What is an arquebus?

soldier with arquebus

    The harquebus, or arquebus, was an early handgun. The weapon consisted of a short metal tube attached to a wooden stock (handle). A soldier loaded the weapon through the muzzle with black powder and a round bullet. A touchhole—a vent for carrying fire to the bullet and powder—led through the barrel to an open pan. The pan contained a small amount of powder. The gunner lit a slow-burning wick, called a match, held by an S-shaped serpentine. To fire the weapon, he pulled a trigger attached to the lower end of the serpentine. This applied the lighted match to the powder in the pan. This firing mechanism was called the matchlock.
    During the 1500's, gunsmiths developed another device, called the wheel lock. A cock held a pebble against a toothed wheel. The trigger spun the wheel, and set off sparks which ignited the powder in the pan. Wheel locks were safer to use than matchlocks, but much more expensive.
    The arquebus developed from the small hand cannon first used during the 1300's. The hand cannon was a heavy weapon and required supports. Foot soldiers in the 1500's preferred to use muskets. But the arque-bus survived for use by mounted troops in the early 1600's.

The hopscotch game

Hopscotch court

   Hopscotch is an old game for children, played today in almost all countries of the world. Different forms of the game have developed in different countries. The players need good bal¬ance in order to play well.
   In the United States, children play hopscotch on a marked surface, which is a sort of court. The players mark out a diagram, usually of 10 squares, on the ground or pavement. Each player has a small piece of wood or stone called a puck. In one form of the game, each player in turn tosses his puck into the first square. Then, he hops on one foot into the first square, kicks the puck back over the base line, and hops back out of the square. Then, he tosses the puck into the second square, hops into the first square, then into the second square. There, he kicks the puck back over the base line, then hops back through the first square and out. He then tosses the puck into the third square and continues until he has moved through all the squares, or until he misses. A player misses when he loses his balance, steps on a line, or drops his puck on a line or in a wrong square. When he misses, he loses his turn and must wait until the other players have had their turns. The first player to move his puck through all the squares wins. In England, players jump on both legs, holding the puck between their feet. The hopscotch court is shaped like a snail. In other forms, a puck is not used.

Who was Horatius Cocles?

Horatius

   Horatius was a legendary Roman hero. Thomas Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome relates the story of Horatius’ defense of the bridge over the Tiber River. When the last king of Rome was overthrown, he went to the Etruscans for help. The Etruscan army advanced to the bank of the Tiber River across from Rome. With two companions, Lartius and Herminius, Horatius held back the Etruscans while the Romans chopped down the bridge behind them. His friends ran back just in time, but Horatius remained alone until the bridge fell. Then, although he was wounded, he jumped into the rushing Tiber and swam to safety. In gratitude for Horatius’ bravery in saving the city, the people gave him many gifts and erected a statue in his honor.

Who was Leon Foucault?

Leon Foucault was a French physicist. Born Paris, France, Sept. 18, 1819. Died Paris, Feb. 11, 1868.
Foucault invented a type of pendulum, since named in his honor, which gives direct evidence of the rotation of the Earth. He also demonstrated the Earth's rotation by means of a gyroscope.
Some of Foucault's most important work was in the study of light. He improved the method of measuring the speed of light devised by the French physicist A. H. L. Fizeau. By means of this method he found that the speed of light is inversely proportional to the index of refraction of the medium through which the light is passing. His other discoveries included a polarizer for light and an improved method of making telescope mirrors. Foucault also studied the eddy currents, sometimes called Foucault currents, produced when a copper disk rotates in a magnetic field.
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What are the Lindisfarne Gospels?

Lindisfarne Gospel

   During the early Middle Ages, monks were among the few people in Europe who could read and write. Almost all books dating from this period were written out by hand in monastery workshops. In this age of great faith, the work that was copied most often was the Bible. The monks were painstakingly careful, for a manuscript containing the word of God was consid¬erad to be a sacred object whose visual beauty should reflect the importance of its contents. To glorify God, the monks illuminated, or illustrated, the pages with gold leaf and intricate designs.

   The Lindisfarne Gospels are among the most beautiful of the early illuminated books. They were produced around 700 a.d. in the monastery of Lindisfarne. Now called Holy Island, Lindisfarne is off the northeastern coast of England. It was one of England's early centers of learning.

   The image shown here is the beginning of the Gospel According to St. John, part of the New Testament. Interlaced ribbons, circles, and other designs decorate the border of the page and the words. The Latin words mean, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God."

Elephant ivory

Ivory bracelet

   Ivory is the smooth creamy-white material that makes up the tusks of an elephant. The tusks of other large mammals, such as the hippopotamus and the walrus, are also sometimes called ivory. Ivory is very porous, and each pore contains a waxy substance that helps produce a high polish. Since prehistoric times, ivory has been carved and modeled into decorative and useful objects. Billiard balls, piano keys, chess sets, and buttons are frequently made of ivory.
   In commerce, ivory is classified as hard or soft. Hard ivory is brittle and difficult to cut. It is obtained mostly from Asian elephants. Soft ivory, which is obtained chiefly from African elephants, is easier to cut than hard ivory. It does not readily crack, and it can withstand changes in temperature better than hard ivory can. A single elephant tusk may grow as long as 10 feet and weigh as much as 265 pounds. Such a tusk may yield a slab of ivory 2½ feet long, 6 inches wide, and ¾ inches thick.
   The material commonly called vegetable ivory is actually the hard bony seed of the ivory palm (Phytelephas macrocarpa), a tree native to South America. It is used as a substitute for true ivory in buttons, chess pieces, and other articles.

Who was Heinrich Hertz?

Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894)

   Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) was a noted German physicist. As a student at Berlin in 1880 he came under the influence of Helmholtz, which determined his later career. His work while here on the inertia exhibited by electricity was especially creditable. Two years were spent as a lecturer in physics at Kiel, then four years at Carlsruhe, when, in 1889, he became professor of physics at the University of Bonn. The year previous Hertz made known his immortal work on the relation between light and electricity which had been prophesied by Maxwell in his interpretation of the work of Faraday. In this Hertz demonstrated that electricity can be transmitted in elec¬tromagnetic waves with approximately the same velocity as light waves. This production and detection of electromagnetic waves by Hertz was the beginning of that experimentation which gave us wireless telegraphy and other electric wave phenomena.

   The hertz (Hz) was established in Hertz's honor in 1930 as a unit of measurement for frequency, a measurement of the number of times that a repeated event occurs per unit of time (also called "cycles per sec").

Who was Hesiod?

    Hesiod was a Greek poet about 800 B. C. It is uncertain whether Hesiod should be regarded as a poet next in age to Homer, or whether the name best represents a school of versifiers about the foot of Mt. Helicon. At all events, certain relics of poetry remain, notably Works and Days, in which the degeneracy of modern, that is to say, Hesiod's time is deplored.
    Five distinct ages in the downfall of man are recognized. First a Golden Age of patriarchal simplicity, during which peace and fruitfulness prevailed without labor, and spring was eternal. This age was governed by Cronus. Then came a Silver Age, a lawless age governed by Zeus, during which the year was first divided into seasons, and man was obliged to forsake his ease for sowing and reaping, and the surface of the earth was divided into private fields. In the Brazen Age, or reign of Poseidon, war and violence prevailed. The Heroic Age was the age of the Homeric traditions, the siege of Troy, the wanderings of Ulysses, and of great doings at Thebes. Ares reigned among the gods during the Heroic Age. The last, or Iron Age, in which Hesiod supposed himself to live, was an age in which justice and purity had fled the earth. Hades, the Roman Pluto, was in charge of this age. The times were so degenerate, vice so rampant, that any change at all could not fail to be for the better. Thus we see that despondent writers who depict the downfall of society are not confined to the twentieth-one century. Greek writers called Hesiod the poet of the helots; Homer, the poet of warriors.

Who were the Hesperides?

   Hesperides were the maidens who guarded the golden apples given by Gaea (Earth) to Hera on her marriage. The accounts of these maidens vary. Some mention three of them, others give four, and still others seven. Hesiod speaks of them as the daughters of Night. Other ac¬counts name Atlas as their father and Hesperis as their mother. Again the Hesperides are said to be the daughters of Hesperus. The garden where the golden apples grew was believed to be at the extreme western limit of the world. The maidens were aided by the hundred-headed dragon, Ladon. While fifty of his heads watched, the other fifty slept. Hercules was assigned the task of obtaining these apples as his twelfth labor.

Hesperides

Pneumonia causes

   Pneumonia, an infection of the lungs, can be caused by (1) the pneumococcus or certain other bacteria or (2) virases. Both types are infectious and can spread from person to person. Most peo¬ple carry the pneumococcus and other pneumonia-causing germs in their throats at all times, but when they are well and strong, the germs do no harm. When the body is weakened, resistance to the pneumonia germs is lowered, and the body cannot successfully fight against them. The time to be most on guard is just after an ordinary cold begins, especially the third and fourth day, and during and after an attack of influenza, whooping cough, or measles. Overexposure to cold after a great deal of sweating, and insufficient rest, also create conditions favorable for an attack of pneumonia.
   If the disease affects one or more lobes of the lung, it is called lobar pneumonia. When both lungs are affected, the lay person usually calls it "double pneumonia." The doctor terms it bilateral. Bronchopneumonia refers to pneumonía that is localized chiefly in or around the bronchial tubes. It is usually, but not necessarily, milder than lobar pneumonia.

The Louvre's Golden Forgery

    For seven years a priceless gold tiara held a prominent place in the Louvre. It had been found on the site of the town of Olbia, in southern Russia, and was inscribed in Greek: "The Senate and People of Olbia to the Great Invincible Saitaphernes." The Louvre paid 200,000 francs (about $40,000) for the tiara—and it went on display on April 1, 1896. It was in a remarkable state of preservation for an object believed to be 2,200 years old. And so it should have been—it had been made only a few months earlier.
    In 1895 Schapschelle Hochmann, a Rumanian wheat dealer, commissioned a goldsmith, Israel Rouchomovsky, to make a gold tiara in antique style. Hochmann paid Rouchomovsky 2,000 rubles (about $10,000) for the work, took the tiara, and carefully battered it to simulate age.
    The tiara might still be on display had not a Montmartre painter, known as Elina, falsely claimed to have created it. A friend of Roucho¬movsky who had seen the goldsmith fashioning the tiara would not allow an unknown artist to steal the glory, so he exposed the fraud.

Facts about hares (Leporidae)

A Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer

• The hare is a small, furry animal with long ears and long, powerful hind legs. 
• Hares belong to the hare and rabbit family, Leporidae.
• Hares are often mistaken for rabbits, but they are larger and usually have longer legs and ears than rabbits. 
• Hares do not dig burrows as do European rabbits. 
• Baby hares are born with their eyes already open and with a full coat of fur. Rabbits are naked and blind at birth. 
• Hares grow up to 25 inches long, and have brown, buff, gray, or white fur.
• Hares have short, bushy, white tails that are easy to see when they run. Hares have a split upper lip.
• Most hares mate by the time they are 6 months old and produce two or three litters a year. Each litter has from two to five young.
• Hares are most active in spring. Their excited actions suggested the phrase as mad as a March hare. 

What is a Harem?

   Harem is the part of the house which is set aside for the women in some Muslim countries. The word harem also refers to the women who live in it. It comes from an Arabic word meaning a sacred place.
   The women of the harem lead secluded lives. The only men they see are their husbands, fathers, and brothers. When they walk through the streets, their faces are heavily veiled. Within the harem, woman rules supreme. The women of a rich family spend their time in occupations which the men consider suitable.
   The idea of the harem did not begin with the Muslims. The ancient Babylonians and Persians had harems. So did some groups which allowed a man to have more than one wife. The harem has become identified with Muslim life, because the Koran permits Muslims to marry four wives and keep any number of concubines. But only wealthy men can afford harems. The most famous harem in the world was that of the former sultans of Turkey. Harems are disappearing in Muslim countries, although members of some of the ruling families still have them.

The Turkish bath by Ingres

Fairy Tales

"Once upon a time ..." is a phrase we all recognize from fairy tales we heard as children. These stories occur in every culture, and a number of themes are familiar to us all.
The Jataka Tales, ancient Indian stories taken from Buddhist writings, tell of animal and human kindness. Their theme is goodness contrasted with evil. The same theme underlies the story of Cinderella. Her fairy godmother represents good, and evil ¡s personified in the wicked step-mother and stepsisters. In the Chí¬nese version of this tale, the fairy god-mother's role is played by a talking fish, but the slipper, the prince, and the wedding are all there. In the Algonquin Indian version, the gods, rather than the prince, search for the true Cinderella. One collector of fairy tales estimates that there may be almost 300 different versions of the Cinderella story.
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Causes of Epilepsy

    In acquired epilepsy, or symptomatic epilepsy the cause is physical, such as a brain tumor or a wound or blow on the head. These injuries irrítate the brain and set off the abnormal electrical discharge. A cure may be achieved by an operation to remove the tumor or repair the injury.
    Ordinary epilepsy is also called genuine epilepsy or idiopathic epilepsy, which means cause unknown. This is the most common type, and it is what most people have in mind when they speak of epilepsy. It usually begins early in life. This type of epilepsy is not directly inherited, although it is generally believed that a predisposition or tendency to it may run in families. While the cause is still unknown, a great deal is known about it, especially in regard to treatment.

Vincent van Gogh

Self-portrait by van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) was a Dutch painter, born in Zundert, Brabant. From 16 to 22 he worked as an assistant for branches of the Goupil Galleries in The Hague, London, and Paris. Soon after his arrival in Paris he became interested in religion and in 1877 he began to study for the church. After a short period of instruction at the School for Missionaries in Brussels, van Gogh was sent as a missionary to the mining town of La Borinage in Belgium. In less than two years he was dismissed, because he gave everything he owned to the poor; an act which van Gogh considered true Christianity, but which the church did not. He found solace for his disappointment in theology by sketching the peasants of La Borinage amid their sordid surroundings, using the technique of Millet for his work. In 1880 he returned to The Hague to study under Mauve. By 1885 van Gogh had produced "The Potato Eaters," a powerful charcoal that showed his development from mere illustration to well-composed studies from nature. The same year he entered the Academy at Antwerp, but left in 1886 to join his brother, Theodore, in Paris. There he met the Impressionists and through their influence abandoned the dark browns of the Dutch school and adapted the Impressionists' clear, light colors to his own more intense shades.
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Alessandro Leopardi

   Alessandro Leopardi was an Italian sculptor: born in Venice in the last half of the 15th century; died there, about 1512. His earliest known work is the magnificent mausoleum of the Doge Andrea Vendramini in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo at Venice. Some of the figures are missing, two of which authorities agree are in the museum at Berlin. Leopardi was charged with forgery and banished from Ven¬ice in 1487, but the necessity for finishing the statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, begun by Verrocchio, caused the Senate to recall Leopardi in 1490. The pedestal of this work is his own creation and he cast the bronze statue. The bronze sockets for the three standards in the square of Saint Mark's were designed and cast by Leopardi, and he worked on the tomb of Cardinal Zeno at Saint Mark's in 1503-05, the tomb being finished by Pietro Lombardo. Among the works believed to be his but not fully verified are ‘Elijah in the Fiery Chariot’ in the Morgan collection, New York, a bronze relief; and the three bronze reliefs of the ‘Assumptipn of the Virgin’ in the Museo-Archeologico, Venice.

Who was Leonidas?

The 300

   Leonidas I, king of Sparta (died 480 B.C.), was a son of King Anaxandrides, and ascended the throne about 489 B.C. When Xerxes invaded Greece, the Greek Congress assigned to Leonidas the defence of the pass of Thermopylae. His force, according to Herodotus, amounted to over 6,000 men, of whom 300 were Spartans. After the Persians had made several vain attempts to force the pass, a Greek named Ephialtes betrayed to them a mountain path, by which Hydarnes led a body of Persians to attack Leonidas in the rear. Before this manoeuvre could be completed, Leonidas, dismissing most of his allies, undertook to hold the pass with a forlorn hope of 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans. Here they resisted the main body of Xerxes' army, being attacked both in front and rear. No quarter was given or taken and it was not until the entire Spartan and Thespian corps were wiped out, that the remaining small body of Thebans surrendered. Leonidas fell early in the action, and a desperate struggle afterward took place over his body which was rescued by the Greeks, but after the surrender Xerxes ordered the head cut off and the remains crucified. The details of the gallant resistance are lost in a maze of myths, but numerous writers have paid their tribute to Leonidas and the brave band betrayed at Thermopylae.

Leonidas statue

What is filibuster?

   In government, filibuster is a method of delaying or stopping action on a legislative issue by prolonged debate. It is a method used mainly in the U.S. Senate. A filibuster is usually organized by opponents of a measure, who hope that their long debate of the issue will "talk it to death." A filibuster is occasionally carried on by legislators who want to draw attention to a bill they think deserves more publicity. Most legislative bodies have rules limiting the amount of time an issue may be discussed, but in the U.S. Senate a long tradition of unlimited debate has made the filibuster possible. Since 1917 the Senate has had a cloture rule by which two-thirds of the Senators present can vote to end a debate.

What is a quadrilateral?

   Quadrilateral is the name given to a plane figure with four straight sides, that is, a four-sided polygon. A quadrilateral whose opposite sides lie parallel is a parallelogram. The opposite sides are also equal when they are parallel, and in that case, the opposite angles are equal, too. If the angles of a parallelogram are right angles, the figure is a rectangle. If the rectangle has equal sides, it is a square. The figure is a rhomboid if it is a parallelogram without right angles. When all the sides of a rhomboid are equal, it is a rhombus. The area, A, of any parallelogram with base b and altitude h is given in the formula A = bh.
   A trapezoid is a quadrilateral with one set of parallel sides of unequal length. The trapezoid is isosceles if the nonparallel sides are equal.

Quadrilaterals

Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

   Victor Hugo (1802-85) was a French author, the greatest of the French romantics. His first volumes of verse, Odes el Poésies Diverses, Odes et Ballades, and Les Orientales, are notable for the metrical skill and colorful diction that characterize all his works. The bizarre subjects of his poems foreshadowed the pronounced Romanticism for which he was soon to become celebrated.

   In the preface to Cromwell, 1828, a historical drama, Hugo issued his manifesto. He claimed that complete freedom from tradition and perfect individuality were essential to good literature, and in Hernani, 1830, he put his principles into practice. The unconventional nature of the verse and diction of this play caused a riot on its first night. Hugo went on to revolutionize prose in Notre Dame de Paris, 1831. Other historical plays, including Ruy Blas, followed; and meanwhile he was publishing numerous volumes of poetry, including Les Feuilles d'Automne, Chants du Crépuscule, 1835, and Les Rayons et les Ombres, 1840. In 1852 he was exiled for his political opinions. During this period, Les Chátiments, 1853, a satire, the Légende des Siécles, 1859, narrative poems, and many articles and pamphlets appeared. Les Miserables, es Travailleurs de la Mer, 1866, and l'Homme qui Rit, 1869, established his fame is a writer of prose romances. 

   In 1870 he returned to France, but of his later works, only d'étre Grandpére, 1877, is well known. Hugo's work was made immortal by his tremendons vitality. The color and warmth of his prose and the metrical skill and glowing diction of his poems have never been equaled in any language. He had an enormous influence on all the younger European poets of his day.

What is narcolepsy?

NARCOLEPSY (SLEEP ATTACKS)

Narcolepsy is a condition that usually makes its first appearance in the late teens. Its most characteristic symptom is what many victims rightly call sleep attacks because they are so overwhelming. Regardless of how well they have slept the night before, people with narcolepsy may experience many episodes of sleepiness during the day that may last fifteen minutes or so and cause them to fall asleep—even in the midst of a conversation or at the dinner table.

As many as 80 percent of victims have another symptom, called cataplexy. Some or many body muscles may become suddenly and briefly paralyzed when a strong emotion such as fear or anger is experienced.
In addition, some victims may experience visual or auditory hallucinations when falling asleep during the day or at night, and they may experi¬ence fleeting paralysis when they wake.
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Eczema

Eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, is manifested by a rash of "weeping" blisters. Later, the area may become dry and scaly. Eczema occurs most frequently in the bends of elbows and knees and on the face and neck. It is common in children, many of whom also have hay fever and asthma. Some children benefit when an allergenic food is found and removed from their diet.

Sir Frederick William Herschel

F. W. Herschel

   Sir Frederick William Herschel (1738-1822) was an English astronomer, born in Hanover, Germany. He went to England in 1757; became a teacher of music, organist and conductor. He continued his study of mathematics and astronomy and built bis own telescopes with which to study the heavens. 

   In 1781 he discovered the planet Uranus for which he became fa¬mous. Herschel then devoted all of his time to astronomy and with the help of his sister Caroline carried on important scientific explorations of the sky. 

   He set up a powerful telescope at Slough, 1789, that had a 48-inches mirror and a focal length of 40 ft. With this he explored beyond the solar system. Herschel dis¬covered 2,500 new nebulae as well as nebulous stars and planetary nebulae and also was the discoverer of the 6th and 7th satellites of Saturn. 

   His studies convinced him that the entire solar system moved through space and he determined a point toward which he thought it to be moving. Herschel died in Slough, his work being carried on by a son, Sir John Frederick William, who set up an observatory at the Cape of Good Hope.

What are galleons?

The Galleon was a 15th-16th century Spanish sailing vessel used in trade with the New World; large, top-heavy, square-rigged, having three masts, three or four decks, lofty sterns and bows; sterns made square and covered with carvings and ornaments; later bows and sterns re¬duced in size. Formerly the name was applied to Spanish ships of war that had three or four batteries of cannon. 130 of these ships took part in the Spanish Armada, but were too bulky to be effective.

Shih Huang Ti, the First Emperor of China

Shih Huang Ti

Shih Huang Ti (259-210 B.C.), is the name by which Prince Ching (or Cheng), the putative son of Chuang Siang Wang, ruler of the feudal State of Tsin, is known in Chinese history. In 246 b.c., when only thirteen, Shih Huang Ti succeeded to the throne of Tsin, then all but paramount, and remained for several years under the tutelage of a wily adventurer named Lü Puhwei, regarded by Chinese critics and historians as bis father. Under his advice the subjugation of the feudal princes, who still remained faithful to the house of Chow, was continued with vigor, and succeeded so well that in 221 B.C., the twenty-sixth year of his reign, the ruler declared himself the sole master of China, assuming the title Shih Huang Ti, or First Emperor. The feudal system was abolished, the whole country as it existed then was divided into thirty-six provinces, and Hien-yahg, near the present Singanfu, in Shensi, became his capital. He ordained, under pen¬alty of branding and four years' service on the Great Wall, that all books except those on agriculture. medicine, and divination be delivered up to be burned. Four and sisty scholars, who protested, alive. The emperor constructed roads and canals, erected many fine buildings, and, to protect the country from the inroads of the Huns and other barbarians, he constructed the Chinese Wall. 

What is a quadrant?

   Quadrant is an instrument used for measuring altitudes in navigation, surveying, and astronomy. The instrument gets its name from the mathematical quadrant, which consists of one-fourth of a circle. It is shaped like one quarter of a pie and has a scale marked on its curved edge. Another instrument, the sextant, has largely replaced it.

Quadrant

What is a quadrillion?

Quadrillion is a billion millions in the United States and France. One quadrillion is written with 15 zeros: 1,000,000,000,000,000. In Germany and other countries, a quadrillion has 24 zeros. .

Man and Plants

Man may be the most adaptable of all the animals on earth, but his adaptability cannot compare with the way in which plants will change to survive in a world controlled by men. When anyone who lives in a modern industrialised country comes face to face with a land plant, he can be almost certain that it is not entirely as nature would have it, but what man has made it. Only the plants in the oceans have lived and developed throughout time more or less untroubled by the ambitions of mankind.
When you look at a field of waving corn, it is not the original wild corn from the upland slopes of Asia Minor. It is a new species developed by selection and cross-fertilisation to produce a bigger grain for the feeding of men and their domestic animals. Even the grass of meadow and pasture is not the wild scrub of the tundra. It has grown from selected seed, cleaned of the interloping weed and the fungal pest.
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Pineapple

Pineapple (Ananas comosus)

    The fruit of the pineapple looks like a giant pine cone. It is native to northern South America. It still grows wild in Brazil. Hawaii leads in the production of this fruit. The fruit may weigh from one to eighteen pounds. Its tough fruit wall is such a protection that it can be shipped to many countries without damage.

    The pineapple is a tropical biennial in the monocotyledon group of flowering plants. The leaves, having very sharp points on the sides, form a rosette around a three-foot stem. The bloom is a bunch of small tightly packed flowers. This is topped by more leaves. The fruit that develops from this flower head is classified as multiple, having many ovaries and receptacles fused together. Since the pineapple fruit is usually seedless the plant must be propagated by other means. This is done by planting slips, suckers or the top cluster of leaves.

    Besides using this plant's fruit, man also makes textile products from piña cloth woven from the white, strong, fibers found in the leaves.

Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin (1888-1989)

    The American songwriter Irving Berlin helped define the modern American popular song. During his long career he wrote some 1,500 songs. Many—"Always," "Blue Skies," "Puttin' on the Ritz," and countless others—have become classics, recorded again and again by new generations of singers.

    Berlin was born Israel Baline in Tyumen, Russia, on May 11, 1888, the youngest of eight children. He moved with his family to New York City at the age of 5. He had barely begun school when his father died, and he sold newspapers and sang in the streets to help support his family. He learned to play piano by ear and began to compose melodies by trial and error. He became Irving Berlin when his first song was mistakenly credited to "I. Ber¬lin," and he decided to change his first name as well.

    In 1909, Berlin got a job writing lyrics for a music publisher; he became world famous two years later for writing "Alexander's Ragtime Band," which sold more than one million copies of sheet music. Berlin formed his own music company in 1919. During the 1920's the composer developed his unerring touch for ballads. In 1935 he wrote Top Hat, the first of many film scores. In 1939 he composed "God Bless America," which became one of the country's best-loved patriotic songs.

    Among Berlin's greatest successes was the song "White Christmas," which won an Academy Award in 1942 and became a mod¬ern Christmas carol. He also wrote hit Broadway musicals, notably Annie Get Your Gun (1946), with its rousing showstopper, "There's No Business Like Show Business."

    Berlin's last major work was the Broadway show Mr. President (1962). He died in New York City on September 22, 1989, at 101 years of age.

What are pinks (plant)?

    Pinks are popular plants in the flower garden. There are many kinds of these charming garden plants. Some of the different kinds are the carnation, pink, baby's-breath, bouncing bet, and chickweed. Most pinks are hardy perennials. Members of the pink family have opposite leaves and swollen joints (nodes). The flowers are usually lovely and sometimes fragrant too. Pinks are easily raised in most garden soils.
Pinks properly belong to the genus Dianthus, but the name is used for many other plants such as helonias, phlox, spigelia, Limonium lobelia, and silene in genus Lychnis. Some of the pinks in genus Dianthus are the sweet William, which have dense, roundish flower clusters; the maiden pinks, which make turf-like mats and have small flowers; the grass pinks, which are low, fragrant, tufted plants.

Dianthus flower

What is the pineal gland?

    The pineal gland is located in the lower central part of the brain. It may be all that remains of a third eye that ancestors of vertebrates (animals with backbones) once had. An ancient-type lizard in New Zealand (sphenodon) has a light-sensitive place on its head above the pineal body. Scientists now know that the pineal is a light-sensitive gland that makes a hormone.
    The pineal gland is rich in serotonin, a substance secreted by the nervous system. Recently a new hormone, melatonin, and an enzyme found only in the pineal were isolated. Research showed that the enzyme acted on serotonin to form melatonin, Mela¬tonin acts on the sex glands to inhibit (stop) the sexual cycle.
    Light controls the amount of hormone produced through the sympathetic nervous system. The concentration of melatonin shows a 24-hour rhythm, decreasing during the day and increasing at night.

Pineal gland

Hector Berlioz

    Louis-Hector Berlioz was an innovative French composer, born near Grenoble, France, on December 11, 1803. Because of pressure from his father, a physician, Hector went to Paris in 1821 to enroll in medical school. While there he attended many opera perfor¬mances. He also studied music at the Paris Conservatory.

    In 1824 the young student abandoned med¬ical studies but continued to compose music. When his parents refused to support him, Hec¬tor taught music lessons and wrote articles. He completed his most individual work, Symphonie fantastique, in 1830. That year he also won a prestigious music prize that required him to live in Italy.

    After his return to Paris in 1832, Berlioz met the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, whom he married the following year. Because his unusual compositions failed to win any recog-nicion in France, Berlioz was forced to earn a living as a music librarían and by writing essays and music criticism.

    Finally, Berlioz did begin to win fame outside France. In 1843 he made a triumphant tour of Germany, conducting his own compo¬sitions. He had equally successful tours to Austria, Hungary, Russia, and England.

    In Paris, though, his genius continued to go unrecognized. His great opera, The Trojans at Carthage, was only a partial success at its first performance in 1863. Discouraged, Berlioz stopped composing and writing. He died in Paris on March 8, 1869.

    Since then his reputation has steadily grown. Berlioz is now regarded as one of the world's foremost composers, one of the first great orchestral conductors, and a very skilled writer on musical topics.

The Wayward Red Planet —the Mars problem

   The Red Planet and the motions challenged every astronomer from antiquity onward. By the late 1500s, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) had amassed decades of observations of Mars and the other planets. His observations were by far the most accurate to date, yet he failed to weld them into a coherent system of the universe. Then Tycho hired a young Austrian mathematician-astronomer named Johannes Kepler (1571 -1630) and put him to work on the orbit of Mars. When Tycho died shortly afterward, Kepler inherited his position and, more importantly, his observations.
   Kepler battled with Mars for much of a decade, finally emerging with the, first two of his three laws of planetary motion. These include the conclusion that planets orbit in ellipses, with the Sun at one focus. (Every prior astronomer had insisted on combinations of circles.)
   Kepler's work paved the way for Isaac Newton's Principia (1687), the cornerstone of all modern physical science.

Retrograde motion of Mars

What is an Ignis Fatuus?

   Ignis Fatuus is a flame or light which on summer and autumn nights is seen sometimes to hover over swamps, stagnant waters, or graveyards. Many explanations have been given for these marsh lights, and it is quite possible that several different causes result in the quite varied appearance of the phenomena. Luminous insects, or phosphorescence of decaying vegetable matter may account in some cases for the light. Another theory is that phosphoretted hydrogen, a gas which is spontaneously inflammable, is produced where there is decaying animal matter and that its ignition causes the flames.
   Ignis fatuus is known sometimes as Will-o'-the-wisp or Jack-o'-lantern. It was regarded formerly with awe by the superstitious who had many stories to tell of travelers decoyed to danger and death by evil spirits whose torches made these strange lights.
   The words ignis fatuus are Latin and mean foolish fires. Figuratively the term is used to designate the foolish impulses and light motives which lead many people astray by their resemblance to something worth while.

Ignis fatuus

How did man establish the 24-hour day?

   The ancient Egyptians established the 24-hour day. They based this system on nightly observations of a series of 36 stars (called decan stars), which rose and set in the sky at 40 to 60 minute intervals. For ten days, one particular star would be the first to appear in the sky, rising a little later each night until a different decan star would be the first to rise. "Hours" (although they varied between 40- and 60-minute periods) were marked nightly by the appearance of each new decan in the sky. Depending on the sea-son, between 12 and 18 decans would be visible throughout a night. The number of and the particular decans visible varied with the Earth's changing position along its orbit. The official designation of the hours came at midsummer, when only 12 decans, including the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, were visible. This event coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile River, a crucial event in the lives of valley-dwellers. Thus the night was divided into 12 equal parts. The daylight hours, which also numbered 12, were marked by a sundial, a notched, flat stick attached to a crossbar. The crossbar cast a shadow on successive notches as the day progressed. The combination of the 12 hours each of daylight and darkness resulted in the 24-hour day.

Decan stars

The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

COTTON OR WOOL?

   Half plant, half animal, the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary stems from the Middle Ages—a traveler's tale from the Far East. Its full name: Planta Tartarica Barometz—the word "barometz being the Tartar name for "lamb."
The fruit of this animal-tree was cotton, but European travelers, who knew nothing of cotton at that time, took it for wool—a fabric they did know.
   Wool, they reasoned, came from sheep. So arose the legend of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary. The cotton was considered to be the fleece of lambs that grew from the tree and were attached to it by their navels.
It was said that the plant bent to let the lambs graze and that when they had eaten all the grass around, the lambs and the plant died.

The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

What makes geysers?

A geyser is a special kind of spring. Water squirts out of it in jerks, instead of coming in a steady flow, and geyser water is boiling hot.
Hot springs can exist where hot liquid rock is trapped inside solid rock, deep underground. But two special things are needed before a hot spring can become a geyser: (1) underground cavities in which water can collect; and (2) a narrow tube leading from the cavities up to the surface.
Here is how a geyser works. Water collects in the cavities. Heat from the liquid rock far below reaches this water and makes it boiling hot. But it can't behave the way ordinary boiling water behaves in a pan on the stove. In the pan, boiling hot water turns to steam; the steam rises from the bottom, and flies off into the air. But the hot water in the geyser cavity can't escape so easily. Remember, there is only a long narrow tube leading to the air outside. The cold water in it acts somewhat like a huge cork in a bottle. The steam can't escape because of the cork. The temperature of the water goes up and up. Still it can't let off steam. Gradually tremendous pressure builds up way down inside the cavity.
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Who was Émile Verhaeren?

Émile Verhaeren

   Émile Verhaeren was a Belgian poet and dramatist, born in East Flanders in 1855. His work is considered to rank with that of Maeterlinck and is largely of the natural style set in a Flemish background. He wrote in French but many of his works have been translated. Toute la Flandre, a five-volume publication, was the most outstanding of his early efforts while Les Soirs, Les Débacles, and Les Flambeaux noirs were written during and after his travels in western Europe. This period of his life, characterized by un-rest and meditation, is reflected in the latter writings. He also wrote Les Campagnes hallucinées, Les Villes tentaculaires, and Les Villages illusoires, describing the social problems of urban life, and a trilogy of love poems, Les Heures claires, Les Heures de l'après-midi, and Les Heures du soir. Among his plays are Les'Aubes and Le Cloítre. Before his death in 1916 he wrote La Belgique sanglante (Belgium in Agony), a story of the World War.

Paul Verlaine

Verlaine

   Paul Verlaine was a French poet, born in 1844. He became a figure in the Parisian half-world of struggling artists and writers. His life was one of poverty, tragedy, and disappointment. After an unfortunate marriage, he toured Belgium and England with his young protege, Rimbaud. While traveling in Belgium, Verlaine accidentally shot and wounded his companion and was imprisoned for two years. During his incarceration, the Roman Catholic faith of his youth was brought back to him. Consequently the deep religious feeling he experienced resulted in the composition of his poem, Sagesse (1881). In 1874 first appeared his Romances sans Paroles, which identified him as one of the greatest pioneers of the symbolist school. The poems of Verlaine are characterized by his keen observation and fine interpretation of common events in life. The haunting and simple meter and rhyme of his poetry provides suitable accompaniment to its morbid and melancholy nature. Although Verlaine was a prominent decadent, his works are distinguished more by their childlike frankness than by their sensuality and emotionalism. The latter part of his life was spent in dissipation and degradation. The beauty of his phraseology is usually lost in translations. The most famous of his later works are Jadis et naguére (1884), and Parallélement (1889). Verlaine died in 1896.

What is Logistics?

Logistics is the science of providing and maintaining men, equipment, and supplies for military operations.
Modern armies armed with complex weapons and equipment require tremendous logistical effort to put them into battle and keep them there. For example, almost half of the total strength of the United States Army in World War II had to provide logistic support for the other half that came in direct contact with the enemy. One out of 4 men in a combat division performed duties related to logistics, such as supply and administration.
The extraordinary task of supplying an army can be imagined by comparing the amounts of artillery ammunition fired in World War I and in the American Civil War. During one average month of World War I, the British and French armies fired more than twice as much artillery ammunition as did the Union army during the entire four years of the Civil War.
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Who is known as the "French Newton"?

Laplace

French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827) made several important contributions to science in general and astronomy in partic¬ular. Together with chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, Laplace founded the science of thermochemistry, the science dealing with the interrelationship of heat and chemical interactions. In addition, Laplace applied Newtonian calculus in his experiments with the forces acting be¬tween particles of ordinary matter, light, heat, and electricity. By examining their results, Laplace and his colleagues were able to determine equations explaining the re-fraction of light, the conduction of heat, the flexibility of solid objects, and the distribution of electricity on conductors. In the field of astronomy, Laplace was primarily interested in the movements of the moon and the planets. He studied their gravitational effect on one another and published his results over a twenty-five-year period beginning in 1799 in a five-volume book called Traite de Méchanique Celeste (Celestial Me¬chanics). Since his work expanded on the gravitational theories of Englishman Isaac Newton, Laplace earned the nickname "French Newton." Laplace also developed a theory of the formation of the solar system and, with a colleague, introduced the concept that led to the theory of black holes.

How did the big bang theory get its name?

   The big bang theory, ironically, got its name from an off-hand remark made by a steady-state theory proponent, British astronomer Fred Hoyle, speaking on a radio show in England. Hoyle has made detailed studies of the nuclear reactions that take place in the core of a star and has also researched the gravitational, electromagnetic, and nu¬clear fields of stars and the various elements formed within them. Hoyle is the author of several books on stars, both technical and for general readers, as well as a number of science fiction stories and even a script for an opera. In 1948, Hoyle joined the debate between steady-state and big bang theorists on how the universe began. He wrote sev¬eral books siding with steady-state proponents Thomas Gold and Hermann Bondi. Hoyle was not very happy about the popularity of his "big bang" remark and avoided the term from then on.

George VI

King George VI

George VI, 1895-1952, king of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the seas, was born in Sandringham, Norfolk. The second son of King George V and Queen Mary (who were then Duke and Duchess of York), he received the names of Albert Frederick Arthur George. There seemed to be little probability at that time that he would ever succeed to the throne, as there were three male heirs whose succeeding to the throne came before his. His great-grand-mother, Victoria, was reigning queen; his grandfather, Alfred Edward (later Edward VII) was still the Prince of Wales, who succeeded five years later on the death of Victoria on Jan. 22, 1901; next in line stood his father (George V), who was destined to reign 25 years, from May 6, 1910 until Jan. 20, 1936. Then followed the popular Prince of Wales, as Edward VIII, who was nearly 18 months older than Albert Frederick Arthur George. Edward abdicated after a brief reign of less than 11 months and left the path clear for his younger brother, then Duke of York, who was duly proclaimed king as George VI.

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30 years of voluntary exile

   When Manuel Cortes, the mayor of the Spanish village of Mijas, vanished in March 1939, it seemed to have little effect on his family. Their lives went on ¡mperturbably, while efforts by both friends and the police failed to turn up any trace of Manuel.
   As mayor, Cortes had organized free education for all and parceled out some of the larger estates to landless laborers. During the bitter 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, he had sided with the Loyalists against the Nationalist rebels of General Francisco Franco. But after Franco's victory, Cortes found him-self marked for execution because of his wartime sympathies.
   Instead of absconding ahead of the firing squad, the thirty-four-year-old Cortes disappeared into a hollow space between two walls of his foster father's house, which he entered through a hole concealed by a large picture. Thereafter, he spent his days in that cramped space, sitting on a child-size chair, eating what his wife, Juliana, secretly brought for him in a covered basket. He emerged only after night had fallen.
   Juliana developed several small businesses to support Man¬uel and their daughter: distributing eggs, drying coarse grass for making sacks, and operating taxi-cabs. Thanks to her earnings, the family moved to their own house. Juliana smuggled Manuel through the streets after midnight, disguised as an old woman. Through his long, self-imposed disappearance, Cortes spent his time reading, listening to the radio, and helping Juliana dry the grass and keep the books. From his hiding place, he could look out a peep-hole to the street below. When his daughter married, he watched her wedding through a keyhole.
   On March 28, 1969—thirty years after his exile began—he heard by radio that Franco was pardoning political offenders from the civil war. After official confirmation of his par-don, the aging radical
emerged into the sunlight for the first time in three decades.

Stadiums (some history)

Millions of sports fans jam stadiums each year to watch their favorite teams compete. The idea of a big "bowl," with terraced steps on which people can sit, goes back nearly 3,000 years, to the ancient Greeks. When the first Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C., the events took place in a magnificent stadium built for the occasion in the city of Olympia. Ancient stadiums still stand, such as the one at Pergamum, in Turkey.
The Greeks, and later the Romans, erected many of these arenas, which often were used for entertainments other than sports. Circuses were held there, and plays were performed on a stage at one end.
Today, stadiums continue to have various uses. Yankee Stadium in New York City, for example, is mainly a place to play baseball. Yet it has also held huge crowds who have wanted to attend a concert or to hear the pope during his visit to the United States.
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Art in Crete and Mycenae

Lion gate (Mycenae)

   The islanders of Crete and the Mycenaeans of the Greek mainland developed different but related cul¬tures. The works of art they created reflected their customs and beliefs. The magnificent death mask (above), found at Mycenae, was formed from a thin sheet of gold pressed to the face of the dead man. It reminded those who saw it of his likeness and served as a costly and dramatic memorial. The skills of the Mycenaeans are also visible in the enormous structure (right). Two lions are carved at the top of the gateway. Moles near the top of the animals suggest that their heads, now lost, were attached separately.
   To the people of Crete the bull was sacred, figuring in activities of religious significance. It was also used in sport (below). Here men and women are somersaulting over the back of a charging bull.

Loki (Norse mythology)

   Loki was the troublemaker among the gods of Norse mythology. Although born into a family of giants who warred with the gods, he became Odin's foster brother and was accepted among the gods. He was handsome, but cunning and wicked. Loki appears often in Norse legends. He helped the gods with their problems, but he also troubled and taunted them,

   His worst deed was to cause the death of Balder the Beautiful. As punishment, he was chained to a rock with a snake hung over him. The snake dripped poison which Loki's wife caught in a cup. But, when she left to empty the cup, the poison dripped on Loki's head.

   Norse legend says Loki must remain chained there until the end of the world, when he will break loose and fight with the giants against the gods.

Loki chained

Who were the Lollards?

   Lollards were originally a religious group of the early 1300's in Holland. About 1387, the term began to be used as a name for the followers of the English religious reformer John Wycliffe. The Lollards preached obedience to God, reliance on the Bible as a guide to Christian living, and simplicity of worship. They rejected the richness of the Mass, most sacraments, and papal supremacy. They denied that an organized church was necessary for salvation. Most Lollards were poor priests or laymen. They wore long russet gowns, carried staffs, and lived on what they could beg. Henry IV, who became king in 1399, persecuted the Lollards because their views disagreed with religious law. By 1420, their movement had been practically stamped out.
   The Lollards had little permanent effect on religious life in England, but they had great influence in Bo¬hemia. There, John Huss was burned at the stake in 1415 for preaching Wycliffe's doctrines. One hundred years later, Martin Luther embraced some of Huss's ideas. In this way, the Lollards helped to pave the way for the Protestant Reformation.

Who were the Lombards?

   Lombard was the name of a Germanic tribe that conquered much of Italy in the late A.D. 500's, and threatened the political power of the popes.

   The Lombards probably came from Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea. They migrated to northern Germany along the lower Elbe River in the 100's b.c. In the a.d. 300's, they began to move southward. By about 490, they had settled in what is now Austria. The Lombards invaded Italy in 568 and seized control of much of the Italian peninsula. They settled in a part of northern Italy that is still called Lombardy.

   The popes in Rome feared the Lombards would destroy their political power. In 754, Pope Stephen II asked the Franks for help. Pepin the Short, the Frankish king, invaded Italy and defeated the Lombards. Pepin gave part of central Italy to the pope in 756. In 774, Charlemagne, Pepin's son, crushed the Lombards. As a result of the Lombard defeat, the Franks won control of Italy and the popes' power remained secure.

Iron Crown of Lombardy

Lucina (mythology)

Lucina, in Roman mythology, is the goddess of light, a surname of Juno (according to some of Diana; according to others the name of a daughter of Jupiter and Juno) derived from the root of luceo (I shine). Lucina's festival was celebrated 1 March, on which occasion the matrons assembled in her temple, adorned it with flowers and implored a happy and brave posterity.

Who was Lucilius?

   Gaius Lucilius was a Roman author: born in Suessa, 180 B.C.; died in Naples, 103 B.C. He was grand-uncle to Pompey the Great on the maternal side. He served his first campaign against Numantia under Scipio Africanus, with whom he was very intimate. Lucilius is considered the inventor of the Roman satira, because he first gave it the form under which this kind of poetry was carried to perfection by Horace, Juvenal and Persius. His satires were superior, indeed, to the rude productions of Ennis and Pacuvius, but he in turn was surpassed by those who followed him. Horace compares him to a river which carries along precious dust mixed with useless rubbish. Of 30 books of satires which Lucilius wrote only 940 fragments have been preserved. In his lifetime these satires had an uncommon popularity.

Jan Vermeer (painter)

   Jan Vermeer was a Dutch landscape painter, born in Delft, 1632. He became a member of the guild of St. Luke in 1653 and was elected head of the organization in 1662 and in 1670. The great master and his works were entirely forgotten for nearly two centuries, and his paintings today are very rare and valuable. Vermeer was not alone the greatest colorist of the Dutch school, but his paintings are executed by the hand of a fine technician. They are of unusual luminosity and have a strangely modern touch. His finest works include " A View of Delft," "Diana at Her Toilet," and "Head of a Young Girl," in the Hague Museum; "Young Woman with Her Water Jug," "A Girl Asleep," and " Lady with a Lute," in the Metropolitan Museum, N. Y.; and " Lacemaker," in the Mellon collection. Jan Vermeer died in 1675.

Jan Vermeer (The Milkmaid)

Vermeer (Head of a Young Girl)

Johannes Vermeer (Lacemaker)

Venus, the goddess of love

Birth of Venus (Botticelli)

   In Roman mythology, Venus was the goddess of beauty and love, and more especially of sensual love, her principal seats being the islands of Cyprus and Cythera. This goddess is generally Supposed to have been of Eastern origin and to have been the same as the Phoenician Astarte. 

   Before her identification with the Greek Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus and Dione, who, according to some accounts. arose from the foam of the sea, Venus was one of the least important divinities. The Romans regarded her as the progenitress of their nation, which was fabled to have sprung from Aeneas, the offspring of her union with the Trojan Anchises. Venus was married to Vulcan, but was not remarkable for fidelity to her husband; her amour with Adonis has been celebrated by classic poets, including Shakes-peare. 

   The rose, myrtle, and apple were sacred to her; among the birds, the dove, swan, and sparrow were her favorites. She is generally represented with her son, Cupid, in a chariot drawn by doves, or, at other times, by swans or sparrows. 

   Among the most famous statues of Venus are the Venus of Cnidus by Praxiteles (of which the Cnidian Venus (Aphrodite) in the Vatican and the Cnidian Aphrodite in Munich are copies), the Venus of Capua, and the Venus of Milo, or Melos, found on the island of Melos. She is identified with the Aphrodite of Greek mythology.

Who was Francois Guizot?

F. Guizot (1787-1874)

   Francois Guizot was a distinguished French statesman and his¬torian. He was born at Nimes. At the age of twelve he resided in Geneva. In 1805 he took up the study of law in Paris. Seven years later he was made assistant professor of literature. Soon after he was called to a newly established chair, that of modern history in the Sorbonne. Guizot began writing for publication as early as 1816. The titles of his published works exceed thirty. A translation of his History of Civilization in Europe was for several decades a popular college text. He taught that civilization is the outgrowth of large factors and that men—even Napoleon—are but instruments. He held a number of state offices. In 1828 Guizot was elected to the chamber of deputies. In 1830 he be¬came minister of the interior and continued to hold important ministerial positions until 1848. In theology he was a Calvinist; in politics he was a supporter of the temporal sovereignty of the pope and of the Bour¬bon dynasty in France. Guizot stood for freedom, character, and education.

   Guizot is famous as the originator of the quote "Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head".

What is helium?

   Helium is a colorless, non-inflammable gas whose practical value was demonstrated in 1918, when American chemists discovered a method of producing it in quantity. Helium like nitrogen and argon, has prac¬tically no chemical activity. It is twice as heavy as hydrogen, the lightest known substance, and is now used in place of that gas for inflating balloons because it will not take fire. Helium is found in the atmos¬phere in proportion of 4 volumes of the element to 1,000,000 volumes of air. It is generally obtained from liquid air by distillation, but it can be separated from its compounds by the use of nitrogen or argon. It occurs in some minerals and is thought to be a product of the disintegration of radium.

Helium atom

Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci

   Amerigo Vespucci, or Americus Vespucius, was an Italian navigator, eponym of the New World; born in Florence, Italy, March 9, 1451. The exact date of bis voyage has been disputed for centuries. According to one account he reached South America in June, 1497. His Letters (1502), giving an account of his voyages, especially of the voyage of 1501, were translated into Latin, Italian, French, and German, and were widely circulated. He wrote a diary called The Four Journals, after his fourth voyage. The suggestion to name the newly discovered continent America was first offered by Martin Waldseemüller, of St. Dié in Lorraine, in his work Introduction to Cosmography (1507). Vespucci died at Seville, Spain, February 22, 1512.

Who was Sir Galahad?

   In Arthurian legend, Sir Galahad, was the purest and most virtuous knight of the Round Table. Because of these qualities he was the only one of King Arthur's knights to succeed in the quest for the Holy Grail, the sacred cup used by Christ at the Last Supper.

   Sir Galahad was the son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine, who was the daughter of King Pelles. Galahad was born in a convent and was reared by nuns. When he arrived in Camelot, the legendary seat of Arthur's court, he was knighted by the king himself. Sir Galahad's purity of spirit gave him enormous strength and courage. He was able to win possession of the Siege Perilous, a vacant seat at the Round Table in which only the knight destined to find the Grail could ever sit.

   According to one account, Sir Galahad was accompanied on his quest for the Grail by Sir Perceval and Sir Bors. After many adventures they arrived at the Castle of Carbonek, where they had a vision of the Savior, who gave them the Grail. The three knights carried the Holy Grail to Sarras, a mythical city on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. The inhabitants of Sarras elected Galahad their king, and he ruled them for one year, at the end of which time he prayed for death. When Galahad died, the Grail was carried to Heaven, never to be seen again by any man.

   There are other versions of the story of Sir Galahad's quest for the Holy Grail. One of the earliest sources in which Galahad is found is a 13th-century French romance. He also figures prominently in Sir Thomas Malory's 15th-century classic Le Morte Darthur. In Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Idylls of the King (1859-1885) an entire section is devoted to Galahad's quest. The term "galahad" has become synonymous with a person of high ideals and unselfish devotion to a worthy cause.