The sand of the hourglass

   Hourglass is a device that measures time. It has two glass bulbs joined together by a small opening. One of the bulbs contains grains of fine, dry sand. The sand takes exactly one hour to drain from the top bulb to the bottom bulb. When all the sand has run from the top bulb, the hourglass is turned over, and the sand begins to run into the empty bulb as before. Some earlier hourglasses contained mercury, but sand works better because it flows at an even rate, regardless of the amount of sand that the bulb contains.
   The Hourglass was used to measure time before clocks were invented.
Smaller glasses, such as the half-hour glass, measure shorter periods of time. Even smaller glasses meas­ure the time needed to boil eggs. These are called egg glasses. For many years, hourglasses were used to limit the amount of time a speaker could talk. Until the 1900's, sailors used a device like an hourglass that measured less than a minute while the log line was allowed to run out. In this way, they could deter­mine how fast the ship was traveling. Hourglasses were widely used before the invention of mechanical timepieces, but they have been replaced almost entirely by watches and clocks. Many writers have mentioned the hourglass both in poetry and prose to express the passage of time.

The Acheron river

   Acheron, in classical mythology, one of the five rivers of Hades. The Acheron was tributary to the Cocytus, the Cocytus tributary to the Styx. The name Acheron means "River of Sorrows," or "River of Eternal Woe." In the later legends, Acheron was a son of Helios and Demeter, who gave drink to the Titans during their war with Zeus. For thus aiding the enemy, he was punished by being transformed into an infernal river. The name Acheron is used figuratively to designate the whole lower world. Milton speaks of the river in the second book of Paradise Lost as "Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep."

G-M counter (geiger counter)

   The geiger counter, also known as Geiger-Mueller counter, or G-M counter, is a device for electrically recording and measuring the presence of radioactivity. The tube of the G-M counter is a metal cylinder with a wire, insulated electrically from the cylinder, fixed in the cylinder's axis. An electric voltage, sometimes in excess of 1,000 volts, is impressed on the tube, the positive charge being on the central wire. The cylinder is filled with a gas, such as a halogen gas or a mixture of an inert gas and methane, at reduced pressure. Radiation, entering the tube through a window, collides with one or more gas par­tióles, knocking off electrons, which may, as they are rapidly accelerated toward the positively charged wire, knock more electrons off other gas atoms or molecules. The many elec­trons liberated by the passage of the radiation are sufficient to cause a measurable electric current to flow. Although the Geiger counter is not so sensitive to radiation as is the scintillations counter, its low cost makes it readily available for ura­nium hunters or civil-defense radia­tion monitors.

Leopold Stokowsky

Stokowsky (1882-1977)

   Leopold Stokowsky was an American orchestral conductor, born of Polish parents in London. In 1905 he came to New York. In 1909 he became conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and conducted the Philadelphia Symphony Or­chestra, 1912-36. He founded and directed (1939-41) the All-American Youth Sym­phony Orchestra, and was organizer and di­rector (1944-45) of the New York Gity Symphony, to which he donated his services, and a conductor of the New York Philharmonic (1947-50). He appeared in several motion pictures, including Big Broadcast of 1937, Fantasia, and Carnegie Hall.

What is a Gavotte in music?

Gavotte dance

   Gavotte is a lively peasant dance native to the Gavots, who were mountaineers of southeastern France. When the gavotte became fashionable in the court of Louis XIV, it was often danced at balls after the minuet. Sets of couples joined hands and formed a circle or chain. After one or two rounds the leading male dancer bowed to his partner, performed a kind of wooing dance in various steps, and then r-turned to his place with her. Then the other couples in the circle or chain followed suit. The steps of the gavotte consisted of quick, leaping motions in a fast tempo and lively rhythm. At the end of the rounds the host's partner handed a bouquet to the person scheduled to hold the next ball. Gluck and the French composers Rameau and Lully composed music for gavottes.
   In musical suites the movement called the gavotte is usually placed before or after the saraband.

Insectivorous Plants

Some plants have the ability to trap insects and digest them. Most of these plants are small. They are found in swamps or bogs, or in dry, rocky places.

There are over five hundred different kinds of insectivorous plants. Although these plants are green and capable of manufacturing their own food, they have leaves that can trap insects and small animals. These insectivorous plants even secrete a juice that digests and absorbs the animal remains.

Most of the insectivorous plants are found in five families of dicot angiosperms.

The bladderwort family includes common aquatic and amphibious plants, such as the bladderwort and butterwort. There are three families of pitcher plants; the com­mon pitcher plant of the swamps and bogs of the United States and Guiana, a single species of pitcher plant found in the Australian bogs, and in the tropics a family of pitcher plants with elaborate and brightly colored pitchers for catching animal food.

The most highly developed of all the in­sectivorous plants are found in the sundew family, among whose members are many clever devices for trapping small insects.

Members of the sundew family include the sundew, the flycatcher, and the very remarkable Venus' fly trap.

Venus fly trap

Who was Juan Gris?

Juan Gris (1887-1927)

   Juan Gris was a Spanish painter, member of the Cubist group. Believing that the artist should draw from the imaginative world and not the visual one, Gris was one of the earliest Cubists. In his portraits, still lives, and figures, the color is used only to further form. Among his canvases are "Le Canigou," "Chessboard," and "Flask and Glass."

Philosophy during the Middle Ages

   During the Middle Ages, scholars spent much time trying to reconcile Aristotle's ideas with those of the early Church writers. Aristotle emphasized human reason. The early Church writers, however, emphasized faith. The attempt of medieval philosophers to reconcile faith and reason is often called scholasticism. The aim of the scholastic philosophers was to discover how people could improve themselves in this life by reason and ensure salvation in the life to come.
   Peter Abelard, who taught at the University of Paris in the 1100's, was an important scholastic philosopher. In his book Sic et Non (Yes and No), he raised many questions about Church doctrine. After each question he placed opinions gathered from the Bible, decrees of the popes, and the writings of Church philosophers. Many of these opin­ions conflicted with one another. Abelard made his students work out the problems for them­selves. He wanted them to think and to inquire. His motto was: "By doubting we come to inquiry, and by inquiring we perceive the truth."
   Probably the greatest of all medieval philoso­phers was Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican monk. His principal work, written in the late 1200's, is a summary of Christian thought called Summa Theologica. In it Aquinas took up each point of Church doctrine, examined it, and tried to show that it could be arrived at by logic or reason as well as faith. Today the Summa is the basis for all teaching of theology in Roman Catholic schools.

Paul Gauguin

The Yellow Christ

  Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a French painter, a pioneer of post-impressionism, was born in Paris. In 1871 after a brief naval career, Gauguin became a Paris broker. At the same time, he took up painting as a hobby. During these years, after ad-vice and encouragement from paint­er Camille Pissarro, Gauguin spent most of his leisure in painting.
  In 1883 he resigned his position in the brokerage firm, left his wife and children, and traveled on his own. He spent some time in Pont-Aven, Brittany, and the island of Martinique. In 1888 he joined his friend Vincent van Gogh in Arles, France. Gauguin remained only a short time, as Van Gogh was undergoing great mental anguish.
  In 1891, attracted by the primitive lure of the tropics, he sold all his paintings and went to Tahiti. He returned to France but became dis-gusted with the so-called decadent society of Paris. Gauguin went back to the South Seas to await his death.
His paintings are characterized by a vivid sense of decorative color and by string composition. His most famous works included "The Yellow Christ," "The Hospital Car­den at Arles," "Riders on the Beach," and "Woman of Tahiti."
  Paul Gauguin also produced excellent primitive wood carvings. W. Somerset Maugham's novel The Moon and Sixpence is based on the strange life of this eccentric genius.

Where is the Dead Sea located?

The Dead Sea lies partly between Israel and Jordan. It is really a lake, not a sea. It is called a sea because its water is salty. In fact, its water is four or five times as salty as the water in the oceans of the world.
This lake is not as big as the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The Dead Sea is 47 miles long and 10 miles wide.
The Dead Sea lies in a deep valley far below the level of the oceans. The lake is i ,300 feet deep, but its surface is still nearly 1,300 feet below sea level.
The Jordan River brings water to the Dead Sea. No streams or rivers flow out of it. It .does not get deeper because the water in it evaporates very fast. The climate is so hot and dry that the Dead Sea would get about 15 feet lower every year if no water were brought to it.
In ancient times travelers told many wild stories about the Dead Sea. There were, they said, never any waves on its surf ace. The air above it was so poisonous that it killed birds. And anyone who went near it was risking his life. Of course, these stories were not true.
The Dead Sea has stored up for thousands of years the minerals brought to it by the Jordan. Now many minerals besides salt can be got from its waters.

What is a Gem?

   A gem is a precious or semiprecious stone used chiefly as a personal ornament. Pearls and some engraved shells are also considered gems. Gem stones are usually cut and polished to show their beauty. They are used principally in settings of metal for jewelry. In their natural state, be­fore they are cut and polished, gem stones are normally dull and rough, coated with a crust that causes them to look like ordinary rocks. The cutting and polishing are difficult and delicate operations.

   When men first began to use gems is not certain, but gems were already known and used in the days of the Babylonian, Assyrian, and Egyptian empires. These early gems were often engraved and used as seals to stamp personal marks on clay tab-lets. Museums and private collections in Europe and America contain large numbers of gems from the Greek and Roman periods. Most of these are beautifully engraved with figures of people and animals. In the Western world the art of gem en-graving was apparently lost after the collapse of Rome and was not revived until the time of the Italian Renaissance. Some of the ancient gems were then discovered in Florence, and Florentine artists were inspired to do similar work.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite, in Greek mythology, the goddess of love and marriage. Homer describes her as the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Other authorities state that she sprang from the foam of the sea. The Zephyrs wafted her to the shore of the Isle of Cyprus. Here the Seasons received her, dressed her as suited her beauty, and led her to Olympus. The gods were charmed with the fair goddess, and each one demanded her for a wife. Zeus bestowed her upon Vulcan. She became the mother of Eros or Cupid. Aphrodite was also called Cytherea, because of her worship on the island of Cythera. Aphrodite, or Venus, as the Romans called her, possessed a girdle called the Cestus, which had the power of inspiring love. She was also able to grant beauty and all physical charms to her votaries. The rose, myrtle, poppy, and apple were sacred to Aphrodite, and among animals the dove, swallow, swan, ram, hare, and tortoise.

Lou Gerigh

   Lou Gerigh (1903-1941), properly Henry Louis Gehrig, the New York Yankee ball player who played base­ball for 15 years before retiring. Gehrig was born in New York, where he attended school. As a student he played baseball, and in an intercity competition he hit a homer over the right-field fence of Chicago's Wrigley Field.
   Gehrig went to Columbia University but after two years left to join the New York Yankees. Throughout his long career Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games and was known as the "Iron Horse." His lifetime batting average was .341, and he led the league four times in runs scored and in total bases and five times in home runs. Lou Gerigh voluntarily retired in 1939, the victim of an obscure form of paralysis. Until his death he was parole commissioner of New York.

What is Instinct?

   Instinct, an inherited tendency to make certain responses in a definite manner. With this tendency to respond in a definite manner there is present also the physical structure involved in making the response, and the environment is usually such as to act as a stimulating factor. The young duck has an instinct to swim. It is built for the water; its feet are paddles. If water is a part of its environment the duck is bound to swim. Tendency, structure, and environment are the three factors involved. But very often the instinctive response occurs in the face of unfavorable environment; a broody hen sometimes sits without eggs or nest, and a dog with a bone has been known to go through the motions of burying it on a stone floor.

What is a Geode?

   A geode is an almost spherical hollow body, the exterior of which is usually composed of a fine-grained variety of quartz such as agate. The inner surface is generally covered with crystals. The crystals, which project inward toward the center of the geode, may be amethyst or another gem variety of quartz. Geodes which may 'be as small as an inch or larger than a foot in diameter, occur in sedimentary rocks such as limestone.

Life in medieval towns

   Medieval towns and cities were small by modern standards. According to some estimates, Paris in the 1300's had a population of about 60,000. Ghent and Bruges, with about 50,000 inhabitants each, were considered huge. London, with about 55.000, was far above average. The usual city had from 5,000 to 10,000 people.
   Physically, the medieval city was compact. It was often built on top of a hill or at the bend of a river so that it could easily be defended. Because city land was scarce and valuable, houses were
built five or six stories high. To increase the space inside a building, each story projected out a little farther than the one below. Thus, at the top the houses almost met in the middle of the street. Each city had some outstandingly fine buildings such as a cathedral, a town hall, and the guild halls.
   The streets of medieval cities were dark and filthy. The only way of disposing of sewage was in open gutters that were cleared only when it rained. Epidemics were frequent. There was no street lighting. Honest people who went out at night were accompanied by servants who protected them from robbers, for there were no police. Despite the uncomfortable conditions, medieval town life was not completely disagree-able. The medieval city was a busy place, alive with people—peddlers, lawyers, merchants, strolling actors, musicians, and jugglers.

What is a Planetarium?

A planetarium is a machine inside of a dome-shaped building that can show the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. It portrays how all these heavenly bodies move. A planetarium is different from a telescope because a telescope can show a real but very small part of the sky. The planetarium actually makes a large artificial sky appear on its giant domed ceiling.

Planetarium

Who were the Suevi?

   The Suevi or Suebi were the collective name for a number of warlike German tribes, mentioned by Gaius Julius Caesar as dwelling E. of the Rhine R.; the historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus describes them as inhabiting all central Germany w. of the Oder R. to the Danube R., except a strip along the Baltic Sea occupied by the Harudes. The Suevi allied themselves with the Alamanni and other barbarie tribes early in the 5th century A.D., and helped to demolish the Roman Empire in the W. and N.W. They swept down upon Spain in 409 A.D., but were later defeated by the Franks under Clovis I. The Suevi who remained in Germany seem to have spread to the E. and s., and the medieval Swabians were their direct descendants.

Jean Baptiste Greuze

Head of Young Woman

Jean Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) was a French painter, born in Tournus. At a very early age, though against his father's wishes, he went to study with a local artist who had shown marked interest in his work. After a short period of training in Paris, he began to attract notice, and in the next few years was readily accepted by the Academy as a painter of merit. In 1755 he went to Italy to further his studies and to find new inspiration, but on his return to France found that the work done during this period was not well received. By 1765 he had reached the peak of his fame and exhibited large numbers of paintings in Salon and Academy shows. Due to a misunderstanding with the directors of the Academy, he stopped exhibiting there until 1804, shortly before he died in poverty. Today he is best known for his portraits of young women and children, which are treated in a highly idealized and sentimental style.

What is geochemistry?

   Geochemistry is the science that studies the chemical composition of the Earth and chemical changes in the Earth's makeup. The basic goals of geochemistry, as formulated in the 19th century by the Norwegian geologist Víctor M. Goldschmidt, are to determine the relative abundance of each element in the Earth, to discover why different elements are selectively concentrated in various parts of the Earth, and to discover the laws that govern these factors.
   Modern geochemistry also includes the study of the origin of the Earth and the elements of which the Earth is composed. The term "geochemistry" was introduced in 1838 by the German chemist C. F Schonbein.

Elias Howe

E. Howe (1819-1867)

   Elias Howe was an American inventor, constructed a practical sewing machine. He patented it in 1846. After a difficult but successful defense of his patent, he made a fortune.
   Howe was born in Spencer, Mass. He was a small, delicate boy. As a young man, he went to Boston to learn the machinist trade. While apprenticed to a scientific-instrument maker in Cambridge, he overheard a remark that the man who produced a workable sew­ing machine would make a fortune. In 1845, he finished a machine that sewed 250 lock stitches a minute, but he failed to find a market for it.
   He went to England, and sold British rights to the machine. But he was disillusioned with the treatment he received, and he returned to the United States in 1849. While Howe was in England, others, including Isaac Singer, started manufacturing sewing machines. After a long and determined campaign, Howe established in 1854 his right to collect royalties on all machines manufactured.

Death Valley

Satellite photo of Death Valley

   The floor of Death Val­ley is the lowest land in the Americas. It is 280 feet below sea level. This valley is in California near the Nevada border. There are ranges of mountains all around it. Death Valley, which is about 140 miles long, contains about two million acres of sun-baked, ghostly desert land.
   The valley is one of the hottest places in the world. We think that a day when the temperature goes up to 100 degrees is very hot. In Death Valley the temperature sometimes goes above 130 degrees!
   Death Valley holds the record for the highest temperature in the Western hemisphere, 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Furnace Creek on July 10, 1913, just short of the world record, 136 °F (57.8 °C) in 'Aziziya, Libya, on September 13, 1922.
   Death Valley is usually very dry. At times torrents of water rush down the Amargosa River into it. But as a rule the bed of the river is like a big, dry ditch.
   Only the hardiest of desert plants and animals can live in Death Valley. There are some cactus and grease wood plants. There are a few desert rats, rattlesnakes, and horned toads. For the most part there is nothing but bare sand. In some places it has a coating of borax.
   The valley got its name in 1849 when some of the people who were rushing to California to find gold died of thirst there. Now the valley has good roads and good hotels for winter tourists. But the tourists who visit it are glad that they do not have to stay there the year round.

What is a genius?

   In psychology, Genius is a term popularly used to describe a person of unique achievement in the arts or sciences. Some psychologists also use the term to describe a person who has achieved something far in excess of his normal day-to-day ability. Other psychologists, notably Lewis Terman, have used the term to de­scribe the intellectual potentiality of a person. A person scoring 140 or over on an intelligence test is said to be capable of acts of genius.
   Although some writers claim that the products of genius are solely the result of superior ability, some psy­chologists believe that genius varies from the normal in much the same way as do neurosis and psychosis. An act of genius is said to be the  working out of emotional conflicts of a person of superior ability. Genius, neurosis, and psychosis all de­rive from internal conflict, but the genius resolves conflicts in ways that are socially useful, while the psychotic and the neurotic attempt to solve their conflicts in ways that have no social value or that may even be antisocial.

Apollo (mythology)

Belvedere Apollo

   Apollo, in mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto. He was one of the twelve great gods of Greece, the god of the sun, of poetry, prophecy, and of medi­cine. With his twin sister, Artemis, he was born on the island of Delos. Next to Zeus, Apollo was the most important of the gods of Olympus. When five days old he throttled the Python. With his father Zeus he fought the Titans and the Giants and destroyed the Cyclops. He aided Poseidon in building the walls of Troy, and afterward sent a pestilence on the city because he was cheated out of his pay. There are many points of similarity between Apollo of the Greeks and the sun-god of the Egyptians. The arrows of Apollo correspond to the beams of the sun. His smile was essential to the prosper­ity of the herdsmen and the tillers of the field. People dying without sickness were thought to be struck by the darts of Apol­lo. In the worship of Apollo at Thebes, the peasants are said to have thrust wood­en pegs into apples, to represent legs and horns, and to have offered these as an in­expensive substitute for sheep. A temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece was a noted place of resort. His priests were supposed to be entrusted by him with information as to the future. In art Apollo is repre­sented as youthful, vigorous, and graceful, carrying variously a bow, a quiver, a shep­herd's crook, a swan, an olive branch, or a tripod. He is represented frequently as playing while the Muses dance. The most famous statue of Apollo is that called the Belvedere, preserved in the Vatican Palace at Rome. It represents him just after his victory over the serpent, Python, the ter­ror of the people of Parnassus. In his Childe Harold Byron thus describes this statue:

The Lord of the unerring bow, 
The god of life, and poetry, and light, 
The Sun, in human limbs arrayed, and brow 
All radiant from his triumphs in the fight. 
The shaft has just been shot; the arrow bright 
With an immortal's vengeance; in his eye 
And nostril, beautiful disdain, and might, 
And majesty flash their full lightnings by, 
Developing in that one glance the Deity.

Gemcutting facts

   Gemcutting is the cutting and pol­ishing of precious stones in order to reveal their full beauty. In their natural state gems are usually dull lumps of rock. Until the 14th century they were mostly cut round or oval and polished without facets (flat surfaces). Opals, moonstones, and a few others are still cut in this way, but most of the transparent gems are cut in facets. Faceting causes the gem to reflect pinpoints of light from all its surfaces and gives the stone the brilliance that we admire.
   The main centers of the gemcutting industry are Antwerp, Belgium; Idar-Oberstein, Germany; and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. During World War II many European gemcutters went to England and the United States and established the industry in those countries.
   Diamonds are cut into rough shapes on a saw, consisting of a met­al disk, the edge of which is set with diamond dust. Since a diamond is the hardest of all minerals, it can be cut only with diamond. For other gems the wheel is usually made of Carborundum. To cut it to its final shape the gem is fastened with a strong cement on the end of a wood-en stick, called a lap or dop stick. The stone is then held against a revolving stone grinding wheel to grind the facets. The wheel is usually cooled by a small stream of water. For polishing the gem the wheel is covered with felt on which fine abrasive powder is rubbed. The finished gem is then ready to be set in a piece of jewelry.

What is Insulin?

   Insulin, the most effective preparation in the treatment of diabetes, was discovered by Doctors F. G. Banting and C. H. Best while collaborating in the physiological laboratories of the University of Toronto. The announcement by these specialists early in the fall of 1922 that they had discovered a preparation which would lower the sugar content of the blood immediately attracted the attention of physicians in the United States and Canada, and it is regarded as an epoch-making event in the history of medicine.
   Diabetes mellitus is a disease due to the failure of the digestive system properly to convert carbohydrates such as starch in the potato into simple sugars, of which glucose is the most common example. Under nor­mal conditions, these sugars are absorbed by the intestines and carried to the liver where much of the glucose is stored as glycogen. The other portion is carried to the muscles and other tissues, where some of it is expended in energy and some stored as glycogen. In diabetes mellitus, it is probable that the sugar absorbed from the intestines is not stored in the liver or used in the tissues, but that it circulates in excessive quantities in the blood and is excreted in the urine. The loss of this sugar to the system results in a voracious appetite, loss of weight, increasing weakness, melancholy, and finally coma and death. The disease has always been considered in­curable.
   Diabetes is caused by the failure of the pancreas to function since it is certain glands in this organ that supply the fluid necessary for the complete digestion of carbohydrates. Consequently any prepara­tion which will lower the sugar content of the blood is a useful remedy in diabetes. Heretofore, the treatment of this disease has consisted chiefly in restricting the of the patient.

DATES (CALENDAR)

   Each year has a number. To tell the date of a happening, we give the num­ber of the year. We say, for instance, that Columbus discovered America in 1492.
   The years are numbered from the year that was supposed to be the one in which Christ was born. To give the date of earlier happenings, we count back from the year I. We then put B.C. after the number. B.C" stands for "before Christ." The dates of happenings after the birth of Christ sometimes have A.D. before the number. The initials "A.D." stand for the Latin words anno Domini. These words mean "in the year of our Lord."
A.D. I was not actually the year when Christ was born. A mistake was made. Christ was born at least four years earlier. But when the mistake was discovered, it was too late to change the calendar.
   Our way of numbering years did not begin till several hundred years after Christ died. Before then there were other ways of telling the date.
   The Romans counted their years from the date of the founding of Rome. The Greeks counted their years from the date of the first Olympic games.
   In still earlier times years were often named instead of numbered. Another plan was to number the years in a ruler's reign. In the Bible one date is "in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia." "In the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel" is a Bible date, too. How well we would have to know lists of rulers if we now had dates like these!

Gaucho facts

   A gaucho is a cowboy of South Amer­ica. The term is of restricted application, being generally confined to Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. Llanero and vaquero are among the terms that designate the cowhand or herdsman elsewhere. The word Gaucho is perhaps derived from the Araucan word cauchu, which means "wanderer."
   In the early days, after the first settlers had arrived in South Ameri­ca, the Gauchos rode horses and hunted on the grassy pampas, or plains. The ancestry of the Gaucho was both Spanish and Indian. They were known as fearless, tough riders, and they spent most of their time on horseback. They played an important role in Argentina's fight for independence.
   In hunting cattle the Gauchos used bolas, strong cords with heavy balls at the ends. They threw the bolas at the hunted animal, usually entangling its legs. Cattle were hunted for hides and tallow. The Gauchos ate meat every day and drank mate, a sort of tea, which they sipped with a straw from a hollowed gourd. Hides served as clothing and shelter. The wide saddle could be spread out as a bed, and the poncho served as coat and blanket. The songs sung by the fearless Gauchos have served to reflect the hard and lonely life they lived on the vast pampas.
   Gradually the pampas were settled by many people who developed large farms and estates. The picturesque Gauchos began to disappear. Instead of being nomadic, they started to live in adobe huts. There is a Gaucho theater in Buenos Aires and a Gaucho literature. However, the nomadic Gaucho life is generally found only in song and legend.

Gemini constellation

GEMINI, or the Twins, is a northern constellation of the zodiac lying between Cancer and Taurus to the northeast of Orion. It is visible in the evening sky from mid northern latitudes between December and May. Its most interesting feature is a pair of brilliant stars. Castor and Pollux. Pollux is of first magnitude: Castor, of second magnitude.

Gemini, the twins, have long been
 identified in legend as Castor and Pollux,
twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. Castor
was famed for his horsenmanship and
Pollux for his skill as a soldier. Roman
Soldiers believed they were led to victory
by Castor and Pollux. 

What is horticulture?

   Horticulture, the cultivation of a garden. The term has outgrown its original limits and is now to be distinguished from agriculture only in a general way. The latter has to do with field crops. Bailey, the highest American authority, recognizes four branches of horticulture, namely: fruit growing or pomology, relating to the care of orchards; vegetable gardening f or the home or market; floriculture, the raising of flowers, and ornamental plants; and landscape gardening. About 25,000 species of plants come within the range of Ameri­can horticulture. About one-tenth of these are native. Our grapes, raspberries, dewberries, blackberries, mulberries, cranberries, some of our gooseberries, and several of our plums and apples have been developed from American varieties. Pumpkins, beans, and corn were raised by the Indians before the coming of the European men.

Atlas (mythology)

   Atlas, in Grecian mythology, one of the Titans. He was the son of Japetus and Clymene, and married Pleione, daugh­ter of Oceanus. The details of the myth vary greatly. According to Hesiod, Atlas took part in the Titan War. The victo­rious Zeus condemned him to stand at the western extremity of the earth, and sup­port the sky on his shoulders and hands. Hawthorne retells the story in The Won­der Book. While searching for the golden apples of the Hesperides, Hercules came to Atlas, who offered to get the apples if Hercules would only relieve him of his burden. This Hercules agreed to do. But Atlas, although he brought the apples, as he had promised, was unwilling to resume his task. Hercules cunningly appeared to submit; but he asked Atlas to hold the sky just a minute, that he might assume a more comfortable position. Atlas innocently con­sented. Hercules seized his golden apples and escaped. Another story is that Atlas was a rich king, living in that part of the earth where the sun goes down. He was larger than all other men. Perseus, after the slaughter of Medusa, paused for rest and food in the kingdom of Atlas. The king, fearing that he would be robbed of the golden apples in his garden, which were his special pride, refused to receive the guest. Perseus, turning away his own face, held up the Gorgon's head, which he carried with him. This possessed the same power in death that it had had in life, and Atlas was changed into stone. His beard and hair became forests; his shoulders, huge cliffs; his head a summit. Upon the mountain thus formed from his great bulk, it pleased the gods to rest the sky.

Theaters

Amphitheater

   People have enjoyed going to see plays and entertainment since the earliest times. In ancient Greece and Rome, performances were given in great open-air arenas, or amphitheaters. In an­cient Japan the no plays were popular entertainment.
   During the Middle Ages, sacred stories and plays with Christian themes—called morality plays— were performed in or near churches. By the time of the Renaissance, special houses were built for the performances, and these buildings came to be known as theaters.
   Perhaps the most famous theater in history was the one built in the late 1500's on the south bank of the Thames River, across from London. This octagon-shaped theater was called the Globe. Here most of William Shakespeare's plays had their earliest performances.

Locomotion in Plants

Most plants do not move from place to place. This is one of the main ways one can tell a plant from an animal. A few of the simple one-celled plants are able to swim or crawl. Nevertheless they are still called plants. Plants are able to bend or turn in different directions. This helps the plant get the things it needs to live.

There are two kinds of movements that stationary plants exhibit. Some movements are due to unequal growth rates in cells and are called tropisms. Plants respond in the direction of growth to the direction of the stimulus. If the parts of the plant turn toward the stimulus this is a positive re­sponse, while moving away is a negative response. Stems and leaves turn toward the light but roots grow away from it. Roots grow with the pull of gravity while stems grow up and away from the earth.

Gentile da Fabriano

   Gentile da Fabriano was an Italian painter. Born Gentile di Niccoló di Giovanni Massio, at Fabriano, Italy, about 1370. Died Rome, Italy, 1427.
   Gentile da Fabriano was the first important artist of the richly decorative Umbrian school of painting, which developed in Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. Gentile's works are distinguished by their elegant and picturesque style, luxurious color, and poetic feeling. Of his paintings that have survived, the most famous is The Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy), with its rich display of pageantry. Most of the paintings and frescoes that Gentile made for churches and palaces in Italy have not been preserved. However, his works had a strong influence on other Italian painters. A fine example of his work on display in the United States is the Madonna and Child in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The Adoration of the Magi by Gentile da Fabriano

Hour facts

HOUR is an interval of time. It consists of 60 minutes. A day, from midnight to midnight, has 24 hours. Every nation regulates its activities according to the hour. But people did not begin to use hours to mark uniform periods of a day until the 1300's, when the mechanical clock was invented.

The ancient Romans used the hour to note a point of time, such as sunrise and sunset. They later added the hour of noon. At the beginning of the Christian era, the Romans divided the hours of daylight into five periods, which they marked on their sundials. In a.d. 605, the Christian church named the seven canonical hours, or hours of prayer. They were (1) matins (morning) and lauds (praise), (2) prime (first), (3) tierce (third), (4) sext (sixth), (5) nones (ninth), (6) vespers (evening), and (7) complin (complete). These hours marked only periods of daylight, beginning at 6 a.m. The nights were sometimes divided into watches, which marked the times when guards reported for duty or were changed. The length of the hour varied with the season. The winter hours were shorter than the summer hours, because there was less daylight during the winter.

What is interference?

   Interference is a term used in physics for the phenomenon resulting from the combination of waves differing in phase. If two stones are thrown into water, the meeting of the concentric waves produces interference. A train of waves, set up in a rope by moving it up and down, meeting earlier ones reflected from the fixed end, produces interference, resulting in nodes and loops if properly timed. Two sound waves of equal length and intensity meeting in opposite phase may result in total silence, as in certain directions near a vibrating tuning fork. The interference of sound waves of different lengths gives rise to the familiar "beats" as when C and D on a piano are struck at the same time. It is in light, however, that the most interesting results of interference occur. A famil­iar example is in the color of a soap film, oil on water, or cracks in ice. The light, upon striking the thin surface is partly reflected while a part enters and is reflected from the second surface. These meet in the eye at slightly differing phases, producing color which varies with the thickness of the film. Interference is of the greatest scientific importance, for as a result of this phenomenon mainly, was the wave theory of light established.

Dates (fruit)

For thousands of years dates have been one of the chief foods of the people in the dry lands near the Mediterranean Sea. They are the fruit of palm trees like those in the pictures.

The people in the lands where date palms grow say that these trees must keep their feet wet and their heads dry. The trees need water but they have to have bright sun-shine, too. They grow well in the irrigated lands near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Dates are the chief crop in the oases of the Sahara. And millions of date palms grow along the Nile in Egypt.

From these hot, dry regions near the Mediterranean the date palm has been carried to other regions. There are date orchards in California and Arizona.

Date palms produce one crop a year. A healthy tree bears several clusters. A big cluster may weigh as much as 40 pounds. Dates are red or yellow before they are ripe. Ripe dates are purple.

When a tree is young, its dates are easy to gather. But as it gets older it grows tall. Gathering the dates from a palm 100 feet tall is not easy.

Not all date palms bear dates. Some— the male trees—furnish only pollen. The ones that bear the dates are the female trees. Before dates will form, pollen from the flowers of the male trees must reach the flowers of the female trees. In the beginning date palms had to depend on the wind to carry their pollen. But long ago date growers found a way of making sure that pollen would reach the flowers of the fe­male tree. They gathered bunches of pollen-bearing flowers and tied them to the clusters of flowers of the female tree.
Dates can be dried easily. They keep very well. Many people have never seen fresh dates. But dried dates are in the markets almost everywhere.

Baucis and Philemon (mythology)

   Baucis and Philemon, in Greek mythology, an aged couple of Phrygia. The story runs that Zeus and Hermes were once traveling in disguise through the country. In their weariness they sought rest and refreshment, but were turned from every door until they reached Philemon's cottage. He received the strangers hospitably, while Baucis prepared the very best meal her poverty permitted. When the repast was ended the visitors disclosed their identity. They punished the inhospitable people by sinking the entire country until only a lake was to be seen. Philemon's cottage, how­ever, remained standing, but was changed into a beautiful temple, of which he and his wife were appointed keepers. Then the gods offered to grant any request the old people might make. After consulting together, Baucis and Philemon requested only that they might die, as they had lived, together. The request was granted. They lived to be very old and then were changed at the same moment into two trees stand­ing before the door of the temple.
   The Roman Ovid has written a poem entitled Baucis and Philemon of which Dryden has made a translation. Goethe also wrote a poem having the same title. Swift has treated the subject in burlesque style, representing the cottage as changed into a church, of which Philemon be­comes parson.
   The groaning chair began to crawl, Like a huge snail, along the wall: There stuck aloft in public view, And, with small change, a pulpit grew, A bedstead of the antique mode, Compact of timber many a load, Such as our ancestors did use, Was metamorphosed into pews, Which still their ancient nature keep By lodging folks disposed to sleep.
   The names of Baucis and Philemon are of frequent occurrence, in literature and conversation, to designate loving and faithful married people.

Matthias Grünewald

 MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, real name Mathis Gohart Nithart, c. 1465-1528, was a German painter, born in Würzburg. He became court painter to the archbishop of Mainz in 1508 and later to Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg. but was won over to Luther and discharged in 1525. Among his earliest extant works are "Flagellation" (1503) and "Christ Mocked" (1509). but his masterpiece is the "Isenheim Altar (1510-14) at Colmar. Although typical of early German painting in their linear realism and intensity of agonizing emotion. Grünewald's paintings fore-shadow Italian influence in their strong light and shade composition, recreation of space, and theatrical poses.

Grünewald's Isenheim Altar

Igor Stravinsky

 Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky (1882-),was a  Russian-American composer, born in Oranienbaum, near St. Petersburg, and trained in composition and orchestration under the Russian composer Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. Stravinsky's early works are conventional in thematic material and treatment; they include his First Symphony (1905-07); Le Faune et la Bergére ("The Faun and the Shepherdess", 1908), a group of songs for mezzo-soprano and orchestra; and Feux d'Ar­tífice ("Fireworks", 1908), celebrating the marriage of Rimski-Korsakov's daughter. An event which largely determined the future course of Stravinsky's artistic development was his meeting about 1908 with the eminent Russian ballet producer Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev. The ballets L'Oiseau de Feu ("The Fire Bird", 1910), Petrouchka (1911), and Le Sacre du Printemps ("The Sacred Rites of Spring", 1913), which Stravinsky composed for Diaghilev, are strikingly origi­nal in orchestration. The last two works in particular are revolutionary in their technical innovations, both of rhythm and tonality.

Cultural life in the Middle Ages

   The cultural lite of the Middle Ages was deeply marked by the Christian faith. The centers of cul­tural life were the cities, and their focal points were their cathedrals, like the one at Reims in France and Notre Dame at Paris (lower far right). Their soaring arches were intended to lift one's thoughts and aspirations heavenward. Stained-glass Windows seen from within and statuary carved on their walls and doors told stories from the Old and New Testaments. Such pictorial representations of familiar stories could be under-stood by the faithful, who generally could not read.
   For those who could read, there were exciting new works of literature, written in the vernacular. In English, there was Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In Italian, there was Dante's Divine Comedy. Its last section, Paradise, tells of Dante's journey and that of his beloved Beatrice through heaven. For those seeking higher learning, there were great centers like the medieval University of Paris, run for young scholars under the direction of the Church.

Who was Saint George?

   Saint George was a Christian martyr and patron saint of England. Died probably Lydda, Palestine (now Israel) about 303 A.D. Feast Day, April 23.
   St. George has no authentic history, and many of the heroic deeds attributed to him are fictitious. However, his martyrdom, suffered under the rule of the emperor Diocletian, was recognized by the Roman Catholic Church in 495 A.D. In the Orthodox Eastern Church, St. George is classed among the greatest of the Christian martyrs.
   An Anglo-Saxon translation of the legendary feats of St. George introduced him to England in the 8th century. His popularity grew during the Crusades, when stories were told of his assisting Christians in battle. By the 14th century the emblem of St. George, a red cross on a white background, was worn by English soldiers, and it was later incorporated into the English flag. During the reign of Edward III, from 1327 to 1377, St. George was made the patron saint of England and principal patron of the Order of the Garter. In 1415 his feast day was declared a major day of religious devotion.
   The story of St. George and the dragon was popularized in the 12th century. The Golden Legend compiled by Jacobus de Voragine, tells of George, a knight, passing through Selena, Libya, where a dragon was terrorizing the population. He attacked the dragon, which was about to consume the king's daughter, speared it with his lance, and, tying the princess' girdle around the dragon's neck, led the dragon into town. George declined all reward and asked only that the population accept Christianity, be baptized, and render charity to the poor.

The Irish Famine

   The Irish Famine was a calamitous scarcity of food that overtook Ireland in 1846. The population of Ireland at the beginning of the year was about 8,000,000. The rural population was dependent largely upon the potato crop for food. Sodden weather brought a blight upon the potato fields in the autumn of 1845 and again in 1846. An appeal for help in food for starving Ireland went out and all Christendom re­sponded. Ship after ship was dispatched from the American shores. Parliament voted sum after sum, but such were the delays of transportation and of distribution in those days that 2,000,000 men, women, and children died before food could reach them. Many thousands, especially the young and vigorous, tramped to seaports and got away. A million emigrants left Ireland for New York during the next four years—the beginning of the great Irish immigration to America.

Epiphyte plants

Bromeliad

   Green plants must have sunshine. Without it they cannot make the food they need. Some plants get sunshine by perching high on other plants or hanging from them. Such plants are called "epiphytes." This name means "upon plants." Another name for epiphytes is "air plants."
   Green plants must have water, too. Most land plants get the water they need from the ground. Epiphytes cannot do so. They must get the water they need from rain or dew. Some of them have air roots that soak up water like blotting paper. Some take in water through their stems. Others take it in through their leaves. Some have stiff leaves that form rain barrels. The barrels hold the water till the leaves can soak it up.
   In the jungles near the equator, trees grow so close together that it is hard for small plants to get any sunshine. Epiphytes are common there. Among them are orchids and other plants with gorgeous flowers. Stories of ancient times tell of wonderful hanging gardens built by one of the kings of Babylon. Epiphytes form nat­ural hanging gardens in the jungles.
   One of the common epiphytes in southern United States is long moss, or Spanish moss. It hangs down in festoons from tree branches. Sometimes, instead of growing on another plant, it trails down from telephone wires.
   In regions that have cold winters or long periods of dry weather there are not many epiphytes. Those that do grow in such places are mostly small plants such as lichens.
   Epiphytes do not take any water or food from the plants they grow on. They harm these plants only a little if at all. The only help epiphytes get from other plants is to be lifted up into the sunshine.

Calliope (mythology)

   Calliope, in Greek my­thology, the muse of epic poetry. She was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of Memory, and the mother of Orpheus. Calliope presided over elo­quence. She was represented wearing a crown of laurel, holding in one hand a trumpet, in the other an epic poem. The literal meaning of the name Calliope is beautiful voiced, whence the name of the musical instrument beloved of the circus goer.

Calliope

What is Group Psychotherapy?

   Group Psychotherapy is an indirect method of treating maladjustment or mental illness by utilizing the wish to imitate and to belong. Group discussion of common disturbances enables the patient to develop insight without the feeling of exclusiveness, and encourages effort to overcome malad­justment. Group psychotherapy in the treatment of children stimulates the development of social drives.
   It helps them overcome asocial or antisocial tendencies by guiding them in the learning of patterns of behavior which provide security for the individual within the framework of the social group.

Johann Strauss II

J. Strauss II (1825-1899)

   Johann Strauss II was an Austrian composer and orchestral conductor, son of Johann Strauss, born in Vienna, and educated there at the Gymnasium and the Polytechnic Institute. Because his father did not wish him to have a musical career, he worked for a period after completing his formal education
as a bank clerk. However, he secretly studied the violin and musical composition. In 1844 he organized and appeared as conductor of his own orchestra. His repertoire included many of his own waltz compositions, and the orches­tra soon rivaled his father's in popularity.
   After the death (1849) of his father the younger Strauss, uniting the two musical organizations, began a series of successful European tours. Relinquishing leadership of the orchestra in 1862 to his brothers Josef (1827-70) and Eduard (1835-1916), he devoted most of his energy thereafter to composing. He took up the baton again in 1867, when he appeared as a guest conductor in England, France, and Italy; in 1872 he conducted concerts in Boston, Mass., and in New York City. Strauss' many beautiful waltzes earned him the title "Waltz King". Among the best-known are "The Blue Danube" (1867) and "Tales from the Vienna Woods" (1868). His com­positions, totaling more than 400, include a number of operettas, of which Die Fledermaus (1874; Eng., The Bat) and Der Zigeunerbaron (1885 ; Eng., The Gypsy Baron) achieved lasting popularity.

Science during the Middle Ages

   There was little scientific progress during the Mid­dle Ages. Medieval thinking was deductive. That is, an idea was taken from an authority, usually the Bible, accepted as true, and used as a basis for reasoning. Classical writings, like those of Galen and Ptolemy, formed the basis of much medieval science.
   There were some important technological advances, notably the invention of the plow, the windmill, the clock, and eyeglasses. However, there were no attempts to increase knowledge by observing nature more closely, and there were few significant advances in scientific theory. It was left to the Arabs to preserve the great accomplishments of Hellenistic science. Only two subjects received serious attention in the West: mathematics, which was abstract, and optics (the study of light), because God's influence was thought to be carried by light. In these subjects some important work was done, especially in the 1200's, 1300's, and 1400's. However, it was not until the following century that a major interest in science reappeared and led to vast changes in the understanding of the physical world.

How is Plywood made?

   Plywood is made by gluing wide thin slices, or layers, of wood together in order to make a strong wide board.
   Each layer, or ply, is peeled from a log and so arranged that the grain will run at right angles to that of the layer above and below it. This keeps the wood from warping and splitting. The plies are glued together under pressure, either in a wet or dry state. Dry plies make a better plywood as the tendency toward shrinkage is reduced.
   Varieties of plywood called laminated and batten are made by having the veneers lie perpendicular to the outside layer. Plywood is always made with an odd number of veneers, as 3 ply, 5 ply, etc.
   Plywood is used where large, lightweight, strong panels are desired as in walls, doors, furniture, railroad cars, boats and boxes.
   If properly glued, plywood is very weatherproof.

Geoffrey of Monmouth

   Geoffrey of Monmouth was an English bishop and chronicler. Born probably in Monmouth, England, about 1100. Died in Llandaff, Wales, about 1154
   Geoffrey was the first writer to compile the ancient legends of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. They are contained in his principal work History of the Kings of Britain. The work was written in Latin, probably between 1130 and 1138. It recounts the lives of British kings from Brutus, the legendary great-grandson of Aeneas, to Cadwaladr, who died in 689 A. D.
   In writing his works, Geoffrey relied not only on earlier Latin histories and oral tradition, but also on his own imagination. Although his inadequacy as a historian has been proved, his work was widely accepted as fact until the 17th century. It was also the source for many poems, romances, and historical plays. Another work attributed to him is a Latin poem, The Life of Merlin. Geoffrey became a priest in later life, and he was made Bishop of St. Asaph in Wales in 1152.

Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini (1874-1926)

Harry Houdini was one of the greatest magicians of his time. His fame was due largely to the sensational and dangerous feats he performed. He was able to free himself from ropes, hand-cuffs, boxes that had been nailed shut, and many other kinds of restraint. He was often challenged to escape from something especially devised to hold him. Houdini accepted these challenges because of their publicity value, and he always succeeded in escaping.
Houdini claimed that his tricks could be explained so that anyone of normal intelligence could understand them. He had a thorough knowledge of his subject always prepared his magic carefully, and kept himself in the finest physical condition. Claims by spiritualists that they, and he, had supernatural powers made him angry. Houdini spent much of his life trying to protect the public from such frauds. He published the results of his investigations of their practices in A Magician Among the Spirits (1924).
Houdini's real name was Ehrich Weiss. He was Born the son of a rabbi in Budapest, Hungary. He took his stage name from Jean Eugène Robert Houdin (1805-1871), the great French magician, and later made Houdini his legal name.
As a boy, he joined a circus as a trapeze performer He soon took up magic, and, with his wife as his assistant, appeared in small theaters and dime museums throughout America. After he developed his escape type of magic, he performed in the largest theaters in the world. Houdini died of peritonitis.

What is Insurance?

   Insurance is the act or method of insuring or assuring against loss. The term is employed in various ways. It may and usually does refer to the system, of business by which a company or Corporation, called an insurance company, but sometimes an assurance company or society, guarantees the insured to a specified extent and under stipulated conditions against pecuniary loss arising from certain contingencies. Ii the contingency provided against be loss of or damage to property by fire or the efforts to extinguish fire, it is called fire insurance; if it be loss through death, it is life insurance; if by shipwreck or disaster at sea, it is known as marine insurance, and so on.

Elevator facts

   No one would ever want an office high in a skyscraper if he had to climb flights of stairs to reach it. No skyscrapers were built until after elevators were invented. The Empire State Building is the world's tallest skyscraper. It has several miles of elevator shafts.

   An elevator is a car that can be moved up and down a shaft from one floor to an-other. The car has cables fastened to it at the top. These cables go over pulleys at the top of the shaft. To the other end of these cables a weight is fastened. This weight weighs about as much as the ele­vator car and is called a "counterweight." The counterweight makes it easier to lift the car. A person waiting for an elevator often sees the counterweight move past. As the elevator goes up, the counterweight moves down. When the elevator goes down, the counterweight moves up.

   The earliest elevators were hydraulic. They were pushed up by water. Now most elevators are run by low-speed electric motors that operate the pulleys.

   Some elevators are automatic. The rider simply pushes a button as he enters the car, and the car goes to the floor he wants.

   If an elevator were to fall several floors, any people in it might be badly hurt. But there are special safety brakes to keep an elevator from falling.

   Escalators, or moving stairways, are taking the place of elevators in some buildings. They take up more room than elevators and are not so fast. They are not likely to take the place of elevators in tall skyscrapers.

Cassiopeia (mythology)

   Cassiopeia, in Greek mythology, an Ethiopian queen, wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda. Cas­siopeia was so proud of her daughter's beauty that she boasted that it surpassed that of the Nereids or sea-nymphs. The incensed nymphs begged Poseidon for ven­geance. In response to their prayer a deluge laid waste the dominions of Ce­pheus, and a fearful monster appeared on the coast to still further ravage the country. Cepheus, inquiring of the oracle, learned that only the sacrifice of the beau­tiful Andromeda would appease the wrath of the ocean dwellers. Andromeda, there­fore, was chained to a rock on the sea-coast to be devoured by the monster. While awaiting her horrible fate, she was seen by Perseus, flying homeward with Hermes' winged shoes, and carrying Me­dusa's head. Perseus dropped to earth, learned the troubles of Andromeda, slew the monster, and married the maiden. For a time the sea nymphs ceased to harass Cassiopeia. At her death, however, she was given a place among the stars, which angered them anew. Their only recourse was to cause her position in the heavens to be such that in revolving about the pole star, she should hang head downward half the time. This, perhaps, to teach her hu­mility. The constellation Cassiopeia is known as the Lady in her Chair. In charts of the constellations she is represented as a draped figure reclining in a chair and holding up both arms. There are fifty-five stars in the constellation, five of which, forming a capital W, are of the third magnitude. A new star appeared in the constellation in 1572. For a time it shone as brightly as Venus, then disappear­ed.

That starred Ethiope Queen that strove
To set her beauty's praise above
The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended.
—Milton.

What is Plutonium?

   Plu­tonium is the 94th element. It was discovered in 1940 by Glenn Seaborg. In its pure form it is a silvery-white metal and has chemical properties like those of tungsten.
  Plutonium is found in the uranium ore pitchblende in extremely small amounts. Man-made plutonium was first produced, however, by bombardment of the element uranium by atomic particles known as deuterons. Actually the element neptunium is formed first (93rd element), and a radioactive decay takes place to form plutonium. Plutonium is important in atomic energy because fission can occur when a neutron enters the plutonium nucleus.

Insomnia

   Insomnia, a word of Latin origin meaning "without sleep," or "sleeplessness."
   Insomnia is a symptom of various diseases, especially such as involve the nervous system. The cure consists in removing the cause. If one who is in apparent good health suffers from insomnia he must de­termine for himself whether his trouble is a result of indigestion, of too much excitement, too little exercise, or of other trespass of nature's laws. In general it may be said sleeping in the open air, and learning to relax in body and mind are the best reme­dies for sleeplessness.

What is a House in Astrology?

House in astrology means one of the 12 sections of the heavens. The heavenly bodies pass through each house every 24 hours. The houses are supposed to have specific influences on individuals. For example, one is the house of life, another is the house of fortune and riches. Other houses are for brethren, children, health, marriage, death, religion, enemies, dignities, parents and relatives, and friends and benefactors. Astrologers divide the heavens in two by a circle. The six houses above the circle are called ascendant, and the six houses below are descendant.

Houses chart

A Mariner's Astrolabe

The explorers of the 1500's sailed the oceans with only a few simple instruments to guide them. But with these, along with the stars and sun, they were able to navigate the world. They could plot and hold a course, measure their progress, and estimate their position in relation to land.
The astrolabe shown at the left was an instrument used to measure latitude. It has an outer edge divided into degrees, and a movable center bar with pointers on each end. Grasping the astrolabe by the ring at the top, the viewer sighted along the bar, rotating it until one of the pointers aimed at the sun. The figure at the other end indicated the correct latitude. This is the origin of the expression "shooting the sun."

Copernicus

   For centuries astronomers had believed in the theory stated by Ptolemy in the 100's A.D. This was the belief that the earth was the center of the universe and that the other planets and the sun moved around it. This theory is called the geocentric ("earth-centered") theory, from the Greek words ge, meaning "Earth," and kentron, meaning "center."
   In the 1500's a Pole named Nicholas Copernicus came across ancient writings arguing that the sun was the center of the universe. This was the heliocentric theory, from the Greek word helios, mean­ing "Sun." The ancient theory interested and excited Copernicus, and he began a long period of study and observation. He became convinced that all the known facts of astronomy of his time were best explained by the heliocentric theory. His conclusions were published in 1543 in a book that was entitled On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.
   The book of Copernicus caused little excitement at the time. Few people believed in the heliocentric theory. It seemed to contradict the evidence of the senses. Anyone could "see" that the Sun and planets moved around the Earth. Anyone could "feel" that the Earth was solid and not moving.
   Copernicus could not test and prove the helio­centric theory with the instruments or the mathe­matics available to him. Proof of the heliocentric theory had to wait for the work of two later scien­tists, a German named Kepler and an Italian named Galileo.

What is Hydrogen Peroxide?

   Hydrogen Peroxide is a compound resembling water in appearance, but having an atom more of oxygen in each molecule. Hydrogen di­oxide, as it is also called, is, chemically considered, more logical. This excess of oxygen is readily given up, and the vari­ous uses to which the peroxide is put depend upon this free oxygen. For in-stance, it is used as a bleaching agent particularly for animal products such as hair and feathers. The term "peroxide blonde" as applied to one with bleached hair, indicates one use of this compound. Its most extended use is as a common household antiseptic, for gargles, mouth washes, nasal douches, and for sores or ulcers in destroying pus or preventing its formation.

Andromeda (mythology)

   Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, monarchs of Ethiopia. She was bound to a rock as an offering to a destroying monster that was ravishing the land, and was rescued by Perseus. After death she was placed in the sky as a constellation, where she is now surrounded by her husband, mother, Pegasus, and other demigods. The name has been given to a genus of shrubs belonging to the heath family. The stagger bush of North America, so called from the effects of its leaves when eaten by sheep, is an Andromeda.

Andromeda

What is Grotesque art?

   Grotesque is a style of capricious ornament, distinguished by the intermingling of figures, ani­mals, flowers, fruits, etc., from arabesque, which is confined to plant forms. This style was generally favored during the Renaissance, but soon became debased. The term is also applied to extravagant, whimsical, or absurd representations of the human figure.

Gargoyle - grotesque art