The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing Part 42

10. Names of religious denominations begin with capitals.

11. In preparing accounts, each item should begin with a capital.

12. Any word of special importance may begin with a capital.

THE NAME OF G.o.d IN FIFTY LANGUAGES.

Hebrew, Eleah, Jehovah; Chaldaic, Eiliah; a.s.syrian, Eleah; Syrian and Turkish, Alah; Malay, Alla; Arabic, Allah; Languages of the Magi, Orsi; Old Egyptian, Teut; Modern Egyptian, Teun; Armenian, Teuti; Greek, Theos; Cretan, Thios; Aedian and Dorian, Ilos; Latin, Deus; Low Latin, Diex; Celtic Gaelic, Diu; French, Dieu; Spanish, Dios; Portuguese, Deos; Old German, Diet; Provencal, Diou; Low Breton, Done; Italian, Dio; Irish, Dia; Olotu, Deu; German and Swiss, Gott; Flemish, G.o.d; Dutch, G.o.d; English, G.o.d; Teutonic, Goth; Danish and Swedish, Gud; Norwegian, Gud; Slav, Buch; Polish, Bog; Polacca, Bung; Lapp, Jubinal; Finnish, Jumala; Runic, As; Zembilian, As; Pannanlian, Istu; Tartar, Magatai; Coromandel, Brama; Persian, Sire; Chinese, Prussa; j.a.panese, Goezer; Madagascar, Zannar; Peruvian, Puchecammae.

FACTS ABOUT SPONGES.

By Albert Hart.

Sponges belong to the animal kingdom, and the princ.i.p.al varieties used commercially are obtained off the coasts of Florida and the West Indies; the higher grades are from the Mediterranean Sea, and are numerous in variety.

A sponge in its natural state is a different-looking object from what we see in commerce, resembling somewhat the appearance of the jelly fish, or a ma.s.s of liver, the entire surface being covered with a thin, slimy skin, usually of a dark color, and perforated to correspond with the apertures of the ca.n.a.ls commonly called "holes of the sponge." The sponge of commerce is, in reality, only the skeleton of a sponge. The composition of this skeleton varies in the different kinds of sponges, but in the commercial grades it consists of interwoven h.o.r.n.y fibers, among and supporting which are epiculae of silicious matter in greater or less numbers, and having a variety of forms. The fibers consist of a network of fibriles, whose softness and elasticity determine the commercial quality of a given sponge. The h.o.r.n.y framework is perforated externally by very minute pores, and by a less number of larger openings. These are parts of an interesting double ca.n.a.l system, an external and an internal, or a centripetal and a centrifugal. At the smaller openings on the sponge's surface channels begin, which lead into dilated s.p.a.ces. In these, in turn, channels arise, which eventually terminate in the large openings. Through these channels or ca.n.a.ls definite currents are constantly maintained, which are essential to the life of the sponge. The currents enter through the small apertures and emerge through the large ones.

The active part of the sponge, that is, the part concerned in nutrition and growth, is a soft, fleshy ma.s.s, partly filling the meshes and lining the ca.n.a.ls. It consists largely of cells having different functions; some utilized in the formation of the framework, some in digestion and others in reproduction. Lining the dilated s.p.a.ces into which different ca.n.a.ls lead are cells surmounted by whip-like processes. The motion of these processes produces and maintains the water currents, which carry the minute food products to the digestive cells in the same cavities.

Sponges multiply by the union of s.e.xual product. Certain cells of the fleshy pulp a.s.sume the character of ova, and others that of spermatozoa.

Fertilization takes place within the sponge. The fertilized eggs, which are called larvae, pa.s.s out into the currents of the water, and, in the course of twenty-four to forty-eight hours, they settle and become attached to rocks and other hard substances, and in time develop into mature sponges. The depth of the water in which sponges grow varies from 10 to 50 feet in Florida, but considerably more in the Mediterranean Sea, the finer grades being found in the deepest water, having a temperature of 50 to 57 degrees.

DON'T BE BURIED ALIVE.

From time to time we are horrified by learning that some person has been buried alive, after a.s.surances have been given of death. Under these circ.u.mstances the opinion of a rising French physician upon the subject becomes of world-wide interest, for since the tests which have been in use for years have been found unreliable no means should be left untried to prove beyond a doubt that life is actually extinct before conveying our loved ones to the grave.

Dr. Martinot, as reported in the New York Journal, a.s.serts that an unfailing test may be made by producing a blister on the hand or foot of the body by holding the flame of a candle to the same for a few seconds, or until the blister is formed which will always occur. If the blister contains any fluid it is evidence of life, and the blister only that produced by an ordinary burn. If, on the contrary, the blister contains only steam, it may be a.s.serted that life is extinct. The explanation is as follows:

A corpse, says Dr. Martinot, is nothing more than inert matter, under the immediate control of physical laws which cause all liquid heated to a certain temperature to become steam; the epidermis is raised, the blister produced; it breaks with a little noise, and the steam escapes.

But if, in spite of all appearances, there is any remnant of life, the organic mechanism continues to be governed by physiological laws, and the blister will contain serous matter, as in the case of any ordinary burns.

The test is as simple as the proof is conclusive. Dry blister: death.

Liquid blister: life. Any one may try it; there is no error possible.

HOW TO SERVE WINE.

A fine dinner may be spoiled by not serving the proper wine at the proper time and at the proper temperature.

A white wine (Sauterne, Riesling, Moselle, etc.) should be used from the beginning of the meal to the time the roast or game comes on. With the roast serve red wine, either claret or Burgundy.

Use sparkling wines after the roast.

With dessert, serve apricot cordial.

Never serve red wine with soup or fish, and never a white wine with game.

Storage, Temperature, Etc.

Store your wines in the cellar at 50 to 60 degrees.

All bottles should lie flat so that the cork is continually moist.

This rule should be specially observed with sparkling wines. Sparkling wine should be served ice cold.

Put the wine on the ice--not ice in the wine.

Serve red wine at only about 5 degrees cooler than the dining-room.

White wine should be about 15 degrees cooler than the temperature of the room.

THE STEPS IN THE GROWTH OF AMERICAN LIBERTY.

MAGNA CHARTA.

About seven hundred years ago there was organized a movement which resulted in the great charter of English liberty--a movement which foreshadowed the battle of our American forefathers for political independence. On the 25th of August, 1213, the prelates and Barons, tiring of the tyranny and vacillation of King John, formed a council and pa.s.sed measures to secure their rights. After two years of contest, with many vicissitudes, the Barons entered London and the King fled into Hampshire. By agreement both parties met at Runnymede on the 9th of June, 1215, and after several days' debate, on June 15, Magna Charta (the Great Charter), the glory of England, was signed and sealed by the sovereign. The Magna Charta is a comprehensive bill of rights, and, though crude in form, and with many clauses of merely local value, its spirit still lives and will live. Clear and prominent we find the motto, "No tax without representation." The original doc.u.ment is in Latin and contains sixty-one articles, of which the 39th and 40th, embodying the very marrow of our own State const.i.tutions, are here given as translated in the English statutes:

"39. No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his freehold, or liberties or free customs, or be otherwise destroped [damaged], nor will be press upon him nor seize upon him [condemn him]

but by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

"40. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man, either right or justice."

The Great Charter recognizes a popular tribunal as a check on the official judges and may be looked upon as the foundation of the writ of Habeas Corpus. It provides that no one is to be condemned on rumor or suspicion, but only on the evidence of witnesses. It affords protection against excessive emercements, illegal distresses and various processes for debts and service due to the crown. Fines are in all cases to be proportionate to the magnitude of the offense, and even the villein or rustic is not to be deprived of his necessary chattels. There are provisions regarding the forfeiture of land for felony. The testamentary power of the subject is recognized over part of his personal estate, and the rest to be divided between his widow and children. The independence of the church is also provided for. These are the most important features of the Great Charter, which, exacted by men with arms in their hands from a resisting king, occupies so conspicuous a place in history, which establishes the supremacy of the law of England over the will of the monarch, and which still forms the basis of English liberties.

THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION

More than a year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence a doc.u.ment was drawn up that was almost a model in phraseology and sentiment of the great charter of American freedom. There are various accounts of this matter, but the most trustworthy is this:

At a public meeting of the residents of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, held at Charlotte on the 20th of May, 1775, it was

"Resolved, That whenever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form or manner countenanced, the unchartered and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to our country--to America--and to the inherent and inalienable rights of man.

"Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, do hereby dissolve the political bonds which have connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British crown, and abjure all political connection, contract or a.s.sociation with that nation, which has wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of American patriots at Lexington.

"Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people; are and of right ought to be a sovereign and self-governing a.s.sociation, under the control of no power other than that of our G.o.d and the general government of the Congress. To the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual cooperation, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

There are two other resolutions, concerning the militia and the administration of the law, but these, having no present value, are here omitted.