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T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N
P A R A G R A P H S WORTH W H IL E
P rep aratio n s have been made for h u n tin g a m onster
of prehistoric ch aracter, said to have been seen by
Belgian ex p lo rers in the region of th e Congo. T h e
beast is described as a b ro n to sau ru s of m assive p ro p o r
tions. Its hom e is believed to be in a su b terran ean
sea in C entral A frica.
“ Y o u ’re u n d er a r r e s t,’’ exclaim ed the officer, as he
stop p ed the autom obile.
“ W h at for?” inquired Mr. C h u g g in s.
“ I h av e n ’t m ade up my m ind yet. I ’ll ju st look
over your lig h ts, a n ’ your license, a n ’ y o u r num bers,
a n ’ so forth. I know I can get you for so m e th in ’, an
we need th e m o n e y .”
T h e F ren ch arrested in P aris the o th er day the first
G erm an visitor to th e city since th e cessation of h o s
tilitie s—b a rrin g of course th e peace envoys. T h e in
dividual was a G erm an boy who had followed A m eri
can troops who had been good to him . Now he goes
back to G erm any unless he is allowed to accom pany
his A m erican friends to th is co u n try .
W h a t is reg ard ed as a record price for rare books
was obtained at an auction in L ondon recen tly . O ne
fam ous library b ro u g h t over $551,800. G. D. S m ith,
of New7 Y ork, purchased for $7,500 som e of th e rarest
item s of the collection am ong w hich was S h ak esp ear’s
“ V enus and A d o n is.” A copy of “ M cP'ingal,” a
poem p rin ted in A m erica in 1782 and au tographed by
G eorge W ash in g to n , b ro u g h t $1,125. Buyers from
all p a rts of the world atten d ed th e sale.
Y ears ago a priest laboring am ong the In d ian s of
w estern C anada adapted a sh o rth an d system to the
native lan g u ag e. H u n d re d s of In d ian s studied and
m astered it and p arts of the Bible becam e translated
into th e sign language. F in a lly m im eograph b u lle
tin s in sh o rth an d came to be issued daily w hich were
read so eagerly th a t a sh o rth an d w eekly paper w’as be
g u n in K am loops w hich now boasts of a circulation
of over 3,500. T h e paper is called th e “ K am loops
W a w a .”
Ja n u ary 2nd saw most of the 87,000 enum erators
s ta rt th e ir 30-day count of the people of the U nited
S tates. T h e last census show ed a population of about
90,000,000. T he present count is expected to show
som e 110,000,000.
Tw’en ty -fo u r questions will be
asked of or about every resident in the U nited States.
T o ta k e th e census in the country will require it is e x
pected, the full 30 days, but 15 days will finish the
w ork in th e large cities. T h e cost of th e census is
estim ated at $23,000,000.
A R T IF IC IA L LIG H TIN G IN E A R L Y TIM ES
T h e first lam ps were sim ply em pty shells, skulls of
anim als or vessels of rude pottery provided w’ith a
fibrous wick th ro u g h w hich au inflam m able liquid rose
by capillary attractio n to be burned. G radually, as
the race acquired skill and learned to use finer m a ter
ials, m ore elaborate and ornam ental lam ps were
evolved, being m ade of glass, m etal, porcelain, etc.
H ow ever, until the la tte r part of the 18th cen tu ry ,
w hen im proved w icks were invented, the best lam ps
w ere very unsatisfactory, giv in g out com paratively
little light but an abun d an ce of unpleasant odors and
sm oke.
F ish and other anim al oils were the principal illu
m in an ts at first but in tim e vegetable oils such as
rape-seed oil, olive oil, etc., were used and later, w hen
petroleum w’as discovered, it came into wide use.
W hen refined and burned in a lam p specially designed
to supply sufficient oxygen for the carbon of the oil
to be properly consum ed th is m ineral oil gives m ore
satisfactory lig h t than any liquid previously know n.
In these days of high-pow er, convenient electric
and gas lig h ts it is hard to realize that only a few’ cen
tu ries ago th e streets of cities and tow ns were lighted
only by cru d e, im perfect candle or oil la n tern s pro
vided w ith horn w indow s. Law s com pelled citizens in
those tim es to h a n g o u t such lan tern s for the guidance
of belated travelers and as a safeguard against thieves
and hoodlum s.
CAN A PE S T H IN K
A w riter in the W ashington Post some tim e ago
raised the question o f w hether apes are capable of
th in k in g , declaring th a t it is an im p o rtan t one be
cause, if they are sufficiently intelligent to th in k , they
can be ta u g h t to w ork. T h u s, he suggested, it may
be possible to m ake these anim als relieve m an of such
d ru d g ery as cleaning the streets, shoveling coal, d ig
g in g d itch es, etc. A lready, he said, a B ritish scien
tist has succeeded in m aking apes pick cocoanuts,
pluck fowls and operate sim ple m echanical devices.
F rom his discussion of the subject, w’e condense the
follow ing: Scientific investigators have found that
th e n ervous system and the brain of the chim panzee
are m uch th e sam e as those of m an. T here is, how7-
ever, no differentiation of function betw’een the rig h t
and left halves of the a p e ’s brain and he is am bidex
tro u s instead of rig h t and left-handed, like m an. T he
cellular and fiber stru c tu re of the cerebral centers in
man and th e chim panzee are practically th e sam e,
differing only in degree. T h e chim pazee’s brain, th a t
of an anim al and only one-third the size of the hum an
brain, has n eith er th e area nor the developm ent of the
la tte r.
T each er— Jo h n n y , can you tell me w here L ake O n
tario is?
P u p il— Y essuin; page 18.