QUEER QUESTIONS
AND
READY REPLIES.
A COLLECTION OF FOUR HUNDRED QUESTIONS IN HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY,
BIOGRAPHY, MYTHOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, NATURAL HISTORY,
SCIENCE, PHILOLOGY, ETC., ETC., WITH
THEIR ANSWERS.
BY
S. GRANT OLIPHANT.
Fourth Edition.
BOSTON:
NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1888.
COPYRIGHT, 1886,
BY NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING COMPANY.
TO
CARRIE G. NORRIS
THIS WORK IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED
BY THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
The design of this little work is to offer, in a convenient form, to
the reading public of the country, much quaint and curious as well
as interesting and instructive information in history, geography,
biography, philosophy, science, philology, etc., to correct several
popular fallacies, to promote accurate scholarship, and to tender an
explanation of many expressions which occur in daily conversation.
Considerable time and pains have been given to the selection of the
matter herein contained, and to the verification of the same. Care has
been taken that no statement should be made which cannot be supported
by good authority.
The information covered by the questions and answers is not generally
known, even by intelligent and educated readers, and much of it has
never before been published in a form accessible to the great mass of
readers.
With the hope that it may prove an acceptable and _ready help_ to
all intelligent readers, the author submits it to an appreciative and
critical public.
S. G. O.
WOODSTOWN, N. J.
CONTENTS
A
PAGE
Acting Vice-Presidents of the United States 159
Adam’s beard 93
African capital named from a United States President 76
Albany Regency, The 95
Alien and Sedition Laws, The 119
Amber 3
American Fabius, The 169
American Pathfinder, The 146
American Pope of Rome, The 30
Ancient account for the origin of amber 4
Ancient city that perished through silence 5
Ancient Mariner, The 65
Ancient name of the ring-finger 22
Animal noted for its large tail 72
Antarctic Continent discovered 38
Auld Reekie 134
Author of “Curfew must not ring To-night” 59
Author of “Greenbacks” 89
Author of the name America 21
B
Balm of Gilead 126
Banshee 66
Battle fought above the clouds 89
Battle of Herrings, The 137
Battle of Spurs, The 133
Beautiful Parricide, The 23
Beautiful Rope-maker, The 165
Bible of the Greeks, The 151
Bird with neither tail nor wings 6
Birthplace of two Presidents 40
Black Hole of Calcutta 136
Black Jack 136
Blue Hen State, The 88
Blue-Noses, The 163
Boundary between United States and Canada 14
Bravest of the brave, The 33
Breeches Bible, The 130
Bridge of Sighs, The 145
Brightest star visible 62
Bug Bible, The 104
Burial place of Columbus 102
Burial place of our Presidents 105
C
Causes of the American Revolution 116
Causes of the Civil War 119
Cave of the winds 40
Celluloid 104
Chains of Columbus 176
Children of Columbus 101
Christ of India, The 50
Cities without elections 28
City destroyed by an ill-timed jest 125
City of Elms, The 43
City of Magnificent Distances, The 134
City of Oaks, The 167
City of the Red Staff, The 28
City where burials are made above ground 141
Colony founded as a home for the poor 91
Color and portrait of our postage-stamps 40
Colossus of American Independence, The 91
Columbus’s line extinct 101
Confederate candle 80
Copperheads, The 171
Country in which grass grows upon trees 145
Country in which prayers are said by wheels 95
Country in which the clergymen are blacksmiths 25
Cousin Michael 131
D
Dark day, The 142
Day of Barricades, The 143
Day of Corn-sacks, The 170
Defects of the Confederation 118
Deliverer of Washington’s funeral oration 76
Derivation of Alaska 122
Derivation of Canada 124
Derivation of magnet 130
Devil’s Wall, The 81
Deviser of our decimal coinage 107
Diamond necklace affair 23
Discovery of the Pacific Ocean 82
Dynamite 99
E
Easter 25
Eight motions of the earth 172
El Dorado 144
Election on which the price of flour depended 77
Explorer of the Mississippi with La Salle 64
Explorer who drove a herd of hogs before him 72
F
Famous men killed by lice 168
Father of Ridicule, The 41
Fat man’s misery, The 11
“Fiery serpents” of Numbers xxi 8
First American bird taken to England 156
First Bible printed in America 138
First bloodshed in the Civil War 75
First bloodshed in the Revolution 52
First census of the United States 38
First circumnavigator of the globe 166
First Colonial Congress 117
First duel in the United States 13
First English book 147
First English child born in America 147
First English child born in New England 27
First flag of a republic set up in America 80
First gun of the Civil War 75
First land discovered by Columbus 21
First legislative assembly in America 74
First martyr to American liberty 59
First national political convention 87
First national political platform 88
First paper-makers 46
First post-offices 12
First President nominated by national convention 87
First purchaser of United States postage-stamps 159
First temperance society 145
First watches 168
First white child born in America 173
First woman hung in the United States 162
Foul-weather Jack 81
Floral emblem of the United States 172
Flying Dutchman, The 65
Franklin’s oft-quoted epitaph 55
French game-cock, The 95
G
Gate of Tears, The 175
Gems emblematic of the Twelve Apostles 111
General fired at fifteen times but unharmed 164
Goblets used as preservatives against poison 157
Golden number and how determined 115
Golomynka 53
Grandest funeral pageant ever known 54
Granite City, The 174
Great American Commoner, The 100
Ground Hog Day 105
H
Hæmadynamometer 4
Hagar’s well 63
Hairy men, The 115
Handsome Englishman, The 164
Heaviest metal 134
Hebrew manner of naming the books of the Bible 138
Height of Goliath 126
Highest spot inhabited by human beings 142
Highest tides known 25
History changed by a flight of birds 20
History of the poem “Sheridan’s Ride” 109
Holy Grail, The 80
Horse Latitudes, The 148
How all the greenbacks, etc., are destroyed 96
How Napoleon was paid for Louisiana 80
How the Red Sea gets its color 46
How the schooner obtained its name 43
How the swallow obtained its name 176
How to determine the years of a Congress 39
How umbrellas are put together 17
I
Indian chief made an English peer 36
Indians’ present to Penn’s widow 71
Indians with red hair and pale complexions 7
Inventor of decimal fractions 107
Inventor of the first steamboat 139
Inventor of the most perfect alphabet 53
Irish Night, The 67
Iron Duke, The 148
Island discovered by two lovers 10
Island of St. Brandon 148
Island of the Seven Cities 149
Ivan Ivanovitch 131
J
Japanese national beverage 37
Jersey blues, The 93
Jewish year corresponding to 1886 A. D. 49
John Bull 132
Johnny Crapaud 130
John of Gaunt 122
K
Keystone State, The 67
King who boasted of being a good cook 10
King who said “I am the state” 60
King who wrote an essay against tobacco 173
Kitchen Cabinet, The 52
Kosciusko’s mound 97
L
Lalla Rookh 151
Land of Steady Habits, The 151
Land of the Incas, The 138
Land of the Midnight Sun, The 77
Land of the Rising Sun, The 77
Largest clock in the world 11
Largest locomotive in the world 146
Largest stationary engine in the world 55
Last Union general killed in the Rebellion 73
Last words of Benedict Arnold 92
Last words of Columbus 101
Last writing of Columbus 102
Learned tailor, The 62
Left-handed marriage 1
Lightest metal 135
Light-horse Harry 95
Little Giant, The 54
Little Magician, The 72
Little Paris 16
Longest word in the English language 111
Lumber State, The 151
Luz 152
M
Maiden town, The 155
Maid of Saragossa, The 68
Man of Destiny, The 57
Martha Washington 125
Meaning of the phrase “By hook or by crook” 158
Meaning of the phrase “By Jingo” 113
Meaning of the phrase “Fitting to a T” 129
Metals valued at over one thousand dollars a pound 173
Mill-boy of the Slashes, The 43
Mistress of the World, The 35
Modern Athens, The 106
Mollusk that swims by fins on the side of its neck 2
Money of North American Indians 42
Most deadly epidemic ever known 31
Most famous heroine of antiquity 98
Most useful conquest ever made by man 52
Most useful tree in the world 73
Mother Goose 60
Mother of Cities, The 9
Mourning colors of various nations 34
N
Name of the penitent thief 50
National emblematic flower of China and Japan 139
National hymn composed in a single night 32
Nearest approach made to the North Pole 77
Newspaper called “The Thunderer” 57
Newton of Antiquity, The 172
Nimrod of the Bible, The 75
Nine Worthies, The 41
Northeast Passage discovered 156
Northwest Passage discovered 26
Number of languages 29
Number of people brought over in the “Mayflower” 76
O
Oath of office administered to Washington 35
O Grab Me Act, The 61
Old Bullion 13
Oldest President 90
Oldest street in New England 155
Old Hickory 42
Old Nick 113
Old Public Functionary 94
Old Scratch 135
Only bird that can see an object with both eyes at once 6
Only canonized saint of American birth 74
Only monarchy on the Western Continent 96
Order of the Garter 39
Origin of “April Fool” 128
Origin of “Before one could say Jack Robinson” 69
Origin of “bigot” 164
Origin of “bogus” 112
Origin of “Brother Jonathan” 36
Origin of “catch-penny” 58
Origin of “getting into a scrape” 129
Origin of “halcyon days” 50
Origin of “honeymoon” 43
Origin of “humbug” 108
Origin of “I acknowledge the corn” 18
Origin of “Johnnies” 176
Origin of “Lynch Law” 67
Origin of “Mugwump” 177
Origin of “Old Harry” 106
Origin of “pin-money” 56
Origin of “printer’s devil” 44
Origin of “quiz” 68
Origin of “sardonic smile” 166
Origin of “Simon Pure” 154
Origin of “tariff” 57
Origin of tarring and feathering 112
Origin of Thanksgiving Day 114
Origin of “That’s a feather in your cap” 161
Origin of the barber’s pole 126
Origin of the minute and second 15
Origin of the names of the days of the week 48
Origin of the names of the months 47
Origin of the names of the oceans 143
Origin of “The three R’s” 16
Origin of the word “Mississippi” 61
Origin of “To catch a Tartar” 154
Origin of “To haul over the coals” 155
Origin of “To have a bone to pick with one” 157
Origin of “To row up Salt River” 145
Origin of “To speak for Buncombe” 120
Origin of “To throw dust in one’s eye” 157
Origin of Uncle Sam 16
Origin of “Whig” and “Tory” 106
Origin of $ 156
P
Palace containing five hundred rooms 52
Parents of Columbus 100
Parthenopean Republic, The 47
Patriot Preacher of the Revolution, The 24
Peeping Tom of Coventry 132
Petrified City, The 161
Philosopher who thought the sun was a huge fiery stone 175
Physiologist who thought man should live a century 29
Pine-Tree State, The 15
Pocahontas’ real name 35
Poet noted for his thinness 92
Poet’s death caused by his bald head 26
Porkopolis 148
Postal cards 78
Pouter pigeon 92
Prairie State, The 135
President buried at the expense of his friends 121
Presidential administration compared to a parenthesis 137
Presidential election in which three States did not vote 34
Presidents born in Virginia 96
President twice married to the same lady 121
President who never attended school 79
President who worked on a ferry-boat 78
President who wrote his own epitaph 87
Prince of Destruction, The 151
Proper name of Columbus 100
Punishment of bachelors at Sparta 71
Putnam and the wolf 78
Q
Quaker Poet, The 171
Queen of Hearts, The 152
Queen of Tears, The 33
R
Railroad City, The 124
Rail-splitter, The 69
Rare Ben 113
Red Prince, The 123
Religious sect that depend on prayer 51
Remarkable Esquimaux stratagem 20
Roundheads, The 153
S
Sacred writings of the Buddhists 83
Sacred writings of the Chinese 83
Sacred writings of the Hindoos 85
Sacred writings of the Japanese 86
Sacred writings of the Mohammedans 86
Sacred writings of the Persians 85
Sacred writings of the Scandinavians 84
Sage Brush State, The 124
Sage of Monticello, The 170
Sailor king, The 176
Samian letter, The 177
Scourge of God, The 158
Sect believing in one hundred and thirty-six hells 82
Seed supposed to confer invisibility 10
Seven against Thebes, The 169
Seven Bibles of the world, The 86
Seven Champions of Christendom, The 45
Seven Sleepers, The 44
Seven Wise Men of Greece, The 45
Seven Wonders of the ancient world, The 45
Shadeless forests 97
Shakespeare of India, The 5
Socrates’ fundamental doctrine 51
Sovereign who owns the greater part of his realm 9
State called “The Dark and Bloody Ground” 89
“Stonewall” Jackson’s sobriquet 136
St. Tammany 69
Sucker State, The 103
Symmes’ Hole 171
T
Taffy 131
Tallest trees in the world 98
Tam O’Shanter 93
Terms of the treaty of 1783 117
Three kings of Cologne, The 142
Title of the Czar of Russia 119
Town in Vermont captured by the Confederates 1
Tree regarded as an emblem of death 11
Trivial incident that led to a grand discovery 6
Turpentine State, The 136
Two consecutive Bible verses that contradict 175
U
Unconditional Surrender 167
Underground river in the United States 58
V
Value of a pound of hair-springs for watches 4
Veiled Prophet, The 7
Via Dolorosa 135
Vice-President not elected by the people 38
Vice-President who did not serve 38
Vinegar Bible, The 130
Violet stones 36
W
Wagoner Boy, The 64
War of the Roses, The 155
Water volcano, The 62
Wealthiest President 93
Well-known hymn composed in a few minutes 129
What the Indians did to raise ammunition 75
What the Indians supposed the ships of Columbus to be 79
When a gallon of vinegar weighs more 35
Whence the cravat obtains its name 147
Where the Declaration of Independence was written 115
Where the different Presidents were nominated 88
White Lady, The 28
Who ate Roger Williams? 70
Whose daughter was Noah? 115
Whose wife was Adam? 114
Why a dog turns round before he lies down 46
Why buckwheat is so called 112
Why John Quincy Adams was so named 90
Why New Jersey is called a foreign country 123
Why New Jersey is called Spain 153
Why people move on March 25 150
Why Presidents are inaugurated on the 4th of March 56
Why the Baldwin apple is so called 161
Why the “Hoosiers” are so called 160
Why the passion flower is so called 160
Why the shamrock is the emblem of Ireland 127
Why the White House is so called 132
Wicked Bible, The 46
Wife of Columbus 100
Words containing all the vowels in order 73
Y
Youngest President 81
Youngest Territory 127
Z
Zopyrus 175
QUEER QUESTIONS AND READY REPLIES.
1. What town in Vermont was taken by the Confederates during the late
Civil War?
On the 19th of October, 1864, between twenty and thirty armed
Confederates left Canada, entered St. Albans, Vermont, robbed the
banks, stole horses and stores, fired and killed one man, wounded
others, and returned to Canada. Thirteen were arrested Oct. 21, but
they were discharged on account of some legal difficulty by Judge
Coursol, Dec. 14. This raid caused great excitement in the United
States; Gen. Dix proclaimed reprisals; volunteers were called out to
defend the Canadian frontiers; but President Lincoln rescinded Dix’s
proclamation in December. The raiders were all discharged March 30,
1865, and Secretary Seward gave up claim to their extradition in April.
2. What is a “left-handed” marriage?
A morganatic or left-handed marriage, as it is sometimes called, is
a lower sort of matrimonial union, which, as a civil engagement,
is completely binding, but fails to confer on the wife the title
or fortune of her husband, and on the children the full status of
legitimacy or right of succession. The members of the German princely
houses have for centuries been in the practice of entering into
marriages of this kind with their inferiors in rank. Out of this
usage has gradually sprung a code of matrimonial law, by which the
union of princes with persons of lower rank, in other than morganatic
form, involves serious consequences, especially toward the lady. The
penalty of death was actually enforced in the case of the beautiful and
unfortunate Agnes Bernaur. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a
fashion began among the German princes of taking a morganatic wife in
addition to one who enjoyed the complete matrimonial status,--Landgrave
Philip of Hesse setting the example, with a very qualified
disapprobation on the part of the leading reformers. An energetic
attempt was made in the first half of the last century by Anton
Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, to upset the established practice, and
to obtain for his morganatic wife the rank of duchess, and for her
children the right of succession. The most recent morganatic marriage
was that of the late Czar of Russia, Alexander II., to the Princess
Dolgorouki, 1880.
3. What mollusk has a distinct head, and swims by fins attached to the
side of the neck?
This is the Gymnosomata (Greek, “naked-bodied”), an order of
pteropodous mollusks, destitute of shell. They constitute one family,
the Cliidæ. They are all marine; and the right whale feeds largely
upon some of the species, engulfing great numbers in its open mouth,
and straining them from the water by means of its baleen. The _Clio
borealis_ of the Arctic Seas is the best known and most interesting
example.
4. What substance was once a vegetable, but is now a mineral; was once
valued as a medicine, but is now used only for purposes of ornament?
Amber is the fossilized resinous exudation from several species of
extinct coniferous trees, of which one, the _Pinites succinifer_,
is supposed to have produced a greater part. It now appears like
coal, in connection with beds of which it is usually found, as a
product of the mineral kingdom. It formerly had a high reputation
as a medicine, but the virtues ascribed to it were almost entirely
imaginary. It is usually of a pale yellow color, sometimes reddish
or brownish, sometimes transparent, sometimes almost opaque. It is
now extensively used for ornaments, and especially for mouthpieces
of pipes, the consumption being greatest in Eastern Europe, Turkey,
Persia, etc. Fine pieces are worth more than their weight in gold.
The largest mass known is in the Royal Cabinet at Berlin; its weight
is eighteen pounds, and it is valued at $30,000. Most of the amber of
commerce is obtained from the shores of the Baltic, between Königsberg
and Memel. It was an article of exchange long anterior to the dawn of
history, as we know by its frequent occurrence in the remains of the
lake dwellings of Switzerland. The earliest notice of amber we find
occurs in Homer’s “Odyssey,” where, in the list of jewels offered by
the Phœnicians to the Queen of Syria, occurs “the gold necklace hung
with bits of amber” (Od., XV. 460). It becomes negatively electric by
friction, and possesses this property in a high degree, which, indeed,
was first observed in it, and the term “electricity” is derived from
_Elektron_, the Greek name of amber.
5. How did the ancients account for the origin of amber?
Among the Greek fables purporting to account for the origin of amber,
it is narrated that the Heliadæ, on seeing their brother, Phaëthon,
hurled by the lightning of Zeus (Jupiter) into the Eridanus, were by
the pitying gods transformed into poplar-trees, and the tears they
shed were dropped as amber on the shores of the river. A less poetical
theory of its origin states that it was formed from the condensed urine
of the lynx inhabitating Northern Italy, the pale varieties being
produced by the females, while the deeper tints were attributed to the
males.
6. What is the value of a pound of steel when made into hair-springs
for watches?
A pound of steel that costs but a few cents becomes worth $128,000 in
the shape of hair-springs for watches.
7. Who devised the instrument for determining the pressure of the blood
in the arteries and veins of the living body?
The Hæmadynamometer (from the Greek αἶμα, blood, δύναμις, force,
and μέτρον, a measure) was devised for this purpose by Poisseville.
The pressure of the blood is measured, as in the barometer, by the
column of mercury that it balances. The instrument has recently been
improved in various ways, and a contrivance has been added by which the
oscillations of the mercury are inscribed in the form of an undulating
curve on a cylinder made to revolve by clock-work; the height of the
undulations denoting the pressure, and their horizontal amplitude the
time.
8. What ancient city perished through silence?
Amyclæ, an ancient town of Laconia, situated on the eastern bank of
the Eurotas, was a famous city in the heroic age. It was the abode
of Tyndarus and his spouse Leda, of Castor and Pollux, who are hence
called the “Amyclæan Brothers.” It was only shortly before the first
Messenian War (743–724 B. C.) that the town was conquered by the
Spartan King Teleclus. The inhabitants had been so often alarmed by
false reports of the approach of the Spartans that, growing tired of
living in a state of continual alarm, they decreed that no one should
henceforth mention or even take notice of these disagreeable fictions;
and, accordingly, when the Spartans at last came, no one dared to
announce their approach. Hence arose the Greek saying, “Amyclæ perished
through silence,” and also the Latin proverb, “_Amyclis ipsis
taciturnior_” (More silent than even Amyclæ).
9. What dramatic poet has been called the “Shakespeare of India”?
Kalidasa was the greatest dramatic poet of India. His drama,
“Sakuntala,” translated by Sir William Jones, 1789, produced a great
sensation in Europe. He is noted for the variety of his creations, his
ingenious conceptions, beauty of narrative, delicacy of sentiment, and
fertility of imagination; hence the sobriquet.
10. What trivial incident in 1666 led to one of the grandest
discoveries ever made?
It was during this year that the celebrated philosopher, Sir Isaac
Newton, while sitting beneath an apple-tree in his mother’s orchard at
Woolsthorpe, England, conceived the idea of gravitation from seeing an
apple fall from the tree. This tree remained standing until the year
1814, when it was blown down. The wood of it was preserved and made
into various articles. Several trees still exist which were raised from
the seeds of its fruit.
11. Which is the only bird that can use both eyes at once in looking at
an object?
This bird is the owl. Its eyes are very large, directed forward, more
or less surrounded by a disk of radiating bristly feathers, and in
most of the species formed for seeing in the twilight or at night,
presenting a vacant stare when exposed to daylight. The Greeks and
Romans made it the emblem of wisdom, and sacred to Minerva, and,
indeed, its large head and solemn eyes give it an air of wisdom which
its brain does not sanction.
12. What bird has neither tail nor wings?
The Apteryx (Greek α, privative, πτέρυξ, wing) is a bird allied to the
ostrich and emu. It is found in New Zealand, particularly in regions
covered with extensive and thick beds of fern, in which it hides
when alarmed. It is called _kiwi-kiwi_ by the natives. It has
a very long and slender bill, of which it makes a remarkable use in
supporting itself when it rests. The natives pursue it for its skin,
which is very tough and flexible, and much prized by the chiefs for the
manufacture of their state mantles. Happy is the Maori who possesses a
cloak of _kiwi-kiwi_ feathers.
13. What race of Indians, still unconquered, is supposed to have red
hair and pale complexions?
The Guatuso Indians, a race of the Aztec family. They dwell along the
banks and head-waters of the Rio Frio, which flows into Lake Nicaragua.
Their country has never been penetrated. The attempts made by the
Catholic missionaries and the governors of Nicaragua to reach them,
though often renewed, have always been repulsed.
14. Who was the “Veiled Prophet”?
Hakim Ben Allah, or Ben Hashem, the founder of an Arabic sect in the
eighth century, during the reign of Mahadi, the third Abassidian
caliph, at Neksheb, or Meru in Khorassan, was surnamed Mokanna, or
“the veiled prophet.” He was so called on account of his constantly
wearing a veil of silver, or, according to others, of golden gauze.
Some writers attribute this habit to a desire to conceal a deformity,
one of his eyes having been pierced by an arrow, others to the desire
to conceal his extraordinary ugliness. His own explanation, which
was believed by his followers, was that the veil was necessary to
shroud from the eyes of the beholder the dazzling rays emanating
from his divine countenance. Hakim set himself up as a god. He had
first, he said, assumed the body of Adam, then that of Noah, and
subsequently those of many other wise and great men. The last human
form he pretended to have adopted was that of Abu Moslem, a prince
of Khorassan. He appears to have been well versed in the arts of
legerdemain and “natural magic,” principally as regards producing
startling effects of light and color. Among other miracles, he, for
a whole week, to the great delight and bewilderment of his soldiers,
caused a moon or moons to issue from a deep well; and so brilliant
was the appearance of these luminaries, that the real moon quite
disappeared by their side. On this account he was sometimes called
Sagende Nah, or the “Moon-maker.” When the Sultan Mahadi had, after
a long siege, taken the last stronghold in which Hakim had fortified
himself, he, having first poisoned all his soldiers at a banquet, threw
himself into a vessel filled with a burning acid of such a nature that
his body was entirely dissolved, and nothing remained but a few hairs.
This was done that the faithful might believe him to have ascended
to heaven alive. Some remnants of his sect still exist. Hakim has
furnished the subject of many romances, of which the one contained in
Moore’s “Lalla Rookh” is the most brilliant and best known.
15. What were supposed to be the “fiery serpents” which attacked the
Israelites in the desert?
It has been argued with great plausibility that they were in reality
Guinea or Medina worms (_Filaria medinensis_), a parasite that
inhabits the flesh of men and other animals, and that seems to have
been known from the earliest times. It is from six inches to four feet
in length, and about one ninth of an inch in diameter. It is found in
many parts of Africa, India, Sumatra, Persia, Arabia, and the island
of Curaçoa. It is believed to enter the flesh through the skin, and as
many as fifty have been reported in a single person. In some cases they
cause much pain and inconvenience; in others, none. Death has sometimes
resulted from them.
16. What sovereign owns the greater part of the territory over which he
reigns?
At least three different rulers can claim this distinction. Prince
Heinrich XXII., present sovereign of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz,
has no civil list. He is very wealthy, and the greater part of the
territory over which he reigns is his own private property.
Prince Heinrich XIV. is the present sovereign of the Principality of
Reuss-Schleiz, of which the greater part is the private property of the
reigning family.
Friedrich Wilhelm I., present Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, is
one of the wealthiest of German sovereigns, more than half of the Grand
Duchy being his own property.
17. What Oriental town is called the “Mother of Cities”?
Mecca, one of the oldest towns of Arabia, the capital of the province
of Hedjaz, and, through being the birthplace of Mohammed, the central
and most holy city of all Islam, is, on this account, called by the
Arabs _Om Al Kora_, the “Mother of Cities.”
This title is also given by the native population to Balkh, in Central
Asia, formerly a great city, but now for the most part a mass of
ruins. This is a city of great antiquity, and was at an early date a
rival of Nineveh and Babylon.
18. What seed was supposed to render its possessor invisible, and why?
Plants were once thought to impart their own characteristics to the
wearer. Thus the herb-dragon was thought to cure the bite of serpents;
wood-sorrel, which has a heart-shaped leaf, to cheer the heart;
liver-wort, to benefit the liver, etc. Certain kinds of ferns have
seeds so minute as to be invisible to the naked eye, and, carried about
the person, were supposed to confer invisibility. Shakespeare says, “We
have the receipt of fern-seed; we walk invisible.” (1 Henry IV., Act
II., 1.)
19. What king prided himself on being the best cook in his country?
Louis XV. (1710–1774), the grandson of Louis XIV., is said to have
boasted of being the best cook in France, and to have been much pleased
when the courtiers ate eagerly of the dishes which he had prepared.
20. What island was discovered by two lovers?
There is a story to the effect that two lovers, Robert Machim and Anna
d’Arfet, fleeing from England to France in 1346, were driven out of
their course by a violent storm, and cast on the coast of Madeira at
the place subsequently named Machico, in memory of one of them. The
truth of this romantic story has recently been demonstrated by Mr.
Major.
21. Where is the “Fat Man’s Misery”?
This is a narrow serpentine path in the Mammoth Cave. The walls, only
eighteen inches apart, change direction eight times in one hundred
and five yards, while the distance from the sandy path to the ledge
overhead is but five feet.
22. What tree is regarded as an emblem of death?
The cypress has been so used for centuries, from the sombre aspect
of its dark green leaves, and from the fact that when once cut down
it never grows again. In ancient times cypress logs were placed on
funeral piles; probably on account of both their emblematic use and the
aromatic odor, emitted by the burning wood, which would counteract any
smell arising from the burning body.
23. Where is the largest clock in the world?
In the English House of Parliament. The four dials of this clock are
twenty-two feet in diameter. Every half-minute the minute-hand moves
nearly seven inches. The clock will go eight and one half days, but
will strike for only seven and one half days, thus indicating any
neglect in winding it up. The winding up of the striking apparatus
takes two hours. The pendulum is fifteen feet long; the wheels are
cast iron; the hour bell is eight feet high and nine feet in diameter,
weighing nearly fifteen tons, and the hammer alone weighs more than
five hundred pounds. This clock strikes the quarter-hours. Its pendulum
beats every two seconds. The motion is kept up by a remontoir, or
gravity escapement.
24. When were post-offices first established?
The first letter post was established in the Hanse towns in the early
part of the thirteenth century. A line of letter posts followed,
connecting Austria with Lombardy, in the reign of the Emperor
Maximilian, which are said to have been organized by the princes of
Thurn and Taxis; and the representatives of the same house established
another line of posts from Vienna to Brussels, the most distant parts
of the dominions of Charles V. This family continue to the present day
to hold certain rights with regard to the German postal system, their
posts being entirely distinct from those established by the crown,
and sometimes in rivalry with them. In England, in early times, both
public and private letters were sent by messengers, who, in the reign
of Henry III., wore the royal livery. They had to provide themselves
with horses until the reign of Edward I., when posts were established
where horses were to be had for hire. Edward IV., when engaged in war
with Scotland, had dispatches conveyed to his camp with great speed, by
means of a system of relays of horses, which, however, fell into disuse
on the restoration of peace. Camden mentions the office of “master of
the postes” as existing in 1581, but the duties of that officer were
probably connected exclusively with the supply of post horses. The
posts were meant for the conveyance of government dispatches alone,
and it was only by degrees that permission was extended to private
individuals to make use of them. A foreign post for the conveyance of
letters between London and the Continent seems to have been established
by foreign merchants in the fifteenth century; and certain disputes
which arose between the Flemings and the Italians regarding the right
of appointing a postmaster, and were referred to the privy council,
led to the institution of a “chief postmaster,” who should have charge
both of the English and foreign post. The American post-office is one
of our earliest institutions, and was provided for by legislation in
Massachusetts in 1639, and in Virginia in 1657. A monthly post between
New York and Boston was established in 1672.
25. Who was “Old Bullion”?
This sobriquet was conferred on Col. Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1852),
a distinguished American statesman, on account of his advocacy of
the gold and silver currency as a true remedy for the financial
embarrassments in which the United States was involved after the
expiration of the charter of the national bank, and as the only proper
medium for government disbursements and receipts.
26. When, where, and between whom was the first duel fought in the
United States?
The first duel in the United States was at Plymouth, Mass., on June
18, 1621, between Edward Doty and Edward Leicester, two servants, both
of whom were wounded. For this outrage they were sentenced to the
punishment of having their heads and feet tied together, and of lying
thus twenty-four hours without food or drink. After suffering, however,
in that posture an hour, at their master’s intercession and their
humble request, with the promise of amendment, they were released by
the governor.
27. How is the northern boundary line of the United States marked?
The northern boundary line of this country is marked by stone cairns,
iron pillars, wood pillars, earth mounds, and timber posts. A stone
cairn is seven and a half feet by eight feet; an earth mound seven
feet by fourteen feet; an iron pillar seven feet high, eight inches
square at the bottom, and four inches at the top; timber posts five
feet high and eight inches square. There are three hundred and
eighty-five of these marks between the Lake of the Woods and the base
of the Rocky Mountains. That portion of the boundary which lies east
and west of the Red River Valley is marked by cast-iron pillars at
even mile intervals. The British place one every two miles, and the
United States one between each British post. Our pillars or markers
were made at Detroit, Mich. They are hollow iron castings, three
eighths of an inch in thickness, in the form of a truncated pyramid,
eight feet high, eight inches square at the bottom, and four at the
top, as before stated. They have at the top a solid pyramidal cap,
and at the bottom an octagonal flange one inch in thickness. Upon the
opposite faces are cast, in letters two inches high, the inscriptions,
“Convention of London,” and “October 20th, 1818.” The inscriptions
begin about four feet six inches above the base and read upwards. The
interiors of the hollow posts are filled with well-seasoned cedar
posts, sawed to fit, and securely spiked through spike holes cast in
the pillars for that purpose. The average weight of each pillar when
completed is eighty-five pounds. The pillars are all set four feet
in the ground, with their inscription faces to the north and south,
and the earth is well settled and stamped about them. For the wooden
posts well-seasoned logs are selected, and the portion above the ground
painted red, to prevent swelling and shrinking. These posts do very
well, but the Indians cut them down for fuel, and nothing but iron
will last very long. Where the line crosses lakes, mountains of stone
have been built, the bases being in some places eighteen feet under
water, and the tops projecting eight feet above the lake’s surface at
high-water mark. In forests the line is marked by felling the timber a
rod wide, and clearing away the underbrush. The work of cutting through
the timbered swamps was very great, but it has been well done, and the
boundary distinctly marked by the commissioners the whole distance from
Michigan to Alaska.
28. What is the origin of the minute and second?
We have sixty divisions on the dials of our clocks and watches, because
the old Greek astronomer, Hipparchus, who lived in the second century
before Christ, accepted the Babylonian system of reckoning time, that
system being sexagesimal. The Babylonians were acquainted with the
decimal system, but for common or practical purposes they counted by
_sossi_ and _sari_, the _sossos_ representing sixty, and
the _saros_ sixty times six,--thirty-six hundred. From Hipparchus
that mode of reckoning found its way into the works of Ptolemy about
150 A. D., and hence was carried down the stream of science and
civilization, and found its way to the dial plates of our clocks and
watches.
29. Which is the “Pine Tree State”?
Maine. The majestic mast pines which have given this State its
sobriquet are fast receding before the demands of commerce. This tree
is the heraldic emblem of the State.
30. What city is called “Little Paris”?
Milan, Italy, from its resemblance in point of gayety to the French
capital.
31. What was the origin of the term “Uncle Sam”?
This term came into use in the War of 1812, and was born at Troy, N.
Y. The government inspector there was Uncle Sam Wilson, and when the
war opened Elbert Anderson, the contractor at New York, bought a large
amount of beef, pork, and pickles for the army. These were inspected by
Wilson, and were duly labelled E. A.--U. S., meaning Elbert Anderson,
for the United States. The term U. S. for the United States was then
somewhat new, and the workmen concluded that they referred to Uncle
Sam Wilson. After they discovered their mistake, they kept up the name
as a joke. These same men soon went to the war. There they repeated
the joke. It got into print and went the rounds. From that time on the
term “Uncle Sam” was used facetiously for the United States, and it now
represents the nation.
32. What is the origin of the phrase “The Three R’s”?
It is said that this phrase was originated by Sir William Curtis, who
was Lord Mayor of London in 1795. A writer in _Notes and Queries_
says: “I remember an aged member of the corporation, now deceased,
asserting that Sir William Curtis, in the days when Dr. Bell and the
Quaker Lancaster were pleading on behalf of increased facilities for
the education of the poor, gave as a toast at a city dinner, ‘The three
R’s.’ My friend assured me that Sir William Curtis, although a man of
limited education, was very shrewd, and not so ignorant as to suppose
his presumed orthography was correct. He chose the phrase in the above
form purely for a jocular reason.”
33. How is an umbrella put together?
The first thing to be done is to prepare the stick to receive the
cover. The two springs are first put in, one at the top to hold the
umbrella open, and one at the bottom to keep it closed. The slots in
which the springs are put are cut by a machine. This is a very delicate
and dangerous operation, as, unless great care is taken, the man who
does it is liable to lose his fingers. After this is done another man
takes the stick, and with a knife prepares it to receive the spring.
The springs are then set, and the ferrule is put on at the top of the
stick. If the handle is of different material from the stick, it is now
fastened to it. All of the counters in the work-rooms are carpeted to
prevent the sticks from being scratched. After the handle is securely
fastened and a band put on to finish or ornament the stick, it is sent
to the frame-maker. He fastens the stretchers to the ribs, strings the
top end of the ribs on a wire, and fits into the “runner notch.” He
then strings the lower ends of the “stretchers” on a wire and fastens
with the “runner.” When both of the “runners” are securely fixed,
the umbrella is ready for the cover. The cutter lays his cloth very
smoothly on a long counter, folding it until the fabric is sixteen
layers deep and several yards long. The edges have been previously
hemmed on a sewing machine. When everything is ready, the cutter lays
on his pattern (this is usually made of wood tipped with brass), and
with a very sharp knife cuts along the sides of it, thus cutting two
covers at once. Every piece is then carefully examined, to see that
there is no bad place or hole in it. A man then carefully stretches
the edges, that it may fit the frame. The pieces are then stitched on
a sewing machine, in what is called a pudding-bag seam. The tension
is very carefully adjusted so that the thread will not break when the
cover is stretched over the frame. The cover is first fastened to the
frame at the top and bottom. The umbrella is then half raised, and
held in position by a small tool for that purpose, while the seams
are fastened to the ribs. When this is done, the tie is sewed on, the
cap is put on, and the umbrella is entirely put together. A woman
then takes it and presses the edges with a warm flat-iron. Afterward
another woman takes it and inspects it before a very strong light to
make sure that it is perfect. If it bears this inspection it is neatly
adjusted about the handle, the tie fastened, and it is then ready for a
purchaser.
34. What is the origin of the phrase “I acknowledge the corn”?
This phrase originated in the following manner: In 1828, Mr. Stewart,
a member of Congress, said in a speech that Ohio, Kentucky, and
Indiana sent their hay-stacks, corn-fields, and fodder to New York and
Philadelphia for sale. Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, called him to order,
declaring that those States did not send hay-stacks, corn-fields, and
fodder to New York and Philadelphia for sale. “Well, what do you send?”
asked Mr. Stewart. “Why, horses, mules, cattle, and hogs.” “Well, what
makes your horses, mules, cattle, and hogs? You feed $100 worth of hay
to a horse. You just animate and get upon the top of your hay-stack and
ride off to market. How is it with your cattle? You make one of them
carry $50 worth of hay or grass to the Eastern market. How much corn
does it take, at thirty-three cents a bushel, to fatten a hog?” “Why,
thirty bushels.” “Then you put thirty bushels into the shape of a hog
and make it walk to the Eastern market.” Then Mr. Wickliffe jumped up
and said, “Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge the corn.”
Another account of the origin of this phrase is as follows: Some
years ago, a raw customer, from the upper country, determined to try
his fortune at New Orleans. Accordingly he provided himself with two
flat-boats, one laden with corn and the other with potatoes, and down
the river he went. The night after his arrival he went up town to a
gambling-house. Of course he commenced betting, and his luck proving
unfortunate, he lost. When his money was gone, he bet his “truck”; and
the corn and potatoes followed the money. At last, when completely
cleaned out, he returned to his boats at the wharf, when the evidences
of a new misfortune presented themselves. Through some accident or
other, the flat-boat containing the corn was sunk, and a total loss.
Consoling himself as well as he could, he went to sleep, dreaming of
gamblers, potatoes, and corn. It was scarcely sunrise, however, when
he was disturbed by the “child of chance,” who had arrived to take
possession of the two boats as his winnings. Slowly awakening from his
sleep, our hero, rubbing his eyes and looking the man in the face,
replied, “Stranger, _I acknowledge the corn_,--take ’em; but the
potatoes you _can’t_ have, by thunder!”
35. How did a flight of birds change the history of America?
When Columbus sailed westward over the broad expanse of the unknown
waters of the Atlantic, he expected to reach Zipangu (Japan). Having
sailed westward from Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, for many days,
he grew uneasy at not having discovered Zipangu, which, according to
his reckoning, he should have met with two hundred and sixteen nautical
miles more to the east. After a long debate, he yielded to the opinion
of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the commander of the _Pinta_, and steered
to the southwest. Pinzon was guided in his opinion by a flight of
parrots towards the southwest. The effect of this change in his course
curiously exemplifies the influence of small and apparently trivial
events on the world’s history. If Columbus, resisting the counsel of
Pinzon, had kept his original route, he would have entered the warm
current of the Gulf Stream, have reached Florida, and thence perhaps
have been carried to Cape Hatteras and Virginia. The result would
probably have been to give the present United States a Roman Catholic
Spanish population, instead of a Protestant English one, a circumstance
of immeasurable importance. “Never,” says Humboldt, “had the flight of
birds more important consequences. It may be said to have determined
the first settlements on the new continent, and its distribution
between the Latin and Germanic races.”
36. When did an American race have recourse to a stratagem similar to
the celebrated wooden horse of Troy?
In order to destroy the last settlement of the Northmen in Greenland,
“the savages,” says Dr. I. I. Hayes, the famous Arctic explorer, “had
recourse to a stratagem worthy to be compared with the celebrated
wooden horse of Troy.” Over an immense raft of boats, they constructed
an immense scaffolding, and covered it with white sealskins to make it
look like an iceberg. Filled with armed men, it floated down the fiord.
It was seen by the sentinels and other people of the settlement, but
was supposed by them to be nothing more than a harmless mass of ice,
till it was run aground near the church. Then the Esquimaux rushed out
of it, slaughtered the inhabitants, and destroyed the settlement.
37. Which was the first land discovered by Columbus?
The spot which he first reached was a small island, called by the
natives Guanahani, to which Columbus gave the name of San Salvador,
the Spanish for Holy Saviour. This was the island now known as Watling
Island, as was suggested by Muñoz in 1793, and proved by Mr. R. H.
Major in 1870, and not the island now called San Salvador.
38. With whom did the name America originate?
In a paper distinguished for great learning and able criticism,
Mr. Major has shown that the word “America” first appeared on the
_Mappe Monde_, drawn by Leonardo da Vinci, and he explains the
circumstances which led to its adoption. The first map known to exist
with the New World delineated upon it is that drawn by Juan de la
Cosa, the pilot of Columbus in his second voyage. This map is dated
1500. Juan de la Cosa was with Ojeda and Vespucci, and afterwards with
Ojeda in his last and ill-fated expedition. In May, 1507, just a year
after the death of Columbus, one Martin Waldseemuller (Hylacomulus)
wrote a book called _Cosmographiæ Introductio_, to which was
appended a Latin edition of the four voyages of Vespucci. In this book,
which was published at St. Dié in Lorraine, he proposed that the name
_America_ should be given to the New World. In 1508 the first
engraved map containing the New World appeared in an edition of Ptolemy
printed at Rome, but it does not bear the name of America. But in 1509
the name America, proposed by Hylacomulus in 1507, appears as if it was
already accepted as a well-known denomination, in an anonymous work
entitled _Globus Mundi_, published at Strasburg. The _Mappe
Monde_ of Leonardo da Vinci, to which Major assigns the date 1514,
has the name of America across the South American continent.
39. What was the ancient name of the “ring-finger”?
The fingers, as anciently known, are: thumb; toucher, foreman, or
pointer; long man, or long finger; lich-man, or ring-finger; little
man, or little finger. The Romans believed that a nerve ran through
the ring-finger to the heart. Both they and the Greeks called it the
medical finger, and used it for stirring their mixtures, believing that
nothing harmful could touch it without despatching a warning to the
heart. The notion is said still to exist in some parts of England that
salve must not be applied to the flesh or the skin scratched with any
but the ring-finger.
40. Who was “The Beautiful Parricide”?