dust storm at sea was reported in June, 1928, by Captain Nemaru of the
Japanese steamship “Montreal Maru” on arrival in Tacoma from the Orient.
Captain Nemaru stated that two buckets full of dust were swept from the
decks on several mornings in succession, and that the dust powdered the
passengers, decks, and lifeboat coverings.
A few months before, the Captain of the steamship “Justin” reported a
sand storm in the North Atlantic ocean about midway across.
Recently the crew of the “Jaden,” a Roosevelt Line steamer, came into
Calcutta with stories of a dust storm in the Red Sea. The red dust or
sand hung so thick over the ship as to make navigation difficult, and
the ship was forced to slow down as though in a dense fog. The whole
sky was obscured by a reddish haze of sand from the desert.
Darwin writes of the “Beagle’s” experience off Porto Praya, Brazil.
He collected several packets of the dust and had them analyzed by
Professor Ehrenberg, who found that the dust contained no less than 67
different organic forms. These infusoria, with the exception of two
marine species, were all the inhabitants of fresh water.
Darwin arrived at the conclusion that this dust had been raised high in
the air and blown over from Africa.
* * *
The Monthly Weather Review reports Red Rain on the coast of
Newfoundland in 1890 (Vol. 29, page 121) and snowflakes 15 inches
across and 8 inches thick that fell in Montana 1887 (page 73).
* * *
Black Rain fell in Ireland over an area of 400 square miles on May 14,
1849.
_Ref.: “Annals of Scientific Discovery.”_
* * *
Red, white and blue hailstones fell in Russia, June 14, 1880.
_Ref.: “Annals of Philosophy,” Prof. Schwedoff._
* * *
The report of the Smithsonian Institute for 1870 (page 479) states that
hailstones the size of elephants fell at Seringpatan, India.
* * *
RAINING FISHES AND FROGS
There are numerous accounts of showers of fishes and frogs--and even
rats. And such things actually happened. A friend of mine wrote me that
he witnessed a fall of fishes in the town of Longreach, Queensland,
Australia, in March, 1924. “I picked some of them up and found that
they were 1¹⁄₂ inches to 3 inches long, and very much alive.”
Such showers are easily explained.
Tornadoes and waterspouts passing over bodies of shallow water are
quite apt to suck up fish, frogs, tadpoles, etc., into the clouds,
later despositing them at distant places along the path of the storm.
There are many cases of so-called miraculous showers in which the
substances found on the ground did not actually fall from aloft. Thus
some alleged rains of blood are due to the deposit of red fluid ejected
by certain species of lepidoptera emerging simultaneously in large
numbers from their cocoons, and others to the rapid multiplications
in rain pools of algae and rotifers containing red coloring matter.
The well-known red snow of polar regions results from the presence of
similar organisms.
* * *
THE RED SEA
In 1823, the waters of the bay and seaport of Tor, not far from Mount
Sinai, turned blood red three times. This phenomenon is described
by Darwin and Ehrenberg as being caused by a marine plant, the
Trichodesium. This minute organism is also the probable explanation of
the first of the Egyptian plagues mentioned in Exodus.
[Illustration]
MANNA FROM HEAVEN
Manna, the bread from the skies, that the Lord sent down to the
starving hosts of Israel was not only a miracle but a scientific fact.
Believe me, for I have tasted of it myself. It is gathered by the Arabs
today and sold to the tourists in the Holy Land. It is a resinous gum
exuding from the fragile twigs of the tamarisk, an evergreen shrub,
which is found in several valleys of the Mid-Sinai. The honey-like
drops appear usually during June and July just before sun-up while the
air is cold and dewy.
I found it sweet-tasting and gummy, but for the life of me I cannot
imagine anybody growing very fat on it.
Recently several organizations have attempted to search out the source
of this sweet somewhere in the shadow of Mount Sinai. According to the
news from Jerusalem, it is believed that this Heaven-sent nourishment
has commercial possibilities; so don’t be surprised if in the near
future we find these famous agglutinized tears for sale in every candy
store.
* * *
WHISTLING TREES
If you would listen to trees that whistle, you must go to the melodious
Acacia groves in the land of “Fuzzy Wuzzy”--the Sudan.
This freak of nature is caused by the larvae of insects which work
their way inside the ivory-white shoots and cause them to swell out at
their base like globular bladders to the extent of an inch or more.
After this mysterious insect has unaccountably managed to glide out
of its circular hole, this thorn-like shoot becomes a sort of musical
instrument upon which the wind, as it blows, produces the regular sound
of a flute.
* * *
SHIRTS GROWING ON TREES
Humboldt describes the “shirt trees.”
“We saw on the slope of the Cerra Dnida shirt trees fifty feet high.
The Indians cut off cylindrical pieces two feet in diameter, from
which they peel the red and fibrous bark without making a longitudinal
incision. This bark affords them a sort of a garment which resembles a
sack without a seam. The upper opening serves for the head, and the two
lateral holes are cut to admit the arms.”
* * *
OYSTERS GROWING ON TREES
“Oysters growing on trees? Impossible,” everybody said upon my return
from a South American jaunt.
Yet the oyster tree, that is considered such a curiosity, is very
common on the islands of the Caribbean and the Spanish Main. I have
seen many such trees in Cuba, Trinidad, Barbados, and Colombia, with
their lower stems and branches literally covered with the festive
oyster. These peculiar shell-fish are found in lagoons and swamps
along the coast, and they attach themselves to the lower parts of the
Mangrove trees as far up as the tide will rise and the spray will fly.
When the tide is out, the Mangrove trees, which, by the way, are one
of the very few trees that flourish in salt water, present a strange
appearance with their oyster crop.
* * *
THE COW TREE
The tree that gives milk is one of the most famous phenomena of nature.
It is found most frequently along the northern Cordillera of South
America, and is called by the natives “the milk tree” (arbol de leche).
Humboldt made a special study of this tree. Let him tell it:
“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.”
* * *
[Illustration]
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.
* * *
[Illustration]
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._
[Illustration]
[Illustration:
A FRENCH BIPLANE
FLIES WITHOUT A PILOT
IT TAKES OFF AND
LANDS UNDER
WIRELESS CONTROL
NATURE’S MARKSMAN--THE
BEAKED CHÆTODON FISH--of India
USES ITS ELONGATED MUZZLE AS A GUN TO SHOOT INSECTS--USING
DROPS OF WATER AS BULLETS!
[signature]
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.
[Illustration:
THE
MAGIC BLOCKS
ALL THE PEOPLE
ON EARTH--WORKING
DAY AND NIGHT--FOR
A MILLION YEARS
COULD NOT
ARRANGE 5 LETTER-BLOCKS
INTO ALL POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS]
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.
* * *
[Illustration]
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.