of it, homes are wrecked
and lives are broken.

You will guess that this invisible
foundation of a happy home is the love
of those who live in it. Love and
happiness run together. There can be
no transgression of that law. What-
ever else is false this much is true, that
hearts divided against themselves can
never make a home. And so you will
resolve that your home shall be built
upon this firm foundation.

And so you will feel that your home
is the shrine of sacred things, a field in
which the seed you sow may grow into
a precious harvest.

You will think of your home as your
own little corner of the world, where

you are queen and you will set your
influence as on a rock. You will love
your friends outside your home, you
will cherish goodwill to your neighbors,
but within the walls of your own
kingdom you will give yourself un-
selfishly and toil unceasingly for those
who are banded together as one, heart
of your heart, mind of your mind, life
of your life, traveling beside you
through sunlight and shadow, through
ill and good report.

The little world in which you will
make your own laws and keep them

We are in the world and of the world,
and we must take our place and play
our part. If we could rule the world
for just one week, we have thought
sometimes, how happy a place we
would make it! Well, our homes are
our own worlds, in which we make our
laws and administer them, in which we
lay down our rules of life and declare
our relation to our neighbors and
mankind. Your home will be the
place where you find rest, but your
rest will bring you new strength, and
you will spend it for the good of
all.

The qualities that are called for
in managing a home

Nothing in the world, perhaps, is
more difiicult than the wise manage-
ment of a house. Most of us are too
ready to forget, in enjoying the great
freedom of home, that a home is like
a machine, and must have method and
discipline if it is to have peace. It is a
wonderful thing, considering the
millions of opposite interests in the
world, and all the selfishness and in-
difference, that the world agrees so
well; and it is not surprising that the
management of a home, with perhaps
six people of six different types, with
tastes that can vary in perhaps a
hundred things, with conflicting de-
sires in food, and pleasure, and friend-
ships, and with varying needs in other

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

213

ways, should call for the very greatest
care and judgment.

It is not an easy task to control the
home-life of a family, fitting all these
desires into a general plan, giving
freedom and happiness to each and
contentment to all, and it is harder
still if some break the rules. You
will not be ashamed to acknowledge
that your place is in the kitchen as well
as in the drawing-room. The proper
management of a kitchen is one of
the greatest services a woman can
render to the world.

If we think of the lives of the great
multitude of working people, it is easy
to see how bad food, bad cooking, bad
housekeeping, can spoil them utterly,
and we have yet to measure the effect
of these things in driving men out of
their homes and into public-houses.
If it is true that the public-house, with
its horrible associations, all its germs
of disease, has taken the place of
home in the lives of masses of men, who
shall say how many of these men turn
to such places in search of the comfort
missing from their homes?

The great number of things we
can do without in the world

You will learn very soon, in building
up your home, that simplicity of life
is the golden key to happiness. It is
one of the sad consequences of the
progress of the world that civili-
zation brings with it a great increase
in what we call our needs, though they
are really only our desires. Crave for
the things that will make you happy,
but do not create unnecessary wants.
It is astonishing to think of the number
of things we gather into our houses
that we do not really need.

The enduring joy of home that
comes from simplicity

Make up your mind that the simpler
a home is, the more enduring is the joy
of it; the more natural our environ-
ment is, the more natural we ourselves

shall be. Let us set our faces, in our
homes and out of them, against what
is artificial and conventional. It is
art and good sense to have few things
in a home, instead of many, and to
have these of the best; and it is good
to have them natural, instead of arti-
ficial, with some idea in them that helps
us, or inspires us, or brings us pleasure.
It is good to have real things instead of
imitations; it is good to have a few of
the very best pictures rather than a
whole gallery of meaningless daubs;
and it is good to have about us the
books that we love. It is good, in a
word, to live in a house that seems to be
a part of nature herself, helping us in
our natural life, and deepening within
us the love of true and noble and
beautiful things.
The wise words of solomon on

THE WISE wife IN THE HOUSE

You will spend these early years,
while your own home is still afar off, in
fitting yourself for it. You will not be
afraid of the great task to which you
set your hand. You will know the
high mission that you undertake, you
will rejoice in the high privilege of
building up a home, and you will build
it in the spirit of King Solomon when
he wrote: "As the sun when it ariseth
in the high heaven, so is the beauty of a
good wife in the ordering of her house."
The girl in search of pleasure

The first duty of a girl, a wise man
said once, is to be happy. Unless we
can be happy, life is hardly worth
while.

That perhaps may seem to you a
strange thing because you know of so
many lives that are a great blessing to
the world, though they may seem to
you about as sad as anything can be.
And it is perfectly true that noble
lives may be full of sacrifice and sorrow;
perhaps it is even true that sacrifice
and sorrow make thousands of lives
noble and useful which but for these

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

things might be Hved in vain. But all
thro VI gh the years that are opening
out before you you will find one thing
becoming clearer and clearer in your
mind; you will find that the pleasure-
seekers are not always glad, and the
sorrow-bearers are not always sad.
You will find that there is a secret
of happiness which neither money, nor
social advantage, nor education can
buy, and which neither poverty, nor
sickness, nor other ills of this world
can utterly destroy.

And so we learn to understand that
there are ways to happiness which per-
haps we have not guessed. Happiness
is much more than a mere passing
sense of pleasure, and we should seek
to build up the happiness of our lives
on an enduring foundation. No mere
round of social pleasures, no mere
pleasing things that last for an hour
and are gone, can give us that. Pas-
time has its proper place, and it is true
that all work and no play makes Jill
a dull girl, but the ordinary amuse-
ments of life are not the true source
of happiness.

One of your temptations will be to
rely upon these things when you should
seek enjoyment in other ways, and
there is perhaps no greater enemy of
girlhood than the ceaseless round of
empty pleasures that assail the girl
who comes face to face with life on her
own account. It is so easy to do this
and that, to go here and there, that
you are sure to be tempted to give your-
self too much to the side of life which
is meant only as recreation.

Doubtless you will discover, long
before you have yielded to this tempta-
tion, that the best way to be happy is
to plan your life so that pleasures come
into it naturally instead of being out-
side it, as it were. Nothing could be
more unwise than the sort of life some
people live, divided into two compart-
ments. One compartment is for work.

which we should rather call drudgery,
for it brings them no joy and is done
against their will: the other compart-
ment is for pleasure, which we should
rather call pastime, for it is merely
relief from their duller life, and is
simply a stupid way of passing time
which their dull minds do not know
how to use. It is true that some of us
must do the duller kinds of work if the
world is to go on, and no doubt
stitching all day long, or making boxes,
or adding up figures, or typing letters
are not as interesting as painting
pictures, or writing books, or managing
businesses ; but most of us have no real
excuse for not being interested in our
work, and it is a sad thing to turn it
into such a drudgery that we must
seek relief from it at any cost.

The duties and pleasures that will
fit in with one another

You will not fall between these two
extremes — the burden of work which
bores you and the reaction of amuse-
ment which gives you no real compen-
sation; you will make your whole life
so interesting that you will not need
to pay other people to amuse you in
order to escape from it. You will
look a long way ahead of you. You
will have a definite purpose in your life,
and you will see, as far as you can, that
its duties and pleasures fit in one with
the other, so that they lead and follow
each other naturally instead of being
like opposite things.

The company we keep when we en-
joy OUR PLEASURES

You would not think of taking
certain people home; you would shrink
from telling your mother that you had
been with them at dinner, or walking
with them in the street, or sitting with
them by the fire, or talking freely with
them. We need not think ourselves
better than other people, and it is no
hollow hypocrisy, and no sort of
priggishness, that turns us from the

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 215

company of those whose way of life or sorrow caused to others in order that

is not ours. The natural pride of you might enjoy a pleasant hour, and

life, the dignity of girlhood, will cause you will ask yourself what a mother's

you to shrink from evil things not less anxiety must be while her boy, or her

if they come in the form of men and girl, or her breadwinner, hangs in

women than if they come as serpents, danger of death on an iron bar high up

and it will help us if we realize that, in the air; or how little children must

whenever we go to see men and women live in dread of something happening

of bad character on the stage, appeal- to their father, who stands in danger

ing to their audiences by the very every night that you might watch

atmosphere with which they have and be excited by his peril. You will

become associated, we are in the com- love life too much to think lightly of

yany of these people as if we had invited endangering it for others, and you will

them to our homes. turn in pity, if not in disgust, from so-

You will be on the side of pure pleas- called pleasures which involve grave

ures always, but you will hate the peril to life and limb,

vulgarities which pretend to be enter- the terrible price you will never

tainments, and you will rather die than pay for the things you wear

countenance with your presence some You will dress for neatness and not

of the shameful scenes that take place for show, and you will not think your

openly in theaters and music-halls. hat, or your coat, so important that

You WILL SEE THAT YOUR PLEASURES for their Sake you cau throw aside your

are worthy of your HEART AND MIND charity and gentleness and love of

When anything impure is done, or justice,

said, or sung in your presence, in You will not think it worth while to

public or in private, you will be faced starve a family of fellow-creatures in

with a problem that you must instantly order that you may wear a pretty hat.

decide : you will have to stay and lose You would blush for shame if you were

your dignity, or to go and keep it, and asked to wear a thing that had been

you will go. It shall not be said of you stolen ; how much more then you will

that you stained the fair fame of the blush if you should find yourself

people's pleasures by patronizing a wearing one day a beautiful thing

hideous thing. You will be sure a bought by torture and cruelty and

play is sweet before you go to see it, the wanton shedding of blood! It is

just as you will be sure that a man is right that we should remember the

honorable before you consent to know terrible words uttered not long ago by

him. a professor who had been investigating

And, especially you will take care, in the circumstances under which aigrette

choosing your public pleasures, that feathers are obtained, and who

they are worthy of you in another declared that every girl who wears an

sense; you will refuse to enjoy yourself aigrette has the murderer's brand upon

at the cost of another's pain. You her broiv. It is a terrible saying, but

will be ashamed to think that another it is true.

human being should imperil his life. It is enough to say here that

or her life, to please you, and you will an aigrette's feather can be obtained

refuse to be pleased by the sight of only by the most terrible acts of

other people risking death to earn cruelty that men can inflict upon birds,

a living. You will be shocked to think and that every plume of an aigrette,

that there should be any pain or fear or a gull, or a bird of paradise, is

S16 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

obtained by the murder of a mother we will. For a little while the flowers

bird at the time when she is bringing come up about us and we have almost

up her little ones, so that she hovers nothing to do with them; but soon the

round the nest and is easily caught. seeds are offered us by a thousand

The girl who thinks and feels hands, bearing a thousand kinds of

You are thinking and feeling about fruit, and we can take them or reject

a thousand things in these years in them as we will. What shall we take,

which you are laying the foundations and what shall we reject?

of a world. What a solemn thing that That is what will make our lives,

is to say, and yet it is true that every building them up or pulling them down,

one of us, in the days of our youth, is The things we put into our pockets

building a world as certainly as he who may be as nothing, though they be

builds up stone on stone and crowns made of gold; but the things we put

them with towers and domes. We into our minds are all the world to us,

come into a world that is open to though they fall from the skies, or rise

receive us; for a few short years we from the valleys, or pour out upon us

liveinthe world as we find it; but soon, from the hills, and cost us nothing,

perhaps almost sooner than we know. We are what we think. We are as old

we are making our own world, carving as we feel, as rich or as poor as our

our own way, shaping our own imagination. We are as strong as our

thoughts, controlling our own des- faith or as weak as our fears. It is

tinies. these things that make up life for us:

We are like travelers sent out on a it is your mind that makes your world,

journey, set in a path well marked and and your mind is what you make it.

beaten down by the feet of friends who You have often heard people say, no

have gone before us. For a little way doubt, that if they could make their

the path is clear and narrow, and own world they would be perfectly

friends protect and guide us as we go: happy, and perhaps you have thought

we follow where they lead. But soon so too. Well, the boundaries of your

the way grows wide, and our friends kingdom are rising up around you, and

are scattered; and the paths lead here you are forming them. Even now,

and there, and cross and cross; and the while life is so pleasant and the years

signposts are so confusing, and in such bring no burden for you to carry, you

strange languages, that we only half are laying for yourself the foundations

perceive their meaning; and we wander of a world in which you will live, I

on and on, through unknown ways to hope, to a serene old age. Upon the

unknown lands. No longer is the thoughts you admit into your mind

path marked out for us; we make it as now, more than upon anything else,

we go, and we go whither we w411. will rest the fortunes of your future

Life is like that. We reach it years, and you can hand on to your

through a narrow, guarded way, which future no more precious inherit-

leads into infinite space. We come ance than a mind well filled, well

into it with minds like a garden not yet balanced, and well controlled,

planted — with soil half prepared, per- we must be brave enough to restrain

haps, so that it may have a tendency ouR feelings

towards flowers instead of weeds, or It is not easy to restrain the natural

towards weeds instead of flowers; but feelings of pity that come to us when

with the actual seeds unsown, so that we see or hear sad things, and it will be

we may make the garden almost what a sad day for the world when sorrow

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

217

and pain cease to stir our feelings.
But it would be worse for us all if, in
our pity, we shut our eyes and hearts
and minds to other feelings. We
must be strong enough to bear the
sight of pain for healing's sake, or
whore would doctors and nurses come
from? We must be stern enough to
punish wrong-doing, or what would
become of peaceful people? It is
right that we should regret the need
of causing pain, but it is wrong that
we should shun the painful duties that
we owe to ourselves and to others.
We must learn to look wisely upon all
sides of life, and not give way to the
feelings that belong to only one side
of things.

WHY WE MUST GIVE OUR REASON FULL
CONTROL OF OUR EMOTIONS

And so we see that we must give our
reason full control of our emotions.
We must think long, long thoughts,
and not only for the moment and the
hour. We must not let momentary
feelings, so lightly roused, govern the
acts of our lives. We must not let
one emotion seize hold of us, and
control us and dominate our lives
until it possesses us completely. We
must not let our love of dogs, for
example, blind us to the fact that some-
times, at the cost of a little pain to one
of these brave animals, we may save
the lives of children. We must not
let any emotion so utterly possess us
that we are carried away by it.

Without this balance, this careful
adjustment of the scales of reason and
emotion, our lives must lose much of
their happiness for ourselves and much
of their usefulness to others.

THE MISTAKE THAT WE MUST GUARD
AGAINST IN GIVING OUR SYMPATHIES

All through our lives we shall be
forming our opinions, fixing our atti-
tude to this or that great movement,
resolving which side we will take in a
hundred questions. From all sides
the appeal to our sympathy will come
and in the stress of life, in the midst of
all its clashing interests, it will not be
easy to decide. Often it will seem that
two ways are right, when only one can
be taken, and often the way that seems
right will mean pain to those we love,
or suffering to ourselves that we could
avoid by pursuing another way. And
sometimes it will seem as if to find
the truth is quite impossible.

THE STILL SMALL VOICE WITHIi^ THAT
WILL NEVER BETRAY US

When these things come we shall do
what seems to us right; we shall listen
to the still small voice within us
which never yet has led any one of us
astray. We shall remember, not
merely the things that crowd upon our
minds at the moment, but the way in
which the acts of our lives are wrought
into a chain that never ends, but
links the human race from age to age.
In all things we must consider the far-
off end, the ultimate purpose of Life.

You will have your share of the fears
and worries that come to us all, and
you will bear them bravely. But you
will be wise, and you will not suffer
your feelings to mislead you. You
will open your heart to sorrow, you
will open your mind to knowledge, and
you will live in a world of thought and
feeling which not all the armies of this
world could destroy.

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PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC AND CALCULATIONS

THE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES

Addition

Addition is a short way of uniting two or
more numbers into one number.

The numbers to be added are called Addends.

The result of adding is called the Sum.

The sign of addition (+) is the erect cross,
which is read "plus" or "and."

The sign of equality is = , or two short hori-
zontal lines placed one above the other. It is
read "equals."

Only numbers of the same kind can be added.
We can add 4 cows and 9 cows; the sum is
13 cows; but we cannot add 6 books and 4
slates, as the sum would be neither books nor
slates.

A number of some particular kind, as 5 balls,
6 horses, is called a Concrete Number.

A number used without reference to any par-
ticular thing, as 8, is an Abstract Number.

Any two or more abstract numbers can be
united into one sum because they do not refer
to any particular objects.

ORAL EXERCISES

Count by 2"s to 100; by 3's to 99; by 4's to
100; by 5's to 100; by 6's to 96; by 7's to 98;
by8'sto96; by 9's to 99.

Beginning with 1, count by 2's to 99.

Beginning with 1, count by 3"s to 100; be-
ginning with 1, count by 4's to 97; beginning
with 1 count by 5's, by 6's, by 7's, by 8's and
by 9's.

ADDITION DRILL

Note. — This table contains all of the primary
combinations in addition. It should be learned
for speed and reviewed frequently. Every
child should learn to be speedy with this table.

up and down and to the right and to the left.
Use a watch to encourage speed.

Method or Rule for Addition. — In order to add
numbers conveniently, write the numbers so that
units shall be under units, tens under tens, hun-
dreds under hundreds, and so on. Add each
column separately, beginning at the right. If
the sum of any column is greater than 9, set down
only the right-hand figure of the sum and add the
other figure to the next column to the left.

EXERCISES

Add-

7832

9132

7911

4668

7848

2314

7386

8617

5687

4578

8337

8430

7510

2731

1234

7433

8664

9999

1832

3056

7638

6340

7931

6327

1647

7690

1967

3257

5419

6327

9975

9537

4350

1861

3228

6730

Use this table as a drill in every possible way.

Note. — The above problems should be used
to attain speed and accuracy. Make this a
game in which the pupils are contesting to win.
Have them start at a given signal.

^VRITTEN PROBLEMS

1. A cottage was planned to cost $1000.
The foundation and brick work cost $428.80,
lumber $370.15, carpentering $264.87, painting
and plastering $253.25, hardware $38.90, tin-
work $13.78. What did the house actually
cost?

2. A farm which cost $6275 was equipped
as follows: House $1588.77, teams, $850, a driv-
ing horse $175, cattle $275, hogs $127, imple-
ments and tools $677. What is the total value of
the farm and its equipment.^

3. A family of two persons spends for rent
$130, food, $210, clothing $80, fuel $30, light
$6, insurance $24, replenishing $10, carfare $5,
literature $5, charity $10, and saves $20. WTiat
is the income?

4. Find the cost of raising an acre of corn
if the rent is $3.03, fertilizer $1.86, plowing, etc.,
$1.62, planting $1.42, cultivating $1.80, har-
vesting $3, and other expenses $1.76.

Subtraction is the process of finding the dif-
ference between two numbers. The larger of
the two numbers is called the Minuend. The
number which is subtracted is called the Sub-
trahend.

The result of the subtraction is the Difference
or Remainder.

SUBTRACTION DRILL

Note. — The teacher using a watch should
place a limit of so many seconds, say thirty,
and see who can go farthest with this table in
this time. Use every device you can to en-
courage this rapid work and do it every day
until the pupil is proficient.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

219

Subtract —

MAKING CHANGE

In making change we add to the amount of
the sale enough money to equal the amount
given in payment.

Example. — A customer buys goods amount-
ing to $3.45 and gives a five-dollar bill in pay-
ment. Count out the change.

Amount of sale: Change:

$3.45 $0.05

.50
1.00

.55 Amount of change.

$1.55

$5.00 Amount given in payment.

Merchant says: "Three-forty-five, three-
fifty, four dollars, five dollars."

The merchant desiring to use the least num-
ber of pieces of money would hand the customer
his package, a nickel, a halfdollar, and a dollar,
and say, "three-forty-five, three-fifty, four, five
dollars."

The customer should always count his change
as the merchant makes it.

ORAL PROBLEMS IN MAKING CHANGE

Amount

Money

of Sale

Payment

Change

S 0.30

a half dollar

how much? what pieces?

.65

one dollar

how much? what pieces?

1.02

a dollar and a quarter how much? what pieces?

1.35

two dollars

how much? what pieces?

1.55

Cve-doliar bill

how much? what pieces?

2.20

two two-dollar bills

how much? what pieces?

3.65

a five-dollar bill

how much? what pieces?

6.85

a ten-dollar bill

how much? what pieces?

11.66

a twenty-dollar bill

how much? what pieces?

WRITTEN EXERCISES

1. From 896,192 subtract 425,327.
5 11 8 12

8 9 6
4 2 5

1 9 2
3 2 7

4 7 8 6 5
You cannot take 7 units from 2 units. Take

1 ten from 9 tens; this with the 2 units makes
12 units. This leaves 5 units.

Eight tens remain in the Minuend. Taking

2 from 8 leaves 6.

In a similar manner, taking 3 from 11 leaves
8. taking 5 from 5 leaves 0, taking 2 from 9
leaves 7 and taking 4 from 8 leaves 4.

2. From 6,000,600 subtract 172,316.
6 9 9 10 5 9 10

6 6
17 2 3 16

5 8 2 8 2 8 4

When the Minuend contains zeros think of

each zero as 9 except the right-hand one in each

group which is thought of as 10. Note that 1

of the 6 hundreds in the Minuend makes the

9 tens and the 10 imits. Also, 1 of the 5 mil-
lions makes the 9 hundreds, the 9 tens, and the

10 imits of the thousands 8 period.

CHECKING SUBTRACTION

The accuracy of the work is checked by add-
ing the Difference to the Subtrahend. The
sum of these two numbers should be the same
as the Minuend.

Subtract —
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

760 571 4705
369 296 2482

21,504
18,396

34,576

22,688

78,765
56,899

WRITTEN PROBLEMS

1. From London to Bombay by the Cape of
Good Hope is 11,220 miles; by way of the Suez
Canal it is 6332 miles. How many miles does
the Suez Canal save in going by water from
London to Bombay.''

2. The distance from New York to San
Francisco by way of Cape Horn is 13,135 miles;
by way of Panama it is 5262 miles. Find the
distance saved by the Panama Canal.

3. From New York to Melbourne by way
of Cape Horn is 12,852 miles; by way of Panama
Canal it is 10,392 miles. How much does the
Panama Canal save between New York and
Melbourne.''

Multiplication

short way of adding a
Thus: 4X3 = 12, is the

3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 3
equals 12; and 7X4 = 28, is the short way of
writing 4 plus 4 plus 4 plus 4 plus 4 plus 4 plus 4
equals 28.

Multiplication is a
set of equal numbers,
short way of writing

220

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The number to be multiplied is called the
Multiplicand; the number by which we multi-
ply is called the Multiplier; and the result of

the process is called the Product. The Multi-
plier and Multiplicand are also sometimes called
the Factors of the Product.

THE MULTIPLICATION TABLE

Note. — It is absolutely necessary for every pupil to know this table thoroughly in order to
make any progress at all in Arithmetic. Use the watch in timing each pupil. A pupil should
be able to give any one table forward and backward in from thirty to forty seconds. No
child who cannot do this should be allowed to think that he has mastered this table:

CHART I

Have children count by I's; 2's; 4's and 3"s.

Teach that multiplication is a short method of adding.

♦ Signifies new numbers found in other tables of Charts I and II.

+ Signifies old numbers having been studied in other tables of Charts I and II.

Let the children discover in the new table how manv niunbers they have studied in other tables.

1 X

♦

2 X

1 =

♦

3 X

1 =

4 X

1 =

♦

5 X

1 =

6 X

\ =

7 X

1 =

\ =

♦

9 X

\ =

♦

10 X

1 =

♦

11 X

\ =

12 X

i =

♦

♦
♦

2
3
4
5

6x2 =

9x2 =
10
11
12 x

X
X
X
X
X

X
X

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2

4
6
8

2
4
6
8

2
4

+
+

1
2
3
4
5

6
7
8x
9x

10 X

11 X

12 X

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

1
1
2
2
2
3
3
4
4
4

4
8
2
6

4
8

+
+

♦

1
2
3
4
5

6 X

7 X
8x
9x

10 x

11 X

12 X

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3

6
9
2
5
8
1
4
7

3
6

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

221

CHART A

Drill the I's, 2's, 4's, and 3's separately as a closing review for each of the tables studied.

Develop the fact of the reversibility of numbers as 1X2=, 2X1=, etc., except the square
of numbers aslXl=>2X2=, etc. Develop or omit drills as circumstances require.

Study the 5's and 6"s with Chart II.

The numbers in black on this chart and on Chart C indicate the numbers in the 6's; 7's, 8's and
12's not studied in the other eight tables.

These numbers are tabulated for study on Chart II. If the numbers are properly reviewed in
couplets, the children will show an intelligent appreciation of the fact that they have only ten
combinations to study in these four tables.

1 X

1 =

2 X

1 =

3x1 =

4x 1 =

5x 1 =

6x1 =

1 X

2 =

1 X

2 =

1 X 3 =

1 X 4 =

1 X 5 =

1 X 6 =

1 =

2 X

2 =

3x2 =

4x2 =

5x2 =

6x2 =

1 X

3 =

2x3 =

2x4 =

2x5 =

2x 6 =

2 =

3x 3 =

4x3 =

5x3 =

6x 3 =

1 X

4 =

3x4 =

3 X 4 =

3x5 =

3x6 =

1 =

2 =

4x3 =

4x4 =

5x4 =

6x4 =

1 X

5=^

2 X

5 =

3x5 =

4x5 =

4x 6 =

1 =

2 =

5x3 =

5x4 =

5x5 =

6x5 =

1 X

6 =

2 X

6 =

3x6 =

4x6 =

5x6 =

1 =

2 =

6x 3 =

6x4 =

6x 5 =

6x 6 =

1 X

7 =

3x 7 =

4x7 =

5x 7 =

6x 7 =

7 X

2 =

7x3 =

7x4 =

7x5 =

7x6 =

1 X

8 =

3x8 =

4x8 =

5x8 =

6x 8-

1 =

2 =

8x 3 =

8x 4 =

8x 5 =

8x 6 =

1 X

9 =

2 X

3x9 =

4x 9 =

5x 9 =

6x9 =

2 =

9x3 =

9x4 =

9x5 =

9x6 =

1 X

10 =

2 xiO =

3 xlO =

4x10 =

5x10 =

6x10 =

10 X

1 =

10 X

2 =

10 X 3 =

10 X 4 =

10 X 5 =

10 X 6 =

1 X

11 =

2 X

11 =

3 xll =

4x11 =

5 xll =

6 xll =

11 X

1 =

11 X

2 =

1 1 X 3 =

11 X 4 =

11 X 5 =

11 X 6 =

1 X

12 =

3 xl2 =

4x12 =

5x12 =

6x12 =

12 X

1 =

12 X

2 =

12 X 3 =

12 X 4 =

12x 5 =

12 X 6 =

222

THE HUMAN IXTEREST LIBRARY

CHART B

DRILLS FOR BLACKBOARD OR PAPER

Suggestions for blackboard or speed drills to be used at the discretion of the teacher,
may be developed throughout all the tables
pendently and instantaneously.

This
The children should know each combination inde-

X 1

-4- 1

X 2

X 4

: 4

X 3

-i-3

CHART II

Thoroughly develop the idea of units, tens and hundreds columns. Again master each table
separately and review as suggested by drill charts before beginning a new table.

1st. Suggest that the 10 is made of a cipher in its units number and a 1 in its tens number.
Also that the units number in the answer is a cipher; and that the lO's or lO's and lOO's numbers
are the same as the numbers we multiply by 10.

Teach that multiplying by 10 is the same as multiplying by 1 and adding an to the units
column.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

223

This idea may be developed into rapid drills of multiplying by lO's; lOO's; lOOO's; etc., by
adding 0"s.

The 2's, 4's, and 3's can be reviewed by multiplying by 20, 40, and 30; or by 200, 400, and 300,
etc., by adding O's.

2nd. Note that the 11 is composed of 2 ones; and that in the answer, both the units and tens
columns contain the same numbers, as 11, 22, etc. The black line separates numbers not belonging
to the rule (10 X H) = (H X 10); , .*. only two combinations remain to be studied.

1 xlO =

2 xlO-

3x10 =

4 xlO =

♦

5x10 =

6 xlO =

7x10 =

8x10 =

♦

9 xlO =

10 xlO =

♦

11 xlO =

12 xlO =

+
+
+
+

♦

♦
+

2
3
4
5

xl
xl
xl
xl
xl
6 xl
7x1
8x1
9 xl

10 xl

11 xl

12 xl

1
1
1

1
2
3

4
5

7
8
9

1
2

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

1
2

+
+

♦
+

2 X
4 X
6 X
8 X
10 X
12 X

1 X
3 X
5x
7x
9 X
11 X

5
5
5
5
5
5

1
2
3
4
5
_6

1
2
3
4
5

_0
5
5
5
5
5
5

1x9 =

2x9 =

3x9 =

4x9 =

5x9 =

6x9 =

7x9 =

8x9 =

9x9 =

+
+

10 X 9 =

11 X 9 =

12 X 9 =

6 X

7 X
8x

12 X
7x

6
6
6
6

3
4
4

7
4

6
2
8
2
9

8x7
12 X 7

8x8
12 X 8
12 xl2

5
8
6
9
4

6
4
4
6
4

22k

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Keep the facts observed in mind during drills.

3d. First multiply 5 by even numbers, then by odd numbers. Note that 5 is one-half of 10
and that the answers are just one-half as much as if multiplied by 10.

Note that even numbers multiplied by 5 have in their unit column; but (2X5) = only one-
half (2 X 10), etc. Odd numbers multiplied by 5 have 5 in their units column. Drill on (3X5) =
;1 X 10 + 5); (5 X 5) = (2 X 10 + 5); etc.

4th. Let the children suggest the simple points they see in the 9's. Have them observe 9
IS one less than 10; and their answer in the lO's column is one less than the number they have
•multiplied by 9.

The sum of the ten's and units columns is 9. The black line denotes the exceptions. (11X9)
= (9 X 11); ."• there is only one combination to study. Drill and review.

5th. For the 10 numbers of the 6's, 7's, S's and 12's tables, follow previous directions.

7 X

1 =

8x1 =

9x1 =

10 X 1 =

11 X 1 =

12 X 1 =

1 X

7 =

1 X 8 =

1 X 9 =

1 xl0 =

1 xll =

1 xl2 =

7 X

2 =

8x2 =

9x2 =

10 X 2 =

11 X 2 =

12 X 2 =

2 X

7 =

2x8 =

2x9 =

2x10 =

2 xll =

2 xl2 =

3 =

8x3 =

9x3 =

lOx 3 =

11 X 3 =

12 X 3 =

3 X

7 =

3x8 =

3x9 =

3x10 =

3 xll =

3 xl2 =

7 X

4 =

8x4 =

9x 4 =

10 X 4 =

11 X 4 =

12x 4-

4 X

7 =

4x8 =

4x9 =

4x10 =

4 xll =

4 xl2 =

7 X

5 =

8x5 =

9x5 =

lOx 5 =

11 X 5 =

12 X 5 =

5 X

7 =

5x8 =

5x9 =

5 xlO =

5 xll =

5 xl2 =

7 X

6 =

8x6 =

9x6 =

10 X 6 =

11 X 6 =

12 X 6 =

6 X

7 =

6x8 =

6x9 =

6x10 =

6 xll =

6 xl2 =

7 =

8x7 =

9x7 =

lOx 7 =

11 X 7 =

12 X 7 =

8 =

7x8 =

7x9 =

7 xlO =

7 xll =

7 xl2 =

7 =

8x 8 =

9x8 =

10 X 8 =

11 X 8 =

12 X 8 =

7 X

9 =

8x9 =

8 xlO =

8 xll =

8 xl2 =

9 X

i "=

9x8 =

9x9 =

10 X 9 =

11 X 9 =

12 X 9 =

7 X

10 =

8 xlO =

9 xlO =

9 xlO='

9 xll =

9 xl2 =

10 X

7 =

10 X 8 =

10 X 9 =

10 xlO =

11 xlO =

12 xlO =

7 X

11 =

8 xll =

9 xll =

10 xll =

10x12 =

11 X

7 =

1 1 x 8 =

11 X 9 =

11 xlO =

11 xll =

12 xll =

12 =

8x12 =

9 xl2 =

10 xl2 =

11 xl2 =

12 X

7 =

12 X 8 =

12 X 9 =

12 xlO =

12 xll =

12x12 =

CHART C

Follow previous directions. This chart may also be combined with Chart A; and studied
across the pages instead of down the columns.

Blackboard drills as suggested by Chart B may be continued effectively.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

225

CHART III

This review chart is so arranged, that all the answers are in order according to size from 1 to
14-1. Also all combinations having the same answers are classed together. It is useful for busy
work, or rapid drills.

1x1-

1 xl2 =

4x6 =

11 X 4 -

6 xl2 =

1x2 =

12x 1 =

6x4-

5x9-

12 X 6 =

2x 1 =

2x6-

5x5 =

9x5 =

7 xll -

1x3 =

6x2-

3x9-

4x12 =

11 X 7 =

3x 1 =

3x4-

9x3-

12x 4 =

8x10 =

1x4 =

4x3 =

4x7-

6x8 =

10 X 8 =

4x 1 =

2x7 =

7x4-

8x6 =

9x9-

2x2 =

7x2-

3x10 =

7x7 =

7 xl2 =

1x5 =

3x5-

lOx 3 -

5x10 =

12x 7 =

5x 1 =

5x3 =

5x Q> =

10 X 5 =

8x11 =

1x6 =

2x8 =

6x5 =

6x9 =

11x8 =

6x1 =

8x2-

4x8 =

9x6 =

9 xlO -

2x 3 -

4x4 =

8x4 =

5 xll -

lOx 9 -

3x2 =

2x9 =

3 xll =

11x5 =

8x12 =

1x7-

9x2 =

11x3-

7x8 =

12 X 8 =

7x1 =

3x6 =

5x7 =

8x7 =

9 xll =

1x8 =

6x3 =

7x5 =

6x10 =

11x9 =

8x1 =

2 xlO -

3 xl2 =

lOx 6 =

10 xlO =

2x4 =

lOx 2 =

i2x 3 -

5 xl2 =

9 xl2 =

4x2 =

4x5 =

4x9 =

12x 5 =

12x 9 =

1x9-

5x4 =

9x4 =

7x9 =

10x11 =

9x1 =

3x7 =

6x6 =

9x7 =

11 XlO =

3x3 =

7x3 =

4x10 =

8x8 =

10x12 =

1 xlO =

2x11 =

10 X 4 =

6x11 =

12 xlO =

10 x 1 =

11 X 2 ^

5x8-

11x6 =

11 xll =

2x5 =

2x12 =

8x5 =

7x10 =

11 xl2 =

5x2 =

12 X 2 =

6x7 =

lOx 7 =

12 xll =

1 xll -

3x8 =

7x6 =

8x9 =

12x12 =

11 X 1 =

8x3 =

4x11 -

9x8 =

226

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

CHART IV

The six tables containing the most difficult numbers are arranged vertically instead of hori-
zontally, so that the child may become accustomed to the difference in the position of numbers.

i
i

,, 1

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

227

CHART D

It is suggested that as the children study the tables and review, they should be required to count
by the number by which they have learned to multiply, and that in final review, they should be
able to write them as suggested here, and cross out all the numbers that occur more than once.

This could be used for busy work drills; or, the teacher could select products, and require the
children to give all the combinations that make them. It is also interesting to add some number to
the product, as 37 instead of 36. The children will then give

4X9) 12 X 3)

(6X6 + 1); V +1; t + 1.

9X4) 3 X 12 )

-4

-1&

-6

-8

-Ar

-6-

-9-

¥^

Bi-

30-

-8-

as-

36-

40-

48-

le-

20-

30-

40-

45-

50-

55-

60-

^3-

30-

36-

43-

48-

66-

72-

56-

63-

•n

40-

48-

88-

96-

36-

i08-

60-

100

120-

110

121

108

120

132

144

lO's

20's

30's

40's

50's

608

70's

80's

90's

lOO's

100

108

110

120

121

132

144

228

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

METHOD OF MULTIPLICATION

1, Multiply 46 by 10.

Adding a zero to the right of 46 changes the
Q to 60 and the 40 to 400; hence it multiplies
the number by 10.

2. Multiply 426 by 300.

Long Method: Short Method:

426 426

300 300

000 127800

000
1278

127800

S. How many O's would you annex to the
right of your product if yoiu" multiplier were
20? 200.> 80? 1000? 4*0,000?

Tell the products of the following at sight.

4. 10X800 9. 20X32

5. 10X775 10. 70X50

6. 10X185 11. 100X20

7. 10X128 12. 400X50

8. 10X381 13. lOOOX 7

14. Multiply 8207 by 345.

15. Multiply 8217 by 305.

Multiplicand 8207

Multiplier 345

First Partial Product 41035

Second Partial Product 32828

Third Partial Product 14621

Entire Product 2832415

15. Multiply 8217 by 305.

Multiplicand 8217

Multiplier 305

First Partial Product 41085

Second Partial Product 24651

Entire Product 2506185

PROBLEMS

1. A grocer has two grades of butter, one
of which sells for 40 cents a pound and the other
for 32 cents a pound. How much will a family
save in a year (52 weeks) by using the cheaper
grade if they use three pounds a week?

2. When round steak is 22 cents a pound,
and sirloin is 27 cents a pound, how much will
a family that uses 64 pounds a month saye by
using round steak?

3. Suppose you could buy two kinds of
flour, one at 75 cents a sack and the other at
88 cents a sack, and you use 18 sacks a j'ear,
how much more does the expensiye flour cost
you a year?

Division

ORAL EXERCISES

1. Count by 6's from 36 to 0. How many
6's in 36. Count by 9's from 36 to 0.

From the above you will see that there are
four 9's in 36, also that there are nine 4's in 36.

Thus if we take 9 as a factor 4 times we have
the product 36. In division we have given the
product and one of the two factors to find the
other factor.

Dividing the product by either factor gives
the other factor: Thus: 36-=-9 = 4; 36-=-4 = 9.

In this case 36 is called the Dividend; while
the factor used to divide by we call the Divisor.
The result obtained by dividing which is the
other factor, we call the Quotient.

SHORT DIVISION

\Mien the divisor is not greater than 12 a
process called Short Division is usually used.
1. Divide 852 by 3.
Solution:

3)852

254

Explanation. — 3 is contained in 8 (hun-
dreds) 20 (hundred) times with a remainder of 2.

Write 2 in the hundreds place of the quotient.
The remainder, 2 hundreds plus 5 tens, equals
25 tens.

25 tens divided by 3 equals 8 tens, with a
remainder of 1 .

Write 8 tens in the quotient in tens place.
The 1 ten remainder plus 2 units equals 12
imits.

12 units divided by 3 equals 4 units.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

856-
1624-
1272-
1054-
1728-

4
-6

6
-9

-8

772 -^5

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

1078^7

792^6

9136^4

7468 H- 7

11,656^-9

16,860-^6

WRITTEN PROBLEMS
160 Y 58006/6000

1. 600)96000 2. 6000)348096

3. Divide 480 by 10; by 20; by 30.4.

4. Divide 7200 by 40; by 400; by 900.

5. Divide 9600 by 60; by 600; by 800.

6. Divide 112000 by 700; by 800; by 7000.

7. Divide 108000 by 900; by 1200; by 9000.
Note. — A problem in division is checked or

proved by multiplying the divisor by the
quotient and adding the remainder, if there be
one, to the product; the result should be the
dividend.

LONG DIVISION

1. Divide 8745 by 37.
236i^

Divisor:

37)8745
74

Dividend

134
111

235
222

Explanation. — 37 is contained in 87 (hun-
dreds) 2 (hundreds) times with 13 (hundreds)

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

229

as remainder. The figure 2 is set dowTi in the
hundreds place of the quotient.

13 hundreds pUis four tens equals 134 tens.
37 is contained in 13-t (tens) 3 (tens) times,
with a remainder of 23 tens. Place 3 in the
quotient in tens place. 23 tens plus 5 units
equals 235 units. 37 is contained in 235 units
6 times with a remainder of 13
units.

2. Divide 42832 by 184.

3. Divide 48210 by 85.

4. Divide 27152 by 67.

5. Divide 377289 by 927.

FRACTIONS

A Fraction is one or more
of the equal parts into which
a unit is divided: as one-third,
three-fourths.

A Fraction is expressed by one figure written
over another figure with a line between: |, |.

A Fraction may also be regarded as an indi-
cated division; that is, | is the same as 3^4.

A number composed of a WTiole Number and
a Fraction is called a Mixed Number; as 4|.
It is read "four and three-fifths."

REDUCTION OF FRACTIONS

The process of changing the form of a Frac-
tion without changing its value is called

Reduction : ^ = 4 = i^e •

'X2

H's

'X2

The Denominator of a Fraction is the number
below the line. It shows into how many
equal parts the given unit is divided. Thus in
I the Denominator is 4.

The Numerator of a Fraction is the number
which shows how many equal parts are taken.
It is written above the line; thus in | the
Numerator is 3.

The Numerator and Denominator of a Frac-
tion are called its terms.

A Fraction whose Numerator is less than its
Denominator is called a Proper Fraction; as

c» 10

A Fraction whose Numerator is equal to
or greater than its Denominator is an Improper
Fraction: as |; ^.

9
12

A Fraction is reduced to lower terms when its
terms are made smaller numbers; that is,
is reduced to f , which are its lowest terms.

Multiplying or dividing both terms of a
fraction by the same number does not change
its value.

3 -^4 ■

. 8
12-

x%-

.A=2
4 3*

Supply the missing Term:

'■• ^ 4> ^ 8» ^ 12' S 6» 3 12

9 1 = -• i =-
*• 2 6» 3 1

o JL _. i _. 6

•'• 6 ~15' 6 ~15' e~l2»

4 Ji, — -• JL— _. 4 — _.
^' 12~ 6' 12~ 3> 12~6>

Solve without pencil, filling in blank numerator:

z= _• 2.= .

3 9» 3 12'

2 —

3 ~T8'

Z— _•
6~ 3>

-8,= -
12 6-

2.
3.
4.
5.

i
3

1
6

5
15

~ 6'
~ 18»

~T50>

1
3

1
5

5
6

— 12'
15»

18'

24;

12=8?;

3 .

4 ~ 1 6 '

Z — .

5 ~ 15'

5 .

6 ■" 30'

2 .

3 "

8 24'

Z— _-
5 "~ 55»

7 .

8~ 48'

•27-

| — 5?-

5— 5S'

9=T5'

_5 .
12

11 =
12

■96' l2'~120»

12= TTT-

Reduce to Lowest Terms. — A Fraction is
in its lowest terms when both its terms contain
no common divisor. Thus f is in its lowest
terms since 2 and 3 have no common divisor.

A fraction is reduced to lower terms by divid-
ing both of its terms by the same number; thus
{% is reduced to | by dividing both terms by 5 .
104-5 = 2

15-^5 = 3
Reduce to lowest terms without a pencil:

f§

24
60

X5
40

25
80

40
90

35
90

T%%

i%%

Reduce to lowest terms with pencil:

>■• 320

Solution. ilS = l§ = io = l Ans.

S30

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

_9J)_.
1055

A%;

228.
250>

HI;

hn-

ill;

2ie.

480»

250.
750>

450.
900»

1250
1000

225.
300»

750 .
1250J

,7_5_0_ .

iooos

250.
7505

450
1000

2.
3.
4.

Reducing Whole or Mixed Numbers to
Improper Fractions. — Reduce 2^ to thirds.
Solution: 2X| = i+i = |

Rule. — Multiply the whole number by the
denominator and add the numerator for a
numerator. Under it write the given denomi-
nator.

Solve without pencil:

^3 3>

"^3 3>
•^6 6"

"3 3-
^-8 8-

1 'i3=_.
1. <J4 — 4 J

• * 4» *^5 5>

3. 6 = 5; 6^=3; 61 = 5; 8i = 3.
Solve with pencil:

4. Reduce 33| to thirds.

Solution. 33X3 = i§J- Ans.

5. 62i; 133i; 166|; 137|; 187|.

6. 270| feet; 310|; $73Jo; IGi^g years;
lll^g acres.

Reducing an Improper Fraction to a whole
or mixed number; show by making and dividing
circles that | = 2|; 1 = 2^; f = 2i.

Solve without pencil, reducing to whole or
mixed numbers:

2'
15.
3 >

7.
3'

16-
4 >

9.
3'

25 ■
4 '

15.
5 »

1-2 •

4 '

18.

5 '

15_.

4 >
2_7.

5 >

2JL

5 •

6 •

Reduce to whole or mixed numbers with
pencil :

3. Reduce W^ to a whole or mixed number:

Solution. 545 32 jV

17)545
51

35
34

55 254. 501 13 ? 675

LOO 200

iOOfi

12 8 9 11 12

12 15

7| feet; %^ mi.; $\^^;

-4* .days;

ieh.

,. $7^J1. $Y_,. $5_0-8,

Reducing Fractions to the Least Common
Denominator. — Those Fractions which have
the same denominator are called Similar Frac-
tions. The Fractions, ^, | and |, are Similar
Fractions. In order to add or subtract Frac-
tions conveniently, we must reduce them to
similar fractions.

1. Reduce |, g, ^^2 to similar fractions.

Solution:

3)3, 8, 12 h = ^r>^ = iz-

4)1 8

7 _ _. 7 _ 21

8~24' 8~2 4'

^^ = ^^- 5 —lO
12 24' 12 24

12 1

3X4X2 = 24, the Common Denominator.

2. Reduce |, f„ /g to Similar Fractions.

Solution :

5)5, 7, 35

I-S5; 5-35

7)1, 7, 7

5 .5 25

7-35. 7-35

9 J^-
14' 21-

1
2'

3' 4' 8*

27' 3*6'

H-

17
18

2 3 15
' 24' 32

24' 72»

4
9>

27» 36'

H-

' 2*5' 3*0

> /o

7
8»

3- -5^
16» 32'

/4.

1, 1' 1

5X7 = 35, the Least Common Denominator.

Reduce to Least Common Denominator.

10-

ADDITION OF FRACTIONS

To add Fractions, reduce them to similar frac-
tions, that is, to fractions having the same denomi-
nator, then add the numerators and place the sum
over the common denominator.

1 Add 4 5 7
1. rvuu 3, e> 8-

Solution: 1+1+1 =

16 I 201 21 —57 =i_9. = £
24^24r2 4 — 24 8 '

Find the sum of:

TO ADD MIXED NUMBERS
First add the Whole Numbers; then add the
Fractions; then add the two results obtained.

Add:

1. 5i 7i, and 6|.

Process;

(Jl 1_|_1_|_3 =

"^4 4 I 8 I 4

Ans.

4»

h 1%-

19 5_
' 24' 48*

1
8'

32' 84-

17 29
' 20' 36-

5 J. 7
24' 18-

r% hh II.

7
8'

-9_ 2 5 11
10' 3' 6' 15

24-1 -1-6 19 _ 11

8 I rT^8 I 8 ^a-

2.
3.
4.
5.

19| Ans.
2|, 51, and 9{.
101, 121, and 7^%.
13|, 5i%, and 21^^.
24|, 32|, and2l23j.

TO SUBTRACT FRACTIONS

Reduce to Similar Fractions and subtract the
less numerator from the greater for a new numera-
tor to be written over the common denominator.

1. Subtract | from l^.

Process :

11-

■ 22.
24

.15—7
2 4 — 24-

Ans.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

231

Find the value of:

2. §-§

W-il

3. /u-S

il-2%

4. H-U

J7 2a

120 75

5. f-^

10.

5 4

18 81

6. 13-2^5

11.

fil_r,5

64 72

12.

JL9__

._t7 _

100

1000

MULTIPLICATION OF FRACTIONS

To multiply a Fraction by a Whole Number,
multiply the numerator of the Fraction by the
Whole Number and icrife result over the given de-
nominator, then simplify. Use cancellation.

1. Multiply 3^5 by 15.

Solution: j%Xl5 = ^i = U j% or U\. Ans.
Multiply:

2. i^abye. 5. i% by 5.

3. i|by4. 6. :Psby8.

4. /6by4. 7. 1^2 by 6.

To midtiply a Fraction by a Fraction multiply
the numerators together for a neiv numerator and
the denominators together for a neio denominator.
Use cancellation whenever possible.

1. Multiply f by Jg^

Solution:
value of:

AXV = i = l5- Ans. Find the

2.
3.

C^IO

55 vae

7/N3o

22 «^- 5/^9-^16

DIVISION OF FRACTIONS

27
3

Reduce Whole Numbers to the form of Fractions,
by writing 1 as their denominators. Reduce Mixed
Numbers to Improper Fractions; then invert the
divisor and multiply.

1. Divide 30 by f^.

Solution : \'*- -^ f^ =

¥XV^ = 72. Ans.

Find the value of:

I-I

16-=-!

20-=-!

36 -ft

12^6
21 • 7

J -^28
12 • 15

5J .l_3 8
5 ■ 15

7.
8.

9. 576^3/

DECIMALS

The Decimal Fraction always has a period
called the Decimal Point at the left. The num-
ber of places in the Decimal is the same as the
number of zeros in the denominator of the cor-
responding common fraction.

Thus I'g equals .1; x% equals .6; xoo equals
.01; x^oo equals .25; xg^oo equals .001.

Notice that the number of zeros in the de-
nominators of the above common fractions is
the same as the number of figures to the right
of Ihe Decimal Point.

READING DECIMALS

The first place to the right of the Decimal
point is tenths' place, the second hundredths'
place, the third thousandths' place, the fourth
ten thousandths' place, etc.

A Decimal is read just as if it were a whole
number and is then given the name of the last
Decimal place to the right.

Thus, .76 is read "seventy-six himdredths;"
.0106 is read "one hundred six ten- thousandths."
Write the following as Decimals:

1 ^_. _e_. e . _9_. ^4_7_. _79_. _^3__. ^44_.
■^* 10> 100> tO' 10' T00> 100» 1000' Xooo>

lO'OOO*

2. Write as common fractions — nine-tenths;
seven hundredths; eighty-five hundredths;
twenty-nine hundredths; twenty-nine thou-
sandths; twenty-nine ten-thousandths.

Mixed numbers are read with the word and
between the whole number and the decimal.
The number 975.3014 is read "nine hundred
seventy-five and three thousand fourteen ten-
thousandths." .275 is read "two hundred
seventy-five thousandths," while 200.075 is
read "two hundred and seventy-five thou-
sandths."

3. Read: .7; 2.4; 90.03; 36.44; 216.5; 15.85.

4. Read: 86.09; 8.001; 60.044; 200.065; .265.

5. Read: 246.0012; 912.2006; 2000.0002;

.2002.

CHANGING DECIMALS TO COMMON
FRACTIONS

Any decimal may be changed to a common
fraction.

Thus .6 equals j^g equals |.

.25 equals ^^^ equals ^.
.875 equals xYcfo equals |
.371 equals 37| 100,
equals |.
Change to common fractions in the simplest
form:

1. .8; .625; .375; .875; .225.

2. 37i; .871; .12i; .OOJ; .62|.

3. .83^; .333J; .66|.

Change the following common fractions to
Decimals:

2quals

2oa

1. I. a- i- 5. 7. 1. 3.4.
2'4'4'8'8'8'5'5'5'

K J. _3 . 1 . 5 . a. 11. 2
•^' 10' 10' 20' 12' 6> 12' 3-

"• ^8' •'8' *^12' "3> ■''40-

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION OF
DECIMALS

Rule. — In adding or subtracting Decimals write
the numbers so that the Decimal Points are in the
same column and proceed to add or subtract as
with integers or whole numbers. Place the Deci-
mal Point in the sum or the difference under the
Decimal Points above.

Add the following:

1. 2.25, .75, .1875, .0356. 2.25

.75
.1875
.0356

3.2231

Add: .33 J, 35.66 ».
82|, 1.201 i.

.3375
35.662
82.75
1.20125

127.95075

2S2

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

3. A girl spent for shoes $4.75, for ribbon
$3.25, for a suit $30.75 and for the hat $5.50.
What was her total bill.^

4. A man owned 320 acres of land. He
bought 30 1 acres at one time and 12.41 acres
at another time. How much had he in all?

MULTIPLICATION OF DECIMALS
Rule. — To multiply when there is a Decimal in
either of both factors, multiply as ivith integers
and point off in the product as many Decimal
places as are found in both Multiplicand and
Multiplier.

Multiply
24.6 by'lO.

Multiply
24.6 by' 100.

Solution:

24.6
10

246.0

24.6
100
2460.0

4. Multiply 225.5 by 5.0005.
3. 32^ by 1.0303.

6. .400 by 4.0635.

7. 9.3i by 9.99.

8. When the average yield of corn is 23.9
bu. per acre and the price is 51 1 cents per
bu., what is the average value of the corn crop
per acre.''

9. What will it cost to furnish 224.4 cu. yds.
of sand at $1.25^ per cu. yd..''

DIVISION OF DECIMALS

Rule. — Provide as many Decimal places in the
Dividend as you have in the Divisor by adding
zeros if necessary. Divide as in whole numbers
and point off as many Decimal places in the
Quotient as there are Decimal places in the Divi-
dend less the Decimal places in the Divisor.

1. Divide

.095 by .5. Solution: .5) .095

Note. — In multiplying a Decimal by 10 the
Decimal Point is moved one place to the right;
multiplying by 100 moves the Decimal Point
two places to the right; by 1000 three places, etc.

3. Multiply

.3 by 6.75. Solution: .3

6.75

2. Divide

110.1 by .1101.

Solution:

.19

1000

21
18

2.025

.1101)110.1000

3. 1000 divided by .625.

4. 1.045 divided by .56.

5. If a telephone wire is worth $.002 per ft.,
what is the value of a telephone wire extending
a distance of 5.75 miles.'

UNITED STATES MONEY

Business applications of decimals

The solutions of many problems may be
shortened by knowing the relation that the
price of a unit bears to $1.

1. How much will 250 bu. of potatoes cost
at $.25 per bu..*

Decimal Method.
. 25 = price
250 = no. of bu.

1250
50

Short Method.

4)250

62.50

ExPL.\NATiON. — -At $1 each 250 bu. would
cost $250. At $J each they cost \ of $250
or $62.50.

Rule. — Find the cost of the quantity at $1 per
unit, divide this by the quantity that can be pur-
chased for SI.

Find cost of:

2. 90 bu. apples at 33Jc per bu.

3. 32 lbs. butter at 25c per lb.

4. 640 yds. cloth at 6^c per yd.

5. 75 lbs. lard at 12|c per lb.

6. 72 lbs. rice at 12|c per lb.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

233

7. 120 yds. cloth at Sl\c per yd.

8. 500 books at 40c each.

9. 600 doz. eggs at 25c per doz.

10. 300 bu. oats at 33^c per bu.

11. 800 bu. coal at 6^c per bu.

12. 80 qts. cherries at G^c per qt.

13. 500 bu. corn at -lOc per bu.

14. 180 lbs. beef at 10c per lb.

Denominate numbers

MEASUREMENTS

Distance, weight, time, liquids, etc., are
measured by certain standard units of measure
such as feet, pounds, hours, gallons.

LINEAR MEASURE

In measuring length or distance the measures
are called Linear Measures.

If you do not know the following table,
thoroughly learn it. Use a watch to see how
few seconds you need for saying it.

TABLE OF LINEAR MEASURE

inches (in.) = 1 foot (ft.).

feet =

1 yard (yd.).

y£.-ds

= 1 rod (rd.).

320

rods =

= 1 mile (ml.).

5280

feet =

1 mile.

1. By measuring find the length and the
width of your school room or your living room
at home, in feet. In yards.

2. Estimate the length of a table. Then
measure it and see how nearly right your judg-
ment is.

3. Mark off what you think would be the
length of a rod on the floor, and then measure
the distance marked.

Note. — An expensive tape is not necessary
for measuring long distances. Measure off and
use a stout cord a rod long or fifty feet long.
Every pupil should make many estimates of
short and long distances followed by measure-
ments of them to develop accuracy in judging
distances.

REDUCTION IN LINEAR MEASURE

Changing any number of units of one de-
nomination to units of another denomination
is called Reduction.

EXERCISES

1. Reduce 10 miles to rods.
Solution.— 10 mi. X 320 = 3200 rods. Ans.

2. 4 rds. to feet.

3. 4 yds. 2 ft. to feet.

4. 2 mi. 248 ft. to feet.

5. 3 mi. 28 rds. to rods.

REDUCTION TO HIGHER DENOMINA-
TIONS

1. Reduce 96 in. *^o feet.
ScLXJTiON. — 96 in. -e- 12 = 8. Ans.

2. 54 ft. to yards.

3. 72 in. to jards; 288 in. to yards.

4. 15,840 ft. to miles; 1000 rds. to miles and
rods.

o. Find the cost of digging a ditch J mile
long at $2.75 a rod.

SQUARE MEASURE

Using your ruler draw upon the blackboard
or a paper a square foot. Three square feet, thus :

Mark off all sides of this square foot with
inch spaces and draw lines dividing the square
foot into square inches. How many square
inches in the square foot:

3 feet

:;;:::;;:::: a

::::::::::: £J

12 in.

Scale ^^. One square yard

Learn thoroughly the following table, using
your watch to time yourself.

TABLE OF SQUARE MEASURE

144

square inches (sq. in.) =

1 square foot (sq. ft.).

square feet = l square yard

(sq. yd.).

3014

square yards = 1 square rod

(sq. rd.).

160

square rods = l acre (A.).

640

acres = 1 square mile (sq. mi.).

1. The perimeter of a figure is the distance
around it. What is the perimeter of your
square foot?

2. Draw an oblong 6 inches long and 3
inches wide. Show that it contains 18 square
inches. '■.

3. How many square inches in a rectangle 8 1
inches long and 2 inches wide?

4. How do you find the area of any rectangle
or square?

5. Draw figures showing the difference be-
tween a 6-inch square and 6 square inches.

6. Draw a square yard and divide it into
square feet.

7. How many acres in a field 80 rds. long
and 40 rds. wide?

234

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

8. What part of a square mile is a field 80
rds. by 40 rds.?

9. A township is six miles long and six miles
wide. How many acres does it contain?

PROBLEMS ON PAVING

1. What is the cost of paving a walk 6 ft.
wide in front of a 50-f t. residence lot, at 1 1 cents
per foot?

2. What is the cost of paving a walk 7 ft.
wide on two sides of a corner residence lot 50 ft.
by 150 ft. at 91-2 cents per square foot?

3. What is the cost of paving one-half of a
50-ft. street in front of a 50-ft. residence lot at
95 cents per square yard?

CUBIC MEASURE

A cube has six faces and each one is a square.
If each face is a square inch, the cube is called
a cubic inch, or a one-inch cube.

LIQUID AND DRY MEASURES

Learn thoroughly the following tables.

One cubic foot

Learn thoroughly the following table:
TABLE OF CUBIC MEASURE

1728 cubic inches (cu. in.) = l cubic
foot (cu. ft.).
27 cubic feet = 1 cubic yard (cu. yd.).
128 cubic feet = 1 cord (for measuring
wood).
243^4 cubic feet = l perch (for measur-
ing stone).
1 cubic yard = l load (of earth).
231 cubic inches = 1 gallon (gal.).
2150.4 cubic inches = 1 bushel (bu.).

Rule. — To find the volume of a solid multiply
together the length, breadth and thickness.

1. How many cu. ft. in a pile of wood 8 ft.
long, 4 ft. wide, and 4 ft. high?

2. How many cords of wood in a pile 4 ft.
wide, 8 ft. high and 32 ft. long?

3. How many gallons of water will a cistern
hold which is 6 ft. X 10 ft. X 10 ft.?

4. A granary is 24 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and
6 ft. high. How many bushels of wheat will it
hold?

TABLE OF LIQUID MEASURE

4 gills (gi.) =1 pint (pt.).

2 pints = 1 quart (qt.).

4 quarts = 1 gallon (gal.).

31 J gallons = 1 barrel (bbl.).

231 cubic inches = 1 gallon.

TABLE OF DRY MEASURE

2 pints (pt.). = l quart (qt.).
8 quarts = 1 peck (pk.).
4 pecks = 1 bushel (bu.).

Liquid measures

1. A grocer pays 20 cents a gallon for milk
and retails it at 8 cents a quart. If he handles
40 gallons a day how much is his profit?

2. A ship with 1500 passengers aboard carries
a supply of 15,000 gallons of fresh water. If
each passenger on the average uses two quarts
of water a day how long will the supply last?

3. A cistern holds 50 barrels of water. How
many gallons is this?

4. How many quart boxes will 4 bushels,
3 pecks, 1 quart fill?

5. What is the cost of 3 pecks, 3 quarts of
nuts at 15 cents a quart?

6. If a half-peck basket of peaches sells for
25 cents how much will 4 bushels sell for?

AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT

Avoirdupois weight is used in weighing all
heavy articles such as farm products, groceries,
coal, etc.

16 ounces (oz.) =1 pound (lb.).
100 pounds = 1 hundredweight (cwt.).
2000 pounds = 1 ton (T.).
196 pounds = 1 barrel (of flour).
280 pounds = 1 barrel (of salt).

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

235

Note. — The long ion (2240 pounds) is used
in the United States Custom Houses and in
wholesale dealings in coal and iron.

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION OF DE-
NOMINATE NUMBERS

1. Add 3 hours, 20 minutes; 5 hours, 10
minutes, 20 seconds; and 2 hours, 40 minutes
and 42 seconds.

hrs. min. sec.

3 20

5 10 20

2 40 42

11 11 2

42 sec. plus 20 sec. equals 62 sec, equals 1
min. 2 sec. 1 min. plus 40 min., plus 10 min.,
plus 20 min., equals 71 min., equals 1 hr. 11
min.

1 hr. plus 2 hrs. plus 5 hrs. plus 3 hrs. equala
11 hrs.

The answer is 11 hrs. 11 min. 2 sec.

2. Subtract 5 hours, 29 minutes, 25 seconds
from 7 hours, 17 minutes, 47 seconds.

hrs. min. sec.

7 17 47

5 29 25

25 sec. from 47 sec. equals 22 sec. 29 min.
from 1 hr. plus 17 min. or 77 min. equals 48 min.
5 hrs. from 6 hrs. equals 1 hr.
Ans. — 1 hr. 48 min. 22 sec.

bu.

pk.

qt.

4. gal.

qt.

pt.

yd.

8
4
12
9
6

ft.
2
1
4
1

in.

11
8
5

1
8

6. From 200 gallons take 49 gallons, 3
quarts and 2 pints.

7. From 45 miles 121 rods, take 25 miles,
75 rods.

8. From 15 yards 2 feet and 2 inches, take
11 yards 1 foot 8 inches.

MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION

1. Multiply 4 bushels 3 pecks 5 quarts by 4.
bu. pk. qt.
4 3 5
X 4

19 2 4
4X5 qts. = 20 qts. = 2 pks. 4 qts.
4X3 pks.+2 pks. = 14 pks. = 3 bu. 2 pks.
4X4bu.-|-3bu. = 19bu.
Ans. — 19 bu., 2 pks., 4 qts.

Divide 69 feet 4 inches by 8.
ft. in.
8)69 4

8 8

69 ft. divided by 8 = 8 with a remainder of 5 ft.

5 ft. (60 in.) +4 in. = 64 in.
64 in.-H8 = 8 in.

3. If a horse eats two pecks of oats a day
how long will 60 bushels last him?

Note. — Reduce both terms to pecks and
divide.

4. If an acre will produce 16 bushels 3 pecks
of wheat, how many bushels will 40 acres pro-
duce at the same rate.'

5. A farmer thrashed 4400 bushels of oats,
how many sacks, each holding 3 bushels 4 quarts
will be required to contain his crop.'

Percentage

Per cent means per hundred,
means 10 in each 100.
10% = .10 = JgO_.or

Thus, 10%

50% of anything is what part of it?

50% = .50 = T^<?o = i

25% of anvthing is what part of it?

25% = .25 = i2ifo=i.

3. 123^% = |of25%ori.

It is often convenient in solving problems in
percentage to change the per cent to a common
fraction. Therefore every pupil should mem-
orize thoroughly the following table.

Table of Equivalents |

\ =50%

i =331%

i =25%

1 =661%

h =121%

i=16|%

I =20%

t =80%

f =40%

1 =75%

1 =60%

1 =371%

Other Equivalents

Less Important Are

1 =831%

1 =621%

\ =14^%

i =871%

1^= 81%

^^= ^\%

Find 33 1/3% of 24.
Find 66 2/3% of 24.

1. Find 25% of 16.
Solution. — 25% = \.

Jfof 16 = 4.

9.
10.
11.

Of 24. Of 48.

Of 36. Of 72.
Of 36. Of 72.

Find 20% of 40.
Find 40% of 50.
Find 50% of 17.
Find 75% of 12.
Find 80% of 10.

Of 60. Of 80.

Of 21. Of 34.

Of 16. Of 36.

Of 20. Of 40.
Find 37 1/2% of 16. Of 48. Of 32.
Find 30% of 80. Of 40. Of 50.
18 is what % of 24? Of 36? Of 54?
Solution.— 18-^24 = 11 = 1 = 75%.

12. 24 is what % of 48? Of 72? Of 12?

13. 12 is what % of 16? Of 18? Of 84?

14. 25 is what % of 50? Of 75?

15. 35 is what % of 40? Of 42? Of 70?

16. Write as Decimal Fractions the following:
5%, 8%, 2%, 12%, 60%.

Solution. — 5% = iSo = .05.

£36

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

17. 80%, 90%, 17%, 15%, 14%.

18. 12^%, 14|%, 16|%, i%, 1%.

19. Express as per cents, |, J, J, ^, J, f , |,

1 JL

9> lo-
go. Express as per cents, -^q, f , |, |, |, §, |.

ORAL PROBLEMS

1. A man planted 20% of his 640-acre farm
with wheat. How many acres of wheat had he?

2. A man planted 160 acres of corn. His
farm contained 640 acres. What per cent of
his farm was planted to corn.^

3. A man owning a half section of land leaves
25% of it for pasture. How many acres are in
pasture.^

^VRITTEN PROBLEMS

1. In a storm at sea 72% of the 3000 pas-
sengers on board an ocean liner were drowned.
How many people were lost.^

2. A dealer lost 75 bbls. of apples or 15% of
all he handled. How many bbls. did he handle.'

3. A man bought a lot for $3000 and held it
for 2 years, selling it at a gain of 17%. Find
the selling price.

4. A man l)ought a lot for $1600 and sold it
for $1400. What was his loss per cent?

Interest

Money paid for the use of money is called
Interest. Interest is a certain per cent of the
amount borrowed which latter is called the
Principal. The per cent charged for the use of
the money is called the Rate.

ORAL DRILL

1. At 5% how much is the interest on $200
for 1 year? For 6 months? For 2 years? For
2 years 6 months?

2. At 6% find the interest on $400 for 1 year.
For 8 months or | of a year? For 2 years?
For 2 1 years?

3. At 4% what is the interest on $800 for

1 year? For 6 months? For 3 months? For
9 months? For a year and 9 months?

A^TIITTEN EXERCISES

4. At 5% what is the interest on $640 for

2 years 5 months?

29 5

Solution: — X X640 or

12 100

29X5X640

= $77.33

12X100

Explanation. — yBo of $640 equals the
interest for 1 year. Two years 5 months equals
fl years, therefore the total interest equals
flXi|oX640. Use cancellation whenever pos-
sible.

5. Find the interest of $250 at 4% for
1 year 4 months.

6. Find the interest of $500 at 5% for
1 year 3 months.

7. Find the interest of $750 at 4% for
2 years 2 months.

8. Find the interest of $124 at 6% for

1 year 9 months.

9. Find the interest of $436 at 5% for

2 years 8 months.

Note. — In the above problems no days are
given. But where the time of the problem has
days, reduce the time to days as a numerator
over 360 days.

10. Find the interest of $6500 at 6% for

3 months 20 days.

Solution: 3 months 20 days = 110 days.
110 6

X X$6500 = $119.17.

360 100

11. Find the interest of $650 at 5% for 70
days.

12. Find the interest of $135 at 5% for
8 months 20 days.

13. Find the interest for $486 at 4% for
90 days.

THE BANKERS' METHOD OR THE 60-
DAY METHOD OF FINDING INTEREST

Money is often borrowed for short periods
especially at banks for 30, 60 or 90 days. Six
per cent is a very usual rate in such cases. The
method used is as follows:

The interest of any Principal at 6% :
For 360 days = 0.06 of the Principal.
For 60days = 0.01 of the Principal.
For 6 days = 0.001 of the Principal.

14. Find the interest of $660 at 6% for
90 davs.

Solution:

Interest for 60 days = $6.60
For 30 days= 3.30

Total interest

$9.90

Explanation.— Since xJg of $660 or $6.60
is the interest for 60 days and 30 days equals
half as much, or $3.30, the total interest must
be their sum.

Find the interest at 6% of:

15. $1080 for 60 days.

16. $720 for 90 days.

17. $840 for 30 days.

18. $960 for 10 days.

19. $480 for 45 days.

Find the interest at 6% of:

20. $1440 for 87 days.

Solution: $14.40 = interest for 60 days.

4.80 = interest for 20 days.

1.20 = interest for 5 days.

.48 = interest for 2 davs.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25

$20.80
$2400 for 50 days.
$1500 for 120 days.
$2750 for 63 days.
$840 for 84 days.
$3040 for 108 days.

87 davs.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

237

Note that the foregoing problems all bear 6%.
This method may be used with problems bearing
any per cent.

26. At 5% 6nd the interest of:
$1680 for 75 days.

Solution:

$16.80 = the interest at 6% for 60 days.
4.20 = the interest at 6% for 15 days.

6)$21.00 = the interest at 6% for 75 days.

$ 3.50 = the interest at 1% for 75 days.
17.50 = the interest at 5% for 75 days.

27. $1640 for 70 days.

28. $1900 for 63 days.

29. $1750 for 72 days.

TAXES

Towns, cities, counties and states meet most
of their expenses by levying taxes upon the
property within their limits.

For purposes of taxation property is divided
into two classes. Real Estate and Personal
Property.

Real Estate is immovable property such as
land including mines, quarries, forests, rail-
roads and buildings.

Personal Property is movable property such as
money, stocks, bonds, household goods, cattle,
etc.

Some states also levy a tax on all male citizens
over twenty-one years old. This is called a
Poll Tax.

Name some ways in which your city or
county spends its tax money.

METHOD OF SPREADING TAXES

Officers called Assessors, first inspect property
and place a value upon it for taxation. Then
the city, township, school district or county
determines the amount of money needed to run
the government for one year. The total
amount of money needed is divided by the total
value of the property as fixed by the Assessor.
This gives the amoimt of tax on one dollar or the
rate of taxation.

Thus if a school district needed $20,000 to
run its schools for 1 year while the property in
the district was valued by the Assessor at
$2,000,000, the rate would be $20,000 -^ $2,000,-
000 = .01, which is the rate of taxation for
school purposes.

1. If the Taxes are 18 mills on $1, what rate
per cent are the Taxes.* How much are the
Taxes on property valued at $15,000.*

2. My property is assessed at $5000, the
Tax rate is 13^%. What are my annual
Taxes?

3. \Miat would be the Tax on a farm assessed
at $6000 if the rate is .007? If it is .0102?

4. Mr. Jones owns a house valued at $24,000
which is assessed at 2/3 of its value. The Tax
rate is .022. What will be his total Tax?

5. If Mr. Jones Days his Tax within thirty
days he receives a discount of 2%. How much
will he save by paying his Taxes promptly?

PROPERTY INSURANCE

A man who does not wish to bear the total
loss of his house in case of fire pays an Insurance
Company a certain per cent for the Insurance of
his property. The amount paid is called the
Premium.

The Insurance Company agrees to make good
his loss to the extent of the sum named in the
Policy or contract with him in case his house
is accidentally burned during the period covered
by the Policy.

Insurance Companies do not usually insure
property for its full value. Can you give a
reason why?

1. The school house is insured for $10,000
for three years. The Board of Education has to
pay the Insurance Company 50% for this.
What is the face of the Policy? What per cent
of the face of the Policy is the Premium? What
per cent is this a year?

2. I value my house at $10,000. The Com-
pany insures it for 3 years at half its value at
f % of the face of the Policy. How much will
the Premium cost?

3. A business block costing $40,000 is in-
sured for 3 years for J its value at 1% a year.
What is the total Premium?

4. A hotel is insured for $10,000 in each of
five different companies. The total Premium
is $1000. Find the rate of insurance.

5. A factory worth $80,000 is insured for f
of its value at 1J%. In case of total loss by
fire find the owner's loss, including Premium
paid out.

COMMISSION

The value of property. — City property varies
greatly in price depending upon the city and
upon whether the property is used for residence
for business blocks, or for factories. The dis-
tance from street cars or other means of trans-
portation affects the value of property. City
lots are valued at so much per front foot.

The width of a lot measured along the street
is its Frontage, while the distance from the street
to the rear of the lot is called its depth. If it is
worth $20 per front foot that means $20 for a
strip one foot wide at the street and reaching
back to the rear of the lot. The deeper the lot
the more area it covers and the more desirable
it is, other things being equal. When one
speaks of a 100-foot lot, one means a lot with
100 feet frontage.

Residence lots vary in frontage from 30 feet
in poorer sections to 150 feet or more in the
best residence districts. In depth they may
be from 100 feet to 200 feet or more. The price
of residence lots varies in different cities and in
different districts of the same city from $15 or
$20 to $200 or more per front foot.

1. W'hat are vacant lots near your home
valued at per front foot? At that rate what is
an 80-foot lot worth?

2. Who pays for laying sidewalks in front of
a property? Who pays for paving the street
and laying the sewer? See if you can find out
how much it costs per front foot to do these
things on your street.

S38

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

PRACTICAL PROBLEMS AND CALCULATIONS

EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY

It has been carefully estimated that a man
with a common school education is able to pro-
duce on the average 13^ times as much wealth as
an unschooled man; the high school man can
produce 2 times as much, and the college man
4 times as much as the untrained mind.

If a laborer who can neither read nor write
is able to earn $14 a month, how much more
should he earn in a period of 40 years if he had
started with a common school education?
Ans.— $3360.

How much more would he have accumulated
in the same time if he had obtained a high
school education? Ans. — $13,440.

What will be the difference in the earnings of
two men for a work period of 40 years, one with
a college education who earns $1000 a year and
the other with a common school education who
earns $450 a year? Ans.— $22,000.

A boy who knows how to handle and care for
tools saves in this way 5 cents for every work
day he lives. What is this training worth to a
man in the course of 40 years if there are 26
working days in each month? Ans. — $624.

A boy who has been trained in the use of
tools saves $20 a year in the repairs and con-
venient articles made for the home. What
does this amount to in 40 years? Ans. — $800.

A self-binder costing $125 would have lasted
with good care 12 years. It was left out in the
weather and lasted only 3 years. What did
the farmer's carelessness cost him? Ans. —
$93.75.

If a careless hired hand while cultivating
corn covers up 20 hills to the acre, what is the
value of the corn destroyed on a 20-acre field,
counting 2 ears to a hill and 100 ears to the
bushel when corn is worth 50 cents a bu.?
Ans.— $4.

FENCING

Data. — Barbed wire is sold by the roll,
weighing about 100 lbs. and containing about
1200 ft. of wire. In a pound of staples there
are about 100.

Note. — Always draw the form of the field
before attempting to solve the problem.

How much wire fencing will it take to fence
an acre lot in the form of a square, 12 rods,
10 ft., 9 in. each way? Ans.— 50 rods, 10 ft.

How much fence will it take to enclose an
acre lot which is 20 rods long and 8 rods wide?
Ans. — 56 rods.

A 40-acre field is 80 rods each way. Find
cost of posts and fencing with three strings of
barbed wire at 25 cents a rod and a 12-icot gate
worth $5. Ans.— $85.

Another 40-acre field is 160 rods long and 40
rods wide, how much more will the fence cost
than in the previous problem with the posts,
fence and gate at the same price? Ans. — $20.

How much more will the fence posts cost for
the 40-acre tract 160 rods by 40 rods than for
the same acreage in the form of a square if the

posts cost 8 cents each and are placed 1 rod
apart, one extra being necessary for the gate?
Ans.— $6.40.

How many acres of land in a field 80 rods
wide and 120 rods long? How many rods of
fencing are needed to enclose it? Ans. — 60
acres; 400 rods.

How many rods of fencing are required per
acre in the above problem? Ans. — 5 rods.

How many acres of land in a field 40 rods
square? Ans. — 10 acres.

How many rods of fencing are needed to
enclose a field 40 rods square? Ans. — 160 rods.

How many rods of fencing are required per
acre in a field 40 rods square? Ans. — 16 rods.

If the fencing costs 30 cents a rod and lasts
10 years, what is the yearly cost per acre?
Ans. — 30 cents an acre per year.

How much is the annual cost per acre of such
a fence if 10| rods of fence are required to en-
close an acre? (See above problem.) Ans. —
32 cents per acre per year.

What does it cost for posts worth 12 cents
each to build 120 rods of fence if the posts are
set 1| rods apart? Ans. — $9.60.

CORN

How TO Test Seed Corn. — Make a box 36
in. by 40 in. and 3 in. deep. Fill the box about
half full of moist dirt, sand or sawdust. Press
it down so that it will have a smooth, even
surface.

Take a white cloth about the size of the box,
rule it oft" into squares 3 in. each way, numbering
them 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., and place it in the box
upon the sand. Take 6 kernels from each ear
and place in one square, giving the ear the same
number. Cover with a moist pad stuffed with
sawdust and keep moist and warm for several
days.

How many days did corn planted May 10
have to mature if frost occurred on the night
of September 10? Ans. — 123 days.

W^hen corn is planted May 15 and frost comes
on the night of September 1, how many days
has the corn in which to mature? Ans. — 108
days.

A bushel of seed corn will plant 7 acres.
W^hen seed is selling at $2 a bu., what is the cost
of seed per acre? Ans. — 28 4/7 cts.

If extra good seed corn costs $4.50 a bu.,
what will it cost per acre? Ans. — 64 2/7 cts.

If it costs 14 cts. a bu. to grade seed corn
with a corn grader and a bu. of corn will plant
7 acres, what is the cost per acre for grading
the seed? Ans. — 2 cts.

If a man spends 4 hours shelling off tip and
butt kernels and sorting irregular kernels from
a bu. of seed corn, how much will it cost him
per acre if his time is worth 15 cts. an hour?
Ans.— 8 4/7 cts.

If it requires 18 ears of corn to plant 1 acre,
how many ears would be needed to plant 123^
acres? Ans. — 225 ears.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

239

Corn on the ear weighs 70 lbs. a bu. If the
ears average 10 oz. each, how many ears in a
bu.? Ans. — 112 ears.

If the ears average 12 oz. each, how many
ears in a bu.? Ans. — 93 plus ears.

If a man can select 1120 ears of seed corn
averaging 10 oz. each in 3 days, how much
will it cost him a bu. if his time is worth $2 a
day? Ans. — 60 cts.

\\'hat are 1120 ears of seed com worth at
$2.50 a bu. if the ears average 10 oz. and there
are 70 lbs. in a bu.? Ans. — $25.

Corn is sometimes reckoned on the basis of
120 ears to the bu. What is the weight of such
corn per ear? Ans. — 9f oz.

If corn is planted in check rows 3 ft. 8 in.
apart each way, how many square feet does each
hill of corn occupy? How many hills on an
acre? Ans.— 13| sq. ft.; 3240 hills.

How many stalks are there on an acre when
they are planted 3 stalks in a hill 3 ft. 8 in.
each way? Ans. — 9720 stalks.

If the stand is perfect and each stalk produces
one ear, what is the yield per acre, 120 ears to the
bu.? Ans.— 81 bu.

A bushel of choice seed corn costing $3.50
a bu. will plant 7 acres in check rows. \Miat
is the cost of the seed for 20 acres? Ans. — $10.

A poorer quality of seed will be priced at
$1.50 a bu. How much less will it cost for the
same 20 acres? Ans. — $4.29.

After shelling off the irregular kernels on the
butt and tip of a certain ear of corn there are
38 kernels left in each row. If there are 20
rows on the cob how many hills will it plant,
placing 3 kernels in a hill? Ans. — 253 hills.

DRAINAGE

All tile are 1 foot long. The average price
is about 3 cents each for 3-in. tile, 4 cents each
for 4-in. tile and 5 cents each for 5-in. tile.

A tract of wet land of 17 acres was tile-
drained at a cost of $24 an acre. What was
the cost of draining the field? Ans. — $408.

The farmer then sowed it to wheat, harvest-
ing 45 bu. an acre, which sold for one dollar a
bushel. What was his gross income from the
wheat crop? Ans. — $765.

If the farmer cleared 331 cts. a bu. from his
wheat crop, of 45 bu. an acre each year, what
would be his net gain in 5 years after deducting
the cost of tiling? Ans.— $867.

Mr. Brown had a square piece of low land
containing 90 acres. When he prepared to tile
it he found it was 6 ft. 8 in. higher at one side
than at the other. How wide is the field? How
much fall will this be to the rod? Ans. — 120
rods wide; 1^ in. to the rod.

What did it cost to lay 6 strings of tile across

this 90-acrc tract if the tile is $20 a thousand and
each tile was 1 ft. long and the cost of laying
them was 30 cts. a rod? Ans. — $453.60.

Find the cost per acre for tiling. Ans . — $5 .04 .

If tiling Air. Brown's field increased the yield
of corn an average of 8 bu. per acre, what will
the increase of corn be worth on the 90 acres at
40 cts. a bu. in 10 years? Ans.— $2880.

What will be the net gain per acre over the
cost of tiling in 10 years? The net gain on the
90-acre tract? Ans.— $26.96 an acre; $2426.40.

Farmer Jones had 20 acres of orchard with
30 trees on each acre. Each tree yielded on the
average 2 bbls. of apples worth $3 a bbl. After
tile-draining his orchard at a cost of $30 an
acre, his income from the crop was doubled.
What fraction of the crop paid for the tiling?
Ans. j^ of the crop.

PLOWING

There are 160 sq. rds. in an acre. How many
acres in a field 80 rods square? Ans. — 40 acres.

How many acres in a field 8 rods wide and 20
rods long? Ans. — 1 acre.

A ten-acre field is 40 rods long. How many
feet wide is it? Ans. — 660 ft.

A five-acre field is 16 rods wide; how long is it?
Ans. — 50 rods.

How many times must a farmer cross a field
40 rods square with a harrow 12 ft. wide to
harrow the field? Ans. — 55 times.

How far will the farmer travel in the above
problem? Ans. — 6g miles.

How many times must Mr. Brown cross a
field 16 rods wide with a 12-foot harrow to
harrow the field? Ans. — 22 times.

How many rounds (back and forth) must
Mr. Brown make to plow a field 8 rods wide
if the plow turns a furrow 14 in. wide? Ans. —
57 rounds.

How far must the plowman, cutting a 14-in.
furrow travel to plow an acre 8 rods wide, not
counting the turns? Ans. — 1\ miles.

How far must one travel with a 12-foot harrow
to harrow an acre? Ans. — 220 rods.

How far must a team travel, not counting the
turns, to plow one round on a field 40 rods long?
Ans. — I mi.

To plow a strip 10 rods wide, how many
furrows must be plowed with a 14-in. plow?
Ans. — 142 furrows.

How far must a team travel to plow a field
20 rods square with a 14-in. plow? Ans. —
17ii mi.

A man with two horses and a 14-in. plow
plows 2 acres in 8 hours. What does it cost to
plow one acre if the man's time is worth 16 cts.
an hour and the time of each horse is worth
8 cts. an hour.^'— Ans.— $1.28.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

SILOS

The base of a silo is 20 ft. in diameter. Find
its circumference. Ans. — 62f ft.

Find the capacity in cu. ft. of a silo 16 ft.
in diameter and 30 ft. high. Ans. — 9428f cu. ft.

If a cu. ft. of silage weighs 30 lbs., how many
tons will this silo contain if after it is settled the
silage is 4 ft. from the top? Ans. — 122 .5 T.

A silo is 18 ft. in diameter and 32 ft. high;
how many tons of silage does it hold if a cu. ft.
weighs 36 lbs. and it has settled 4 ft. from the
top? Ans.— 123.3 T.

If 45 cows are fed 36 lbs. each of silage a day,
how long will the contents of the above silo last
this herd? Ans. — 158 days.

What must be the diameter of a silo 36 ft.
deep filled with silage to within 4 ft. of the top
to hold enough silage to feed 24 cows 35 lbs. a
day for each cow for 180 days if the silage weighs
36 lbs. a cu. ft. Ans. — 13 ft, nearly.

How many acres of corn will it take to supply
ensilage to a herd of 24 cows for 180 days, 35
lbs. each per day, if 1 acre yields 12 T. of silage?
Ans. — 7 acres, nearly.

The corn on a field of 24 acres when ready for
cutting and chocking, or for putting in the silo,
weighs 10 tons per acre, of which 80% is water.
By cutting and shocking the corn there is a loss
in dry matter of 30%; by putting it in the silo
there is a loss in dry matter of only 10%; if
the dry matter in silage is worth $.0071 a lb.,
what is the value of the feed gained by putting
the crop in the silo? Ans. — $136.32.

A silo 16 ft. in diameter is filled 24 ft. deep
with silage. One cu. ft. weighs 30 lbs. How
many tons of silage are in the silo? Ans. —
144.8 T.

HAY

One acre of mixed clover and timothy will
produce 2h tons of hay. If the labor to raise it
costs $3.68 an acre and the rent of the land is
$2.50 an acre, what is the total cost per ton?
Ans.— $2.47.

If the above crop yields but 1§ tons an acre
what is the cost per ton for producing it? Ans.
—$4.12.

If bran is worth 2^ times as much as clover

hay per pound, how much is bran worth when
clover is $8 a ton? Ans.— $20.

If it costs a farmer only $3.34 a ton to raise
clover hay, how much can he afford to pay for
bran which is worth 2^ times as much as clover
hay? Ans. — $8.35 a ton.

If a 12-acre field of clover yields 3500 lbs. of
hay per acre at the first crop, and a bushel of
seed per acre at the second crop, what is the
entire yearly income from the field when hay is
$10 a ton and seed $8 a bu.? Ans.— $306.

At $8 a bu. what is the return from 5 acres of
clover vielding 160 lbs. of seed an acre (60 lbs.
tothebu.). Ans.— $106.66|.

If an acre of clover yields 4500 lbs. of clover
hay the first cutting and 2400 lbs. the second
cutting, what is the value of the crop at $8 a
ton? Ans.— $27.60.

One pound of alfalfa hay contains .11 of a
pound of digestible protein, .4 of a pound of
carbohydrates, and .012 of a pound of fats.
Red clover hay contains .068 lb. protein, .36 lb.
carbohydrates and .017 lb. fats. What is the
difference in the feeding value of a ton of
alfalfa and a ton of red clover when digestible
protein is worth 3 cts. a lb. and carbohydrates
1 ct. a pound and fats 2§ cts. a pound? Ans. —
Alfalfa $15.20 per ton; red clover $12.13.

One pound of timothy hay contains .028 lb.
digestible protein, .43 lb. C. H., and .014 lb. fat.
Which has the greater feeding value, timothy or
clover according to the above problem? Ans. —
Clover, $12.13; timothy, $10.98.

ORCHARDS AND SPRAYING

When trees are set 25 ft. apart each way, how
much space does each tree occupy and how
many trees can be set on an acre 10 rods by 16
rods? Ans. — 60 trees.

(Note. — Find how many trees in a row and
the number of rows.)

If the acre lot is square how many trees may
be set on it 25 ft. each way? Ans. — 64 trees.

If there are 64 trees per acre and each tree
produces 3 bu. 3 pk. of apples, how much are
the apples on one acre of orchard worth at
75 cts. a bu.? Ans.— $180.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

The Kentucky Experiment Station made a
spraying test on an orchard that had never
before been sprayed. One sprayed Maiden
Bhish tree yielded 7 bu. of apples, 4j bu. of
which graded firsts and sold at 75 cts. a bu., the
remainder graded seconds and sold at 375 cts.
One unsprayed tree of the same variety in the
next row yielded 4 bu. of apples, \ of which
graded firsts and the rest seconds. What is
the difference in income from the fruit on the
two trees.'* Ans. — $2,625.

If an orchard contained 200 trees, what would
be the difference in income from a sprayed and
an unsprayed crop according to the data in the
above problem if firsts sold at 50 cts. a bu. and
seconds at 30 cts..? Ans.— $340.

Bordeaux Mixture contains 4 lbs. of freshly
slaked lime and 4 lbs. of copper sulphate or
bluestone in 50 gals, of water; with lime at Ic.
a pound, and copper sulphate at 10 cts. a pound,
what would it cost to spray 200 apple trees twice
if 2 gals, of the mixture is sufficient for the
spraying of one tree once.'' Ans. — $7.04.

Three unsprayed apple trees yielded 188
sound apples while 6 similar trees, sprayed,
yielded 8764 sound apples. Counting 100
apples to the bushel, what would be the gain
from spraying 100 trees when apples are selling
at 80 cts. a bu..? Ans.— $1118.40.

FEEDING

If a calf weighs at birth b^ lbs. and gains 2
lbs. a day, what should it weigh under usual
conditions at the end of 90 days.? Ans. —
235 lbs.

When milk is worth 15 cts. a gal., what is the
cost of making a calf that weighs 60 lbs. at birth
weigh 140 lbs. when it takes \\ gals, of milk to
produce one pound of his weight.? Ans. — $15.

Which is the better proposition, to keep a
young calf for 90 days, feeding it on the average
2^ gals, of milk a day worth 10 cts. a gal., and
then sell it for $15; or to sell it at birth for $3
and sell butter-fat from the milk at 18 cts. a
pound if the milk contains 3.8% butter-fat and
a gal. of milk weighs 8.6 lbs.? Ans.— First
proposition, loss $7.50; second, gain $8.88.

A calf at birth weighs 68 lbs. If at the end of
60 days it weighs 200 lbs., what is the cost of
its keep, not counting labor, if Ij gal. of milk
worth 15 cts. a gal. produces 1 lb. of weight.?
Ans.— $24.75.

At an Experiment Station a certain pig that
was fed a total of 397 lbs. of shelled corn gained
79 lbs. At this rate how many pounds of
shelled corn did it take to produce one pound of
flesh.? Ans. — 5 lbs. corn.

When corn is 50 cts. a bu., what does it cost
to add one pound of flesh to a pig according to
the above problem (56 lbs. to a bu.)? Ans. —
4£\ cts.

At this rate how many pounds of fat can be
put on a hog with a bushel of corn weighing
56 lbs..? Ans.— 11 lbs.

Another test showed that pigs fed for 46
days on a total of 334 lbs. of middlings gained
90 lbs. At this rate how many pounds of mid-

dlings does it take to put one pound of flesh
on a hog.? Ans. — 3.7 lbs.

Compare the cost of producing one pound of
live weight on a hog with corn at 45 cts. a bu.
with middlings at $1.40 a cwt. Ans. — Corn
4i'j; cts; middlings 5 2^ cts.

ROADS

Farmers living in regions where they have
good roads are enabled to haul their products
to market at any season of the year. Larger
loads can be drawn in less time. This re-
duces the cost of marketing crops. A good
road must be hard and smooth with proper
slope for drainage.

If a road is 66 ft. wide, how many sq. ft. of
surface are there in a mile of road? Ans. —
348,480 sq. ft.

If a road bed is 12 ft. wide, how many square
feet of surface in a mile? Ans. — 63,360 sq ft.

If there are 32 in. of rainfall in a year, how
many tons of water fall on a mile of road 66 ft.
wide, in a year? Ans.— 3833.28 T.

How many cu. yds. of gravel are required to
cover a mile of road bed 10 ft. wide and 6 in.
deep? Ans. — 977| cu. yd.

If it costs 50 cts. a sq. rd. for grading, what
will it cost to grade a mile of road-bed 10 ft.
wide? Ans. $96.93.

If a team can be hired for $4 a day of 10 hrs.
each which can haul a cu. yd. of gravel an hour,
how long will it take to gravel a 12-foot road-
bed a mile long with gravel 6 in. deep? What
will it cost? Ans.— $469.33.

An apple grower had 1200 tons of apples to
deliver to the railroad 6 miles away. It is
estimated that poor dirt roads cost the marketer
17 cts. a ton for every mile. In this region the
roads were well-kept and the cost was only
13 cts. a mile. How much does this grower
save on his crop by the good roads? Ans. —
$288.

According to the above problem, what does it
cost Mr. Carter to market 60 tons of produce at
a distance of 6 mi. on poor dirt roads? Ans. —
$61.20.

Mr. Bangs goes to market twice a week.
The market is 10 miles away. Over poor roads
a whole day is consumed. Over macadamized
roads he can make the round trip in half a day.
How much would macadamized roads save this
farmer in a year if the time of himself and his
team is worth $2 a day? Ans. — $104.

RENTS

Property owners usually charge their tenants
10% of the value of the house and lot as rent.
Out of this gross rental the owner pays the
taxes, insurance and the necessary repairs.
These three items average about J or 20% of
the gross rental.

Real estate agents charge from 2^% to 5% of
the gross rental as commission for renting a
house for an owner. For selling of property
agents charge from 2i% to 5% of the selling
price of the property for their services.

For what would a man owning a $10,000
house on an average lot be likely to rent it?

2k^

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

WHEAT

How many bushels in 13,6!20 lbs. of wheat if
there are 60 lbs. in a bushel? Ans. — 2-27 bu.

How many poimds are produced on 1''2^ acres
yielding 20 bu. per acre? How many bushels?
Ans.— 15,000 lbs.; 250 bu.

If there are 12 lbs. of water in 100 lbs. of
wheat, how many pounds of water in 25 bushels?
Ans.— 180 lbs.

If /g of wheat is starch, how many lbs. of
starch in 25 bu.? Ans. — 1350 lbs.

How many tons of wheat are grown on 24
acres yielding 24 bu. per acre? Ans. — 17.2
tons.

What is the value of the crop in the above
problem at 85 cents a bushel? Ans.^$489.60.

It takes 4.77 bu. of wheat to make one bbl.
of flour. How many bbls. of flour can be made
from a 20-acre field of wheat averaging 15 bu.
to the acre? Ans. — 62.9 bbls.

If 60 acres are seeded to wheat and only f
of the seed germinates, how many acres are
seeded to wheat that will not grow? Ans. —
12 acres.

At 85 cts. a bu. and with a crop of 24 bu.
per acre, what is the value of the wheat grown
on a piece of land containing 280 sq. rds.?
Ans.— $35.70.

If wheat for sowing contains ^ weed seed,
how much land will a farmer sow to weeds if he
plants a 40-acre field? Ans. — 2 acres.

What will be his loss if by sowing clean seed
wheat his field would have yielded 25 bu. an
acre worth 75 cts. a bu.? Ans. — $37.50.

If 25 bu. of 85-cent wheat can be grown on
an acre, how many pounds is that per acre and
what is the price per pound? Ans. — 1500 lbs.;
li cts.

BIRDS AND INSECTS

If the damage done by insects on a farm
averages 60 cts. an acre for the entire farm,
what would this amount to on a 240-acre farm?
Ans.— $144.

Winter birds live on weed seed. If each bird
eats a quarter of an ounce of weed seed in a
day and there is a bird to each acre, how many
pounds of weed seed will the birds eat on 320
acres in 3 months? Ans. — 450 lbs.

Wild birds average about 400 to a quarter
section of 160 acres. How many would this
be for a township 6 miles square (36 sections) ?
Ans. — 57,600 birds.

It is estimated that 500 small grasshoppers
will eat a pound of a growing crop in one day.
If a meadow lark eats 250 grasshoppers in a
day, how many larks can save a ton of a
growing crop in 10 days? Ans. — 40 larks.

A stalk of plantain bears an ounce of seed or
about 14,000 seeds. If 40 seeds sow one square
yard of ground, what part of an acre will one
stalk of plantain sow? Ans. — g^gV A.

If 4 lbs. in every bushel of a farmer's crop of
oats is weed seed, what per cent of his crop of
2000 bu. is weeds? How many pounds of oats?
Ans.— 12V%; 46,000 lbs. oats.

If a farmer seeded 20 acres of land with grass
seed containing 10% weed seed, how much land
would he sow to weeds? Ans. — 2 acres.

Twelve bu. of clover seed containing 4^ bu-
of dead seed were bought at $3.75 a bu., what
was the price paid for the live seed? Ans. — $6.

Twenty bushels of clover seed containing Ij
bu. of dead seed were bought for $6 a bu.
What was the price paid for the live seed?
Ans.— $6.49.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

2Jt3

COWS, MILK AND BUTTER

Four per cent milk means that each 100 lbs.
of milk contains -1 lbs. of butter fat.

Process: 100 lbs. X. 04 =4. lbs.

How many lbs. of butter-fat in -tOOO lbs. of
milk that tests 5%.? Ans.— 200 lbs.

How much less is the butter-fat if the milk
tests 3%.=' Ans.— 80 lbs.

A cow gives on an average 18 lbs. of 4% milk
per day for 300 days each year. What is her
yearly butter-fat production? Ans. — 216 lbs.

When a cow yields 20 lbs. of milk daily which
tests 3.2% butter-fat, what quantity of butter-
fat is produced in a month of 30 days? How
much is it worth at 28 cents a lb.? Ans.— 19.2
lbs.; $5,376.

A cow gives 5400 lbs. of milk in a year testing
3% fat. How much is it worth at 28 cts. a lb.?
Ans.— $45.36.

If a cow gives 5400 lbs. of milk in a year
testing 5% fat, how much is the butter-fat
worth at 28 cents a lb.? Ans.— $75.60.

A dairyman owns a herd of 12 cows that
average 24 lbs. of milk each day from each cow.
How manv lbs. of milk does he get in a month
of 30 days? Ans.— 8640 lbs.

If this milk tests 3.8% and butter-fat is
worth 28 cts. a pound, what does he receive
monthly from his herd? How much per head?
Ans.— $85.36; $7.11 per head.

The average cow gives about 4000 lbs. of milk
in a year testing about 3.8% fat. How many
lbs. of butter-fat does she give? What is it

worth at 30 cts. a lb.? Ans.— 152 lbs.; $45.60
If every farmer fed and cared for his cows in
the best possible manner, the average yield of
dairy cows would be increased about 100 lbs.
of butter-fat for each cow per year. If butter-
fat is worth 30 cts. a lb., how much more income
would a farmer receive from a herd of 10 cows
with extra care? Ans. — $300.

From the following record find the monthly
income from each cow, with butter-fat at 25 cts.
a pound. Which is the best cow and which
the poorest?

Dailv Yield of Milk Fat Test

Brindle '^..32 lbs. 3.5%

Brownie 16 lbs. 4 %

Rose 28 lbs. 3.5%

Cherrv 18 lbs. 3 %

Red 15 lbs. 3.2%

Daisy 26 lbs. 5.4%

Ans.— Daisv, $10.53; Brindle, $8.40; Rose,
$7.35; Brownie, .$4.80; Cherry, $4.05; Red, $3.60 .

At the Chicago Dairy Show, November, 1913,
the U. S. Government displayed a herd of cows
whose feed was carefully weighed and whose
milk was weighed and tested. Below is the
week's record tested for butter-fat of 3 of the
cows in that herd. The cows were said to have
freshened about the same time.

Lbs. of Milk Av. % of Cost
in 7 days butter-fat of feed
Grade, or scrub cow . 49 . 6 4 . 6% $1 . 44

Guernsev 235 6.5% 1.78

Holstein 350 3.8% 1 .94

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Find the amount of butter-fat produced by
each cow during that week. Ans. — Grade, 2.8
lbs.; Guernsey, 15.2 lbs.; Holstein, 13.3 lbs.

Find the week's income from each cow with
butter-fat at 33 cts. a pound. Ans. — Grade,
$0.93; Guernsey, $5.02; Holstein, $4.39.

Find the weekly profit or loss after charging
each cow with her feed. Ans. — Grade, loss
$0.51; Guernsey, profit, $3.53; Holstein, $5.25
profit.

A dairyman sent to market 200 lbs. of 25%
cream. From what quantity of 5% milk was
the cream taken.^ Ans. — 1000 lbs.

His neighbor sends with him 200 lbs. of 20%
cream which was taken from 1000 lbs. of milk.
What was the per cent of fat in this milk.^
Ans. — 4%.

The temperature of cream ready for churning
may vary from 50 degrees Fahr. to 66 degrees.
As the temperature increases above 66 degrees
Fahr. more butter-fat is left in the milk. The
butter is also soft and of an inferior quality.
This cream churns more slowly than thick
cream. Churning should be stopped when the
granules are about the size of a grain of wheat of
large size.

Buttermilk churned from cream at a tem-
perature of from 50 degrees to 60 degrees con-
tains .2% of fat, when churned at a temperature
of from 75 degrees to 80 degrees the buttermilk
tests .9% butter-fat. What would be saved by
churning at the lower temperature from a herd
of cows from which 16,400 lbs. are annually
produced.^ Ans. — 114.8 lbs.

From the following record find the monthly
income from each cow, with butter-fat at 25
cts. a pound. Which is the best cow and which
the poorest? Arrange them in the order of the
money income they produce.

A certain farmer has 15 good butter cows.
The average per cent of butter-fat for the entire
herd is 5.5%. If they yield 240 lbs. of milk on
an average daily, wliat is the average daily
production of butter-fat in pounds. Ans. —
13.2 lbs.

What is the daily income from such a herd
when butter-fat sells for 28 cts. a pound.* Ans.
—$3.70.

A certain farmer o^\Tied a Holstein cow that
was very valuable but he did not know it be-
cause he had never tested her milk. He traded
her for a scrub cow and $15. The Holstein was
tested and found to give 800 lbs. of butter-fat
in a year and the scrub, 125 lbs. What did the
farmer lose in 5 years with butter-fat at 25 cts.
a pound if both cows consumed the same amount
of feed.' Ans.— $843.75.

A farmer with a herd of Jersey cows number-
ing 10 had the week's weight of milk as follows:
210 lbs., 220 lbs., 212 lbs., 214 lbs., 204 lbs.,
216 lbs., and 214 lbs. for each day. It tested
6% butter-fat which sold at 28 cts. a pound.
How much did the cows average per head for
the week? Ans.— $2.50.

A dairyman hauls 24,650 lbs. of milk that
tests 3.8% to a creamery. The price of butter-

fat is 30 cts. a pound; how much money should
he receive? Ans.— $281.01.

POTATOES

A bushel of potatoes weighs 60 lbs.

If an acre of potatoes yields 110 bu. what is
the value of the crop at 40 cts. a bu.? Ans. —
$44.

How many pounds of potatoes are grown on
2| acres yielding 150 bu. per acre? Ans. —
22,500 lbs.

If a potato farmer gave his crop careful at-
tention it would cost him $25 an acre to grow
potatoes. What is the net profit an acre if the
yield is 110 bu. worth 40 cts. a bu.? If the
yield is 250 bu. worth 40 cts a bu. — Ans.
$19.; $75.

How many acres of potatoes producing 90
bu. an acre must he grow to return as much net
profit as 10 acres yielding 180 bu. an acre if the
cost and price are the same as in the above
problem? Ans. — 42.7 A.

Five farmers sell a carload of 650 bu. of mixed
potatoes at 42 cts. a bu. They divide equally.
How much does each receive? Ans. — $54.40.

Five other farmers sell a carload of 650 bu.
of uniform potatoes at 52 cts. a bu. Divide
the returns among them equally. Ans. — $67.60.

Jack Smith and his brother Jim belong to a
potato club. Jack spends an extra day select-
ing his seed from the field as they are dug for
his acre of potatoes. Jim takes his seed at
random and his crop yielded 98 bu. an acre while
Jack's yielded 140 bu. an acre. How much did
Jack make the day he selected his seed potatoes
if potatoes are worth 50 cts. a bu.? Ans. $21.

The next season Jack not only chose his
seed from the field as the potatoes were dug
but noticing some scabby potatoes he bought
a pint of formalin for 50 cts. which he mixed
with 35 gak. of water. Just before cutting
the potatoes for planting he soaked them in
this solution for 2 hours and killed the scab.
Jack raised 200 bu. an acre which he sold for
55 cents a bu. Jim raised 110 bu. which on
account of scab sold for 40 cts. a bu. Find
Jack's profits over Jim's. Ans. — $66.

F. E. Bugbee of Hastings, Fla., reports as
follows on untiled land: Cost of raising crop
$88.50 an acre, gross income $130 an acre.
Find the net income on 12§ acres. Ans. —
$518.75.

Mr. Bugbee tile-drained a part of his land at a
cost of $30 an acre. On this land the cost of
raising a crop was $147.50 an acre and the gross
income was $390 an acre. How many times
did his clear profit on one acre pay for the
tiling? Ans. — 8 times.

In the Twin Falls country of Idaho the yield
of potatoes is from 100 to 700 bu. per acre.
The cost of producing a 150-bu. crop there is
estimated at $44 an acre. At that rate what is
the profit on 10 acres when potatoes sell at 50
cts. a bu.? Ans.— $310.

If by increasing the expense of the crop to
$95 an acre a 600-bu. crop may be raised, what
would be the net profit on 10 acres at 50 cents
a bu.? Ans.— $2050.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

245

POULTRY

If a flock of 80 hens average 90 eggs a year,
what is the income from the flock with eggs at
20 cts. a dozen? Ans. — $120.

How many bushels of corn will it buy at 45
cts. a bu..'' Of wheat at 70 cts..'' Ans. — Corn,
266| bu.; wheat, 171 f- bu.

A flock of 200 hens average 90 eggs a year
apiece. If the average price of eggs for the
year is 20 cts. a dozen, what is the value of the
flock's output.?' Ans.— $300.

If it takes 24 bu. of corn at 50 cts. a bu., 10
bu. of oats at 30 cts., and $15 worth of other
feed to keep this flock for one year, what is
the profit over the cost of the feed? Ans. — •
$270.

At 18 cts. a pound, what would be received
from 60 hens weighing 7.5 lbs. each? Ans. —
$81.

The market price of hens was 18 cts. a pound.
What would be received from 60 hens each
weighing 4.5 lbs. if the dealer docked them
one cent a pound from the regular price because
they were small and thin? Ans. — $45.90.

A farming community markets all their eggs
together. If each farm produces 30 eggs a day
how many farms will be needed to fill 7 cases
each holding 30 dozen once a week? Ans. — -
12 farms.

What would be the gain per day on each farm
if 5 cts. extra a doz. were secured by keeping
the eggs clean and packing them neatly if it
took a boy one hour each day whose services
were worth 10 cts. an hour? Ans. — $1.40.

If a farmer's wife keeps 80 hens and each hen
lays 125 eggs in a year, how much will her
annual income be with eggs at 21 cts. a doz.?
Ans.— $175.

If 12,000 lbs. of grain costing 1 cent a pound
is required to feed the above flock a year and
raise 300 young chickens, what will be her
gain if the chicks are worth 35 cts. each and the
eggs 21 cts. a dozen? Ans. — $160.

PROBLEMS WITH THE LEVER

The teeter-board is a kind of lever. The
point of support is called the fulcrum. The
teeter-board will balance when the weight on
one end multiplied by its distance from the
fulcrum equals the product of the weight on
the other by its distance from the fulcrum.

John, who weighs 75 lbs., sits on one end of
the teeter 6 ft. from the fulcrum, where must his
brother Oscar sit if he weighs 60 lbs., to make
the teeter-board balance?
Process: 75X6 = 450

450^60 = 7^.— 0--'^./ sits 7| ft.
from fulcrum.

Cyrus, who weighs 120 lbs., sits on one end of
a teeter 6 ft. from the fulcrum, how far from
the fulcrum on the other end must his sister
sit who weighs 90 lbs.? Ans. — 8 ft.

John weighs 90 lbs., and his sister Jane 45
lbs. Both sit on one end of a teeter 8 ft. from
the fulcrum. Victoi' weighs 120 lbs. How far
from the fulcrum on the other end must he sit
to balance John and Jane? Ans. — 9 ft.

A man with a crowbar 6 ft. long places one
end of it under a stone. He places the fulcrum,
or rest, 1 ft. from the stone. If the man weighs
160 lbs., how heavy a stone can he raise with the
crowbar? Ans. — 800 lbs.

A man weighing 150 lbs. has a piece of timber
20 ft. long with which he wishes to raise the
corner of a building. He places a fulcrum 6 in.
from the building, how many pounds can he
raise? Ans. — ^5850 lbs.

A doubletree is made for 2 horses of different
weight. One end is 18 in. long and the horse
pulls upon it with a force of 150 lbs. The other
end of the doubletree is 20 in. long, how many
pounds must that horse pull to keep even with
the first? Ans.— 135 lbs.

A doubletree is 4 ft. long. At what point
must it be attached to a plow so that one horse
will pull twice as much as the other? Ans. —
16 in.; 32 in.

(Note. — What fraction of the load will each
horse pull?)

At what point must the same doubletree be
attached so that one horse will pull Ij times as
much as the other? Ans. — 2I5 in.; 26| in.

(Note. — What fraction of the entire load does
each horse pull?)

Two horses weigh 1600 lbs. and 1200 lbs.
respectively. If each pulls ^ of his own
weight, how should a 4-ft. doubletree be at-
tached so they will pull evenly? Ans. — 27f in.
for the light horse; 20f in. for the heavy horse.

(Note. — Find what fraction of the load each
horse pulls.)

2I^6

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

ANIMAL POWER

The word "work" is used with different
meanings. Men of science use it to mean
motion against resistance. In this sense
work is measured in foot-pounds. A boy
pulling with a force of 2 pounds moves his
little wagon 10 feet. The work done is
20 foot-pounds.

Process: 2 X 10 = 20 foot-pounds.
A man pushes a wheelbarrow with a force
of 20 pounds long enough to move it 30 feet.
The work done is 600 foot-pounds.
Process: 20X30 =600 foot-pounds.
A horse pulling with a force of 150 pounds
draws a load 10 rods. The work done is
24,750 foot-pounds.

Process: 10 rods = 165 feet.

150X165 = 24,750 foot-pounds.
Rule. — Multiply the force in pounds by the
distance infect. The result is foot-pounds.

How much work is done when a 100-lb. boy
climbs to the top of a 40-ft. windmill.' Ans. —
4000 foot-pounds.

How much work is done when a 60-lb. boy
climbs a 9-ft. stairway.'' Ans. — 540 foot-pounds.
How much work does a 1200-lb. horse do in
walking up a 150-ft. hill? Ans.— 18,000 foot-
pounds.

(Note. — The force necessary to pull an ob-
ject or tool is called the draft.)

The draft of a certain hand cart is 18 lbs.
How much work does a man do in pushing it a
mile.' (5280 ft. in a mile.) Ans.— 95,040
ft.-lbs.

How much work is done by a team in plowing
a furrow 40 rods long when the draft of the plow
is 450 lbs.? Ans.— 297,000 ft.-lbs.

A horse does 290,400 ft.-lbs. of work in draw-
ing a certain wagon one-half mile. What is the
draft? Ans.— 110 lbs.

What power is necessary to raise grain in an
elevator to a height of 50 ft. at the rate of 990
bu. an hour? Ans. — 49,500 ft.-lbs.

(Note. — There is always some power lost by
contact of surfaces or friction.

In the foregoing problem what power will be
required if 50% of it is lost in friction. Ans. —
99,000 ft.-lbs.

If there could be such a thing as an absolutely
smooth or frictionless horizontal surface a load
moving along it would never stop, or in other
words it would require no force to keep it going.
But as there is always friction in some degree
enough force must be used to overcome it if the
load is to be kept in motion. By the use of
wheels, lubricating oils, and hard road-beds,
friction may be greatly reduced. The total
force necessary to keep a ton moving on the
best level macadam road may be as low as 30
to 50 lbs. On a hard, level earth road with an
ordinary wagon the draft or traction is about
150 lbs. to the ton. A large draft horse may
easily exert a force of 150 lbs. and keep this up
working 10 hours a day walking at the rate of
2.5 miles per hour. This amount of work,
33,000 foot-pounds per minute, is called a horse-
power.

If a horse is walking 2.5 miles an hour and
pulling 150 lbs. on his traces, how much power
is he developing? Ans. — 1 horsepower.
150X5280X2.5

Process: = 33,000 ft.-lbs. a

60 min. or 1 horse-

power.

A horse is walking 2.5 miles per hour and
pulling 100 lbs. on his traces. How much power
is he developing? Ans. — | horsepower.
100X5280X2.5

Process: = § horsepower.

33000X60

(Note. — Use cancellation.)

How many horsepower is a horse developing
when walking 5 miles an hour and pulling 60
lbs. on his traces? Ans. — | horsepower.

How many horsepower is a team developing
when walking 4 miles an hour and steadily pull-
ing 165 lbs.? Ans. — 1.7 horsepower.

If it requires a 1500-lb. draft horse walking
at the rate of 2.5 mi. an hour to develop 1
horsepower, how much power may be exerted
by a 1000-lb. horse walking at the same rate?
Ans. — I horsepower.

Careful tests have been made showing that
a horse may be expected to pull about j^q
of its own weight and keep it up 10 hours a
day walking 2.5 miles an hour. This pulhng
power is called traction.

If a horse can pull steadily with a force equal
to jJjj of its own weight, what draft will a 1200-lb.
horse exert? Ans.— 120 lbs.

How much power will he develop walking 2.5
mi. an hour? Ans. — jg horsepower.

How much power may be expected from a
1500-lb. horse walking at the same rate? Ans.
— 1 horsepower.

At the same rate how much power may be
expected from an 1800-lb. horse? Ans. — 1|
horsepower.

What should be the pulling power of a two-
horse team, one weighing 1600 lbs. and the
other 1200 lbs. walking at the rate of 2.5 mi.
per hour for 10 hours a day? Ans. — 280 lbs.

How much horsepower is this team develop-
ing? Ans. — 1.8 (plus) horsepower.

What should be the pulling power of a two-
horse team, one weighing 1500 lbs. and the other
1400 lbs., walking at the rate of 2.5 mi. an hour
for 10 hours? Ans. — 1{^ horsepower.

If a horse pulls ^ of its own weight steadily
for 10 hours a day walking 2.5 mi. an hour, how
does a team of draft horses weighing 3200 lbs.
compare with a light team, weighing 1800 lbs.;
in horsepower? Ans. — 2j^5 h. p.

COUNTING

n h. p.

12 things are one dozen (doz.).

12 dozen are 1 gross (gro.).

12 gross are 1 great gross (G. gro.).

20 things are 1 score.

24 sheets of paper are 1 quire.

20 quires or 480 sheets are 1 ream.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

TIME MEASURE

60 seconds (sec.) are 1 minute (min.)-
60 minutes are 1 hour (hr.).
24 hours are 1 day (da.)-
7 days are 1 week (wk.).

2 weeks are 1 fortnight.

30 das. (31, 28, 29 das.) are 1 month (mo.).

3 months or 13 weeks are 1 quarter.

12 months or 365 days are 1 common year (yr.)
366 days are 1 leap year.

10 years are 1 decade.
100 years are one century (C).

WEIGHTS OF PRODUCE IN A BUSHEL

Wheat 60 lbs.

Corn in the ear 70 lbs., except in Miss.,

72 lbs. in Ohio, 68 lbs.
in Ind. after Dec. 1,
and in Ky. after May 1
following the time of
husking, it is 68 lbs.

Com shelled 56 lbs., except in Cal.,

54 lbs.

Rye 56 lbs., except in Cal., 54

lbs.; in La. 32 lbs.

Buckwheat 48 lbs., except in Cal.. 40

lbs; Ky., 56 lbs.; Ida.,
N.D.,Okl.,Ore.,S.D.,
Tex., Wash., 42 lbs.;
Kan., Minn., N. C,
N. J., Ohio., Tenn., 50
lbs.

Barley .48 lbs., except in Ore.,

46 lbs.; Ala., Ga., Ky.,
Pa., 47 lbs.; Cal., 50
lbs; La., 32 lbs.

Oats ........32 lbs., except in Ida.

and Ore., 36 lbs.; in
Md., 26 lbs.; in N. J.
and Va., 30 lbs.

Peas 60 lbs.

White beans 60 lbs.

White potatoes 60 lbs., except in Md.,

Pa., Va., 56 lbs.

Sweet potatoes 55 lbs.

Onions 57 lbs.

Turnips 55 lbs.

Dried peaches 33 lbs.

Dried apples 26 lbs.

Clover seed 60 lbs., except in N. J., 64

lbs.

Flax seed 56 lbs.

Millet seed 50 lbs.

Hungarian grass seed 50 lbs.

Timothy seed 45 lbs., except in Ark., 60

lbs.; N. D., 42 lbs.

Blue grass seed 44 lbs.

Hemp seed 44 lbs.

Corn meal .50 lbs., except in Ala.,

Ark., Ga., 111., Miss.,
N. C, Tenn., 48 lbs.

Bran 20 lbs.

HANDY VALUES

1 bu. = 2150.4 cu. in.

1 bu. = 1J4 cu. ft. (approximately), used for
wheat, shelled corn and all small grains.

1 bu. corn on cob = 2}^^ cu. ft.

1 bu. corn in husk = 3)^4 cu. ft.

1 heaped bu. = 2747.7 cu. in. (used for apples,
potatoes, turnips).

1 heaped bu. = 1 5/9 cu. ft.

1 gal. = 231 cu. in.

1 gal. water = 834 lbs.

1 gal. average milk = 83^ lbs.

Milk averages 3.8% butter-fat.

1 lb. butter-fat = 1 1/6 lbs. butter.

1 bbl. = 4 cu. ft. (approximately).

lbbl. = 31>igals.

1 bbl. cement = 4 cu. ft.

1 bag or sack cement = 34 bbl.

1 ton of well-packed timothy = 512 cu. ft. .

1 ton of well-packed clover = 450 cu. ft.

1 cu. ft. water = 623^^ lbs.

1 cu. ft. of ensilage = 30 lbs. (in small silo).

1 cu. ft. of ensilage = usual daily ration for a
cow.

1 cu. ft. =73^ gals, (approximately).

1 cord = 128 cu. ft.

1 ear of seed corn has about 800 kernels.

Corn shrinks 10% or more the first 6 months
after husking.

1 roll of barbed wire weighs 100 lbs. approxi-
mately.

1 roll of barbed wire = 1200 ft. approximately.

1 mile = 5280 ft.

Grains and
Vegetables

Average

Quantity of

Seed per Acre

for Planting

Alfalfa

Barley

Blue grass

Buckwheat

Clover

Corn (in the husk) .
Corn, shelled,check

row

Corn, on cob. . .
Corn, ensilage .
Cotton, upland

Cowpea

Oats

Potato

Rye

Timothy

Wheat

Sweet potatoes

Beans

Peas

Corn meal

Bran

30 lbs.

8 pks.
20 lbs.

4 pks.
12 lbs.

7 qts.

10 qts.

6 pks.

23^ bu.
10 bu.

6 pks.
15 lbs.

8 pks.

Legal Weight
per Bushel

60 lbs.

48 lbs.

14 lbs.

48 lbs.

60 lbs.

72 lbs.

56 lbs.
70 lbs.

32 lbs.
60 lbs.
32 lbs.
60 lbs.
56 lbs.
45 lbs.
60 lbs.
55 lbs.
60 lbs.
60 lbs.
48 lbs.
20 lbs.

(Legal weights vary in different states. See above.
Extra fine wheat may weigh as much as 65 lbs. per bu
Oats sometimes weigh 40 lbs per bushel.)

2J^8

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

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FARM SCIENCE AND PRACTICE

There is widespread and growing demand for practical knowledge concerning
scientific agriculture and country life. No subject now taught in the schools can
be eliminated without serious objection, nor does there seem to be room for others
to be crowded in. New subjects of agriculture and country life, therefore, must
be acquired largely through the old subjects, re-cast and re-directed along agri-
cultural lines so that the child in the country or in suburban districts may be taught
in terms of his own environment. This is particularly true of the rural science and
other practical subjects, a knowledge of which is in daily demand.

No subject is so well adapted to make clear the results of the best agricultural
practices as arithmetic. It may be used to drive home the correct principles of
farming and to nail them fast with figures. Moreover, no subject is more popular
with boys and girls than arithmetic. It is, therefore, the best of all mediums through
which to introduce scientific agriculture.

CHOOSING A FARM

WHAT are the two points to con- How far may milk and grain be

sider in buying a farm? hauled to market ivith 'profit?

The economic, or money- Three miles is as far as a farmer can

making vahie, and the home vakie. profitably haul his own milk, while

What is the home value? five miles is a long haul for grains.

A healthful location, near to schools, Ten miles is not too far to market

churches and desirable neighbors. stock.

Which should be considered first, the What relation do icagon roads bear

home or economic value? to farming?

It depends whether one is to live on A farmer may travel two miles over

the farm or not. a hard road with easy grades more

Should a farmer invest all his capital easily and quickly than over one mile

in land? of hilly or muddy roads.

It may be safe in a pioneer country What other things should be con-
where values are bound to rise but in sidered in locating?
older communities the higher the Electric lines add greatly to the
price of land the lesser part of one's value of a farm, also telephone lines,
capital should be invested in the bare The occupation of the other farmers
land. may help to advertise a section for

When should a farmer locate near a fruit or fine stock and thus bring

market? buyers that way.

If he intends producing cream. For an investment which is better —

milk, fruit or even grain. a farm ivith no improvements or one

When can he afford to locate farther with extensive improvements?

from a market or shipping point? Better than either is a farm with

If he is a stock raiser, because they moderate improvements just sufficient

can be driven some distance. for the conduct of the farm.

Is it worth while to pay more for a What practice of farmers has con-
farm near a transco7itinental railroad? tributed most toward exhausting the soil?

Yes. It costs more to ship when Raising the same crop on a given

two roads must be used to reach a field for forty or fifty years without

large city market. fertilizing or manuring or rotating.

ROTATION OF CROPS

Why should not the same crop be foods needed by the crop because some
grown continuously on the same soil? crops make a special drain on one

It will tend to exhaust certain plant element of food.

249

250

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

How do flants differ in their manner
of root growth?

Some plants, like wheat, are shal-
low-rooted and are surface feeders,
while others extend their roots deeper.

Why is it wise to rotate deep and
shallow rooted crops?

Because they feed at different depths
and this plan will not exhaust the soil
so quickly.

What other reason for this method?

The deep-rooted crops probably
leave near the surface some food pro-
cured deeper in the soil.

What is the effect of shallow-rooted
crops following deep-rooted crops?

They always prosper.

How does rotation affect the physical
condition of the soil?

Different crops receive different
cultivation and the shortcomings of
one crop treatment is corrected by
the preparation for the next crop and
thus the soil is kept in better condition.

Does the different manner of rooting
affect the soil?

It is well to have the roots of
stubble, clover and grasses periodically
left in the soil to decay to improve the
texture of the soil.

What effect has rotation on the
farmer s labor?

Rotation distributes the care of
crops throughout the season and thus
economizes labor, and enables the
farmer to keep regular help which is
better than transient help.

Does rotation affect plant diseases?

Most plant diseases are fungi or
bacteria that live in only one kind of

plant. Therefore rotation starves
them out.

What effect has rotation on insects?

Most insects have their favorite
crops and as many of them live only
a few years they, too, are starved out
by rotation.

How does rotation affect weeds?

Crops are cultivated differently and
harvested in different manners and at
different times and this tends to drive
out weeds by striking them at their
weak points.

If land is badly infested with a cer-
tain weed how can it be freed from it?

By leaving out of the rotation the
particular crop whose cultivation of-
fers aid to the weed.

What effect has rotation on the size of
the crop?

Experiments show much better crop
yields where rotation is practiced.

Can any general rules he given for
rotation?

Every rotation should include at
least one hoed or cultivated crop such
as corn and potatoes and one legume
such as clover.

Why is the hoed crop desirable?

It destroys weeds and improves tilth.

Why the leguminous crop?

Because legumes are deep-rooted
and get food from the subsoil; they
increase the nitrogen supply in the
soil and leave it porous.

Give a general rule for rotation.

The crops should vary as much as
possible in food requirements, manner
of growth, root system, and in the
season during which they occupy the
ground.

PRESERVING FOODS

What causes canned goods to spoil?

The presence of any one of three
living organisms will cause decay of
vegetable or animal matter — they are
yeast, molds, and bacteria.

What conditions aid the groivth of
yeast plants?

They need warmth, moisture, sugar.

How does the yeast plant groic?

By budding, that is, the parent

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

261

plant divides into two plants and these
grow and divide, and the process con-
tinues as long as conditions are favor-
able.

Where will yeast grow most easily?

In fruit juice and slightly sweetened
fruit, but not in thick sirups or pre-
serves. It is easily killed by a high or
low temperature.

Hoiv does mold get a start?

The spores or seeds of mold are very
light and may be floating in the air.
When they lodge on a warm, moist
surface such as food often presents,
they germinate and cover the surface.

Hoiv may violds be destroyed?

By exposure to a high temperature
for about twenty minutes.

Where do bacteria groio?

Bacteria multiply rapidly in meat,
milk, and legumes, but will not grow
in thick sirups or acids.

What makes fruit juices form jelly?

A carbohydrate resembling starch
called pectin is an important factor in
the juice of ripe or nearly ripe fruit.
When equal amounts of sugar and
fruit juice are mixed and heated this
pectin causes the mixture to gelatinize
or form jelly.

What are the essentials in canning and
preserving?

Cleanliness and sterilization.

How shall we sterilize?

By scalding or boiling all kettles,
jars, strainers, rubbers and other
utensils used in canning.

Give general rules for canning foods.

Kill all germs in the food and in-
side the cans and seal while hot so
as to prevent other germs from the
air to enter.

How does the drying of fruits and
meats preserve them?

Germs or bacteria cannot grow
without the presence of water.

Why does salting meat preserve it?

Because bacteria cannot live in a
strong solution of common salt.

Does putting fruit and meat in cold
storage kill the bacteria?

A low temperature simply keeps
them from growing and multiplying.
They begin to act as soon as the tem-
perature rises.

How does smoking meat preserve it?

Smoking coats the outside of the
meat with a thin layer of creosote
which not only kills all germs present
but gives the meat a different flavor.

What effect has sugar on keeping
qualities?

Sugar is a preservative against the
action of germs. It is used in curing
meats and extensively in preserving
fruit.

Why does preserving keep fruit?

"Boiling down" for a long time kills
the germs and drives off the water,
making conditions unfavorable to
growth.

What makes milk sour?

Germs or bacteria.

Where do they come from?

The air is full of germs, the dust
from the barn is laden with them and
they are on the milk pail and the
hands of the milker.

How should we care for milk cans and
pails?

They should all be thoroughly
washed and scalded and placed in the
sunlight which is an enemy to germs.

What causes butter to become rancid
and how prevented?

Bacteria. It is best overcome by
working out all the water which bac-
teria need and mixing in salt.

What makes cider turn to vinegar?

The solid slimy mass known as
mother of vinegar is a vast colony of
bacteria. It is the action of these
that causes the change.

Where do the vinegar-making bac-
teria come from?

From the air and from the barrel.
The process may be hastened by in-
troducing "mother of vinegar."

£52

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

PLANT LIFE IN THE GARDEN, ORCHARD, VINEYARD AND

GREENHOUSE

What are the parts of a plant?

There are five: root, stem, leaf,
flower and seed.

What are the uses of the root?

The roots hold the plant in place
and prevent its blowing away, they
take nourishment and moisture from
the soil; and serve as storage places
for plant food.

What is a root cap?

The tip of the tender root has a
little cap on the end to enable it to
force its way among the soil particles
without injury.

What are root hairs?

They are a hair-like, velvety growth
covering the real roots.

What is the use of root hairs?

The root hairs present a much
greater surface through which the
plant may absorb food and moisture.

Do the real or fibrous roots absorb
food and moisture?

No, this is the work of the root
hairs, which cover the fibrous roots.

Hoiv do the root hairs take their food?

Their walls are very thin and the
plant food in order to enter must be
in a soluble or watery form which will
pass through these thin walls.

What is this passing of liquids
through the thin partitions of the mem-
branes called?

It is called osmosis. It is the same
process as that by which the food
passes from the alimentary canal of
animals into the blood.

What are the uses of plant stems?

They support the leaves and hold
them up in the air and sunlight.
They serve as storehouses for starch
and sugar and other forms of plant
food for the future use of plants.
The stems are also channels for the
passage of sap through the plant.

What is the use of the sap?

It carries raw plant food from roots
to leaves and then carries the manu-
factured food like starch and sugar to
the place where it is needed to build
up the plant or to the place of storage.

What uses have leaves?

The leaves give off water to the air,
take carbon from the air, and change
raw plant food to starch and sugar.
They are the food factory of the plant.

In ivhat form does carbon exist in the
air?

The air contains carbonic acid gas
which is composed of oxygen and car-
bon. It is sometimes called carbon
dioxide^

From what does the air obtain car-
bonic acid gas?

It is exhaled or breathed off by all
animal life. It is also given off by
decaying plant life.

How does the leaf get hold of carbonic-
acid gas?

The air may enter the leaf through
openings on the under side called
stomata which means "mouths."

Hoiv does the leaf separate the car-
bonic-acid gas into oxygen and carbon?

The heat furnished by sunlight and
the green coloring matter of leaves
called chlorophyll act together and
separate the oxygen from the carbon.

What becomes of the oxygen? and
carbon?

The oxygen is given off to the air
and the carbon is combined with other
food elements to make such compounds
as starch and sugar which are then
ready to build up the plant.

What is the use of chlorophyll?

Only the plants that have the green
chlorophyll are able to use carbon
dioxide from the air to manufacture
starch and sugar.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

253

What about the 'plants that grotv in
the dark?

Mushrooms grow in dark places
and can get no food from the air
because they have no green chloro-
phyll. Their food comes from partly
decomposed matter in the soil.

Whatismeanthythe balance in nature?

Animals need large quantities of
oxygen which plants give off while
plants need large amounts of carbon
dioxide which animals give off. What
is poison or waste of animals is food
for plants, and the reverse is also true.

What things besides plant food are
needed for plants?

Plants need light, heat, moisture,
and air.

What is the main aim of life for all
plants?

To produce seed.

What part of the plant bears the seed?

The flower.

What parts has a perfect flower?

Pistils and stamens.

What is the office of the stamens?

Stamens are the male part of the
flower. They bear the yellow dust
or pollen which is needed to fertilize
the pistil or female part to enable it
to produce seed.

What are imperfect flowers?

When the flowers of a plant do not
contain both male and female parts
they are known as imperfect flowers.

How do imperfect flowers bear seed?

The pollen must be carried to the
flowers having the pistils by some
means.

How is it carried?

The pollen of corn, which is light,
is carried by the wind. In some cases
it is carried by insects, such as bees.

What is cross-pollination?

Plants are cross-pollinated when
the pollen is taken from one to an-
other by some means. Some varieties
of apples, pears, peaches and plums
will not bear fruit if grown by them-

selves, but will bear abundantly if
pollinated by other varieties that
blossom at the same time.

Describe a seed.

A seed bears within its coat a minute
plant called a germ.

What is the purpose of this germ or
tiny plant?

To develop into a new plant like
the parent when proper conditions
are offered.

How can the seeds begin to grotv ivith
no leaves in the air and no roots in the
ground?

Some nourishment prepared by the
parent plant is stored up in the seed
to feed it until it can put forth leaves
and roots of its own.

Where is this store of nourishment?

In the bean it is in the two seed
leaves. In the corn kernel a store
of starch is found about the germ.

What part of the stem carries the
water from the roots to the leaves?

In plants with netted veins in the
leaves the water passes up mainly
through the ducts or channels in the
outer wood.

How are plants classified?

They may be classified in different
ways. According to length of life as
annuals, biennials, and perennials.

What are annuals?

Annuals are plants that live only
one year from the planting of the seed
to the production of the new seed,
such as oats, peas, beans and to-
matoes.

What are biennials?

Biennials live two years from seed
to seed, such as cabbages, parsnips
and common mullein.

What are perennials?

Perennials live more than two years,
such as asparagus, alfalfa, straw-
berries and trees.

How do we know that different plants
take different amounts of plant foods
from the soil?

25If

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Chemists have analyzed various
plants and thus ascertained what
elements they contain and in what
proportion.

How many elements in the soil?

Between seventy and eighty are
known.

Why are they called elements?

Because scientists have not been
able to separate them into similar
substances.

Are most materials that ive know
simple elements?

Most materials are compounds, that
is, they are combinations of two or
more elements combined in different
proportions.

What are some compounds that make
diferent articles because the proportion
of their elements differ?

Alcohol, sugar, starch, and fats all
contain the same elements, carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, but in different
proportions.

Are there many compounds in a single
plant?

Yes, but they may be separated and
known.

What proportion of corn plant is
water?

One thousand pounds of mature
corn contains nearly 800 pounds
water, 12.7 pounds hydrogen, and
88.9 pounds oxygen, and since both
hydrogen and oxygen come from
water nearly 900 pounds of the 1000,
or nine-tenths of the corn plant, is water.

Is this nine-tenths of the plant's
weight all the water it needs to grow?

It is only a small part, for the leaves
are constantly giving off moisture to
the air, and it is from this moisture
that the plant obtains mineral foods.

Hoiv many pounds of water does the
plant use for every pound of dry matter?

About 300 pounds of water passes
through the plant for each pound of
dry matter produced.

About how much water is needed by

an acre of good corn during the growing
period?

About 900 tons, an amount if spread
over the acre would be nearly 8 inches
deep.

Does this include the water lost from
the land by drainage?

No, about as much water runs
away and passes down beyond the
reach of the roots of the corn as is
used by the crop, so that about 1800
tons of water should fall upon an
acre of growing corn.

How does the plant obtain moisture?

It all comes from the ground
through the roots.

In what other way is water useful to
plant life?

Besides furnishing about nine-tenths
of the plant's weight, it dissolves
other plant foods in the soil and puts
them in shape to be taken up in a
liquid form by the roots.

What makes a plant wilt on a very
hot day?

Because the leaves are giving off
moisture to the air faster than the
roots can supply it to the plant.

Is there any other factor so important
to plant life as proper moisture?

No. More soils fail to produce
good crops for lack of proper moisture
than for any other cause.

Do plants get any food from the air?

Nearly half of the dry matter in the
plant consists of carbon, all of which
comes from the air in the form of
carbonic-acid gas.

Is carbonic-acid gas pure carbo7i?

It is a compound of carbon and
oxygen, but the plants separate these
elements, retain the carbon and set the
oxygen free.

Hoiv is this done?

The green coloring matter of the
leaves or the chlorophyll with the help
of the heat energy furnished by the
sunlight breaks apart the carbon and
oxygen.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 255

Is sunlight necessary to this process? Where do plants get their supply of

Plants grow more vigorously in full nitrogen.

sunlight than in shade, and at night From the soil only,

this growing process ceases. Where does the soil get nitrogen for

Will not plants germinate in the the growing crops?

J ug A small part comes directly irom

, the atmosphere, brought by rain

They grow until they use up the ^^^^^ -3^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ nitrogen is

food stored m the seed but they have ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^j^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ j^ ^^^

no power to use the food in the air ^^jj ^^ bacteria that live in small

and soil without chlorophyll and sun- ^^.^^y^^^^ ^^ nodules on the roots of

light. Analysis shows that the plant ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^jj^^ legumes, such as

grown in the dark contains ess dry ^j^^^^^^ ^j^^j^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ cow^es., and

matter whan was present in the seed. ^^^ j-j.^

How does the plant use carbon? jJq^^ can the farmer help these bac-

It causes the carbon to combine teria?

with water and mineral matter which By stirring the soil so the air can

are taken through the roots, and these enter it, for bacteria cannot live with-

elements form carbohydrates of which out oxygen from the air.

the plant is composed. What part of the green plant comes

Is it necessary for the farmer to buy from the air?

carbon to fertilize his soil? Including w^ater, ninety-eight and

The atmosphere furnishes free an one-half per cent comes from the air

inexhaustible supply of carbon for all ff ^ of cost and the supply of these

. . • elements 01 lood in the air is beyond

4-1

What is the most costly plant food? """"y^^ ^j^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ -^

Nitrogen. ^^^ qi]^^^. ^^g ^^^^ one-half per cent of

Do plants contain a high percentage green plants?

of nitrogen? There are about a dozen, but the

Nitrogen forms only from one to three demanding the farmer's atten-
three per cent of the dry matter or tion are nitrogen, phosphoric acid and
about one-half of one per cent of the potash. The other elements are gen-
green plant. But a crop must have erally found in the soil in abundance
this proportion in order to thrive. except occasionally lime is missing.

S56

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

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STOCK FEEDING

Foods may be said to serve two
purposes. They either build up the
body or furnish heat and energy.
They are divided into three classes:
proteins, carbohydrates, and fat.

Protein is a name given to a group
of feeds or compounds from which
animals make muscle or lean flesh,
bone, hair or wool, tendons, nerve,
casein, and albumen in milk, etc.
Since no other compound can take
the place of protein it is important
that enough of this be fed or the ani-
mal cannot keep up in flesh and pro-
duction or work. If too much pro-
tein is fed it will replace the other
food elements, but as feeds containing
a high percentage of protein are usu-
ally expensive it is unwise to feed
more of it than is needed. Feeds
containing a large proportion of pro-
tein, such as clover, bran, and oil
meal, are called nitrogenous foods.

Carbohydrates (C. H.) are those
compounds in feed that are composed
of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, but

have no nitrogen. Sugar, starch, fi-
ber and others are carbohydrates.
They are used in the body to produce
fat or are burned to produce heat or
energy. They cannot take the place
of protein.

Fat. The oils, wax and fats con-
tained in feed are called fats. In
the animal body they are used for the
same purpose as are carbohydrates.
One pound of fat is equal to 23^ pounds
of carbohydrates.

The work horse and cow of average
size require daily about two pounds of
protein and twelve pounds of carbo-
hydrates.

If a farmer intends to feed his ani-
mals without waste he must give
them protein and heat and fat pro-
ducing elements (which latter includes
C. H. and fats) in certain proportions.
It may be 1 : 6 or 1 : 11 or some other
proportion. This correct proportion
is called a balanced ration which is
indicated by figures called a nutritive
ratio.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

257

The following table gives the di- contained in certain feeds. The fats
gestible protein and carbohydrates are included with the carbohydrates.

Corn fodder ....
Timothy hay ...

Clover hay

Cowpea hay ....

Alfalfa hay

Oat straw

Wheat straw . . . .

Wheat bran

Corn

Oats

Cotton seed meal

Corn stover

Corn silage

Skim milk

Estimated Price

$3perT

$12 per T

$18 per T.. . .
49 cts. per bu .
37 cts. per bu .

$30 per T

$5perT

$3perT

20 cts. per cwt

IN 100 LBS. OF FEED

Protein

lbs.

2.5
2.8
6.8

10.5

11.
1.2
.4

12.2
7.9
9.2

37.2
1.7
.9
2.9

Protein

per cent

2.5%
2.8%
6.8%

10.5%

11%

1.2%

.4%

12.2%

7.9%

9.2%
37.2%

1.7%

70
2.9%

Carbohydrates
(Including Fats)

lbs.

37.3
46.6
39.6
40.
42.4
40.4
37.2
45.3
76.4
56.8
44.4
34.
12.9
5.9

per cent

37.3%
46.6%
39.6%
40%
42.4%
40.4%
37.2%
45.3%
76.4%
56.8%
44.4%
34%
12.9%
5.9%

DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN 100 POUNDS OF VARIOUS FEEDING STUFFS

Alfalfa hay

Apples

Barley, grain

Beet, mangel

Cabbage

Carrot

Clover, red (green) . .
Clover, red (hay) . . . .
Corn fodder, dry ....

Corn, grain

Corn silage

Corn stover

Cottonseed meal ....

Cowpea hay

Linseed meal

Meat scrap

Milk, cows'

Skim milk (separator)

Buttermilk

Hay (mi.^ced grasses) .

Oat straw

Oats, grain

Potatoes

Pumpkin, field

Rye, grain

Rye bran

Rye straw

Soy-bean

Timothy hay

Turnip, flat

Wheat, grain

Wheat bran .

Wheat middlings ....
Wheat straw

Total

Dry

Matter

lbs. or %

91.6
19.0
89.1

9.1
15.3
11.4
29.2
84.7
57.8
89.1
20.9
59.5
91.8
89.3
89.
89.3
12.8

9.4

9.9
87.1
90.8
89.
21.1
19.1
88.4
88.4
92.9
89.2
86.8

9.5
89.5
88.1
87.9
90.4

POUNDS AND PER CENTS OF
DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS

Protein

lbs.

11.

8
1
1

2.5

7.9

1.7

37.2

10.8

28.2

66.2

3.6

2.9

3.9

5.9

1.2

9.2

1.4

9.9

11.5

29.6

2.8

1.0

10.2

12.2

12.8

11.

8.7

1.1

1.8

2.9

6.8

2.5

7.9

1.7

37.2

10.8

28.2

66.2

3.6

2.9

3.9

5.9

1.2

9.2

1.4

9.9

11.5

29.6

2.8

1.0

10.2

12.2

12.8

C. H. and Fat X2.25

lbs.

42.3

18.8

69.1

5.6

9.1

8.3

16.4

39.6

37.3

76.4

12.9

34.0

44.4

40.

47.

31.1

13.2

5.9

43.

40.

.5
.6
.4

56.8

.5
.5
.1

16.

6.
70.
54.8
41.5
54.7
46.6

7.7
73.
45.3
60.7
37.2

42.3
18.8
69.1

5.6

9.1

8.3
16.4
39.6
37.3
76.4
12.9
34.
44.4
40.
47.
31.
13.

6.
43.
40.4
56.8
16.

6.
70.
54.8
41.5
64.7
46.6

7.7
73.
45.3
60.7
37.2

.2
.9
.5
.6

Nutritive
Ratio

3.8

26.8
7.9
5.1
5.1

10.4
5.7
5.8

14.9
9.7

14.3

20
1.2
3.9

0.5

3.7

1.7

7.4

33.7
6.2

18.3
4.6
7.1
4.8

69.2
1 8

16 6
7.7
7.2
3.7
4.7

93.

258

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Some animals require one ratio and
other animals a different ratio depend-
ing upon whether the animal is young
and growing or mature, whether it is
at work or at rest. Ratios are said to
be wide or medium or narrow. Timo-
thy hay (1 : 16.6) is wide; alfalfa
(1 : S.8) is a narrow ratio.
Finding the ratio

The nutritive ratio is found by
dividing the pounds of protein in a
feed or ration, into the pounds of
C. H. (including the fats). This may
be more easily understood by putting
these amounts in the form of a frac-
tion, in which the protein is the nu-
merator and the C. H. including fats
is the denominator. Thus the nutri-
tive ratio of

Alfalfa = 7j^ (See table Page 257)

Divide both terms of the fraction

by the numerator

11 11 1
42.3 ■ 11 ~ 3.8

3.8

is the same as 1 :3.8

Feeding standards

Different animals require different
quantities of feed and different nu-
tritive ratios. A dairy cow producing
milk must have a feed rich in protein,
a dry cow does not require so much
protein. A horse at heavy work re-
quires a different feed from that of
one at rest; a growing pig from a
mature hog that is being fattened for
market.

The following table shows the
amounts of digestible nutrients per
day in feeding standards upon the
basis of 1000 pounds of live weight.

FEEDING RATIONS PER DAY FOR 1000 LBS. OF LIVE WEIGHT

Oxen at rest in stall

Growing pigs

Fattei ing swine

Growing -alves

Fattening cattle

Horse (light work)

Horse (heavy work)

Dairy cow (giving 1 1 lbs. milk daily) . . .
Dairy cow (giving 16.5 lbs. milk daily) .
Dairy cow (giving 22 lbs. of milk daily) .

Dairy cow (27 . 5 lbs.)

Wool sheep (coarse breed)

Wool sheep (fine breeds)

Dry

Matter

18 lbs.

36 lbs.

32 lbs.

30 lbs.

20 lbs.

26 lbs.
25 lbs.

27 lbs.
29 lbs.
32 lbs.
20 lbs.
23 lbs.

DIGESTIBLE

Protein

0.7 lbs.

4.5 lbs.

4 lbs.

2.5 lbs.

lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.

2 5 lbs.
3.3 lbs.
1 . 2 lbs.
15 lbs.

C. H.

including

Fats(X2M)

8.2 lbs.

26.6 lbs.
25.1 lbs.
16.1 lbs.
16.1 lbs.

10 4 lbs.
15.1 lbs.

10.7 lbs.

11 9 lbs.
14 1 lbs.

14.8 lbs.
11 lbs.
12.7 lbs.

Nutritive
Ratio

1:11.8

Bran alone does not make a bal-
anced ration for a cow because if a
sufficient amount of bran is fed to
furnish two pounds of protein the
cow does not get enough C. H. If
enough is fed to furnish the correct
amount of C. H., then she is given
more protein than she can use, and it
is wasted. Bran is not only too ex-
pensive but too concentrated and
should be fed sparingly. Hay, fodder.

silage and the like will give the proper
bulk for a ration and furnish cheaper
food.

Since protein is the element of food
most commonly lacking in feed rations
on the farm, every feeder should make
sure that he is providing enough pro-
tein. The cheapest way to provide
protein is to raise a legume such as
clover, alfalfa, or cowpea hay whicl?
is very rich in protein.

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER 259

If a farmer must buy protein it is ter may vary two or three pounds from

best to estimate its cost according to the exact amounts called for on page

the percentage as given on page 258 258 without much consequence,

and the market price. In the fore- Mixing a Ration

going problems it is figured on an It is not necessary to weigh a ration

average market price. It must be ^^ch day. Mix the grain ration in

remembered that it does not cost a proper proportions and use a measure

farmer $12 a ton to raise clover, ^^at contains the right amount for

cowpea, or alfalfa hay, but more ^^ch animal. Weigh the hay once or

nearly $4 a ton. twice and thereafter it can be estimated

Heat value of fats with sufficient accuracy.

By careful test it has been shown Each pupil should try to make a

that one pound of fat will produce ration for a 1000-pound cow giving

234 times as much heat or energy as 163^2 pounds milk, using such feeds

one pound of carbohydrates.* In the as are commonly used on your farm,

table on page 258 the fats are included You will have to make several trials

in the C. H. Many tables give them perhaps before you get the right

separately and the farmer or pupil amounts. Remember that if your

should know how to deal with such ratio is too wide it needs more protein

tables. and therefore use more clover, alfalfa

Dry matter or cowpea hay or if your feed is al-

The mature student will take note ready too bulky, that is, if it already

that the bulk of the ration — that is, has too much dry matter, then use

the pounds of dry matter in each bran or linseed meal or cottonseed

ration — has been omitted for the sake meal, or some concentrated food to

of making the problems simple. In reduce the ratio to suit your animal,

compounding the ration the dry mat- The dry matter should be within a few

ter is important. The dry matter in pounds of the amount required in

each ration may easily be computed table, page 258. The amount of dry

from the percentage given in column matter is found by using the per-

1, page 258. The amount of dry mat- centages given in column 1, page 258.

FERTILIZERS

James J. Hill tested 151 farms in phosphoric acid, nitrogen, and potash,

the northwest for wheat, barley and Since a crop of clover or other legumes

oats. By applying 8.9 pounds of may furnish all the needed nitrogen

nitrogen, 47 pounds of phosphoric acid it is often unnecessary and expensive

and 130 pounds of potash an acre the to buy a complete fertilizer. In such

wheat on 51 farms increased 11.4 a case all that is needed is the phos-

bushels an acre. phoric acid and the potash.

The composition of fertilizers varies It is usually cheaper and more satis-
to some extent, but the following is a factory for the farmer to buy the in-
fair average. gredients and mix them on the farm.

A complete fertilizer is one that The following table shows the

contains all three of the ingredients — amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid

*To reduce fats to C. H. Rule: Multiply ^^d potash removed from the soil by

the fats by i\i and add the product to the C. H. variOUS crops.

S60

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Corn, grain

Corn stover

Oats, grain

Oat straw

Wheat, grain

Wheat straw

Timothy hay

Clover seed

Clover hay

Cowpea hay .......

Alfalfa hay

Apples

Apple leaves

Apple wood growth

Potatoes

Sugar beets

Fat cattle

Fat hogs

Milk

Butter

Cotton lint

Amount

Nitrogen

Phosphoric
Acid

Potash

lbs.

ibs.

100 bu.

100

3T.

100 bu.

2MT.

50 bu.

23^ T.

3T.

4bu.

4T.

160

120

3 T.

130

8 T.

400

192

600 bu.

4T.

1/50 tree

300 bu.

20 T.

100

157

1000 lbs.

10,000 lbs.

500 lbs.

0.2

0.1

500 lbs.

1.7

2 3

Commercial fertilizers are bought
and used for the phosphoric acid
(P. A.), nitrogen (N.) and potash (P.)
they contain. These elements are
obtained from different substances.
Some substances contain one, some
two, and some all of these plant foods.
Fertilizers are labeled according to the
per cent of phosphoric acid, nitrogen
and potash they contain. An 8-2-4
fertilizer contains 8 per cent phos-

phoric acid, 2 per cent nitrogen, and
4 per cent potash. (In some states
the order is reversed — nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid and potash, and the above
formula would be 2-8-4.)

The prices of fertilizing materials
are subject to market changes, but
are usually about as follows:

Nitrate of soda 3 cts. per lb. in 200 lb. bags
Muriate of potash 3 cts. per lb. in 200 lb. bags
Acid phosphate 1 ct. per lb. in 125 lb. bags

FERTILIZING SUBSTANCES AND THE ELEMENTS THEY CONTAIN

Acid phosphate

Ground phosphate rock

Tobacco stems

Sulphate of potash (high grade)

Muriate of potash

Nitrate of potash

Kainit

Wood ashes (unleached)

Cottonseed meal

Cottonseed

Tankage (concentrated)

Dried blood (high grade)

Fish scrap

Nitrate of soda

Sulphate of ammonia

Ammonia

Phosphoric Acid

14%

32%

1.5%
2.8%
1.3%
1.5%

Nitrogen

1.5%

13%

6.2%

3%
12%
14%

9%
15.8%
20.5%,
82.4%

Potash

5%
50%
50%
45%
12.5%

1.8%

1.2%

BOOK FOR PARENT AND TEACHER

261

PROBLEMS IN CONNECTION WITH FERTILIZERS

If nitrogen is worth 18 cents a pound,
phosphoric acid 6 cents, and potash 5 cents,
find the value of these fertilizers in each of
the following problems:

In 100 bu. of corn and 3 tons of corn stover.
Ans.— $31.57.

In 100 bu. of oats and 2| tons of oat straw.
Ans.— $21.82.

In 50 bu. of wheat and 2| tons of wheat straw.
Ans.— $20.64.

In 3 tons of timothy hay. Ans. — $17.05.

In 4 bu. of clover seed and 4 tons of clover
hay. Ans.— $37.53.

Compare 3 tons of CO wpea hay withS tons of al-
falfahay. Ans.— Cowpea, $29.14; alfalfa, $83.76.

Compare the ravages from the soil of a crop of
300 bu. of potatoes with a crop of 20 tons of
sugar beets. Ans. — Potatoes, $16.62; beets,
$26.93.

Compare the cost of fertilizer elements used
in producing 1000 lbs. of fat cattle with that of
1000 lbs. of fat hogs. Ans.— Cattle, $5.27;
hogs, $3.47.

What is the value of the fertilizers used from

the soil in producing 10,000 lbs. of milk and 500
lbs. of butter.!* Ans.— $11.44.

A corn crop of 80 bu. to the acre takes 146
lbs. of nitrogen, 57 lbs. of phosphoric acid and
82 lbs. of potash from each acre of land. With
nitrogen worth 20 cts. a lb., phosphoric acid, 5
cts. a lb. and potash 5 cts. a lb., what is the value
of the plant food removed by the corn crop?
Ans.— $36.15.

A farm raises and ships away 400 bu. of
wheat. With fertilizer at the same price as in
the above problem, what is the value of the plant
food removed.^ Ans.— $123.60.

Compare the value of plant food (nitrogen,
phosphoric acid, and potash) removed by 500
bu. of wheat and 500 bu. of potatoes. Ans. —
Wheat, $154.50; potatoes, $29.60.

What is the value of the plant food remcved
from a 20-acre field of oats yielding 50 bu. to
the acre.' Ans.— $145.50.

The barley increased 16.4 bu. per acre. At
this rate find the increased profit on 40 acres
with barley at 60 cents a bu. and fertilizer $2
an acre. Ans.— $313.60.

CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION

Concrete is a mixture of gravel or
crushed stone, sand, and Portland
cement. Concrete is used for the
building of foundations, steps, side-
walks, cellars, and farm building
floors, cisterns, watering and feeding
troughs, fence and hitching posts,
culverts, building blocks, etc.

The crushed stone and sand should
be reasonably free from clay or loam
and the sand should not be too fine.
Walks and floors should be under-
drained and should have a slope of
1 inch in 4 feet for surface drainage.

Where freezing occurs walks may be
underlaid with from 4 inches to 12
inches of cinders, gravel, or broken
stone well wetted and very well
stamped into place. Foundations and
piers should extend below the frost
line.
Concrete Formula

A formula is used to show the pro-
portional amounts by volume of each
of the three ingredients of concrete.
A 1-2-4 concrete is composed of 1
part cement, 2 parts sand and 4 parts
gravel or crushed stone.

DIFFERENT FORMULA8

AMOUNTS NEEDED FOR 1 CU. YD. CONCRETE

Cement

Sand

Stone or Gravel

Cement, bbls.

Sand,

Cu. Yd.

Stone, Cu. Yd.

4.8

1.5

3.87

^ ,

3.21

2.5

2.74

1.5

2.30

1.5

2.5

2.09

^ ,

1.91

1.74

1.51

2.5

1.24

1.16

1.06

S6S

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

This formula is richer in cement
than is ordinarily required. For walks,
cellar floors, building walls, etc., a
1-23/^-5 mixture is sufficient. For
heavier work the proportion may be
1-3-6.
Mixing directions

Spread out the measured quantity
of dry sand on a level, v/ater-tight
platform. On top of this spread the
cement and turn dry with shovel until
thoroughly mixed — at least three
times. Then add the gravel or
crushed stone. Wet thoroughly and
turn again — at least three times, add-
ing the water slowly from a sprinkler
so as to make a thick mush.

For the upper course on sidewalks
and floors only cement and sand are
used. Since there is a space between
the pieces of crushed stone or gravel

it can easily be seen that a consider-
able volume of cement or gravel may
be added to a given quantity of
crushed stone without increasing the
volume.

It is usually estimated that the
given volume to be filled with the
mixture must be increased 45 per cent
in calculating the amount of materials
needed. This is called 45-per-cent
voids, or openings in the stone. If
one had a space of 100 cubic feet to
be filled with concrete, it would be
necessary to order 145 cubic feet of
the three ingredients.

Sand and stone are bought by the
cubic yard and cement by the sack or
barrel. A sack of cement is one-
fourth of a barrel and weighs about
100 pounds. A barrel is estimated to
contain 4 cubic feet.

PRACTICAL PROBLEMS INVOLVING CEMENT

How many cu. yds. of concrete are required
in the construction of a cellar floor 14 ft. by 24
ft. and 4 in. thick? Ans. — io^f cu. yds.

How many cu. yds. would be recjuired for
two 3-in. floors, one 10 ft. by 12 ft., and the
other 16 ft. by 30 ft.? Ans.— 5| cu. yds.

Find the number of cu. yds. of cinders re-
quired to make a 12-in. foundation for a walk
to the barn 162 ft. long, 2^ ft. wide and 4 in.
thick. Ans. — 5 cu. yds.

Estimate the amount of concrete needed to
build a feeding trough with walls 4 in. thick and
inside measurements 10 ft. long by 18 in. wide
and 10 in. deep. Ans. — 14 (plus) cu. ft.

How much concrete is needed to build the
walls and floor of a cellar 10 ft. by 12 ft. and 8 ft.
high inside measurements, if the side walls are
8 in. thick and the floor 4 in. thick? Ans. —
15 cu. yds.

Estimate concrete needed to build a circular
silo 20 ft. in diameter and 32 ft. high, with 12-in.
walls and 8-in. floors. Ans. — 82 (plus) cu. yds.

What quantity of each material will be re-
quired in a 1-2-4 mixture for a walk to the
barn 108 yds. long, 2h ft. wide and 4 in. thick?
Ans. — 15.1 bbls. cement; 4.48 cu. yds. sand;
8.96 cu. yds. stone.

How many sacks of cement will be required
to make 4.5 cu. yds. of a 1-2-1 mixture, also how
much sand and gravel or stone? Ans. — 27.2
sacks or 6.8 bbls. of cement; 2.02 cu. yds of
sand; 4.03 cu. yds of stone

What would be the cost of the concrete in a
walk 108 yds. long, 2| ft. wide, and 4 in. thick,
with cement costing $1.35 a bbl., sand 75 cts.
a cu. yd., and crushed stone $1.25 a cu. yd.?
Ans.— $35.22.

What will be the cost of the materials in a
cement basement floor 15 ft. wide, and 24 ft.
long, the base consisting of l-2|-5 mixture 4 in.
thick and the top coat a 1-2 mixture 2 in.
thick, when material costs the same as in the
foregoing problem? Ans. — Base, $14.05; top,
$11.19; total, $25.24.

The CHILDREN'S Own Book

BEFORE THE CHILD GOES TO SCHOOL

How to Learn the A B C
Forming Words

Reading

Counting and Figures

LITTLE LESSONS IN THINGS BEAUTIFUL

Making Pictures of Things We See
Music

Modeling in Clay
Basketry

LITTLE PROBLEMS FOR THE WISE

Problems

Riddles

Things Difficult to Say

MYSTERY AND MAGIC

Simple Experiments with Air and Water
Knots Used by Sailors and Builders
A Trick to Play with a Book

The Disappearing Dime

Making a Ball Vanish and Reappear

Conjuring

GAMES AND AMUSEMENTS

A Little Shadow Theater
The "Alice in Wonderland" Tub
Games to Play by the Fire
Nursery Games

Garden Games

Games to Play When Out Walking

Amusing Games for Halloween

THINGS FOR BOYS TO DO

An Easy Way to Make a Telephone
The Silent Messages of the Red Man
A Magic Lantern for Picture Post Cards
Simple Kites and How to Make Them

Measuring Distances by Sound
A Simple Flying Machine
The Pleasure of a Little Garden
How to Make a Paper Box

BOY'S CARPENTER SHOP

The Tool Box

Making a Set of Book Shelves

Joints

Staining and Polishing Wood

THINGS FOR GIRLS TO DO

How to Make a Girl's Workbox
How to Use the Needle
Collecting Ferns for a Rock Garden
The Little Petticoats

The Doll's Little Frock

A Little Winter Garden

How to Make Our Own Zoo

Things We Can Make at the Dinner Table

STORIES AND PLAYS

Stories With a Mora

Stories About Animals

Stories Connected with History

Nature Stories

Stories of the Imagination

Stories of the Sea

Stories of Patriolism

Stories of Childhood

Nursery Stories

Stories of Myths

Plays for Home Production

Fables and Folk Stories

THUMBELINE FLOATED DOWN THE STREAM

Thumbellne became happy again, for everything she passed was so lovely in the sunshine, and the birds on the branches
sang to her as she floated by with her pretty butterfly tied to the leaf of the water lily with her sash. (See page 371.)

264

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

267

A P spells
AP, which is not
a word at all ;
but if we put
a C, or an M, or
a T in front of
it in turn, we
get real words.

E N spells
EN, and if vve '^:
put first a D, ^^^j
Or an H, or an
M in front, we (
get DEN, HEN ^^
and MEN.

.^^"^^

CAP

MAP

TAP

I N spells
IN ; put an F,

or a P, or a Tin _-^L£^^^ia
front, and what ^^^
Hn vou find ? '^.-'.<'/r'^,-i^:==

do you find r
Why, FIN, PIN
and TIN.

' J- <!■ r

FIN

TIN

MUG

One more.
U G spells UG,
and with an
M, or a P, or
an R in front,
we have these
very different
words — MUG,
PUG and RUG.

Or perhaps you can
learn words better in this
way :

When boys and girls are
fast asleep,
And beasts go out to
prowl.
If you're awaKe, you'll
often hear
The hooting of an
OWL.

PUG

RUG

give

father would
me a penny,

I would soon be inside
of this shop.
It's the jolhest window
of any.
And oh, how I should
like that TOP '

TOP

OWL

COW

^-zz^-y

-T^-' . .

BOY— TOY

SUN

S68

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

BILL

HILL

MILL

Then again, AIL spells AIL, and out of this you can make many words of four
letters each, such as FAIL. HAIL, PAIL, and those given with pictures below.

NAIL SAIL TAIL

SAIL

You will be able to make many other words from four letters. Perhaps you
can make the next words out by yourselves

LOCK

ROCK

BACK

RACK

SACK

CAKE

LAKE

RAKE

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

269

STORY QUESTIONS AND PICTURE ANSWERS

Before we go on to longer words, we should be sure that we can read all kinds of
short, easy words. So in this lesson we will have a few more words of three or four
letter's each, and then we shall be able to go on to something better.

ARK

What did Noah
build to save
himself, and his
family, and the
animals from
the flood ?

What bird did he send
out after the raven ?

LEAF

DOVE

What did the dove
bring back in its
mouth ?

What did Jacob make
for his little son Joseph ?

COAT

PIT

Into what
did Joseph's
b'"others
throw him ?

/^NCE upon
^^ a time
the Prophet
Mahomet
hid from his
enemies in a

Suddenly

CAVE

grew at the
entrance of
the CAVE. A

built its

BIRD

What did
Joseph's
brothers go
down into
Egypt to buy ?

CORN

What did Joseph's
youngest brother, Benja-
min, find in his sack ?

CUP

On what musical instru-
ment did David play to
comfort Saul ?

HARP

What
beasts
David
while he

LION BEAR Zt'3?l

wild
did

kill

was

his

father's flocks ?

When David
grew up, what
did he become ?

KING

TREE

LEAF

in the

TREE, and
a spider
spun Its

NEST

WEB

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

WE ARE GOING TO THE ZOO

WE WILL HEAR THE LION ROAR

SEE THE MONKEY AT HIS TRICKS

WATCH THE LITTLE MOLES TilAT DELVE

THE COCK CREW

'^^'y

HEAR THE BULL ROAR

THE CLOCK TICKS

FOR COAL THEY DELVE

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

HThis is the house
^ that Jack built

the

THIS
malt
that lay
in the
house
that Jack built. \L

THIS is the rat that ate the
malt
That lay in the house that
Jack built.

HIS is the cat
That killed
the rat that ate
the malt

That lay in the
house that
Jack built.

'T'his is the dog
•*■ that worried

the cat
That killed the rat

that ate the

malt
That lay in the

house that Jack

built.

"T'his is the cow
•'• with the

crumpled horn
That tossed the

dog that worried

the cat
That killed the

rat that ate the

malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

his is the
maiden all
forlorn
That milked the
cow with the
crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
that worried the
cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt

This is the man
all tattered

and torn
That kissed the

maiden all forlorn
That milked the

cow with the

crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered
and torn
That kissed the
maiden all forlorn
That milked the
cow with the
crumpled horn
That tossed the dog

that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
HThis is the cock that crowed in the
*■ mom
That wakened the priest all

shaven and shorn
That married the man all

tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled

horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the farmer so\ving the com
That kept the cock that crowed in
the morn
That wakened the priest all shaven and

shorn
That married the man all tattered and

torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow mth the cmmpled

horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built. That lay in the house that Jack built.

MOTHER GOOSE IN REBUS

IS YOUR NAME IN THESE GIRLS' PICTURES

IS YOUR NAME IN THESE BOYS' PICTURES?

SJ^l^ LOYDS PUZ:ZLES

OeogeaphicalPuzzles

■'t-^^cr-

'*r vs*

+ 1

+0-'

WHAT TWO AMERICAN CITIES DO
THESE SUMS SPELL?

Zoological Puzzles 69

+F,-i

:^'^

WHAT TWO ANIMALS DO THESE SUMS SPELL?

Bird Puzzles

Puzzle Svns

WHAT BIRDS DO THESE SUMS SPELL 7

NO. T. WHAT REPTILE DOES THIS SUM SPELL?
NO. IL WHAT ANIMAL DOES THIS SUM SPELL?

SAM LOYDS PUZZLES

<^mzu;^^yfois^

MOWAV

THU5»Ay
fRlDAY--

-1— g jBa '

The young musician is surrounded by a variety of noises. Number
one is plainly a squeak. How many other noises can you find in the
little pictures ?

E PEN PUZZLB-

117

!n how few moves can you place each of the animals in its proper pen. without ever
having two in the same pen ? The numbers on the animals should correspond to the
number'^ of the pens.

I St. Nest + One — Stone + Wheel — Heel +

Ark = Newark.

2d. WTieel + Pic + Ring - Pier = Wheeling.

I St. Can — N + Melon + E - One = Camel,
zd. Tie — E ^ Finger — Fin = Tiger.

ist. Wrench -f- .\nn — Charm = Wren.
2d- Magnet — Net + Pie = Magpie.

69.
87.

76. isL Scoop — Coop + Nail = Snail.

2d. Fowl - Owl + 0.\ = Fo.\.
99. i.Stiueak; 2, Squall ; 3, Howl ; 4, Roar ; 5,

Bellow; 6, Ring; 7, Growl; 8. Wail; 9, Bark.

117. The animals are rearranged into their proper pens-
by moving them in the following order ; 4,' 3. 2,
4. 3- 5. '. 2. 4. 3. 5. 4. 2. I. 4, and 5.

BY PERMISSION OF DAVID M9K«r CO.

HOW TO DRAW HUNDREDS OF FACES

VY/iTH the diagram on this page we can
** draw hundreds of different pictures,
even though we may not be artists in- any
sense of the word. First of all, we should
take a piece of good, tracing-paper and trace
the diagram upon it quite carefully and
accurately. Then we should ink over the
lines, ^nd when the ink is quite dry paste the
tracing-paper with the design upon a piece of
cardboard. To do this, cover the card with
a smooth paste and lay the tracing-paper

the tracing-paper round until oneof the pairs
of eyes comes into position within the outline
of a face that we have drawn. Trace the
eyes with pencil, and finally turn the paper
round to another position and trace a nose
and mouth. We now have a complete face
with eyes, nose and mouth, hair, and hat. ..
Hy ringing the changes and drawing the
different eyes in the different face outlines,
and putting sometimes one hat or mouth and
sometimes another, we are able to make

BY FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS, WE CAN, FROM THIS DIAGRAM, DRAW HUNDREDS OF FACES

upon it, smcothing out all wrinkles with a
clean cloth. When this is dry, we are ready
to draw any number of faces. ' Take a piece of
tracing-paper and pin it down upon the card,
pressing the pin through the centre of the
diagram where a star is marked. Now we
must trace any one of the hats upon the
transparent paper. Then let us turn the
paper round until the hat that we have drawn
comes over one of the other hats in the
diagram. Now trace the shape of the face
that appears under our hat. Again turn

hundreds of different pictures. There are
one or two things to remember if we want
to be successful in thus producing an imagi-
nary portrait gallery. The tracing-paper
must be pinned down firmly upon the card
and must not be allowed to shift about, or
the different parts of the different faces will
not join up properly. Then we should use a
soft black lead pencil in tracing the faces, and
we must not press too heavily or we shall
indent the card and spoil the diagram. We
can ink over the pencil-lines afterwards.

DIFFERENT EXERCISES WITH DUMB-BELLS

A \ K

*s*

»# ».:'*'_:

J^#»

i-^

A f \ /

♦■St-i*

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

211

Rembrandt in his studio

LESSONS IN THINGS BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL

SHAKESPEARE says in one of
his plays that if we could cast off
this "muddy vesture of decay"
we should be able to hear the "music
of the spheres." He means that if we
were more thoughtful and quiet, we
should find that all the sights and
sounds about us are really beautiful
and pleasant and that if they do not
seem so to us the fault is not in these
things, but lies in ourselves.

Now artists — who include poets,
writers of books, musicians, painters,
designers, sculptors, and architects —
are those who hear this "music of the
spheres," and put it down so that the
rest of us may hear it too.

Let us try to find out how this
music is heard by painters and de-
signers, architects and sculptors, and
how they write it down. We know
all beautiful things by our minds or
our souls. Our eyes, ears, touch,
taste, and smell are only the roadways
to our true selves, so that music may
travel by any one of these paths, and
not by the ear roadway only.

And music does not mean only
pleasant sounds coming together; it
means also beautiful shapes falling
side by side, or colors, placed one
against another. So that, when we
see a beautiful picture, or a piece of
sculpture, or a grand building, or a
lovely decoration, the music of the
arrangement of the shapes is appealing
to our eyes, and giving us joy and
pleasure quite apart from the subject
of the work. In these pages are
some pictures with their musical
shapes. Look carefully at them, and
see if you can find any of this music.
Look carefully to see if one line
appears to be the continuation of
another, though there is no actual
connection. Join these lines, and
note the beautiful shape they enclose.

Again, boys and girls, men and
women, the flowers and trees, the
birds and animals, the earth itself
are all struggling for existence. The
very winds, the clouds, and the sun-
shine are all the results of struggling,
of fighting, of victory, and of failure.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Joy and sorrow touch everything on
earth, and he is an artist who is able
to picture this joy and sorrow for us
so that we can feel them strongly.

So an artist must possess two
things — an eye quick to see and love
beautiful shapes, and a mind quick
to feel and to respond to the joys and

and feelings, and not be ashamed or
afraid of them.

Now, though drawing is music, it
is also speech, and we draw in order to
tell to others facts that we could not
put so well into any other form, things
that give us pleasure which we would
share with others.

How the hand (il I hi' artist draw.s a picttirr

struggles that all the things about us
are enduring — that is, he must want
to rejoice with glad things, to be
sorrowful with sad things, to admire
all brave efforts, wherever they are
made and whatever makes them.

All of us possess more or less these
two essentials — the quick eye and the
sympathetic mind. We do not always
realize it, and we are too often afraid
of our feelings. Now this is wrong,
for if we would become brave and
tender men and women, capable of
doing big and effective work in the
world, we must reverence our thoughts

t:':*^^iil

y^f^:-

. ^p

^^^

f\^'^ 1

• **

"^ *v ft?

ft/

-J^^-"

The completed picture

It is not possible for us all to become
great artists, but we should all be able
to read what the artist is eager to tell
us in his work, and by reading his
pictures our lives will become bigger
and more sympathetic. ^Ye shall
begin to see the beautiful laws of order
and music that are at the heart of
everything, and then we shall want to
link this music together ourselves, in
order to make others feel it as we do,
and we, too, may be artists, creators.
So let us set about our lessons in this
wonderful subject, whereby we shall
become friends with the things around
us.

Materials: For the little ones we
will choose white and colored crayons,
these should be soft and not greasy.
The mind must work readily through
the fingers and the muscles of the hand
must become very sensitive, which
cannot happen if hard unyielding
pencils are used. You who are older
may use pencils, which must be soft
known as B or BB so that they will
yield readily to the slightest pressure.
If you have a paint box you must
learn to use it. These boxes contain-
ing moist colors in pans or tubes are
preferable. With these you will need

THE WORLD AT WORK TO FILL A PAINT-BOX

^^F«^^^

:<P^^^^

■sjSit

n.. . 4^ %

-'4

All over the world men work hard iu order to fill this little girl's paint box. Here, reading from left to right, we see
men collecting ivory for black, insect-cells for crimson lake, resin for gamboge, cochineal for carmine, the indigo plant for
indigo, the madder for brown. Iron and potassium for Prussian blue, cuttlefish for sepia, earth for sienna, mercury for ver-
milion, and mineral (or ultramarine.

27J^

THE HUMAN IXTEREST LIBRARY

a pointed camel's hair brush, number
six, a jar for water, and a small
sponge-box, water and sponge must be
kept quite clean. Untidy materials
make an untidy mind.

Use white or colored paper to work
on. There is a cheap unglazed, soft-
textured, warm gray paper which is
delightful, and which may be obtained
from any dealer in artists' materials.
Ordinary unglazed brown paper is
good if neither too light nor too dark.
Do not let your paper become creased
or crumpled, keep it flat and neatly
together in a portfolio. The portfolio
may be bought or made at home from
two pieces of cardboard joined to-
gether at the back and fastened at the
front with a piece of tape.

A small drawing board will l)e neces-
sary to which the paper should be
fixed by four thumb tacks or drawing
pins. When drawing do not lay your
board flat upon the table, let it slope
toward you resting the top against
the table.

Sit well away from your work, hold
crayon, pencil or brush lightly with
end of same pointing into the palm of

your hand, and your hand scarcely
touching the paper as you work.

Face squarely the object you wish to
draw so that you may glance quickly
from your drawing to the object.
Hold your work frequently at full
arms length from you, or better still
stand away and look at it as though
you were a teacher correcting exercises.

Forget yourself and do not be afraid
of your materials. Think only of
putting down on the paper just the
appearance of the object before you.
Things to draw

All living things, if they have been
allowed to grow up without suffering
from accident, have beautiful shapes.
We cannot do better than to draw,
from every possible view, the things
we see about us and so learn to rec-
ognize a beautiful shape before we
consider the second great essential
underlying all art — that is, the true
self of everything.

When using crayons do not press
lieavih^ or you will fill every crevice
of your paper, then the color of the
paper will not show through the crayon
as a soft gray. If your drawing is not

This is how the laurel spray should look when it is drawn
from memory in black chalk on brown paper.

If we have chosen ivy leaves to draw instead of laurel
leaves, this picture will do to compare our drawing with.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

215

good, do not try to rub it out, make it

again and again.

Drawing and painting a spray of

LEAVES

Let us find and draw or paint a
spray of leaves. Any kind of leaves
will do but since all leaves and flowers
change quickly after they are picked
we will need to work rapidly. You
will notice that wherever, the leaf
springs from the stem there is a little
swelling; sometimes it is much bigger
than at other times

The stalk of the leaf is not the same
thickness all the wav down. Some

getting the direction the leaf takes
carefully, and drawing it big. The
pictures show laurel and ivy, but any
leaves must be drawn in the same way,
beginning first with the long stems.
We can practice drawing the spray
with a brushful of color in green paint
to match the shade of the leaves, or
in brown or black paint like the picture
above. Moisten the paper with the
damp sponge first. If the paper
glistens when you hold it level with the
eye, it is too wet.

A good, bright green is made by
mixing Prussian blue, gamboge, and

Now we have to make a copy of our laurel leaves, paint-
ing them straight away on white paper.

Here is a picture of a spray of ivy leaves painted on white
paper. Remember to start with the stalk.

kinds of laurel leaves are rounded at
the tips and where they join the stalks
and some are pointed. Wh'chever
kind of leaf we have chosen, we must
look at all these things and notice the
different shapes, begin with the big
stem. Notice if it curves or bends,
then draw the leaf-stalks and then the
leaves themselves. We shall find it
better not to draw the leaves with a
single line round them at first, but to
rub the chalk sideways on the paper.

burnt sienna. A good dark green
is made by mixing together indigo and
burnt sienna or Prussian blue and
Vandyke brown. We shall find that
there are a great many ways of mixing
gi-eens when we know our paints.

Remember that we draw with our
mind, and that our hands can do only
what our mind, or soul, tells them. If
we do not look at the object carefully,
and judge its edges carefully, our
hands cannot put the truth down.

276

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

A PLAY LESSON

Now let us have a play lesson.
Take one of the things you think you
can draw, place it before you, and look
at it for a minute or two. Then cover
it up and try to draw what you have
seen from memory.

^Yhen you have finished your draw-
ing, uncover the object, get up from
your seat, stand behind your work
and compare it with the original. Be
a teacher, and do not allow any fault
to go uncorrected.

Do this with every object — the cat,
the dog, your toys, leaves, fruits, and

flowers — about you. Look at it, turn
away and draw it; then change your-
self into a teacher and criticize. You
must be a judge, and bring up every
accusation you can. You must defin-
ately and fairly judge each one —
length against breadth, curve against
curve. You cannot realize too clearly
how important this part of your work
is.

You will never draw freelv, or for-
get your pencil and paper and your-
self, until you can draw from memory.
It is only then that you can be said
to know what an object is like.

THE LITTLE CLAY MODELER AT HOME

A SIMPLE LESSON IN AN INTERESTING
PASTIME

THOSE of us who have ever
done modeling will agree that
it is a delightful pastime.
There is no end to the things that can
be made out of those little lumps of
clay which look so uninteresting till
they have been pinched and poked and
rolled into all manner of fascinating
shapes. And modeling is as useful as
it is delightful, for it not only makes
practical use of our patience and our
perseverance, but it trains the senses
of sight and touch, and makes us
observant, and consequently more
accurate and self-reliant.

The "tools" that are needed are few
in number, and quite inexpensive.
All that is required is a piece of clay,
or, better still, of plasticine — which is
cleaner to work with and better in
many ways — an unframed slate, and
one's fingers. Of course, the more
plasticine the better, and the gray
color is the most suitalile for the work
it is proposed to do. It can be bought
at ahnost any shop in which artists'
materials are sold, and a slate may be
procured from a shop dealing with
school requisites.

Just a word as to the care of the
materials. Keep the plasticine in a
moderately cool place, and when not
in use see that it is kept free from dust
or grit. x\fter long usage, plasticine
has a tendency to become stiff and
difficult to manipulate. This is owing
to the evaporation of the oil which it
contains. When it becomes so, work
a small c{uantit,y of vaseline into it by
kneading in j^our hands until it be-
comes plastic again. The slate should
always be scraped clean before each
model or exercise is attempted.

The first few models will not need to
be worked on the slate at all; they
must be done almost entirely in the
hands and with the finger-tips.

Let us take the first picture — a
model of a bunch of cherries. Break
off — do not cut — a lump of plasticine
and roll three balls about the size of
cherries. Slightly press the top of

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

S77

each to give the shape shown at A,
and in the center of each depression
bore a hole, as at B, with a match, to
receive the ends of the stalks. For
the stalks, roll out on a clean slate a
long thin strip, as at C. To do this
successfully, and to preserve equal
thickness throughout the length, re-
quires care. The small piece of plas-
ticine used should be rolled beneath
the flat hand on the slate, and not
between the two hands. Press evenly
as the strip begins to lengthen, and
move the hand slowly to the right as
you proceed with the rolling. The
right thickness to obtain is equal to
that of an ordinary match. This is,
of course, a little thicker than the
natural stalks of the cherries would be;
but we take a little liberty, for if we
reduced them to such a degree they
would hang limply down. Divide
the strip into three equal lengths, and
make the little thickening, as shown
at D, by lightly holding the strip
between fingers and thumbs and
pressing with both hands at once to-
wards the thickening. Fix the stalks
into the cherries, pinch the three ends
together, and the model is complete.

Our other model is an apple, and
this will demand a greater effort.
Of course, there are many shapes of
apples and a round one as at A, with
just the end depressions and the stem,
would be very easy to make.

But the apple we wish to do is one

with a well-defined and somewhat
angular shape, of the type shown,
exaggerated a little, in the illustration
marked B. This is much more diffi-
cult. The size of the model must be
left to the worker for it must not be
too big to handle comfortably. First,
make a ball as before, and, with the
real apple before you, work it into
the same shape adding to or taking
from the model as you proceed. You
will find the finger-tips very useful
for this. Notice all the little angu-
larities of surface, look well at the copy
from every side, and compare the two
constantly as you work. Do not be
satisfied merely with the model of an
apple, but try to make a faithful copy
of the apple before you. The stem
is inserted in a similar manner to those
of the cherries, and the markings at
the opposite end are made with the
match end as at C.

The model should have a smooth
finish, and this can be done by lightly
smoothing with the forefinger. It
must be held carefully and without
undue pressure while this process is
being carried out.

BASKETRY
Basketry— A doll's Christmas

HAMPER

WHILE we are enjoying the
good things that Christmas
brings, we surely must not
forget our dolls. Here we are going
to learn how to make a little doll's
hamper, and later on to fill it with
Christmas "goodies" which we shall

find it quite easy to model with our
fingers out of clay.

First, then, we will make the ham-
per, for which we must carefully
measure off seven pieces of "No. 4"
(or fairly thick) cane. Most of the
big toy-shops sell cane for cane-weav-
ing, or, of course, it can be bought
from any basket factory.

278

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

If we maKe the hamper three inches
high, each piece of cane must be sixteen
inches long. These seven lengths of
cane are for the foundation of our
hamper, and we will call them the
"spokes" whenever we refer to them,
as they remind us of the spokes of a
wheel.

Form a cross with four spokes
across and three spokes upright, the
three upright spokes being in front as
in picture 1.

1. Position of the canes 2. Beginning to make the basket

Hold these between the thumb and
first finger of the left hand.

Our next step is to select a long piece
of "No. 1" (or fine) cane, which we
shall call the "weaving-cane," as it
weaves in and out the spokes, just as
the threads of any woven material
pass over and under each other.

We must hold the weaving-cane in
our right hand, a few inches from one
end. Place this end of the weaving-
cane at the dot in picture 1, and pass
it under the four spokes at A, over

the three spokes at B, under at C, and
again over at D. We draw this as
tightly as possible and pass the cane
under the tiny end to form a tie.

In picture 2 we are able to see just
how the weaving-cane travels, if we
follow it up from the letter L.

From this point we weave over one
spoke and under the next until we
have passed eight spokes, which brings
us to the left side of the picture where
we see two spokes taken together.
Some of us may think this a mistake,
but in weaving we must have an odd
number of spokes, because where the
weaving-cane passes over one time,
the next time it must go under.

At the place marked X in picture 2,
we take two spokes together and treat
them just as one spoke.

By taking the two together it fastens
the odd number in quite securely.
Continue the weaving over and under,
taking care, when you come to the
spoke with the little bit beside it, that
you treat that spoke and the little bit
as one. We must remember always
to weave in the direction in which
we began.

If we have done our weaving cor-
rectly, the weaving-cane will now pass
under the spoke over which it went the
last time round.

We must continue our weaving until
we have covered about one inch from

The basket without the lid

4. The lid of the basket

5, The basket complete

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK 279

the center of the basket. Then cut By this time the side of our hamper

off one of the two spokes taken to- measures two and a half inches from

gether and what is left of the tiny bit where we turned it up. Here we take

of weaving-cane where we started. a length of No. 4, or rather thick cane

One very important thing is the to weave the other half-inch. An

fight way to hold our work. Hold the important point to learn just now is

work in the left hand perpendicularly, how to join a new piece of cane so

the weaving-cane being held in the that it will be least observable,

right hand just like a skipping-rope We must always finish off the end

about two inches away from the of the old weaving-cane, when we have

basket. We now slip the first finger come under a spoke, by pushing the

out and hold the cane between the loose end of the weaving-cane down

thumb and the second finger. the side nearest to us of the same

Don't think Mr. First Finger has spoke,

nothing to do. He is a very important Take a new piece of weaving-cane

person, and acts as a guide to Mr. and pass the end down the far side

Weaving-cane, guiding and pressing of this spoke. Both the old and the

him always into his proper place. We new weaving-cane pass behind the

must also be very careful never to same spoke, but the join does not

pull the weaving-cane, but to bend it show on the right side of the basket,

round the spokes, moving the basket To finish our basket we cut an inch

up and down at the same time. off each spoke with the exception of

Every touch of our fingers has a two, which we leave to form the han-

permanent effect on the ultimate shape die, as seen in picture 3. Each spoke

of our basket, and no subsequent pres- must be turned back the opposite

sure will alter it. We shall be able to way from which we have been weav-

begin a second basket much better after ing, and pressed down the far side of

we have thus learned to weave properly, the next spoke until it lies level with

How are we to turn up the cane for the last line of weaving. To form the

the sides of the hamper? little handle, we cross the two spokes

We notice the alternate spokes are and push the ends down so that one

on the top of the weaving-cane, end goes in where the other starts

These spokes we bend away from us. from.

Weave round once again, when, of Having made our hamper, we must

course, the other spokes are on the turn our attention to the lid for it,

top. These also must be bent away which is made exactly as the bottom

from us. We continue weaving as of the hamper, using seven spokes

before, taking care to keep the spokes about six inches long,

nearly at right angles to the bottom of When the weaving exactly fits the

the basket. top of our hamper, we finish by pusli-

We must remember, as we weave the ing the spoke-ends down the sides of

side of the hamper, when the weaving- their left-door neighbors,

cane is going behind a spoke, to draw Basket-weaving is most fascinating

that spoke back with the guiding finger work when once we have acquired the

and slip the whole hand behind it to art of weaving easily; therefore it is

put the weaving-cane in place. The worth while to practice weaving, as

more we press on the spokes when from this small beginning it is possible

drawing them back, the more the sides to make any number of very pretty

of our basket will slant outwards. and useful articles.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE WONDERFUL LAND OF SOUND

THERE is a wonderful land of Sound, a country so
beautiful that it may be called a magic kingdom
In this kingdom there are fairies who will sing;
and little kind-hearted goblins. In this beautiful land
fairies and goblins help one another, and join together
to tell the most delightful stories. When we know
them and can understand their language, they will
tell us stories of the winds; they will bring to us
the songs of the birds ; the murmurs of the brook,
and all the beautiful sounds in the world. This
magic kingdom w^e call the Piano.

When we open the door of this fairyland we
see what looks like a long black line and a
long white line. If we look closely we see
that these lines are really made up of about
fifty little white pieces and not quite so
many little black pieces. The fifty little
white pieces are where the fairies dwell
the black pieces are the homes of the
goblins.

The fairies are very simple little
people, and like to make it easy
for us to talk to them, so they

have very short names which
we will find easy to re
member. There areonl.v
seven of them and they
have taken the names
of the first seven let
ters of the alphabet
Let us say to our
selves, "Seven
little fairies,
seven little

Fairy

/ C, Fairy

D, Fairy

E, Fairy

F, Fairy G.

/ The homes of

the goblins —

the thirty -five

little black houses,

are arranged in

twos and threes, and

this arrangement is a

great help in finding out

and remembering all the

homes of the fairies.

In nearly all pianos Fairy A

has eight houses. They all look

<^ exactly alike and all are named

A after Fairy A herself.

cf To find where Fairy A lives we

must first notice the group of three

names. A,
B,C,D,E,
F, G

Fairy A,
Fairy

black houses. Look carefully at these
three goblins' homes and then remem-
ber that Fairy A lives on the right side
of the middle black house. Fairy B is
satisfied with seven homes all exactly alike
and one is named after herself, B. Again we
must notice the three little black houses, for Fairy
B is always found on the right side of the third
black house. Fairy C has seven houses all named C,
^ after herself, and they are on the left side of the
^ tico little black houses grouped together.

Fairies D, E, F and G have also seven homes each,

and each of these little houses bears the name of the

fairy to whom it belongs. Let us see where they live.

Look again at the little group of two goblins' houses. The

fairy living between these two black houses is Fairy D,

and wherever we see just two goblins together we can be

quite sure that Fairy D is to be found between them.

Fairy E feels that she wants to be one of this happy party and

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

281

she has her home next to D, so that
Fairy E is on the right side of the
second black house.

Fairy F and Fairy G are Hke a group
of three goblins, so Fairy F lives on
the left of the first of the three black
houses while Fairy G lives next door
to her on the left side of the middle
black house.

Now that we have found out where
all the little fairies live, let us go to

Home of the seven fairies

the piano and see if we can find the
little houses. Every day we should
enjoy a real game of play with the
fairies and goblins in the magic king-
dom. We can think we are the post-
men of fairyland and each morning
we must take the fairies their letters,
being sure to go to the right houses

and careful not to forget any of our
little friends.

Let us ask the fairies to play a game
with us and see if we cannot learn to
sing the note of each. We will knock
first at Fairy C's door. We will choose
that house of hers which is almost in
the middle of the long white line,
remembering that her houses are
always found on the left-hand side
of the group of two goblins' houses.
To knock at her door so that we
may really hear her voice in answer,
we must press down the little white
piece very gently and firmly.

Listen! Do you hear her? It
is Fairy C's voice. Try to sing the
same sound exactly. Try a great
many times, and then, when we
think we know it quite well, we will
run away to the end of the room
and sing it again, coming back very
quickly to the magic kingdom to see
if we have remembered it rightly.

Fairy C likes to hear us say
"This is Fairy C's voice," and she
will always sing if we go to her house,
C, and press the door very gently.

When we have played as long as
we like with Fairy C, we may go
to her next-door neighbor. Fairy D.
Fairy D's voice is not quite like
Fairy C's. We will press the door
here, too, and listen to the answer,
and then try and sing the same
sound.

But we must not forget Fairy C's
voice, so we will touch the door
again and listen. Now we will go
back to Fairy D, to be quite sure
that we know each fairy's voice.

But there are more fairies, and so we
go to Fairy E's house and learn her
httle "note," and then to Fairy F and
Fairy G, until we reach Fairy C's
second little house.

If we have a fairy concert every day.
we shall soon come to know all the
beautiful fairy voices quite well.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

LITTLE PROBLEMS FOR THE WISE

When was the watch right?

1. At noon on Monday Herbert
asked his father what o'clock it was.
His father told him that it was noon,
and said that his watch was two min-
utes fast. On Wednesday morning
Herbert again asked the time, and his
father replied that the exact time was
eight o'clock, but added that his watch
was one minute slow. Herbert then
told his father at what time his watch
had been exactly right. Could you
have done it?

Answer. — From noon on Monday
to 8 o'clock on Wednesday morning is
44 hours. His father's watch, there-
fore, lost 3 minutes in 44 hours. But
it was right when it had lost only
2 minutes, which it would do in two-
thirds of 44 hours — that is, in 29 hours
20 minutes. This number of hours
from noon on Monday would make it
5 :20 on Tuesday afternoon.

How MANY DUCKS?

2. "How many ducks did you
drive home.''" asked Farmer Bell.

"There were two ducks in front of a
duck, two ducks behind a duck, and
a duck between two ducks," was the
reply.

What was the number of ducks?

Answer. — Three.
What vehicles were sent?

3. An order had been received at
a garage for automobiles for a party
of fifty-nine. The manager had auto-
mobiles to seat nine and cabs to hold
four, and he sent some of each, so that
everyone had a seat and there was
no seat vacant.

How did he do it?

Answer. — Try one automobile first.
This will seat 9 and leave 50. There
is not an exact number of 4's in 50,
so that they could not be seated in
cabs. Next try 2 automobiles. These

will seat 18 and leave 41, which again
cannot be seated in cabs. Next, 3
automobiles will seat 27 and leave
32. Now 8 cabs will seat exactly
32, so that the manager must have
sent 3 automobiles and 8 cabs.

How DID THE SHEEP STAND?

4. "I saw an odd sight the other
day," said Jones. "Two sheep were
standing in a field, one looking due
north and the other due south. How
do you think that each could see the
other without turning round?"

Can you give the answer?

Answer. — This is what is usually
known as a "catch," and the answer
is that, as they stood, they faced each
other, one looking north and the other
south.
The clock strikes twelve

5. John and his sister stood under
the church tower and heard the clock
strike six. John looked at his watch
while it did so, and said to his sister:
"It took 30 seconds to strike six."
His sister replied: "Then how long
would it take to strike 12?" John
replied, "Sixty seconds, of course!"
John was wrong. What is the correct
answer?

Answer. — The clock would take
sixty-six seconds to strike twelve.
Between the first stroke and the sixth
stroke there were five intervals of
time, each interval being six seconds.
Between the first and the twelfth
stroke there were eleven intervals of
time, each of six seconds, so that th^
clock would take sixty-six seconds to
strike twelve.

How MANY eggs?

6. If a hen and a half lays an egg
and a half in a day and a half, how
many eggs will one hen lay in six days?

Answer. — Four eggs. One hen
would lay one egg in a day and a

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK 283

half— that is, two eggs in three days, How many stamps had they?

or four eggs in six days. 10. Three children — Jack, Frank,

Twelve eggs in basin and Harry — divided some postage-

7. There are 12 boys, and on the stamps among them. Jack had half
table is a basin with 12 eggs. Each of them and one more; Frank had one
boy took one egg and there remained more than half of those left; Harry
one egg in the basin. How was this? had the remaining three. How many

Answer. — The last boy took the stamps were there?

basin as well as the egg in it. Answer. — First let us find how

The farmer and the tramp many stamps were left when Jack had

8. A tramp lies down for a nap at taken his share. Since Frank had one
the side of a haystack, and hears the more than half, Harry must have had
farmer approaching. He runs round one less than half. You know that
and round the stack chased by the Harry had three, therefore four must
farmer. They start from opposite have been half of the quantity that
corners, the tramp taking forty seconds Harry and Frank divided. Half of
to run completely around and the eight is four so Frank had five. Now
farmer thirty seconds. How often we must find how many Jack had.
must the farmer run around before Jack's share was one more than half
catching the tramp? the total quantity and therefore the

Answer. — x\s the tramp runs round quantity divided by Frank and Harry

the stack in forty seconds, and the must have been one less than half the

farmer in thirty seconds, the farmer total. Frank and Harry's share came

can run round four times in the same to eight as we have seen and the half

time that the tramp takes to run round of the total quantity being one more

three times. This means that in four than eight was nine. Jack had ten

rounds run by the farmer he would which is one more than half the

gain one round upon the tramp; but, total quantity and thus there were

as the tramp had a start of only half eighteen altogether.

a round, the farmer would overtake Whose portrait is it?

him after running only two rounds, 11. One of the problems that have

which is the answer. most puzzled our fathers and mothers

How many persons were they? is the old problem of a man looking at

9. Brown arrived at the inn to a portrait, saying: "Brothers and sis-
arrange lunch for his party. "How ters have I none, but this man's
many of you are there?" asked the father is my father's son." Whose
innkeeper. "Well, we represent portrait is it?

father, mother, uncle, aunt, sister, Answer. — If a man says that he

brother, nephew, niece, and two has no brothers and sisters, his father

cousins." would have only one son — himself.

What was the fewest number that Thus, if what he says is put in simple

could be in the party? language it is: "That man's father is

Answer. — There were four in the myself." This means that the pic-
party. The father and mother were ture at which he looked was that of
brother and sister, one having a son his own son.

and the other a daughter. The Did george walk round the monkey?

children were cousins, therefore, 12. George was trying to tease the

nephew and niece, and the father and monkey which was seated on the top

mother were thus uncle and aunt. of a barrel-organ. But, although he

S84

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

walked all round the barrel-organ, the
monkey always turned so as to face
the boy the whole time.

When the boy has walked round the
organ, has he walked round the
monkey?

Answer. — No. George never sees
the monkey's back, which he clearly
would do if he walked round the
monkey.

How LONG WAS THE STRING?

13. A boy had two pieces of string,
one of which was just twice as long as
the other. He cut 6 inches oflP each
piece, and then found that one was
just three times as long as the other
How long were they at first .5^

Answer. — To begin with, one piece
of string was 1^2 inches long and the
other piece 24 inches. After cutting

How MUCH DOES A BRICK WEIGH?

15. A brick weighs six pounds and
half of its own weight. What is the
weight of the brick?

Answ^er. — The brick weighed 12
pounds. The weight of each of the
two halves is the same, so that if a
brick weighs half of its own weight
and 6 pounds, the 6 pounds must
represent the other half.

How MUCH WATER WAS SPILLED ?

16. A boat leaving a wreck had
water to last 13 days, allowing each
man one quart each day. After
five days some water was spilled and
one man died on the same day. The
water then lasted just the expected
time. How much water was spilled?

Answer. — The amount spilled
would have served the man who died

How did the engineer cliange the cars?

6 inches off of each the shorter piece
was 6 inches long and the longer piece
18 inches long.

How FAST WAS THE HORSE WALKING?

14. I was walking along a country
road steadily at the rate of four miles
an hour. I saw a horse and cart
going in the same direction, and wdien
I saw them they were exactly 2'-20
yards in front of me. I overtook
them in 15 minutes. At wdiat rate
was the horse walking?

Answer. — In 15 minutes I had gone
one mile and the horse 220 vards less
than one mile. In one hour the horse
would walk 880 yards less than four
miles — that is three-and-one-half miles
in one hour.

for 8 days, and this, at 1 quart each
day, would have been 8 quarts.

How DID THE ENGINEER DO IT?

17. The illustration represents a
railway line with a short loop line
extending from one part of the main
line to another part of the main line.
In the middle of the loop line is a
bridge, under which a car can be
pushed by the engine, but which is too
low for the engine itself to pass through.
On the left side of the loop line, near
the lamp-post marked A, is a car
marked B, and on the right side of
the loop line, near the lamp-post
marked C, is a car marked D. The
engineer is told to take car B to the
lamp-post C on the right side, and to

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

285-

take car D to the lamp-post A on the
left side, leaving them at these points,
and then to bring his engine back to
the main line. The main line extends
further at each end than is seen in the
picture.

How did he perform his task?

Answer. — The engine goes forward
along the main line, backs up the left
side of the branch line, and pushes
car B through the bridge. Then the
engine comes down the branch line,
to the main line, along the main line to
the right of the picture, then up the
right side of the branch line, and
pushes car D up to car B. At this
stage the position is like this :

Then the engine pulls down both
cars, brings them both to the middle
portion of main line, where it leaves
car B (which is the one farthest in
front of it), and, going back again
with car D, pushes it up the right side
of the branch through the bridge.
The position is then like this:

Now the locomotive comes back
again to the main line, takes car B,
and leaves it at the post C, finally
coming down again along the main line,
up the left side of the branch line, and
pulls car D into its place. It can then
return to the main line alone.

How DOES JULIA GET THE EGGS?

18. Dora and Julia gather the eggs
on the farm. One morning Dora
discovers that several eggs have been
laid on a small square island in the
middle of a square pond, and, having

no plank long enough to reach across,
she leaves the eggs alone.

Julia sees them the next morning,
and, looking round for a means to
reach the island, finds two planks,
neither of which will quite reach from
the edge of the pond to the island.
But they are her only means of access
to the eggs, and, placing them so that
she can step across them, Julia
reaches the island and takes the eggs
home in her basket. How does Julia
reach the island. f*

How does Julia get the eggs?

Answer. — Julia put the planks as
shown in the picture, and thus reached
the island.

How Julia got the eggs

Riddles

1. To what island should hungry
people go?

2. Why is a policeman like an
aeroplane?

3. Why are watches like grass-
hoppers?

4. What tree is nearest to the sea?

5. Why is charity like an um-
brella?

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

6. Why is the eye like a very
severe schoohiiaster?

7. What flower is most Hkely to be
found in the shop of a shoemaker?

8. Why is Sunday the strongest
day?

9. What flower would you wish
for when oppressed with woe?

10. Why are pen, ink and paper
like fixed stars?

11. Why are hay and straw like
spectacles ?

12. Ten men's strength and ten
men's length, and ten men cannot
set it on end, yet one can carry it.

13. What is that which goes
through the wood yet never touches
the ground or the trees ?

14. What tradesmen are always
robbing themselves?

Answer. — (1) The Sandwich Isles;
(2) Because he takes people up; (3)
Because they move by springs; (4)
The beech; (5) Because it is most
useful when most widely extended;
(6) He always has a pupil under
the lash; (7) Lady's slipper; (8)
Because the others are all week
(weak) daj^s; (9) Heartsease; (10)
Because they are stationery (sta-
monary); (11) Because they are
forage (for age); (12) A rope twenty
yards long; (13) The blast of a horn;
(14) Butchers, because they are always
stealing (steeling) their own knives
and other tools.

THINGS DIFFICULT TO SAY

WE ALL know the curious
sentence with many saws in
it that we were asked to say
when we first went to school: "Of all
the saws that ever I saw I never saw
a saw to saw like this saw was to saw."
That is quite easy to say, but there
are many other sentences with the
same word or syllable or sound that
are so hard to say, and especially to
say several times in quick succession,
that they have obtained the apt
name of tongue-twisters. "Truly
rural" seems quite a simple expression,
and yet there are very few people
who can say it quickly six times run-
ning without twisting it into some-
thing like toore-looral.

Here is a tongue-twister in the form
of a verse :
Oliver Oglethorpe ogled an owl and

oyster;
Did Oliver Oglethorpe ogle an owl and

oyster?
If Oliver Oglethorpe ogled an owl and

oyster,
Where are the owl and oyster Oliver

Oglethorpe ogled?

Perhaps even more difficult to repeat

than either of these is a verse in

which the sound of q occurs in almost

every word.

Quixote Quicksight quizzed a queerish
quidbox;

Did Quixote Quicksight quiz a queerish
quidbox?

If Quixote Quicksight quizzed a queer-
ish quidbox,

Where's the queerish quidbox Quixote
Quicksight quizzed?
The sound of c, too, mixed up with

the sound of cr, is difficult to repeat

over and over again in a sentence.

Here is a sentence combining these

sounds :

Captain Crackskull cracked a catch-
poll's cockscomb;

Did Captain Crackskull crack a catch-
poll's cockscomb?

If Captain Crackskull cracked a catch-
poll's cockscomb,

Where's the catchpoll's cockscomb
Captain Crackskull cracked?
A very good tongue-twister is the

verse about the sea-shells :

She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore;

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

287

The shells she sells are sea-shells I'm
sure.

So if she sells sea-shells on the sea-
shore ;

Then I'm sure she sells sea-shore
shells.

Here is a prose tongue-twister
which should be repeated very rapidly :

How much wood would a woodchuck
chuck if a woodchuck could chuck
wood? If a woodchuck could chuck
wood, the wood that a woodchuck
would chuck is the wood that a wood-
chuck could chuck, if the woodchuck
that could chuck wood would chuck,
or a woodchuck could chuck wood.

A shorter but scarcely less difficult
tongue-twister is this sentence of only
six words :

Seven Severn salmon swallowing
several shrimps.

Here is a series of sentences that Dr.
Moberlj^ headmaster of Winchester
School, and afterwards Bishop of
Salisbury, used to make his boys read,

placing the emphasis on the right
words. They are all perfectly correct
but take a good deal of examination
before the sense can be understood in
each case :

I saw that C saw.
C saw that I saw.
I saw that that that C saw was so.
C saw that, that that that I saw was so.
I saw that, that that that that C saw

was so.
C saw that that, that that that that I
saw was so.

I saw that that, that that that that
that C saw was so.

It is very amusing to try to repeat
this:

Mrs. Biggar had a baby. Which
was the bigger .'* The baby w^as a
little Biggar! Which was the bigger,
Mrs. Biggar or the baby? Mr. Biggar
was father Biggar! Mr. Biggar died;
was the baby then bigger than Mrs.
Biggar? No, for the baby was father-
less!

MYSTERY

Simple experiments with air and

WATER

WE can learn a great deal of
science from the most fa-
miliar objects in our homes.

AND MAGIC

ments that will teach us much that
we ought to know.

First of all, we can perform an
experiment that will show us how the
air, that is invisible and does not

and an interesting half-hour may be seem to have any weight, is actually
spent in performing simple experi- pressing down upon us and upon

Easy experiments that can be tried in every home

£88 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

everything on the earth's surface, cause of this is that when the paper is

We take a wide-necked bottle, and burned out the air cools again, and as

also prepare a hard-boiled egg to help it does not now fill the glass the

us in our experiment by carefully pressure of the air on the surface of

removing all the shell. the water drives it up into the tumbler.

Now we put into the bottle a piece Still another experiment will prove
of lighted paper, and, after a second that the air exercises a pressure, not
or two, place the egg in the neck of only downwards, but upwards as well,
the bottle as though it were the We take a wine-glass, and fill it care-
stopper. The egg will, of course, fully up to the brim with water,
remain there just as if it were in an Then take a thin sheet of paper, and
egg-cup. At least, that is what some place it on top, so that it touches both
of us would expect. But if we watch the surface of the water and the rim
the hard-boiled egg we shall see, after of the glass. Now, holding the paper
a time, that it is gradually going down carefully in position, we turn the glass
the neck of the bottle as though it of water upside down, and the water
were being sucked in. Then, suddenly, will remain in the glass apparently
it will enter the bottle with a loud suspended. Of course, it is not really
noise. What is the explanation of suspended, but the air is pressing it
this? It is very simple. The burning up into the glass. The air must not
paper heated and expanded the air in be allowed to get into the glass while
the bottle, and some of it was driven we are inverting it, or the water will
out through the opening at the neck, come out; and as any carelessness will
Then the egg was placed in the neck result in an accident, it is always wise
and the opening was stopped up. to perform the experiment over a
Presently the air in the bottle cooled, basin.

and, as it lost its heat, it contracted, or If we should like another experiment

filled less space, so that there was a to prove the downward pressure of the

partial vacuum in the bottle, and the air, we can use our basin of water

air outside pressing upon the egg again, and take a small ear-syringe

drove it into the bottle. The report such as is found in every house. We

was caused by the outside air rushing fill it with water, and invert it with

in as soon as the falling of the egg the point in the water in the basin,

opened the neck once more. Now we press down the rod and empty

There is another simple experiment the syringe. But directly we pull up

which shows clearly the pressure of the rod again the water rushes up and

the atmosphere. Take a basin of fills the syringe. The reason of this is

water, and on the surface of the water that the pressure of the air all over

let a cork float. Now place on the the surface of the water in the basin

cork a piece of lighted paper, and over drives the water up into the syringe,

these invert an empty glass, pressing An interesting experiment, this time

it down gently into the water. Bubbles with a pair of ordinary domestic

will be seen to come from under the bellows, proves that the pressure of

glass. This is the air being driven the atmosphere is exerted, not only

out owing to the fact that the heat above and below, but sideways and

from the lighted paper has expanded in all directions. Having blown all

the air, and the glass will not hold it the air out, we completely stop up the

all. A few moments after, the water nozzle and the vent-hole with corks,

is seen to rise in the tumbler. The and then, if the bellows are in proper

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

289

order and are air-tight, no boy will be
able to open them, no matter in what
position they may be held. The air
outside pressing equally on all sides
holds the bellows together.

All bodies, solids, liquids, and gases
alike, when heated expand — that is,
fill more space — and two simple ex-
periments will show this clearly in the
case of liquids and gases. We take a
small bottle, fill it with some colored
liquid, such as water in which a little
coloring has been dropped, and cork
it up. But we must see that the cork
is pierced, and a piece of glass tube,
open at both ends, inserted. Now,
if we plunge the bottle into a vessel
of warm water, as seen in picture 6,
the colored liquid will be seen to rise
in the tube to A. This is because the
warm water in which the bottle was
plunged has heated the liquid in the
bottle, and caused it to expand and
overflow into the tube.

To show that gases expand we must
use a glass tube closed at one end.
We take the tube, which is, of course,
full of the gas that we call air, and
put it into a tumbler of water, as
shown in picture 7. The water rises
to a certain point, B. Now we hold
a lighted taper to the upper part of the
glass tube, and, after a second or two,
the water descends in the tube from
B to C. This is because the heat
expanded the air in the tube, and as it
wanted more room drove some of the
water out.

Another experiment with a wine-
glass and a jar of water will show that
gases, such as the atmosphere, possess
the property of compressibility — that
is, they can be pressed into smaller
space. We take the wine-glass and
invert it on the surface of the water.
The glass is full of air, which occupies
the whole of the space A in picture 8.
Now we press the glass down to the
bottom of the jar, and we see, as in

picture 9, that some water has risen
in the glass, and the air that formerly
occupied the whole glass now fills
only the space B. As we gradually
lift the glass out of the jar, we see that
the air expands and fills the glass as
easily as it was compressed.

There is a simple experiment to show
that liquids, like gases, exert a pressure
equal in all directions. Take an
ordinary lamp chimney and p^ace
below the widest opening a piece of
cardboard. Hold this against it and
plunge the whole into a jar of water.
Now remove the hand that held the
cardboard, and it will be found to
remain in position, the upward pres-
sure of the water holding it against
the glass. Now pour water gently
into the lamp chimney from above;
the card continues in position until
the water in the glass reaches the
level of the water in the jar. The
pressure of water top and bottom
being then equal the card will be
displaced, and sink to the bottom of
the jar by its own weight.

A TRICK TO PLAY WITH A BOOK

This is a trick of a really startling
kind, which will puzzle even the wisest
man if he does not know it.

You invite someone, the older and
wiser the better, to take down any
book he pleases from the bookshelves,
to open it haphazard, and to choose
a word in the first nine lines of any
page, and not after the ninth word
in the line. He is then to notice the
number of the page, and multiply it
by 10. To the product he is to add
25 and the number of the line. The
result thus obtained is in turn to be
multiplied by 10, and the number
at which the word stands to be added
to the product.

He is then to hand you the book,
with a slip of paper on which are
written the figures last obtained.
After thinking for a few moments you

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open the book and read out the word
chosen.

To obtain this surprising result,
all that you have to do is to subtract
in your mind 250 from the amount
given you on the slip of paper handed
to you.

The last figure of the answer will
give you the number at which the
word stands in the line, the last but
one the number of the line, and the
remaining figures the number of the
page.

Suppose, for instance, that the
person choosing the word had hap-
pened to choose the fifth word in the
ninth line of the eighty-fourth page.
In such case the process would be as
follows :

84X 10 = 840

840+ 25+9= 874

874X 10 =8740

8740 + 5 =8745

8745—250 =8495

And 8495, dissected as explained,
gives 84, 9, 5, being the three clues
necessary to the discovery of the word.
The Disappearing dime

This is a capital trick. Two things
only are wanted for it — a handkerchief
spread out upon the table, and a
dime laid in the middle of it. The
corners of the handkerchief are folded
down over the coin, and anyone
is permitted to feel that it is still
there. And yet, at the conjur-
er's command, it passes through
handkerchief and table, and is found
on the floor beneath. The handker-
chief is shaken out, and proves to be
empty. This trick is good enough
to make quite a reputation for the
youthful wizard, and yet it is simplic-
ity itself — when you know it !

In the first place we must have two
dimes in appearance as nearly alike
as possible, and one of these we take
an opportunity to drop quietly before-
hand under the table at which we

propose to perform the trick. The
only other thing required is a little
pellet of beeswax. This we must
knead between the fingers till it is
fairly soft, and then press, till needed
in another sense, against the back
part of our lowest vest button.

To perform the trick, take the wax
off the button, and press it against one
corner of the handkerchief which you
are going to use. Then lay the hand-
kerchief on the table squarely in front
of you, with the waxed corner nearest
to the right hand. Lay the dime on the
center of the handkerchief, or better
still, let somebody else do this, to prove
that there is "no deception." Then
fold down the corners of the handker-
chief one by one over the coin, begin-
ning with the waxed corner, and press-
ing this down a little, so as to make it
adhere. This done we ask someone
to make sure, by feeling through the
handkerchief, thatthecoinis still there.
Each person who does so presses the
wax a little closer.

Now comes the exciting moment.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen," you
say, "I am going to make the dime
pass right through the table, and be
found upon the floor. If you will all
be very quiet, perhaps you will hear
it fall." They won't, but they may
as well imagine that they do so.

We blow upon the center of the
handkerchief saying, "Presto! Pass!"

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

291

Then, hooking the first and second
fingers of each hand inside the nearer
opening of the handkerchief, as shown
in the picture, we draw the two corners
smartly apart, one in each hand, and
shake it out. The coin, adhering to
the handkerchief, is drawn into the
right hand. "Look under the table,
and see whether it has gone through,"
you say, and while general attention
is occupied by looking for and picking
up the other coin, you will have ample
opportunity to get rid of the one in
the hand.

Of course we are not bound to make
the coin pass "through the table."
If we prefer it we may order it to pass
under a candlestick, into a vase on
the mantelpiece, or even into some-
body's breast-pocket. All that is
needful is to place the duplicate dime
where we intend that it shall be found,
and alter the command accordingly.
Making a ball vanish and reappear

For the performance of this con-
juring trick the only apparatus we need
is a little ball, light in weight and rather
smaller than a marble in size, and a small
stick for a wand. We hold the ball
up between the thumb and forefinger
of our right hand, as shown in the
first picture, so that all the spectators
may see it clearly. Then w^e say that
we shall place the ball in our left hand,
and we proceed to do so; but instead of
putting it in the left hand, we skillfully
roll the little ball down the right hand,
and fix it as shown in the second picture,
so that it is supported between the
second and third fingers. To do this
quickly and successfully needs a little
practice, but it is quite possible for
any boy or girl to learn the trick in a
very short time.

Now we close the left hand as if we
were holding the ball in it. Then,
still supporting the little ball between
the second and third fingers of the right
hand, we take up the wand, and,

tapping on the knuckles of the closed
left hand, we say, "Vanish, little ball!"
and instantly we open the hand and
show that the ball, which was supposed
to be in it, has disappeared.

If we are skillful in performing the
trick so far, we shall have no difficulty
in continuing it, and, to the astonish-
ment of the spectators, we shall call
the little ball back from the inside of
the wand. We continue to support
the ball between the second and third
fingers of the right hand, keeping the
back of the hand towards the audience
all the time, though, of course, without

How the ball is concealed

appearing to do this purposely. We
take the wand in the right hand, as in
the third picture, and, holding the
other end with the left hand, we call to
the ball to come forth from inside the
wand. As we speak we work the ball in
an instant from its hiding-place, and
hold it up once again before the spec-
tators, as in the first picture. Of
course, in all such tricks as this we
should practice well alone before at-
tempting to give an exhibition before
others.

The boy conjurer's joke with his
audience

At the end of a series of tricks it is
often a source of great amusement to
entertain the audience with what
schoolboys call a "sell" — a practical
joke in the disguise of a conjuring
trick. The only apparatus needful
is the pencil, and this you can manu-
facture for yourself. You have

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

merely to change an ordinary pencil
in such a way as to make it look
like an extraordinary one. For in-
stance, you may paint it in three
colors — red, blue, and yellow, successive
rings of each color; or, for lack of
paint, colored paper may be used —
anything, in fact, to give it an un-
usual appearance.

Having performed a few genuine
tricks, you produce the pencil and a
blank sheet of paper, inviting the
company to examine them. "Now,
ladies and gentlemen," you remark,
"you notice no doubt, that this is a
rather peculiar-looking pencil. But
its appearance is the least of its pecu-
liarities. In point of fact, it is an
electric pencil. At present, you see,
it writes plain black like any other
pencil." Here you make a few marks
with it and proceed : "But if I electrify
it a little, it will write red, blue, or
yellow — in fact, any color, just as I
please. What color will you have.^
Choose for yourselves." "Red," we
w^ill suppose is the reply. You
gravely breathe upon the pencil, rub
it upon your coat-sleeve, and proceed
to write the word "red" in bold letters.
"There it is, you see — red. If you
had asked for blue or yellow, it would
have been just the same." Which
nobody can deny.

The success of the trick rests on the
fact that the audience have been
prepared, by seeing sundry surprising
things, to expect something equally
surprising. If the trick were offered
offhand, without such preparation,
some of the audience would probably
see through the joke; but if it is led up
to in a proper manner, they will hardly
ever do so.

A GOOD CONJURING TRICK WITH NUTS

There is an excellent conjuring trick
that can be performed with very little
preparation or apparatus, and if it is
practiced once or twice until skill is

acquired, it will greatly mystify the
spectators.

We hand round us for the inspection
of the audience an empty dessert plate
and a clean pocket-handkerchief.
These can be handled by anyone who
likes to prove that they have no
secret pockets or recesses. We now
place the empty plate on the table,
spread over it the pocket-handkerchief,
and then, after making a few mysteri-
ous passes with the hand or a wand,
we raise the handkerchief and shake
out of it upon the plate a number of
sweetmeats or nuts.

This is the explanation of the trick.
We make a small triangular bag, as
shown in the first picture, by sewing

The trick bag

together two triangular pieces of linen
or calico, and in the two hems on each
side of the opening we sew straight
pieces of watch-spring, taking care
that in each case the spring goes the
whole length of the hem. These
springs, if flat, will close the opening
of the bag, and keep it closed unless
force is used to open it. A pin, bent
to a hook, is put through the apex of
the bag.

Nuts or sweetmeats are now placed
in the bag, and the spring closes the
mouth, so that when the bag is sus-
pended they will not fall out. Having
prepared the bag in this way, we hang
it by the hooked pin on the side of the
table that is awaj^ from the spectators,
this being done, of course, in advance,

TEE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

298

before they sit down, so that they know
nothing about it.

After showing the empty plate to the
audience, we place it on the table near
the edge where the bag is suspended,
and in spreading the handkerchief
over it we see that part of it hangs over
the edge of the table where the hooked
pin is. Then in picking up the hand-
kerchief we dexterously pick up with
it the bag. The handkerchief falhng
around so as to hide the bag. The
rest of the trick is simple. We

shake the handkerchief with a
few vigorous jerks and the impact
of the nuts or sweets parts the
springs, which are not very stiff, and
allows the objects to fall out on the
plate. The bag can then be skillfully
dropped behind the table, which
should, of course, have a thick cloth
on it, reaching to the floor, to effect-
tively hide the back. There are few
conjuring tricks so easy to per-
form, and yet so surprising in their
effects.

GAMES AND AMUSEMENTS

The "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" TUB

ALL boys and girls know "Alice
in Wonderland," and there
is a good Alice game that we
can play.

We prepare a shallow tub and deco-
rate it, inside and out, with green
muslin and pretty wreaths of ivy.
Boys will easily put together a lattice
made of wire, one, perhaps, with four
large squares or oblongs; the outer
circle should be of the same size as the
tub. A very pretty cover is made
when this lattice is decorated with
greenery.

Then lovers of "Alice in Wonder-
land" collect as many as they can of
the people in the book — white rabbits,
the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, Bill,
the Lizard, and a host of other char-
acters can easily be made up by clever
boys and girls. They should be
wrapped carefully in prettily tinted
papers, and the packets should be tied
with ribbons or tapes to match,
leaving a long, trailing end. All the
parcels should now be placed carefully
in the tub, in such a way that the ends
of ribbon can be drawn through one
of the openings in the cover. Then,
when pulled by a pair of eager hands,
the ribbon brings out with it a package
one longs to open. No packet must be

opened, however, until the magic tub
is empty.

Who will get the White Rabbit, the
Black Kitten, or the dear, sleepy Dor-
mouse? How delightful to find a
lobster or a walrus, or one of the
poor little oysters ! A little pig may be
in one parcel ; a pepper-pot in the next.
There is really no end to the number of
delightful people and things that may
be popped into the Lewis Carroll
lucky tub. But the packages may
only be felt by those who take posses-
sion of them, they are not to be opened
until a signal is given, and even then
they may be opened only privately —
just a private peep.

Everybody then scampers to a seat
and waits for more fun. A clever
grown-up somebody takes a chair in
the middle of the room and begins
telling, quickly and cleverly, the story
of "Alice in Wonderland," and when
the moment comes for the dear, fussy
White Rabbit to be mentioned a
pause is made, the storyteller strikes a
gong, and before sixty seconds have
passed the child with the White
Rabbit must have loosened the cover-
ings that conceal him, run to the side
of the storyteller, and hold him up for
general observation, pronouncing his
name. Sometime three or four people

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

must run at the same moment; what
would the Mad Hatter, the March
Hare, the Dormouse, and Ahce do
without the big teapot or the wonder-
ful watch?

Each boy or girl who succeeds in
getting to the center of the room at
the right moment takes a chocolate
from a box placed close to the story-
teller, and returns to his or her place

until wanted again. This time the
concealing papers need not cover the
treasure drawn from the lucky tub; it
may be placed on the floor of the
owner's feet, so that its beauties may
be properly noted. Then, when the
story comes to an end a big march
past to music takes place, and a boy,
wearing the Mad Hatter's Hat, makes
a fine leader of the procession.

GAMES TO BE PLAYED IN THE NURSERY

Hunt the slipper

ALL the players but one —
"cobblers," as they are called
— sit on the floor in a circle
a few inches apart. Then the cus-
tomer comes and says: "Please, I
want this old slipper mended. I will
call for it in ten minutes."

She hands one of the cobblers an
old slipper, and turns away. When
she has counted up to ten, she comes
back, but is told the slipper is not
ready.

"I must have it," says the customer.

"Then you must find it," all the
cobblers reply.

At that the search begins. Each
cobbler passes the slipper on to his or
her neighbor, hiding it from sight as
much as possible; but should the seeker
spy it and call out the name of the
cobbler who has got it, that cobbler
must take her place, and bring it to
be mended again. The slipper must
not stop in one place, but must keep
passing round the circle, either one way
or the other.
The garden gate

The garden fence is made by all the
players, except one, holding each
other's hands, standing in a big ring.
In the middle stands the single player,
while the rest dance round her three
times. Then they stand still while she
sings :

"Open wide the garden gate, the
garden gate, the garden gate.
Open wide the garden gate and let me

through."

But the "fence," as the ring is called,

only answers, as it dances round again :

"Get the key of the garden gate, the

garden gate, the garden gate.

Get the key of the garden gate and let

yourself through."
Then the poor prisoner cries :
"I've lost the key of the garden gate,

so what am I to do?"
Still dancing, the others sing:
"Then you may stop, may stop all
night within the gate,
Until you're strong enough, you
know, to break a way through."
At this the prisoner runs between
two of the boys and girls — the "pal-
ings" of the fence — and if, by pushing,
she can make them unclasp hands, one
of them takes her place in the middle
and the game begins again.
Hold fast ! let go !

You must listen to what is said in
this game, and be careful to do exactly
the opposite. Four players stand up,
and each takes hold of one corner of a
square sheet of paper or a handker-
chief. A fifth player calls out: "Hold
fast!" and anyone who does not let go
will be out; while, if the order is "Let
go!" those who fail to holdfast will be
out. The orders must be given

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

295

rapidly, one after another, and some-
one is sure to make a mistake, but the
last to do so, of course, is the winner.

Puss IN THE CORNER

In this game all the children pretend
to be mice, except one, who is the puss.
"Puss" stands in the middle of the
room. Each mouse stands in a corner.
While there puss cannot touch them,
but when they run across the room to
change corners with one another she
may capture any she can. No
mouse should venture from a corner
until she has made signs to another
mouse with whom she would like to
change houses, or she may find herself
half-way across the room with no
corner to run to. The mouse that is
caught must take the place of puss.
Blind man's buff

Those who want to make a great
noise will have a chance now. One
player is taken into the middle of the
room, where a handkerchief is tied
over his eyes. He is then turned round
three times and told to catch whom he
can. The other players run to and
fro, passing as near to him as they dare,
while the blindman rushes in all direc-
tions, clutching at those who seem
nearest. When he succeeds in catch-
ing someone, he must guess who it is,
and, if correct, the person caught must
be blindfolded in his place. If he
cannot guess, he must leave go and
try again.
Wolf

The "wolf" is a player who creeps
away to one side of the nursery, and
hides behind chairs and tables or boxes.
The "sheep" all huddle up at one end
of the room, and the shepherd stands
at the other. Presently he calls out to
the sheep to "come home, for the night
is falling."

"We are afraid of the wolf," answer
the sheep.

"The wolf is away!" cries the
shepherd.

Then the sheep all run across. Out
jumps the wolf and catches whom he
can. The game lasts till there are no
sheep left to be caught.
Bingo

The players join hands in a ring,
with one of their number, who is called
the "miller," in the center. Then all,
still holding hands, dance round and
sing:

"The miller's mill dog lay at the mill
door.

And his name was little Bingo:
B with an I, I with an N, N with a G,
G with an O,
And his name was little Bingo."

Then as they stand still again the
miller cries out "B" and points at one
of the players in the ring, who must
say "I," the next to her "N," and so on,
until the little dog's name is spelled.
The first player to say the wrong
letter has to change places with the
miller.
Feather and fans

A fluffy feather out of any cushion will
do for this game, and if there are not
enough fans to go round, stiff pieces of
paper or thin card will do quite as well.
Draw a line across the nursery floor,
and let half the number of players be
on one side, and half the number on
the other. When all are ready, toss
the feather into the air and keep it up
with the fans. No players must leave
their side of the line, but should do
their best to stop the feather sailing
across it. Those in whose country
it falls at last lose the game. Of course
the feather, while in flight, must not be
touched.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

GAMES TO PLAY BY THE FIRE

Word-making

NEAR the top of a slip of paper
each player writes down a word
given out by the leader of the
company. Then all start to make a
list below it of other words, spelled
from the letters it contains — and these
letters only. When the leader says
that time is up (about ten minutes
should be allowed), the lists are added
up, and the player who has made the
largest number of words is the winner.
It is not necessary to choose a very
long word, for it is surprising how many
words may be made from the letters
contained in any word of ordinary
length. For example, from the word
"animal" we can get: am, nail, main,
lain, and so on.
Magic answers

This is a game in which two of the
players form a plan between them-
selves to puzzle the rest. One of these
two leaves the room, while his partner
remains behind to choose with the rest
of the company some object to be
guessed.

The one outside is then recalled and
questioned by his accomplice as to what
this object is. Several things are
touched. "Is it this?" "Is it this?"
he is asked. To every inquiry he
answers "No," until something is
mentioned that has four legs, and as
he and his friend have previously ar-
ranged that such an article shall not be
referred to till just before the real object
is named, he knows that the next ques-
tion may be answered with a "Yes."
Proverbs

While one of the players is out of
the room, the rest think of a proverb.
It should contain at least as many
words as there are players.

The boy or girl who has been sent
out is now called back, and begins the
game by asking the first in the row a

question. This question may be of
any kind, but the answer to it must
contain the first word of the proverb.
The next is then questioned, and
replies with the second word, wrapped
up, as it were, in the answer.

Supposing the proverb to be, "It is
never too late to mend," and the first
question is, "How many apples do you
eat in a day?" the answer might be,
"As it is not wise to eat too much of
anything, there are some days when I
don't eat apples at all." The word "it"
is not easy to notice in this sentence.
But it would be more difficult to hide
the last word in the proverb.

Let us take as a question, for
example, "Are you fond of reading?"
The answer might be, "Yes; but I
tore the pages of my favorite book,
and must mend them before I can go
on with the story." If you wish to
puzzle the questioner you should not
let your word begin or end the sentence.
General post

All the players sit round the room
in a large circle, and one, who is
blindfold, stands in the middle. Each
player takes the name of a town, and
the leading player makes a list of
these, from which he calls out now
and then, thus: "The Post is going
from Chicago to Denver," choosing
"towns" on opposite sides of the
circle. "Chicago" and "Denver"
jump up and slip across to each other's
seat, the blindman doing his best to
catch one of them as they pass. When
several towns have changed places,
and the blindman has failed to make
a prisoner, the leader cries out
"General Post," when all must jump
up and cross over to opposite sides.
In the hurry and confusion the blind-
man is sure to catch someone, who
takes his place while he becomes one
of the towns.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

297

A LITTLE SHADOW THEATER

BY means of scissors, paste,
cardboard, paper, and a piece
of wood, any bright boy or
girl can make an amusing toy that
will provide plenty of fun for a Christ-
mas or New Year party, and will be
equally interesting for grown-ups and
for children. The toy is a shadow
puzzle game, and is made in this way.
Take some stiff cardboard, and cut
out two pieces 15 inches high by 6
inches wide. Then cut another piece
15 inches high and 18 inches w^de, and
from the center of this larger piece cut
out a space about 12 inches high and
12 inches wide, so that what is left
will look very much like the wings
and curtain of a theater. Now take
two strips of gummed paper, and
fasten the two narrow pieces of card
to the larger piece, one on each side,
so that the paper will form hinges,
and the side pieces can be turned at

right angles to the middle card.
Strips of linen pasted or gummed on
to the card make even better hinges
than the gummed paper.

To make this screen frame neat,
cover one side of it with black paper —
not the side on which the linen or paper
strips are pasted. Then, turning the
screen over, paste over the opening
which we have cut out a piece
of ordinary semi-transparent tracing
paper. The paper should be as white
as possible. The screen is now ready,
and it may be put aside while we make
the rest of the toy.

Cut out four figures in stiff card-
board, each about three inches high,
and these should be, if possible, rather
fantastic and humorous, as that will
add to the fun of the game. Any kind
of upright figures will do, and may be
copied from books, but if there is any
difficulty about drawing men, four

Little men for the shadow theater

• 6" «■■ • _• la - * 6T....J

The framework of the theater

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

upright pieces of card may be cut into
any kind of irregular shapes, and will
serve for the purpose of the game.

A piece of wood, 12 inches long by
about 6 or 7 inches wide and ^4 of an
inch thick, is wanted for a stand for
these figures, and running the whole
length of the board, cut six grooves at
regular intervals, just wide and deep
enough to hold the figures upright
when they are placed in these grooves.

Now take some stiff paper an
make four extinguishers, by rolling u}
the paper in the form of a cone, an
cutting the opening evenly all rount
Then sew a little ring in the top
each. The extinguishers should b
about 4 inches high and 2 inches i
diameter at the bottom.

Next get a thin stick about 2
23^ feet long, and in the end put
nail or drawing-pin, and to this fast
a straight piece of wire about 12 inch
long with the end turned up slight^
to form a hook. The wire should
stout enough to remain stiff
straight. All that is necessary 1
for the game is an ordinary candl
a candlestick.

Any number of people may pla
puzzle shadows. Stand the screei
the table, with the wings folde
right angles, as shown in the pic
and put a lighted candle some dist
at the back of it. One who doe>
take part in the game acts as m
of ceremonies. He puts the wc
stand between the screen an
candle, and then places each o
four figures in a groove.

All lights in the room except the
candle are turned out. The first
player now takes his place before the
screen, and he must on no account
look round or over it to see what is
behind. Hooking the wire holder into
the ring of one of the extinguishers, he
lifts this over the top of the screen,
and guided only by the shadows of the

figures and extinguisher on the paper
front of the screen, he tries to put the
extinguisher over one of ilm figures.
So long as the shadow of the extin-
guisher is above the shadows of the
figures it may be moved about in any
direction, but directly it touches or
begins to cover the shadow of a figure
it must be let down at once. The
gently unhooked, and another

catch nre.

You MUSTN'T LAUGH!

All sit in a row round the fire and
look solemn. Then the first player
says: "Haw-haw!" which is repeated
all down the line, one after another.
Those who cannot do this without
laughing afterwards are declared out,
and the game begins again.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

299

AMUSING GAMES FOR HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN, or All Hallows'
Eve, is a festival that has
long been observed, particu-
larly in Scotland, and although many
of the customs associated with the
season are superstitious, yet there are
also some interesting games which

apples without stalks are selected.
The greatest fun is to have some of
each kind. Of course, those with
stalks are captured first, and then
the excitement increases. Small apples
can be sucked up into the mouth, but
the larger ones have to be chased to

Ducking for apples in a tub ol water

Cutting (iuwn the apple

Tlie apples captured frum the water

boys and girls have played for genera-
tions on Halloween, or the last night
in October.

Some of these historic games are
illustrated on this page. One of the
most popular is that of ducking for
apples. A large tub or bath is nearly
filled with water, and a number of
apples are set floating on the water.

the bottom or side of the bath, and
there seized with the teeth.

Another game is to suspend an
apple from the ceiling or chandelier
by a string, and for the boys and girls
then to take it in turns to try to cut
the string. They have to be blind-
folded, and are placed some distance
from the apple. Then they take

V...

These pictures show a boy and girl playing the Halloween gams ol dropping a fork to pick up an apple

The boys and girls then gather round,
and take it in turn to duck their heads
into the water, trying at each duck to
seize an apple in their teeth.

Sometimes the apples chosen are
provided with stalks, and sometimes

three steps forward, scissors in hand,
and make a cutting motion where they
think the string is. It is great fun to
see the many amusing and fruitless at-
tempts that are made before anyone
succeeds in cutting down the apple.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Still another game with apples is to
place several of them in a tnb or bath
of water, and to put this near the back
of a chair. Then the boys and girls
take it in turn to stand or kneel on
the chair, and to drop a kitchen fork
into the tub, trying to spear an apple.
If the player succeeds, the apple is his.
Sometimes the fork is held by the
handle in the mouth, and allowed to
drop from there into the tub. This
makes it harder to spike the apples.
We must, of course, be careful not to
overbalance the chair.

Instead of the tub being nearly full
of water and having apples floating
in it, it is sometimes left dry, and in it
are placed an apple, a potato, a
carrot, and a turnip. The boys and
girls then drop the fork and see which
they can manage to secure. The apple
is the most sought after, and the
turnip is regarded as the least desirable.

In addition to these games, there
are many other customs practiced on
All Hallows' Eve which are interesting
as being survivals of a past age. For
instance, nuts are placed in the fire,
and according to the order and the
manner in which they crack or jump
out, so certain things are imagined as
to what will happen in the future.
Very few people believe in such
foolish superstitions nowadays, but
there is much amusement in watching
the nuts and seeing how they happen
to fall and which crack first.

Literature is full of references to
Halloween. The most famous is per-
haps Burns's poem, beginning
"Among the bonnie winding banks."
Goldsmith, in his "Vicar of Wake-
field," refers to the custom of cracking
nuts on Halloween.
Good games for a Christmas party

To make a Christmas party a thor-
ough success there is nothing like
having plenty of variety in the games.
There is no chance then of the boys

and girls getting tired because some
of the games are more or less alike.

A very good game for a large or
small party is that of "guessing with
the wooden spoons." One of the
partj" — a girl, for instance — is blind-
folded, and sits upon a chair. She is
then given two large wooden spoons,
such as are in common use in every
kitchen. One after another the other
boys and girls come up to the blind-
folded sitter and stand or kneel
before her, and she has to guess who
each one is by simply feeling him or
her with the wooden spoons, as shown
in the picture on this page.

Guessing with the wooden spoons

The task is very much more difficult
than it looks, and there is great fun
as the spoons go over the face and body
in the attempt of the blindfolded
player to discover the identity of the
other. It is not easy for the one who
is being touched with the spoons to
abstain from laughing, especially
when all the other players are equally
amused.

Of course, any outburst of laughter
when the spoons are going over our
face would disclose our identity, so
we must keep perfect silence. When

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

301

anyone's identity is guessed, he has
to be bhndfolded and must take the
spoons. We must be careful when
using the spoons to touch another
player with them quite lightly, so as
not to hurt him; and any player who
wears glasses should remove them
before going to be felt with the spoons.
Another good game for a Christmas
party is that of blowing the egg. Two
pieces of cotton or tape are stretched
across the carpet in a straight line
about two feet apart. Then an ordi-
nary hens' egg— not too large — which
has been prepared beforehand by being
blown — that is, having the contents
removed without cracking the shell —
is laid exactlv midway between the

A CHRISTMAS TREE FOR THE BIRDS

Christmas would not be Christmas
without a Christmas-tree. But have
you ever thought when you have been
enjoying yourself, that the winter,
which brings lots of fun for all of us, is
a very uncomfortable time for the
poor things who do not have warm
homes?

Perhaps, on some cold morning, you
have looked out of your window, and
have watched the birds flying about
among the bare branches of the trees
in the garden, searching the ground
in the hope that some kind person
has thrown out a few crumbs for them?

Have you not sometimes wished
there was a Santa Clans to bring a tree

Bio wing llie egg across lue liue

tape lines. A girl player then makes
a little paper fan out of half a sheet
of notepaper, and kneels down on one
side of the tapes, and a boy kneels
down on the other. The girl then has
to try to fan the egg-shell across the
tape on the boy's side, and he has to
try to blow the shell back across the
tape on the girl's side. The one who
first drives the egg across the partner's
line three times wins the contest.
Nothing must be used by the girl but
the paper fan or her hand; and the
boy, on his part, must simply blow
with his mouth. If more convenient,
a large dining-table may be used in-
stead of the floor.

Fanning tue egg witn a paper Ian

full of good things for the birds? Per-
haps it never occurred to you that you
might be the birds' Santa Clans?
Well, we are going to see how to make
a Christmas-tree for those poor little
mites.

First, we must get a small tree that
can be put into a pot. Probably we
shall find one in the garden, and will
be allowed to dig it up. If not, we
can buy one about Christmas-time
for a few cents.

When we have our tree planted in
a large flower-pot, we must get some
small baskets — the tiny ones that
sweets are sold in will do splendidly —
and tie these baskets to the branches of

302

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the tree. We can put all sorts of
things into these baskets — bread-
crumbs, nuts, little pieces of crust or
toast from the breakfast table, or
some of the seeds that are given to
tame birds and little pieces of suet.

A Christmas tree for the birda

We can make our Christmas-tree
look very pretty with some bright
pieces of cloth and ribbon, or colored
paper made into little bags to hold
bread-crumbs, and then, when it is
finished, we must put it out in the
garden or on the window-ledge of our

own room. At first the birds will not
understand, because nobody has ever
taken the trouble to make a Christmas-
tree for them before, and perhaps they
will think it is some sort of trap.
But presently some of the bravest ones
will come. Then we shall see them
perch on the branches, and look round
in everv direction to see if there is anv
danger.

We can watch them through the
window, and they will not be frightened
if we do not move. As long as we keep
quite still, they will not think we are
going to hurt them. In a little time
the birds will put their tiny heads in
the baskets, and give a little twitter of
delight when they find the good things
there. Other birds will be watching
them from the trees, and when these
see that the braver ones have not been
hurt, they too will come. When the
tree has been out a little while, we
shall see perhaps forty or fifty birds
of all sorts fluttering round it.

When they have eaten everything,
we can refill the baskets.

GARDEN GAMES

TOM Tiddler's Ground is a good
game when there are at least
three players. One is told off
to be Tom Tiddler, and his ground is
the lawn, or the path, or any other
part of the garden that may be spe-
cially marked off. Tom Tiddler gets
on to his ground, and, shutting his
eyes as he stands, pretends to be
asleep, and the other players venture
upon the ground, singing:

Here I am on Tom Tiddler's ground.
Picking up gold and silver.

As Tom Tiddler makes no sign of
being awake, the other players go
farther and farther on to his ground,
and then suddenly Tom Tiddler makes
a dash, and tries to touch one of the

others. If he succeeds, the one touched
becomes Tom Tiddler. If he does
not, and both of the other players get
quite safely off his ground, he must
continue to be Tom Tiddler.

Games of touch

Cross Touch is a good game for
three players, and provides plenty of
exciting play and healthy exercise.
One player is "He," and has to call
out the name of another player, and
then to run after him.

The third player tries to run be-
tween the hunter and the hunted, and
if he succeeds in doing so, "He," has to
run after him and try to touch him.
But if the second player manages to
run between the others, then he draws

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK 303

off "He" after himself. The more knocking them into each hole as it is

frequently the player runs between reached, and the one who does this

hunter and hunted, the more exciting and gets round to the starting point

and varied the game becomes. with the fewest strokes wins. ^ Each

Touch Wood is another game that player, of course, only hits his own

can be played by three players. One ball. The starting-place should also

is "He," and runs after the others, be used as the last hole,

trying to touch either of them. But jug of war

if a player touches wood — a tree- ^ strong, long rope is laid on the

trunk, or fence, or wooden shed, or ground across a chalk line. The

anything of that kind — he cannot be players are then divided into two

touched by "He." Of course, those parties, one side taking up the rope

who are being pursued must not touch ^^^ ^j^g gi^je of the line and the other

wood too often, nor must they remain ^j^^ opposite side. At a given signal

touching it for very long, or the game ^j^gy p^^ against each other with

will get slow. What "He" has to do niight and main, and the side that

is to try to drive them where there is draws the enemy over the line are the

no wood to touch. victors.

Follow my leader Flags

If the garden is a large one Follow ^ ^^ j.^^ j^ ^^^^^^^ ^^

My Leader can be played with a good ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ pl^^^^^ ^^

deal of fun. One is chosen as leader, ^.^.^^^ .^^^^ ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^

and wherever he leads the others ^.^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ .^^^ .^^

must follow, whatever he does they ^^^ "country," the Hue stretching

must do, even to a motion of the arm ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^, ^^^^

or leg, or head. The first one to fail ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^ ^^.^^^ g^^^^^ g^^ ^^

in following the leader loses the game ^^.^^ ^^^^ .^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ 1^^ ^^^^^ ^^

Of course the leader must be careful ^^^ ^ ^^^ .^^ .^^.^^ j^.^ ^^^^

to do nothing that will mean danger ^ i^^^^kerchief, a cap, or a scarf;

for a younger player and he must ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ .^^^^ „ ^^ ^ ^-^^^

be very careful not to go too near ^^^ ^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^-^^

flower-beds, or to do anything that J ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^

will result m damage to flowers. ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^

Field golf to return to their country, but any

We are going to play golf in a new ^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^ ^^g ^^^

way, which IS quite simple, but very -^^^^^^ j^ -^ ^h^^ the other side's

good fun. Choose a startmg-point in ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^^ ^j^^.^ p^i^.

a large field and dig there a very small ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ j^^^p ^^ ^^p^^^^ ^^^

hole. One hundred steps away, in a ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ belonging to the

straight me from this, we make an- ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^

other hole in the ground. Then, at ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^

the end of another hundred steps, ^.^^ ^^^^ .^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ .^^ g^^^ j^
another hole, and so on until we have
gone round the field and are back at

the starting-point. These holes mark Bounce about

our golf-course. Each player is armed Two players, with two marbles,
with a club-ended stick and a small, play this game. The larger the mar-
hard indiarubber ball. The game is bles the better. One boy throws his
to strike these balls round the course, marble down. If his companion can

304

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

hit it with his own, he wins 10 marks,
and has the right to try again, aiming
from the spot at which his marble
stops. He may keep on till he misses,
when the other player takes a turn.
A certain number should be fixed upon
— say, 100 — and the player whose
marks reach this first will be the
winner. Sometimes this game is played
with smooth pebbles.
Catch-ball

Any number of players can join in
this game. It simply consists of
tossing the ball from one to another,
but it may be made more exciting if
no special plan is followed as to whom
the ball is to be thrown next. This
keeps everyone on the alert, and a
very good trick is to look at some other
player than the one you intend to
throw to. This nearly always leads
to a slip on the part of the catcher.
Steeplechase

This is hard work as well as good
play. Before starting, a certain point
is fixed upon at some distance, with
fences and ditches and hedges and
brooks in between. Then the word
"Off!" is given, and the players race
away to see who can get there first.
In such a race it is not certain that the
fastest runner will win, for the boy
who knows how to get over a difficulty
stands a good chance.
The traveler and the wolves

The smallest boy or the slowest
runner is the traveler, and the traveler
has to get to his journey's end without
being caught. The rest of the players
are the wolves. Before setting out on
his journey, the traveler is given as
many tennis-balls as there are wolves,
and, of course, there should not be
more than four or five, or he w ill have
too much to carry. When he has got
some distance away, the wolves roar
out that they are coming, and the
race begins. When the traveler finds

a wolf overtaking him, he throws out
one of the balls, which the wolf must
secure before he can take up the race
again. Of course, the traveler's ob-
ject should be to throw the ball in
a way that will lead the wolf from the
direct path. Thus, he should never
throw it in front, or the swifter run-
ner will pass him to secure it, and then
merely wait for him to come up.
Knowing what the traveler is going to
do, the wolves will probably spread out
a little to either side in the hope of
stopping the balls more quickly.
Therefore, the traveler should do his
best to find out where the nearest wolf
is, and the more skill he shows in
managing the balls the greater will
be his chance of escape. Above all,
he should not throw them away too
soon.

If the chances against him are very
great at the start, he might be pro-
vided with more balls than there are
wolves. Of course, a distant spot
should be chosen as a goal.

Leap-ball

This game, which can be played
out of doors, is also suitable for a
large, clear room. AVe attach an
ordinary indiarubber or tennis ball
to a piece of string. The best way
to do this is to put the ball in a net
and fix the string to the net. Then
one player takes the other end of the
string and swings the ball round and
round on the ground in a circle. The
other players stand round in a circle,
and as the ball comes round and round
each player must jump so that the
ball goes under his feet and does not
touch him. Any player who is touched
must take his place in the center and
have a turn at swinging the ball while
the others jump.
Cross-ball

Cross-ball should be played by two
players standing two or three yards

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

305

apart. They should start with two
balls, and should each toss at the same
time so that the balls pass in mid-air.
It requires quickness of sight and
hand to keep this up, but a little
practice will make it easy, and
by-and-by a third ball may be added,
when the effect is very pretty.

Chestnuts, or any small round
objects that are not heavy, or too
hard, are better for this game than
balls, as they are quickly and easily
handled. If the players count aloud
as they throw, their actions will become
more regular, and slips less frequent.
Fives

This is a game for two or four
players. Draw on a flat brick wall a
long chalk line, three feet six inches
above the ground, and another one
along the ground, ten feet from the
foot of the wall. Then across each end
of this last line, which should be about
ten feet in length; draw another at
right angles to it, and connecting it
with the wall. These lines are to
show where the ball is to bounce.

The players divide into two parties
— we will call them A and B. A
throws the ball against the wall,
where it must strike above the chalk
line, and when, on springing back, it
bounces from the ground, B must
strike it with his open hand, sending
it against the wall again. Then
comes A's turn to hit it on the bounce,
and this is kept up, turn by turn, until
someone makes a slip.

If the ball strikes beneath the chalk
line, or rebounds outside the ground-
lines, the side that did not make this
mistake counts 1 to itself. The side
that first reaches 12 or 24 marks
wins, but any number may be chosen
as the players decide.
Driving a blindfold team

A very good game to play in a field
or playground, or large schoolroom, is
that of driving a blindfold team in and

out of a line of bottles or tins. We
place the bottles in a row, as shown in
the picture, taking care that there is
room between any two bottles for two
boys or girls to walk abreast. Then,
having blindfolded the horses, the
driver ties the reins to their arms, and
drives them in and out of the bottles,
turning the horses alternately to the
right and to the left, until they have
passed through the whole line.

For every bottle that is knocked
over or touched by the horses in their
passage, one mark is counted against
the team. When one team has driven
over the course, another takes a turn,
and so on, until all the teams have
been through. Then the team that
has the lowest score wins the game.

A successful blindfold team

The reins are tied on the outer
arms of the team, and the only
guidance the blindfolded horses have
as to where they shall go, and how
they shall avoid knocking over the
bottles, is by the pull to right or left
given by the driver. It is therefore
essential for success in a race that the
driver should keep a clear head, and
give the necessary directions to his
team with skill and care.
Egg hat

The caps of the players are laid in a
row on the ground at the foot of a
wall; they should be tilted a little, so
as to make it easier to toss a ball into

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

them. The players then stand in a
row at a hne about eight steps away,
and one of them pitches the ball at the
hats. The moment this is done they
all scatter, except the boy who owns
the hat it has fallen into.

He must take out the ball as quickly
as possible and throw it at one of the
other players. If it hits him this boy
must, in turn, pitch the ball at the
hats.

But if the thrower misses him, a
small pebble is placed in his cap as a
bad mark, and when any player has
missed so often that the number of
pebbles in his cap equal the number of
players, he is made to stand at a short
distance while the rest throw the ball
at him, each in turn. The game then
starts afresh.

A pebble should also be added for
every time a player fails to toss the
ball into a hat.

overbalance in the course of pushing
the matchbox forward we have to
start again. Success depends almost
entirely upon knack and balance
learned in practice, for short, stout
boys are sometimes more successful
than tall, thin boys. We should bend
as low as possible on the right side,
keeping the left shoulder and arm well
back to counterbalance the forward
weight of the right arm.

A somewhat similar trick is shown in
the second picture. In this case we
bend forward on all fours, and then,
raising the right hand, push the match-
box as far as we are able. Here, again,
practice makes perfect, and it is aston-
ishing how far we can push the box
after we have tried several times.
In this trick, knack does not count for
so much; we need strength to support
ourselves upon the left arm while reach-
ing forth to push the matchbox.

PUSHING THE BOX

THE ARM AND LEG STRETCH

KICKING THE BOX

The matchbox on the lawn

Here are three amusing tricks need-
ing no apparatus other than an empty
safety matchbox. We make a line
upon the ground either with chalk
or by stretching a piece of string
across; or we can use as the toe-line
any line that there may be upon the
linoleum or on the carpet. Then
stooping down into the position
shown in the first picture, and placing
the right hand under the knee, we push
the matchbox as far as we possibly
can, keeping our toes all the time to the
marking-line, and taking care not to
lose our balance. Of course, if we

Some prefer to close up the left hand
when resting upon it, but keeping
the hand open and resting upon the
palm gives a better support.

In the third trick we have to stretch
with our leg and foot. Some line is
marked or decided upon on the floor
or lawn, and we toe this line. Then
we stretch out with our foot as the boy
in the picture is doing, and place the
matchbox on the ground just beyond
where the foot reached. Now, again
toeing the line, we take great care not
to overbalance, and, stretching the
right foot and leg forward, try to kick
over the box.

TEE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOR

301

If we succeed we mark the spot by
a match, and put the box still farther
away. Then, again, we try to kick it
over, and so long as we succeed we
continue putting it farther and farther

from the toe-line, until at last we mark
the limit of distance to which we can
reach. Other players then take a turn,
and it is very exciting to watch the
efforts and see who can kick farthest.

GAMES TO PLAY WHEN OUT WALKING

TO MAKE a walk thoroughly
interesting and enjoyable, even
though it be over an old and
familiar route, is quite easy. We
merely want to arrange some simple
and amusing games that can be played
as we walk, and, of course, those
games that will draw out our powers
of observation and encourage us to
take note of the things that we see
during our walk are the best.

Counting the dogs

One such game is that of counting
dogs. One player takes one side of
the road and all the streets leading
out of it, and the other player takes
the other side of the road and all the
turnings out of it. Then, as they
walk along, they watch their own
particular side and see how many
dogs they can count. Every ordinary
dog counts one point, but a black dog
counts two, and for every perfectly
white dog seen one point is deducted.
Any player who sees a Dalmatian or
coach dog wins — the game, no matter
how many points others have made.

This game can, of course, be devel-
oped, and general objects taken in-
stead of dogs. Thus, a perambulator,
a truck, a two-wheeled cart, a police-
man, a bicycle could score one point;
a soldier, a sailor, a tricycle, or a four-
wheeled van could score two; and for
a rider on horseback, a motor-cycle,
or a flock of pigeons, a mark could be
deducted, and so on. Players can
always make their own rules before
setting out, the rules varying, of course,
according to the district where the
walk is to be taken.

On country roads sheep and cattle
would be very common, and in city
streets vans, carts, and automobiles
would appear in great numbers. Of
course, more than two players can
play these games. If there are four
or five players, sides can be formed.

Guessing the color of tails

Another good, quiet game that can
be played while out walking is that of
guessing the color of horses' tails.
Every horse that we see coming
towards us gives an opportunity for
guessing. We must guess while the
horse is some distance away, and the
one who is proved to be right when the
horse comes near scores a point.

A game for the city or town is to
look out for the names of tradesmen,
printed up over their shop-fronts,
that form ordinary words. Names
that are trades, for instance, might be
selected, and one looks at one side and
the other at the other side of the street.
Every name over a shop that is the
name of a trade would mean one point.
Such words as Baker, Butcher, Brewer,
Taylor, and so on, would score. Of
course, other kinds of words could be
selected — names of animals, like Bull
and Lamb.

Another game for a walk in a shop-
ping thoroughfare is to select some
number, like 6, and every time it
occurs over a shop-front, on a cart,
or on any other similarly conspicuous
place, for the players to say six. This
would happen whenever such numbers
as 6, 16, 26, and so on, appeared. But
if the number appears twice running,
as in 66, 166, and 266, the players must

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

say six, six. In the numbers 61 to 69
the players must say six one, six two,
and so on. Any faihire on a player's
part to keep to these rules means
one mark against him, and the player
wins who has the fewest such marks
to his credit.
The game of adjectives

Of course, many games that are
played in the living-room can be played
equally well when out Avalking. There
is, for instance, the old game of ad-
jectives. Somebody starts by saying,
"My mother had a cat." Then the
players take it in turn to put an adjec-
tive before cat. First of all, it must

be a w^ord beginning with A, as an
artful cat, an awkward cat, an apt cat,
and so on. When at last a player
cannot think of a word beginning with
A that has not already been used, he
has a point scored against him. If
nobody can think of a fresh word
beginning with A, then B is taken —
a bad cat, a blessed cat, a beautiful
cat, and so on. The one who has
few^est points scored against him for
failure to think of an adjective wins
the game. This is a good game to
play when a considerable number of
companions are out walking together
in the countrv.

THE GAME OF WHERE IS IT

One boy gives a description of an interesting place visited, a scene in history, or
reads one of the descriptions given below, and the game is to guess the place or incident
described.

The city of crowded streets

How hot it is! The sun's rays beat
down from a cloudless sky so fiercely
that our eyes turn with relief to the
broad river speeding by eastwards.
Low down on the banks are crowds of
people with brown skins, and here and
there some wearing white turbans.
They are bathing in the water and
crowding up and down stone steps,
leading to curious little buildings.
Can these be little temples .'^ Farther
along the banks steamers are busy
loading indigo and saltpeter to take
away. All around we hear strange
speech, and we look in vain for clean
streets. How narrow and crooked
they appear!

Answer: Benares, India.
The city with the golden dome

It is winter, and we are in a big city
where the streets are deeply covered
with snow; there is no sound of
vehicles, only the tinkling of sleigh-
bells and voices to break the silence.
The shops have signboards and objects
hung outside to tell what they sell,
because many of the people cannot

read, and certainly we cannot recog-
nize the letters. We follow the way
the sleighs take and come to a cathedral
with a golden dome and wide granite
pillars at the entrance. In front is a
river — but a river frozen over. The
ice will bear carriages; it will stay
there till the spring, and when it melts
there will be a religious ceremony and
a blessing of the waters.

Answer: St. Petersburg.
Trees for Europe's ships

We are in a country covered with
thick forest, so dense that it is only
with great difficulty w^e can make a
way through it. Hark! That must
be men sawing wood and chopping
down trees, and a young man, wearing
a white helmet, is directing them, and
— why, yes ; those big animals working
so hard are elephants. They are piling
up the big logs with their strong trunks
as though they were handling little
sticks, and others are dragging along
the chained trunks. The man tells
us they are clearing a way for a railway
through the forest, and the teak-trees
they are cutting down are to be used

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK 309

for building ships. He says there are a table before him. At last he con-
nearly twenty thousand square miles sents, sets his seal on a lump of wax
of tropical forest, and that some and throws himself on the ground in
tigers and leopards have been seen a rage. Who is he, and what is the
near. Do you know what country deed he has been forced to do by
we are in? others and now so regrets.?

Answer: Upper Burma. Answer: King John signing Magna

Where the cocoa-nuts grow Charta.

We seem to be on an island in the The landing of a brave band

midst of a big sea, for there is water We are on the coast of a wild, un-

everywhere, except here and there cultivated country. Behind the bare

where small islands are scattered rock on which we stand, forest

about. W^e are standing on a beauti- stretches far inland. Off the shore is

ful white sandy shore, dotted with a small bark at anchor, and from it

lovely colored shells. It is only one we watch men, women and children

o'clock in the day, yet, when we look landing. They are dressed in plain

at our little pocket compass and then garments, and seem to belong to the

at the sun in the sky, we find the sun artisan class. They are evidently

is to the north of us. weary, yet how brave they must be to

Away inland the ground rises in cross that wild sea in their small boat

terraces, forming a kind of amphi- of 180 tons, and land with their little

theater, up to the highest point in the children on an unknown shore. Who

middle of the island, which looks about are they and why have they come here,

8000 feet above the sea, and reminds where there is neither shelter nor food

us of a broken-down volcano. We for them?

turn up one of the gorges, and see Answer: Landing of the Pilgrim

palm-trees with cocoa-nuts growing Fathers with their wives and children

on them, great tree-ferns, sugar-canes, from the Mayflower.

and oranges. We meet some con- An interrupted game of bowls

tented-looking, brown-skinned natives. We have before us a bowling green,

who tell us in broken French that they where men are intent on their play,

are going to dive for oysters to get Near by stands a man gazing out to

mother-of-pearl from the shells that sea across the harbor. He pays no

they find. attention to the game, but stands

Answer: Tahiti, Society Islands, shading his eyes from the sun. Sud-

Pacific Ocean. denly he sees something, for he turns.

What scene in history? and striding up to one of the players,

We are in a tent in a meadow by the eagerly points out to him the beacon

bank of a river. In the tent are being lighted close by. But to his

gathered a number of men armed surprise the player goes on with his

after the fashion of the Middle Ages, game of bowls, coolly remarking:

and through the opening of the tent "There is plenty of time to finish the

we see troops standing. The men in game and beat the Spaniards too."

the tent look angry and determined. Yet, all around, people are gazing out

and bend threatening looks on one across the harbor, or making hurried

who is the center of attention, and preparations. What incident is this?

wears a crown. The foremost man Answer: Sir Francis Drake warned

of the group is urging him to put his of the approach of the Spanish

signature to a document spread out on Armada while at bowls.

X
H

810

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

311

THINGS FOR BOYS TO DO

I am going east

I have not gone I'ar I have gone far

TELLING A STORY WITH BRANCHES AND TWIGS

eionc nve clays' journey

THE SILENT MESSAGES OF THE RED MAN

ALL readers of Fenimore Coop-
er's Indian stories know how
clever the red men were at
following a trail and reading the
silent messages which their friends
had left for them, and which would
pass unnoticed by most of us.

This was, of course, in the last

friend following is to turn to the right
or left, the direction is indicated by a
third stone or by the direction in which
a twig is laid or the knotted grass is
twdsted.

Sometimes a more permanent and
substantial sign is fixed up. A stick
or small branch of a tree is stuck in

century, before civilization had spread the ground slanting-wise, and accord-

into the far w^est, but even now he is
very clever at giving and receiving
silent messages, and some of the
signs wdiich he uses are well worth

.4^

PK.

ing as its free end points north or
south, east or west, so an observer
could know which way the traveler
had gone. If the one fixing up the
sign wished to indicate how far he
was going, he w^ould place another
smaller stick upright in the ground
against the slanting stick. If it was
near the fixed end it meant he had
not gone far, but if it was near the
free end of the slanting branch the
traveler had gone far. By placing a
knowing. They wall be particularly number of uprights along the slanting

THIS IS THE TRAll.
T;jftN TO THE RIC.MT

eX-^

TURN TO THE L.E F.T

atones, twigs, grass, and tree signs

useful to Boy Scouts and all w^ho love
to spend their spare time in the open
country.

The red man can make use of any
common object of the countryside to drawn on the ground, with a stone or

stick, the red man would show how
many days' journey he had gone.
Two sticks crossed means "this path
not to be followed." A circle

convey his message. If he wants to
tell his friend who follows an hour or
a day later which way he has gone,
the road is marked by a series of stones
every here and there, one being placed
on another. Or, if there are no stones,
a twig from a bush or tree is stuck in the
ground at intervals,
or a bunch of grass
is knotted as show^n
in the picture, or a
mark made on a
tree-trunk. If the

another small circle inside, means,
"I have gone home." An arrow
drawn in the dust of a road shows the
route to follow.

But not only does the Indian use
such methods of leaving information
behind. He has a vast code of signs

The camp is here I am lost Good news Summons to meet

TALKING TO DISTANT FRIENDS BY SMOKE SIGNALS

312

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

by which he can talk to one of his own
or a friendly tribe without speaking
an audible word. Night is indicated
by closing the eyes and inclining the
head as though it were on a pillow.
Day is shown by joining the thumb
and forefinger, describing a circle
with them, and pointing from east to
west. Hunger is shown by sawing
across the breast with the hand;
scratching the chest means fire; the
earth is indicated by pointing to the
ground; to speak of a house or tent,
the red man places his two hands
together to form the shape of a gable
roof; when he wants his friend to look
at something he points to his eye and
then at the distant object. "I under-
stand" is shown by making a circle
with the thumb and forefinger, and
passing it away from the mouth.
Wherever possible an action was
indicated by imitating the operation,
as in drinking, eating, burying some-
thing, and so on. The smoke of
fires was formerly much used for
sending messages to friends a long
distance away in a level country like
the prairie. One or more fires were
lighted, and the rising columns of
smoke conveyed the message accord-
ing to an arranged code. Thus one
column of smoke would simply indi-
cate the position of the camp, two
fires with two rising columns of smoke
would be a cry of distress, meaning
"I am lost," three columns means
"I have good news to tell," four
would be a summons to a council of
chiefs, and so on. It is not necessary,
of course, to copy the actual signs
used by the Indians. We can take
their idea, and adapt the signs to the
particular country in which we happen
to be.
Measuring distance by sound

Most boys and girls have a watch
nowadays, and it is a very interesting
occupation for the country to measure

distances by means of sound. Sound
travels at the rate of about 1142 feet in
a second, which is equal to about a mile
in four and a half seconds, or thirteen
miles a minute. If, then, we have a
watch with a second hand, and we can see
the cause of a sound, we can measure
how far it is from where we are stand-
ing to the place where the sound first
arose.

If we are near a place where artillery
practice firing their guns, we shall be
able to measure the distance of the
guns from where we happen to be by
noticing the puff of the smoke, which
indicates that the gun has been fired,
and then watching the second hand
of cur watch and seeing how many
seconds pass before we hear the report
of the guns.

In this way we may also measure
the distance of a tliunder-cloud. We
see the flash of lightning, and by
means of our watch are able to tell how
many seconds pass between the flash
and the thunder-clap, which is, of
course, the report of the flash or electric
spark. Having this time and know-
ing the rate at which the sound travels,
a very simple sum in arithmetic will
give us the distance away of the
thunder-cloud. Many other sounds
will enable us to measure distances in
the same way.

If we are on a broad river in a row
boat on a dark night, we can, by
striking the water with the flat of the
oar and listening for the echo from the
bank, judge roughly of our distance
from shore. We can also tell which
bank we are nearer to, for the nearest
bank will send back the echo first.
An easy way to make a telephone

To make a real telephone is a some-
what difficult task, but we can make
a good telephone which will enable us
to speak, in favorable conditions, up
to a quarter of a mile away with very
simple materials.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

313

The materials we shall require in-
clude two boards about 14 inches long,
10 inches wide, and about half an inch
thick. We should be able to get such
boards by breaking up an empty box,
and sawing up two of the boards to
these sizes. Then we cut a circular
hole about eight inches across in the
middle of each board. We have first
to mark the holes to be cut out.

This is easily done by getting a plate
about eight inches across, laying it
face downwards in the middle of the
board, and marking the wood round
the edge of the plate with a lead-pencil.
To cut out the holes properly we should
have a keyhole saw or a fret-saw; but
if we do not have either of these tools
we can make shift by making holes
with a gimlet right round the circle
we have made. The holes should
be as close together as we can get them.
Then by using our chisel we can cut
out the circular hole. Having done
this, the boards are ready, and we can
put them aside until we have the other
parts of our telephone ready.

the necks with string, and put them
aside for a few days to stretch. We
must not leave them so long that they
get dry. When they have stretched,
we cut off the necks and soak the
bladders in warm water until they
are white and pliable. Then we
put them over the holes in the
boards we have prepared, putting
the outside of the bladders to the wood.
They should be put on evenly without

2. Button
and wire

1. Fixing the bladder

Now we want two fresh beef-
bladders. We blow them up hard, tie

3. Stretching the bladder

creases, and not stretched in one direc-
tion more than in another direction.
Now we take a thin leather band,
or some pieces of leather which we can
make into a thin leather band, and
tack it all round one of the holes above
the bladder as seen in picture 1. This
will attach the bladder securely to the
board. The tacks should have big
heads, and should be driven well hoi»e.>
Old boot-tongues will do 'irieply
for the leather. We cut theeef 31^
into strips about half an inch wide for
the purpose. We fix the two bladders
in this way to the two boards in which
we have cut the holes. Then the
edges of the bladder outside the leather
strips should be cut away.

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Now take a button and attach a
thin wire to it by passing the wire
through two of the holes in the button,
as seen in picture 2, twisting it so that
it will not come out. Make a hole
right in the middle of the bladder and
put this wire through. Then hang
something heavy — a weight of about
7 pounds, or a large stone — to the
other end of the wire, as seen in
picture 3, putting the board in some
position so that the weight can pull
down the bladder. We treat both
bladders in this way, and leave
them in the sun until the bladders are
dry and hard.

All that remains to be done now is to
fix up the two boards and bladders at a
distance apart, and connect them by
fixing a wire to the two wires attached
to the buttons. This wire should be
fine copper or tinned iron wire. The
wires may need to be supported if the
distance is great. This can be done by
hanging loops of string to the branches
of trees, or to any posts that may be in
the way. Then we may speak from
either end, and the words should be
heard distinctly at the other end.
We should speak close to the bladder.
When we wish to "ring up" the other
end, we tap the bladder at our end
with a pencil.
Simple kites and how to make them

There are many different kinds of
kites. Some are very simple, and
these we shall see how to make in this
article.

The ordinary kite is made with very
simple materials, and its manufacture
costs very little indeed. First, we
require the half of a hoop. The size of
the hoop depends upon the size of kite
we are going to make, or, rather, the
size of kite that we shall have will
depend upon the size of hoop that we
use. A hoop from a butter-cask will
do very well for a small kite, and any
grocer will be glad to give us one if we

ask him. We do not use the whole
hoop, but only a piece a little smaller
than half of it. We choose the best
for this purpose, and cut away the
remainder. Then we thin the half-
hoop with a pocket-knife, taking care
not to take off enough to weaken it
much. We must thin it equally all
round, and we should test it to see that
we have not made it lighter at one side
than at another. The way to test it
is simple. Take a piece of string and
put it round the outside of the half-
hoop, then cut it off to the exact
length of the half-hoop. Double the
string then, and again put it round
the half -hoop as far as it will go
from one end. Make a notch with
the penknife where the end of the
doubled string conies. Then balance
the half-hoop on the edge of the
knife-blade at this point, as seen in
picture 1. If the half-hoop hangs

1. Testing the top

2. Top With notches

evenly, and does not hang down at one
end more than at the other, it is all
right; but, if one end hangs down more
than the other, we must shave a little
more wood from the heavier end, so
as to make it the same weight
as the other end. When we have
got the half-hoop thinned properly
and balanced, we make a notch
at each side of each end, close
to the end, as seen in picture 2, and put
it aside till the backbone of the kite
is ready. We require for the backbone
a length of wood that will be strong and
light. A piece of thin cane will do
nicely if it is rather stiff.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

315

But a long slip of wood — say, from
24 to 30 inches long — will do about as
well. We thin and smooth this slip,
and then tie it to the notch in the
center of the half-hoop, so as to leave
1 inch sticking up beyond the top of
the half -hoop. Picture 3 shows the
kite at a later stage, but shows also
the position of the hoop and the back-
bone. Now tie a thin, strong string
to one end of the half-hoop, or top, as
we shall now call it, at one of the end
notches, pass the string once round the
backbone, and the other end tie to the
notch in the opposite end of the top.

3. Frame of kite

5. Strut in position
Cutting the paper

Balance the whole by placing one end
of the backbone on one forefinger,
and the other end of the backbone on
the forefinger of the other hand. We
can then see if the top swings heavier
at one side than at the other. If one
side is heavier, we move the backbone
along the string a little bit, until we
find from the swing that it is right in
the middle between the two ends of the
top. Picture 6 shows how we test
the balance.

Testing the balance

Having done this, we join each end
of the top with string to the bottom
end of the backbone, where we put a
notch or a hole to receive the string.

The kite now looks like picture 3. All
the strings should be fairly tight.

We now get a large sheet of thin
strong paper. A sheet of a large news-
paper would do, but imitation parch-
ment paper, if we can get it, is stronger
and better. The paper must be large
enough to cover the entire kite from
top to bottom and from side to side.
If the only paper we can get is in too
small sheets, we can make one sheet
large enough by pasting two or more
pieces together at their edges.

We place the kite on the top of the
paper, on a table or on the floor, and,
with a pencil, draw a line round the
kite, about one inch outside the hoop
top, and J^-inch outside the string
sides, as seen in picture 4. Paste or
gum the edges of the paper, and fold it
over, and stick it down. Turn
it over carefully, and stick on two or
three patches on the back, thereby
sticking the backbone to the covering
paper and strengthening it. The kite
is made, and we may prepare to fly it.

Tie a string at the back from side to
side, from one end of the top to the
other end of the top. Take a piece of
wood about 4 inches long, and, having
cut a notch in each end of it, fit it
between this string and the backbone
with one end on each. From the back,
the kite will now look like picture 5.

Tie a string from top to bottom of
the backbone in front. This is the
bridle. It must be slack, so that the
kite will fly properly.

Tie another piece of string to the
lower end of the backbone and let
it hang loose — say, about 5 yards long.
This is the tail. Make some loops in
the tail right down, 2 feet apart, and
put in tufts of paper, and then pull
the loops tight. These tufts are
streamers, and make the kite look
well when we fly it.

The kite is now ready for the field.
We take it out when the wind is fairly

316

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

strong. We should have a ball of
string, or more than one ball, wound
upon a stick. Tie the end of this
string to the bridle so that the kite
hangs horizontal when suspended, and
tie a piece of turf to the end tail. One
boy takes the kite by the bottom end,
leaving the tail lying free. Another
boy takes the ball of string to which the
kite is tied, and goes away about 10
yards in the direction from which the
wind is blowing. Both stand and wait
for a breeze. Then, as the boy with
the kite cries "Go!" he throws the kite
violently forward into the air, and
his friend runs his best. Then, if it
has all been properly done, the kite
soars aloft steadilv in the wind, and

7. Flying the kite

& Sqoars Idte-

the string can be let out carefully and
gradually. If the kite does not rise,
the ,tail may be too heavy, and some
of- the turf must be taken off. If it
wobbles, or rushes from side to side,
the tail may be too light, and a heavier
ptiece of turf must be put on.
,.,,Th{^t is, perhaps, the simplest form
of J^te; , A square kite is another very

liuq

2. Cutting one, of the wings

simple shape, and is shown in picture
8. From this picture, and from the
description of how to make the kite

we have seen, we can make a square
kite without further instructions.

A SIMPLE FLYING MACHINE

Most of us know that the propeller
of a steamship, as it revolves, drives the
ship through the water. This is because
the slope of the blades drives the water
away from the ship behind, and this
pushes the ship forward. A very
simple flying machine can be made on
the same principle, and when we have
made it we shall perhaps understand
better how it is that a ship is driven

1. Wood for the Hying machine

forward by the revolution of its pro-
pellers.

First, we get a piece of wood about
5 inches long, 1 inch wide, and half
an inch thick, as illustrated in picture
1. Soft wood, such as is used for fire-
wood, will do well enough, so that we
may simply take a piece of firewood if
we can find a piece large enough each
way. Right in the middle of it and
on the flat side we bore a hole about a
quarter of an inch in diameter. We
can do this with a gimlet, and we must
do it carefully and slowly so that we
do not split the wood. The hole is
made right through from side to side
of the wood. Picture 1 indicates the
position and size of the hole. A little
distance from this hole at one side
we cut away the corner until we get
it down to look like picture 2. The
end of the piece that we have cut
will be almost triangular in shape.

3. The wings after cutting

Now we begin at the opposite corner
at the same end of the wood, and cut
it away also until we have one end of

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

317

the wood almost up to the hole in the be sufficient if we push it in firmly,

form of a slanting blade, but very thin, but not so far as to split the blades.

Its resemblance to the blade of a ship's When we have the stem fixed, we have

propeller begins to be

seen, and it will look

something like the

right end of picture

3. We make the corners

part we have cut round

of leaving them square

proves the appearance

4. The completed

of the
instead
This im-
That finishes
one end of the blade. We do the same
with the other end of the piece of
wood, except that we cut away, not
the same corners as we hr.ve cut away
in the first end, but the opposite
corners. Then we shall have the two
ends cut away to the form of thin
blades, but the slope of the one will

be opposite from that of the other, as it properly. If we
shown in picture 3. Our toy is almost have not done it
complete. properly, we may find

W^e have now to fix a stem firmly that the toy strikes
into the center hole. A butcher's the ground at once
meat skewer, if made of wood, will do instead of flying. If so we may know
for the stem, or a wooden penholder, that we have spun it in the wrong
or even a thin lead pencil. The stem direction before releasing it, and we
may be any length from 6 to 9 inches, can do better at the next attempt.
We may glue the stem into the hole, A little practice will enable us to make
but it is not really necessary. It will it soar high every time.

flying machine

only to hold the toy

upwards with the

stem between the

palms of the two

hands, then rub the

hands together

cjuickly, and release

the machine as we

make it spin. It

should soar aloft as

high as the roof of a

house if we have done

5. Flying the machine

THE PLEASURE OF A LITTLE GARDEN

THE spring is a capital time in
which to start a little garden
of our own — the earlier the
better, but the middle of April will do
if we have not thought of it before.

Gardening is a splendid hobby,
because it gives us plenty to do and
plenty to think about, and plenty of
wonderfully interesting things to find
out. When we make a garden and
plant it, we set ourselves the task —
and it is a very pleasant one — of
looking after the welfare and health
and comfort of all sorts of plants,
many of which have different tastes
and requirements; and it is one of the

experiments we must always be making
to see if we are giving each plant just
what it most wants. Some like a great
deal of sunshine, some like the shady
places; some like a dry position, some
a moist one; some like to grow among
the stones, some stretch up, and need
arches or posts to support them.

After we have acquired our plot of
ground, we need a supply of tools
before we can transform it into a
beautiful garden; and we ought to get
tools as large as we can comfortably
handle. This applies especially to
such an important tool as the spade.
Other tools that will be needed will be

318

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

a hoe; and many people find what
is called a "Dutch" hoe the most
convenient to use for weeding.

A rake will be necessary to smooth
the surface and to clear up the rubbish.
Something smaller than the spade will
be needed for planting, and for this
purpose a trowel is useful; but where
it is a cpiestion of digging holes in
ground where many bulbs may lie
hidden, a trowel may damage them,
so that a little four-pronged fork in a
handle of the same length as that of the
trowel is very useful ; and, if we cannot
have both, the little fork will do all
that the trowel does, and should be
the one we should choose.

Large fork

Watering can

Dutch
hoe
THE LITTLE GARDENER'S TOOLS

A large fork set in a handle the same
length as the spade is a most useful
tool, and can often be vised for digging,
especially round about plants already
established, as it is not so likely to
injure their roots as the spade. A
watering-can is necessary, and one
the rose of which takes off and on
should be bought, as quite as often we
need to water through the spout as to
sprinkle the water through the rose.
A wheelbarrow is useful to have,

either to bring soil or to cart away
weeds, leaves, and other rubbish; or,
failing that, a strong basket will take
its place.

The first work in the garden plot
will be to dig it as deeply as you
possibly can — that is one of the reasons
why it is necessary to have a spade
that really can do some good work,
because deep digging is of the utmost
importance. You can understand that
the deeper you work the soil the better
it is for the roots of your plants, and in
well-worked soil these go creeping out
in all directions to find food and drink
wherewith to build up and sustain
healthy and sturdy leaves and stems
and flowers.

The middle of April is not too late
to sow seeds of many plants that will
flower during the summer and autumn.
Plants that flower so quickly as this
are called annuals. They do not come
up year after year in the garden, as
some plants do, and live for many
seasons. No; annuals are the shortest
lived of all plants, and you must sow
seeds afresh each year. But an annual
accomplishes a great deal in its little
life. You sow the seed; the seedling
appears, grows quickly into a little
plant; the buds appear, and open out
into beautiful flowers. Then they
fade, and the seed-vessels grow; and
when the seed has fully ripened the
plant dies. And all within the year!

Among the prettiest and brightest
of annuals are larkspurs, poppies and
nasturtiums. The sweetest smelling
is, perhaps, the mignonette, and one
that is interesting for its quaint seed-
vessels is known as love-in-a-mist.

The great point to remember in
seed sowing is to sow as thinly as
possible, and however thinly we sow
we shall have to draw out many of the
seedling plants when they appear, but
we can think about that later on;
though any boy or girl who already

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

319

has a garden, and has reared his seed-
hngs, may at once set about thinning
them, as it cannot well be done too soon.
Some of the seeds may be sown in
lines, especially where we need a row
to serve as an edging; or, again, they
may be sown in circles. These, when
they grow up, make nice patches.
There are a few rules always to be
borne in mind when sowing seeds in

HOW TO MAKE

ANY clever boy or girl can make a neat
paper box suitable for bonbons, valen-
tines or party favors. First, take a piece
of paper, which should not be too thin or too
soft. A piece the size of this page or a little
smaller will do nicely. Now make the paper ex-
actly square. You can do so easily by folding it
over as shown here.
Cut off the part
where the folded
upper piece does
not cover the lower
piece, and what re-
mains will be ex-
actly square.

You have already
folded the paper
diagonally — that is, from corner to corner. Make
a good crease by pressing it with the fingers at
the fold, then open it out and hold it diagonally
from the other corners, and press the fold well
down with the fingers. The paper will now be
square and creased as in
this picture.

Notice the letters on
the picture, so that you can
understand easily what to
do. So that we may under-
stand what follows more
easily, we shall call the
four corners A, B, C, and
D, and the center will be E.
Now fold all the corners in
carefully so as to touch the
center, and make the paper
as here shown.

The paper will now be
in the form of a square,
but a much smaller square
than formerly. Having
folded it like this, press it

down well at the folds so
as to crease it plainly.

You will now have four
more creases, and when you
open out the paper again
it will be creased where the
dotted lines are in the next
illustration. The other
letters— F, G, H, J— mark

'■%■■■'

..•■

■■•■£••■

I-

* *

..••■" "•

•.. .•

••■■■ \.

the open ground. The soil must not
be so wet that it is sticky and hangs
together in lumps, neither should it be
so dry that it is like powder. Second,
the seed must not be buried too deeply;
and third, it must be sown thinly.

If the soil is too wet, it is better to
wait for a few days until wind and sun
have partially dried it, and if it is too
dry it must be watered.

A PAPER BOX

where the creases cross. Fold the comer A over

to the spot J, as seen in this illustration.

That will make another
crease. Now make another
crease by folding the cor-
ner B over to H; another
by folding the corner C
over to F; and another by
folding the corner D over
to G.

We still want four more
creases. Make them by

folding A over to F, B over to G, C over to J,

and D over to H. The paper is now creased

as shown here.

Every one of these

creases is necessary to make

the final box, although, as

the paper is now, it is not

easy to see why all these

marks are wanted. But

we shall see presently the

use of all the creases.
Now you must use scis-
sors. Cut along where
there are black lines in-
stead of dotted lines in the
next picture.

You now have a paper
which does not look very
like a box. But you have
only to fold it up in the
proper way, and you
will see that it is. Fold
D like this: ys/n
slit near B. r^^
at the side.

vwy

7^ Xy\ AJ

over the corner at
and slip it into the
Now fold in the flap
and you have it like this:

Fold over the corner at C, and

slip it into the slit at A, and the

box is now finished. If you

have made it properly, it will be

very neat and perfectly regular.

330

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

A MAGIC LANTERN FOR PICTURE POSTCARDS

FOR winter evenings nothing is
more interesting than a good
magic lantern. Unfortunately,
the lanterns that are bought at the
shops have this disadvantage: they
will show only slides that have been
painted or photographed on glass, and
these slides cost money; and even if
the owner of the magic lantern has a
good many of them, he soon gets tired
of showing the same pictures over and
over again.

Most boys have wished they could
have a lantern that would show any
sort of picture on the screen, and so
we are going to tell them how they
can easily make one for themselves.

The magic lantern here described
can be made out of an old biscuit-tin.
It does not require glass slides, but it

1. Magic lantern showing picture postcards

will throw on the white sheet in natural
colors a big picture of anything that is
put into it. When we have made it
we can put picture postcards into it,
or funny drawings that we can cut
out of magazines, and it will throw
them on the screen iust as well as an

ordinary magic lantern with glass
slides.

Picture 1 shows the lantern being
used; the picture of an elephant in
the lantern is being thrown upon the
screen in front.

2. Tliis is the lantern complete. A is the body of the
lantern; B is the sliding lens; C is the chimney; D is the
gas bracket; E marks the feet on which the lantern stands.

We can see the advantage of this
at once. Probably we have hundreds
of picture postcards or photographs
that would look splendid if they were
thrown on the screen. Well, we can
use all these, and never get tired of
this sort of magic lantern, because we
shall always be getting new pictures
for it of one kind or another.

Get a large square biscuit-box.
Possibly we can find one in the house;
if not, any grocer will sell one. This
box will form the body of the magic
lantern, as seen in picture 2.

Now we must fix into it a lamp or a
gasjet that will give a bright light.
Of course, the brighter the light, the
brighter the pictures will be on the

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

321

screen. An incandescent gas-mantle
gives the best possible light, and one
of these can really be fixed more
easily than a lamp. We can buy an
incandescent gas-burner complete, and
any gas-fitter will supply a short
bracket of the kind shown in the
illustration. We have then only to
make a small hole in the bottom of
the biscuit-box, put the burner inside
and the bracket underneath, and then
screw them together. When this has
been done, the burner will be fixed in
the reciuired position quite firmly.

It will be necessary now to make
four feet for the lantern to stand upon,
as the gas-bracket at the bottom makes
it uneven. Little cubes of wood,
about two inches high, will form the
feet. If we can find any wooden
"bricks" in an old toy-box, these will
do splendidly. We have only to place
one at each corner of the box, to drive
nails through the tin from the inside,
and the feet will be firmly fixed in a
few minutes.

^^^^^uT^

5. Chimney made
from coffee-tin

-M-"

Diagram of the lantern
looking from above

3. Opening for
the lens

Now we must get a lens for our
lantern. These are sold at the shops
where magic lanterns and cameras are
kept. We had better explain exactly
what we want the lens for, and the
man will understand. The lens should
be mounted in a brass tube that slides
backwards and forwards in another
tube, so that we can focus the picture
on the screen.

Now we must cut a hole in our
biscuit-box, and fit the lens in the
position shown in the illustration.
This is quite easy, if we get from a
tool-shop a small tin-cutter. With
one of these we can cut the tin in a
few minutes, and it will also be useful
later on. The tin-cutters are merely
strong scissors.

When the hole is cut, fit the lens
into it. If the lens has a "flange,"
that is to say, a flat rim, with holes for
screws, this will be very easy. All we
have to do is to bore holes through
the tin, and then fix the lens with
strong brass "paper fasteners." If it
has no flange, the simplest way is to
cut eight slits, all meeting in a point,
as shown in figure 3. Then bend the
pointed pieces of tin inwards, and
they will form a support for the lens tube.

We now have the gas-bracket and
the lens in position. The next thing
to do is to make a door at the back of
the lantern, so that we can put the
pictures in. Cut an oblong hole,
about the size of a postcard, not in
the middle of the box, but on one side
opposite the lens, as shown by diagram
in picture 4. \\^hen we have done
this make a wooden door with hinges,
as shown in the picture.

The lantern is now complete except
for the chimney. This can be made
out of an old coffee-tin. Cut a hole
in the lid of the box exactly over the
gas-bracket. Then make five or six
cuts round the top of the coffee-tin,
each about one inch long, bend back
the pieces of tin, and then you will be
able to fix the chimney to the top of
your lantern with brass paper fasteners.
One glance at picture 5 will make all
this clear. At the bottom of the coffee-
tin, which is now the top, we must cut
a hole about as big as a twenty-five
cent piece, and fix over it a flat piece
of tin with paper fasteners. This
opening will allow the hot air to

322

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

escape, but not the light. A few
small holes must also be made in the
back of the lantern, so that air may
come in, otherwise the gas will not
burn properly.

Now the whole lantern is complete,
and if we have done everything neatly
it will look quite nice. If we wish it
to look particularly smart, we can
give it a coat of Brunswick black.
When we want to try our lantern, we
fix a white sheet over one wall of the
room. Then place the lantern on a
table about eight or nine feet away,
and connect the gas-burner by means
of a rubber tube with the ordinary
bracket on the wall. Put on the in-

candescent mantle, light the gas, and
then put the lid on the lantern.

Now open the door at the back, and
fix a picture postcard to the wood
with drawing-pins, and the moment
the door is closed a large picture of
the postcard will be thrown on the
white screen. We must slide the lens
backwards or forwards until the pic-
ture on the screen is quite sharp, and
then we can show just as many more
postcards or other pictures as we
please. By the way, whatever sort
of pictures are placed on the door,
remember to pin them on upside
down. They will appear right way
up on the screen.

HOW TO MAKE AND USE A BOOMERANG

ANY boy or girl can make a boomerang of
cardboard that when flung out into space
will travel for a certain distance and then
return again.

Boomerangs can be made of various shapes,
but the simplest and most familiar is that
shown in the first picture. We take an ordi-
nary postcard of medium thickness, and first
draw the boomerang carefully to the pro-
portions showTi in the
picture, making it as
large as the postcard
will allow.

Then, having drawn
it, we lay the card
on a flat piece of wood
resting on an even
surface, and, with a
sharp penknife, cut it
out clearly and neatly.
No jagged edges must
be left or the boom-
erang will not work.
We must not cut it out
with scissors, for that
causes the card to curl,
and a cardboard boom-
erang must be perfectly
flat.

Another very good shape for a boomerang
is that shown in the second picture, and here
again we first draw the outline on a postcard,
and when we have got the curve and the pro-
portions quite accurate, we cut the weapon out
with a sharp penknife, proceeding in exactly
the same way as before.

A more complicated form of boomerang is
that shown in the third picture. Here we have

Three kinds of boomerangs, and the way to throw them

three arms, and this must be made in the same
manner as before. We must be particularly
watchful that there are no jagged surfaces in
the angles where the arms join one another.

It will be noticed that in the case of all three
shapes the ends are carefully rounded. This
is important or the boomerang will not work
properly. It may sail through the air swiftly
and well, but it will not come back.

The method of throw-
ing the boomerang is the
same in all cases, and
the picture on this page
showing how the first
shape is driven into
space will explain how
to act in each case. The
boomerang is placed on
some flat surface, such
as a book, and then it
is flicked off sharply
with a pencil. As it
sails off into space it
will whirl round and
round, and, after going
some distance, will de-
scribe a curve and come
swiftly sailing back
home again.
Any failure of the boomerang to return to
its thrower will be due to faulty shaping or
cutting out, or to too heavy cardboard.

The reason for the curious flight of the
boomerang is not, even now, properly under-
stood by men of science, but it is known that,
owing to its shape, the air resists one part
more than another, which causes it to fly in a
more or less circular path.

KNOTS IN GENERAL USE BY SAILORS AND BUILDERS

Timber Hitch.

Magnus Hitcli

S2S

Riuuxing Knot^

32Jt

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE BOY'S CARPENTER SHOP

EVERY boy should have a box
of tools and know how to use
them. With practice many
things useful and ornamental may be
made. The most commonly used tools
are not difficult to manipulate; and
although written instructions may
help, a little practice should soon
overcome any difficulties, especially
if the right methods of holding, setting,
and using are followed. When the
tools are mastered it is possible to
begin real work. The tools most
needed will be a claw hammer, saw,
chisel, plane, screw-driver, foot-rule,
set-square, gimlet and possibly a
hatchet. These should be purchased
of the best quality one can afford.

Wood has what is called a grain,
which is always up the way the tree
has grown, and it can be split the
way of the grain, but not across.

When you
wish to cut
wood across
the grain
you must
use a saw.
When the
grain of the
wood is very
regular you
can split it
evenly, but
if the grain

Using the saw 1 S t W 1 S t e d

you cannot do so. Therefore, even
when you want to have the plank
of wood cut the way of the grain it
may be necessary to use the saw
instead of the hatchet. There are
many saws. The kind you want is a
handsaw, say about fourteen or six-
teen inches long. You can use this
both for sawing the long way of the
grain and across. You must work
the saw backwards and forwards
regularly, not rocking it from side
to side, or you will cut unevenly;
and not jerking it out and in,
or you will blunt the saw, and tire
yourself. Before beginning to saw,
make a pencil line on the wood where
you want to cut it, and make the saw
follow the line very carefully.

A hammer is a tool you cannot
possibly do without. Its chief use is
for driving and pulling nails.

A chisel is
used to cut
the wood
where a
hatchet or a
saw would
not be suit-
able. We
use a chisel,
for instance,
to cut away
the wood to
make room

for a lock using the hatchet

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

325

on a door, and sometimes before

putting on hinges.

A gimlet is used to make

holes chiefly when screws are to

be put in. For ordinary driving

nails it is not necessary to make

holes with the gimlet unless /

the wood is very hard and /^

liable to slit.

The screwdriver is for put

ting in screws.
It is pressed

against the

head of the

screw-nail

with its point

in the slot

of the

head, and

i s turned

round at

the same

time.
If you

look at an

ordinary

wooden

fence and

then at a

door in a

house you will notice a great

difference in the surface of the

wood. The fence will probably
be rough, or almost
hairy. The reason is
that the door
has been planed
and the fence

The square

Using the square

Straightening a
bent nail

The Screwdriver

The grimlef

has not. All wood to

which we want to give

a smooth surface must

be planed. Another

reason for

planing is that

if we paint

wood that has

not been

planed we use

Using a gimlet much morc

Using a screw-

driver

paint than we should use if the
wood had been planed. In using
the plane, push it forward on the
wood steadily, and press upon it
evenly all the time. The plane
iron and the chisel must be
kept sharp, and if you can
afford to buy an oilstone
you should do so. The stone
is called an oil stone because
it is used with a httle oil in
rubbing the edge of a tool
upon it.

The first

thing you

mi g h t

make with

your tools

is a box in

which to

keep them.

You can no

doubt find

somewhere

a n empty

soap or

sugar box,

or you may

probably

buy one

from the grocer for a few cents.

//r-^s' Having the box, take the sides

l0lr apart by pulling out the nails.

"^ Now measure off two pieces

eighteen inches long

and six inches

wide. These are

for the two sides

of the tool box. Then

measure off two other

pieces six inches

by seven inches

to make the ends.

Cut out these

pieces , plane

them until they

are smooth

enough, and nail

them together so

chisel

The plane

Using the plane

326

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

that they look like the
top picture, with the
end pieces fitted inside
the sides.

The total length when
nailed up is eighteen
inches, and the width
will now be
more than
seven inches
— it will be
eight inches
if the wood
of the sides
is half an
inch thick. Now nail
on pieces of wood to
make the bottom,
having cut them out
as you did the sides.

To make the lid,
take one or more
pieces of wood mak-
ing the same width
altogether as the bottom.

The ends and sides of the box

Box end, and posi-
tion of bottom

The lid of the box

The completed toolbox

them, as in the drawing,
two pieces that do not
go quite to the edge.
The lid is now made.
You can use it as a lift-
off lid or you can put
it on with hinges, which
you can
buy. Fix
these on
with screws,
screwing
them to the
edge of the
lid first.
Then chisel away
a little of the wood
from the back of
the box so as to
make room for the
hinges. You can
put a lock on it if
you like, and fit in-
side a tray to hold

The position
of a hinge

Nail across nails and other small things.

MAKING A SET OF BOOKSHELVES

IN PROCEEDING with our car-
pentry work, we must not go
too rapidly. We shall do better
work if we make very simple things
at first. Another point to keep in
mind is the utility of the articles we
set ourselves to make. Here we shall
see how to make an exceedingly useful
article — a set of hanging bookshelves —
which may be attached to the wall.

Everyone can use an article of this
kind, and everyone with ordinary in-
telligence and the necessary tools can
make one. The sizes given in the
sketches are good useful ones, but the
best sizes for the article to be made
depend upon the space available for its
accommodation. Thus everyone who
makes the bookshelves from these
sketches must first decide if these sizes

are the best in his individual case, and
if they are not he must modify the sizes
given to suit his own case.
Kind of wood to use

We have first to decide what kind
of wood we shall use. We could use
oak, beech or birch — perhaps oak
looks better than the other two for
the purpose — ^but all these are hard
woods, and it will be much easier for
us to use a soft wood, such as pine.
Hard woods are much more difficult
to work. We can use soft wood, and
after the shelves are made we can stain
them to imitate any of the harder and
more expensive woods.
Size of shelves

In picture 1 we show one side of our
hanging bookshelves with all the sizes
marked. We first cut out two pieces

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

327

CJ/iC

i 7-

2^4

un [zs

20^

3^0

of the wood we are using — pine, for
instance — to this shape. They must
be fairly strong, and we should make
the m s o
that the
finished
thickness
shall be not
less than
one inch ,
so we had
better use
wood lyi
inch thick
and reduce
it to one
inch by
planing it.
The holes
in the sides
we can
make with
our chisel,
and we
must be
particular-
ly careful
that each
pair of
holes is ex-
actly in the same horizontal
that the shelves may be
We must also see that
the two sides are ex-
actly alike. Having
cut the two pieces,
we must finish them
carefully with the
plane so as to have
them true and smooth,
afterwards rubbing
them well with sand-
paper. Use No. 1 sand-
paper first, rubbing
the surface and edges
carefully until they
are as smooth as the

give them the final touches. It is more
important to have the sides smooth
than it is to have the shelves smooth,

because

... 7-

1. Plan of sides

the former
are more
exposed to
view.

We shall
now make
the three
shelves
alike, and
thereby
simplify
matters .
Picture 2
shows the
shape and
the sizes to
which we
s h o u 1 d
make
them. The
thickness
of these
pieces
when
fin i s h e d
should not
be less than M inch and preferably "H
inch, so that the wood, when we be-
gin, should be at least
1 inch. Having made
the shelves, we fit
them into the sides
so that the ends go
through the holes we
made. We shall then
want twelve taper
pins, or dowels, for the
holes in the ends of the
shelves to hold them
in position. Now nail
on two back pieces,
as shown in picture
three, and the shelves
sand-paper can make them, and then are complete, except the mirror plates,
we use No. sand-paper, which will as shown in picture five.

Plan of shelves

line, so
quite flat.

5. The completed bookshelves

328

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

JOINTS AND MORTISES

The simplest forms of joints are not tenons go right through the uprights.

too difficult for the amateur to make,
which is fortunate, since one cannot
go far in wood work without using
them.

The Dovetail Nailing, or sloping
the nails (Fig. 13A). This method
is necessary only when the nails are
driven into the end grain of the wood,
as in fixing the sides of the box to the
ends, in which case the fiber of the
wood does not grip the nail. Figure
13B explains the hold which a nail has
when it enters the wood at right
angles to the grain.

or "stiles," of the door, and are wedged
on the outside edge (Fig. 15, a). This

Fig. 13. — (a) Dovetail nailing; (b) nail lorclng wood
fibers apart; (c) skew nailing; (d) housing.

Housing (Fig. 13) is the name
given to the joint when a groove of
sufficient size is made in one piece of
wood to admit the end of the other
piece. Bookshelves are fixed in this
way. Such joints may also be nailed
through the ends but this should not
be necessary if the shelf fits closely
into the groove and there is a back to
hold the piece of furniture rigid.

Mortise and Tenon Joints are
used in the making of doors, tables,
and various kinds of woodwork. They
are applied to the finest as well as to
the heaviest kinds of construction, and
vary in shape according to the work
they have to do. The mortise is the
hole, and the tenon is the piece driven
into it, the word tenon meaning "that
which holds." In house doors these

Fig. 15. — Mortise and Tenoi Joints

"through" tenon is only necessary
in large work, where extra strength is
required. In this tenon the wedge
should not be driven right in, the final
position shown in Fig. 15, a, being
about correct. "VMien cutting mor-
tises in stiles near the ends, always
leave a waste piece on for strength in
working, as in the case of the frame
(Fig. 15, d). In Fig. 15, b is seen a
"stopped" tenon, the joint generally
adopted by cabinet-makers where any
great strain or strength is not required,
while the tenon itself is shown in Fig.
15, c, with a piece left on at B, which is
called the "haunch." This haunch
serves two purposes. It fills in the
space made by the groove when the
door is paneled as in an ordinary
house door; and it gives rigidity and

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

329

strength to a rail, as in the frame of a
table. The tenon and haunch is
shown in Fig. 15, h, as it would be in a
table, the haunch in this case being
sloped. A tenon should occupy, later-
ally, about one-third the thickness of
the wood. In cutting down the tenon
be careful to keep the saw outside the
lines.

Fig. 15, d, is an illustration of a
door frame suitable for a cabinet or
cupboard. It is made with a stopped
tenon, and shows the haunch, which
would only be used if the panel is be to
grooved in. The "face" marks all
finish off on the outside edges — a rule
that should always be followed — and
it will be noted that the uprights or
stiles are longer than the actual
length of the door for the reason given
above, and are left on until the door
has been glued up and dried, and is
ready to be fitted intb its frame. A
tenon will enter the mortise easier
if the end corners are cut off, as a sharp
square edge is likely to catch on the
uneven sides of the mortise.

Fig. 15, e, shows a form of tenon
which goes right through the wood
and protrudes sufficiently to allow a
wedge to be driven into a hole in the
projecting part. This is generally
used in heavy work and church furni-
ture, but is also a great advantage in
such a thing as a standing bookshelf,
as it allows for easy separation of
parts if occasion requires. It is not
glued, for it is evident that the further
in the wedge is driven the tighter does
the joint become. At the same time
there is the danger of forcing out the
extension piece if the wedge is driven
in too far.

The through tenon shown in Fig. 15,
/, is used when divisions in bookcases,
cabinets, and showcases, etc., are
fixed into the tops and bottoms.

Both sides of the boards should be
marked for the mortises, and the

cutting out will be made easier if a
hole is bored right through first; then
cut halfway through with a chisel,
and turn the board over to finish from
the other side. On no account should
the mortise be cut through from one
side only, as there is a danger of
breaking the wood away at the back.
Neither should the tenons fit too
tightly across the width for fear of
splitting the board.
Mitre joints

The true mitre joint is made at an
angle of 45°, as in picture-frames. In
the first place, the mitre is sawed in a
mitre box and the "return" or corre-
sponding mitre should follow the pre-
ceding one, as 1, 1, and 2, 2, in Fig.
19, a, to ensure a correct intersection.

(d)

Fig. 19. — (a-f) Mitre joints: (g-h) clamping

It is a fatal mistake to cut the molding
into lengths first.

If the angle is not a true one, the
frame will not be square. It is quite

330

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

possible to cut a true mitre at once
with a fine saw. Frame-makers use
a hand-machine for the joint, but an
amateur is not hkely to include this
in his outfit. The makers also use a
vice to hold the joints while they are
being nailed, but the worker at home
must rely on simpler methods.

Another way of keying mitres in
thin work, such as a tray, is to build
up the sides and ends of the tray on a

square piece of wood with dimensions
equal to the inside measurements of
the tray-to-be. The pieces are held in
position by pins or a little glue. If a
piece of paper is put between the back
pieces and the wood, and the three
are glued together, they can be
separated subsequently by inserting
the blade of a thin knife between wood
and wood. The slightest touch of
glue is sufficient for the purpose.

STAINING AND POLISHING WOOD

WOODWORK is stained to
improve its natural color.
The difference between stain
and paint is that stain sinks into the
fibers of the wood, and dyes them, but
leaves the grain of the wood showing as
plainly as before. Paint forms an
opaque coat on the surface which
quite conceals the material beneath.
Generally stain is used to make a
cheap wood look like an expen-
sive one. The colors used are chiefly
imitations of walnut, mahogany, and
rosewood. These stains are used on
lighter colored common woods, such
as pine, and only for good appearance
and not to deceive people, for anyone
with a little experience can tell what
the wood really is.
Different colors in stains

Sometimes, though not often, colors
quite different from that of any wood,
such as green, blue, or red, are used as
stains. Very often fancy woods are
darkened and improved in appearance
by stains of the same color as them-
selves. Stain is used also to darken
lighter parts of the wood to the same
shade as the rest. Wood may be
darkened in colors slightly by rubbing
oil into it. Oak and mahogany can
be darkened by ammonia. The usual
way to do this is not to wet the wood
with it, but to shut it up in a case or
small room with saucers of liquid

ammonia. The fumes of the ammonia
darken the wood in a few hours. In
all cases stained wood must be darker
than the natural color, for a dark
surface will show through a lighter
stain.

Stains for wood are sold ready for
use in small bottles. They may be put
on with a brush, or rubbed in with a
rag. The neater way is to use a brush.
Generally two coats are given. The
best result can be obtained by using
weak stain and applying a number
of coats, allowing each to dry before
putting on the next. The surface
must be smoothed with sand-paper
before the first coat and after each
coat has thoroughly dried. Other-
wise it will feel and look rough, for
anything which wets the wood causes
its surface to roughen as it dries.
Varnish stains are often used instead
of simple stain. These are varnish
and stain combined and are not so
good.
Effect of varnish

Varnish does not conceal the char-
acter of the wood beneath it, for it is
almost transparent unless something
is added to color it. It simply pro-
duces, when dry, a hard, glossy film
on the surface, which protects the
wood from dampness and dirto Quick-
drying varnish consists of shellac
dissolved in methylated spirit. The

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

331

spirit evaporates and leaves a thin
layer of shellac on the wood. Shellac
varnish is used only for indoor work.
In making varnish for work exposed to
the weather it is necessary to use lin-
seed oil instead of spirit, and copal,
or mastic in place of shellac. Varnish
may be used either on the bare wood
or on paint.

Varnish is applied with a brush.
Two or three coats are put on, each
being allowed to dry and then
smoothed with fine sand-paper before
applying the next. For large surfaces
a large brush should be used, so that

1. How to varnish wood

the varnish can be spread quickly.
For small work a small brush is better.
The varnish should be put on uni-
formly, so that some parts shall not
be more thickly coated than others.
Varnish should not be allowed to run
over edges or corners of the article
being varnished, and the brush should
be used so that it does not leave marks
of its own all over the work. The best
way is to take one surface at a time
and cover it with varnish as quickly
as possible — that is, if ordinary shellac
varnish, which dries quickly, is being
used. The brush should be held as
shown in picture 1, and should move
in line with the grain of the wood. If

it is used across the grain, marks of
the brush will show more distinctly.
To prevent varnish from getting
squeezed out of the brush and running
over the edges of the wood, the brush
should always move outwards to the
edges, as indicated by the arrows in
picture 1. In approaching the ends
of the wood it goes directly to the
edges, but in passing along the sides
its direction is only very slightly
diagonal towards the edges there, so
that the movement shall be as nearly
as possible in line with the grain.
Spirit varnish dries quickly, but to
obtain the best results each coat should
be allowed several hours to harden
before sand-papering it down for the
next. After the first coat, old sand-
paper worn smooth should be used,
and the work is not rubbed down at
all after the final coat. Sand-paper
should always be rubbed in line with
the grain of the wood. If rubbed
across, it scratches the surface too
much.
Polishing and varnishing

The difference between polishing
and varnishing is chiefly in the method
of application, for shellac varnish and
polish are practically the same thing.

The distinction between varnishing
and polishing is that varnishing is
done with a brush, and polishing with
a rag. Polishing requires more skill
and time, but it gives a smoother and
glossier surface than varnishing. It
is important in polishing that the pores
of the wood shall first be thoroughly
filled, so that the polish cannot sink in
and lose its luster. A number of
applications of polish with long inter-
vals for drying will do this, but it is
quicker and cheaper to fill the pores
with some other substance before
beginning to polish. The filler is
generally whiting or plaster of Paris
dissolved in water, turpentine, or oil,
and colored to match the wood. It is

332

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

rubbed in and allowed to dry, and then
the surface is sand-papered smoothly.
The wood is now ready to receive the
first application of polish.

The rag used in polishing is called
a rubber. It should be a piece of soft
white linen. This is used as an outer
covering to a pad of cot ton- wool.

The cotton wool is moistened with
polish, and the single thickness of rag
encloses it and is drawn up like a
pudding-cloth at the top and grasped
by the hand while it is used. The
pressure on the rubber should not be
heavy, and a few drops of linseed oil
are put on the rag to make it move
about freely without tendency to
stick. The polish is put on the cotton-
wool only, and gets squeezed through
the rag in rubbing. The method of
rubbing depends to some extent on the
shape and size of the work. First, it
is necessary to cover the surface of
the wood with polish as quickly as
possible. This is done by moving the
rubber in large sweeps either with or
across the grain or both. The direc-
tion is not important as long as the
polish is rubbed uniformly all over the
surface. On a large flat surface, as
in picture 2, the rubber may be moved
in curves or spirals, as shown by the
dotted lines. These are only drawn
as lines, but the broad surface of the
rubber would, in following them,
polish the entire area of the wood.
For getting into the corners of panels
and similar parts the rubber must be
squeezed into a pointed form which
will reach those parts. After the

polish has been applied in this manner,
the work must be laid aside for at least
a day. Then a second application
is given in the same way as the first.

2. Polishing a large surface

In the best work this process is re-
peated a third time or even a fourth,
and long periods are allowed between
each to allow the polish to sink in as
much as it will. In sinking in, and
hardening, it loses some of its gloss,
and as long as this occurs the work can
be improved by fresh applications of
polish. This is called bodying in.
The final process in polishing is called
spiriting off. In spiriting off, the
rubber is moistened with methylated
spirit instead of polish, and is rubbed
lightly over the surface to remove
smears caused by the rubber in body-
ing in, and also to take up the oil,
which, when present, gives the surface
a dull, greasy appearance. The last
movements of the rubber should follow
the grain of the wood — that is, the
rubber should move in straight lines
with the grain.

THINGS A BOY CAN MAKE FOR A BAZAR

Here are other things that boys can make
for a bazar:

Toasting-forks made of wire. The wire can
be bought at any ironmonger's, and should not
be too thick; it can be twisted double or treble
to give sufBcient stiffness to the handle.

A set of furniture for a doll's house — -chairs
and tables — made from firewood, the pieces
being joined together with glue.

A boot-brush box with a hinged lid can be
made from an old egg-box.

A flower-pot case made of wood and covered
outside with cork bark, or enameled in some
dainty color.

Pictiu-e-frames of different sizes and shapes.

Clock-cases, handkerchief-boxes, letter-racks,
wall-brackets, and other articles made from
cigar-boxes by fretwork.

THINGS FOR GIRLS TO DO

HOW TO MAKE A GIRL'S WORKBOX

HAVE you ever thought of the
joy it brings to have a real
workbox of your own? Let
us try to learn to make a box like the
one in the picture.

The pattern of the girl's woikbox

Take a piece of cardboard thick
enough to make a firm foundation,
and on this draw a pattern similar to
the above, enlarged to the size desired
for your box. Cut the cardboard all
round the outlines of the diagram.
Bend the four pieces which are intended
to form the four sides. Do this w^hile
following the lines carefully, so that
the bottom of the box will be quite
even. Straighten the cardboard
again, and cut two pieces of cretonne,
each one covering entirely the piece of
cardboard which includes the bottom
and sides of the workbox. Cut the
material about a quarter of an inch
larger all round than the cardboard,
to allow for turning in the edges,
which otherwise would fray and look
untidy; then glue (or overcast) the
cretonne on the cardboard, back and
front. When this is done, let it dry
for one day.

Then bend your covered cardboard
as you did before. Join the corners
A together by sewing the cretonne on
the two sides with over-and-over

stitches, using a needle with strong
thread to secure the corners, top and
bottom, very firmly. The same thing
must be repeated in the corners
marked B, C, D.

The workbox now stands, is covered
and lined. Some cord sewn round the
foot of the box will make a neat finish
and slightly raise the box. Now the
cover must be made. Cut a piece
of cardboard to fit exactly the top of
your workbox; then, before putting
on the cretonne as you have done on
the other part, put a layer of cotton to
form padding, and cover it over wath
the material. Do this on both sides
of the cardboard, taking great care
to turn the edges in, as described for
the other part of the box, before
gluing the cretonne down. A strip
of material is fixed on the inside of the
lid, and sewn at regular intervals, to
receive a thimble, a pair of scissors,
crochet needle, and other things. The
cover is then put on the box part by
slipping two small pieces of cretonne
under both cover and back of box, one
on each side, to form hinges. These
are then sewn very firmly, so that the
lid can be ooened and closed.

v.^^^K^»V :..

The workbox lined and ready for use

333

SSJf

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

HOW TO USE THE NEEDLE

NOW that we can make a work-
box of our own — we must
find out how to use it. We
are going to dress a doll. We shall
cut out the clothes and make them as
our own clothes are made. First we
shall make the little underclothes,
one by one, and then the frock. But
before we can do anything at all we
must know how the different stitches
holding the pieces together are made.

We all think that it is the easiest
thing in the world to thread a needle,
but the right way to do it is to thread
it by the end just cut off the spool,
making a tiny knot at the other end.
If the cotton is put through the needle
at the opposite end all the gloss goes
out, knots, and breaks off very
easily. Always choose a needle that
is just a little thicker than the thread.
This will open the material enough
for the thread to come through with-
out any unnecessary tugging.

The left hand holds the piece of
material between the thumb and
first finger, letting it fall loosely over
the back of the hand, the little finger
just holding it in place. The right
hand holds the needle and pushes it
in and out of the material, a thimble
on the third finger helping to push the
needle through. The width of the
first fold of a hem should be about
one-third the width of the hem
required, but in very narrow hems
the first fold is the same width as the
second. If, however, you intend to
sew very fine material, such as muslin,
the fold must be the same size as the
hem, otherwise the rough edge will
show through.

When you have decided what the
size of the hem should be, turn the
double fold and press it down firmly
with your nail, then tack it, with long,
even stitches. This will save time,
for the hem will keep pressed down in

position, and it will help to get the
work straight and even. The needle
is then put in the material, as you can
plainly see in the picture (2), the
stitches being done from right to left
in a slanting position.

These sketches show you how to make the different kinds
of stitches. 2 is a hemming stitch, 3 running, 4 running
and felling, and 5 a French seam.

There are many different kinds of
stitches, but for our present purpose
it is only necessary to know a few of
them. The running stitch (3), is
one of the most useful to learn, for it
is with this stitch that seams are
made and materials gathered.

If you are anxious to learn how to do
really beautiful sewing, try first on
fine canvas, or on any other very
coarse material, where the threads
can be easily sewn, taking two threads
on the needle and going over two.
You will be surprised to find how
easily the hand and eyes will be trained
to work evenly and regularly, imtil
you can work quite pretty little
stitches on any material without
counting the threads, which is always
a slow and tedious method of working.

When you can do the hemming and
running stitches quite evenly, you
have mastered the most difficult part
of sewing, for all the other stitches
are more or less made from these two.

If you look at picture 4, for eicample,
you will see a little pattern of running
and felling, which always looks full
of difficulties to little girls, although
it is simply running and hemming.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

335

Two pieces of material are put close
together, the back piece slightly over-
lapping at the top to allow for the fold-
ing over of the raw edge, and joined
together, on the wrong side, by running
stitches. The material is then opened
under the seam, laid flat, and the two
edges folded over like an ordinary
hem.

A glance at the picture will show
the work far better than it can be
explained.

The easiest way for little girls to do
running and felling is by French
seams. It will probably be the most
popular way of doing the seams in
dolly's underclothes. If you look at
the picture (o) you will see that this
kind of seam is simply a double row of
running stitches. The first row is
done in the ordinary way, then the
raw edges are cut as short as possible,
and the seam turned inside out, a
second row of stitching giving perfect
neatness in the finished work. Re-
member, however, when doing these
seams that the first row of running,
instead of being done on the wrong
side, as for running and felling, is
always done on the right side, the second
row putting the first one out of sight.

Gathering is done with exactly the
same stitches as running, only it must
be done with strong thread so that it
will not break. The thread is pulled
to gather the fullness. No knots or
joins must be allowed in the thread,
or it will not come through the
material to form gathers. Measure

the piece of material you want to
gather, and take a long enough piece
of thread to leave two or three inches
to take hold of w hen you w^ant to draw
it. It is always better to do two or
three rows of gathers in case one should
break, besides giving more evenness
and regularity to the gathers.

If the gathers are done on fine
material for underclothes w'hen the
thread has been drawn, a coarse
needle should be used to stroke down
the material between each gather.

Biittonliole stitches come next, and
these are by no means too difficult

6. Buttonhole stitches

to be attempted. They are really
quite easy when you know the way.
Try first on a piece of canvas or coarse
flannel, and make even and regular
stitches quite close to each other.
The picture (6) shows just how the
stitches are made. Let the thread
go under the point of the needle and
pull the needle down gently, letting
the thread cross over itself where the
needle came out. If you follow these
directions, and look at the picture, you
will find the stitch so easy that you
will really be surprised.

THE DOLL'S FIRST

WE HAVE learned how to do
the different stitches that
are needed, so now we should
be able to undertake the fine stitching
for the garments that we are going to
make.

We will start with the little chemise.

LITTLE GARMENT

If you look at the picture (1) you will
see that the pattern is quite simple,
and very easy to cut out if you read
this article carefully.

Drav/ the pattern to fit the size of
your doll on a piece of paper, and
mark it A, B, C, D, E, F, like the

336

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

sketch. Nearlj^ all patterns are cut
out in halves — that means that nearly
all garments have, of course, two sides,
or two parts, which are exactly alike,
and it is far easier to get these exact if
we double the material, lay the pattern
on it, and cut them both at once. This
is why we always, or nearly always,
speak of a pattern as being half the
back or half the front, and so on.
Take a piece of fine muslin, or, better
still, nainsook, twice the length and
twice the width that you want the
little g a r-
ment to be,
allowing
enough over
for seams
and he m .
Now fold
the material
in half, and
then fold it
in half again.
When you
have done
this the
shape of the
material
should be as
it ivas before,
only smaller.
Before
going f a r -
ther be sure
that the two
single folds
of the mater-
ial are at the
top, and the double fold at the
side. If this is not quite clear to you,
look at picture 2 which shows the ma-
terial folded. Lay this down on the
table in the position shown in the
picture, and lay the pattern on it.
Pin the pattern to the material before
it can slip out of place; then take a
pair of scissors and cut all round the
outlines of the pattern, except the

1. How to cut out the pattern

3. Buttonhole scallops

parts between B and C (this is the
shoulders) , and between A and D (this
is the middle of the chemise, as you
will see when you open the material
out after it has been cut) .

When you are cutting remember to
leave half an inch for the double seam
under each arm, and an inch and a
quarter for the hem at the bottom.

Take off the pattern and unfold the
material. The two sides of the little
garment are now shaped and held
together by the uncut folds of the

shoulder. If

■ you look at

your own
little chem-
ise you will
find that the
front of the
neck is cut
lower than
the back.
Now turn to
the picture
(2) again,
and you will
see that
there is a
dotted line
below the
one between
A a n d B .
The line be-
tween A and
15 represents
half theback
of the neck,
and the dot-
So to get
scissors and
little, being

2. Laying pattern on the material.

4. The whipping stitch

front,

ted line half the

the front, take your

cut out the material a

careful to slope out more at the center

than at the sides. Then slope out

each little sleeve (between C and F) in

the same way.

Before starting the sewing we must
be sure that our hands are spotlessly
clean, for on its neatness and cleanli-

TEE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

337

ness depends the success of our work.
To look well, needlework must be kept
quite fresh, or its charm will be gone,
however neat the work may be.

Thread a short needle and begin with
the seams on each side, joining them
either by running and felling them, or
by a French seam.

The next is the hem at the
bottom. Turn up the material about
134 inches. You will remember that
we allowed an inch and a quarter when
we cut the material. The quarter
of an inch is for the first little fold, and
the inch will be the width of the hem.
Measure an inch and a quarter all
round, turn this down and tack it to
keep it in place. A good way to meas-
ure the hem and to be certain that it
is quite even is to get a piece of stiff
paper — or a visiting card is better —
measure an inch on it, snip it with
the scissors to mark it, and use it as
you would use a tape measure. When
your hem is even fold the rough edge
under a quarter of an inch, and tack
it again, and then hem it round with
neat little stitches.

If we have been practicing all the
stitches which we learned, we shall be
able to do some small buttonhole
scallops round the neck and sleeves,
in which case we shall have the dain-
tiest little ornament that one could
wish for. If you look at picture 3
you will see how the material is
marked in scallops all round for the
button-hole stitches to be worked on.
The picture shows how the stitches
should be narrow at the top of each

scallop, and get wider in the middle.
If you cannot get this quite even,
draw a faint line, like you will see in
the picture, and work over it.

But if this is too difficult we can
make a little hem and sew on the end
of it a piece of pretty Valenciennes
lace. As the neck is round, and not
straight, it will not be very easy to
fold the hem in the usual way; but if
you will try to roll the edges and make
only a tiny hem, you will find it will not
be nearly so difficult.

5. The finished garment

Now for the lace. This should be
first gathered and pulled up, so that
it makes a little frill. When the lace
is pulled up full enough — do not let
it be too full — sew it on to the edge
of the hem with tiny whipping stitches.
In sewing the lace to the chemise, do
not put the two back to back and then
sew, but draw them together as you
would sew together the two edges of a
hole in a glove. This is the only way
to get the lace to set quite flat.

And now your little chemise should
look just like the one shown in pic-
ture 5.

THE LITTLE

THE next little garment we will
make is the flannel petticoat.
The pattern of this is very
easy, as we can see from pictures on
next page. Picture 1 shows half the
pattern. Cut your pattern, and lay
it on a piece of soft, fine flannel which

PETTICOATS

has been folded in half, taking care
that A B lies against the fold. Cut all
round, except between A and B. To
make the back seam, join the two edges
as for running and felling, but instead
of felling the edges, turn them over,
and fasten them by herring-boning

338

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

them "raw-edged."" Leave a placket-
hole at the top and make the edges
neat by two tiny hems, herringboned,
like the seam, to keep them fiat.
When you liave gathered tlie material,
regulate the gathers, so that the front
of the petticoat is nearly flat, and the
fullness is at the back.

1. Pattern of flannel
petticoat

r^y^v-^^

2. Herringbone stitch

3 Pattern of
bodice

4. Fastening bodice to skirt

The flannel
petticoat

(■). The white
petticoat

The next thing to do is to make the
little bodice which has to be joined on
to the petticoat. Look at picture 3,
and you will see half of the very

simple outline of the pattern needed
to make this bodice. It is in one
piece, and needs no seam except the
tiny ones on the shoulders — that is,
between E and C.

After you have drawn the design
the right size to fit your doll, fold the
piece of flannel in half and put the
edge of the pattern marked A B on
the fold of the flannel. Then pin it,
and cut along the lines of the pattern,
except between A and B, leaving
enough for the turnings.

The dotted line in picture 3 is to
show where to slope out the material
for the front, of the armhole.

After the seams on the shoulders
have been done, either with a French
seam or running and felling, the little
bodice must be finished off at the top
with buttonhole stitch to match the
bottom of the petticoat. To make the
material strong at the back to hold the
buttons and buttonholes, which have
to be sewn next, a little hem, herring-
boned, should be made on each side.
If we have cut our pattern correctly,
we shall find that we have quite enough
material for this without adding any
more. When the bodice is finished,
the lower part of it is run on to the
gathered skirt.

Join the bodice to skirt, by running
stitches, as picture (4) shows. But it
would be very imtidy on the wrong
side if we left the raw edges like this,
so to make it neat and dainty, a
strip of nainsook is run along the
gathers, and tlien turned over and
neatly hemmed down just above.
But the stitches must be very tiny
ones, because they will show on the
right side.

Trim the raw edge of the skirt part
with buttonhole stitches, put on
another button and buttonhole to
fasten the waist-band, and your little
flannel petticoat is finished, and will
look like picture 5.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

339

The white petticoat, which goes
over the flannel one, is cut and made
in very much the same way. The
only difference lies in cutting out the
skirt part of the trimming. The
bottom should have two little tucks and
a narrow hem, edged with tiny Valen-
cienrues lace. These tucks and the
hem will take up about one and a half
inches of material, so when we cut out
the skirt part of the white petticoat
it must be longer than the flannel one.
No pattern is needed. It is simply a
straight piece cut about one and a half
inches longer than the flannel one.

But the important thing to remem-
ber is to cut it "on the straight," not
"on the bias," like the flannel one is cut.
Material cut on the bias pulls very
easily, and is difficult to tuck. Mate-
rial that is cut on the straight — that is,
in a straight line with the selvedge —
is firmer and keeps its shape much
better. The reason why we cut a
flannel petticoat on the bias is,
because it sets better and is less clumsy
round the hips, for flannel is a clumsy
material. The seams of the white
petticoat should be run and felled,
not herringboned.

ARRANGING FLOWERS FOR THE HOUSE

THE world has paid every
woman a charming compli-
ment. It has credited all of
us with the ability to make our sur-
roundings beautiful. Have you not
read in many books that the heroine
possessed a magic touch? When she
had been there the room seemed to

This shows the right and the wrong way to arrange
violets and flowers lilse them. They should be loosely
arranged In a low vase, and not cramped up in a high vase
where they can hardly be seen.

show an extra daintiness, the place
wore an added charm, an air of com-
fort and coziness that it did not
possess before. But, unfortunately,
the novel gave no precise direction
as to how she did it.

These things are not arrived at by
instinct. The good fairy who deals
out the birth-gifts is not so lavish as
we are led to suppose, and seldom
gives to anyone so big a gift that

there is nothing left to learn. She
just gives a little bit — just enough to
show it is there — and one has to learn
the rest.

We shall not be able to learn here
everything that our favorite heroines
are supposed to know, but only a few
things about one simple part of the
subject — how to arrange flowers.

We wonder if you have ever thought
that the size, shape and color of the
vase is a most important point.''
For instance, daffodils, which are
heavy flowers, should always stand
in strong china — for preference, green
glazed ware. There is something so
strong and sturdy about their growth
that they need a good support and
plenty of water; so don't put them into
frail china vases that will topple over
with a breath of wind because they
are top heavy.

Also remember how the daffodil
grows. How many leaves go to
one daffodil? Hundreds! Well, you
cannot get hundreds into a vase, but
you can get a good many, and you
will find the flowers look far finer with
a plentiful supply of leaves, because —
and this point applies to every kind of
blossom — they grow like that.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE DOLL'S LITTLE FROCK

G U

THE little frock
illustrated is a
simple one. It
is made entirely in one
piece with only two
tiny seams on the
shoulder and one in the
center of the back.
The two armholes are
for the little puff sleeves
which are also made in
one piece with a little
seam under the arm.
The first thing to do
after cutting is to make
the seam at the back. This
is marked C D in the
picture. A little French
seam such as we have al-
ready done for the under-
linen will do very well for
this frock, especially if you
have been able to coax mother
to give you a piece of Japanese
gilk, or some other thin ma-
terial.

Do not make a seam at the
back right up to the top of the
neck, but leave a placket-hole
rather more than half-way up,
just about where the star is
marked on picture (1). Three
or four little buttons and
buttonholes are needed to
close the frock. The hem
should be about two inches
wide all around with a quarter
of an inch turned inside. The
neck part is simply gathered
into a little straight band
which is first run edge to edge
with the main part of the
frock and then hemmed over
the gathers. If this little
band is made broad enough it
can be doubled over to form a
little turn-down collar, which
may be ornamented with

2. Sleeve pattern

3. Back of the frock

feather stitching, while
a lace frill may be added
to make it daintier. A
wide tape sewn inside
at the waistline rather
low down, will, if sewn
top and bottom all
round, act as a slot in
which a fine silk tape
may be put through to
gather the little frock as
picture 3 shows.
The pattern of the little
sleeve is plainly shown
in picture 2. The part
between E and F in the pic-
ture is the top and when
gathered, and the thread
pulled up, will form the
little puff.

Join the line E G to F H
by a French seam and you
will begin to see the shape
of the sleeve. The top part as
we have said, is gathered
drawn up, and made to fit the
hole left for it in the frock.
The side marked F H to put
under the arm and the sleeve
seam is joined to the notch
seen in the pattern. Arrange
the fullness to come at the top
of the sleeve on the shoulder.
The bottom of the sleeve —
that is, the part between G H
in the picture, is also gathered
and then put into a straight
band of material which is made
large enough to turn over just
like the little collar. This too is
trimmed with a row of feather
stitching.

The little frock shown in the
picture has what is called a
long waist — that is, the waist
trimming is arranged to come
much lower than the doll's real
waist.

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341

HOW TO MAKE OUR OWN ZOO

A LITTLE while ago most of
the creatures in our Home
Zoo were lying together all in
a heap at the bottom of somebody's
piece-bag. They did not look much
like animals then, but that was before
they were touched and brought into

wheels — such as any boy can make —
little children will be delighted to
draw them about. If they are very
nicely made they are quite pretty
models, and will readily sell at a
bazar.

But before we start to make them,

Animals to make at home

shape by the won

derful fairies

Needle and

Thread. Our

kitten was just a

bit of black plush

left over from the

trimming of a coat; our

fierce lion was a corner of fawn-

jolored, smooth - faced cloth

Some members of the zoo

there are a few
things which we
must always re-
member if we
want really to suc-
ceed. If we number
them it will help us
to remember.
1. The best materials are
from tightly woven stuffs that are plain on one
a tailor-made suit; our fat pig and side and fluffy or shaggy on the other,
dear little white bunny were odds Thin and loose cloths that easily fray
and ends of eider-down; and our are troublesome. Beaver cloth, all

curly dog was a scrap
of imitation astrachan
from somebody's
winter jacket. But we
just cut them out, and
sewed them together,
and fed them well on
wadding, and here
they are — all that you
see in the picture, and
many more. Making

imitation furs — if they
are not too thick —
eider-down, canton
flannel, plush, and
velveteen, all make up
splendidly.

2. In cutting out,
first note which way
the pile, or "nap, " goes,
and take care to place
the pattern so that it

How the cat looks when made

one's own Zoo is great fun. It is so will stroke from the head to the tail, as

nice to have the animals to play with, in nature.

They will all stand up; and if their feet 3. All the patterns are cut out in

are glued to a small stand, with halves, so that you will have to double

3J^S

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the material. We shall understand holes where the legs are fastened in,

this better later. But be very careful and sometimes the legs themselves —

to see that the two halves face each may be sewn raw-edged on the right

other, and cut out with neatness and side, and the nap at the margin pulled

exactness, making the pieces all fit over the stitches to hide them.

one another precisely.
4. Stitch up as
closely and neatly as
you can, with the
sewing-ma-
chine if pos-
sible, but re
member

Thinner cloth must be turned in
where necessary to sew or hem
over on the right side.

6. Stuff always with un-
bleached wadding. A yard will
fill three or four animals of 7
inches or 8 inches long and 4
inches or 5 inches in height. Never
use cut-up flannel or any other
odds and ends if you want to get
a good effect. Put the wadding
in a little at a time,
pushing it well home
with your finger or the
point of a pair of scis-
sors, and pack as
tightly as ever
vou can.

Plans for making the cat
sbown on the previous page

that very firm, close seams are most
important.

5. All animals have their principal
seams sewn on the wrong side; but
if the cloth is thick and firm, with a
good nap, some parts — such as the

Now we may start on our first
animal — the cat. Gray velveteen or
plush makes the prettiest cat, but
black will do. The cat, when cut
out, is in eleven pieces — namely,
two upper halves, two under halves.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

34s

two pieces, upper and under, for each
of the ears, the upper and under
halves of the tail, and a lemon-shaped
piece on the top of the head. We cut
out the pieces to the shapes shown in
the plans, which we can trace on thin
paper. Let us begin with the side
half of body which is marked 1. We
cut out two pieces this shape, making
them exactly alike. We cut out two
pieces of the under half of body
marked 2 in the picture, then one
piece for the top of head, marked 3,
one tail piece marked 4, and another
tail piece marked 5, and, finally, two
ears to the shape given in the picture.
We must remember to make every
piece the size given in the pictures.

Now we are ready to sew the pieces
together. The pictures are marked
with V's and X's, and these show
what pieces are to be sewn together.
The piece marked VV is to be sewn to
the other piece marked VV, and so
on. We begin by stitching the under
halves on to the upper ones, being
careful to stitch very closely round the
toes. Next stitch up the tail, turn
it, and stuff it. Stitch on the lemon-
shaped piece to the top of the head in
the position shown in the pattern.
Sew up the upper animal, beginning
at the throat and going over head and
back, and ending at the tail. Be

careful to keep the halves in proper
position.

Now turn the cat and her four paws,
and begin to stuff her — first the head,
then the paws, then the body. When
she seems nearly fat enough, begin to
sew up at the tail, and work along,
poking in more stuffing as you see it
is needed, until you finish up under
the chin. The two front legs will
probably have to be caught together
with strong thread to make pussy sit
up properly, and her tail, hemmed at
the base, should be curled round her
toes, so as to give a natural position.

The ears must be made and turned,
after being fastened neatly in the right
position, and the two outer edges
folded over to meet in the middle.
Then you will have a pretty little ear
to sew on in position. Beads or
sequins make bright eyes; but, if the
cat is to be a toy for a young baby,
black worsted eyes, just stitched, are
safer. A nose and mouth may
be also marked in worsted, as
here shown, and bunches of
white thread can be sewn
on for eyebrows and whiskers.
If you finish up by marking the
"tabby" pattern in ink, copying
from a real cat, and brush the stiffness
out when dry, you will find you have
made a very charming cat.

COLLECTING FERNS FOR A ROCK GARDEN

NO GARDEN is complete with-
out its ferny nook, and any
ugly old corner can be made
beautiful in a short time by planting
ferns, the graceful fronds of which
will, when they unfold, hide every
trace of ugliness.

Almost any time of the year we can
go on a fern-hunting expedition, and
very enjoyable such an excursion is,
especially in the autumn, when the

ferns appear in all their verdant glory
and rich plumage.

No matter where we may live, in or
out of a big city, east or west, north or
south, inland or by the sea, we are
sure to find, within an accessible dis-
tance, some spot that is given over to
the fern family, and if we are careful
we can get new plants for our rockery
or shady corner without injuring the
countryside in any way.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Hart's-tongue

Maidenhair spleenwort

Common polypody

Lady fern

Among the rocks by the seashore,
in the green lanes, by the side of the
meadow, on the moorland, by the
banks of the brook or stream, in the
ditches by the road, and among the
shadows of the wood — all these are
places where ferns may be found free
and flourishing.

As equipment for a fern-hunt we
need some pieces of brown packing-
paper or newspaper to wrap the roots
of our specimens in, a small garden
fork and trowel, and, if we are intend-
ing to bring home very many plants,
a bag or wicker basket.

In selecting plants, it is wise to take
the smaller specimens; they can be
removed more safely and easily than
larger plants and they are easier to carry
home. The earth roimd the plant
selected should be loosened with the
fork, and then the fern taken up with
the trowel with as little disturbance
to the roots as possible. Of course,
it is essential that the whole of the
roots should be taken, and so we must
dig at some distance round and under
the plant. The earth adhering to the
roots should not be removed. Injury

to the root will result in a dwarfed and
sickly plant, when the fern is trans-
planted and made to grow in the

garden.
Having

freed our specimen, we
should place a little damp moss round
the roots, wrap the specimen up in
paper, and place it carefully in the
bag. If it is not convenient to plant
them out on arriving home, we can
keep them healthy and fresh for several
days by laying them in a shady place
and occasionally sprinkling the en-
wrapping moss with water. This
plan enables us to bring home safely
specimens gathered on a summer holi-
day.

Of course, if we want to get the best
value out of our specimens, we should
carefully note the situation and sur-
roundings of each, and try to reproduce
these as nearly as possible in the
garden.

Rock ferns are more difficult to
gather, and, in order not to disturb
the roots, it is often necessary to bring
home with us a piece of the rock in
and round which are the delicate
roots.

STORIES AND PLAYS
MASTER SELF

THERE was once a lit-tle boy,"
said Mam-ma, "and he loved
Some-bod-y ver-y much. It
is n't a ver-y large Some-bod-y, but
it has bright blue eyes and curl-y
hair." "Why, it 's me!" said Char-
lie. "It 's me, my-self."

"So it is," said Mam-ma, laugh-ing.
"And it 's 'Mas-ter Self whom Char-
lie loves best. He even does n't love
Sis-ter so much as 'Mas-ter Self.' So
he keeps all his pret-ty toys and does
n't give them up. He loves 'Mas-ter
Self bet-ter than Mam-ma, for when
Mam-ma says 'Go to bed,' and 'Mas-
ter Self says 'No,' — Char-lie likes best
to please that naught-y 'Mas-ter Self.' "

"I wont please 'Mas-ter Self,' said
Char-lie, and he kissed Mam-ma, and
said "Good-night." Next day. Mam-
ma gave Char-lie a bright, new ten-
cent piece, and said he might go with
Nurse to buy some can-dy.

When Nurse and Sis-ter were read-y,
and Char-lie had taken his lit-tle stick,
they set out. Char-lie was think-ing.
He was think-ing ver-y much, and he
was say-ing to him-self : "I don't love
'Mas-ter Self.'"

He walked qui-et-ly by Nurse's
side. Now and then he looked at the
mon-ey in his hand; it was ver-y bright

and ver-y white. It seemed a long

way to the can-dy store. "What

will you buy, Char-lie?" asked Nurse.

"Some can-dy for my-self," said
Char-lie, as they reached the Park.

"Keep close to me while we cross
the road," said Nurse; but just then
Char-lie pulled her dress and whis-
pered: "Look, Nurse! Look there!"
and Nurse saw a lit-tle girl stand-ing
near a tree, a-lone and cry-ing.

"What's the mat-ter with her,
Nurse?" asked Char-lie.

"I'll ask her," said Nurse. "What
are you cry-ing for, dear?"

But the lit-tle girl on-ly cried the
more, and Char-lie went close to her and
said: "What's the mat-ter, lit-tle girl?"

The lit-tle girl could not speak, she
was sob-bing so much. "Don't cry,"
said Char-lie, in great dis-tress. "It
makes me want to cry too."

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" said the
lit-tle girl. "I have lost my mon-ey!
All my mon-ey." But soon she be-gan
to tell Nurse how it was. She was
go-ing to get some bread, and she had
the mon-ey in her hand, — "and," said
she, "a boy pushed me, and I fell, and
lost my ten-cent piece, and I can't
buy the bread, and Moth-er will be so
an-gry."

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

"I'm glad I did n't lose my piece,"
said Char-lie, squeezing it hard.

"I am ver-y sor-ry for you," said
Nurse. "If I were you, I 'd run home
and tell Moth-er."

"I can't! I can't!" cried the lit-tle
girl. "It was all Moth-er had, and
we 're so hun-gry!"

Char-lie held his mon-ey tight-ly.
What was he think-ing of, all the time.^
He was say-ing to him-self: "I don't
love 'Mas-ter Self.' " He pulled
Nurse's dress, and said: "Nurse, can't
you give the lit-tle girl some mon-ey?"

"I have n't my purse, dear," said
Nurse.

The lit-tle girl moved a-way, cry-
ing. Char-lie walked be-side Nurse.
They were near the can-dy store. He
could see the sweets in the win-dow,
— sticks and balls and creams! Char-
lie turned his head. He saw the lit-tle
girl look-ing back too. She was still
cry-ing. Char-lie pulled Nurse's dress.
"Nurse," he said, "I want to turn
back."

"What do you want to turn back

for?" asked Nurse. "Here is the store."

Char-lie raised him-self on tip-toe to
get near-er to Nurse's ear, and whis-
pered :

"I want to please the lit-tle girl and
not 'Mas-ter Self!"

Nurse knew what he meant. She
turned back. Char-lie looked once
more at the can-dy store, then he ran
a-cross the street. When he came
close to the lit-tle girl, he held out his
bright ten-cent piece and said: "It
is for 3'ou, and not for 'Mas-ter Self!"

The lit-tle girl stopped cry-ing and
be-gan to smile; then she tried to say
"Thank you," to Char-lie; but Nurse
said: "Run, now, and buy your
bread," and she ran off, aft-er look-ing
back to nod and smile at Char-lie.

But Char-lie was even hap-pi-er
than she. He walked brisk-ly home
and sat on Mam-ma's lap, and told
her all a-bout it. Mam-ma kissed
him, and said: "Is n't Char-He hap-py
now."*

And Char-lie said: "Yes; be-cause
I did n't please 'Mas-ter Self.' "

GOLDILOCKS TOOK UP THE SPOON AND ATE UP ALL THE BABY BEARS DINNER

THREE bears lived in a house in
a wood. There was the father
bear, the mother bear, and the
baby bear. The first was a great
big bear, the second was a middle-
sized bear, and the third was a tiny
wee bear. In the kitchen was a table,

and beside the table there were three
chairs. The first was a great big
chair, the second was a middle-sized
chair, and the third was a tiny wee
chair.

One day the three bears went out
for a walk. Before thej- started

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

347

mother bear prepared the dinner, and
poured it into three basins. The first
of these was a great big basin, the
second one was a middle-sized basin,
and the third one was a tiny wee basin.

While they were out a little girl
named Goldilocks passed by that way,
and looked in at the window. She
was very cold and hungry, and the
bread and honey in the basins looked
very tempting. So she pushed open
the door and walked in.

"How good it smells!" she said.
And she sat down in the great big
chair. But it was much too large for
her. So she tried the middle-sized
chair, but that was not high enough;
so she sat down in the tiny wee chair,
which just fitted her.

She took up the spoon and soon
ate up all the little baby bear's din-
ner.

When she had finished she began
to feel very tired, and thought she
would like to lie down. So she went
upstairs into the bedroom, where she

found three beds. The first was a
great big bed, the second was a middle-
sized bed, and the third was a tiny
wee bed. First she tried the big bed,
but it was much too big. So she got
out again and tried the middle-sized
bed. But that was too big, so she
jumped into the tiny wee bed and fell
fast asleep.

Soon the bears came back, and as
their walk had made them very hun-
gry they went straight up to the
table.

"Someone's been sitting in my
chair," cried the great big bear in a
great big voice.

"Someone's been sitting in my
chair," cried the middle-sized bear in
a middle-sized voice.

"And someone's been sitting in my
chair," cried the tiny wee bear in a
tiny wee voice.

Then they looked into their basins.

"Someone's been tasting my din-
ner," cried the great big bear in a
great big voice.

GOLDILOCKS RAN DOWN THE STAIRS AS FAST AS SHE COULD AND ESCAPED INTO THE WOODS

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

"Somebody's been tasting my din-
ner," cried the middle-sized bear in a
middle-sized voice.

"And somebody's been tasting my
dinner and eaten it all up," cried the
tiny wee bear in a tiny wee voice.

"Who is it?" cried all the bears
together. And they all ran upstairs.

The great big bear ran to the great
big bed.

"Somebody's been lying in my bed,"
he cried.

The middle-sized bear ran to the
middle-sized bed.

"Somebody's been lying in my bed,"
she cried.

And the tiny wee bear called out in
a tiny wee voice:

"And somebody's been lying in my
bed — and, oh, here she is!"

Just at that moment Goldilocks
woke up and saw the three bears
looking angrily at her. She was so
frightened that she jumped up and
ran down the stairs as fast as ever she
could, and out of the house into
the wood, and they never saw her
again.

BRER RABBIT AND TAR-BABY

BRER FOX was always trying
to catch Brer Rabbit; but Brer
Rabbit was mighty pert and
spry, and he never let Brer Fox catch
him. So Brer Fox pretended to be
friendly, and asked Brer Rabbit to
come to dinner with him. But Brer
Rabbit did not come; he knew what
was going to be eaten at that dinner.
Brer Fox then thought of something
else. He went to work and got some
tar and some turpentine, and fixed
up a thing which he called a Tar-Baby.
He set up this Tar-Baby by the road
near Brer Rabbit's house, and laid low
beneath the bramble-bushes near by
to watch what would happen.

By and by Brer Rabbit came
prancing along, li])pity-clippity, olip-
pity-lippity, as saucy as a jay-bird.
When he saw Tar-Baby he sat up on
his hind legs in astonishment.

"Good-morning," says Brer Rabbit,
very politely and nicely. "Fine
weather this morning," says he.

Tar-Baby said nothing, and Brer
Fox he laid low.

"Are you deaf?" said Brer Rabbit.
"I can shout if you are."

And he shouted. But Tar-Baby
kept on saying nothing; and Brer Fox
he winked his eye slowly, and laid low.

At last Brer Rabbit raised his fist
and hit Tar-Baby on the side of her
head. And there his fist stuck in the
tar, and he couldn't pull it away.

"Howdydo?" says Brer Fox, coming out of the bushes.
"You seem rather stuck up. Brer Rabbit, this morning."

"Let me go, or I'll strike you again!"
says Brer Rabbit. And he hit out
with his other hand, and that stuck on
Tar-Baby.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

3J^9

Brer Rabbit kicked out angrily
with his feet, and they got stuck on
Tar-Baby. Then he butted her with
his head, and his head also got
fixed.

"Howdydo.''" says Brer Fox, coming
out of the bushes, and looking as
innocent as a dicky-bird. "You seem
rather stuck up. Brer Rabbit, this
morning."

And then Brer Fox rolled about the
ground and laughed.

'T expect you'll come to dinner with
me now, Brer Rabbit," says he.
"We're going to have some nice roast
rabbit. You won't play any more
tricks on me. You're too saucy by
far.

Who asked you to strike up an
acquaintance with this Tar-Baby?
Now you're going to have a warm
time, as soon as I can get some fire-
wood together."

Then Brer Rabbit began to talk
mighty humble.

"I don't care what you do with me,
Brer Fox," says he, "so long as you

don't fling me on those prickly bram-
ble-bushes."

"It's too much trouble to light a
fire," says Brer Fox. "I'll have to
hang you."

"Hang me, or drown me!" says
Brer Rabbit. "I don't mind. But
for pity's sake don't fling me on those
prickly bramble-bushes."

But Brer Fox wanted to hurt Brer
Rabbit as much as he could, so he
took him by the hind legs and pulled
him off Tar-Baby, and flung him right
into the middle of the prickly bramble-
bushes. There was a considerable
flutter where Brer Rabbit struck the
bushes, and Brer Fox wanted to see
what was going to happen. By and
by he heard someone calling up the
hill, and there he saw Brer Rabbit
sitting on a log, combing the tar out
of his hair with a chip of wood.

"I was bred and born in a bramble-
bush, Brer Fox — bred and born in it,"
says Brer Rabbit, with a laugh. And
with that he skipped off home as
lively as a cricket.

THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

ONCE upon a time, three little
pigs went out into, the world
to seek their fortunes. The
first little pig had not gone far before
he met a man who was carrying a
bundle of straw.

"If you please," said the little pig,
"will you give me some of that straw
to make me a house?"

"W'ith pleasure," replied the man.

Away went the little pig with the
straw, and built his house.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Now, an artful old wolf who lived
close by determined to have the little
pig for supper. So when it became
dusk he went up to the little straw
house and called out :

"Little pig, little pig, may I come in?"

But the little pig knew his voice,
and said:

"No, no; by the hair on my chinny,
chin, chin!"

"Ho, ho!" cried the wolf. "Then
I'll puff and I'll blow till I blow your
house in."

And he puffed and he blew, and he
puffed and he blew till the house fell
down. Then he sprang inside, pounced
on the little pig, and gobbled him all
up.

The second little })ig met a man
carrying some sticks.

"If you please," said the little pig,
"will you give me some of those
sticks to make me a house?"

"With pleasure," replied the man.

Away went the little pig with the
sticks, and built himself a cozy house.

That night the wolf came to the
door.

"Little pig, little pig," cried the
wolf, may I come in?"

"No, no," replied this little pig, as
the other one had done; "by the hair
on my chinny, chin, chin!"

"Ho, ho!" cried the wolf in a rage.
"Then I'll puff and I'll blow till I
blow your house in."

And he puffed and he blew, and
he puffed and he blew till the house
fell down. Then he sprang inside,
pounced on the poor little pig, and
gobbled him all up.

But the third little pig was ex-
ceedingly wide awake the morning he
set out on his travels. This little
pig went on till he saw a man carrying
bricks.

"If you please," said the little pig,
"will you give me some of those
bricks to make me a house?"

"With pleasure," replied the man.

Away went the little pig with the
bricks, and built his house.

Soon the old wolf came along that
way, and knocked at the door.

"Little pig, little pig, may I come
in?" cried he.

"No, no; by the hair on my chinny,
chin, chin!"

"Then I'll puff and 'I'll blow till I
blow your house in!"

But the house was made of bricks,
and the old wolf he puffed and he
blew, and he puffed and he blew%
and still the house stood firm. At
last he went away in a rage; but
presently he came back again.

"Little pig, little pig, I know a field
just down the lane where there are
such fine turnips. I'll call for you
in the morning and show you the
w^av."

The next morning when the wolf
called out: "Are you ready, little
pig?" the little pig replied: "Dear me,
how late you are! I've been back an
hour or more. I'm sure I'm much
obliged to you; they were fine tur-
nips !

The wolf was furious; but, pretend-
ing he did not mind, he said, quite
pleasantly :

"Do you like apples? I know an
orchard down the lane where the trees
are covered with fruit. I'll call for
you in the morning, and show you the
way."

The next morning the wolf got up
very early, and walked round to the
little pig's house. But the little pig
must have got up earlier still, for when
the wolf arrived he found him out.

The wolf hurried off to the orchard;
but the little pig saw him coming, and
climbed up into a tree.

"These are indeed fine apples," he
called out, as the wolf came up to it.
"Just try this one." And he threw
the apple as far away as he could into

THE WOLF CAME BACK AGAIN TO THE HOUSE

"Dear me, how late you are!" said the little pig when he saw the wolf. "I've been back an hour or more.
I'm much obliged to you; they were fine turnips!" The wolf was furious, but pretended he did not mind.

351

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352 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

some long grass. Then, while the braver, he went to the little pig's

wolf was hunting for it, the little pig house.

scrambled down the tree, and ran "I was just on my way to call for

home. you this afternoon," he shouted out,

The wolf did not like being beaten, "when I met the most awful thing

so the next morning he went again to rolling down the hill all by itself. It

the little pig's house, and said: gave me a horrible fright, I assure

"Little pig, little pig, there's going you. There must have been a witch

to be a fair on the village green this inside."

afternoon. You come along with me. The little pig burst out laughing,

and we'll both have a fine time. I'll and he laughed so loud and he laughed

call for you at exactly three o'clock." so long that the old wolf got annoyed.

The little pig said nothing, but at "I was the old witch," said the little

half past two he started off for the pig, as soon as he could speak. "I

fair. He bought a churn, and was spied you a long way off, and I jumped

rolling it home, when he saw the wolf inside to save my skin."

in the distance. Quick as lightning This so enraged the wolf that he

the little pig jumped into the churn to jumped up on to the roof and began

hide, and set it rolling down the hill, sliding down the chimney. But it was

The hill was steep, and the churn came baking day, and the little pig had made

flying along at such a speed that the a huge fire. Down, down, down slid

wolf became frightened, so he turned the wolf; there was nothing to save

back and ran home as fast as he him. He sank right down into the

could. fire, and was burned to cinders. And

Some hours later, when he felt that was the end of the old wolf.

THE STORY OF THE DAYS

Sunday. Monday, Tuesday, wednes- selves. But they are only separated

DAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY. SATURDAY f^^^^^ ^^^^ OtJ^^j. ^y ,,,^1]^ ^^ g^^^p^ ^j^^J

HAVE you ever met Mr. and they talk to each other through the

Mrs. Day? A more useful telephone of Dreams,
family you will never meet Now, this is the first room, occupied

from one year's end to the other, by Mr. Day, who does less work than

They are, in fact, the best servants of the rest of the family, but who is

the human race, and do as much work very far from being idle. He puts on

in their time as anything or anybody a surplice and holds Church services,

on the face of the earth. We must and he also has to provide the whole

make their acquaintance. of the human race with amusements

The seven-roomed house in which and recreations. He is the father of

they live is called "The Week," and the family, and he is known by the

it stands in Month Street, which is one name of Sun Day.
of the twelve roads running through "Hullo, Mr. Sun Day! How are

Year Town in the wonderful country you? Glad to see you. But every-

of Time. We will enter this house body's that, eh? There is no member

and go through the seven rooms to- of j^our family quite so popular as you

gether. Mr. Day lives in one room, are! Come, I hope you are glad to see

Mrs. Day in another, and their five me, too. I've brought a little friend

^children have each a room to them- with me, who w^ants to know how you

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

353

AGES AGO MEN WORSHIPED THE SUN AND CALLED THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK AFTER IT

got your name, and to hear something
of your history. Do you feel Hke
talking for a few moments?"

"How I got my name? Well, that's
an old story, that is. How I got my
bad name isn't nearlj^ so old; and how
I am getting my good name is quite a
new story. Nevertheless, just to
oblige your young friend, I'll run the
whole three stories into one, and begin
with the old one. Far back in the
history of the world, young friend,
people could see nothing so wonderful,
nothing so beautiful, and nothing so
useful as the sun. They had in them
what is called the instinct of worship —
that is to say, they had a feeling that
there was Something greater, stronger,
and more glorious than themselves —
Something that they ought to fear,
reverence, and worship. The sun
seemed to these first people the token
or sign of that Something, and they
worshiped it. The sun, in fact, be-
came the visible expression of God.

Now, when the world got wiser, and
men and women knew more about
the true God, they still kept the old
idea of the heathen in their heads, and
called the Christian Sabbath — which
means the day of rest — Sunday.
They no longer worshiped the sun,
but they called the first day of the
week after it, and that is how I got
my name.

"People loved me then, and I gave
rest, and pleasure, and festivity to
hundreds of generations. Well, as
time passed on, people began to make
me anything but a sun-day; they made
me a black day. Children were not
allow^ed to play ; books and games were
put away and locked up in cupboards
as something wicked; and all my
precious hours were spent in gloom and
solemnity.

"Then it was that I got a thoroughly
bad name. People said Sunday was the
gloomiest day in the week; they ate too
much, and sat about yawning and

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

grumbling. Just lately I've reminded
them that the Founder of Religion once
said : The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath. They don't
quite understand just yet what that
means. Some of them are noisy and
wild and foolish on the Sabbath; they
have gone to the other extreme. But
it will come right soon. People will
use me for rest of body and mind in a
proper w^ay, and my good name will be
restored.

for Moon. She is really Moon Day,
the day sacred to the wife of the Sun.
In ancient times people called the
goddess of the moon Diana, and
temples were built for her in nearly
every quarter of the world. They
used to think that Phoebus Apollo, the
Sun God, drove his flaming chariot
across the sky by day, and that Diana
drove her silver chariot through the sky
by night. They loved Diana because
she was gentle and beautiful. Woods

MONDAY WAS SACRED TO THE MOON, THE WIFE OF THE SUN, WHO WALKED IN THE WOODS

"Well, let us pass to the next room
and see what Mrs. Day will tell us."

"I've no time to stay to gossip. I'm
a busy woman. Everybody knows
that I'm the busiest day in the week.
It's coming after Sunday that does it.
Ah, he's a lazy fellow, my husband is .
The mess I have to clear up after him!
I don't believe in holidays— except
Easter Mondays. Let everyone do
his work."

"We mustn't interrupt her," said
Mr. Day. "Her name of Mon is short

were sacred to her because she could
be seen walking through them.
Roiuid cakes were made on her feast
day, with candles stuck round them.

And now we must peep into the
room of INIr. and Mrs. Day's eldest
son. Master Tues Da,y. You observe
that he has only got one hand, and the
story of how he lost his other hand is
the story of how he came by his name.

The Norsemen had a god of w^ar
named Tyr, and w^hen a terrible wolf-
spirit, named Fenris, had to be cap-

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

355

TYR, THE GOD OF WAR, CAPTURED THE WOLF-SPIRIT, AND TUESDAY IS NAMED AFTER HIM

tured, because he was troubling the
whole earth, it was Tyr who undertook
the dangerous venture. The spirits
of the mountains had made a chain
out of the hardest things in the world
to find — the footsteps of a cat, the
beards of women, the roots of stones,
the breath of fishes, the nerves of
bears, and the spittle of birds. This
strange chain could not be broken, and
with it Fenris was to be bound.

But Fenris would not allow even
this soft-looking chain to be put round
his neck, and said he would only suffer

it if the gods would promise to take it
off again, and would send a god to put
his hand in the wolf's mouth. Tyr
was the only god brave enough to
volunteer. He put his hand in the
mouth of Fenris, and Fenris was
bound; then, in his rage at being cap-
tured, he bit off the hand of the god.
It is curious that the French name for
Tuesday is Mardi — that is, the day of
Mars, who was also a god of war like
the Norseman's Tyr, who gives us Tyr's
Day, or Tuesday. The second son
of Mr. and Mrs. Dav is named after

WEDNESDAY IS CALLED AFTER WODEN, WHO SENT RAVENS ROUND THE WORLD FOR NEWS

356

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE MORE THAT THOR. THE GOD OF THURSDAY, TRIED TO DRAIiN THE HORN, THE MORE IT FILLED

Woden, or Odin, the greatest god of the
Scandinavians. Woden hved in a
palace built entirely of gold and silver,
which was called Valhalla. Two
ravens stood on his shoulders, and
when he wanted news of the world he
sent these ravens to fly round the
earth and bring him intelligence of
everything they saw and heard.

Round about him stood maidens
with helmets, and spears, and shields,
and these maidens, named Valkyries,
were sent down to earth to bring the
souls of heroes slain in battle to feast

with Woden in Valhalla. While they
feasted, Woden listened to their stories
and drank mead. He never ate any-
thing himself. Our friend Wednes
Day is rather odd and capricious in his
habits. He sends his Valkyries to
bring boys and girls into Valhalla for
a half-holidav, but leaves the rest of
the world hard at work. But he is
a good fellow, and everybody likes him.
He lives in the middle of the house
and seems to be saying all day long :

"Work away; work away! Sunday
will soon be here again."

FRIDAY WAS NAMED AFTER FREY'A, THE Wll L Ol WODEN, SO THAT SHE MIGHT NOT BE JEALOUS

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

357

And now here we are at the fifth
room, occupied by Master Thurs Day.
Isn't he a big strong, vigorous fellow?
If ever you have a hard bit of work to
do, start at it on Thursday — the day
of strength and power. Thurs Day
gets his name from Thor, the strongest
of all the Scandinavian gods. Thor had
a hammer which no man could lift, a
pair of iron gloves, and a belt which,
when it was fastened round him,
doubled his great strength. But once
the mighty hammer was lost, and a
giant named Thrym hid it. He said
he would only give it up if the goddess
Freya would marry him. Thor dis-
guised himself in Freva's dress and
went to visit the giant. He received
the hammer, and slew Thrym and all
the other giants.

The sixth room belongs to Mr. and

Mrs. Day's only daughter, Fri Day,
named after the goddess Freya, who
refused to marry Thrym. How this
female Day got her name is rather sad.
Woden was Freya's husband, Thor her
son; and it was only because she might
be jealous that our ancestors named a
day after her when they had given one
to Woden and one to Thor. However,
Friday is a very sacred day, although
some superstitious people think it is a
day of ill-luck.

And now here is another half-
holiday room, Satur Day, who gets his
name from the Roman god Saturn,
a god who ate his own children. For
us Saturday is one of the pleasantest
days in the week, although some of the
games and feastings of our Saturday
crowds remind us of those terrible
Saturnalia which disgraced Rome.

SATURDAY IS THE DAY OF SATURN, IN WHOSE HONOR THE ROMANS USED TO FEAST AND DRINK

358

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

AURORA

THE STORY OF APOLLO AND LETO

In very early days people, as we
now know, had very little true knowl-
edge of the sun and moon and stars;
of the sea and the winds and the
storms. Indeed, they knew as little
of these as they did of the Crea-
tion.

To them it was all very, very won-
derful, and they thought out wonder-
ful stories to account for what they
saw on the earth and in the skies
above them.

They knew that when the sun shone,
the green grass sprang up; the flowers
came; the trees were loaded with
fruit, and food was plentiful.

So they began to say to each other,
"The sun is our Good Spirit, the Lov-
ing One who watches over us and takes
care of us."

And so it came about that, by and
by, these early people became sun
worshippers; they prayed and offered
sacrifices to the sun; and after a long
time there grew up many stories of
the sun.

Here is a story of the Sun God as
the early Greek people used to tell it
to their little boys and girls:

Once there was only darkness upon
the earth. Then a beautiful woman.

Leto, came wandering up and down
the dark earth, carrying in her arms a
beautiful, sunny-haired baby boy.

"Let us dwell here in your land,"
said Leto to the people. "Let me rest
here upon your hillsides. Behold, I
bring the light of day to you," she
pleaded. "I will bring you power and
wealth and rich harvests and beautiful
flowers, for the Sun God shall abide in
the land which gives me shelter."

"We know," said the king of Crete,
"that all these things are promised
wherever the Sun God shall dwell;
but we are afraid of you; we fear your
dark and terrible beauty."

"We know that such a god is
promised," said also the king of
Athens; "and gladly would our people
welcome him. But how are we to
know that you are the mother of this
radiant god? No, Leto, we dare not
open our gates to you. Go hence; we
await the coming of Apollo."

And so from land to land Leto
wandered, till at last she came to the
island of Delos. It was but a barren
little island in the midst of a great
blue sea. Its shores were rocky;
its fields were bare; its mountains
black and grim and wild.

THE CHILDREN'S OWX BOOK

359

And in the island dwelt a king whose
people were poor and ignorant. He
had neither wealth nor power; and
scarcely was the name of this king
known among the people of the lands
that bound the sea.

"Delos, Delos," cried Leto, when
she came to this rocky shore, "listen
to the voice of Leto. Give me welcome
and I will bring glory and great wealth
and power to your people. The island
of Delos shall be a temple; and to its
altars people from all nations shall
come, bringing their offerings. Wel-
come me, and my child, the Sun God,
Apollo, will love you and will abide
forever in your land."

Then said the king of Delos, "Leto,
it cannot be that the Apollo would
care to dwell upon our barren island.
Little have we to offer this glorious
child of thine; for we have but a
rocky soil. The mountains are black
and rough. Our people are fierce.
They know little of the wealth and
glory of other lands. A weary home
would this be for a child like the fair
Apollo."

"O king of Delos! can you not be-
lieve that the promise I make shall be
fulfilled.?" said Leto.

Then the good king said, "Even
though the child shall not remain in
this land of Delos; and even though

this island has little to offer either to
gods or men, let it not be said that we
failed to welcome any stranger who
came to our shores. Enter, Leto, and
rest in Delos."

Then Leto entered. The darkness
grew deeper and deeper upon the
island and there was stillness even
upon the seas. The king and all his
people slept, but happy dreams, how-
ever, came to them; dreams of glory
and power; dreams of beauty and
greatness; dreams of light and of a
splendor which the earth had never
known.

By and by the king awoke. Upon
the mountain tops he saw a new,
strange light and brightness shining
behind the great, dark pillars of rock.
Gradually the light grew brighter.
And behold, there upon the mountain
top stood Apollo, the Sun God, his
hair shining like gold in the fresh new
light of day.

He smiled down upon the plain, and
the plain blossomed into color. Grains
grew and waved their happy blossoms
in the wind; flowers sprang forth —
flowers of richest color and sweetest
odors.

For Apollo, the Sun God, had come !
He had made his home in Delos; and
there was joy in the island from shore
to shore.

JINGLES, VERSES AND POEMS FOR LITTLE PEOPLE

Under a toadstool
Crept a wee Elf,

Out of the rain.
To shelter himself.

Under the toadstool,
Sound asleep.

Sat a big Dormouse
All in a heap.

/".

Trembled the wee Elf,
Frightened, and yet

Fearing to fly away
Lest he got wet.

To the next shelter^
Maybe a mile!

Sudden the wee Elf
Smiled a wee smile.

Tugged till the toadstool

Toppled in two.
Holding it over him,

Gaily he flew.

Soon he was safe home.

Dry as could be.
Soon woke the Dormouse

"Good gracious me!"

"Where is my toadstool?"
Loud he lamented —

And that's how umbrellas
First were invented.

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THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

361

CiMPLE Simon met a pieman
^ Going to the fair ;
Says Simple

Simon to the

pieman :
" Let me taste

your ware."
Says the pieman

unto Simon •
" First give me

your penny ! "
Says Simple Si-
mon to the

pieman *.

not

catch a

" Indeed, I have

any."
He went to

dicky bird,
And thought he would

not fail,
Because he had a little

salt
To put upon his

tail
He went to ride a

spotted cow
That had a little calf ;

She threw
him down up-
on the ground.

Which made
the people
laugh.

Then Simple Simon

went a-hunting
For to catch a hare ;
He rode a goat

about the street,
But could not

find one there.
Simple Simon

went to town
To buy a piece

of meat ;

He tied it to his horse's tail
To keep it clean and sweet.

Simple Simon went a-iish-
ing
For to catch

a whale.
And all the
water he
had got
Was in his mother's pail.

Simon

He went to take a bird's nest—

'Twas built upon a

bough ,
A branch gave way.

and Simon fell
Into a dirty slough.
He went to shoot a

wild duck,
But the wild duck
L flew away ,
Says
can't hit him
Because he will

not stay "
Once Simon
made a great
snowball,
And brought it

in to roast ,
He laid it down
upon the fire,
And soon the ball was lost
He went to slide upon the ice,
Before the ice
would bear

Then he plunged in — ^ ^^iZSL- ^

above his knees,
Which made poor

Simon stare.

Simple Simon went to

look
If plums grew on a

thistle ;
He pricked his finger

very much.
Which made poor

Simon whistle.

He washed himself with
blacking ball.

Because he had no soap ;

And then said to his
mother :

"I'm a beauty now, I
hope."

He went for water

in a sieve.
But soon it all ran

through.
And now poor

Simple Simon
Bids you all adieu.

-c*^^

-5s.<

HE comes in the night ! He comes in tlie
night!
He softly, silently comes;
While the little brown heads on the pillows so
white
Are dreaming of bugles and drums.
He cuts through the snow like a ship through
the foam,
While the white flakes around him whirl;
Who tells him I know not, but he findeth the home
Of each good little boy and girl.

His sleigh it is long, and deep, and wide;

It will carry a host of things.
While dozens of drums hang over the side.

With the sticks sticking under the strings.

And yet not the sound of a drum is heard.

Not a bugle blast is blown.
As he mounts to the chimney-top like a bird.

And drops to the hearth like a stone.

The little red stockings he silently fills

Till the stockings will hold no more;
The bright little sleds for the great snow hills

Are quickly set down on the floor.
Then Santa Claus mounts to the roof like a bird.

And glides to his seat in the sleigh;
Not the sound of a bugle or drum is heard

As he noiselessly gallops away.

He rides to the East, and he rides to the West,

Of his goodies he touches not one;
He eateth the crumbs of the Christmas feast

When the dear little folks are done.
Old Santa Claus doeth all he can.

This beautiful mission is his;
Then, children, be good to the little old man,

When you find who the little man is.

tr.^ij-!- ---J

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THE CHILDREN'S OW'N BOOK

363

THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM

The great battle of Blenheim, a town on the River
Danube, was fought on August 13th, 1704, Marl-
borough commanding the English army allied with
the Germans against the French and Bavarians. It
was "a famous victory," but 37,000 lives were lost.
The poem was written by Robert Southey, who was
made Poet Laureate of England in 1813, though we
cannot call him a great poet. By means of a very
simple talk between an old man and a little boy and
girl, who had found the skull of one of the slain
soldiers a hundred years after the battle, the poet
shows us what a terrible curse is war.

It was a summer evening,

Old Kaspar's work was done.
And he before his cottage door

Was sitting in the sim;
And by him sported on the green
His httle grandchild, Wilhelmine.

She saw her brother Peterkin

Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet

In playing there had found;
He came to ask what he had found.
That was so large and smooth, and round.
Old Kaspar took it from the boy.

Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,

And with a natural sigh —
*"Tis some poor fellows skull," said he,
"AMio fell in the great victory.

"I find them in my garden, for
There's many here about;
And often when I go to plough

The ploughshare turns them out;
For many thousand men," said he,
"Were slain in that great victory."

'Now tell us what "twas all about,"

Young Peterkin he cries.
And little Wilhelmine looks up

With wonder-waiting eyes.
'Now tell us all about the war.
And what they fought each other for."

'It was the English," Kaspar cried,

"Who \)\\t the French to rout;
But what they fought each other for

I could not well make out.
But everybody said," quoth he,

"That 'twas a famous victorv.

"They say it was a shocking sight

After the field was won;
For many thousand bodies here

Lay rotting in the sun:
But things like that, you know, must be.
After a famous victory.

"Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won.
And our good Prince Eugene."

"Why. 'twas a very wicked thing!"
Said little Wilhelmine.

"Nay, nay, my little girl," quoth he,

"It was a famous victory!

"And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did wan."

"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.

"WTiy, that I cannot tell," said he,

"But 'twas a famous victorv."

TIS SOME POOR FELLOW 'S SKULL," SAID HE, "WHO FELL IN TH.\T GREAT VICTORY."

864

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

HOW PETER PAN FOUND HIS SHADOW

HERE was once upon a time
little girl named Wendy

Moira Angela Darling. She
lived in a house with her brothers,
John Napoleon Darling and Michael
Nicholas Darling. This house was
an ordinary house of brick and slates,
but one thing about it was quite ex-
traordinary. It contained a Newfound-
land dog whose name was Nana, and
this dog acted as nurse to the three
children.

ing this brave and powerful dog as
the children's nurse. One night, on
visiting the nursery, she had seen a
strange flitting shape moving quickly
to and fro in the dim glow of the
nightlight. At sight of Mrs. Darling
this shape rushed to the window. Mrs.
Darling darted towards it. Just as it
sprang into the night ISIrs. Darling
pulled down the window with a bang.
The shape escaped ; but something fell
on the floor at Mrs. Darling's feet. It

Peter Pan saves the children Irom the pirates

Nana was so clever that he never
allowed the children to put on a
flannel night dress before it was aired
at the fire; and he knew how to turn
on the hot water when it was bath-
time; and however the children might
cry that they would not be bathed, or
that they would not go to bed. Nana
always insisted that they should.

Now Mrs. Darling loved Nana, and
she had a particular reason for keep-

was the shadow of this strange, flitting
creature. Mrs. Darling put the shadow
in a drawer; but she felt very nervous
for the safety of the children. She
feared that the shape might come
back and do them some dreadful harm.
The only comfort she had was the
presence of Nana in the nursery. The
big dog, she thought, would protect
her children from all danger. But one
night Mr. Darling was rather cross.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

365

and he said it was ridiculous to liave a
dog for a nurse; and he got so cross at
last that he said Nana should sleep in a
kennel in the yard. Mrs. Darling
pleaded; the children cried; Nana
barked. Mr. Darling, however, was
extremely cross, and Nana was led
away to the yard, moaning and growl-
ing.

That night the window was thrust
open, and into the room glided and
skipped the mysterious shape.

"Where is my shadow.''" it cried;
while Nana barked furiously outside.

"I can't be happy without my
shadow. Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell,
where is my dear little shadow?"

Instantly a spot of light flicked
into the room, and sprang round the
walls, and over the ceiling, and down
the beds, and across the carpet, mak-
ing a tinkling sound wherever it flitted
and whenever it settled for a moment.
This was the fairy Tinker Bell, a little
female fairy. She told the shape
where the shadow lay, and soon the
drawer was open, the shadow pulled
forth, and the shape skipped round
the room with delight, singing, danc-
ing, laughing in its joy, while Tinker
Bell flashed round the room like a
luminous butterfly. But, alas! when
the shape tried to make the shadow
stick on, it refused, and so all the de-
light went, and the shape burst into
passionate tears.

Just at this moment Wendy awoke.
She was not frightened, and asked the
little shape why it was crying. Then
she asked it its name, and the shape
told her that it was Peter Pan. Wendy
got needle and thread and stitched the
shadow on to Peter Pan, and then
Peter Pan danced with joy, for wher-
ever he went the shadow followed him
on the floor.

Peter Pan then told Wendy his
story. He said that he lived in a
place called Never-Never-Land, with a

lot of little boys who had all been
dropped out of their perambulators by
careless nurses; and that they lived
with fairies and v/ould never grow up,
but for always and always would re-
main happy boys in this enchanting
Never-Never-Land.

He told her that when the first baby
laughed, the laughter broke into little
pieces, and each little piece became a
fairy, and went dancing about the
world. But whenever a child says

SlaLuc ul I'elur I'un in Kini^myLuu Gardi;us. Loudon

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that it does not believe in fairies, then
one of the fairies dies. Peter Pan said
it was dreadful for a child to say it did
not believe in fairies. There was only
one other thing that made them sad,
he said, and this was the want of a
mother; all the boys in Never-Never-
Land wanted to have a mother very
much indeed. Wendy asked if there
was not a little girl among them who
could pretend to be their mother; but
Peter Pan shook his head and answered
that girls never dropped out of their
perambulators, they were far too
clever. This pleased Wendy, and she
loved Peter Pan.

"Oh, Wendy," cried Peter, "come
and live with us and be our mother!"

The two boys woke up. Peter Pan
said he would teach them all to fly if
Wendy would only come and be their
mother. All this time Tinker Bell
was tinkling angrily, and telling Peter
Pan to come away at once. Tinker
Bell loved Peter Pan, and was jealous
of Wendy.

When the children heard that they
could learn to fly, they were quite
excited, and immediately began to
spring in the air. But every time,
they fell and sprawled on the ground,
or bumped flat on the beds.

"You must think beautiful
thoughts," cried Peter Pan; and, so
saying, soared up gracefully into the
air, and sailed noiselessly round the
room.

Soon the children learned, and all
began to fly round the room with cries
of delight. Then the windows opened
wide, and Peter Pan led the way into
the night; and while Tinker Bell
tinkled loudly and Nana barked w arn-
ingly, the children soared towards the
stars.

The boys in Never-Never-Land were
beginning to get anxious about Peter
Pan, who was their captain. He
seemed to be a long time away, and

they were frightened of wolves and
pirates. While they were wondering
what had happened to Peter, they saw
what looked to them like a large white
bird in the sky.

As they gazed at it. Tinker Bell sud-
denly shone on the trees, and, tinkling
very loudly, told them that Peter Pan
wanted them to shoot this bird at once.
So they ran and got bows and arrows,
and shot them into the air. Suddenly
down fell — what do you think? — poor
Wendy with an arrow in her breast.
Jealous little Tinker Bell was responsi-
ble for this awful deed.

But she was not killed. Soon she
revived, and then with her brothers
round her, and Peter Pan holding her
hand, she promised all the boys to be
their mother. Then they set to, and
built Wendy a funny little house, with
the silk hat of John Napoleon Darling
for its chimney-pot; and everybody
was wonderfully happy, except Tinker
Bell, who was more and more jealous
of Wendy.

Now, while they were so happy in
their house, through the wood came
the terrible pirates. The captain of
this frightful gang was named Captain
James Hook, and a more horrible
villain never froze the blood in a
child's veins. All his crew feared
him and cowered before him. His
long black hair was enough to make
you shiver; his yellow skin made you
go white; his coal-black eyes struck
daggers of fear into your heart; but,
far worse than all these, more awful
even than his cackling laugh and his
way of rolling his "r's" so that they
sounded like pistols, was his right
hand. His right hand wasn't a hand
at all, it was an iron hook. How he
came to have that hook is part of the
story.

Peter Pan had tripped the terrible
pirate into the sea, and a crocodile,
a tremendous c-r-r-r-r-rocodile, had

THE BOY WHO WOULD NOT GROW UP

The Darling family at home, showing Mirlmcl on his failicr s Imrk

The little house tbat the lost boys built iu the woods for Weudy
367

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

snapped off his hand and part of his
wrist. Nor was this all. The croco-
dile enjoyed the captain's hand and
wrist so much that it wanted more,
and so it haunted the captain wherever
he went, longing to eat another bit
of him, and dreaming of the happy
day when it would gobble him all up.
The captain always knew when his
ferocious enemy was near, because
on one occasion it had swallowed an
alarm clock, and the ticking of this
clock could plainly be heard through
its skin. But the captain feared,
because he knew the clock would one
day run down, and then the crocodile
would be able to steal upon him un-
awares.

You can imagine Jiow this pirate
hated Peter, the cause of all his
troubles, and how he longed to slay him.

One day, when some friendly
Indians were guarding the boys, up
came the pirates and made a great
slaughter of the poor redskins. The
boys did not hear the battle, for they
were very interested in something that
Wendy was telling them underground.

Wendy, you must know, had become
the mother of these boys, and they all
did exactly what she told them, and all
adored her, because it was so delightful
to have a mother after having lived so
long without one. After she had seen
mermaids and a bird that gave up its
nest for Peter Pan to use as a boat,
she settled down to be a real practical
mother, giving the boys their medicine,
teaching them how to behave nicely,
and tucking them all up nice and comfy
in their beds. Considering that she
was only nine years of age, Wendy
made a splendid mother.

Well, on this night, Wendy was
telling them a story about her own
father and mother — a beautiful story
which showed how that mother and
father must be weeping for their lost
children. As she was finishing, John

Napoleon and Michael Nicholas sprang
up in their beds, and said :

"Wendy, we must go back!"

"Yes," answered Wendy, "we must
go back."

You can imagine how dreadfully
sad all the motherless boys were when
they heard that Wend}^ was going
home. They cried so much that at
last she told them they might come
back with her and her brothers, and
live in their house, and have Mr. and
Mrs. Darling for their father and
mother. All the boys accepted this
offer with delight except Peter Pan.
Peter Pan said he did not want to
grow up. He did not want to live in
a real house and go to school. He
wanted to live always in Never-Never-
Land, with the fairies and birds and
mermaids. In his heart he was ter-
ri])ly sad at losing Wendy, whom he
loved very much indeed; but he refused
to go away and grow up like an ordi-
nary boy.

So they all said good-by to Peter
Pan, and one by one went up the
narrow tunnel which led from their
underground home to the forest and
the night. Wendy was the last to
go, and before she went she poured
out some medicine for Peter and made
him promise her that he would take
it when he woke up in the morning.

But instead of kind redskins keeping
guard, the pirates were there. The
boys were seized one by one as they
stepped on ground; a rough hand was
clasped over their mouths to prevent
them from crying out, and they were
carried away prisoners to the pirate
ship with Wendy.

Peter Pan lay asleep in his bed.
The rest of the boys were on board the
pirate ship. Peter Pan was alone,
and asleep.

Captain Hook was creeping to the
hole above. Now was his chance to
slay his enemy.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

369

Noiselessly the pirate chief crept
down the hole. He arrived at the
door, and peeped over the top. Peter
Pan was fast asleep. He tried to open
the door, and failed. Again and
again his hook fumbled at the latch,
but failed. Peter Pan was safe. But
no! The terrible captain espied the
glass of medicine left by Wendy on a
shelf; he reached towards it, and then,
taking a bottle of poison from his
pocket, poured the contents into the
glass.

Peter Pan woke up. He remem-
bered his promise to Wendy, and went
to drink the poison. At that moment
Tinker Bell rushed in crying :

"Don't drink! Don't drink!"

But her w^arning was useless.

"I have promised Wendy," an-
swered Peter, and walked towards the
glass with his hand outstretched.

In vain did Tinker Bell warn him;
but, just as Peter was about to drink,
the little Shining Light popped into
the glass and drained all its deadly
contents. Then it flickered and paled
and drooped tow^ards its bed, dying.

Peter knew there was only one way
in which he could possibly save it.

"Do you believe in fairies? Oh,
please say you believe in fairies!" he
cried to all the world. And back from
the world, which was so sorry for poor
little Tinker Bell, came the answer:

"We believe in fairies."

So Tinker Bell revived and was
saved, and she told Peter Pan how the
pirates had carried off the lost boys,
with Wendy and her brothers, to their
ship, and of the danger in which they
stood.

Peter immediately started out. He
arrived at the ship just as the captain
was going to flog his prisoners before
making them walk the plank. Peter
Pan had an alarm clock in his pocket;
he took it out, and at the first sound
of that ticJc-tick the captain gave a

great cry of horror, thinking that the
cr-r-r-rocodile was near.

During the panic, Peter stole on
board ship and hid himself in the
cabin where the cat-o'-nine-tails was
hidden.

The clock ran down. The captain
grew brave again.

"Go and get the cat-o'-nine-tails!"
he ordered.

One of the ruffians went to obey.
As he entered the cabin a terrible
shriek resounded all over the ship.
Another pirate was ordered to go and
see what had happened. He, too,
uttered a ghastly shriek, and did not
come out.

The rest of the crew were now in a
state of panic. They refused to enter
the cabin ; one threw himself into the sea.

Suddenly Peter Pan rushed out,
sword in hand, and a terrible fight
followed. Captain Hook was flung
overboard, where the crocodile was
waiting for him ; and all the rest of the
wicked pirates were killed.

Then Wendy and all the boys went
home, and you can imagine how glad
Mrs. Darling and Mr. Darling and
Nana were to see their lost children.
Mr. Darling, we must tell you, had
been so repentant for his crossness
that he had made Nana live indoors
and dine at the table and occupy his
own chair; while he himself slept in a
kennel outside, and ate all his meals
out of a dog's trough. Mrs. Darling
had always kept the window open,
hoping that the children would return;
and used to play and sing "Home,
Sweet Home," thinking that they
might hear her and come back.

But Peter Pan, all alone in Never-
Never-Land, longed for little Wendy;
and Mrs. Darling allowed Wendy to go
every now and then to visit Peter, and
see that his house was nice and tidy.
Peter Pan always refused to grow up,
and Wendy never forgot the fairies.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

■ .-sssi^ti^sSi^S^^

^^^~"''

LITTLE TINY THUMBELINE

ONCE upon a time there lived
a young wife who longed to
possess a little child, so she
went to a fairy and said to her: "I
wish very much to have a child, a
little tiny child. Will you give me
one, dear fairy?"

"With all my heart," replied the
fairy. "Sow this barleycorn in a
flowerpot, and then see what will
happen."

"Thank you, thank you!" cried the
woman, giving the fairy a silver coin.
Then home she went, and planted the
barleycorn, and immediately there
shot up a large flower like a tulip, but
with the petals tightly closed like a
bud.

"What a lovely flower!" said she,
and kissed it. The bud opened at
once with a loud voice, and there, in
the center of the flower, sat a little
tiny girl about an inch high, scarcely
bigger than her thumb. So she called
her Thumbeline, and put her to bed
in a walnut shell, with violet leaves
for her mattress and a rose leaf for
a quilt. During the day she told
Thumbeline stories, and taught her
to sing, as she played on the table
beside her.

But one night a great, wet, ugly
toad came and stole away the cradle

with little Thumbeline asleep in it,
and carried it off to her home in the
muddy bank of the brook that flowed
past the end of the garden.

"This is just the wife for my son,"
thought she. But when her ugly
son saw her, all he could say was
"Croak, croak, croak!"

"Don't make so much noise, or
you'll wake her," said the old Mother
Toad. "She may easily escape, for
she is as light as a feather. We must
take her out and place her on one of
the large water-lily leaves in the mid-
dle of the brook, while I prepare our
house for you both."

This they did, and when poor little
Thumbeline awoke and found herself
in the middle of the stream, she cried
most bitterly.

As soon as old Mother Toad had
decorated her home with bulrushes
and yellow buttercups, she and her
hideous son swam out to the leaf to
fetch the cradle so as to place it in
their new home before taking the
little maid herself there.

Old Mother Toad bowed low in the
water, and said: "Here is my son,
who is going to be your husband. I
will come and fetch you soon, and you
will be very happy together."

Then they swam off with the cradle,

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

371

and poor, terrified Thumbeline wept
bitterly. Now, some little fishes had
overheard old Mother Toad, and when
they saw the little maid so sad they
gnawed away the stem of the leaf, and
away it floated down the stream, so
fast that the toad could not catch it.
Thumbeline became happy again,
for everything she passed was so
lovely in the sunshine, and the birds
on the branches sang to her as she
floated by. A pretty little butterfly

her beauty; but when the henchafers
saw her, they said that she was just
like a human being.

"How very, very ugly she is!" they
all cried; and at last the cockchafer
disowned her, and they all flew down
with her and set her on a dais}'. Then
she wept because she was so ugly that
the henchafers would have nothing to
do with her.

All the summer Thumbeline lived
alone in a wood, dining off the honey

The fairies came out from their flowers and brought Tluiiiilicline presents

hovered round her, and at last settled
for a moment on the leaf, for he loved
her very much. She was pleased, too,
and tied him to the leaf with her sash.
But presently a great ugly cock-
chafer came buzzing past. He caught
sight of her, and snatching her off the
leaf, flew up with her into a tree; but
the poor butterfly could not free him-
self, and went floating along down-
stream. The cockchafer gave Thum-
beline some honey to eat, and praised

from the flowers, and drinking the
dew that every morning spangled the
leaves around her. But then came
the cold, long winter; the flowers all
died, the birds flew away, and the
snow began to fall. Poor hungry
Thumbeline wandered through the
stubble of a cornfield hard by until
she came to the hole of a field-mouse,
who dwelt snugly down in the ground,
having a room full of corn, and a
neat kitchen and store-room.

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Thumbeline stood at the door and
begged for food.

"Poor little thing!" said the good-
natured field-mouse. "Come into my
warm room and dine with me." And
she soon became so fond of the tiny
maid that she said: "You may dwell
with me all the winter, if you will only
keep my room clean and neat, and tell
me stories, for I love stories dearly."
And Thumbeline agreed, and was very
happy in her new home.

In a few days' time the field-mouse
said: "We shall have my next-door
neighbor, the mole, in to visit us to-
morrow; he comes to see me once a
week. He is richer than I am, has
large rooms in his house, and wears a
beautiful black velvet coat. It would
be capital if you married him; but
he is blind, and cannot see you, so you
must tell him your prettiest stories."

When he came, Thumbeline sang to
him, and he soon fell in love with her.
He invited them to walk down a
long, dark passage that he had just
burrowed from their house to his,
lighting them with a piece of tinder.

But when they had gone a short
distance they found a swallow lying
stretched on the floor; the poor bird
had evidently died of cold. Thumbe-
line felt very sorry, as she loved all the
birds, but the mole kicked it with his
short legs, saying:

"Here's a fine end to all its whis-
tling ! What a miserable thing it must
be to be born a bird! None of my
children will be birds, thank goodness !"

But Thuml^eline could not sleep
that night, so she got up, and wove a
carpet out of hay and then went and
spread it round the bird; she also
covered it with some warm, soft cotton.

"Farewell, dear bird," said she;
"farewell, and thank you for your
beautiful song in the summer, when
all the trees were green and the sun
shone so warmly upon us." And she

pressed her head against his big body.
To her great surprise she felt some-
thing beating within it. It was the
bird's heart, and he was not really
dead. She quickly laid the cotton
more closely round him, and he
gradually revived.

He remained underground all the
winter, and Thumbeline was kind to
him and brought him water and food;
but she never said a word either to the
mole or the field-mouse.

As soon as the spring came the
swallow said farewell to Thumbeline,
who would not go with him, because
she knew it would vex the old field-
mouse if she left her.

Thumbeline was now sad indeed,
for she was not allowed to go into the
warm sunshine.

"This summer you must work and
make your wedding clothes," said the
field-mouse, for the blind, dull mole
had decided to marry Thumbeline.

So the tiny maid was obliged to
work hard at the distaff, and the field-
mouse hired four spiders to spin and
weave.

Every evening the mole came and
talked about how the summer was
coming to an end, and he abused the
sun and pretty flowers so much that
Thumbeline disliked him more and
more, and said she would not marry
him.

"Fiddlestick!" cried the field-mouse.
"Don't be obstinate, child, or I will
bite you with my white teeth."

At last the day fixed had arrived,
and Thumbeline went to bid a last
farewell to the beautiful sun before
going to dwell with the mole deep down
in the earth.

"Farewell, thou glorious sun!" she
cried, as she walked a little way.

"Tweet, tweet!" And she heard a
fluttering of wings, and there was the
little swallow. She told him her sad
fate and how she longed to be free.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

373

"The cold winter will soon be here,"
said the swallow; "I shall fly far
away to the warm countries. Come
with me, sweet little Thumbeline, who
didst save my life when I lay frozen
in the dark earth."

"Yes, I will go with thee," said
she; and she seated herself on the
bird's back, and then the swallow
soared high into the air and flew away
over forest, lake, and mountain, until
they reached the warm countries.
There the sky seemed twice as high
and twice as blue, and there grew the
loveliest green and purple grapes, and
citrons, and melons.

Near a calm, blue lake stood a half-
ruined palace of white marble, and
here the swallow had built his nest.

"This is my house," said the swal-
low, "but I will take you to one of the
splendid flowers growing beneath us,
and you shall dwell in one of them."

But what was her surprise when she

saw sitting on the flower a little mani-
kin wearing a gold crown on his head
and the brightest, most delicate wings
on his shoulders, scarcely any bigger
than herself.' He was the spirit of
the flower, and in every flower there
dwelt one such fairy, and he was
their king.

When he saw Thumbeline he was
delighted, for he had never seen so
lovely a maiden. So he put his gold
crown on her head and asked her to
be his queen. And Thumbeline said
"Yes," and then all the fairies came
out from their flowers and brought her
presents, and the best of all was a
pair of transparent wings, which
enabled her to fly from flower to
flower.

"You shall no longer be called
Thumbeline," said the king to her,
"for it is not a pretty name, and you
are so lovely. We will call you Maia."

And she dwelt with him ever after.

THE PYGMIES

THERE is an old saying that
"truth is stranger than fic-
tion." This seems to be just
as true today when we read the
stories of recent travelers and explorers
about the strange peoples and races
they find in the wilds of distant
lands. One of the most wonderful
recent discoveries is that of a new
race of pygmies that dwell on the
flanks of the great Snow Mountains
in Dutch New Guinea, Africa.

Ancient writers were fond of re-
counting the adventures of these
little people, and the folklore of
Africa and Asia and Europe bases
many of its strangest stories upon
pygmy life. Our nursery tales of
gnomes and fairies, goblins, pinkies
and brownies have undoubtedly come
down, generation after generation, by
word of mouth, from the dim, pri-

meval days when pygmies wandered
dry shod across the land-bridge that
connected India with Africa, and
when the island of Sicily was part of
the highway from northern Africa into
Southern Europe. Although no pyg-
my in the wilds has ever seen pencil or
paper, yet the race is immortalized in
the company of Trojan and Greek,
and until modern times has been
regarded as equally mythical.

Homer, who lived in the ninth
century B. C, began the story, com-
paring the arming Trojans, rushing
to war, with cranes migrating to the
pygmies' land:

"So when inclement winters vex the p'ain
With piercing frosts, or thick-descending rain.
To warmer seas the cranes embodied fly.
With noise, and order, through the midway

sky.
To pygmy nations wounds and death they

bring . . . ."

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Battling with the storks

Aristotle, another Greek, knew full
well of the existence of pygmies;
Herodotus describes them as battling
with the storks which came to raid
their crops. These and other ancient
writers got the main fact correct as
to the existence of the little people;
but, as in other dealings with natural
history, they mingled the mar-
velous with the matter-of-fact. Their
tales of pygmies with pygmy horses
and other tiny, domesticated animals,
of the tiny people having to cut down
their crops with axes, of their requiring
a ladder to mount into the goblet of
Hercules, were, of course, as fabulous
as the legend of their fashioning the
spear of Odin and the world-shaking
hammer of Thor. And because of
this leaven of romance the whole story
of pygmies was discredited until cer-
tain African travelers burst into the
twilight gloom of the forests and first
discovered a kingdom of real midgets.

There are two groups of pygmies
now known — Negrillos and Negritos —
consisting of many tribes. Some are
found in the Andaman Islands, in the
Bay of Bengal; half a dozen distinct
tribes are in the Congo; there are the
tiny Bushmen of South Africa, the
Aetas of the Philippine Islands, the
Samange of Malacca, the pygmy
tribes in Formosa, and now, also, these
little people in Dutch New Guinea.

Herodotus, the ancient Greek writer,
was then not wholly mistaken in
describing his pygmies as defending
their crops against great birds.

The latest discoveries in Dutch
New Guinea are on the side of the
ancients. The Tapiros, as the newly
known midgets are called, do cultivate
crops. They cultivate sweet potatoes,
tobacco, and sugar-cane. African
pygmies of today have no crops, but
they wage war upon the giant cranes
which haunt the head waters of the Nile.

They knew the use of fire and, in a
primitive way, iron-smelting and work-
ing. Their spear-heads are of iron,
smelted and worked by themselves,
and the tips are poisoned with a virus
of terrible potency. They live in tiny
huts in the forest — huts only 4 feet in
height, bare of any suggestion of
furniture, and entered by a low open-
ing through which the tenant crawls
on all fours. Spears are their only
assets. These constitute the pur-
chase price of a bride, and upon the
product of the weapon they live.
They attack and kill the mighty
elephant; they hunt the okapi. It is
a strange fact that the discovery of
the Congo pygmies gave this extraor-
dinary animal to the knowledge of
the world. No white man had ever
seen an okapi ten years ago, and only
rumors of its existence had been heard.

At home the pygmies are feared
and avoided by other natives. They
inhabit the reeking, steaming forest,
impenetrable to all save themselves,
and pass their lives in a perpetual
twilight, amid mighty trees laced and
bound together with vast creepers, in
and out of which little men run like
rabbits.

The same habits and method of
living distinguish the majority of
pygmy tribes. For the most part all
have like features: the dark skin, the
ape-like mouth; the broad, flattened
nose; the woolly, "pepper-corn" hair.

Like the tiny Shetland ponies and
the diminutive Shetland sheep dogs,
the pygmies make up in intelligence
what they lack in inches.

But the pygmies most recently dis-
covered — those of Dutch New Guinea
— appear to be in advance of their
fellows. They are husbandmen, grow-
ing their own crops. They make bows
and arrows, and use them with astonish-
ing skill, employing them against birds,
rats, mice, and other small animals.

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

375

THE ARTFUL MOLE AND THE INNOCENT BLACKBIRD

"Tell us about the most wonderful
escape you ever had from an enemy,
will you, daddy?" said an excitement-
loving little Blackbird, sitting along-
side one of his brothers on a twig
overhanging a cattle pond.

"Oh, let me see, let me see," mused
the sable old bird with the orange bill.
"I think the most curious adventure
I ever had, and certainly the narrowest
escape, happened to me when I was a
young fellow, just learning to sing.

"Blackbirds are all early risers, and
I used to leave my cozy roosting perch
under a tuft of ivy at the first peep of
day regularly every morning, in order
to listen to my father, who was a
capital singer, and such a cunning old
bird, too!

"One day he said to me, 'Jack, do
you know an easy way to catch
worms?'

" 'No, father,' I answered.

" 'Well, I'll tell you, then, lad. If
eve^ you see a mole at work throwing
up a hillock of earth, just hop quietly
along to the place, and ninety-nine fat
caterpillars to a lean daddy longlegs,
you'll observe a terrified worm or two
hurrying to the surface of the ground
in order to escape from their enemy
below. Once they have left their holes
you can pick them up and swallow
them as easil;^" as ever you please, for

it's what men call a case of "out of the
frying pan into the fire" so far as the
worms are concerned.'

" 'Thank you very much indeed.
That is a pretty wrinkle, and no mis-
take, dad,' said I with glee.

" 'Yes, Jack,' replied my father,
'but it's just like all pretty things — it
needs to be approached with care, as
the puppy dog said when he tried to
play with the wasp. You must be
very careful the mole does not catch
hold of you, for he is an awful cannibal,
and the monster that will eat his own
grandmother would not hesitate to
breakfast off j'^ou.'

"Being dragged underground alive
and devoured in a mole's dark tunnel
struck me at the time as being rather
an unpleasant way of ending one's
career; but warnings have a trick of
slipping from the minds of over-
confident young people, and I had
forgotten the dangerous side of my
father's information in less than a
week.

"I was standing on the topmost
branch of a dead tree early one morn-
ing, listening intently to my worthy
parent's top notes, when I observed a
tiny clod of earth roll off the top of a
newly made mole hill. Now's my
chance, thought I, never dreaming of
the great surprise in store for me.

376

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Keeping my eye steadily fixed on the
spot, I saw the mole give another
heave, and out came a great red worm,
helter-skelter. I was on him like a
shot, and thought I had never in all
my life tasted such a delicious morsel.

"I waited about for some time, feel-
ing sure that other worms would come
to the surface; but in vain, the mole
had ceased to work.

"By-and-by, a monster just showed
his great pink head on the crown of the
newly-made hillock, and I grew so
excited I could hardly stand still.

"I waited and waited, and as the
mole did not burrow any more the
worm also waited and waited. I
naturally supposed that as there was
no enemy at work beneath him he did
not see the fun of coming out to make
a meal for me, so I decided to pounce
upon him and drag as much of his
body out as I could.

"I made a wild dash at him, and
never got such a fright in all my life."

"Whatever happened, daddy?"

asked both the young Blackbirds ex-
citedly.

"Well, what I supposed to be the
head of a worm proved to be the nose
of the artful old mole. Whether he
had stuck it out in order to get a
breath of fresh air, or as a deliberate
bait for me, will never be known; but
directly I seized it he seized me, and
it is a wonder I'm alive to tell the tale.

"The brute instantly tried to drag
me underground, but being a strong
young bird and my bill hard and
slippery he lost his hold, and I made
my wings go faster than they ever
flapped before or since.

"It was a full week before I dared
look at a worm again.

"Take my advice, children, and
examine early worms well, especially
when they thrust their heads out of
mole hills. Man-made proverbs need
applying with caution, and I should
tie on behind 'It is the early bird that
catches the worm,' but 'All is not gold
that ghtters.' "

THE ARCHER FISH — A FINNY SPORTSMAN

MANY tall stories have been
discredited since scientists
began sternly to demand
proof of alleged facts, but nevertheless
it has been recently established that
there are fish that share with man the
sporting instinct. Of these finny
sportsmen the Archer is king.

"We have," said Sir Charles Bell,
"a curious instance of the precision
of the eye and of the adaptation of
muscular action, in the beaked chseto-
don, a fish which inhabits the Indian
rivers and lives on the smaller aquatic
flies. When it observes a fly alighted
on a twig, or flying over it — for it can
shoot them on the wing — it darts a
drop of water with so steady an aim
as to bring the fly down into the water,
when it falls an easy prey. It will

hit a fly at the distance of from three
to six feet. Another fish, of the same
order, the Zeus, has the power of
forming its mouth into a tube and
squirting at flies, so as to encumber
their wings and bring them to the
surface of the water. In these in-
stances a difficulty will readily occur
to the reader. How does the fish
judge of position, since the rays of
light are refracted at the surface of
the water? Does instinct enable it to
do this, or is it by experience?"

Nearly a century ago travelers re-
ported having seen specimens of the
Jaculator fish in Java. They were
exhibited by a native chief, who kept
them in a pond, in the middle of which
was placed a short branch. For the
amusement of his visitors the chief

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK 377

instructed attendants to place living as well as forwards, says Zolotnitsky,

beetles on it. a Russian savant. This habit of

Expert gunners swimming backwards is very curious

"When the slaves had placed the and quite customary; indeed, they

beetles, the fish came out of their often swim in this manner for several

holes and swam around the pond," minutes at a time. They reconnoiter

says one account. "One of them came a possible prey, and back from it until

to the surface of the water, resting they secure a good position for ob-

there, and, after steadily fixing its servation and attack,

eyes for some time on a beetle, it dis- The action of the eyes deserves

charged from its mouth a small quan- special notice. They can be moved in

tity of water with such force and pre- almost every direction — to the left,

cision of aim as to strike it off the to the right, upwards, and backwards

twig into the water, and in an instant — backwards so that the fish can see

swallowed it. After this another fish everything that goes on behind. Their

came and performed a similar feat, vision is also very penetrating; they

and so the sport continued until they can see small objects at a great dis-

had secured all the beetles. If a tance, and drench them with astonish-

fish failed in bringing down its prey ing correctness of aim. But the eyes

at the first shot, it swam around the cannot be turned downwards, and,

pond till it came opposite the same consequently, when the fish would see

object, and fired again. In one in- what is below, it plunges forward,

stance a fish returned three times to head foremost. It rarely sees what is

the attack before it secured its prey, at the bottom, and although worms

but in general the fish seemed very may be there in abundance, it finds

expert gunners, bringing down the them only when hunger impels it to

beetle at the first shot." search for them there. And it is not

When the Jaculator fish intends to alone the movement of the eyes which
catch a fly or any other insect which engages attention; instead of the ex-
it sees at a distance, it approaches pressionless stare which is characteris-
very slowly and cautiously, and goes tic of fishes generally, the Archer's
as much as possible perpendicularly eyes sparkle with intelligence. Es-
under the object; then, the body being pecially when the fish becomes sick
put in an oblique position, and the or dying is the expression manifested;
mouth and eyes being near the surface then it looks at you as if it would im-
of the water, the Jaculator stays a plore your attention and would like to
moment quite immovable, having its speak. Apparently there are few lim-
eyes directly fixed on the insect, and its to the ingenuity of the Archer fish.
then begins to shoot, without ever This finny tribe certainly does not
showing its mouth above the surface seem to be less greedy than its fellows,
of the water, out of which the single It appears that the less expert gun-
drop, shot at the object, seems to ners, finding that their clumsy efforts
rise. With the closest attention, one merely resulted in driving insects
can never see any part of the mouth away from the aquarium, desisted in
out of the water, though the Jaculator favor of the adepts of the family,
fish shoots a great many drops one When the latter exercised their skill,
after another without leaving its the other fish waited in readiness to
place and fixed situation. snap up the spoil before the success -

They frequently swim backwards ful sportsman could secure it.

LITTLE PLAYS AT HOME

HINTS: 1. Stage Properties are those articles which are used in a play either
for scenery or for dress. One child should be appointed to look after these properties.
He must see that they are in their proper places before the curtain rises and at hand
as the scene goes on.

2. Each child is responsible for his own personal properties, that is to say, the
articles of dress, swords, armor, etc., belonging to his part.

3. In setting or arranging the scenery, the Right is on the right hand and the
Left on the left hand as you stand facing the stage, with your back to the audience.

4. The Prompter should stand, out of sight of the audience, at the side of the stage,
book in hand, ready to give the missing word or sentence, should any one forget his
part.

SCENE FROM ROBIN HOOD

CHARACTERS: King Richard Cceur de
Lion; Three Nobles, attendants on him;
Robin Hood; Little John; Much; Allan-
a-dale; Friar Tuck; Robin Hood's Merry
Men; Maid Marian; Lady Christabel.

STAGE PROPERTIES: Green cloth for aoor,
bank, bushes, mugs, platters, jug for wine,
dishes, dinner things, silver and crystal bowl.
For the bank, a biggish box banked up with
cushions. Cover it with cloth and ivy. Bowl
in bright new tin basin, and crystal fruit dish .
For dinner dishes, have as many covered dishes
as possible, plates of fruit, bread, etc. Sham
fowls, meat, etc., can be bought, but these are
not necessary with covered dishes. A big
soup tureen looks well. This scene can be
acted out of doors.

SCENE: An open space in Sherwood Forest.
To the Right and Left, trees or greenery; at
the back a bank. When the curtain rises
King Richard is discovered standing in
center; near him the three Nobles. They are
all dressed in monks' cloaks, with hoods well
drawn over their faces.

The King [looking round him] : Well!
I hope we shall see the fellow this time.

First Noble: There is not much

fear of that: Robin Hood finds out
monks as quickly as bees do honey.
We shall not have long to wait, your
Majesty.

The King [softly, puffing finger on
lip] : Hush ! He may be listening now,
and if he guesses who I am our game
is spoilt. Remember I am only an
abbot for today, [louder] The fellow
is well off here: sunshine and green
trees, flowers and the song of the birds
for company — who could want more?

Second Noble [speaking quickly]:
I saw something moving down there
. . . through the trees . . . take
care, my Lord!

The King [still loudly]: For my
part, I have no fear of the map H^
would not dare rob me.

RoBii; Hood [stepping from behind
a tree, all in green, with botv and arrow.

378

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

379

and horn]: You speak too soon, my
lord abbot — for an abbot I take you
to be by your dress and manner. Robin
Hood dare rob whom he will, when he
has need of money, so you had better
come with me peacefully. I have a
hundred men within call, and I am
not over fond of monks.

The King: If we are monks, we
are also messengers from the King. If
you are the famous Robin Hood . . .

Robin Hood : I am Robin Hood.

The King: Then his Majesty sent
us to say that he would see you. As a
sign he sends you this ring [showing
ring on his hand].

Robin Hood [after looking at it,
taking off his hat]: It is truly the
King's ring. God bless him: God
bless all those that love him: cursed
be all those who hate him and rebel
against him.

The King: Then you curse your-
self, for you are a traitor and an out-
law.

Robin Hood [fiercely] : I am an out-
law may be, through no fault of mine,
but I am no traitor, and if you were
not the messenger of the King you
would pay dearly for that lie. I have
never yet hurt any true and honest
man: I have robbed only from the
tyrant rich, never from the poor: I
fight against monks and abbots, and
take their money from them when I
can, because they steal from the poor.
They ought to live good lives and
show others a good example, but they
do not. They live wickedly, and
should be punished. If they had
ruled England well when King Richard
was away, we should not have to live
in the woods as we do now. [Kindly.]
But do not fear, you are the King's
messengers, and therefore welcome to
all that we have. Stay here, and sup
with us; we will make you couifortable
as we know how.

Third Noble: They wait for us
at Nottingham, my lord.

The King: Let them wait: the
King wishes to know as much as
possible about this man. If we do
not fare well, it will matter not for
once.

Robin Hood: You shall eat of our
best. Sir Abbot, though if you came
not from the King I doubt if you
would be so well treated.

[Bloivs his horn. Enter quickly
Little John, Much, Allan-a-dale,
and others: they are all dressed in green.]

Little John: What newf, master?

Robin Hood: None that will fill
our pockets, my little John. These
good monks are messengers from the
King, and therefore safe from us.
Much!

Much: Yes, master!

Robin Hood: . . . Tell the cook
that we shall dine here, and that we
must have as fine a feast as if the King
himself were among us.

Much: Yes, master! [Goes out by
Left quickly.]

Robin Hood: Allan - a - dale, go
bring me here Maid Marian, and your
sweet Christabel; tell them we have
need of their help to entertain our
noble company.

Allan-a-dale: I go right gladly,
master. [Exit by Left.]

Robin Hood [to the others]: Now,
men, help bring the things and do your
parts with a right good will. Let us
show these gentlemen what we poor
foresters can do.

All: Ay, that we will, master!

[Exit all foresters, save Little John.
They all drop on one knee before Robin
as they pass out.]

The King: Upon my word, Sir
Outlaw, you are master of a gallant
company. It is a pity that you should
live as you do — shooting down the
King's deer, robbing his faithful
bishops and knights.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Robin Hood: I cannot starve my
men, Sir Abbot, and were Richard him-
self here I think he would scarcely
grudge these fine men their food.

The King: Perchance not, but it
is against the law.

Robin Hood: I know that well,
Sir Abbot, but what else can we do.'*
Our homes have been burned down by
the Norman nobles, our lands have
been stolen, our money taken, and
they would have made us their slaves.
Rather than that, we have chosen to
live here in the merry greenwood. We
are Englishmen, Sir Monk, and we
would be free.

The King: Well spoken! Well de-
fended, Robin!

[Enter by Left Allan- a-d ale, with
Maid Marian, Lady Christabel, a?id
Friar Tuck.]

Maid Marian [curtsying]: Wel-
come to Sherwood Forest, Sir Abbot!

The King: Who is this fair lady?

Friar Tuck [pushing forward] : Have
you never heard of Maid Marian,
Robin Hood's sweet bride, and Queen
of our merry greenwood? She comes
of noble blood, but rather than be
parted from her Robin she fled to the
forest all in knightly array. There
she again met our master, and the two
young things fell to fighting together,
neither knowing the other; presently
Robin spoke and the lady discovered
herself, and the end of it all was that I
married them myself. Ah, it was a
merry wedding!

The King: Who is this jolly
monk?

Friar Tuck: Friar Tuck, at your
service, my lord abbot, and a very
busy man. Look at these two [point-
ing to Allan-a-dale and the Lady
Christabel]. I married them under
the old bishop's nose: I cried them
seven times in the church lest there
should be some mistake. They are a
couple to be proud of. They .

Robin Hood: Friar Tuck, Friar
Tuck, your tongue clacks too loudly.

P'riar Tuck: Not so, master, not
so; you would be badly off without its
clacking, I'll warrant. Who would
marry you? Who would bless you?
Who would say grace at meat in the
Latin tongue? Who would . . .

[Little John takes him by the arm
arid leads him away.]

Robin Hood [laughing]: He is a
merry soul!

[Enter a Page {or Pages) ivith silver
or crystal bowl and towel. He kneels
before the King, holding the bowl while
he washes his hands, then goes to the
Nobles. Men in green come hurrying
in icith mugs, platters, dishes, food, etc.,
irhich they set on the grass. Little
John orders them here and there: the
King and Nobles talk to Maid Marian
and Christabel. Presently Robin
Hood blows his horn: all the men stand
round.]

Robin Hood: Fill up the mugs,
men, to the very brim: before we eat
we will drink the King's health.

[They fill up mugs, giving them also
to the King and Nobles.]

All drinking [led by Robin Hood]:
God save the King !

The King: If I could get you par-
don from the King, Roliin, would
you be willing to leave this wild life
in the woods and serve him forever?
He has need of loyal and true men like
you.

Robin Hood: With all my heart!

The King [to the men]: Men, would
you be willing to serve the King of
England, Richard Coeur de Lion?

All [flinging their caps into the air]:
With all our hearts! . . . God save
the King!

Robin Hood: You see. Sir xVbbot,
we are all loyal people here.

The King [huskily]: So I see!

Robin Hood : If you would but ask
the King to forgive me, I think I

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

SSI

could once more respect monks. A
bishop was the first cause of all our
misfortunes, and because of that I
have hated them all, but from this
day I shall respect them.

The King [flinging back the monk's
hood]: There is no need to ask the
King for pardon. I am the King, your
sovereign, and I forgive you gladly,
Robin.

Robin Hood [falling on his knees]:

Sire!

The King: Stand up, stand up,
my friend: I doubt if in all England,

1 have more faithful followers than
you and your men.

Little John: The King! God save
us! . . . The King! !

Much and Others: The King ! The
King! [They all kneel.]

The King: Rise, all! I am King
Richard of England: are you ready to
follow me as your master, and be my
men?

All: We are, we are!

The King [gaily]: Then let us sup,
and after we will to Nottingham, and
surprise them.

All: Long live the King! Three
cheers for Coeur de Lion ! And three
for Robin Hood!

[The King gives his hand to Maid
Marian, Robin Hood to Christabel.
As they all seat themselves round the
feast the Curtain falls.]

SCENE FROM UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

CHARACTERS: Miss Ophelia, Eva, Topsy.

STAGE PROPERTIES : Bed or sofa arranged
as bed, and any other bedroom furniture.
Ribbon, gloves, dressing table, etc.
NOTE. — In this scene there is no need to

keep strictly to stage directions. Set it as

seems most convenient.

SCENE: Miss Ophelia's bedroom: Door to
the Left; at the back in center a bed, or couch
arranged as bed, standing out from the wall;
to the Right side of the bed, a dressing-table:
on it, besides the usual looking-glass, etc., a
bright red ribbon and a pair of white gloves.
Chair to Right near front of stage. Book-
case, pictures, and other furniture, according
to convenience. When the curtain rises, Miss
Ophelia is discovered sitting on chair to
Right; opposite to her stands Topsy, hands
folded, eyes fixed on the ground.

Miss Ophelia: Now, Topsy, you
are clean and tidy at last, I hope.''

Topsy: Laws, yes. Miss Feely!
There's not a speck o' dirt left on me.

Miss Ophelia: That is better: I
hope you will always keep clean and
tidy in the future. There is nothing
I dislike so much as dirt.

Topsy [rolling her eyes and making a
face]: Yes, missis.

Miss Ophelia: Now I have a few
questions to ask you before we set to
work. How old are you, Topsy?

Topsy [grinning]: Dunno, missis.

Miss Ophelia: Don't know how
old you are! Did nobody ever tell
vou? Who was your mother then,
child?

Topsy [with another grin]: Never
had none.

Miss Ophelia: Never had any
mother! What do you mean? Where
were you born?

Topsy: Never was born.

Miss Ophelia [sternly] : You must-
n't answer me like that, child. I
am not playing with you. Tell me
where you were born and who were
your father and mother.

Topsy [emphatically]: Never was
born, never had no father, nor mother,
nor nothin'!

Miss Ophelia: Topsy, how can
you say such things! How long have
you lived with your master and
mistress?

Topsy: Dunno, missis.

Miss Ophelia: Is it a year, or
more, or less? Try to answer properly
this time.

Topsy: Dunno, missis.

Miss Ophelia: Worse and worse!

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Do you know anything at all, I won-
der! Have you ever heard of God,
Topsy? [TopsY shakes her head.] Do
you know who made you?

Topsy [laughing]: Nobody as I
knows on: 'spect I grow'd. Don't
think nobody ever made me.

Miss Ophelia [shocked]: Terrible!
whatever shall I do with a child like
this ! Do you know how to sew, Topsy ?

Topsy: No, missis.

Miss Ophelia: What can you do?
What did you do for your master and
mistress?

Topsy: Fetch water, wash dishes,
and clean knives and wait on folks.

Miss Ophelia [going to left side of
bed]: Well now, Topsy, I'm going
to show you just how my bed is to be
made. I am very particular about my
bed. You must learn exactly how to
do it. Come to the other side and
watch me well.

Topsy [going to right side]: Yes,
ma'am.

Miss Ophelia: Now, Topsy, look
here. This is the hem of the sheet,
This is the right side of the sheet.
This the wrong. Will you remember?

Topsy [with a big sigh]: Yes, ma'am.

Miss Ophelia: Well now, the
undersheet you must bring over — like
this — and tuck it right down imder the
mattress, nice and smooth — like this.
Do you see?

TopsY[with a bigger sigh] : Yes, ma'am.

Miss Ophelia: But the upper
sheet must be brought down and
tucked under, firm and smooth at the
foot — like this — the narrow hem at
the foot.

Topsy [snatching the gloves and the
ribbon off the dressing-table, as Miss
Ophelia bends over the bed]: Yes,
ma'am. [Slips them into her sleeve.]

Miss Ophelia [pulling off the clothes
again]: Now, Topsy, let me see if
you can do it. [Topsy quickly and
neatly makes the bed again.]

Miss Ophelia [watching her]: Very
good . . . very good indeed, Topsy!
We shall make something of you yet.

Topsy [tucking in the sheet]: Yes,
missis. [As she does so the ribbon falls
from her sleeve.]

Miss Ophelia [picking it 7ip] : What
is this? You naughty wicked child,
you have been stealing!

Topsy [very surprised]: Why! That's
Miss Feely's ribbon, an't it? How
could it a' got into my sleeve?

Miss Ophelia: Topsy, you naughty
girl, don't tell me a lie. You stole
that ribbon.

Topsy: Missis, I declare I didn't.
Never seed it till dis blessed minnit.

Miss Ophelia: Topsy, don't you
know it is wicked to tell lies?

Topsy: I never tell no lies. Miss
Feely. It's jist the truth I've been
tellin' now. It an't no thin' else.

Miss Ophelia : Topsy, I shall have
to whip you, if you tell lies so.

Topsy [beginning to cry]: Laws,
missis, if you whips all day couldn't
say no other way. I never seed that
ribbon. It must a' caught in my
sleeve. Miss Feely must a' left it on
the bed, and it got caught in the
clothes, and so got in my sleeve.

Miss Ophelia [angrily shaking her]:
Topsy, how dare you ! Don't you tell
me that again. [The gloves fall to the
floor.]

Miss Ophelia [holding them np]:
There! Will you tell me you didn't
steal the ribbon?

Topsy [still crying loudly] : O missis,
missis, I'se so sorry! I won't never
do it again, I won't.

Miss Ophelia: Stop crying then,
and tell me if you have taken anything
else since you have been in the house.
If you tell me truthfully, I won't whip
you.

Topsy: Laws, missis, I took Miss
Eva's red thing she wears on her neck.

Miss Ophelia: You did, you

THE CHILDREN'S OWN BOOK

383

naughty child! Go and bring it me
this minute.

Topsy: Laws, missis, I can't —
they's burnt up.

Miss Ophelia: Burnt up? What
a story! Go and get them or I shall
whip you,

Topsy [groaning and crying]: I
can't, I can't, Miss Feely! They's
burnt up, they is.

Miss Ophelia: What did you
burn them up for.f*

Topsy [rocking to and fro] : 'Cause
I'se wicked, I is. I'se mighty wicked.
I can't help it.

[Enter Eva wearing red necklace.]

Miss Ophelia: Why, Eva, where
did you get your red necklace?

Eva: Get it? Why, I have had it
on all day, and what is funny, aunty,
I had it on all night. I forgot to take
it off when I went to bed.

Miss Ophelia [lifting her hands in
despair]: Whatever shall I do with
her ! What in the world made you tell
me that you took the necklace, Topsy?

Topsy [wiping her eyes]: Missis
said I must 'fess. I couldn't think
of nothin' else to 'fess.

Miss Ophelia: But of course I
didn't want you to confess things you
didn't do; that is telling a lie just as
much as the other.

Topsy [very surprised]: Laws now,
is it?

Miss Ophelia : Topsy, what makes
you behave so badly?

Topsy [grinning]: Dunno, missis;
'spects it's my wicked heart.

Miss Ophelia: What shall I do
with you? I'm sure I don't know;
this is terrible.

Topsy: Laws, missis, you must
whip me. I an't used to workin'
unless I gets whipped, but I dunno
that it helps much neither.

Miss Ophelia [going to door]: I
never saw such a child! Topsy, if
you do not try to be more honest, and

better in every way, I shall have to
speak to your master. [Exit.]

Eva : What makes you so naughty,
Topsy? Why don't you try to be
good? [Taking her hand.] Don't you
love anybody, Topsy?

Topsy [blinking her eyes]: Dunno
nothin' 'bout love. I love candy,
that's all.

Eva : But you love your father and
mother?

Topsy: Never had none: I telled
ye that before. Miss Eva.

Eva [sadly]: Oh, I forgot: but
hadn't you any brother or sister, . .

Topsy [interrupting]: No, none on
'em. Never had nothin' nor nobody.

Eva: But, Topsy, if you would
only try to be good, you might . . .

Topsy [interrupting] : Couldn't
never be nothin' but a nigger, if I was
ever so good. If I could come white,
I'd try then.

Eva: But people can love you, if
you are black, Topsy. Miss Ophelia
would love you if you were good.

Topsy [laughing]: Would she
though?

Eva: Don't you think so?

Topsy: She can't bear me, 'cause
I'm a nigger. She'd as soon have a
toad touch her. There can't nobody
love niggers, and niggers can't do
nothin'. I don't care. [Whistles or
hums, and tosses her head.]

Eva [laying her hand on Topsy's
shoulder]: O Topsy, I will love you:
I love you now, because you haven't
any mother or father or friends. And
it makes me sorry to have you so
naughty. I wish you would try to
be good, Topsy. Won't you?

[Topsy suddenly sits down on the
floor and hides her face in her apron.]

Eva [stroking her head]: VoorTo^syl

Topsy: O Miss Eva, dear Miss
Eva, I will try . . . indeed I will. I
never did care nothin' about it before,
Cuetain,

INDEX TO VOLUME I

Abe, how to learn, 265.

Addition, 218: decimals, 231; defini-
tions, 218; denominate numbers,
235; drill In, 218; tractions, 230;
oral exercises, 218; problems in,
218.

Adjectives, game of, 308.

Aeroplane, in warfare, 81.

Africa, discoveries in, 80.

Age, of animals, 36, 37; of birds, 37;
of trees, 31.

Air, changes in Its composition, 62;
damp air malces us iil, 26; how a
balloon keeps up, 51: need of fresh
In lungs, 91 : what It is made of, 48:
what makes a kite fly, 5i; w^iat
makes the balloon go, 54; why a
soap bubble ris^s and falls, 49: why
fresher after rain, 52; why we can-
not see It, 48; wonders of, 48.

Air and Water, experiments with,
287.

Air Pressure, why the fountain plays,
53; why the smoke of a train goes
the other way, 79.

Air Waves, how they break a window,
41; why a pop-gun pops, 46.

Alexander the Great, The Gordlan
Knot, 207.

Alice in Wonderland, tub, 293.

Alkali, how It dissolves oH. 73.

Alphabet, games with movable, 198;
how to learn the ABC, 265; learn-
ing, 193; movable, 198; picture,
266; where it comes from, 85.

American Flag, birth of, 84: first
made by Betsy Ross, 83; how It
originated, 81.

American Indian, likeness to Japan-
ese and Chinese, 85 ; where he came
from, 85.

American Jack, 83.

Ammonia, why It cleanses things, 75.

Amundson, Roald, discovery of
South Pole, 80.

Amusements, "Alice In Wonder-
land" tub, 293; boy conjuror's
Joke, 29 1 ; conj uring trick with nuts,
292; disappearing dime, 290; ex-
periments with air and water, 288;
games, and, 263; games for hal-
loween, 299; games to play by the
Are, 296; garden games, 302; little
shadow theater, 297; making a ball
vanish, 291; mystery and n^aeic,
263, 287: stories and plays, 2^3;
things for boys to do, 263; things
for girls to do. 263; trick to play
with a book. 289.

SEE ALSO VOLUME II

Earthquake, what causes it, 66.

Eclipse, how observed, 65; of the
sun by the moon, 64.- what it is, 64.

Education, desirable to train the
memory, 165; importance of sense
of touch in, 155, 156; problems con-
cerning, 238: school of real life, 205.

BEE ALSO MONTESSORI SYSTEM, AND
CHILD TRAINING

Egg Hat, game of, 305.

Eggs, why bad ones float and good
ones sink, 35.

Egypt, Cleopatra's Needle, 14; early
writing in, 14; monuments, 14;
tombs, 16.

Egyptian Tombs, what they con-
tained, 16.

Egyptian Writings, 15.

Electricity, effect upon water, 87.

Emotions, must be controlled by
reason, 217.

Engine, could a wheel fly off, 72.

English Language, finest writing in
Bible, "Robinson Crusoe" and
"Pilgrim's Progress," 86; foreign-
er's difficulties with, 135; number of
words in, 80.

Exercises, chalk line, 191 ; gymnastic,
191.

Exercises and Games, Montessorl
system, 176.

Experiments, Simple, with air and
water, 287.

Eye, blindness, causes of, 107; cata-
ract of, 107; color-blindness, 110:
color vision, 108; cones in retina,
108; cornea, 101; crying, 17; de-
fects of, 104, 105; elasticity of lens,
107; how a picture is printed on the
retina, 71; how our eyes focus by
change of shape of their lenses, 104
interior of eyeball, 108: iris, 102
lens of, 103: nearsightedness, 104
105; of backboned animals, 98, 99
of birds, 99; of a dragon fly, 97
of a fish, 94; of fishes, 98: of a fly
94, 97: of a man, 94; optic nerve,
102; parts of, 101; pupil, 102
storyof. 94; tear gland, 100: tears,
17: training of, 190- uses for which
nature has fitted them 106; where
tears go, 18: winking, 17, 100.

SEE ALSO VOLUME II

Plaster of Paris, what it is, 88.
Plav, the natural right of boys and

girls, 148.

SEE ALSO VOLUME II

Stars and Stripes, ^see American
Flag.)

Statue, Liberty Enlightening the
World, 168.

Steel, cast, 88.

Steeplechase, game of, 304.

Stephenson, George, example of
courage, 208.

Stirrup, of ear, 117.

Stitches, Buttonhole, 335; how to
make, 334.

Stock, feeding, 256.

Stone, how It is made, 62; Rosetta,
85; why it sinks, 69.

Stoneware, how It is glazed, 87.

Stories and Plays, 263.

Stories, Apollo and I.eto, 358; Art-
ful mole and innocent blackbird,
375; Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby,
348; history of world transmitted
In, 14, Little Tiny Thumbeline,
370; Master Self, 345; Peter Pan,
364; Story of the Days, 352; the
Archer Fish, 376 ; The Pygmies, 373 ;
The Three Bears, 346; Three Little
Pigs 349.

Storm', why sky is dull during, 45.

Storv, of the eye, 94; questions, 269.

Subtraction, 218, 219; checking,
219; drill in, 218: fractiisns, 230;
making change, 219; of decimals,
231: of denominate numbers, 235;
written exercises, 219.

Success, emotions must be controlled
by reason, 217: girl who loves her
home, 212; girls should use natural
gifts, 210, glory of courage, 208;
Imaginary difficulties, 209; joy of
simplicity, 213: pleasures should
be worthy mind and heart, 215;
qualities in a girl necessary in man-
aging a home. 212: qualities that
coin, 206: search for pleasure, the,
213; unnecessary extravagance,
215: use of difficulties, 206: what
aboy must do to succeed, 205; what
a girl must do to succeed, 210.

SEE ALSO CHILD TRAINING; MON-
TESSORI SY'STEM

Sun, Eclipse by moon, 64; how it
changes the course of the wind. 57;
what keeps It bright,'60; wonders of,
68.

INDEX TO VOLUME I

Sunday, story of, 352.

Sunset, what produces colors of, 38

Swim, bladder of flsh, 126.

Swimming, wTiy it Is easier to swim
in salt water. 58.

Symbolism, 189.

Sympathies, must be limited In con-
trol of girls. 217.

System, Circulatory, 92; nervous,
9o>

Tables, counting, 246.

Tallting, 131.

Tarnisii. why silver tarnishes, 87.

Taste, organs of, 138; where It re-
sides, 141.

Tastes, better classified than smells,
141 .

Taxes , 237 ; method of spreading, 237 ;
problems in, 237.

Teaching, practical application of
knowledge, ISl; visual perception,

Tear"GIand, 100.

Tears, crying, 17; use of, IS: where

they go, IS: why they come, 17;

why they overflow, 100.
Teeth, use in pronunciation, 137;

why only two sets grow, 23.
Telegraphy, why lines hum. 45.
Telephone, way to make lor boys.

Tests for color-blindness. 111.

Theater, little shadow. 297.

Things, beautiful, 263; difllcult to
say, 286; for boys to do, 263; for
girls to do, 263, 333: to draw, 274.

Things for Boys to do, bookshelves,
326; boy's carpenter shop, 324;
how to make flying machine, 316;
Indian signals, 311; kites, how to
make, 314: knots of sailors and
builders. 323; mea.suring distance
by sound. 312; staining and polish-
ing, 330; tool-box, 326; way to make
a telephone. 312.

SEE ALSO VOLUME II

Wednesday, story of, 355, 356.
^^IIM- °' ^ <^^*'''' foot of gold, 88:

of light, 43 : avoirdupois, 234.
Weights of Produce, 24V
Were Tame flowers once wild, 29.
What are Meant by latitude and

longitude, 88.
What a Vacuum is, 75.
What becomes of carbonic add, 87.
What Brings Life out of seeds. 34.

43 * *-°"^^* " Light to be yellow.

What causes an earthquake, 66.
What Changes the course of the

wind, 57.
What Clouds are made of, 55.
What Colors stagnant water, 45.
What Happens when one faints, 20.
What Holds a building up, 78.
What is the Efifect of electricity

upon water, 87.
What is Plaster of Paris, 88.
What is Pumice stone 87.
What is Shale. 88.
What Keeps the Stars In their

places, 63.
What Keeps the sun bright, 60.
What Makes a bee hum, 29.
What Makes a Cat purr, 32.
What .Makes a dimple, 25.
What .Makes a Kite fly, 54.
What Makes an Automobile go.

What Makes the shadows, 63.
What Makes the Colors of sunset.

What Makes the rainbow, 44.
What Scene In history, game of, 309.
What Smoke Is made of, 56.
What Substances make common

glass, 87.
What the birds sing about, 26.
What the Cinematograph Is, 86.
What the Cinematograph teaches,

86.
What the First buildings were like,

76.
What the Stars are made of, 61.
What Vehicles were sent, 282.
What Wakes us, 18.
Wheat, problems concerning, 242
Wheel, could it fly off an engine, 72;

how fast can It go round, 72; why

it stops, 72.
When was the Watch right, 282.
Where Flowers go in winter, 27
Where Plants get their Salts. 36.
Where Tears go, 18.
Where the .\lphabet came from, 85.
Where the cocoanuts grow, game of.

Where the day begins, 68.
Where the Day changes, 68.
Where the Indian came from, 85
Where the Snail flnds Its shell. 30.
Where the Stars stay In daytime,

60.
Where We Go In our sleep. 16.
Which Travels Quicker, heat or

cold. 77.
Who Gave the stars their names, 67.
Whose Portrait is it. 283.
Why a Bad egg floats and a good one

sinks, 35.
Why a Ball bounces, 87.
Why a Crowded Hall Invites light-
ning, 87.
Why a Leaf falls, 27
Why a Man Is wise, 162.
Why a Man may be foolish, 162.
Why Ammonia cleans things, 75.
Why a Moth flies round a candle, 35.
Why an apple falls, 58
Why an Exploding cartridge causes

a report, 87.
Why an Iron ship floats ,4
Why a polished tin pan will not bake

as readily as an iron one, 87.
Why a pop-gun pops, 46.
Why are dreams illogical, 88.
Why are There two buttons on the

back of an evening coat. 87.
Why a River runs into the sea, 51
Why Asbestos does not burn, 55
Why a Singer likes to sing in Italian,
' 136.

Why a Stick holds together, 78.
Why a Stone sinks, 69,
Why a Thinker should seek only

the truth, 161.
Why a Wheel stops, 72.
Why Bark grows on ^rees. 32.
Why Beds of Rivers change, 58.
Why Birds Eggs are of different

colors, 34.
Why Birds Fly so high, 26.
Why Coal Burns and stone does

not. 55.
Why Damp Air makes us 111. 26.
Why Dampness makes wood decay.

Why does a Silver dish tarnish, 87.

Why Does a Stick float, 74

Why Does Wood warp. 87.

Why Dry Wood burns more readily

than green, S7.
Why Every Cloud has a silver lining,

INDEX TO VOLUME I

Why FlniJcrs are not of the same

leiKtli. 21.
Why Kishcs cannot live on land, SI.
Why Fishes do not drown. 35.
Whv KIsinios uo up. .">(>
Why ruiwors Smell sweeter after

rain. ,">r.
Whv The Kountaln iilays, 5o.
Why Gold and .Silver coins are

milled. SS.
Whv Glue and Paste are adhesive.

Why Houses are not made of Iron,

7(i.

Whv Is Ice slippery. SS.

Wliv is Oak stronger than pine, S7.

Whv is it dark at ulixht. 40,

Why is it easier to swliu In salt

water, ;"iS.
Whv the leaves Chance color, 33.
Wh> Llilht Seems Red when we shut

our eves, 4J.
Why Men do not always search for

truth, li'l.
Whv Mortar become.^ hard, SS.
Why Old People remember things

of loiit: as:o. Hit
Whv Onions Make our eyes water,

•J3.
Why Paint Keeps Iron from rustlns,

SS.
Whv PhotoiSraphs are developed In

rod liu-ht. ■!.">.
Why Railway sisjn.als are red, green

and wiiUo. 110-
Whv Raindrops are round, 54.
Why Rainwater Is best for plants,

SS.
Why Saleratus makes cake light,

S7.
Why Seeds come up at certain

times. oS.
Whv Shoes are hotter when dusty,

S7.
Why Smoke of a trala goes the other

way. 7S.
Why Snow Is white. 4."?.
Why Soap takes out dirt, 73.

Whv Some anlmaUs wear white coats

33.
Whv some Faces In pictures follow

us, 70.
Whv Some houses look crooked, 4fl.
Whv Some People are dark and some

fair, 2J.
Why Spiders do not get caui;ht In

their own webs. 31.
Whv reloilraph Hues hum, 45.
Whv the Sea Is salt. 40.
Whv the skv is blue. 40.
Whv tlio Stars twinkle, 62.
Why the Worlds are round. 03.
Why Things Spin round when we

are dlzzv. 24.
Why Toast Is more digestible than

bread. S7.
Whv Tropical Races are dark-eyed,

SS.
Why United States Is called "rncle

Sam. " SI .
Why Water quenches Are, 50.
Whv Water runs. 7S.
Whv Wood floats and Iron sinks, 74.
Whv Wood rots. 30
Why We are right-handed. 23.
Why we cannot make a rope of

sand. 7S.
Why we cannot see air. 48.
Whv we covmt in tens, 69.
Whv we cry, 100.
Whv we cet out of breath, 20.
Why we So to sleep. Hi.
Whv we have lluser-nails. 22.
Why we have lines on our hands, 21.
Why we have names, S6.
Why we have only two sets of teeth.

Why we have ten fingers. 21.

Whv we have toe-nails. 22.

Whv we see farther from a height,
30.

Why we see ourselves in the glass,
3s.

Whv we shiver. 24.

Whv we suffer giddiness, 125.

Whv we use different notes In speak-
ing, 132.

Why you cry, 17.

Whv you laugh, 17.

Whys and Hows, children's. 69.

Wind, what changes Us course, 57.

WinkinS. 100.

Wire, barbed. 23S.

Wolf, came of, 295.

Wonders, of air. lire and water, 4H:
of animals and plants, 26; of earth,
sun and stars. 5S; of light and
sound. 37: of the human body, 16.

Wood, wliy dampness makes It de-
cay, S7: why dry burns more
readilv, S7: why It decays, S7; why
It floats, 74: why It rots, 36; why
It warps. S7.

Word-.MakinfS, game of, 296.

Words, how many we use. S5: Lulla-
by, origin of. S7: number used In
Old Testament. S5: picture. 267,
26S. 269: practice, 194: recognizing
and spelling 193. spinster, origin
of. SS. used by Milton. S5: used by
Shakespeare. S5' why they grow
In number. SO.

Work-Bo\, girls, how to make, 333.

World, have we discovered It ail. SO;
how big it is. 60: how it was peopled,
13: how we know the story of, li;
its motions. 60

Worlds, wh.\- they are round. 63,
Worms, how they breathe, 30.
Writinii. beginning. 179; explosion
into, 194; tirst use of pencil. 1S9;
how tracing teaches the child to
use pencil, 194; in Babylon, l-.gypt
and .\sia. 14: picture, in Egypt,
85: learning to write at age of four,
193: of music, 130: on stones and
t.ablets, 14; picture, 14: prepara-
tory exercises, 1S7; spontaueoie
lesson. A, 1S4.

SEE .^LSO MONTESSORI SYSTEM

Zoo, how to make toy, 341-

THE HUMAN
INTEREST LIBRARY

VISUALIZED KNOWLEDGE

EDITORS

RT. REV. SAMUEL FALLOWS, D.D., LL.D.
HENRY W. RUOFF, M,A., Litt D., D.C.L.

VOLUME IL

CHICAGO
THE MIDLAND PRESS

DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS

VOLUME TWO
BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY '7

No study is more fascinating than that of the great globe on which we live. This book deals
with the great truths of the forces of nature — physics, geology and astronomy — not as dry facts, but
in a charming way which captivates the imagination. It tells us how the earth was born from the
primeval chaos, how under the influence of cosmic laws, here fully described, it took form and slowly
cooling and shrinking through the ages, became the solid sphere upon whose crust we live; and then,
taking a wider flight, it tells us all that is known of the starry heavens.

BOOK OF NATURE 81

Plants and animals, the denizens of the world about us, are a source of never-ending interest
to young and old alike. Nothing could be more entertaining than this book with its varied panorama
of the animate world. In it we explore the depths of the ocean abyss, and watch the eagle renew his
sight at the fioon-day beam; follow the busy bee through his life of toil, or the king of beasts as he
stealthily approaches his prey. The text is accompanied with striking and unique illustrations. It
will prove of immense assistance to the boy or girl pursuing grammar or high school work in nature
study.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM 173

The world moves so fast and the industry and ingenuity of this present age are so great that we
can hardly keep pace with them. No work is complete unless it furnishes a summary of the most
recent of man's wonderful achievements. Here are graphic accounts by the best authorities, telling
the story of the electrical and mechanical conquest of the world. Radium, X-rays, telegraphy, engines,
animated photography, mechanism for the measurement of time, new sources of power — all come in
for a human interest treatment. The illustrations, charts and diagrams which accompany the text
are the best of their kind, and are a course of instruction in themselves.

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 269

The American is nothing if not practical and, be he man or boy, will appreciate this book. It
teaches us how science has been applied in those recent discoveries which are revolutionizing modern
life. Many of the most interesting forms of industry and structural engineering — such as glass-
making, concrete construction, bridges, light-houses, water power, conquest of the sea, etc. — are
taken up and explained. The construction of the world's greatest canal; the great Keokuk dam
which harnesses the "Father of Waters;" and the wonderfu' Niagara power plants are described by
masters of engineering enterprise. The modern processes of great industries are also vividly described
by specialists.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II

FULL PAGE COLOR PLATES

PAGE

The Dreaded Simoon opp. 6

Building the Celebrated Forth Bridge " 7

A Group of Plants That Catch Insects " 80

The Sperm Whale— The Tiger of the Deep " 81

Birds of Prey and Game Birds " 123

Birds Noted for Song or Plumage " 124

FULL PAGE ENGRAVINGS AND DRAWINGS

Procession of Worlds in the Skies 8

The Sun and Its Numerous Children 15

The Infinite Space no Man Can Measure 19

The Changing Earth from Age to Age 32

The Wonder Story Told in the Rocks . 33

The Fire Burning Inside the Earth 38

How Fire Conies Out of the Earth 42

The Splitting of the Earth's Crust 43

How We Look at Another World 46

The Earth as Viewed from the Moon 58

Map of the Stars in Spring 63

Map of the Constellations in Summer 64

Map of the Stars in Autumn and Winter 65

The Water That Is Everywhere 79

Members of the Numerous Cat Family 82

The Development of the Animal Kingdom 85

Animals That Live on Ants 88

The Elephant in Anger 91

The Lords of the Wild Kingdom 93

The Hyena, Grizzly and Polar Bears 95

The Fox, the Jackal and the Wolves 99

The Handsomest Birds in the World 103

Some Beauty Birds of Foreign Lands 107

Strange Birds with Strange Feathers 109

Colony of Flamingoes in the Bahamas Ill

The Immense Family of Vultures 116

Some Birds That Hunt for Beasts 118

The First Cousins of the Ostrich 121

The Barn-Owl of the Countryside 131

Picture of Parts of the Bee 135

The Growth of the Honey Bee in the Tiny Cell 136

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II— Continued

PAGE

The Life of the Bee in Its Wonderful Hive 138

Offer of Life to the Earth and Sun 142

Insect Mothers and Their Famihes 147

Marvelous Homes of the Water Spider 149

Beautiful Forms of the Shell Sand on the Seashore 151

Secrets of the Past Locked in a Pebble 153

Starfish and Sea Anemones ;......... 156

Living Light of the Ocean Depths 158

Exploring the Ocean Bed 160

Some Examples of Climbing Plants 168

A Plant That Breaks the Rules 171

Radiograph of the Structure of the Hand 174

Apparatus by Which X-Ray Penetrates the Body 179

A Series of X-Ray Pictures 181

Striking Vision of the Radio- Activity of an Atom 189

Behind the "Foothghts" of the Moving Picture Studio 198

How Moving Pictures Are Produced 201

How Moving Picture Tricks Are Done 203

The Impossible Made to Seem Real 204

Behind the Great Face of Big Ben 207

How Time in Past Was Measured by the Sun 209

The Mystery of Stonehenge 212

How Time Is Now Measured by the Stars 214

Time Recorders in Clockless Ages 217

What Makes the Wheels Go Round 219

Many Clocks Worked by One Pendulum 221

How a Telegram Is Sent and Received 223, 225

The Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean 227

The Electric Wave That Runs Under the Sea 228

Making the Electric Cable for the Ocean Bed 229

How the Ship Lays the Ocean Cable 230

How the Cable Is Joined Together at Sea 231

How a Cable Is Lowered and Raised 232

Words Travel Everywhere on Electric Waves 235

Wireless Stations on Duty Day and Night 236

The Unseen Telegraph Messenger 238

How Electric Waves Are Turned into Words 239

Trans-Atlantic Messages Flying Through Space 240

Two Continents Joined by Electric Waves 241

A Station That Talks to All the World 243

The Two Extreme Types of Big Guns 245

Three Stages in a Big Gun's Growth 247

The Manufacture of Rifles 250

Testing Rifles and Making Shot 254

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II— Continued

PAGE

Adaptations of the Inclined Plane 256

Various Types of Gears 263

Possibility of Tapping the Fires of Earth 267

Wonderful Steps of Water up Which Ships Will Climb 270

Scenes on the Panama Canal 272

Excavation of Panama Canal 275

Bed in Which Two Seas Met 276

Walls Through Which the Seas Flowed 277

Panama City and Map 281

Scenes in the Lucky Little City of Panama 282

Development of Steam Navigation 285

From the Caravel of Columbus to the "Imperator" 290

The "Vaterland" under Construction 292

Maiden Voyage .of the "Imperator" 294

The Bull Dog's Teeth 297

Interior of a Dreadnought at a Glance 298, 299

Manufacture of Armor Plate 303

Barbette of Battleship 304

Beacons of the Sea 314

Life Saving Bells in Operation 317

Niagara Falls Power Plants 318

How Niagara Falls Are Harnessed 3^1

Gigantic Wheel Turned by Niagara 322

How Power Is Generated and Controlled 323

Keokuk Dam and Locks 327

Underground Engineering in Paris 332

The Jawbone Siphon 334

Underground Engineering in New York 336

New York Subways 337, 338

Old-fashioned Bridges in Picturescjue Lands 342

Beginning to Build a Great Bridge 343

The Interior Workshop Under the Water 344

The Great Forth Bridge Section by Section 346

The Tower Bridge, London 348

Brooklyn Suspension Bridge 350

Cultivation of the Tea Plant in Ceylon 355

The Preparation of Teas for the Markets 359

Where the Fragrant Coffee-berry Is Grown 361

Where the Chocolates Come From 364

From Grinding Mill to Chocolate Molds 366

Art Glassware of the Last 1500 Years 370

Machinery for Making Glass Bottles 374

How a Fragile Wine Glass Is Shaped 378

AND 78 ADDITIONAL TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS

2-3

■T. .h

— o

:i o

"7- y)
- >> I

^ a

BUILDING THE CELEBRATED FORTH BRIDGE

This bridge with its two mighty spans of 1.700 feet is one of the most remarkable in the worki. For seven
years an army of intrepid workers hil)nr('d in nii<1-iiir to lomplete it. It cost $15,000,000 and 57 linnian lives.

Book of Earth and Sky

THE GREAT BALL UPON WHICH WE LIVE

THE SUN AND ITS FAMILY

HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE

THE EARTH AS IT IS TODAY

THE EARTH'S CHANGING FACE

WORLDS IN THE SKIES

THE MOON, THE LAMP OF NIGHT

THE SUN'S GIFT TO THE EARTH

STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS

AIR, WATER AND FIRE

PROCESSION OF THE WORLDS IN THE SKIES

The earth is not the only world; it is only a fragment of the great Universe — the name
we give to all created things. In the picture the earth looks the biggest of all the globes;
but that is only because it is the nearest to us. Round the sun are many other worlds and
millions of stars. The great world balls travel, always spinning, round the sun. This
picture helps us to understand what a mighty universe we live In. Nobody has ever seen
the universe like this because nobody can get outside it to look; and even if we could it is
so vast that nobody could possibly see it all. Through a telescope we can see a little bit of
the world nearest our earth; but the majesty and wonder of the universe is something that
no man can fully understand.

The World is round like a ball, and this Is the side of
the bpll called the Old World, the part of the World that
was known before Christopher Columbus found America.

This is the other side of the ball, the New World, called
America, which the men living in the Old World did not
know until Columbus found it, four hundred years ago.

THE GREAT BALL UPON WHICH WE LIVE

THE earth on which we Uve is so
big that we cannot possibly
see it all at the same time. It
has come to be what it is through
millions and millions of years. Yet
the earth is only one of many, many
worlds, some of them much greater
than the earth, all of them moving
through space like a ball when it is
thrown in the air. What do we know
of all these worlds? How were they
made? Is every star a sun like ours,
and are there little children playing
on balls, like the earth, that circle
round the stars? How does the sun
give us life and warmth? All these
questions we ask as we think of the
great universe in which we live, and
we come to know more and more
about the world as time goes on.

The men who thought the earth
WAS flat

The first men who tried to under-
stand the earth naturally thought that
there were two or three great facts
which he could start with, about
which there was no doubt at all. To
begin with, it seemed quite plain that,
though there were hills and valleys,

ups and downs, yet, on the whole,
the earth was flat. The hills and the
valleys seemed to be mere ups and
downs, like the ups and downs on a
bad road. However far you walk
your head is still upright, at the top
of you, and your feet are still beneath
you. You will never come to an
edge and fall off. Walking on the
earth, or even going in a train, is not
at all like walking on a ball, as people
do at the circus.

Well, then, men thought that here
was something plain. First of all, there
was this great stretched-out earth,
giving us a certain level upon which
we live, and stretching out in all
directions. Then men began to think
of everything else in the whole world as
either at that level or else above that
level like the sky, or else below that level.
It was not possible to get very far
down below because of the difficulty
of digging; but still, just as there was
an above, so men knew that, of course,
there must be a below.

GREAT mystery OF THE UNDER WORLD

In some parts of the world it was
possible, men thought, to get hints of

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the lower regions, and men came to
learn that the earth below was hot
and on fire. How did they find this
out? Here and there upon the surface
of the earth there are great holes,
usually found at the tops of moun-
tains. These mountains have a
special name which we must learn;
they are called volcanoes, and the
holes are called craters. Sometimes a
volcano becomes excited, and all sorts
of things come up from below and are
shot up into the air through the hole
at the top. Now, these things that
come up are all terribly hot, and with
them comes a great deal of black
smoke. So it seemed probable that
what men called the under world —
that is to say, the part below the level
of the earth — was a very hot place,
probably with fire always burning
in it.

Another idea was that the earth was
quite still and at rest. We do not feel
the earth moving vnider our feet; we
cannot imagine that it moves. If we
look "up" to the stars and watch
them carefully from day to day and
from night to night, they seem to
come up from the edge of the earth,
in a direction which we call the East.
Then they seem to travel across the
sky, and then to dip down at the
other edge of the earth, which we call
the West.
What men used to think about the

SUN

We can easily see the sun doing this,
as it seems to do it every day. At
some time in the morning we see it
in the East; it travels across the sky,
and then it passes from our sight in
the West. It used to be thought that
the great fire of the sun w^as put out
every night in the water in the West,
and that then, in some mysterious
way, it passed through the under
world, and was set blazing again, and
turned up next morning in the East

to begin its journey afresh. Whatever
happened to the sun at night, at any
rate there seemed to be no doubt that
it did what we think we see it do- —
rise in the morning, move across the
sky, and set on the other side from
where we first saw it rise. The
notion that the earth itself moved
seemed to be such nonsense that
everybody laughed at it.

But at last there came the notion
that, in spite of what we think, the
earth is not flat! Some bold men
actually declared that the earth was
nothing else than a big ball, and that
we lived on the outside of it. Many
people laughed at such an idea. "If
it is a big ball," they said, "we should
be able to go right round it and come
back to where we started from."
Now, in those days the only part of
the earth that men knew at all was
scarcely more than a spot on its sur-
face, and beyond this they knew
nothing. So this idea of traveling
boldly out in one direction and going
on and on until you came back to the
place you started from seemed really
too absurd.
Could a man tumble off the

EARTH?

Then again, people argued that
there could not possibly be other
people on the under side of this big
ball, for if they were they would fall
off, and, indeed, if it were a ball,
anyone starting at the top of it, and
walking too far in one direction,
would soon find himself beginning to
slip — just as a doll might slip off an
orange — until at last he would tumble
off altogether, and that would be the
end of him. It seemed a great puzzle,
or, rather, it seemed not a puzzle at
all; it simply seemed that the people
who said the earth was a ball were
talking nonsense. But these people
would not stop talking, and they went
on with one argument after another

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

so strongly that at last people believed
that what they said was true.

How WE KNOW THE EARTH IS ROUND

One of their best arguments was
that if you watch a ship as it sails out
to sea from the harbor, it does not
behave as it should behave if the sea
were flat. Suppose the sea were like
a flat, ploughed field. You could
watch the ship go up and down and
on and on, looking smaller and smaller,

until at last it became just a speck,
and then disappeared out of sight.
But that is not at all what happens
when a ship sails out to sea. If we
watch it closely, we find that it begins
to disappear in a particular way. The
hull — that is, the bottom — of the ship
disappears first, and then the ship
seems to sink lower and lower, until
we can see only the tops of the masts,
and then only the top of the highest

HOW WE KNOW THE EARTH IS ROUND

The earth is not flat like a table, but Then we see the top of the mast, Then the front appears, and we see

round like an orange. We know this as if the ship were climbing up the the vessel rising higher and higher,

by the way a ship comes into sight side of a hill,
at sea. At first we see only smoke.

^^?^- ,

Jdb.

If the earth were flat we should see But we do not see it that way. We At last the ship is over the circle,

the whole of the ship at once, not the see the ship rising as if it were sailing sailing clear on the top of the ball,

front of it first and the rest of it bit up the other side of a ball.
by bit.

12 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIHHARY

mast, and then nothing at all. When they were sailing farther from their

it has quite gone, the ship is really homes, and what way back could

near enough for us to see quite well, there be except the way they had

but it is hidden by something — some- come?

thing which first hides the lowest part, But there was to be no turning

and then hides it all. back. Each day their leaders gazed

How THE SHIP COMES INTO SIGHT AT SEA ahead lookiug for land — laud that

Then, supposing the ship comes had never been seen, but which they

back, what do we see? Is it, first of hoped to be the other side of the land

all, a sort of dim shape, which gradu- from which they had started. And

ally becomes clearer and clearer, like once they nearly found what they

a man meeting us in a street in a fog? were looking for.

Not at all. The ship seems to rise up It was not a great stretch of land

from somewhere, and, as it rises, comes that they saw, only some small

nearer and nearer, so that we see the islands, but that was quite enough,

tops of the masts first and the hull they thought. Where there were

last. islands, they said, there would surely

The first men who tried to sail be land beyond them.

AROUND the great EARTH-BALL HOW MEN FOUND THAT THE EARTH WAS

"Very well, then," said some bold a great ball

sailors. "Very well, then; if the earth Now, in those days, people who

is really a ball, and if there is water lived in Spain, and in that part of

enough, we shall sail around it. We the world, used to call the land which

shall start out from the edge of the lay farthest east from them the Indies,

land with our ])est boats and a big So when the sailors came across these

supply of food, and we shall go straight islands, they thought that, by going

on and on and on, though we see round the other way, they had

nothing but water in front of us; and reached some of those same Indies

if you are right, and if we sail long which they had visited before by

enough and our food does not run traveling east, and they called these

short, we shall go right round the ball islands to which they first came the

and turn up again at the place we West Indies, and the Indies they had

left" — not at the same edge of the left behind them they called the

land, but at the opposite edge. East Indies. Little did those bold

And that is what these sailors tried sailors guess that instead of going all

to do. They went out in their best the way round they had gone only a

and biggest boats; they turned their quarter of the way.

boats straight ahead, and waved their Soon there followed other sailors,

hands to the crying friends who equally brave, and at last they suc-

thought they would never see them ceeded in sailing right round the earth,

again. The country called Spain, That was the end of the notion that

which was at that time one of the the earth was flat. These voyages

most famous countries in the world, discovered for us what we still call the

was their starting place. On they New World, and they have been of

went, and we may imagine how often great importance to the lives of all of

those sailors, who could not believe us. But their greatest importance

this story about the earth being was really to prove forever that this

round, wanted to turn back and get wonderful earth is nothing else than

home again. Every day they felt a great ball.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

iL!llliliL11ii

^^^^^^^^

^H^

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

UBANUS

™"4

^^^^^^^1 ^^^^^^^^1

^^^^^^V EARTH ^^^^^^^H

SATURN MERCURY VENUS HARS j„p,^„

We know the earth spins through space like a ball, spinning round once in a
day, and traveling round the sun once in a year. But the earth was not always a
great ball. Once it was a great cloud, made of the stuff of which the earth is made,
and of which our bodies are made. The cloud was moving, spinning round until it
came together, shrinking into the shape of a globe, and at last becoming solid. Spin-
ning in space at the same time were other great clouds. We call them planets,
which means wanderers, because they wander through the sky. They are the sun's
family. One is so near to the sun that it goes round it in 88 days; one is so far
away that it has only been round the sun 12 times since Jesus Christ was born. All
round these planets are other worlds called moons, and millions of strange and won-
derful things which go through the universe spinning.

THE SUN AND ITS FAMILY

NOW we must take up the
story of the earth from the
beginning. As we know that
the earth is not in the middle of the
world, but that it goes round the sun,
we must be very sure to find out all
that we can as to what the sun is,
and why it makes the earth go round
it. We could not live without the
sun, and we cannot know too much
about it. Where, then, have the sun
and the earth come from, and what
were they like at first .-^

We have seen that, as the earth
spins round itself, it moves rovmd the
sun, and so we know that, so to speak,
the sun is a neighbor of ours. Now
we must find out whether we have
any other near neighbors, and we find
that we have. There is, for instance,
the wonderful moon, the story of
which is part of the story of the earth.
But also we see in the sky a number of
bright objects that look like stars, but
which, for several reasons, we know
are different from the stars, that we

also see when we look upwards. These
bright objects are not stars because,
for one thing, they move about the
sky, while the real stars seem to be
fixed, and for ages past have been
called the "fixed stars." Since they
are always seen to be moving, the
men of long ago called them the
wanderers; but, of course, those men
did not speak English, but Greek, and
we now use the Greek word when we
speak of them. They are called
planets, which just means wanderers.
Now, of course, when we talk of
wandering we think of a movement
that is haphazard and does not quite
know where it is going. That is not
true of the planets, even though we
call them wanderers. We know now
that these planets all move round the
sun just as the earth moves round the
sun, and in just as orderly a way.
That is why we may talk of the sun
and its family. We must think of
the sun as a great light and furnace
in the center of the great world.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Around it there travel, from one
year's end to another, a wonderful
family of planets. One of these is
the earth. It is not the biggest, nor
the smallest, nor the nearest to the
sun, nor the farthest from it. They
all go round the sun in the same
direction — they go the same way;
but, of course, if a planet is farther
away from the sun than the earth is,
it will have much farther to go before
it can get right round the sun and come
back again to the same place. This
takes a very much longer time then,
and so "from one year's end to
another" would mean something very
different on that planet from w^hat it
means to us. Our earth may go
round the sun more than a hundred
times while one of these other planets
that is much farther away from the
sun goes round only once.

But all that does not matter at
present. The great fact is that our
earth, which is so important for us,
is really just one of several planets
that go round the sun. It is our sun
and their sun. Now, the Latin word
for the sun is Sol, and so this great
system, made up of Sol — the sun — and
all the planets is called the solar system.
Plainly, then, we shall not be able to
tell the story of the earth unless we
know the story of the solar system, for
the earth is part of the solar sys-
tem.

Time when there was neither earth

NOR SUN

You will remember that men used
to think that the earth was flat and
still, with the sky above it, and the
fiery under- world below it. How dif-
ferent that is from what we know
now — that the earth is a ball, one of
a number of balls that are always
flying round the sun!

Now at last we can begin at the
beginning of the story of the earth.
We must go back to a time when there

was no earth at all, when there was no
sun at all, and no planets at all.

There was only in those far-away
times — we cannot say those far-away
days, for there could be no days when
there was no sun or earth — there was
only in those far-away times a great
cloud of atoms, so much bigger than
any cloud you ever saw, so much
bigger than anything we know, that
not even the wisest of wise men can
really make a picture in his mind of
how big that cloud must have been.
There it was, however. Enormous
though it was, it was only a cloud. If
we could have been there to see it we
should not have found much to say of
it, except simply that it was there and
that it was very big. All parts of it
were like all other parts. It was just
a cloud, and if you had tried to draw
a map of it you could only have
drawn its edge all round, for there was
nothing else to draw in it.

The atoms that we are made of was
in the great cloud

Some people think that it must have
been a very bright and even a very hot
cloud, giving out light and heat from
itself; but most people think that this
was not so, and that at first, at any
rate, this cloud was not bright or hot,
but perhaps very cold.

Now you probably guess what is
coming. That great cloud w^as made
of the stuff which now makes up the
sun and the planets, including our
own earth, and even the atoms of which
your body is now made, and the stuff
which is before you and which you
call paper. All the stuff, or matter,
as it is called, that now goes to make
the solar system — the sun and its
family — was there in that great cloud.
There was no system, however. The
cloud had no particular shape, and
one part of it was just like another.

There was only this to be said — if
we, and not merely the matter of which

THE SUN AND ITS NUMEROUS CHILDREN

'.^^^ Path of Neptune

1--

NEPTUNE
and his Moon

Path of Uranus

URANUS
and his 4 Moons

•.NEPTUNE

.URANUS

SATURN

With his Rintfs
and 9 Moons

^^-'^path of Saturn

»and his 7 Moons

•>?^^^?

^!^ tVe Minor*

^/^ •

SATURN

'\VENJS^ MERCURY,'' /

JUPITER

MARS . • *

and his2Moons . • ' •

, Minor
Planets

. MARS
EARTH
VENUS

MERCURY

9'>y

The sun Is like a great furnace of heat and light in the center of the universe. Around it travel a wonderful family

of worlds, which we call planets. They all go round the sun in the same way, but some members of the sun's family are

-eo 'ar away that it takes them many years to go round It. The earth goes round the sun once in a year, but Neptune,

the most distant planet, goes round only six times in 1000 years. The picture at the right shows the size of the planets

compared with one another, and their distance '"-om the sun.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

our bodies are made, had been there to
say it — and that is that all the little
bits of which the cloud was made up
were moving. They were probably
rushing about in a very rough-and-
tumble sort of way. Nothing could
have been less like a system of any
kind. This all happened so long ago
that we simply cannot think how long
ago it was. But, as the ages went on,
all the little bits of stuff that made up
the cloud found themselves moving,
not like a jumble, but in a more
orderly way. Indeed, so orderly was
their movement, after a long time,
that the whole great shapeless cloud
slowly began to twist or spin on
itself.

When the spinning of the earth

BEGAN

Now that reminds you of the earth
spinning on itself, and so it should, for
the slow spinning of this great cloud
was the beginning of the spinning that
makes our night and day. The stuff
that makes the earth was set spinning
in that cloud, and it has been spinning
ever since; it is spinning now, and in
the same direction as when it first
began. But there is no earth yet,
nor sun, nor solar system; there was
merely this spinning cloud.

As time went on it began to shrink.
This we can be quite sure of, for we
know that every speck of matter in the
whole world tries to attract every
other speck of matter in the world.
That is why a ball falls to the earth
when you let it go. Now, if in this
enormous cloud all the little parts
were pulling upon each other, of
course it would shrink, for those on
the outside would have all the others
pulling them inwards and none pulling
them outwards.

We have made up our minds to try
to find out where the sun and the
earth come from, and what they were
like at first. But before we do that we

must look for a little while at what we
may call the brothers and sisters of the
earth — heavenly bodies that began as
the earth began, and that depend upon
the sun in the same way. These
heavenly bodies, together with the sun
and the earth, make up a little family
which is complete in itself, and is, in
a way, independent of the rest of the
world. This little family, since its
center is the sun, the Latin name for
which is Sol, is known as the solar
system. What, then, are the other
bodies, not unlike the earth, that go
to make up the family of the sun?

Ages and ages ago, men who watched
the face of the heavens found that
among the stars there were some few
which behaved quite differently from
the rest. All the heavenly bodies, of
course, seem to rise in the east and set
in the west; but that, as we have seen,
is simply because the earth, from which
we behold them is rotating the other
way. Apart from that movement,
which is only apparent and not a real
movement, men found that all the
heavenly bodies except a very few were
fixed in their positions. If we take,
for instance, the stars that make up
what the ancients called the "Great
Bear" — part of which we often call
the "Plow" — we find that, year after
year, they are always found in the
same position. The brightest of the
stars had their place in the heavens
noted thousands of years ago, and, so
far as we can tell without very careful
study, they occupy just the same
places now. We have lately learned
that really they are moving, but they
are so far away that, to the unaided
eye, nothing can be noticed even in
the course of many years. These
stars, then — that is to say, all the stars
except a very few — were called fixed
stars.

On the other hand, one or two
bright stars could be seen, including

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY 17

even the brightest of all the stars, that it has actually taken three years to

were quite different in the way they reach us, and light travels so fast that

behaved. They were not fixed, but it would go eight times round the

moving, and their movement could be entire earth in a second,

seen quite easily from day to day or All these planets move round the

week to week. In one month you sun, but some of them are much

might see one of these very bright nearer to it than others are. Two of

stars seeming to lie in one part of the them, we know for certain, are nearer

sky, but in another month it would the sun than the earth is. All the rest

not be there at all. Therefore, a move round the sun at distances

special name was given to these stars greater than that of the earth,

which moved or wandered about the Now what about the moon, you will

heavens, and which were, therefore, say. Well, there is no doubt at all that

so very different from the fixed stars, the moon goes round the earth just as

They were called planets, which is the earth goos round the sun. So, of

simply the Greek word meaning "wan- course, the moon goes round the sun,

derers." Among them was, for in- too, only instead of going straight

stance, the morning star, or Venus, round as the earth does, it has to

which outshines all the fixed stars ; keep on circling round the earth all the

another was Jupiter; and another, way. The moon, then, is part of the

because of its reddish color, was named solar system. Then we have to ask

after ]\Iars, the god of war. ourselves whether any of the other

These planets are quite different in planets have moons, and the answer

every way from the fixed stars, and is that they have, so that all these moons

from age to age go on circling round must be included in the solar system,

the sun just as the earth does. The It is not very long ago since the first

planets are not stars at all; ccm- of these moons were found. They

pared with the fixed stars. They were discovered by a great Italian

are so bright simply because they named Galileo. Galileo looked at the

are so near us. More than that, they great planet called Jupiter, the biggest

do not even shine by light of their of all the planets, and there, with the

own, but only by the light of the sun, help of his telescope, he saw what no

which strikes upon them, and then is one had ever seen till then— four tiny

thrown back to us upon the earth, moons. As he watched them from

just as a ball is thrown back from a night to night, he could see quite

wall. The planets owe all their light plainly that they were going round

to the sun, and if we w^ere upon one of Jupiter, just as the moon goes round

them we should see the earth shining the earth. Sometimes one of them

in the sky very brightly and behaving would disappear altogether because

like a planet. Indeed, the earth is one it had got behind Jupiter, and then it

of the planets, and shines by sunlight would turn up again on the other

just as they do. side from where it was last seen.

All the planets, then, including the These moons went round Jupiter at

earth, circle round the sun and make different distances from it, just as the

up the family which we call the solar planets go round the sun at different

system. This solar system is very distances from it; but they all went

much alone in the great world. The round in the same direction.

very nearest of the fixed stars is so far Since that time moons have been

away that the light by which we see discovered going round many of the

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

other planets. So all these moons
must be included in the sun's family.
The two planets that are nearest the
sun have no moons; then comes the
earth, which, as we know, has one
moon. Some of the planets which go
round the sun at a greater distance
than the earth are better off. The
wonderful planet called Saturn, for
instance, has nine moons, and four
more moons of Jupiter have been dis-
covered since Galileo's time, so that
this planet is pretty well off with eight.
The last two of these were found only
a few years ago, and perhaps there
may be more.

The worlds that fly round and
round the sun

Now I think, we must have a list
of the planets that make up the solar
system, and we shall name them in
the order of their distance from the
sun; also we may put opposite each
planet its distance from the sun in
miles, the time that it takes to go
round the sun, and the number of its

moons.

Names of

Miles from Length of

No. of

Planets

the Sun i

ts year

Moons

Mercury

36,000,000

days

Venus

67,000,000

224

days

Earth

93,000,000

365i

days

Mars

142,000,000

686

days

Jupiter

483,000,000

years

Saturn

870,000,000

29 1

years

Uranus

1,754,000,000

years

Neptune

2,792,000,000

165

years

If you look at the second column
you will see that we have called it
"length of year." Now, you under-
stand that what we mean by that is the
length of time the planet takes to go
right round the sun, and we measure
that by the units that we on the earth
know best. So, when we say that the
length of Neptune's year is 165 years,
what we mean is simply that while
Neptune goes round the sun once the
earth has gone round it 165 times.

Hundreds of tiny planets and
"stars" with tails of fire

But even this is not the whole of the
sun's family, for we have lately found
some very tiny little planets, far
smaller than the moon, which go round
the sun between the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter. All of them pvit together — ■
and they are num})ered by hundreds —
would not be nearly as large as the
earth. At one time it used to be
thought that all these tiny little bodies
had been formed by the breaking up
of some big planet; but nowadays men
are very far from sure that this
"shattered planet" ever existed. How-
ever, all these little bodies have to be
included among the sun's family.
They are all found, be it remembered,
in one particular part of the solar
system, and doubtless, if w^e coidd
discover the history of any one of
them, that would also be the history
of all the others.

Yet again, the solar system includes
a number of strange and wonderful
objects which are utterly different from
any of those we have described; they
are called comets, from the Greek word
for hair, because when we can see them
best they seem to have long hairy
tails streaming out across the sky.
These also travel round the sun, and
therefore belong to its family; but
they do so in a very curious way.
None of the planets go round the sun
in circles, but always in paths like a
circle that has been rather flattened in
one direction.

In the case of the comets, however,
this flattening is very extreme. At
one time in its history the comet is
quite close to the sun, and just misses
running into it. Then, after passing
round the sun. it travels away from it,
out and out, cutting across the paths
of all the planets and passing millions
of miles beyond even Neptune,
and then at last it turns on its course

I<(

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

and comes back again. But still it is

one of the sun's family.

The bright lights that shoot across

THE SKY

Now even this is not quite all. You
must have heard of what are called
shooting stars, and on any clear night
in November you will very likely see
some — and also at other times of the
year. A flash of light seems to come
from nowhere, dart for a little distance
across the sky, and then disappear.
These, of course, are not stars at all,
but quite small things, perhaps the
size of a football, which the earth has
caught as it flies through space, and
which, as they pass through the air,
are made very hot and bright. What is
left of them often may reach the earth,
and many of them are to be found in
museums nowadays. It seems that
throughout the solar system there are
countless numbers of these small
objects called meteors. These meteors
also circle round the sun and belong
to its family. In November the earth
is apt, in its path, to cut across the
path taken by a very large number of
these tiny wandering bodies, and that
is why we are most apt to see shooting
stars in November.

A very interesting fact is that a
famous comet, the path of which was
well known, disappeared some time

ago, and just in that same path we now
know that there are a number of these
small bodies like pebbles. There can
be little doubt that they are the
remains of the broken comet.

Now we have completed the strange^
list of the different kind of things thai
make up the solar system: Sol, the sun
itself, in the center, the planets
round it, the moons of the planets
going round them, the very small
planets found between Mars and
Jupiter, the comets, and a host of
little things like pebbles. All these
make up one great family ruled by the
sun. So far as we can find out, they
practically all move in the same direc-
tion round the sun; they twirl or twist
on themselves as the earth does, also
in that same direction; their moon goes
round them in that same direction,
and even the sun is twisting in the
same direction also.

This solar system is very much
alone in the great world. But it does
not stay in one place. We know that
the sun — and with it all the planets
and moons — is moving through space
at a great rate of about twelve miles
per second. Though the solar system
is very much alone in space now, we
have no reason to think that it was
always so, or that it will always be
so.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

The earth began, as far as we can tell, in a great shapeless cloud like this. All the matter of which the sun and its
family of worlds are made was in this cloud, which moved through space for millions of yeajs, until parts broJse away.
The parts shruiLk into themselves and became globes, Uke the earth and the moon opposite.

HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE

This story tells us of the time when the sun and its family of worlds were all
one — a great fiery cloud, which at last broke into smaller clouds. One of these was
the cloud that formed the earth, which became at last a glowing globe of gas, hot at
the center and cooler at the surface. Slowly the gas became liquid — like water, but
red hot. There was then no living thing on the earth, which was like a red-hot
ocean. As the earth spun round in space an extraordinary thing happened : part of
the red-hot stuff fell away, like drops from a wet umbrella, and formed the moon.
Slowly the globe cooled down and the hard surface of the earth was formed — the
great ball of earth, still glowing inside perhaps, on which we live.

ND now we must ask ourselves
again the great question:
Where have the sun and the
earth come from, and what were they
like at first?

For a long time men used to think
that the solar system, including the
sun and the earth, had been, from the
first, as they are now. No one now
thinks that, however. We believe
that they have grown, so to speak,
to be what they are, and we have a
fairly good idea of the way in which
they have grown. Now, in order to
see what the solar system was like at
first, we have only to take a telescope

and look up at the sky, and there we
shall see scores of thousands of
wonderful bodies which are still at the
stage the solar system was at long
ages ago. These bodies are called
nebulae, and one of them would be
called a nebula, which is simply the
Latin word for a cloud. They look
like the tiniest little bright, fleecy
clouds in the sky. Some of them can
be seen with the naked eye, and then
they look like stars, but they are
quite different from stars.

We now know for certain, by ex-
amining the kind of light that they
send to us, that the sky contains, at

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the very least, 120,000 real nebulae.
They are not star-clusters at all, but
glowing clouds of matter. Perhaps you
can get the best idea of what a nebula
is like by using the name which the
poets often call it by, and that is
fire-mist. A nebula is like a great
mist of fire. Those we see in the
heavens are of different shapes and
sizes. Many of them are far bigger,
hundreds or thousands of times bigger,
than the whole space occupied bj' the
solar system. A great many of them,
probably about half, have a shape
very like a lens. They are called
spiral nebulae. You know what a
spiral staircase is. The spiral nebulae,
however, ought never to have had
that name, because they are not at
all like a spiral staircase; they are
quite flat, thin things, much more
like a lens in shape.

If we look at some of these spiral
nebulae we see bright points in them
here and there, which suggest to us
that the fire-mist has become thicker
at certain places than at others. Often
these bright points are so large and
bright that they look like stars, and,
indeed, probably they are stars.
Probably all stars are made out of
nebulae. Now let us come back to
our solar system.

If you could look at the solar
system from a great distance away
you would notice many remarkable
facts about it. In the first place,
you would notice that all the twistings
and movements are in one direction,
as we have already said; then you
would notice that the solar system is
a flat thing. All the planets, so to
speak, go round the sun at much the
same level. You know that if you
took two hoops you might put one
inside the other, so that while the one
hoop was upright on the pavement
the other lay across it; then anything
traveling along the rim of the one

hoop would be traveling round and
round, and anything traveling along
the rim of the other hoop would be
traveling up and down. Now, that
is just what we do not find in the case
of the solar system. It is a flat
thing like a system of hoops of many
sizes, all laid on the ground inside
one another; and the spiral nebulae are
also flat.

Now, there is another curious fact,
and this is that the kind of matter the
sun is made of is the same as the kind
of matter that the various planets are
made of. It almost looks — does it
not? — as if our little earth and all the
planets were once a part of the sun.

The sun is made of the same matter
AS the earth

And so men guessed that perhaps
the pieces of matter that now make
the planets have been somehow
brushed off from the sun, and that as
tbey cooled down they had become
solid and started traveling round and
round it.

We are sure now that that is not
what happened, but we are also
sure that the idea underneath that
notion was right. The sun and all
its planets were once one.

Indeed, we believe that in its first
stage the solar system was nothing
else than a nebula, like one of the very
smallest of the thousands of nebulae
that we now see in the sky. No one
who has studied the subject now
doubts that; still we are not certain
as to exactly how such a nebula would
gradually become changed into the
solar system that we know. It seems
to be certain, at any rate, that a
nebula is apt to become flattened and
also to take on the shape of a lens.
Far too many of the nebulae are of
that shape for us to imagine that
there is not some good reason why
they should be so. Possibly if we
could live long enough to watch the

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY 28

nebulae that are not spiral we should "ow the great cloud began to come

see them gradually become so. together and form the earth

Now there is one great fact that From the first moment that a

must always be true of a nebula like nebula was formed, then — ^probably

this. It is a fact which is true every- by a collision between two or more

where, and it is not difficult to de- stars — there would begin to act upon

scribe. We are certain that in the all its parts the same force of gravita-

course of time this fact must work tion which acts upon you if you miss

great changes in a nebula — such your footing and tumble downstairs.

changes as we believe to have been And this is a force that goes on acting

worked in the nebula from which the all the time, never ceasing and never

solar sj^stem was formed. getting tired. So, some years after

What happened when sir isaac new- the great work of Newton, several

TON SAW AN APPLE FALL FROM A TREE men began to apply his ideas to the

This fact is called gravitation, and nebulse and to ask what must happen

it simply means that every tiniest in the course of ages when this force

piece of matter, or stuff, in the whole of attraction acts upon such a nebula.

world has a natural tendency to attract Herschel, the man who made a list

and be attracted by all the other of the great stars

matter in the world. Gravitation is. One of the greatest of these followers

perhaps, the most familiar of all facts of Newton was Herschel who made

in our daily lives. When you let go finer telescopes than anyone had used

of a ball it drops to the earth, and before, and who spent all his life

that is simply because the earth and studying the stars and the nebulse.

the ball have attracted each other. He was the first man who ever made

The ball is so small that it moves the a list of nebulae and he it was who

earth to itself only a very little dis- first saw that they may be arranged

tance, and what we see is simply that in classes, from those which look just

the ball falls to the earth. One of like little milky clouds and nothing

the greatest men who ever lived, an more, to those which are really stars

Englishman named Isaac Newton, it with a sort of cloudy substance round

is said, was lying on his back, under them.

the shade of an apple-tree in his So it seemed to him that some

father's garden. He was not just "clustering power" must be at work

dreaming his time away, however, turning these scattered and milky

but thinking; and he saw what nebulae into brighter and smaller

thousands of people had seen before objects which would some day become

him, but never troubled to think stars or suns and solar systems,

about — an apple falling from the tree Herschel compared the heavens to a

to the ground. rich garden containing plants in all

The result of his thinking about stages of their lives. This gives us

this was that he discovered this law the advantage, he says, that at one

of attraction, which is true through- and the same time we can see all the

out the whole wide world, not only different stages in the history of

of the earth and a ball or the earth and plants — from their birth to their

an apple, but also of the earth and the death ; so also in the heavens we can

moon, the earth and the sun, and see all the different stages from a

also of all the atoms, or matter, in a nebula to a star. Then there fol-

nebula. lowed a great Frenchman who saw

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

that the "clustering power" must be
gravitation, and who worked out
exactly what must happen in such a
case, since we know exactly the force
with which gravitation acts.

The earth may once have been
shaped like a pear

That, then, is all that we can tell at
present about the origin of the sun
and its family. Men who work at
these things are constantly filling in
little details, explaining the small
difficulties and helping us to gain a
complete picture. But everyone is
agreed that something like what we
have described is what really , hap-
pened.

Now let us try to imagine what our
own earth must have been like in its
beginnings. The most important facts
we can be quite sure of, even though
we are not quite sure about every step
in the way in which the earth first
came to be separated from all the rest
of the family to which it belongs.
We cannot be quite certain as to the
shape of the earth at first, though
some men who are studying this
matter just now think that it may
have been shaped like a pear instead
of like a flattened orange, as it is now.
But, at any rate, whatever its exact
shape was, it was so utterly different
from the earth we know that we can
scarcely imagine it. Really, the earth
of long ago must have been far more
like what the sun is now — only, of
course, quite tiny compared with the
sun.

The air is part of the earth and
moves with it

The earth, as we think of it now, is

something that stops suddenly at the

surface — at the level of the ground.

That is, however, by no means quite

correct. Even now the earth does not

stop sharply all round as an orange

does. We must not imagine that the

earth stops at the level of the ground

or at the level of the water, and that
we are really walking outside the
earth.

Not at all. Above both the ground
and the water there is something
which is really part of the earth,
though we cannot see it. It moves
with the earth round the sun, and
twists round with the earth as it
spins. The stuff of which it is made
is constantly being exchanged in both
directions with the water of the sea
and the stuff of which the dry ground
is made. In short, the air is part of
the earth, and if we lived on another
planet, and looked at the earth from
afar, we should never question this for
a moment. The air as it is at present
probably extends upwards from the
surface of the solid and liquid part of
the earth to a distance of about 100
miles. As we pass upwards through
the air in a balloon we find the air
becoming more and more thin, or, to
use the proper word, more and more
rare; and though we cannot go very
far in a balloon, we are quite sure that
this rareness goes on increasing until
there is no air to be found at all.

When the earth was a great glow-
ing GLOBE OF GAS

So even now, you see, the earth
does not really stop short sharply
anywhere, but its matter is spread out
all round it in a layer, which gradually
becomes rarer and rarer, until at last
it stops altogether.

Now, that was certainly true of the
earth long ago, and no one who could
have seen the earth then would have
had any doubt at all that the air was
part of the earth; for the earth then
did not consist of anything at all like
what we call "earth," but it consisted
altogether of gases like those of which
the air is made today. If you take
anything you please and make it hot
enough, you will be able to turn it
into a gas; and the earth in its begin-

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

nings was so hot that all the stuff in it
was in the form of gas. Even the
stuff that now makes the hardest rocks
and stones, not to mention every drop
of water in the sea, was then gas.

What we' now call the earth was at
first nothing more or less than a great
globe of glowing gas. In that hot,
twisting, glowing globe there were
contained all the tiny little portions
of matter, or atoms, as they are called,
which now make up the water of the
sea, the soil, the rocks, the bodies even
of all living things, and also, of course,
the air, or mixture of gases, that still
remains covering the whole earth like
a warm blanket.
We live at the bottom of an ocean

OF air

So far are we from being really on
the surface of the earth that the
whole earth, sea and land together, is
really covered with a great sea or
ocean of air. We move about at the
bottom of this ocean, and the thing
we are puzzling our heads about just
now is how to learn to jump off the
bottom and swim in it, as birds have
been able to do for ages without
troubling their heads at all.

In the course of time we know that
great changes had to happen in this
glowing globe of gas. It was doubtless
then giving out light and heat like a
little sun, but in doing so it would
gradually become cooler. If you make
a poker red hot, and then take it out
of the fire, it will give out light and
heat for some time; then it will give
out heat only, but no light — which is
to say, that it is still hot, but will
have become dark; and lastly, it will
become quite cold. It cannot give
out light and heat without becoming
cooler itself, for it does not make
them out of nothing. The case was
the same with the earth, and in the
course of long ages it had gradually
to become cooler. At last it would

have to become so cool that part of the
matter of which it was made would no
longer be a gas, but would become
liquid, like water. This is a perfectly
simple thing which you have seen for
yourself a hundred times — whenever
you look out of a railway car, for
instance. As you breathe, a great
deal of water comes out of your
mouth and nose. This water, having
come from the inside of your warm
body, is itself so warm that it is in
the form of a gas ; but when this warm
gas strikes the cold glass of the window-
pane it is cooled so much that it is
turned into a liquid, and will run
down the pane in little drops. If you
cool any gas sufficiently, it must
become liquid.

Now, that part of the earth which
would soonest become cooled would
not, of course, be the hot inside —
which is believed to consist of a gas at
this very moment— but would be the
part next the surface. All the kinds
of matter that were most apt to become
liquid would do so, and, being heavier,
would fall towards the center; while
the kind of matter, like the air of today,
which is not so apt to become liquid
would stay where it was.
The red-hot tide that rolled over

THE earth long AGO

So you can imagine an earth with a
core of hot gas and a layer of liquid
outside that, and then a layer of cool
gas, or air, outside that. But soon even
part of the matter that had become
liquid would become solid, or perhaps
like a very thick oil.

Now, it must be remembered that
all this time the earth was twisting
round and round like a top, as it has
done ever since, and as it is doing
today. Also it must be remembered
that the great sun is all this time
pulling as hard as it can upon the earth
by means of gravitation. You can
imagine, then, that the liquid stuff

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

next the sun at any given moment
would be apt to be pulled out towards
the sun or heaped up at the surface
of the earth. But, of course, since
one point of the earth is never opposite
the sun for long, this heaping up of the
liquid on the surface would be like a
wave traveling over the surface of the
earth. Now, this great traveling wave
is nothing else than a tide, and every
child who has ever been to the sea has
seen its consequences. Only the first
tides that were raised by the sun upon
the earth were not tides of cold water,
for there was no liquid water upon the
earth at that time at all.

Th( earth was too hot for that, and
all the water in it was in the form of a
gas in the air, just like the water in
your warm breath before it strikes the
cold window-pane. The first tides
that rolled upon the earth must have
been terrible tides made of something
like red-hot lava — the red-hot stuff
that comes out of a volcano and runs
down in fiery streams until it turns
cold and solid.

How THE MOON WAS FLUNG OFF FROM
THE SPINNING EARTH

Now, it is much more than probable
that a very remarkable thing happened
somewhere about this time. The men
who have studied this subject believe
that one day, while these tides of lava
were rolling round the earth as it spun,
part of the lava was whisked off like
drops from a wet umbrella when you

spin it. It is even possible that two
great lumps were whisked off at about
the same time — one from one side of
the earth and one from the other.
Perhaps at this time the surface of the
earth had become cool enough for the
great gaps left by this loss to remain
more or less fixed, and some people
have supposed that those gaps are
now the great bites into the surface of
the earth which have since been filled
by the seas. They would not be filled
with water then, because the earth
was doubtless still so hot that all the
water remained in the form of a gas
in the air.

But what became of the lava that
was so whisked off from the surface of
the earth? Its shape at first, of
course, would be very irregular, but
as it went on moving and became
cooler, and as its parts acted upon
one another by gravitation, it would
become round.

The DISTANCE OF THE MOON, OUR
NEAREST NEIGHBOR FROM THE EARTH

Now, surely, with all these hints,
you do not need to be told that it
is the moon which men believe to have
been formed from the earth in this
wonderful way. At first it was very
near the earth, and for a long time
afterwards it went gradually farther
and farther away. But even now the
moon is really close to the earth, not
so far off as ten times round the
earth.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

Though, compared with all the stars and suns and planets, the earth is only a
grain of dust, yet it is to us the most important part of the whole universe, and we are
right to think so. Therefore we cannot know too much about it. We read here of
the earth's crust and its inside, and we begin to learn how the world is kept warm.

THE EARTH AS IT IS TODAY

SO far we have been going over a
kind of history, showing very
briefly the chief things that have
happened in order to make the earth
of today. But we have seen also
what people are so apt to forget —
that the things which went on in the
past are going on still ; the earth, which
is the product of changes, is still
changing.

We shall not talk here about the
oceans and the seas and continents
and mountains — what is called geog-
raphy. That is important, and we
shall come to it in its proper place
and at the proper time. We must
begin now by thinking of the earth as
a ball, speaking about it just as one
might speak about a base ball. Per-
haps you know that a base ball has
a certain weight, that it has a cover,
and that inside this there is a core,
which is made of certain materials put
together in a particular way. You
may also know that a base ball is
elastic, so that when you throw it
against a wall it comes back again
instead of spreading out and sticking
to the wall, as a lump of mud would.
Now, just in the same way let us
examine the great earth-ball, tiny
little pieces of which we put together
to make base balls, cathedrals, and
other things.

We have mentioned what the
size of the earth was. Now, we have
a good idea of what a yard is and
what a mile is, but it is very difficult
to imagine such a distance as 25,000
miles; yet, though this sounds such a
big figure, compared with other things,
the earth is really very small. If the
center of the sun could be placed at

the center of the earth, the surface of
the sun would reach far beyond the
distance that the moon is from the
earth — that is to say, the sun occupies
far more space than the whole of the
space swept by the earth and the
moon moving round it.

The sun is so much bigger than the earth that if tlie
sun could be placed at the center of the earth the outer
edge of it would reach as far beyond the moon as tlie
moon is from the earth. It is four times as far across
the sun's face as it is from the earth to the moon.

And yet the sun does not look so
very much bigger than the moon,
though really you might throw a
thousand moons into the sun, and
the difference they would make would
not be worth mentioning.

The EARTH'S CRUST

If we turn to the earth and study the
crust under our feet, we are able to
find out many important facts con-
cerning it. Men dig mines in the
earth, they make deep borings into it,
they study the sides of its canyons and
gorges, they climb its mountains, and
little by little they have been able to
piece together the scattered facts

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

about the crust, until at last a great
deal is known about what happened
here upon the earth long before man
appeared upon it.

This study of the earth and its
history is called geologj% and it has
been necessary not once, but often,
to refer to it in these pages. We have
learned a little about the part that
water plays in the history of the earth;
we know that there are rocks which
were formed under the influence of
heat, that there are others, which
w^ere formed by water. We shall now
make a survey of some of the main
facts and ideas of geology, enough for
us to be prepared to study the earth
with intelligence and to follow the w'ork
of geologists with interest and profit.

We sometimes read accounts of
great earthquakes, such as that which
happened a few years ago at Messina,
which shake whole regions, destroying
cities, towns and killing many people.

Great volcanic eruptions occur
which overwhelm large areas and
bring ruin in their train. Now it is
the earthquake, the eruptions of vol-
canoes and other violent occurrences,
which occasionally happen, that tempt
us all into an utterly wrong idea of
the earth's history. We are apt to
think that it is the violent, exceptional
occurrences that have made up the
history of the earth, or, at least, that
have been the chief factors in it. We
see the rain falling, the rills of water
rushing down the road, the river flow-
ing in its valley, the waves dashing
upon the shore, we notice the wand
blowing or the dust flying over the
fields. It is not easy to imagine that
such things, apparently so slight in
their effects and so slow in their action
can accomplish much. Yet it is
these rather quiet activities that have
had most to do with the present shap-
ing of the crust and not the violent
earthquake or the volcanic explosion.

When we cross a stream or note the
rain falling upon the soil, or when we
play with the sand on the seashore we
can see and watch for ourselves the
slow happenings which have made,
are making and will continue to make
the features of the land upon wliich
we dwell.
The forces that make the crust

The crust of the earth, too, is not
stable, it is not terra firnia, as we some-
times call it, but it moves now up,
now down. At times portions of the
continents are depressed beneath the
sea, sometimes raised above it. These
movements are exceedingly slow, so
much so that we do not notice that
any change is taking place.

Our lifetime is too brief to enable us
to realize that any movement is hap-
pening. If the land rises up high
above sea-level then the streams, the
atmosphere begin to attack it; if time
permits they may wear it down almost
to sea-level again. The erosion of
land into hills, valleys, plains and
mountains is more rapid when the
lands are being elevated and less rapid
when they are depressed and ap-
proach the level of the sea. These
movements of the land give the op-
portunity for rain, frost and other
agents to carve and develop the
scenery, which surrounds us.

Another important fact in connec-
tion with the study of geology is that
it is a historical study; it tries to
present to our view all of the important
events of the earth's history in the
order of their occurrence, it also at-
tempts to enable us to see what was
happening during the long ages before
human beings had appeared.

It tries to show us how large the
continents were millions of years ago,
what their shape was at that distant
time, what mountains existed, what
plants flourished, what animals lived
and where.

nOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

"29

The wonderful succession of
changes in the earth's structure

We realize that human history is
always in the process of making, it is
being unfolded as we read these pages;
it is just as true that the rain, the wind
outside at this very moment are help-
ing to make the history of the earth's
crust. The history of the earth, then,
like the history of man, is really made
from moment to moment, by small
things, which do yery little in a mo-
ment of time but do accomplish much
in a million years. Geology teaches
us that time is very long, that the
earth has existed through such vast
periods that the human mind is un-
able to grasp their immensity of
reach.

The earth has had its being for tens
of millions and probably for hundreds
of millions of years. If we might only
see that wonderful panorama, which
has been unfolded here through all
of these long ages. We know some-
thing about it, through the efforts of
geologists, but not in all of its beauty,
grandeur and interest.

What continents have existed, where
now rolls the sea, how oceans have
spread out and covered areas, now dry
land; what great forests have waved
where now deserts and plains extend,
what endless troops of animals have
crossed and recrossed the continents,
animals of such strange appearance
and structure that we would be as-
tounded beyond measure should we
meet them in the flesh! What suc-
cessions of beautiful sunrises and sun-
sets have flashed their beauty on the
world, what great canyons, with their
gorgeous colorings have seamed the
crust, what stupendous mountain
peaks, glittering with snow and ice,
have lifted their heads in air! No
human eye saw them, their beauty
went for naught so far as man is con-
cerned, yet they were here and their

fleeting glory, their majestic presence,
have been a part of the record of old
mother earth and her vast, far-
extended history.

These are some of the lessons which
geology has to teach us and now we
may go on to look at some of the main
facts regarding the earth's ever chang-
ing crust. The term crust is a relic
of the old idea that the globe had a
molten interior, which was covered
by a thin but solid, compact covering,
to which the name crust was naturally
applied. This theory is no longer
believed, but the old term is still re-
tained and is likely to remain in our
current language. Geologists call the
crust "the lithosphere," because it is
composed chiefly of rocks of one kind
and another; these rocks continue
down as far as man has ever been
able to study the crust.
Rock structures and origins

Rocks everywhere underlie the sur-
face of the earth; they are as a result
the foundation upon which we live
and carry on our activities. The
rocks are composed of minerals, united
together more or less compactly into
masses of varying size. The rocks
have one of three origins, as follows:

Some of them were once molten
and have gradually cooled from that
melted state; sometimes they cooled
on the surface of the earth, sometimes
they were injected into previously
existing rocks and cooled there below
the surface. Such rocks are called
igneous rocks. Granite is a common
type of such rocks; another form is
the dark-colored, fine-grained rock
usually found on lava plains or
plateaus, called basalt, or trap.

Most of the rocks on the surface of
the globe belong to the second group,
the sedimentary, often called strati-
fied or aqueous rocks. These rocks
are laid down by the agency of water,
hence the term aqueous rocks; sand-

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

scones, limestones, mud rocks or shales
are examples of this group. They are
commonly arranged in layers or strata.

The third group of rocks arises
from the fact that the igneous or the
stratified rocks may be changed by
heat or pressure, they may be so
folded and crushed, so altered as to
lose their original appearance, per-
haps they may be so changed that
they are no longer recognizable as
either igneous or sedimentary in
origin. Such rocks are called meta-
morphic rocks. Marble is an ex-
ample of a metamorphic rock, which
has been changed over from a lime-
stone; slate is a metamorphic rock
also, it was formerly a mud rock or
shale.

Commonly the solid rocks do not
appear at the surface, but they are
hidden from view by the covering we
call the soil or by other deposits.
Though rocks may seem to us to be
hard and unyielding, yet as a matter
of fact they do not long retain their
compact nature; they are attacked
by various agencies, they decay, they
become broken up into fine particles,
which gradually collect to form the
soil, or else they are swept away to
their final resting place beneath the
sea.
Action of air and water on rocks

We should know something about
these agents that thus attack the
rocks and provide for man that abso-
lutely indispensable product, the soil.
In order to understand the methods
by which rocks are disintegrated we
must borrow help from several of the
sciences. We must learn all that
men can teach us about the atmos-
phere and the way it acts upon rocks.
The chemist finds oxygen in the air
and in water; it is known that the
oxygen will unite with the iron in
rock-making minerals and cause them
to rust and to crumble awav. The

chemist finds carbonic acid gas in the
air and in rain water; he is able to
show that this gas, when united with
water, helps to dissolve some of the
mineral matter in rocks and this
causes the rock to waste away. All
of this knowledge is a necessary part
of geology. The physicist shows us
that when water is frozen in a tightly
closed vessel, it expands as it freezes
and bursts the vessel; so when water
freezes in the cracks of the rocks it
rends the rocks apart and helps to
break them up. This knowledge be-
comes a part of geology. We must
study where we can the action,
chemical and physical, of rain and
frost, of water on the surface and
under the surface; we must study the
work of wind and waves, of glaciers,
of ice on lake and river; these are all
tools engaged in breaking up the
rocks of the crust. If we watch these
agents at work day by day, if we study
the results of their activity, we may
know why the crust is so altered from
period to period and why it has its
present form.

Geology also borrows from the stu-
dent of earthquakes and of volcanoes
and learns to know what these dreaded
powers have done to make the earth as
it is. Geology is the great borrowing
science, had it not been for the things
geologists have obtained from other
sciences, little would be known about
the earth and geology would not be
the important study that it now is.
The forming of minerals

But the borrowings of geology are
not vet ended; it must learn from
the mineralogist about minerals. It
must take everything that mineralogy
has to teach about crystals, about
minerals, how they are formed, how
they break up, how they melt down,
how they are dissolved and by what,
how hard they are and how much
they weigh. Not only this, but we

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKV

should learn about where minerals are
found in the earth, how they lie in
veins, in cavities, in masses; all of
this knowledge comes to form a part
of geology. Nor has this exhausted
our sources of knowledge, for every-
thing we may learn about plants and
animals contributes to geology. The
rocks have records of many forms of
life, some of which are utterly different
from any now existing, while others
are scarcely different from those now
living.

If we are to understand this life of
the past it is necessary to use the
knowledge furnished us by botany and
zoology. Geology gains enormously
from a study of these remains in
rocks just as the study of biology gains
greatly from geology.

By the use of these sciences geol-
ogists have learned much about the
crust, about the rocks which compose
it and about the long history through
which they have passed. This his-
tory is told by the structure of the
rocks themselves and also by the
fossils in the rocks; it is a twofold
presentation and we shall now con-
sider each of these sources of informa-
tion. The rocks tell, in a measure,
the experiences through which they
have passed. The mud, the sand and
gravel, which form many rocks, show
the conditions that were in existence,
when they were forming. We may
know, for example, whether they were
formed under the sea or on the conti-
nental surface, whether in shallow
water, near the shore, or in deep water.
The rocks tell the extent of the oceans
in which they were deposited. This
enables us to determine the size of the
continents, also, we may know their
general outlines and their relations to
each other. The rocks enable us to
tell whether the continents were
mountainous at any given period or
whether they were low-lying. Many

marks are found in rocks, which help
to interpret their history and to tell
the place of their formation. Ripple
marks, rain-drop impressions, sun-
cracks, rill marks, tracks of animals,
etc., are among the tell-tale evidences
that rocks, which contain them, were
formed in shallow water or on exposed
tidal flats, near the shores of conti-
nents.

The structures, which rocks have,
also, aids in understanding the changes
which have taken place since they
were formed. The folding, the crys-
tallization, the erosion which they
have undergone all help to tell this
long story of change and endurance.
The folds in rocks may indicate that
they were once a part of a great moun-
tain chain, which has now disappeared.
The worn condition of the rocks may
enable the geologist to estimate how
high they were once uplifted and how
much they have been cut down by
erosion.
Animal remains shut up in rocks

In many respects the most impor-
tant story the rocks have to tell us
is gleaned from those remains of
animals, which lived long ago, and
are known to us as fossils. They help
to an understanding of the globe be-
cause their form and their nature re-
veal the conditions under which they
lived and died. The animals and
plants found in the earlier rocks arc
utterly different from those now liv-
ing, while those in later rocks are
scarcely to be distinguished from many
now living. x\nimals have slowly
changed from period to period and
they thus indicate the passage of time.
In the rocks of each period, too, there
are fossils which are peculiar to those
rocks and this aids geologists greatly
in determining just when the rocks
were formed. Unfortunately the rocks
have not yet taught us all we may hope
to learn regarding the history of life.

THE CHANGING EARTH FROM AGE TO AGE

The history of the earth for milhons
of years is written in its rocks, and
men are able to read what took place,
and to give us, in pictures like these,
a vivid panorama of the earth's long
wonder-story. We can see also just
how that story came to be written in
the rocks. A million years ago, a
little stream trickled down a moun-
tain-side, carrying with It grains of
sand and stones, which fell to the
bottom of the sea. In the sea swam
a great and wonderful creature called
an Ichthyosaurus.

The ichthyosaurus wa.s a reptile
that lived in the sea, and its name
means "flsh-lizard." It had a great
head with powerful jaws and teeth,
and its body had four limbs like pad-
dles which enabled it to swim about.
One day the great creature died, or
probably It was killed In battle with
another strange monster, and its
body fell to the bottom of the sea
among the shells and seaweed.
Meanwhile, the stones and sand
brought down by the stream con-
tinued to fall upon the bed of the sea.

As the URCS pa.s.sed, tlie .stream
gradually wore away a wider and
deeper bed for itself, and became a
big river; and the rains falling upon
the mountain loosened the soil and
formed hundreds of tiny streamlets.
These all ran into the main stream,
and each did its part in wearing away
the mountain. As the river became
wider, so it brought down more and
more earth and stones, which fell in
a never-ceasing shower upon the bed
of the sea, until at last the great
reptile's body was buried.

THE WOxNDER-STORY TOLD IN THE ROCKS

Higher and higher rose tlie ocean-
hed as the mud from the mountain
continued to fall upon it, and the
lower layers became pressed Into
hard rock by the weight on top. One
(lay an elephant going to the river to
(Link broke off his tusk, and this was
carried down by the river and sank
In the sea. Another day a bird was
drowned, and this, too, fell upon the
ocean-bed. Dead fishes and shells
also sank, and all were buried by the
never-ceasing shower of mud and
earth and sand and stones.

All througU these ages the rain and
river were wearing the mountain
away. Hundreds of thousands of
years after the ichthyosaurus died,
men began to live on the earth, and
one day a man who had made a boat
out of a hollow tree-trunk took his
wife and went out to fish. Trying to
spear a big fish, the head of his har-
poon broke off and fell to the bottom of
the sea. It was too far down for the
man to recover it, and in course of
time this also was buried in the
mud.

The bottom of the sea crept higher
and higher, till at last it became dry
land. Then one day men began to
dig, and the world's wonderful story
was revealed as we read it here. First
the spear-head was found, then the
tusk, the bird's skeleton, the shells,
the fish, and at last the skeleton of
the great sea reptile, all turned to
stone and became fossils, a word that
means something dug up. It is
hard to realize that these fossils
found in the rocks were once living,
moving animals.

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The record of life as preserved in the
rocks, ill the form of fossils, is very
imperfect, yet if we consider how many
conditions are necessary for a fossil
to be formed and preserved, we shall
wonder that so many exist at all.
The bodies of many animals are entire-
ly soft, having no hard parts; snch
animals decay before they become
fossilized. In those cases where ani-
mals have bones or shells, which
might be fossilized, it often happens
that they may decay or be destroyed,
otherwise, before they have a chance
to be preserved. Even if the fossils
are once formed it often happens that
they are obliterated by different
things. Water may move throngh
the rocks and slowly bnt surely dis-
solve the fossil, heat or pressure may
distort and finally destroy all traces
of life in the rocks. Many millions
of fossils have thus been destroyed
and left no trace of their existence.
Another reason why the rock record is
imperfect, aside from the lack of a
life record, is that only a small portion
of the rocks have been studied as yet.
Water and land areas

To begin with, only about two-
sevenths of the earth's surface is at
present above the ocean. All that
we have access to is that found on
this comparatively small area, which
may not be altogether the most im-
portant part of the globe so far as the
history of life is concerned. Even
on the land surface, only small areas
here and there have been carefully
studied, more especially western
Europe, the eastern portions of the
United States, Canada and small
regions elsewhere. We have not yet
even commenced to study thoroughly
one-thousandth part of the land sur-
face of the globe.

The really marvelous thing is that
so little inquiry has produced such
great results. During the past fifty

years thousands of new animal forms
have been discovered in the rocks,
their nature and their characteristics
have been determined, so that we
know how they looked in life, what
their habits were, how and where
they lived. Not a day passes that
new fossils are not found and recorded,
in a few centuries man will know the
life of the past much more fully than
he does at present.

It is often hard for us to realize that
the fossils which are found in the
rocks were once living, moving ani-
mals, yet, as Professor Huxley once
said, "We have no more ground for
doubting that these creatures really
lived and died at or near the places
in which we find them, than we have
for doubt about a shell on the seashore.
The evidence is as good in one case
as the other."

Now that we have found out some-
thing about fossils, we must learu
what they teach us about themselves
and their surroundings.
What fossils teach

This part of geology has its own
special name, palaeontology, and men
often devote their whole lives to a
study of a small portion of it. It is
found that life began far back in time
with the earliest sedimentary rocks
and that it has continued on the globe
from that time to this without any
interruption. At first there were no
animals with backbones, all were
invertebrates and all lived in the
water. As the ages passed away
animals came to have backbones,
finally limbs were developed, they
gained lungs, and began to live on
the land. In the meantime they be-
came more complex and better fitted
for a varied life. Most of the simpler
animals of the earlier ages reproduced
their kind by laying eggs, but the
higher animals bring forth their young
alive, they suckle them and give

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

them a great deal of care. Thus the
higher animals are better fitted to
live than the earlier ones, and they
have become the important life of the
globe, because of this fitness.

Some very large and strange-looking
animals have lived and then have
become extinct. We only know them
by their bones or teeth that are found
in the rocks. Geologists make draw-
ings of these animals and thus restore
these monsters of old. These pic-
tures, which portray their supposed
appearance when living, are based on
a careful study of their skeletons.
There were once great reptiles walking
about the earth, swimming in the sea,
or flying in the air, the latter real
flying dragons. Some of these huge
reptiles, the dinosaurs, were among
the largest animals that ever lived;
they must have been very strange-
looking and alarming sort of animals.

How ANIMALS IN PAST AGES DIFFERED
FROM THOSE OF TODAY

These animals, however, were mere-
ly big; they had very small brains
and little intelligence. They were
stupid, sluggish creatures, and in
spite of their large size and great
strength, they gradually died off and
became extinct. Thus animal life
tried the method of mere bigness,
tried it persistently and thoroughly,
and it failed. When these great
reptiles were masters of the earth,
there were, at the same time, little
animals not larger than rats or mice,
who made a great contrast to the
dinosaurs, not only in size but in
appearance, in quickness of motion
and in endurance.

Unlike these reptiles, which were
covered with armor-like plates or with
scales, these small animals were cov-
ered with hair, unlike the reptiles they
were warm-blooded, they cared ten-
derly for their young, unlike the
reptiles they had large brains in pro-

portion to the size of their bodies,
which enabled them to act more in-
telligently. These animals, the mam-
mals, with the larger brains, higher
intelligence, better motherhood, have
become dominant on the earth and
have superseded the larger and
stronger reptiles. The earth is pos-
sessed by those who have intelligence
and who care much for family rela-
tions.

We have seen that animals steadily
advance from the simpler, cruder
forms of early periods to the better
and more familiar creatures of today.
This is most strikingly shown in the
case of mammals, since we are better
acquainted with them than with
most of the lower animals. There has
been a steady advance of the animal
as a whole and also in its different
parts. This is true of the brain,
which is small and quite smooth in
early mammals, but becomes much
larger and more convoluted in later
animals. In the same way the teeth
and tooth structure becomes more
complex as time passes. The early
mammals tended to have small and
rather conical teeth, which have been
replaced by the larger, more compli-
cated teeth of modern time, such as
the molars, with their large grinding
surfaces, their cusps and crests. The
foot structure also changes as we pass
from early to later time, the number of
toes becomes less on the whole; primi-
tive mammals probably had five toes,
but these have become reduced in
number in modern life, to one usable
toe in the case of horses, and of two
in the case of cattle, sheep and swine.
The foot structure has also become
more compact, the various joints
better fitted to each other and more
securely bound together.
Distribution of animals

Through all of tlie past ages, ani-
mal life has moved back and forth

36 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

over all lands, it has migrated far and of food causes many to starve, the

it has peopled widely separated re- coming on of extreme climates makes

gions. Hence it is true that animals trouble for animals. Severe cold or

which are found in the rocks of any excessive heat may destroy certain

given region may not have originated types of animals, very arid climates

there, but may have come, by migra- with their accompanying scarcity of

tion, from some far away point. water, are exceedingly destructive to

Animals have a natural impulse to animals, which are unable to migrate,
wander and may move about on that Animals are often handicapped by

account, but other causes serve to unfavorable bodily structures, as small

drive them forth from their ancestral brains, poor teeth, inferior foot struc-

abodes. Some of these important tures, and these act ad\'ersely on

causes are: lack of food, change of length of life, they cause the early

climate, presence of numerous ene- destruction of animals possessing them,

mies and the like. Horses and camels Changes in the nature of food, the

were both originally American ani- disappearance of food which animals

mals, but migrated to Asia in late like, may help to cause the extinction

geological time, where early man of animals. In the case of herbivorou.*^

found them and domesticated them, animals such as the bison or the an

The various ele])hants, which were so telope, the appearance of large packs

numerous in North America during of wolves would mean the destruction

the ice age and just before, migrated of many, for as the herd diminishes,

originally from Africa, in all prob- the survivors are unable to protect

ability. their young. These and other factors

Many features have acted as bar- have acted, in the long distant past,

riers to thwart the advance of animals to destroy whole families of mammals,

or to swing it aside in one direction or As rapidly as they disappeared, how-

another; mountains, deserts, forests, ever, their place was taken by others

rivers, act as barriers to some ani- and the stream of life went on with-

mals, while they may be favorable to out a break.

other animals. Changes in the con- how we know the beginnings of
tinents, caused by elevation or de- animal life

pression. and temperature changes It is not possible to trace life back

are the most potent influences in to the beginning in any one locality,

regulating animal migrations. because the whole series of rocks are

What causes the extinction of never represented in their entirety at

ANIMALS any one place. Rocks of different

Animals become extinct through ages are found at different places and

various causes, a group of quadrupeds it is necessary to go from one part of

will have a life history of a certain the earth to another to study all of

lengtli. then they die out and a better the rocks and the fossils, which they

fitted group of animals takes its place, contain.

Many factors lead to the destruc- A vivid way of getting an idea of
tion of animals now and they have rocks and their contents is to put down
also probably acted in the past. In in order some of the things we should
the case of the mammals, for example, come across if we began to dig down
diseases, especially skin disease, are from the youngest rocks, through the
an important means, various insects whole series to the oldest. If we be-
cause wholesale destitution; scarcity gan in the northern states, we would

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

be likely to come upon beds of gravel
or of clay, the so-called glacial drift.
Some of these beds might contain
bones of large animals, most of them
now extinct, such as the mastodon,
the mammoth, the sabre-tooth tiger,
the rhinoceros. The skulls and teeth
of mastodons and elephants are fre-
quently found in peat-bogs and about
springs in the northern United States.
Below the drift are the rocks of the
Cenozoic era; these are especially
well developed in the western states,
if we should pass down through them
we would find animals resembling our
modern horses, wolves, bears, squir-
rels, etc., and yet differing from them.
P'or instance, these more ancient
horses were not as large as those at
present and they had several toes on
each foot, instead of one, as now.
The animals were more generalized
then than they are at present, that is,
characteristics which are found in
several different kinds of animals
now, were all combined in one animal
then. For example, some of the dogs
combined features of the fox with that
of the dog, some were like bears and
were a sort of bear-dog. Some ani-
mals combined the characteristics of
horse and antelope, or of elephant and
rhinoceros, or of giraffe and camel,
while some of the early Cenozoic ani-
mals combined the characters of
hoofed and clawed animals.

If, now, we proceed lower into the
rocks to those of the next era, the
Mesozoic, we shall find few of the
mammals, but many reptiles, many
fishes related to our modern fishes,
yet unlike them, many curious mol-
lusks that have no living representa-
tives.

Below the rocks of the Mesozoic
we come to the rocks of the Palaeozoic
era. These rocks are best represented
in the eastern states of our country;
should we explore them, we would

find coal beds, in many localities, with
many representatives of the plants
which formed the coal. We would
readily recognize the ferns, which had
a large part in forming the coal, but
much of the vegetation would be very
strange to us, it is so unlike anything
we have in our modern forests. As
we proceed further down, we would
find remains of fishes, we would find
many shells, most of them unlike mod-
ern forms; some of them we might be
able to recognize by their general
resemblances, but most of them would
be utterly strange to us. Such ani-
mals as the trilobites and the ortho-
ceratites are examples of these strange
animals, all long ago extinct.

Finally we would come down to
rocks, which yield no evidence of life
and indeed correspond to a time when
there was no life on the globe, at least
of a kind that could be fossilized.
Still lower down we should arrive at
the granites and other igneous rocks,
which from their very nature preclude
life. Here we have arrived at a time,
which existed before life was found on
the earth, we are at the very basement
of the great rock series.
The value of rocks to man

The rocks are of value to mankind
not only because they reveal to him
the history of the earth, but because
they are of great service to him. They
hold many minerals and metals, which
man must have; they contain the
ground water, so essential to the wel-
fare of plant and animal life and to
the maintenance of rivers and lakes.
The rocks furnish abundant and
valuable building material, they supply
ballast for railroads, material for roads,
for concrete construction, etc. The
soil is supplied from rocks and so in
numerous ways man has come to
depend absolutely upon rocks for his
life and for furnishing the means for
his industries.

THE FIRE BURNING INSIDE THE EARTH

I'hii earth, being a Hi'eat ball, has a I'uro, just a.s an apple ha.s a eure; but the cure of the earth is made up of vast
quantities of burning materials and Kases. This central fire, just like au^• other lire, must find a chinme^•, and there are
many mountains in the world through which the tire forces its way. We call them volcanoes, and they are the chimneys
of the central fire. But it is not always smoke they pour out, as Vesuvius, the great volcano of Italy, is pouring out smoke
in this fine photo; imderground rivers sometimes burst into the burning materials at the bottom of the volcanoes, and so
cause great explosions of the most disastrous kind. At times volcanoes burst with great violence, and Vesuvius has destroyed
whole cities, one of them, Pompeii, overwhelmed just after the birth of Christ, having been dug out of the earth.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY 39
THE EARTH'S CHANGING FACE

PERHAPS the mountains are the to understand how great are the chang-

objects that would most strike es they can produce. When it was

an observer, apart from the first taught that long lines of inland

question of life — mountains and val- cliffs and mighty valleys had been

leys and inland cliffs and what are formed, not suddenly, but by the slow

called canyons. On the seashore we working of agencies which are still at

can watch the sea doing its work upon work, like wind and water, the students

the cliff s almost any day ; but we know of the subject thought it impossible

that there are cliffs far from the sea, that this could be, but now no one

and mighty valleys which look as if questions it. The discovery of the

they had been suddenly scooped out truth was the work of the greatest of

by some tremendous deluge of water, all geologists, Sir Charles Lyell, who,

So first let us study these great ups like many other great men, was

and downs on the dry land. abused during his lifetime, but whom

Probably we are only just beginning all students of the earth will always

to get a real understanding of the honor.

making of mountains. At any rate, There was a time, we know, when

we may be sure that the process was all the northern parts of Europe and

a gradual one. We may also be sure North America were under ice; in-

that the cooling and shrinking of the deed, that has been true throughout

interior of the earth is one of the great more than one period of history. No

underlying causes in the making of one yet understands the real cause of

mountains. The view which is gen- the Ice Ages, and it will be best not to

erally held, though we are beginning attempt to explain them. Probably,

to suspect that it is probably not the in a very few years, we shall learn how

whole truth, is that mountain ranges they came about. But, at any rate,

are formed by the crumpling of the we must know, when we study the

earth's crust as it tries to fit itself to mountains, that there were Ice Ages;

the shrinking interior. and it is specially interesting to know

Then, we are now beginning to be- that the Ice Ages were quite recent,

lieve that the marvelous element, comparatively speaking,

radium, which is found everywhere, How mountains and boulders tell

may possibly, by the power which it us of the story of the earth

produces from inside itself, have had a Charles Darwin says: "The ruins

share in the building of the mountains, of a house burned by fire do not tell

But it is impossible to say more about their tale more plainly than do the

that yet. Let us turn to the places mountains of Scotland and Wales, with

where the dry land, instead of being their scored flanks, polished surfaces,

piled up, is scooped out. Until the and perched boulders, of the icy

first half of the nineteenth century, streams with which their valleys were

men always supposed that valleys had lately filled." In riiany parts of

been made suddenly by some mighty Europe we can study the action of

disturbance, like a great deluge. When ice upon the mountains even at this

we do not see the slow steps of a day. A stream of ice flowing down a

movement, and when they act for valley from an ice-covered mountain

such long ages that the mind cannot is called a glacier. In very cold parts

appreciate the length of them, we fail of the world we can find glaciers run

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

right down to the level of the sea; but
elsewhere, as for instance, in Switzer-
land, of course we can only find the ice
at a much higher level, say, four or five
thousand feet above the level of the
sea. In Greenland, as the ice of a
glacier breaks at sea-level, it forms
icebergs; in Switzerland, when the
ice of a glacier breaks, it may tumble
down the mountain, and cause what is
called an avalanche.

When we talk of a stream of ice,
people may say: How can ice flow,
and at what rate does it flow? Well,
we may say that the rate of flow is a
few feet each day, and the central
part of the glacier moves more quickly
than the sides because they are held
back by the friction of the rocks be-
tween which it flows.

The wonderful reason why a river
of ice flows forever onward

The same is true of any river, and
we can also see exactly the same when
we watch the blood flowing through a
blood-vessel. The reason why the ice
flows, as it does, is now understood.
The weight of the ice makes it fall,
and it is of course pressed upon by
snow from above; but the glacier
could not flow as it does were it not
for the fact that when ice is pressed
very hard it is melted, and then, when
the pressure is removed, it freezes
again.

So, as the glacier moves down, any
obstruction in its way causes part of
it to melt, and so flow over; and then,
when the obstruction is passed, the
ice freezes again. This curious prop-
erty of ice can be shown with a block
of ice and a piece of wire, which can
be pulled right through the ice and
yet leave a solid block behind. The
pressure of the wire causes the ice to
melt, and then, after the wire has
passed, the ice freezes again. The ice
that forms the glacier comes from the
snow on the mountain heights. As

this snow is squeezed and pressed, it

turns into ice.

Mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes

The rocks of the earth suffer many
changes and accidents after they are
once laid down; these changes produce
a marked effect upon the surface fea-
tures of the earth, or what we may call
the face of the earth. Sometimes the
rocks are folded into great mountain
chains, which cause the face of mother
earth to be severely wrinkled; some-
times large areas are directly uplifted,
forming plateaus or what may be
termed large swellings on the earth's
face. Sometimes great fissures trav-
erse the earth, lying more or less
parallel to each other, while other sets
of fissures or cracks run across them,
more or less at right angles to the first
set of cracks.

This divides the crust up into great
crustal blocks. When earth move-
ments take place, these blocks may
move differently, they slide one on the
other, some sinking faster than others,
some becoming tilted over, some, pos-
sibly, becoming pushed up over others.
These various movements cause great
disturbances in the rocks; they may
break apart on either side of a fissure,
one side settling down, the rock layers
become mismatched, one layer of rock,
perhaps joining another of a different
sort. When men are mining coal, gold
and other minerals under the ground,
it is very annoying to come to places
like this, where breaks or "faults"
occur. The coal bed or the gold vein
has been snapped short off by the fault
and has disappeared; it may be that
it has been carried down by the settling
rocks several thousand feet. It be-
comes a matter of careful study to
determine where the vein has gone,
how far down it is, whether it will pay
to dig down to reach it. Beds of rock
with a small fault are shown on
page 43.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

When these faults occur, great
massive rock blocks may drop all at
once, this sudden movement produces
a jarring of the crust, which may be
felt as an earthquake. If the moving
mass of rock happens to be large, or if
it drops quite a distance, then the
earthquake shock is very severe and it
causes great destruction of life and
property, though generally only over
a very limited extent of territory.
Sometimes the rock masses move on
each other horizontally instead of verti-
cally, this was the case in the great
San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
These sudden movements and dis-
turbances may result in a sudden
elevation or depression of the land
over an area of notable size.

These rapid movements associated
with earthquakes are very different
from the slow earth movements,
already mentioned. These cjuick
movements may cause marked changes
locally, on the earth's face in a few
moments. On the other hand the
slow movements go on steadily and
with such slight changes, from year
to year, that we do not notice them
nor their effects, v The sudden move-
ments generally produce changes only
over a relatively small area, while the
slow movements affect large regions,
even whole continents, or the slow
movement may express itself in the
form of mountain making and cause
the uplift of such great systems as the
Rocky Mountains or the Andes, which
involve the crumpling of a third of the
earth's circumference.
What causes the faults

Though these two movements ex-
press themselves in such different ways,
yet probably the same general under-
lying cause produces them both; this
cause is, probably, the constant shrink-
ing of the globe and the effort of the
crust to adjust itself to the constantly
withdrawing interior. It is this loss

of heat which is the fundamental cause
of all kinds of crust movements, how-
ever they may reveal themselves.
The interior of the earth, though very
hot, apparently, is not molten; it is
solid and seems to be very rigid, as
much so as if it were composed of steel.
This hot interior, however, constantly
radiates its heat out, through the crust,
into space. As this heat is lost and the
interior becomes cooler it is inevitable
that it should shrink and become
smaller. The outer part of the earth,
which we call the crust, is supported
by this interior and as it withdraws,
the crust must follow it, for its support
is taken away from it. The crust
sinks down in its effort to follow the
retreating interior; as the crust moves
downward it must occupy a smaller
space than it originally did. As the
crust cannot be compressed very
much, the only course open to it is to
become wrinkled and to allow certain
areas to be pushed up until the crust
fits down on the interior compactly.

We have all noticed how an apple
behaves when it is baked or allowed
to dry, it loses water from the inside,
which causes the interior to become
smaller, the skin of the apple accom-
modates itself to the reduced inside
and as a result it becomes much wrin-
kled. It is probable that mountain
ranges, in part, are produced by this
wrinkling, as well as other great
features on the surface of the earth.
All parts of the surface are in process of
this shrinking, but the wrinkling of the
crust does not appear everywhere,
but only in those portions of the crust
which are weakest. It is the weaker
portions of the crust that give way and
show folds, depressions and other evi-
dences of change. These weaker parts
of the crust are commonly near the
oceans and it is in the neighborhood
of sea coasts that this wrinkling take,'-
place ordinarily.

HOW LAVA COMES OUT OF THE EARTH

The pictures on tliis |):ige sliow us at a glance one of the causes of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. It is as though
we were behind the scenes and could see the machinery by which Nature iierforms her most awful spectacle. This volcano
is asleep, but processes are going on that will sooner or later cause a catastrophe.

d*^-

f.i re w^E'vi-

Water is always trickling through the earths crust from the surface, the heat inside the earth turns it into steam.
•M last the steam pressure becomes so great that there ii a mighty explosion. The rocks are rent asunder, and the molten
lava from the interior of the e.arth, with great force is hurled forth in a Hery stream. The rending of the rocks, ton,
causes au earthijuake. This is prutnihly how the eruption of Mount I'elee was caused.

THE SPLITTING OF THE EARTH'S CRUST

inlBrior Of white-hot rrolten tsva

I'he interior of the earth is quite solid for the most part, but there are large pools of liquid lava, here and there. As
the molten matter inside the earth gets cooler, the crust shrinks and crumples up, just as the peel of an orange shrivels
when the orange gets dry. By this wrinkling the mountain ranges are formed, as shown here.

We usually think of the ground as being the one solid and lirm thing that we know, until some terrible earthquake,
like that at San Francisco or Messina, reminds us that even the ground is not stable. When the earth's crust at any point
wrinkles so much that it is unable to bear the strain longer, the rocks split, as shown here, and the shock sends a shiver
through the earth for hundreds of miles, causing buildings to shatter and fall.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

It is true also that all portions of the
crust do not sink with the same rapid-
ity, some areas, apparently have always
become depressed more rapidly than
others, until now they are great per-
manent depressions, which we desig-
nate as ocean basins or sea basins, and
occupied by great bodies of water.
The continents have not gone down
as rapidly and they stand up above the
ocean, therefore, as protuberances, foni)-
ing the familiar land masses and islands.

These great crustal changes have
ever been going on, in some periods,
apparently, more actively than at other
times, but they are always taking
place. They are going on day by day,
now in our own lifetime, and for aught
that we know with as much effective-
ness as ever in the past. If there is
any one idea, which we should bear in
mind regarding the science of geology,
it is that geology is not simply a record
of past events and processes that have
now come to an end, but that the forces
which have formed the world, in the
past, are still at w^ork. We are living
on the surface of the earth in a certain
stage of its existence, just as creatures
which lived on the earth millions of
years ago, lived on the earth in another
stage of its existence, but the activities
of the globe are much the same now
as they were then.

Portions of our country have been
re])eatedly covered by the ocean,
sometimes, indeed it has extended quite
across the continent. The crustal
movements, which thus allowed the
ocean to creep over the land, may come
again and the sea may once more come
up over the country. There is nothing
permanent on the face of the earth,
its expression is ever varying, and this
is especially true of the boundaries
l^etween continents and oceans, they
are, indeed, very evanescent features;
the changes, which have gone on in
ages past, are to continue their work.

Age of the earth

It should be remembered, too, that
the earth, in all probability, is destined
to exist for a great many millions of
years, in the future, and that there
will be ample time for many changes
to be carried out.

Probably, men will be on the earth
tlu-ough all of these long years to come;
the j)eople, who live here in North
America then, will live on the same
continent as we do now, but it will have
a different form, another outline and
its surface will not be as it is now. It
is perfectly possible that mountains
may exist where now there are plains,
and, on the contrary, the mountain
ranges of the West may be worn dow^n
to inconsiderable hills and lowly
ridges. When we look at a map of the
world, we are looking at the arrange-
ment of land and sea, as they happen
to be at the present time, not as they
were five million years ago, or as they
are to be in tlie distant future.
Land and water areas interchange

There are many evidences that some
of the continents have been much
larger than they are now and that
there were great prolongations of the
continent, in some cases, which tied
one continent to another. These old
connections or "Land Bridges," as
they are termed, were of great impor-
tance in enabling animals to pass from
one continent to another. A map of
Asia shows the Malay peninsula as
such an arm stretching toward Aus-
tralia, a great broken chain of islands
connecting it with the great island
continent.

Careful study of the region has con-
vinced geologists that there was once,
far in the geological past, practically
continuous land connections between
Australia and Asia. Over this land
bridge migrated the kangaroo and
other peculiar animals, now so char-
acteristic of that island land. Shortly

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

after their migration there, this land
bridge was broken and the sea over-
whelmed portions of it; this strange
animal life was left shut up there,
where it has remained ever since, un-
molested by enemies, which have de-
stroyed that kind of life elsewhere.
America and Europe once connected

Land bridges generally follow the
borders of ocean basins, they do not
extend across the deeper portions of
the ocean; thus a land bridge has
connected America and Europe, prob-
ably by way of Greenland and Iceland.
It seems to be true, also, that if such a
land connection is once established,
although it may be overwhelmed by
the ocean at some periods, yet it is
likely to be re-established and appear
again and again. The land bridge
between Europe and America has been
of that character, apparently; North
America and Asia have been repeatedly
connected by a land bridge across what
is now the shallow Bering's Strait.

There are evidences, too, that
during the Mesozoic era, a land bridge
extended from South America to
Antarctica, and that another bridge
extended from Antarctica to Australia,
so that animals might migrate from
Australia into South America. These
land connections are generally narrow,
this is well shown in the case of the
isthmus between North and South
America.

It does not require a great amount
of change to obliterate these nar-
row connections; through much of
the middle portion of geological time
and even later, the sea covered portions
of Central America and the two conti-
nents of the Americas were separated.
Geologists have discovered evidences
of many land connections in different
portions of the globe and existing in
different geological periods.

In the course of these land move-
ments it has happened, at times, that

the continents, in certain portions,
have been lifted high above sea level.

This was the case with the northern
part of North America during the later
Cenozoic era, just before the Great Ice
Age. This remarkable elevation made
a continuous continent, far toward the
poles, joining Greenland to the main-
land and obliterating Hudson Bay,
probably. Such a great uplift had a
marked influence on the climate and it
was, doubtless, an indirect cause of the
glacial period, which did so much to
alter the face of nature in Canada and
the northern United States.
The lost continent

From the time of ancient Greek
writers there has been a story told
about a lost Atlantis, a continent,
which these early writers located in
the west, and which was engulfed,
supposedly, by the Atlantic ocean.

Stories of other lost continents are
current, it may well be doubted
whether there have been continents
rising out of the deep ocean basins as
they exist today. There have been
the minor prolongations or land bridges
already described, but no large, lost
continents. It seems probable that the
ocean basins have for ages been ocean
basins and that the continents, like-
wise, have been land masses for long
periods. It is true that the ocean has
often invaded the land, seriously, but
it should be remembered that the
ocean, thus lying on the continents, is
always quite shallow and has no such
great depth as mid-ocean has.

Continents and deep sea basins do
not change places with each other, in
spite of the great earth movements,
the ocean basins have too great a depth
to pass into a continental stage. The
average depth of the ocean is about
13,000 feet, nearly two and one-half
miles, and this depth is so great it is
not at all likely that continents have
ever risen within such deep basins.

HOW WE LOOK AT ANOTHER W^ O R L T)

Of all the worlds in the sky, the moon is the nearest to us. It is only 240,000 miles away, ant when we look at it
through a huge telescope such as this, the moon seems to come down quite close and appear as near as does the small section
of this picture. So large is the moon through a big telescope that we can study only a small part at a time, and we are
able to make a more complete map ot the moon than we can of some parts of the earth.

The earth we live on is only one of many worlds that fly through space. If we
are to understand our own world, we must learn about the worlds in the skies, which
we can see but cannot visit. In these pages we begin the study of astronomy, the
science of the stars. Though men have been "star-gazing" for many ages, it was not
until about three hundred years ago that astronomy really began as a true science —
just about the time when all true science really began. A Danish monk and two
Italians, one of whom was also a monk, were the real founders of our knowledge of the
universe; and the greatest name after theirs is that of Isaac Newton. These men
have taught us that our own earth, and the sun it moves round every year, are only
a tiny part of the great universe, which contains millions of such suns and planets,
in all stages of their history. And now, armed with the telescope, which brings the
stars nearer to our sight, and the spectroscope which interprets the light of the stars,
and the law of gravitation found by Newton, men are learning more and more
about these worlds in the skies.

WORLDS IN THE SKIES

IT IS always true that if we are most of us have no idea how useful it

really to understand anything we is. So it comes about that we find

must study not only the thing proof of astronomical knowledge long

itself, but also what is around it. We ages ago, even thousands of years

cannot understand a part of any great before the birth of Christ. This is

whole, until we understand some- specially true of the East, more espe-

thing, at least, of that whole. We cially of Western Asia and Egypt,

cannot even understand ourselves The names of most of the sciences,

unless we study the conditions of our we know, end in ology, and we might

lives, our parents and schools, what expect the name of the science of the

we read, the air we breathe, the things stars — using the word stars to include

we hear people say and so on. And in all the bright objects in the heavens —

the case of the earth we can never to be astrology.

hope to understand it unless we study the alchemists and astrologers
the great world of which it is really a who degan the study of
very tiny part. This study is known ^"^ earth
as astronomy — the word means the We use the word astronomy, how-
law of the stars — and it is in many ever, to distinguish this real science
ways, though not in all, the most from an unreal science which came
marvelous of all the sciences. before it, and which was called astrol-
Astronomy is probably the oldest ogy. If we turn to the great science
of the sciences. Men were always of chemistry we find exactly the same
interested in the weather, in changes thing. Before what we now call
of climate, and in the sun, which plain- chemistry came into existence there
ly has so much to do with what hap- was an unreal science called alchemy
pens in the sky around us. The sun — which is really the same word. The
and moon were closely watched by alchemists were searching for the
men, probably before anything else philosopher's stone that was to turn
at all. Also the stars are far more everything into gold, and for the elixir
brilliant when they are seen through of life that was to turn or keep every-
the clear air of warmer countries than body young. The alchemists were
ours, such as Arabia and Egypt; and wrong in looking for these things, and
as they seem to be fixed they can they were wrong practically always in
guide men on the sea and on land, the way in which they interpreted the
Thus, astronomy was useful from the results of their experiments. But we
first, as it is useful today, though could not have modern chemistry if

J^8

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

there had been no alchemists. They
were eager and patient men who made
numberless experiments and noted
numberless facts. They laid the foun-
dation of chemistry, and though they
were wrong in their objects, and wrong
in their attempts to understand what
they noticed, yet we profit in a thou-
sand ways by their discoveries today.
And just as every modern chemist
is indebted to the alchemists, so every
modern astronomer is indebted to the
astrologers. We could not have had
our modern astronomy but for them.
They, too, like the alchemists, were
eager and patient men, and they ob-
served thousands of facts about the
heavenly bodies.

The strange things men thought
long ago about the stars

They were wrong in the way in
which they interpreted those facts,
but a fact is a fact forever, and since
it is part of truth, is a part of true
science; nor does it matter, in the
long run, that the man who observed
it misunderstood it — whether sincerely
or dishonestly. We find in the early
history of every race and nation that
we can trace a kind of astrology — that
is to say, a study of the stars in the
belief that they controlled the fates
of men, Egypt and Persia, Arabia
and Greece, the Chinese and the Hin-
doos all contributed to astrology, and
so when civilization began in Europe
it took over these ideas from the first.
They flourished for thousands of years,
and even today we can buy almanacs
which pretend to predict what will
happen on the earth by studying the
stars. The astrologers took those of
the planets that they knew, and con-
nected human characters with them.
Venus had something to do with love,
they thought; Mars with war, and so
on. They divided up the sky into
various parts, and supposed that
when a certain planet entered a

certain part of the sky corres-
ponding results would occur for
human beings, especially for anyone
who was born just at the moment
when that particular part of the sky
happened to be going to rise above the
horizon.

Of all the astronomical discoveries,
one stands out as that which, beyond
all others, destroyed astrology, and
that was the discovery by Copernicus
that the sun and not the earth is the
center of the solar system. We must
remember, too, that in this case, as in
every other, people will believe the
false unless they know the true. So in
our own time and in the future, wher-
ever there are people who do not know
anything about astronomy, they will
believe what astrologers tell them.

We have already learned that as-
tronomy was useful from the first, and
we should particularly notice the
difference between the real use of real
knowledge and the sham use of sham
knowledge. The astrologists declared
that the study of the stars was useful
because it enabled them to predict
what would happen to men — which is
a thing that men always want to know.

How THE STARS GUIDED THE TRAVELER
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WORLD

Sometimes they happened to be
right, as anyone may happen to be
who makes a prophecy, especially if
he takes care that it is a likely one.
But usually they were wrong, and so
they were not merely useless, but
worse than useless. Yet all through
the time of astrology there was a cer-
tain amount of real astronomy known,
and this was usefid then as it is now.
Especially was it so because observa-
tion of the position of the stars guided
travelers, whether on the sea or on
the land. Traveling has always been
important, but there were no good
maps in those days, and the compass
was only known in China. The skies

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

are almost always bright, however,
in Egypt and Arabia and Greece, and
so the stars could always be seen at
night to help the traveler to his goal.
Every ship that crosses the sea is
indebted to astronomy today, and
always will be.

But the thing we should notice par-
ticularly is the difference between the
sham knowledge and the real knowl-
edge — the worse than useless and the
very useful. They both depended
upon facts and upon the same facts —
that such and such stars could be
seen at such and such places at such
and such times. But the sham knowl-
edge with its bad consequences de-
pended upon a false interpretation of
true facts, while the useful knowledge
depended upon a true interpretation
of the true facts.

How MANKIND WAS CHEATED AND LED
ASTRAY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS

The great lesson which w^e have to
learn from this applies to all knowl-
edge of every kind; whether we are
studying stars or disease or the rocks
or history or anything else, there are
always tw^o things which it is our
business to find out. First come the
facts, and then comes the meaning of
the facts. We must have the facts
first, and we get these either by simply
observing — as when men look at the
stars, or by making experiments — as
we do in chemistry. The facts are
facts whether we understand them or
not, and in any case we must have the
facts first. After that comes the busi-
ness of trying to understand what the
facts mean, and if you do not know
what they mean it is much better to
say so and to go on looking for more
facts, rather than to pretend you know
what they mean.

We thank and praise the astrologers
for finding many facts, but we cannot
thank them, and are, indeed, bound to
blame them, because they pretended to

understand them when they did not,
and because for thousands of years
they cheated mankind with their pre-
tended explanations. The astrono-
mers of today ask money from man-
kind as the astrologers did, but they
do not ask it in return for sham prophe-
cies as to what will happen to you and
me, but they ask it for telescopes and
observatories, so that they may learn
more about the wonderful world in
which we live.

Brave men who suffered for believ-
ing WHAT men now believe

Our more definite knowledge of the
history of real star-science begins with
the Greeks, and w^e know that some
Greek astronomers had discovered the
true shape of the earth, the fact of its
spinning and its revolution round the
sun. Then these truths were denied
and despised, and for many centuries
men went back to the old view that
the earth is motionless and flat, and
that the sun goes round it, as it cer-
tainly seems to do.

But in the sixteenth century there
arose a great man, a monk, called
Nicolas Koppernik, of Denmark,
whose name we now know in its Latin
form of Copernicus, and he proved
again the truth that had been lost
for nearly 2000 years, that the earth
goes round the sun, and that the other
planets, such as Mars and Venus and
Jupiter and Saturn, do so too.

His great follower, the Italian,
Galileo, invented the telescope. With
it he completed the proof of the view
held by Copernicus. He found that
Venus has phases like the moon,
showing that it goes round the sun
in a path inside the path of the earth,
and he found four of Jupiter's moons,
showing that it was like the earth,
which also has a moon. And so we
learned to think of the sun and it^
family, the solar system, about which
we have already read a little in this

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

book. Galileo was over and , over
again stopped and silenced by the
Inquisition. He was made, under
threat of torture or death, to declare
that his discoveries were false. He
was forbidden to write any more, and
the poor old man, alone in the world —
for he had lost his beloved daughter —
died miserable, alone and despised.
But his glorious name will be revered
and honored by all men as long as
mankind endures.

About the same time there lived a
man, also a monk, like Copernicus, of
Denmark, who saw farther and deeper
than either Copernicus or Galileo,
though he was not an actual discoverer
with his own eyes. He was an Italian,
named Giordano Bruno; and if you
think of him as if his name were
George Brown, you will realize that
anyone, anywhere at any time, may
make his name immortal. Bruno or,
Mr. Brown, as we should call him now,
was the first man to realize the true
nature of the mighty universe in
which we live, and so his work is of
lasting interest to all men.

We saw what Galileo's earthly re-
ward was; but Galileo sacrificed him-
self at least in some degree, by denying
what he knew to be true; and so we
cannot say of him that he was so
completely a martyr for the truth as
he might have been. Martyr really
means loitness, but we use the word
to mean a witness who pays for his
witness by his life. Bruno was at-
tacked, as Galileo was, soon after-
wards. He, too, recanted, or took
back what he had said, for a time;
but afterwards something within him
made him ashamed of doing so. He
boldly declared again what he be-
lieved, which is what we all believe
now; and the Inquisition burned him
in the Campo di Flora — the Field of
Flowers — in Rome, in the year 1600,
on a spot where, three hundred years

afterwards, in 1900, a statue was
erected to his immortal memory.

How ISAAC NEWTON CARRIED FORWARD
THE TRUTH THAT BRUNO DIED FOR

Before we learn what Bruno taught
the world, there is one other name
which we must learn in the history of
astronomy. It is that of an English-
man, Isaac Newton, who discovered
the law of gravitation, by which the
universe is balanced. This he did
when he was 23 years old. When he
published his discovery people said
that he was wicked, and was trying to
take away from the glory of God;
but now all men honor him, and see
that the more we learn about Nature
the more we learn about the wonder
and power of its Great Author,

The FIRST MAN TO UNDERSTAND THAT
ALL THE STARS ARE SUNS

When Bruno read and thought over
the work of Copernicus, there came
into his deep mind the true view of
what our universe really is. The first
great truth he saw was that the sun —
our sun — must really be one of the
stars; and with that great idea in his
mind he began to think of the other
stars. So he saw that if the sun is a
star the stars are suns.

Consider how tremendous is the
meaning of that sentence, and espe-
cially of its conclusion: the stars arc
suns. Men had thought of the earth
as the center of all things, the sun as
its attendant, daily moving round it,
and the stars as little points of light —
mere trifles, giving no useful light, and
meaning nothing, unless that some-
body would meet with an accident in a
certain year, or that someone else
would win a victory, if certain stars
could be seen at certain times. And
then Bruno came and taught that these
little points of light were suns, like our
own, perhaps vastly bigger and more
important, and that probably there
were planets circling round them with

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

living creatures, pei'haps as intelligent
as men, or even more intelligent than
men, upon them. This is the most
humbling discovery to the pride of
human beings that men have e^'er
made, and it is also the grandest.
Men saw only one side of it then, and
perhaps we should not wonder that
they burned Bruno.

The earth is as a grain of dust in a
mighty mass of worlds

The universe, then, consists chiefly
of a vast multitude of stars, of which
we can reckon not less than one hun-
dred millions already. Of these our
sun is just one, and certainly neither
the biggest nor the brightest, though
infinitely more important to us than
all the others put together. Around
any number of these stars there may be
planets, perhaps with moons, circling
as we do round our particular sun.
And the whole of our earth is but as
a grain of dust compared with the
whole mighty mass of worlds which we
can see on any fine night from the
earth's surface.

As to the size of the visible uni-
verse, we learn similar lessons. The
earth is quite small, compared with
Jupiter, the giant planet, and Jupiter
is small compared with the sun. But
if the whole space surrounded by the
path of the outermost planet, Nep-
tune, from the sun outwards, were one
solid mass, a mighty ball in which
sun and earth and Jupiter and all
would be lost like drops of water in a
lake — even then this great globe would
be nothing in size compared with
many of the objects we see in the sky,
and the distance from boundary to
boundary of it would be nothing com-
pared with the distance from it to
the nearest star.

In looking at the sky, then, we must
always remember the meaning of
these tremendous distances between
stars and stars, and we must not be

deceived, as so many men have been
deceived, by the apparently equal
distance of a planet and a star beside
it.

The light that has been traveling

SINCE the SPANISH ARMADA WAS
DESTROYED.

It is not merely that the planets —
which belong to our little system —
are nearer than the stars, but that,
compared with the stars, they are at
our very doors, while the stars are
almost infinitely far away. Some-
thing happened to a star which we
noticed a few years ago, and much
attention was paid to it. Yet we
reckon that whatever it was really
happened before the Pilgrims landed
on Plymouth Rock, and the light that
then left the star reached our eyes
only a few years ago.

Thus to the eye of the astronomer
the bright points in the sky are of two
utterly different kinds. All but seven
of them — among these scores of mil-
lions — are suns, vastly far away, and
many of them vastly bigger than our
sun.

But seven of these bright points,
together with the sun and the moon,
and the moons of the other planets
that have moons, and a number of
very tiny planets, perhaps as small as
an American county, that can only be
seen through a telescope, are parts of
the solar system; they belong to us,
they are close neighbors of ours, and
have nothing to do with any of the
stars among which they seem to lie.

Now let us make a list of the various
things that make up the universe, and
that astronomers study. First, we
shall note down the things that make
up our system; we shall think of it as
a kind of sample of what makes up
millions of other systems in the sky —
only that they are so far away that
we can only see the suns — or stars —
of those systems.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The things that make up our part
OF the universe, the solar system

Our system consists of the sun;
the eight large planets of which our
earth is one; the moons of those
planets; the minor or lesser planets,
which all revolve round the sun in a
sort of heap, in a path outside the
path of Mars and inside the path of
Jupiter; a large number of tiny things
like stones and pebbles and pieces of
rock, much too small for us to see,
except when they are caught in our
atmosphere and made bright, when we
call them meteorites, or "shooting
stars"; and a few curious things called
comets, which also move round the sun
and belong to our system. We ought
really to learn this list. It is much
easier to learn than a list of dead kings,
most of whom could not read, and it is
quite as imjjortant. The pebbles, the
comets, and the minor planets are the
things you are likeliest to forget. The
names of the major planets are given
on page 18, and we certainly should
learn them and their order outwards
from the sun.

Again we must remind ourselves
that several of these things may be
seen in the sky, either with the naked
eye or through a telescope, just as if
they were stars, but they are really
just about as far from the stars as we
are, and belong to us. When as-
tronomers discover a new minor planet
— and there are hvmdreds of them
known — they cannot tell whether they
are dealing with a tiny little planet,
perhaps smaller than Rhode Island,
or a star that may be vastly bigger
than the sun, until they find that it
moves or wanders among the stars, and
so is a planet, or wanderer.

The great DIFFICULTY OF understand-
ing THINGS SO FAR AWAY

The difficulty people have in learn-
ing how utterly different Venus is
from a star like Sirius is a difficulty

that even astronomers have to reckon
with, so great is the influence of dis-
tance in deceiving us as to the
comparative importance of things.
We mvist learn from astronomy that
a very tiny thing may be taken for
a very big thing, if only it happens to
be near enough.

We can never know any other of
the millions of solar systems as we
know our own, but whenever we look
at a star we must think of it as Bruno
thought of it, and remember that it is
probably the sun to other planets, and
perhaps to intelligent beings not very
unlike ourselves. But in the universe,
outside the little limits of our solar
system, there are many other things
beside stars, and we know what these
various things are. Then, when we
have got firm hold of the right idea
of the universe and what it is made of,
we shall be ready to study some of
these wonderfid things more closely.

We discover in the heavens, apart
from our small system, many bright
stars. Without seeing them, but in
other ways, such as by noticing how
they disturb the bright stars, we dis-
cover also many dark stars; stars that
have grown cold and "gone out."
The COUNTLESS number of stars IN

THE sky and their MANY KINDS

A well - known astronomer, Sir
Robert Ball, has said that to look at
the bright stars—the stars we can see
— and say, "These are all the stars,"
would be like counting all the red-hot
horse-shoes in a country and saying,
"These are all the horse-shoes." The
bright stars are probably very few
compared with the dark ones. Bright
stars and dark are of many different
kinds, but we shall read about them
later. Here we must remember both
of them as helping to make up the
mighty population of the skies. And
after them we must put down the
names of the nebvkr. Nebula means

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

cloud, and nebulce means clouds. The
nebulae are things which look hke
tiny clouds among the stars. We
have already learned that the solar
system was made from a nebula; and
we believe that all the stars, and the
systems of which they are the suns,
were also made from nebulae.

There are many stars in the heav-
ens which seem to be still only half-
made — still more "star-mist" than
star — and these we call nebulous stars.
There is a great nebula in Orion, in
which six stars can be seen to have

sun as regularly as the earth does.
A comet is quite a small thing, really,
and requires to be near to be seen.
Even the comets that belong to the
solar system can only be seen occa-
sionally when they come compara-
tively near to the sun. The comets in
outer space cannot be seen. But we
know that they are there, since some
of them occasionally visit us. After
rushing through space for the vast
distances that stretch between star
and star, they may visit our star, the
sun, and after rushing round it may

THE LONG AND LONELY JOURNEY OF A COMET. WITH ITS TAIL MILLIONS OF MILES LONG

-/- P«h,.of_a_ Comet. '..ir-

^'-^?4o/ a P}a?5^'"'

This picture shows the path of a comet round the sun. At one time the comet comes quite close to the sun and just
misses running into it; then passing round the sun, it travels far beyond all the planets, millions of miles into space, until
it comes to the sun again. The circle shows how the earth goes round the sun, and it is when a comet comes close to the
earth's path that we see it.

already condensed. We can see Orion
for ourselves in the early winter
evenings in the south. To our naked
eyes the nebula looks like a star — the
middle star of three forming the dagger
of the huntsman which the ancients
thought Orion looked like.

It is almost certain that there are
dark nebulae as well as bright ones,
and that we must therefore remember
both kinds as we remember both
kinds of stars.

The mysterious journey of a comet
through space

There are also in the heavens many

comets besides those that belong to

the solar system, and go round the

fly away again into space and be seen
no more — by us. Astronomers know
that these comets do not belong to the
solar system, and will never return,
as the paths they pursue are not
closed paths, like a circle O or an
ellipse 0> but open ones, like thisD,
which carry the comet through space,
perhaps never visiting the same star
twice, until its history ends in its
breaking up into little parts like the
stones we call meteorites.

The most brilliant of all comets
in the memory of living men was that
of 1858, known by the name of its
discoverer, Donati. Its tail was over
fifty million miles in length

5Jt.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE MOON, THE LAMP OF NIGHT

FOR many millions of years the
earth has been attended by a
satellite — which means attend-
ant — called the moon. In all ages men
have admired the moon, and in the
history of almost all nations there are
records that the moon has actually
been worshiped. It is, of course, the
most brilliant body in the whole
heavens, after the sun, so far as our
view of things is concerned; and, just
as the sun is the king of day, so the
moon is the queen of night, and on ac-
count of its beauty has been cele-
brated by thousands of poets. The
whiteness of the moon's light has al-
ways been for poets an emblem of
purity, though this light, as we know,
does not originate in the moon, but is
merely reflected sunlight.

The time has gone when men
thought that everything in the world
existed only for their use, nor do we
now credit the moon with the power of
causing lunacy, which really means
moon-acy. But we know that the
moon has very important influences
upon the earth. The most obvious
of these influences is the light which
the moon sends us, which at night
may sometimes be quite useful. We
have already seen how little of the
sun's light the earth catches, and the
moon, being smaller than the earth,
catches much less. It has been esti-
mated that it would require 600,000
full moons, all shining together, to
light the earth as brilliantly as the
sun lights it now.

The sun is always shining, and the
side of the moon which is exposed to
it is always lighted by it, except for
a few minutes now and again, when the
earth gets between the sun and the
moon. The proof of the fact that the
moon gives out no light of its own is
to be found in the changes that the

moon goes through every month.
These changes, which are shown in
the illustration, can have only one
meaning — which is, that all the light
we see the moon by is reflected sun-
light. The moon is practically a
sphere and therefore any source of
light like the sun can light up only
one half at any time; and if the sun's
light is falling on the half which is
curved away from us, then we see no
moon at all.

The only exception to this is that
sometimes we can see what people
call "the old moon in the young moon's
arms." We see, perhaps, a beautiful
bright crescent, and then the rest of
the moon very faintly shown. The
bright crescent we see by reflected
sunlight, and the rest of the moon's
face by reflected earth-light. This is
one of the facts which prove that the
earth, seen from somewhere else, would
look bright. It reflects sunlight
enough, indeed, to light up the face
of the moon at times sufficiently for
us to see it by.

The brightness of the moon depends
on its nearness. In all the heavens
there are only a very few bodies that
we can see which are smaller than the
moon, but the moon has the great
advantage of being very much nearer
us than anything else. Its distance
from the earth is only about 240,000
miles — less than ten times the dis-
tance round the earth. Compared
with the distance of the sun or of
Mars, this is, of course, very small
indeed. It gives us the great advan-
tage that we can study the moon
with our telescopes more closely than
any other body in the heavens.
Why the moon cooled down and died

so QUICKLY

The moon, however, is very tiny
and the whole face of it, which we

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

see, is only about twice the size of
Europe. If you look at Europe on the
map of the earth, you will see that it
does not amount to much. The dis-
tance through the moon, or its diam-
eter, is only a little more than a quarter
that of the earth, and "if the earth
were cut into fifty pieces, all equally
large, then one of these pieces rolled
into a globe would equal the size of
the moon." But the surface of the
moon is about one-thirteenth that of
the earth. These figures are extremely
important and interesting. They
show us that when the moon is com-
pared with the earth, it has a far big-
ger surface in proportion to its size.
It is only one-fiftieth of the size, but
instead of having a surface only one-
fiftieth the size of the earth's its sur-
face is one-thirteenth that of the
earth. That is why the moon has
cooled so very much more quickly than
the earth has done, and this rapid
cooling of the moon accounts for two
things: first, its cold and lifeless state
today; and second, the character of
the moon's surface, which shows that
its life, so to speak, was "a short and
merry one." The cooling crust of the
moon shrank down upon its interior
so quickly that the most violent things
happened, the marks of which remain
long ages afterwards on the surface
of the moon for us to study.

The side of the moon that men have
never seen

The fact that the distance across
the moon looks to us always about
the same indicates that the moon's
distance from the earth varies very
little, and that is so. The reason is,
of course, that the moon travels
round the earth in a path which is
very nearly, but not quite, a circle.
It moves once round the earth in
about twenty-seven days and a third.
This time makes the real month,
which we call the lunar month. There

are twelve months in the year accord-
ing to the calendar, but that has only
been made so for convenience. Really
there are thirteen and a little bit
more; in other words, while the earth
goes round the sun once, the moon
goes round the earth a little more than
thirteen times.

But, as the moon goes round the
earth, we find that it keeps the same
side towards us. Indeed, we have
never seen, and never can see, more
than the same one half of the moon's
surface, or just a trifle more than half.
The reason is that the moon is slowly
spinning upon itself as it moves
round the earth, and it makes one
complete spin on its axis in just the
same time as it takes to go once round
the earth. In other words, the moon's
24-hour day is a month long.

Anyone living upon the moon, then,
would have day and night as we have
day and night upon the earth, and for
the same reason — because the moon
is spinning. But, as the moon's spin
is very slow, the bright part of his
day would last about two weeks, and
the dark part of it, corresponding to
our night, would last another two
weeks.

A WORLD THAT WE KNOW BETTER THAN
WE KNOW AFRICA

Of course, we should like to see the
other side of the moon, but we may
be quite sure that if we could it would
be very much the same as the side
we can see. We have now mapped
out the visible half of the moon very
carefully with drawings and photo-
graphs. As Sir Robert Ball has said,
"astronomers know the surface of the
moon better than geographers know
the interior of Africa. Every spot
on the face of the moon which is as
large as an English parish has been
mapped, and all the more important
objects have been named." This, we
must remember, however, applies only

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

to one-half of the moon's surface. Of
the other we know nothing. When we
look at a map of the moon, or when we
look at the moon through a telescope,
we do not see at all anything like the
face we all know so well, but we see
at once what it was that made the
appearance of a face.

The moon's surface is richly covered
with markings, the largest of which
are great dark spaces, which are the
markings we see with our naked eyes.

These spaces, though they contain
no water, were called "seas" by the
old astronomers. We also see great
ridges, which are mountain ranges, and
large rings, which are thought to be
the remains of volcanoes.

There can be no question that many of
the things we see project above the sur-
face of the moon, and that they are light-
ed from some source outside them, for
we can see their great shadows. When
the moon is quite full, and the sun is

A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MOON: A DEAD WORLD LIT UP BY THE SUN

This is a picture-map of tlie moon, whicli is really a dead world, as the earth would be if there were not one living
thing upon it. The moon travels round the earth as the earth travels round the sun. It is not light in itself; what we
see is the light of the sun upon it, as we see the light of a candle thrown upon a wall. We see really one-halt of an enormous
globe like a small earth, lit up in the sunshine, spinning in space like a fireball, yet weighing millions of tons.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY 57

striking directly upon it as we see it, great plain, perhaps with a mountain

these shadows are absent, and, indeed, peak in its center, perhaps not. One

though the moon is then beautiful to of the most splendid of these craters

the naked eye, the astronomer cannot is named after Copernicus, and many

learn from it nearly so much as he can other astronomers have had their

at other times. If we want to see a names given to the larger craters that

lunar mountain at its best, we must mark the surface of the moon,

watch it when it is not far from the things that happened before there
edge between light and darkness. The were human beings on the earth
sun's rays are then falling upon it According to many astronomers,

slantwise, and we can see its form, there are still occasional traces of

the shadows it throws, and learn from things going on upon the moon. For

them the size of it. instance, we believe that a small

The shadows thrown by the moun- crater has been found that was not

tains of the moon are extremely dense there before. However, even if there

and sharp. The reason is that the were no doubt that small changes

moon has no air. The shadows thrown still occur on the surface of the moon,

on the earth are neither so black nor so we are certain that nothing which now

sharp as they would be if there were no occurs there can compare for a moment

air, for the air spreads the light about, with the tremendous events which

and throws a certain amount even created the moon's surface as we now

upon the blackest part of the blackest see it. So far as we can judge, these

shadow. Now, it is not difficult in events must have occurred not merely

the case of the earth to find out how long before there were any human

high a thing is if we can measure the beings upon the earth to witness them,

length of its shadow. We should do but at a time when the earth was so

this at noonday, when the sun is hot that no life of any kind upon its

highest in the sky, and then, if we surface had yet become possible,
know how high the sun was on the day In any case, the facts of the moon's

in question, we can calculate from the surface clearly show quite what we

length of the shadow what the height should expect when we remember how

of the object is. Indeed, if, in our quickly a small body cools compared

latitude, we make the measurement with a large one. There is one crater

on certain days in the year, the length upon the moon which is nearly eighty

of the shadow is the same as the miles across, and the moon's craters

height of the thing we are measuring, and mountains are not to be found here

It is not a very difficult matter to find and there merely, but cover it almost

out the number of miles that a shadow everywhere. Indeed, we require

on the moon extends, and we can also some other explanation of the reason

find out how high the sun would why such tremendous heapings up of

appear to anyone looking at it from matter have been possible upon the

that part of the moon. So we can moon, and that explanation is again

measure the height of mountain peaks to be found in the moon's small size,
and crater edges in the moon. We a man on the moon could jump across
find craters fifty, sixty, and more miles the street

wide. Some of these have walls of The force of gravitation on the

the most tremendous height — 10,000 moon's surface is very different from

feet, for instance. In other places, the force of gravitation on the earth's

instead of a deep crater, Ave find a sm-face. It is only one-sixth as great.

THE EARTH AS VIEWED FROM THE MOON

This picture shows us what the earth would look like it we could see it from the moon. The light ol the sun falliUM
upon the earth must make it shine like the moon when seen, it it is seen from the other planets. No beings dependent
upon air for their life could live on the moon for the moon is an airless world. People on the moon could not speak because
sound does not exist without air; the largest cannon ball that could be fired it it could be made to reach the moon, would
fall like a pin upon velvet. The moon might be Oiled with lovely flowers but they would give off no perfume, birds might
sing from every branch, but not a note would be heard. For the moon is a silent world where sound and speech and smell
cannot exist.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKV

A man who on the earth can jump six
feet high, as some can, could jump
thirty-six feet high on the moon.
This means that the explosive force
of the volcanoes on the moon, hurling
upwards all the substances which
reached them from the interior of the
moon, would be resisted by a feebler
force of gravitation, so much less than
we are familiar with on the earth that
we can begin to understand how some
of the great features of the moon's
surface can have been formed.

Why there are no such changes on
the moon as on the earth

Air and water, as we know, are al-
ways smoothing away the prominences
on the earth, rubl^ing them down
and rounding their edges; but when a
great mass of lava was thrown up by
a volcano on the moon, and hardened
as it cooled, it took a shape which
ages could not change, for there was
nothing to cause the change. There
is only one fact about the moon which
can contribute much to any changes
upon its surface now. As the moon
has no blanket of air, it is very much
exposed to the rays of the sun. During
the moon's day which is as long as 27
of our days, the surface must become
intensely hot, but during the moon's
night, which is as long as 27 of our
nights, there is nothing to keep in the
heat which it has received during the
day, so that the heat is radiated
freely, and the moon must become
colder than any part of the earth ever
is. So, the surface of the moon must
shrink very much with cold and ex-
pand with heat each night and day.

THE PATH OF THE MOON ROUND THE
EARTH

That is all we can say now
about this very difficult but very inter-
esting question. If it were true that
this was the origin of the moon, we
should expect to find the moon spin-

ning upon itself and revolving round
the earth, in the same direction as the
earth spins on its axis and revolves
round the sun; and so we do. But the
path of the moon round the earth is
not quite on the same level, or in the
same plane, as astronomers say, as the
path of the earth round the sun. In a
picture on a flat page — like, for
instance, one of the pictures of this
part — it looks as if the moon were
traveling round the earth on the same
level as the earth is traveling round
the sun. If this were so, of course
we could not see a full moon, for then
the earth would be in the way of the
sun's light, and instead of a full moon
we should have an eclipse of the moon
every month. Also the moon would
eclipse the sun every month. But if
we think of the moon's path round
the earth as being tilted a little at
an angle to the earth's path round the
sun, we shall understand how it is
that we are able to see a full moon,
and we shall also understand that, at
certain regular intervals, when the path
in which the moon moves crosses the
path in which the earth moves, there
may be an eclipse.

WHAT THE EARTH WOULD LOOK LIKE TO
A MAN ON THE MOON

If intelligent beings lived upon the
moon, our earth would appear to them
a most magnificent object, looking in
the sky many times larger than the
moon does to us, equally bright as a
whole, but often hidden partly by
clouds, as the moon never is. This
large earth would eclipse the sun, but
the size of the earth as seen from the
the moon would be very much larger
than that of the sun, and so an eclipse
of the sun by the earth, as seen from
the moon, would blot out not only the
body of the sun, but also its promi-
nences and the corona, and would only
leave all round a faint glow of light.

GO THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS

THE beginning of the study of together, and these groups, we know,

the stars was made very long are called constellations. From night

ago, ages even before the in- to night, or year to year, the stars

vention of the telescope or any kind making up a constellation remain in

of instrument, Avhen men had only the same positions beside one another;

a pair of eyes and a good brain behind and so, if six form a sort of coronet,

them. The Assyrians and Egyptians, men call them the crown, and so on.

the Chaldeans and the Greeks, had no The proper name for these six is the

telescopes and few observatories, but Northern Crown or Corona Borealis,

they learned practically everything that and you can find it in the accompany-

was known about the stars until almost ing picture — or, much better, in the

our own times. For, after all, anyone sky. Borealis is derived from Boreas,

with eyes, who cares to use his eyes, the god who was supposed to blow the

can study the stars and learn a great north wind. But it is most important

deal about them. for us to understand now what could

The first thing men learned was that not be understood long ago.

a few of the bright points in the sky. How men thought they were living

like stars, move about or wander in a ball, with the stars stuck on it
among the other stars. These wan- When we look at the sky it seems

derers, or planets, we now understand; to be a sort of dome or bowl upside

and we keep the name "stars" for all down — someone has called it "that

the rest, which for many ages were inverted bowl we call the sky" — with

called the fixed stars, in order to dis- all the stars stuck on it, at the same

tinguish them from the wandering level or distance from our eyes ; so that

stars. There are good reasons why what we see as a group of stars would

we should drop the word fixed. It is really be a group of stars, or a constel-

not necessary, as we can call the wan- lation. And astronomers actually

dering stars planets, and not stars at thought that the stars were attached

all ; and it is not true, for we know that to a mighty sphere, inside of which we

many of the "fixed" stars move, and were, and that the movements of the

we have reason to believe that they sky as a whole were due to this great

are all of them moving. sphere or hollow ball moving round and

If we watch these stars, however, carrying all the stars together with it.

every clear night for the whole span The planets, moving separately, had

of our lives, we notice no movement; to have other supposed spheres or

and this is true of most of them, even bowls invented for them, and we may

though they are watched for genera- guess how complicated and impossible

tions or centuries. They seem to keep the whole thing grew, for it was wrong

the same positions compared with one from the first. It is as if you looked

another, though the whole sky seems across your room and thought that

to have moved at different times everything was on the same level —

of the year or at different times of the at the same distance from your eye.

night. The winter sky, for instance, A funny notion you would have of

seen from our part of the world, is much what your room really is! But actu-

more interesting than the summer sky. ally you see the room i?i perspective.

Thus it happens that men's eyes and you know that things which lie

naturally came to group the stars side by side in your field of view may

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

be, one quite near and the other at
the far end of the room.

The immense depths in the sky that
we cannot realize

Unfortunately, we cannot see the
sky in perspective. If we could — if
we could get any notion at all with our
eyes of the depths of space — much
more than half of all the mistakes of
astronomers could never have been
made. Any boy could have corrected
them the first time he was out on a
fine night.

Nevertheless, of course we must
learn the principal constellations, for
they are the landmarks of the sky —
or skymarks, if you like — and they are
always referred to when we want to
say where to find a comet or a planet
at any particular time. And here we
may learn a very interesting thing.
The "fixed" stars are not fixed, and
therefore, as they move, the constella-
tions ought to change. And so they
do. The first astonishing fact about
these changes is that, on the whole,
they are so slight. We have names
and records going back for ages; but,
in general, the face of the sky is very
much what it was when the study of
the stars began.

The CHANGES that TAKE PLACE SO FAR
AWAY THAT WE CANNOT SEE THEM

Yet we now know that many of
these stars are moving perhaps ten or
even a hundred miles every second.
This can only mean that the distances
of the stars are enormous; for, of
course, the nearer things are to our
eyes, the greater is the visible effect
of their movement, and vice versa.

But the second fact is that, though
the changes seem so small, considering
how long the stars have been watched
by mankind, yet there are changes.
For one thing, we know certain con-
stellations, or groups of stars, which
the ancients did not name, and which
have received names near our own

time. Knowing how carefully the old
astronomers watched, and how ready
they were to give names, we may
reasonably believe that the reason why
they took no notice of these "new"
constellations, as they are called, is
that they were not there to be seen.
The stars making them have moved
in the sky, and the "new" constella-
tions are therefore really new in the
sense that, a few thousand years ago,
the stars making them did not look
like a group of stars, or a constellation,
to the eye, as they do now.

Some of the names given to the con-
stellations, suggesting that they look
like things we know, may seem very
absurd. Here, too, the fact that the
stars are not really fixed may help to
explain. It may be that, when the
name was given, the stars were in
positions that made the constellations
look more like their names than some
of them do now.

The NORTHERN AND THE SOUTHERN
HALVES OF THE SKY

If we consider how the earth turns
in space, we shall understand that only
the northern half or so of the sky can
ever be seen from most of the United
States. As it happens, this includes
the more interesting and wonderful
stars, though perhaps we may think
so only because the great astronomers
have all lived on the northern half of
the earth, and there is scarcely more
than one first-class observatory — that
of Cape Colony — on the southern half
of the earth yet; so that we really do
not know nearly so much as we should
about the southern sky.

But everyone who lives in our part
of the world should know, at any rate ;
a few of the finest constellations and
stars that can be seen from here with-
out the use of any machinery except
that by which the Greeks made such
great discoveries in astronomy — a pair
of eyes and a mind. The pictures show

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

us what we really ought to know, and
here are mentioned the principal stars
that are shown. But the pictures do
not show one thing which would inter-
fere with their clearness, and that is
the northern half of the Milky Way,
the great belt of stars which runs right
across the entire sky, all the way
round.

The queer names the ancient as-
tronomers GAVE TO THE STARS

We all should know the seven stars
that form the tail and part of the body
of the Great Bear. These seven stars
are also called the Big Dipper. When
we see them we can always find the
Pole Star, by following up the line
made by the "pointers," Dubhe and
Merak. Look straight at the Pole
Star and that is the north. Now go
back to the Great Bear, and follow the
course of his tail downwards and back-
wards, until you come to the magnifi-
cent star Arcturus. This is one of the
brightest stars, which are called "first
magnitude" stars. Magn ilude is Latin
for bigness. Arcturns is one of the most
rapidly moving of all the flying stars,
and is believed to travel about one
hundred miles every second.

Another easily-seen constellation
looks very like a big W, '.'.■, in the sky,
and is called Cassiopeia, the lady in
the chair. It can never be mistaken.

A beautiful white star of the first
magnitude is Vega, in the Lyre, lying
beside the Milky Way. It is specially
interesting, not merely because it is
one of the most beautiful stars in the
sky, but because careful study showh
that it is in the direction of this star
that the sun, and we with it, are now
moving, at the rate of about twelve
miles in every second of time.

Quite near to Cassiopeia is Perseus.
This can often be seen as a great L
below the great W, and it is interesting
because one of its stars is the celebrated
double star Algol, which is really two

stars, one bright and the other dark.
They revolve round one another, so
that every few days the dark one
partly eclipses the bright one, and so
Algol gets brighter and less bright
every few days from age to age.

The fine spectacle we can see in the
sky on a february night

The map of the stars in winter,
shows the magnificent spectacle that
we may see — and should look for — any
fine evening in February and there-
abouts. Below the L of Perseus, not
to the left like Capella but to the right,
and lower than Capella are the Pleiades.
There is nothing in the sky like this
wonderful group of stars. It is a
true constellation, for the stars making
it are really together. With the un-
aided eye we can see about seven if
we are fortunate; with a glass we can
see many more. With a telescope and
a camera we can print the images of
about thirty thousand stars in this
mighty group: stars and nebulae too.
In no other ])art of the sky is there such
a tremendous amount of matter gather-
ed together as in the Pleiades. Now
run your eye down, and to the left from
the Pleiades, and you come to the
wonderful red star of the first magni-
tude called Aldebaran. Go on in the
same line, and you reach the greatest
and most splendid of the constellations,
Orion. The map clearly shows how
the stars of Orion make the figure of a
great huntsman, with three fine stars
in his belt, and three smaller ones
forming the blade of his dagger. The
middle one of these three last is really
the most wonderful thing in the sky —
it is not a star, but the Great Nebula
of Orion, out of which at least six fine
stars have already been formed, and
doubtless many more will be formed,
throughout the countless ages to come.
Now look downwards and to the left
from Orion, and you will see Sirius,
the brightest star in the whole sky —

THE MAP OF THE STARS IN SPRING

To read these star-maps, stand facing the south and hold the map above tde head with the top pointing north.
As we look up at the sky at night and see the stars shining, we notice that most of them are clustered together la
groups. These groups are called constellations, a word that means simply "stars together." Some of these constellations
have curious names, because the people of ancient times named them after their gods, or after things which the stars were
thought to resemble. As we look at these groups of stars, it is impossible for us now to see any resemblance to the things,
but some modern astronomers suggest that perhaps the positions of many of the stars, as seen from the earth, have changed
during the centuries, and that the groups did at one time somewhat resemble the creatures named. In these maps we see
the outlines of the constellations as ancient people drew them.

63.

MAP OF THE CONSTELLATIONS IN SUMMER

The grouping of the stars into constellations supposed to represent animals and other things has been continued by
modern astronomers because it has proved convenient for so long and any change now would cause confusion. One of
the names for a group of stars, the Plow, Is a good and useful one because the seven bright stars that form the tail and
back of the Great Bear as seen in this picture, really have the shape of a plow and we can easily find the Plow In the
sky. After giving them names, the ancients built up many fairy tales round the constellations, which professed to tell
how the stars came to be there. The Great Bear is the most easily seen of all the constellations and two of its stars point
almost in a straight line to the Pole Star which is always to the north of us.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

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66 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

"the leader of the heavenly host." method, nor by the simple use of our
We must not suppose, however, that, eyes, nor by any other means of the
if we could see all the stars in a line at kind, can we ever learn what is the
equal distances from your eyes, Sirius brightness of the stars. We can learn
would be the biggest. Sirius, like how bright they appear to us, we can
Algol and thousands of other stars, is learn the comparative intensity of the
really a double star. Its companion light from them when it reaches us;
is dark, but never gets between Sirius but that is a very different thing. The
and us, so that the brightness of Sirius little moon, shining by reflected sun-
does not change. light, is vastly more bright than
The wonderful sight you can see Sirius, which is probably far brighter,
ABOUT BEDTIME really, than a hundred suns. The dis-

Now we have come down the right tance makes this difference,

side of this map, which really shows us What we can see and learn, then,

all the greatest glories of the sky, but by these means, is only the apparent

there are three splendid stars in it still brightness of the stars. Yet the star

which must be mentioned, and can that seems to us the brightest in the

easily be recognized. These are Castor sky, which is Sirius, might be really the

and Pollux, in the heads of the twins or faintest, and might shine brightly only

Gemini, and Procyon in the Little Dog. because it happened to be much nearer

If you learn these few stars and look than any of the others. Therefore,

out for them when there is a chance, we can only learn anything about the

they will be easily remembered, and real brightness of the stars by taking

will always make the sky on a fine into account their distance,

night vastly more interesting than it Their distance is the first great prob-

would otherwise be. lem of the stars. All over the world

We might think at first that there astronomers are working at it, and now

was nothing to find out about the we do know the distances, in a very

brightness of the stars. Anyone with general way, of a fair number of stars,

eyes in his head can see that Sirius This is how they are found,

is brighter than Arcturus, and that how men found out the distance

Arcturus is brighter than any of the of the stars

stars in the Pleiades. Also it is not If a thing is very near your head, and

difficult to think of ways of measuring you change the position of your head,

these differences. For instance, we the apparent position of the thing

may compare the length of time it changes. Even if you look at it first

takes for various stars to print an out of one eye, and then out of the

image of themselves on a particular other, its apparent position changes;

kind of photographic plate. If we and if you know the distance between

assume — though we really may not — your two eyes, you can in this way

that the light of all the stars is the measure the distance of the thing you

same in quality, so far as its affecting are looking at. Now, in the case of a

a photographic plate is concerned, then thing like the moon, or a planet, we

we have here a means of measuring the can change our position of sight by

comparative brightness of the stars. simply noticing where it appears to be

Why we cannot understand the real when seen first from one part of the

BRIGHTNESS OF THE STARS earth, and then from another, perhaps

But, when we come to think of it, hundreds of miles away. This base-

we shall see that neither by this line of a few hundreds of miles is quite

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

enough in such cases, just as the base-
line no longer than the distance be-
tween your two ej^es is enough for a
pencil held in front of you. But the
stars, even the nearest of them, are so
far away that any base-line taken on
our little earth is far too short.

What, then, can we do, for we cannot
leave the earth? We can use the move-
ment of the earth round the sun. W'e
can look at the star on a certain night,
and then look at it again six months
later, when the earth is on the other
side of the sun. This gives us a base-
line about 186,000,000 of miles long-
twice the earth's distance from the sun
— and that is just long enough to allow
us to notice a measurable difference
in the apparent position of some stars,
and so we can measure their distance.
But there are many cases in which we
notice ??o difference even when we use
this tremendous base-line. Such stars
are unimaginable distances away.

How MEN CAN TELL THE "WEIGHT" OF
STARS THAT ARE OUT OF SIGHT

It is sometimes said that we can
weigh the stars, but weight is not the
right word to use here. By the weight
of a thing, such as this book, we mean
simply the amount of pull due to
gravitation between it and the earth.
If the earth were suddenly to become
nothing, the book would lose nearly all
its weight, and have left only that due
to the pull of the sun. But the amount
of stuff in the book would be, of course,
the same as before. This amount of
matter we call its mass, and it is the
mass of the stars that we can meas-
ure, or at least trv to measure. Their
"weight" means nothing, though if we
knew their mass we can say what their
weight or gravitation pull would be at
the surface of the earth.

We can measure the mass of a star
sometimes when it has another star
near it, for we can notice how its move-
ment is affected. For instance, we

know an almost endless number of
double stars in the heavens — a pair of
stars revolving round each other.
They move in accordance with their
gravitation pull for each other, and
that depends on their mass, so that we
can measure it. Thus we can even
measure the mass of stars we cannot
see, which is a great triumph for
astronomy.

HOW MEN TRY TO FIND OUT THE SIZE
OF THE STARS

But we are not completely baffled,
for if we can learn certain other facts
about a star, then we can at least
guess its probable size. If, for instance,
we know its distance, if we know its
brightness, and, still more, if we know
the amount of material in it, then we
shall not be far from being able to
guess what its probable size must be.
But these things are very difficult to
find, and the results are not very
certain or precise; so the most we can
say is that probably this star, or that,
must be so many times as big as the
sun— and that is usually the case —
since it gives out so much more light.

The last point about the stars which
we must mention here is their number.
To find this, we need more than the eye
helped by the largest telescope. W^e
must use a photographic plate, which
can see more stars than the eye, simply
because the substances in the plate are
more readily affected by the light of the
stars than are the substances in the
screen or retina of the human eye.
The number of stars thus to be found
is about one hundred millions.

How MANY STARS ARE THERE?

Also we do 7wt find that, with im-
proved telescopes and cameras, the
number of the stars increases, as we
should expect it to do if their number
were really endless. On the contrary,
we have good reason to believe that
there is a limit to the number of both
the visible and invisible stars.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

HEAT AND LIGHT-THE SUN'S GIFT TO THE EARTH

WE ARE all familiar with the
fact that the light and heat
which we enjoy from day to
day comes directly or indirectly from
the sun. When we burn coal or wood
we liberate the imprisoned sunlight
which fell upon the earth long ages
ago. Each day brings a new gift of
life — giving and life-sustaining warmth
and light directly from the center of
our solar system. But the question
which must often have presented it-
self to the reader is — how does this
light and heat reach the earth and
what is their real nature.

Now it was once thought that light
consisted of tiny particles shot off at
great speed from luminous bodies
such as the sun and that the striking
of these particles, or corpuscles as
they were called, upon our eyes gave
rise to the sensation of sight. As the
result of many experiments and much
study this explanation was long ago
found to be untrue and we now know
light to be of an entirely different
nature. Our ancestors also held in-
correct notions as to the nature of
heat. They supposed heat to be a
subtle and weightless fluid called
caloric which might enter into and pass
out of bodies. Today scientific knowl-

edge has so far advanced that we know
that heat is not a substance at all.

The modern theory concerning the
nature of heat and light is that, under
some conditions at least, they are one
and the same thing and that they have
a common origin or beginning. We
have read in the chapter describing
the sun that it is made up of many
substances such as iron, sodium, car-
bon, copper, etc., and that these ele-
ments are at a very high temperature.
We also learned in our study about
chemistry that a substance such as
carbon, for example, is made up of
very minute particles called atoms.
It is now thought that these atoms are
in turn made up of still smaller parts
known as electrons. The nature of
these electrons will be spoken of when
we come to study about electricity.

When a substance is very hot the
atoms, and the electrons which go to
make up the atoms, are in very rapid
but regular vibratory motion. Some
of the electrons may be vibrating much
more rapidly than others.

Now there exists everywhere in the
universe a strange and invisible some-
thing which we call ether. It is
probably not a gas or liquid or solid
but is something quite different from

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

ordinary matter. It not only fills all
space, extending out beyond the sun
and the most remote star, but is in
everything, that is, the particles of
matter which go to make up this book
are embedded in it. Though the
ether is invisible yet we kno\\^ that
such a thing exists because of its effect
in the world, just as we know that
wind exists, not because we see the
wind itself, but because we can ob-
serve its effect. Though we do not
know very much about the ether, we
do know that it has certain charac-
teristics, or, as we may say, properties,
which make possible the transmission
of a disturbance through it. Imagine
a mass of gelatine such as we eat for
dessert at dinner. If we touch one
side of the gelatine with a spoon a
tremor or wave motion passes through
the entire substance. This is similar
to the behavior of ether when dis-
turbed in certain ways.

We will remember from our study
of sound that a vibrating piano
string generates a disturbance in the
air which we call sound waves. Let
the piano represent an atom of some
element in the sun, and the strings
some of the electrons that go to make
up the atom. The vibrating electrons
in the sun being surrounded by the
all-pervading ether give rise, because
of their motion, to disturbances in
this strange medium. These distur-
bances, or ether waves, travel out-
ward in all directions carrying some
of the energy of the motion of the
electrons with them. In the case of
the piano we may cause a number of
the strings to vibrate at the same time
— bass notes and notes of higher pitch
— the former giving rise to long air
waves and the latter short waves. In
much the same manner some of the
electrons in an atom may be vibrating
slowly and others rapidly. Hence both
long and short ether waves may pro-

ceed simultaneously from the same
atom. However the longest of these
ether waves are very short when com-
pared with sound and water waves.
The sound which we recognize as
middle C on the piano is about four
feet in length while a wave of average
length in the ether would be about as
long as a thin piece of tissue paper is
thick.

Another striking thing about these
ether disturbances is that out in free
space, that is, beyond our atmosphere,
the long and short waves travel with
the same speed. The actual velocity
of the waves in the ether is enormous.
The sun is something like ninety three
million miles from the earth, an ether
wave starting at the sun will arrive
at the earth eight and one-half min-
utes later. This means that such
waves have a velocity of 186,000 miles
per second. We are amazed with the
magnitude of such a velocity when we
remember that a bullet travels at the
rate of approximately half a mile a
second ; sound in air travels at the rate
of one-fifth of a mile a second, while
an ether wave could travel one million
miles a second.

It was suggested above that these
waves, as in the case of sound and
water waves, possess energy, that is,
they are capable of exerting a force
and hence doing work. Because these
waves are being sent out continually
from the sun, or as we say, being
radiated, and because they possess
energy these disturbances in the ether
are spoken of as radiant energy. And
so we see that the energy from the sun
comes to the earth in the form of this
radiant energy which is no more or
less than a series of wave motions in
the ether.

So far in our story we have not said
anything directly about the nature of
light or heat, and perhaps we have
asked ourselves the question, what

70 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

have these ether waves to do with glass are very close together and have a

light and heat. As we shall presently very strong attraction for one another,
see it was necessary to know something We naturally wonder what force or

about these waves coming from the agency keeps the molecules in motion

far-away sun before we could easily and whether they always move with

and clearly understand what is to the same speed. Here is where our

follow. long ether waves play a part. When

Now this radiant energy from the these waves coming from the sun
sun passes through our atmosphere strike upon material substances such
and the waves strike the earth and as wood or water or earth they cause
all bodies upon it. The shortest of the molecules composing these sub-
these ether waves are capable of affect- stances to vibrate more rapidly than
ing certain parts of the body in a they commonly do. If these waves of
most wonderful and beautiful way. radiant energy fall upon a piece of
Where certain of the shortest of these iron, for example, for a long time the
ether waves pass into our eyes and molecules of iron are caused to move
strike the retina we sense green, and very, very rapidly. Now a body that
still longer waves give us a sensation is moving rapidly possesses more
of red. The retina is not sensitive energy than one that moves slowly,
to the longest waves but we fortunate- This is illustrated by the greater de-
ly have other means of recognizing struction wrought by a projectile
their presence, and we shall read about moving at a high velocity as compared
these long waves in the paragraphs with the results of one having the
which are to follow. For the present same weight but moving slowly. We
the important fact to be remembered have seen that our ether waves possess
is that the short ether waves, that is, energy. In the case we are studying
those capable of affecting our eyes, the molecules which are given greater
constitute what we know as light, motion by the impinging waves re-
Light then is a wave motion. ceive energy from these waves and

And now to learn something more hence possess more energy as a result

about the longest waves that come of their increased motion. We say

from the sun. In order that the facts the substance is being heated. The

about these waves may become plain energy of the moving molecules is

to us we must realize a certain very what we know as heat. If the

important and strange fact in nature, molecular motion becomes less the

The book in our hand may be held body possesses less energy, or, in

perfectly still but do we realize that other words, it has less heat. We are

the molecules which go to make up to look upon these long ether waves,

the paper of the book are always then, not as heat but rather as that

moving about? They never get very which gives rise to molecular motion

far from one another but nevertheless and the energy of this molecular mo-

they are always in more or less rapid tion is heat.

vibration, and this is true about the The molecular motion which bodies

molecules of all substances about have when ether waves are not falling

which we have any knowledge. The directly upon them is due to the fact

reason that the molecules do not fly that radiant energy has at some

off into space and separate from one former time reached the substance,

another is that the molecules of any and to other reasons which will be

substance such as paper or wood or explained later.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY 71
AIR, WATER AND FIRE

THE Greeks, when they spoke of answer this question quite positively,

the earth, probably meant all for there is scarcely anything that

solid matter. Of course, they chemists have more carefully studied

knew as well as we do that this solid than the air. It is not an element, but

matter composing the earth under our a simple mixture of a number of elements

feet shows itself in many forms, such as which can be sorted out of it, just as

gold and silver and iron and sand, you might mix gold and silver by

But still, all these have a certain melting them together, and then

resemblance; they all look much more might separate them from each other

like each other than like such a very afterwards. The air is a mixture of

different thing as air; and so they were different elements in the gaseous state,

all grouped together under the one Now, we should be particular to notice

heading of "earth." the word mixture, because it has an

Of course, there are living creatures exact meaning, and because, when we

on the earth, such, for instance, as come to say what we must say about

trees, and trees make the material water, we shall find that though water

called wood, which is different in is also not an element, and though it

many ways from the earth we pick contains two elements, yet it is not a

up in the garden. But the Greeks mixture of those two elements, but is

recognized, quite rightly, that all something else.

living things are made out of the sub- The case of water, and thousands of

stance of the earth; that the earth is other things, is rather more difficult,

their mother, as they said. And so and that is why we have purposely

they still continued to include all solid taken the air first, because scarcely

things, not excepting the bodies of anything could be more simple than

living creatures, as made of the one air. The most simple kind of stuff,

element earth. We now know, how- of course, is one that is simply made

ever, that the solid ground under our of one element, such as gold, or silver,

feet, and the living creatures which or iron. Nothing could be more

grow from it, are made up of many straightforward than that. But, after

different elements, which no force, no all, the case of the air is not much more

kind of treatment, however long difficult, for anyone who has ever

continued, will change into each other added milk to tea, or seen a plum-

or will split up into different things, pudding, knows what a mixture is.

and we know that these are the real If you take a little sugar and a little

elements. rice, and mix them together, there you

Now let us consider the next thing have a simple mixture,

that the Greeks called an element — What happens when two things

the air. We have already learned that make another quite different

it is real matter, though we cannot The point about the mixture of sugar

see it; but is it really an element, as and rice is this: that, however perfectly

the Greeks thought — that is to say, they are mixed, the sugar remains

is it made of only one thing, which is sugar and the rice remains rice. They

one and the same everywhere, and are mixed, but they are not changed.

which, whatever is done to it, cannot After all, it is no more than if you had

be changed into anything else or split one grain of rice and one grain of

up into simpler things.'* We can sugar, and put them side by side. The

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

grain of rice is still a grain of rice, and
the grain of sugar is still a grain of sugar.
That may seem simple, but it is of
great importance that we should
understand it, because, as we shall see,
two elements can be made, in certain
circumstances, to unite in a special way
which is very much more than mixture,
and to produce something which is
absolutely different from either of
them, just as much as if when you
mixed sugar and ground rice they
both disappeared, and you found
yourself with a lot of water in the cup
instead. That would be more than
a mixture, would it not.f* Something
must have happened very different
from simply pouring two things out
of two bags into one cup, and that is
all you need do to make a mixture.

What a mixture is and what a mix-
ture IS NOT

Now, the air is simply a mixture of
elements. It is as if you took a
quantity of one element in the form
of a gas, made of tiny little specks
called atoms — which we shall talk about
soon — something like the grains of
sugar or rice, and then to that you
added a quantity of another element
in the form of a gas, so that the tiny
grains or atoms of which it was made
just mixed with the atoms of the first
element. It is as if you had black
marbles in one pocket and white
marbles in another, and you took them
out and put them into a different
pocket together. The black marbles
would still be black, and the white
marbles white, and you would simply
have a mixture of black marbles and
white marbles.

Now, this simple fact, that the air is
just a mixture of gases, took men an
exceedingly long time to find out, and
it took them still longer to believe; and
even now, though people know that
there are different kinds of stuff in the
air, they are very often slow to under-

stand that these kinds of stuff are
simply mixed, and nothing more. And
even in careless books, sometimes, you
will find the facts wrongly stated, so as
to suggest that the air is not merely a
mixture of gases, but something quite
different, which we may as well know
the name of now; it is called a com-
pound. But that is not so; the air is
not a compound.

There are two elements which make
up nearly the whole of the air; their
names are oxygen and nitrogen, and
they are not really combined, but
mixed, like the marbles in one's pocket.
Oxygen and nitrogen can be combined
in various ways, but in these cases they
make something c^uite different —
which is not oxygen, not nitrogen, and
certainly not air. The best-known
thing which is made out of oxygen and
nitrogen when they are combined as a
compound is called laughing-gas,
which the dentist gives us so that we
shall feel no pain when we have a
tooth drawn.

Oxygen has been named first, though
the air is not an equal mixture of these
two elements, and though, indeed,
there is far more nitrogen than oxygen
in it; but the oxygen is far more im-
portant, though there is less of it.
Just about one-fifth of all the air con-
sists of oxygen, and just about four-
fifths consists of nitrogen. Of course,
these are only rough proportions,
because, as a matter of fact, there is a
tiny quantity of many other elements
in the air helping to make up the
mixture.

The lazy element that keeps by it-
self, EVEN IN A CROWD

But though these elements are very
interesting, yet they do not do any-
thing in particular, and so they do
not matter much to us. Only one
of them — perhaps the best known —
is called argon, which means lazy,
because, though, of course, it will mix

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

with anything, it has never yet
been made to combine with anything,
but always keeps by itself, so to say,
even when it is in a crowd. That is
why it is called lazy.

Though about four-fifths of the
entire air is made of nitrogen, yet this
element, as it exists in the air, is also
not very important in itself, for it
does practically nothing. Very differ-
ent is the nitrogen that exists in the
earth, where it is also found, for in
the earth it helps to build up the bodies
of animals and plants, and without
it there could be no life.

But practically all that the nitrogen
in the air does is merely to dilute or
weaken the oxygen, just as you dilute
strong medicine by adding a lot of
water to it. If all the air, instead of
only one-fifth part of it, were made of
oxygen, we should scarcely know our-
selves.
We could not live without oxygen,

NOR COULD we LIVE WITH TOO MUCH

Oxygen as we have learned is the
element which all animals and plants
breathe in order to keep alive. With-
out oxygen they would all die at once.
And this is true even of the fishes of the
sea, which breathe oxj^gen from the
air that has dissolved in the water.
This is quite different, as we shall see,
from the oxygen that goes to maJie
the water, which the fishes cannot use.
If all the air were made of oxygen we
should get too much of it into our
blood, and we should be probably very
excited, and never rest, and live too
fast. We should do what a fire does
if you blow pure oxygen into it. It
burns up vigorously. It is quite easy
to sift the oxygen out of the air, and
collect it, and when men want an in-
tensely hot flame they make something
burn with this pure oxygen instead of
with ordinary air. Also, sometimes
when people are ill, and cannot get
enough oxygen from the ordinary air,

they are given pure oxygen instead to
breathe for a time, and this often
helps them greatly.

Well, that is all we need read about
air at present. It is mainly a mixture
of two elements in the form of gases,
but it is an unequal mixture, about
four-fifths of it consisting of the ele-
ment nitrogen, and about one-fifth of
the element oxygen. There are also
tiny quantities of various other ele-
ments which go to make it up.

And now we come to the fourth of
the things which the Greeks thought
were elements, and that is ivater. This
is, of course, one of the most wonderful,
interesting, and important things in
the world, though it is so common.
It is to be found everywhere. There
is a vast quantity of it in the air in the
form of a gas or water- vapor; enormous
quantities of it occur in the form of ice
in the neighborhood of the two Poles
of the earth — the North Pole and the
South Pole. In its liquid form it
covers three-fifths of the entire surface
of the globe. Fully three-fourths of
the entire substance of our own bodies
consists of it, and this is practically
true of all living creatures.

There could be no life without water.
Most of the changes that occur on the
surface of the earth are due to the
action of water. There are very few
forms of matter, indeed, which will not
dissolve in water to some extent; and
this applies not only to solid things
like sugar, and to liquid things, but
also to gases.

Water is made up of simpler things
that are not water

One of the most important questions

about the planet Mars is as to the

presence of water there ; and one of the

most important facts about the moon

— a fact which explains why the moon

is lifeless, and why scarcely anything

ever happens on its surface — is that

there is no water on it.

7^ THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

For many ages men believed that agination, for, of course, they are far
water was an element. There was no too small for us to do it in reality —
reason to believe that water could ever and find out what it is made of. This
be split up into anything simpler, is, of course, really impossible so far
But we now know that water is not an as one molecule is concerned. How-
element, and few more important dis- ever it is possible for the chemist to
coveries have ever been made than this, take apart a large number of such

The truth is that water is made up of molecules at once and hence we are

simpler things which are not water, absolutely sure of what we should find

Now, the first thing that will occur to if we were able to take one molecule

you is perhaps that water, like the air, of water and pull it to pieces,

is a mixture. Obviously, it is not a Now, let us imagine that we have

mixture of gases, for a mere mixture this molecule before us. The first

of gases would itself be gaseous, as the thing we find is that it consists of three

air is; but perhaps it is a mixture of pieces. Every molecule of water,

liquid things, just as milk is. But this everywhere and always, whether in

is not so. Water is neither an element your body, or in the air, or in the sea,

nor a mixture, but is what is called a or in the form of ice, or in the air of the

compound, and as most of the things of planet Mars, consists of these three

which the earth is made are com- pieces joined together. Otherwise it

pounds, we must be sure we understand would not be water, and nothing else

what this means before we go any is water, however much it may look

further. like water. That is one of the things

The atoms which form molecules we are absolutely certain of.

If you take a heap of sand, you Further, because water is always
know that it is made up of tiny grains, made of molecules consisting of these
each of which is itself a grain of sand, three parts, all water everywhere, on
Now, in exactly the same way, if you the earth, or on Mars, or on a planet
take a tumbler of water, it is made up belonging to some other sun than ours
of tiny little parts or particles, each of a million million miles away, always
which is a particle of water; and the behaves in exactly the same way as
whole bulk of the water is made up of a all other samples of water. It has
number of these as the heap of sand is its laws, which depend upon its
made up of grains of sand. These par- nature; and as its nature is the same
tides of water are so small that, if you everywhere, so its laws are the same
could imagine a row of them, it would everywhere. We can watch the snow-
certainly need many millions of mil- caps of Mars melting under the influ-
lions of them to stretch out as far as ence of the sun's heat, just as snow
an inch. melts on the earth.

Now, there is a special name for Everywhere in the universe, water

these tiny parts or particles of any- under the same conditions will boil in

thing, and as this name is used all the same way, will melt in the same

over the world in describing them, we way, will freeze in the same way, will

must learn it. The word is molecule — dissolve the same amounts of the

pronounced molly-cule — and it is the same things, will form drops in the

Latin name for a little mass. Now if same way, will have exactly the same

we want to find out what water really properties of every kind; simply be-

is, the best way for us would be to cause whenever and wherever you find

take one of these molecules — in im- water it is one and the same thing.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

Now, what are the three parts of
which the molecule of water is always
made? This is, on the whole, the
most important molecule of any kind
that we know in the universe, and as
it is also one of the simplest, it is a
good one to begin with. The picture be-
low is an imaginary picture of the way
in which a molecule of water is made.
What a molecule of water would

LOOK like if you COULD SEE IT

We say an imaginary picture be-
cause, though we have drawn the three
parts as if they were round, we really
know nothing about that, since we
have never seen them. We do know
that they exist, and that by some

The tiniest part of water is made up of three parts like
the left picture, called a molecule; the large picture shows
how these together form a drop of water.

force or other they are held together.
We also know, by the way, that this
force is extremely strong, because it
takes great trouble and eflFort to break
up a molecule of water; that being the
reason why for so many ages men
thought that water was an element.

The diagram represents a single part,
or molecule, or unit of water. A lot of
water — like a tumbler of water or the
Atlantic Ocean — is made up of a num-
ber of these molecules taken together.
But a single molecule is the smallest
possible portion of water that can
exist. If you break it up so that its
three parts do not hang together, then
it is no longer water at all, but is
simply a mixture of the two kinds of
stuff which make up water. This we
must be quite clear about, for it is the

difference between a compound and a
mixture, and that is one of the most
important differences in the world.

How TO make one o catch hold OF

TWO H's

If you had in a jar — and this is
quite easy — a number of the kind of
things marked H in the picture, and
also a number of the kind of things
marked O, and even supposing that
you had twice as many of the H as of
the O, so that the proportion between
the two was the same as it is in water,
yet that jar would not contain water,
but only a mixture of the stuff called
H and the stuff called O. That mix-
ture would not be water, and would
not look like water ; and the astonishing
thing is that, even at the ordinary
temperature of the room, this mixture
would not be liquid at all, but just a
mixture of gases, and by looking at
it you could not possibly tell it from
that other mixture of gases which we
call air. In a little while we shall see
how it would be possible to do some-
thing with this mixture of H and O so
as to make every O catch hold of two
H's and form a molecule of water;
and then, instead of the mixture of
gases that we had before, we should
have a tiny drop of water, and this
water would actually be made out of
that mixture of gases.

Now, that is what water is — a com-
pound made out of the two gases
which up to now we have called by
the first letters of their names, H and
O.

Now, what do H and O stand for?
First of all let us take O, because we
have heard more about it already.
O stands simply for the gaseous ele-
ment oxygen, which we talked about
in connection with the air.

Each molecule of water has two
hydrogen atoms and one of oxygen

H stands for another gas, called
hydrogen, and hydrogen is really a

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

very good name for it, and tells us
what it is, for the word simply means
the thing that produces water, and H,
or hydrogen, is simply the gas with
which oxygen produces water. Only
it will not do for them to be merely
mixed, but they must be covihined, and
they must be combined in the special
way shown in the picture — two H's
for one O. There is another way in
which hydrogen and oxygen can
combine, in which there are two H's
for two O's, so that each molecule of
this other substance consist of four
parts instead of three. But this other
substance is not water; it is not even
a special kind of water, but is some-
thing quite different.

Now, there is another word which
we must learn here. The tiny specks
of H or of O which go together, two
of the first to one of the second, in
order to form a molecule of water are
called atoms, and so we can say now that
water is made of molecules, and each
molecule contains two atoms of hydrogen
and one of oxygen.

In the drawing the O has been made
large and the H quite small, for the
reason that each oxygen atom
really weighs as heavy as sixteen
hydrogen atoms. Therefore, though
there are two hydrogen atoms to one
oxygen atom in every molecule of
water, oxygen forms eight-ninths of
all water, which is made up of one part
of hydrogen and eight parts of oxygen.

So when we speak of an element like
oxygen or gold, we simply mean some-
thing consisting of a number of atoms
all of the same kind. When we speak
of a compound, such as water, we mean
something made of molecules which
themselves are made up of atoms of at
least two kinds ; and when we speak of
a mixture, we simply mean that two
or more kinds of atoms, such as oxygen
and nitrogen, have got mixed up
together.

Now, atoms are most important
things, for it is their properties that
give the elements their properties.
Gold is gold because it is made of
atoms of gold; and oxygen is oxygen
because it is made of atoms of oxygen.
And, just as we saw that all the mole-
cules of water are the same everywhere,
and that all water everywhere is made
of the same kind of molecules, so also
we must know that all the atoms of any
particular element are the same.
There are atoms of oxygen in this page
before you, and in your eye, and in the
sun, and in water, though in water

The pictures show how atoms mix. The dark balls are
lil\e atoms of an element, such as oxygen. The light balls
are like atoms of another element, such as hydrogen.
When the two mix, we get a mixture of elements, as in the
third picture. The air is such a mixture. Oxygen and
hydrogen make such a mixture, but that is not water.

they are combined with hydrogen.
But all atoms of oxygen everywhere are
all the same, and we can know them
because they are the same.

Finally, let us remember the way in
which water can be made. If we take
the right proportions of oxygen and
hydrogen — that is, eight times as much
oxygen as hydrogen, so as to give us
two hydrogen atoms for every one of
oxygen — and if we let them mix in a
jar, and if then we pass a spark of

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

electricity through them, the atoms of
the two gases will rush towards each
other, each atom of oxygen taking two
of hydrogen; and the two gases will
totally disappear, leaving in place of
them a tiny drop of water.

When these two gases are once united
to form water it is with great diffi-
culty that they are again separated.
It is interesting to note that the
same agency which caused two gases
to combine, in the above experiment,
may be utilized to separate water into
its constituent parts. If we send an
electric current through some water,
to which has been added a small
amount of acid, we shall find that gas
will bubble off from both the wires
that conduct the current into the
liquid. If wc examine these gases
carefully we shall find gas is being
produced twice as rapidly at one wire
than at the other and a simple test will
prove that this gas is hydrogen. The
gas being evolved at the other terminal
is found to be oxygen, and as these
gases are produced the quantity of
water diminishes. The electric cur-
rent has separated the water into its
elemental parts.

This however is not the only method
by which the decomposition of water
may be brought about. If water in
the form of steam is raised to a very
high temperature by bringing it in
contact with burning anthracite coal
it will also be broken up into hydrogen
and oxygen. This method is em-
ployed on a large scale commercially
in producing what is known as "water
gas."

If we want to express very shortly
the nature of water — that is to say,
the make-up of a molecule of water —
we can simply write down a big H for
hydrogen and put a little 2 beside it to
show that we want two hydrogen
atoms; and then we can take a big O
to stand for oxygen, and put a little 1

beside it to mean that we want one
oxygen atom; and then we can write
them together like this, H2 Oi. In
order to save trouble we usually omit
the 1, and so, when we want to write
water in this special way, we simply
say II2O, and that represents the mole-
cule of water, made up of two H, or
hydrogen, atoms, and one O, or
oxygen atom.

In fact scientists frequently use
such abbreviations or symbols for
elements and compounds. Some-
times more than the initial letter is
used as the symbol of an element, and
often this abbreviation is taken from
the Latin word for the element. For
example, Fe stands for ferrum, the
Latin word for iron; Ag for argentum,
meaning silver; and Au for aurum, the
Latin equivalent for gold.

Reference was made in a previous
paragraph to the force which holds
the atoms together to form the mole-
cules of water. This force is spoken
of as chemical affinity and is one of the
most remarkable forces in the world.
Just what the nature of this force is no
one at present knows, but we do know
that this force acts much more strongly
between certain atoms than between
others. As we have already learned,
the chemical affinity between the
atoms of oxygen and hydrogen in
water is very great but in a substance
such as iron rust, which is a compound
of the elements iron and oxygen, the
affinity between the iron and oxy-
gen is not nearly so strong as between
hydrogen and oxygen in water.

Not only is there a difference be-
tween elements with respect to the
strength of their chemical attraction,
but they also differ in the manner in
which they unite with other elements.
For instance in the case of water the
element oxygen unites with two atoms
of hydrogen while in the case of a
certain compound of zinc used in

78 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

making paint the molecules are made Latin in order to express this way of

up of one atom of oxygen and o?ie measuring things. We take the Latin

atom of zinc. It would take us too word for a hundred, which is csnfum;

far to inquire into this point further and another Latin word per meaning

at the present time but it is mentioned "for" or "by"; and so we get the

here to show that the uniting of phrase per centum, usually written

elements to form compounds is a per cent for short. Hence we say in

wonderful process — a process however the case of apples, for instance, that

which follows certain definite and they are 18 per cent solid matter and

fixed laws. It has already been 82 per cent water. The long black

pointed out that a water molecule is line in the scale in the picture tells the

always composed of the same elements eye just what these words tell the mind,

in the same proportions, and the same Picture 2 shows that strawberries

thing might be said concerning the have only 10 per cent of solid matter,

compound of zinc just referred to, and and 90 per cent of water. Picture 3

about any compound in the world. shows that the cucumber has only 5

Before leaving the subject of water per cent solid matter, and 95 per cent

it is well for us to realize the extent of water, and so on through the list,

to which this compound enters into the xA.nd what is true of the substances

composition of the countless different shown in the illustrations is also true

substances in the world. Although of many others. Hence we are led to

water is not an element yet it acts in realize how widely water is distributed

the world, for all practical purposes, as throughout nature and how important

if it were an element. The water a part this compound plays in the life

existing in nature — in the earth, in the of the world.

bodies of living creatures, in the sea, And now we come to consider the
and in the air — goes on existing as fourth thing which the Greeks thought
water from year to year just as if it was an element — namely, fire. It is
were an element and not the compound not at all surprising that the ancient
that it is. This is one of the singular peoples made the mistake of thinking
and very important facts about this fire to be something separate and dis-
common but necessary compound. tinct from ordinary matter. As we

The accompanying picture has been watch the flames play about a burning
prepared to show the extent to which object and acting much as if they
water enters into the composition of were alive it is not difficult to under-
various substances. Each of the small stand how Plato, one of the most
pictures has at its side a pillar, which learned men the world has ever known,
we may call a scale or measure, concluded that all combustible sub-
marked off into a hundred parts Vjy stances must contain a certain element
little lines, and the thick black line which enabled them to burn. Later
in the middle shows how many hun- in the world's history this supposed
dredths of the thing in the picture are element came to be known as phlogis-
made of water. ton, from a Greek word meaning, "I

In the picture, we are shown that set on fire." According to this theory

eighty-two parts out of a hundred of combustion consisted in the escape of

apples consists of water. The remain- phlogiston from the burning substance,

ing eighteen parts of a hundred consist In short, fire was escaping phlogiston,

of various other things which are not About the time of our Revolutionary

water. We borrow words from the War a French scientist by the name of

THE WATER THAT IS EVERYWHERE

S2 parts out of 100 of apples are
made of water.

90 parts out of 100 of strawberries
are made of water.

95 parts out of 100 of a cucumber
are made ol water.

87 parts out of 100 of milk are
made of water.

12 parts oui of 100 of Sour are
made of water

This loaf contains more water than
the flour beside it.

About two-thirds of an egg is made
of water.

About four-fifths of a fish is made
of water.

Three-quarters of a potato is made
of water.

These pictures show us how water comes into everything. It is wonderful to think that a cucumber can hold together
as a solid thing, although 95 parts of it are water and only 5 are solid matter. Each of these pictures has a little measure
beside it, marked off into 100 parts by little lines, and the thick black line shows how many of these parts are made of
water. The black line up the center of the scale stands for the water, the white line stands for the solid matter in all these
things.

7»

80 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Lavoisier performed a number of ex- set free and escaping as a gas. This
penments which revealed the true is a somewhat more complex reaction
nature of the process of combustion than the oxidation of the copper,
and gave us a correct understanding When the chemical reaction just
of what fire really is. We now know described takes place a definite though
that fire is nothing more nor less than small amount of heat is produced as a
incandescent matter— usually the result of the reaction. Now many
element carbon. The process known chemical reactions result in a large
as burning or combustion is what the amount of heat. Carbon, and a num-
chemist is in the habit of calling a ber of other elements, have a very
reaction. By reaction he means the strong affinity for oxygen. When the
breaking up of a compound into its union of these two elements takes
elements, or the uniting of elements place very rapidly a large amount of
to form a compound, the latter form of heat is produced. Indeed so great
reaction being illustrated by the forma- is the heat that the particles of carbon
tion of water by passing an electric are actually heated to incandescence,
spark through a mixture of hydrogen In other words, combustion or hurnirig
and oxygen. is a rapid chemical reaction between
If we lay aside a bright piece of carbon, or some other element, and
copper for a considerable length of oxygen. Their action gives rise to in-
time we know that the metal will be- tenseheat which causes the combustible
come tarnished. W^hat has happened? material to glow as do the coals in the
A slow chemical reaction has taken grate or the gaseous elements in a
place. Oxygen from the air has candle flame. The burning of a build-
gradually united with the metallic ing is a chemical reaction on a grand
copper on the surface to form a com- scale.

pound known as copper oxid. Com- The question might naturally arise,
mon muriatic acid is a gaseous com- what happens when we "light" the
pound dissolved in water. It is com- fire and why is it necessary?
posed of hydrogen and an element By applying fire to a combustible
known as cldorine, and its symbol is material we raise the temperature of the
HCl — one atom of hydrogen and one substance to the point where the reac-
of chlorine compose a molecule. Now, tion will begin, and after the union of
if we pour some of this acid onto a the elements once starts the heat gener-
piece of metallic zinc we say the acid ated by the reaction itself is sufficient
"dissolves" some of the zinc. What to continue the process. The tempera-
we really mean is that the zinc and the ture to which we must heat a substance
acid have reacted chemically to form before it will begin to burn is known
a new compound, and this new as the kindling point. We can thus
substance is known as zinc chlorid see that combustion will not take place
(Zn CI2). Zinc has a much stronger where there is no oxygen, and that if
affinity for chlorine than does hydro- this chemical process were to begin
gen, and so the molecules of the acid at ordinary temperatures all the corn-
are broken up and new molecules are bustible material in the world would
formed, the hydrogen atoms being burn up at once.

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS

A tabulated statement of the occurrence, preparation, properties and uses of
all important elements.

Abbreviations: — At. wt., atomic weighl; M. wt., molecular weight; Va., valence; S. G., specific gravity; M. P.,
melting point; B. P., boiling point. All temperatures are centigrade.

Definitions of Chemical Element, Atomic Weight, Symbol, Formula, and Electrolysis will be found at the end
of the Table.

Note: — The M. wt. of gases divided by 28.95 gives the density compared with air.

Aluminum, Al,

At. wt. 27.1.

Va. III.

S. G. 2.6 M. P. 658°

Antimony, Sb.

At. wt. 120.02.
Va. Ill and V.
S. G. 6.7.
M. P. 630°.

Argon, A.

At. wt. 39.86.
M. wt. 39.86.
B. P. 186°.

Arsenic, As.

At. wt. 75.
Va. Ill and V.

S. G. 5.7.

Barium, Ba.

At. wt. 137.37
Va. II.
S. G. 3.6.

Bismuth, Bi.

At. wt. 208.
Va. III.
S. G. 9.9.
M. P. 266.5".
Boron, B.
At. wt. 11.
Va. III.
S. G. 2.4.

Occurrence. Very abundant in clays, feldspars and many
other silicate rocks; also as the oxide in emery, ruby, sap-
phire, etc.

Preparation. Electrolysis of the purified oxide dissolved in
molten cryolite.

Properties. Silver white, ductile, malleable at 120°, high
tensile strength, the best conductor in proportion to weight.
Stable at ordinary temperatures, attact only by the strong
acids, except nitric acid, and by caustic alkali. Has a
powerful afhnity for oxygen at high temperatures, there-
fore it is a most powerful reducer of other oxides, generating
high temperatures in the action, which are exceeded only by
the electric arc. Also used for cooking utensils, electrical
conductors, and paint. Clays and alum are very important
compounds.

Occurrence. Mostly as stibnite (Sb2S3).

Preparation. Roasting stibnite to oxide and reducing with
carbon.

Properties. White metal, brittle, strongly crystalline. Molt-
en metal expands on solidification, and its alloys give, there-
fore, sharply defined castings, e. g., type metal. Stable
in air, burns when heated, and unites readily with the halo-
gens. It is used mostly in alloys, e. g., type metal, Britannia
metal and Babbitt metal (for bearings).

Occurrence. About 1% of the air.

Preparation. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and
nitrogen are successively removed from air by absorption.
The residue is mostly Argon.

Properties. Monatomic gas, absolutely inert, enters into no
chemical combinations. Identified by its characteristic
spectrum.

Occurrence. Free, arseno pyrite (FeAsS), and the sulphides
orpiment and realgar.

Preparation. Roast ores, and reduce oxide with carbon.

Properties. Steel gray, tarnishes to dull gray, coarsely
crystalline. Sublimes at 450°. Burns with pale blue flame,
combines readily with the halogens. The most important
compounds are white arsenic (AS2O3) and its derivatives,
and the salts of arsenic acid (II3ASO4). Used mostly for
insecticides, also in medicine.

Occurrence. Barytes (BaS04) and witherlte (BaCOa).

Preparation. Electrolysis of the molten chloride.

Properties. A silver-white metal, decomposes water, very
active. Its vapors give a green flame. Hence it is used in
pyrotechny. Important compounds are BaOl, used in
manufacturing oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, and BaSO*,
used in paints as an inferior substitute for white lead. BaSO*
is highly insoluble.

Occurrence. Free, and as trioxide, and trisulphide.

Preparation. Roasted in air and reduced with carbon.

Properties. Bright crystalline metal with pinkish tint;
brittle. Stable in air, burns when heated. Used in alloys
with low melting points. The subnitrate is used in medicine.

Occurrence. In boric acid and borax.

Preparation. The o.xide is heated with magnesium.

Properties. A greenish black powder. Boric acid (H3BO3)
and borax (Na2B407) are important compounds.

THE HUMAN INTJEREST LIBRARY

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS — Continued

Bromine, Br.

At. wt. 79.92.
M. wt. 160.
Va. L
S. G. 3.2.
B. P. 59°.

Cadmium, Cd.

At. wt. 112.4.

Va. II.

S. G. 8.6.

M. P. 321.7°.
Caesium, Cs.

At. wt. 132.81.

Va. 1. S. G. 2.4.
Calcium. Ca.

At. wt. 40.09.

Va. II.

S. G. 1.54.

M. P. 760.

Carbon, C.

At. wt. 12.

Va. IV.

S. G. 1.9—3.5.

Cerium, Ce.

At. wt. 140.25.
Va. Ill and IV.
S. G. 7.0.
Chlorine, CI.
At. wt. 36.46.
M. wt. 71.
Va. I, V and VII.
B. P.— 33 6°.

Chromium, Cr.

At. wt. 52.

Va. II, III and VI.

S. G. 6.9.

M. P. 1515°.

Cobalt, Co.

At. wt. 58.97.

Va. II and III.

S. G. 8.5.

M. P. 1500°.
Columbium, Cb.

At. wt. 93.5.

S. G. 12.7

M. P. 1950°.
Copper, Cu.

At. wt. 63.57.

Va. I and II.

?. G. 8.9.

M. P. 1064°.

Occurrence. In sea water and salt deposits, as bromides.

Preparation. Bromides are treated with sulphuric acid and
manganese dioxide, and the Br. distilled off.

Properties. Dark red liquid, bad odor, very corrosive and
poisonous. Combines with most elements but with less
energy than chlorine. LTsed in preparation of dyes. Bro-
mides are used in medicine and photography.

Occurrence. In Zinc ores.

Properties. A silver-white metal, burns in air, and is faii'y
active. Uses, in alloys with low ]\I. P. The sulphide is a
yellow pigment. The iodide is used in medicine.

Rare element, strongly resembling potassium. The most
active of the metals.

Occurrence. As carbonate in limestone, marble, chalk, etc.
As sulphate in gypsum, as phosphate, fluoride, and in many
silicates.

Preparation. Electrolysis of the fused chloride.

Properties. A white crystalline metal. Decomposes water,
burns in air, and is very active. Uses: Yields many useful
compounds, e. g., lime, which is the oxide; slaked lime, the
hydroxide; bleaching powder and calcium carbide.

Occurrence. In two crystalline forms, diamond and graphite,
and in several amorphous forms: charcoal, coke, lamp
black, gas carbon, and coal. Each has its peculiar impor-
tant uses.

Properties. Very stable at ordinary temperatures, very
active toward oxygen at high temperatures. It forms carbon
dioxide, the basis of carbonic acid, and the poisonous monox-
ide. The compounds of carbon form the field of organic
chemistry.

Occurrence. In cerite and monazite.

Preparation. Electrolysis of the molten chloride. Burns
with dazzling brightness. One per cent of the dioxide is
used in Welshach mantles.

Occurrence. In salt (XaCl) and other chlorides.

Preparation. Electrolysis of chlorides, or oxidation of hy-
drochloric acid.

Properties. A greenish-yellow gas of intensely bad odor,
very corrosive to mucous membranes, combines with most
elements with great energy. Used for bleaching and dis-
infecting.

Occurrence. As chromite (FeCr204).

Preparation. By reducing the oxide with aluminum.

Properties. A steel gray, brittle and very hard metal.
Stable in air, burns at high temperatures. Used in alloys
and in chrome steel. Potassium dichromate, KoCr-iO?, has
many uses, in making pigments, in tanning and dyeing, and
as an oxidizing agent.

Occurrence. As smaltite, CoAsj, and cobaltite, CoAsS.

Preparation. Reducing the oxide with hydrogen.

Properties. A white, magnetic, malleable metal. Its salts
are pink. Used in Cobalt glass, which, when ground, gives
the blue pigment, smalt.

A rare element. The metal is not affected by acids. It h
weakly acidic and also weakly basic.

Occurrence. In oxide, carbonate and sulphide ores.

Preparation. The oxide is reduced with carbon. It is re-
fined by electrolysis.

Properties. A red, lustrous, very ductile and malleable
metal. The best electrical conductor next to silver. Dis-

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

III

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS— Continued

Dysprosium.
Erbium.
Europium.
Fluorine, F.

At. wt. 19.
M. wt. 38.
Va. I.

Gadolinium, Gd.
Gallium, Ga.

At. wt. 69.9.
Germanium, Ge.

At. wt. 72.5.
Glucinum (or Beryllium).

Gl. At. wt. 9.1."^

Va. II.

S. G. 1.8.
Gold, Au.

At. wt. 197.2.

Va. I and III.

S. G. 19.32.

M. P. 1062.4°.

Helium, He.

At. wt. 3.99.
M. wt. 3.99.
B. P. 268.7°.

Hydrogen, H.

At. wt. 1.008.
M. wt. 2.016.
Va. I.
B. P.— 252.5°.

Indium, In.

At. wt. 114.8.
Iodine, I.

At. wt. 126.92.
Va. I, V and VII.
S. G. 4.95.
M. P. 114°.

Iridium, Jr.

At. wt. 193.1.
S. G. 22.42.
M. P. 1950°.

solves readily in nitric acid, and in other acid when aided by
oxygen. It is used for electrical conductors, for electro-
plating, as sheet copper, and in many alloys. The com-
pounds are poisonous and are used in germicides, and in-
secticides. Blue vitriol is CUSO45H2O.

Are rare earth elements, separated from other elements with
great difficulty.

Occurrence. Mostly in cryolite, NasAlFe, and fiuorite,
CaF,.

Preparation. Electrolysis of hydrogen fluoride in a special
cell.

Properties. A pale yellowish-green gas. The most violently
active non-metallic element. Decomposes water, liberating
oxygen as ozone. Hydrogen fluoride is used for etching glass
and in the decomposition of silicates.

A rare earth element, difficult to separate.

A rare element found in some zinc blende. Like aluminum
the oxide is both acidic and basic.

A rare element, having the properties intermediate between
silicon and tin.

Occurrence. In beryl.

Preparation. Electrolysis of the fused double fluoride.

Properties. A very light metal with the excellent qualities of
aluminum to even a greater degree. But it is rare.

Occurrence. Chiefly free, but also as telluride.

Preparation. Gold bearing sands are washed, and the gold
collected in mercury from which it is separated by distilla-
tion. When gold occurs in a very fine state it is dissolved
from the powdered ore by cyanide.

Properties. A very soft, brilliant, yellow metal, an excellent
conductor, and the most ductile and malleable of all metals.
It is very stable and insoluble in all acids, except aqua regia.
It is both acidic and basic. Gold is alloyed with copper or
silver to increase its hardness. The fineness of gold is ex-
pressed in carats, 24 carat gold is the pure metal.

Occurrence. In air about one part per million by volume.
In large quantities in the atmosphere of the sun.

Preparation. Fractional distillation of liquid argon. The
lightest substance next to hydrogen. Combines with no
other elements, and has the lowest B. P. of any substance.

Occurrence. 11.19% of all water, also in petroleum, natural
gas, and all living organisms.

Preparation. By electrolysis of water, and by the action
of zinc and other metals upon several strong acids.

Properties. The lightest known substance. It is readily ab-
sorbed by a number of metals, especially by palladium.
Combines powerfully with oxygen, fluorine and chlorine. In
water, acids, living organisms and organic compounds it
plays a most important role. It is used for filling balloons
and in the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe.

A rare element, occurring in zinc blende. Its vapor colors a
flame blue.

Occurrence. In certain sea weeds, and in Chili saltpeter.

Preparation. Treating iodides with chlorine.

Properties. Dark gray crystals with metallic luster. Its
vapor is violet. Slightly soluble in water, but readily in
alcohol, ether, carbon disulphide, chloroform and solutions
of potassium iodide. Combines with many elements, but
with less energy than clilorine and bromine. It colors starch
blue. Used in medicine and in many organic syntheses.

Occurrence. With platinum.

Properties. A white and very hard metal. Not attacked by
aqua regia or any acid. Used for hardening platinum.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS — Continued

Iron, Fe.

At. wt. 55.85.
Va. II and III.

S. G. 7.86.
M. P. 1804°.

Krypton, Kr.

At. wt. 82.9.
Lanthanum, La.

At. wt. 139.0.

Va. III.
Lead, Pb.

At. wt. 207.1.

Va. II and 1\.

S. G. 11.4.

M. P. 326°.

Lithium, Li.

At. wt. 6.94.

Va. I.

S. G. 0.53.

Magnesium, Mg.

At. wt. 24.32.
Va. II.
S. G. 1.75.
M. P. 633°.

Manganese, Mn.

At. wt. 54.93.
Va. II, III, IV, VI
and VII.

S. G. 8.0.

Mercury, Hg.

At. wt. 200.
Va. I and II.
S. G. 13.6.

Occurrence. As the ores, magnetite, hematite, limonite,
and siderite; also in pyrites and widely distributed through
rocks and soils.

Preparation. In the blast furnace where the ores are re-
duced by carbon monoxide, and other matter is run into
slag. The result is pig iron from which the different kinds
of iron and steel are prepared. The essential difference in
these is due to the varying proportions of carbon contained,
and the influence of small amounts of other metals alloyed
with steel. Mn., Ni., Cr., Mo., W., V., Ti., Si. and Cu., are
all used to impart special properties to steel. The carbon
content varies from 2% to 5% in cast iron; .2% to 1.5% in
steel; and less than .2% in wrought iron.

Properties. A white, malleable, ductile and magnetic metal.
It rusts in moist air, and dissolves readily in dilute acids.
It is by far the most important metal in the extent and the
varied applications of its usefulness. Some of its compounds
are used in medicine, and green vitriol (FeS047H20) is used
as a disinfectant, in dyeing and in the making of ink.

Occurrence. In minute quantity in air.

Properties. Like argon, forms no chemical combinations.

Occurrence. In the rare mineral lanthanite.

Properties. An iron gray metal, malleable and ductile. It
is unstable, and reacts with water.

Occurrence. Principally as galena (PbS).

Preparation. Partial roasting of the ore, then continuing
the heating in a closed furnace. The crude metal is then
purified.

Properties. A soft, gray metal, malleable but of small
ductility. It is stable in air, is but little affected by acids,
excepting nitric acid. Heated in air it forms the oxide
litharge (PbO) which oxidizes to red lead (Pb304) on further
heating. It is used for water pipes, as sheet lead, lead foil,
in shot, storage batteries, and in a number of important
alloys. The basic carbonate, "white lead" is the most
important basis of paints.

Occurrence. In some rare minerals, and in some mineral
waters.

Preparation. By electrolysis of the fused chloride. A silver
white, soft metal, that tarnishes quickly in air, decomposes
water, and combines readily with nitrogen. The carbonate
is used in medicine. Lithium salts color flames carmine red.

Occurrence. Widely distributed in carbonates, as magnesite
and dolomite, as sulphate, chloride, and in many silicate
rocks.

Preparation. Electrolysis of fused carnallite.

Properties. A silver-white, tough metal, ductile when hot.
It tarnishes in air, decomposes boiling water, is very active
toward acids, and burns with an exceedingly dazzling bright
light. The sulphate, "epsom salts,"" and the oxide and
carbonate are used in medicine. Magnalium, the alloy
with aluminum is light and strong and has important uses.

Occurrence. Principally pyrolusite (MnOs), also as Mn203,
and Mn304, and as a minor constituent in many rocks.

Preparation. Reducing Mn304 with aluminum filings.

Properties. A hard steel-gray metal. It rusts in moist air,
and dissolves in dilute acids. Used in steel manufacture and
in alloys. Potassium permanganate, KMn04, is an im-
portant oxidizing agent and disinfectant.

Occurrence. Free and as cinnabar (HgS).

Preparation. By roasting cinnabar and distilling off the
mercury. A silver-white liquid metal. It is stable in air
and is dissolved by nitric acid, and aqua regia. Used in

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS — Continued

M. P.— 39.5°.
B. P. 356.95°.

Molybdenum, Mo.

At. wt. 96.

Va. IIL IV, V and VI.

S. G. 9.0. M. P. 2110°.
Neodymium, Nd.

At. wt. 144.3.
Neon, Ne.

At. wt. 20.2.
Nickel, Ni.

At. wt. 58.68.

Va. II and IIL

S. G. 8.9.

M. P. 1385°.

Nitrogen, N,
At. wt. 14.01.
M. wt. 28.
Va. Ill and IV.
B. P.— 194°.

Osmium, Os.

At. wt. 190.9.
S. G. 22.48.
M. P. 2400°.
Oxygen, O.
At. wt. 16.
M. wt. 32.
Va. II.
B. P.— 184°.

Palladium, Pd.

At. wt. 106.7.
S. G. 11.9.
M. P. 1535°.
Phosphorus, P.
At. wt. 31.04.
Va. Ill and V.

Platinum, Pt.

At. wt. 195.2.
Va. II and IV.
S. G. 21.48.
M. P. 1753°.

many scientific instruments and in the extraction of gold
from its ores. It forms alloys called amalgams with many
metals. Its salts are poisonous, some are used in medicine
and the bichloride as a powerful germicide.

Occurrence. As molybdenite (M0S2).

Preparation. By reducing the oxide with aluminum. A
white malleable metal, insoluble in dilute acids. It is used
in steels.

A. rare element occurring with other rare earth elements.

Occurrence. Along with argon, which it resembles in prop-
erties.

Occurrence. In combination with arsenic and sulphur.

Preparation. Reducing the oxalate in hydrogen.

Properties. A white, hard, lustrous metal, malleable, ductile
and tenacious. It is stable in air, but dissolves readily in
nitric acid. Its salts are green. It is used in plating and
in a number of important alloys.

Occurrence. Four-fifths of the atmosphere, also in ammonia,
nitrates, all living organisms, and in many organic com-
pounds.

Preparation. Removi^ng the other constituents of air, or by
heating ammonium nitrite.

Properties. A colorless, odorless gas, inactive, but though
it is brought into combination with difficulty, its compounds
are exceedingly numerous and important. The most com-
mon of the compounds are ammonia (NH3), and nitric
acid (HNO3).

Occurrence. Along with platinum.

Properties. The heaviest known metal. It has the highest
known valence of VIII, and its principle compound is the
tetroxide (OSO4).

Occurrence. Free in the air of which it forms one-fifth.
It constitutes eight-ninths of water, and nearly fifty per cent
of the earth.

Preparation. By heating potassium chlorate, or barium
dioxide.

Properties. A colorless gas, but it is blue in deep layers,
slightly heavier than air. It is soluble in water to the extent
of three volumes in 100 of water. It is exceedingly active,
and combines with nearly all elements. Its oxides form the
basis of most of inorganic chemistry. Its uses in respiration
and combustion are fundamental to life and civilization.

Occurrence. Along with platinum.

Properties. Resembles silver and platinum. Dissolves in
nitric acid. The metal may absorb up to 900 times its
volume of hydrogen.

Occurrence. As phosphates in apatite and other minerals,
in small quantities in all soils. It constitutes the chief mineral
matter of bones, and is a necessary constituent of the tissues.

Preparation. Reducing calcium phosphate with carbon and
sand in the electric furnace.

Properties. Phosphorus exists in two forms: the yellow form
which is waxy, dissolves in carbon disulphide, melts at 44°,
ignites at a very low temperature, and burns with great
energy. It is very poisonous. Red phosphorus is a crystal-
line powder, insoluble in carbon disulphide, acts with less
energy and is non-poisonous. Phosphorus is used for the heads
of matches, and the phosphates are important as fertilizers.

Occurrence. Free, alloyed with the other platinum metals.

Preparation. The separation of the metals is complex.

Properties. A silvery metal, tenacious, ductile and malleable.
Resists all acids, but dissolves slowly in aqua regia. Be-
cause of this resistance and its high melting point it is in-

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS — Continued

Potassium, K.

At. wt. 39.1.
Va. I.

. G. 86.
M. P. G2.5°.

Praseodymium,

At wt. 140.(3.
Radium, Ra.
At. wt. 2^6.4.
Va. IL

Pr.

Rhodium, Rh.

At. wt. 1(1-2. !>.
Rubidium, Rb.

At. wt. 85.45.

Va. I.

S. G. 1.52.
Ruthenium, Ru.

At. wt. 101.7.

Samarium, Sa.

At. wt. 150.4.
Scandium, Sc.

At. wt. 44.1.
Selenium, Se.

At. wt. 79.2.

Va. IL IV and VI.

Silicon, Si.

At. wt. 28.3.

Va. IV.

M. P. 1200°.

Silver, Ag.

At. wt. 107.88.
Va. I.

S. G. 10.53.
M. P. 960°.

valuable for chemical vessels. It also is the only metal
that can be successfully fused into glass, hence its use in
electric lamps.

Occurrence. As chloride, sulphate, nitrate, feldspar, and
many other silicates. It is a necessary constituent of soils,
and of plants and animals.

Preparation. Electrolysis of fused potassium hydroxide.

Properties. A very soft, silver-white metal. It tarnishes
instantly in moist air, and is one of the most active of the
metals. Caustic potash (KOH) is the strongest base of
available metals, and forms salts with all acids. These
salts have various applications.

One of the rare earth elements, occurring with cerium and
lanthanum.

Occurrence. In minute quantities along with uranium.

Preparation. The residues from uranium ores, after extract-
ing the uranium, are treated so as to separate the radium and
barium as bromides. These are then separated by fractional
cry.stalHzation.

Properties. Radium in any form emits three kinds of rays,
different from light. These pass through objects opaque
to light, and affect photographic plates and phosphorescent
screens. It has been used successfully in the treatment of
cancer.

Occurrence. In platinum ores, and is of the general character
of the i)latinum metals.

Occurrence. In minute amounts along with potassium salts,
and it strongly resembles potassium in all its properties.

Occurrence. In ores of platinum. Of the general character
of the platinum metals, resembling especially osmium, and
like it forms several oxides.

A rare metal, resembling in general the rare earth elements
in its properties.

A typical rare earth element.

Occurrence. With sulphur and sulphides.

Preparation. Reducing selenious acid with sulphur dioxide.

Properties. The element occurs in three forms: the red
amorphous, the red crystalline, and the blue-gray metallic.
The latter conducts electricity, and its conductivity is greatly
increased by light. Therefore, it is used in cells for measuring
light. Its chemical compounds resemble those of sulphur.

Occurrence. Silicon dioxide (SiOo) occurs in sand and dif-
ferent forms of quartz. Most of the earths crust is composed
of silicates.

Preparation. Reducing sand by heating with magnesium
powder. Amorphous silicon is a brown powder, that burns
in air. Crystalline silicon forms black needles and is less
active. Silicon is used in steel making. Some quartz and
silicates are used as gems. Quartz sand is used in manu-
facturing glass. Silicon carbide (SiC) "Carborundum" is
nearly as hard as the diamond and is used as an abrasive.

Occurrence. Native and as sulphide, usually accompanying
galena.

Preparation. Separated from lead by the Pattison or the
Parkes process. Separated from gold by nitric acid.

Properties. A white, lustrous, tough, very ductile and
malleable metal, the best conductor of heat and electricity.

It is not oxidized by air, but it is tarnished by hydrogen sul-
phide. It dissolves in dilute nitric and in boiling concen-
trated sulphuric acid. Uses, for coinage, and for many
useful articles and ornaments. Silver nitrate is used as

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

VII

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS — Continued

Sodium, Na.
At. wt. 23.0.
Va. I.
S. G. 0.97.
M. P. 95.6°.

Strontium, Sr.

At. wt. 87.63,
Va. IL
S. G. 2.55.

Sulphur, S.

At. wt. 32.07.
Va. IL IV and
M. P. 114.5°.

VI.

Tantalum, Ta.

At. wt. 181.
S. G. 16.6.
M. P.— 2250°.
Tellurium, Te.
At. wt. 127.5°.
Va. II, IV and

VI.

Terbium, Tb.

At. wt. 159.2. Va.
Thallium, Tl.

At. wt. 204.

Va. I and II.
Thorium, Th.

At. wt. 232.

Va. IV.
Thulium, Tm.

At. wt. 168.5.
Tin, Sn.

At. wt. 119.

Va. II and IV.

S. G. 7.3.

M. P. 232°.

Titanium, Ti.

Ac. wt. 48.1.

Va. IL III and IV

M. P. 1850°.

Tungsten, W.

At. wt. 184.

III.

"lunar caustic" in cauterizing and to make the silver halides
used in photography. Potassium silver cyanide, KAgCCug),
is used in plating.

Occurrence. As salt (XaCl), nitrate, borate, carbonate, and
in many silicates.

Preparation. Electroylsis of the fused hydroxide or chlo-
ide.

Properties, A silver-white metal, soft as wax. It is very
active, readily decomposes water and resembles potassium
generally. Sodium hydroxide is a powerful base which
forms salts with all acids. Most of these salts have their
application.

Occurrence. As carbonate and sulphate.

Preparation. Electrolysis of the fused chloride.

Properties. A light, active metal resembling calcium. It
decomposes water vigorously. Its vapors color flames red,
and it is therefore used for red fire in pjTotechny.

Occurrence. Free and combined with metals as sulphides
and sulphates.

Preparation. Melting the native sulphur and draining it off
from the rocks and earth with which it is mixed. It is
then purified by distillation.

Properties. It exists in two crystalline and one amorphous
form. The rhombic form is the stable variety into which
the others change on standing below 96°C. This variety is a
brittle light yellow solid, soluble in carbon disulphid. It
burns in air to sulphur dioxide (SOo) and it combines with
most metals to form sulphides. Sulphur is used for vul-
canizing rubber, in gunpowder, fireworks and matches.
SO2 is used for bleaching, disinfecting and in the manufacture
of sulphuric acid. The latter is the most important of all
chemicals.

Occurrence. In rare minerals along with rare earth elements.

Preparation. Reduction of the fluoride by sodium.

Properties. A hard silver-white metal of great strength and
stability. Used for filaments in electric lamps.

Occurrence. Free and as tellurides.

Preparation. Reduction of tellurious acid by sulphur
dioxide.

Properties, Similar to those of sulphur and selenium, but
is less acidic.

Occurrence. In rare earth minerals, and it has the general
properties of these elements.

Occurrence, In flue dust of sulphuric acid works. A
bluish metal resembling lead, and has a rather high chemical
activity.

Occurrence. In monczite sand.

Preparation. By electrolysis. Welsbach mantles consist of
99^ thorium dioxide.

A rare earth element, associated with others of the group.

Occurrence. As cassiterite (Sn02).

Preparation. Roasting the ore then reducing this by ignition

with carbon.
Properties. A silver-white metal, rather soft, very malleable

ductile and stable in air. It is used for tin plating iron and

copper, and in a number of alloys.
Occurrence. As rutile (TiOo) and titanic iron ore.
Preparation. Reducing the chloride with sodium.
Properties. A hard, brittle metal that can be forged at a

low, red heat. It unites with oxygen and nitrogen when

heated. It is used in steel manufacture.
Occurrence. As wolframite (FeW04) and as scheelite

(CaW04).

VIII

THE HUMAN IXTEREST LIBRARY

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS — Continued

Va. II, IV, V and \ I.

S. G. 19.3.
M. P. -2800°.

Uranium, U.

At. v.t. 238.5.
Va. Ill, IV, V, and VI.
S. G. 18.7.
Vanadium, V.
At. wt. 51.06.
Va. IL III, IV and V.

Xenon, Xe.

At. wt. 130.2.
Ytterbium, Yb,

At. wt. 172.
Yttrium, Y.

At. wt. 89.
Zinc, Zn.

At. wt. 65.37.

Va. II.

S. G. 6.9.

M. P. 419°.

Zirconium, Zr.

At. wt. 90. G.
Va. IV.

Preparation. Reduction of the trioxide by carbon at high

temperatures.
Properties. A hard, gray metal, burns in air and combines

with chlorine at 250°. It is used in tungsten steel, and for

filaments in incandescent lamps.
Occurrence. As pitchblende (L'aOs).
Preparation. Reducing the oxide with aluminum.
Properties. A white radio active metal, tarnishes in air and

is fairly active.
Occurrence. Rather rare, in vandinlte, and accompanying

other metals.
Preparation. Reducing VCI2 in hydrogen.
Properties. A silver-white metal, stable in air, burns in

oxygen, and combines with nitrogen when heated. It is

used in special high grade steel.
The heaviest gas of the argon group, with the general group

propevties.
In rare earth minerals. A rare earth element.

A rare earth element, associated in rare minerals with other

related elements.
Occurrence. As zinc blende (ZnS) principally, but also as

carbonate, oxide and silicate.
Preparation. Roasting the ore and reducing this with

carbon. The zinc is distilled off.
Properties. A bluish-white metal, brittle but malleable at

120°. It is rather active. It is used as sheet zinc and for

galvanizing iron, in galvanic batteries, and in alloys. The

oxide (zinc white) is a valuable constituent of paint.
Occurrence. As zircon (ZrSi04).
Preparation. Reducing the oxide with carbon in the electric

furnace. A hard, gray metal, stable in air.

Definitions: A Chemical Element is a simple kind of matter, which cannot be resolved
into two or more other sul)stances by any chemical means. There are about eighty ele-
ments which combine to form the many thousands of substances found in the world.

The Atomic Weights are the unit weights of the elements which enter into chemical
combination. They are based upon the atomic nature of matter. The elements are con-
ceived to be made up of exceedingly minute particles or atoms, which for any given element
have a definite characteristic weight. The atomic weight of Oxygen is represented by the
number 16. and the relative weights of the atoms of other elements are expressed in com-
parison with this number.

The Symbol for an element stands for the name of the element and also represents
its atomic weight.

A Formula stands for a substance and represents by symbols the elements which
form it, and the proportions in which they are contained, e. g. CO2 represents carbon
dioxide, and shows that one atomic weight of carbon of 12 weight units is combined with
two atomic weights of oxygen or 2 x 16 weight units. In other words it shows that 44
grams of the gas contain 12 grams of carbon and 32 grams of oxygen.

Electrolysis is the process of decomposing substances by means of the electric current.
Many compound substances called electrolytes when dissolved in water or when in a molten
condition, will conduct the electric current. But unlike a wire which suffers no chemical
change from the passage of a current, electrolytes are decomposed by a current — the
metallic part collecting on the negative pole and the non metallic part at the positive pole
of the battery.

A GROUP OF PLANTS THAT CATCH INSECTS

1. Pitcher Plant

4. Huntsman's Horn

2. Sarracenia
5. Butterwort

3. Sundew

THE SPERM WHALE— THE TIGER OF THE DEEP

Possessed of amazing strength this monster of the seas sometimes turns upon the whalers. When this
occurs at night, and it soars into the air made luminous by phosphorescence, it is like the extension of some
gigantic flame cone from the deep.

Book of Nature

NATURE'S WONDERFUL FAMILY

WILD ANIMALS IN THEIR HOMES

BIRDS OF UNCOMMON BEAUTY

CHIEF OF THE HUNTING BIRDS

COMMON FARM AND ORCHARD BIRDS

WHAT HAPPENS IN A HIVE OF BEES

HOW INSECTS GUARD THEIR YOUNG

ANIMAL LIFE IN OCEAN DEPTHS

SOME INTELLIGENT PLANTS

MEMBERS OF THE NUMEROUS CAT FAMILY

The wild leopard climbs trees, which lions and tigers The lynx climbs trees and eats birds. It has wonderful

do not. The leopard crouches on a bough and lies in wait eyes, and whenever we speak of anybody who seems to see
to spring upon an animal passing underneath. everything we call him "lyn.\-eyed."

The snow leopard can live where it is very cold. It has
a coat of warm light-colored fur, so that it can steal unseen
over the snow and pounce upon its prey.

The puma, which people call the "American lion," klll3
cattle and horses, but never attacks a man unless the man
attacks him first.

The cheetah Is one ol the lew aiiiuials which, alter being
caught wild, can be made to serve man. and in India princes
keep many cheetahs, to hunt antelopes.

The jaguar Is a mure tcrribie-luuking beast than the
leopard, having much thicker legs and a heavier head.
Like the leopard, It has a spotted coat.

8?,

NATURE'S WONDERFUL FAMILY

Nature is the mother of us all. By Nature we really mean the whole of life —
everything that is not made by man. But many natural things, such as the sun
and moon and the earth itself, come into other parts of our book, and here we shall
read of the two most important things in Nature — Animal Life and Plant Life.
There were plants on the earth before the animals came, but it is better to begin
with animals, and our book of Nature tells us first the story of the animals, and then
the story of flowers and trees. We shall not tell our story with big words and strange
names; but we shall learn all that we need know now about animals and flowers.
Our story tells us of the wonderful things that live in the world with us, and the huge
monsters that once lived upon earth and have now passed away.

WHEN we have interfered with That is a little thing which wise men

the liberty of a busily-work- were a long time in learning. We

ing honeybee or bumblebee, ought always to remember it, because

and have found to our sorrow that it it shows how Nature has to plan so

can gallantly defend itself, we are that the world may go on in the best

quite inclined to wish that there were way for us. When we think of the

no such things as bees. But let us world, we think of a great place where

suppose that our wish could be sudden- men and women and children live,

ly granted. We know of course that we But the world was not made simply

should have to do without honey, but to be a home for men and women and

how many of us know that, stranger children. If there were no living

still, we should soon lose many of our creatures but ourselves, there would

beautiful flowers as well as many of be a great many empty places in the

our more necessary fruits and grains? world. There would be a great deal

The strangest part of this, too, is that of work left undone. There are places

with all the work that it does for man, in the world where we cannot live,

the bee is wholly unconscious that it But Nature does not like empty

is doing anything more than to supply spaces. She must have living crea-

its own needs. tures everywhere, in earth and sky

A great many of our commonest and sea.
blossoms contain a sweet juice, called Our eyes are not strong enough to
nectar, which the bees love and need see all the tiny things which live. If
for their honey. They fly into the our eyes were as strong as the strong-
blossoms to drink the juice, and in est magnifying glasses, we should see
doing so carry in with them from other that the air we breathe is full of very
plants a dust, called pollen, which the tiny creatures. We should see that
plants need in order to make their the soil in the garden swarms with
seed; if the flowers do not get this little insects. We should see that the
pollen they die. Among the plants to little drops of water which we drink
whose very existence the bee is neces- have in them more living creatures
sary are the white clover, the red than we can count. We know that
clover, several of the common violets, there is life in the air as there is life in
the roadside toadflax, and many an- the sea. We can see the jellyfish
other delightful blossom of our fields floating on the top of the waves. We
and lanes. If we are to do without know that there are big fish and little
the bees with their sharp stings we fish beneath the surface. We know
must make up our minds to do also that there are monsters in the sea like
without these plants that depend whales and sharks, we know that deep
upon them for their support. down in the sea, deeper than the deep-

8Jt THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

est mine in the world, there are area- all creatures lived in the seas and

tures such as nobody has ever seen. rivers. Some lived in shells. Others

So there is life everywhere. Be- were soft things like jelly, and had

sides men and women and children, no backbones. These had all the sea

Nature has many workmen, great and to themselves for a very long time,

small, to carry on the work of the But during this time they were grow-

world. Some are big, like elephants; ing into separate families, unlike those

some are so small that we cannot see which had gone before. Proper fish

them. Some fly in the air, some swim began to swim about, and there were

in the sea, some creep in the earth, great sea-scorpions, as big as a tall

Some live among us as our friends; man, and fishes with skins made like

some live wild in woods and moun- armor.

tains. The reptiles, the flying dragons.

The great animal world the birds, and man

There have not always been the After these there grew up great

same sort of animals on the earth as creatures which could live in the water

now. Once upon a time, when there or out of the water, as the hippopota-

were no men and women and children mus can today. Then came enormous

on the earth, the only living creatures reptiles. We have nothing living now

were strange and monstrous animals like the reptiles which, by slow de-

such as we see in our pictures. These grees, came into existence millions of

huge creatures, bigger than any ani- years ago. Some of them had bodies

mals now alive, were the masters of as large as elephants, with heads like

the earth before man came. Some lizards, and huge teeth. Some could

were so big that they could eat off fly, and some could swim as well as

the top branches of tall trees; some they could walk. From some of the

of the animals could fly and swim, flying monsters came the birds, and

The animals we know have come from still later came animals which, in-

these; through thousands and thou- stead of scales and bony spines and

sands of years the monsters were great plates of bone, had hair to cover

changing and passing away, until in them. Little by little the animals

their places we have the animals of changed, until they became the kind

our own time. Deep down in the of creatures that are now living; and

rocks we find remains of the mon- then, last of all, milleniums after the

sters still; sometimes when men dig lower animals, came man.

deep down they come upon the whole Nature has been packing her box for

body of an animal which must have millions of years

died and been covered up when the No man knows how much time

rocks were being formed. passed away while all this was happen-

The wonderful way in which liv- ing, but we know that at one time

ing things have changed certain kinds of creatures lived on the

It has taken thousands of years to earth or in the waters, and that after

make the birds and animals the beau- these came creatures of a different

tiful creatures that they now are. kind. There are no books to tell us

The story of the animals makes us these things, because there were no

wonder if Nature tried all sorts of men alive to write books, but we find

patterns before she made up her the bodies of these creatures deep

mind what sort of creatures should live down in the rocks today. When you

in the seas and on the land. Once unpack a box you begin at the top,

BOOK OF NATURE

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

HOW THE ANIMALS CAME INTO THE WORLD SOME OF THE GREAT MONSTERS OF THE PAST

These pictures show us some of the strange creatures
that have passed away, and help us to understand the story
oJ animal life from the first thing we know about it. Once
all creatures lived in the sea, and the first of all were only
soft things lilie jelly, with no bones.

>\Cirwr^ii

These creatures had the sea to themselves for a very
long time, and slowly they grew into separate families, un-
like those which had gone before. Proper fishes began to
swim about, and some of them lived in shells. Then on
the land great forests grew, and a new kind of animals came.

The first crocodile appeared now, but this age is impor-
tant because great trees grew, drinking in the sunshine
for thousands of years, and then fell, to be buried in the
earth, and to lie there millions of years until they turned
to coal. That is how coal began.

^'•^-— -" ^Sr -** '*t "^^ "'^^^''K^r^^

In the sea great fish lizards grew, four times as long as
a man, some with necks like snakes. There were great
sea-serpents, fish with skins almost like iron, and huge
animals that could live either on land or sea.

Some of these creatures could fly and swim, and some
could eat off tree-tops. The first birds came, and flying
dragons. It has taken millions of years for these strange
things to become the beautiful birds we know.

On the land the great monsters were grcjwing up, and
the mastodon, like a giant elephant with four tusks, fought
the savage tiger with teeth like swords. There were bata
in those days, and a strange little animal which we may,
perhaps, call the first horse, walked the earth.

The little sloths we see today have descended from
creatures like that clasping a tree on the right of this pic-
ture. The giant sloth lived when the hippopotamus and
elephant began, when there were horses with many toes
and animals like tortoises bigger than a man.

Slowly the world grew into the kind of place it is today,
and the animals became more like those we know. Bears
lived in the caves, and the woolly rhinoceros and the
savage hyena roamed the earth with the mammoth, like
a giant elephant with long hair.

MM #^l?^

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U!n^BHlBBHF^^if. 'b

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At last came man, the lord of all the animals. The first
men lived in trees and caves, with the wild animals about
them, and it has taken thousands of years for men to learn
how to build houses, tame animals, make fires and write
books to tell us what a wonderful place the world has been,
and how much more wonderful still it is to be.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

and you know that the things on the
top were put last into the box, that
those lower down were there before
the top ones, and that the things at
the bottom were put in first of all.
Well, nature has been packing away
things in her cellars for millions and
millions of years. Her box is the
solid rock. It was not always solid
rock. It was mud and water. The
water dried up, and as thousands of
years passed away the mud grew
harder and harder, so that it is now
rock, almost as hard as iron.

How do we find the old-time animals
in these rocks? They were born, and
lived, and died, and were covered over.
Floods carried them away to the seas
and lakes, where mud came swirling
down with the water from the rivers.
The bodies sank and were covered
with layer after layer of mud. As
time passed away, nature dried up
the seas and lakes, and, by pressure
from within the earth, forced up the bed
of the seas and lakes and rivers and
made it dry land. The fishes and
birds and other animals which had
died and been buried in the mud were
sealed up in this mass, and as the mud
hardened into rock these creatures
became part of the stone.

How WE FIND THE ANIMALS THAT LIVED
LONG AGO

When we dig deep down today we
find mammals, birds, fishes, and even
insects, many of them perfectly shaped,
in the rock, where they have lain for
millions of vears. The mud which
settled about them was so soft that
it did not crush them out of shape.
It preserved their shape, as it pre-
served the shape of the beautiful ferns
printed in the coal. Some of the big
things were just as carefully protected
by the mud, without being turned to
stone. Great animals like the mam-
moth, which was a sort of huge ele-
phant covered with long hair, died

thousands of years ago through sinking
into deep mud in Siberia, and became
frozen hard in that mud; and some of
these have been found with flesh, and
skin, and hair all preserved.

Of course, not all the creatures
which were once alive have been pre-
served in this way. Many were de-
stroyed in various ways after their
death, but there still remains enough
to show us what creatures of long ago
were like, and to tell from what
families those now on the earth first
came. It seems very hard to believe
that the birds, with their lovely
plumage and their sweet song, came
from ugly reptiles.

What the first of all birds looked

The oldest bird known is called the
archseopteryx. That is a Greek word,
which really means "ancient wing."
It was an extraordinary bird. It had
a long tail, not all feathers as a bird's
tail is now, but like a lizard's tail, long
and thick, with bones and flesh, and
with feathers growing from it. It had
two legs, with which it could walk or
perch in the trees, but it had two other
limbs like hands, which it probably
used to climb about the trees instead
of flying from bough to bough, as
birds now do. It had a curious eye
fitted with a sort of armor shield as
the reptiles have, and its beak was
armed with great strong teeth.

Of course, there is no such bird as
this now, and it is not surprising that
such a bird should pass away. Even
in these daj's two or three strange
birds have died out. The dodo was
quite common in the island of Maur-
itius 300 years ago, but there is not
one alive today in all the world. It
could not fly, because its wings were
so small, and the dodo family was soon
all killed. In New Zealand there used
to be vast numbers of birds called
moas, which were often 11 or 12 feet

BOOK OF NATURE

high. There still lives a bird called
the apteryx, or kiwi, which, like the
moa, the dodo, the ostrich and the
penguin, cannot fly; but, though it is
a fair-sized bird, it is tiny compared
with the moa. The great auk, which
used to come in thousands to the shores
of Great Britain, is another bird which
has died out within the last hundred
years. There is not one in the world
today, but there are a few of its egg
shells, and they are so rare that men
pay hundreds of dollars for them.

Men have killed many animals, but
in making the world what it now is
nature has killed far more. Whole
races of animals have been destroyed
by earthquakes and floods, by the
sinking of land into sea, and by snow
and frost and ice descending upon
lands where before all was sunshine
and rich vegetation. Then, again,
great families of animals have gradu-
ally died out, and given place to others
better able to fight the battle of life.

Think of the horse, that swift and
beautiful creature. Once upon a time,
long before man appeared on the earth,
the horse was a miserable little thing
with five toes on its front feet and
three behind, and only as big as a
fox. The horse has, through a long
number of years, become larger and
swifter and more beautiful, and its
soft, spreading toes have become hard
hoofs.

Think, again, of the humming bird,
that tiny beauty, not much bigger than
a good-sized bee, and remember that
it, like all other birds, has descended
from an herb-eating monster called the
iguanodon, which had a great head
like a lizard, a yard in length. It had
a great tail and enormous hind legs,
with shorter ones in front ; and when it
reared itself upon its hind legs the
height of its head from the ground
was 14 feet. In many ways it was
like a bird. Its front legs, it is sup-

posed, had first been used as paddles
to help it to swim. As time passed
these became changed into wings, with
which it learned to fly.

There were others rather like it
which ate flesh. One of these was a
fearful creature called the megalosau-
rus, which fed upon the flesh of the
great animals that lived on herbs.
Another was called the brontosaurus,
and a third was called the ceratosaurus.
These monsters had bodies as big as
the biggest elephants. Their legs were
shaped like those of the iguanodon,
except that the front legs were longer.
The length of these creatures was as
much as 60 feet ; and their backs, when
they were full grown, were quite 14
feet from the ground. All these
creatures belonged to a family called the
dinosaurs, which means terrible lizards.

The sea, as we have seen, had won-
derful creatures in those far-off days.
The waters teemed with what we now
call the great fish lizards. One of
these was the ichthyosaurus, which
was 30 to 40 feet long. It had a
wonderfully formed eye, which it could
adjust so as to see things quite near
or those far away. The remains of
this creature are common in England,
and scientists have been able to learn
that though its home was chiefly in the
water, it used to crawl to the land to
bask in the sun, as turtles and seals
still do. The ichthyosaurus has died
out, but the shark lives as a relic of
those bygone times. The whale is a
much younger creature.

The sloths, small animals today,
which cling to the branches of trees
and live upside down, are descended
from enormous creatures which, in-
stead of having to climb the trees to
eat the tender shoots, were powerful
enough to pull the tree down to their
mouths !

The bodies of these monsters were
as big as elephants, and their front

ANIMALS THAT LIVE ON ANTS

The pangolin which is found in Asia and Africa is covered from head to taii with rough, hard scales, each scale being
made up of tightly-woven hairs, all joined together. The pangolin lives in a burrow where it stays all day. It has a long,
sticky tongue and feeds entirely on ants.

The aardvarii is an African animal, and its curious name given by the Dutch means "earth-hog." It measures about
five feet in length, and sleeps by day in a burrow, coming out at night to feed among the ant hills. Its long ears and pig-
like head give it a strange appearance.

This ant eater is a big animal, four feet long, with an extraordinary tail about the same length. The body is covered
with long, coarse hair, and the claws on its forefeet are so long and sharp that the foot has to be turned over on its side
in walking. It has no teeth, but piciis up the ants by its sticky tongue.

BOOK OF NATURE

legs had enormous power. Similar to
the great sloth was an animal called
the mylodon, the remains of which
have been found in a huge cave in
Patagonia, along with the bones of
other wild animals. In this cave there
were also the bones of dogs and men,
with bones made sharp by man to use,
perhaps, as forks; and here also was
found a quantity of cut grass, which
makes us believe that once upon a
time savages kept the mylodon alive
in the cave and fed it with grass, just
as we feed cows and horses today.

Nearly all these extinct monsters
made their home at one time in Great
Britain. In those days there was no
sea between England and Europe.

These great animals, once upon a
time, had the world to themselves.
They were the masters of the earth.
They disappeared in the ways we have
seen, and in many other ways. Many
of them were destroyed by the Great
Ice Age, when the climate of a great
part of the world was suddenly
changed, and nearly all living creatures
perished from cold.

All these things about the early
world we learn from nature's own
storehouses, the rocks and bogs or
frozen wastes in which the strange
monsters of land and sea fell and died.
The great fish lizards are no more, the
monstrous flying reptiles have gone.
The gigantic birds are represented only
by the ostrich and the emu. But
there are still links with the puzzles of
those old days. There is still a mam-
mal — the bat — which flies; and there
is still a mammal — the duckbill, or
platypus — which lays eggs like a bird
and has a beak like a duck. This
duckbill lives in Australia, where that
strange animal, the kangaroo, looking
like some old-world freak, is also to be
found. The great sloth has come
down to very small size, though some

people believe that there are still
monstrous ones alive in Patagonia.
The bats, with their wings and claws
and mouse-like bodies, remind us of
the curious things of old time, and the
lizards and the armadillos tell us of a
time when their ancestors were among
the marvels of the world.

What is the use of all these animals.!*
That is what we often ask ourselves.
All things really have their uses. The
humblest animals are able to teach
human beings many lessons. A great
man named Brunei wanted to make a
tunnel under the Thames. It was
quite a new thing which he had to do.
And how do you think he got the idea
for the work.? He watched a little
worm burrowing its way into wood,
building round itself a case of slime
which became hard and firm, and
making a tunnel that could not fall
in. And Brunei made his tunnel
under the river just as the worm made
its tunnel through the hard woodwork.
There is nothing more ugly at the
Zoo than the alligators and crocodiles.
They are cruel creatures, and have to
be killed when we catch them, because,
when they can, they eat men. Yet we
cannot afford to lose therafor they eat
animals which would otherwise destroy
the crops, and they help to dispose of
the bodies of drowned animals that, if
allowed to decay there, would poison
the rivers and streams. The great
hippopotamus, also, eats the things
which grow in the rivers. If he did
not the rivers would become choked
with weeds, and boats would be unable
to pass up and down.

So there is work for all. Man has
his work; so has the elephant in the
forest, the hippopotamus in the river,
and the tiniest insect that hums in the
air. Each does the work for which it
is created and all help to keep the
world healthy.

WILD ANIMALS IN THEIR HOMES

This story tells us of the life of the wild animals, and what happens in those parts
of the world where the lion and the tiger still roam about and animals are the enemies
of man. There are few dangerous wild animals left in America now, but there are
still parts of the world where the lion is king and where its roar is terrible in the
forest. Slowly, however, man has conquered the animal kingdom, and the great
fight between animals and men ends always, and must end always, with the triumph
of man. But we learn here that these animals are not useless in the world, for nothing
ever created is quite useless, and the world could not spare even its wild animals.

THE best idea of peace in the
world is that which we fancy
we see when reading of the
days to come when the lion shall lie
down with the lamb, and a child shall
lead them. We know that if a lamb
lay down near a lion today, the lion
would quickly eat it. The lion seems
therefore, a cruel creature. But the
lion is doing only what it was intended
by nature to do. Suppose there had
been no lions, or tigers, or leopards, or
other flesh-eating beasts in wild coun-
tries. There would have been all
kinds of deer and cattle, sheep and
goats, hares and rabbits, and other
animals which live upon vegetable
matter, but there would have been
nothing to keep their numbers in
check. They would have multiplied
to such an extent that the countries
in which they lived could never have
become the homes of men.

Nature never meant that any class
of animals should become too numer-
ous, because that brings trouble all
around. It is said that the countries
lying near the Mediterranean Sea lost
their forests and vineyards through
goats being allowed to work havoc.
The goats, having no enemies to keep
down their numbers, ate up everything
they could. They gnawed the vines,
they nibbled off the young shoots of
trees; they ate the bark of the big
trees and so killed them. They de-
stroyed all the green growth upon the
mountain-sides, and left a wilderness
in place of smiling plenty. By so do-
ing they caused the climate to become

changed into one dry and unfavorable
to the growth of green things. Where
there are forests and green plains the
air is never so hot and dry as where
all is bare rock and sand. By destroy-
ing forests we ruin the climate.

Had the deer and cattle and sheep
and goats all been allowed to increase
as the goats in the INIediterranean
countries were, there would have been
far greater damage. The end of it
would have been that these animals
would have died of starvation, for they
would have changed the beautiful
places in which they lived into dreary
deserts, where nothing would have
been able to grow.

If the numbers of lions and tigers
and other savage creatures had been
allowed to increase without any check,
these would in turn have become a
deadly peril to us all. But man has
become master of the lions and tigers.
He is not so strong as these monsters,
but he is wiser and has made spears
and guns with which he can kill them.
Wherever tlie white man makes his
home, the lion and the tiger have to
leave. There is no need now for lions
and tigers to keep down the number of
other wild creatures that eat herbs,
for man can do that himself. He does
not want big animals which kill his
cattle as freely as they kill the
creatures of the forest.

When the lion creeps abroad in
the night

The story of the war between men
and the savage beasts is as old as the

The elephant and the tiger are both monarchs of the jungle, each in his own sphere, but when they meet there is a
aerce battle, and till the flght is over none can say who will be the victor. More often than not, however, the elephant
is conqueror, and the tiger is fortunate U he can steal away from his enemy into the depths of the forest.

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world; but victory always rests in the
end with man.

There are lions in other parts of
Asia as well as India, but Africa is
now the chief home of the lion. Where
white men have been living for a long
time it is not very often seen, but when
men are making their way into new
parts, there the lion is a terrible
enemy to them. The deer flee away
at the sight of man, and the lion, unless
he follows the deer, must have cattle,
or even men, or else he must starve.
So he attacks the horses, and mules,
and cattle which draw the white men's
wagons, and even kills and eats the
men themselves. The teeth of the
lion are of huge size, and its jaws are
as strong as a great steel trap. How
does it get the great power which en-
ables it to kill a horse or an ox at a
single blow?

The three strongest things in the
animal world

Let us fancy that we are looking at
those terrible front paws with which it
strikes the blow. The leg, or forearm,
as it is called, measures 19 inches
around, and is made up of the hardest
of hard bone, with muscle and tendons
as strong as the strongest wire. The
foot measures 8 inches across. ^Yhen
this foot strikes an animal the lion
shoots out its terrible claws, which are
hidden, when it walks, inside the joints
of the toes. These claws are like
great hooks made of yellow horn.
They tear the flesh off an animal as
we would strip the peel from an orange.
The force with which these claws are
driven in is almost more than we can
believe. We are told that the three
strongest things in the animal world
are these: first, the blow from the tail
of a whale, second, the kick of a giraffe,
and third the blow from a lion's paw.
The forearm of the lion is worked by
great muscles at the shoulder, and the
blow which it makes is really like the

blow from a steam hammer. No
wonder that it can kill a man or a big
animal with ease.

The lion and the tiger are the largest
of the cat family. They are really
great fierce cats. Your pet kitten is
simply a young lion or tiger on a tiny
scale. Notice the kitten's claws: they
are made in the same way as the lion's.
Notice how rough its tongue is upon
your hand. The lion's tongue is like
that, only much more rough. On it's
tongue little hard points, like frag-
ments of horn, stick up, so that with
these the lion can tear pieces of meat
from a bone just as if it were using a
file.

The LION'S ROAR IN THE FOREST AND
HOW HE GETS HIS SUPPER

Another thing in which the lion is
like the cat is that it cannot run fast
for a long distance. It can spring a
long way, and it can bound along at
a great rate for a short time; but, just
as a dog can race a cat, so a deer can
easily race a lion. So the lion has to
be very cunning to catch swift an-
imals for its supper.

When the lion goes out to a pool
to drink at night, he knows that other
animals will be coming to the same
spot. So he puts his great mouth to
the ground and roars. There is no
other sound in the animal world like
the roar of a lion. It is so loud, so
deep and so powerful, that it terrifies
all the animals which hear it. It seems
to send them wild with terror. The
lion knows this, and he keeps on roar-
ing. The result is that the animals
which hear it forget everything in their
terror; they rush madly to and fro,
and one of them generally dashes
straight into the mouth of the lion.
That is one of his ways of catching a
supper. There is another way.

Suppose that there are deer right
out on the plain. It is of no use for
the lion to go galloping out there, for

THE LORDS OF THE WILD KINGDOM

The lion is the king of beasts, the lord of the forest. A blow from a lion's paw is one of the strongest things in the
world, like a blow from a steam-hammer. When he goes to drink at the pool at night, he puts his great mouth to the
ground and roars, filling the other animals with terror, and sending them rushing madly to and fro in their contusion, often
within reach of the lion's paws. That is how the lion gets his supper.

The tiger, which belongs to the same family as the lion and the cat, has not the grand head and mane of the lion,
but it uses its strength jast as surely as the lion, and in countries like India hundreds of people and thousands of cattle
are killed by tigers every year. When they have once tasted human blood, tigers become very bold, and they will prowl
round houses at night and carry off anybody they can catch.

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the deer would see him and rush far
away. There may be scattered rocks
to enable him silently to creep from
one to another, and so get near, ready
to jump out. But suppose that there
are no rocks; then he cannot get near.
In that case two lions have to hunt
together. One lies down and hides.
The other lion goes quietly off in the
reeds and bushes at the edge of the
plain, until he can get round to the
back of where the deer are feeding;
then he dashes out with a roar. The
deer rush away in terror, with the lion
after them. Though he cannot keep
up with them, he can keep near enough
to drive them towards where the
other lion is hiding. In an instant,
when the deer draw near, this lion
bounds forth, strikes right and left
with his great paws, and at each stroke
he kills a deer, and so gains a supper
for himself and his friends.

The sword-toothed tiger that lived
in england

The tiger is more to be feared, per-
haps, than the lion. It does not live
in Africa, but is to be found nearly all
over Asia and especially in India. It
is cunning and cruel; it will kill animals
when it does not need food. It has
not the grand head and mane of the lion,
but it uses its strength just as surely.

Ages ago there were tigers more ter-
rible even than those living today. They
had two teeth which the tiger of today
has not. These two teeth were great
blades which grew down from the
upper jaw. They were like sword
blades, and the name given to that
tiger is the "saber-toothed" tiger. It
had legs bigger and stronger and claws
more powerful than the tigers of today.
With its great teeth and big mouth it
could break the backs of huge beasts
such as then lived.
How the tiger hunts his prev

Animals are often colored like the
scenes in which they live. The lion

loves the open ground, so its fur has
become a mixture between yellow and
gray, like the sand and rocks. The
tiger hunts in marshes or among long
reeds and grass, so its coat is a fawn
color with stripes of black, or a color
almost black. When it crouches down
among the reeds, or tall grass, it looks
like the ground, with shadows of the
reeds showing on it.

Although lions and tigers kill men
and cattle, they do not do this all their
lives. The lion likes deer and zebras
and giraffes. The tiger eats deer and

THE TIGER PEERS OUT OE THE JUNGLE

wild pigs and pea-fowl. When the
tigers get old, or after they have been
injured, it is less easy for them to
catch wild prey, so they creep nearer
to the homes of men, and take their
cattle. The tiger does this very often
in India. The poor natives who are
set to guard the cattle are terribly
frightened when they see a tiger,
which, sometimes twice in a week,
will carry off a cow. The man runs
away, and so shows the lion or tiger
that he is afraid. When it sees this,
the animal strikes the man down.

Leopards hide in trees and spring
UPON their victims

Leopards are more like tigers than

lions, for they have no manes, but they

THE HYENA, GRIZZLY AND POLAR BEARS

The hyena is a fierce, ugly creature, which hunts in This is a big grizzly bear, which climbs trees and will

packs at night and steals everything it can get. It is a catch and kill a horse or a man. These bears generally
cowardly animal, with great power in its teeth. live in a cave and sleep through the winter.

The Polar bear lives near the North Pole, at the very top of the world, where it Is all ice and snow. It lives chiefly
upon seals and walruses, but U It can it will kill and eat a man.

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are spotted, instead of striped, as the
tiger is. When wild, they are even
more to be dreaded than the lion or
the tiger, for they climb trees, which
lions and tigers do not. They crouch
down on a bough, and as a child or an
animal passes underneath they spring
down and kill it. The cruel leopard
seems to love to kill simply for the sake
of killing. The leopard is a most
cunning animal. Though it will not
attack a man who has a gun, it will
spring on a poor native who is un-
armed.

Some leopards can live where it is
very cold. These are called snow
leopards. They live high up in the
mountains, where snow nearly always
lies, and then their fur is long, to keep
them warm, and light colored, so that
they may steal unseen over the snow
upon their prey. When captured and
brought into a warmer climate, where
there is no longer any snow about, the
coat of the snow leopard often becomes
darker.

The jaguar is a more terrible-looking
beast than the leopard. It has much
thicker legs, its head is heavier, and
the spots upon its coat, instead of
being round rings, like those of the
leopard, are shaped like rosettes.
Like the leopard, it climbs trees, and
pounces down upon its victim. Its
home is in America, from Texas south
to Patagonia.

The puma, the enemy of the dog and
the kind man's friend

Another of the big cats like the
leopard is the puma, also called the
mountain lion, panther and cougar.
The puma can kill a horse or an ox,
but of all things it best loves the flesh
of the dog. It can be tamed, but you
must not let it see a dog, for that will
tempt it too much.

There is this to be said in favor of
the puma: although he will fight the
jaguar and the bear, and will kill

cattle and horses, he never attacks a
man unless he is himself first attacked.
People sleep without any protection
when they know that pumas are about,
for they call him the kind man's
friend.

How THE CHEETAH IS MADE TO HUNT
THE ANTELOPE

One of the f'^w savage animals
which, after being caught, can be
made to serve man is the cheetah. If
he is caught wild he can be taught to
hunt for his master; but he cannot be
made to do this if he has been born in
captivity. Some princes in India keep
cheetahs, just as many men in England
keep packs of hounds for hunting foxes.
When it has been trained, the cheetah
is taken near to where there are deer or
antelopes. At first its head is covered
with a hood; when this is taken off the
animal creeps away to where it sees
the deer, and, springing upon one,
catches it for its master. It is like
the leopard, in appearance, having a
spotted coat, but it cannot climb trees.

The weasel family is a big one. It
includes the otter, which swims and
dives splendidly and catches fish; the
glutton, or wolverine, which lives in
the cold countries and is a foe to the
beaver; the stoat, or ermine, with its
brown coat in summer and white coat
in winter, and its everlasting appetite;
and the weasel itself, which eats rats
and mice and birds. If a weasel gets
into a poultry yard, no chickens will
be left alive.

The little sharp-toothed members
OF the weasel family

The pine marten is another of these

little animals with long thin bodies.

They are terrible little creatures,

though they are so handsome. Some

years ago a farmer in Ireland had

fourteen out of twenty-one lambs

killed, and the next night the other

seven were served in the same way.

When a search was made it was found

BOOK OF NATURE

that the whole of the damage had been
done by two pine martens, which had
made their home in the nest of a mag-
pie in the top of a pine tree near by.

The American sable is sometimes
called the pine marten, but is a mem-
ber of a different family and is more
like its cousins among the sables.

The most famous of the weasel
family is the sable. This is a little
animal which has a brown coat in
summer, but a white one in winter
when the snow conies. Its fur is so
precious that men go into the cold,
frozen wastes of Siberia to catch it,
and in seeking it they have explored
and made maps of lands where
civilized men had never been before.

An animal known for its scent is the
civet, which lives in Africa. Its scent
is not unpleasant, but is valued, and
the civet is kept tame, so that men
can always get a supply of the scent.
It is a waxy substance that is passed
from the animal's body into a little
pouch beneath the abdomen, from
which it is removed by men who sell
it to be used for making perfumes.

A little long-bodied animal which
is much prized is the mongoose. Men
tame it and have it about their houses,
because it kills snakes and rats and
mice. So long as it is kept under
control, all goes well; but if it is not
controlled, then woe betide its master.
Many years ago the island of Jamaica
swarmed with rats. These creatures
ate the sugar-canes and ruined the
planters. A number of mongooses
were taken there from India, and
turned loose in the fields. Though
they quickly killed and ate the rats,
they also killed all the useful little
animals in the island.
The bear that lives in a world of ice

AND SNOW

In the frozen Arctic regions the
animal which men most dread is the
Polar bear. It is not so fearful a bear

as the one which used to live in Europe.
That was called the cave bear, and
was so big that two cave bears would
have weighed more than three of the
biggest bears in the world of today.

THE POLAR BEAR BEGS

The Polar bear lives chiefly upon seals
and walruses, and on the flesh of
whales, but if it can it will kill and
eat a man.

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In winter the female bear goes some
distance away from the sea and Ues
down and buries herself in the snow.
Then she goes to sleep for the whole
winter, while her husband is out
getting food and keeping himself warm
as best he can. When she goes out in
the spring from her snowy home, the
she-bear generally takes a baby bear
with her to show to her husband. The
Polar bear can swim, and can make his
way over smooth ice where no horse or

A LIVE TEDDY BEAR, THREE WEEKS OLD

man could go, since his great feet are
covered with little hairs, which prevent
him from slipping.

The Polar bear would perhaps not
know what to do if he came to a tree;
but the grizzly bear, or any other bear
which does not live in the Polar
regions, would know what to do.
These would climb the tree if there
were a bees' nest or a man at the top.

Wherever there is food they will go.
They will eat roots or berries; they
will eat honey; they will catch and kill
a horse or a man; they will eat the
body of a man or an animal which has
died. Nearly all the bears go to sleep
in the winter. They get so fat in the
summer that, while they are sleeping
in the winter, they can live on the
strength which is stored up in their fat.
They are thin and hungry when they
come out of their hiding-places in the
spring. That hiding-place is generally
a cave or some other hole, or it may
even be the inside of a great hollow tree.

The wolves that chase the horses in
the great russian wilderness

The wolf is not as large an animal
as the bear, but he is more to be
feared. There are so many wolves,
and they travel so fast and so far.
They hunt together in large packs,
and in the winter, when snow is on the
ground and food is hard to find, they
run for miles and miles to chase horses
and men.

In Siberia and Russia, and other
cold countries, wolves hunt men who
are driving in sledges. No matter
how quickly the frightened horses
gallop, the wolf can keep up with
them. Sometimes the driver is com-
pelled to cut the harness of one of the
horses and let it go, so that the wolves
may seize that, and enable him to get
safely away with the other horses.
But if there are many wolves, some
will still follow the man, and in the
end run him down. If, while he is being
chased, the man shoots a wolf, some
will stop and eat the one which drops,
but the others go on. When hunting
animals they are just as determined.
Two will hunt a deer as the lion does,
one lying in hiding while the other
drives the deer towards it. Wolves
are found in many parts of the world,
and used to live in such numbers in
England and Scotland that the kings

THE FOX, THE JACKAL AND THE WOLVES

The fox Is the only wild animal left In the country which The jackal runs like a shadow after the lion and tiger, and

l3 at all like the wolf. It l3 handsome, cunning, and bold, picks up whatever they leave. He will eat up anything
and destroys the farmer's fowls and ducks. the Uon and tiger refuse.

This picture shows us a pack of wolves hunting for food. They hunt together in large numbers, and In the winter,
when the ground Is under snow and food is hard to find, they run for miles, chasing horses and men. Sometimes the driver
Iiaa to let loose one borse to satlafy the wolves and to enable him to get away with the others.

100

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made the people pay taxes, not in
money, but in the skins of wolves.
That was a sure way of making people
hunt and kill the wolf.

The only wild animal left in the
country now at all like a wolf is the
fox, the animal which, in England,
men on horseback hunt with hounds.
It is a handsome but cruel animal.
Like the leopard, it will kill all it
possibly can. In one night it will kill
scores of fowls, though it needs but
one or two.

The cunning fox and the way in
which he cheats his hunters

The fox lives in a hole burrowed in
the ground, or in the root of an old
tree. Sometimes it will share a bur-
row with a badger. The badger is a
shy, handsome animal, with long, fine
hair. No other animal of its size has
such terrible jaws. The badger and
the fox do not fight, or it would be
bad for the fox. Sometimes they live
together in a burrow which has two
little rooms at the end. In one the
mother fox rears her babies, and in
the other the badger nurses hers.
Although the fox does not bite so hard
as the badger, its bite is dangerous,
and men have gone mad from the
wound caused in this way.

The fox is as bold as it is cunning,
and, like the skunk, the fox has a
strong smell, and wherever it goes it
leaves traces of this odor. It is this
which the dogs are able to follow. They
can chase a fox which they cannot see.
They do not look for the animal; they
simply keep their noses to the ground,
and follow wherever the scent leads
them. The fox knows all about this,
and does all he can to destroy the scent
he leaves. He will swim as readily as
a Polar bear, and he will make great
leaps in the air as the hare does to
break the track of scent.

The wild dogs, the wolves, the jack-
al, AND THE HYENA

All dogs were wild once upon a
time. The dogs and the wolves and
the foxes and the wild dogs still living
in places abroad all come from the
same father and mother, far back in
the ages. There are still to be seen in
Achill Island, off the west coast of
Ireland, dogs which are simply little
wolves and nothing else. We need
not be surprised, then, that the ways
of wild dogs and wolves are alike.
Wild dogs hunt just as the wolves do.
They will attack any animal when
they are hungry.

The jackal is really a smaller kind
of wolf. He is a wretched creature,
and runs like a shadow after the lion
and the tiger. When the tiger has
killed an animal and eaten as much
as it wants, the jackals, which have
been humbly creeping round about,
rush out from their hiding place and
devour the rest of the carcass. They
eat up the filth of the villages; but
they are great thieves, and dogs have
to be kept to prevent them from doing
still greater damage. They have a
nose which is less pointed than that of
the fox, but sharper than that of the
ordinary wolf; and they have a tail
like the fox.

If there is a more unpleasant animal
than the jackal, it is the hyena. But,
uglj'^ and horrid as they are, they are
important to the health of the coun-
tries where they live. If wounded
animals get away and die in the forest,
or if animals be left only partly eaten,
their flesh, if allowed to lie in the sun,
would become poisonous. But where
hyenas are about, this thing never
happens. They set out in packs at
night, and clear up whatever dead
bodies they can find, not even leaving
the bones.

BOOK OF NATURE

101

The home ol the W eaver Birds

BIRDS OF UNCOMMON BEAUTY

WHEN Alice was in Wonder-
land, if she wanted suddenly
to grow tall or to make her-
self smaller, all she had to do was to
eat a piece of cake or mushroom, or
drink something from a bottle, and she
at once became the right size. When
we think of birds becoming brilliantly
colored, or marked like the surround-
ings in which they live, we think of
Alice. But, of course, the case in real
life is different from that in the story-
book. No bird ever says to itself: "I
will make my feathers the color of the
rocks and sand in the desert, so that
the hawks and eagles shall not see me."
Nor does it make up its mind to wear
rich and gorgeous plumage. The ap-
pearance of birds is brought about by
long ages of change, by the slow work-
ing of natural laws.

Suppose we have a number of birds
Hving in a place where they have
many strong enemies. They cannot
escape by fighting, for they are not
strong enough. They cannot escape
by flying, for their enemies fly faster.
The probability is that they will be
killed. But if some of the birds have
feathers which enable them to appear,
when hiding, like the rocks or sand,
or like the trees or jungle, it is very
likely that those birds will escape.

The birds which have not this ad-
vantage will be caught and killed, but
the others will live, and the baby
birds hatched from their eggs will be
like them. It will become part of
their nature to seek safety by hiding.
Gradually they will become more and
more like the scene in which they live.
If the change of seasons brings great
changes in the character of the foliage,
the birds will be able to change their
feathers so that they will keep pace,
in appearance, with the altered looks
of the things about their homes.

That is one way in which nature
enables birds to flourish. But there
is another way. It is the way of the
female bird to mate herself to the
handsomest among her suitors, like
the princesses in the story-books; so
that each generation of birds in this
way tends to become stronger and
more handsome. But the mother
birds of gorgeous bird families are, as
a rule, neither gay nor splendid, so
that they may sit on the nest and hatch
the eggs without danger of being mo-
lested by their enemies.

The most gorgeous birds in the
world are the birds of paradise and
the humming-birds. The first of these
is, like the bower-birds, a distant
cousin of our old friend the crow.

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Only a naturalist could discover this.
To anyone not acquainted with the
science of natural history, it would
be hard to imagine a greater con-
trast than that between the crow and
the bird of paradise. But then the
bird of paradise does not differ more
from the crow than one species of
bird of paradise differs from another
species. There are nearly fifty differ-
ent species of birds of paradise, and
many of them may claim to be among
the fairest of nature's children. Not
only are they beautiful in coloring,
but the arrangement of the feathers
of some of them is really extraordinary.
The GORGEOUS plumage of the birds

OF PARADISE

There is one called the twelve-wired
bird of paradise. It's tail is short and
square, but there grow out twelve long,
wire-like feathers, or bristles, for they
are only the bare stems of feathers,
which curve round towards the sides
of the wings, and give the strangest
appearance to the bird. The chief
colors in its magnificent plumage are
purple-bronze on the head, green and
purple and black on the neck, bronze
green on the back and shoulders, and
emerald green to the edges of the
outer wing feathers, with brilliant
violet-purple to the rest of the wings
and tail, and rich yellow on the breast.
This bird is, including its two-inch
beak, a foot in length. The long beak
supplies the bird with food, which it
takes in the form of honej^ from
flowers.

There is a larger bird of paradise
than this- — the long-tailed one of the
mountainous regions of New Guinea,
which is over a yard in length. It is
colored as richly as the other, but it
adds a fan-like arrangement of feathers
which rise from the sides of the breast,
expanding at their outer ends in bril-
liant blue and green, while the tail
feathers are of a lovely opal blue.

The king of the gay birds and its
wonderful spray of feathers

The king of gay birds is, however,
the great paradise bird — a bird half
the size of the long-tailed one, but
lovely beyond description. The chief
color of the body and wings is deep,
rich brown, varied by tints of black and
purple and violet. The top of the
head and neck are colored like yellow
plush, while from beneath the eyes
and around the lower part of the throat
run feathers of emerald green, from
which spring deeper green feathers in
a band across the forehead and chin.
The beak is blue, and the feet are pink.

The most wonderful feature of this
wonderful bird is a superb spray of
feathers which it erects to cover itself
and look its best. These feathers
grow out from under each wing, rise
into the air, and curve gracefully over
in descending plumes, as much as two
feet in length. The plumes are of a
deep orange color, pale brown at the
tip, and they cover the bird as with a
cascade of glossy feathers.

When the male birds set out to win
mates they gather together in the
trees near the home, and dance and
spread their feathers in the vainest
way. On one of these trees, says Dr.
Russel Wallace, who has studied them
in their native home, a dozen or twenty
magnificent male birds in full plumage
may be seen together. They raise
their wings, stretch out their necks
and elevate their lovely plumes which
they keep continually vibrating, so
that the whole tree is filled with wav-
ing plumes in every variety of attitude
and motion.
The bird with plumes like fans

AND A tail like A RACKET

We have been speaking of this one
as the king of the birds of paradise,
but the one that the naturalists call
the king paradise bird is only about
six inches in length, and is dis-

THE HANDSOMEST BIRDS IN THE WORLD

The satin bower-bird is a member of tlie crow family, is .Ia\ a siiarrows are common in captivity. They have

a great gardener and builder, and loves to build a bower smart white feather collars in winter and spring. The
beautiful with flowers and gay feathers. Java sparrow is a type of the weaver-bird.

The great bird of paradise is the biggest of its family,
and has feathers like velvet, as well as the wonderful
spreading tail. The colors in Its plumage are gorgeous.

The gorget bird of paradise Is lovely beyond description The humming bird, one of the loveliest of living things,

with its colors of black, purple, copper, green and gold. flies so rapidly that its wings hum like those of a bee.

The twelve-wired bird of paradise has a tail unlike any Hundreds of sociable weaver birds build nests together

other bird's. The shafts are bare like wires. under one neat thatched root made in a tree.

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tinguished by two fan-like plumes on
the breast, and a tail of curved feathers
shaped at the end like a racket. Its
feathers are green, purple, red and white.

Wilson's bird of paradise, another
member of this family, named after
its discoverer, is almost bare upon
the head, over which two narrow
tracts of feathers form a cross. The
rest of the head is bare, and the skin
a deep blue. From its tail grow out
two long feathers, which cross, then
curve completely, looking like the
handles of a pair of scissors.

As we have a twelve-wired bird of
paradise so we have also a six-plumed
one. The plumes are long, glistening,
wire-like growths, springing from the
back of the head, and bare all the way
up to the tips, where dainty webs of
feather appear. This bird has a
gorgeous ruffle, and a tuft of silver
feathers upon the beak, which it can
cause to lie flat or stand up at will.
No pen could describe the glories of
these birds. They must be seen.
When the Zoo is fortunate, it has one
or two alive, but they are hard to keep
in captivity. We can give them the
proper sort of food, for they like fruit
and insects and seeds, but we cannot
give them their native air, sunshine,
and brilliant climate.

We have seen in earlier stories how
birds and animals develop in a special
way in particular parts of the world.
The wonderful little humming-birds
inhabit only the warm parts of
United States, Brazil, Mexico, and
certain mountain slopes of both North
and South America. For beauty of
plumage there is no bird to surpass
them. They are as gorgeous as the
birds of paradise, but not with the
same stately grandeur, for the biggest
of them are small, and the tiniest
are no more than three inches from
beak to tail. Yet they are most
wonderful flying birds.

The conjurers rightly say that the
quickness of the hand deceives the eye.
Well, the humming-bird's quickness
simply makes it impossible for the
human eye to follow it. It is like the
flash of shooting stars. A famous man
who has often been near these birds in
their native forests has told us how
very difficult it is to see them. While
he was watching a flower he suddenly
saw something come between his eye
and the bloom. It was a humming-
bird, but it seemed like a gray blur as
it paused for an instant before the
flower. There was a look as of four
black threads suspending it in the air.
This would be the moving forks of
the bird's tail. There was a gray film
as, like lightning, the bird vibrated
its wings; then, with a sharp twitter,
it turned. There was a flash of
emerald and sapphire light as the sun
was reflected by its plumage, and in
an instant it had vanished. It all
happened so quicldy that the word
remained unspoken on the watcher's
lips, the thought in his mind had
scarcely had time to change. Yet in
that time the bird had flown to the
flower; it had thrust in its beak, shot
out its long tongue, and sucked up the
honey in the flower; and it had gone
to a new flower which would furnish
the next portion of its meal.

How THE HUMMING-BIRD HANGS IN THE
AIR SIPPING HONEY FROM A FLOWER

Everybody who has seen the hum-
ming-bird in its native wilds gives us
the same impression of its marvelous
swiftness. No one can see its wings
move — they are vibrated too quickly.
And it is because of the rate at which
they move that the bird makes the
humming sound which gives it its
name. It lives all day in the air. It
is never tired of flying, unless it be
one of the few species which are more
like other birds, and prefer, through
weakness of wings, to take its food

BOOK OF NATURE 105

while perching. Most of the hum- another, and does for those flowers

ming-birds feed when flying. This is, what bees do for others, in making the

of course, the habit of many other plant fruitful.

birds — of the swallow and goat-sucker. There are nearly five hundred

for example — but the humming-bird species of humming-birds, so it is

has to hang in the air while sipping hopeless for us to attempt any detailed

the honey from a flower. To do this description. The most remarkable

it possesses wonderful wings for its part of their frame, after their splendid

size. wings, is the long beak with its tongue

Birds are supposed to be unable to capable of being shot out like that of
fly backwards, but the humming-bird the Old World chameleon. The tongue
is an exception. It can fly backwards acts like a pump, and the beak is
for a little way. When it approaches wonderfully constructed to help,
a flower it inserts its long beak, while a humming hermit-bird of the for.
its body is raised higher than the est, and a giant eight inches long
flower. As it puts in its beak it lets Among the most famous humming-
its body sink down in the air, as if it birds is the Jamaican, which has two
were holding on to the flower by its long feathers growing beyond its tail,
beak. But it does not; its splendid far longer than the body of the bird,
little wings are working like steam- The hermit humming-bird, with its
engines to keep it afloat in the air. long beak and long tail, haunts the
When it has sipped such honey as the dark forest, eating insects, instead of
flower contains it raises its body again, seeking honey in the sunshine. The
withdraws its beak, and then flies out sword-bill, or siphon-bill, is the longest-
backwards, and darts away like a flash, beaked of all the humming-birds.

Some of the humming-birds can turn Although the bird itself measures only

right round in the air with a single four inches, the male bird has a beak

motion; some seem to dance in the air, four inches in length, while the female,

while they can all dart from side to still better provided, has a bill much

side in a manner such as to make the longer than her body. The giant

swallow, which they most resemble, humming-bird is eight or more inches

seem slow and commonplace. in length, and has wings measuring five

Five hundred kinds of humming- or six inches across. It hovers over

BIRDS and their REMARKABLE POWERS a flowcr like the smaller ones, but

When young, the humming - bird moves more slowly, and seems to gain

might pass for a strange sort of swal- support from its tail, which, while the

low, for its beak is blunt and wide like bird is tapping a flower, opens and

that of the young swallow. But as it shuts like a fan.

grows older the beak gets longer and The beauties of the humming-bird
slenderer, until the full-grown bird are well known. The racket-tailed
has a bill ready to dip into the smallest has two long feathers from the tail,
flower to drink the honev which it and two, like those at the back of the
stores. It does not depend wholly six-plumed paradise bird's head, bare
upon honey, though that is the chief but glistening to the tip, where the
part of its food. It eats a great many feather-web grows out in the shape of
insects. In this respect it is a good a racket. Then there are humming-
friend to man. But it has another birds with gorgeous crests and ruffs,
value: by going from flower to flower humming-birds with balls of white
as it does it carries pollen from one to feathers round their legs like powder-

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puffs, humming-birds with "boots" of
white feathers, spangled humming-
birds, humming-birds with snow-cap-
ped heads, with long beaks, with short
beaks, with up-curving beaks, and
beaks bending downwards like the
scimitar of an Indian prince. We can
never say that we have exhausted the
beauties of birdland until we have
seen these visions of splendor in their
own homes. The sun-birds resemble
them and are often called humming-
birds, but belong to a different order.
We must turn back again for a
moment to the crow family to make
the acquaintance of the bower-birds.
The males are a shining blue-black,
except on the wings, where they are
deep black. They are handsome, but
they interest us chiefly from their love
of beauty. They make their nest like
ordinary birds, but they build avenues
of twigs and houses or bowers to play
in. Here the two sexes meet. The
male birds show themselves off and
the females are wooed and won by the
best among them. But while the
wooing is in progress the bower is a
wonderful place. Sometimes it is
several feet high, made of twigs and
elaborately decorated. The gay feath-
ers which other birds have dropped,
pieces of colored cloth that they can
pick up near men's homes, bleached
bones, even bright tools, they build
into the bower. But, prettiest of all,
they bite off orchids and other beauti-
ful flowers growing wild near them, and
weave them into the decorations.
The flowers fade of course, but the
dead ones are taken out each day and
thrown behind the bower, while fresh
flowers are put in their place. There
are different sorts of bower-birds, but
in all the habit of building bowers is
the same. One of them, the Papuan
bird, makes a hut, two feet high, at
the foot of a tree, roofs it with moss,
{ind builds a gallery round it.

Among the birds remarkable for
their nests are the weavers, or weaver
birds. They form a large family, some
of them very beautiful, as the whidah
bird. The sociable weavers are even
more ingenious builders than the
bower-birds. They collect vegetable
fibers and weave them round the
branch of a tree. This forms the
thatch, or roof of the dwelling.
Underneath they make a great num-
ber of nests, where as many as three
hundred birds may have their homes,
all under the same roof. There they
dwell together in peace, each pair of
birds having their own nest and
rearing their little ones.
The weaver-birds and their nests,

AND the little JAVA SPARROWS

In the following year they make
new nests. These they join on to the
layers of nests made in the previous
year. To do so they have to make
the roof bigger, and in course of time
as layer after layer of nests is added
the huge structure looks like a thatched
cottage. Finally it becomes so heavy
that it breaks the bough of the tree
upon which it is placed, and a fresh
start on another branch or tree has to
be made.

The Java sparrow, a favorite bird
in our aviaries, is a type of weaver-
bird.

The lyre-bird and the peacock, the
birds with beautiful tails

The Java sparrows are not as
gorgeous as their distant cousin, the
whidah bird, but they are still hand-
some and interesting. The white
feathers on their cheeks disappear as
summer advances, and the cheeks,
neck and head are an unbroken black.

Now we come to another of the big
beauties, the lyre-bird. It has a
strikingly beautiful tail, shaped like
the musical instrument called the
lyre. Only the male bird has this,
and not until he is four years old.

SOME BEAUTY BIRDS OF FOREIGN LANDS

Hornbllls live in Africa and India. Kaffirs in time of The toucan, whlcli we see here, has an enormous bill,

drmiffht kill a hnrnbill as an offpriiicr for rain. but this is honeycombed with air-cells to make it light.

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The laughing jackass ol Australia is, as we see here, I
really a kingfisher. It loves to mimic the human voice.

The kaka parrot is a member of tlie kea lamuy, but Australia's beautiful lyre-bird is closely related to oiu*

harmless. The kea proper kills sheep for food, little English wren, though it looks so different.

The gray parrot of West Africa is a wonderful mimic. Love-birds belong to the parrot family, and though their

It can imitate birds and beasts, whistle a song, mock home is in Africa, they thrive In captivity and make
street criers, and imitate the sound ot machinery. amusing little companions.

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108 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The lyre-bird has a gift for imitating up the entrance, leaving only a small

the songs and cries of other birds. In slit through which he can pass food for

that he has a decided advantage over her and the young ones. She seems

that most famous tailed domestic to assist in this. He does not let her

bird, the peacock. Among the birds and the family come out until the

frequently seen in pictures and well young ones are nearly full grown,

known in parks and gardens is the The male bird, having to find the food,

peacock. is worn almost to a skeleton during

No other bird has more perfectly this long time,

colored plumage, but in spite of that The king of the handsome climbers

the peacock is a disagreeable bird, is undoubtedly the parrot. We can-

with a hoarse screech for its call, not stay here to glance at the whole

which can be heard far and near. tribe, for when we sort out the many

It is well for him that he is such a forms of parrots, macaws, love-birds,

beauty in appearance, or the peacock and cockatoos, there are hundreds of

would never be tolerated in private species to deal with. The handsome

life. When the courting season is little parrakeet which is often seen in

over, his fine feathers disappear, and captivity has its home in Australia

he slinks away until new ones grow, and the southern states. The gray

Then he comes out again in all his parrot is a native of West Africa,

glory, proud as only a peacock knows Macaws come mainly from the warm

how to be. parts of America and from India,

The strange toucan, and the horn- ^^'h<?i^ ^il^ the birds all eat fruit and

BILL which brings UP ITS YOUNG IN sccds. Oiic spccics, howcvcr, the kea,

PRISON jj^g become a flesh-eating bird. This

With all their splendor, some of the is one of the few instances of a bird's

beauty birds, it must be admitted, are nature changing while actually under

to be regarded as a little freakish, the observation of man. Nobody

and some of them are not all that could knows for certain what has caused it to

be desired in their ways. Among the change, but the kea has become a

strange birds let us take first the deadly enemy of the sheep-farmer in

handsome but queer toucan and the New Zealand. Its food had always

hornbill. been insects and fruit. One day a kea

The toucan is a bird with a huge was found standing on the body of a

beak like a small pelican's, but not dead sheep, tearing away at the wool,

soft like that great fisherman's bag- Such a thing had never before been

net. It is notched like a saw, and as known to happen. Ever since then

it is brightly colored it gives the bird the kea has been a bird of prey. The

the strangest appearance. This beak change could not have come as sud-

is not so heavy as it looks, for it con- denly as that; the attacks of the kea

tains air-sacs which make it light, must have been made before, but it

The hornbills share this advantage, had never been observed. Now two

They have big bills, with helmets of or three keas attack a sheep together,

horn on the top, and these are lightened and by means of their long, cruel beaks

in the same wav. thev kill it.

The hornbills are famous for a the laughing bird that mocks a

curious habit. When the female has man in the Australian wilds

laid her eggs in a hollow tree, the male While we are thinking of Austra-

makes a prisoner of her by plastering lasian birds, we must not forget the

STRANGE BIRDS WITH STRANGE FEATHERS

The waxwing has many of its feathers tipped wit'i
red or yellow and does not got its fine feathers till

The manakiu is brilliantly i:ulored with a feather beard. The bell-bird has a note liiie a bell. When many are
The beating of its wings In flight sounds like a spinning calling the sound of note following note is like the beating
wheel. of hammers on steel anvils.

The cock of the rock is a brilliant The quetzal is from Central Ameri- The banded cotinga is a Brazilian

orange red and crested to the tip of ca. Its feathers keep their lovely color bird which lives among the tree tops,
the beak. alter the bird's death. only descending to feed.

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laughing jackass, or laughing king-
fisher. This is a bird which could
beat the parrot, or even the famous
Indian starling — called the mina — at
laughing. Parrots and niinas mar-
velously imitate human speech. Al-
though they seem very wise birds they
do not understand what they are say-
ing. The mewing of a cat, which they
imitate perfectly, has no more meaning
for them than a song which they may
learn to sing. So the laughter of the
laughing jackass has no meaning for
the bird. It has a voice, and uses it
in this way. It follows a man in the
wilds where there are trees, and perches
near him, chuckling and laughing.

The beautiful kingfisher and the
bird with a note like a bell

The kingfisher is a beautiful bird,
which at one time was very scarce,
owing to thoughtless women wearing
its plumage in their hats. It flies like
a swallow over the water, then, when
it sees a fish, dives down like a flash.
Some of the kingfishers are said to
build their nests of the bones of fish
which they have eaten. The king-
fisher is one of the handsomest and
most interesting of all birds.

We find more strange beauties
among the family of birds called
chatterers. The most striking is the
umbrella-bird. This has a fine crest
upon its head, and though the sides of
its neck are naked, it possesses a lovely
lappet composed of loose feathers
hanging from beneath the throat.
When it desires to call its mate, it
raises its crest, moves its lappet in
stately fashion, and pipes loudly. A
more remarkable piping bird is known
as the bell-bird. There are four
species of this bird, of which the most
famous is a pure glossy white. Its call
is like the note, clear and melodious,
of a beautiful bell. Sometimes it
utters only one note, then rests. At
other times it utters several notes,

which then sound like a blacksmith
playing on his anvil with a hammer.
When several of the birds call and
answer, the effect is beautiful.
The strange song of the manakin

AND the ways of THE HOOPOE

In the same family are the mana-
kins, marvelously-colored little birds;
and the cotingas, nearly related to the
bell-birds, but far more brilliant in
plumage. The manakin has a strange
little song, which he utters when
courting. He dances, too, in the
funniest way, as if trying to show how
much more agile he is than his fellows.
Two rivals meet on the bough of a
tree, sing their song and leap into the
air, each in turn, always rising to the
same height and always descending
upon the exact spot from which they
rose. But if they discover that they
are watched by enemies, they dis-
appear with remarkable speed.

They have a rival in the hoopoe.
It is of a rich russet hue, with a beauti-
ful crest upon the head and with wings
marked out in black and white.

The cock - of - the - rock, the black-
headed NUN, AND THE TINY TROGON

Returning to the chatterers, we
must notice the brilliantly-colored
cock-of-the-rock, famous for the great
crest which hides its nostrils, and the
resplendent orange plumage, for the
sake of which the unfortunate bird is
mercilessly shot. The cock-of-the-
rock is a handsome bird, with its
crest and gay plumage. When perch-
ed at the top of the high trees in which
it makes its home, it gambols and plays
and mews like a cat. There is another
bird, a little one, the black-headed
nun, which mews, too, but like a tiny
kitten. Another gaudy-crested bird
is the trogon, of which a Central
American species, called the quetzal,
is distinguished by a long streaming
tail, which seems to help rather than
hinder its strong and rapid flight.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

CHIEF OF THE HUNTING BIRDS

THE air has its lions and tigers
— not real lions and tigers,
but birds, which, in their way,
are as fierce and hungry as the great
four-footed animals of the jungle and
the plain. When we study their lives,
we can see that the eagles, the falcons,
the kites, the buzzards, the vultures,
the owls, and other flesh-eating birds,
play a similar part to that played
by the flesh-eating animals. Some
strike down their prey, kill and eat
it; others wait until the death of an
animal or a man has taken place before
they begin their meal.

First in the scale of splendor among
the hunting birds comes the eagle,
the most noble looking of birds that
fly. It is the king of the falcon family,
which includes no fewer than 300
species of birds that hunt their prey
by day. Here for the moment we
will keep to the eagles proper, and
glance at some of the most important.

The largest are the sea eagles. Of
these there are several species, scat-
tered over a great part of the world.
They are to be found in Scotland and
the northern islands, and in wild
parts of Ireland. One was caught in
Windsor Forest, England, in 1856,
measuring eight feet across the wings
and three feet two inches from the
point of the beak to the tip of the tail,
and weighing twenty-two pounds.

The golden eagle, the handsomest
of the family, inhabits Scotland and
America. It is the largest of all save
the Steller sea eagle. The golden
eagle does not hunt in the sea, but
otherwise its habits do not differ
much from the habits of the sea eagle.

Where the golden eagle builds its
nest and makes its larder

Like most other birds of prey, the

female golden eagle is larger than the

male. Her length, from the tip of

beak to the end of tail, is about a
yard; while the male eagle is several
inches less. The plumage is rich and
handsome. While the colors may
differ, the majority of these birds have
feathers of a golden-brown hue. The
golden color occurs near the tips of the
feathers, and gives a golden appear-
ance to the whole. The bird builds in
high, rocky places far from the haunts
of men, and the rough, strong nest can-
not be reached except by a rope let
down froin above.

Eagles are watchful parents. They
will fiercely attack anyone who at-
tempts to approach the nest in which
their young ones are. The little
eagles have big appetites, and the
parent birds have to maintain quite a
larder for them. The larder is gen-
erally a large rock near the nest, so
that the eaglets can go to it and feed
while the parent birds are away.
Here on this stone hares and rabbits
and birds are placed, and these the
eaglets eat at their leisure.

If the little eagles need so much
food, what do the big eagles require?
They have hearty appetites to support
their weight and flying powers.

The story that the eagle carries
off children is not true

A golden eagle will eat in the course

of a day a couple of partridges or a

rabbit. It can live on that, but, like

other creatures, it prefers variety in

its food. These eagles will sometimes

willingly eat putrid flesh as a change

from their ordinary diet; and men,

knowing this, set traps and catch them

as if they were the silliest birds. But

the desire for change does not end here.

The eagles carry off lambs to their

nests, and they attack and kill deer.

It has been told a thousand times that

eagles carry off children; but though

we know for a fact that they will at-

BOOK OF NATURE

113

tack children guarding flocks which
the eagles desire to rob, there is no
proof that children ever have been
carried away by these birds.

As to their attacking deer, there is
no such doubt. They set about their
work with as much method and skill
as if it were part of their everyday
life. Generally they will attack a
young deer, that being more easy to
kill. They drop from the sky like a
flash upon the back of the deer they
mean to secure. If they can, they
drive it from its mother. The faith-
ful hind, if she can keep her little one
close beside her, will fight the great
eagle with splendid courage, and strik-
ing out with her front feet, may beat
it off. But if the fawn can be driven
away from the hind, the hind becomes
so alarmed that she seems unable to
act, and in that case the eagle will
send the little deer racing away in
terror and kill it with its terrible
talons and beak.

How THE EAGLE WILL TERRIFY A HERD
OF DEER TO CATCH ITS PREY

If this plan cannot be tried, the eagle
does a still more amazing thing.

It will hover over a herd and
frighten them into running away.
Just as they are bounding round some
narrow path which winds round the
top of a precipice, the bird will swoop
down upon the back of the deer, and
drive home its great claws. The deer
in terror seeks to throw off its foe, and
generally jumps down the precipice,
so killing itself and affording the eagle
a meal without further trouble. That
is just what the eagle wants, and it is
for that reason that it makes its attack
when the deer are in so perilous a
place.

The only chance for a young deer
when so attacked is to bolt into a
narrow division between the rocks.
There the eagle is practically power-
less, for, seeing that its wings, when

outspread, measure from eight feet to
ten feet across, of course it cannot fly
in a little space, and it will not venture
in on foot. Eagles have been seen to
suffer defeat in this way. But they
do not, as a rule, lose their prey.

A noted huntsman saw a remarkable
sight in a forest showing how the eagle
can hunt. While he was stalking a
herd of deer, he saw through his
telescope that the animals became
suddenly alarmed. He knew he had
not caused their fright, for he was too
far away. Suddenly a great eagle
swooped into sight and attacked one
of the small stags. Its plan was to
drive it away from the rest of the herd,
so that they could not help it. The
bird did not attack with beak or
talons, but kept striking the stag
heavy blows on the back with the
middle joint of his powerful wings.
Several times it seemed as if he would
fail to get the stag away, for the bird
kept rising into the air as if to fly
away. But each time he returned
with more determination, and at last
he did get the stag away from the rest
of the herd and killed it. The man
who had gone out to kill a deer by
the aid of a gun saw his victim taken
before his eyes by one of the hunters
of the air.

An EAGLE'S GAME OF DROPPING AND
CATCHING IN THE CLOUDS

The sight of the eagle, so keen and
powerful, is the gift of nature; but its
ability to catch things, though in-
herited, is developed by practice. An
eagle has been seen to snatch up a
wounded grouse as it fell through the
air after being shot. Another swooped
down and caught a rabbit which was
being chased by hounds. The young
eagle practices to enable it to do
things of this sort.

One of these birds was seen to catch
a rabbit. Away it went with the
rabbit, up into the sky. Then, when

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

far up, it let the rabbit drop from its
talons. While the rabbit was drop-
ping through the air, the eagle de-
scended upon it, and caught it. Then
it carried it up again, and once more
let it drop, and again caught it. This
it repeated several times, never once
failing to catch the rabbit as it was
falling through the air. The young
eagle was at play, but it was practicing
for the serious business of life. Very
wonderful it is that a bird should be
able to give a heavy thing like a
rabbit a good start in a fall through
the air towards the earth, then catch
it up and secure it.

The wonderful love of a free eagle

FOR ITS trapped COMRADE

Fierce as the eagle is, it is affec-
tionate to its kind. A strange ex-
ample of this was afforded in a forest,
where a beautiful golden eagle was
found dead in a trap which had been
set to catch a fox. The bird had
espied the bait afar off, and, going
down to get it, had been seized by the
trap and left to die a miserable death.
The strange thing was that the eagle
had not died of starvation, nor from
any serious injury. It was caught
only by one claw. Apparently the
knowledge that it was a prisoner had
killed it, for there was abundant food
beside it. Other eagles, seeing the
prisoner in the trap, had brought it
food. There, beside the dead eagle,
were two grouse, and a rabbit, still
warm when the hunters came to the
trap.
The osprey that catches fishes, and

ITS FOE, the bald EAGLE

The affection which the eagles
show reminds us of the osprey, which,
though as wild as the other members
of its family, displays great love for
its mate and children. It is a hand-
some bird, living almost entirely on
fish, and for that reason is called the
fishing hawk. It is about twenty-two

inches in length, but its fine wings
measure five feet six inches across,
and on these it sails in graceful flight
over the sea in which its food is to be
found. In Scotland the osprey has
an enemy in the sea eagle, which will
occasionally rob it of the fish it has
caught. In North America the bird
the osprey most dreads is the great
white-headed eagle, the bird, which,
because of its white crown, is called
the bald eagle. This is a bird which
will eat pretty nearly anything.
Though fond of fish, it is no fisherman,
so it robs the osprey as it is returning
to its nest with a fish in its talons.
But the white-headed eagle will eat
dead horses or other animals, and it
may be seen seated on such a carcass
feasting and angrily keeping off a
flock of vultures which prowl round,
hungry, yet afraid, like jackals creep-
ing about an animal on which a lion is
feeding.

The vulture that drops a tortoise
from a height to split its shell

It is im])ossible to be fond of a
vulture, valuable as its work often is
when it plays the scavenger.

There are two kinds of vultures that
are less horrid than the others. The
splendid lammergeier, or lammergeyer,
which soars above the Italian Alps,
the Caucasus, and the hills of Spain,
is not so repulsive a creature as the
ordinary vulture. The average vul-
ture has dirty, dusky-looking plumage,
and its neck is bare, with the discol-
ored flesh showing plainly. The lam-
mergeier is feathered to the beak, and
sails in the air with the grace of a
vacht.

Its claws are not especially strong
enough to enable it to carry off a child,
and it attacks only what it can eat.
Sometimes it will take a live animal,
but generally speaking, its food con-
sists of the flesh of animals which have
died. In India, where it is very

BOOK OF NATURE 115

abundant, it haunts slaughter-houses enough to avoid the noose which the

and the soldiers' quarters, on the look- expert cattleman throws,

out for scraps, and particularly for the powerful weapons with which

bones. These it carries to a height, the winged scavengers are armed

then drops them on the rocks to split But the true vultures are greedier

them. It does the same with tor- than even the condor. One, an Egyp-

toises, tian vulture, has been seen to gorge

The mighty condor that seems to be itself to such an extent that it could

ASLEEP ABOVE THE MOUNTAIN TOPS not uiovc, but lay ou its sidc and still

The biggest of all the vultures is the fed. There are many kinds of vul-

condor, the huge, heavy bird which tures, some worse than others. They

makes its home in the Andes of Peru share with the hyenas and jackals and

and Chile. The male bird is about wild dogs the filth of the villages of

four feet in length, and its wing-spread the East. They eat also all the putrid

is from eight to eleven feet or more, flesh of dead animals, and kill lambs

The male bird has a large, fleshy wattle, that are too feeble to defend them-

which forms a crest to the head. selves.

Both male and female have power- They have powerful feet and claws,

ful beaks, but their claws, while they but not such as would enable them to

help in tearing their food, have not carry off heavy burdens to their nests,

power enough to enable them to carry Their beaks are the great weapons of

away heavy bodies. Their food con- attack. With these the larger ones

sists chiefly of animals of the moun- can tear off the skin of a horse or

tain-side and the plain, which have buffalo, and tear the flesh from the

either died a natural death or been bones, so that nothing but the skeleton

killed by wild animals. remains. A man in India who saw a

The condor has marvelous eyesight, host of these birds settle upon a dead
and, though it sails high up in the air horse said that in a marvelously short
so smoothly that men have believed time there remained of the horse
it to be asleep while thus flying, nothing but a clean-picked skeleton,
hunters say that it is closely watching Pharaoh's chickens, and the vul-
some animal on the plain thousands ture that eats reptiles
of feet below, which is being killed or The king vulture's naked neck is
is near death from disease. Suddenly colored with shades of orange, purple,
the bird drops like a stone through the and crimson, and it has extraordinary-
air. Others from all quarters follow; colored fleshy wattles all round its
and hunters see a carcass swarming nostrils and the root of its cruel-looking
with birds which a moment before had beak. All the vultures have this fact
been specks in the sky. in their favor, that they are very good

The condor has this trait in common parents. Long ago the Egyptians so

with the other vultures, it can fast for highly regarded the vulture, which in

several days, but to make up for this Egypt has the name of Pharaoh's

it gorges itself when it gets the chance, chickens, that they frequently in-

This accounts for the fact that cattle- eluded it in their drawings and carv-

men are able to catch it with ropes, ings as the emblem of the love of

It seems unlikely that they should parents for their children. In some

lasso a grand flyer like the condor, parts of the East the vulture is pro-

but the bird so fills itself with food that tected by law because of its value as

it cannot rise into the air swiftly a scavenger.

THE IMMENSE FAMILY OF VULTURES

The strangest-looking viilttire of the lamily is the king
vulture, the flesh of whose extraordinary bare neck is
briUiantly tinted with orange, purple, and crimson.

GrifBn vultures are to be found in Europe and in the
East. They build on high rocks, but sometimes steal the
nests which eagles have made and left.

The Egyptian vulture was the chief seavenuer of the Thf londor is the largest of the vultiu'es, and, indeed, of

land of Pharaoh. The Egyptians valued it highly, and all birds of prey. It makes its great nest in high moun-
carved its likeness on their monuments and tombs. tains, and flies as gracefully as a winged yacht.

The lammergeier is known as the bearded vulture. It
descends from its mountain home to eat dead animals,
and can carry smaller ones to its nest of young ones.

The secretary bird kills and eats snakes in South Africa.
Its feathered head makes it look like a clerk, with a quill
pen in his ear; hence its name.

116

BOOK OF NATURE 117

Before passing from the vulture victim without making a sound,

family we must say a good word for Members of the tribe are to be found

the secretary bird, which is really a in Scotland, Ireland and America,

vulture. It is a curious, long-legged, the evil work of the kite and the

long-tailed bird, with a strong, hooked good work that it does

beak and strong legs armed with stout The kite robs rabbit warrens, and

scales, and claws admirably adapted likes game birds; but the harm that it

to the purpose which they have to does in this way must be more than

serve. Its food consists of reptiles, made up by the good it works in

and among these is included a great destroying rats and mice, and snakes

number of venomous serpents. The and moles.

bird has no fear of them. Generally Next we come to the true falcons —
it dashes at the snake, and, with its handsome, noble-looking birds, of
wings spread out towards the front to which the most famous are the
keep the serpent from biting it, beats gerfalcon, the peregrine, the lanner,
it, pecks it, and stamps on it until the the saker, the Barbary falcon, the
snake is killed. Small snakes it swal- Indian shaheen, the hobby, and the
lows whole; larger ones it tears to merlin — all long- winged, dark-eyed
pieces. This bird is found chiefly in birds, which rise high in the air, then
South Africa, where it is so highly descend like thunderbolts upon their
valued as the foe of snakes that a fine prey and bear it to the ground; then
is imposed for killing it. It gets the the strong, swift goshawk and sparrow-
name of secretary bird from the hawk, birds with shorter wings and
feathers which grow out from the back yellow eyes, which catch their prey by
of its head, looking very much like flying after it in a straight line, and
quill pens behind the ear of a clerk, overcoming it by greater speed and
Some of the smaller members of strength.

the family of bird hunters piq^ .j-j^j. falcon birds are taught

Of course, there are smaller birds in to catch other birds for men

this great family of hunters than those These birds play the same part in

we have so far considered. The buz- bird life that the cheetah plays in

zards, kites, and falcons, though hav- the animal world. Like the powerful

ing much the same nature as their cheetah, they are by nature wild and

larger relatives, are built on a smaller fierce, but they are trained to hunt

scale. The buzzard measures from for men.

twenty to twenty-two inches in length. Soft leather straps are fastened to

and it has the strong beak and sharp their legs so that they cannot fly away

claws of its family. But it is not so at will. A hood is put over the head,

active a bird as the rest. At times it leaving the beak and nostrils free for

flies gloriously high up, in great circles, breathing, but preventing the bird

with very few movements of the wings from seeing. When the hood is re-

which the eye can detect. As a rule, moved, the bird is shown a piece of

however, it prefers to get its living meat, and has to hop from its perch

easily, by watching and waiting, and on to the wrist of the man who holds

pouncing at the right moment upon the food. He has a glove on, so that

its victim, whether that victim be rat, the sharp talons of the bird will not

mouse, reptile, or bird. Parts of its hurt him.

plumage are very downy, so that the When the bird gets used to this

bird can drop down upon its astonished sort of treatment, it knows that by

SOME BIRDS THAT HUNT FOR BEASTS

The buzzard la one of the handsomest of the falcon tribe. It Is fierce but lazy, waiting in liidmg, ttien pouncing on its
prey without being heard Its feathers are downy, and mal^e no sound as the bird flies.

The smallest falcon is the merlin, a tierce foe, but easy Men take out the peregrine falcon to hunt, with a hood

to make a friend of and to tame This is the bird which put over its head. As the game appears, the hood Is taken
the lark flics so high to avoid oft, and the falcon sees it.s prey ami flics offer it.

The strong, tast-llyin^; sixirrow- Tue kite has a forked tail, and looks, Thr u-cisliawli rutche.s its prey by Its

hawk hunts blackbirds and thrushes. In flying, like a big swallow. Some very swift flight, clutches it in its tal-
young partridges, rabbits and hares, species are well known as scavengers, ens and drops to the ground with It.

118

BOOK OF NATURE

119

jumping to the wrist it will be fed.
Then the distance is increased. With
a light line tied to its leg, it is made to
fly twenty or thirty yards for its food.
Then in time the line is removed from
the leg, and the bird flies free. After
awhile, instead of its usual food, it is
made to fly to a bird or a small animal,
and catches this and returns to the
wrist of its master.

Like all other falcons, the peregrine
is a magnificent hunter. It is sup-
posed to be able to fly at the rate of
one hundred and fifty miles an hour,
yet it flies with such delicacy of direc-
tion that it can follow a smaller bird
through mazes of branches and under-
growth, and take a bird off a bough
without stopping or touching any part
of the tree.

COMMON FARM AND ORCHARD BIRDS

The principal object of this section is to give concise information about the na-
tive birds that frequent farm, orchard and suburban districts. To aid the descriptions
a number of illustrations in color are inserted to enable anyone — particularly boys
and girls — to identify them; while the information itself will be found sufficiently
full to disclose the good or harm certain birds do. Fifty of our commoner birds are
discussed, including some that are destructive. They inhabit various parts of the
country, and it is for the interest of the farmers of the respective localities to be
familiar with them. The birds were drawn from nature by the well-known bird
artist, Louis Agassiz Fuertes.

AMERICA is greatly favored in catchers, quails, doves, and other

the number and character of families have each their own special

its birds, which not only in- field of activity. However unlike

elude some of the gems of the bird they may be in appearance, structure,

world, as the warblers and humming habits, all are similar in one respect —

birds, but on the whole embrace few they possess a never flagging appetite

destructive species. Not only do for insects and weed seeds,

many birds satisfy our senses through Birds or insect destroyers

their beautiful plumage and their Entomologists have estimated that

sweet voices, but they are marvelously insects yearly cause a loss of upwards

adapted to their respective fields of of $700,000,000 to the agricultural

activity. No other creatures are so interests of the United States. Were

well fitted to capture flying insects as it not for our birds the loss would be

swallows, swifts, and nighthawks. very much greater, and indeed it is

Among this class also are wrens, believed that without the aid of our

trim of body and agile of movement, feathered friends successful agriculture

that creep in and out of holes and would be impossible,

crevices and explore rubbish heaps Birds occupy a unique position

for hidden insects. The woodpecker, among the enemies of insects, since

whose whole body exhibits wonderful their powers of flight enable them at

adaptation of means to end, is pro- short notice to gather at points where

vided with strong claws for holding there are abnormal insect outbreaks,

firmly when at work, a chisel-like bill An unusual abundance of grasshop-

driven by powerful muscles to dig out pers, for instance, in a given locality

insects, and a long extensible tongue soon attracts the birds from a wide

to still further explore the hidden area, and as a rule their visits cease

retreats of insects and drag forth the only when there are no grasshoppers

concealed larvae, safe from other foes. left. So also a marked increase in

The creepers, titmice, warblers, fly- the number of small rodents in a

120

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

given neighborhood speedily attracts
the attention of hawks and owls,
which, by reason of their voracious
appetites, soon produce a marked
diminution of the swarming foe.
The sparrow family

One of the most useful groups of
native birds is the sparrow family.
While some of the tribe wear gay suits
of many hues, most of the sparrows
are clad in modest brown tints, and
as they spend nmch of the time in
grass and weeds are commonly over-
looked. Unobtrusive as they are,
they lay the farmer under a heavy
debt of gratitude by their food habits,
since their chosen fare consists largely
of the seeds of weeds. Selecting a
typical member of the group, the tree
sparrow, for instance, one-fourth ounce
of weed seed per day is a conservative
estimate of the food of an adult. On
this basis, in a large agricultural state
like Iowa tree sparrows annually eat
approximately 875 tons of weed seeds.
Only the farmer, upon whose shoulders
falls the heavy burden of freeing his
land of noxious weeds, can realize
what this vast consumption of weed
seeds means in the saving and cost of
labor. Some idea of the money value
of this group of birds to the country
may be gained from the statement that
the total value of the farm products in
the United States in 1910 reached the
amazing sum of $8,926,000,000. If
we estimate that the total consump-
tion of weed seed by the combined
members of the sparrow family re-
sulted in a saving of only 1 per cent of
the crops — not a violent assumption —
the sum saved to farmers by these
birds in 1910 was $89,260,000.
Hawks and owls

The current idea in relation to hawks
and owls is erroneous. These birds
are generally classed as thieves and
robbers, whereas a large majority of
them are the farmers' friends and

spend the greater part of their long
lives in pursuit of injurious insects
and rodents. The hawks work by
day, the owls chiefly by night, so that
the useful activities of the two classes
are continued practically throughout
the twenty-four hours. As many as
100 grasshoppers have been found in
the stomach of a Swainson's hawk,
representing a single meal; and in
the retreat of a pair of barn owls have
been found more than 3000 skulls, 97
per cent of which were of mammals,
the bulk consisting of field mice, house
mice, and common rats. Nearly half
a bushel of the remains of pocket
gophers — animals which are very de-
structive in certain parts of the United
States — was found near a nest of this
species. A few hawks are injurious,
and the bulk of the depredations on
birds and chickens chargeable against
hawks is committed by three species
— the Cooper's hawk, the sharp-
shinned hawk, and the goshawk.

From the foregoing it will at once
appear that the practice of offering
bounties indiscriminately for the heads
of hawks and owls, as has been done
by some states, is a serious mistake,
the result being not only a waste of
public funds but the destruction of
valuable birds which can be replaced,
if at all, only after the lapse of years.

The majority of owls are usually
purely nocturnal — night birds. One
or two species usually can see quite
well in a bright light, but the majority
cannot. Their eyes are so formed that
they can collect light from what to us is
darkness. They can see when the
daylight is not quite gone; but in the
direct light of the sun they are dazed.

The owl works and feeds when we
are asleep. It has eyes differently
placed from those of any other bird —
close together in front, so that it must
look straight ahead. To make up
for this, it can turn its head with the

THE FIRST COUSINS OF THE OSTRICH

The cassowary lives in Australia and Sow Guinea. Its
glossy feathers are like hair, and its head is crowned with
a helmet. The male Is smaller than the female.

The emu is a kind of cassowary. Its neck is feathered,
not bare like the cassowary's. The female emu is bigger
and fiercer than the male.

South America's ostrich is called the rhea. It has three toes; the African ostrich has only two. The rhea has no
tall, but it has larger wings than the ostrich. Its feathers are used for making brushes. Those of the ostrich are more
valuable, and the ostrich is carefully reared by ostrich farmers for the sake of Its featUera. These big birds have strange
appetites, and eat all sorts of things, broken bottles, etc., and seem none the worse.

121

122

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

greatest ease in any direction. The
power of its eyes in the darkness is
quite wonderful. Most of us, if we
were quite close to a field mouse or
rat moving stealthily over a field,
would do well to see it against the
earth, like which its coat is colored.
But the owl sees it from afar through
the darkness, pounces noiselessly
down, and seizes it. It can catch the
mouse and the mole and the rat; it
can catch fish as they rise to the sur-
face of the water.

How THE COURAGE OF THE OWL GOES
IN THE DAYTIME

There are about two hundred species
of owls. Some are tiny owls; some are
big eagle owls, twenty-eight inches in
length, very fierce and strong, ready
to attack a man who goes near, able to
kill fawns and large game birds, and to
do battle with the golden eagle. The
courage of one of these owls goes in
the daytime, and then little birds, led
by a crow, may find it and mob it out
into the open, and lead it a terrible
dance. But when night comes, and
the bird can see, none but a mighty
eagle dare do battle with it.

The hawk owl is one of the few ow Is
which work by day. It is big and
strong and savage. There are owls
with great ear-tufts of feathers, and
owls with none at all; some are snowy
white, others are mottled. Some live
in burrows with the prairie marmots;
some make burrow^s for themselves.
Mostly they live in hollow trees, or in
church belfries or other high towers.
Among so many owls, of course, there
are those which do harm, but the most
of them do more good than evil.

The merciless crow that robs nests,
and the jolly little jackdaw

The carrion crow has a nature like
the vulture and the raven, but the
bird is smaller, and when it attacks a
big living animal it cannot do its work
single handed, but advances in num-

bers. Its habit of eating putrid flesh
is, of course, unpleasant, but it is of
importance to the health of the place
in which the crow finds its meals.
Crows are merciless thieves. They
rob other birds' nests, killing and eat-
ing the young ones, and even carrying
off the unhatched eggs. To do this
the crow thrusts his strong beak
through one end of the egg, then
carries the shell and its contents away
as on a spear.

The jolly little jackdaw belongs to
this family, and can be distinguished
from the others by the patch of gray
on the head and back of the neck. It
builds in the steeples of churches and
other high buildings. Everybody
knows its relative, the magpie, from
its handsome plumage of glossy black
and white. We are all fond of this
bird because of its bright ways; but
other birds hate it, for it robs their
nests as the crows do. When tamed,
it is a wonderful talker.

One of the most singular of the
birds of prey is the shrike, or butcher
bird. It catches small birds, mice,
and so on, and fixes their bodies upon
thorns; then it can easily skin and eat
such as it wants, leaving the others
for the time to come when it is once
more hungry.

The BIRDS' MANNER OF LIVING

As a rule birds do not live very
long, but they live fast. They breathe
rapidly and have a higher temperature
and a more rapid circulation than other
vertebrates. This is a fortunate cir-
cumstance, since to generate the req-
uisite force to sustain their active
bodies a large quantity of food is
necessary, and as a matter of fact
birds have to devote most of their
waking hours to obtaining insects,
seeds, berries, and other kinds of
food. The activity of birds in the
pursuit of insects is still further
stimulated by the fact that the young

BOOK OF NATURE

123

of most species, even those which are A tree swallow's stomach was found
by no means strictly insectivorous, to contain 40 entire chinch bugs and
require great quantities of animal food fragments of many others, besides

10 other species of insects. A bank

ROBinS MEST

WIUOWWREM/ — \
SKY LARK \ )

KmCFISHER

in the early weeks of existence, so
that during the summer months —
the flood time of insect life — birds are
compelled to redouble their attacks
on our insect foes to satisfy the wants
of their clamorous young.
What birds eat

It is interesting to observe that
hungry birds — and birds are hungry
most of the time — are not content to
fill their
stomachs
with insects
or seeds, but
after the
stomach is
stuffed until
it will hold
no more
continue to
eat till the
crop or gul-
let also is
crammed.
It is often
the case that
when the
stomach is
opened and
the contents
piled up the
pile is two or
three times
as large as
the stomach
when filled.
Birds may
truly be said
to have
healthy ap-
petites. To
show the astonishing capacity of birds'
stomachs and to reveal the extent to
which man is indebted to birds for the
destruction of noxious insects, the
following facts are given:

BULlFinCHS HEST

ClESTED rrREM
fllCHTIMUlh-^ ^-' <^ — ^

^-\ /^CRtATTITJl

.MfADOtHim/^ ^ /^^^^ ^ /""^

y^ J/ fOLPfincH / \

/YciiortBuifTittc

Nightjar ] /^^

\ /TRtE-riP

\^^r^>5-

TREE-riPIT

"^ — CHAf finch's NEST

SIZE OF EGGS OF OUR BEST-KNOWN BIRDS

swallow in Texas devoured 68 cotton-
boll weevils, one of the worst insect
pests that ever invaded the United
States; and 35 cliff swallows had taken
an average of 18 boll weevils each.
Two stomachs of pine siskins from
Hay wards, California, contained 1900
black olive scales and 300 plant lice.
A killdeer's stomach taken in Novem-
ber in Texas
contained
over 300
mosqu i to
larvae . A
flicker's
stomach
held 28 white
grubs. A
nighthawk's
stomach col-
lec t ed in
Kentucky
contained 34
May beetles,
the adult
formofwhite
grubs. An-
other night-
hawk from
New York
had eaten 24
clover - leaf
weevils and
375 ants.
Still another
nighthawk
had eaten
340 grass-
hoppers, 52
bugs, 3 bee-
tles, 2 wasps, and a spider. A boat-
tailed grackle from Texas had eaten at
one meal about 100 cotton boll worms,
besides a few other insects. A ring-
necked pheasant's crop from Washing-

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WREHSrjEST

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

ton contained 8000 seeds of chickweed
and a dandelion head. More than 72,000
seeds have been found in a single duck
stomach taken inLouisiana in February.

Important in this connection is the
planting near the house and even in
out-of-the-way places on the farm of
various berry-bearing shrubs, of which
many are ornamental, which will
supply food when snow is on the
ground. Other species which are not
berry eaters, like the woodpeckers,
nuthatches, creepers, and chickadees,
can be made winter residents of many
farms, even in the North, by putting
out at convenient places a supply of
suet, of which they and many other
birds are very fond, even in summer.
Hedges and thickets about the farm
are important to furnish nesting sites
and shelter both from the elements
and from the numerous enemies of birds.

Few are aware of the difficulty often
experienced by birds in obtaining
water for drinking and bathing, and
a constant supply of water near the
farmhouse will materially aid in at-
tracting birds to the neighborhood
and in keeping them there, at least

till the time of migration. Shallow
trays of wood or metal admirably
serve the purpose, especially as birds
delight to bathe in them.

One of the worst foes of our native
birds is the house cat, and probably
none of our native wild animals de-
stroys as many birds on the farm,
particularly fledglings, as cats. The
household pet is by no means blame-
less in this respect, for the bird-hunting
instinct is strong even in the well-fed
tabby; but much of the loss of our
feathered life is attributable to the
half-starved stray, which in summer is
as much at home in the groves and
fields as the birds themselves. Forced
to forage for their own livelihood,
these animals, which are almost as
wild as the ancestral wildcat, inflict an
appalling loss on our feathered allies
and even on the smaller game birds
like the woodcock and bobwhite. If
cats are to find place in the farmer's
household, every effort should be
made by carefully feeding and watch-
ing them to insure the safety of the
birds. The cat without a home should
be mercifully put out of the way.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME FAMILIAR AMERICAN BIRDS

BLUEBIRD (Sialia sialis)

Length,* about 6^ inches.

Range: breeds in the United States (west to
Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana),
southern Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala;
winters in the southern half of the eastern
United States and south to Guatemala.

Habits and economic status: the bluebird is
one of the most familiar tenants of the farm and
dooryard. Everywhere it is hailed as the har-
binger of spring, and wherever it chooses to
reside it is sure of a warm welcome. This bird,
like the robin, phoebe, house wren, and some
swallows, is very domestic in its habits. Its
favorite nesting sites are crannies in the farm
buildings or boxes made for its use or natural
cavities in old apple trees. For rent the bird
pays amply by destroying insects, and it takes
no toll from the farm crop. The bluebird's
diet consists of 68 per cent of insects to 32 per
cent of vegetable matter. The largest items of
insect food are grasshoppers first and beetles

*Measured from tip of bill to tip of tail

next, while caterpillars stand third. All of
these are harmful except a few of the beetles.
The vegetable food consists chiefly of fruit
pulp, only an insignificant portion of which is
of cultivated varieties. Among wild fruits
elderberries are the favorite. From the above
it will be seen that the bluebird does no essential
harm, but on the contrary eats many harmful
and annoying insects. (See Farmers' Bui. 54,
pp. 46-48, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.)
ROBIN {Planesficus migratorius)

Length, 10 inches.

Range: breeds in the United States (except
the Gulf States), Canada, Alaska, and Mexico;
winters in most of the United States and south
to Guatemala.

Habits and economic status: in the North
and some parts of the West the robin is among
the most cherished of our native birds. Should
it ever become rare where now common, its
joyous summer song and familiar presence will
be sadly missed in many a homestead The
robin is an omnivorous feeder, and its food

BIRDS OF PREV AND GAME BIRDS

lj#/'

KING

BIRD

SPAR R OW
HAWK

BOB WHITE

RUFFED grouse:

SCREECH OWL

BARN OW l_

BIRDS NOTED FOR SONG OR PLUMAGE

ii^

•^■4

BLUE JAV

R O B I Nl

WOODPECKt W

BOBOLINK

MOCK I NG BIRD

MEADOW LARK

GROSBEAK

BLUE BIRD

BOOK OF NATURE

125

includes many orders of insects, with no very
pronounced preference for any. It is very fond
of earthworms, but its real economic status is
determined by the vegetable food, which
amounts to about 58 per cent of all. The prin-
cipal item is fruit, which forms more than 51
per cent of the total food. The fact that in
the examination of over 1200 stomachs the
percentage of wild fruit was found to be five
times that of the cultivated varieties suggests
that berry-bearing shrubs, if planted near the
orchard, will serve to protect more valuable
fruits. In California in certain years it has
been possible to save the olive crop from hungry
robins only by the most strenuous exertions and
considerable expense. The bird's general use-
fulness is such, however, that all reasonable
means of protecting orchard fruit should be
tried before killing the birds. (See Farmers'
Bui. 54, pp. 44-46, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.)

MOCKING BIRD {Mimus polyglottos)

Length, 10 inches. Most easily distinguished
from the similarly colored loggerhead shrike
(opp. p. 124) by the absence of a conspicuous
black stripe through the eye.

Range: resident from southern Mexico north
to California, Wyoming, Iowa, Ohio, and INIary-
land; casual farther north.

Habits and economic status: Because of its
incomparable medleys and imitative powers,
the mocking bird is the most renowned singer
of the Western Hemisphere. Even in confine-
ment it is a masterly performer, and formerly
thousands were trapped and sold for cage birds,
but this reprehensible practice has been largely
stopped by protective laws. It is not surpris-
ing, therefore, that the mocking bird should
receive protection principally because of its
ability as a songster and its preference for the
vicinity of dwellings. Its place in the affections
of the South is similar to that occupied by the
robin in the North. It is well that this is true,
for the bird appears not to earn protection from
a strictly economic standpoint. About half of
its diet consists of fruit, and many cultivated
varieties are attacked, such as oranges, grapes,
figs, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries.
Somewhat less than a fourth of the food is
animal matter, and grasshoppers are the largest
single element. The bird is fond of cotton
worms, and is known to feed also on the chinch
bug, rice weevil, and bollworm. It is unfor-
tunate that it does not feed on injurious insects
to an extent sufficient to offset its depredations
on fruit. (See Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric.
1895, pp. 415-416, and Biol. Survey Bui. 30,
pp. 52-56.)

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK {Zamelodia
ludoviciana)

Length, 8 inches.

Range: Breeds from Kansas, Ohio, Georgia
(mountains), and New Jersey, north to southern
Canada; winters from Mexico to South America.

Habits and economic status: this beautiful
grosbeak is noted for its clear, melodious notes.

which are poured forth in generous measure.
The rosebreast sings even at midday during
summer, when the intense heat has silenced
almost every other songster. Its beautiful
plumage and sweet song are not its sole claim
on our favor, for few birds are more beneficial
to agriculture. The rosebreast eats some green
peas and does some damage to fruit. But this
mischief is much more than balanced by the
destruction of insect pests. The bird is so fond
of the Colorado potato beetle that it has earned
the name of "potato-bug bird," and no less than
a tenth of the total food of the rosebreasts
examined consists of potato beetles — evidence
that the bird is one of the most important
enemies of the pest. It vigorously attacks
cucumber beetles and many of the scale insects.
It proved an active enemy of the Rocky Moun-
tain locust during that insect's ruinous invasions,
and among the other pests it consumes are the
spring and fall cankerworms, orchard and forest
tent caterpillars, tussock, gipsy, and brown-tail
moths, plum curculio, army worm, and chinch
bug. In fact, not one of our birds has a better
record. (See Biol. Survey Bui. 32, pp. 33-59.)
BOBOLINK {Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

Length, about 7 inches.

Range: breeds from Ohio northeast to Nova
Scotia, north to Manitoba, and northwest to
British Columbia; winters in South America.

Habits and economic status: when American
writers awoke to the beauty and attractiveness
of our native birds, among the first to be en-
shrined in song and story was the bobolink.
Few species show such striking contrasts in
color of the sexes, and few have songs more
unique and whimsical. In its northern home
the bird is loved for its beauty and its rich
melody; in the South it earns deserved hatred
by its destructiveness. Bobolinks reach the
southeastern coast of the L^nited States the last
half of April just as rice is sprouting and at once
begin to pull up and devour the sprouting
kernels. Soon they move on to their northern
breeding grounds, where they feed upon insects,
weed seeds, and a little grain. When the young
are well on the wing, they gather in flocks with
the parent birds and gradually move south-
ward, being then generally known as reed birds.
They reach the rice fields of the Carolinas about
August 20, when the rice is in the milk. Then
until the birds depart for South America planters
and birds fight for the crop, and in spite of
constant watchfulness and innumerable devices
for scaring the birds a loss of 10 per cent of the
rice is the usual result. (See Biol. Survey Bui.
13, pp. 12-22.)

BREWER'S BLACKBIRD {Euphagus cyano-
cephalus)

Length, 10 inches. Its glossy purplish head
distinguishes it from other blackbirds that do not
show in flight a trough-shaped tail.

Range: Breeds in the West, east to Texas,
Kansas, and Minnesota, and north to southern
Canada; winters over most of the United States
breeding range, south to Guatemala.

126

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Habits and economic status: Very numerous
in the West and in fall gathers in immense flocks,
especially about barnyards and corrals. During
the cherry season in California Brewer's black-
bird is much in the orchards. In one case they
were seen to eat freely of cherries, but when a
neighboring fruit raiser began to plow his orchard
almost every blackbird in the vicinity was upon
the newly opened ground and close at the plow-
man's heels in its eagerness to get the insects
exposed by the plow. Caterpillars and pupte
form the largest item of animal food (about 12
per cent). Many of these are cutworms, and
cotton bollwornis or corn earworms were found
in 10 stomachs and codling-moth pupie in 11.
Beetles constitute over 11 per cent of the food.
The vegetable food is practically contained in
three items — grain, fruit, and weed seeds.
Grain, mostly oats, amounts to 54 per cent;
fruit, largely cherries, 4 per cent; and weed
seeds, not quite 9 per cent. The grain is prob-
ably mostly wild, volunteer, or waste, so that
the bird does most damage bv eating fruit.
(See Biol. Surv. Bui. 34, pp. 59-65.)

MEADOWLARKS {Stuniella magna and
Sturnella neglccta)

Length, about lOf inches.

Range: Breed generally in the United States,
southern Canada, and Mexico to Costa Rica;
winter from the Ohio and Potomac Valleys and
British Columbia southward.

Habits and economic status: Our two
meadowlarks, though differing much in song,
resemble each other closely in plumage and
habits. Grassy plains and uplands covered with
a thick growth of grass or weeds, with near-by
water, furnish the conditions best suited to the
meadowlark's taste. The song of the western
bird is loud, clear, and melodious. That of its
eastern relative is feebler and loses much by
comparison. In many localities the meadow-
lark is classed and shot as a game bird. From
the farmer's standpoint this is a mistake, since
its value as an insect eater is far greater than as
an object of pursuit by the sportsman. Both
the boll weevil, the foe of the cotton grower, and
the alfalfa weevil are among the beetles it
habitually eats. Twenty-five per cent of the
diet of this bird is beetles, half of which are
predaceous ground beetles, accounted useful
insects, and one-fifth are destructive weevils.
Caterpillars form 11 per cent of the food and
are eaten in every month in the year. Among
these are many cutworms and the well-known
army worm. Grasshoppers are favorite food
and are eaten in every month and almost every
day. The vegetable food (24 per cent of the
whole) consists of grain and weed seeds. (See
Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr. 1895, pp. 420-426.)

RED-WIXGED BLACKBIRD {Agelaius
phoen iceus)

Length, about 9^ inches.

Range : Breeds in Mexico and North America
south of the Barren Grounds; winters in south-
ern half of United States and south to Costa
HiciJ..

Habits and economic status: The prairies of
the upper Mississippi Valley, with their nu-
merous sloughs and ponds, furnish ideal nesting
places for redwings, and consequently this
region has become the great breeding ground for
the species. These prairies pour forth the vast
flocks that play havoc with grain-fields. East of
the Appalachian Range, marshes on the shores
of lakes, rivers, and estuaries are the only avail-
able breeding sites and, as these are compara-
tively few and small, the species is much less
abundant than in the West. Redwings are
eminently gregarious, living in flocks and breed-
ing in communities. The food of the redwing
consists of 27 per cent animal matter and 73
per cent vegetable. Insects constitute prac-
tically one-fourth of the food. Beetles (largely
weevils, a most harmful group) amount to 10
per cent. Grasshoppers are eaten in every
month and amount to about 5 per cent. Cater-
pillars (among them the injurious army worm)
are eaten at all seasons and aggregate 6 per cent.
Ants, wasps, bugs, flies, dragonflies, and spiders
also are eaten. The vegetable food consists of
seeds, including grain, of which oats is the
favorite, and some small fruits. When in large
flocks this bird is capable of doing great harm to
grain. (See Biol. Survey Bui. 13, pp. 33-34.)

COMMON CROW {Corvus hrachyrhynchos)

Length, 19 inches.

Range: Breeds throughout the United States
and most of Canada; winters generally in the
United States.

Habits and economic status: The general
habits of the crow are universally known. Its
ability to commit such misdeeds as pulling corn
and stealing eggs and fruit and to get away
unscathed is little short of marvelous. Much
of the crow's success in life is due to cooperation,
and the social instinct of the species has its
highest expression in the winter roosts, which
are sometimes frequented by hundreds of thou-
sands of crows. From these roosts daily flights
of many miles are made in search of food. In-
jury to sprouting corn is the most frequent
complaint against this species, but by coating
the seed grain with coal tar most of this damage
may be prevented. Losses of poultry and eggs
may be averted by proper housing and the
judicious use of wire netting. The insect food
of the crow includes wireworms, cutworms,
white grubs and grasshoppers, and during out-
breaks of these insects the crow renders good
service. The bird is also an efficient scavenger.
But chiefly because of its destruction of bene-
ficial wild birds and their eggs the crow must be
classed as a criminal, and a reduction in its
numbers in localities where it is seriously de-
structive is justifiable. (See Farmers' Bui. 54,
pp. 22-23.)

BLUE JAY (Cijanocitta cristata)

Length, 11^ inches. The brilliant blue of the
wings and tail combined with the black crescent
of the upper breast and the crested head dis-
tinguish this species.

BOOK OF NATURE

127

Range: Resident in the eastern United States
and southern Canada, west to the Dakotas,
Colorado, and Texas.

Habits and economic status: The blue jay
is of a dual nature. Cautious and silent in the
vicinity of its nest, away from it it is bold and
noisy. Sly in the commission of mischief, it is
ever ready to scream "thief" at the sHghtest
disturbance. As usual in such cases, its re-
marks are applicable to none more than itself,
a fact neighboring nest holders know to their
sorrow, for during the breeding season the jay
lays heavy toll upon the eggs and young of
other birds, and in doing so deprives us of the
services of species more beneficial than itself.
Approximately three-fourths of the annual
food of the blue jay is vegetable matter,^ the
greater part of which is composed of mast, i. e.,
acorns, chestnuts, beechnuts, and the like.
Corn is the principal cultivated crop upon
which this bird feeds, but stomach analysis
indicates that most of the corn taken is waste
grain. Such noxious insects as wood-boring
beetles, grasshoppers, eggs of various cater-
pillars and scale insects constitute about one-
fifth of its food. (See Farmers' Bui. 54, pp. 18-19.)

NIGHTHAWK {Chordeiles virginianus)

Length, 10 inches. Not to be confused with
the whippoorwill. The latter lives in woodland
and is chiefly nocturnal. The nighthawk often
flies by day, when the white bar across the wing
and its nasal cry are distinguishing.

Range: Breeds throughout most of the
United States and Canada; winters in South
America.

Habits and economic status: The skilful
evolutions of a company of nighthawks as the
birds gracefully cleave the air in intersecting
circles is a sight to be remembered. So expert
are they on the wing that no insect is safe from
them, even the swift dragonfly being captured
with ease. Unfortunately their erratic flight
tempts men to use them for targets, and this
inexcusable practice is seriously diminishing
their numbers, which is deplorable, since no
birds are more useful. This species makes no
nest, but lays its two spotted eggs on the bare
ground, sometimes on the gravel roof of the
city house. The nighthawk is a voracious
feeder and is almost exclusively insectivorous.
Some stomachs contained from 30 to 50 differ-
ent kinds of insects, and more than 600 kinds
have been identified from the stomachs thus far
examined. From 500 to 1000 ants are often
found in a stomach. Several species of mos-
quitoes, including Anopheles, the transmitter of
malaria, are eaten. Other well-known pests
destroyed by the nighthawk are the Colorado
potato beetle, cucumber beetles, chestnut, rice,
clover-leaf and cotton-boll weevils, billbugs.
bark beetles, squash bugs, and moths of the
cotton worm.

FLICKER {Colaptes auratus)

Length, 13 inches. The yellow under sur-

face of the wing, yellow tail shafts, and white
rump are characteristic.

Range: Breeds in the eastern United States
west to the plains and in the forested parts of
Canada and Alaska; winters in most of the
eastern United States.

Habits and economic status: The flicker in-
habits the open country rather than the forest
and delights in park-like regions where trees are
numerous and scattered. It nests in any large
cavity in a tree and readily appropriates an
artificial box. It is possible, therefore, to insure
the presence of this useful bird about the farm
and to increase its numbers. It is the most
terrestrial of our woodpeckers and prociu*es much
of its food from the ground. The largest item
of animal food is ants, of which the flicker eats
more than any other common bird. Ants were
found in 524 of the 684 stomachs examined and
98 stomachs contained no other food. One
stomach contained over 5000 and two others
held over 3000 each. While bugs are not largely
eaten by the flicker, one stomach contained 17
chinch bugs. Wild fruits are next to ants in
importance in the flicker's dietary. Of these
sour gum and wild black cherry stand at the
head. The food habits of this bird are such as
to recommend it to complete protection. (See
Biol. Survey Bui. 37, pp. 52-58.)

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (SpAj/rapi-

cus varius)

Length, about 85 inches. Only woodpecker
having top of head from base of bill red, com-
bined with a black patch on breast.

Range: Breeds in northern half of the United
States and southern half of Canada; winters in
most of the States and south to Costa Rica.

Habits and economic status: The yellow-
bellied sapsucker is rather silent and suspicious
and generally manages to have a tree between
himself and the observer. Hence the bird is
much better known by its works than its ap-
pearance. The regular girdles of holes made by
this bird are common on a great variety of
trees; in all about 250 kinds are known to be
attacked. Occasionally young trees are killed
outright, but more loss is caused by stains and
other blemishes in the wood which result from
sapsucker punctures. These blemishes, which
are known as bird pecks, are especially numerous
in hickory, oak, cypress, and yellow poplar.
Defects due to sapsucker work cause an annual
loss to the lumber industry estimated at $1,250,-
000. The food of the yellow-beUied sapsucker
is about half animal and half vegetable. Its
fondness for ants counts slightly in its favor.
It eats also wasps, beetles (including, however,
very few wood-boring species), bugs, and spiders.
The two principal components of the vegetable
food are wild fruits of no importance and cam-
bium (the layer just beneath the bark of trees).
In securing the cambium the bird does the
damage above described. The yellow-bellied
sapsucker, unlike other woodpeckers, thus does
comparatively little good and much harm.
(See Biol. Survey Bui. 39.)

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

CHICKADEE {Penthestes atricapillus)

Length, about 53^ inches.

Range: Resident in the United States (ex-
cept the southern half east of the plains),
Canada, and Alaska.

Habits and economic status: Because of its
delightful notes, its confiding ways, and its fear-
lessness, the chickadee is one of our best known
birds. It responds to encouragement, and by
hanging within its reach a constant supply of
suet the chickadee can be made a regular visitor
to the garden and orchard. Though insig-
nificant in size, titmice are far from being so
from the economic standpoint, owing to their
numbers and activity. While one locality is
being scrutinized for food by a larger bird, 10
are being searched by tlie smaller species. The
chickadee's food is made up of insects and
vegetable matter in the proportion of 7 of the
former to 3 of the latter. Moths and cater-
pillars are favorites and form about one-tliird
of the whole. Beetles, ants, wasps, bugs, flies,
grasshoppers, and spiders make up the rest.
The vegetable food is composed of seeds, largely
those of pines, with a few of the poison ivy and
some weeds. There are few more useful l)irds
than the chickadees. (See Farmers' Bui. 54,
pp. 43-44.)

HOUSE WREN {Troglodytes edon)

Length, 4| inches. The only one of our wrens
with wholly whitish underparts that lacks a
light line over the eye.

Range. Breeds throughout the United States
(except the South Atlantic and Gulf States) and
southern Canada; winters in the southern
United States and Mexico.

Habits and economic status: The rich, bub-
bling song of the familiar little house wren is
one of the sweetest associations connected with
country and suburban life. Its tiny body, long
bill, sharp eyes, and strong feet peculiarly adapt
it for creeping into all sorts of nooks and cran-
nies where lurk the insects it feeds on. A cavity
in a fence post, a hole in a tree, or a box will be
welcomed alike by this busybody as a nestuig
site; but since the advent of the quarrelsome
English sparrow such domiciles are at a premium
and the wren's eggs and family are safe only in
cavities having entrances too small to admit the
sparrow. Hence it behooves the farmer's boy
to provide boxes the entrances to which are
about an inch in diameter, nailing these under
gables of barns and outhouses or in orchard
trees. In this way the niunbers of this useful
bird can be increased, greatly to the advantage
of the farmer. Grasshoppers, beetles, cater-
pillars, bugs, and spiders are the principal ele-
ments of its food. Cutworms, weevils, ticks,
and plant lice are among the injurious forms
eaten. The nestlings of house wrens consume
great quantities of insects. (See Yearbook
U. S. Dept. Agric. 1895, pp. 416-418, and Biol.
Survey Bui. 30. pp. 60-62.)

CATBIRD (Dumetella carolinensis)

Length, about 9 inches. The slaty gray
plumage and black cap and tail are distinctive.

Range: Breeds throughout the United States
west to New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, and Wash-
ington, and in southern Canada; winters from
the Gulf States to Panama.

Habits and economic status: In many locali-
ties the catbird is one of the commonest birds.
Tangled growths are its favorite nesting places
and retreats, but berry patches and ornamental
shrubbery are not disdained. Hence the bird
is a familiar dooryard visitor. The bird has a
fine song, unfortunately marred by occasional
cat calls. With habits similar to those of the
mocking bird and a song almost as varied, the
catbird has never secured a similar place in
popular favor. Half of its food consists of
fruit, and the cultivated crops most often in-
jured are cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and
blackberries. Beetles, ants, crickets, and grass-
hoppers are the most important element of its
animal food. The bird is known to attack a
few pests, as cutworms, leaf beetles, clover-root
curculio, and the periodical cicada, but the good
it does in this way probably does not pay for the
fruit it steals. The extent to which it should be
protected may perhaps be left to the individual
cultivator; that is, it should be made lawful to
destroy catbirds that are doing manifest damage
to crops. (See Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric.
1895, pp. 406-411.)

BARN SWALLOW {Hirundo erytkrogasta)

Length, about 7 inches. Distinguished among
our swallows by deeply forked tail.

Range: Breeds throughout the United States
(except the South Atlantic and Gulf States) and
most of Canada; winters in South America.

Habits and economic status: This is one of
the most familiar birds of the farm and one of
the greatest insect destroyers. From daylight
to dark on tireless wings it seeks its prey, and
the insects destroyed are countless. Its favorite
nesting site is a barn rafter, upon which it sticks
its mud basket. Most modern barns are so
tightly constructed that swallows can not gain
entrance, and in New England and some other
parts of the country barn swallows are much less
numerous than formerly. Farmers can easily
provide for the entrance and exit of the birds
and so add materially to their numbers. It may
be well to add that the parasites that sometimes
infest the nests of swallows are not the ones the
careful housewife dreads, and no fear need be felt
of the infestation spreading to the houses.
Insects taken on the wing constitute the almost
exclusive diet of the barn swallow. More than
one-third of the whole consists of flies, including
unfortunately some useful parasitic species.
Beetles stand next in order and consist of a few
weevils and many of the small dung beetles of
the May beetle family that swarm over the
pastures ia the late afternoon. Ants amount
to more than one-fifth of the whole food, whil§
wasps and bees are well representeci.

BOOK OF NATURE

129

PURPLE MARTIN {Progne subis)

Length, about 8 inches.

Range: Breeds throughout the United States
and southern Canada, south to central Mexico;
winters in South America.

Habits and economic status: This is the
largest as it is one of the most beautiful of the
swallow tribe. It formerly built its nests in
cavities of trees, as it still does in wild districts,
but learning that man was a friend it soon
adopted domestic habits. Its presence about
the farm can often be secured by erecting houses
suitable for nesting sites and protecting them
from usurpation by the English sparrow, and
every effort should be made to increase the
number of colonies of this very useful bird.
The boxes should be at a reasonable height, say
15 feet from the ground, and made inaccessible
to cats. A colony of these birds on a farm
makes great inroads upon the insect population,
as the birds not only themselves feed upon in-
sects but rear their young upon the same diet.
Fifty years ago in New England it was not
uncommon to see colonies of 50 pairs of martins,
but most of them have now vanished for no
apparent reason except that the martin houses
have decayed and have not been renewed.
More than three-fourths of this bird's food
consists of wasps, bugs, and beetles, their im-
portance being in the order given. The beetles
include several species of harmful weevils, as the
clover-leaf weevils and the nut weevils. Be-
sides these are many crane flies, moths, May
flies, and dragonflies.

ENGLISH SPARROW {Passer domesticus)

Length, about 6J inches. Its incessant chat-
tering, quarrelsome disposition, and abundance
and familiarity about human habitations dis-
tinguish it from our native sparrows.

Range: Resident throughout the United
States and southern Canada.

Habits and economic status: Almost uni-
versally condemned since its introduction into
the United States, the English sparrow has not
only held its own, but has ever increased in
numbers and extended its range in spite of all
opposition. Its habit of driving out or even
killing more beneficial species and the defiling of
buildings by its droppings and by its own un-
sightly structures, are serious objections to this
sparrow. Moreover, in rural districts, it is
destructive to grain, fruit, peas, beans, and
other vegetables. On the other hand, the bird
feeds to some extent on a large number of insect
pests, and this fact points to the need of a new
investigation of the present economic status of
the species, especially as it promises to be of
service in holding in check the newly introduced
alfalfa weevil, which threatens the alfalfa in-
dustry in Utah and neighboring States. In
cities most of the food of the English sparrow is
waste material secured from the streets.

SPARROW HAWK (Falco sparverius)

Length, about 10 inches. This is one of the
best known and handsomest, as well as the
smallest, of North American hawks.

Range : Breeds throughout the United States,
Canada, and northern Mexico; winters in the
United States and south to Guatemala.

Habits and economic status: The sparrow
hawk, which is a true falcon, lives in the more
open country and builds its nest in hollow trees.
It is abundant in many parts of the West, where
telegraph poles afford it convenient perching
and feeding places. Its food consists of insects,
small mammals, birds, spiders, and reptiles.
Grasshoppers, crickets, and terrestrial beetles
and caterpillars make up considerably more than
half its subsistence, while field mice, house mice,
and shrews cover fully 25 per cent of its annual
supply. The balance of the food includes birds,
reptiles, and spiders. Contrary to the usual
habits of the species, some individuals during the
breeding season capture nestling birds for food
for their young and create considerable havoc
among the songsters of the neighborhood. In
agricultural districts when new ground is broken
by the plow, they sometimes become very tame,
even alighting for an instant under the horses
in their endeavor to seize a worm or insect.
Out of 410 stomachs examined, 314 were found
to contain insects; 129, small mammals; and
70, small birds. This little falcon renders good
service in destroying noxious insects and rodents
and should be encouraged and protected. (See
Biol. Survey Bui. 3, pp. 115-127.)

RED-TAILED HAWK {Buteo borealis)

Length, about 2 feet. One of our largest
hawks; adults with tail reddish brown.

Range: Breeds in the United States, Mexico,
Costa Rica, Canada, and Alaska; winters
generally in the United States and south to
Guatemala.

Habits and economic status: The red-tailed
hawk, or "hen-hawk," as it is commonly called,
is one of the best known of all our birds of prey,
and is a widely distributed species of great
economic importance. Its habit of sitting on
some prominent limb or pole in the open, or
flying with measured wing beat over prairies
and sparsely wooded areas on the lookout for its
favorite prey, causes it to be noticed by the
most indifferent observer. Although not as
omnivorous as the red-shouldered hawk, it feeds
on a variety of food, as small mammals, snakes,
frogs, insects, birds, crawfish, centipedes, and
even carrion. In regions where rattlesnakes
abound it destroys considerable numbers of the
reptiles. Although it feeds to a certain extent
on poultry and birds, it is nevertheless entitled to
general protection on account of the insistent
warfare it wages against field mice and other
small rodents and insects that are so destructive
to yoimg orchards, nursery stock, and farm
produce. Out of 530 stomachs examined, 457,
or 85 per cent, contained the remains of mammal
pests such as field mice, pine mice, rabbits,.

130

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

several species of ground squirrels, pocket
gophers, and cotton rats, and only 6i contained
the remains of poultry or game birds. (See
Biol. Survey Bui. 3, pp. 48-62.)

COOPER'S HAWK {Accipiter cooperi)

Length, about 15 inches. Medium sized,
with long tail and short wings, and without the
white patch on rump which is characteristic of
the marsh hawk.

Range : Breeds throughout most of the United
States and southern Canada; winters from the
United States to Costa Rica.

Habits and economic status: The Cooper's
hawk, or "blue darter," as it is familiarly known
throughout the South, is preeminently a poultrj--
and bird-eating species, and its destructiveness
in this direction is surpassed only by that of its
larger congener, the goshawk, which occasionally
in autumn and winter enters the United States
from the North in great numbers. The almost
universal prejudice against birds of prey is
largely due to the activities of these two birds,
assisted by a third, the sharp-shinned hawk,
which in habits and appearance might well pass
for a small Cooper's hawk. These birds usually
approach under cover and drop upon unsuspect-
ing victims, making great inroads upon poultry
yards and game coverts favorably situated for
this style of himting. Out of 123 stomachs
examined, 38 contained the remains of poultry
and game birds, 66 the remains of other birds,
and 12 the remains of mammals. Twenty-eight
species of wild birds were identified in the above-
mentioned material. This destructive hawk,
together with its two near relatives, should be
destroyed by every possible means. (See Biol.
Survey Bui." 3, pp.' 38-43.)

MOURNING DOVE {Zenaidura macroura)

Length, 12 inches. The dark spot on the side
of the neck distinguishes this bird from all
other native doves and pigeons except the white-
winged dove. The latter has the upper third of
wing white.

Range: Breeds throughout the L'nited States
and in Mexico, Guatemala, and southern Can-
ada; winters from the central United States to
Panama.

Habits and economic status: The food of the
mourning dove is practically all vegetable
matter (over 99 per cent), principally seeds of
plants, including grain. Wheat, oats, rye, corn,
barley, and buckwheat were found in 150 out
of 237 stomachs, and constituted 32 per cent of
the food. Three-fourths of this was waste
grain picked up after harvest. The principal
and almost constant diet is weed seeds, which
are eaten throughout the year and constitute
64 per cent of the entire food. In one stomach
were found 7500 seeds of yellow wood sorrel, in
another 6400 seeds of barn grass or foxtail, and
in a third 2600 seeds of slender paspalum, 4820
of orange hawkweed, 950 of hoary vervain,
120 of Carolina cranesbill, 50 of yellow wood
sorrel, 620 of panic grass, and 40 of various other
weeds. None of these are useful, and most of

them are troublesome weeds. The dove does
not eat insects or other animal food. It
should be protected in every possible way.
(See Farmers' Bui. 54, pp. 6-7.)

KILLDEER {Oxyechus vocijerus)

Length, 10 inches. Distinguished by its
piercing and oft-repeated cry — kildce.

Range: Breeds throughout the United States
and most of Canada; winters from central
United States to South America.

Habits and economic status: The killdeer is
one of the best known of the shorebird family.
It often visits the farmyard and commonly nests
in pastures or cornfields. It is rather suspicious,
however, and on being approached takes flight
with loud cries. It is noisy and restless, but
fortunately most of its activities result in bene-
fit to man. The food is of the same general
nature as that of the upland plover, but is more
varied. The killdeer feeds upon beetles, grass-
hoppers, caterpillars, ants, bugs, caddis flies,
dragonflies, centipedes, spiders, ticks, oyster
worms, earthworms, snails, crabs, and other
Crustacea. Among the beetles consumed are
such pests as the alfalfa weevil, cotton-boll
weevil, clover-root weevil, clover-leaf weevil,
pine weevil, billbugs, white grubs, wireworms,
and leaf beetles. The bird also devours cotton
worms, cotton cutworms, horse-flies, mos-
quitoes, cattle ticks, and crawfish. One stom-
ach contained hundreds of larva? of the salt-
marsh mosquito, one of the most troublesome
species. The killdeer preys extensively upon
insects that are annoying to man and injurious
to his stock and crops, and this should be
enough to remove it from the list of game birds
and insure its protection. fSee Farmers' Bui.
497, pp. 16-18.)

UPLAND PLOVER {Bartramia longicauda)

Length, 12 inches. The only plainly colored
shorebird which occurs east of the plains and
inhabits exclusively dry fiekls and hillsides.

Range: Breeds from Oregon, Utah, Okla-
homa, Indiana, and ^'irginia, north to Alaska;
winters in South America.

Habits and economic status: This, the most
terrestrial of our waders, is shy and wary, but it
has the one weakness of not fearing men on
horseback or in a vehicle. One of these methods
of approach, therefore, is nearly always used by
the sportsman, and, since the bird is highly
prized as a table delicacy, it has been hunted
to the verge of extermination. As the upland
plover is strictly beneficial, it should no longer
be classed as a game bird and allowed to be
shot. Ninety-seven per cent of the food of this
species consists of animal forms, chiefly of
injurious and neutral species. The vegetable
food is mainly weed seeds. Almost half of the
total subsistence is made up of grasshoppers,
crickets, and weevils. Among the weevils
eaten are the cotton-boll weevil, greater and
lesser clover-leaf weevils, cowpea weevils, and
billbugs. This bird devours also leaf beetles,
wireworms, white grubs, army worms, cotton

THE LONELY TENANT OF A LANE BY NIGHT— THE BARN-OWL OF THE COUNTRYSIDE

ISl

132

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

worms, cotton cutworms, sawfly larviie, horse-
flies, and cattle ticks. In brief, it injures no
crop, but consimies a host of the worst enemies
of agriculture (See Farmers' Bui. 497, pp.
14-16.)

KINGBIRD (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Length, about SA inches. The white lower
surface and white-tipped tail distinguish this
flycatcher.

Range: breeds throughout the United States
(except the southwestern part) and southern
Canada; winters from Mexico to South
America.

Habits and economic status: the kingbird
is a pronounced enemy of hawks and crows,
which it vigorously attacks at every oppor-
tunity, thereby affording efficient protection to
near-by poultry yards and young chickens at
large. It loves the open country and is espe-
cially fond of orchards and trees about farm
buildings. No less than 85 per cent of its food
consists of insects, mostly of a harmful nature.
It eats the common rose chafer or rose bug, and
more remarkable still it devours blister beetles
freely. The bird has been accused of eating
honeybees to an injurious extent, but there is
little groimd for the accusation, as appears from
the fact that examination of 034 stomachs
showed only 61 bees in 22 stomachs. Of these
51 were useless drones. On the other hand, it
devours robber flies, which catch and destroy
honeybees. Grasshoppers and crickets, with a
few bugs and some cutworms, and a few other
insects, make up the rest of the animal food.
The vegetable food consists of fruit and a few
weeds. The kingbird deserves full protection.
(See Biol. Survey Bui. 44. pp. 11-19.)

SCREECH 0\VL {Otus asio)

Length, about 8 inches. Our smallest owl
with ear tufts. There are tv/o distinct phases
of plumage, one grayish and the other bright
rufous.

Range: resident throughout the United
States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico.

Habits and economic status: the IHtle screech
owl inhabits orchards, groves, and thickets,
and hunts for its prey in such places as well as
along hedge rows and in the open. During
warm spells in winter it forages quite extensively
and stores up in some hollow tree quantities of
food for use during inclement weather. Such
larders often contain enough mice or other prey
to last it over a week or more. With the excep-
tion of the burrowing owl it is probably the most
insectivorous of the noctural birds of prey.
It feeds on small mammals, birds, reptiles,
batrachians, fish, spiders, crawfish, scorpions,
and earthworms. Grasshoppers, crickets,
ground-dwelling beetles, and eater-pillars are
its favorites among insects, as are field mice
among mammals and sparrows among birds.
Out of 324 stomachs examined, 169 were
found to contain insects; 142, small mam-
mals, 56, birds; and 15, crawfish. The screech
owl should be encouraged to stay near barns and

outhouses, as it will keep in check house mice
and wood mice, which frequent such places.
(See Biol. Survey Bui. 3, pp. 163-173.)

BARN OWL {Aluco pratincola)

Length, about 17 inches. Facial disk not
circular as in our other owls; plumage above,
pale yellow; beneath, varying from silky white
to pale bright tawny.

Range: resident in Mexico, in the southern
United States, and north to New York, Ohio,
Nebraska, and California.

Habits and economic status: the barn owl,
often called monkey-faced owl, is one of the
most beneficial of the birds of prey, since it
feeds almost exclusively on small mammals that
injure farm produce, nursery, and orchard stock.
It hunts principally in the open and conse-
quently secures such mammals as pocket
gophers, field mice, common rats, house mice,
harvest mice, kangaroo rats, and cotton rats.
It occasionally captures a few birds and insects.
At least a half bushel of the remains of pocket
gophers have been found in the nesting cavity
of a pair of these birds. Remembering that a
gopher has been known in a short time to
girdle seven apricot trees worth $100 it is hard
to overestimate the value of the service of a
pair of barn owls. One thousand two hundred
and forty-seven pellets of the barn owl collected
from the Smithsonian towers contained 3,100
skulls, of which 3,004, or 97 per cent, were of
mammals; 92 or 3 per cent, of birds; and 4
were of frogs. The bulk consisted of 1,987
field mice, 656 house mice, and 210 common
rats. The birds eaten were mainly sparrows
and blackbirds. This valuable owl should be
rigidly protected throughout its entire range.
(See Biol. Survey Bui. 3, pp. 132-139.)

RUFFED GROUSE {Bonasa umhellus)

Length, 17 inches. The broad black band
near tip of tail distinguishes this from other
grouse.

Range: resident in the northern two-thirds
of the United States and in the forested parts of
Canada.

Habits and economic status: the ruffed
grouse, the famed drummer and finest game bird
of the northern woods, is usually wild and wary
and under reasonable protection well withstands
the attacks of hunters. Moreover, when re-
duced in numbers, it responds to protection in
a gratifying manner and has proved to be well
adapted to propagation under artificial condi-
tions. Wild fruits, mast, and browse make up
the bulk of the vegetable food of this species.
It is very fond of hazelnuts, beechnuts, chest-
nuts and acorns, and it eats practically all kinds
of wild berries and other fruits. Nearly 60
kinds of fruits have been identified from the
stomach contents examined. Various weed
seeds also are consumed. Slightly more than
10 per cent of the food consists of insects, about
half being beetles. The most important pests
devoured are the potato beetle, clover-root
weevil, the pale-striped flea beetle, grapevine

BOOK OF NATURE

133

leaf-beetle. May beetles, grasshoppers, cotton
worms, army worms, cutworms, the red-humped
apple worm, and sawfly larvae. While the
economic record of the ruffed grouse is fairly
commendable, it does not call for more stringent
protection than is necessary to maintain the
species in reasonable numbers. (See Biol.
Survey Bui. 24, pp. 25-38.)

BOBWHITE {Colinus virginianus)

Length, 10 inches. Known everywhere by
the clear whistle that suggests its name.

Range: resident in the United States east
of the plains; introduced in many places in the
West.

Habits and economic status: the bobwhite is
loved by every dweller in the country and
is better known to more hunters in the
United States than any other game bird. It is
no less appreciated on the table than in the
field, and in many states has unquestionably
been hunted too closely. Fortunately it seems
to be practicable to propagate the bird in
captivity, and much is to be hoped for in this
direction. Half the food of this quail consists of
weed seeds, almost a fourth of grain, and about
a tenth of wild fruits. Although thus eating
grain, the bird gets most of it from stubble.
Fifteen per cent of the bobwhite's food is com-
posed of insects, including several of the most
serious pests of agriculture. It feeds freely
upon Colorado potato beetles and chinch bugs;
it devours also cucumber beetles, wireworms,
billbugs, clover-leaf weevils, cotton-boll weevils,
army worms, bollworms, cutworms, and Rocky
Mountain locusts. Take it all in all, bobwhite
is very useful to the farmer, and while it may not
be necessary to remove it from the list of game

birds every farmer should see that his own farm
is not depleted by eager sportsmen. (See Biol,
Survey Bui. 21, pp. 9-46.)

DOWNY WOODPECKER {Dryobates pubes-
scens)

Length, 6 inches. Our smallest woodpecker;
spotted with black and white. Dark bars on
the outer tail feathers distinguish it from the
similarly colored but larger hairy woodpecker.

Range: Resident in the United States and
the forested parts of Canada and Alaska.

Habits and economic status: This wood-
pecker is commonly distributed, living in wood-
land tracts, orchards and gardens. The bird
has several characteristic notes, and, like the
hairy woodpecker, is fond of beating on a dry
resonant tree branch a tattoo which to apprecia-
tive ears has the quality of woodland music.
In a hole excavated in a dead branch the downy
woodpecker lays four to six eggs. This and the
hairy woodpecker are among our most valuable
allies, their food consisting of some o" the worst
foes of orchard and woodland, which the wood-
peckers are especially equipped to dig out of
dead and living wood. In the examination of
723 stomachs of this bird, animal food, mostly
insects, was found to constitute 76 per cent of
the diet and vegetable matter 24 per cent. The
animal food consists largely of beetles that bore
into timber or burrow under the bark. Cater-
pillars amount to 16 per cent of the food and
include many especially harmful species. Grass-
hopper eggs are freely eaten. The vegetable
food of the downy woodpecker consists of small
fruit and seeds, mostly of wild species. It dis-
tributes seeds of poison ivy, or poison oak,
which is about the only fault of this very useful
bird. (See Biol. Survey Bui. 37, pp. 17-22.)

.<i

ISJt

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

WHAT HAPPENS IN A HIVE OF BEES

IF YOU have ever seen a swarm of
bees issue from a hive, fill the
summer morning with a cloud of
flashing wings and glad riot of music,
and then come to rest at last, all the
thousands of reckless truants gathered
in one dense, silent mass, gently sway-
ing from the branch of a tree, you have
seen one of the most mysterious sights in
all the round of Nature.

The wonder of it lies not so much in
the spectacle itself, although that is
startling, but in the fact that the
honey-bees, of all creatures on earth,
should behave in this surprising way.
If the honey-bees were in the habit
of congregating in this way on fine
summer mornings, returning to their
hive after a few hours' enjoyment of
the air and sunshine, it would be inter-
esting, yet little more; but that is
not what happens. That is not the
habit of the bees. This great swarm
of theirs ic the first they have known,
and of the thousands that have issued
so jubilantly from the hive, which has
been home to them from their first
moment of life, not one will ever re-
turn. The swarm, from how onward,
will become a separate colony of bees;
and even if the new home should be
within a few feet of the old home, and
hard times should come upon it, every
bee in the new home will starve, and
die at her post, rather than go back to
the place where prosperity and plenty
await her after only an instant's flight.

Moreover, we are faced with this
mysterious thing. Today, before the
swarm has issued, the twenty or thirty
thousand worker bees, destined to go
forth in a few hours, would instantly
defend the mother hive against an
assailant with their last energy and the
last drop of venom in their stings. But
tomorrow when the new colony has
come into existence, not a single one

of those bees would stir a wing to save
the old home that was all-in-all to
them but yesterday, no matter what
danger might threaten it. As far as
they are concerned, the old home has
now utterly ceased to exist.

iA,-«

jj,mmsmm^ia^

'^^^B^^^Bthsr ^

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^^^^^g^ri

^^^^^

^i^^S^^

^PP

^ji

Swarm of Bees Hanging From a Beam

We see the hive at one moment
going about its business in a quiet and
orderly fashion, and the next suddenly
throwing a dark and living stream
upon the air. We see the winged
multitude flinging itself broadcast
overhead in what appears to be a mad
confusion. But then we see a com-
mon purpose gradually reveal itself
amid this chaos. The madly pirouet-
ting, vociferating crew, after sailing
about bodily hither and thither against
the blue sky, at length seems to be
concentrating at one spot. At the tip
of a branch a little knot of bees has
formed itself, no bigger than a single
leaf; but even as we gaze this black
spot doubles its volume. A moment
more, and it has doubled again, and it
grows and grows, as we watch, at
amazing speed. We note now that,
from all quarters, the flying bees are
streaming towards this common center.
In an incredibly brief interval, the air
is empty of winged life. Every bee
has attached herself to the cluster, and
the branch is bowed down with the

BOOK OF NATURE

135

The upper and lower wings of the honey bee

f^ llHll' '" 1 i"?!?!-'!-! 'Illl

\ ' "-^;

""f

1 he hiM.k.s thut liuld the upper and lower wings oi a bee togetuer wuen in flight

The empty pollen pocket of the bee, In the joint ol ita leg The pollen pocket ol the bee laden after a visit to the garden

THE GROWTH OF THE HONEY-BEE IN THE TINY CELL

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEE FROM THE EGG LAID IN THE CELLS

THE EGGS LAID BY THE QUEEN IN THE CELLS. SHOWN IN VARIOUS STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

THE WISE LITTLE CREATURES THAT EMERGE FROM THE EGGS SEEN ABOVE — THE QUEEN BEE
IS IN THE MIDDLE, WITH A DRONE ON HER LEFT AND A WORKER ON THE RIGHT.

136

BOOK OF NATURE 137

weight of it, almost to the ground, in the late spring. The store-houses

There it hangs, a dark brown, glisten- are full to overflowing; the hive is

ing, cigar-shaped mass, idly swaying crowded to the very door with a great

to and fro in the sun. population of bees ; thousands more are

And now let us see what manner of being born every day. And then this
creature it is that has done this thing, strange thing happens. The creatures
For 364 days out of 365 in the year a who have been at such infinite pains
hive of bees presents an almost perfect to bring about all this fullness and pros-
example of law and order, prudence, perity, whose industry and ingenuity
and untiring industry. Every member have resulted in such an amazing
of the colony — and in the height of structure, such an abounding accumu-
summer a colony may consist of fifty lation of wealth, appear suddenly to
or sixty thousand individuals — has its go back on all their long-cherished
allotted work to do, and does it in a principles. They throw work to the
very fever of conscientiousness, resting winds, rush madly to sport and play,
neither day nor night. The queen, abandon forever all their possessions,
the one mother bee in the hive, passes and utterly beggar themselves — all, as
incessantly over the combs, deposit- far as we can see, for the wild frolic of
ing eggs in the little cells to the num- an hour. And tomorrow we shall see
ber of several thousands in a single them sober and industrious again, as
day. The worker bees hurry in and forgetful, apparently, of their wild es-
out of the hive, bringing in nectar capade as they are of the very existence
from the flowers, to be brewed into of the home of plenty they have for-
thick, golden honey; or bringing pollen saken for all time, beginning life afresh,
to be made into food for the young with a feverish accession of energy, as
bees when they are only tiny white they attach the first atom of wax
grubs with staring black eyes, lying to their empty house, and hurry forth
inert in the cells; or bringing water, to gather the first drop of nectar, or
which is indispensable at nearly all first pollen-loads, to feed the children
stages of the life of a bee. Even the yet unborn.

drones, of which there are only a few The issue of a swarm is inevitably
hundreds in each hive, have their ap- connected with another thing perhaps
pointed tasks. The drone is by no more curious still. Though a great
means the idle, dissolute fellow he is army of bees has come surging out of
made out to be in the old-fashioned the hive, many have remained behind.
Nature books. He does not work If we look into the hive immediately
simply because he has not been pro- after the departure of the swarm, we
vided with any tools of labor — his find there still a great gathering. The
tongue is too short to reach the nectar ordinary daily affairs of the colony
at the base of the flower-cups, he has seem to go forward in the old way, in
no baskets on his thighs in which to spite of the upheaval. The combs are
transport the pollen, he cannot make covered with bees engaged in the usual
wax or build up honeycomb. But he, occupations— storing the nectar, feed-
as well as the workers, has many im- ing the young grubs, sealing over the
portant offices vital to the well-being ripe honey-cells, and closing up the
of the hive. cells in which the larvse have reached

So the hive goes on, day after day, full growth. And the question at once

month after month, until the colony rises in the mind — why did all those

reaches its high tide of prosperity bees rush from the home, never to

THE LIFE OF THE BEE IN ITS WONDERFUL HIVE

The queen bee deposits an egg In each cell In this comb. The royal cells are all constructed like the large cell at the
bottom.

1S8

BOOK OF NATURE

139

return, while all these others remained
at their tasks, apparently uncon-
cerned? By what means were some
chosen and the others left?

As far as is known, no man has ever
been able to answer that question. It
is certain that the bees to go are
chiefly mature workers accustomed to
fly abroad, and that they take with
them the queen of the old colony.
It is certain, also, that the majority
of the bees that remain are young
w^orkers and drones, whose experience
of out of doors has been mostly con-
fined to short airing flights in the
midday sunshine round the hive. But
that is all we know — that the stock
does divide itself in this way, and the
phenomenon must depend on urgent,
definite laws — it must fulfil some
imperious need, for it is obviously
brought about by forces that are
instant and irresistible.

Yet, though the life of the honeybee
must ever rouse a spirit of wonder, it
is not always fraught with mystery.
There are aspects of it that the wisest
of us may never come to understand;
but, considered as an intelligent sys-
tem, it is far from being mysterious;
intricate and ingenious as it appears
to us, its meaning and purpose stand
out clear as day.

Bees are ordained to live together
in a dense community, all the energy
and ability of thousands of individuals
united for the common good. What,
then, do we see in a hive? The first
things we see are the unique systems
of rearing the young, and methods of
making and storing honey, which is
merely food laid by for the coming
winter. For both of these purposes a
continuous high temperature is needed,
and the hive is therefore a closed
receptacle, so that heat may be re-
tained. But this warmth must first
be generated and then economized,
and both objects are attained by

restricting the enclosed space to the
least dimensions needed for the combs
and the living heat-producers, the
inhabitants of the hive. Limitation
of space being thus necessary, it follows
that the cells, which are needed for
rearing the brood and storing the
honey, must be made of the thinnest
material, and of such a shape that
they will pack together in the least
possible compass. How does the hon-
eybee solve this problem?

First, the bee proceeds to create
within her own body a material which
is lighter, tougher, and more elastic
than anything that can be obtained
out of doors. Then she ascertains
the size of cell necessary for a full-sized
grub, and proceeds to fashion a series
of these cells. She makes each cell
six-sided in form, because cells of this
shape will fit together side by side over
a given surface without leaving any
waste spaces between. Moreover, a
larger number of six-sided cells will
go into a given area than cells of any
other shape.

And now the bee perfects her scheme
for greatest efficiency and economy by
two crowning strokes. Every cell
must be closed in at one end. Instead
of grouping her cells in horizontal
planes mouth upwards, as do the wasps,
she places them on their sides, building
a vertical wall with them, and sets two
of these walls back to back, so that one
partition will suffice to close two cells.
But a still more ingenious economy in
material is now brought about. In-
stead of making the cell-bottom flat,
the bee constructs it of three diamond-
shaped plates which fit together,
forming a blunt pyramid. The result
is that the cells, while retaining their
necessary length in their centers, fit
together where they meet back to
back, like the teeth of a rat-trap, over-
lapping each other, and thus saving
considerable in both space and ma-

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

terial. The comb of the honeybee ex-
ists today, in this age of mechanical
wonders, as one of the most ingenious
mechanical contrivances in the world.

But perhaps the most wonderful
thing about a beehive consists not in
any custom or achievement of its
inhabitants, but in the bodily structure
of the worker bee herself. The fact
that she accomplishes so many great
works and overcomes so many diffi-
culties seems less of a miracle when we
watch her under the microscope, see
how wonderfully she is made, and with
what a sheaf of ingenious implements
she is provided. She is first of all to
be a honeymaker, and is therefore
equipped with a tongue which can be
used either as a sort of sponge to take
up minute quantities of nectar, or as a
tube which can be thrust into the finest
apertures, and by which the most care-
fully hidden stores can be sucked up.
For the conveyance of these sweets to
the hives, she has within her body an
elastic reservoir whose contents can
be discharged through the mouth at
will.

On the worker bee devolves the
duty of supplying the pollen, an indis-
pensable ingredient of the food given
to the young larvae, to the stay-at-
home queen, to the drones, and some-
times to the workers themselves. For
the purpose of collecting this pollen,
nearly the whole of the body of the
bee is covered with curiously branched
hairs, like herring-bones, to which the
grains of pollen adhere as the bee
climbs into the flower. From these
hairs the pollen is removed every
moment or two by a process of groom-
ing, which the bee carries out by means
of a pair of beautifully constructed
curry-combs carried on the hind legs.
From these combs the pollen grains
are again removed and kneaded to-
gether, after which the mass is packed
into baskets formed by the stiff bristles

on the thigh. The pollen thus ac-
cumulated often makes a lump of
immense size compared with that of
its bearer, and the bees may be seen
fairly staggering into the hive under
the weight of their golden loads.

The method of constructing the
cells is even more remarkable than the
method of provisioning them. These
have to be made of excessive thinness
in order that as little space as possible
may be taken up, but they must be
capable of bearing immense strains,
and of resisting the high temperature
of the hive. There is no natural sub-
stance affording all the qualities needed
by the bee for her building work, so she
must create it for herself. This she
does by means of her wax-pockets —
six tiny crucibles lying under the hard
plates of the lower part of her body.
In these pockets are generated tiny
oval scales looking like flakes of clear
glass, and this is the raw material of
the comb. The bee has two pairs of
pincers, one on each of her hind legs,
and with these she draws out the
brittle scales from her wax-pockets,
and proceeds to chew them up,
mingling with the substance a strong
acid secreted by certain glands in the
jaws. Then, and only then, does the
material we know as beeswax come
into existence, and the worker imme-
diately sets about the task of molding
it into comb.

But all this marvelous work of
comb-building, with its exquisite regu-
larity of form and accuracy of dimen-
sion, is carried on in what seems to us
total darkness. How is it possible for
the bees to construct it so perfectly,
working in crowded comjDanies to-
gether, the whole comb growing out-
ward and downward in all directions
at one and the same time.f* Here,
again, we are faced with a question
which the ingenuity of man has failed
to answer. A partial explanation

BOOK OF NATURE

may be found in the fact that the bee
is provided with eyes which actually
make light of what we regard as com-
plete darkness, but this will not solve
the difficulty. Vision alone, however
perfect, could never guide the bee in
all the tasks she performs within the
hive. Perhaps she has not only our
own five senses, but other senses of
which we can form little conception.
An examination of her antennae — the
curious flail-like organs protruding
from the middle of her forehead,
which she incessantly uses in all her
affairs — discloses evidence of this. On
these antennae we find no less than
six distinct kinds of implements, all
obviously organs of sense, and all per-

haps conveying different impressions.
We cannot be far wrong, therefore, in
imagining that the bee has faculties,
inconceivable in ourselves, which are
necessary in her own special place in
the scheme of life.

It would be easy to go on thus
multiplying instances of the bee's
amazing equipment for the work she
does in the world. Many books have
been filled with stories of this little
friend of ours, one of the most inter-
esting creatures in the universe. But
we must study the bee, not in books
only, but in the hive itself, for though
it is good to read of what other eyes
have seen, it is better to see for our-
selves.

HOW INSECTS GUARD THEIR YOUNG

THE noblest thing in all the
world is your mother's love
for you, and this beautiful
thing, without which the world could
not have been, runs through creation.
The great love which moves a mother
to live or die, if need be, for her chil-
dren, has its root deep in the universe,
and from this seed springs the hap-
piness of our race and the future
of all life.

It is really true, as Charles Dickens
said, that it is love that makes the
world go round. Throughout the an-
imal world, as in the human race, runs
this golden thread of love. Even the
fierce spider, which gobbles up her
husband, is a loving mother to her
children; the savage crocodile val-
iantly defends the eggs she has laid;
the cold-blooded serpent, which will
kill every other living thing, coils her
form around the eggs from which her
children will emerge. The mother
bear is never so much to be feared as
when her cubs need defending; the
mother elephant is never so skilful
and clever as when her baby gambols
clumsily at her side.

Yet crocodile and bear and elephant,
admirable as they are in motherhood,
are not more admirable than the
humble earwig, and not so laborious in
their nursery duties as the bee and the
ant and the wasp. Such insects, in-
deed, rank next to mankind as wise
and loving parents. All that they do
in planning and organizing their lives
is prompted by the love of their little
ones. The homes they make, marvels
of accurate design and finish, are not
for themselves, but for their helpless
young.

We remember that many kinds of
insects never see their children, and we
ask ourselves, can it be love for their
unknown little ones which prompts
these insects to labor in constructing
nurseries and laying up stores of food?
Nobody can answer that with cer-
tainty. Man is wise, but he does not
know all things. The senses of insects
are not like our own, and we do not
know how insects feel towards one an-
other, whether love guides them, or
what we call instinct. What is in-
stinct? It is described by one of our
highest authorities as "reasoning which

OFFER OF LIFE TO THE EARTH AND SUN

Grasshopper depositing her eggs in a nest under the ground

bpider mother holding up her egg to the sun, turning it round and round — A wonderful photograph taken by a French

naturalist.

142

BOOK OF NATURE US

is organized, systematized, automatic." leave large families behind, and these

Let us bear that in mind, for it helps would learn to deposit their eggs in

us to understand the puzzling question the right place. Those not profiting

which rises to the mind. Can insects by experience would see their little

be said to love their children whom ones perish, and would die without

they never see? Some children's ques- leaving families behind. In course of

tions perplex the most learned phil- time, as the right and wise choice

osophers, and this is one of them. Let grew into a habit, the care of the

us follow it up for a moment. parents for their young would become

We know that millions of moths, less and less necessary,
butterflies, midges, and other winged Mothers who live just long enough
insects die soon after leaving the to lay their eggs and die
chrysalis stage. These can never see The process of laying eggs would be
their little ones, yet, in due season, in hurried on; the insect would live its
place of the parents the children ap- life at a greater rate, as we say; and,
pear. Many insects do not eat, can- a great amount of work being crowded
not eat. Their mouths are imperfect, into shorter space, the little body of
There is a food reserve in their bodies the fragile insect would wear out
on leaving the chrysalis, and when that sooner. So the lives of the parents
is exhausted they die. How does such grew shorter and shorter, until today
a mother, which does not eat, under- many insect mothers have nothing to
stand the kind of food its caterpillar do but lay their eggs and die. Let us
will require? How can the midge, take one — the clothes moth. She
whose life as a perfect insect is passed never eats, because she cannot, yet
on the wing, know that its eggs must there is not a living creature in the
be laid in water? How does the lordly world that takes greater care in select-
dragonfly know the same thing? Is ing a nursery for her young. She
it love for the children who will not chooses a garment of wool or hair,
be born until they themselves are dead and from her eggs come forth the
which guides them, and prompts this tiniest of caterpillars. The garment
marvelous selection of place for the chosen by the careful little mother is
eggs? The answer to this has taken a the luxuriant pasture of the baby cater-
long time to discover, and it is a fasci- pillar, which eats the fabric upon
nating one. which it is hatched with as great a

It is believed that long, long ago the delight as a beautiful deer eats the

insects which now die as soon as they grass of the park,

have laid their eggs lived much longer. bees and ants industrious little

Those of today, which cannot eat, creatures

had ancestors that could eat, and did The queen bee and the queen ant

eat, and may have lived long, and in are at the pinnacle of insect organiza-

that age insects would learn to choose tion, but there are equal wonders to

the right food for their little ones, be found among bees and wasps which

They would see the eggs hatch, and do not assemble in cities,

the little ones grow up and thrive Here each mother has to make a

when their food and their surroundings little dwelling of her own, and it is

were favorable. Gradually they would strange to trace the different plans

learn by experience the place to choose followed. Some of the wasps — our

and the kind of food to select. Those common wasps, for example — are

insects, profiting by experience, would social in their habits. They do not

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

dwell in hives in the midst of a popula-
tion which goes on from year to year,
but create a family round themselves
during the summer, and for a few
months have a properly organized
city, such as the first of the old-world
beehives must have been. There
comes a time in every year when all
the worker wasps die; only the queens
live through the winter. In the spring
the queen seeks a site for her nest.
It may be a hole in the ground, or a
hollow tree, it may even be a position
beneath the roof of a house. She
chews woody, fibrous substances into a
paste, which hardens into a sort of
paper, and of this her cells are made.
In each of these she lays an egg, from
which a worker wasp appears in a very
short time. Each worker at once be-
gins to build new cells, and to help its
mother with the labor of the home.
The nest grows bigger and bigger, tier
upon tier. In each cell the queen
wasp places an egg. More workers
are born, and when all is ready the
new queen wasps and the drones are
hatched. These fly forth and do not
return. The labor of the home is
completed. The workers have done
their task. They have seen the queens
and the princes depart, and they are
ready for death.

Many kinds of homes are made by
wasps and bees whose organization
runs upon these lines. Some of the
wasps hang splendid nests from the
boughs of bushes and trees. The
queen begins the work; the workers
help her to finish it. The best ex-
ample of this kind is that of the wood
wasps, of which there are many
species. One kind of wood wasp has
so many chi'dren that the united
labors of all produce a nest five feet
in length. What an enormous struc-
ture to be made by such little insects!

Another interesting nest is that of
what we call the solitary wasps.

Here the mother wasp has the entire
responsibility of providing for her
family, and she makes the nursery in
all sorts of places. It may be a little
home tunneled in sandstone, or in a

Eggs of the common bumble-bees in their underground

nests.

The mud nest of a solitary wasp, showing the comb In
which it lays its eggs.

The carpenter bee's house of many stories In the branch
of a tree.

BOOK OF NATURE

mud wall, or in timber; sometimes
advantage may be taken of an inviting
keyhole. The house may be fashioned
of paper made from wood or fiber, or
of mud, or even of little pellets of sand
cemented together by a fluid from the
mouth of the insect. An example that
we may all study is the common wall
wasp.

She makes her cradle in a wall, in
which she constructs a tunnel, and
lines it with paper, forming the snug-
gest little dwelling imaginable. Here
she lays her egg. The mother will not
be there when the larva leaves the egg ;
she will never see the little creature
for which she is making a home, so
she must prepare a food supply to last
it through its infant life. Bees can
make honey, wasps cannot, so the
wasp must provide an artificial food
supply. This is done in an extraor-
dinary way. The mother wasp
attacks another insect; it may be
caterpillar, spider, or moth. Now,
if the insect were simply walled up in
the nest until such time as the wasp
grub hatched and could eat, the
prisoner would die and become poison-
ous. To prevent that, the wasp stings
it in a vital place. The wound
paralyzes the insect so that it cannot
move, and cannot feel any pain.
Paralyzed and insensible, the insect
will retain just enough life to last
until the young grub emerges from
the egg of the mother wasp, and its
body will be there ready to form a
meal for the little creature emerging
into life. The cells stocked by a
solitary wasp may contain a number
of such victims, each cell possessing a
supply of food sufficient to last the
infant until it passes from the larva
stage into a complete wasp. The
idea of leaving a wounded insect alive
and lingering in this way seems
horrible to us, but there is consolation
in the thought that the victim in-

Thirteen hundred moths' eggs on a leaf, and eggs largely
magnified.

The lace-wing moth's egg on the end of a stalk, and
wasps' eggs in a paper nursery.

The cradle ot a bee made from a leaf, and a grub feeding
In it.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

stantly loses all sense of pain, and
knows nothing of what happens.
Insects using sting and poison are
unerring in their aim. They know
exactly where to strike, and, as it is a
great nerve-center which is maimed,
there can be no feeling or sensation
afterwards.

The solitary bees have prettier
ways than this. They leave honey for
their babies, and leave it in models
of skilful contrivance. When we see
holes in the rose leaves — clean-cut,
semicircular holes — we know that one
of the leaf-cutting bees has been there
for a cradle. Very cleverly she makes
a tunnel in the ground or in the trunk
of a tree or in a wooden post; then she
flies to a rose leaf or a willow leaf,
hangs by her legs to the edge of it,
and with her strong jaws cuts away a
piece the exact size required. Just
before she makes the last cut she sets
her wings in motion, and hovers
steadily in the air. Then she flies to
her tunnel, shapes the piece of leaf
like a thimble, and lines the bottom
of the boring with it. When it is
made quite secure, she flies off to the
flower-bed, collects nectar and pollen,
kneads a little loaf of "bee-bread,"
deposits it in the leaf, and lays an egg
in the larder-cradle. Next she cuts
another piece of leaf, and with this
roofs over the cell. Afterwards she
cuts still more leaf, and with that
makes a second cell, which she rests on
top of the first, the bottom, shaped
like the nose of a thimble, fitting per-
fectly into the hollowed roof of the
one below. With great care she seals
up all the places from which honey
might leak, and to this cell also she
gives an egg and a supply of pollen and
honey. From six to ten cells, one on
top of another, may be made in this
way, until the shaft is filled with
cradles. The top of the tunnel is then
covered over, and the bee flies away.

knowing, we may imagine, that she
has done her duty to the children that
are to come to life in this marvelous
home she has made.

The wonderful house that the car-
penter BEE BUILDS

Carpenter bees make still more
elaborate homes. They bore deep
tunnels inside the trunks of trees. At
the lowest depth a little chamber is
prepared. Here the bee deposits an
egg with a proper food supply. Then
the chamber is tightly roofed over with
water-tight paper made by the bee
from the wood of the tree. Above
this first chamber a second is made, and
this in turn is stored with an egg and
food before the roof is put on. The
roof of the cell below serves for the
floor of the chamber above. It is a
beautiful piece of work, about as thick
as a cent, and made in rings, the outer
ring being cemented to the wood of
the tree, the inner rings gradually
filling up the opening until the cell is
completely closed. The chewed wood
of which the ceiling is formed is
rendered watertight by a fluid from
the bee's mouth, so that there is no
danger of the honey stored in one cell
leaking into the one below and leaving
the little tenant to starve. A car-
penter bee may make two or three
such tunnels, each with from seven to
eight cells, so that we may imagine
with what great determination she
works for the good of the children she
will never see.

The leaf-cutting bee is not the only
insect to employ leaves for the cradles
of her young ones. Leaves form the
homes of many of Nature's tiny
children; some tiny moths pass their
caterpillar stage actually within leaves,
tunneling the leaves and eating the
parts they excavate, just as the great
fat larvae of the wood-boring beetles
eat the pulped fragments of wood that
they gnaw in the interior of tree trunks.

INSECT MOTHERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Mother spider carrjing her yoving

A mother mole cricket with her family

An earwig guarding her little ones
147

U8 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The clever cradle made by a mother Some spiders are not by any means

BEETLE FROM A LEAF Content merely to guard and guide

But we come now to work upon their babies, but actually carry them

leaves performed not by the larvae but about on their backs, so that they may

by their parents — the leaf-rolling not stray into danger. Two kinds of

beetles. These beetles make cuts in spiders have really wonderful homes

the leaves as the bees do, but for a for their young. One is the raft spider,

different purpose. Beginning at the which binds leaves and fragments of

top of a leaf, they bite a semicircular weed together, and floats it on water,

track down to the tough center of the The eggs are carried on this raft, and

leaf, which we call the midrib. Half the young ones, which in due course

the leaf, detached from its upper will pop out to dine on land just

support, hangs limp, and this half is as freely as they will run upon the

rolled down by the beetle into a water, are actually born upon the deep !

series of coils, which hang parallel to The water-spider constructs a lovely

the midrib. Then the second half little palace of silk actually beneath the

of the leaf is cut in the same way as water, fills it with air carried down

the first, but is wound round the first from above, and in this beautiful

half. The beetle lays her eggs inside dwelling lays her eggs. The young

the folded leaf, fastens down the outer ones are born in a silken diving-bell,

fold upon the first, seals up the bottom and the faithful mother rests in her

of the home, then gives a sharp bite to fairy dwelling with them, going aloft

the upper part of the midrib, to make only at intervals to catch food and

the entire leaf limp and easy for the bring down fresh supplies of air.

baby beetles to eat when they are We must all wish that the gnat or

hatched. Then her work is done, mosquito, were not so clever and careful

The little ones will never see their in her treatment of her eggs, for while

mother, but when they issue from the the many gnats merely bite and cause

eggs they will find the wilted leaf that one to smart, some of their relatives

she has prepared, and will find it not carry poison germs which kill thousands

only a cradle but food. They will eat of people. The female gnat constructs

and be merry, change from grubs into a raft. She may make use of a piece

the pupa form, drop to the ground, of floating leaf, or may make a raft of

and bury themselves in the soil for the eggs themselves. The eggs are

the winter. Then, in the spring, they cigar-shaped, and are glued together

will come forth as beetles, and the to the number of 200 or more, and

females will attack other leaves. stand upright in a solid mass, the

But it is not all insects, of course, heavier part pointing downwards, the

who never see their children; many light part at the top. Owing to the

insect parents have the joy of seeing tiny spaces between the tops of the

their babies about them. Some spi- eggs, it is impossible for them to sink

ders carry their eggs about with them in or get wet. If they are driven under

a little yellowish-white bundle of silk, water a bubble of air accompanies

and great is their distress if they mis- them, forming a shield for the tops of

place it or if it is taken from them, the eggs, and so keeping them dry.

When the little ones are hatched, the In places where these mosquitoes

mother keeps careful watch over them, cause disease, men fight them by cover-

and shows the most desperate courage ing the water with petroleum, which,

in defending them. being lighter than water, floats on the

MARVELOUS HOMES OF THE WATER SPIDER

The water spider comes up for an air bubble

And carries the bubble to its nest

The sil^ air chamber, In which the water spider lives down In the water — Spiders bringing down Iresh air Irom the surface

140

150 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

surface, so that w hen the larvae come the home and providing for the future

to the surface they cannot breathe, of the httle ones. Even when the

and die at once. mother insect does not trouble herself

As the great water-beetle is the with the task of rearing her family,

monarch of the pond, we might expect she has to undertake the great respon-

her to lay her eggs in the water, as the sibility of finding the exact position

mosquito does; but she does not. The in which her children will thrive. The

mother beetle weaves a wonderful mother scarab, or sacred beetle, of

cocoon, which contains upwards of which our common dor beetle is a

a hundred eggs. This cocoon she cousin, displays the greatest skill in

places on the soil by her pond, care- her effort to preserve her little one

fully hidden, in such a position that from death before it is old enough to

the larvae, when hatched, can enter withstand the rough usage of the world,

the water as soon as they desire. The These beetles, which the ancient

larvae pass their infancy in the water, Egyptians regarded as sacred, eat

but to make their change into the unpleasant forms of food, but prepare

chrysalis stage they have to go ashore a special compound for their young,

again, and bury themselves in the The food is formed into a little sphere,

damp earth, finally to emerge as and the small egg is placed in the food,

winged beetles, equally at home in the but at the extreme end of the mass,

air and on the surface of the water, and at that end a tiny opening is left,

handsome and interesting to all but not actually bare, but guarded by a

the living things which they seek as fine lattice-work, just enough to admit

prey. The common smaller water- air.

beetle makes for herself a cocoon of silk The rest of the food supply is

for her eggs actually in the water, coated with a hard substance resem-

The eggs do not need their gauzy bling clay, and the whole is placed in a

little yacht to enable them to hatch, tunnel under the ground. Unless the

for they come to life in the water; but site were carefully chosen, the food-

the silken covering protects them mass encased in clay, the heat from

from carnivorous creatures, and that the burning sun would dry up the ball

is why the painstaking mother labors of food, so that the grub would starve

to prepare this dainty cradle for them, in its cradle, A French naturalist.

So far we have found that only M. Fabre, has given us the remarkable

female insects look to the care and story of this insect in full, and for the

upbringing of the children, but we first time has shown that the ancient

must note that in certain sea-spiders Egyptians were right in believing that

known as the Pycnogonida the males the little scarab comes from this ball

are the nurses. In these the males of matter.

carry the eggs attached to their legs It is wonderful to find this sense of

vmtil the baby spiders are hatched, duty in such lowly creatures, and we

Generally speaking, however, the find it running widely through the

mother is solely responsible for making insect world.

BEAUTIFUL FORMS OF SHELL SAND OF THE SEASHORE

When we examine the sand on the seashore it reveals millions of little shells so tiny that we need the help of a micro-
scope to see them. These little creations are marvels of form and color. The illustrations above show a number of forms
as revealed under a powerful microscope, while the color shadings are so wonderful that man with all his skill cannot imitate
them. Many of the cliffs and rocks in the vicinity of the English Channel were formed from these sand shells which througb
millions of years were gradually changed into solid forms.

151

ANIMAL LIFE IN OCEAN DEPTHS

INHABITANTS OF THE DEEP

We know that all life began in the sea, and we have read how life came out of the
sea to cover the land. But life did not leave the sea forever. There is still more life
in the depths of the ocean than on the land. The sea teems with unnumbered forms
of life — life as simple as that which first swam in the waters, and life as wonderful
as that of the whales and dolphins and seals. There are fishes that sail through the
air high enough above the water that we call them flying fishes. There are fishes
that are found out of the water. There are fishes that build nests at the bottom of
the sea; and in cliffs and mountains we find myriads of skeletons of tiny creatures
that once lived and breathed on the ocean-bed. In these pages we read of the many
wondrous forms of life in the seas today.

NOT the wisest men on earth
know the full story of the
sea and its wonders. How
can they? They have to seek knowl-
edge from the things that their dredges
bring up. That is as if we set to work
to examine some great, deep lake by
bringing up things from its depths in
a teaspoon. However, patient work
is constantly bringing new learning
to us. We know that there is no place
in the ocean where life is not possible.
The waters of the equatorial regions
and the seas of the temperate zone
abound with life, but so also do the
silent waters of the frozen Arctic
Circle.

Nature will have no blank spaces.
There is a place for everything, and
we find everything in its place. We
find, swimming upon the surface,
creatures which cannot descend. In
the middle depths we find fish which
cannot come to the surface lest,
without the proper pressure of water
upon their bodies, they should burst.
Those same creatures cannot descend
beyond a certain level; and below
these there are creatures which never
see the light, fulfilling in the unlit
depths of ocean the purpose for which
they were created.

For the present it will be interesting
for us to glance at some of the lowest
forms of life in the sea. We shall find
it as wonderful as anything in the
whole of Nature's fascinating story.

Let us consider the marvels of that
class of tiny organisms called infusoria.
They exist in fresh water and in the
water of the sea. In a single cupful
of pond-water, such as certain in-
fusorians love, there may be more of
them than there are people in the whole
world. The rate at which they grow
is astounding. One infusorian breaks
up into two; two become four; four
become eight; eight become sixteen,
and so on, almost as we watch.

Given the proper temperature and
nourishment, a single infusorian may
become in four days the ancestor of
a million like itself, in six days of a
billion, in seven and a half days of
a hundred billions. From that tiny
speck we have in seven and a half
days this countless host, weighing
over 200 lbs. Of course, the numbers
do not work out like this, for there
are merciful checks, or the whole
earth and its seas would not hold the
creatures that are born.

Floating upon the surface of the
sea, and stacked high over its bed,
are countless billions of these and
similar tiny creatures, dead and living.
Of what are the beautiful chalk cliffs
of England composed? Of nothing
but the shells of the tiniest little
creatures, which we call foraminifera.
They were all living creatures millions
of years ago.

They were born and had their day,
and they died, piles upon piles of

15S

SECRET OF THE PAST LOCKED IN A PEBBLE

The wearing down of the cliffs in which lie buried creatures of ages past — the top layer hundreds of thousands of years
old, the bottom layer a hundred million years old.

At high ti;le the waves beat against the cliffs and roll the great boulders about, wearing down the corners and edges
i:ito the shape ol pebbles.

THE PEBBLES AS THEY LIE ON THE BEACH TODAY. OFTEN CONTAINING A FOSSIL WHICH MAY BE
DISCOVERED AND PRESERVED BY CAREFUL SPLITTING OF THE STONE

The fossils in these pictures are, of course, shown very large. Those marked a and b help us to follow the history ol
one pebble.

15S

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

them, and their hmy shells turned to
chalk. And other white cliffs, which
will some day rise above the waters,
are still being built up beneath the
sea today. The tiny specks of life
in their little shells are still being born,
and are still dying down in the sea,
and they are forming ooze which will
some day be solid chalk. It would
take about ten millions of them to
make a pound of chalk, but there have
been enough to make millions of tons
of chalk.

The little animals that built up
the stones of paris and berlin

Some of the greatest mountain
ranges, the Alps and the Balkans, con-
sist largely of the shells of little
creatures like these, called nummulites.
Among the greatest wonders in the
world are the Sphinx and the Pyramids
in Egypt, built of dead nummulites.
They grew in seas which ran where dry
land now is. They formed the Arabian
chain of mountains; from these moun-
tains men cut the great blocks of which
the Sphinx and Pyramids are com-
posed. Paris is built of stone from a
similar source, and Berlin stands upon
foundations made up entirely of the
skeletons of tiny animals.

In view of all this, we shall not be
surprised to learn of the wonders of the
coral builders. These are very tiny
sea animals, which appear in their
glory only in the warm waters of
sunny seas. We all know what coral
is, the beautiful pink polished sub-
stance of which necklaces, bracelets,
and scores of pretty ornaments are
made. We know what coral is, but
the way in which it is made was for
two thousand years a mystery.
The little coral builders that

WORK DOWN in THE SEA

Long, long ago, men had been in the
habit of bringing it up from the sea in
nets and by other means. The com-
mon fishermen could not be expected

to know a great deal about its com-
position, but the wise men thought
they knew more, and they all agreed
that coral was simply a sort of rocky
flower grown in the sea. But how
could a flower be hard.f* That was
quite simple, they said. The fisher-
men told them that coral, when in the
sea, was quite soft like any other
flower, but that as soon as it reached
the air it became as hard as rock. And
for ages that was believed. But a
man who wished to know more sent
down a diver, who found, of course,
that coral beneath the waves is as hard
as coral above the waves. The good
man could not believe the word of his
diver, but went down in the water to
see for himself.

We know now that the coral builder
is one of the tiny, tireless workers of
the deep. The coral animals are as
numerous as the stars of heaven.
When born, they are quite soft, jelly-
like little things. But they have the
power to extract carbonate of lime
from the sea-water, and to build with
it the most wonderful structures. As
a bee makes its wax, or as the oyster
builds its shell, so the coral polyps
make lime from their food, building
up slowly and laboriously a most
beautiful and curious framework.

The WONDERFUL animal wall THAT
RISES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN

Some form structures, looking like
flowers. The colors are not always
the same. There are browns and
blues and greens, as well as the more
common pink. This coral is not made
as a bird makes its nest, not as the
mud plaster in which the rhinoceros
loves to bury himself in a swamp; the
coral is part of the coral animal itself.
It issues from the soft interior of the
little animal's body, and is its stony
covering or skeleton.

Countless hosts of coral polyps
working together join their skeletons

BOOK OF NATURE

155

or coverings to each other. They
build up from the bottom of the sea,
until they reach the top of the waves.
They make great reefs or barriers in
the sea where, before, the waves flowed
unchecked. The coral polyps build
islands. They put a great ring of
coral around a tract of water, and make
a lake within the boundaries of their
work. In places where they are most
numerous they quite change the char-
acter of the sea. The reefs and islands
are the actual coverings of millions of
coral polyps' bodies. They become
solid rock forming dry land for thou-
sands of miles in the sea. It is a
most wonderful work that these little
animals do by their own efforts.

We kriv>Ar how very difficult men,
with all til^ir skill and fine tools, find
it to build a lighthouse in the sea, but
here these tiny animals, working in
the depths of the furiously tossing
waves, build structures which have
no likeness in the world. One of their
works consists of a barrier reef along
the shores of New Caledonia, 400
miles long, and another, along the
northeast coast of Australia, 1000
miles in extent. As a great man
points out, this means a work by these
tiny things beside which the wall of
China and the Pyramids of Egypt are
like children's toys. The work has
been going on for many ages, it is
going on today. Of course, the result
is often very serious to ships, which run
on the coral reefs and get wrecked.
But that should not happen, for we
have charts of the seas to guard our
sailors against wreck in such a manner.
Living and building and dying in the

BLUE SEA

If they do damage in this manner,
the coral builders are friends to man-
kind in another way — they provide
homes for men where only the angry
sea once appeared. Sea animals of
various sorts bore into the coral and

loosen it, so that the waves break it
up. The great waves pick up huge
blocks of the loosened coral, and
throw it high up on the reefs, grinding
much of it to powder. Shells and
sand collect and are ground up to-
gether by the action of the waves.
The powdered mass collects in the
crevices of the reef, and presently
seeds blown from afar, or carried by
the sea, or brought by birds, take root
in the soil that has been slowly form-
ing. Entire trunks of trees, that have
been torn up and carried down the
rivers and out to sea, find a lodging
here. With these trees come small
animals, like lizards and insects.
Trees grow, sea-birds settle; tired
land-birds, blown out to sea, take rest;
and at last man comes, to find trees
and fruit and birds and other forms
of life. Here is a home ready made
for him. He cuts down the trees and
builds himself a house, and there we
have a new part of the world prepared
for human habitation. But the cre-
ators of it were the myriads of coral
animals, living and building and dying
in the blue sea.
The living flowers that grow on

THE living walls OF THE SEA

Growing on the coral reefs and
adding to their beauty, we find a
great many sea-anemones. At first
sight we should say that these are
vegetable growths. Their very name
suggests it.

The wood-anemone we all know, the
pretty flower of the country wood-
lands. Surely, then, the sea-anemone
must be the wood-anemone's cousin,
growing in the sea? But the anemone
of the sea is an animal, which can kill
and eat other forms of animal life and
by some process of instinct too mys-
terious for us to understand, can enter
into partnership with other animals,
just as birds enter into partnership
with crocodiles, buffaloes, and rhi-

STARFISH AND SEA ANEMONES

The brittle starash

A big sea slug

Delicate feather starfish

A group of sea anemones which resemble flowers, but which hunt and kill

These pictures of sea anemones have their mouths open and tentacles spread out ready to grasp the tiny animals of the
sea upon which they feed. They hunger, and hunt and kill living prey to satisfy their hunger. They take into part-
nership other animals like the hermit crab, which helps them to obtain food. The Portuguese man-of-war is a beautiful
thing, but stings painfully.

156

BOOK OF NATURE 157

noceroses. This animal-plant or plant- the top of the anemone with a finger,
animal, as we think it, grows in the It closes at once upon our finger, and
most elaborate and gorgeous forms, we feel that each little spike of the
A fairy wand could not create more fringe is roughened at the end, and
charming pictures than the sea-anem- gives a distinct pull at our finger, like
ones present. Some of them appear the rasped claw of some insect. They
to have a sense of sight, for what look are not strong enough to take in our
like eyes appear. They depend, how- finger, but they have received the
ever, on touch for their food. They necessary impulse which sets them at
have long, sensitive feelers, which look work. The anemone shuts up, be-
like petals or fringe. These, when lieving — if we may use that word —
anything fit for a sea-anemone to eat that it has caught a meal, and for
touches them, close like a flash upon some minutes you will find that it will
it, and draw it down the tube leading not attempt to reopen,
to the sea-anemone's stomach. It is a humble, lowly form of life.

Let us watch them in a sea aqua- yet there seems so much purpose and
rium. The sea-anemone, glistening and set plan about the way of the sea-
gay, grows at the bottom of the water, anemone that we are amazed and
or on the side of the glass, like some bewildered at such apparent method
extraordinary fringed mushroom with and skill. But the wonder only be-
its head the wrong way up. There is gins here. The partnerships of the
nothing to suggest that this is a sea-anemone are the most wonderful
hungry little animal. But wait! feature of its life. Let us consider
How THE ANEMONE LIVES WITH THE ^OT a moment Messrs. Crab, Anemone
CRAB, AND THE CRAB WITH SPONGES & Co. The hermit crab, while a

A lively shrimp darts through the vicious, quarrelsome little rascal, has
water. The tentacles of the anemone no shell to cover his tail. That is the
are instantly all of a quiver, ready to spot which his enemies attack. His
catch the little shrimp. The shrimp's one hope in life is, therefore, to win
instinct or experience tells him what and retain a secure covering for his
that means, and he darts away if he unprotected tail. He and the sea-
can. But he cannot always do so. anemone seem to come to an agree-
The sea-anemone must live and have ment. The sea-anemone affords him
his shrimps, or other form of food, and just the cover that he needs for his tail,
the tentacles close rapidly in, causing and he in exchange carries the sca-
the sea-anemone to shut up like a anemone about on his back,
flower which is going to sleep for the The tentacles of the sea-anemone
night. And if the effort made is are towards the nippers of the crab,
quick enough, the poor shrimp is and when he goes in pursuit of his
encircled by those terrible tentacles, prey, the anemone helps to kill it.
and drawn in to make a good meal for The anemone has stings which para-
the deceitful fisher. lyze or kill a little living animal. The

There are countless sea-anemones crab has, therefore, a powerful ally

growing upon our seashores. Some to help him in killing his food, and

look like rosettes, others like bobbins as he eats, the anemone shares his

with a frayed, fringed top. The meal. It is a profitable partnership,

fringe of tentacles lies widely expanded. The crab gets his tail protected; he

and we should never dream how is largely hidden from his enemies;

quickly they can move. Let us touch he is hidden, too, from the things that

LIVING LIGHT OF THE OCEAN DEPTHS

No man has been to the depths of the ocean in which such strange creatures as these live; but w« Inow that the be(l
of the seas swarm with phosphorescent fishes which live in great depths.

158

BOOK OF NATURE 159

he desires to attack. The sea-anem- by a growing whelk. Then comes a

one is carried about, and is kept in young sponge, sent forth on its hfe

constant touch with an ample supply journey by its parent. It settles upon

of food. Thus we have a life partner- the whelk shell in which the crab has

ship between the simple-looking plant- sheathed his tail. There the sponge

animal and a desperate warrior who grows and grows until it quite covers

is always battling. the shell, but it leaves open a channel

The study of sea-anemones is a most by which the crab can enter and

interesting one, and one which all depart. Then as the sponge and the

who reside by the seashore can pursue, crab grow bigger they take into

Think of them not as plants, but as partnership a little assistant, which is

animals, of which the larger will admitted into the interior of the

swallow a cent piece, or perhaps a sponge, simply that it may devour any

shell the size of a saucer, and then refuse which may collect in the home

divide into two living animals rather of the crab. Even such humble

than lose the booty it has managed to things as crabs and sponges have to

secure. guard against unclean homes; thus

The sea-anemone is not the only sea they are more careful than many

animal with which the crab goes into human beings. And that is why we

partnership. There is a certain sponge find the interior of the sponge occupied

in which he makes his home. We by a shell, a wormlike animal, and a

know that sponges are not vegetables, crab.

but animals. They admit the sea- Where the corals abound, fishes of

water through the canals in their the most brilliant color are always to

bodies. From this they extract tiny be found. The fishes protect them-

forms of life for their food, and at the selves by becoming colored like their

same time take the oxygen which the surroundings, just as the animals do.

water contains. That is the way But swimming with them are marvels

fishes breathe. They have no lungs, of colored jelly, as they seem. They

except in rare cases. They have gills, are the jellyfish. We may all see

over and through which the sea-water jellyfish at the seaside when the tide

washes. These gills take the oxygen goes out. Better still, on a favorable

from the water, and pass it into the day, we may see hundreds of them

bloodvessels, so that the fishes may floating on the sea as we go by steamer,

breathe as we breathe. The method Those round our coasts look like great

is, of course, very different, but the white or transparent leaves, with a

purpose and result are the same, little dash of red in the center, as

Well, that is the way in which the though they had been darned with

sponge, no matter what its name or colored wool. We do not have the

size, breathes and feeds and grows, jellyfish of brilliant color. They be-

In some of the channels running long to the warm seas of the tropics,

through the sponge the hermit crab But the nature of all jellyfishes is much

may make its home. Higher up in the same.

the same channel may be discovered Those of the tropics give off a bril-

a little shell, and some other tiny liant silvery light at night, which

animal. In this collection we have helps to make the sea like a gleaming

the history of four forms of life, mirror of liquid metal. Others are not

First of all the hermit crab pops his so attractive. If we catch one and lay

naked taU. into the empty shell left it on a piece of blotting-paper for

A NEW WAY OF EXPLORING THE OCEAN BEU AND RECOVERING LOST TREASURE FROM WRECKS

The explorers go down a tube, five feet wide, to a kind of diving bell, fitted with a powerful searclilight.

The tiny specks of life in the sea, lutown as diatoms. One diatom, magnified over a quarter ot a mUUon tlmeg.

160

BOOK OF NATURE

161

examination, we have to be very quick
with the examination, for the jellyfish
is composed largely of water, and it
simply dries up before our eyes. They
are not nice things to handle; they can
sting very badly, as all sea-bathers
know. The scientific name of the
jellyfishes and their kin is taken from
the Greek word which means nettle,
and sea-nettles is an English name for
the jellyfishes that sting.

By far the most alarming of the sea-
nettles is the Portuguese man-of-war,
or yhysalis. This looks like an in-
flated bladder, six inches long. Be-
neath it streams a number of organs,
important to the animal in gathering
and distributing food. The tentacles
which we most wish to avoid are those
which carry the stings. These are
intended to numb the prey of the
physalis, but woe to the" man who
comes in contact with them. They
flow out from the body of the animal
for some feet into the water, and are
heavily charged with stings and a
poisonous fluid. The merest touch
from them will raise a white swelling
on the hand, and for long afterwards
the hand and arm experience an
aching pain, which gradually extends
to the muscles of the chest, causing
some trouble in breathing.

The sea-anemones, the corals, the
jellyfish, and many other plant-like
sea animals, all belong to the same
family. We have another interesting
family, including the starfishes, sea-
urchins, sand-stars, brittle-stars, feath-
er-stars, and so forth.

The wonderful starfish that walks
along the bottom of the sea

^Ye may see hundreds of star-fish
at the seaside. There is not a simpler,
more innocent-looking thing to be
found by the sea than the starfish, par-
ticularly that commonest of all, the
five-fingered jack, or crossfish. Yet
it is really a rather wonderful creature.

Its organs are in the center of its body,
and the fingers branch out from that
center. The fingers are really the
legs, for there are tubular feet under-
neath them by means of which they
walk as comfortably along the sea-
bottom as we walk along the
beach.

The starfish has a terrible appetite,
and oysters, mussels, scallops, and
other shell-fish are its food. It seizes
its prey with its long and strong arms
or fingers, and, no matter how power-
ful the shell may be, by persistent
pressure the starfish manages to force
it open, and eat the fleshy interior.
Fisherman hate the starfish, and,
when they catch them, tear them in
two and fiing them into the sea. That
is not only cruel but stupid. Though
you tear a starfish in halves, the
animal can recover. Each of the
two halves heals and grows new
fingers, and, instead of a dead star-
fish in two halves, you soon have two
starfishes, fully equipped and very
much alive.

The SEA-CUCUMBER THAT THE CHINESE
PEOPLE LIKE

What we call the sea-cucumber is,
like all the other things we have
been considering, an animal. Its other
names are the sea-pudding, the sea-
slug, and the trepang. It has the
same sort of feet that the starfishes
possess — suckers which protrude from
tubes, and can get along over places
which seem quite impossible to it.

The common name of the sea-
cucumber suggests the idea which its
appearance presented to those who
bestowed the title upon it. The
Chinese consider it a great delicacy for
the table. There are many kinds of
sea-cucumbers, and the rarest bring
quite big prices. It does not sound
nice to eat sea-slug, and we in this
country are content to leave it to the
Chinese.

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

The mystery of the lowest forms
of life in the sea

We have now glanced briefly at
some of the lowest forms of life in the
sea. It is quite as wonderful as life
among the higher animals. We do not
expect much of animals that seem to

be no more highly gifted with life
than plants; but, as we have now seen,
there is a mystery and fascination about
these lowly creatures sufficient to
make even the wisest men marvel at
their habits.

SEA HORSE AND PIPE FISH

One peculiarity of the sea horse is that the apex of the head is at an angle with the rest of the body. Its superficial
resemblance to the Icnight of the chess board is striking. It is chiefly found in eel-grass or other vegetation and is wont to
twist its very prehensile tail around some stalk and there remain in an upright position.

TIGER OF THE DEEP

ON ACCOUNT of its size, activ-
ity and strength, the Bengal
Tiger should undoubtedly
share equal honors with the lion,
which has been awarded the kingship
of all the land animals for a long time.
When, however, we come to consider
the headship of the innumerable
tribes of the ocean, we are under no
difficulty whatever, and the more
we learn about the monarch, the less
do we doubt his right to the title.

True it is that to most people it is
sufficient to call the "sea-shouldering
whale" the sovereign of the seas, after
man, and the idea that among whales
there are many varieties does not
disturb the placid verdict.

Only naturalists as a rule, and those
who have dared to hunt and slay this
gigantic sea-mammal for the sake of
the spoil his vast carcass yields,
realize how far in every detail the
sperm whale towers above every

BOOK OF NATURE

163

other member of the brute creation.
Only in the one factor of size does be
yield place to two other kinds of
whales, the gigantic Bowhead or
Arctic whale, and the vast Rorqual,
known to whalemen as the Sulphur
Bottom. Both of these occasionally
produce specimens half as large again
as the greatest Sperm whale ever
measured, which was about 70 feet
long, 50 feet in largest girth, and
weighed in the neighborhood of 150
tons, or as heavy as twenty-five large
elephants.

But the Arctic whale and Rorqual
have their only preeminence in size;
they are peaceful, unaggressive, stupid,
and slow, while they have no weapon
for attack or defence save the enor-
mous tail-fin or flukes.

The Sperm whale, on the other
hand, has all the highest characteris-
tics of a warrior. He is brave and
well armed, for his chief feature is his
enormous head with its huge, pendent
lower jaw, a shaft of bone, often
reaching 20 feet in length and bristling
with teeth set sparsely on either side
of it, and averaging six inches in
length above the gum. They are
conical and about six inches in their
largest circumference, and fit into
sockets in the upper jaw, there being
no teeth there to oppose them.

Unlike any other whale known, the
female of the Sperm whale is never
more than half, more generally one-
third, the size of the male. In most
other whales the females are the
larger. That mysterious substance
known as ambergris, even now valued
at $15 per ounce, is produced solely
by the Sperm whale. Alone among
all whales this wonder carries a great
reservoir of liquid spermaceti in his
head — pure, bland, snowy, and limpid
until exposed to the air, when it
concretes. Science has dethroned it
from its high place among lubricants.

for it has no properties not shared by
pure lard or vaseline. But think of
having 500 to 1000 gallons of that
stuff floating around in a head — not as
brains, for the brains of the Sperm
whale are not larger than those of a
bull. Practically blind, deaf, and
without sense of smell, this lordly
ocean monarch pursues his amazing
way, and thrives beyond belief until
he meets man

These wonderful creatures, alone
of all the sea people, have no efficient
foes save man and one another.
Among themselves Sperm whales fight
tremendously for the headship of a
"school," and the vanquished ones are
thenceforward condemned to roam
the wastes of ocean solitary and
morose. These "lone whales" are
exceedingly dangerous to attack, if
indeed they do not attack first, there-
by playing havoc with otherwise well-
laid plans.

But the knowledge of that fierce
fact has never deterred the Yankee
whale-fighters from attacking them.
Indeed one hardly imagines any
characteristic of a whale that would
have hindered an old-time "whale-
man" from New England from "saihng
in" when prey was in sight.

A FIGHTING WHALE

A monster fighting whale had been
twice harpooned and had gone off at
top speed for several miles, drawing
two boats behind him in his foaming
wake. When the great mammal tired,
at last with exultant shouts the boats'
crews gained upon their prey and drew
alongside while the mate hurled a
lance its whole length deep into the
leviathan's body.

"Starn all! Starn all!" he yefled a
moment later.

With a will the men tugged at their
oars, and the boats shot clear to avoid
a great peril that threatened. From
the extreme urgency of the mate's

164 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

tone they guessed that the whale was orders given, they wielded their oars,

about to "breach." while the boats both headed for the

It needs a strong effort of the im- spot. Suddenly the long slender lance
agination to picture that dark, solemn flew from the hands of the foremost
sea, only lighted by tiny splashes of boat-leader, and as if in instant re-
phosphorescent light where wavelets sponse, both boats whirled about and
broke in obedience to some hidden sped away through the darkness at a
suasion, or by an occasional, fleeting, speed of some ten miles an hour. It
brilliant band of light that marked was evident, though, that the enor-
the swift passage of some great fish mous effort made by the whale had not
through the highly charged water, been without a certain exhausting
And then, without a sound, like the effect upon him, for the speed soon
sudden extrusion of some gigantic slackened,
flame cone from the uncanny depths, A narrow escape

there rose majestically a vast luminous Then, without a moment's warning,

body whose brightness poured from the two boats suddenly rushed at

it in floods of light, revealing the black each other, the boat-leaders in each

central mass; and, as it soared the just averting a frightful calamity by

light fell from it in glowing waves to snatching up in their arms the two

the illuminated whirlpool from whence or three lances which were pointing

it arose. At last the leviathan fell, diagonally from each bow. There

and at the impact a blazing sea rose was a hubbub of voices, a rending and

in many a sudden fountain, an im- crashing of oars, and the boats shot

mense boom as of muffled thunder past each other as the whale, having

broke the awed stillness of the night, doubled back upon his previous path,

and over a great area wave upon wave reappeared again with a commotion

of light rushed any whither and broke like heavy waves beating upon a rock,

upon their fellows, until stillness and Nearly out of the water, with jaws

darkness resumed their momentarily wide open, he came straight for the

interrupted reign. boat, intent on biting it in half.

For a few minutes the awe-stricken But the whalers bore in upon him

boats' crews sat at their oars unable vigorously, and again and again the

to think, benumbed, not with fear, lances flew into the dense blackness,

but bewilderment at this terrible fringed with green light, that marked

manifestation of energy. After that the position of the whale,

brief space the sea-surface gave no Meanwhile the harpooners at the

sign of anything unusual beneath it, steer oars never for a moment relaxed

no sound save a faint moaning as of their vigilance, swinging the boats

gathering wind afar off broke the cosmic this way and that, w^hile ever keeping

silence of the night. Then a sound them "on" the whale if possible,

like a gigantic sigh broke upon their Soon there came a strangled roar,

ears, and they saw, within a short and hoarse triumphant shouts arose

distance, a greenish break in the dark of "Stern all, he's in his flurry."

surface of the waters, accompanied by The exertions indulged in previously

a slight plashing noise as when a lazy had so weakened the monarch that

breaker lolls upon a reef on a calm day. the death agony was feeble, and an

But, slight as it was, the appearance exultant cheer went up as it became

roused them to instant energy, and manifest that the great sea beast was

with ready obedience to the hoarse dead.

BOOK OF NATURE

165

A sensitive plant before and after having been breathed upon

SOME INTELLIGENT PLANTS

WE ARE accustomed to associ-
ate the idea of intelligence
with such animals as have a
somewhat highly developed brain, but
it is an extremely difficult matter to
lay down any line of distinction to in-
dicate where intelligence first makes
its appearance. Looking at the
idea of intelligence in the widest
possible manner, and understanding
the doing of something for a particular
end in view, we should be ready to
admit that many of the processes go-
ing on in the leaves of plants can only
be described as intelligent.

It was in that sense that Darwin
compared the tip of the root to the
brain of the lower animals. He said
it was hardly an exaggeration to say
that the tip of the root, thus endowed,
"having the power of directing the
movements of the adjoining parts, acts
like the brain of one of the lower an-
imals, the brain being seated within
the anterior end of the body, receiving
impressions from the sense-organs, and
directing the several movements."

In this sense, plants have well-de-
fined intelligence, which manifests
itself in a thousand ways, particularly
in the movements which their various
parts display, either in search of food
or for some other vital purpose. We

shall study in detail some of the more
striking of these movements.
Wisdom displayed by root tips

We may first notice the fact that
the growth of a plant is not equal in all
of its parts. Some portions exhibit a
much more rapid growth than others,
or grow during a longer period of time;
and one of the results of this inequality
of growth in different tissues is to pro-
duce movements in the various parts
which are sometimes described as
spontaneous. In both stems and roots
the growth is usually more rapid on
one side than on the other, and this
results in the production of curvatures,
or bends, unless the variation is such
that the extra growth produced on
one side is at once compensated for
by a corresponding growth on the
other. That is what actually happens
at the tip of the root; and it has the
result of making the root describe a
spiral course through the soil, instead
of a directly downward one. As a
matter of fact, most stems in their
upward growth also have a similar
spiral movement, commonly in the
opposite direction to the hands of a
watch. The movement itself is termed
"nutation."

If these spontaneous movements, of
roots especially, be carefully studied,

166 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the observer cannot help being im- in response to their environment, form

pressed with the idea that they have a an obvious and interesting study. One

very definite object in view. Hence can see in any such cutting of ground a

the justification for the use of the ex- root turning away from dry, sandy, or

pression "the intelhgence of plants." inhospitable soil, until it comes to a

Obviously the end and object of the richer deposit; and here, not having

movements is to attain that position any necessity to turn further, it will

in the soil which is best suited for the grow now straight downwards, through

furnishing of the nourishment required, good material. Arrived at the further

Seeds which lie under water sometimes boundary of this deposit, it will once

send roots directly upwards. In all more change its direction, and may

these cases the primary direction of even bend round and round, so as to

the root-growth— the movement of the keep in such a desirable neighborhood,

root-tip, that is — is extremely definite. Changes in the color of leaves

The directions taken by the second- Perhaps one of the most interesting
ary roots, however, from whichever of all the many examples of the intel-
part of the plant they may arise, are ligence of plants, in reference to the
not so definitely circumscribed, though movements of their parts, is to be
here, too, it is obvious that the move- found in connection with the attitude
ments are directed to reaching such and arrangements of their chlorophyll
positions as will give either security of granules in relation to sunlight. These
attachment or moisture for nourish- granules, it must be remembered, float
ment. Study of all these movements freely within the protoplasm, which
shows that both those which take place can move them to different places,
in the aerial structures, and those This permits of their being either
which take place in the root, follow equally distributed throughout the
the same guiding principle, though the cell, or aggregated together in clumps,
latter, of course, are made much more or otherwise arranged. Perhaps the
restricted, from the nature of their best example of these movements can
environment. If the root were to be seen in plants like the liverworts, or
grow straight down, it would not come in the mosses, where the green of the
in contact with nearly so much ma- leaf is noticed to be lighter or darker,
terial as it does by following a spiral according to the intensity of the light
course. This latter evidently offers which falls upon it. The same thing
the best means of encountering the takes place in many flowering plants,
most desirable food-supplies. This is The darker tint is observed when the
part of what is meant by the intelli- light is weakest, whereas, under the
gence of plants. action of the most intense, direct sun-
How A ROOT SEEKS MOISTURE light, the leaf appears yellowish. These

Further, one may readily observe alterations in color-appearance are due

that the growing portions of roots to actual movements of the chlorophyll

invariably turn aside from dry or granules, which take up different po-

barren soils in favor of a part in which sitions as the light varies,
there is more moisture and more A very simple experiment may be

nourishment. This movement towards performed by anyone in this connec-

the moisture is called "hydrotropism." tion. If a piece of black paper be

In any considerable section of soil placed on a leaf which is exposed to

which has much vegetation growing at the sun, in such a way as to cover up

its surface, these movements of roots, a part of the leaf, after a time it is

BOOK OF NATURE

167

observed, on removing the strip of
paper, that the portion of leaf under-
neath is dark green, in comparison
with that which was left exposed and
unprotected. That is light green.

A reference to the diagram will ex-
plain this. We find that when the

AmnHMHKm'

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r'^-i^-B

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ftWHH

THE MOVEMENT OF CHLOROPHYLL GRANULE
IN A LEAF

This diagram of part of a section of a green leaf repre-
sents roughtly the change in the movements of the chloro-
phyll granules in response to the stimulus of (1) darkness,
(2) direct sunlight, and (3) diffused light.

light is diffuse, the chlorophyll granules
so arrange themselves as to cover those
walls of the cells on which the light
falls perpendicularly. This gives such
portions of the leaf a dark-green ap-
pearance. When such a cell becomes
exposed to direct sunlight, the granules
leave these walls parallel to the upper
surface of the leaf, and accumulate on
those which are parallel to the direc-
tion of the light (2). The tissue, as
the result, assumes a much paler color.

A word or two may be added in
connection with leaves, concerning the
movements of compound leaves, which
exhibit interesting changes of attitude
in places where they are exposed to
considerable cooling during the night
temperatures.

During the ordinary hours of sun-
shine such leaves are placed more or
less parallel to the surface of the
ground, with the upper surface open
to the sky, and thus catching the
direct rays of the sun. It is obvious
that if the leaf were to remain in this
attitude during the hours of the night,
there would be great loss of heat, on
account of radiation. The intelligence
of the plant, as we have agreed to
understand that term, here shows
itself by the leaflets which compose
the compound leaf folding themselves

together either upwards or down-
wards, according to the species con-
cerned, so that their broad aspect is
placed vertically. In this manner
there is much less loss from radiation
than there would otherwise be.
Creeping and climbing plants

We may now turn our attention to
an entirely different class of plant
movement, namely, that which is
associated with climbing plants, of
which there are a large number whose
stems are not sufficiently woody in
texture to maintain a vertical or erect
attitude. In a plant which has such
a nature, one of two things may hap-
pen : the stem of the plant may con-
tinue to grow along the surface of the
ground, bending or arching, as it does
so, but coming in contact with the soil
at intervals. Such plants have what
are termed prostrate stems. On the
other hand, however, there are a num-
ber of species which, in their efforts to
reach the erect attitude, have devel-
oped vaj-ious structures which enable
them to grasp any neighbormg object
that may afford a means of support,
and to this object the plant attaches
itself.

A good example is that of the hop,
but in this case the whole plant par-
ticipates in the movement, the entire
stem twisting to the right.
The habits of sensitive plants

Next we may turn our attention to
an entirely different aspect of what
we have referred to as plant intelli-
gence. There are movements which
take place in plants during the hours
of night, to which the name of "sleep
movements" has been given; and it
will be remembered that these con-
sisted in the adoption of certain atti-
tudes of the leaves or leaflets. A
somewhat similar phenomenon is to
be noted in connection with some
plants that exhibit these sleep move-
ments, and also in others that do not.

SOME EXAMPLES OF CLIMBING PLANTS

WILD CLEMATIS, OR VIRGINS BOWER

THE TWISTING STEM OF THE HOP

FLOWERS OF THE TRUE, OR ENGLISH, DAISY, CLOSED AT NIGHT BUT OPEN IN FULL DAYLIGHT

We refer to plants known by the
general name of sensitive plants, from
their different manifestations of this
sensitive phenomenon. A number of
the plants which assume the sleep
position in the night exhibit a similar
movement when they are either shaken
or merely lightly touched, and, as a
matter of fact, they appear to be even
more sensitive to this disturbance than
to darkness. The onset of a very

slight breeze of air may be sufficient
to cause the leaflets to fold up.

Although this curious change occurs
in some of the same plants that adopt
the sleep position at night, it is not to
be therefore inferred that the two
things are the same. The attitude of
the leaf is determined by the condition
of a little cushion of tissue, called the
pidvinus. This cushion remains quite
rigid in the sleep position, while on the

168

BOOK OF NATURE 169

other hand, it undergoes a very re- from the fact that quite other oon-
markable change in the movements ditions than rain produce the same
produced by shaking the plant. It movements, particuhirly such factors
becomes less turgid, by discharging as hot, dry winds, impregnated with
some of its water into another part, particles of dust or sand. Here it is
and the result of this is to cause a obviously to prevent excessive trans-
bending of the leaflet. piration that the leaves fold together.

Under natural conditions practically So we may safely conclude that several

the only two things which stimulate different advantages accrue to the

the protoplasm to act in this way are plant in virtue of the powers of move-

the action of the wund, and still more ment we have been describing. At

emphatically, perhaps, the irritation night the loss of heat by radiation is

caused by the falling of drops of rain minimized. In the heat of the day

on to the leaf. In the Indian plant extreme transpiration is kept in check,

already referred to, most remarkable In wet weather, injury to the leaves,

movements immediately follow a show- or possibly to the whole plant, which

er of rain. The leaves which first come might collapse under the weight of

in contact with the drops fold together accumulated water, is prevented,

downwards, but not only do these The bursting open of flowers

leaves do so, but actually, also, those A movement which may be ob-

in closest proximity to them, even served in almost all flowering plants is

though no actual drops fall thereon, that which takes place at the onset of

Well might such a plant be termed daylight, or at some varying period

"sensitive." Even the leaf-stalk, during the day afterwards. This is

which bears the mass of leaves, bends the opening of the passage to the

in the direction of the earth; and the interior of the flower. Very detailed

practical consequence of these move- observations have been made on the

ments is that the drops of rainwater times at which this separation of the

flow over the bent stalk, and over the petals takes place, and the following

hanging leaves, so that all the moisture examples, quoted by Kerner, may be

is immediately drained off, and none noted here.

remains upon the surface. No better In the case of the honey-suckle,

example can be imagined illustrative the whole series of movements in

of plant intelligence, or movements the process begins by the lowest lobe

directed by some principle towards the of the corolla folding back, this being

attainment of a definite purpose. followed by the same thing in the

Why the leaves fold up other lobes, which liberates the sta-

Very similar processes are seen in mens, and they spread out like fingers,

the leaves of the sundew, and in those This series of movements takes about

of Venus's fly-trap, as well as in some two minutes. The evening primrose

of the mimosas. The actual move- is still more rapid in its opening, the

ments are not identical in all these petals springing apart, and being wide

cases, but they are produced by the open in half a minute. This may

same sort of influences, and for pre- truly be described as the bursting open

cisely analogous purposes. The free- of the flower. In some cases this

ing of the plant from raindrops, how- opening occurs quite quickly enough

ever, though obviously one of the to be followed with the naked eye, and

objects in these movements, is not in one or two instances is accompanied

the only one. This may be concluded by a slight noise.

170

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Hours when flowers open their lips

With regard to the times during the
day when these opening movements
may be noted, Kerner gives the fol-
lowing instances: "There are flowers
which open so early in the morning
that they greet the first rays of the
rising sun with fully expanded corollas.
That common garden climber, Morning
Glory, opens its buds at four a. m.
Wild roses also open between four and
five a. m. Between five and six many
species of flax open. Between six and
seven, willow-herbs; between seven
and eight, bindweed. Between eight
and nine, many gentians, and wood-
sorrels. Between nine and ten, most
tulips open; between ten and eleven,
the centaury and chaffweed

"From noon till evening comes a
long interval. No plant is known in
our latitude which, under ordinary
circumstances, opens during the after-
noon. Towards sunset, however, it
recommences. About six p. m. the
honeysuckle opens, shortly followed
by the evening primrose. Between
nine and ten, the Queen of the Night,
the Mexican cactus, opens."
Weapons of insectivorous plants

When we come to consider the sub-
ject of plant defences we shall have to
make reference to poisonous and
insectivorous plants. One or two of
these, however, must be noted here
from the point of view of their move-
ments. We may take those to which
we have already referred. The whole
of the genus sundew are excellent
examples of plants whose movements
are directed to the capturing of small
insects. The plants themselves are
common enough, and especially preva-
lent on damp soil and marsh land.
There are some forty species of sun-
dew, all of which show as their most
conspicuous character a slender red
filament, that is club-shaped at its
free end, and carries a refractile globlet

of fluid. These filaments project from
the upper surface of the leaf, the under
aspect of which is smooth, and very
often rests upon the damp ground.
The filaments have been compared in
their appearance to pins stuck in a
cushion. They are various sizes, the
shortest being in the middle of the
leaf, the longest at the outer edge, and
each leaf carries about two hundred of
these little filaments. The club-shaped

THE TRAPS OF THE BLADDERWORT THAT
CAPTURE TINY AQUATIC ANIMALS

swelling at the end is in reality a

gland, which secretes a clear globlet,

that looks very like a drop of dew, but

is really a sticky, viscous substance.

Discriminative intelligence of sun-
dew

A wonderful example of plant in-
telligence is to be found here. The
movements we have mentioned above
in connection with wind and rain and
dust are utterly ignored by the sun-
dew. Experimentally, one may irri-
tate these filaments with minute
particles of ordinary foodstuffs, such
as sugar, or with solid particles of
sand, and so forth, and the only result
is to increase the secretion of the

A PLANT THAT BREAKS THE RULES

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This orchid from Mexico, reverses nearly all the normal conditions that govern plant growth. It flourishes on a
piece of dry bark, with its roots in the air, instead of in the soil. The atmosphere provides it with sufficient moisture,
combined with that stored in its bulbs. It grows upside down, with its leaves towards the ground.

171

172

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

gland, which assumes an acid reaction.
The leaf itself does not move, nor does
there follow any attempt at digestion.

Let a small insect, however, in its
search for honey, impinge upon the
leaf and touch the gland, and — won-
derful to relate — the composition of
the secretion is at once changed, in so
far as it becomes a digestive ferment,
the object of which is, of course, to
appropriate the unfortunate insect as
food. Remarkable movements take
place in the filaments, or tentacles, and
they close in, so to speak, as the tips of
the fingers would do if bent towards the
palm of the hand.

Gradually all the filaments bend over
towards the insect which has been
caught in the sticky, glandular secre-
tion, and in a time varying from one
to three hours all of them are foimd
bending upon it. No matter where
the insect may alight, the tentacles
move down upon it exactly to the right
spot, whether it be in the center or
otherwise. Should there be two in-
sects for the same leaf, at the same
time, in different parts, then some
tentacles will converge on the one, and
some on the other.
Digestion of insects by sundew

The result of the whole process is
that the captured little creature is
covered with secretion and digested.
The whole process of absorption is
complete in a couple of days. What is
left behind is carried away by the wind

when the tentacles reassume their
original attitude. Small midges are
the usual victims of the sundews,
but flies, and ants, and beetles also
suffer a similar fate. As many as
thirteen different species of captured
animals have been found on a single
leaf at the same time.

The really interesting fact about
these wonderful, intelligent move-
ments is not merely that they con-
tribute to the nutrition of the plant,
but that the movements take place in
tissues other than those which are
actually the first to be stimulated by
the insect. In other words, there is a
transmission, or carrying, of the origi-
nal impulse from cell to cell through
many cells at a speed which can be
actually measured.

This suggests at once to the mind
an analogy to the transmission of a
nerve impulse from the brain to a
distant muscle in the arm or leg.
How sensitive the leaves of the sun-
dew are may be imagined when it is
stated that "a particle of a woman's
hair, O.'^ mm. long, and weighing
0.0008"22 nig., when placed upon a
gland of round-leaved sundew, caused
a movement of the tentacle belonging
to the excited gland."

A similar experiment on the human
tongue would fail to give any indica-
tion of the presence of the hair,
though the tip of the tongue is very
sensitive.

Marvels of Modern
Mechanism

ROENTGEN OR X-RAYS

THE MASTER ENERGY OF RADIUM

MOVING PICTURES— THE WORLD IN REVIEW

MEASUREMENTS OF TIME

TELEGRAPHY— MESSAGES BY LAND, SEA AND AIR

MODERN WAR'S MAILED HAND— GUNS AND SHELLS

FUTURE SOURCES OF POWER

178

RADIOGRAPH OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE HAND

This picture explains the mechanism by which X-rays are produced in a Crooke's tube for the purpose of radiographing
a band plAced on a box containing a sensitized plate.

174

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

175

THE X-RAY — MAGIC TUBE OF MODERN SCIENCE

IF THE discharge of a fairly large
induction-coil be made to pass
through a Hittorf vacuum-tube,
or through a Lenard tube, a Crooke's
tube, or other similar apparatus which
has been sufficiently exhausted, the
tube being covered with thin, black
cardboard, which fits it with tolerable
closeness, and if the whole apparatus
be placed in a completely darkened
room, there is observed at each dis-
charge a bright illumination on the
paper screen covered with barium

Figure 1. William Konrad Roentgen, the discoverer of
the X- or Roentgen rays.

platino-cyanide, placed in the vicinity
of the induction-coil, the fluorescence
thus produced being entirely inde-
pendent of the fact whether the coated
or the plain surface is turned toward
the discharge tube." With these
words. Professor W. K. Roentgen, in
December, 1895, announced to the
world one of the most profound dis-
coveries of the nineteenth century,
a discovery that for far-reaching re-
sults must rank, indeed, as one of the
greatest events of all times.

How THE DISCOVERY WAS MADE

Roentgen's discovery was the cul-
mination of a long series of experi-
ments with the vacuum tube. So
long ago as the eighteenth century,
the Abbe Nollet arranged an electrical
apparatus in such a manner as to send
a spark through a glass globe which
he gradually emptied of air. Experi-
ments continued on into the next
century, but it was not until 1859
that noteworthy results were obtained.
In this year Plucker succeeded in
obtaining a far higher vacuum than
any heretofore known, and produced
with it another "curious" phenome-
non — a greenish phosphorescence that
lined the walls of the tube — attributed
to the action of cathode rays.
Cathode Rays explained

The "cathode," the reader will
bear in mind, is nothing more nor less
than the negative pole (see e, figure
3), or the point at which the elec-
tric current leaves the tube; the posi-
tive pole, or the point at which the
current enters the tube, being called
the "anode." This deduction of
Plucker's forms, really, the starting
point of the observations that led up
to the discovery of the x-ray itself,
as also the further fact that the
"cathode" rays respond readily to a
magnet placed outside the tube,
changing their direction as the posi-
tion of the magnet was changed.

In 1879, Professor Crookes (now
Sir William), with a remarkably high
vacuum, obtained powerful rays which
he directed against a sort of windmill,
or vane, placed within the tube, the
vane revolving under the impact of
the rays. This and other experiments
led Crookes to announce the theory
that the cathode ray was a stream of
infinitesimally minute particles of mat-
ter charged with negative electricity.

176

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

ROENTGEN'S

Laboratory
its secret

GIVES UP

A year later Professor Wilhelm Kon-
rad Roentgen, Professor of Physics at
Wiirzburg University, was one day
making experiments in his laboratory

DESCRIPTIVE X-RAY TUBE

A — Anode

B — Assistant Anode

C — Cathode

D — Regulating Chamber

F — Regulating Adjuster

G — Hemisphere

H — Connection Wire
I — Assistant Anode Cap
K — Anode Cap
L — Cathode Cap
M- — -Cathode Stream
N — Focal Point

with the vacuum tube. Beside the
tube lay a small quantity of crystals of
barium platino-cyanide, placed there
quite by accident. Happening to
glance down at the screen, he observed

that under some influence exerted by
the tube, they were aglow with phos-
phorescence. To ascertain whether
the phosphorescence could be due to
the cathode rays, he covered both the
tube and the screen, and lo! not only
the phosphorescence continued, but
dark shadows were cast on the screen
by the hand and other objects placed
between the tube and the screen.
Thus was discovered, quite by acci-
dent, a new ray, which because
nothing whatever was known of it,
and X being the symbol of unknown-
ness, was called by Professor Roentgen
the "x-ray."

Wild was the excitement that pre-
vailed throughout the scientific world,
and many and ingenious were the
theories that arose to account for the
new phenomenon.

The MYSTERY OF MATTER

Later experiments by Sir J. J.
Thomson, conducted in the Cavendish
Laboratory at Cambridge, showed that
the powerful electric discharge as it
passed through the tube not only broke
up into atoms the molecules of matter
which happened to be in the tube, but

The theoretical diflerence between an atom of ordinary matter and an atom of radio-active matter

MARVELS OF MODERM MECHANISM 177

further separated them into the consisting of the original negative

infinitely minute particles of nega- electrons, to each of which is attached

live electricity known as electrons a small charge of positive electricity.

— now recognized as the unit of And this is the x-ray. Being neither

matter. positive nor wholly negative, it does

The cathode ray Thomson found not answer to an electro-magnet,
to be merely a stream, or beam of And, moreover, it is not impeded by
these electrons shooting out from the the electrical attractions of the atoms
cathode at the inconceivable speed of through which it passes on its shining
60,000 miles a second, a third that of march through matter. We must re-
light. The fact that these rays can member that an atom consists of an
be bent or deflected at will, whereas empty space — somewhat like our solar
the Roentgen-ray resists every at- system on a very small scale — in
tempt to alter its course, penetrating which a few infinitesimal negative
with the utmost readiness the densest electrons are spinning round a large
materials, showed it to be different positive electron. There is therefore
from the cathode rays. The further at times ample room for the x-ray
fact that the Roentgen-ray cannot be to pass through atom after atom,
refracted, diffracted, or polarized, throwing on the screen only a faint
showed that the Roentgen-ray is not, shadow of the substances through
as many supposed, identical with which it swiftly travels,
ordinary light, although in certain Yet, sooner or later, there is a
respects it is akin to light. collision. One of the results is that

These and later experiments by the x-ray is robbed of its stolen proper-
Thomson and by Sir George Stokes, of ty — its positive electrical charge — and
Cambridge University, demonstrated reduced to its original character of a
the propagation of Roentgen-rays by cathode ray. The same thing happens
showing that the stream of cathode with the x-ray that proceeds from
rays by impinging upon a hard sub- radium. As its speed slows down,
stance, as against the wall of just before its work is done, it becomes
vacuum, was converted into an a cathode ray of negative electrons,
electrical pulse of irregular length with a diminishing energy of velocity;
and rhythm. The manner of this and at last its particles penetrate into
may be observed from the pre- an atom from which they have no
ceding illustration which shows the longer the power to emerge. And
main features of the Roentgen-ray that is practically the end of it. It is
tube as employed today. absorbed in the existing and perma-

Professor Bragg has lately nent structure of the universe — in the

worked out the most fascinating gases of the air or in the atoms of the

idea of the nature of the marvelous walls, ceiling, or floor of the room in

x-ray. which the x-ray apparatus is being

He supposes that when the stream used,

of negative electrons of the cathode From a medical point of view, when

ray strikes against the platinum point the x-ray comes to an end in human

in the modern glass x-ray tube, it flesh and is re-transformed into the

breaks up some atoms of platinum, original cathode ray that produced it,

and robs them of some of their posi- it often may have a serious effect upon

tive electrons. Thus is fashioned a the flesh of the x-ray operator. It

stream of doubled-natured bodies, breaks up the cells of that part of the

178

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

human body on which it has been
constantly falling. The consequence
is that dreadful sores are sometimes
formed upon the hands of an operator
who is continually exposed to the
x-rays. Even the constant study of
the action of x-rays by means of a
fluorescent screen hurts the eyes of an
operator, causing an inflammation of
the outer portion of the eyeball. The
fact is, the x-ray is so intense a form of
energy that it gives rise to what are
called secondary radiations. It breaks
bits off the atom against which it
strikes continually; and when these
atoms are the elements of substances
in the living flesh of the x-ray operator
the result is at times serious.

Several brave men who worked the
x-rays in hospitals, with great benefit
to thousands of injured patients, have
now lost their fingers, hands, or arms
through the strange, spreading, and
terrible sores produced by continual
daily exposure to the extraordinary
power of the x-rays.

Yet it must not be thought that a
patient nowadays is in any danger
when the x-ray is used upon him by
a skilled operator to find some broken
bone, or some diseased organ, or some
foreign body, such as a needle or bullet
that has got embedded in his flesh.
If a very long exposure of some hours
is necessary, his skin may feel a little
sore, but the soreness will pass away.
It is only the heroic operator, day
after day exposing himself to the weird
force of the ray, who is in peril of
great and permanent injury. In an
ordinary way the action of the ray on
human flesh is said to be often bene-
ficial. There is, for instance, an
ulcerous disease of the skin produced
by the same tubercle microbe that
causes consumption of the lungs. A
careful application of the rays brings
about an inflammatory reaction, which
causes the tubercles to become visible.

This is followed by a loosening of the
tubercles; they are then sloughed off
in masses, and a healthy scar tissue
grows underneath.

A similar beneficial result is often
produced by means of the Finsen light,
but the x-rays are quicker in action,
and less expensive in use, and they
can be applied to cavities which are
inaccessible to the Finsen light. Sev-
eral other skin diseases and various
kinds of malignant growths have been
cured by treating the sufferers with
x-rays. Some cases of cancer of the
throat and breast are reported to have
been cured by applications of the rays,
lasting for ten minutes, and repeated
daily for some weeks. But on the
whole it seems that the new treatment
is only likely to be successful in diseases
affecting the outer parts of the body
that can be directly subjected to the
action of the rays. When the malady
is deep-seated, the healthy surround-
ing portion of the body tends to be-
come seriously inflamed by the rays
as they pass through on their way to
the seat of the disease.

At the present time there are sev-
eral means of protecting an operator
from the action of the rays. In some
cases, he needs only to use a very mild
form of the new power. This is ob-
tained by allowing a certain amount of
gas to enter the glass tube, and so
lower the vacuum. The ray then
produced is very soft; it cannot pene-
trate far. Hard rays, on the other
hand, are produced by increasing the
vacuum and making the air in it
more rarefied. When this is done,
the operator has to be careful to pro-
tect himself.

There are two principal methods of
protection. In one, advantage is taken
of the fact that the x-ray cannot pene-
trate lead. So a lead-glass is placed
over the vacuum tube, leaving only a
small point in the inner soda-glass

APPARATUS BY WHICH X-RAY PENETRATES THE BODY

Figure A. Instrument for doing fluoroscopic observations with the patient standing. This particular cut illustrates
the observation of the stomach following the bismuth meal. The nurse is handing the patient a glass of buttermilk into
which has been stirred an ounce of bismuth powder. This bismuth meal is opaque to the ray and permits the study of the
outline of the stomach. In this same instrument one may study the heart, the lungs, the diaphragm, the stomach and the
intestine. The tube is enclosed in a lead-lined box behind the patient, the rays passing through the patient and casting
a shadow upon the fluorescent screen immediately in front of the observer

Figure B. A horizontal fluoroscopic apparatus upon which the patient reclines during fluoroscopic observation.
A screen is laid over the patient, wUle the tube is underneath the table upon wliich the patient is lying

180

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

vessel through which the x-rays stream
on to the patient. Again, the operator
now has various devices for testing
the strength of the rays, without put-
ting his own hand between the stream
of invisible force and the screen, in
order to measure the penetrative
power. This rough-and-ready man-
ner of testing the rays was the chief
cause of the loss of fingers, hands, and
arms by the band of brave men who
first worked the rays.

The modern operator measures the
power of the radiance he is about to
apply to a patient, by means of curious
and delicate instruments that show
the amount of electricity the invisible
ray is communicating to the air out-
side the tube. The degree of electri-
fication exactly denotes the softness
or hardness of the unseen radiance;
and a careful operator never now ex-
poses his eyes or his hands to the
action of the unseen force. During
his work he uses rubber gloves, and
puts on a pair of lead-glass spectacles,
and wears a rubber apron.

His work has, moreover, been great-
ly lightened by the progress made in
x-ray photography. In a general way,
the invisible radiance that penetrates
through flesh and bone is employed for
finding out what is the matter with the
patient. This can be done much
quicker by means of photographs of
the interior of the human body than
by studying the actual picture thrown
on the fluorescent screen. For the
photographs can be minutely examined
in broad daylight and at leisure, and
compared with similar photographs of
the flesh and bones and organs of
healthy people. For this reason x-ray
photography has become, both for
the surgeon and the physician, the
most important by far of the medical
applications of the new force; and
inventors are still busy in perfecting
this branch of radiography.

At first there were obtainable only
flat silhouettes of the shadows cast
by the x-rays as they traveled through
the human body. By using just a
medium hard ray, which did not
penetrate through the bones, the
skeleton of the human frame could be
shown in dark shadows amid the
lighter, vaguer tints of the flesh. The
method was useful in discovering
fractures of bones and foreign bodies
of metals, such as bullets and splinters
of shell in wounded soldiers, and
needles and nails and other metallic
objects due to domestic and indus-
trial accidents. It was early shadow-
photographs of this sort that directed
the general attention to the wonderful
properties of the x-rays in the first
years following their discovery.

But the trouble with a flat shadow-
photograph was that it gave no indi-
cation of depth. It only showed in
outline the internal structure of the
human body. In the case of fractures
of bones, this difficulty was overcome
to some extent by taking several pho-
tographs — from the sides as well as
from the back and front of the injured
limb or other bony part. So the
surgeon was fairly well contented with
a series of flat silhouettes that the
x-rays gave him.

It was some time, however, before
the new invisible force, that can pene-
trate wood and steel, w^as of much
use to the physician. In many cases
he required a clear and perspective
view of the flesh organs and of the
softest parts of the tissues. And this
is what he has now obtained. By
using soft rays on certain parts of the
body, and taking two separate photo-
graphs, and combining them for ex-
amination in a stereoscope, he can
often get a perspective vision into the
human body. Everything stands out
in order in soft relief, so that various
diseases of the lungs and heart and

A SERIES OF X-RAY PICTURES OR ROENTGENOGRAMS

Figure C. The human vermiform appendix as it appears
when filled with bismuth

Figure E. Tlie tones of the arm

Figure D. Tbe loot enclosed in tbe shoe

Figure G. Skeleton of a frog

181

182

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

other organs can be traced. And
there is another more technical meth-
od, called plastic x-ray photography,
which gives similarly excellent results.
All this is a magnificent advance in
the art of locating the effects of a
malady and observing exactly the
results of a curative treatment. The
physician can see with his own eyes
the improvement that is taking place,
or the need there is to adopt some other
form of cure.

Moreover, he can give the patient
certain bismuth preparations that will
coat some of the interior parts of
the body, and make them stand out
very vividly in a stereo x-ray
photograph or a plastic x-ray photo-
graph.

Just recently, an extraordinary ap-
plication of the medical use of x-rays
has been made by converting the hu-
man body into a fluorescent screen.
It has long been known that a natural
fluorescence existed in certain human
tissues, and that the nerves, muscles,
and brain, and the chief organs, con-
tain a fluorescent material that re-
sembles ciuinine.

Now experiments are being made
in dosing patients with quinine pre-
parations, and then making the
medicine shine in the body by ap-
plying x-rays to the part that is
diseased. Some good results are re-
ported to have been obtained in cer-
tain tuberculous maladies. It is too
early yet to give a reliable decision on
the general value of the method.

Indeed, much yet remains to be
done before the various forms of x-ray
treatment and examination are per-
fected. At present tumors of soft
tissues are photographed with great
difficulty, owing to the surrounding
structure having nearly the same
density. Diseases of the brain are
especially hard to trace by means of
the x-ray. For the shadows of the

bony vault of the head greatly obscure
the details of the soft structure. And,
moreover, as the rays pass through the
skull, they produce cathode rays that
tend still further to confuse the shad-
owy image of the brain. Yet, a
blood-clot in the brain has been re-
vealed by the wonderful ray. So we
may expect the intricate technique
of the modern operator to be at last
developed to a point at which the
entire internal parts of the bodies of
suffering mankind will be made clearly
visible to the modern physician.

What has already been accomplished
is so wonderfully useful that it is
revolutionizing medical science. In
course of time every surgeon and doc-
tor will be an expert x-ray operator.
He will begin by studying the healthy
functions of the body with a fluorescent
screen and the jc-ray stereoscope.
Then he will go on to learn all the
signs of hidden diseases that the x-ray
reveals. So, when he is fully trained,
he will be able to tell, almost at a
glance, what is wrong with his patient.
In the meantime, the new scientific
blood-tests, by which the cause of a
disease is revealed under a microscope,
will be extended and in many cases
simj)lified.

So there ought to be in the future
no occasion for a careful medical
man to make any mistake in his
diagnosis of an illness. The healing
art, that still remains an art, will
then be transformed into a science;
and this science will grow more exact
as man obtains a larger control over
the microbes of disease.

It is more than evident that the
x-ray will be found permanently
useful in its marvelous revelation of
the interior structure of the human
body. No one should submit to the
action of the x-ray, whether for treat-
ment or for examination, except at
the hands of a skilled operator.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

183

THE MASTER ENERGY OF RADIUM

FREQUENTLY in science one
great discovery leads to an-
other. This was the case with
this strange and wonderful substance
known as radium. In the year 1896
Professor Roentgen discovered the very
useful rays which bear his name and
which are often called x-rays. The
discovery of radium may be directly
traced to the discovery of x-rays.
And this is the way it happened.

Discovery of radium due to dis-
covery OF X-RAYS

We know that x-rays are produced
by sending an electric current through
a glass tube from which nearly all
the air has been removed. When the
x-rays are being generated certain
parts of the walls of the tube are seen
to glow with a beautiful yellowish-
green color. It was thought by those
who first studied the x-rays that this
fluorescence of the glass might in
some way be inseparably connected
with the emission of the x-rays and
that possibly phosphorescent sub-
stances such as zinc sulphide might
give rise to x-rays. The chemical
known as zinc sulphide is a white
pov/der. If this substance is exposed
to sunlight for a few minutes and
then removed to a darkened room it is
found to glow or phosphoresce with a
beautiful pale blue light. Other sub-
stances also behave in a similar way.
Experiments of becquerel

M. Henri Becquerel examined a
number of these phosphorescent com-
pounds by testing their effect upon a
photographic plate. It was known
that x-rays will pass through many
bodies which are opaque to ordinary
light and make an impression on a
photographic plate. Becquerel ex-
posed a number of phosphorescent sub-
stances to sunlight and then placed
them near a photographic plate that

had been wrapped in black paper.
It was found that the plate had been
affected as if struck by light. He
next tried an experiment to determine
whether the preliminary exposure to
sunlight was necessary in order to se-
cure an impression on the plate. It
was found that the photographic plate
was blackened even when the phos-
phorescent substance had not been
previously subjected to sunlight.
Pushing his experiments still further
Becquerel found that he could obtain
the effect with substances that did not
phosphoresce. In one experiment he
placed a coin between the substance
being examined and the photographic
plate and upon developing the plate
he found a shadow image of the piece
of metal. In developing that photo-
graphic plate Becquerel unlocked a
door which had long hidden many of
nature's most precious secrets. In
that dark room that day man took a
long step forward in his search for
knowledge. Here was a substance
capable of spontaneously emitting
something which passed through ma-
terial opaque to ordinary light. Bec-
querel had discovered a new form of
radiation, and these new rays are
called Becquerel rays in honor of their
discoverer.
Madame CURIE'S investigations

The substances used by M. Becque-
rel in these experiments were com-
pounds of the element uranium. In-
spired by the important discovery of
the Becquerel rays other investigators
at once began a search to determine
whether any other substances pos-
sessed this peculiar property. In a
short time two investigators, Schmidt
and Madame Curie, independently
discovered that compounds of the
element thorium emitted rays which
were similar to those given out by

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

uranium. Those compounds which
were found to give out these strange
rays came to be known as radio-active
substances, and this new property as
radio-activity.

How TO DEMONSTRATE RADIO-ACTIVITY

It is not difficult to repeat some of
those early experiments in radio-activ-
ity. An ordinary gas mantle contains
a small quantity of thorium. Wrap a
photographic plate in black paper and
place the same, film side up, where
it will not be disturbed. On top of
the plate and outside of the light-proof
envelope place a gas mantle. The
mantle should be broken open so that
it will lie flat. After about ten days
develop the plate in the usual manner
and a distinct image of the gas mantle
will be found on the plate. The
Becquerel rays will have penetrated
the paper and produced an impression
on the sensitive photographic film.
If a piece of metal such as a coin be
placed between the mantle and the

paper it will be found that the rays
have been stopped by the metal, thus
leaving its shadow on the plate. The
accompanying radiographs were made
by the author in a manner similar to
the process just outlined.

The Ores producing radio-active
elements

But this strange and fascinating
story of discovery does not stop here.
Having found two radio-active ele-
ments it was but natural to examine
the mineral ores from which these
elements are obtained. Now it will
be remembered that an ore usually
contains a number of different ele-
ments in the form of a compound or a
mixture of compounds. It happens
that the radio-active element uranium
is found in the ore known as pitch-
blende. This ore contains lead, oxy-
gen and nitrogen as well as uranium.
Hence if we have an ounce of pitch-
blende only a small part of this amount
will be pure uranium. M. and Ma-

A FILTER-PRESS FOR EXTRACTING URANIUM SALTS, THE MOST IMPORTANT RADIUM -HOLDING

MATERIALS

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

185

Alpha Rays (U} to.
HGlium Atoms

iii^^Ei-"-s*

URAHIUM .„ RADIUM.wAicA

t/irowi'nffoffA/phaffays&0comea, ed '" throwing off t/ie £MANAT/oNr^ radio active Cos

I'n 7Soaooo.OOO years, after a ^^psfo'"'^ together with the Alpha.Beta ILGetmmaRa^S,

couple of intermediate stages, f becomes in 850Oyears,f^fter intermediate stages,

PRODUCTION OF RADIUM FROM URANIUM, AND OF POLONIUM FROM RADIUM

Alpha Raysfo^ £.». Hetium Atoms I

219

206 %■'

.„to POLON I U M ^hich.after , .„ 6e L E A D

^ff^eo' tfirowing off Alpha flays . tplie^^

.!«' becomes tnahoutymonths .L«t i* , ±.

trartstormcd into an elom«nt w>"^ Note. The ffays & Emanation are

of course shown in diagram .

THIS PICTURE SHOWS HOW THE CHIEF RADIO-ACTIVE SUBSTANCES DISINTEGRATE

dame Curie compared the radio-activ-
ity of equal amount of the element
uranium and the ore pitchblende and
found to their astonishment that the
ore was much more radio-active than
the metal uranium itself. This at
once lead them to the important con-
clusion that there must be some other
substance in the pitchblende which
was many times more active than
uranium itself.

The Curies at once began a search
for this unknown substance. By an
extremely long and very tedious
chemical process these tireless in-
vestigators were able to separate out
an exceedingly small amount of this
substance after working over several

tons of pitchblende ore. In fact, two
radio-active elements were discovered
and separated from the ore, to one
Madame Curie gave the name 'polo-
nium,, naming it after her native
country, Poland, and the other was
called radium. Both of the elements
were hundreds of times more radio-
active than uranium. And so we see
how, beginning with a search for new
methods of producing x-rays, we are
led to the discovery of at least two
new elements — elements which pos-
sess properties entirely unlike those
of any known heretofore — elements
which have proved vastly important
because cf what they have taught
man about the nature of matter.

186

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

How RADIUM DIFFERS FROM OTHER
ELEMENTS

But before we consider the question
of the interpretation of radium let us
glance for a moment at some of the
more striking properties of this ele-
ment, in order that we see in what
respect it differs from other elements
such as gold or silver or carbon.

One of the several striking and
interesting properties which distin-

still self-luminous. Radium is the only
known substance that possesses the
peculiar property of self-luminosity.
Another strange fact about radium
is that it produces heat spontaneously,
or, in other words, it warms itself.
The fact was discovered by M. Curie
and Laborde that salts of radium have
a temperature that is always higher
than that of their surroundings. This
shows that heat is produced in and by

MEASURING THE RADIO-ACTIVITY OF SALTS CONTAINING RADIUM, AS THEY ARE MORE AND MORE

PURIFIED

Radium, which has not yet been separated pure, but in its most potent form as a chemical compound is worth more
than 82,000,000 an ounce, is found in infinitesimal quantities in combination with other substances. Thus a ton of pitch-
blende residues, when treated for 2^i months with five tons of chemicals, and washed with fifty tons of rinsing water, will
produce from two to four pounds of radium bromide of low radio-activity. This salt, under successive purifications and
crystallizations, leaves smaller amounts of radium with a higher radio-activity, until only one-thirtieth to one-sixtieth
part of a grain of radium remains from a ton of residue; but its radio-activity will be forty thousand times greater than
that of the larger mass of radium bromide first obtained.

guishes radium from other elements is
that it is self-luminous. While the
self-luminosity is not intense enough
to be seen in ordinary daylight it can
be seen by artificial light. This light
which radium emits comes from the
entire mass of the substance and not
simply from the surface, and continues
to be given out for long periods of
time. Samples of radium which have
been under observation for years are

a radium compound itself. And a
still further astonishing fact is that
the quantity of heat developed by the
radium is comparatively very great.
It has been determined that a piece
of radium gives out enough heat
every hour to melt its own weight of
ice, and that it will continue to give
out heat at this rate for an indefinite
period of time — in fact as long as the
radium, as such, exists.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

187

Still another striking property of
vadium is its ability to excite phos-
phorescence in various substances.
Such substances as paper, cotton,
diamond, ruby, various chemical com-
pounds, and certain kinds of glass
become luminous when brought near
a sample of radium. In this connec-
tion it is of interest to note that glass
which phosphoresces in the presence of
radium slowly changes to a violet
color when exposed to the influence of
radium.
Common air fairly good conductor

It is also true that common air,
which, under ordinary circumstances,
does not easily conduct electricity,
becomes a fairly good conductor when
exposed to the action of radium. So
marked is this effect that it is impossi-
ble to keep a body charged electrically
within several feet of a sample of
radium. This property of radium
serves as a very delicate test of its
presence. A quantity so small that
it cannot be seen with the highest
power microscope or even detected by
the spectroscope can be quickly and
easily identified by its effect in
discharging an electrified body. The
Curies used this method to detect the
presence of, and to measure the radio-
activity of specimens of radium which
they extracted from pitchblende.

The chemical action of radium in
producing effects similar to that of
light upon a photographic plate have
already been referred to. Closely
allied to this property is the effect pro-
duced by the radiations from radium
on animal tissues. It is known that
an active sample of radium will pro-
duce severe burns when kept near the
skin for any length of time. Such
wounds are both painful and slow to
heal. Because of this fact specimens
of radium which are strongly radio-
active and which are to be carried
about are kept in lead capsules. Ex-

periments are being carried out at the
present time to determine whether the
radiations from radium will affect
certain diseased tissues of the human
body in such a way as to bring about
a cure, but the results of these experi-
ments have yet to be learned.

The properties of radium which
have been briefly described above
serve to distinguish this element from
any other known substance. In fact,
certain of its characteristics are so
entirely different from any phenomena
known to man that radium stands in
a distinct class by itself. Is it possible
to account for the strange behavior
of this unusual element, and what
does radium teach us about the nature
of matter and the sources of the
world's supply of energy? These are
some of the questions which will now
claim our attention.
Extraction of radium from ores

The extraction of radium from the
ore is exceedingly difficult and ex-
pensive, and involves three processes,
mechanical preparation, chemical
treatment, and "fractionization," as
described by Wickham and Degrais,
eminent French scientists, as follows:

Mechanical Preparation: This con-
sists of a series of different operations:
grinding, which crushes the pieces of
ore to the size of a nut; pulverization,
which reduces it to a very fine powder;
and, finally, mechanical enrichment
by dressing.

Chemical Treatment: Radium is
found in an insoluble state in the
residues of pitchblende, unassailable
by acids, mixed or combined with
earthly silicates, alkaline earth and
alkalis, etc., all being inactive sub-
stances. Repeated washing with hy-
drochloric acid and water rids the
residue of a large quantity of this in-
active matter. The insoluble part
contains the radium. It is then sub-
mitted to a long boiling with car-

188 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

bonate of soda, transforming the ray, thrust out in the disintegration

radium salts into salts which are still of the radium.

insoluble but henceforth able to be Character of radiation

acted upon by acids. Hydrochloric Radium is constantly undergoing

acid is again used to dissolve out the disintegration, breaking up into incon-

radium and permit of its concentra- ceivably minute particles of matter

tion. that fly out from the mass at an in-

Fractionization: This operation is credible rate of speed, and consuming

extremely delicate. It is divided into an energy that transcends the human

three phases: gross fractionization, imagination. And the wonder of it

fine fractionization, and the definite all is that this tremendous energy is

fractionization of the bromides. emitted without cessation for 20,000

In crystallizing a solution of radium- years; at the end of a "half-life"

bearing barium chloride, it is found period, or two thousand years, half of

that the crystals contain more radium it will have disintegrated; at the end

than the mother liquor which held of another two thousand years, half

them. It is this fact which is utilized of the remainder will have disintegrat-

in fractionization to determine a series ed, half of the remainder at the end

of crystallizations extracted from the of another two thousand years, and

mother liquors. so on until all has passed into

By this definite fractionization it is decay,

possible to obtain the concentration of Alpha Rays: This radiation is not

a few centigrammes of almost pure homogeneous, but is made up of

radium bromide, to secure which it is three kinds of rays, designated as

necessary to utilize fifty-six tons of alpha (a), beta (b), and gamma (y)

products: one ton of ore, five tons of rays, differing vastly in velocity, in

chemical matter and fifty tons of penetrative power, and in therapeutic

water. effects.

Although quite recently Madame The alpha rays are made up of

Curie has succeeded in isolating -pure minute particles carrying a charge of

radium, yet as employed in therapeutic positive electricity, and traveling at a

work it is one of several compounds, speed of more than nine thousand

such as radium bromide (Ra Brj miles a second. Their penetration is

2H2O); radium sulphate (Ra SO4); not great, however, for they are com-

radium chloride (Ra CI2) ; and radium pletely stopped by a sheet of ordinary

carbonate (Ra CO3). note paper, by a sheet of aluminum

An apparatus much used in the .006 centimeters thick, or by three

study of radium is the spinthariscope, inches of air.

an apparatus devised by Sir William A fact of great interest to physicists

Crookes to demonstrate the luminous is this, that many evidences seem to

qualities of the metal. It consists of prove, either that the particles of

a short brass tube, one end of which is matter which constitute the alpha ray

closed by a convex lens, and the other consist of helium, or that the alpha

by a screen of zinc sulphide, directly rays are converted in radiation into

in front of which is placed a minute helium, that strange element long

quantity of radium. Upon looking known to exist in the sun and certain

through the lens one sees the screen planets, but which until recent years

lit up by brilliant scintillations, each was not known to exist upon the earth,

the effect of the impact of the alpha The spectrum of helium has been found

STRIKING VISION OF THE RADIO-ACTIVITY OF AN ATOM

Vhe invisible alpha particles or Helium atoms throwt,
off in a constant stream by the mi note speck of Radium
those that imprnge on the oval screen of Zinc -.jti/fihide ■ '^
can be seen, when highly magnified, producing a bright \-_^

splash of light where each one stri/tes the screen ■■ i^ #

■ ■ ' : ; ^; .' / '^ ■' ■■' ^'. .■ .-■ -^ -.4' ■ '

- ; I ' . I f i. . ' ■ - ■■

■ •-• ..^:^ti

♦ -J- ^ ;

... ' ■ : f .'■ .' •'

f: \^iri/{^'-^-' - - 'S-

Radiurn

' ;.!■ - 1 V% . .■:

, Fihe needle po^^ . '
on which it shotim • , ' \
a small part/ci»&';.^ \ \
ffoLdiumJoat a/feW , ^ . ^
cUoma,*vnich ar0^} \ , '
tfuiie invisible "^Xv \
even the higheatt v^ ' V
magnt-^i/jg pat^ \ \ ^

"•. . -.''- ~ "■ ~" .1

v: - ^ : i ^ *^

■ » ' ■'^ r-

" i 'V

- X

•:' ■■■■ s.-"-..-^"' ■"■ ". -"

^ ~^- %^ --.

X f-' :^

f ^

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'/l

*^ '^^

. N> V-"^- ^- - ^

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^' > -

.■ k '■

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^* >^,,> ." %

; M

t : »

rr'=^ - ^ ^>-

■_^":;4 v: ;

f'-

*-* * .

- 4^'

*-tf^-^

. •, - N '. «5?-0>^ ;•

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~ ■ ^- -

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■■' '■ ■/■-"!-: ^ -'-■

:* ?,

■ , -■ ■ V

\V.. ; '^*1^2<

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■•.-■■■' ^ \ '^JK

t^ ■-"^ife.

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Aa invisible speck of radium throwing out invisible atoms that sparkle into sight on a film

On the point of this needle '
IS p/ctced the imaJhsi N

possible- oarticle of Radium
that can be obtained.

'de only
hojf the
Disc is
shovin.

VJhcel for mprtng the l^ncdlp
to & frxim the sr.rcfrt.

THE SPINTHARISCOPE, WHICH ENABLES RADIUM PARTICLES TO BE SEEN SHIMMERING CLEARLY

These pictures show the means by which the marvelous energy stored up in radium may be observed. From a speck
of radium too small to be seen a stream of helium atoms pours forth, and will do so for 2500 years before the radium ceases
to exist. The flying particles fall on a zinc sulphide screen or film like hailstones splashing on the surface of water, and the
splash is visible, while the radium Itself and flying atoms are not. This la the nearest men have yet come to seeing an
actual atom.

189

190

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

to appear in a tube into which radium
emanation has been put, and if the
process is one of conversion of radium
into hehum, scientists see in the
phenomenon a fulfihnent of the dream
of the alchemists of all ages — the
transmutation of a baser into a nobler
metal, under the influence of the
tremendous energy liberated by the
disintegration of the radium atom.

Beta Rays: It has now been dem-
onstrated that the beta ray of radium
is practically identical with the cathode
stream of the vacuum tube, but
traveling with a much higher velocity.
They have, owing to their greater
velocity, a greater penetrability than
the alpha rays, being to the latter as
one hundred is to one. In therapeu-
tics, three types of beta rays are
recognized: hard, medium and soft,
in the order of their hardness.

Gamma Rays: The gamma rays,
unlike the alpha and beta rays, do not
consist of material particles, but are
electro-magnetic pulsations of the
ether, similar to x-rays, light and
Hertzian waves, probably originating
in the explosion of the radium atoms
in their disintegration. The gamma
rays have a remarkable degree of
penetrability. If we place a screen
coated with barium platino-cyanide
crystals in the dark, a metre away
from a powerful radium apparatus,
the screen is illuminated with a
diffused light; if we lessen the dis-
tance, the light becomes concentrated
and brilliant. This experiment shows
that the rays have passed through
the air.

Again, if we place a book, a stone, or
any substance whatever (the experi-
ment through a door or a partition
wall is interesting), or interpose or-
ganic tissues — the human body for
example— between the screen and the
radium, the screen continues to be
ijhiniinated; and its refulgence is at

the same time in direct ratio to the
power of the radio-active sources, and
in inverse ratio to the thickness or
density of the interposed body. For
this reason, certain substances, such
as aluminum, mica, and certain var-
nishes, are easily penetrable, while
others, such as lead, silver and plati-
num, offer, on the contrary, greater
resistance.

Separation of Rays: This three-
fold composition of radium is impor-
tant, since by proper means of sepa-
ration the various rays can be isolated
and applied therapeutically as the
paxticular case demands. Thus, if it
is desired to direct the gamma rays
alone upon the body, a sheet of lead,
say five millimeters of thickness, will
cut out both the alpha and the beta
rays; if it is desired to utilize the beta
rays, a sheet of note paper or of alu-
minum or other metal of a certain
thickness will cut off the alpha rays
and permit the gamma and the beta
rays to enter the tissues. Still an-
other method of isolating the various
rays is by means of magnetic deflec-
tion. If radiation is made to cross
the space between the poles of a
powerful electro-magnet, the alpha
rays will be bent in one direction, the
beta in the opposite, while the gamma
rays are not affected electro-magneti-
cally whatever.

Delta Rays: A group of rays called
"delta" (d) rays by Professor J. J.
Thomson, a famous English physicist,
are set up by secondary radiation.
When a stream of beta rays, for exam-
ple, falls on matter of any kind, it is
scattered widely in all directions, the
scattered radiation giving rise to
"secondary beta rays," and gamma
rays giving rise in contact with mat-
ter to "secondary gamma rays." In
a similar way very feeble "secondary
alpha rays" are produced from alpha
ra^^s,

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

191

I Radium
Emanations ■"

Radium \ Alpha rays
Beta rays
( Gamma rays I

Alpha rays
Beta rays
Gamma rays

Radium emanation

A still more remarkable product of
the rays is "radium emanation, or
niton," a gas which is being constantly
emitted by radium. And, strange to
say, this gas, weight for weight, is
one hundred thousand times as radio-
active as radium itself, and, like
radium, gives off alpha, beta, and
gamma rays, first having gone through
a group of intermediate substances
known as radium A, radium B, radium
C, radium D, radium E, radium F,
and radium G (the accompanying
chart shows the relation of these
various aspects of radiation).

"Radium A"
Radium B
Radium C
Radium D
Radium E
Radium F
^Radium G''

f Secondary
\ alpha rays
Secondary J Secondary
Radiation j beta rays
I Secondary
V gamma rays

Induced radio-activity

Still another type of radiation con-
sists of what is known as "induced
activity." So long ago as 1899 Pro-
fessor and Madame Curie found that
the surface of any body placed near
radium, or immersed in radium emana-
tion, acquires thereby a decided radio-
activity. Water has been found to
acquire radio-activity in this manner,
a fact which has been utilized in the
treatment of various disorders, as for
instance at Hoachimsthal, where the
spring waters become radio-actively
charged by passing over pitchblende
ore. As to the duration and strength
of the radio-active property conferred
in this manner, Wickham and Degrais
have shown that these depend on the
length and intensity of the contact,
as well as upon the nature of the sub-
stances impregnated. When the ema-
nation is separated from the radium
its life is of short duration, and the
induced radio-activity determined by
ttie thus isol3,ted emanation dies out

rapidly. The loss follows a well-
defined law of diminution. It is
fifty per cent every half-hour as long as
the body impregnated with radio-
activity is not enclosed, while, if en-
closed, the loss corresponds to only
half the activity in four days. This is
why the radio-activity of mineral
waters does not last when taken from
their source.

If the emanation remains in proximity
to the radium so that it is replen-
ished in proportion to its loss, the
radio-activity produced is more con-
stant. For example, when the radium
atom is introduced into the tissues of
the body the sources of induced radio-
activity are much more lasting.
Therapeutic application of radium

Thus, in the therapeutic use of
radium the physician has a wide
variety of applications from which to
choose : the alpha, beta or gamma rays,
or all three combined, the secondary
rays, radium emanation, and induced
radiation. Strange to say, however,
the therapeutic value of radium was
not discovered until 1901, three years
after the discovery of radium by the
Curies. In that year Becquerel visited
London, carrjdng in his waistcoat
pocket a small tube containing a
minute quantity of radium. He soon
became conscious of a soreness at the
point of his body against w^hich the
small tube of radium had pressed.
Examining the spot he found the flesh
inflamed, and came to the conclusion
that the burn was caused by the
radium. This inflammation, which
has become famous as the "Becquerel
burn," gave rise to an extended study
of the effect of radium on tissues of
the human body, especially with
reference to its use in the treatment of
disease.

Professor Danysz, of the Pasteur
Institute, Paris, found that three
hours' exposure to radium wa§ su:ffi-

192

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

cient to give rise to painful inflamma-
tion. In experiments upon a guinea
pig he found that minute amounts of
radium sealed in a glass tube and
placed against the body would burn
off the hair and produce a painful dis-
turbance of the tissues, which, how-
ever, would feel like any other sore.

The results were scarcely less re-
markable in the case of experiments
upon young mice. Placing radium a
few inches above the animals, he
found that the mice became "dopey"
within a short time, paralysis of the
hind legs followed, with convulsions
and ultimate death. Larval worms
which he subjected to radium were
likewise affected, many of them dying
and the others showing retarded de-
velopment. Those specimens which
were not treated with radium grew
into normal beetles.
The treatment of cancer

These experiments showed conclu-
sively that radium has a very vital
effect upon healthy human tissue, and
attention was centered at once upon
the possibility of curing cancer by
the new method. Study was first
made of such abnormalities of the skin
as warts, and these, it was found,
reacted at once to the effects of
radium, after one treatment disap-
pearing in a very few days. Attention
was next turned to those tumor-like
growths which frequently appear on
the face. These had been successfully
removed by the surgeon's knife, but
often at the expense of a horrible dis-
figurement of the part. If no trace
of the tumor was left in the svstem,
the cure was permanent, but, as too
often happened, it was not entirely
removed, and the growth reappeared.

In the treatment of this type of
cancer, radium has achieved wonder-
ful results. In the deeper-lying tis-
sues, however, the cancer is less easily
reached, and the diflficulty is thus in-

creased manifold, although here re-
markable results have been secured.
One of the early experiment? was upon
a youth of seventeen, who had a
rapidly growing cancer on the lower
jaw, a "giant-celled" type of tumor of
great malignancy. An operation was
apparently the only means of saving
the patient's life, and the success even
of this was entirely problematical.
Radium was applied, and after a few
applications the cancer entirely dis-
appeared and normal, healthy bone
grew in its place.

Except in a few rare instances, such
as growths of the palate, tonsils and
gums, the results of radium treatment
of cancer of the mouth have not been
very satisfactory.

In the treatment of deep-lying and
malignant cancers, such as cancer of
the breast, cancer of the pelvic organs,
etc., the efficacy of radium is still un-
determined, though this much is
known, that it reduces pain, and re-
tards the growth of the tumor, even
in the most obstinate cases; and there
have already occurred a number of
authenticated cures.

Radium treatment of rheumatic
conditions

Radium emanation has also been
used with some degree of success in
rheumatic conditions, notably by Dr.
Paude and others in the treatment of
arthritis deformans, subacute and
chronic rheumatism, gonorrheal rheu-
matism, neuralgia, and such cutaneous
affections as pruritus. A form of
application used extensively in these
disorders is induced radio-activity;
that is, by bathing the patient in
water which, by its contact with ra-
dium or radium emanations, has
acquired a radio-activity of its own.

But, after all, the most momentous
results have been obtained in experi-
ments upon cancer, owing partly to
the fact that a cure for this horrible

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM 193

malady Is being sought with greater plants. Again, in some cancer cases

and still greater eagerness by scien- treated with radium, the effect was

tists, and also by the further fact that found only to increase the virulence of

the gamma rays seem to have an affin- the lesion and to hurry the patient's

ity for the cells that make up can- death.

cerous tissue, a fact demonstrated by As soon as these facts became
the phenomenon that gamma rays known, the attempt was made, of
pass through surrounding healthy course, to isolate the various rays, and
tissue and leave them unharmed, but to make it possible to treat when
penetrate and destroy at once the dis- necessary any diseased tissues with
eased cancer tissue. The rays seem gamma rays exclusively and in any
to find some substance in the diseased strength desired. A means of accom-
tissue that it does not find in the plishing this with some success has
healthy tissue, and proceeds to de- since been discovered, as we have
stroy it. found, both by using metal plates or
Difficulties of standardization other substances of varying degrees of
One of the greatest difficulties that thickness, or by means of electro-
has stood in the way of the therapeutic magnetic deflectors. Thus satisfae-
use of radium has been the fact that tory standardization seems assured in
standardization has developed slowly, the future, when emanation and in-
The variation in strength of the various duced radio-activity can be brought
rays, not only of the radium itself, but under equally complete control,
of radium emanation and of induced The conservation of radium
and secondary radio-activity, under The problem of a more exact appli-
varying conditions has made it difficult cation of radium has taken on new
to apply any forms of the metal with interest through the efforts of leading
any degree of accuracy. American radium workers to con-
There is the further fact, too, that serve, by national means, the sources
alpha, beta and gamma rays have en- in this country of carnotlte ores, and
tirely different effects upon body thus to make accessible to American
tissue, whereas the physician in the physicians a larger supply of radium,
early experiments applied all three Dr. Howard A. Kelly, of the Johns
rays indiscriminately to the affected Hopkins University, is sponsoring the
tissue, unconscious of the fact that movement, and believes that radium
one ray might act quite differently has only to be produced in sufficiently
from the others, and produce harmful large quantities to make its benefits
effects. universally accessible.

The alpha rays, owing to the It is the concensus of opinion of

fact that they cannot penetrate deeply experts that enormous doses of gamma

into the tissues, have little effect rays can be given without injury and

beyond inflaming surface tissue, as in that the favorable results in success-

the case of Becquerel burn. The beta ful cases have been due to the fact

rays, again, have a particularly stimu- that very large doses have been used,

lant effect upon growth when applied The extreme rarity of radium makes it

to plant equally with animal cells, physically impossible of occupying

Oats, for instance, when subjected to the widest field of usefulness, and this

the influence of beta rays, have been limitation is increased by the conse-

found to grow much larger and de- quent price, which was recently quoted

velop more fully than ordinary oat at $120,000 per gram.

19Jf

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

•- .---ifRi"

SCENES FROM THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD

MOVING PICTURES— THE WORLD IN REVIEW

A QUARTER of a century ago
animated photography, or the
moving picture, was an un-
dreamed dream. Today, though an
impressive reahty, it is still marvelous.
Professor Frederick Starr, the noted
traveler and sociologist, has very
graphically characterized it thus:

"I have seen Niagara thunder over
her gorge in the noblest frenzy ever
beheld by man; I have watched a
Queensland river under the white
light of an Australasian moon go
whirling and swirling through strange
islands lurking with bandicoot and
kangaroo; I have watched an English
railroad train draw into a station,
take on its passengers and then chug
away with its stubby little engine
through the Yorkshire Dells, past old
Norman Abbeys silhouetted against
the skyline, while a cluster of centurj^-
aged cottages loomed up in the valley
below, through which a yokel drove
his flock of Southdowns; I have
beheld fat old Rajahs with the price
of a thousand lives bejewelled in their
monster turbans, and the price of a
thousand deaths sewn in their royal
nightshirts as they indolently swayed
in golden howdahs, borne upon the
backs of grunting elephants; I saw a
runaway horse play battledoor and
shuttlecock with the citizens and
traffic of a little Italian village, whose

streets had not known so much com-
motion since the sailing of Columbus;
I know how the Chinaman lives and
I have been through the homes of
the Japanese; I have marveled at the
daring of Alpine tobogganists and
admired the wonderful skill of Nor-
wegian ski jumpers; I have seen
armies upon the battlefield and their
return in triumph ; I have looked upon
weird dances and outlandish frolics in
every quarter of the globe, and I
didn't have to leave Chicago for a
moment.

"No books have taught me all
these wonderful things; no lecturer
has pictured them; I simply dropped
into a moving picture theater at
various moments of leisure; and at
the total cost for all the visits of per-
haps two performances of an ordinary
show, I have learned more than a
traveler could see at the cost of
thousands of dollars and years of
journeying."

The moving picture industry makes
for us volumes of history and action.
It gives a great variety to the themes
of entertainment and is at the same
time a mighty force of instruction.
We do not analyze the fact that when
we read of an English wreck we at
once see an English train before us,
or when we learn of a battle that an
altogether different panorama is

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

195

visualized than our former erroneous
impression of a hand-to-hand con-
flict; we are famiUar with the geog-
raphy of Europe ; we are well acquaint-
ed with how the Frenchman dresses,
in what sort of a home he lives, and
from what sort of a shop he buys his
meat and greens.

Today the moving picture industry
is developed to a high degree of per-
fection in America and Europe. Mil-
lions of dollars are invested in the
production of moving picture films;
entire companies of trained and
practiced actors are carried to every
interesting spot on the continent and
carefully drilled to enact pantomimes
which will concentrate within the space
of a few minutes the most entertaining
and instructive incidents of the world.

How IT WAS DISCOVERED

The basis for animated photog-
raphy — or the continuity or per-

sistence of human vision — was noted
by the famous Arabian astronomer,
Ptolemy, before the Christian era.
The retina of the human eye has the
psychological property of retaining
for a brief time, the tenth of a second
the impression of an image after the
object which produced it has dis-
appeared. If these images are shown
representing successive positions as-
sumed by the object in motion, the
impression conveyed to the eye is
that of continuous movement without
intermission.

No practical use of the observations
of the ancients was made up to the
middle of the eighteenth century, at
which time a scientific toy called the
"Dream Top" w^as evolved in France.
This had an added charm in 1829,
when another scientist invented the
Phantoscope, a disk revolving around
eight spokes viewed the perforations

A MOVING PICTURE STAGE
This shows how the stage is artificially lllumLnated. The artificial lighting equipment In the main Selig studio is only
used when the sunshine is inadequate. A traveling frame holds 15 quartz tube Cooper-Hewitt lights, each bearing 4500
candle power, being in a space 12 feet square 10 feet above the scene. On either side of the scene are banks of mercury
vapor lamps (witb tubes 50 inches long) ; this floods Its limited stage section with approximately 100,000 candle power.

196 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

in the edges. In 1841 photography change of pictures. Since then the

having come into the possession of the SeHg polyscope and numerous other

people, photographs were substituted motion picture machines have ap-

in this device for drawings. peared with numerous new and valu-

The next most important move, in able improvements that have added

a great invention, was made by immensely to the vital illusion and

Edward Muybridge, official photog- the artistic conviction imposed by

rapher of the United States Govern- the flying film,

ment, who, in 1872, made a series of Mechanism of the camera

practical experiments in which cam- The celluloid film upon which the

eras caught the movements of horses photographs are taken, is one and

in motion, reproducing what he called three-eighths inches wide, is in rows

"animal locomotion." In this Muy- of two hundred and four hundred

bridge utilized twenty-four cameras, feet in length and certainly has a

engaging in their process certain tensile strain equal to that of linen

springs, which struck by the passing paper, which is said to be over seven

animals, released the shutters of the hundred pounds. This film is per-

cameras, catching the particular pose forated on each side in successive

of the passing instant. areas three-quarters of an inch deep.

The celluloid negative the equivalent of a picture (eighteen

It was not, however, until 1889, perfect pictures to a foot), so that it

that Friese-Green and Evans patented can be seized by the running sprockets

a machine in England for taking and brought taut into position be-

pictures on celluloid — that this sub- hind the lens (sixty-four perforations

stance became the invaluable sub- to the foot is the Edison standard

stitute for glass, in photography, gauge). Nearly all the picture film

This made it a comparatively easy made in America is manufactured in

matter for a long series of negatives one establishment,

to be taken upon a continuous. The mechanism of a cinematograph

transparent, flexible support which camera, seems comparatively simple,

became the perfected base of moving yet the Selig cameras are adjusted to

pictures. a thousandth part of an inch, showing

Improvements OF EDISON AND LUMiERE their accuracy of graduation. These

In 1893, Thomas A. Edison in- cameras hold two film boxes — the
vented the kinetograph and two years upper for carrying the unexposed film
later Lumiere in France, who had — the lower for housing the exposed
been working independently along product, working upon the system of
the same line, exhibited his kinometo- roller photography. The lens is set
graph in Paris. The American, com- centrally in the front face of the
mercially and practically, demonstra- camera with focusing effected by
ted the possibilities of a new invention moving the lens itself. It is addi-
and consequently Edison gets a royalty tionally fitted with stopping facili-
from all film users for his perforation ties on the well known Iris principle,
in the edge of the film, which holds it The mechanism with an intermittent
steady and eliminates the jumpy side motion, pulls forward the film three-
motion that used to be so distressing quarters of an inch after each exposure,
in the showing of films. Lumiere the film passing through a narrow slit
introduced the drop-shutter, which from under the unexposed film box
disguised the hiatus involved in the over a sprocket wheel kept in firm

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

197

mesh by a guide-roller, so that the
film is moved and exposed with mathe-
matical accuracy through the swing-
ing gate when the exposure takes
place and then, by a similar process,
is drawn safely into the lower film
box. This is mounted on a special
heavy tripod, so that the camera can
be swung panoramically or be moved
through a large vertical arc.

The developing, printing and tint-
ing of the films, is an involved scien-
tific process conducted upon a large,
but accurate scale. A large plant
frequently develops and prints up-
wards of 300,000 feet of film in a
week.

Present extent and future possi-
bilities OF MOTOGRAPHY

Although the art of motography in
its large appeal to the public is less
than ten years old, its serious, scien-
tific development is said to now repre-
sent an investment in this country
alone of over $50,000,000.00 in ex-
pensive plants equipped with special
and elaborate machines. Up to date
there is said to be fully 30,000 theaters
in the United States devoted to the
use of moving pictures. The pro-
ducers and manufacturers of moving
pictures have kept pace wuth the
growing demands of an eager and ap-
preciative public in regard to the in-
terest and the quality of their product.
In the vast domain of picture play,
they have enlisted stock companies
for the silent drama that have in
them the best Thespian talent pro-
curable and the great stars of the stage
are now appearing in such productions
to make pantomime a more poetic
and potential attraction than ever
before. The motion picture business
has a broader, a more serious and a
more lasting value in the educational
way. Historical dramas, great events
of national importance have an in-
fluence too infrequently considered.

but have enduring qualities that
promise to add greatly to the world's
store of knowledge. The so-called
travel films are an equally valuable
asset, as they concern the intimate
information for the public in bringing
on the beauties of nature and the
wonders from the far corners of the
earth for the observation of every
community. Another form of the in-
forming values of pictures come
through the study of natural history,
scientific and microscopic investiga-
tion. The delicate art of the surgeon
is now brought to the attention of
the medical student through the
searching eye of the camera, while
the study of bacteria is microscopically
accomplished through the same won-
derful medium. These good and great
accomplishments of motion pictures
are adding vastly to general interest
as well as to the knowledge of the
scientific world.

When photography is accomplished
in color, when the film becomes un-
breakable and can be perfectly syn-
chronized with the talking machine,
the moving picture will approximate
perfection in its impress upon the
human eye and ear. It has already
accomplished marvels, yet still ap-
pears to be upon the threshold of
greater things.
How the picture plays are staged

In the taking of moving pictures,
the camera is ordinarily placed fifteen
feet from the stage to show people at
normal height, the front line or foot-
light of the scene being only eight or
ten feet wide. The interiors are set
at an angle and are consequently open
on two sides and at the top, so that
the scene gets all the illumination
possible. Such surroundings limit the
radius of action although any depth
may be used for value in perspective.
Naturally, out-of-door productions al-
low the widest liberty of action and a

198

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM 199

sweep to the horizon. If the picture veloped through "toning" and ahiiost

of persons at fifteen feet distance stereoscopic vahies for fihns. The

reveals them Hfe-size, when a long Cines Company of Rome, have been

focus lens is used and they are photo- singularly successful in this artistic

graphed at a distance of a hundred touch. The French secure delicate

and fifty feet, they resemble Lilipu- and varying effects of color through

tians — an advantage frequently used tiny stencils applied to the films, the

in the production of fairy plays. printing process involving aniline dyes.

The actors engaged in picture-plays being similar to that employed in

make up less strongly than they do* on the larger scale of placing patterns on

the theatrical stage, as the lighting is wall-paper. At present kinemacolor

more intense and the camera catches is the best known commercial natural

every detail. . It must be remembered color system. Some of its effects are

that in the moving picture film it is beautiful, although the process has

impossible to rectify any mistakes by not yet been perfected,

re-touching. The actors move and Large stock companies are employed

speak (usually extemporizing) as they for regular daily service, the morning

do in life, simulating all the emotions hours being obviously the most valu-

to make pantomime telling and po- able, by reason of the sunlight. Now,

tential. Before filming a silent drama, however, all studios are fitted with

the actors are thoroughly rehearsed Cooper-Hewitt quartz burners as well

in every detail of the "business," by as mercury tube lights, so that the

the director who times the scene ac- artificial illumination is more brilliant

curately and calculates the film foot- even than that of nature. The selec-

age in advance. In important scenes, tion of actors is by no means easy, as

usually two or more cameras are the taxing peculiarity of the cinemato-

called into use, so that choice of films graphic stage is that the actor must

may be secured from slightly different not only act, but look the part- — types

viewpoints. are in great demand for character

Picture stage settings work in the silent drama.

The settings of studio scenes are The curious public, frequently be-
painted in neutral tints of browns and lieving that the camera lies, ask
grays like photographic backgrounds, doubtfully: "Are these things real.^
and are frequently most elaborate in Do those engaged in the moving pic-
construction, while the furnishings tures do the things they seem to ac-
may be of the richest character, complish? Are there any risks or
While no charm of color obtains in real dangers?"

these photograph scenes, the actors Such inquiries in the broad can

are as richly and as correctly costumed be emphatically answered in the af-

as they are upon the mimic stage and firmative; although the manipulated

no effort or expense is spared to make camera and the printing of films may

the ensemble equal, if not superior, in secure very puzzling and uncanny

every detail to their theatrical proto- results. The wild rides, the strenuous

types. experiences enacted, are real, although

In this country films are tinted to they may be of short duration. The

secure the effect of twilight, of moon- bucking broncho, the speeding train,

light, the glare of a conflagration, or the racing automobile, or the flying

the cloud-gathering of a storm. In airship caught upon the film, is in no

Italy, this scientific process has de- sense counterfeit.

soo

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

STAGING FOR PAULINE CASHMAN IN "THE YANKEE SPY"

When Tom Mix, the champion
cowboy, unhmbers for action, he leaps
from a running horse to the back of a
frenzied Texas long-horn and actually
accomplishes what is known in the
technic of the ranch, as "bull-dogging"
a steer. This means that the daring
rider, with his bare hands, hanging on
to the horns of the maddened animal,
brings it to a standstill and actually
throws it to the ground in front of the
recording camera, a very difficult feat.
It was an extraordinary bit of dare-
deviltry that inspired this cowboy to
the ordeal of being thrown from his
horse, allowing his foot to catch in a
stirrup and be dragged — a dreadfully
hazardous stunt. While blank car-
tridges are used in battle scenes, like
the charges for artillery, and coils of
worn-out film are fired by electric
contact to give the effect of exploding
shells, real bullets are frequently used
in wild west gun-plays, that toss up
the dust and clip the rocks close to

the combatants. In such scenes only
skilled shots are employed and men
willing to take the risk.
Securing local color

While much work is done in studios
during the winter season, companies
travel great distances and there is no
caviling at expense when it comes to
securing proper "locations." Many
out-of-the-way sections of the world
have been visited to secure effective
environment for picture plays. A
well known American producer re-
cently purchased a large estate in
Turin, Italy, which be will utilize for
its pictorial values in play-craft.
The Selig Polyscope Company, for
example, in addition to its square in
Chicago, and a similar size plant in
Los x\ngeles, California, has the Selig
Zoo, a tract of fifty acres, planted like
a botanical garden, fully stocked with
the rare wild animals of Asia and
Africa. In this collection are forty
lions, ten leopards, six tigers, as many

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

elephants, giraffes, hippopotami, rhi-
noceroses, and other habitants of the
tropics. Sehg was the originator of
the wild animal play and has expended
a great deal of money to make the
encompassment of these realistic pro-
ductions true to nature in every
fidelity or detail. In "The Adventures
of Kathlyn" and a series of unique and
thrilling predecessors located in jungle
land, all the animals utilized, includ-
ing the most dangerous and treacher-
ous carnivora, were unfettered, mak-
ing the hazards of such productions
dangerous beyond compare. Natural-
ly, these animals, which are not
trained animals, are kept within
bounds, but they are not restrained
by tethers.

Moving-picture actors have a deep
dislike to "water-stuff" which involves
discomfort and danger. When the
tank lakes in studio yards are used,
risks are largely eliminated, but out
on the high seas the chance changes.
Many notably fine effects have been
secured off rock-bound coasts, splendid
in atmospheric value, or out on blue
water. Few picture plays have been
more impressive than the ship reel in
"The Coming of Columbus," in which
the caravals, replicas of the original
craft, were utilized in most realistic
fashion. Operations with maritime
craft in miniature, are frequently
filmed, but they are seldom convinc-
ing, as many chances are open to
show their unsubstantiality.

The demand for realism is great
and growing, and shrewd producers
dare all sorts of conditions to secure
the truth that thrills triumphant.
The kerosened interiors of houses
built only to burn, with flimsy sheet-
iron walls designed to fall, or minia-
ture model towns made of cardboard,
have served their mission many times.
One day a fire broke out in a large
department store in Los Angeles, and

an enterprising picture-play producer,
accompanied by his camera men and
leading people, rushed to the scene
and, through Clie sanction of the fire-
men, and the intrepidity of the leading
lady, secured her rescue from an upper
window surrounded by the actual fire.
Many fierce oil-tank fires have been
filmed to serve as a background of
plays at later days; in fact, the oil-
fire is a sort of stock fixture for inter-
mediate scenes of the fire story.

How THE "IMPOSSIBLE" PICTURES ARE
OBTAINED

Interesting illusions have been im-
pressed through what is known as
"stop motion," "double printing" or
"stop and substitution." Trick pic-
tures using these effects, have been
chiefly evolved in France, where labor
is cheap and time is not grudged for
securing minutia in recording every
move. Some examples may be re-
called in "The Traveling Bed," "The
Magnetic Man," or "The Magic
Laundry."

In the first named play, when bailiffs
come to the scene to eject a tenant,
they are spared trouble by the anima-
tion of furniture, which moves out of
the room in methodical order followed
by the bed with the tenant in it.
Wires move all the smaller objects and
the bed is pushed along by stage hands
concealed under it.

When "The Magnetic Man" strolls
down a Parisian street in a coat of
mail, metallic articles seem to jump
toward him and cling to his person.
To one and all of these articles invisi-
ble wires are attached, the free ends
being held by stage hands, or by the
principal himself. When the cover of
a manhole in the sidewalk rises on
edge and bolts after him, it is manipu-
lated by wires held by the actor.
After the cover is raised, a "stop" is
made, so that the stage-hand can
enter the picture and start the wooden

HOW MOVING PICTURE TRICKS ARE DONE

The walker on the ceiUng seen here is photographed walking on the floor as seen here

The ski-runner is photographed on a film that already has the chimney and clouds

The magnetic man really draws shop signs, cellar doors and lamp posts toward him by thin wires

203

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE IMPOSSIBLE MADE TO SEEM REAL

'0^-'-'-

THE BED THAT RUNS UP THE STREET — IT IS REALLY BEING PUSHED FROM BEHIND

THE FAIRY WALKS ACROSS

THE TABLE

P ^-^

L."

THE FAIRY DANCES IN THE BOTTLE

THE SECRET OF THE TEAPOT THAT POURS
OUT ITS OWN TEA

cover, painted to resemble iron, roll-
ing. The lamp-post that jumps to-
ward him is snapped in twain, by
strong wires attached, having been

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

205

previously hinged to heel over like a
flap.

In the laundry where articles go
through the process of sorting, wash-
ing and ironing without any visi-
ble human agency, each movement
of each process was photographed,
"stopped," then the action was re-
sumed, all representing remarkable
care and vast pains to make its mys-
tery baffling to the eye, through the
complete continuity of action. The
"stop" movement, as a rule, is the
secret of all instantaneous disap-
pearances.

Astonishing and highly ingenious
effects are obtained by "the reversal of
action" in running a film backward.
All objects it depicts, act topsy-turvy
and defy the laws of gravitation.
Pedestrians walk backward, automo-
biles whirl back in dangerous zig-zags
and smoke instead of escaping from
chimneys seems to flow downward.
Objects are seen to roll up-hill in a
race, or fly violently into the air,
while a brick wall builds itself. These
pictures were all taken in the reverse
and the brick wall had its demolition
really photographed.

Audiences are puzzled by the antics
of cyclists or motorists, who elude the
capture of pursuing crowds, by turn-
ing their vehicles and running up
vertical walls to cloud-land. In such
cases, a cloth, carrying the painted

impression of the wall with its win-
dows, stack-pipes and architectural
projections, is laid upon the floor of
the studio and the camera is pointed
down upon it from the "flies" above.
It photographs the vehicles driven
over this ground cloth, so that the
film conveys the impression of their
scaling the wall. Escaping prisoners,
comical soot-covered men, laboriously
worming their way up narrow pas-
sages or chimney flues, work through
similar devices, as they are merely
stage properties laid upon the floor
and photographed from above.

The present effective camera mech-
anism, allowing double exposure, does
away, to a large extent, with the slow,
old forms of double printing; so that
wonderful transformations are secured
and beautiful dissolves are obtained
that far outdo ordinary stage effects
for interesting and astonishing com-
binations in vast variety.

The sensational and amusing side
of motography has its fascinations,
but the art has a higher aim in its
scientific and informing phases. It
may show the growth of a flower, the
wonder of the silk worm, weaving its
own sarcophagus, and through the
microscope revealing nature's hidden
secrets. Thomas Alva Edison de-
clares that animated photography is
destined to become the greatest factor
of education in the future.

206

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

MEASUREMENTS

THE sun by day, and the moon
and stars by night, send to
us something more than the
visible light that strikes our eyes.
From them comes a subtle radiance
which enlightens our minds. It was
from the heavens that man obtained
that idea of time which was absolutely
necessary for the development of his
intellectual faculties. He had to find
some way of measuring the succession
of tilings before he was able to at-
tempt to control any of them.
Isolated at first in the midst of a
world in which everything was to him
a mystery, and terrified at every un-
expected manifestation of natural
forces, primitive man was incapable of
seeing in the course of the universe
anything but caprice.

The alternation of day and night,
and the recurrence of the seasons,
were no doubt the first thing that en-
abled man roughly to measure the
passage of time. But this carried
him very little farther than some
animals get. The curious instinct of
a recurring change that sends the
swallow on its far migrations was not
sufficient for intelligent human pur-
poses. Man needed both a finer and
a larger instrument for measuring
time than the periods of light and
darkness, and coldness and warmth,
that govern the activities of plant and
animal. Compelled by his growing in-
telligence to search for the reason of
things, he suffered great moral and
intellectual injury through his long
failure to measure time. He could
not parcel out space intelligently in
the absence of some means of defining
the duration of objects; and his
powers of memory were confused by
his lack of a fixed standard of the
efflux of time. Being unable to re-
member distinctly, he was unable to
foresee clearly.

O F

TIME

The starry heavens the first clock

It was by the study of the recurring
phases of the moon that primitive man
seems to have made his first great
advance. By lunar months a good
many uncivilized people still measure
the longer lapses of time. It was
more difficult to find a way of dividing
a single day into small, regular periods.
For the daily course of the sun from
the eastern to the western horizon
varies considerably in most parts of
the earth. The rising point and set-
ting points are quite different in winter
and summer, and the course of the
low winter sun is much shorter than
that of the high summer sun.

The shadow thrown on the ground
by a tree or an upright stick does not
travel over equal distances at an equal

The clock at Greenwich, England, which gives the
standard time to the world

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

207

BEHIND THE GREAT FACE OF BIG BEN

At the top of 360 steps in the Clock Tower at Westminster, Big Ben has marked time for London for fifty years It
is not possible to understand the size of the clock as we stand on the ground. It has four faces, each 23 feet across — nine
or ten times as wide as a door. The minute hands are 14 feet long; they would reach higher than an ordinary room. The
pendulum weighs nearly 450 pounds. The figures on the face are each two feet long, and the minute spaces are a foot
square. If you will look closely at your watch, you will see the minute hand move in little jumps; the minute hand of Big
Ben jumps half a foot every time it moves. It is not easy to believe these figures, but that is because our eyes deceive us
when we look up to a great height, and Big Ben stands so higto <*im thirty tall men stood on one another's shoulders tlie
top man would only just touch tbe middle ol its face.

SOS THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

speed. So this primitive form of the yearly and monthly course of the

sundial was not useful as a teller of sun in the skies, it was a simple step

the passing hours of daylight. It was to study a few other star groups in

not until man grew studious of the other parts of the heavens. In the

spangled darkness of the midnight south there were some very bright

skies, and began to study them on stars, whose risings and settings gave

clear, unclouded nights, that he ob- an indication of the time of year;

tained that vision of a reign of uni- while in the north there were many

versal law which he could not discern stars that did not set at all, so that

on the earth around him. their slow motion had a special value

On considering the midnight sky for the nightfarer and the sailor.

attentively, he perceived that the All this was done in widely separated

stars were not a confused multitude of parts of the earth— in Babylonia and

lights wandering at a venture, but a in Egypt, in India and in China,

disciplined army that marked by its among the Incas of Peru and the

march the regular passage of time. Aztecs of Mexico. The South Sea

Against this majestic revolution of the Islanders and the ancient inhabitants

heavenly sphere, with its awe-inspiring of Britain both worked out the as-

regularity of motion, the different tronomical method of measuring time;

annual courses of both the sun and and so did other barbaric and even

the moon stood out clearly. As soon savage races. Whether the great work

as the star-gazers gave themselves up of thus rescuing mankind from a

to their work, they discovered that world of timeless chaos and placing

the sun could be regarded as the hand him in a universe of heavenly law was

of a yearly clock, that showed by its performed by some single nation of

position in the celestial track the civilizing genius, whose discoveries

month and season. Of course, it was were gradually spread among other

impossible to observe the sun and people; or whether the common result

stars at the same time, and it would was obtained independently at differ-

have been much easier to have studied ent times by different peoples is a

the moon alone as the clock-hand, problem that cannot be solved. There

But in scarcely any case of which we are, however, some good grounds for

know anything was this done. The supposing that the Egyptians, In-

sun's path among the stars was di- dians, and Chinese have made false

vided into twelve portions, each cor- claims in regard to the immemorial

responding with fair approximation to antiquity of their astronomical studies.

a month. On the other hand, the system of the

The early records of the heavens Babylonians stands examination, in

Two methods were then used in spite of the fact that the Babylonian

ascertaining the time of the year, priests modestly informed Alexander

Some early astronomers rose up be- the Great that their astronomical

fore dawn, and made observations of records went back 403,000 years. For

the last conspicuous star rising just it seems highly probable that about

before the sun. The other school of four thousand years ago the early

time-measurers did their work in the inhabitants of Babylonia fixed and

evening, and associated the sun with named the chief constellations that

the constellation that set just after mark the annual path of the sun.

sunset. After mapping out the con- The star groups which were after-

stellations, directly associated with wards added were too far south of

HOW TIME IN PAST AGES WAS MEASURED BY THE SUN

Time was measured for ages and ages by placing a small dish or a round
basin in water and boring a hole in the bottom of it, the water flowing in,
and gradually sinking it. This would always happen in the same period
of time, so that men knew the time when the dish or water-clock sank.

This is a tiny rushlight holder. A rushlight
was used before candles were made. It burns
regularly, and was used by the poor for a
long time after candles were invented.

■^--

There are very few people who have not seen a sundial, either on a house, or on a pedestal in a park,
marked, and the time is told by the shade of the pointer falhng on the different numbers.

The dial is

This Is a kind of movable sundial, which can be held up so that
the sunlight shines through a tiny hole in the straight piece of
metal, and lights up one of the figures engraved inside of the circle,
which 13 placed at a right angle to the straight piece.

This is a primitive watch. It was always held
in one position, and the sun, shining through the
little hole, fell upon one of the numbers engraved
on the inside of the circle, as shown here.

209

210 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Babylonia to be visible in 2000 B. C; the varying path of the sun. The
and the period that elapsed before shadow at nine o'clock on a sunny
they were included in the modern winter morning will fall upon the same
method of measuring time is a piece line as the shadow falls on a bright
of striking evidence in support of the summer morning. The task of draw-
claims of the Babylonian stargazers. ing the hour marks on a dial is more
There is even some truth in their con- difficult, as these occur at irregular
tention that their astronomical cal- intervals, instead of being evenly
culations extended back for over spaced round the dial.
400,000 years. With the knowledge Primitive forms of the sundial
they amassed concerning the sun's But the savages who lived in pre-
apparent path through the heavens, historic times in Great Britain seem
they worked back and verified, to to have worked out part of the diffi-
within a few years, the solar position, cult art of making a sundial. Some
such as would be indicated on a sun- time ago there was published an ab-
dial. stract of some results of the excava-
The invention of a proper sundial tions that Dr. INIcAldowie recently
was only possible among a nation with made in prehistoric burial mounds in
a knowledge of the sun's apparent Staffordshire and Gloucestershire,
movements against the starry sphere; England. At Camp, the doctor un-
and it is possible that the Babylonians covered a huge, rough stone monu-
accomplished it. It is only at the ment, which clearly seems to be a very
North and the South Poles that a ancient instrument of time measure-
stick stuck upright in the ground will ment. It consists of four stones,
indicate by its shadow the regular placed north, south, east, and west,
passage of the daylight hours. In and embedded in the solid rock. A
lower latitudes the shadow cast by leaning stone crosses in a diagonal
the upright rod or style of a sundial manner the space formed by the outer
would so alter its position at the same stones. The structure is so built as
hour, at various seasons of the year, to mark the turning points in the
that the instrument would be useless, sun's annual path; but its most in-
For instance, at nine o'clock on a teresting feature is the way in which
midsummer morning the shadow would the hours are indicated at certain
fall a good distance away from the times in the year by shadows falling
spot it would occupy at nine o'clock on prominent points or edges of the
on a midwinter morning. So the monument. The north stone is really
marks on the dial would be very mis- a sundial, and the south stone a style,
leading. To make a proper sundial, while the east and diagonal stones
it is necessary to calculate the differ- fulfil both purposes. The structure
ent paths that the sun takes in its thus appears to have been a sacred
high summer course through the sky instrument used for measuring the
and in its low winter journey. It is time at certain critical periods of the
easily done by giving the rod or style year, some of religious and some of
of a sundial the same direction as the agricultural importance. Dr. McAl-
axis of the earth. This sounds very dowie has uncovered several other
difficult, but in practice it only means burial mounds, and found beneath
that the style should point to the Polar them other big, rough stone-dials. He
Star. The position of its shadow in thinks they were the sacred places or
the sunlight will not then alter with temples of a very early race, and that

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

211

they were converted into burial
mounds by some alien invaders, who
took over, as is often the case among
ancient races, the traditions of sanc-
tity attaching to the monuments.

It scarcely seems possible that these
buried structures should all by mere
chance be admirable sundials. The
real question is whether they are later
in date than Dr. McAldowie supposes.
Many so-called Druidical remains in
the British Isles were probably in ex-
istence before the Celtic peoples and
their medicine-men, the Druids, invad-
ed the country. The Druids, no doubt,
took over the traditions of sanctity
attaching to Stonehenge and Avebury,
and other similar prehistoric monu-
ments; and it is quite likely that in
some cases they may have continued,
and improved upon, the work of the
earlier builders. But on the whole
doubtless most of these strange mon-
uments were the work of a native,
non-Celtic people of the New Stone
Age. It is possible that this prehis-
toric British race was not far behind
the civilized farmers of Southern Baby-
lonia, in marking the annual path of
the sun amid the stars, and putting
their knowledge to good use in the
erection of strange, rough, open-air
temples that partly served as sundials.
We can scarcely conceive how strong
was the need, among nations strug-
gling into the agricultural state, of
some means of measuring time, and
thus discerning the approach of the
sowing season and the coming of the
harvest.
Modern successors of the druids

Thus it perhaps came about in the
New Stone Age, when a knowledge of
farming was spread throughout Eu-
rope, that the men who designed and
looked after the primitive sundials
ranked next in importance to the
royal chiefs. Indeed, in the course of
time they grew so powerful that the

chieftains liked to appoint members of
their own families to the position of
religious time-measurers. The work
that the star-gazing wizards of Stone-
henge probably used to perform has
not lost any of its importance in the
lapse of centuries. Their successors
are now members of our various ob-
servatories. Were the staffs belong-
ing to these establishments to cease
work, the country to a large extent
would come to a standstill. Our ship-
ping especially would suffer. Our
sailors would have to go back to the
principles of navigation that were
employed two thousand years ago,
feeling their way from place to place
by daylight and keeping to the coast.
Long voyages could only be executed
at great peril. Moreover, our rail-
way system would be disorganized.
A few trains could run, but only at
considerable intervals, and they would
have to travel by daylight and at low
speed.
The limits of accuracy in keeping

TIME

A clockmaker would not be able to
save the situation. Clocks are ex-
tremelv useful in their wav, but it is
a grave mistake to regard them as the
fundamental basis of time measure-
ment. They only deal with seconds,
minutes, and hours. In the last re-
sort we have no better means of
measuring the lapse of years than the
early Babylonians discovered forty
centuries ago. The clear night sky,
with its majestic array of stars, is still
the timepiece by which we measure
the duration of all things. Our clocks
and watches are conveniences: the
work of the astronomer is an absolute
necessity of human life. In taking
transit observations the time that it
takes him to make a signal with his
hand, as his eye watches a certain
star, is the limit of accurate time
measurement. One-fifteenth of a sec-

212

WE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

(V-cv Hc»y

THE MYSTERY OF STONEHENGE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH TIME

This picture-diagram shows how the sun's rays fell on the sacrificial stone at Stonehenge on midsummer morn 4000
years ago and in the beginning of the twentieth century. Sir Norman Locltyer roughly calculated that Stonehenge was
erected 1700 years B. C, by calculating the divergence of the sun's rays from the center line through the Friar's Heel Stone
and the axis of the temple, the sun having shifted his apparent position, due to the tilting of the earth, which is known to
be 48 seconds of an arc every century.

end is generally reckoned to be the
limit of accuracy in personal observa-
tion; for the most rapid piano player,
whose rapidity of execution is the
result of years of finger exercise, can-
not strike a note more than twelve

times a second. No doubt it is easy
to build a machine that would divide
a second into a hundred or more parts.
Indeed, chronographs for dividing and
measuring one-thousandths of a second
are used in the new scientific study of

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

213

motion. But no astronomer could
check an instrument of this sort. The
very best he can do is to keep an
astronomical clock regulated to one-
thirtieth of a second, and then only
by means of frequent transit observa-
tions.
Time and the telegraph

No clock tells the time exactly. It
is merely a mechanism for giving an
approximate measurement of the dura-
tion of things. And it can only work
properly when it is regulated by the
observations which an astronomer
makes on the movements of the stars.
So in most of the principal observa-
tories of the world astronomical obser-
vations are made on every clear night,
for the express purpose of regulating
an astronomical clock mth the great-
est exactness. Then every day at
noon a signal is sent to various parts
of the country by telegraph, so that
all persons who hear the signal can
regulate their clock within two or
three seconds. These signals also can
be used to correct clocks automatically,
putting them forward if they are too
slow, and setting them back if they are
too fast, by a simple electro-magnetic
device called a "synchronizer." This
is the way in which exact time is
maintained in all large cities through-
out the civilized world. The railway
service specially owes an incalculable
debt to the time-keeping astronomers
who daily check, by the apparent
movement of the starry sphere, all
the principal clocks in the world, and
thus enable railway trains to be run
with a safety and exactness that no
kind of clockwork could maintain.

Why a sundial does not keep true

TIME

The daily revolution of the earth
with regard to the sun is not uniform.
As is well known, it is midday at the
instant when the sun is seen at its
greatest height above the horizon.

But this takes place sometimes 16
minutes 18 seconds sooner, and at
other times 14 minutes 28 seconds
later, than twelve o'clock mean time.
These curious variations are due to
the fact that the earth not only has a
daily revolution wuth regard to the
sun, but that it advances at the same
time along its annual path, moving
with greater rapidity when it is near
the sun in December than it does in
July, when it is farther from the cen-
ter of the solar system. The regu-
larity of the earth's motion is also
further disturbed by the attraction of
the moon and some of the planets.
So a sundial in the best of order is a
very incorrect timekeeper; and if we
had to rely entirely on observations of
the sun, many of the main activities
of our civilization would be sadly dis-
ordered and ill regulated.
How YOU may regulate your clock

BY THE STARS

On the other hand, the daily spin
of the earth with regard to the fixed
stars in the remote depths of space is
uniform. The distance between our
earth and the constellations is so im-
measurably great that the variations
in the position of our planet in its
annual orbit are of no practical ac-
count. A star will always appear at
its meridian 3 minutes 56 seconds
sooner than it did on the preceding
day. It is a fairly easy matter to
regulate the clocks of one's household
by observation of the stars; and we
would commend any reader, interested
in timekeeping, to measure by the
stars, instead of putting up in his
garden a picturesque but irregular
working sundial. A transit instru-
ment and a table giving the right
ascension of the particular stars lighten
the labor of observation, but neither is
absolutely necessary.

As an experiment, choose a window
having a southern aspect, from which

2U TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

HOW TIME IS NOW MEASURED BY THE STARS

The upper tube of this telescope is used for observing the stars, by the apparent movement of which in the heavens
exact time is measured. The lower, larger tube is used for solar photography.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

215

the steeple of a church, or a tall
chimney, or some other fixed point
may be seen. To the side of the win-
dow attach a thin plate of brass, hav-
ing a small hole in it, so that, by look-
ing through the hole towards the
edge of the steeple or other fixed point,
some of the stars may be seen. Watch
the progress of one of these, and at the
instant it vanishes behind the fixed
point make a signal to the person
observing the clock, who must then
note the exact time at which the star
disappeared. On the following night
the same star will be seen to vanish
behind the same fixed object 3 min-
utes 56 seconds sooner. If the clock
does not show this, the clock is wrong,
and must be put right.

If a series of cloudy nights should
then make it impossible to compare
the clock with the stars, it is only
necessary to multiply 3 minutes 5Q
seconds by the number of days that
have elapsed since the last observa-
tion and record were made. Deduct
the product from the hour which the
clock then indicates, and this will give
the time the clock ought to show.
The same star can only be observed
for a few weeks. For as it gains
nearly one hour in the fortnight, it
will at last reach the meridian in day-
light, and become invisible. To con-
tinue the observation, another star
must be selected and studied through
the hole in the brass plate. Care
must be taken that a planet is not
chosen instead of a star. As is well
known, most of the planets appear
larger than the stars, and give a
steady reflection, instead of a twink-
ling light.

But the surest means of distin-
guishing between them is to watch a
star attentively for a few nights;
if it changes its position with regard
to the other stars, it is a wandering
and misleading planet.

Time is measured with a spider's

THREAD

Of course, an astronomer uses more
precise methods of measuring time
than the rough and handy sort of ob-
servation which we have described.
But we hope our description has
clearly brought out the fundamental
fact that all time measurement still
depends entirely on the personal ob-
servation of the movement of the earth
in regard to the stars. Every ob-
servatory in the world has its transit
instrument, which is a fixed telescope
on a stated meridian, with a spider's
thread across its field. For at least
four thousand years the universe has
been our clock; and our fundamental
clock it will remain, however much all
our modern mechanisms for measuring
time may be elaborated and made
automatic.

The astronomers who measure our
time for us are now being equipped
with a cheaper and handier method of
signaling the results of their observa-
tions than the telegraph wire. The
invention of the electric-wave systems
of wireless telegraphy is destined to
have a far-reaching effect upon the
general methods of keeping time; and
may be actually used to operate cir-
cuits of electrically propelled clocks.
All that is needed is a sensitive de-
tector which, when affected by the
electric waves from a distant trans-
mitting station, allows the current
from the local battery to act. This
local current, on coming into play,
moves the minute-hand of one or more
dials a step forward; or rather it
moves the wheel that moves the hand,
each movement of the wheel affecting
the mechanism regulating the position
of the hour hand. Thus the elaborate
works of an ordinary clock or chro-
nometer are unnecessary. This is
the contribution of the twentieth
century.

^16

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

How THE MARINER FINDS HIS LOCATION
ON THE MAP

In the meantime, the extraordinary
amount of science and ingenuity which
has gone to the making of our me-
chanical timepieces deserves a brief
consideration. A first-rate chronom-
eter is one of the most interesting and
useful of mechanisms. By means of
it the captain of a ship is able to per-
form a calculation similar, but oppo-
site, to that which astronomers make
for us every night. The astronomer
knows, when he undertakes a measure-
ment of time, the exact position he
occupies on the surface of the earth,
and the exact position in the skies of
the heavenly body that he is studying.
This enables him to calculate exactly
the correct time. The mariner, on
the other hand, knows from his
chronometer what the time is to with-
in a fraction of the truth; and he is
then able to learn, by an observation
taken with an instrument he carries,
his exact position on the ocean. At
noon, by means of an instrument
called a sextant, he measures the
angle at which the sun is at its highest
above the horizon; and knowing from
his nautical almanac at what angle
the sun is above the equator, he can
quickly calculate the latitude of his
ship — that is, how far north or south
it is.

Why the sailor needs an accurate
timepiece

But in order to find out his longi-
tude — that is, how far east or west
he is of Greenwich — he must have a
chronometer that keeps Greenwich
time.

If his watch is two minutes out, he
will miscalculate the position of his
ship by half a degree of longitude —
that is to say, by thirty geographical
miles. For the earth takes two min-
utes to revolve that distance. In the
reign of Queen Anne an Act of Parlia-

ment was passed offering a reward of
£20,000 to any inventor who could
find a method of telling the longitude
at sea true to half a degree. A York-
shire carpenter, John Harrison, worked
at the problem for forty years, and at
last won the reward by making a
watch that did not lose more than two
minutes in a period of several months.
This will show of what incalculable
value an exact means of measuring
time is in ocean transport. The sun
and the stars by themselves cannot
help a sailor to find his time and
longitude at sea, for naturally he has
no fixed and settled point at which to
observe them. Unless he can keep in
touch with some observatory by
means of electric waves, he must
trust to his chronometer. Yet wire-
less telegraphy has made such swift
and gigantic strides that, in July,
1913, wireless time-signals were trans-
mitted over half the globe.

The BABYLONIAN WATER-CLOCK

The first mechanical device for
measuring the daily lapse of time was
the water-clock that was used by the
Babylonians and Egyptians and other
ancient nations around the Mediter-
ranean. It consisted of a basin with
a spout or tap from which water
trickled into a receiving vessel. On
the inside of the receiving vessel were
marks from which the hours could be
told by the height of the water. In
the course of time this simple mech-
anism was greatly improved — espe-
cially by the Greeks. The receiving
vessel became a long cylinder, in
which a float was placed. Connected
with the float was a chain passing over
a pulley on a spindle, and balanced at
the other end by a weight. To the
pulley was fixed an hour-hand, which
pointed out the hours on a dial, as
the float rose on the water. The ener-
gy obtained from the rising water by
means of a float or some other con-

TIME RECORDERS IN CLOCKLESS AGES

This was one of the first ways in
Which men told the time, fixing a stick
upright in the ground and marking the
spot reached by the shadow. This
moves round the stick, becoming
shorter before noon and longer after.

At night men marked a candle
in equal sections in black and white,
so that each section was burned
in a given time. Alfred the Great
is said to have Invented this way
of measuring the passing of time.

Here is a simpler method of telling
the time by night. A hemp rope is
knotted in regular spaces, and set
light to at the bottom, smoldering
slowly and regularly. In Korea
people still tell time in this way.

Here is a time-recorder. Every time
a section of rope or candle is burned
through, or an hour-glass turned,
the owner cuts a notch on a stick
to maxk the hours of vigil passed.

This is an hour-glass, like an egg-
boiler used in kitchens. One end is
filled with sand, which pours through
a small hole into the bottom bulb. It
was once used to measure sermonsi

When a master and man wished to
keep a record of time for wages,
two sticks were used. The servant
brought his part of the stick, and the
farmer comoared it witb his owq.

S17

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

trivance was sometimes used to work
mechanical figures, instead of being
employed to move an hour-hand over
a dial. About eleven hundred years
ago the King of Persia sent Charle-
magne a water-clock of bronze, inlaid
with gold, which was very ingeniously
constructed.

The dial was composed of twelve
small doors, representing the hours.
Each door opened at the hour it repre-
sented, and out of it came a number of
little balls, that fell one by one at
equal intervals on a brass drum.
The hour of the day was shown to the
eye by the number of doors that were
open, and the ear was informed of the
time by the number of balls that fell.
At twelve o'clock, a dozen miniature
horsemen issued forth and closed all
the doors.

The candle -clock and the hour-
glass

At the time when this Oriental
marvel was still being displayed in
France, King Alfred made a simple
clock by which, at night time, he
could both write and tell the time.
For it was simply a long, thick, slow-
burning candle, with the hours that it
took to burn marked upon it. The
sand-glass that careful housewives
still use in boiling eggs was also em-
ployed for some thousands of years in
marking the time. The Chinese and
Japanese used to make a primitive
timekeeper out of a wick of flax
or hemp, about two feet in length,
and knotted at regular intervals. The
wick was specially treated so that,
when lighted, it would slowly smoulder
away without flame, and the time
was estimated from the unburned
portion.
Who invented the weight-clock

It is impossible to say by whom the
weight-clock was invented. Even the
date of its invention is unknown. A
time-piece composed of an assemblage

of wheels actuated by a weight was
sent by Saladin of Egypt to the
Emperor Frederick II of Germany,
in the year 1232. And having regard
to the fact that in the Dark Ages of
Europe the Mohammedan races alone
carried through the world the torch
of science, it is very probable that
they were the inventors of the first
modern clocks. However this maj^
be, weight-clocks came into use in
Europe in the thirteenth century, and
they were at first chiefly employed,
at cathedrals and abbeys and wealthy
monasteries, for indicating the hours
of prayer. Few persons could then
read a dial, so the hours were struck on
bells by mechanical figures, known as
Jacks, which excited the amazed ad-
miration of the people. Unfortunate-
ly, the devisers of these ingenious
marionette exhibitions were far more
highly esteemed than the men who
merely strove after exactness of time-
keeping. But the clock that Peter
Light foot made for Glastonbury Ab-
bey in 1335 remained in working order
until 1835. It is the earliest modern
clock of which we have any authentic
details. Most of the old weight-
clocks, however, were so defective in
working that about the middle of the
seventeenth century the principle of
the water-clock was revived and ap-
plied in a more scientific manner.

Discovery of the law of the pendu-
lum

Not until the principle of the pen-
dulum was discovered did the me-
chanical measurement of time become
of scientific importance. But in 1580
a little boy was attending divine
service in the cathedral church at
Pisa, and, like many other boys, he
took to staring about him instead of
saying his prayers. What struck his
idle curiosity was a great chandelier
that had been lighted and allowed to
swing until it came to rest. The boy

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

219

WHAT MAKES THE CLOCK'S WHEELS GO ROUND

This picture of the Inside of a clock shows us how the
wheels go round. It Is not the pendulum that makes the
clock go; It is either a weight or a spring. In this grand-
father's clock it is a weight. The weight is on a cord which
passes round a broad wheel, called a barrel, marked A in
the picture. The heavy weight pulls the cord downwards,
and the cord, being wound round the barrel, pulls the
barrel round. The edge of this barrel has teeth which
work into the teeth of another wheel, marked B, so that
both wheels go round. This second wheel causes the top
wheel, marked C, to go round, and so all the wheels are
set to work. But if that were all, the wheels would run
round too quickly, and they must be made to run slowly
and regularly. At the top is a curved piece of metal with
a catch at each end; it is called the escapement, and Is
marked D. This swings to and fro, and every time It
swings, it catches the top wheel and prevents It from going
round more than one tooth.

This picture shows how the wheels make the hands go
round. The three wheels shown in front of the clock,
marked B, E, and F, are really behind the face. B, E,
and F are necessary for the hands. Wheel F goes round
once every hour, and as the minute hand is fixed to it, the
wheel carries the minute hand round with it. Now wheel
F touches wheel E with its edge, making it go round also.
E is a double wheel, having near the center a small wheel
fixed to it with only six teeth; it is really on the other side
of wheel E, but is shown in the picture in front for clear-
ness. Each tooth in it fits into a tooth in wheel B, thus
making that wheel go round. As wheel E goes round once
in an hour, the six teeth in its center carry round one-
twelfth of wheel B, which has seventy-two teeth. The
hour hand is fixed to wheel B, so while F is going once
round, it makes wheel E drive B one-twelfth of its Journey.
Thus wheel F, with the minute hand, turns twelve tlme^
while wheel B, with the hour hand, turns once

220

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

expected that as the swing of the big
lamp grew smaller, it would move
more quickly over the shorter space.
But it seemed to him that the time it
took to swing over decreasing dis-
tances was uniform. He wanted some
way of measuring the duration of the
lessening movement; and, with a
flash of genius, he thought of counting
his own pulse-beats, and measuring
the time the chandelier took to swing
first over a large space and then over a
small space. To his surprise, he
found that all the varying swings of
the big lighted lamp were measured
by exactly the same number of pulse-
beats.

When he went home, he tied a
weight to a string and set it swinging
from a beam. Again he found that
no matter whether the arc of the
swing was large or small, the time
taken in covering the various dis-
tances was equal. Thus did Galileo
in his boyhood discover that the swing
of a pendulum is equal-timed. As a
matter of fact, this is true only when
the arc of vibration is small.

On the other hand, the weight of a
pendulum has no influence upon the
time of its vibration. For the effect is
produced by gravity, as Galileo went
on to show, and the time that bodies
take to fall to the ground under the
action of this force is independent of
the weight. A swinging or falling
weight of two pounds is only equiva-
lent to two pound-weights swinging
or falling side by side.

The discovery of the peculiar prop-
erty of the pendulum gave the makers
of weight-clocks the regulating instru-
ment for which they had vainly
searched for centuries. A clock con-
sists of two principal parts. There is
first a train of toothed wheels, which
transmits to a definite point the mo-
tive force produced by a weight or
spring. But as the motive force

would expend itself with wasteful
rapidity in setting the train of wheels
going at a furious rate, a mechanism is
necessary for regulating the expendi-
ture of the motive force with the
requisite uniformity and slowness.
So the second main part of a clock
consists of the pendulum or time-
governing device, and the escapement,
by means of which the pendulum con-
trols the speed of going.
Escapement mechanism of clocks

AND watches

It is difficult to describe an escape-
ment mechanism in words, though it
is simple in action. But we must at
least attempt an explanation of Gali-
leo's contrivance. For, though it was
unsuccessful at the time, it contained
the germ of the chronometer-escape-
ment and free pendulum which are
likely to be the escapement of the
future. Galileo made a wheel with a
number of pins sticking out, not from
its edge, but from its side. Sideways,
near the top of the wheel, a ratchet
engaged with the pins, and at the
same time was connected with the
pendulum beneath by a small down-
ward projecting arm. Touching this
arm at times was another straight
arm, running sideways from the top
of the pendulum rod, and moving
with it. This pendulum arm extended
partly over the side of the wheel, in
such a way that it came into contact
with one of the pins.

The wheel, of course, went round by
the motive force of a weight or spring
transmitted through a train of wheels.
But as the ratchet engaged with the
pins, the entire motion was stopped
until the pendulum came swinging
back at the end of its beat. The
pendulum arm then struck the lower
projecting arm of the ratchet, and
raised the ratchet from the pin with
which it was engaged. So the wheel
then went round, and one of its lower

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM 221

MANY CLOCKS WORKED BY ONE PENDULUM

HOW AN ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN PENDULUM TURNS THE HANDS OF NUMEROUS DISTANT DIALS

By the aid of the electric current all the clocks in a large factory or even a town can today be controlled by a single
pendulum. This diagram shows the principle of the synchronome system. The clock consists of the pendulum (A) alone,
which pulls round the wheel (B) once every half-minute. The vane (C) then withdraws the catch (D), and allows the
gravity lever (E) to fall. The little roller (F) presses the pendulum aside by running down the bracket (G) mounted upon
the pendulum. The lower arm of the gravity lever (fi) then meets the contact screw in the end of the armature (H) , thereby
closing the circuit of the electro-magnet (J), which allows the current from the battery (K) to pass through the dials all over
the building. These dials are advanced half a minute whilst the electro-magnet (J) attracts the armature (H) and throws
the gravity lever (E) up on to its catch again. The clock-faces have no "works" behind them, only one wheel and a magnet,
shown on the right. The electro-magnet (L) receives the half-minute impulses, so attracting the armature (M), and by
means of the lever (N) enabling the click (O) to pick up another tooth of the wheel (P). The spring (Q) then propels tbe
Wheel (P), and the minute-hand attached to It. one half-minute

222

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

pins struck against the arm of the
pendulum and thus gave the penduhim
its forward stroke. But in making
this stroke the penduhim lowered its
side-arm. This enabled the project-
ing arm of the ratchet to drop freely,
with the result that the ratchet itself
engaged with the next pin on the
wheel, and again stopped the move-
ment of the clock till the arm of the
pendulum again swung back.

As a matter of fact, this arrange-
ment did not work well, and the use
of the penduhmi had to wait until
Huyghens investigated its mathemat-
ics and emmciated the laws governing
oscillatory bodies, in 1673. But al-
most another century elapsed before
the escapement mechanism of a watch
was converted into a good regulator
by the great George Graham, whose
famous dead-beat escapement is still
used in many a high-class clock today.

It was impossible to take a pen-
dulum-clock to sea and suspend it
so as to avoid distur'ijing its motion
by the rocking of the ship. The
ship's chronometer is a large watch,
about six inches in diameter, moun-
ted on gymbals, in a mahogany
box.

A modern chronometer escapement
consists of a toothed wheel, against
which two levers work. A delicate
spring at the top of one lever comes
at times into contact with a little
projection at the bottom of the other
lever, so the escapement - wheel is
alternately held and released by the
interaction of the two levers.
Electric world-clock

The electric w^orld-clock into which
the Eiffel Tower in Paris has been
transformed excites the liveliest in-
terest in western Europe, where it is
easy for anybody, with the aid of very
simple wireless telegraph apparatus,
to receive the time signals radiated at
Jxed hours over se£|, and land.

Eiffel tower makes fine station for
wireless signals

The Eiffel Tower has been chosen
for this purpose because its immense
height, nearly a thousand feet, gives
it a distinct advantage as a sending
station for wireless signals. But at
the very moment when this finger of
steel pointing skyward out of the heart
of Paris becomes, as it were, a clock
hand for the whole planet, the merid-
ian of Paris 's officially abandoned.,

The order has gone forth that hence-
forth the Connaissance des Temps, the
famous French astronomical almanac,
shall have its calculations based on
the meridian of Greenwich — the prime
meridian that all the civilized world
now recognizes.

The world's standard wireless tele-
graph timepiece does not keep step
with the hours as they flit across the
world's standard meridian of time,
and an allowance for difference of
longitude has to be made by everybody
who receives the signals from the
Eiffel Tower, if he wishes to know what
the true world-time is. What he gets
is Paris time.

The observatory of Paris auto-
matically, by an electric clock, trans-
mits to the Eiffel Tower the time sig-
nals that are radiated over the globe,
and these time signals are regulated
by the passage of stars across the
meridian of Paris, and not that of
Greenwich. But Paris is situated 2
degrees 29 minutes and 15 seconds of
longitude west of Greenwich, corre-
sponding to a difference of 9 minutes
and 21 seconds of time, which must
be either added to or subtracted from
the indications of the signals in order
that standard world-time may be
obtained.

If the observer is west of Paris
he must add the extra time to get
the hour at Greenwich, and if he is
east he must subtr9,ct.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

223

THE STARTING OF THE TELEGRAM

In the left corner we see the Interior of a telegraph office. Outside we see the wires running across country. The girl
Is sending a telegram to the office shown on another page hundreds of miles away. Each time she presses down the key
with her right hand, a current runs from the battery, ttirough the key, which connects the twe wires, through the galvanom-
eter, and out over the wires to the far-away town.

HOW WE SEND

NOBODY can say what elec-
tricity really is. It is not
matter. It cannot be seen,
though its effects can; it cannot be
smelled or tasted. We call it a fluid
because we cannot give it a better
name. But though we do not know
what it is, we know how to bring it
into use, how to create or excite it,
how to harness it and make it our
most marvelous and obedient servant;
and one of the chief wonders electricity
performs for us takes place after we
hand a telegram across the counter of
a telegraph office. A telegram is one
of the familiar things in our lives
which are really so wonderful that no
man can quite understand them.

If we wish to send a telegram, say
from Chicago to New Orleans, we

A TELEGRAM

must have in the telegraph office a
battery from which we can send elec-
tricity along wires. The wires coil
round a piece of iron, and so long as
the current of electricity is passing
through the coil the iron acts as a
magnet, an electro-magnet as it is
called, and draws other metal to it.
The moment the current ceases, the
iron is no longer a magnet. We see
a picture of this electro-magnet and
battery in the above picture. When we
send the electricity through this coil,
we call it magnetizing the coil. The
current flies swiftly along the wire, and
while it is going the circuit is said to
be closed. When the current ceases,
the circuit is broken. Now we hand
our telegram for New Orleans to the
telegraph operator.

22J^

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Before him there is a little lever with
a knob at the end. This lever is called
a key. While that key is at rest, the

A telegraph key used to send telegrams

circuit is broken. The moment he
presses it down, the circuit is closed,
and the current races along the
telegraph wire. He taps away at
his key and the message flies over
the wires to be written down at
the New Orleans telegraph office.
How is it done.f* New Orleans is the
receiving end. Well, there, at the
end of the wire, they have an electro-
magnet made as we have seen, of wire
and iron. A current comes from
Chicago. It enters the office by the
wire. It passes through the coil and
makes the iron magnetic. The mag-
net attracts towards itself a little
metal bar working on a lever, and
every time this bar comes down to-

A sounder used to receive messages

wards the magnet, the end of it taps
upon a small screw; then when it
goes up again it taps on another screw.
Each tap that it makes corresponds
with something that the clerk in
Chicago has done at his end of the
wire.

The Chicago clerk, as we have seen,
presses down a key. That key, when
at rest, has its knob raised in the air.
There is a wire attached to the key.
Now, when the key is pressed down,
its under side touches another wire.
The pressing down of the key joins
these two wires together. That closes
the circuit. The joining of the two
wires instantly causes a current of
electricity to flow from the Chicago
battery over the wire to New Orleans.
The instant that the key is allowed to

This diagram explains the uses of the battery, coll, and
wires in the sending of a telegram. The hand stands for
the battery, which provides the energy. The big wheel
represents the coll, which regulates the electric current
to flow as we want it. The rope represents the flow of the
current, conveying the energy to the small wheel, which
stands for the receiving end. The knot Is for the electric
spark, which ties the ends of the rope, or current, together,
as it were. When the knot Is tied, the circuit Is closed.
When the knot is untied, the circuit Is broken. It Is the
rapid tying and breakini; of the spark-knot that produces
the electric waves

rise from the wire underneath it, the
current is stopped, and the circuit is
broken. While the current is flowing,
the coil and iron at New Orleans be-
come a magnet, that draws towards
itself the small metal bar.

Clever men thought out a way of
making this of use. They arranged
that certain pressures by the sending
key should stand for certain letters.
We have only to agree once for all
that a certain sign shall stand for a

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

S26

WHERE AND HOW A TELEGRAM IS RECEIVED

We are sending this telegram by the simple single-wire system, so the clerk has to write down the dots and dashes as
they sound. Each shock pulls down the iron marked A, causing the bar to strike the pegs P P and sound the "dots" and
"dashes." From the girl, the current passes along the wires, then back through the instrument, into the earth. When
the man telegraphs, the current goes into the earth and back along the wires to the girl.

certain thing, and then we know what
it means. And that is how we got the
telegraph's A, B, C. A very short
pressure of the key in Chicago gives
two taps at New Orleans, one very
quickly after the other, and a longer
pressure gives two taps, but with a
longer interval between them. These
double tappings, one with a short
interval between the taps, and the
other with a longer pause, correspond
with the dots and dashes of the Morse
alphabet.

When we send our telegram from
Chicago to New Orleans, the telegraph
operator turns the letters which we
have written into telegraphic letters
by tapping away at his key in the
manner agreed upon. Each tap is
registered at New Orleans instantly
it is made. With each pressure upon
the key the circuit is closed, and the

current flies for a certain length of
time, signifying a sign which means
part of a letter. Each time the key
is at rest in its ordinary position, the
current ceases to flow.

But there is a limit to the speed at
which a man can tap his key. If he
is very skilful and strong he may be
able to send as many as forty words a
minute. More likely he will not be
able to send more than twenty-five.
That is not quick enough when the
message which he sends, instead of
being a little telegram from one of
ourselves, is a long one of thousands
of words — a speech, or the account of
some great event. For this, another
system is used. A message of twelve
hundred words, for instance, would
be divided among, say ten clerks, each
of whom sits before a machine that
punches holes in a ribbon of paper,

226 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the holes corresponding to the letters one wire at the same time from Chicago
of the Morse alphabet. Each clerk to New Orleans, while two others are
punches 120 words of the message, coming at the same time over the same
at the rate of 25 words a minute, so wire from New Orleans to Chicago,
that, when the work is divided in this This is done by arranging different
way, the whole message is punched strengths of current. The messages
out on the tape, or ribbon, in about that are traveling together from the
five minutes. The ribbon is then south to the north are each sent by a
run through an elaborate telegraph current which is of different strength
instrument, called an automatic trans- from that of the others, and the same
mitter, because it works itself. The is the case with those coming from
ribbon runs through in such a manner the north. Each current goes to a
that the circuit is closed at each hole receiver, which takes a current of
in the paper representing a dot or a particular strength,
dash, and the current flows along the If we have relatives awaj over the
line, to be registered at the other end, sea to whom we may wish to telegraph,
in ink, upon a tape. By this machine, we can reach them by a message car-
messages can be sent at the rate of ried by electricity under the sea.
400 words a minute. The recording Cables run under the Atlantic and
of the dots and dashes upon a tape at Pacific Oceans, under the Mediter-
the receiving end is necessary, because ranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Indian
no clerk could write out the message at Ocean, the North Sea, the English
the rapid rate at which it is received. Channel, and so forth. There are
The writing out is done from the about 250,000 miles of these sub-
printed dots and dashes on the receiv- marine cables in use, so that we can
ing tape. exchange messages with England,

We do not find this recording in- Panama, Australia, New Zealand, In-
strument in small telegraph offices, dia, China, and every other civilized
The instrument which is used in rail- country. The principle is the same
way signal-boxes and stations is what as in the land telegraph, but the wires
we call the needle instrument. There are different, and the rate of tele-
we find a little dial, in front of which graphing is slower, as the current
a needle works to right or left, accord- passing through these long wires is
ing as dots or dashes are meant. By necessarily weaker, which makes the
watching this, the operator can take recording of the messages slower,
a message quite easily. But as the If the ordinary telegraph wires were
needle moves to right and left it used, the current would run off into
strikes upon two little bars of metal, the sea and be lost. So the wires
each different from the other, so that have to be encased in gutta-percha,
they give out different sounds, and by and bound round with tape and yarn,
listening, without watching, the clerk and brass, and tarred hemp, and over
is soon able to read the message by all are wound coils of stout wire, to
sound, just as the clerks in the tele- protect the cable from the sea, and
graph offices do with their improved the rocks at the bottom of the ocean,
instruments. For long distances, only one wire is

Perhaps the greatest wonder of the placed inside the cable, but for shorter

telegraph line is the fact that several ones many can be used. More than

messages can be sent at the same time, one message can be sent over the cable

Two messages can be traveling over at the same time.

^28

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE ELECTRIC WIRE THAT RUNS UNDER THE SEA

One of the most wonderful things in the world is the way in which a thought can be flashed across the earth quicker
than a messenger can carry a letter across a town. Every day messages are sent under the sea by means of electric cables
lying along the ocean-bed. The question answered on another page deals with this great achievement of man and the
pictures in the following pages show us how the cables arc laid.

Marine plants an<l sea animals fasten and grow upon the cable at the bottom of the sea, a.s may be seen in this picture.
Sometimes a cable is pulled to the surface with a large piece of coral growing all round it. or some big fish is mixed up with
it. These were the greatest difficulties that the early layers of deep-sea cables had to fight against and learn how to over-
come. Several years ago, something went wrong with a cable in the sea near Valparaiso, in South America. When it
was hauled to the surface of the ocean, there was a dead whale with the cable coiled round its body. Such incidents are
QOt uncommon, hence the need for great strength In the cable.

MAKING THE ELECTRIC CABLE FOR THE OCEAN BED

Here we see a submarine cable in the course of being made. The men are puttinsi on one of the many coats that cov^i
the metal and protect it Irom damage, and prevent the electricity from escaping under the sea.

In this picture we see how the cable, after it is covered with gutta-percha, is bound round with wire, livery delu.il ol
the work must be most carefully performed, for if there was any flaw the cable would be useless.

230

HOW THE CABLE IS JOINED TOGETHER AT SEA

After fixing the cable ashore, the ship steams away, and the cable
passes over a drum or grooved wheel, as seen here, and then over the
side of the ship. A vessel cannot carry a very long cable all at once,
so it has to return to land for a second instalment.

A buoy is put to mark the place where the
end of the cable is let down. When the ship
returns, the end is hauled up and joined to the
new cable, as seen here.

When the cable has been laid right across the ocean, the end must be taken ashore to be fixed in the cable station,
Just in the same way as we saw it done at the beginning of the laying operation. Here tlie cable Is seen supported on
barrels from the ship to the shore, and the shore part is being placed in a trench.

891

HOW A CABLE IS LOWERED AND RAISED

The cable is now laid under the sea, except where part is still held by ropes from the ship. The rope holding the cable
is now laid across a wooden block, and a man with an axe cuts the rope. Then the cable sinks to the bottom ol the .sea,
and as long as it carries the messages properly it is allowed to remain undisturbed.

If the tubk- UoL-a liot work prupLilj , ii musi be raised to find what 1;= vvrouy;. In lliis pictare we .see a collection of the
curious grapnels, or grappling-irons, used for catching hold of a cable at the bottom of the sea

These men are using grapnels. They can tell when the
cable has been caught by the grappling-iron, owing to the
lerK of the rope or chain that holds the grapnel.

When a cable is hauled up, a man is swung over the side
of the ship to fasten a rope to it, as shown here, and then
the cable is pulled on hoard (or repairs.

232

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM 233

The speed at which cablegrams can received the answer in a minute and

travel is very great, though we have a half. The distance there and back

not yet the instruments to receive the is 18,000 miles.

messages quickly. A signal has been Not many years ago at an electrical

sent 8000 miles under water in a single exhibition in Chicago, a message was

second. But we could not send a sent from a room, through the United

long message at this rate. As it costs States to Canada, from Canada to

twenty -five cents a word to cable . London, from London to Portugal,

across the Atlantic, codes are used by Spain, Egypt, India, and Japan. It

which one word may mean a dozen came back by the same route, and

or more words. By this means time was received in the same room from

and money are saved. Once an which it had started, but at another

English firm cabled to their manager instrument. It had been round the

in Victoria, British Columbia, and world in fifty minutes.

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY

WHEN we read of the various a man was James Clerk-Maxwell, the
useful inventions of such late renowned English physicist and
great men as Edison and mathematician. England has con-
Bell and Marconi we are sometimes tributed many illustrious men in the
led to think that all great discoveries development of the world's scientific
in science are made by means of history, but not even Newton sur-
experimentation alone. This, how- passes this famous scientist in real
ever, is not true. Before one can genius and remarkable insight into
begin to experiment with any hope of the mysteries of nature,
producing a useful invention he must Length of ether waves
first understand those laws of nature Professor Maxwell discovered by
which underlie the problem he is the aid of mathematical reasoning that
trying in a practical way to solve, there exist in the ether waves of very
For example, much valuable time and much greater length than those con-
many thousands of dollars have been cerning which we read under the sub-
spent in a vain attempt to produce ject of heat and light. He maintained
perpetual motion. Had those experi- that these long ether waves travel
menters who have worked on this with the same speed as light. In
impossible problem fully understood fact, it was the thought of this great
the law of the conservation of energy theoretical investigator that these
all this time and money might have very long waves constitute what we
been saved. know as one form of an electric
Not only is it necessary to under- current. Indeed, he went so far as
stand the fundamental laws but it is to contend that light and certain
the work of some one to discover these forms of electrical disturbances are
laws and principles in the first place, practically one and the same thing.
In other words, before we can apply a both being waves in the ether, the
principle to produce or invent a useful only difference being in the length of
article or device we must have the the waves. Now this was a remark-
principle to apply. able theory, and the interesting and
Now new facts or truths in nature singular thing about it all is that
are often discovered by men who do Maxwell himself did not live to see
very little if any experimenting. Such his theory pu^t to a practical test-

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

By the aid of higher mathematics
this college professor discovered these
wonderful truths of nature, but it
was left for other scientists who came
later to confirm his conclusions and
extend them into practical fields.

Not long after Maxwell's death a
young German high school physics
teacher actually discovered these elec-
tric magnetic waves that the great
Englishman had predicted. It was
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz who made this
great discovery, and these long ether
waves are called Hertzian waves in
his honor.

Hertz very carefully studied the
behavior of these waves and found
that they obey all the laws of
light waves and travel with the
same velocity, viz., 186,000 miles
per second. The retina of the eye is
not sensitive to these long ether
waves, but Hertz was able to detect
their existence by means of very
simple apparatus. We learned in
our study about heat that certain
ether waves cause the molecules of
bodies to vibrate more rapidly. Now
these long ether waves which we are
now considering, and which hereafter
we shall call electric waves, produced
a somewhat different effect on matter,
particularly on metallic substances.

For example, if a copper wire is in a
region traversed by such waves there
will be set up in that wire an electric
current, which current will rush back
and forth from one end of the wire to
another.

If our metallic conductor is in the
form of a circle and the ends sepa-
rated by only a very small space,
tiny sparks will jump across this gap
whenever the electric current is set
up in the wire as a result of the
presence of electric waves. Hertz used
a device of this kind to find out a
great many important and useful
facts about these remarkable waves.

How WAVES ARE SET IN MOTION

But how are such waves started or
set in motion? When an alternating
current is oscillating back and forth
in a wire it disturbs the ether in
and about it just as the vibrating
electrons of an incandescent body set
up waves in the surrounding medium.
Such ether waves are known as
electromagnetic waves, or, more
briefly, electric waves.

When considering the method of
producing electric waves it is well to
remember that the ordinary com-
mercial alternating current which
flows along the wires in our homes and
gives us light is of a comparatively
low frequency, ranging from 25 oscil-
lations per second to 135, the most
common being 60 cycles. It has been
found that currents of much higher
frequency than the above are most
effective in setting vip electric waves.
Currents having from one hundred
thousand to a million oscillations per
second are employed in producing
strong electric waves. Now the length
of these ether waves generated by a
high frequency current depends upon
the frequency of that current. The
greater the frequency the shorter the
waves; the lower the frequency the
longer are the resulting waves.
Hertzian waves range from a few feet
to several miles in length.
High frequency currents

Further, it should also be under-
stood that the form and general
arrangement of the metallic conductor
carrying these high frequency currents
have a great deal to do with their
effectiveness in radiating electric
waves. It was thj discovery of this
very important fact by Dr. Marconi
and others that has made it possible
to signal through space without wires.
Marconi learned by experiment that a
vertical wire, or system of wires,
having the lower end connected to

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM 235

WORDS TRAVEL EVERYWHERE ON ELECTRIC WAVES

This picture shows us in a diagram the wonderful way in which the electric shocks travel through the ether. The
wireless waves radiate in all directions, outwards and upwards, so that in less than one-sixtieth of a second a dot of the
message, shown here as being sent from Poldhu, could be received in London, Norway, Berlin, America, or on any ship sail-
ing on the Atlantic Ocean. It is to prevent everyone receiving everyone else's messages that the instruments are tuned.
The message could also be received in airship, aeroplane, or balloon at thousands of miles above the clouds if men could
get there. It is also believed that they descend into the earth.

This picture shows us, in another way, what we see above — how the wireless waves radiate, expanding evenly In true
circles. The boy has thrown a stone into the river, and the waves flow outwards, getting fainter and fainter the farther
they get from the spot where the shock occurred. The wireless waves are waves in the ether very like these water-waves,
with this difference, that while the ripples of water travel only in a horizontal direction all round, and at a slow rate, the
wireless waves travel at a very rapid pace, and in all directions. A better illustration of how these electric waves travel la
provided by the light from a lamp or candle. The light-waves move from the flame in every direction, and the wlreleai
waves travel through the world in exactly the same way Irom the center at wblcb tbe messaise la sent oil.

WIRELESS STATIONS ON DUTY DAY AND NIGHT

-«^V ■■> iSV T

•^">-*>^, ^.

.iyr^,^.;;„ir:^^i*fe*«ii.i*«

-:-¥^ — :5&.^i„

The structures, with the wires at the top, are built high so that the electric waves, when starting across the sea, may
not meet with obstructions. On striking the ocean they leap from crest to cr?st of the sea-waves.

This picture gives us a glimpse of a wireless telegraphy station by night. Whether it be light or dark, the wonderful
waves created by the power of electricity speed on their way across the waters. Receiving Instrumenta are ready to record
their message, and the words fly, in dots and dashes, speedy as light, and as noiseless.

2S6

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM " ^ '■' ' 237

the earth radiates electric waves The coherer receives a Hght tap
much more efficiently than any other from a little automatic tapper, and the
arrangement. By utilizing an oscil- filings fall. apart again instantly, to be
lator of this character ''Marconi was as they were before, ready to receive
able to signal over a distance of several the next electric wave. When the
miles where previous to this discovery metal filings come together and close
the waves could not be detected the circuit, they operate a bell or sound-
beyond a few feet. er, and the message which they tick is

Let us now direct our attention to read and written down, ready to be sent

the practical methods used to produce to the person for whom it is intended,

these high frequency currents in the Thus we send a message thousands

vertical wire or oscillator as it is of miles across the ocean without the

sometimes called, and to the modern help of wires. Here again the rate is

means employed to detect electric slow. Cablegrams run off at the rate

waves at great distances from the of fifty words a minute, but the wireless

sending station. Improvements in telegrams go at the rate of only twenty-

the apparatus used for practical wire- five words a minute. Some day, of

less telegraphy are being made with course, this pace will be greatly im-

such astonishing rapidity that the proved. Wireless telegraphy is one

past few years have witnessed almost of the great gifts that inventors have

a complete change in radio equip- given to mankind, and we cannot yet

ment. Because of this rapid develop- realize the importance of it to the

ment and in view of the changes that world. The pictures on these pages

are certain to come in the immediate show how wonderful is the power that

future, it will be well to confine our wireless telegraphy gives us to speak

attention to a brief description of the across the sea, and sometime ago there

latest forms of apparatus used to happened a wonderful thing, showing

transmit messages over thousands of how the power of telegraphy without

miles of space. wires may save great disasters at

The Wireless Instruments sea. Let us read the story of how a

By the use of an instrument called man tapping away into space saved

a transmitter, these electric waves a thousand lives.

can be sent bounding forth through Let us picture to ourselves an im-
the air in all directions. By making a mense liner moving slowly from its
receiver in tune with the transmitter, berth. The wharf is crowded with
we can make that receiver take a people waving their hands and flutter-
message. To receive the message an ing handkerchiefs. From the side
instrument called a coherer is used, of the ship, on all the decks, leans a
A coherer is a glass tube, sealed at multitude of passengers waving fare-
both ends with metal, and filled with well. The, space between these two
nickel and silver filings. When an crowds slowly widens. Between ship
electric wave comes along, it passes and shore flows an increasing space of
through this tube. It magnetizes the troubled water. The faces of people
metal filings, and causes them to become indistinct. The sounds die
draw close together — to cohere, and away. Then the engines get to work,
to close the circuit. The wave is and the great ship moves forward, and
quickly gone, the filings are no longer draws impressively to sea.
magnetized, and the circuit is then The passengers hurry to their cabins,
broken again. They see that everything is comfort-

THE UNSEEN TELEGRAPH MESSENGER

WIRELESS" TELEGRAM

Here we see the operator preparing to send a
telegram without wires. There is the key,
which he is to tap; the battery, which gives the
current necessary for sending the message, and
the induction coil. At a little distance from the
coil we see two brass knobs. One of the knobs
is connected to a wire, F, which runs down into
the earth. The other knob is connected to a
wire, G, which goes out into the air. So long
as the key remains untapped, that is to say, so
long as the ends of the wires have a little space
of air between them, just underneath the knob,
the current cannot flow along the wires. The
telegraph instrument, without the touch of the
operator's hand, is as silent as an unplayed
piano. But suddenly an urgent message has
to be despatched. The operator presses down
the knob of his key. Immediately the current
leaps across from the wire A to the wire C, and
along this to the coil. It whirls round miles and
miles of wire in the coil, gathering intensity at
every whirl, then out, along E, to the brass knob.

The OIK lin' ri;ifly to send a message

The current from E charges the little brass
knob powerfully with electric energy; the
other knob is also charged from the coil along
D; the electric charge gathers in the knobs un-
til it becomes so powerful that the air between
them is unable to keep it apart, and it leaps
across the space with a loud crack and brilliant
spark; this sends a shock along the wire F
down into the earth, and also up the wire G
out into space in every direction. The electric
current is shown as sparks of light in this picture,
but it cannot really be seen. For a dot of the
alphabet a single spark jumps from knob to
knob. For a dash there is a little stream of
sparks. What else happens we cannot see,
but we know all the same. When the key is
tapped and the spark ends, the message actually
begins. Waves are set up in the ether, carrying
each dot and dash of our message. Such is
the power of electricity working in conjunction
with the wonderful ether, an element that not
one of us can explain any more than we can
explain the electricity itself.

Making the electric circuit

238

HOW ELECTRIC WAVES ARE TURNED INTO WORDS

Receiving a "wireless" telegram

Here is the office in which the wireless tele-
gram is to be received. The sender, whom we
see on another page, may be thousands of miles
away, but the receiving instruments here are
in tune with his. The waves which he caused,
after traveling for thousands of miles over the
ocean, at last reach, in about one-sixtieth of a
second, the wire a. Through this they pass to
the coherer, shown large in this picture for
clearness. It is a little glass tube, in which are
two silver plugs. Between these there is a
little space, which is occupied by loose grains
of nickel and silver. The incoming wave
causes the filings to cohere, or join together,
as we see in the lower picture. The message
through a now flies across, and through b and c
to the magnet coil. It magnetizes the piece of
iron marked magnet, which attracts the upright
piece d, and this enables the message to pass to
the wires e and /, which now form a powerful
circuit, working another magnet, which also
pulls down another piece of iron, marked g.

THE ABOVE PICTURE SHOWS THE OPERATOR ABOUT TO RECEIVE A MESSAGE

Operator receiving message

Every time the piece of iron marked g is
attracted by the magnet, it tilts up an inker at
the other end, which spells out the message in
dots and dashes on a tape, revolving on a wheel
by clockwork. This lower picture shows the
signs that spell a word being inked on to the
coil. The circuit must be broken several times
for each word — after each dot or dash — other-
wise we could not get our message. This is
effected by the little instrument placed just
under the coherer, marked "tapper." Directly
the filings cohere, the tapper gives it a tap, as
shown in the upper picture, and the filings
separate, ready to be drawn together by the
next electric shock received. The wire h is run
Jown into the earth, the great body of which
completes the circuit of perhaps 5000 miles.
The simplest forms of instruments are shown on
these pages, but for long-distance messages
more elaborate instruments, with a powerful
dynamo instead of a battery, would be used to
form a circuit through the ether in the earth.

239

TRANS-ATLANTIC MESSAGES FLYING THROUGH SPACE

r I C

Here we see the latest invention in telegraphy — the wireless system. We tap a key and send a current of electricity
along a wire. From the end or this wire the current springs into space and flashes across the sea.

N EWFOUMDUANO

Toi^vi^ec AM<intrtaJ

A T L t< N T I C OCCAM

WrtViTS that --—^

CAPE BRETON

^ Taking e
f^- ■' oays te trdvef

II we want to send a wireless message from Cape Breton, Canada, to Ireland on the other side of the Atlantic Oceaa
we tap our key, and the message flies through the air, covering the 2000 miles' journey in the sixtieth of r second.

1240

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

TWO CONTINENTS JOINED BY ELECTRIC WAVES

"i* -. - "

instructions >n mi at -ocean

Not only can we send our messages to an Irish or English station; we can receive messages as well. If we get
news for somcljndy on the sea, we can receive it at one of the established stations and tolegraph it out to the ship.

Of course, though we call it wireless telegraphy, we have wires at the recennig and dibpatclnng points. High po3ta
are erected at the instrument houses to catch the waves as they fly to us from those who send the message.

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

able for them. They put on great
coats and wraps, and take to the
decks. Before they begin to walk
about, however, they think of their
families ashore, their wives, hus-
bands, children, sweethearts. They
go to one of the rooms on the ship and
write messages of affection and good
cheer. They ring a bell. A servant
comes and the messages are handed
to him. They are carried to the clerk
in charge of the wireless telegraph.
The passengers begin to walk about
the liner and to enjoy themselves.

In his little room the operator of the
wireless telegraph sits before his ma-
chine. On the table in front of him
are the messages of passengers, a pile
of crowded papers. It is the business
of the clerk to send those messages.
He flips an A, B, C into the ether, and
somehow or another those letters are
received on shore. They travel with-
out wings, without wires; they arrive.

A fog descends upon the sea; the
engines are slowed; the foghorn be-
gins to sound.

Tap, tap, says the operator, earning
his daily bread.

Crash !

A noise like thunder. A shock that
sends everything flying. A tearing
and rending and splintering of timbers.
A dull, thudding crumple of steel
plates. The roar of water rushing in.
The staggering shudder of the whole
ship. Shrieks and cries of people
from every quarter. Voices shouting
through the fog — loud voices of com-
mand. And darkness. Every elec-
tric light goes out.

The operator interrupts a sweet-
heart's message, and taps out the letters
C, Q, D, or S, O, S. Through the cries
of the passengers, above the shouts of
command, piercing the black fog and
winging wingless over the ocean, those
invisible letters strike on the "receiver"
ashore, and on numerous "receivers"

aboard other ships, almost at the mo-
ment when the operator sets them free.
They mean to those who receive them :
"Come quick, danger" or "save our
ship."

What has happened? The steamer
Florida has rammed the great White
Star liner Republic. The water pours
in, the crowd of panic-stricken hu-
manity waits for death.

Through it all the operator sits
amid the ruin of his office, tapping,
tapping, tapping his messages into
space.

On another vessel, in another little
office, another clerk sits tapping away
at the ether. The telegraph operator
on the Baltic was sending his passen-
gers' messages home when his receiver
recorded the distress call from the
Republic. The sinking ship was sixty
miles away, drifting in a dense fog,
and the Baltic changed its course and
set out to find it. From half-past
seven in the morning till half-past
six at night the Baltic scoured the
sea, talking all day long to the ship
that was sinking with a thousand
lives. All day long on the sinking
ship sat the telegraph operator, tap-
ping into space a signal of distress.
Let us try to imagine the scene. Two
ships are in peril in a thick fog. Two
thousand men, women, and children
prepare to die. In a little room on one
of them, a man is tapping at a key-
board, tapping into space a bitter cry
for help. The air-waves, set in mo-
tion by his tapping, travel sixty miles
until they find, on another ship, a
sympathetic disk on which they regis-
ter themselves; and thus the ships'
distress is made known.

Only a few years ago the Republic
must have been completely lost, and
that catastrophe was saved for the
first time in the history of the world,
by wireless telegraphy, a power which
no man understands.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM S43

A STATION THAT TALKS TO ALL THE WORLD

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An eDormous electrical discharge at the Long Island wireless station

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

MODERN AVAR'S MAILED HAND— GUNS AND SHELLS

THE guns carried on ships of
war, and used in army forti-
fications (with the exception
of shoulder rifles and revolvers, which
are known technically as small arms)
range in size from a light automatic
machine gun, which weighs about
forty pounds, and fires 500 rifle bullets
per minute, to a huge monster known
as the naval fourteen-inch gun to be
mounted on the battleships New York
and Texas, and which weighs sixty-
three tons, and fires a projectile of
1400 pounds' weight at the rate of
three shots in a minute. Fourteen
inch gvms of about this size will also
be used in fortifying the approaches
to the Panama Canal.

The steel used in their
construction

Modern guns are now all built up
or assembled from steel forgings which
are supplied to the gun shops in the
form of rough forged hoops and tubes,
slightly larger than their finished size.
The steel of which guns are made is of
the very finest quality of forgings
known, and is supplied to the govern-
ment by the Bethlehem and Midvale
Steel Companies, who have made a
specialty of supplying them. These
forgings must have the very best
treatment, and are subjected to the
closest scrutiny both during their
manufacture and subsequently during

their final machining to size at the
gun factory.

It is indeed one of the most inter-
esting facts in connection with the
extraordinary development of modern
gun construction that the demand for
a constantly improving quality of
material has led to improvements in
the manufacture of steel far exceeding
those that might have been expected
from the demands of ordinary indus-
tries. When it is realized that when-
ever a large gun is fired the pressure
in the bore rises almost instantaneously
from 15 pounds per square inch to
over 15 tons per square inch, the
necessity for the highest grade of
material is fully apparent.
Mack'ning the gun

The gun hoops and tubes when
received at the factory are placed in
the large gun lathes and turned down
to the required size. In addition to
machining the exterior of the hoops
or tubes used in building up the
finished gun, these parts all have to be
bored out so that the inside will be of
the required size to fit over the piece
next inside it, in the assembled gun.
The boring bit, or tool used, for this
purpose consists of two cutter tools
projecting from a wooden cylinder.
In the turning off of the exterior of
the forging, it is revolved, and the
tools are stationary except for longi-

THE TWO EXTREME TYPES OF BIG GUNS

The automatic action of tlie gun is effei-tfd by means of llie pressure of tlie powder gases in tlie barrel. Tlie boxes
contain one hundred, two hundred and fifty, or five hundred cartridges each, and are so constructed that they can be Quickly
attached or removed.

THE MONSTER NAVAL FOURTEEN-INCH GUN

These guns weigh more than sixty tons and Are projectiles of 1400 pounds every 20 seconds

9AS

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

tudinal movement so as to cover the
whole length of the surface; in the
boring operation, on the contrary,
the forging is stationary, and the tool
revolves and advances slowly through
it at the same time. This operation
sometimes requires two or three
hundred hours to complete. It must
be done with extreme accuracy and
requires constant checking, for the
reason that mistakes cannot be cor-
rected, and the piece would bs,
ruined.

The work of machining gun forgings
to finished size calls for the employ-
ment of only the most skilful machin-
ists, because the work must be done
with the utmost exactness, and the
variation from the prescribed dimen-
sions on these long forgings is not
allowed to exceed half a thousandth
of an inch or the thickness of an
ordinary cigarette paper. So care-
fully are the measurements made that

the measuring tools or gauges are held
by wooden grips so that the heat of
the hand will not warm the metal and
make the measurement inaccurate.
The temperature of the machine shop
is kept uniform throughout, and all
measurements are checked on a
standard comparator kept in the shop
office. During the boring and turn-
ing operations above descnbed the
forgings are minutely examined for
any flaws, cracks, or other defects
that might conceal a weakness of the
metal. Any defect that cannot be
completely removed in machining
causes the rejection of the forging.
Assembling the parts

The next process in the building of
the gun is the assembling of the
various parts together. Modern guns
are assembled by what is technically
called "shrinkage;" that is, the finished
size of the inside of one hoop is slightly
smaller than the outside of the hoop

A FORGING FOR A BIG 14-INCH GUN BEING TURNED DOWN IN A GIANT LATHE TO THE REQUIRED SIZ£

THREE STAGES IN A BIG GUN'S GROWTH

The wbite-hot ingot in the hydraulic press, which roughly shapes it

The roughly-shaped ingot being turned and worked upon simultaneously by eight eutting tools

Tbe Onished kud in the oixaminatlon sbOD. awaiting rigid tests before being paased {or servlc*

S^8

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

it goes over, and the assembling is
done by heating the outer hoop in a
furnace until it has expanded suf-
ficiently to go over the cold inner
hoop.

Small guns consist of two layers or
parts, and the larger guns of four
layers of hoops, and 10 or 12 separate
parts. Finally, the hner, or inner
tube, is inserted in the gun; this inner
lining is made so as to be easily re-
movable, and a new one can be in-
serted when the bore of the gun
becomes worn out through repeated
firing. The liner is inserted in the
gun, the latter having been previously
heated in a furnace. This operation
requires great skill, as the hole in the
heated gun is only a few thousandths
of an inch greater in diameter than

the size of the liner, and the assemblage
must be made rapidly before the gun
cools off. When the liner is in place
the gun is cooled by spraying it with
water and it contracts and holds the
liner firmly in place.
Rifling the gun

The inside of the liner is now rifled,
or has spiral grooves cut in it to
rotate the shell, and the breech
mechanism or arrangement for closing
the rear end of the gun after loading,
is fitted and the gun is complete.
When the breech is first closed the
heavy steel plug is swung up and
entered in the round slotted hole,
with its threads clearing those of the
gun; the plug is next revolved so that
its threads engage with those of the
gun, and lock; thus the escape of

BREECH MECHANISM FOR CLOSING THE REAR END OF A 14-INCH GUN

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM 2^9

powder gases when firing the gun is long; similarly a 6-inch 50-caliber gun

confined in the bore of the gun, and is 25 feet long. Guns are built in

the only escape is at the muzzle after all sizes. The army 6-inch gun is

the shell gets out. The three round 310 inches long, is 10 inches wide at

holes above the gun breech shown in the muzzle, and 24 inches wide at the

the picture are for bolting the gun to breech. The 14-inch naval gun is

its mounting so that it can be elevated 650 inches long, 24 inches wide at the

or depressed for firing the desired muzzle, and 48 inches wide at the

distance. breech. All guns are now built as

How CLASSIFIED brccch loaders. The English and

Guns are classified according to the some U. S. Army guns have wire

diameter of the bore in inches, and ribbon wound tightly around the gun,

according to their length in calibers; this wire winding replacing some of

a caliber being one bore diameter; the inner hoops, but this construction

thus a 12-inch 50-caliber gun is one requires a heavier gun in order to get

that is 12 times 50 inches or 50 feet the same longitudinal strength.

THE MAKING OF RIFLES AND AMMUNITION

WHILE most persons of any desired. After this they are "straight-
age have handled guns and ened," which is an act requiring deli-
ammunition, comparatively cate and expert treatment. The "ri-
few users of guns and ammunition are ding" is then put in,
acquainted with the elaborate proc- How a modern gun is rifled
esses and the great care and skill that This is a series of grooves that run
are required to produce them. spirally through the barrel, in order
Steel used in the manufacture of to make the bullet spin so it will keep
RIFLES head on. The correct twist of this

The selection of suitable steel is "rifling" for a given caliber is deter-

an important requisite in manu- mined by test and experiment, and

facturing guns, as they are subject to the carefulness with which it is worked

tremendous pressures. Nickel steel, out has much to do with the accurate

which has a tensile strength of over shooting of the rifle. Both after

110,000 pounds and an elastic limit boring and "rifling" the barrel is

of over 90,000 pounds to the square carefully tested and examined, and

inch, is used for the barrels of all (in the best factories) given the

rifles intended to shoot high-power "lead" test. This test discloses the

cartridges; and most of the metal slightest variation in the diameter of

parts of some of the later models of the bore or any imperfection in the

guns are made entirely of this steel, in "rifling." The barrel is also given a

order to obtain lightness with strength, provisional proof, which consists of

The steel is bought in rods and firing it with a heavy charge of powder,

billets and is manufactured into the much heavier than it is intended to

barrels and parts in the factory. In shoot.

making the barrels, the rods are first The receiver and most of the other

cut off to the requisite lengths, and, parts of the guns are first forged under

in some instances, forged into the drop presses and then machined into

shape required. They are then drilled the dimensions and shaped required.

out and machined and afterwards Each part is carefully inspected and

bored up and reamed to the caliber gauged; for the system of interchange-

250

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

STRAIGHTENING AND INSPECTING WINCHESTER BARRELS

PROVISIONAL PROOF. FIRING WINCHESTER GUN BARRELS WITH EXCESSIVE CHARGES

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

S51

able parts In vogue in the manufacture
of guns makes it necessary that all
similar parts should be exactly alike.
It is this system of turning out similar
parts in large quantities that makes it
possible for guns to be bought at such
a low figure.
The process of hardening the steel

The parts are then hardened, so
they will stand wear, by heating them
in a furnace and plunging them in oil.
This process is regulated, so as to get
uniform results. All the furnaces are
kept at a uniform temperature by
thermometers, which are connected
to a central station in charge of a
man who gives this matter his undi-
vided attention; and the oil is kept at
a fixed temperature by means of a
refrigerating plant, also in charge of
a man. After hardening, the parts
are assembled or put together to make
up the guns.
Making the wooden parts of the gun

The stocks and forearms of standard
dimensions are turned out on auto-
matic machines, which work some-
what after the principle of a panto-
graph. A form or model to give the
shape of the stock desired is placed
in the machine on one side and on the
other side is placed a block of walnut.
Between them is a rod, held in posi-
tion. At one end of the rod is a roll
and at the other end a cutting tool.

Both the model and block are re-
volved and the rod being held against
the model at the roller end is forced
forward and backward by the revolv-
ing model against the revolving block
and the tool cuts out the shape of
the model on the block. The stocks
are then finished by hand, expert
wood finishers being required to ob-
tain the smooth and soft effect re-
quired in gun stocks.
Testing for action and accuracy

When the guns are put together,
they are given a definitive proof,

which consists of firing them with a
charge much heavier than they are
intended to handle. After this they
are tested for action and accuracy in
shooting. The sights of the rifles are
lined up so as to group a series of
shots in the center of the target; and
the shotguns are shot to show the
pattern they make.

Certain high standards are required,
and guns that do not reach these
standards are not allowed to leave
the armory. During the different
proofs and inspections, the guns are
marked, and these marks show they
have passed through the regular
series of proofs and inspections.

the manufacture of cartridges and
shells

In the manufacture of metallic car-
tridges and shotgun shells, even the
metal used is made in the plant.
Cartridges are subjected to a very
heavy pressure in firing and therefore
the metal ought to be exceedingly
tough and elastic. By theoretical,
scientific and mechanical tests and
experiments, the proper ingredients for
this metal are determined and a fixed
standard adopted. After the differ-
ent ingredients have been mixed in a
retort, the metal is cast into long
bars, which are then passed through
heavy rolls until they are of the re-
quired thinness for making different
kinds of cartridges. They then ap-
pear like rolls of brass or copper.

These rolls are passed through a
press, which stamps out circular disks
of the metal and at the same time
forms them into shallow cups. These
cups are passed through a series of
presses, which gradually draw them
out into the length required for the
cartridges. During each operation
the metal becomes very hard and
therefore has to be annealed. This
is done by heating the cups to a
required temperature in a furnace

252 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

and allowing them to cool slowly, around the bullet. If the proper
The discoloration caused by this heat- charge is not delivered to the car-
ing is removed by placing the cups in tridge, a device on each machine
tumbling barrels with sawdust and announces this fact instantly,
soda water, from which they emerge New cartridges are being constantly
bright and shining. designed at the factories, and one of
How THE HEAD OF A CARTRIDGE IS the most important things is to deter-
FORMED mine the weight and shape of the

After the cups have been drawn into bullet. This is done by tests and

tubes, the heads are formed on them, experiments, which often have to be

This is done by means of a hollow die long continued.

the exact shape of the head. This is The bullets are of many varieties,

brought down on the closed end of Some are full lead, others full lead with

the tube in a press, and so ductile is patches of paper, others steel or cupro-

the metal that it is forced into the nickel jackets filled with lead; others

die and assumes the shape of it. have steel jackets with lead exposed

Center fire cartridges have pockets at the point, in order to produce a

in the heads for the primers. These mushrooming effect upon impact. This

pockets are punched in before the mushrooming effect is very desirable

cartridges are headed. After heading, in cartridges for game hunting, as

the tubes are trimmed off the required when a bullet spreads out in this way

length for the cartridge, after which upon striking an animal, it delivers

they go to the reducing presses to be its whole force on the animal and

formed into their proper shape. The produces a tremendous, shocking

bottle-necked cartridges are drawn in effect. To obtain this, therefore, some

at the mouth and others given the bullets are very ingeniously contrived,

taper required. This is done with Round-pointed, flat-pointed and

dies. Practically all the machines sharp-pointed bullets

work automatically, and are capable The bullets are also of many differ-

of turning out a very large quantity ent shapes: some with round points,

of cartridges every day. some with flat points and some with

After the shells are formed, the sharp points. The sharp-pointed bul-
primers are inserted on a machine, lets have been found to shoot with
which pierces the pocket, so as to great accuracy, due no doubt to their
provide a hole for the flash, and sets greater ease in overcoming air re-
in the primer. The cartridges are sistance. The jackets are drawn out
then thoroughly inspected for de- to the required length from disks of
fects, such as dents or scratches, un- metal, in the same way that the car-
pierced primer pockets, poor primers, tridges are, and the lead forced in.
or absence of primers, or primers set Lead bullets are cast in slugs and then
in wrong, etc. The cartridge is now swedged to size and shape. The
ready to receive the powder charge grooves often seen on bullets are put
and the bullet. on by machines, which are equipped
Automatic loading of cartridges with two large metal disks with a sharp

The loading is all done on auto- or a knurled edge, moving in opposite

matic machines, which accurately directions, through which the bullets

measure the proper charge of powder, pass while standing with point up.

seat the bullet firmly and evenly and The cartridges, after being loaded,

draw in the mouth of the shell firmly are carefully inspected before being

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

253

packed into boxes. For packing some
of the smaller cartridges, an ingenious
perforated plate is used. This is
set shaking, and the cartridges upon
being thrown on promiscuously are
shaken into the perforations point
down. They are then in a condition
for quick packing.

How SHOTGUN SHELLS ARE MADE

In the manufacture of shotgun
shells, the paper tube is important.
This tube is made on a machine from
a sheet of specially manufactured
paper, cut to a fixed size. The sheet
is fed through the machine, coated
with paste, spun into a tube around
a mandrel and ejected. This is all
done automatically and the sheets
follow one another in rapid succession.
The color is given to the shell by
coloring the sheet of paper two or
three inches from the end. The tubes
are then burnished, placed into a
water-proofing solution for a stated
time and dried in ovens, after which
they are gauged or sized to the re-
quired dimensions. They are then
cut into shell lengths. This is also
done by an automatic machine. The
tubes feed dowm from a hopper at the
top of the machine and are grasped
and drawn in front of the revohnng
cutters by a shifting slide, when the
cutters move forward and simultane-
ously cut the tube into the lengths
required.

The brass heads of the shells are
drawn out of cups of brass in the
same manner as the cartridges, and
the pocket made for the primer.
The brass heads and the paper tubes
are now brought over to the assem-
bling machines. The brass heads are
placed in a hopper at the top of the
machine to be fed down and the tubes
are placed on spindles on a dial,
which move around and under a
punch at the same time that the brass
head is fed down on top of the tube.

In the meantime a ribbon of narrow
cut specially prepared paper, which
unwinds on a spindle at the left of
the machine, is spun into wads and
inserted into the tube to be pressed
into the head of the shell to form the
base wad. The shell is then carried
over to another machine alongside,
which shapes the head. From there
it is carried to still another machine,
which pierces the primer pocket and
inserts the primer.

The shell is now ready to be loaded,
but it is first carefully inspected for
various imperfections which are liable
to occur during the process of manu-
facture. The loading is done on
automatic machines, which accurately
measure the specified quantity of
powder and shot and place them in
the shell, together with the wads
selected, and then crimp and eject it.
During the process of loading car-
tridges and shotgun shells, samples
are taken from time to time and tested
for pressure, velocity, accuracy, pat-
tern, etc. The smaller cartridges are
tested by shooting them from a
mechanical rest; the larger ones are
shot from the shoulder with a muzzle
rest.
Importance of good primers

Of much more importance than
many people suppose is the primer.
As most primers nowadays are re-
quired to ignite smokeless as well as
black powder, they must emit a par-
ticularly strong and hot flash. They
must also flash instantly the firing pin
strikes them; otherwise there is a
hangfire, which is apt to cause dan-
ger. In preparing, the object is to
get a mixture that will be safe to
handle when packed in cartridges,
and yet be sensitive enough to re-
spond to the blows of hammers of all
properly made guns and be quick and
thorough in ignition. It is also im-
portant to get a combination that will

254

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

255

not send off gases that corrode gun
barrels. These desirable results have
all been obtained.

The cups are stamped out of brass
of a determined thickness, as well as
the anvils which go inside. The
mixture is then placed in the cups in
a moist state and the anvils inserted.
The mixture lies between the wall of
the cup and the anvil. When the
firing pin is driven against the primer,
its wall is forced in against the anvil
and the friction causes the mixture to
explode and the flame thus made
shoots out each side of the anvil where
it is cut away, and into the powder
charge.

Pressures are determined by noting
the compression of metallic disks at
the time of firing a cartridge. The
ballistic laboratory is equipped with
a pressure gauge for each different
kind of cartridge. Both the pressure
and the velocity are often determined
at the same time.
Torrents of molten lead

The shot that goes into shotgun
shells is made in a building known as
a shot tower. The building is in
reality a huge machine, and the entire
process of manufacturing shot, after
the pigs of lead are put into the melt-
ing pot, is taken care of by automatic
machinery. The lead runs from the
melting pot into a pan, the bottom
of which is composed of a screen; the
size of the screen varying according
to the size of shot desired. Through
this screen the lead falls in drops like
rain, and is caught in a tank of water
below. In its fall it assumes a
spherical shape.

It is raised from the tank by an
endless chain into a long perforated
cylinder, which drains off the water.
From this it descends into a long,
tight, revolving cylinder, which is
heated by steam, and there it dries.
A small quantity of graphite is put

into this cylinder, which gives a fine
polish to the shot.

How THE SHOT IS SORTED AND SIZED

From the cylinder the shot is raised
almost to the top of the building,
where it begins to flow down the sort-
ing tables. These are shelves of plate
glass, having a slight downward pitch
and broadening towards the front.
In front of these is a trough, placed
at such a distance that only the
spherical shot, racing down the in-
clined shelf, will reach it. The im-
perfect or flat-sided shot, sliding or
traveling more slowly, drop over the
edge of the shelf into the scrap kettles
below and is later melted over. There
are a number of these shelves, set one
below the other and facing in alternate
directions. By the time it has passed
over all these shelves it is safe to say
that only the good, well-rounded shot
continues on its journey.

It then runs into the sizing screens.
These are truncated-cone-like cylin-
ders, having perforations of different
sizes, and are set one below another.
The size of the perforations corresponds
to the size of shot of a certain number,
such as No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, etc. The
larger size is unable to pass through the
first screen and is therefore led off.
The smaller sizes pass through to the
screen below, and the next larger size
is there led off; and so on, down
through the different screens, until
all the sizes are assorted and led
off to their respective places. These
sizing screens are continually revolv-
ing.

After being assorted for sizes, the
shot descends still further into long
revolving cylinders, where it is given
a final polish. Upon entering these
cylinders, it is weighed by auto-
matic scales. The shot is now fin-
ished and descends to tanks below,
which are numbered with the respec-
tive sizes.

THE NEWEST INSTRUMENTS OF WAR

THE SUBMARINE BOAT— SUBMARINE MINE— TORPEDOES— SHRAPNEL— AIR
SHIPS— AEROPLANE— ZEPPELIN'S— AIR BOMBS— INTRENCHMENTS—

SIEGE GUNS— COAST DEFENSE.

Many of the instruments of modern warfare
are almost as startling as was the use of gun-
powder, in the Fourteenth Century, at the
battle of Cressy. Today electricity and gaso-
line are of equal importance with powder and
shot.

In addition to highly improved rifles and
machine guns, field pieces and howitzers there
is a long line of instruments calling for the last
degree of efficient mechanism.

There are dynamos that supply the currents
for the strong searchlights, whose long pencils
of light sweep the sky for aircraft or the terrain
opposite for the enemies infantry; telegraph
and telephone nets are spread out from the tent
of a commanding general to the firing line itself;
there are mixing machines to supply concrete for
the bases of the heavy guns that batter down
fortresses; gasworks travel on rails and high-
ways to supply hydrogen for balloons; traction
engines haul heavy cannon and caissons; armed
and armored automobiles and aeroplanes whir
over roads and through the air; armored
trains crash into columns of troops and deliver
broadsides; in short, every branch of mechanical
and chemical science is utilized to the utmost
to extend the range and intensify the deadliness
of death dealing instruments.

Probably the two most effective of the new
engines of war are the submarine boat and the
airship — both aeroplane and Zeppelin.

THE SUBMARINE BOAT AND ITS WORK
OF DESTRUCTION

The following description of the construction
and operation of the submarine will apply in its
principles to most of the various types employed.

The form of the hull is generally described
as cigarshaped. It is built of the very best
quality of mild steel, and the workmanship is
of the highest order, for the reason that every
seam and rivet must be perfectly tight, in view
of the service which the boat is called upon to
perform. Not only do vessels of this type
undergo all the stresses of sea and weather to
which other vessels are subjected, but in addi-
tion they are required to navigate at consider-
able depths below the surface of the water.
At these depths the pressure of the water is
great, so that the hull must be made sufficiently
strong to withstand it.

For submerged work large storage batteries
are pro\'ided, which furnish energy suflicient to
drive the boat from ten to eleven knots for a
period of over an hour. The same electrical
energy will drive it at a lower speed for a much
longer time.

There are two distinct conditions in which
the boat may be used. In the first, commonly
known as the surface condition, the boat is pre-

pared for cruising. A considerable portion of
its hull is above water, a removable navigating
bridge is in place, and it is driven by large,
powerful, internal-combustion engines. Under
these conditions it is managed in about the same
way as any vessel built to run upon the surface.

The second distinct condition exists when
the boat is submerged. To pass from the sur-
face to the submerged condition, certain valves
in the interior of the boat are opened. This
allows the water from the sea to run into great
tanks built within the boat, and thus virtually
sink it. These tanks are closely gaged, so
that just the required amount of water is taken
in. Under normal conditions, when the boat is
at rest with the ballast tanks filled, it will have
a few hundred pounds reserve buoyancy, which
is represented by the top of the conning tower
protruding above the water. If desired, this
buoyancy may be entirely destroyed by ad-
mitting a small additional amount of water,
equal in volume to the volume of that part of
the conning tower above water. While in the
Submerged condition, all communication with
the outside atmosphere is necessarily cut off.
The crew then breathes the air contained in the
body of the boat. The amount of air originally
contained within the hull is suflScient to support
life with comfort for at least twenty-four hours.
But, in addition to the air thus contained, the
boat carries a large supply of compressed air in
steel flasks, which, if used for breathing pur-
poses, would be suflicient for a number of days.

After having brought the boat to the sub-
merged condition in the manner above described,
powerful electric motors are started by throwing
in a switch. These motors derive their energy
from storage batteries contained in the boat,
and drive the propellers. The same storage
batteries furnish current for numerous auxiliary
motors used for pumping, steering, handling
torpedoes, etc.

The motion of the boat when under way is
controlled by two sets of rudders; one of these
sets, known as the vertical rudders, directs the
boat's course to port or starboard just as does
the rudder of an ordinary ship. In addition,
there are provided horizontal rudders, which
serve to control the motion of the boat in a
horizontal plane; that is to say, the depth at
which she runs is regulated by these rudders.
For steering in the horizontal plane, instruments
are provided, so that the boat may be navigated
with the same degree of accuracy as boats on
the surface. The first of these instruments is
known as a periscope. This consists of a verti-
cal tube which extends from above the surface
of the water to a few feet within the submarine.
At the top of the tube is an object glass; at the
bottom an eye-piece. Two reflecting mirrors
one at the top, the other at the bottom of the

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

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MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

vertical tube, cause the image to be transferred
from the object glass to the eye-piece. The
operator can turn the periscope so as to sweep
the whole horizon. The view thus obtained is
as clear as though he were at the surface looking
through an ordinary field glass. Hence when
running submerged with the top of the periscope
just out of the water, the navigator can see
with perfect ease surrounding objects. If for
any reason it should be desired to run at a still
greater depth, compasses are provided by which
the course may be steered with accuracy. For
"steering, submerged, in the vertical plane,
instruments are provided which in a way take
the place of the compass. One of these is a
large pressure gage, which indicates the depth
at which the boat is running. Another is a
form of spirit level, which indicates the inclina-
tion of its avis. By the use of this, the man
controlling the horizontal rudder is able to run
at a perfectly even depth. While in the sub-
merged condition, the boat is of course amply
illuminated by electric lights.

The arm of the submarine is the automobile
torpedo. A number of these may be carried.
They are discharged through torpedo tubes
located in the bow of the boat. Any modern
tj^pe of automobile torpedo may be used. In
view of the fact that the submarine is enabled
to approach unseen to within a few yards, if
desired, of the most powerful battleship, a long-
range torpedo is not required. For this reason
the weight devoted to motive power in the
ordinary torpedo may be largely used to increase
the destructive power, so that the proper arm
for the submarine would be far more powerful
and destructive than the ordinary automobile
torpedo.

AVEIGHT

RAIL.

THE SUBMARINE MINE

To-day the mine is still looked upon as a
great defensive force, and used pretty extensively
in defending war ports. Wet gun-cotton is the
explosive now almost universally employed; it
has the advantage of being slow to explode, and
can be moved and manipulated without very
much danger to the submarine miners. By a
new process the gun-cotton is now compressed
into solid blocks of any desired size or shape,
and these are placed in the iron cases. The
cylindrical form of case is usually employed.
This is made of wrought iron riveted together,
and is nothing more nor less than a large ball
on which chains are attached so that the mine
can be moored in the desired position. The
spherical case has been adopted as the result of
exhaustive experiments, by which it was found
that this form is most capable of withstanding
external pressure, and offers the least resistance
to tidal currents; it is, therefore, the least
liable to be affected by an enemy's attempts at
countermining.

The type of mine now generally employed is
made to contain a 100-pound charge, if used as
a buoyant mine; if used as a ground mine, a
cement lining is formed inside the iron shell,
and 500 pounds of explosive packed within.
The type is excellent for harbor defence, and is
used as a ground mine, it can be placed under
the fairway of the ships, and is connected by
electric cable with a station ashore. By this
means a channel right through the center of
the mine field is found, so that friendly vessels,
knowing the course, can come or go without
danger, but should a hostile ship attempt to
rush in, then these sinister globes nestling along

It consists of the mine itself r'gged with a lever for
Betting off the explosives, an anchor chamber connected
with the mine by a cable which is as many feet in length
as the mine is to he under water, and a weight connected
wltb the ancbor chamber.

When the mine Is dropped overboard as shown (on the
left) the anchor chamber plays out cable and sinks until
the weight reaches the bottom (aa in the third diagram)
which stops the cable from unwinding further and pulla
the mlue below the surface (as in the right hand diagram)

A SUBMARINE ATTACKING A BATTLESHIP AT CLOSE RANGE

SECTIONAL VIEW OF A MINE-LAYER

Showing how the mines are stored and launched through a spscial port-hole in the stern.

The most common type of anchored contact mine is provided with a mechanism which automatically causes the sphere
Gontainlne the explosive to float at a predetermined depth of about fifteen feet.

tlie sea bottom, can be instantly fired from tbe
land.

Mines are usually moored about twelve feet
below the surface, and kept in position by a
heavy iron sinker resting on the bed of the
harbor. The latter is connected to the floating
mine by a stout chain cable. The mine can
either be fired from the shore, or — when a
detonator of fulminate of mercury, in connection
with a small priming charge of dry gun-cotton is
used to explode the mine — by contact with a
ship.

But now we must look upon the other side
of the picture — i.e. what is done to combat the
terror of the mine.'' liere we come upon per-
haps the strangest vessels to be found in any
fleet. They are nothing more than the trawlers
painted the familiar navy grey, and specially
adapted, not for the trawling of cod but for a
more difficult and dangerous role — the creeping
or trawling for submarine mines!

The method employed is simple and in-
genious. Assuming that a certain mine field
has to be "cleared," two or more of these
"creepers" steal outside the mine area, each
towing well astern, sunk to the sea bottom, a
heavy iron sinker, or, to employ its correct
name, a "kite." This large casting is V-shaped,
and attached to it is an iron pulley or block;
through this runs the "sweeping- wire," which
is attached to a hauling drum on the deck of the
trawler, and passes over the stern, and then,
going through the block of the kite, stretches
away across the sea bottom to the second
kite, trailing behind the sister "creeper"
on the opposite side of the mine field.
The necessary cable being swung out, the
two vessels creep ahead in direct line. Well
astern, at the bottom of the sea, trails the
sweeping-wire, which, passing slowly along,
naturally catches the sinkers and chain of the
mines. Thus these dangerous fish are swept
together; even if one or more do explode, there
is no danger to the ship employed, as it is well
out of the way. When all the mines are drawn
together, a large charge is placed in position,
and the whole lot destroyed.

SKY TORPEDOES

Two types of bombs are used from the Zep-
pelins. One is an ordinary globular grenade,
to which is attached a tail of linen to guide it
in its flight, and the other takes the form of an
"aerial torpedo." This is fired from the gon-
dolas of the airship from a special launching
tube placed upon a mounting with a universal
joint so that the tube can be swung to any
angle and the torpedo sent upon its journey by
simply pressing a trigger.

The deadly weapon itself consists of a pointed
shell, approximately 20 inches long by 4 inches
in diameter. In the nose is a high explosive
which is fired by a percussion cap on contact.
Beyond this is another compartment that con-
tains the propellant, which is a slow-burning
compound composed of sulphur, saltpetre.

charcoal and vegetable oil, weighing four and
one-half pounds. This when ignited gives off
gasses produced by its combustion, which in
turn drive a powerful turbine in the rear of the
torpedo, and by this means it is driven forward
at a high velocity and at the same time imparts
a rapid rotating motion as if it were fired from
rifled cannon, which, of course, adds consider-
ably to its efficiency.

The aerial torpedo has a stout shell of steel
and gives off no flame, which, of course, would
be dangerous to a gas-filled Zeppelin. The
impetus imparted to the torpedo by the turbine
is remarkable, and allowing for the speed of the
airship the shell can be hurled with great
accuracy.

It is interesting to note that the path of a
falling body when merely dropped from the
Zeppelin is composed of two motions, the
forward motion of the object at the moment of
release from the moving Zeppelin and the
downward path due to gravity. In the case
of light objects, experiments prove that when
released from aeroplanes they rapidly pass
astern.

MAKING THE BIG GUNS

A fascinating sight is to watch the first
stages in the manufacture of the big guns. A
solid ingot of steel, some fifty feet in length and
weighing about 100 tons, is employed in the
making of a thirteen-inch gun. After being
forged and then allowed to cool, so that it may
be toughened for the heavy work, this gigantic
bar of steel is pressed into cylindrical shape
by a powerful hydraulic press, which exerts a
pressure of anything between 5,000 to 10,000
tons to the square inch. Later what is known
as the trepanning operation is carried out,
namely, drilling the bore from end to end.
Next the bore is rifled.

The most impressive sight, however, is the
hardening process, when the rough weapon is
heated to dazzling white heat and plunged into
a well full of oil. If the operation takes place
in the night time the sight of this big, glowing
bar of metal being lowered apparently into the
bowels of the earth issuing leaping tongues of
flames from the burning oil, may be likened to
a scene from Dante's Inferno. The gun is
left to cool in the oil bath, out of which it comes
hardened, toughened and tempered.

Now follows the wire-winding operation to
make the weapon stronger and impart to it
some measure of elasticity. This wire-winding
is much the same in principle as the whipping
on the handle of a cricket bat. In this case,
however, the whipping takes the form of a
strong steel ribbon, which is wound around the
body of the gun. Every thirteen-inch gun has
about 120 miles of this steel ribbon wound
about it. Some idea of the labor involved in
the manufacture of one of these guns may be
gathered from the fact that from start to fioisb
the time occupied is twelve months.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

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A TYPE OF THE LAND MINE

SHRAPNEL

When the artillerists figured out the problem
of scattering projectiles so that even thinly dis-
tributed soldiers would be reached, the result
of their figuring was the shrapnel shell.

This is a hollow steel projectile, packed with
bullets, and containing a charge of powder in
the base. It is exploded by a time fuse, con-
taining a ring of slowly burning composition
which can be set so as to fire the powder during
the flight of the shell when it has traveled to
within fifty yards of the enemy. The head is
blown off and the bullets are projected forward
in a sheaf, spreading outward as they go. An
18-pound shell covers a space of ground some
300 yards long by 35 yards wide with its 365
heavy bullets.

head, with its explosive burster, flies forward
and acts as a small but efficient high exjjlosive
shell. These projectiles have been introduced
for howitzers and for anti-air-craft guns, and
some of the nations with new equipments have
them for their field guns.

A CAISSON OR AMMUNITION WAGON

Which is set by the side of the gun in action. The
device on the grounri is a mechanical fuse setter by which
the point of the explosion of the shell in the air can be
regulated.

HIGH EXPLOSIVE SHRAPNEL

If the time fuse is "et the projectile hursts in air, the
base charge driving out the bullets which scatter and give
the shrapnel effect; otherwise the projectile bursts on
impact.

When shrapnel came into use most nations
abandoned the common shell. But shrapnel
proved almost ineffective against the shielded
gun and the gunners were indifferent to the
bullets pattering on the steel shield in front of
them. The answer to this was the high-explo-
sive shell, a steel case filled with high explosive,
such as melinite, which is the same as lyddite,
shimose, or picric acid. This, when detonated
upon striking a gun, can be relied upon to dis-
able it and to kill the gunners behind it.

A shell is now used which combines the
action of the shrapnel and the high explosive
shell has been introduced. This is the "uni-
versal" shell invented by Major van Essen of
the Dutch artillery. It is a shrapnel with a
detachable head filled with high explosive.
When burst during flight it acts like an ordinary
shrapnel and the bullets fly forward and sweep
the ground in front of it; at the same time the

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The ground covered by a shrapnel is elliptical In
form and at the effective ranges does not exceed 2iju yards
In depth by 25 in width. Shrapnel is the most important
P'-ojectilc The case is of drawn steel with solid base
The mouth of the case has an aluminum head screwed iu
and tapped to take a combination time and percussion
fuse. The case contains 262 balls, each 0.49 inch in diam-
eter. The bursting charge consists of 2^4 ounces of loose
black powder; it is placed in the base, and covered by a
steel diaphragm. The fuse is timed so that the case will
burst just in front and above the trenches or line of troops.

VALUE OF FAST AEROPLANES

Aeroplanes are faster and more powerful
now than they ever were, not so much because
they must cover much ground quickly as be-
case they must be able to attain greater speed
so as to choose their own position and pour in a
destructive hail of bullets.

The great, rigid Zeppelins alone can hope
to contend with high-powered aeroplanes; for
they have been so far improved that their
average speed was increased to over sixty-three
miles an hour, and their maximum speed, with
the wind, to ninety-four miles an hour. Armed
as they are with machine guns and capable as
they are of rising to safe heights twice as rapidly

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This photograph shows a huge German airship blown out of Its course and compelled to desoeud. Tlie lii tie aeroplane
hovering overhead seems a midget by comparison. It is a matter of controversy whether the airship or the aeroplane is
likely ultimately to prove of greater value in the service of man.

ZEPPELIN R!S!D

T'^TAL PftftTTTlCNS

Of the three types of the dirigible the Zeppelin, with its rigid framework of aluminum protecting its separate ballonets
and its great length, has little head resistance in comparison with its size, and slips through the air with little friction.

PARSEVAL I.CNKICIO

The semi-rigid, represented by the Parseval type, has
ft stiffening keel to keep the balloon in shape.

LElBAUCY JEPI-RIC--:

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The non-rigid feels the effect of air pressure (tending
to force the bag out of aiiape,) moat of all.

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PURPOSES

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AMIDSHIPS SECTION OF A ZEPPELIN

The fabric has been cut away to show the delicate array of steel and aluminum. A ladder passes right through the center
of the vessel from the central car to the top of the envelope. This top is strengthened by steel framing, and upon It is
mounted a light quicli-flring gun to defend the ship against aeroplane attack from above. The gun platform is placed
over one ol the seventeen partitions of the Zeppelin's envelope.

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

as the highest powered aeroplane, they must
be regarded as veritable battleships of the air.
But why are there both aeroplanes and air-
ships? For the same reason that there are
dreadnoughts and torpedo-boats. Each has its
own function. Aeroplanes are useful chiefly for
tactical reconnaissance; in other words, for
scouting after armies have entrenched them-
selves and unlimbered their artillery. Airships
are useful chiefly for strategical reconnaissance;
in other words, for scouting at a time when
armies are moving towards the terrain which
they intend to occupy. Although aeroplanes,
guided by skilful pilots of marvelous endurance,
have stayed aloft continuously for more than
twenty hours, the strain is too great for ordi-
nary human nerves. Even a continuous flight
of five hours makes inordinate demands on a
pilot's nervous force.

AEROPLANES EQUIPPED WITH
MACHINE GUNS

Most military aeroplanes carry two passen-
gers seated in tandem. One man guides and
controls the machine, the other observes the
terrain below and manipulates either a rifle or a
machine gun. Single-seated machines are also
used, but machine guns cannot be successfully
fired by an aviator whose hands and feet may
not leave the controls. To engage in a machine-
gun or rifle duel 5000 feet above the ground
requires courage of a kind that surpasses the
heroism recorded in the epics of old. Indeed,
there is nothing in all Homer which for sheer
daring can be compared with the feat that a
fighting air scout is called upon to perform.

If an aeroplane flies at a height greater than
4500 feet it is reasonably safe from the fire of
rifles and artillery on the ground. But at that
height it is extremely diflicult to reconnoiter
successfully. Whole batteries seem more like
minute crawling insects than guns and men,
and it is difficult to distinguish cavalry from
horse artillery. The temptation to descend
into the danger zone in order to see more clearly
is strong.

ADVANTAGES OF THE DIRIGIBLE

The commander of an airship is as much
at his ease as the captain of an ocean liner on
his bridge. He can move about in more or
less comfort; he can hover over one spot for
hours and study the operations below at his
leisure, if he is not disturbed by a flock of two-
seated aeroplanes carrying rifles; he can stay
aloft for a whole day without fatigue. More
important still, he has at his disposal wireless
apparatus which enables him both to send and
receive messages for 300 miles without the
necessity, therefore, of immediately reporting
each important discovery in person.

In lifting capacity, too, the airship is vastly
superior to the aeroplane, — a factor of impor-
tance because if explosives are to be dropped,
the dirigible airship can carry not only more
bombs but much heavier bombs than an aero-

plane. What is more, the airship's ability to
float stationary over a given spot (an aeroplane
must be in constant motion to stay aloft at all)
enables it to drop a hundred-weight of explosive
with a reasonably true aim.

All these frightful advantages have been
developed to the utmost in Germany's colossal
Zeppelins, — slim cylinders as big as ocean
steamers that slip througl Ae air with a certain
sureness. They have searchlights for nocturnal
scouting, armor to protect their motors, wireless
outfits almost as powerful as those of a trans-
atlantic liner, machine guns on top of their long
gas envelopes to beat off attaching craft, a crew
of twenty, provisions and fuel for a journey of
3000 miles, and bombs formidable in size and
number. Compared with them other German
dirigibles, as well as the non-rigids of France,
Germany, and Russia, seem what they are, —
great mechanically propelled bubbles of hydro-
gen gas and not real ships of the air.

THE SILENT DEATH, THE NEW
WAR WEAPON

The perfecting of the flying machine has
brought into use new and deadly weapons.
They are steel arrows, about five inches long
and a little thicker than a lead pencil. They
are dropped from aeroplanes in batches of 500,
a mechanical arrangement spreading them over
an area of 200 yards. From a height of 1,500
feet they obtain a terrific speed by the force of
gravity, and will penetrate a man's body from
his head to his heel. It is reported that they
are used by all the airmen of the warring
nations.

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Ptrate abovU' 4' apart/ '^

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Palisades In dry ditch in front o* parapet.

PARAPET TRENCH

i o. b. Command,
a. «. /fr/rV-

Section of intrenchment made In stiff soil.. The
legends designate in military terms the various portions
of such an intrenchment.

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Book of Engineering and

Industry

THE PANAMA CANAL— SEVERING THE TWO AMERICAS

CONQUEST OF THE SEA

BEACONS OF THE SEA

HARNESSING THE WORLD'S GREAT WATERFALLS

UNDERGROUND ENGINEERING

FOOTPATHS IN THE AIR

FOOD BEVERAGES— TEA, COFFEE, CHOCOLATE

MARVELS OF GLASS MAKING

269

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270

BOOK OF ENGINEERIXG AXD IXDUSTRY

271

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SEVERING THE TWO AMERICAS

THE completion of the Panama
Canal marks the end of the
greatest engineering undertak-
ing in the history of human progress.
It was envisioned by men as early as
the time of Balboa, the famous dis-
coverer of the Pacific, but it remained
for present day enterprise and skill to
make it an accomplished fact. More
like a story from the Arabian Nights
than the story of the work-a-day
world, this marvelous stairway of
water, separating two continents and
uniting two oceans, may well be classed
among the new wonders of the world.

The FRENCH PANAMA CANAL COMPANY

Though a subject of vision and dis-
cussion for upward of four hundred
years, no step was taken toward the
actual planning of the canal until the
year 1876. In that year Columbia
granted a concession for the construc-
tion of the canal by way of Panama
to Lieut. Wyse, an officer in the
French army. This concession Lieut.
Wyse sold to a group of French
financiers, who, because of the prestige
he had acquired by reason of his
brilliant success at Suez, persuaded
Count Ferdinand de Lesseps to join
them as chief engineer. De Lesseps
went out to the Isthmus in 1879, and,
having gone over the ground with his
experienced eye, pronounced in favor
of the undertaking and determined on

the course between Colon and Panama
City, over which the United States
Government was afterwards to under-
take the completion of the canal.
Early in 1881 these Frenchmen or-
ganized the Panama Canal Co., -to
own the concessions and carry through
the undertaking.

In 1889, after eight years of active
work, this company went into bank-
ruptcy, and a new one that succeeded
it in 1894 was enabled to resume
operations only to an extent sufficient
to keep alive its franchise.

Acquisition of franchise by the
united states

In 1902, under the administration
of President Roosevelt, the Govern-
ment of the United States, which had
become more than ever interested and
had had under consideration the con-
struction of the canal through Nicar-
agua, concluded to take up the work
in Panama if satisfactory arrange-
ments could be made with the French
company for the acquiring of its
rights. It was pending these negotia-
tions in 1903 that Panama declared
her separation from Columbia and
became an independent republic. On
the 28th of November, 1903, the
French company having agreed to sell
for $40,000,000, the Hay-Bunau-Var-
illa treaty between the new republic
and the United States was signed. It

GATUN LOCKS

General view from temporary tower on north end of approach wall. Looking south. Sea gates under pressure

OPERATION OK <,\H N LOCKS
Looking north from north gates, showing lower guard gates, dredging fleet in distance and Atlantic entrance to cana'

<u(^a

■

OPERATION OF GATUN LOCKS

First boat through. Tugboat "Gatun" entering lower lock, west chamber Looking south from center wall

27«

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

273

was promulgated on the 26th of
February, 1904. Under its terms,
$10,000,000 was paid to the govern-
ment of Panama for the right of way
and an annual rental of $250,000
agreed upon, to begin nine years after
date. The United States guaranteed
the independence of Panama and
secured absolute control over what is
now known as the Canal Zone, a strip
of land ten miles wide extending from
Colon to Panama City, through the
center of which runs the course of the
great waterway. The French com-
pany's franchise and property rights
were purchased at the figure stated
and the formal transfer to the United
States was made on the 4th of May,
1904.

Colonel goethals the man and the
occasion

Six days after the promulgation of
the treaty President Roosevelt ap-
pointed the body known as the
Isthmian Canal Commission to have
charge of canal construction. The
Commission was reorganized at vari-
ous times and finally the government
determined to take over the work
itself. In April, 1907, Col. Goethals
was appointed Chairman and Chief
Engineer, and under his direction this
gigantic work has been brought to
completion.
Turning in the Waters

On August 31, 1913, a charge of
48,000 pounds of dynamite blew up
the so-called Miraflores dike and per-
mitted the waters of the Pacific Ocean
to approach the Miraflores locks
situated eight and one-half miles
inland from the Pacific entrance of
the canal. On October 1, a severe
earthquake, more marked indeed than
the San Francisco trembler, put the
great work to the supreme test and at
the same time served to throw the
population into consternation and
distress. Fortunately, not the slight-

est harm befell the locks, and the
critics of the plan as well as the usual
small army of prophets of evil, were
silenced temporarily at least. The
black population returned to its rou-
tine labors following a few days of
"camp meeting," during the progress
of which the welkin resounded with
high-pitched lamentations, prayers of
many kinds, and unconditional prom-
ises to be good in the future. Colonel
Goethals and his staff did not hesitate
for one moment, but, on the contrary,
began on October 1 to turn water into
the only remaining dry section of the
canal, the Culebra cut. This was
accomplished by means of four twenty-
four-inch pipes which pierced the
Gamboa dike. President Wilson him-
self applied the finishing touches to
this branch of the work when on
October 10 he pressed a little pearl
button in the city of Washington,
which in turn sent an igniting spark
some four thousand miles to Gamboa
dike, there to tear out two hundred
feet of rock and earth and permit the
waters of Lake Gatun to rush head-
long through Culebra cut as far back
as the Cucaracha slide.
The first boat to pass the locks

Gatun locks were operated for the
first time on September 26, 1913,
when the sea-going tug Gatun was
passed through the west flight from
the Atlantic channel to Gatun Lake.
Though various temporary methods
were employed in filling the locks with
water this was actually the first
occasion upon which any of the locks
in the entire system were used to pass
a vessel from one level to another.
The filling of the lower lock was com-
pleted about 4:45 p. m., when the sea-
gate was opened and the Gatun with
flags flying and whistle blowing,
steamed into the lower lock. The lower
operating gates were closed and the
tug came to a stop. The process was

21k

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

repeated in the middle lock and at
6:15 p. m., just as dusk was falling,
the vessel entered the lock for the last
lift. This was accomplished thirty
minutes later when the two last gates
swung open and the tug passed out
into Gatun Lake. The entire passage
required an hour and a half.
Wonders of engineering

But when one pauses to remember
that this simple operation has taken
almost ten years to make possible, at
a cost of $375,000,000, and a toll of
thousands of lives, a more appreciative
feeling comes to the onlooker. Almost
220,000,000 cubic yards of earth and
rock have been excavated and 5,000,-
000 cubic yards of concrete have been
poured into the locks, each of which
is 1000 feet long and 110 feet wide,
and will accommodate a vessel 1000
feet long. As a matter of fact, there
are twelve lock chambers, or as they
are designated, six twin locks. There
are lengthwise culverts eighteen feet in
diameter, running through the great
lock walls, and it is through these that
water is taken in from the upper
levels. Smaller lateral culverts run
in and under the lock floors and from
them the water pours into the lock
chambers through great holes. Electric
motors operating giant valves are used
to control the flow of water in and
out of the chambers. Electric "mules"
tow vessels through the locks at a maxi-
mum and fixed rate of two miles an
hour.

The two great engineering prob-
lems encountered and solved by the
Americans were: the control of the
waters of the Chagres River and the
cut through the Continental Divide.
The first was met by the construction
of a huge dam, Gatun dam, one and
one-half miles long and one-half mile
wide at the bottom across the valley
of the Chagres River at Gatun. This
resulted in the creation of Lake Gatun

over an area of 164 square m'les. It
covers an area of 64 square miles and
the worst flood recorded in the history
of the Chagres River would barely
raise the surface one foot in nine hours.
Smaller dams have been built near
Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks, and
like the Gatun structure, they are
now overgrown with vegetation and
appear to be part of nature's own
handiwork. The other difliculty was
overcome by the obvious method of
drilling the Culebra cut through the
Continental Divide in the teeth of
the greatest discouragements.

Prodigious landslides

By far the greatest obstacle encoun-
tered has been the cut at Culebra. A
cut of such great dimensions has never
before been attempted, and the rock
through which it was made was of a
peculiarly intractable nature. But the
difiiculties of the work have been
greatly augmented by the enormous
landslides which have been in progress
more or less uninterruptedly since the
French began to dig. These land-
slides have necessitated the excavation
of 20,000,000 cubic yards of dirt from
the waterway.

A TRIP THROUGH THE CANAL

A vessel passing from ocean to
ocean will require from ten to twelve
hours, depending on the speed main-
tained in those portions of the canal
in which it travels under its own
power. Let us take a steamer on the
Atlantic side: the starting point will
be near the end of Toro breakwater,
which extends out two miles as a
protection against the destructive
northwest winds. Our vessel will
steam a distance of seven miles
through a channel 500 feet wide to
Gatun, where the series of three
locks of that name are situated.
Along the route to the left (east
shore) may be seen the twin cities of

THE GIANT b'lEAM SHOVEL. AT WUKK

^<MM

The most gigantic engineerini; Icat ovci uinliiiakcii liy man waf? the cuttin;; of the American continent in two by the
malting of the Panama Canal. The most wontlerl'ul tools were used and here we see liow the great shovel thrust against
an embankment scraped away the earth. The largest raised as much as ten tons at one scoop.

When the shovel was full, it was swung round over a railroad car, the bottom was opened, and the earth fell into
the car. One shovel did the work of a hundred men and over one hundred shovels were used on the canal.

Here is a near view of the earth being piished off the cars. The machine that did this was a kind of plow that traveled
from one end of the train to the other, tmloading twenty cars in ten minutes. One unloader did the worK ol lour bunured
Uborera

•7«

THE BED IN WHICH TWO SEAS MET

The mlBlity cut line throusjh the Culebra mountain shown here is one of the wonders of tlie world
IltcraUy moved mountains. Altogether 300.000.000 tons of earth were removed for the canal.

'I'ho engilieer.s

ThLH \H another part of the cut throuKb the Culebra mountain. To blast away the rock more than a mliiion cartridgea
were expluclcU In a year, and the removal of the material excavated la no less wonderful Uian the excavation.

S7«

WALLS THROUGH WHICH THE SEAS FLOWED

To collect and harness sufficient water a great dam has been built, and by storing flood waters that formerly ran away
a lake ol 164 square miles, called Gatun Lake, was formed. Here we see a wall of the Gatun locks, the walls being more
than half a mile thick at the bottom. The round opening in the wall is the tunnel through which the surplus water will
flow. The Gatun dam is the mightiest in the world.

Pedro Miguel Locks In the Panama Canal, showing south end ot east chamber and construction ol safety and lower gatea

278

THE HUMAN IXTEREST LIBRARY

Crystobal and Colon with their hos-
pitals, fine new steel-concrete piers,
employes' homes, commissary houses
and ships from the far corners of the
earth. Further on is Mt. Hope,
famous for its cemetery and receiving
station for all supplies. Both shores
are fringed by the myriads of plants
and flowers and trees which make up
the tropical jungle. Entering the locks
the steamer is lifted eighty-five feet
to the level of Gatun Lake thirty
minutes being spent in each lock.
Thence through a lake channel from
oOO to 1 ()()() feet wide, it steams
twenty-four miles to Bas Obispo,
whence the Culebra cut leads through
nine miles of excavations to the single
lock at IVtlro Miguel. The minimum
width of this cut is 300 feet. This
lock lowers the vessel thirty and a
third feet to the 55-foot level of the
small artificial lake, Miraflores.
Another mile under its own power and
the vessel is lowered through two
more locks called ^Miraflores, to the
Pacific level, from which point it
steams through a 500-foot channel
eight and a half miles to deep water
in the Pacific. All of which seems
.simple enough.
What the canal means

What does the Panama Canal
mean? What does it mean to the
United States, to Latin America, to
Eiirojx', to Asia, to Australia, and to
all of the world.''

These are questions which every one
interested in the progress of the world
caiHiot fail to turn over constantly in
his mind.

No other great engineering under-
taking, not even the construction of
t!ie Suez Canal, the building of the
transcontinental railways of North
America, the construction of the great
wall of (-hina, has had any .such effect
on the power, prestige, commerce,
and opportunity of one or of a group

of nations as will have the Panama
Canal.

For the United States and its twenty
sister American Republics the formal
opening of the canal will be the solemn
inauguration of a great new Pan
American era of commerce, friendship,
and peace. In separating North from
South America with a water channel
it will draw them closer together in
ties of better acquaintance and larger
trade.

Just as a new railroad built through
a sparsely settled country between
two cities does not begin to do the
business at first which comes to it
later on through the construction of
feeders, the filling uj) of the country,
and the growth of its terminal points,
so the Panama Canal, through the
extension of old steamship lines, the
putting on of new lines and tramp
vessels, and the building uj) of the
countries reached by them, will in-
crease its commerce and its shipping
with eventual individual benefits to
each port within the limit of its
influence.

Probably the greatest good to the
United States from the canal will
result from the cheap, short, and
quick route of water conununication
between its Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific
seaboards.
Simple contrasts in distance

Some simple contrasts in distances
between the Panama Canal antl the
Straits of Magellan will show at a
glance what the Panama Canal means
in the relations of the Atlantic, Gulf,
and Pacific seaboards of the United
States. By Magellan, the distance
from New York to San Francisco is
1,S,135 miles; by Panama, 5262 miles,
a saving of 7873 miles, or more than
twice the distance across the Atlantic
Ocean. From New Orleans to San
Francisco, by way of Magellan, is
13,551 miles; by way of Panama,

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

279

4683 miles, a saving of 8868 miles,
or practically a month's steaming of
vessels averaging 12 knots an hour.
Such figures need no further argument
than themselves to illustrate the real
significance and meaning of the canal.

While the shortening of the distance
between the domestic ports of the
United States is, perhaps, the most
remarkable and important fact, the
saving effected between the ports of
the United States and others beyond

COMPARATIVE DISTANCES (IN NAUTICAL MILES) IN THE
WORLD'S SEA TRAFFIC AND DIFFERENCE IN DISTANCES
VIA PANAMA CANAL AND OTHER PRINCIPAL ROUTES

VIA

FROM

New
York

New
Orleans

Liver-
pool

Ham-
burg

Suez

geaLtle

Distance

Magellan

Panama

saved

13,953
6,080
7,873

14,369
5,501

8,868

14,320
8,654
5,666

14,701
9,173

5,528

15,397

10,447

4,950

4,063

San Francisco . .
Distance

Magellan

Panama

saved

13,135
5,262

7,873

13,551
4,683
8,868

13,502
7,836
5,666

13,883
8,355

5,528

14,579
9,629
4,950

3,245

Honolulu

Distance

Magellan

Panama

saved

13,312
6,702
6,610

13,728
6,123
7,605

13,679
9,276
4,403

14,060
9,795
4,265

14,756

11,069

3,687

4,685

Guayaquil ....
Distance

Magellan

Panama

saved

10,215
2,810
7,405

10,631
2,231
8,400

10,582
5,384
5,198

10,963
5,903
5,060

11,659
9,192
2,467

793

Callao

Distance

Magellan

Panama

saved

9,613
3,363
6,250

10,029
2,784
7,245

9,980
5,937
4,043

10,361
6,456
3,905

11,057
7,730
3,327

1,346

Valparaiso ....
Distance

Magellan

Panama

saved

8,380
4,633
3,747

8,796
4,054
4,742

8,747
7,207
1,540

9,128
7,726
1,402

9,824

9,000

824

2.616

Wellington. . . .

Magellan

Suez

11,344

8,857
2,493

11,760

8,272
3,488

12,989

11,425

1,564

13.353

11,944
1,409

9,694

9,205
489

Distance

Panama

saved

6,834

Melbourne

CapeGoodHope
Suez

13,162

10,392
2,770

14,095

9,813

4,282

11,654

12,966

1,312

11,845

13,452
1,607

8,186

10,713

2,527

Distance

Panama

saved

8,342

Manila

Suez

11,589

11,548

12,943

10,969

1,974

9,701

14,122

4,421

9,892

14,608

4,716

6,233

11,869

5,636

Distance

Panama

saved

9,370

Hongkong

Suez

11,673

11,691

13,031

11,112

1,919

9,785

13,957

4,172

9,976

14,443

4,467

6,317

11,704

5,387

Distance

Panama

saved

9,173

Yokohama ....

Suez

13,566
9,798
3,768

14,924
9,219
5,705

11,678

12,372

694

11,869

13,858

1,989

8,210

11,119

2,909

Distance

Panama

saved

7,660

Panama

2,017

1,438

4,591

5,110

6,387

5S0

THE nUMAX IXTEREST LinTlARY

its shores upon the Pacific is almost
equally significant and impressive.
A steamship hound from New York
to Honolulu, using the Panama Canal
in preference to the Magellan route,
will save (UilO miles; from New York
to Wellington, New Zealand, i2493
miles; to Melhourne, Australia, 2770
miles; and to ^ Okohama, Japan,
.'37ti8 miles. All these distances give
also a large advantage to the Panama
Canal over the Suez Canal route, but
there is practically no choice in actual
distance between the Panama and
Suez routes in the steaming distance
from New York to Hong Kong, China,
an<l ^Manila, the capital of the Philip-
pines.

The saving of the Panama over the
Magellan route for vessels running
not only from New- York, New Orleans,
and ncighi)oring j)orts but from Eng-
land and northern Europe to the
j)rincipal ports of the west coast of
South America is one of the best
illustrations of the value and meaning
of the canal. The first northern im-
portant j)()rt of the Pacific coast of
South America is Gnayacpiil in Ecua-
dor. A steamship bound from New
York to Cuayacpiil going through the
canal will be obliged to steam only
2H1() miles, instead of 1(),'-215 miles
via Magellan, a saving of 7405 miles,
or between twenty and thirty days,
according to the power of the vessel,
'j'lic steamship from New Orleans
making this journey would save S400
miles; fntni Livcrjjool, ol!)8 miles;
and from Hambnrg, 5000 miles.
Callao, the principal jjort of Peru and
the next im|)ortant port south of
(inaya(|nil. \ia the canal, is only
".VM'i'.i miles from New ^ Ork, or ccpial
to about the average tlistance across
tlie .\tlantic Ocean from New York to
England. Jiy the Magellan roihte it

is distant, 9613 miles, so that the
steamer going from New York to
Callao via the canal saves 6'-250 miles.
From New Orleans the distance saved
is I'iio miles; from Liverpool, 4443
miles; and from Hamburg, 3905
miles.

Valparaiso, the chief port of Chile,
is generally considered the principal
terminal point for steamships which
will go via the canal to the west coast
of South America. Through its har-
bor, not only is the large trade of
Chile reached but to some extent that
of the great Argentine Republic,
whose capital, Buenos Aires, is con-
nected with \'alparaiso by rail. By
the canal, Valparaiso, which accord-
ing to our old ideas seemed far away
from New York, is only distant 4033
miles via the Panama Canal. Although
it is the nearest port of the west coast
to the Straits of Magellan, it is 3747
miles nearer New York via Panama
than via INIagellan. A vessel from
New Orleans to Valparaiso saves via
the canal 4742 miles; from lyiverj^ool,
1540 miles; and from Hamburg, 1402
miles.
Curvature of earths surface

There are two facts not generally
appreciated in the matter of distances.
On account of the curvature of the
earth's surface a vessel en route from
Liveri)ool to the Panama Canal taking
the great circle route can by only one
extra day's steaming, or a detour of
between three and four hundred miles,
include New York City as a iK)rt of
call, enabling it to coal there or get
additional cargo. Correspondingly, a
vessel en route via Panama to Yoko-
hama, or vice versa, by only a slight
detour of less than two days' steaming
can include San Diego, Los Angeles,
or San Francisco as ports of call for
both cargo and coal.

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

281

CITY OF PANAMA AND MAP OF THE CANAL ZONE

S82

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

SC EXES TX THE LUCKY LITTLE CITY OF PANAMA

PANAMA RAILROAD STATION

CATUEURAL PLAZA, DURING A CARNIVAL

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

28S

THE CANAL ZONE

The Canal Zone, over which the
United States exercises all the rights
of sovereignty under a treaty with the
republic of Panama, boasts an area
of 448 square miles. It begins three
marine miles from the mean low water
mark in each ocean and extends for
five miles on each side of the center
line of the route of the canal. The
cities of Colon and Panama City are
excluded from this special sovereignty,
except that the United States may
enforce sanitary ordinances therein
and maintain order in case the Repub-
lic of Panama shall at any time not
be able to do so.
Panama financially independent

RICH in metals and AGRICULTURE

Panama is the most independent
nation, financially, in the world. It is
the only nation which receives interest
on money it has loaned instead of

paying interest on funds borrowed.
The country, vastly rich in resources
of mines, fields and sea, — has come
into its own — and all because of the
canal.

Panama has no bonded debt on
which to pay interest. It has in-
vested in gilt-edge mortgages in the
United States, $6,000,000, bringing in
an income yearly of about 4}^ per
cent. There is $300,000 on deposit to
guarantee the parity of its currency,
and since 1913 the United States pays
a perpetual yearly rental of $250,000
for the canal. The income from tax-
ation amounts to about $5,000,000
yearly, and there is no army, no navy
and no expensive courts to keep up.
All money is available for improve-
ments, and Panama is the only nation
collecting interest on its own money
instead of paying out interest on loans.

THE MARKET BOATS AT LOW TIDE, PANAMA

£8A

THE nUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

UNITED SIA 1

\r HAMPTON ROAUS

CONQUEST

IX no field of enterprise has man
acliievcd more notable progress
than in sliii)l)uildins. Today he
plows the ocean in mighty vessels
towering 100 feet above the waves,
measuring more than 1)00 feet in
length, and nearly 100 feet in width,
proi)elled at a speed of from 25 to ^S
miles an hour by wonderful and
intricate machinery, and i)ossessing
in tlieir ap])ointments every form of
luxury in tlie way of convenience
and comfort. Indei'd, the modern
liuer is a floating ])alace as well as a
floating city containing a j)oi)ulation
of between 4000 and 5000 souls. It
represents the genius and cunning of
the architect, the artist, and the
decorator, as well as the liiglu^st skill
of the sliii)l)uil(lcr and engineer. Its
construction demands three years of
labor, building and fitting out a
modern liner, and an expenditure of
between }5(;.'-250,000 and Ji<l(),()()0,0()0.
\Vith no ships the si-a would bi' a
source of horror to us. It would be a

OF THE SEA

fearful void, shutting us out from com-
nuinication with other parts of the
world. And that is just what the
sea was to men before they learned
the art of shipbuilding and navigation.
By a series of grand schemes men
have changed all this. There was the
gradual building of great ships; there
was the making of accurate instru-
ments by wliich men could tell at any
moment of the day or night their
exact position at sea, no matter how
far they went; there was the ai>i)lica-
tion of steam to the ])urj)ose of the
ship; and there Wiis the laying of the
ocean cables.

These things accomplished, the sea
remained no longer an enemy. The
ocean became a roadway, leading to
all i)arts of the world. Storm and
tem])est, fogs and hidden rocks, still
cause disaster, it is true, but the
accidents are rare, considering the
enormous number of ships there are.
The sea h;us become one of our best
friends.

SS£

2S6 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

And all this wonderful change in such as it was, wjis fitted to a model

our afTairs we owe to a very small boat and drove the boat through the

number of men. It will be enough water, Papin well deserves his place

for our purpos«; if we glance briefly in the gallery of heroes who brought

at the careers of the chief figures in about steam navigation,

these revolutions in the history of Two great inventors who were

the world. ruined by the French revolution

Everv time that some great change Many names appear for a little time
has been proposed for the benefit of upon the page of the history of this
mankind, people with power and invention. One of them, Jonathan
inlluence, who ought to have given Hulls, patented a sort of steamboat in
their encouragement and support, England in 1787, but years were to
have always been among the first to P'-^ss before anything practical was
say: "It can't be done," and "It done. More men crowded to the
shan't be done." That is just what task, and we find several skilled in-
happened concerning the steamship ventors working in rivalry at the same
and the ocean telegraph. Take first time. One of these was the unfor-
the steamship. No invention ever tunate Marquis de Jouffroy, who,
had a harder struggle for life. Fate born in France in 17.51, set himself,
and men both seemed against it. at 26, the task of driving a boat by
The man who first made a machine steam. He adopted Papin's idea, and

DRIVE A BOAT THROUGH WATER in eight ycars made three successful

The Spaniards say that a country- boats. The first was 40 feet in
man of theirs, named Blasco de Gary, length; but it was the third which is
who lived in the sixteenth century, said to have been the first real steam-
made a model steamboat in 1543. boat. He might have gone on to
Every country is anxious to claim the complete success, but the French
honor of an invention, if the invention Revolution drove him, an exile from
has i)rovcd a success. his country, to America. When he

A century later, Denis Papin, a returned to France, he was too late;

famous Frenchman, a{)peared on the others had seized his ideas and begun

scene. He was a physician, born at to reap the honors which should have

Blois in 1(147, and he died in England been his. He died in 1882.
in 171,'. Frenchmen declare that he At about this time two American

in\rnted tlie steam-engine and steam engiiuvrs, named James Rumsey and

naxigalion, and in many books his John Fitch, were making experiments,

name is gixi n as having achieved that Rumsey is of imi)ortance to us JUs being

K'sult. But that is wrong. He was the man who first turned the atten-

a man of splendid brain, but his tion of Robert Fulton to the subject,

thoughts did not turn to the making Filch came into prominence in the

of a true steam-engine as we know it. American Revolution, acting as gun-

Wlrit he invented was an engine smith for the Americans, who were

worked not really by exi)anding steam, fighting for their liberty against the

but by atmospheric pressure. His British. His first model steamship

idea wjus a brilliant one, and it led to was made in 1785, but five years later

great things in the hand.s of New- he built a proper vessel, with i)ad(lle-

comen, Brindh'y, and Siaeaton. We wlieels at the sides. He Went to

must remember that it was not the France just as Joutfroy was leaving,

true steam-engine; but as his engine, and, like Jouffroy, was ruined by the

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 287

Revolution. It is said that while he either with carelessness or contempt,

was there his plans were shown to as a useless scheme. My friends,

Fulton. Anyhow, he returned to indeed, were civil, but they were shy.

America starving, and killed himself. As I had occasion to pass daily to and

Theman WHO CAMETO PAINT PICTURES from the building yard while my

BUT MADE A STEAMBOAT boat was in progress, I often loitered

It was for something quite different unknown near idle groups of strangers,

from shipbuilding that Robert Fulton and heard them scoff and sneer and

went to England. He was a painter ridicule. Never did a single encour-

of portraits, born in Pennsylvania in aging remark, a bright hope, a warm

1765, but set out for England in 1786, wish, cross my path. • My work was

in order that he might study this art always spoken of as Fulton's Folly."

under Sir Benjamin West. He became But at last the ship was built, and

acquainted with Rumsey, who had set out with passengers for a trial trip,

also gone to England earlier, and, The vessel moved off, went a little way,

after discussing inventions with him, then stopped. Everybody except Ful-

gave up all thought of painting. Ful- ton thought that this was the end —

ton's brain teemed with ideas. He that he had failed, as they all had

invented things for the improvement expected. But he went below and

of canals, for cutting and polishing soon put right some trifling mishap,

marble, for twisting rope, for iron and the boat steamed away, while

bridges, for spinning flax, for dredging people were saying: "I told you it

rivers, and for making boats go under would be so; a foolish scheme; I wish

water and blow up ships. But the we were safely out of it. " The vessel

great work of his life was done for the went its way, a journey of 150 miles in

steamship. 32 hours. Fulton was delighted, but

In 1802 he built a steamship, but its his friends still doubted; they thought

engine was so heavy that it fell through that the vessel would never be able to

the bottom of the vessel into the River get back to New York, and that if it

Seine, in France, where he was trying did it could never make another trip,

it. He did not lose heart, but re- No wonder he felt discouraged. He

covered the engine and built it into himself wondered if such a voyage

a stronger boat. This he made to could be repeated, and if it could,

go, but it was too slow to be success- whether it was of any value,

ful. Going back to England, he pre- Why one of the early steamboats

pared plans and had an engine built was allowed to fall to pieces

by Boulton and Watt. Then he came Fulton was the first man, therefore,

to America and left the engine to be to make steam navigation what we

brought over, packed up in a ship, call a commercial success. Fitch had

When it arrived, he set to work to put shown that something of the sort could

it together. His story, told in his own be done, but Fulton profited by Fitch's

words, gives us an excellent idea of experience and by that of Jouffroy.

the hard lot of the inventor of those He died in 1815, but not until he had

times. built several other boats.

Robert FULTON'S FIRST steamer, AND Fulton's successful steamer was

THE scoffing OF STUPID men lauuchcd in 1807. Nineteen years

"When I was building my first earlier a successful steamer had been

steamer in New York, " he wrote, launched in Scotland, but this was not

" the work was reviewed by the public a commercial success. It was built

283

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

by William Symington, a Scotch
mechanic, who was bom in 1763, and
died in 1831. He first of all built a
steam-cnpne to run on the roads,
then carried out the l^uilding of the
steainsiiij) for a thouifhtt'ul Scotsman
named William Miller. Symington's
vessel for IS! i Her was succ-eeded by
another wliicli he ])uilt for Lord Dun-
das. It was launched on the Forth
and Clyde Canal, and, without any
trouble towed two barges, weighing
together 140 tons, a distance of 20
miles against a powerful wind. This
was still five years earlier than Fulton's
success. But what hapjjcned.'' The
owners of the canal said that the
steamer would create such a current
that it wovdd wash away the banks
of the canal, and so this fine steamer
was run aground and allowed slowly
to fall to pieces on the bank of the
canal. Fulton saw this vessel, and
doubtless gained a hint or two from
it.

A POOR MAN WHO CONFOUNDED THE
WISDOM OF THE WISE

But Symington's work was not all
wasted. One of the men em])loyed in
making the woodwork of liis first
vessel was Henry Bell, the son of ])oor
Scottish j)arents. Born in 17(57, he
followed first one trade and then
another, and seemed unlikely to do
any good until he was brouglit face to
face with the i)rol)lems which the luck-
less Symington was trying to sohe.
Symington's experiments coininced
Bell that success might yet be gained
with steam-vessels, and for the next
thirteen years he gave all his thoughts
to the plan.

A\e hear of him in ISOO trying to
make the British Government believe
in the possibility of the scheme, but
he was unsuccessful. How could he
hope to succ<'<'(l in official circles when
one of the greatest and j)est men of
the day — Sir Joseph Banks, president

of tlie Royal Society — could say to all
proposals for vessels driven by steam-
engines: "A very pretty plan, but
there is just one j)oint overlooked —
that the steam-engine rc(juires a firm
basis on which to work." Talented
man though he was. Banks, himself
overlooked one point, that even
though it floated on water, the hull
of a shij) does give the firm basis
the steam-engine retpiires. Bell gave
up ho})e of encouragement from
the Government, and when he had
managed to get some money, he set
to work in ISll and had a little
steamship of his own built on the
Clyde.

How SCOTTISH INVENTORS AND ENGI-
NEERS LED THE WAV WITH STEAMBOATS

The ship was called tiie Comet, and
was launched in January, 181 2, be-
ginning at once to carry freight and
passengers on the Clyde. Great was
the terror that it created among ig-
norant people. People thought, as
they saw it puffing along, snorting
sparks and smoke, and going against
the wind and the tide, that it was
some evil monster. When it aj)-
j)roached the shore to pull up, they
ran away and hid themsehcs like
savages in some primeval land.

News of the Conicfs success soon
spread abroad, and in 1813, the first
of the Thames steamers were run by a
man named Dawson, while a coura-
geous man named ]>awrence, of Bristol,
sent up a steamer from his native city
to carry the peoj)le of London up and
down their great river. The oppo-
sition of the Thames boatmen i)roved
too much for Lawrence, and his vessel
had to return to the River Severn,
liut the steamship industry was now
fairly founded, in s|)ite of the "wise"
men and the Government ; and many
ships were built on the Clyde to run
between (dasgow and Liverpool and
other ports.

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 289

The FIRST CROSSING OF THE ATLANTIC 1838, when, on the same day, two

OCEAN BY STEAM AND SAILS English vcssels steamed into New

From this time forth there was no York. They were the Great Western

more opposition to the steamship as — a steamship built by Sir Isambard

a means of sea passage. The next Kingdom Brunei and a smaller vessel,

important step was its first voyage called the Sirius. The Sirius had

across the Atlantic. This was made by started from England four days ahead

an American ship called the Savannah, of the Great Western, but the Great

but it did not steam all the way. It Western, being bigger and stronger,

was built as a sailing ship by Francis nearly caught up, and the Sirius,

Fickett, of New York, in 1818; but reached New York only a few hours

it was decided afterwards to fit it up ahead. The journey had taken the

with a steam-engine. This was done, Sirius eighteen days, and the Great

and it set sail for England from Western only fourteen, instead of the

Savannah on May 24, 1819, reaching month which a sailing ship required.

Liverpool twenty-seven days after. The steamboat was now a success.

The greater part of the distance There was a long fight between rival
had been covered by the help of sails, sides to get the screw propeller U'?ed
steam having been used only for for driving ships instead of the old
eighty hours. The Savannah returned wheels at the sides called paddle-
to America and was not considered wheels, but in the end the screw won
useful, for its engine was taken out and for all but smooth waters. Similar
it depended until it was wrecked, upon doubt had to be overcome before the
its sails. Therefore, although America iron ship was built to take the place
rightly claims to have sent the first of wood. Still later there has come
steamship across the Atlantic, we must another change in the method of driv-
remember that it sailed for the greater ing the ship. The new plan is called
part of the voyage, and steamed only the steam-turbine. With his new
a little now and then, about one hour's method of driving a vessel we have
steaming for eight hours' sailing. bigger steamers than ever.
How THE REAL STEAMSHIPS REACHED Thc monstcr occau liucrs that now
NEW YORK ON ONE DAY ply bctweeu the great ports of the

The first crossing of the Atlantic by world are almost universally of the

a real steamship was completed in turbine type.

BUILDING A BIG, MODERN OCEAN LINER

IT is no exaggeration to say that in the evolving of the vessel. From

tliere is nothing that man fashions the time the ship is jjlanned in the

today that calls for more skill, drawing loft, till she takes the water

ingenuity, forethought, and judgment at her launching, the brains of learned

than the designing and building of a mathematicians, assisted by the might

large ship. Be it a great liner that of complicated and wonderful machin-

will carry thousands of passengers ery, and the labor of an army of skilled

across the ocean at express speed, in artisans, have been in constant requi-

spacious and comfortable saloons, or sition. •

a mighty battleship with an array For this reason there is no place
of formidable guns, all the knowledge, so bewildering and fascinating as a mod-
craft, and cunning that the modern ern shipbuilding yard. First there are
shipwright can display will be needed the building berths. These berths

1 K(JM I Hi < \K \\ II, Ol' t;Ol.t>MlH'S TO lUK 'I MI'KKA lUK '

£90

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

291

may be inclosed by neat, steel lattice-
work walls, or be entirely open. Here
the hulls are built up, piece by piece,
amid an ever-growing forest of scaffold-
ing. From the overhead girders, that
span the site, run cranes that pick up
heavy steel plates and beams, weighing
many tons, as if they were mere toys,
and lift them into the desired position.

Indeed, all the mar^•els of machinery
are here, driven by steam, electricity,
compressed air and water. There are
the great presses that bend the steel
plates into the desired shape and form;
machines that punch holes by the
score in them, for the rivets, as easily
as you can stick a knife through a
piece of paper, while others bite large
holes in the hard steel, or reduce the
size of the plates by literally slicing off
a piece, as deftly and as easily as you
could carve a slice off a loaf of bread.
Above all, there is the wonderful
activity, the constant clang of the
riveters' hammers, the snorting of
many engines, the glow of furnaces,
the rattle of heavy chains, the shouts
of the foremen, the toiling mass of
humanity, all creating an ordered
chaos the like of which can be found
nowhere but at those busy yards by
the riverbanks where great ships are
born.

Naturally, the men in the yard can-
not start upon the ship till it has been
planned. This is the work of the
draughtsmen, and at all the big yards
there is what is termed a drawing or
mold loft, an immense room, so large
that designs can be made to the
actual scale of the vessel. This is
necessary if the ship is larger than
any existmg vessel or of a different
type from what the builder has turned
out before. In that case the draughts-
man, taking the floor of his room as an
immense blackboard, chalks out in
mighty lines all the girders, frames
beams and plates. Everything, down

to the rivets and rivet-holes, is drawn
full size. From these great drawings
the working plans are prepared. Then
in an immense floor of pine-wood,
called the " scrieve-board, " the body
plan of the ship is cut, from which
wooden models are made of her out-
lines.

From these plans the steel of which
the ship is to be built is ordered, as
well as all other necessary material.
Meanwhile the berth is got ready,
and, if the ship is a large one, attention
has to be paid to the floor. Before the
keel of the Mauretaiiia was laid, some
16,000 piles of timber, 13 inches
square, and averaging from 30 to 35
feet in length, were driven into the
ground. Along the top of these were
laid great beams, and on them again
a complete floor of thick plates. Much
the same procedure was done in the
Vulcan yards in Germany, before work
was begun on the building of the
Hamburg-American liner Vaterland,
of which we show several illustrations.
This vessel is the longest and largest
of liners. It is 950 feet long, 100 feet
in breadth, and has a tonnage of some
56,000.

Now commences the erection of the
hull, which is, in essence, a steel box
of curious design. Down the center
of the floor are placed portable balks
of wood forming piles from 4 to 5
feet high, and known as keel blocks.
It is upon these that the keel of the
ship is laid. It is a girder of the
strongest kind, as it needs to be, seeing
that at one moment it may be in the
trough of a wave, deeply immersed
fore and aft only, and the next riding
on its crest with bow and stern almost
out of the water. It has, too, to
withstand the terrific blows of ocean
billows, which tend to bend it side-
ways.

The strength of the ship lies in this
keel and the center girder running

VlkVV OF THE "VATKRI-ANn" IINOER <;ONSTRU<rriON

At the momeollbls la ihe loosest and loTKcst of Itners. It Is 9&0 feet Ions. I0Ote«tlD breadth, and baa a tonnage of M.OOO.

M«

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

S93

from one end of the ship to the other.
In the case of the Vaterland this center
girder, immediately above the keel
plate, is 6 feet high, and 13^ inches
thick. On either side are other gir-
ders, running parallel to it, and from
these, at various intervals on both
sides, spring the ribs or frames, which
curve upwards, and to which the
plates that form the sides of the ship
are fastened. The ribs are held in
place by horizontal rafters or beams
that carry the decks.

In the case of the modern liner it is
now built with an inner skin. That
is to say, there are virtually two hulls,
one within the other, carried well up
above the water-line. The vessel is
also provided with a double bottom,
while, as an additional precaution, in
case of injury by collision that part of
the vessel below the water-line is
divided into water-tight compart-
ments.

The recently launched Imperator
is almost one-fifth of a mile long. Her
beam of 98 feet compares favorably
with the width of a city street.

She carries five anchors, the main
one weighing 12 tons, the combined
weight of the five anchors and chains
being 217 tons. The cargo of many a
small steamer is not much larger.

The vessel has a height of 96 feet,
her great sides being built upon 327
steel ribs on either side, each weighing
over a ton. The weight of the steel
plates, angles, profiles, and the like
totals 260 tons. More than 2,000,000
steel rivets were used in her con-
struction, each weighing 11 lbs. Be-
cause of her great size her decks are
particularly imposing. Two of her
three broad decks are partially en-
closed. The promenades vary in
width from 16 to 23 feet, while the cir-
cuit of the deck is equal to a walk of
five ordinary city streets.

Like the German leviathan, the

Olympic, Mauretania, and other liners
of recent construction are marvelously
rich in luxurious appointments. The
ocean traveler of today is pampered
by the provision of electric elevators,
swimming baths, palm gardens, res-
taurants, cafes, and self-contained
flats. For instance, one of these
vessels boasts of a restaurant under
the management of the Ritz-Carlton
Hotel, where meals are served a la
cane at any hour. There are, in ad-
dition, a grill-room, tea-room, veranda
cafe, and a number of ladies' sitting-
rooms, a palm garden, and a superbly
appointed ball-room, as well as a stage
for theatrical performances and con-
certs.

The smoking room of this wonderful
vessel is a beautiful saloon of the Tudor
period. It has a large open fireplace,
the red brickwork over which realistic-
ally reproduces that of the sixteenth
century. The bricks in question came
from a Buckinghamshire cottage of
the Tudor period, which was de-
molished for the purpose. The ball-
room is undoubtedly one of the great-
est innovations of the ship. It is
72 feet long, 58 feet wide, and 18 feet
high; the floor is of parquet, which,
when not being used for dancing, is
covered with a carpet; the walls are
decorated with costly old Gobelin
tapestry, and have bow windows 10
feet high on either side. It has been
constructed with no pillars visibly
supporting it. The scheme of decora-
tion is Louis XV. Another unique
feature of the ship is the two self-
contained flats, comprising drawing-
room and veranda, with large windows
opening out over the sea, dining-room,
two bed-rooms, two bath-rooms, dress-
ing-room, box-room, and pantry.
These are among the most expensive
dwelling places in the world, for the
occupants pay a fare of from $2500
to $5000 for a single short voyage.

MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE "IMPERATOR"

HAMBLRG POPULACE WITNESSING THE STEAMERS DEPARTURE I ROM THE PORT OF HAMBURG

•IMPLKAIOK • AUKIMNG IN NEW YORK HARHOR, SHOWING THE OUTLINES Ot ITS IMMENSE

HULK AGAINST THE CITYS SKYSCRAPERS

t9i

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

295

THE FLOATING RITZ-CARLTON

On the "Imperator" there is a restaurant under the management of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where meals are served
6 la carte at any hour.

There seems no end to the money
that ship-o^vTiers must lavish on their
vessels today to attract the custom
of the capricious millionaire voyageur.
On one ship the Roman bath, with its
decorative Pompeian pillars and orna-
mental cascades of running water, is
a masterpiece. The swimming pool
has been built after the designs of the
ancient Romans. The total length of
the bath is 65 feet, the width 41 feet,
and the greatest depth of water 7 feet.
There are also electric, Turkish, and
steam-baths, massage apparatus, and
hair-dressing saloons with the most
modern equipments, as well as a
splendid gymnasium containing every-
thing to satisfy the sportsman's most
exacting requirements. Other fea-
tures include a running track, a sweet
shop, a florist's shop, and a photogra-
pher's dark room.

The first class and main dining room
is a spacious and beautifully decorated
saloon, 98 feet wide and 25 feet high,
capable of seating 700 persons. All
told, the ship can accommodate 720
first, 600 second, 900 third, and 1800
steerage passengers, besides the crew,
which totals 1180 hands, giving a
total of 5200 souls. As she is capable
of performing some fifteen round trips
per annum, and the passage money
alone per voyage may amount to
$400,000 it will be seen that the
owners handle a sufficient income from
the passengers' fares to make the con-
sideration of their comfort eminently
worth while.

It is difiicult to realize what it means
for the population of a town to go
afloat in one huge vessel. But for the
perfect organization now in vogue it
would be impossible to feed them.

290

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

For a seven days' voj'age between
Hamburg and New York a single sliip
takes on hoard '■2') tons of fresh meat,
48,000 eggs, and GO tons of potatoes.
The hirder also contains 14 tons of
fresh vegetables and GOOO tins of
canned vegetables, liesides, there are
over fi\e tons of fowl and game, and

43^ tons of fish and shell-fish, 800 lbs.
of mushrooms, and 4000 cans of pre-
served fruits. No less than 1 "2,500
quarts of milk and cream, 400 lbs. of
cheese, 500 lbs. of chocolate and
cocoa, and 7000 lbs. of coH'ee are
also consumed between shore and
shore.

THE WONDERS OF A BATTLESHIP

Til 10 modern battleshij) stands of men who have chained to their will

forth as one of the greatest won- two mighty weapons, each capable

ders of man's toil and ingenuity. of throwing a projectile with deadly

Into .a vast whole enter in one way or acruracy to a distance of eight miles,

anotiierall the metals from the roughest and with a tremendous bursting charge

iron to pure gold, all the woods from the
commonest deal to the most exi)ensive
oaks and mahogany, and all the fabrics
fromc-anvas to silk, and, n ore impor-
tant still, lal)()r that costs most of all.
To take a peep at one of these mon-
sters is to enter a world that is prac-
tically unknown to the landsman.

A POPULATION OF 1000 MEN

Step aboard; note the sj)acious deck,
the crowd of seamen who are j)art of

and shell of 1400 lb. filled with the
latest form of chemical explosive.
The officer commanding the turret
sits on his tiny seat out of the way;
a small tubj not unlike the periscoi)e
of a submarine passes through the
hood of the turret and conveys the
scene outside to his eye. Before him
are telephones and dials that sjxvik
to him in a strange language which he
understands. High above his head

the population of close U])on one are the range-finders in the control
thousand men, and, above all, observe top, perched dizzily at the ajjcx of
the grim guns that are the greatest the tripod mast; provided Avith delicate
l^owcr of this monster ship. These and intricate instruments, they are
guns are all on the center or keel line able to detect the range to a nicety.
of the ship, so that each can fire at The information thus gleaned by their
almost any angle and have a big sweep superior range of vision is telephoned
of the horizon. In all the latest and and signaled by electricity to the cap-
greatest ships the guns are super-im- tain of the turret. Either by hy-
posed, that is, the guns in the second draulic or electrical power the shell
turret from the bow and the second is brought from the shell room right
turret from the stern fire over the down in the bowels of the ship on a
turrets of the forward and after miniature elevator. AVhen this tray,
guns. This mt'ans that, in cha.se, four with its death-dealing burden, comes
guns can be brought to bear on the opi)osite the bnx'ch of the gun, which
enemy alu ad. is automatically openeil, a rammer
Now climb through the small aper- drives the shell home, and, in a matter

ture that forms the entrance doors
to these barbettes and get inside,
shut from the outside world by twelve
inches of the hardest sttx'l that modern

of seconds, the explosive charge fol-
lows. The breech clangs and locks
by the same movement, the electric
contact is connected, antl the gun

methods can ])roduce. Here is a busy ready for firing. When all is ready,
space, populated by less than a score it is the simple i)ull of a gleaming pistol

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

297

THE BULL- DOG'S TEETH

The photo shows the guns mounted complete and ready for service on board a Dreadnought. Since the firing of 200
rounds, each passing through the barrel in one-fortieth of a second may wear out the A tube of a big gun, its actual working
life may be no more than 5 seconds.

trigger that sends the great shell The working chamber
hurtling through space. While it Once more clamber through the

fills the air with thunderous sounds, manhole, leave the gunhouse, and give

the blast is already cleaning the gun a glance at the working chamber

for the next round. inmiediately below it, wherein is the

298

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

SECTION SHOWINC; THIC INTERIOR

This sectional view of the very powerful "Ulo de Janeiro," bouRht by Turkey from lirazll while si ill under oompletlon at

her speed Is 22 knots: her length Is 032 feet. She civrrles founoen 12-lncli and

swasli-pliito eii^'inc that turns the On the hitest and greatest sliips
great turret in any direction desired, there are five of th(\se great gun-
So wouderful is the geariug that it can liouses, all exactly alike, all inauned
rotate the turntable at a fast speed of by an e(|ually alert crew, aud all a
one revolution in one minute, or at a mass of gleaming, business-like steel,
slow spet'd (if one revolution in ten In addition to this the vessel will carry
hours. Other machines are here to a sin-oudary l)attery, coiisisling of
Work the anunuiiilion lioists, that fjuick-liriug guns for rcix'lliiig torpedo
piuss in trunks through this chamber boat attack. The majority of new
down to tlie magazine aud shell rooms, vessels are armed with the 4-inch

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTPxY

299

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OF A DREADNOUGHT AT A GLANCE

the Elswick Yard, makes clear all the details described in this article. The "Rio de Janeiro's" displacement is 27,500 tons;
twenty 6-inch guns. Her complement ol crews should number 1000 men.

weapon, weighing 26 cwt., and able to
send a shell clear through an on-
rushing torpedo-boat 1}^^ miles away.
In later ships the 6-inch gun, a new and
wonderful weapon, is mounted; this
is necessitated by the rapidly increas-
ing size of modern torpedo craft.

Leave the artillery, which is the
chief item (for is not a battleship sim-
ply intended to act as a floating plat-

form for guns?), and turn to those
dim regions far below the armor belt,
down below the water line, an inferno
of heat and oily smells, where work
the " black gang. " The modern fight-
ing ship of the speedy battle-cruiser
type will have as many as 48 great water-
tube boilers, which are roaring boxes
of blistering heat when the vessel is
steaming hard. There is the con-

300

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

tinuous clang of the shovel, there is
the intermittent search-like glow as
furnace doors are opened to examine
the fires or add more fuel; there are
the oil burners with their pump room
above, with engine, pumps, filters,
and heaters, and with tanks below in
the double bottom to aid the coal with
oil should the Admiral suddenly call
for speed. There is the roar of a score
of draught fans sucking down the
necessary air, and along the broadside
runs, most wonderful of all, a miniature
colliery in full working order, where can
be found dim human forms working by
thelight of Davy lamps, whilethe great
fabric thunders through the riven seas.

Visit yet another quarter where the
Chief Engineer holds sway. Here is
anotluT domain of oil-smelling heat,
with walls lined with miles of steel and
copj)er mains, some gleamingly bright,
while others are asbestos covered.
Over all rules a clean-shaven officer,
and under him are various grades of
artificers. Everywhere are dials, and,
in different compartments, the vast
turbines that rotate the propellers and
push the 27,000 tons of metal, wood,
and men through the whistling seas.

Clim)) to the bridge, small in size,
but lofty and airy. If it be day the
panorama of the ship is below you; at
your back a great fore funnel, big

enough to admit a motor-bus, sends
a gentle brown cloud into the sky.
Aft this are the boats and pinnaces,
the great tri|)od mast with tiie fire
control and director boxes high above,
and the aerials of the wireless telegra-
I)hy higher still. All the battle squad-
ron are spread out ahead and astern;
all the great ships are seething with
life each has its thousand souls, each
has its throbl)ing steel heart, and its
gigantic teeth sticking menacingly
from the turrets. Each, by means of
flags and balls is telling the other
strange truths of speed while the
officer in command, pacing the bridge,
and the stolid quarter-master at the
puny wheel (that steers so vast a ship
by the aid of steam) keep a clear eye
on the nest ah(>ad. As it drops a
little we droj) also; the engine speed is
up and down, changing from minute
to minute. If it be dark, a great beam
of light may sweep up from over the
horizon, and one of our searchlights
answers back by a beam that, in fine
clear weather, can be seen a dozen
or more miles away.

Such is a fighting ship, great and
grim, built only to protect us from our
foes. In most cases it is Imilt, it lives
its short twenty odtl years of life, and
finally goes to the shipbreakcr without
ever firing a single gun in anger.

STROXGEST SHIP IN TIIE WORLD

UXK^l'E among boats is the
Russian ice-breaker, Ermack.
On account of its peculiar
formation and design it can claim to be
the strongest vessel afloat. IiuKmmI,
its flesigners declare that if it were
lying on its beam ends alongside a ciuay
300 feet long, at each end of which
there was a giant crane with a lifting
ca))a!ity of lOOO tons, and these two
got hold of it and lifl(>d it clear out
of the water, it would hang between

them as rigid as a bar of steel. If the
same test were a])plied to a Dread-
nought, or any other battleship, it
would crumple up by its own weight.
This unique example of the ship-
builders' art is nothing less than a hull
of steel 305 feet long, 71 feet broad,
4''2 feet 6 inches deep, having a displace-
ment of 8000 tons, and driven by the
concentrated energy of I'i.OOO horse-
power. It is a double ship from end
to end, and its two skins are so con-

LOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

301

THE RUSSIAN ICE BREAKER "ERMACK"

This unique example of the shipbuilders' art consists of a hull of steel 305 feet long, 71 feet broad, 42'-^ feet deep.
having a displacement of SOOJ tons and driven hv fie concentrated energy of 12,000 horse-power. Every winter, while
engaged in keeping the Baltic ports open, she is called upon to smash up ice twenty feet and more in thicliness.

nected and fortified bv bulkheads, and
longitudinal bulkheads or, as we should
say in landsman's language, partitions
of steel framed in girders of enormous
strength, that they are practically un-
crushable, while the ship itself is prac-
tically unsinkable. It is divided into
forty-eight water-tight compartments.
Its mission on the sea is to keep the
ports of the Baltic open during the
winter months by cutting a passage-
way for other ships through the thick
ice. When it is caught, as it has been
many scores of times, between a couple
of closing masses of ice, it at once
rises slowly and easily, and ; without

so much as a shiver. Then, if its
weight of 8000 tons is not sufficient
to break the ice, its powerful pumps
are set to work, and certain of its com-
partments are filled with water. In
this way an additional weight of 2000
tons is obtained, making a total of
10,000 tons. The ice has either to sup-
port this weight or give way. Hither-
to it has always done the latter. Its
keel and sides are as round as an apple;
there is not an angle for the ice to grip.
Frequently it rescues more than 100
steamers during a season that are
unable to extricate themselves from
the ice.

THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOR

TIIK iiiiieteeiith century gave
l)irlli to the iiwn's nuxst per-
sistent opjxjuent, known as
"armor," and the figlit for sui)remacy
between the offensive gun and tlie
defensive armor has been going on
ever since with the hahince incHning
first to one side, then to the other.

In so far as it is of record, John
Stevens of Hoboken, New Jersey,
was the first to propose the use of
armor for the protection of war vessels
in iSl-i, and now it is even used for
coast defense in some cases, the forts
in the harbors of Rio de Janeiro and
Manihi liay containing armored tur-
rets simihir to those on ships. As is
well known, the first armored war
vessels in this coni:try were the re-
nowned Monitor and Merrimac.

Armor of all kinds and descrijjtions
has l)een tried with varying success.
Target structures of almost every
conceivable description have been
made and tested. These were plates
of cast iron and wrought iron, sheets of
metal bolted together and faced both
flat and edgewise, alternating lay(>rs of
metal and wood; of metal and rubber
disposed in various ways, and of
springs behind solid plates, etc. The
results of all these exj)eriments have
shf)wn that the most edicient armor
is a hard-faced, tough-backed, homo-
genct)us plate, made by what is called
the "Kiiipp" process, alter the famous
German ordnance firm of that name,
who were the first to make these
plates.

Armor is made in this country by
the Bethlehem, Carnegie, and Midvale
Steel Companies, who have expended
many millions of dollars in the costly
and massive machinery necessary to
produce these large armor plates,
weighing as much as a hundr(>d thou-
sand j)ounds, and of various shapes.

The manufacture of modern face-
hardened armor comprises a series of
operations which requires the greatest
care and attention to details to pro-
duce the best results, and these opera-
tions are so elaborate that a jjcriod of
nine months is consumed in the manu-
facture of armor from the time the
drawings showing the plates are re-
ceived until the plates are completely
finished and ready to be installed.

The first process in making the
armor plate is the casting of the steel
ingot from which the plate is to be
forged. Tiiis is done in a large cast
iron mold lined with sand. The
molten metal from the furnace is
carried in a ladle to the mold, and
poured in vertical tubes coimected to
the bottom of the mold so that it is
filled from the bottom, or "bottom
poured," as it is called.

As soon as the metal lias solidified
and cooled off the mold is strijjjjcd
from it and the ingot is i)icked up by
a big electric crane and taken to a
heating furnace to be heated for
forging. Figure (1 ) shows one of these
large ingots after it is removed from
the mold by the crane; the bucket
behind the two workmen is the ladle
used in filling the mold. The ingot
being properly heated, is remo\'ed
from the furnace and forged to the
approximate size of the finished plate,
which is usually aliout one-third the
thickness of the ingot. To forge a
heavy armor plate reciuires tremendous
power, and the forging presses for this
purpose are very massive and j)ower-
ful. Each time full pressure is ap-
plied with one of the presses it is
ecjuivaUMit to placing the weight of a
battleship on top of the armor to mash
it. The ingot is swung into position
and its end placed under the upper
die of the forging press, which is then

302

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

303

FIGURE 1. STEEL INGOT TO ARMOR PLATE

FIGURE 2. ARMOR PLATE SAWING MACHINE

SOlt

THE nUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

FIGURE 3. BARBETTE OF BATTLESHIP "TEXAS'

FIGURE 4 ARMOR I'l.ATE REAMING MACHINE

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

305

forced down upon the ingot, the throw
being so regulated as to diminish the
thickness about 3 inches a stroke.
The metal flows evenly in all direc-
tions under the irresistible and steady
pressure of the press, and after each
stroke the ingot is moved along until
the thickness is the same throughout.
Thus one sees a mass of tough steel
molded into shape as if it were
molasses cand3%

The plate, being approximately
forged, has all scale removed from its
surface and is ready for "carbonizing."
This is an adaptation of the well known
process of cementation which means
heating the metal to a high tempera-
ture in the presence of carbon, so that
the carbon is absorbed by the metal.
The plate is now forged to final size
and then annealed to relieve any
strains in the metal. It is next
rough machined and then bent to
shape, after which it is tempered to
produce the hard face to break up
the projectiles fired at it. This is
done by spraying the hot face with
cold water under pressure. The ex-
act details of the above processes are
manufacturers' secrets.

The plates are now ready for final
machining, which is extremely diffi-
cult, owing to the toughness of the
metal. The special armor plate saw-
ing machine is shown in figure 2,
cutting the edges off an armor plate.

This is a very slow and laborious
operation, as is all armor machining.
Then the plate is put through an
armor planing machine, which re-
moves extremely small shavings at
each stroke. After machining, the
plates are next carefully fitted to-
gether, to insure that all joints are
well made, and are an accurate and
tight fit. This is called "erecting,"
and is done on heavy iron flooring.

Figure 3 shows the barbette of one
of the turrets of the battleship Texas,
which is eighteen inches thick and
forty feet in diameter, twelve feet
high, and made of seven plates keyed
together. Figure 4 shows the ream-
ing or machining of the holes for the
guns in one of the turret face plates;
the rough drilled hole shows on the
left, and the smooth one on the right
side of the picture.

After erecting the plates are dis-
assembled and shipped on flat cars to
the ships to be built in them.

Out of every lot of plates manu-
factured one is selected for test, and is
fired at by a gun of the same size as
its thickness, and it must not allow
the projectile to penetrate it, other-
wise the whole lot of plates is rejected.
This is called the "ballistic test," and
determines the quality of the armor as
regards resistance to penetration.
Figure 5 shows a plate that has suc-
cessfully passed the ballistic test.

FIGURE 5. PLATE WHICH HAS SUCCESSFULLY PASSED THE BALLISTIC TEST

S06

THE nUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

I DOYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE, ENGLISH CHANNEL

BEACONS OF THE SEA

E\'ER since man began to navi-
gate the waters he has en-
deavored to light them at
night. This he aceomi)Hshes to(hiy l)y
the erection of beacons or towers
upon the shore and rocks, from the
summit of which a beam of light is
automatically flashed over the ocean,
and also by means of lightships and
illuminated buoys. How necessary
thcx- lights are to guide and warn the
mariner is obvious by the returns of
wrecks.

The f;ithcr of the modern lightliou.se
w.is uiid<nible(lly the iincieut Pharos
of Alexandria, in Egyj)t. one of the
seven wonders of the world. It was
l.nill by Ptolemy I'hiladelphus (^283—
■■217 H. C), on a small island al the
rill ranee to tin- harbor, connected by
a causeway wilh the mainland. The
Pharos cost 800 talents; if these were

silver talents — as most likely they
were — that would be equal to $850,-
000, the largest sum ever expended
upon a single lighthouse. The struc-
ture had a base of some 400 feet, and
towered 4.50 feet above .sea-level. As
the whole was built of white marble,
.the edifice must have been at once
elegant and impressive. At the sum-
mit fires were kept burning to direct
the mariner through the tortuous
entrance of IIk" i)a_\'. It is recorded
by some of the anc-ients that the flame
of the Pharos could be discerned 100
miles at sea. This, of course, is an
exaggeration, as the most up-to-date
light of modern times, with all the
latest inx'entions for increasing its
intensity, is only visible tiiirty miles
out. It is doubtful if the smoky
gleams of the ancient Pharos were

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

INTERIOR VIEW OF EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE

-^■■y>

W-^

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This picture sliow3 the interior structure and arrange-
ment of one ot tbe famous beacona of the world.

seen twenty or twenty-five miles on a

clear night.

Church, palace and beacon

The Romans built many lighthouses,
and it is said that several exceeded in
splendor and magnificence the famous
Pharos, but not one of them remains.
The earliest example extant of a light-
house is the famous Tower of Cor-
douan, France, which dates from 805
A. D. but has been rebuilt on several
occasions. The present edifice, which
was begun by M. Louis de Foix, in
1584, is certainly one of the most re-
markable edifices in the world. This
lighthouse (originally 180, now 207
feet in height), is beacon, church, and
royal residence in one, many of the
French kings having occujjied it.

Until the time of John Smeaton, who
invented the dovetailed stone tower,
lighthouses, with a few exceptions,
were built of wood. It was Smeaton's
success in placing a stone edifice on
the dreaded Eddystone Rocks, in the
eighteenth century, which gave an
impetus to lighthouse building.

Smeaton's first tower of solid stone
braved the elements on the Eddystone
for 123 years, when it was dismantled
and reerected on the Hoe at Plymouth,
and another tower put up in its place
on an adjoining reef. The reason for
the removal of the lighthouse was that
the rock on which it stood had been
worn away by the action of the sea.
Long before this occurred, however,
it had been demonstrated that the
stone tower was the best device for
equipping a wave-washed rock with
a light. Stone towers sprang into
existence on dreary rocks around the
British Isles and in America.

There are now about 260 light-
houses around the coasts of Great
Britain alone, and 762, having resi-
dent keepers, within the jurisdiction
of the United States.

50.9

THE nUMAy IMEREST LiniURY

THE PRESENT BOSTON LIGHT

Built In 1783 by Massachusetts and ceded to the United States In 1700

FIRST AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSE also revolving,' mechanism, it hiwm^

Tlu> first lighthouse on the American previously been a fixed li^'ht. In 1888

continent Nvas built by the province Boston light is described as "a re-

of Massachusetts, 1715-16, on an volving light, consisting of 14 Argand

island at the entrance to Boston liar- lanij)s, with parabolic reflectors," the

bor. The light was supported by lamps being "of about the volume of

ligiit dues of one j^enny ])er ton, levied similar lamps in family use." In

l)y the recei\er of impost at Boston on 1881) large reflectors 21 inches in

all incoming and outgoing vessels diameter were fitted to this light,

except coasters. This lighthouse was Boston light was provided with a

an o})ject of attack during the early Fresnel lens in 18.51).

part of the Revolutionary War, and
was burned by the Americans and
finallv blown up bv the British in
1770. A new lighthouse on the same
site was built in 1783 by Massa-
chusetts, and this, with various al-
terations, is the present Boston light.
Although candles and even coal
fires have been used in lighthouse illu-
mination in England to a much later
<lal<', lioston light was j)robably il-
hiiiiiiiali'd from the first by oil lamps.
Ill 17S!) the light was j)ro<lu(cd by
1(5 lamps in groups of 4. (-rude len.ses
and r((lectors were fitted in 1811, and

Apparently a great gnn was the
only fog signal at this statit)n until
about 185'2, when a fog-bell was in-
stalled. A mechanical striking bell
was installed in 18(5!), in IS?";? a fog
trumpet, and in 1887 an air siren.

The oldest of the existing lighthouse
structures in this country is the tower
at Sandy Hook, New York, built in
17G4. The lighthouse at Cape Ilen-
lopen, Delaware, was completed the
same year. These are similar in
design — massive structures of stone
and brick, with walls 7 feet thick at the
base.

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

509

SANDY HOOK LIGHTHOUSE, NEW YORK

This and Cape Henlopen lighthouse, both built in 1764, are the oldest existing lighthouse towers in this country.

walls at the base are 7 feet thick.

The

Location and construction of light-
houses

The first-class light and fog-signal
stations are located at the more promi-
nent and dangerous points along the
seaboard, and on a well-lighted coast
such stations should be sufficiently
close that a coasting vessel may
always be in sight of a light. The
smaller lights are placed to mark
harbors, inside channels, and dangers.
Along the navigable rivers numerous
post lights are maintained to indicate
the channels.

For New York harbor and immedi-
ate approaches alone 268 aids to navi-
gation are required, including 46 shore
lights, two light vessels, and 36 lighted
buoys; there are 192 buoys of all
classes and 37 fog signals, including
sounding buoys.

At the principal stations provision
is made either in the tower or in
separate buildings for the mechanical
equipment connected with light and
fog signal, for storage of oil and
supplies, for quarters for keepers and
their families, boats, etc.

Various materials have been em-
ployed in lighthouse construction —
stone, brick, iron, steel, concrete, rein-
forced concrete, and wood; in new
work, however, the latter is now little
used because of the desirability of
permanency.
Wonderful sea-swept lighthouses

Lighthouse construction on the land
is usually comparatively simple, except
when there is difficulty of access to the
site. But often it is important for the
protection of shipping that lighthouses
be erected either on rocks or reefs

Bio

THE HUMAN LXTEREST LIBRARY

exposed to the sea or actually in the
water, on sand or rock bottom. Such
work has called forlli the ^'reatest skill
of en<4incers.

Numerous types of construction
have heen used. Where the founda-
tion is exjwsed, even at the lowest
tides, masonry towers have heen, with
great labor and often danj^er, fitted to
the bed-rock; otherwise the structure
has been erected on iron piles driven,
screwed, or pumped into tiie sand or
coral, or on caissons floated to the site
and set on the bottom or sunk deeper
by the pneumatic process, or by the
use of coffer-dams, within which the
masonry tower has been erected;
smaller structures have been placed on
rip-rap foundations.

The earliest example now^ existing
of a sea-swe|)t lighthouse is the beauti-
ful lower of C'ordouan, built in 1584
to Kill, on a rock in the sea at the
mouth of the (iironde, on the west
coast of France. This lighthouse

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('•inliiijuii, I i>iiii>l( ii (1 111 liil 1 and HliicL' allcrcU: lliv olduat
■ea-awcpi llKbUiouM! duw Lu cxlslcoco.

has since been altered and raised in
height. The original structure was
elaborately decorated, and one floor
was occupied by a chapel.

The most famous of the sea-swept
lighthouses is the Eddystone, 13 miles
from Plymouth harl)or, England. This
was comj)leled in l(i!)!), after four y<'ars
of work. During the lirst year all that
was accomplished was drilling I'i holes
in the rock and fastening irons iu
them. This lighthouse, with the
keepers and the engineer who built it,
disappeared in the great storm of
November, 170'3, and since that time
three other lighthouses have in succes-
sion been erected on the Eddystone.

MiNOTS LEDGE LIGHT

The earliest lighthouse built iu this
country iu a dangerous position, ex-
posed to the open ocean, was that im
INIinots Ledge, a reef off Boston harbor
which had long been a terror to
mariners.

There was a great gale in April, 1S.51.
"The light on the Minot was last seen
from Cohasset on Wednesday night
at 10 o'clock. At 1 o'clock Tlnu'sday
morning, the 17th, the lighthouse bell
was heard on shore, one and one-half
miles distant; aiul this being the hour
(»f high water, or rather the turn of the
ti<le, when from the oi)i)osition of the
wind and the tide it is supposed that
the sea was at its very highest mark;
and it was at that hour, it is gi-nerally
believed, that the lighthouse was
destroyed; at daylight nothing of it
was visible from shore, and hence
it is most prol)a))Ie it was overthrown
at or about the hoin* named." Two
keepers were in I he tower ami were
lost, and this extract from the oflicial
n^port tells the story of one of the great
light house tragedies.

The present massive stone lighthouse
was built on the same site on Minots
Ledge, connnenced in 1855 and com-
pleted in 18G0. It ranks among the

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

311

difficult lighthouse engineering works
of the world. During the first summer
only 130 working hours were obtained
on the rock, and after three years'
work only four stones of the founda-
tion were laid. The reef rock was pre-
pared to fit the stones of the lower
courses and the latter were cut to inter-
lock. Dwellings for the keepers'
families were built on the shore, ac-
commodations for the men only being
provided in the tower.

Longfellow visited Minots light in
1871, and in a letter thus describes it:
"The lighthouse rises out of the sea
like a beautiful stone cannon, mouth
upward, belching forth only friendly
fires."
White shoal light

^Yhite Shoal, a dangerous spot in
Lake Michigan, at the entrance to the
Straits of Mackinac, was marked for
19 years by a light vessel anchored
over it. On account of the ice, this
vessel could not be kept on the station
during a portion of the season of navi-
gation in the spring and fall. As the
unmarked shoal was a serious menace
to navigation at these seasons, an ap-
propriation was made for building a
lighthouse, and this was completed in
1911 at a cost of $225,000.

A timber crib 72 feet square and 18
feet high was built on shore and
floated out to the site, where the depth
of water was 22 feet. The bottom,
which is of coarse gravel, was covered
with 2 feet of rock, and the crib was
filled with stone and sunk. Above
this was built a concrete pier, which
supports the lighthouse.

The Hght is of 1,200,000 candle
power, flashing white every 8 seconds.
In addition to the compressed air fog-
whistle there is a submarine bell
signal, located in 60 feet of water three-
quarters of a mile from the station.
This bell is supported on a tripod
standing on the bottom of the lake, is

operated by electric power transmitted
through a cable from the light station,
and strikes "23."

Tillamook rock— one of the most

EXPOSED IN the WORLD

Two lighthouses involving great
difficulties have been built on rocky
islets of the Pacific coast — Tillamook
Rock, completed in 1881, and St.
George Reef in 1891. Tillamook is a
high, precipitous rock south of the
Columbia River and about a mile from
shore. It is exposed to the sweep of the
Pacific Ocean. Landing on the rock

IWli TILLAMOOK ROCK LIGHT COMl'LE'lEU

The seas here are terrific. On October 19, 1912, a wave
broke a pane of the lantern 132 feet above the sea.

was very dangerous, and the foreman
was drowned the first day a working
party was landed. There was serious
difficulty in providing any protection
on the rock for the workmen. It was
necessary to blast off the top of the
rock to secure sufficient room for the
lighthouse.

This light station is one of the most
exposed in the world. The tower is
136 feet above high water, but the
keepers reported that in a storm in
1887 the seas broke over the building,
some going above the tower, and
serious damage was done. In another

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THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

storm a mass of concrete "filling
weighing half a ton was thrown over
the fence into the enclosure," at a
level of 88 feet above the sea.

St. GEORGE REEF LIGHT, CALIFORNIA

St. George Reef light is built on a
rock lying 6 miles off the northern
coast of California. The rock was so
exposed and swept by the seas that
workmen could not safely live upon it,
and it was necessary to moor a schooner
near the rock to provide quarters for
the men, who were transported back
and forth by a traveler on a cable.
The total cost of the work at St.
George Reef was about $712,000,
making it the most expensive light-
house that has been built in this
country. These two exposed light
stations on the Pacific coast are the
only ones having five keepers.
Famous shore lights

The tallest light-tower in the United
States is that at Cape Hatteras, on the
low-lying coast of North Carolina,
which is 200 feet from base to top of

lantern. The highest light, however,
is that at Cape Mendocino, on the
coast of California, which is shown 422
feet above high water; it is on a cliff,
the lighthouse itself being only 20 feet
in height.
Troubles from ice, birds, and sand

Sand creates difficulties at some light
stations located among dunes or shift-
ing wastes of sand. At Cape Hen-
lopen the sand driven by the wind has
cut deeply into the wood framing of
the keepers' dwellings, and has ground
the window glass so that it is no longer
transparent; but the lantern of the
light is too high to be so affected.

Even the flj^ing birds make trouble
at lighthouses, as the brilliant light
so attracts them that they will fly
directly for it, and striking the heavy
glass of the lantern are killed.
From wood fires and candles to oil

VAPOR and electric LAMPS

The early lighthouses were lighted
by wood or coal fires burned in open
braziers, and later by candles inclosed

THE tallest LIGHT TOWER OF THIS COUNTRY, 200 FEET HIGH: THE CAPE HATTERAS LIGHTHOUSE,

NORTH CAROLINA

The spiral painting is to furnish a distinctive day-marls to mariners. "A light must be about 200 feet above the
water to be seen from the deck of a vessel 20 nautical miles distant; beyond that distance the curvature of the earth would
prevent a light at this elevation being seen."

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDI'STN]'

SIS

in lanterns; the resulting light was
necessarily weak and fitful, and a large
part was lost by being diffused in
directions of no use to mariners. Oil
lamps were early introduced in this
country and at the present time
lamps with from one to five con-
centric wicks, and biu'ning a high
grade of kerosene oil, are used in a
majority of lighthouses. For the more
important lights the incandescent oil
vapor lamp is now used. In this
lamp the oil is heated and then vapor-
ized, and is burned mixed with air
under a mantle which is made in-
candescent.

Electric lights are used at a few
light stations only. The expense is
too great to warrant the employment
of electricity at many important
stations.

The electric light at Navesink, on
the highlands just south of New York
harbor, is the most powerful coast
light in the United States. This light
shows each five seconds a flash of one-
tenth second duration estimated at 60
million candle power. Although, on
account of the curvature of the earth,
the light itself cannot be seen more
than 22 miles, its beam has been
reported to have been observed in the
sky at a distance of 70 nautical miles.
Powerful reflectors, lenses, and

PRISMS ARE used

In order to increase the effective-
ness of illumination, reflectors, lenses,
and prisms are used to concentrate the
light and throw it out either in a plane
around the horizon or in a beam or
limited arc, where it will be most useful.

With the most complete lenses
about 60 per cent of the light is
rendered useful, the balance being
lost at the top and bottom and by
absorption of the glass of the lens and
the lantern. The largest lens in service
is that at Makapuu Point light,
Hawaii, which is 8| feet in diameter.

A BEAUTIFUL GLASS LENS AND MOUNTING
RECENTLY BUILT IN FRANCE FOR THE
KILAUEA LIGHTHOUSE NOW UNDER
CONSTRUCTION IN THE HAWAIIAN
ISLANDS
It will be the landfall light approaching the islands from
Japan. The light will give a double flash of 940,000 candle
power every 10 seconds. The lens and mounting "weighs
nearly 4 tons and turns on a mercury float, making a
complete revolution every 20 seconds and giving a double
flash of about 940,000 candle power every 10 seconds.
The light is sufficiently powerful to be visible 40 miles,
but because of the earth's curvature it can be seen only
21 miles."

The most powerful flashing lights
are arranged to have the entire lens
revolve, the beam from each panel of
the lens appearing as a flash as it
sweeps past the observer. To obtain
rapid and smooth revolution, the lens
is mounted on a mercury float, and a
lens weighing, with fittings, as much
as 7 tons may make a complete revolu-
tion in 30 seconds.

A recent example is the lens for
Kilauea light station, Hawaiian
Islands.
Buoys

Floating buoys are efiicient and
relatively inexpensive aids to naviga-
tion. They are used to mark dangers
— as shoals, rocks, or wrecks — to
indicate the limits of navigable chan-
nels, or to show the approach to a
channel. They varv in character

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

A BELL BUOY TAKEN ON BOARD LIGHTHOUSE TENDER

Shows marine growth and the necessity for periodic cleaning and painting of buoys

AN UNATTENDED LIGHT VESSEL ON THE COAST OF ENGLAND

!♦ has no crew, and is equipped with flashing gas light, aerial fog bell, and submarine log bell, all automatic. The beUs
are operated by the motion o( the vessel In the aea.

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

315

according lo their purpose or the
distance at which they should be seen.
The simpler forms are the wooden and
iron spar buoys, and iron can and nun
buoys. For warxiing in thick weather,
buoys are fitted with bells, whistles,
and submarine bells, all actuated by
the motion of the sea.

Some important buoys are lighted,
usually by means of oil gas com-
pressed in the buoy itself or acetylene
gas compressed in tanks placed in the
buoy or generated in it.

The buoy off the entrance to Am-
brose Channel, New York harbor, at a
height of 27 feet above the water,
shows a light of 810 candle power,
occulting every 10 seconds and visible
10 miles. This buoy recently burned
for one year and four months without
recharging. The buoy is nearly 60
feet long and weighs over 17 tons.

FOG SIGNALS

The most powerful coast lights may
be rendered of little or no use to navi-
gation by thick fog or rain. To assist
vessels under such conditions, making
their course more safe or allowing
them to proceed, fog signals of many
sorts have been established. Of these
the bell is the most common.

The fog signals now in use in the
United States, consist of sirens,
whistles, reed trumpets, aerial bells,
and submarine bells. Sirens and
whistles are operated by compressed
air or steam, and trumpets by com-
pressed air. To furnish air, com-
pressors driven by internal combustion
engines are used, and for steam signals
boilers are employed. The larger fog
bells, up to 4000 pounds, have hammers
actuated by a weight and clockwork.
The smaller bells are rung by hand.

There is nothing sailors dread more than a fog, when lighthouses and lightships become useless. The sailors are like
men deprived of their sight. Then it is that the foghorns begin to sound. A foghorn is often heard for twenty miles, but
in some weathers only for one or two miles. This picture shows the Bass Rock foghorn.

316

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

g"^: ■'

KTft^

THE RACINE RI.l.I I It .111 IIOl SK, IN LAKE
MICHIGAN, COVERED WITH ICE

Winter seriously increases the work of maintaining aids
to navigation; the spray or sleet freezing may completely
envelop the tower in ice, obscu-ing the light until the
lantern is cleared. In northern waters, w'here there is
floating ice, many of the gas buoys must be removed in
winter and replaced by spar buoys, over which the ice may
pass without serious damage to the buoy. The spray
freezes to bell buoys sometimes until the weight of ice
overturns them.

Besides the above, there are various
noise-making buoys; bells, whistles,
and submarine bells are attached to
buovs and are made to sound by the

movement of the buoy due to the sea.
Nearly all fog signals excepting those
on buoys are operated to sound a
characteristic signal so that they may
be distinguished, there being a suc-
cession of blasts or groups of blasts
or strokes at regular time intervals,
which are made known for each station .
Even adjacent buoj'^s are differentiated
by the use of whistles and bells and by
variation of tone.
Submarine bells

Submarine bells were first regularly
employed as fog signals in the United
States in 190G. The bell is suspended
in the water from a light vessel to a
depth of 25 to 30 feet and is operated
by compressed air, or the bell is
mounted on a tripod on the bottom
and worked by electric power trans-
mitted from the shore through a cable,
or it is suspended from a buoy and
actuated bv the motion of the sea,
which moves a vane and winds a
spring. Submarine bells have fre-
c[uently been heard through the water
at distances of 15 miles and more.

-SSSfc,

AN UNATTENDED FLASHING G.V.S LIGHT ON RICHARUSO.N S ROCK, GALII 0RN:.\.

This light will flash every three seconds for seven months before it requires another charge of gas. This would be
a difficult and expensive site on which to establish a regular lighthouse with keeper's quarters.

HOW LIFE SAVING BELLS ARE FIXED AND WORKED

HiaswaM^ifiMttaB^Mi

g^g^^ggg^ig^ai

asmm

^j^H.*.i,H ..^.^^ ^

iteMlk

■"•'-•■ --^--^-^^

A. Position of receiving apparatus in bow ot siiip. B. Tripod and beil altutlied to a iiglitliouse. C. Electric cable.
D. Diver laying a submarine bell. E. Submarine bell suspended from a lightship. ¥. Submarine bell buoy.
G. Handworked boat gong.

817

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S18

HARNESSING THE WORLD'S GREAT WATERFALLS

THE POWER OF A DROP OF WATER

PROBABLY nothing in the uni-
verse is regarded by the ma-
jority of people as of less im-
•portance than a drop of water. If we
want to say how insignificant a thing
is, and how little work it can accom-
plish, we usually say it is like "a drop
in the ocean." And yet the power in
a drop of water is so vast that, added
to the power in every other drop, it
could do all the work of the world a
thousand times over. This is no new
discovery, for it has been known from
very early times. Solomon had dis-
covered the power of water when he
wrote, "A continual dropping weareth
away stone." But it is only now, in
these davs in which we live, that men
are making practical use of the tre-
mendous fact that water has stored
up in it energy enough to light our
cities, drive our machinery, and move
our trains — energy so tremendous
that the power of coal and steam are
weak and old-fashioned compared
with it.

It has been stated by a great en-
gineer that within a very few years,
in all those countries that have water-
falls and swiftly flowing rivers, trains
will no longer be driven by steam, and
streets be lighted by gas, but electricity
will be used for everything, not only
because it is so much better, but be-
cause it will be cheaper than any other
kind of power. And this mighty step
forward will all be due to the power
that lies in a drop of water.

If we put our finger under the
water-faucet and then turn on the
water, we find that the water presses
with such force against the finger that
it cannot be held in, but spurts out all
around. ^Miat, then, must be the

accumulated force of a mighty mass of
water falling from a great height.

The world over men are now har-
nessing the force of falling water, which
for thousands of years has been Tun-
ing to waste. The most notable
example of this is that of Niagara.

Long ago, engineers realized that
if only a fraction of the water could
be harnessed, Niagara Falls could
be made to do a vast amount
of work. It has been estimated by
some expert that the power running
to waste at the falls is equal to
five million horsepower, more than
double that of all the coal mined in
the state of Pennsylvania, if that were
used in furnaces and turned into steam.
This power is worth tens of millions of
dollars a year, and yet, until recently,
all that it has done has been to wear
away a deep bed for the river in the
solid rock.
Period of discovery

The Niagara Falls were only dis-
covered by white men in 1678, and
it has been said that up to that time
the roaring waters had been feared.
Then they were admired, and now, at
last, they are being used to develop
the greatest electrical power plant in
the world. This development is the
pioneer and leader of the electrical

age.

The Niagara River falls 300 feet in
five miles, 50 feet in the upper rapids,
165 feet at the falls and 85 feet in the
lower river. In its entire length of
36 miles, the river falls 326 feet. The
total power-producing capacity of
the great cataracts is estimated at
from five million to seven million
horsepower, and five companies are
now developing about 450,000 horse-

319

320

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

power on both the American and
Canadian sides of the river. The
average flow of the river is 122,400
cubic feet per second. A flow of one
cubic foot per second equals one
square mile of water 1.16 inches deep
in a 30-day month. The flow of the
Niagara River is furnished by six
thousand cubic miles or from four
lakes having 90,000 square miles
of reservoir space. The extreme width
of the river is one mile, and the two
channels above the falls are 3800 feet
wide. The American fall is 165 feet
high and one thousand feet wide, and
the Horseshoe falls is 159 feet high and
2600 feet in width. The greatest
depth of the river just below the falls
is 192 feet. The power of the Niagara
Rapids and falls is estimated to equal
the power available or being generated
from all the coal mined daily — about
200,000 tons. The flow of water
over the Falls of Niagara is about
25 million tons an hour or one cubic
mile per week.
Beginning of power development

The beginning of the project of the
electrical development of power at
Niagara Falls was the passage by the
New York Legislature of a special
charter in 1886, granting to the
Niagara Falls Power Company the
right to develop 120,000 horsepower
for a tunnel. The projectors esti-
mated that 120,000 horsepower ex-
ceeds the theoretical power at
Lawrence, Holyoke, Lowell, Tur-
ners Falls, Manchester, Windsor
Locks, Bellows Falls, and Cohoes,
and exceeds the power actually de-
veloped at these places and at Augusta,
Paterson and Minneapolis. The com-
pany was then given the right to con-
struct a tunnel with a capacity of
100,000 horsepower more.

The work of excavation for the
tunnel was started October, 1890.
The intake canal, one and one-quarter

miles above the falls, is 250 feet wide,
twelve feet deep and 1200 feet long.
The wheelpit is 178 feet deep. The
tunnel is 7-181 feet long and the in-
terior dimensions 21 feet by 185 feet
six inches. It runs about 200 feet
below the City of Niagara Falls. The
velocity of the water flowing through
it is about 20 miles an hour, the slope
being six feet in one thousand feel.
In excavating for it 300,000 tons
of rock were taken out. For lining
it 16 million bricks were used.
The initial installation was for
15,000 horsepower. This company
and its auxiliary, the Canadian Ni-
agara Power Company, are now de-
veloping about 160,000 horsepower
and diverting less than four per-
cent of the flow of the river. Its
generators are of 5000 and 5500
horsepower in its two power houses
at Niagara Falls, New York, and of
10,000 horsepower at its plant at
Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Output of five power stations

Today electrical energy equal to
580,000 horsepower is obtained from
this single waterfall. This is the com-
bined output of the five power stations
that dot the banks of the Niagara
River. Two are on American terri-
tory and three on Canadian soil.
The latter are far and away the largest
institutions of their kind in existence,
generating 110,000, 125,000, and 180,-
000 horsepower respectively.

Here it may be mentioned that one
horsepower represents the hard labor
of at least ten men, so that the
Niagara development of today seems,
at first glance, to represent the energy
of 5,800,000 men. But man has
elected to work no more than eight
hours a day, while Niagara gives out
its power from sunrise to sunrise,
so that the Niagara development
stands for the force of 17,400,000 able-
bodied men.

WE CAN SEE AT A GLANCE IN THIS PICTURE HOW
THE NIAGARA FALLS ARE HARNESSED

g 4) M

5 o«

S«l

THE GIGANTIC WHEEL TURNED BY NIAGARA

This picture, showing the outside of a turbine, gives some idea of the tremendous size of these marvelous steel water-
wheels. The wheel that revolves Inside this will generate enough electricity to light a town, and the entire turbine weighs
ISO tons.

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

S2»

HOW POWER IS GENERATED AND CONTROLLED

X'/

INTERIOR OF GENERATING STATION, ONTARIO POWER COMPANY

CONTROL ROOM. ONTARIO POWER COMPANY

Sn THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Putting Niagara to work in this fashion that all water passing through
fashion has resulted in a great manu- the cylinder must push the vanes aside
facturing city arising on the American in its course, imparting to them, and
side of the falls, in which not a single therefore to their axis, a circular mo-
steam-engine pants, though coal is tion. Attached to the turbines are
very cheap in the locality. Even in revolving shafts of steel reaching up
Buff alo, where coal costs only a nominal to the generators in the power house
sum, electric power, transmitted 23 on the surface of the ground, which
miles from the falls, has completely operate the dynamos and thus pro-
ousted steam — a fact which is not a duce the electrical energy,
matter of astonishment, considering In the case of the new Canadian
that the generating companies supply power houses, the tunnels or pen-
current at the rate of $25 per year stocks are of immense size, and were
per horsepower, running continuously, laboriously cut through the solid rock.
Every year the great electrical ten- The largest is 11 feet in diameter. At
tacles reach out farther and farther, their bases there are deep wheel-pits
and grip town after town. Already in which the various turbines do their
the street cars of Syracuse on the east mighty work. To get rid of the water
and Toronto on the west — ^250 miles after it has passed through the tur-
apart — are operated by Niagara power, bines, channels have been bored
as is also a section of the Erie Railway, through the rock on a gentle gradient
150 miles distant. Within a short to points below the falls.
time from now towns 300 miles away Driving a tail-race
and more will be tapping the energy The tunnel, or "tail-race," of the
of the famous falls. Niagara Falls Power Company, the
No VISIBLE WHEELS WHICH INDICATE fi^st to be crccted, is 7000 feet long,
POWER with a maximum section of 21 feet by

There are stories told of tourists 18 feet 10 inches. The driving of
visiting the falls who, after being im- this tunnel occupied 1000 men con-
pressed by their grandeur, ask, "Where tinuously for three years, required
are the wheels from which the power the removal of 300,000 tons of rock,
is obtained?" As a matter of fact, and consumed 16,000,000 bricks for
there is nothing at all at the falls its lining. Add the quarrying out of
themselves to indicate that man has 123,455 cubic yards of rock for the
in any way harnessed them for his wheel-pits, and it will be realized that
benefit. But at five points on the here a very considerable engineering
river, above the falls, there are little feat has been performed,
dams or openings into which the Of the Canadian power-stations the
water runs, and, by falling upon tur- largest is that belonging to the On-
bines laid deep down in the bowels tario Power Company, the output of
of the earth, generates the power, which is 180,000 horsepower. Its erec-
These turbines are in all cases situated tion was a bold and daring undertak-
from 170 to 180 feet below the surface ing. About a mile above the falls a
of the river, and the water is supplied great wall 600 feet long was built out
through vertical pipes, known as obliquely into the river, slanting
penstocks. downstream. From here water passes

A turbine is composed of a number into the tunnel and down on to the

of vanes set spoke-wise round an axis, turbines in the giant wheel-pit, an

and enclosed in a cylinder in such a ingenious arrangement of sluice-gates

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

325

and gratings keeping back any ice
that is brought down by the river
during the winter months. The tun-
nel or penstock is 7 feet by 15 feet,
and from its base a lateral tunnel, 8
feet by 15 feet, has been driven out,
400 feet back of the Horseshoe Fall,
to carry off the "dead" water.

The piercing of the rocky cliff in the
rear of the Horseshoe Fall by this
lateral tunnel was one of the most
notable engineering exploits Niagara
has known in connection with its mag-
nificent power development.

So far as the power-houses are con-
cerned, all that the visitor detects are
rows of mighty dynamos, the largest
in the world, while he is conscious of
a ceaseless hum. This is caused by
the armatures as they spin round at a
speed of 1500 revolutions per minute.
The outcome of this activity is that
power is generated, and, by means of
specially designed cables, carried to
distant places to be used as desired.

In the same way man has harnessed
the famous Victoria Falls, on the
Zambesi, in South Africa. These falls
have a drop of close upon 400 feet and
are more than a mile in width. Their
potential energy is estimated to be
fully 35,000,000 horsepower, several
times as great as that of Niagara.
Here it is interesting to note that if
the whole of the waterfalls of Europe,
both large and small, were utilized in
the service of man tomorrow, they
would not aggregate more horsepower
than that which could be obtained
from this single waterfall in South
Africa. So far man has only tapped
a fraction of this enormous energy
now running to waste at the "Roaring
of the Waters," namely, some 150,000
horsepower, less than one two-hun-
dredth part of the whole.

As Niagara and the Victoria Falls
have been harnessed so, no doubt, in
course of time, the same fate will over-

take the Yguazu Falls situated on the
river of that name, a tributary of the
Parana, in South America. These
falls are over two miles wide and have
a drop of 215 feet. Here is continu-
ally running to waste some 14,000,000
horsepower.
Famous European waterfalls

The great waterfalls of Europe have
long been harnessed to the service of
man. The Rhine Falls at Schaff-
hausen, the most voluminous of Euro-
pean waterfalls, now generate elec-
tricity for a variety of purposes. Then
the Rjukan Falls of the Maan-Elf
River, in the Norwegian province of
Telemarken, have been tamed re-
cently, a 125,000 horsepower plant
having been erected there. This is the
highest waterfall in Europe. The
principal fall is 800 feet high, and the
total height of the two chief falls with
the intervening rapids amounts to
1837 feet, while the average flow of
water is 1760 cubic feet per second.
The Falls of Trollhattan, the most cele-
brated of all Scandinavian waterfalls,
now work for man, generating some-
thing like 40,000 horsepower. In-
deed, the total energy man obtains
today from falling water, in Europe
alone, represents, it is estimated, not
less than 8,650,000 horsepower. Yet
we are but on the verge of a revolution
in our methods of obtaining energy for
locomotion, lighting, heating, and
factory operations, for there are many
falls and large volumes of water
still running free that are capable of
being tamed for man's service.

Electric current is sold by the horse-
power and also by measure and watt
hour. The volt is the unit of electri-
cal current. A volt multiplied by an
ampere is a watt. A watt is the unit
of electrical power. One thousand
watts make a kilowatt. Seven hun-
dred and forty-six watts make one
horsepower.

326

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE KEOKUK DAM ACROSS THE FATHER OF WATERS

FOR more than half a century
dwellers upon either shore of
the Mississippi near the Des
Moines rapids have watched the
rushing waters and longed for the day
when the mighty river should be
harnessed for the benefit of mankind.
For many years such an undertaking
was impossible. But the advent of
the "concrete age" has enlarged the
powers of the engineer and the won-
derful development of the Middle
West has at last furnished the capital
essential to the stupendous under-
taking.

This greatest of all water-power
developments is the outgrowth of
public energy exerted continuously
over a long series of years, although
the last ten years only were the ones
productive of tangible results. The
work was started by the organization
of a small corporation, consisting
really of the people of Keokuk, Iowa,
and Hamilton, 111., organized to facili-
tate action, the money necessary to
launch the enterprise being paid from
the respective city treasuries.

Safeguarding the rights of the

PUBLIC

Upon petition Congress accorded
to this corporation the rights and
franchises essential to the construction
of a dam at Keokuk. But the act
granting the franchise placed every
detail of the work under the super-
vision of the War Department. It
was also provided that a colossal lock
of the Panama type should be con-
structed and an immense dry dock,
and that these should become the
property of the Federal Government
and yet be perpetually operated at
the expense of the corporation.

The Government also secured deep-
water navigation for sixty-five miles
above the proposed dam.

Searching for capital to build the

DAM

The local corporation, after receiv-
ing its franchise from Congress, began
a search for some one to take over
its rights and construct the dam. It
finally came in contact with Hugh L.
Cooper, who had built many large
water plants, including the great one
at Niagara Falls. He became much
interested in the Keokuk project and
a few years later he built the great
dam and as its chief engineer at-
tained international fame.

But the intervening years were
nerve-racking ones. The first fifty-
eight capitalists Mr. Cooper ap-
proached turned him away coldly,
saying the proposition could not be
made a success. He spent all his
own assets in the search for capital.
Just before the five years provided in
the franchise for beginning work ex-
pired, Stone & Webster, a Boston
financial house, heavily interested in
public utilities throughout the coun-
try, agreed to finance the proposition
and gather the capital for it, which
they did, largely in Europe.

A year was spent partly in con-
struction, but chiefly in assembling an
organization of hundreds of engineers,
thousands of workmen and over a
million dollars' worth of machinery,
most of it built from original designs
for the work. Then the entire dam
was rushed to completion in about two
years, although it contains the same
amount of masonry as the great
pyramid of Cheops which is said to
have required for its building the
labor of a hundred thousand men for
about a hundred years.
The largest power dam in the world

The Keokuk dam, the largest power
dam in -the world extends for nine-
tenths of a mile from the Illinois bluffs
across the ri'^'er to its junction with the

THE KEOKUK DAM, LOCK AND DRY DOCK

The Keukuk waterpower jiist previous to its completion, showing tlie dam stretching across the Mississippi to the
power house which extends down the river to the government loclt In the foreground. Between the lock and the reader Is
the dry dock partially completed. This lock and dry dock belong to the United States after being completed at the cost
of the company.

The world's greatest power (lam uuiii uctos.s the Mississippi to join the power house lu the iiisiaiiee ou iiie luwa cule
of the river.

The colossal Keokuk lock la tbe Missiasiuui aa wide as those at Panama and with a higher lilt than any one lock ou thtt
Isthmua.

SS7

338

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

power-house near the Iowa side of the of over one hundred square miles, and
Mississippi. The power-house extends its surface is kept constantly at the
down the river and is one-third of a same height by opening or closing
mile long, half a city block wude, and gates in the dam as the stage of water
as high as a fifteen-story building, in the river changes.
At the lower end of the power house, The giant power house
between it and the Iowa shore, is the The power house has thirty identical
great lock, as wide as those at Panama units, each composed of a gigantic
and wuth a higher lift than any of water wheel connected by a shaft
them. Between the lock and the with a mammoth electric generator
west bank of the river is the mam- above it. Each of these wheels is
moth dry
dock in
which boats
are built and
repaired.
The upper
end of the
forebay is
closed with
a massive
con Crete
drift skim-
mer. The
total length
of the work
is ten feet
less than two
and one-half
miles; all
solid c o n -
Crete. The
concrete ma-
sonry is set
down into
the hard
limestone
bottom of
the Mississippi river, which was exca- through immense transformers which

One of the thirty titanic turbines of the Keokuk water-power plant,
several times as large as any ever built before. It weighs several hundred
thousand pounds and revolves with the power of ten thousand horses.

over f o u r
times as
large in di-
mensions as
any ever
built before.
They were
hauled on a
car built for
the purpose,
after the
water tank
spouts and
coal chutes
had been re-
moved along
the route
from the
foundry in
Ohio to Keo-
kuk. From
the largest
generators
ever built
the electric
current is
conducted

vated for that purpose inside cofferdams,
one of which enclo.sed thirty-five acres.
The dam is fifty-three feet high,
forty-two feet wide at the bottom and
twenty-nine feet wide on top, and

step it up to 110,000 volts at
which pressure it goes over the trans-
mission line to St. Louis and inter-
mediate cities. This transmission line
consists of six large copper cables sup-

consists of 119 arched spans, between ported on steel towers standing on

the piers of which are spillways over concrete pillars. The total power

which the water flows; each spillway developed on the water wheel shafts

being topped by a huge steel gate, is 300,408 horsepower, and after de-

The lake above the dam has an area ducting losses there remain 200,000

BOOK OF EXGIXEERIXG AND INDUSTRY

329

horsepower to be used in manufactur-
ing. The power developed in that
one power house is greater than the
total water-power generated in any
state in the Union save three — Maine,
California and New York.
The wonderful lock gates

The features of the lock are the re-
sult of its exceptional size. The
lower gates weigh a million pounds
and the sag strain on the top of the
hinges is 364,000 pounds in each of
the two gates. Yet they move so
easily that only a little force is re-
quired to swing them open or shut,
and they meet in the middle of the
lock so perfectly that there is no more
leakage of water than the quantity one
may wring from a pocket handker-
chief. The upper gate is a marvel of
mechanical engineering and is a bas-
ically new invention in lock gates.
The work has attracted the attention
of economists on account of its great
efiPects on the Middle West and the
entire Union by its influence on manu-
facturing. Most of the water power
in operation in the United States is
around the borders of the country and
is used chiefly for lighting and traction
power because its distance from raw
material and markets lessens its
value for manufacturing purposes.

Disposal of the electricity gener-
ated

This Keokuk water power of colos-
sal size is in the very center of the
populous Mississippi Valley where its
electric power is especially available to
energize machines in factories. It is
intended specifically for that use. It

produces many times enough power to
supply the manufactures now in its
sphere of influence, and a vast amount
of manufacturing must be moved into
its power zone to consume the electric
current now produced. The trans-
mission lines run to Burlington, Iowa,
40 miles to the north and to St. Louis,
150 miles to the south, tapping inter-
mediate cities. The current is spe-
cially available at Keokuk, Iowa, and
Hamilton, Illinois, at the opposite
ends of the gigantic work.
A new industrial district in the

COUNTRY'S heart

The proprietary company recog-
nized that its large quantity of power
could not be sold quickly to factories
brought into the power zone and early
began a campaign to build up a new
industrial district in the heart of the
country. To this end it is assisting
each of the cities in the power zone to
make themselves attractive to manu-
facturers and factory operatives. It
is based on the greater economy in
electric power produced by water over
steam power produced by coal.
Though located in the midst of the
cheapest coal in the world it will
more than meet the competition of
that coal in its prices for power.
Eight million tons of coal saved

YEARLY

This Mississippi water power con-
serves for other uses than manufac-
turing over 8,000,000 tons of coal
yearly. It will make a new manu-
facturing center for the United States
and start a new industrial era for the
already rich Mississippi Valley.

S30

TEE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

MARVELS OF UNDERGROUND ENGINEERING

OF all the problems which have
confronted the engineer dur-
ing the past twenty years,
none has been more persistent than
that of the relief of traffic congestion
in our great cities.

City after city has discovered, when
the cost of acquiring property at sur-
face has become prohibitive, that its
main traffic arteries are hopelessly
faulty in design for efficient service;
and the false expedients which have
been devised for relief, only to present
new and more difficult problems, are
too familiar to need enumeration.
Surface congestion

There are three types of congestion
— pedestrian, passenger vehicular, and
freight vehicular, the last two being
capable of further subdivision.

In many cities the congestion on the
footpath itself is so great that walking
is a waste of time. In parts of the City
of London an hour's hard walk at noon
would accomplish less than a mile and
a half.

Each large city presents a different
problem for solution, as the result of
the conditions which have governed
its growth. London's chief problem
has been to secure a passenger trans-
port service connecting the districts,
constantly expanding north, south,
and west, with the city business cen-
ter and the busy port to the east.

In Paris the problem was partly a
military one. It was necessary to
secure intercommunication between
isolated suburbs set radially about the
center, both within and without the
fortifications, as well as to make possi-
ble the rapid concentration of troops
to any part of the defences.

Boston and Philadelphia have com-
paratively short subway systems for
passenger traffic — particularly Phila-
delphia — in Chicago, following on the

extension of the railway system of
America, it became imperative to find
some means of handling the freight
transfers of the twenty-five great
trunk lines which meet there.

New York City has had to face the
most difficult problems of all. Here
the original city, situated on the long
and narrow Manhattan Island, has
extended southeast over the southern
portion of Long Island (owing to port
facilities) and west, on to the main-
land around the termini of the trunk
lines which serve the continent. The
problem in New York was that of
establishing intercommunication north
and south along the axis of Manhattan
Island, and east and west across the
broad East River to Brooklyn, and the
great estuary of the Hudson to Jersey
City on the mainland.
Elevated railways

The first attempts to relieve con-
gestion of traffic at surface took the
form of elevated railways, and those
of New York and several continental
cities are models of ingenuity in con-
struction. These, however, except in
those cases such as the Barmen-Elber-
feld Monorail, where they can be con-
structed over existing water courses,
invariably introduced other undesir-
able conditions.

The early subterranean railways
(such as the London Metropolitan and
District) were constructed on the cut-
and-cover system. Steam was the
motive power used by the trains, and
the use of fire under the boiler, with
the attendant smoke difficulty, made
large tunnel sections and frequent
communication with the open air
imperative.

The conditions which have led
immediately to the construction of
relatively deep tunnel communications
have been accurate geological knowl-

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 331

edge of the continuity and thickness underground communication; but the
of certain soft strata, and the march problem in the one case has been the
of physical science in the department transport of passengers, and in the
of electricity, combined with the in- other that of freight,
genuity of the engineer in following Chicago possesses some sixty or
closely the discovery of scientists in seventy miles of underground railway
both domains, and bending them to on which not a single passenger is car-
service in his work of construction. ried, the work of transport being con-
It must not be imagined that all fined to mails, merchandise, coal, and
cities can be provided with such an rubbish. The track serves every
admirable system of deep level under- street in the business district, and a
ground communications as London great deal of the residential quarter,
has. Had it not been for the existence Goods for delivery to the railway
of the stratum known as the London termini or other parts of the city are
clay, which overlies the chalk and sent to the nearest collecting station
lower London tertiaries, the con- and conveyed over the railway system,
struction of such communications, if Ashes and coal are collected and dis-
they existed at all, would have been tributed in the same way. The mail
on the cut-and-cover system, to take bags are handled on mechanical ele-
advantage of the soft subsoil. Econom- vators, from the subway into the post-
ic considerations would have made office building and vice versa, and the
them far more limited in extent, and streets are relieved of freight traffic to
great inconvenience in the way of the extent of about 30,000 tons daily,
traffic dislocation during their con- Large business houses have private
struction. elevator shafts from the basements to
In the Paris Metropolitan and the the subway below. In recent years.
New York subway, we find typical wherever a large building has been
cut-and-cover work, and the London erected, a temporary shaft has been
County Council tunnel under Kings- constructed to the subway, and all
way is an excellent example of the the excavated material from the
type of such construction. The neces- foundations has been fed straight into
sary arrangements for traffic diversion, cars below, at an average depth of 45
and acquirement of surface property, feet below the surface,
add enormously to the cost of an The tunneling for Chicago's freight
undertaking of this kind. railway was carried out at the rate of
Both Paris and New York present some 300 feet per day, and the exca-
the same difficulty of rock at or near vated material added a park of over
the surface with a certain thickness twenty acres on the lake shore to the
of subsoil and surface gravels to help city's open spaces, free of cost to the
out. A large proportion of the New community.

York subway had to be blasted from It was originally intended to operate

the solid rock. New York has the the King William Street and Elephant

added complication of the necessity and Castle subway, London, by a steel

of carrying the tunnels beneath wide cable. Following on the successful

and deep river channels. construction and operation of this

London and Chicago are related, in subway, it was for the first time

that each is underlaid by a thick sub- generally realized that, conditions be-

stratum of plastic clay and an admira- ing similar under the whole of Lon-

ble medium in which to construct deep don, a network of subterranean rail-

sss

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

333

ways was possible, to deal with the
passenger traffic problem in every
part of the city and suburbs. The
year 1893 saw the construction au-
thorized of not less than six separate
tubes.

It is comparatively easy today to
build subways, even when their con-
struction involves tunneling under the
beds of great rivers. But when the
Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels under
the North and East Rivers, ninety-
seven feet below high-tide level, were
bored from the New Jersey shore
across to and under Manhattan
Island and thence to Long Island there
was no engineering precedent for the
undertaking.

The tunnels or tubes themselves
consist of a series of iron rings, and
the installation of every ring meant
an advance of two and one-half feet.
Eleven segments and a key piece at
the top complete the circumference,
and an entire ring weighs about fifteen
tons. The cast-iron plates, or sec-
tions of the ring, have flanges at right
angles to the surface, and it is through
these that the successive rings are held
together with bolts. The record prog-
ress in one day of eight hours was
five of these rings, or twelve and one-
half feet. Hydraulic rams, placed
against the flanges every few inches
around the tube, were used to push
forward the huge shields with which
the tunnels were bored. This type
of shield weighed 194 tons.

Longest, if not the largest, of the
holes burrowed under New York by
human moles is the great water tunnel
through which the mountain streams,
impounded by the Ashokan dam and
brought to the city's edge by the Cats-
kill aqueduct, will be distributed
through the five boroughs. There are
four distinct types of aqueduct, cut-
and-cover, grade-tunr.cl, pressure-tun-
nel, and steel-pipe siphon, north of the

city line. The city aqueduct, through
which Catskill water will be distrib-
uted, is a circular tunnel in solid rock,
fifteen feet in diameter at the upper
end and reduced to eleven feet in the
outlying boroughs. From two ter-
minal shafts in Brooklyn steel and
iron pipe lines will extend into Queens
and Richmond. A cast-iron pipe,
resting on the harbor bottom, will
cross the Narrows to the Silver Lake
reservoir on Staten Island, holding
400,000,000 gallons. The total length
of this delivfciy system is over thirty-
four miles. The tunnel has depths of
200 to 750 feet below the street sur-
face, thus avoiding interference with
streets, buildings, subways, sewers
and pipes. These depths are necessary,
also, to secure a substantial rock
covering to withstand the bursting
pressure. The tunnel construction
involves twenty-four shafts, about 4000
feet apart, located in parks and other
places where they interfere very little
with traffic. Through these shafts,
also, the delivery of the water is ac-
complished through additional pipes.

One of the most remarkable of such
undertakings is the great aqueduct
which traverses no less than 246 miles
to supply Los Angeles with water.

Determined to secure a supply of
the purest water obtainable, the en-
terprising authorities of this American
city have tapped a source high among
the mountains of the Sierra Nevada.
From that distant place a crystal
river will flow through divers con-
duction agencies before it reaches the
water-taps of city consumers. For
over twenty-two miles its way lies
through a canal; a conduit covered
with concrete conveys it for 1643^
miles. More than ten miles of tunnel
have been painfully delved through
earth by human moles to provide a
passage-way for it, while eighteen and
one-fourth miles have been hewn and

The Jawbone Siphon Is the most remarkable in the world,
length of 8135 feet, and weighs no less than 3243 tons.

THE JAWBONE SIPHON

Varying between 7 and 10 feet in diameter, It has a total

S34

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

335

THE EASTERN HALF OF SOLEDAD SIPHON

The Soledad Siphon 8000 feot in length, with lt3
diameter of 1 1 feet, so big that a motor-car can be driven
through it without grazing either side.

blasted in the solid rock. In addition,
there are nearly two miles of steel
flume, the cleansing reservoirs extend
seven and one-half miles in length.

and the engineers can take advantage
for twelve and one-half miles — roughly
one-twentieth of the entire distance —
of the natural bed of a stream.

Great as this achievement of delving
and blasting and adaptation of exist-
ing means undoubtedly is, it pales
into insignificance beside the means
employed for nine miles of the way,
by wliich the stream sufficient for a
population of two million souls is car-
ried over mountain tops and down the
sides of deep valleys. To cope wdth
such difficulties the engineers realized
that it was necessary to employ the
siphon principle. Never before has
so much mammoth steel piping, capa-
ble of carrying three hundred million
gallons of water per diem, been em-
ployed for such a purpose. The Jaw-
bone Siphon is the most remarkable
in the world.

UNDERGROUND LIFE OF THE BIG CITIES

From a million and a half to a mil-
lion and three-quarters of the residents
of New York City spend at least a
portion of each day underground, and
many thousands come to the surface
so rarely that the light of day blinds
them when they reach it.

According to the best obtainable
statistics about 20,000 persons in New
York City spend their entire working
hours beneath the surface of the earth.

These figures are not the sort that
deceive. They are figures of fact, con-
servatively given, and if in any man-
ner incorrect, they err on the side of
conservatism.

On quite ordinary days 1,500,000
persons are accommodated in the New
York subways, and the crowds are
multiplying week by week.

Men go below the surface to reach
the trains that are to take them from
the architectural wonder, the new
Pennsylvania Station, east and west
out of the city. After they have

reached the trains they are dropped
still further underground, in order that
they may pass beneath the bottom of
the Hudson and East Rivers.

To get out of New York City by
means of the New York Central Rail-
road or the New York, New Haven
and Hartford Railroad it is necessary
to make use of that other architectural
wonder, the Grand Central Station,
and again travelers drop down into the
bowels of the earth before they may
start.

The Lackawanna Railroad, not to be
outdone by its rivals, advertises that
"Miss Phoebe Snow" may now travel
from Thirty-third Street to Buffalo,
and to do that must go down into the
earth and under the North River to
make her start.

All of this underground business
sounds dingy and dirty, but in reality
there is much that is clean, bright and
attractive about New York's under-
ground world. The new Pennsylvania

336

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

Station, to which reference is made by
way of illustration, covers more terri-
tory than any other building ever con-
structed at one time in the history of
the world. From beneath its wonder-
ful dome trains pass out under the
North River to start on their 2000
mile trip into the west, and other
trains travel eastward far beneath the
surface of Manhattan Island, then out
under the East River into Lonr^ Island.
Wonderful and beautiful as the
Pennsylvania Station is, it has a fair
rival in the new Grand Central Sta-
tion, only recently opened to the public.
Practically every skyscraper in New
York City, and they are numbered by
the hundreds, adds its quota to the
"underworld" population of the city.
Before the greater structures — those
that rear their way thirty, forty and
fifty stories into the air — are really
started, their foundations are sunk far
down into the living rock which forms
practically all of Manhattan Island.
In many cases very comfortable apart-
ments are to be found forty or fifty
feet below the street surface, and there
families are raised, children growing to
maturity without ever having known
the comforts of a home above ground.
Practically all of the great news-
papers of New York City have their
batteries of presses below the surface
of the earth. Some of them, notably
the Herald, so arrange their windows
as to make their pressrooms visible
from the sidewalks, malcing them show
places that attract tens of thousands.
In the great hotels of New York the
mechanical departments are all far
beneath the street surface. These de-
partments are well worth visiting, and
in most cases the hotel proprietors are
only too glad to permit their kitchens,
bakeshops, furnace rooms, engine-
rooms, and laundries to be inspected.
These places ordinarily are the clean-
est in the entire hotel.

SS7

338

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

SB^

Then, too, in most of the more ex-
pensive hotels the grillrooms are below
stairs. On these rooms and in these
rooms fortunes are spent by the
proprietors and their patrons. A few
years ago fashionable New York re-
fused to put its feet below the street
level. Now it goes willingly into the
basement, there to nibble at delicacies
and sip vintage wines for which it pays
exorbitant prices, the while listening
to high - salaried cabaret performers
who are assisted in their performances
by world-famous orchestras.

Many of New York's greatest
department stores are connected di-
rectly with the subways, as are also
some of its newer theaters. A party
once visiting in New York, lived for a
fortnight in one of the most fashionable
and most expensive hotels in the city,
spent most of their time shopping,
sight-seeing and theater-going, and
only once during the entire fourteen
days passed into the open air of the

outside world. From their rooms in
the hotel they were dropped by ele-
vator to the level of the sul)way.
Through the subway they went to
department stores, theaters, restau-
rants, museums and even to church.
When they started for home they went
by subway from their hotel to the
Grand Central Station and did not
get out into sunlight until their train
had well started on its journey.

^Yhile the underground development
of New York has progressed farther
than that of any other city, yet the
inevitable tendency, wherever popula-
tion becomes congested and land
values high, is to utilize the subter-
ranean areas for business purposes. In
I^ondon, where the skyscraper has never
found favor, a very marked devel-
opment downward is now in progress.
The new County
Hall, which is slow-
ly assuming shape
and substance

ONE OF TH£ EXPENSIVE GRILL ROOMS FAR BELOW THE STREET LEVEL IN NEW YORK

SJ^O

WE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

on the south side of the Thames
Embankment, is one of the many new
buildings in London remarkable for
their underground space, and every
year sees extensive additions to the
underworld of London, where the ab-
normal demands on space have evolved
the underground man.

Paris, too, has a highly interesting
underground life. Unique among
cities in many respects, in none is it
so remarkable as in its great sewer
system, which for years furnished
hiding places for criminals and secret
passageways utilized by many for
transit between different parts of the
city. Now the subways of Paris have

become the most popular means of
travel in the French capital. There
are eight subway lines in all, and their
popularity is due to the small expense
of traveling, the quick and efficient
service, and the convenient system of
"change" stations permitting transit
from any one part of the city to any
other for the same price.

Boston and Philadelphia have pro-
gressive and impressive subterranean
railway systems for passenger traffic;
but New York, where every inch of
excavation must be blasted out of
solid rock, has however, developed the
human mole to a greater degree than
any of them.

STE>NVS//KV LINE

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE DIFFERENT SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES AND TUNNELS EXCAVATED AT
THE GRAND CENTRAL STATION BY NEW YORK'S HUMAN MOLES

BOOK OF EXGL\h:i:Rl\G AXD rXDUSTliV

341

SPAN OF THE NEW BRIDGE OVER HELL GATE, NEW YORK

FOOTPATHS IN THE AIR

NO one can say who built the
first bridge. Nature herself
would no doubt be man's first
teacher. Man would find a path
across a chasm by clinging to a twisted
vine; or he would see a ready-made
bridge consisting of a fallen tree-trunk
across a stream. Those were the first
bridges, and they were the sort which
would have to be made for hundreds
of years.

One day a genius arose, wdio dumped
high heaps of stone in a line across a
stream, and on the top of these placed
slabs of slate or stone or fallen trees.
Then, a long, long while afterwards,
came real bridges. The Romans were
the first to learn how to make these.
They built splendid bridges on arches,
some of w^hich exist today.

A great reform was made in bridge-
building by John Rennie, an engineer
and architect. It had been customary
to make the arches very high, so that
the roadway sloped sharply up on one
side, and very sharply down on the
other. But Rennie made his arches,
not like the half of a circle, but like
the half of an egg, cut lengthwise.

There still exists a famous single-
arch bridge of the old type, the famous
bridge at Pontypridd, Wales.

When the eighteenth century was
drawing to a close, men began to

build bridges of cast iron. But engi-
neers soon found that, though cast
iron can bear great pressure, it will
not bear much pull. It cannot be
easily crushed by a w^eight, but it can
soon be snapped by weights which
pull at the two ends. So then they
used wrought iron, which cannot easily
be pulled apart. That served until
steel came into use in the nineteenth
century.

It is over the Hudson River in New
York and over the St. Lawrence in
Canada that man has gained his
greatest victories in spanning wide
expanses of water with gigantic steel
roadways. It must not be forgotten
that Great Britain has many fine
examples of the bridge-builder's art;
the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash,
the Britannia Bridge over the Menai
Strait, and the Forth Bridge, whose
span of 1700 feet has yet to be
eclipsed, may be quoted as daring
and remarkable bridge-building feats.

The first great bridge built of
wrought iron was the Britannia
Bridge, in North Wales. The builder
was Robert Stephenson. He made a
huge square tube of iron — iron at the
top, iron at the sides, iron at the
bottom, and through this tube of
iron the trains pass. To increase the
strength of the bridge he made the

OLD-FASmONED BRIDGES IN PICTUUESQUE LANDS

This picture gives us an idea of what our bridges were like once upon a time. Here is one built on piers made of
nothing but logs. On top there is a roadway of timber. This is the bridge at Sringar, the beautiful old capital of Cashmere,
Northern India. The houses recall the bridges of old-time London with their shops and dwellings.

This rough-aiid-riady bridge serves for fishermen to
pass to a rock oft the coast of Antrim, Ireland. It con-
si 3ts only of strong ropes and staves of wood. In stormy
weather it sways and needs courage to cross.

Tight-rope walkers should like this bridge. It is made
up of three ropes. Two of the ropes serve as handrails;
the third is the footpath. It crosses a river in India
which has many modest suspension bridges like it.

This Is the sort of big bridge that we see where the single arch and cantilever are not used. It is the Iwakuni Bridge
In Japan, a bridge ot wood and stone, in (our spans. Only small ships can pass under it, and the roadway is as steep as
a awltcbback ladder, and la tumished with 200 steps. Horses and carts cannot go over it.

S42

BEGINNING TO B IT I L D A GREAT BRIDGE

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iiSHBBjl

- ' :,^- . - • . ^^--^■S^Bi^MfclfcL'

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This shows us liuw the weight of a bridge is liistriluilrd; ii lUu-tiuu- wliai IthLl;! -Iiuil'l. i - rail tlie cantilever prin-
ciple. These two men are sitting on chairs, each holding two sticlis. The outside sticlvs are fastened to weights, and
cannot move. The inner sticlis are fixed to the chairs, and from their tops another sticli is stretched, bearing a weight of
112 pounds. Yet the men feel no weiglit, and they represent two pairs nf cantilevers.

This is a caisson, like a great hollow chamber, inside which men can work to set tip the foimdations of a bridge. The
caisson is here floated into position for the building of the Forth Bridge. The huge steel lulxs reach down to the bottom
of the water, and men work inside them without danger, as if in a workshop.

This shows the caisson in position, sinking in the water. It is about 70 feet wide at the bottom. Thuugh upon at the
lop, it has water-tight floors inside, and at the bottom there is a chamber 70 feet wide and 7 feet high, lighted by electric
lamps. In wblcb the men. breathing air sent down in tubes, can work safely

34S

THE INTERIOR WORKSHOP UNDER THE WATER

This shows us the Inside of a caisson while the men are working. We can see the tubes leading down from the top to
the working chamber at the bottom. Inside one tube is a ladder by which the workers climb up and down. Other men
bring down material and take up the broken rock which has been dug. Another tube brings down air for the men to breathe.
If the bed of the river is muddy the mud is forced away by the compressed air. Water is kept out of the chamber by com-
pressed air which la made to press with greater force than the water. From top to bottom the caisson is 60 feet deep and
Inside It Is like engineering works.

S44

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

Si5

iron at the top and bottom tube-
shaped, instead of soUd, because it
would better stand the pull of the

weight.

The great iron tubes in which the
train crosses the water

These tubes are built on huge col-
umns of masonry, one built on an
island half-way across the water, and
the others on the land at the sides.
As ships were constantly passing, it
was impossible to put up great scaffolds
on which to build up the ironwork.
So Stephenson had the two tubes,
nearly 500 yards long, built in four
sections on shore. When all was
ready the big tubes were floated on
many boats, and ferried out to the
the towers.

As the tide went out the boats
gradually sank, and the tubes, weigh-
ing 5000 tons each, came to rest in
grooves prepared for them in the
masonry. Then the boats were
drawn awav and the enormous masses

of iron were hoisted up to the proper
height, 100 feet above the water, by
great engines.

The finest of all bridges is the great
steel cantilever bridge. A cantilever
is copied from the oldest of simple
bridges. If two trees lean over the
water from different sides of a stream
we have only to run a plank from the
end of one trunk to the end of the
other, to make a simple cantilever
bridge. That is one way of applying
it. The other is to consider the
cantilever a bracket. Secured firmly at
one end, a bracket will bear a shelf
with a heavy weight of books, and the
steel cantilevers forming a bridge are
merely huge brackets. The best ex-
ample is the great Forth Bridge.

The Forth Bridge was designed by
Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin
Baker. They had to cross two swift
channels of water. There is an island in
the middle, but on each side of it there
flows a channel of water deep and swift.

MODERN STEEL, BRIDGE ACROSS THE RHINE AT COLOGNE

THE GREAT FORTH BRIDGE SECTION BY SECTION

When the rock had been prepared for the foundation of the Forth Bridge, strong masonry was built from the rock
below the water up to the top. Then huge pillars of hollow steel, such as we see here, were put up for the cantilevers, and
were fastened down to the masonry with enormous steel bolts. They are 34.3 feet high, but so strong that neither the
weight and vibration of great trains nor the force of storms can break them.

The giant jiiUars having been made fast, the cantilevers began to grow out from them. Kach of these is really a
double cantilever. They stand like brackets back to back. Perfectly balanced, they stood firm while the engineers
built out Into the air Irom them, as if they were brackets fixed to the walls, bearing heavy shelves.

S46

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 3J^7

and 1700 feet broad. It was impos- crossed carrying the main cable of

sible to sink piers in these channels, the bridge, which is 200 yards long,

so the central pier was founded on the and the greatest engineering wonder

island, and two others built nearer in South Africa,

the shores. The Tower Bridge, in London, is

The cantilevers, of which there are 800 feet long. When a ship is too high

three pairs, carry the bridge across to pass under, great machines cause

the two wide stretches of water, the roadway to open in the middle.

They are each 1360 feet long, and the The two halves are pulled up, working

three, stretching out towards each on enormous hinges, and the ship

other, leave a space of 350 feet to be passes through.

covered between the ends of the first The Saltash Bridge which spans the

and second, and a similar space be- Tamar is 2200 feet long, the two main

tween the ends of the second and third, spans over the river being each 455

Here ordinary steel girders are used, feet long. The height of the central

In order that ships may pass under it, pier from its foundation to the top is

the bridge is made 150 feet above high 240 feet, and the railway track is

tide, and its top parts are 361 feet carried 110 feet above the level of the

above the water. water. Obtaining the foundations for

The cantilever bridge plan has since the pier was a particularly dangerous

been used for many other bridges, piece of work. A huge caisson was

One on this plan crosses Niagara at a sunk in midstream, in which, provided

great height above the water. The with compressed air, the men toiled for

cantilever is used in suspension bridges two years. In the winter storms the

also. Huge columns are erected on unwieldy cylinder rocked so violently

land, and from them chains or wire despite its heavy weights and chains,

ropes are stretched across the gulf, that leakages occurred, and it was only

carrying a roadway. by beating hasty retreats that the men

How KITES AND ROCKETS ARE USED FOR cscapcd drowuiug. The two gigantic

BUILDING GREAT BRIDGES spaus wcrc built Complete upon the

The best suspension bridge in Eng- shore and floated out into position,

land is at Clifton. This is 702 feet and then graduallv raised to the

across, and 31 feet wide. It is more desired height, three feet at a time at

than 200 feet above the River Avon, each end by means of hydraulic presses.

and it is said that the first string For the finest and latest examples

attached to the rope which pulled of the bridge-builders' skill we have to

across the cable was sent over by a go to New York. Here, in space of a

kite. single square mile we have the three

A more unusual way was adopted greatest suspension bridges in exist-

for starting the great bridge across ence — the Brooklyn, the Manhattan,

the River Zambesi, in South Africa, and the Williamsburg bridges, while

The bridge is the highest in the world, some three miles above the last-

400 feet above the water, and runs named there now towers Blackwell's

from cliff to cliff; so they had to fire Island Bridge. They are rightly re-

a rocket fastened to the end of a cord, garded as among the wonders of the

The rocket took the cord across, the engineering world. They vary from

cord was used for hauling across a 6000 to 7000 feet in length, with a

wire, and the wire was used to pull central span of from 1400 to 1500 feet,

over a small cable. On this a truck and carry four tracks for railways, two

THE WONDERFUL ROAD THAT A MAN CAN OPEN

The Tower Bridge is the most beautiful in London. It is like the old-fashioned draw-bridge which castles and fortresses
had, only much larger and stronger. It is called a bascule bridge, "bascule" meaning "balancing." This picture shows
what happens when the great roadway opens for big ships to pass along the Thames. Each half rests on a pivot and is
balanced by an enormous weight at the tower end. When the bridge is to be opened a man pulls a lever which drives
water at great pressure through a pipe and so turns a series of cog wheels. The wheels move a number of curved frame-
works with cogs and the two halves of the road each weighing 730 tons, turn slowly on their pivots. The roadway at the
top is always in use and is for foot passengers.

348

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 349

or more for cars, a couple of roadways 15| inches, and a breaking strain of

for vehicles, and various sidewalks about 12,000 tons. The roadway is

for pedestrians, while the towers 85 feet wide. The engineers declare

reach a height of 300 feet and more that the "natural life" of the bridge

above the water, the aerial pathway is 20,000 years.

being some 130 feet above the surface After the Brooklyn Bridge came the

of the river. Williamsburg structure, which was

The Brooklyn Bridge took thirteen erected in seven years at a cost of

years to build, and cost $16,000,000. $20,000,000. It has a total length of a

It was designed by John A. Roebling, mile and 1920 feet, including a main

the builder of the Niagara Falls sus- span of 1600 feet, and two shore spans

pension bridge and others. While of 600 feet. The four cables are each

engaged in the preliminary work he 19 inches in diameter, and are built

met his death. He was succeeded by up of 37 strands, each strand contain-

his son, William A. Roebling, who in ing 208 wires, each 3020 feet long,

turn was injured by a fire in one of Figure this out and we get 19,000

the caissons and became a permanent miles of wire, possessing a weight of

invalid. He was removed to a resi- 5000 tons. The towers of this bridge

dence on the heights of Brooklyn, rise 335 feet above the water level,

where, with indomitable resolution, he and are built of steel. Somewhat

watched the details of construction similar in design is the Manhattan

from his window by the aid of a tele- Bridge. The wire consumed here

scope, and, assisted by his wife, totals 23,000 miles, while no less than

directed the progress of the work to its 40,000 tons of steel were used in the

successful completion. erection of this single aerial pathway.

It is impossible to point to any large More wonderful still, from an en-
bridge the erection of which has not gineering point of view, is New York's
demanded its toll of human life. The latest structure, Blackwell's Island
recently completed Blackwell's Island Bridge. In length and weight it rivals
Bridge cost 67 lives; some 70 brave men and in carrying capacity also surpasses
were killed in the Quebec disaster in the famous Forth Bridge. Its trusses
1907, when that partially completed are the heaviest ever built. There are
structure suddenly collapsed after two main spans of 1182 and 984 feet
three years had been spent upon it, respectively, springing from two piers
and some 15,000 tons of steelwork had erected on a mid-channel island,
been placed and bolted in position. From end to end the bridge measures

With its approaches the Brooklyn 3725 feet, and, together with the

Bridge is a mile and a furlong in length, approaches, the total length is swelled

There is a central river span of 1595J to 7358 feet.

feet from tower to tower, two land In its erection the somewhat un-
spans from towers to anchorages, and usual course of pinning its members
the land approach on either side. This together, at points of intersection, was
aerial roadway is held in place by adopted, instead of riveting them,
cables, four in number. They each The truss members of the super-
contain 5296 steel wires reaching from structure were not built up bit by bit
anchorage to anchorage, on either side near the site, but put together by the
of the river, a distance of 3752 feet, manufacturers and forwarded entire
This gives a total of 14,000 miles of on cars or groups of cars, and pinned
wire. Each cable has a diameter of as the erection proceeded. A very

ONE OF THE FAMOUS SUSPENSION BRIDGES

Brooklyn Bridge is one of the biggest suspension bridges in the world. It crosses the East River, to connect New Yorli
with Brooklyn The whole length of the bridge is more than a mile, and its distance across the water is 1600 feet. Cables
pass over the towers and from these other cables hang down to support the roadway.

We might here fancy ourselves on .some .strange pier, but it is the Brooklyn Bridge,
bridge for foot-passengers, for trains, and for other vehicles.

350

There are separate roads on this

BOOK OF ENGINEERIXa AM) IXDUSTHY

351

pretty bit of pinning it Avas too — the
objects to be connected being bars and
girders, some weighing 120 tons; the
pins, cylinders of steel, some 16 inches
in diameter and 10 feet long; the
thimble, a 5-ton battering ram. And
this work had to be done })artly at a
lieight of 300 feet above a deep, swift
current, navigated by steamers,
barges, ferries, and sailing ships, with
the bitter winds raging furiously.

In the erection of this l)ridge, as
stated, G7 lives were lost. Curiously
enough, the great majority of these
fatal accidents occurred among the
sailors who had been engaged by the
contractors because of their ability
to climb. As a matter of fact, the
successful modern bridge-builder must
possess other qualifications than that of
climbing. He must know something
of steel, possess a clear head, and be
ever on the alert.

But all this is to be changed. A
bridge is being constructed which will
have one base in the heart of Bronx
Borough, just north of New York City,
and the other at the Pennsylvania
Station, Long Island City. It will
span the East River. At Long Island
City the tracks will run into the
Pemisylvania Tunnel under the East
River, and the trip to New Jersey under
New York City and the Hudson River
will be imbroken. This bridge is not
])eing built by eiiner the Pennsylvania
or the New Haven.

The builders are the New York Con-
necting Railroad. Their six miles of
railroad will form the final link in an
unbroken line from Musgrave, Nova
Scotia, to Key West, Florida.

The bridge will be of span and via-
duct structure. It will have four
tracks. The route will begin near One
Hundred and Forty-Second Street, th(^
lironx, and giadually rise until at
lironx Kill it will be about sixty-fi\(>
feet above the Ka«t River. At this

})oint the river separates the Bronx
from Randall's Island. The bridge
here will be of the lift type; that is,
each half of the bridge rises from the
horizontal in a vertical i)lane so that
ships may pass betweeu.

The large stone j)ier in the middle
of the Bronx Kill will separate the
channels for east-bound and west-
bound shij)s. At present the channel
is very shallow and can be used only for
rowboats and small launches, but the
War De])artment intends to dredge the
channel to the same depth as the
Harlem River, so that vessels will be
able to pass from the Hudson River to
the Ship Canal in the Harlem River,
and thence through the Bronx Kill
imder the bridge into Long Island
Soimd, and return the same way.

Another bridge on this long structure
spans the East River at Little Hell
Gate, as the estuary between Ward's
Island and Randall's Island is called.
The water at this point has a rock
bottom so shallow that it cannot be
})lied by very large boats. The bridge
here will be of the riveted-truss type
and will have five spans between
Ward's Island and Long Island.
From this point to the span over
Hell Gate, the waterway between
Ward's Island and Randall's Island,
the line will be placed on a steel
viaduct built on masonry piers.

The arched bridge over the East
River at Hell Gate will be of the
braced-steel type and will cross the
river in a single span 1017^ feet
between the towers. The clearance
at high water will be the same as that
of the Brooklyn Bridge and the others
over the river — 135 Teet.

The abutments will have a base of
granite masonry surmounted by towers
of molded concrete, which will support
the heaviest girders. This structural
steel will be much liea\ iei- than thai
used in the Firth of Forth Bridge.

35S

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

THE PRODUCTION OF TEA, COFFEE AND COCOA

IN the days of Shakespeare tea
cost from $30 to $50 a pound,
and coffee and cocoa were practi-
cally unknown. It was about the
middle of the seventeenth century
that the three famous beverages, that
"cheer but not inebriate," came into
use among the richer classes of Euro-
pean society. The London coffee-
houses, in which gathered the wits,
poets, and politicians of London, in
the days of Dryden and Congreve,
Addison and Pope, were the centers of
national life for many years. And
from them sprang the clubs, around
which many of the social, literary,
and political activities of the civilized
world are now grouped.

Very likely the new beverages
greatly helped to foster all kinds of
sociability, for the reason that they
stimulated the mind wuthout leading
to the brawls and quarrels of tavern
life. And the fact that they were
at first rare and expensive was no
doubt one of the reasons why they
became extremely fashionable. To-
wards the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury, the duty on tea in England was
$12.50 a pound. So a "dish of tea"
was a costlier thing than a glass of
good wine. Human nature being

what it is, everybody was eager to
drink the new beverage. The East
India Company began to send to
China for tea. At first they had
more of the new commodity than they
could dispose of. But, as is often the
case, the supply created the demand,
and at the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury the English-speaking races were
second only to the Mongolian races in
their love of tea.

But as the consumption was then
only about two pounds of tea a year
per head of the population, small beer
and milk still remained the common
beverages of the working classes.
Cheap spirits, especially gin, were
drunk by many poor women, with
dreadful results. At the present time,
practically all the civilized races have
abandoned the breakfast drink of
more or less intoxicating liquors for
one of the three exotic stimulants that
modern methods of industry have
greatly cheapened in price, and often
improved in quality. All the British
races have become inveterate tea-
drinkers. The Russians have acquired
the same taste; and the very heavy
duty on teas does not prevent the
Russian working classes from adopting
the same beverage as the well-to-do

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 353

classes of their country. In Germany, adventurers who conquered the blood-
Holland, and other parts of Northern thirsty Aztecs. The cacao-tree flour-
Europe, and in the ITnited States, ishes in Central America and the
coffee has become the general morning tropical regions of Southern America,
stimulant; while the French and the But the native Indians who collected
Mediterranean peoples waver between the beans of the tree that Linnaeus
coffee and chocolate as a breakfast enthusiastically named "the food of
beverage. the gods" — an appellation it still bears
The COFFEE GROWING COUNTRIES in botany — were too slow, casual, and

This national difference in taste has unscientific workers. So the Portu-

had a considerable influence on the guese introduced the valuable tree into

agricultural and industrial develop- their African possession of San Thome,

ment of the tea plant, the coffee where, by means, unfortunately, of

shrub, and the cacao tree. In spite slave labor, more cocoa was lately

of the fact that all these plants are of produced than in any other center of

tropical or semi-tropical origin and the industry. At present, however,

habit, the European nations interested our principal supply of cacao comes

in their products have attempted for from Ecuador.

centuries to cultivate them. Here the the tea plantations of assam and

progress of European science, and ceylon

particularly the science of botany, has But the most surprising of all the

had a large influence; and the peoples shif tings of the production of the

possessing tropical colonies or depend- breakfast-table beverages is that ac-

encies have often won a commanding complished by the British. For more

advantage over the original culti- than a thousand years the tea indus-

vators. In some cases this was an try was entirely in the hands of the

inevitable consequence of the widen- Chinese. The origin of their suprem-

ing demand throughout Europe for the acy in the production of the most

new commodities. For instance, all refreshing of drinks is lost in the mists

the coffee consumed in Europe used to of their legendary ages. It is quite

come from the province of Yemen, in possible that three thousand and more

Southern Arabia. But as the number years have passed since they took to

of coffee-drinkers increased, it was cultivating the tea shrubs that flourish

practically impossible for the Arabians naturally in India, Burma, and other

to cope with the demand. They still neighboring lands swept by the wet

retain the trade with Egypt and monsoons. The Chinese were a skilful,

Turkey, and provide a little Mocha patient and ingenious race, backed by

coffee for Europe. But in order to the traditions of an ancient civiliza-

obtain a beverage that was both good tion; and their knowledge of the

and cheap, the Dutch and the Portu- preparation of tea was for a long time

guese and the Germans have had to carefully kept from the foreigner, for

migrate to Java and Brazil, and there it was one of the main sources of the

develop immense coffee plantations national wealth.

for the benefit of the white races. But some botanists succeeded in

Where chocolate comes from studying the tea plant, and found it

A similar thing has happened in was an evergreen shrub of the same

regard to cocoa and chocolate. As is family as the camellia, that is well

well known, cocoa was introduced into known for its beautiful flowers. Then

Europe from Mexico by the Spanish it was discovered, in 1820, that the

354

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

tea plant was growing wild in Assam,
and the wild plant was sent to the
director of Kew Gardens, near Lon-
don, for examination. Unfortunately,
the director would not believe in the
plain evidence submitted to him; and
he dashed the hopes of the men who
thought of establishing tea ])lanta-
tions in India, by stating that the
Assam shrub was not a true tea plant.
It was not until 1840 that the facts of
the matter were clearly and firmly
proved, to the discredit of the director
of Kew Gardens.

The Assam Tea Company was
then formed, and by developing the
scientific cultivation of the fine native
Indian tea it has now paid its share
holders nearly 750 per cent on their
capital.

Introduced into Ceylon after the
coffee plantations of that island were
destroyed by a harmful microscopic
fungus, the wild tea plant of Assam
has now enabled the Ceylon planters
alone to excel the tea exports of the
whole of the Chinese Republic. When
the tea industrv of India, Cevlon,
Burma and the Shan States is con-
trasted as a whole with the export tea
trade of China and Japan, the swiftly
won supremacy of the British planter
is seen to be tremendous. The British
possessions do more than double the
export tea trade of China; and for
some years a good many million
pounds of Indian and Ceylon tea of
poor cjuality have been imported into
China.

The Japanese, who recently con-
trolled practically all the tea trade
with the United States, are also be-
ginning to feel very keenly the com-
petition of the British tea planter.
They are now so hard pressed that
they are giving up the struggle, and
the taste for fine Indian and Ceylon
teas is now rapidly spreading through-
out North America.

The best of all teas

Only the plantations on the island
of Formosa seem to be safe from the
scientific attack of British botanists
and planters. Formosan tea — known
in the market as Oolong — has a curious
and special flavor which tea-blenders
prize. With the exception of For-
mosan tea and the mate tea of South
America, India and Ceylon now pro-
duce teas of every practical variety.
The choicest kind of Indian hill-
grown teas are excelled by nothing
that China exports, and for blends of
cheap, strong, pure leaf the planta-
tions of Ceylon are unrivaled. The
Chinese themselves have had to go
to India and study the science of the
tea industry in order to learn to handle
in a clean and efficient manner their
own produce. The Indian tea plant
has been introduced into Java, and
there cultivated. Java is now com-
bining with India and Ceylon in
sending the refuse of their factories to
Chinese ports.

The amazing agricultural victory
Avhich has been won against the
experienced Chinese was achieved by
three concurring factors. These factors
were modern science, personal enter-
prise, and modern power machinery.
Modern science, in the persons of a
few botanists, discovered the wild tea
plant of Assam, and thus provided
I)lanters with a stronger and more
productive shrub than the highly
cultivated })lant of the Chinese. The
leaf of the Assam shrub is twice the
size of that of the Chinese plant; and
when it is grown in the still, steaming
heat of Ceylon and other tropical
regions, it produces two crops where
the Chinese plant only gives one
picking. Such are the natural ad-
vantages of the plant that men of
science discovered. The tea-planter
l^egan by adopting the Chinese meth-
ods of cultivation, for which the wild

CULTIVATION OF THE TEA PLANT IN CEYLON

PLANTING A YOUNG TEA SEEDLING IN RECLAIMED LAND

COOLIES HOEING ON A TEA PLANTATION

J6S

356

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

plant was unsuited. Again botanists
came to his aid, and taught him how
to treat the Indian shrub in a maimer
that best favored its growth.

Having thus learned to make the
very best of his natural advantages,
the planter then became a man of
enterprise. He called upon engineers
to provide him with power machinery
for dealing with the tea leaves that
the natives picked for him. This was
a very wise act, and it required some
foresight to conceive it. For the sup-
ply of native hand labor grew abundant
and remarkably cheap, and it would
have been easy to carry out all the

CHINESE FATHER AND SON CARRYING TEA

operations of preparing the tea leaf
by means of manual work. But the
tea-planters aimed at preparing an
article that should be exceptionally
clean, and treated with the utmost
precision in every process, so that
large quantities could be regularly
turned out possessing identical quali-
ties. So they began to use machinery ;
and the malpractices of a large class of

their rivals in China further helped
them to secure the world's market.
Tea growing in china

In the green-tea districts of China
practically every cottager has his own
little tea-garden. It supplies the
wants of the family, and brings in a
small but very useful amount of
money. The picking begins about the
middle of April. The first crop con-
sists of scarcely expanding leaf buds,
and the tea made from them is costly
and exquisite. It is chiefly used in
gift offerings at marriage. The pluck-
ing of the bud is liable to injure the
plants, but usually the abundant
spring showers renew the strength of
the shrub, and in two or three weeks
it is ready for the second picking.
This is the most important of the
season; but when the plant has again
recovered, the third and last gathering
is begun. This, however, produces an
inferior variety of tea. The instru-
ments used by the Chinese in preparing
the tea leaf are very simple.

Quite a large proportion of the tea
that comes from China is manufac-
tured in the huts and sheds of the
peasantry. Round, shallow pans of
thin iron are built, several together,
in a brickwork furnace. The fireplace
is at one end, the rough chimney at
the other, so that the flue runs beneath
the row of pans. When the leaves are
brought from the garden they are
placed in a drying-house, which is
often the cottage itself. The furnace
is then lighted, and the leaves are
thrown into the heated pans, and con-
tinually stirred by the cottager and
his family. The heat causes the leaves
to crack and exude their sap, and in
about five minutes they grow soft and
pliable. They are then placed upon
bamboo tables, and the workers take
up handfuls of the leaves, and knead
them in much the same fashion as a
baker works dough. The object of

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

357

this process, that lasts about five
minutes, is to twist the leaves and
press out the sap and moisture, which
escapes through the chinks in the
surface of the table.

The moisture that still remains in
the leaves is then gotten rid of very
gradually and gently by taking the
rolled leaves and spreading them out
thinly and evenly upon a screen of
bamboo, and there exposing them to
the action of the air. The state of the
weather determines this stage of the
manufacture, but in no case is the
screen exposed to hot sunshine. For
this would evaporate the moisture too
quickly, leaving the tea crisp and
coarse, and unfit for the next process.
This consists in replacing the soft and
pliant leaves in the drying-pans over
a slow, steady fire. The tea must not
be scorched or burned. So one worker
looks carefully after the fire, while the
others bend over the pans and begin
to mix and stir the leaves with their
hands.

As the heat increases, small bam-
boo whisks are used, the leaves
being thrown against the sloping sides
of the pans and allowed to roll back to
the bottom. Under this treatment
the tea, gradually parts with its mois-
ture, and twists and curls; and after
about an hour it is taken from the
pans, and sorted and packed.

This is the process of making green
tea. Black teas are allowed to stand
longer in the open air, usually for two
or three days. During this time they
undergo a fermentation which does
not take place in the manufacture of
green teas. In the firing or final
drying of black tea, great care must
be taken to keep the heat steady.
Usually the grandfather of the family,
having the most experience, tends to
the furnace, while his descendants
keep the leaves constantly stirred in
the pans.

Why some tea is green and some

BLACK

The scandal over the manufacture
of Chinese teas occurred at Canton,
where the green teas were mainly
exported. In order to increase the
color and brilliancy of the leaves, they
were treated with gypsum and Prussian
blue — a highly poisonous product.
The tea-tasters at the London market,
who had to sample very large numbers
of consignments of these teas, were at
times liable to attacks of poisoning.
These were at first put down to heavy
tea-drinking, and few tasters now
swallow much of the beverages they
sample. But chemical analysis proved
that it was the poisonous coloring
matter used by the Chinese that pro-
duced the serious illnesses.

No doubt at the present day the
green teas of China are generally pre-
pared for the foreign markets in this
manner. But the injury to the repu-
tation of the Chinese tea manufac-
turers has not yet been fully repaired.
The malpractices have greatly helped
to advance the prestige of the cleanly
and scientifically prepared teas of
India and Ceylon. In 1885, China
exported 283,833,466 pounds of tea.
In 1909 she only marketed abroad
199,792,400 pounds.
Tea culture in British india

There are about half a million acres
of tea plantations in India, the greater
part of which are in Eastern Bengal
and Assam. In Ceylon, somewhat
under four hundred thousand acres of
land are planted with the tea shrub,
and the value of the richly productive
plantations has recently been further
enhanced by interplanting them with
rubber-trees. The average size of an
estate is about three hundred acres;
and though there has been a tendency
of late years to group several planta-
tions under one working staff, to
reduce working and managing ex-

35S

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

penses, a large number of estates are
of comparatively small size, and di-
rected by British planters resident on
the land.

Yet a good many planters are now
only the servants of some company,
instead of being, as they used often to
be, the actual owners of the estates.
An enormous labor supply of 400,000
coolies is necessary to run the Ceylon
plantations. The Tamils of Southern
India form the principal recruits.
Entire families of men, women and
children are collected in their villages
and transported to Ceylon. The
majority are fairly good workers, and
return home with an amount of savings
that often enable them to rise in life,
but some are so pleased with the good
wages they earn that they settle down
permanently by the tea plantations.

In opening out a new tea garden,
the coolies begin by clearing and hoe-
ing and trenching a piece of the jungle.
This forms a nursery. It is carefully
fenced to prevent damage from cattle
or wild animals, and planted with seed,
which has been sprouted in seed-beds.
Then it is covered with thatching to
protect it from the scorching sun. In
the meantime, the site of the future
plantation is being cleared and hoed,
and roads and drains are made through
it. Stakes are then placed in the soil,
about four feet apart, marking the
rows in which the young tree plants are
to be grown. The plants are taken from
the nursery, when about a foot high,
and very carefully planted in the lines
of holes prepared for them. The
planter has then to wait for three years
for any return on the young plantation,
and he has to bear a considerable
running expense for the incessant
labor needed to keep down the vigorous
tropical weeds. He has to endure also
the hot, stagnant, steaming heat of
the jungle, which is so vital a necessity
to the Indian tea plant that when

Chinese methods of cultivating were
first adopted the native shrub refused
to grow properly.

How THE TEA LEAVES ARE CLASSIFIED

When grown in accordance with
their native habit, the plants at the
end of three years begin to send out an
abundance of young leaf shoots, known
as tiie "flush." The plucking is then
carried out at regular intervals, and
from time to time the bushes are
pruned. This not only keeps the;
growth of the plant within bounds, and
allows the plucking being done easily,
but it promotes the growth of abundant
flushes. In the colder climate of China
and Japan, the flushing ceases in the
winter. In Ceylon, however, it con-
tinues throughout the year, and the
flush is ready for picking every ten or
twelve days. Upon the size of the leaf
when picked depends the quality of
the tea. In fine plucking, the bud at
the top of the shoot and the two young
leaves just below it are taken. In
medium plucking, three lea ves are taken
with the bud. In coarse plucking, four
leaves and the bud are gathered.

The teas known as Pekoes are made
from the fine plucking. Flowery Pekoe
consists of the youngest leaf. Orange
is made from the second leaf, and
Pekoe from the third leaf. From the
larger leaves Souchongs and Congous
are prepared, and there is also a mix-
ture of young and old leaves which is
known as Pekoe-Souchong. In ]>ur-
chasing tea it is best to buy one of
the Pekoes, because the quality of the
beverage made from the youngest
leaves is finer and more wholesome;
and, besides, a less quantity of tea
is needed in the teapot. All the
money lavished on the advertisements
of cheap, coarse teas made from large
old leaves will not alter this fact.
Curing tea by machinery

Gathered into baskets by women,
and taken into the factory, the flush

THE PREPARATION OF TEA FOR THE MARKETS

TIERS OF TRAYS ON WHICH THE TEA LEAVES ARE TOUGHENED BY EXPOSURE TO THE AIR

MODERN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN SORTING TEA

369

360 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

is weighed, and then thinly spread out about two hours — the leaf is fired in the
on shelves of canvas or wire mesh, drying-machines, and all other fer-
placed one above the other, where the mentation is arrested by the heat,
leaf naturally withers in good weather Besides checking the fermentation,
in about eighteen hours. The with- the firing process removes all the
ered leaves are then shot into the moisture without driving off the
rolling-machines, where they are essential oil and other constituents
bruised to allow their juices to become that give a tea most of its value,
mixed, and they are also curled or There are many types of firing-
twisted. From the rolling-machine machines. But all of them act by
the tea falls in yellow clinging masses sending a current of hot, dry air
into a roll breaker, that breaks up the through the damp, fermented leaf, and
masses and drops the tea into a sifter, making it dry and brittle. After
where the coarser leaves are separated being fired the tea is taken to the
from the younger, finer growth. sorting room, and sifted by a machine
Then comes the important process through a series of moving sieves of
of fermentation. On its success largely varying sizes of mesh. The siftings
depend the quality and character of the are classed as Flowery Orange Pekoe,
tea. As we have already explained, Orange Pekoe, and Pekoe No. 1.
green tea that was formerly so popular These are unbroken teas. But the
is manufactured by omitting the coarser leaves, which do not shoot
fermentation process, but all black through the meshes, are transferred to
teas are fermented. This is accom- breaking-machines, and broken up and
plished by putting the rolled leaf in passed through the sieves. They form
drawers or on mats, which are placed the products known as Broken Orange
one above the other so as to permit Pekoe, Pekoe No. 2, and so on. The
the air freely to enter and work on the tea dust is shipped separately as
bruised leaves. During the fermenta- "dust" and "fannings." The green
tion the leaf emits a peculiar odor, and teas are sifted in a similar manner into
changes color; and when the right a descending scale of quality, rep re-
gradation of copper-brown tint has sented by Young Hyson, Hyson No. 1,
been attained — which usually takes Hyson No. 2, Gunpowder, and Dust.

THE COFFEE PLANT AND COFFEE PRODUCTION

THE coffee trade of Great Britain as it ripens, turns from a dark green

is much inferior in importance to a deep crimson. The outer portion

to its tea trade. In Germany of the fruit somewhat resembles that

and America on the other hand, it is the of an ordinary cherry, and inside the

national breakfast beverage, and so it is pulp are the two beans, of a greenish-

in Holland. The Arabian coffee plant gray tint, that form the coffee of

is a shrub that grows to a height of commerce. Besides the Arabian

about fifteen feet. It has been found coffee plant, there are about eighty

wild in Abyssinia, and there are good known varieties of the shrub, but only

grounds for supposing that this region two of them are cultivated in consider-

of Africa was the natural home of the able quantity. One is found on the

plant. The flowers are white in color West Coast of Africa, and is called

and exquisitely fragrant, and from Liberian coffee. By reason of the fact

them is born the coffee cherry, which, that it is more resistant to disease, and

WHERE THE FRAGRANT COFFEE-BERRY TR GROWN

A cup of coffee begins its existence as a tiny shrub. When six months old it is transferred with others to the plantations
and in three years grows to between six and ten feet high. It then bears fruit, and does so for about twenty years. The
fruit is something like dark red cherries, but, instead of containing one stone, there are two seeds, or berries, of a light,
(reen or yellow color. Here we see the coffee being picked.

S61

362

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

more vigorous in growth than the
Arabian coffee plant, it has gradually
won for itself a place in the Orient.

The third variety of coffee plant
is the Maragogipe, discovered in 1870
near the town of that name in Brazil.
It is very hardy and twice as large as
the Arabian plant, and its berries are
double the size of the latter. It com-
mands a very good price, and it is a
special favorite in Germany, but our
best judges are disinclined to allow
that the quality of its infusion is in
any .way superior to that of the Mocha
coffee berry. Experiments are still
being made with the numerous other
varieties in the hope of finding a kind
especially fitted for cultivation in
different regions.

How BRAZIL DOMINATES THE COFFEE
MARKET

The Brazilians now exercise over the
coffee market a greater influence than
even the British planter exercises over
the tea market. They produce at
least three-fourths of the beans, and
with little or no effort their planters
could flood the market. They refrain
at present from so doing, in accordance
with an agreement which was drawn
up to prevent a continual over-supply
from lowering the price of the produce.
In the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil,
where the most important plantations
are established, the average yield is
1500 lbs. of berries from a thousand
trees. But by clearing new land in the
jungle and planting trees there the
extraordinary return of 10,000 lbs. is
obtained from the same number of
trees. It is this immense reserve of
productive force which enables Brnzil
to maintain her commanding position.

A hot, moist, tropical climate, with
a high rainfall, and a rich, well-
drained soil at a height of two thousand
feet above sea level, is best for a coffee
plantation. For though excellent
coffee can be grown in dry regions, the

crop is usually very small. In a moist
climate, no nursery is used, for the
seeds are planted directly in the fields,
at a distance of from ten to fifteen feet
apart. In Brazil, catch-ciops of
maize and beans are cultivated be-
tween the young shrubs. They not
only yield a good return, but serve
to shelter the coffee from the sun. In
some countries, permanent shade-trees
are often planted; this is not done in
Brazil or Jamaica, but it is said to be
absolutely necessary in Porto Rico.
Gathering the coffee crop

As a rule the coffee shrub first flowers
in its third year, bearing then only a
small crop. It is in the fifth year that
the planter reaps the full fruit
of his labor. A coffee estate in full
flower is a very beautiful sight, but
its glory quickly passes. The setting
of the fruit occurs within twenty-four
hours; then seven months and more
are necessary to ripen it. The dark
red cherries are stripped from the
branches by hand in Brazil, but in
Arabia they are allowed to fall off
naturally on to a cloth spread beneath
the tree. This ensures only quite
ripe fruit being collected, and is no
doubt one reason for the excellent
qualities of Mocha coffee. The
Arabians also keep to the old-fashioned
method of spreading out the cherries
on stone drying-grounds, and exposing
them to strong sunlight. In two or
three weeks the pulp dries, and is then
removed by pounding the fruit in a
mortar. In Brazil, the wet method of
preparation is cominggenerally into use.

The cherries are put into pulping-
machines, that consist of a thing like a
huge nutmeg-grater revolving close to
a curved metal plate. Between the
grater and the plate there is no room
for the cherries to pass, and they are
ground to pulp. The mixture of pulp
and seeds travels into a vat full of
water that is kept agitated by machin-

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

363

ery. The heavy seeds settle to the bot-
tom, while the lighter pulp is removed
by an overflow of water. The beans
are drawn oflP by another stream of water
into a large sieve, and from there
they are taken to a fermentating vat.

They ferment for perhaps two days,
until the pulpy layer that clings to the
bean is removed . The beans are then
sent into another vat, through which a
shallow stream of water runs; and
there they are trampled by the bare
feet of the working people, and rin-
sed and raked by machinery until the
parchment coverings are quite clean.

During this washing process the
beans which have not developed
properly rise up and float on the sur-
face, and they are collected for
making inferior coffee.
Removing the parchment from the

BEAN

After washing, the beans are dried,
either by sunlight or artificial heat.

and then their silver parchment skin
is peeled off by machinery. The
machines are of various ty])es, but
the essential operation of all of them
is to crack the parchment without
damaging the bean.

The light pieces of skin are removed
by a winnowing fan, and another rub-
bing and winnowing instrument gets
rid of the silver skin, leaving the beans
clean and in the condition of ordinary
unroasted coffee.

Some central American States,
however, such as Costa Rica and
Guatemala, and other countries
with a tropical climate, send us
their coffee with the skin on; this is
known in the trade as parchment
coffee. It is done partly to save
the planters from the expense of
erecting machinery, but mainly be-
cause freshly husked coffee is of a
brighter and more attractive color
than the other sort.

PRODUCTION AND USES OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE

SEVERAL populous nations, and
the Germans in particular, seem
now to be becoming cocoa and
chocolate drinkers instead of coffee
drinkers. In the United States there
has been an increase of 70 per cent in
four years in the consumption of cocoa
products. In Germany for the same
period, the increase was 61 per cent; in
France, 21 per cent; in the United
Kingdom, 11 per cent. No doubt
much of this remarkably large and
sudden increase is due to the growing
popularity of the various kinds of
chocolate sweet meats. But it must
also be attributed in part to a
growing taste for cocoa beverages at
the expense of the morning cup of
coffee that the Americans, Germans,
and French used to prefer. The
fact that the product of the cacao-
tree is a food-drink as well as a stimu-

lating beverage is no doubt partly
responsible for its increasing popular-
ity. But the main factor in the matter
is, we think, the recent improvements
which have variously been made in
the machine processes of its manu-
facture.

Cocoa is naturally somewhat too
fatty a beverage, and the ground
kernels are also somewhat insoluble.
So the modern manufacturer has been
faced with the difficult task of reducing
the fat of the kernels, and making the
ground powder rapidly soluble in
boiling water. Thus the manufacture
of cocoa, in a fine and con^•enient
form, has involved certain chemical
and mechanical problems far more
difficult of solution than the problems
of tea and coffee manufacture.
This is the reason of the long delay
in the widespread popularity of

WHERE THE CHOCOLATES COME FROM

^«S?f.

These are the cocoa-beans as they arrive at the factory in this country. They grow in large pods, looking like cucum-
bers, on trees in the West Indies, in the hottest parts of America, and in Africa. The pods, seen on the right, have to be
opened, and the beans are taken out and dried. On the left of the picture we see the beans.

If we taste the cocoa-bean in its natural state it Is far from palatable. So It Is improvea by a thorough roasting. ThiB
picture shows a man roasting the beans.

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

365

the "food of the gods," which
Cortes, the conqueior of Mexico,
introduced into Europe in 1528, when
he returned to the Court of Spain.
For many years the Spaniards closely
guarded the secret of chocolate prepara-
tion, which they learned from the
Mexicans, but in 1606 an Italian dis-
covered the process of roasting the
beans, and revealed it to the rest of
Europe.

The French started to grow cocoa in
Martinique in 1679, about the same
time that the Spaniards began to
cultivate it in the Philippine Islands.
The British also took to planting
cacao-trees in the West Indies and
Guiana.
Laying out a cacao plantation

The cacao-tree sometimes grows to
a height of forty feet, but in cultivation
from fifteen to twenty -five feet are the
usual limits of size of fully grown trees.
There are many wild varieties, some of
which are coming into cultivation.
Yet the cacao-tree proper, which is a
native of the tropical regions extending
from Mexico to Brazil, still supplies
the greater quantity of beans for cocoa
and chocolate making. The small red
flowers are curiously carried on the
trunk or main branches. They are
succeeded by pods of a cucumber shape,
that turn from green to red as they
ripen — a process which takes about four
months. The trees are usually raised in
nurseries, and planted out in warm, low-
lying, sheltered plantations. It is best
for the trees to be protected from the
tropical sunlight, and the planters are
finding a new and large source of profit
in the use of rubber-trees as a shelter.
When the trees are three or four
years old they begin to flower; and
after they have once produced fruit,
regular crops may be obtained, with
proper -are, for fifty or more years. A
cacao plantation is thus a valuable
property; and where rich jungle soil is

The cocoa tree belongs to a family of trees called by a
Greek name meaning "food for the gods." This picture
is a very close view of the cocoa-pods growing out of the
stem of a tree in a plantation in Ecuador, the chief country
where this tree is grown. It needs a very hot climate, a
deep, rich soil, and abundant moisture.

FROM GRINDING MILL TO CHOCOLATE MOLDS

When roasted and broken up, the bean will make either cocoa to drink or chocolate to eat. Here chocolate is being
made for famous shops, so the baked bean is ground in mills. The beans come out of these in the form of powder, and
fine sugar is afterwards mixed with it to give the chocolate a pleasant taste.

Now we have the substance of the chocolate, but, as it is still a powder, it must be melted by great heat into liquid
paste, so that glrlg can pour it into molds, which will make it, when cool, into pretty shapes.

366

BOOK OF ENGIXEERIXa AND INDUSTRY

367

available, a skilful planter, possessing
an adequate supply of labor, can often
make a large fortune in a few years.

Gathering and roasting the great
BROWN beans

The ripe pods are gathered by means
of a hand-knife, and the pods are then
broken and the beans removed, and
allowed to ferment in vats until they
acquire a cinnamon-red color. It is in
the process of fermentation that skill
and experience are of vital importance.
Certain microbes in the vats or fer-
menting sacks attack the embryo of the
bean, and kill it; and then fermenting
agents, known as enzymes, diffuse
through the dead tissues, and alter the
composition of the bean. The process
lasts from nine to twelve days, and
shrinks and toughens the skin, and
alters the color and taste of the kernel.
When the required color and aroma
are obtained, the beans are stirred and
scrubbed under running water, and
made clean and smooth, and spread out
on drying-floors, and dried either by
sunlight, hot water, or steam-pipes.
Then, packed in sacks, they are read\'
for the market.

After buying the beans in this state,
however, some manufacturers submit
them to further fermentation. This is
done by soaking the beans in water for
two days, and drying them off in a
mild heat. The beans then usually
pass through a sorting and cleaning
machine, that rocks them through a
series of sieves of varying mesh, and
winnows away the dirt and hollow
beans by means of a power-driven fan.
It is necessary to sort the beans, so that
the next process of roasting, which
is an operation of great delicacy and
far-reaching effect, may be perfectly
performed. It does not do to roast a
small bean with a large bean. For
though they may be naturally of the
same quality, they will differ very
considerably after the same treatment.

By arranging the beans according to
size, the manufacturer is able to sub-
mit them to a varying roasting process
that tends to keep them of even quality
throughout. The roasting is done on
a large scale by means of machines,
through which hot air or gas is circu-
lated with a forced draft. Th(^
roasting process, whether conducted
over an open fire or in a machine,
develops the aroma of the beans,
changes their coloring matter, and
renders their starch granules soluble.

After roasting, the beans are rapidly
cooled down on a cooling-machine;
and, while still slightly warm, they are
passed between rollers that break the
husks and collect and fan and clean the
nibs. In adulterated cocoa or choco-
late, however, some of the roasted
husk is left to be ground up with the
nibs. But honest manufacturers not
only keep the nibs perfectly pure, but
pass them through another machine,
which extracts the hard, gritty germ
which will impart a coarse flavor to the
finished product.
Final preparation for the market

When free from their husk and germ,
the nibs are milled or ground. In
milling they are heated as they fall
on the milling-stones; and by reason
of their large percentage of fat they are
reduced by the heat to a liquid state,
and melted and ground together. The
cacao flows out from the mill in a warm
mass and then solidifies in pans. Thus
are formed the blocks of raw cacao,
which are ready to be mixed with
sugar and flavoring matter for the
manufacture of chocolate, or to be
remelted and sent through a hydraulic
press for the extraction of their fat.
Some years ago it was a general prac-
tice to add a considerable amount of
starch — obtained from potatoes,
wheat, arrowroot — to the raw cacao.
This was done to balance the natural
amount of cocoa fat.

368

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

..«...*., ^^&^

POURING MOLTEN METAL ON THE CASTING-TABLE IN A PLATE GLASS WORKS

MARVELS OF GLASS-MAKING

ONCE upon a time some Phoe-
nician merchants beached
their galley at the mouth of
the river Belus, in Palestine, and
prepared to cook their meal on the
sands. Finding no stones on which
to set their cooking-vessel above the
fire, they brought some blocks of
natron from the galley for this pur-
pose. When the repast was over,
and the fire was cold, they went to
take up the blocks of natron, and
found that these had melted in the
fire, and combined with the fine
river-sand to form a strange and won-
derful transparent substance.

It was thus that the first and most
important step in the art of glass-
making was discovered by these ad-
venturous merchants from Sidon. For
the natron that they used to support
their cooking-vessel was an impure
form of carbonate of soda, and the
fire, blown perhaps to a great intensity
by the sea-wind, melted the soda and
sand together and produced a glass-
like material.

The Phoenicians were a very intelli-
gent race; they experimented with

the inferior glass they had discovered,
and at last found that by adding a
certain quantity of manganese they
could produce a marvelous material
of crystal clearness that could be
made into a variety of objects.

Such, according to traditional re-
searches in the matter, was the acci-
dental origin of one of the most won-
derful things of human manufacture.
In the last twenty-five years so many
marvels have been discovered that
men have had their sense of wonder
dulled by continual excitement. We
can now create strange rays that can
make many substances transparent to
our vision, and we are so proud of
these new wonders that we lose sight
of equally marvelous things of every-
day use that surround us. Yet the
discovery of glass is just as extraordi-
nary an achievement of human genius
as the discovery of x-rays and radium.
When men were able to manufacture
in a large way a firm, solid material
that was transparent to light, the
destinies of the human race were
altered. Mankind became possessed
of faculties undreamed of by the most

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

369

imaginative of wizards; for glass was
an instrument of tremendous power,
that enabled man to open the two gates
of infinity — the infinity of the outer
universe of space, the infinity of the
inner universe of life.

How INDUSTRY GIVES EYES TO SCIENCE

Glass is the tool by means of which
man controls light. It enables him
to flood his dwelling-place with the
cheerful and vital radiance of the sun,
placing him beyond the chances of the
weather, doubling his powers of work,
and keeping down the germs of dis-
ease that undermine his health. It
is glass that renews his faculty of
vision when his eyesight grows dim.
It is glass that enables him to con-
struct a multitude of finer and more
delicate senses, by which he penetrates
to the bounds of the universe, dissolv-
ing a flaming star on the confines of
space into its original elements, and by
which he discovers the secret and in-
visible forms of life in the dust be-
neath his feet. And the wonderful
pictures that print themselves upon
the sensitive plate of a camera are
obtained by means of lenses of glass.

Without the chance discovery of
the process of glass-making, man
could never have grown to his full
stature. There would have been no
hope of his ever obtaining a large con-
trol over the resources of nature, for
it is simple truth that glass is the
grand foundation of modern science.

The time when glass was worth its
weight in gold

For many centuries glass-making
was mainly a fine art of an exquisite
kind. Even when the Book of Job
was written glass was worth its weight
in gold; and the Phoenicians seem to
have traded glass beads as jewels
among the savages of Northern Eu-
rope. It used to be thought that the
ancient Egyptians, at an early epoch,
anticipated the discovery made by

the merchants of Sidon, for a drawing
of two workmen, apparently engaged
in glass-making, has been discovered
in a toint of the eleventh dynasty.
But the best authorities now agree
that the drawing represents some
other process of manufacture.

The Sidonians certainly held for a
long time the monopoly in glass-mak-
ing, and they spread the use of the
new material throughout the Mediter-
ranean. But gradually a knowledge of
the secret of its manufacture extended
to Italy, Spain, and Gaul, and the
Romans especially became admirable
artists in glass.

The ROMAN CHEAPENING OF GLASS—
FROM TABLE USE TO WINDOW USE

As a matter of fact, wealthy Romans
used to pay extraordinary prices even
for small glass vases of exquisite work-
manship. They were esteemed above
vessels of wrought gold. Table-glass
of fine and elaborate shape was at
first the principal glass industry of the
Roman Empire, but mosaic work,
made by combining bits of colored
glass into a pictorial design, was soon
developed in a variety of beautiful
ways.

But the practical Romans at last
found the cheaper process of making
window-glass; and just as their em-
pire was falling under the attacks of
the Northern barbarians, the use of
common glass for lighting purposes
was extended. A small pane in a
bronze frame may be seen at Pompeii,
and fragments of window-glass have
been picked up from the ruins of
Roman villas in England. Glass of
this kind was cast on a stone, and was
usually very uneven and full of de-
fects; and though it was capable of
transmitting light, it must have al-
lowed only an imperfect view of ex-
ternal objects. Very likely this de-
fective method of manufacture was
one of the causes why the builders of

ART GLASSWARE MADE DURING THE LAST 1500 YEARS

Rock crystal ewer, Italian, sixteenth century

Glass bowl with cover, Venetian, sixteenth century

Vase, Roman, lourtli century

Wineglass, Venetian, sixteenth cen- Goblet, Venetian, sixteenth century
tury.

Examples of glassware made In the twentieth century at the Whitefriars Glass Works, London
SPECIMENS OF BEAUTIFUL WORK IN GLASS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF TIME AND PLACE

370

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 371

the early Christian churches adapted In the creation of the now famous

the lovelier mosaic work in colored Jena glass, was discovered the barium

glass for the purpose of lighting and glass which combines the superb

beautifying their sacred buildings. optical qualities of flint glass with the

The SECRETS OF GLASS-MAKING DEARER "seful properties of ordinary crown

TO THE VENETIANS THAN LIFE glass. It would be iicccssary to go too

Alongside this general development far into the subject of lens construction

of glass-making, there continued, chiefly to explain at length the possibilities

in Venice, the more ancient traditions opened up to the optician by the in-

of the art of making exquisite table- vention of the newer varieties of glass,

glass and other vessels of use and But one of the consequences of the

beauty. Like the Sidonians, the glass- work of Schott and Abbe was that

makers of Venice carefully guarded Germany became for awhile supreme

the secret processes by means of in the manufacture of the best kinds

which they obtained a practical mo- of scientific instruments in which

nopoly of fine glass-work. If any glass plays an important part,

workman transported his craft into a The finest microscope objectives,

foreign country, an emissary was sent the finest photographic lenses, and the

by the State to assassinate him. Two best telescope glasses are all based

men from Muranc, the little island at upon the German invention of Jena

Venice where the glass-makers still glass. And though at the present

live, were induced by the Emperor time glasses of the newer types are

Leopold of Belgium to migrate to his produced in French and English manu-

dominions, but they were killed by the factories in quantity and quality at

order of the Council of Ten. least equal to the output of the Jena

Any artisan caught attempting to works themselves, these great optical

go to foreign parts was sent to the achievements stand as a lasting monu-

galleys. In 1550 eight glass-makers ment of the pioneer work of Schott

from Murano were engaged by the and x\bbe.

English government to found a fine- As a matter of fact, these two re-
glass manufactory at Crutchett Friars, markable men arrived at their dis-
in London. But they were so afraid coveries by quite primitive methods.
of assassination by the emissaries of They merely tried everything likely
the Council of Ten that they tried to to make a useful ingredient in a glass
run away, and were imprisoned in the mixture, until they obtained the kind
Tower, from which place they sent a of transparency which they needed,
petition for mercy to the Council. They were compelled to use the ancient
The Government of Venice tried to method of trial and error, or rule of
excuse their policy of maintaining thumb. For too little is yet known
the glass monopoly by murder, by about the scientific aspects of glass-
alleging that the workmen who re- making to enable a more foreseeing
mained at Murano were thrown out process of research to be usefully em-
of work for two and a half months a ployed. Men of science, indeed, are
year by the spread of glass factories in not yet agreed upon the fundamental
Spain and Flanders. Undoubtedly, problems of glass-making. Glass is
they frightened their migrating ar- still an unknown world, and its nature
tisans sufficiently to conserve the and its constitution have yet to be
Murano industry, and transmit its discovered. So it is regarded at
methods to us. present as a structureless solid, with

372

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

the same lack of arrangement in the
grouping of its molecules as is found in
water.

It is a congealed liquid, in which the
process of congealing involves no
change of structure, but merely brings
about a gradual stiffening of the liquid
until it behaves like a solid. And the
strange thing is that the ingredients
out of which glass is made are not
reduced to their liquid or molten state
of combination simply by heat. It
is the chemical dissolving action that
they produce on each other which is
the main factor. For instance, in
ordinary process of glass-making, suit-
able proportions of sand, carbonate of
lime, and carbonate of soda are mixed
together by machinery, and shut into
a vessel of fireclay enclosed in a gas
furnace. The heat of the furnace first
sets the mixture working. For by the
mere action of the heat the carbonate
of soda melts, and the carbonate of
lime loses its carbonic acid, and is
burned into caustic lime. Thus is
produced a mass consisting of grains of
sand and grains of decomposing car-
bonate of lime, all cemented together
by the melted soda. By this time,
however, the sand acquires a strong
acid action; it attacks the carbonate of
lime, and, moreover, does more than
the heat of the furnace can by attack-
ing and decomposing the carbonate of
soda. The final result is the complete
expulsion of all carbonic acid, and the
formation of compounds of lime and
sand and soda and sand, which remain
in the finished glass in a condition
partly of mutual chemical combina-
tion and partly of mutual solution.

Where salt-cake is used to make
glass, neither the action of the heat nor
the dissolving power of the sand is
sufficient to bring about the rapid de-
composition of the soda. So carbon
has to be introduced in the form of
coke or charcoal or anthracite coal,

and this supply, assisted by the carbon
already in the gases of the furnace, pro-
duces the desired effect.

The original glass made by nature
in volcanic processes

It may not be generally known that
one very curious kind of glass is some-
times manufactured by purely natural
forces. This takes place in a volcanic
eruption, in favorable circumstances,
where the intense heat sets up chemical
actions on various substances, that fuse
together into an impure, semi-trans-
parent glass known as obsidian. It
varies in color from gray to black, and
has been used in making works of art
by the Egyptians, Romans, and
Mexicans.

So what we do in a glass-furnace,
after all, is merely to imitate some of
the chance processes of volcanic action.
But by selecting our materials, and
using them in proportions that do not
occur in Nature, we produce something
that conduces in a remarkable degree
to progress in knowledge and art, in
health and comfort and luxury. The
vitriable element in glass is practically
always sand. The purest sand used
only to be obtained from a deposit at
Fontainebleau, near Paris, but an
equally good material is now found at
Lippe, in Germany.

The chemical ingredients of differ-
ent KINDS OF GLASS

When the standard of quality is
relaxed, a great number of sand de-
posits become available ; and the manu-
facturers of each district rely on more
or less local supplies. Finally, for the
manufacture of the cheapest class of
bottles, sands containing considerable
traces of iron and other substances are
often used. Flint glass used to be
made by grinding flints to powder; and
sandstone and certain other rocks are
still sometimes treated in this manner.
But crushing stone is an expensive
ajid difficult process, and in practice

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY 373

only certain kinds of feldspar are widely In recent years the ancient craft of
used instead of sand. Their value is the glass blower has been transformed
due to the fact that they not only to a considerable extent into a factory
contain the acid but also the alkali process by the use of ingenious ma-
necessary in glass-making. chines and metal molds into which the

More usually, however, the alkali is molten glass is driven by steam or

obtained in a separate form from the compressed air. But in the production

acid of the sand. Various alkalies, such of the finest optical glass the method

as carbonate of soda and sulphate of of manufacture remains strangely

soda, are produced in the famous primitive. A single pot of fireclay is

English alkali-works, which have built into a furnace heated by coal

almost a universal monopoly in the or gas. When the pot is red-hot, the

manufacture of these chemicals, raw material is slowly shoveled in

The Germans, on the other hand, have small quantities into its mouth, and

a similar monopoly of the potash it is ten hours after the last charge

industry; and, having swept the old has been added that the furnace is

sea-weed burners out of existence, they driven to its highest temperature. It

supply most of the potash used in is kept at this temperature for twenty

making potash glasses. Recently, hours, and then the molten glass is

however, millions of tons of potash stirred for another fifteen hours or

have been discovered in the Mohave more. This is done by means of a rod

Desert in Arizona and California. of fireclay, balanced on an iron beam

How PRIMITIVE METHODS HOLD THEIR above the fumace, with a wooden

OWN IN THE FINEST GLASS-WORK handle uiovcd by a workman clad in

In addition to the alkali basis of an asbestos dress,

glass, there is a considerable number of The heat is terrific, but the stirrer

other substances that are largely em- must not relax his efforts for a minute,

ployed. For instance, lime is used for The work is so trying and arduous that

the production of all varieties of plate it has to be performed in short shifts,

and sheet glass, as well as for bottles On it depends the ultimate success of

and certain kinds of pressed glass and the operation. The constant and pro-

blow^n glass. And, as we have already longed stirring is necessary to remove

seen, the famous flint glass of England from the glass the transparent threads

i. is based upon lead. In Jena glass, and veins which are invariably found
a preparation of the silver-like metal in ordinary glass. For the different
I of barium is of importance, and zinc ingredients have a tendency to separ-
I and magnesia and aluminum are used ate, and rise or sink in the pot, accord-
[in the manufacture of special glasses ing to their comparative lightness or
I for scientific purposes, where special weight. It is this process of separation
I properties are required. By using an that produces the common defects of
! electric furnace or an intense oxygen glass, and it is only partly prevented
: flame, quartz is now melted down into by keeping the whole molten mass of
a valuable glass. Unlike ordinary the bath in a state of gentle but con-
kinds of glass, the fused quartz is tinual agitation. While the stirring
• transparent to the invisible ultra- goes on, the temperature of the furnace
violet rays of light, and it is largely is allowed to diminish. The result is
coming into use for scientific purposes, that the fluid gradually stiffens, until
and for the medical treatment of the fireclay rod can only be moved
certain diseases. with great difficulty. The rod is then

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374

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

375

T^emoved, and the furnace allowed to
cool for another five hours.

The cooling is stopped, and the
whole furnace is sealed up with brick-
work and fireclay, and the glass is left
to anneal gradually for one or two
weeks. The pot is then drawn out,
usually in a cracked condition, and is
broken away by the aid of a hammer.
In especially favorable circumstances,
the whole of the glass may have cooled
into a solid lump, but it is more usual
to find it broken into fragments.
These are picked over, and the pieces
that are found to be absolutely clear are
used in making the finest kind of lens.
The manufacture of glass bottles

At the other extreme of the glass
industry is a huge tank furnace, heated
by producer gas, which turns out with
punctual regularity the material from
which bottles are shaped by machin-
ery in millions every year. The tank
is built of large blocks of fireclay, in the
shape of an oblong basin, over which
plays an intense flame of aerated gas.
The raw materials are thrown into
the furnace at the square end of the
tank, and the gas flows uninter-
ruptedly down the furnace to the colder
semi-circular end of the tank that is
])ierced with working holes.

The workman thrusts an iron rod
through one of these holes, and twirls
around it a charge of the sticky fluid,
which he drops into the machine. The
liquid glass flows into a mold, from
which it receives the shape of the neck
of a bottle; and while it still retains its
liquidity, a plunger makes a hole
through it, and a stream of compressed
air sweeps into this hole and blows the
glass out, shaping the shoulder of the
bottle. The glass is now growing
decidedly stift', and it passes into a
finishing mold, where it is blown by
powerful air pressure into its final
shape, though in some cases another
macliine is needed to form the inden-

tation at the base. By pressing a
lever the workman then releases all
the molds, thus leaving the bottle
completely finished and entirely free.
Two men and a boy work the whole
machinery: one man gathers the glass
from the tank, another works the levers
that bring the molds into action, and
the boy carries the finished bottles to
a kiln where they are annealed by
passing on trucks down a tunneJ that
is hot at one end and cold at the other.

How PLATE GLASS IS MADE

The tank furnace is also used for
making plate glass. It is by no means
uncommon for a single furnace to have
a weekly output of a hundred and
fifty tons of glass. The glass is with-
drawn from the furnace by means of
huge iron ladles, holding two hundred
pounds of burning fluid, and carried
by slings attached to trolleys running
on an overhead rail. But a workman,
covered in thick felt, with his face
protected by a mask, in which there
are eyeholes glazed with green glass,
has to guide the ladle to the tank, and
twist it into the fiercely hot molten
glass. He then jerks off the threads
and sheets of stiffening fluid that hang
to it, and attaches the handle of the
ladle to the overhead trolley. He next
has to bear all his weight on the handle,
to draw the whole ladle up from the
molten bath in the furnace and out
through the working hole in the tank.
The operation only takes a few seconds
to perform, but while it lasts the ladler
is exposed to terrible heat, as an intense
flame shoots through the working hole
and curls up under the hood of the
furnace.

Aided by a boy, the ladler then runs
the charge of glass to an iron table, and
there he empties out the molten liquid
in front of a massive iron roller. Im-
pelled by steam power, the roller
passes over the glass, flattening it into
a soft, red-hot sheet that has to remain

S76

THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

on the iron table to cool and harden
before it can be safely removed. The
sheet is then taken on a stone slab
into a long, low tunnel, hot at one end
and cold at the other, and down this
tunnel it very slowly passes, cooling
and annealing, ready for cutting in the
cutting-room.
Making ordinary sheet glass

Ordinary sheet glass is also made in
a tank furnace. Sometimes three in-
dependent furnaces are connected with
each other by small openings through
which the fused materials flow, refining
as they flow. By this means a finer
glass is produced, which has many of
the properties of polished plate glass.
The process of making sheet glass is
very interesting. It is done by three
groups of workmen — the pipe-
warmers, the gatherers, and the
blowers. The pipe-warmer heats a
blowing-pipe, formed of an iron tube,
about four and a half feet long, pro-
vided at one end with a wooden handle
and a mouthpiece, and at the other end
with a thick cone. After heating the
pipe, the warmer blows through it, to
see that the passage is clear, and then
places the thick end in the tank of glass.
Then the gatherer intervenes. With a
knack born of long experience, he
collects a quantity of glass round the
butt-end of the pipe, by twisting it
slowly in the molten fluid.

Cooling his first gathering, the
gatherer dips the pipe in again and
collects more glass, doing this with a
skill that prevents any air-bubbles
forming between the cool-glass and the
fresh gathering. The pipe is then
rotated across an iron trough filled
with water. This helps to cool the
pipe itself and stifl'en the glass; and
again the gatherer takes the
pipe to the tank and collects more of
the molten fluid. In some places the
process is repeated five times; and the
care and skill with which the operations

of gathering are carried out largely
determine the quality of the glass.
Any want of regularity in the shape
of the gatherings inevitably leads to
variations of thickness in different
parts of the sheet, while a careless
gatherer introduces bubbles and other
markings in the finished product.
When the gatherings have been well
done, the cooling glass forms a round
mass, with the nose end of the pipe

Rough-grinding plate glass on a rotating table

Pulishiim plaU- t;l:i«s with It-lt-uuvored disks

at its center. By means of special
shaping instruments the glass is then
molded into a sort of bottle, the neck
of which fits over the nose of the blow-
pipe.
Blowing out the sheet of glass

At this point the blower begins his
work. He works on a stage, with some
small furnaces, called blowing-holes,
in front of him, or sometimes the stage
is erected against the main melting
furnace. It is simply a platform
placed over a pit, called the blower's
pit. The glass-maker first heats the

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

377

bulb of glass in one of the blowing-
holes, and then swings the pipe with
a pendulum movement in the pit.
Purely by its own weight, the half-
remelted glass cylinder at the end of the
pipe begins to elongate itself. Any
tendency to collapse is checked by
the blower blowing with his mouth
through the pipe, which he also at
times rotates. The operation of heat-
ing and lengthening the cylinder is
repeated until the glass is equally dis-
tributed on all sides, forming a long
tube, hanging by a thin neck from the
blowpipe and closed at the lower end
with a rounded dome. This rounded
end is then opened by heating it till
it is soft enough for a circle to be cut
out with a pair of shears. Again the glass
is heated, and hung downwards in the
pit and twisted rapidly by the blower.
The soft glass at the lower end im-
mediately opens out under the whirling
action, which the blower continues
until the soft end straightens out in
agreement with the rest of the glass
tube.

When cooled and broken from the
blow-pipe, the tube is split open by a
hot iron or a diamond. It is then placed
on a smooth slab in a hot kiln, where
it grows soft enough to be flattened out
on the slab by means of a wooden tool.
Then, like other ordinary glasses, it is
moved through a long tunnel, and
annealed by being exposed to a change
of temperature from hot to cold. It
will be thus seen that the usual manu-
facture of sheet glass is a long, compli-
cated, and laborious process, needing
workmen of high skill. Various ma-
chines have recently been invented to
do the work and cheapen the cost of
the glass, but none of them is yet as
perfect in achievement as are the hands
of the gatherer and the blower.

In the finest kinds of sheet glass, the
tank furnace is not used. The in-
gredients are put into pots, and a num-

ber of these are set in what is called
a pot furnace, and exposed to the flame
of aerated gas. The method is more
costly than that of the tank furnace;
the fuel consumption is greater, and
the output smaller. On the other
hand, the composition of glass can be
more accurately calculated in a pot
furnace than in a tank furnace, as the

Engr;iving a tumbler by means of a copper wheel and
emery-powder.

molten fluid is better protected from
contamination by the furnace gases or
dropping matter. It is also possible
to melt thoroughly in pots materials
which could not be made to combine in
the open basin of a tank. In flint
glass especially the molten material
must be put in a closed pot, to protect
it from the reducing action of the
furnace gases.

How LAMP CHIMNEYS AND DRINKING
GLASSES ARE MADE

All the best hollow glassware is in
many ways costlier to manufacture
than tank-fused glass. A good deal
of hollow glassware, however, has been
cheapened by means of machines in
which molds are used. A lamp chim-
ney, for instance, is made in the same

HOW A FRAGILE WINE GLASS IS SHAPED

The blower first collects some mol- By blowing through the pipe he He next molds the big bubble into

ten glass from the furnace on the forces the soft glass into the form of the smooth bowl by rolling it on an
end of his pipe. a big bubble. iron table.

He then casts on sutflcient molten metal to form the The workman next marks a circle round the bowl with
stem which he fashions with iron tools and afterwards adds moistened iron pincers and breaks free the glass by a
the foot similarly. smart tap on his pipe.

The top of the glass is well heated in the
furnace and is sheared to the required height.

The glass is now carefully removed from its holder and taken lo the
annealing oven where it Is cooled very gradually to obviate brittlenes?

S78

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY

379

way as the bottle, being blown in a
mold with a flat bottom and a domed
top, both of which are subsequently cut
oft'. Molds are also employed in
making electric light bulbs, and many
of the cheaper kinds of tumblers and
glasses.

Yet the old-fashioned glass-blower
still produces the finest varieties of
hollow glassware. At his best he is a
craftsman of the old school, with a true
feeling for the artistic qualities of his
material. His implements are few and
simple. He sits on a rough wooden
bench, on which there are two project-
ing side-rails. On these rails he rolls
his pipe, and close to him on the bench
is a small rod and some shears and
pincers, together with a flat board
and a small slab of stone or metal.
Gathering some melted glass on his
l)ipe, he blows it into a small bulb,
and lengthens the bulb by gently
swinging it at the end of the pipe.
Having obtained the shape he wants, he
presses the bulb on the stone slab, and
so gives it a flat bottom. He then
breaks the bulb off the ])ipe by means
of a hot wire, and sends the article to be
annealed by gradual chilling. The
rough edge is afterwards rounded oft'
by the aid of a blowpipe flame, and a
glass tumbler of perfect shape is ready
for use.

Such is one of the simplest examples
of the glass-blower's craft. For more
artistic work he makes use of the pasty
qualities of cooling glass. By raising
or lowering the temperature of his
material, he makes it now stiffer and
now more fluid. He distends it by
blowing, or he draws it out by swinging
his pipe, and molds it with the aid of
rods and tongs; or he holds it aloft
and lets it fall in festoons under its ow^n
weight. With all these manijjula-
tions at his disposal, the glass-blower
of the old school works the glass to his
will, and fashions it into objects of

great variety and beauty. Every-
thing that he makes is original, having
little of the regularity of size and
shape of machine-nuide articles. For
there is a natural variability in the
curves and festoons made by the glass-
blower, so that it is impossible for him,
in his best work, ever to repeat himself.
In the machine work that now com-
petes with the beautiful things made
by the glass-blower, two dift'erent
methods are used. In one, the glass
is blown by compressed air into the
various molds; in the other the mate-
rial is pressed into shape by means
of a mechanical plunger. The articles
molded in these two ways, however,
lack the fine fire-polish possessed by
glass that is allowed to cool freely from
the molten state. An attempt to
produce a similar brilliance of surface
on molded and pressed wares is often
made by exposing them, in their

^ '-if''- 1

Polisliing a large cut-glass bowl on :i wuudeu wheel

finished form, to the heat of a furnace.
This softens the surfaces and gives
them a new brilliancy. But as the
process cannot be carried out without
softening the entire article, great skill
is required to prevent serious deforma-

S80 THE HUMAN INTEREST LIBRARY

tion, and all sharp corners and angles particularly as the coloring elements

tend to be melted and rounded off. can be employed in almost any com-

Imitation cut glass is easily detected bination to produce exquisitely gradu-

by the blunting effect of angles and ated tints. Even stained glass-work of

corners produced during the reheating the finest quality is no longer a lost

process. art. Modern craftsmen have at their

Molded articles can also be dis- disposal materials quite as excellent

tinguished by the slight projections as those employed in the thirteenth

caused by the pressed glass getting century.

in the fine interstices between the The jewel-like splendor of the best

various parts of the hinged molds, ancient glass was for many years un-

Probably it is in order to hide these attainable, owing to a curious cause,

defects that so much machine-made Modern glass was too good for the

glass is over-decorated with grooves purpose. It was so transparent that

and spirals and ribbings. the light passed through it, instead of

Colored and stained glass bringing out the interest and mystery

At present, the wonderful color of the glass itself. It was found that

resources of the glass-maker are, in a the ancient stained glass was very

great many cases, hopelessly mis- badly made, with an irregular surface

applied. But in the hands of a fine and an extraordinary number of

designer few other materials are ca- internal defects — airbells, veins and

pable of yielding results equal in beauty even bits of foreign matter. But

to that of colored glass. Many of the these things scattered and twisted and

coloring agents are cheap, as only a reflected back the light, until the rays

minute quantity is needed to produce appeared to emanate from the body

lovely, delicate, and jewel -like tints, of the glass itself, which thus seemed

Indeed, the sole difficulty involved in to shine with an internal light of its

the use of several important coloring own. So, by having his glass made

substances is that so little of them is very badly, the modern worker in

needed that it is hard to weigh exactly stained glass has been able to equal

the amount that is required. The the lovely effects of the ancient

range of colors is practically unlimited, masters of his craft.

MEMORY TESTS ON VOLUME TWO

BOOK OF EARTH AND SKY

Why did men once think the earth was flat? 9

How do we know that the earth is round? 1 1 -
12

What composes the suns family? 13-14

How did the sun originate? It

What is the difference between a fixed star
and a planet? 17

What are the distances of the planets from
the sun? 18

What is a comet? 18

What are shooting stars? 20

How was the earth made? 21-22

What is the law of gravitation and who dis-
covered it? 23

Who was Herschel and what did he do? 23

How did the moon originate? 26

How was the earth's crust formed? 28

What is the origin of rocks? 29; Minerals? 30

How did animal remains get into the rocks
and rock formations? 31-33

How much of the earth's surface is land? 34

What do fossils teach? 34

How did animals in the past ages differ from
those of to-day? 35

How were animals distributed over the earth?
3.5-36

How do we know when animal life began?
36-37

How is the face of the earth changed from
time to time? 39

What is a glacier, and why does it move? 40

What is meant by a geological fault? 41

How does the fire break through the crust of
the earth? 41-44

Do land and water areas interchange? 44

Were America and Europe ever connected by
land? How? 45

What was the "lost continent?" 45

What resemblance between alchemists and
astrologers? 47

What difference between astrology and as-
tronomy? 47

What advances were made in astronomy by
Copernicus and Galileo? 49-50

What is meant by the solar system? 52

What are nebulae? How do they differ from
stars and constellations? 52-53

What is the shape of the path of a comet? 53

What causes the brightness of the moon? 54

Why do we see but one .side of the moon? 55

Why do we know the moon better than other
phinets? 55-56

Why does not the surface of the moon change
like that of the earth? 59

What is the path of the moon round the earth?
59

Why should we know the principal constella-
tions in the sky? 61

How were the constellations and stars named?
62

Why cannot we understand the real bright-
ness of the stars? 66

How are the distances of stars determined? 66

Do we know the weight of stars? 67

Where do heat and light come from? W^hat
are they? (i8-70

What is air? 72

Could we live without oxygen? 73

What is water? 75

What are atoms and molecules? 74

How do the chemical elements combine to
produce water? 75-76

Who was Lavoisier, and what great scientific
discovery did he make? 79-80

BOOK OF NATURE

Name six important species of the cat family

How have animals changed? 84
Describe the first bird. 86
What animals live on ants? 88
Which are the strongest animals in the world?
I

How does the lion get his supper? 92
What animal is trained to hunt the antelope?

What are the habits of the Polar bear? 98
Are there any wild dogs today? Where? 100
What are the birds of most gorgeous plumage?

102-103

How many kinds of humming-birds are

there? 105

What birds build the most remarkable nests?

106

Where is the Ij^re-bird found? 107

What bird brings up its young in prison? 108

Where do we find the quetzal? 109

What are the chief hunting birds? 112-117

Whv are birds valuable to farm and orchard?

119-124

What is the manner of living among birds?

122-123

Where does the mocking-bird live, what is its

size and what are its habits? 125

What are the habits of the night hawk? 127
On what does the bob white feed? Where

does it live? 133

How and why do bees swarm? 134-137
How are the cells of bees formed? 139
What is the province of the worker bee? 140
How does the grasshopper deposit her eggs?

142

How does the carpenter bee construct its

house? 146

How does a mother spider protect her young?

147

What are infusoria and what are their uses?

152-154

How does the starfish feed? 161

Why is the sperm whale called the "tiger of

the deep?" 162-163

What is meant by intelligent plants? 165-166
What causes a leaf to change color? 166
What wonderful powers does the sundew

possess? 170-172

MARVELS OF MODERN MECHANISM

How were X-rays discovered? By whom?
175

What are cathode rays? 175-177

How are X-ray pictures made? 179-180

381

How and by whom was radium discovered?
183

How may radio-activity be demonstrated?
184

How is radium produced? 185-186-187
What kind of rays are emitted by radium? 188
What is the spinthariscope? 189
To what extent is radium effective in the treat-
ment of disease? 191-192

How were moving pictures, or animated pho-
tography, discovered? 195-196

Who were the chief improvers of moving
picture mechanism? 196

How are moving picture plays staged? 197
How are the "impossible" pictures obtained?
202-205

How did men first tell the time? 206
What are the dimensions of Big Ben? 207
What devices were used for measuring time
in the early ages? 209-211

What was the mystery of Stonehenge and its
association with time measurement? 212

How does the mariner find his location? 216
How was the law of the pendulum discovered?
218

Who invented the weight clock? 218
What makes the clock's wheels go round? 219
How does electricity drive a clock? 221
How is a telegram sent and received? 223-225
How is an ocean cable made and laid? 228-233
What is wireless telegraphy? 233-234
How are electric waves set in motion? 234
W^hat are high frequency currents? 234
What kind of instruments are necessary to
send and receive wireless messages? 237

How is a wireless message sent and received?
238-239

How are large guns constructed? 244-249
What are the steps in the manufacture of
rifles? 249-251

How are cartridges and shell made? 251-253
How are shot made? 255
In how many different ways may the princi-
ple of the inclined plane be adapted? 256

What are the six sources of mechanical power?
257

What is man's value as a human machine? 259
What are the fiv-e sources of energy on the
earth? 260

What is a catalyser? 268

BOOK OF ENGINEERING AND
INDUSTRY

What was the French Panama Canal Com-
pany? 271

How was the right of the United States to
build the Panama Canal obtained? 271

Who was the chief engineer who finished the
construction of the Panama Canal? 273

When were the waters turned into the Panama
Canal? 273; The first boat to pass through
the Gatun locks? 273

What were the greatest obstacles in the con-
struction of the canal? 274

What is the commercial value of the canal?
278

What saving in distance is effected by the
opening of the canal? 278-279

What rental does the United States pay for
canal zone? 283

What is the cost of a modern ocean liner? 284

What was the first steamboat built? 285

What was the first steamship to cross the
Atlantic? 285, 289

Who were the chief inventors in connection
with early steam navigation? 286

What was Fulton's place among the early
inventors of steamboats? 287

How is a great steamship constructed? 289-
293

What are some of the wonders of a modern
battleship? 296-300

What is the strongest ship in the world and
for what used? 300

How is armor-plate manufactured? 302-305

What and where was the first lighthouse? 306

Where was the first American lighthouse
built? 308

What is the tallest lighthouse tower in the
United States? 312

How are lighthouses lighted? 312-313

What are the chief fog signals now in use? 315

How are life-saving bells fixed ar worked?
317

What was the beginning and present extent
of water power development at Niagara Falls?
320

How is the power diverted from the Falls,
conserved, and distributed? 320-325

What European waterfalls are used for power
purposes? 325

What is the history and present effectiveness
of the Keokuk dam power plant? 326-329.

What are the reasons to be assigned for
underground structures? 330.

What cities lead in elevated and underground
railways? 330.

What is the longest underground aqueduct in
the world? 333.

What are the dimensions of the Jawbone
siphon? 334.

What is the estimated underground popula-
tion of New York? 335.

Who was the first great reformer in bridge
building? 341.

What was the first great iron bridge built?
341.

How is a caisson built? 344.

How does the cantilever bridge rank? 345.

What are the most notable bridges in New
York? 347.

Of what type is Tower Bridge, London?
348.

What are the chief coffee producing countries?
353.

Why is some tea black and some green?
357.

How are tea leaves classified? 358.

How are chocolate and cocoa produced?
363-367.

How is glass made? 368-380.

How are bottles made? 375.

How is a. wine glass shaped? 378.

How are colored and stained glass effects
obtained? 380.

S82

INDEX TO VOLUME II

Actors, In moving pictures, 199.

Aeroplane, in warfare, 261, 264
265, 267.

Afte, of earth, 44.

Air, action on rocks. 30; elements of.
72; relation to earth, 24; what It
Is, 71. 72,73.

Alchemists, 47, 4S.

Aldebaran, 62.

Alftol. 62.

.Mpha Rays, 188.

America, once connected with Eu-
rope, 45.

Anemone, sea, 155, 159.

Animal Life, beginnings of. 36.

Animal Remains, in rocks, 31, 32,
33.

Animals, animal power, 259. 260;
bat, 89; cheetah, 82; civet. 97:
cougar, 96; development of animal
life, 84, 85: distribution of, 35; ele-
phant, 91; ermine, 96; fox, 99,
100; greatanimal world, 84; grizzly
bear, 95; how the Hon gets his sup-
per, 92; how they come into the
world, 85; how those of past ages
differed from those of today, 35;
how we find those that lived long
ago, 86: how we know about ex-
tinct monsters, 89: hyena, 95;
ichthyosaurus, 87; jackal, 99, 100;
Jaguar, 82, 96; leopard, 82, 94; life
in ocean depths, 152; Hon, 90; lords
of the wild kinsdom, 93; lynx, 82;
many great destroyed by Ice age,
89; marten, 96; members of cat
family, 82; mongoose, 97; myloden,
89; otter, 96; panther, 96; polar
bears. 95, 97, 98. puma, 82, 96;
reptiles, flying aragons, birds and
man, 84; sables, 97; sloths, 87;
some monsters of the past, 85;
stoat, or ermine, 96; that live on
ants, 88: three strongest things in
animal world, 92; tiger, 90, 93, 94;
use of, 89; weasels, 96: what causes
their extinction, 36; wild in their
homes, 90; wolf, 98. 99, 100.