Part 217

=Venus= (_vē´nus_); called by the Greeks =Aphrodite= (_af-ro-dī´tē_)--_i. e._ “sea-foam.”--The goddess of love and beauty. She was supposed to have sprung from the foam of the sea: hence her Greek name. She was the wife of Vulcan, but was very unfaithful to him. She loved the gods Mars, Bacchus, Neptune and Mercury, and the mortals Adonis and Anchises. She was considered by Paris (_q.v._) the most beautiful of the goddesses and had awarded to her the celebrated Golden Apple. Anyone who wore her magic girdle immediately became beautiful and the object of love and desire. She is generally accompanied by her son Cupid. The month of April, as the commencement of spring, was considered peculiarly sacred to the goddess of love. The myrtle, rose, apple and poppy, and the sparrow, dove, swan and swallow, were all sacred to her. She was probably originally identical with Astarte, a Syrian goddess, called by the Hebrews Ashtoreth. As might have been anticipated, the representation of the Queen of Beauty on canvas and in marble has resulted in some of the finest works of the most celebrated painters and sculptors of antiquity. Among the former, Apelles’ masterpiece of Venus rising from the sea deserves special mention; and among the latter the “Cnidian Venus” (so called because it stood in her temple at Cnidus), by Praxiteles, is unquestionably the most famous. Phryne (_q.v._) sat as model for both of these noble works of art. The fame of the “Cnidian Venus” was so great that travelers from all parts of the civilized world resorted to Cnidus in order to see it. In fact, Pliny and others declared it to be the finest statue in the world. The “Venus of Milo” is, however, the noblest extant representation of Venus. It was found, in 1820, in the island of Melos, the modern Milo (hence the epithet), which is one of the group of islands named the Cyclades, in the Ægean Sea. It now forms one of the treasures of the Louvre, Paris.

=Vertumnus= (_ver-tum´nus_).--The god of the changing year--that is, of the seasons and their productions. His festival was celebrated by the whole Roman people on the 23rd of August.

=Vesta= (_ves´ta_); called by the Greeks =Hestia= (_hes´ti-a_)--_i. e._ “the hearth.”--One of the twelve great Roman deities, the goddess and guardian of the hearth and home. She was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. In her temple in the Forum at Rome stood no statue, the goddess being represented by the eternal fire burning on her altar as her abiding symbol. This fire was kept up and attended to by a number of virgin priestesses, called Vestals, who were chaste and pure like the goddess herself. On March 1 in every year the sacred fire was renewed, and on June 15 her temple was cleaned and purified.

=Vidar.=--The Scandinavian god of wisdom, noted for his thick shoes, and not infrequently called “The god with the thick shoes.”

=Vishnu.=--In Hindu mythology one of the great deities of the Hindu triad, ranking as the _Preserver_, after Brahma, the _Creator_, and before Siva, the _Destroyer_. It is believed that he has appeared on earth nine times, his tenth _avatar_, or incarnation, having yet to come.

=Volumnia= (_vol-um´ni-a_).--Wife of Coriolanus (_q.v._).

=Vulcanus= (_vul-kā´nus_), or =Vulcan=; called =Hephæstus= (_hē-fēs´tus_) by the Greeks. The god of fire. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was lame from his birth. Besides being the god of fire, he was master of the arts which need the aid of fire, especially of working in metal. He made all the palaces of the gods on Olympus, the armor of Achilles, the fatal necklace of Harmonia, the fire-breathing and brazen-hoofed bulls of Æëtes (see “Argonautæ”), etc. The Cyclops were his workmen, and his workshops were situated under Mount Ætna in Sicily. Vulcan’s wife was Venus. His favorite abode on the earth was the island of Lemnos. His great festival was celebrated on the 23rd of August.

=W=

=White Lady.=--In German folk-lore, the ancient Teutonic goddess Holda or Berchta, who was the receiver of the souls of maidens and children, and who still exists as the White Lady, not infrequently, in German legends, transforming herself, or those whom she decoys into her home, into a white mouse.

=Wild Huntsman, The.=--A spectral hunter in folk-lore, especially in German folk-lore; the subject of a ballad by Bürger.

=Woden= (_wō´den_), or =Wotan=.--The Anglo-Saxon form of the Scandinavian god Odin; Wednesday is called after him.

=Y=

=Yama.=--In the _Rigveda_, the name of the god who rules in heaven over the blessed--the Manes, Fathers, or Pitris--and is therefore called king.

=Yggdrasil.=--In Scandinavian mythology the great ash tree which binds together heaven, earth, and hell. Its branches extend over the whole earth, its top reaches heaven, and its roots hell. The three nornas, or fates, sit under the tree, spinning the events of man’s life.

=Z=

=Zem.=--The sacred well of Mecca. According to Arab tradition, this is the very well that was shown to Hagar when with Ishmael in the desert. It is supposed to be in the heart of the city of Mecca.

=Zephyrus= (_zef´i-rus_).--The west wind, or properly, the northwest.

=Zeus= (_zūs_).--See “Jupiter.”

=Zohak.=--The giant of Persian mythology who keeps the “mouth of hell.” He was the fifth of the Pischdadian dynasty, and was a lineal descendant of Shedâd, king of Ad. He murdered his predecessor, and invented both flaying men alive and killing them by crucifixion. The devil kissed him on the shoulders, and immediately two serpents grew out of his back and fed constantly upon him. He was dethroned by the famous blacksmith of Ispahan, and appointed by the devil to keep hell-gate.

=Zohara.=--An oriental queen of love, and mother of mischief. When Harût and Marût were selected by the host of heaven to be judges on earth, they judged righteous judgment till Zohara, in the shape of a lovely woman, appeared before them with her complaint. They then both fell in love with her and tried to corrupt her, but she flew from them to heaven; and the two angel-judges were forever shut out.

=Zulzul.=--According to Chinese mythology the sage whose life was saved in the form of a rat by Gedy, the youngest of the four sons of Corcud. Zulzul gave him, in gratitude, two poniards, by the help of which he could climb the highest tree or most inaccessible castle.

=EXPLANATORY CHART OF GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY: SHOWING THE ORIGIN, RELATIONSHIP AND DESCENT OF CHIEF MYTHS=

The relationship of these mythical personages are quite unlike those of mortals and are full of inconsistencies. To reconcile all the contradictions of the poets and mythologists is impossible. Perhaps this chart is as consistent with their fabulous tales as can well be made.

CHAOS Produced EREBUS, god of _darkness_, NOX, goddess of _night_, and TERRA, _Earth_.

TERRA or TITÆA produced CŒLUS or URANUS, _Heaven_.

CŒLUS or URANUS, i.e. _Heaven_, and TERRA or TITÆA, i.e. _Earth_. had | +->=TITAN= Oldest of the twelve Titans. | +->=THE CYCLOPS= Giants, at first three in number: Arges, Brontes, | Steropes. | +->=BRIAREUS= A famous giant called by men Ægæon, and by the gods | Braireus. | +->=TETHYS= Wife of _Oceanus_; for offspring, see =Oceanus=. | +->=THEA= Wife of _Hyperion_; the mother of rivers, and of about three | thousand daughters, called _Ocean´i-des_. | +->=SATURN= or =Cronos=, god of Time, had by _Rhea_ same as _Ops_, | same as _Cybele_. | | | +->=JUNO=, wife and sister of Jupiter, queen of the gods, and of | | Heaven and Earth. | | | +->=JUPITER= or =Zeus=, the most powerful of all the gods; king of | | gods and men, had | | | | | +->_By Them´is._ | | | | | | | +->=Astræa=, the goddess of _justice_; | | | | | | | +->=Nemesis=, of _vengeance_. | | | | | +->_By Juno._ | | | | | | | +->=Mars=, the god of _war_; by _Venus_, Anteros, Harmonia; | | | | the goddess of _youth_; once cupbearer to Jupiter. | | | | | | | +->=Hebe=, by her husband _Hercules_, Alexiares and Anicetus. | | | | | | | +->=Typhon=, by the monster _Echidna_, Chimæra and Sphinx. | | | | | | | +->=Vulcan=, the god of _fire_ and of _blacksmiths_, and | | | husband of Venus; by his wife _Venus_, Cupid; by | | | _Medusa_, Cacus, by _Juno_, Cæculus. | | | | | +->_By Lato´na._ | | | | | | | +->=Apollo=, the god of _poetry_, _music_, _eloquence_, | | | | _medicine_, _the fine arts_, _augury_, and _archery_. | | | | | | | +->=Diana=, the goddess of _hunting_, the patroness of | | | chastity, presided also over childbirth. | | | | | +->_By Ma´ia._ | | | | | | | +->=Mercury=, the _messenger_ of the gods, the god of | | | _eloquence_ and _commerce_, the patron of _travellers_, | | | _thieves_, and _knaves_, and the conductor of the souls of | | | the dead to the infernal regions. By _Penelope_, Pan. By | | | the Greeks he was called _Hermes_. | | | | | +->_By Mnemos´y-ne._ | | | | | | | +->=The Nine Muses.= | | | | | | | +->_Cli´o_ presided over History. } | | | | } | | | +->_Calli´o-pe_ presided over } | | | | eloquence and epic poetry. } | | | | } | | | +->_Er´ato_ presided over lyric } | | | | and amorous poetry. } | | | | } | | | +->_Thali´a_ presided over } | | | | pastoral and comic poetry and } | | | | festivals. } | | | | }See | | | +->_Melpom´e-ne_ presided over }Dictionary of | | | | tragedy. }Mythology. | | | | } | | | +->_Terpsich´o-re_ presided over } | | | | dancing. } | | | | } | | | +->_Euter´pe_ presided over music.} | | | | } | | | +->_Polyhym´nia_ presided over } | | | | singing and rhetoric. } | | | | } | | | +->_Ura´nia_ presided over } | | | astronomy. } | | | | | +->_By Euryn´o-me._ | | | | | | | +->=Graces.= | | | | | | | +->_Agla´ia_ }Three beautiful virgins, attendants on | | | | }Venus; presided over kindness and good | | | +->_Thali´a_ }offices, and were supposed to give to | | | | }beauty its charms; represented dancing | | | +->_Euphros´y-ne_}in a circle with their hands joined. | | | | | +->_By Sem´e-le._ | | | | | | | +->=Bacchus=, god of _wine_; by his wife _Ariadne_, Thoas, | | | Œnopion, Ceranus, Tauropolis, and others. | | | | | +->_By Metis._ | | | | | | | +->=Minerva=, the goddess of _wisdom_, _war_, and the | | | _liberal and useful arts_. | | | | | +->_By Dione._ | | | | | | | +->=Venus=, said to have been borne in the foam of the sea; | | | the goddess of _love_ and _beauty_, and mistress of the | | | graces; wife of _Vulcan_; for offspring, see =Vulcan=. | | | | | +->_By Ceres._ | | | | | | | +->=Pros´erpine=, wife of Pluto, _queen_ of hell, presided | | | over death. She was stolen away by Pluto while gathering | | | flowers in Sicily, and became the mother of the Fates and | | | Furies, which see under Dictionary. | | | | | +->_By Euro´pa._ | | | | | | | +->=Minos=, =Rhadamanthus=, and =Æ´acus=, three inflexible | | | judges of Hades. | | | | | +->_By Leda._ } | | | | } | | | +->=Castor= and =Pollux=. } | | | } | | +->_By Dan´a-e._ } | | | | }See Dictionary | | | +->=Per´seus.= }of Mythology. | | | } | | +->_By Anti´o-pe._ } | | | | } | | | +->=Amphi´on= and =Zethus=.} | | | | | +->_By Segesta._ | | | | | | | +->=Æolus=, whose offspring were the various Winds. | | | | | +->_By Alcmena._ | | | | | +->=Hercules=, whose descendants were the Heraclidæ. | | | +->=VESTA=, the goddess of _fire_, and patroness of _Vestal | | Virgins_, who had the care of the sacred fire in the temple of | | Vesta at Rome, which was kept continually burning. | | | +->=CERES=, the goddess of _corn_ and _harvest_. The famous | | _Eleusinian mysteries_ were celebrated in honor of Ceres, during | | the representation of which it was death to speak; as it was | | also to reveal afterwards what took place. | | | +->=LATONIA=, celebrated for her beauty, and for being greatly | | beloved by Jupiter and persecuted by Juno. | | | +->=NEPTUNE=, the god of the _sea_, the father of rivers and | | fountains, and, next to Jupiter, the most powerful deity; had by | | _Amphitrite_, TRITON, his father’s companion and herald. | | | +->=PLUTO=, the god of the _infernal regions_, of _death_ and | _funerals_; the dog _Cer´berus_, a frightful mastiff with three | heads, and a tail like a serpent, watches at his feet, and three | _Har´pies_, winged monsters, hover about him. | +->=MNEMOSYNE= Mother of the nine _Muses_. | +->=THEMIS= Mother of Astræa, goddess of Justice. | +->=CYBELE= OPS or RHEA, wife of _Saturn_; the goddess of _all | things_; styled _Magna Mater_ or _Great Mother_, _Bona Mater_ or | _Good Mother_; for off-spring, see =Saturn=. | +->=OCEANUS= The god of water, to whom the ancients recommended | themselves when going on a voyage, had by Tethys. | | | +->AMPHITRITE had by _Neptune_ TRITON, who had no offspring. | | | +->CYLMENE had by _Japetus_ ATLAS, also Menœtius, Prometheus, | | Epimetheus, and others. | | | +->PHORCYS had by _Ceto_ {The Gorgons, viz., Medusa, | | {Stheno, and Euryale; three | | {sisters whose heads were covered | | {with vipers. | | {The Graiæ, viz., Pephredo, Enyo, | | {and Dinon. | | | +->ACHELOUS had by _Calliope_. The _Sirens_ were three sea | | nymphs, named _Parthen´ope_, | | _Lige´ia_, and _Leuco´sia_, having | | the form of a woman above the | | waist, and the rest of the body | | like a flying fish. | | | +->The Harpies, viz., Aello, Ocypete, and Celæus. | +->=HYPERION=, god of the Sun, had by _Thea_, AURORA, the goddess of | the _morning_; represented riding in a rose-colored chariot drawn | by white horses, usually covered with a veil, the morning star | appearing overhead. She was called _rosy-fingered_, because she | scattered roses; by _Tithon´us_, a mortal, she had Memnon and | Æmathion. | +->=JAPETUS=, father of mankind, had by _Clymene_, ATLAS, also Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menœtius, and others, called _Japitonides_.

}_Nox_ or _Night_, _Mors_ or _Death_, EREBUS } {Light, or Day,}_Somnus_ or _Sleep_, and _Morpheus_ (the and }had{Somnus, Mors, }minister of Somnus, who brought dreams to NOX } {and Charon, }men) were infernal divinities. {the Ferryman }_Momus_, god of laughter and satire, son of }Somnus and Nox.

Ancient Roman Sun-god--=Janus=, the god of the _year_, presided over the gates of heaven, and over peace and war; represented with two faces. His temple in Rome was open in time of war and shut in time of peace.

BOOK OF THE SCIENCES AND INVENTION

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCIENCES

OUTLINES OF SCIENCE FOR SCHOOLS

PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS FOR DAILY USE: BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL ARITHMETIC, EVERYDAY APPLICATIONS OF PERCENTAGE, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, MENSURATION AND ITS APPLICATIONS

COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LAW

PHYSICS: ITS PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS

CHEMISTRY: ITS THEORY AND USES

THE CHEMISTRY OF COMMON THINGS

REVISED TABLE OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS

GREAT INVENTIONS AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES

RELATION OF THE GOVERNMENT TO SCIENCE

BOOK OF SCIENCE AND INVENTION

Science in its widest significance is sometimes defined as the correlation of all knowledge. In this sense it would include _philosophy_. In a more restricted and generally accepted sense, the term is applied to the _systematized_ divisions of knowledge.

Science and philosophy _resemble_ each other in so far as they both have to do with knowledge; but while the latter deals with the whole sum of knowledge and goes back to generalized first principles, the former takes up special branches of it. That is, a science is such in fact when a sufficient number of interrelated facts are so arranged and classified by referring them to the general truths and principles on which they are founded that they constitute a well-certified and more or less complete branch of knowledge.

From the present development of knowledge the separate entities of the universe are five--namely, ether, matter, energy, life, and mind. The first three are inseparable agents in the simplest phenomena that occur in nature. They may ultimately be reduced to two, or, conceivably, to one. It is with these that the various branches of science have to deal--to observe, to experiment, to classify, to define.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCES.--The sciences may be grouped in two ways. _First_, from what has been said above, they may be divided into:

(a) the _physical_ sciences, which have to do with inorganic nature--that is with the laws and properties of matter, energy, and ether;

(b) the _biological_ sciences, which consider the laws of life; and

(c) the _psychical_ sciences, which deal with the phenomena of mind.

_Second._--Another, and probably more practical, division is that of (a) _pure_ or _theoretic_ sciences, and (b) _applied_ or _practical_ sciences. The latter consist of those branches which deal with facts, events, or phenomena as explained, accounted for, or produced by means of powers, causes, or laws; the former as the knowledge of these powers, causes, or laws, considered apart or as pure from all applications. To the class of pure or fundamental sciences belong mathematics, physics, chemistry, psychology, and sociology; to the applied or concrete belong geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, meteorology, geography, ethics, politics, law, jurisprudence, logic, grammar, rhetoric, philology, and political economy; navigation, engineering, and practical mechanics; surgery, medicine, materia medica, etc.

METHODS OF SCIENCE.--The great method of scientific inquiry is experiment--the laboratory. Contrasted with _experiment_ is _observation_. But even in astronomy, emphatically an observational science, experiment plays an important part. The dynamical knowledge which Newton developed into the cosmic law of gravitation was founded on experiment. Meteorology, again, has made great strides in these days by appealing to laboratory experiments for elucidation of its phenomena. Likewise in biology, botany, and zoology experiment has led to striking discoveries; while such branches as embryology and bacteriology are as truly experimental as chemistry itself.

In the psychical group of sciences the method of experimenting still awaits development. The complexity of the problems presented, and the manner in which they affect the welfare and happiness of humanity, render social and political experimenting excessively hazardous. Such sciences as those studied by the economist, the ethnologist, the moralist, or the theologian are of necessity essentially observational.

APPLIED ARITHMETIC, WEIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS

It would be difficult to overestimate the extent to which mathematics enters into the conditions of everyday life. In its elementary stages, as the science of number, it teaches us the relations of magnitude, and enables us to build up a system of calculation and measurement which, applied to the relations observed to exist in nature, gives results of far-reaching importance.

The properties of number are investigated in arithmetic, and methods examined by which those engaged in practical science are able to work out their results to any degree of approximation.

With the help of algebra, we arrive at a system of logarithms by which many of these results may be reached with the minimum of labor.

The measurement of lines and angles, by methods investigated in geometry and trigonometry, enables us to calculate areas, and work out various problems met with in surveying, and is of the first importance in astronomy.

_Arithmetic_, which deals with the properties of numbers, forms the basis of all mathematical calculation. (For the _primary_ treatment of numbers, see under The Child World.)

COMMON FRACTIONS

A Fraction is one or more of the equal parts into which a unit has been divided. A _Common Fraction_ is expressed by two numbers; the one written above the line is called the Numerator, the one below, the Denominator: both, called the Terms, denote the value of the fraction.

Thus, in the fraction 3/4, the denominator 4, denotes that a unit or whole thing has been divided into four equal parts; and the numerator 3, shows that three of those parts are taken or expressed in the fraction.

A _Proper Fraction_ is one whose numerator is less than its denominator; as 1/2, 3/4, 7/8, etc. Its value is always less than 1.

An _Improper Fraction_ is one whose numerator is equal to, or greater than its denominator, as 5/5, 9/7, 30/12, etc. Its value is never less than 1.

A _Mixed Number_ is a whole number and a fraction; as 3-2/5, 10-1/2, 6-2/3.

The mixed number means that there are whole things taken together with a fraction of another.

A _Complex Fraction_ is one in which the numerator or denominator, or both, are fractions.

3-1/7 1 15/17 Thus, -----, ---------, -----, are complex fractions. 2-3/8 5/6 × 3/4 8

SIMPLE FRACTIONS

A very good method of learning the combinations in small fractions is by the use of paper or cardboard disks.

Cut out a large number of them, and, in order to avoid trouble later on, it might be better to have the disks all of one size--about 4 inches in diameter.

LEARNING THE FRACTION 1/2 WITH DISKS

EXPLANATION:--Take a circular disk and cut it into two equal parts. Then proceed in this manner: What is this part called? What is other part called? How many halves in the whole circle? One-half and one-half are what? One-half taken away from one leaves what? If I take a half two times, what do I get? How many halves in a whole?