Part 8
“We can scarcely conceive how the human race could exist without farinaceous substances, and without that nourishing juice which the breast of the mother contains. The amylaceous matter of corn, the object of religious veneration among so many nations, ancient and modern, is diffused in the seeds, and deposited in the roots of vegetables; milk, which serves as an aliment, appears to us exclusively the produce of animal organization. Such are the impressions we have received in our earliest infancy: such is also the source of that astonishment created by the aspect of the cow tree. A few drops of vegetable juice recall to our mind all the powerfulness and fecundity of nature. On the barren flank of a rock grows a tree with coriaceous and dry leaves. Its large woody roots can scarcely penetrate into the stone. For several months of the year not a single shower moistens its foliage. Its branches appear dead and dried; but when the trunk is pierced there flows from it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at the rising of the sun that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The negroes and natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow and thickens at the surface. Some empty their bowls under the tree itself, others carry the juice home to their children.
“In examining the physical properties of animal and vegetable products, science displays them as closely linked together. Nothing appears isolated; the chemical principles that were found to be peculiar to animals are found in plants; a common chain links together all organic nature.”
* * *
THE WINGLESS BIRD
Perhaps the very strangest and most weird of all living birds is the _apteryx_, or Kiwi-kiwi. This bird has scarcely the slightest trace of wings, a peculiarity which has gained for it the name of Apteryx, or “wingless.” The common cognomen “Kiwi-kiwi” is adapted from its peculiar repetitious call.
This singular bird is a native of New Zealand, where it was once very common, but is slowly becoming extinct, a fate from which it has been hitherto preserved by its nocturnal and retiring habits. The bird lives mostly among the ferns and always remains concealed during the day. It is remarkably fleet of foot, diving among the leaves with singular adroitness. It feeds upon insects of various kinds, particularly worms which it attracts to the surface by striking on the ground with its powerful feet.
The kiwi-kiwi is a little larger than an ordinary domestic fowl.
* * *
THERE ARE MORE THAN 4,000 DIFFERENT WAYS OF SPELLING THE NAME SHAKESPEARE
Most of the literary people who believe that Bacon is Shakespeare--and they are many--also maintain that the Stratfordian was so uneducated that he could not write so much as his own name!
There are only five pieces of writing in the world that may be supposed to have been written by Shakespeare’s pen, and if these be authentic then it is certain that the famous bard has spelled his own name in several different ways. In his own Will, he has written it “I William Shackspeare.” Another time he writes it “Shakspeare.” And again “Wilm Shaxpr.”
Evidently there is no authentic way of spelling the name so I append a few of the 4,000 different ways.
SHAKESPEARE SHAXPUR SHAKESPEYRE SHAKSPARE SHAXKSPERE SHAXSPERE SCHAKESPERE SHAKSPEYR SAXSPEAR SCHAKSPEARE SHAXPEARE SCHACKSPERE SHAKESPEAR SAXPERE SAXPEARE CHACSPER SHAKESPER SCHAKESPEIRE SHAXPERE SHACKSPER SCHAKSPERE SHACKSPEARE SHAXSPEARE SHAKSPER SHAXKSPERE SHACKESPUR SCHACKSPUR SHAXPUR SHAXXPEARE SHAXEPER SHAXSPER SHACKESPEIR SHAXPER SHAKESPERE SCHAXESPER SAXSPERE SHAXKESPERE SCHAXSPEIR SHACKSPUR SHAGSPERE SCHAXESPEARE CHACSPEAR SHAXSPERE SAXESPEYRE SHAKESPAIRE SHACKSPIRE CHACKESPEARE SHAXPEYRE SHAKEYSPEERE SAXPEARE SHAKSPEARE SHAKESPEYRE SHAXESPUR SHAKESPEIRE SHAKESPEARE SHAKSPERE SCHAXESPEAR SHAKSPEYR SHAKESPEER SCHAXSPEARE SHACSPERE SHAXPERE SHACHESPEAR SHAKYSPER SHAKESPEYR SAXSPEARE SHACESPEARE SHACKSPERE SHAXESPEIRE SHAXESPUR SHACKESPEYRE SCHAXPEIRE SHAXKESPEYR SHAKISPERE Etc.
_The full list can be found in “A Plea for Reformed Spelling,” by Alexander John Ellis._
2¹¹⁷ - 1 170,141,183,460,469,229,731,687,303,715,884,105,727--IS THE LARGEST NUMBER THAT CANNOT BE DIVIDED BY ANY OTHER Discovered by LUCAS IN 1877.
MRS. MATHILDE KOVACS BURNED UP 500,000,000 KRONEN TO SPITE HER HEIRS--on the day before her death. 1917.
MISS JOYCE WETHERED MADE 2 BIRDIES ON ONE HOLE (HER DRIVE HIT A SWALLOW--AND SHE GOT A 4.)]
* * *
NATURE’S MARKSMAN
The Beaked Chaetodon, the fish of heavenly hues that goes hunting with a gun, is found in the mouths of rivers emptying into the East Indian and Polynesian Seas.
The curiously elongated muzzle is used by this fish as a gun with which it shoots drops of water. If it sees a fly or another insect resting on a twig or grass-blade overhanging the water, the Chaetodon approaches very quietly, the greater part of its body submerged, and its long nose just showing above the surface with its point aimed at the victim. Suddenly, it shoots a drop of water at the unsuspecting insect with such accuracy that it is knocked off its perch into the water where it is instantly snapped up.
This habit it continues even in captivity, and is in consequence in great estimation as a household pet in Japan. The Japanese keep the fish in a large bowl of water, and amuse themselves by holding towards it a fly upon the end of a slender rod and watching the finny marksman shoot its prey into the water.
* * *
GOLF BIRDIES
Scoring birdies at golf is a worthy achievement anytime, but to get two birdies on one hole is indeed a rarity.
Miss Joyce Wethered, who is probably the greatest woman golfer the game has yet produced, accomplished this feat in a practice game last year (1927). Her drive struck a swallow that flew over the fairway, but despite this accident, Miss Wethered was successful in breaking par for the hole.
Miss Wethered held the women’s golf championship at the same time that her brother, Roger Wethered, held the British amateur championship.
* * *
BURNING ANGER
Because her relatives were discourteous to her pet cats, Mrs. Mathilde Kovacs revenged herself by burning up her fortune just before her death. This bit of spite work was reported extensively in the Vienna newspapers during March, 1917.
* * *
FIGURES DON’T LIE
Numbers have a magic lure and there is no end to the marvels that can be performed by one who is proficient. Figures may never lie but they can make you think that they do. The potency of numbers is alarming. The enormous totals reached by geometrical progressions and ordinary transpositions is almost beyond comprehension.
Five letter-blocks contain a total of 30 letters. There are 620, 448, 401, 735, 259, 439, 369, 000 different transpositions possible with 30 letters. At the rate of one transposition a second, it would take one man 1, 967, 428, 975, 879, 120 years to arrange the blocks into all the possible combinations.
If all the 1,800,000,000 people on earth helped him it would still require 1,093,016 years to do it.
* * *
An old story that will give you an idea of the startling fecundity of figures is that one about the boy who innocently offered to go to work for one cent the first day if his employer would double his salary each day for a month. The employer innocently agreed, and dropped dead when he learned that on the last day of the month the salary of his office boy would amount to $5,368,709.12 for that day alone, and a total of $10,737,418.23 for the month.
* * *
1 × 91 = 091 2 × 91 = 182 3 × 91 = 273 4 × 91 = 364 5 × 91 = 455 6 × 91 = 546 7 × 91 = 637 8 × 91 = 728 9 × 91 = 819
* * *
3 × 37 = 111 6 × 37 = 222 9 × 37 = 333 12 × 37 = 444 15 × 37 = 555 18 × 37 = 666 21 × 37 = 777 24 × 37 = 888 27 × 37 = 999
* * *
33 × 3367 = 111111 66 × 3367 = 222222 99 × 3367 = 333333 132 × 3367 = 444444 165 × 3367 = 555555 198 × 3367 = 666666 231 × 3367 = 777777 264 × 3367 = 888888 297 × 3367 = 999999
* * *
CAN YOU WRITE THE ANSWER?
9^(9⁹) = ?
The above figure expresses 9 raised to the 9th power of 9, or 9 raised to the 387,420,489th power. It is the largest sum that can be indicated by 3 figures.
The final answer will contain 369 millions of digits. Allowing for 5 digits to the inch, the length of tape required to write down the answer would be 1,164 miles, and the ordinary human span of life would be sadly insufficient to accomplish the task.
_Ref.: “Mathematische Mussestunden,” by Dr. Herman Schubert._
* * *
MAGIC SEVEN
Seven is the holy number. There are 7 days in creation, 7 days in the week, 7 phases of the moon, every 7th year was sabbatical, and 7 times 7 years was the jubilee. There are 7 ages in the life of man, 7 divisions in the Lord’s Prayer, 7 bibles, 7 churches of Asia, 7 Graces, 7 Deadly Sins, 7 Senses, 7 Sorrows of the Virgin, 7 Virtues, 7 Joys of the Virgin, 7 Precious Things of the Buddhas, 7 Sleepers of Ephesus, 7 Lamps of Architecture. The apostles chose 7 deacons, Enoch, who was translated, was 7th from Adam; Jesus Christ was the 77th in a direct line. Our Lord spoke 7 times on the cross, on which He was 7 hours; He appeared 7 times; and after 7 times 7 days He sent the Holy Ghost. There appeared 7 golden candlesticks and 7 stars in the hand of Him that was in the midst; 7 lambs before the 7 spirits of God; the book with the 7 seals; the lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes; 7 angels bearing 7 plagues, and 7 vials of wrath. The vision of Daniel was 70 weeks; and the elders of Israel were 70. There were also 7 heavens, 7 planets, 7 stars, 7 wise men, 7 champions of Christendom, 7 notes in music, 7 primary colors, 7 sacraments of the Catholic Church, and 7 wonders of the world. The 7th son was considered endowed with pre-eminent wisdom; and the 7th son of a 7th son is still thought to possess the power of healing diseases spontaneously.
And the opposite sides of the dice total 7.
* * *
CAN YOU CHANGE FIVE DOLLARS!
“Certainly!” you will say.
But you can’t do it!
If you changed a five-dollar bill into all the different ways possible--cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars--it would require exactly 2, 305, 843, 009, 213, 693, 951 different changes; and if you made a change each second--day and night--it would take you 103 years to do it!
* * *
142857
The mystic number. All the figures appear in the sum when multiplied as follows:
142857 × 2 = 285714 142857 × 3 = 428571 142857 × 4 = 571428 142857 × 5 = 714285 142857 × 6 = 857142 and then 142857 × 7 = 999999
* * *
PALINDROMATIC FIGURES
11² = 121 111² = 12321 1111² = 1234321 11111² = 123454321 Etc.
* * *
The following legend is told in connection with the invention of the game of chess. An East Indian Potentate was so pleased with the game that he promised the inventor, a slave, the fulfillment of any wish. The slave asked for the number of grains of wheat which would result, if one grain were placed on the first square of the chess-board, two on the second, four on the third, etc., i.e., each time twice as many as on the last. At first glance, this wish seemed to be a modest one, but calculations showed that it would be impossible for the king to keep his promise, even if he owned the whole earth and spent his entire life growing wheat on it. The result is: 18 quintillions, 446 quadrillions, 744 trillions, 73 billions, 709 millions, 551,615 grains.
* * *
THE 100 SYMBOLS
All the books ever written in all the libraries of the world containing all the wit, wisdom, poetry, fiction, history and scientific knowledge ever offered to humanity--or ever apt to be offered in the future--are expressed in letters.
It is all done with about 100 symbols. By symbols I mean the ordinary letters of the alphabet--both cases, figures, interpunctions, and mathematical signs. The number of symbols is limited, and of course the number of possible transpositions of these 100 symbols is limited.
Since the number of transpositions of 100 symbols is limited the printed word must be limited and therefore all literature imaginable must be rendered in a limited number of volumes.
Assume that it is possible to write exhaustively about a subject in a volume of the size of “Believe It or Not.” Assume that 1,000,000 transpositions of symbols are used in printing this book. By combining to the limits of possibility the 100 symbols in lots of 1,000,000 we can determine the number of volumes ever written or ever likely to be written in the future.
With 1,000,000 symbols to a volume, you will have as many volumes as will equal the original number of symbols 100 raised to the 1,000,000th power. The answer will contain a figure with 2,000,000 noughts after it, and would require a strip of paper 2 miles long to write it out in type the size of this. If the books were each one inch thick and placed side by side the number of inches would equal the number of books--in other words this shelf of books would be as many inches long as indicated by a figure of 2,000,0001 digits. Reduced to miles, it would be as many miles long as a figure of 1,999,996 digits.
Suppose you want a book at the opposite end of this book shelf, you would have to travel as fast as light if you ever got there in any comprehensible length of time. If you traveled as fast as light--180,000 miles a second--you would travel 6 quadrillion miles in a year, and to reach the book at the end of the line will take as many years as the figure 6,000,000,000,000,000 is contained in the figure of the distance--or as many years as are to be expressed in a figure written with 1,999,980 noughts. It is beyond human conception.
And the book would probably be gone when you got there.
_Raimundus Lullus, Giordano Bruno, Kurt Lasswitz, Leibnitz, and others devoted lifetimes to these calculations._
* * *
1 × 9 + 2 = 11 12 × 9 + 3 = 111 123 × 9 + 4 = 1111 1234 × 9 + 5 = 11111 12345 × 9 + 6 = 111111 123456 × 9 + 7 = 1111111 1234567 × 9 + 8 = 11111111 12345678 × 9 + 9 = 111111111 123456789 × 9 + 10 = 1111111111 1 × 8 + 1 = 9 12 × 8 + 2 = 98 123 × 8 + 3 = 987 1234 × 8 + 4 = 9876 12345 × 8 + 5 = 98765 123456 × 8 + 6 = 987654 1234567 × 8 + 7 = 9876543 12345678 × 8 + 8 = 98765432 123456789 × 8 + 9 = 987654321 65359477124183 × 17 × 1 = 1111111111111111 65359477124183 × 17 × 2 = 2222222222222222 65359477124183 × 17 × 3 = 3333333333333333 65359477124183 × 17 × 4 = 4444444444444444 65359477124183 × 17 × 5 = 5555555555555555 Etc.
* * *
THE PERSISTENT NUMBER
526,315,789,473,684,210
You may multiply the above figure with any number you choose and the original figures will always reappear in the result.
* * *
THE LARGEST PRIME KNOWN
170,141,183,460,469,231,731,687,303,715,864,105,727
This figure is the largest known number that cannot be divided by any other. It was discovered by Arthur Lucas in 1877. It is 2¹²⁷ - 1.
* * *
MAGIC SQUARES
These numbers--as per number of squares in the diagrams--are so placed that all columns add the same, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.
15
+------+------+------+ | | | | | 6 | 1 | 8 | | | | | +------+------+------+ | | | | | 7 | 5 | 3 | | | | | +------+------+------+ | | | | | 2 | 9 | 4 | | | | | +------+------+------+
34
+------+------+------+------+ | | | | | | 1 | 14 | 15 | 4 | | | | | | +------+------+------+------+ | | | | | | 8 | 11 | 10 | 5 | | | | | | +------+------+------+------+ | | | | | | 12 | 7 | 6 | 9 | | | | | | +------+------+------+------+ | | | | | | 13 | 2 | 3 | 16 | | | | | | +------+------+------+------+
* * *
“PI”
The letter π (pi) indicates the incommensurable relationship between the diameter of any circle and its circumference. The number is usually given as 3.14159+. Here is the value worked out to 707 decimal places. The figures are not to be found in many places and they may be desired as a curiosity by some amateur mathematicians:
3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679 82148 08651 32823 06647 09384 46095 50582 23172 53594 08128 48111 74502 84102 70193 85211 05559 64462 29489 54930 38196 44288 10675 66593 34461 28475 64823 27867 83165 27120 19091 45648 56692 34603 48610 49432 66482 13393 60226 02491 41273 72458 70066 06315 58817 48815 20920 96282 92540 91715 36436 78925 90360 01133 05354 88204 66521 38414 69519 41511 60943 30572 70365 75959 19530 92186 11738 19326 11793 10511 85480 74462 38798 34749 56735 18857 52724 89122 79381 83011 94912 98336 73362 44193 66430 86021 39501 60924 48077 23094 36285 53096 62027 55693 97986 95022 24749 96206 07497 03041 23669 86199 51100 89202 38377 02131 41694 11902 98858 25446 81639 79990 46597 00081 70029 63123 77381 34208 41307 91451 18398 05709 85+.
* * *
ONE PROBLEM NEVER PROVED
Mathematicians have been able to prove most of the problems submitted to them, but there is one for which no mathematical proof has even been devised, and that is why a mapmaker need use but four colors to print his maps. The fact has been known for centuries, but no one has ever determined a method by which it could be proved. If you try drawing you will soon find that it is impossible to draw any figure of five districts each of which touches the other four, the only circumstance under which more than four colors would be necessary to mark the divisions.
* * *
KASPAR HAUSER COULD SEE THE STARS IN THE DAY TIME
Kaspar Hauser, the mystery child of Europe who has been written about so often by authors of the past and present, could see the stars shining at noon without mechanical aid. The stars never really disappear you know, and the eyes of this famous boy were abnormal.
Kaspar Hauser was said to be the Heir to the throne of the Grandduchy of Baden. He was abducted in infancy and placed in solitary confinement in a dark room for 18 years. He first saw the light of day when he wandered from his cell and apparently appeared from nowhere in Anspach, Bavaria. Although he was nearly a grown man, his mental development was that of a two-year-old child. The mystery surrounding him, and his curious behavior, aroused a great deal of interest at the time ... and since.
* * *
BABE RUTH HIT 125 HOME RUNS IN ONE HOUR
Ruth, greatest of all baseball players, performed this prodigious clouting feat in an exhibition game on Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, February, 1927. Babe, who always aims to please, stood at the plate for an hour while several pitchers tossed balls at him which he walloped over the fence--125 in all.
* * *
THE HANDY LETTER WRITER
Herr Kurtz received an anonymous letter daily for twenty years! He is the owner of one of the Government tobacconist’s stores of Vienna in the 2nd ward, and after a few years of receiving the letter he tried to induce the Minister of Post and Telegraphs of Austria to refrain from delivering his mail altogether but his efforts were unsuccessful. The letters arrived daily from 1901 to 1921 and then ceased suddenly as though the tireless sender had died at last.
Curiously enough the contents of the letter were entirely innocent.
_Ref.: “Neue Freie Presse” of Feb. 1921._
* * *
THE BOOK WORM
Gustave Lebair, who, for 60 years read the same book daily at the Bibliothèque Nationale, was a famous bibliomaniac and well known to frequenters of the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris. The particular book he read, “St. Appolonius of Tiane,” was in some way connected with an event in his youth.
The book “_Bibliomania_” by Hertzen, where I found the statement about Lebair, goes to some lengths to explain his persistence on psychological grounds. Bibliomaniacs are book lovers whose passion manifests itself in some strange way.
* * *
A BEAVER’S DAM
François I, King of France, issued a decree making the wearing of whiskers punishable by death.
“Qu’ils aient dedans 3 jours a faire ou oster leur dite Barbe sous peine de la hart.”
_Receuils des Ordinances Folio 48 Paris, 1557._
* * *
“THE PLACE OF DRUNKENNESS”
The Indian word for New York is Manhattan, or Manna-ha-ta, and means “The Place of Drunkenness.” This name is traceable to the year 1524 when Giovanni Verrazzano, the Florentine explorer, landed for the first time at what is now the lower extremity of New York City and gave the Indians their first taste of firewater. A good time was had by all, and ever after the natives referred to the island as “Manna-ha-ta” or “place of drunkenness.”
_Ref.: Rev. John Gottlieb E. Heckewelder’s “History of Early Manhattan.”_
* * *
THE IDEAL LANDLORD
Frau C. Worth, owner of a large apartment house in Berlin, did not collect any rents from her tenants for twenty years.
* * *
A WEEK WITH TWO THURSDAYS
On an occasion in 1147, Pope Eugene III reached Paris on a Friday. Inasmuch as Friday was a fast day, and to enable the populace properly to celebrate his entry into the city, the Pope decreed that Friday was Thursday!
Hence a week with two Thursdays.
* * *
ENDURING FAME
“Chauffeurs” were a famous band of brigands in France in 1793. They were so called because they tortured their victims by burning their feet.
* * *
The following is a news item from the Barstow (Cal.) _Times_. It reads:
“Bill Jarrett has just returned to Barstow from the Death Valley country. Bill worked for six weeks on the graveyard shift for the Corpse Mining Company in the Coffin mine, located in Dead Man’s Canyon in Funeral Range at the end of Death Valley. Bill is leaving next week for a prospecting trip to the Devil’s Playground in Hell’s Half Acre.”
* * *
THE BOBBING ISLAND
In Lake Ilfungen, in Livonia, is a small island that does a disappearing act once each year. Toward the end of October, or early in November, the island sinks beneath the surface of the lake.
In the spring the island reappears and remains all summer, so that farmers raise and cut hay on it.
* * *
* * *
THE FIG-TREE TOMB