The American Indian is described as of haughty demeanor, taciturn and
stoical; cunning, brave and often ferocious in war; his temperament
poetic and imaginative, and his simple eloquence of great dignity and
beauty. They have a general belief in Manitous, or spiritual beings, one
of them being spoken of as the Great Spirit. They believe in the
transmigration of the soul into other men and into animals, and in
demons, witchcraft and magic. They believe in life after death, where
the spirit is surrounded with the pleasures of the “happy hunting
grounds.” They adopt a “totem” or symbol of the family and this is
generally some animal, the turtle, bear and wolf being favorites.
The number of Indians in the United States at the taking of the Federal
Census in 1910, was 265,683; and there are about 130,000 in the British
possessions, 1,500,000 in Central America and 4,000,000 in Mexico. In
all North America there are somewhere about 6,000,000 and there are
probably 10,000,000 more in South America, many of them being more or
less civilized.
How does the Beach Get Its Sand?
Most of the sands which we find on the beaches and in other places are
the ruins of rocks which have come apart, usually as the result of the
action of water. A large part of the ocean bottom is made up of
“sandstone” and the continual washing of the water over this causes
particles to break away and float off, whereupon they are swept up upon
the beaches by the waves.
Sands differ in color according to the rocks from which they are
derived. In addition to the sands on the beaches, they occur very
abundantly in many inland locations, which were formerly sea bottoms,
and very extensively in the great deserts of the world.
Valuable metallic ores, such as those of gold, platinum, tin, copper and
iron, often occur in the form of sand or mixed with that substance. Pure
siliceous sands are very valuable for the manufacture of glass, for
making mortar, filters, ameliorating dense clay soils, for making molds
in founding and for many other purposes.
The silica, which is the principal ingredient of sand, as well as of
nearly all the earthy minerals, is known as “rock crystal” in its
naturally crystallized form. Colored of a delicate purple, these
crystals are what we call “amethysts.” Silica is also met with in the
“carnelian” and we find it constituting jasper, agate, cat’s-eye, onyx
and opals. In the latter it is combined with water. Many natural waters
present us with silica in a dissolved state, although it is not soluble
in pure water. The resistance offered by silica to all impressions is
exemplified in the case of “flint” which consists essentially of silica
colored with some impurity.
How did Nodding the Head Up and Down Come to Mean “Yes”?
Like a multitude of other things, the signs which we give by the
movements of our heads to indicate “yes” and “no” were copied from
animal life.
When the mother animal brought her young a choice morsel of food she
would hold it up temptingly before its mouth and the quick forward
movement of the head, with mouth open, showed the young animal’s desire
and acceptance of the offer. Even today when we make a forward movement
of our heads to indicate “yes” it is observed that the lips are usually
quite unconsciously opened a little.
In much the same manner, when the young had been well fed and were no
longer hungry, a tightly closed mouth and a shaking of the head from
side to side were resorted to, to keep the mother from putting the food
into their mouths. Our natural impulse now is to slightly clinch our
teeth when we shake our heads to mean “no.”
Why do We Call a Man “a Benedict” When He Marries?
We call men “benedicts” when they become married because that was the
name of a humorous gentleman in Shakespeare’s play, “Love’s Labor Lost,”
who was finally married to a character named “Beatrice.”