8. Cut all the strands off to a length of about twenty inches, for
convenience in manipulation. The rope now assumes the form shown in
_b_, with the meeting-points of the strands three feet apart.
Each pair of strands is now successively subjected to the following
operations:
9. From the point of meeting of the strands 8 and 7, unlay each one
three turns; split both the strands 8 and 7 in halves, as far back as
they are now unlaid, and “whip” the end of each half strand with a
small piece of twine.
10. The half of the strand 7 is now laid in three turns, and the half
of 8 also laid in three turns.
The half strands now meet and are tied in a simple knot, 11 (_c_)
making the rope at this point its original size.
11. The rope is now opened with a marlin-spike, and the half strand of
7 worked around the half strand of 8 by passing the end of the half
strand through the rope, as shown, drawn taut, and again worked around
this half strand until it reaches the half strand 13 that was not laid
in. This half strand 13 is now split, and the half strand 7 drawn
through the opening thus made, and then tucked under the two adjacent
strands as shown in _d_.
12. The other half of the strand 8 is now wound around the other half
strand 7 in the same way. After each pair of strands has been treated
in this manner, the ends are cut off at 12, leaving them about four
inches long. After a few days’ wear they will all draw into the body of
the rope or wear off, so that the locality of the splice can scarcely
be detected.]
Why Do We Go to Sleep?
First, of course, we sleep to rest our body and brain. During our
waking hours many, if not all, parts of our bodies are active all the
time, and with every movement we exhaust or spend some of our strength.
Take the case of your arm, for instance. You may be able to move it
up and down fifty or a hundred or more times without getting tired,
according to how strong you are, but sooner or later you will not be
able to move it any more--it is tired--the life has all gone out of it
and it needs rest, in order that it may become strong again. Every time
you move your arm you destroy certain parts of its tissues, which can
only be replaced during rest. Every activity of your body has the same
experience, and the constant work of the brain in directing the various
movements and activities of the body, tires it out too. As soon as this
condition occurs, the brain tells the other parts of the body that it
is time to rest, and even if we try to keep awake and go on with our
work or play, or whatever it is we are doing, we find sooner or later
that it is impossible. If we persist we fall asleep wherever we happen
to be. It is not necessary for all parts of the body to be tired before
we sleep. One part alone may be so affected by what it has been doing
that it alone causes us to fall asleep. Sometimes the eyes become so
tired, while we are looking at the pictures in a book or reading, for
instance, that we fall off to sleep quickly. It is perhaps easier to
bring on sleep by making the eyes tired than in any other way. That
is why so many people read themselves to sleep. It is such a gradual
passing into unconsciousness that you can hardly ever tell where you
left off reading. It is said that when we are awake our bodies are
continually planning for the time when we shall need sleep and are
continually making some little germ which is carried to the brain as
soon as made, and when there are a sufficient number of these little
germs piled up in the brain, we go to sleep. The process of sleeping
then destroys these germs, and when they are destroyed we again wake up.
Why Do We Wake Up in the Morning?
To answer this we must go back to the answer to the question, “What
makes us go to sleep?” We go to sleep in order to secure the rest which
our body and brain need to build up the parts which have been destroyed
during our active work or play.
We wake up naturally when we have had sufficient rest. We wake up
naturally, however, only when the destroyed parts of the body have
been replaced. Other things may waken us--a noise of any kind, loud
or slight, a startling dream or a moving thing that disturbs our
sleep--according to how fully we are asleep. It is said that sometimes
only parts of the body are asleep; that we are not always all asleep
when we appear to sleep, and that we dream because some part of the
body is awake or active. This is probably true. Now then, when all of
anyone of us is sleepy, we go into what is called a deep sleep and
at such times only something out of the ordinary would awaken us.
Gradually, however, various parts of the body become rested and they
are said to wake up, and finally when all of us is rested, we naturally
wake up all over. If you are healthy and sleep naturally, in a place
where you cannot be disturbed by noises or movements of others, you
should be “wide awake” when your eyes open and be ready to get up at
once. If you feel like turning over for another snooze, when it is time
to get up, you did not go to bed as early as you should have done,
or else some part of you did not get the required amount of sleep it
should have had.
Where Are We When Asleep?
We are just where we lie. It seems to us, of course, because of our
dreams when we are asleep that we are away off some place else. Often
when we wake up we wonder for a minute or two where we are, as
everything seems so strange to us, and it takes a minute or so for us
to remember that we are in our own bed, if that is where we went to
sleep. This is because of the dreams we have while asleep. In past
times the uncivilized savages in various parts of the earth believed
that when any of them went to sleep that the real person so asleep
actually went away, leaving the body behind; in other words, that
the soul went traveling. They thought this because it was the only
explanation they could think of for the dreams they had, since almost
invariably the dream was about some other place.
Why Does It Seem When We Have Slept All Night That We Have Been Asleep
Only a Minute?
This is because all our ideas of passage of time are based on our
conscious periods. When we are asleep we are unconscious. It is the
same as if time did not pass, and when we wake up the tendency is to
start in where we left off. We have learned by experience that when
we go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning that much time has
passed and this unconscious knowledge keeps us from thinking always
that we have been asleep but a minute. But if you drop asleep in the
day time, no matter how long you sleep, you wake up thinking that
you have been asleep only a minute, and sometimes it is difficult to
convince yourself that you have been asleep at all. Sometimes after
being asleep for hours, your first waking thought is a continuation of
what your mind was on when you went to sleep. The reason for this, as
stated above, is that we cannot keep track of passing time when we are
asleep, because we are perfectly unconscious.
Why Should We Not Sleep With the Moon Shining On Us?
There is no harm in letting the moon shine on us while we are asleep.
This is one of the queer superstitions that has developed in the world.
A great many people think that something terrible will happen if the
moon is allowed to shine into the room where they are asleep. Not so
many believe this as used to do so, thanks to the more enlightened
condition of things in the world.
To prove to yourself that no harm can come to you through the moon
shining into your bedroom or upon you as you are asleep, you have only
to remember that a great many men and very many more animals sleep out
under the sky every night and that the moon must shine on them while
they are asleep. As a matter of fact, people who sleep out under the
open sky are generally in possession of more rugged health than people
who sleep in beds in closed rooms. So it is rather better to let the
moon shine on you while asleep than not.
This belief probably started with some one who had trouble in going to
sleep with the moon shining on him, because the light of the moon might
have a tendency to keep him awake. It is easier to go to sleep in a
dark room than in one that is lighted, because when there is no light
there is less about you to keep you awake.
What Makes Us Dream?
Dreams originate in the brain. The brain has many parts and some parts
of it may be asleep while others are not. If all parts of the brain
are actually asleep, it is said there can be no dreams. We have dreams
about things which seem very natural while we are having them, and
which we know would be impossible if we were wholly awake, because
those parts of the brain which control the other parts are probably
asleep while the dream is taking place, and it is then that we have
those fantastic and highly imaginative dreams, for the brain is not
under control in every sense.
We used to believe that dreams have no purpose, just as now we know
that they have no meaning. But it has been discovered that dreams
have a purpose in that they protect our sleep. You see, every dream
is started by some disturbance or excitement of the body or mind.
Something may be pressing or touching us while we sleep, or a strange
sound may start a dream, or perhaps it is some uncomfortable position
in which we are lying or trouble in the stomach on account of eating
something we should not. Whatever it may be, those things wake up some
part of the brain, because if all parts of the brain were asleep, we
could not feel or hear anything. Any such disturbance or excitement
would naturally excite the whole brain and wake us up completely if it
were not for dreams. The dream takes care of this and enables the rest
of the body and brain to sleep while one or more parts of the brain are
disturbed and even perhaps awake. We may perhaps have become uncovered
in some way. This would produce a cold feeling and might wake a part
of the brain and cause a dream about skating or some other winter
amusement or experience, or even perhaps one about falling through the
ice, and still we might not be uncovered so much that it would make any
great difference. The dream comes and we go on with our sleep without
waking up, whereas if it were not for the dream we would awaken. In
other words, dreams are just another wise provision of nature which
enables us to go right on and get the rest we need, even if our
digestion is out of order, or some part of our brain is disturbed
through something we read about, or were told of, or we thought of
while still awake.
Why Do We Know We Have Dreamed When We Wake Up?
Because we remember some of our dreams. Sometimes we do not remember
the dreams we dreamed. This is just like what happens when we are
awake. We remember some things and forget others.
Dreams are a sort of safety valve in our sleep. We dream because not
all of our brain is asleep at the time and it is a wise provision of
nature that permits the waking part of the brain to go on working
without disturbing the sleep of the other parts of the brain. If a
large part of the brain is awake and engaged in making the dream,
we are very apt to remember the dream; but when we dream and cannot
remember what the dream was, it is because only a very small portion of
the brain was awake and making a dream.
What Causes Nightmare?
A nightmare is a dream of what we might call a vigorous kind. A
nightmare is caused by a feeling of intense fear, horror, anxiety
or the inability to escape from some great danger. A nightmare is
the result of either an irregular flow of blood to the brain or by a
stomach that is not in proper condition.
The name for this kind of a dream comes from the words night and mare.
The latter word in one of its several meanings indicates an incubus or
evil vision, and a dream of an evil vision involving fear or horror
came to be termed a mare. Since they occurred generally at night, since
most people sleep at night, they became known as nightmares. Nightmares
are more common to children than grown-up people because children are
more apt to have an uneven flow of blood to the brain and also are more
apt to eat the things which put the stomach in a state of unrest which
causes nightmares. Grown-up people are more likely to have learned to
avoid the abuses of the stomach which are apt to produce nightmares.
What Are Ghosts?
The idea of ghosts is the result of a mistake of the brain or an
attempt to account for something of which we see the results, but have
no actual knowledge. There are no ghosts. There are many forces at work
in the world of which we know nothing as yet. Many of the wonderful
things that occur in the world are as yet mysteries to the mind of
man. Every little while man discovers one of these new forces, and
then he is able to understand many things plainly which were up to
then surrounded with mystery and in the minds of superstitious people
attributed to spirits or ghosts. Long before we understood as much as
we do now of the workings of electricity (and they say we know only a
little of its wonders as yet) many of the natural wonders produced by
electricity were attributed to ghosts.
Most of the marvelous tales of the wonders performed by and visits from
ghosts are the result of disturbances of the brain in the people who
think they see the ghosts and the results of their work.
A creature without imagination does not pretend to see or believe in
ghosts. Man is the only animal which possesses the ability to imagine
things and so the ghosts we hear about are the creatures of the
disturbed brains of men. Generally in the ghost stories we hear of,
the ghost is described as wearing clothes--usually white. A bed sheet
thrown over the foot of the bed may appear to a half-awake person as
the outline of the figure of a ghost and to one of a highly imaginative
temperament without the courage of investigation, become forever a real
ghost. Usually what is supposed to be a ghost is only a creation of
the mind--a vision such as we can develop during a dream--oftentimes,
however, what you look at when you think you see a ghost is an actual
something such as the sheet referred to, but which takes the form of
the ghost in the brain of the person who is looking at it through eyes
that really see it, but out of a brain that for the moment at least is
far off its balance.
Why Do Girls Like Dolls?
Girls like dolls because they come into the world for the purpose of
becoming mothers and the love which they display for dolls is the
mother instinct which begins to show itself early in life. To the
little girl the doll is a make-believe child. It satisfies her as long
as there are no real babies to take its place, but any little girl will
drop her dollie if she is given an opportunity to play at dolls with a
real live baby instead. This is a very interesting fact in connection
with the human race. Boys sometimes play with dolls, but not so often,
and any kind of a boy will give up playing with a doll as soon as a
toy engine or some other boy’s toy appears for him. A boy has certain
mannish instincts which a girl has not. We have many other instincts
besides the instinct of parenthood and each of them has its origin in
some certain kind of feeling which is born within us and is capable of
development along interesting lines.
What Makes the Works of a Watch Go?
A watch like any other machine which we have, only goes when power is
applied in some form or another. In the case of a watch it is a spring.
A spring is an elastic body, such as a strip of steel, as in the case
of the watch, coiled spirally which, when bent or forced out of its
natural state, has the power of recovering its shape again by virtue of
its elastic power. The natural state of a watch spring is to be open
flat and spread out to its full length. When you wind a watch you coil
this spring, i.e., you bend it out of its natural shape. As soon as you
stop winding the spring begins to uncoil itself, trying to get back to
its natural shape, and in doing so makes the wheels of the watch which
operate the hands go round. The spring then, or rather its elasticity,
which always makes an effort to get back to its natural state, is the
power which makes the watch go. Men who make watches arrange the spring
and the other machinery in the watch in such a way that it will uncoil
itself only at a certain rate of speed. Sooner or later the spring
loses its elasticity and then its power to make the watch go.
What Makes a Hot Box?
When you put oil on the axle, however, the oil fills up the hollows
between the little irregular bumps on both the axle and the hub, and
makes them both smooth--almost perfectly so. This reduces the friction
and keeps the axle and hub from becoming hot and expanding. The less
friction that is developed, the more easily the wheel will turn.
[Illustration]