The Wonder Book of Knowledge The Marvels of Modern Industry and Invention, the Interesting Stories of Common Things, the Mysterious Processes of Nature Simply Explained

This dry dock, which is capable of floating the largest battleship, was towed from Sparrow’s Point, Maryland, to Olangapo, Philippine Islands, a voyage of 13,000 miles. In opera...

As early as the fifteenth century we have much evidence of the universality of the game all over southern Europe. It was certainly known in France in the time of Louis IX, who d...

It is interesting to note that discoveries and inventions, which may seem slight in themselves, sometimes form the basis of, or contribute to, other important inventions. In the...

In other words, he had needed to strike a harder blow than the blow of his fist, at a greater distance than the length of his arm, and his brain showed him how to do it. After a...

“The early films were in very short lengths,” continued the manufacturer. “The average was from twenty to seventy-five feet. A hundred-foot film was considered extra long. They...

His press consisted of two upright timbers held together by cross pieces at top and bottom. The flat bed on which the types rested was held up by other cross timbers, while thro...

Trained men, some of them veterinarians, in the employ of the government, make a thorough inspection of the glands and other organs of the hog. They are so particular that even...

Six engines of a combination gas-steam type, housed in this building, develop 36,000 combined horse-power. They are said to be the first gas-steam engines to be put to practical...

Lovers of good coffee want it served hot, but boiling spoils coffee. The modern electric percolator, which can be operated on the dining table, has solved coffee-making problems...

The name appears to have no reference to the color, but is derived from the Icelandic “grey,” meaning a dog. They are used chiefly in the sport of coursing, a work for which the...

=Why is the Thistle the Emblem of Scotland? 593. How are Animals Identified on Cattle Ranges? 594. How is Glue Made? 594. Why does a Hot Dish Crack if we put Ice Cream in It? 594.=

Closely akin to this is another electrical development most pleasing to consider. Years ago, electricity was considered the luxury of the rich. Now electric light is coming to b...

L. D. and W. E. Copeland, two Californian experimenters, are credited with the next known effort to produce a two-wheeler which would travel by its own power. Their first model...

The bed is thus built up for its continuous length, strip by strip, the tongue of one strip fitting into the groove of the other, and both nailed firmly together, until the prop...

Young Colt tried in vain to interest government officials in his new weapon, their principal objection being that he used in it the new percussion caps instead of the time-honor...

Babbage began to design his “analytical engine” in 1833 and he put together a small portion of it shortly before his death in 1871. This engine was to be capable of evaluating a...

One often speaks of a ring as being 14-carat gold, or of 22- or 18-carat watch cases or jewelry, but do all of us know just what we mean by 14, 18 or 22 carat?

In the locks, the vessel is under the control of the lock-operating force. As the vessel approaches the locks, the operator in charge at the control house indicates by an electr...

We have evidence of this. Tribes of savages still have in use cords made of various materials and some of them very well made. These have been in use among them for long centuri...

Fiddler-crabs inhabit various parts of the world, and are usually found in large numbers on muddy or sandy flats left dry by the tide, where they may be seen hurrying over the s...

The rubber gatherer carries in addition to a macheadino and many small tin cups, a larger vessel for gathering the liquid and carrying it to camp. One man will tap as many as 10...

Famous reproduction of the Cliff-dwellers’ Ruins, near Colorado Springs, Col. The cliff-dwellers of early America built their habitations in the canyons of the Colorado and Rio...

The metal underlying the silver plate of the best plated teaspoons is of nickel silver, a trade name for a metal composed of nickel, copper and zinc. This metal is procured in s...

The first government contract came in 1845. War with Mexico loomed up on the horizon. William Jencks had invented a carbine, and Uncle Sam wanted several thousand guns made in a...

Four-ton grab buckets operating on the four bridge-tramways pick up the coal from the hold of lake steamers and deposit it either on the dock or in cars. The four machines can b...

What is the greatest discovery of the last twenty-five years? Probably you will say the wireless telegraph, the flying machine, moving pictures or the phonograph, but it would b...

Of course, a new addressograph was necessary to handle this card index improvement. And in the Model “A” Addressograph, we find the basic principle of the addressograph of today...

The most interesting species is the “Common” or “Bank Cod.” Though they are found plentifully on the coasts of other northern regions, such as Britain, Scandinavia and Iceland,...

The term “Shibboleth” has come to mean a countersign or password of a secret society since the Biblical days, when the Ephraimites, who had been routed by Jephthah, tried to pas...

The wet meter is composed of an outer box about three-fifths filled with water. Within this is a revolving four-chambered drum, each chamber being capable of containing a defini...

As beekeeping developed as an industry, the close relationship to fruit growing and horticulture became apparent, as bees were discovered to be the greatest pollen carrying agen...

Nearly all of these early reapers relied upon scythes or cutters with a rotary motion or vibrating shears. This method of cutting was essentially wrong, and none of the machines...

The car consists of heavy steel plate structure, erected upon a flat car of standard type. The interior is divided into three compartments. The end compartments are for use of t...

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One-piece, 90-degree, double-throw crank shaft for 5,400 H. P. gas engine. Diameter of shaft, 37 inches, with 10-inch hole. Length over all, 25 feet 5 inches. Crank webs, 16-3/8...

The building of the Hudson River tunnels was probably one of the most daring engineering feats ever accomplished. As is well known, the Hudson River, for the length of Manhattan...

Made-up ammunition, with brass cartridge cases, and cast-iron and forged steel shells and armor-piercing projectiles. The rounds shown are as follows: Rounds with forged steel s...

Another interesting feature is the handling of sand in the core room. The sand is handled entirely in a gallery built above the room, equipped with storage bins and sand mixers....

The United States, not unmindful of the advantages of an Isthmian Canal, had from time to time, made surveys of the various routes. With a view to government ownership and contr...

Daguerreotypes, 164 Dates, 97 “Davids,” 10 “Death Valley,” 315 Deep Sea Monster, 469 Deer-stalking, 82 Delivery Trucks, 481 Denatured Alcohol, 478 Desk ’Phones, 223 Detonators,...

The shotgun and rifle, the familiar weapons of the sportsman and the foot-soldier, are not the ancestors of the cannon, as might be surmised. On the contrary, the cannon was the...

Wall Street, 307 Washington Union Station, 546 Watches, 61 Watches, Nautical, 317 Water, 308, 333, 336, 411 Water Bottles, 118 Water Clocks, 63 “Water-finders,” 199 Water Firewo...