[We solicit questions of interest to the readers of THE
CHAUTAUQUAN to be answered in this department. Our space
does not always allow us to answer as rapidly as questions
reach us. Any relevant question will receive an answer in
its turn.]
Q. Who was Achilles?
A. Achilles was the hero of Homer’s Iliad, the son of Peleus, King of
Thessaly, and the sea-nymph, Thetis. The poets feigned that his mother
dipped him into the river Styx to render him invulnerable, and that he
was vulnerable only in the heel by which she held him. He was killed by
Paris, or, as some say, by Apollo, who shot him in the heel.
Q. Is the cat considered, by scientific men, as a domestic animal?
A. Cat is the general name for animals of the genus _felis_, which
comprises about fifty different species. The domestic cat is one of
these species, and is generally believed to have sprung from the
Egyptian cat, a native of the north of Africa. This seems to be the
only species that is generally employed in household economy.
Q. Will THE CHAUTAUQUAN please recommend a dictionary that would be a
help in pronouncing words found in the “History of Greece?”
A. Lippincott’s Pronouncing Biographical Dictionary would be of
service. It is published by Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia.
Q. Will THE CHAUTAUQUAN please tell me where I can obtain photographs
of the works of the old masters of art, cabinet size?
A. By sending a six-cent stamp to the Soule Photograph Co., (successors
to John P. Soule), 338 Washington street, Boston, Mass., a catalogue
may be obtained of three thousand seven hundred subjects of unmounted
photographs of ancient and modern works of art, embracing reproductions
of famous paintings, sculpture and architecture.
Q. What is the meaning and origin of “red-letter day?”
A. In almanacs holidays and saints’ days are printed in red ink, other
days in black. Any day to be recalled with pleasure, or a lucky day,
may be styled a “red-letter day.”
Q. In addition to the C. L. S. C. course for this year I have taken the
White Seal course. Where shall I send for my examination papers?
A. To Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.
Q. In Wheatland’s History it is stated that Pompeii and and Herculaneum
were Greek cities. Were they not Roman?
A. They were both Roman cities, situated in Southern Italy at the base
of Mt. Vesuvius.
Q. Will THE CHAUTAUQUAN please give a little information concerning
geodes? I can only find a mere definition in the dictionaries at my
command.
A. A geode is a hollow shell of stone, usually quartz, lined with
crystals pointing toward the center. These crystals are generally of
amethystine quartz, agate or chalcedony. Besides quartz crystals,
others of calcareous spar are sometimes found in the cavities of
geodes. Some of the most remarkable specimens of quartz geodes are
found loose in the low stages of water in the rapids of the Upper
Mississippi river. On the outside they are rough and unsightly, of a
light brown color and of all sizes up to fifteen inches in diameter.
Q. In the November _Chautauquan_ Whittier is credited with the
authorship of the lines beginning “Ah, what would the world be to us if
the children were no more?” Is not that a mistake?
A. Yes. The lines were written by Longfellow.
Q. Will the Editor’s Table please tell where is the nearest local
circle to Racine?
A. Ask Miss Kate F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J., for the information.
Q. I have long wished to know the difference between Mahomet and
Mohammed, will the CHAUTAUQUAN please tell me?
A. Two forms of the same name—the former the French, the latter the
German form.