i86 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tigress. The noble pair of beasts were reclining side by side, the tiger's 

 tail hanging over the side of their couch. The dog, unable to resist 

 the temptation, laid hold of it with his teeth and pulled with a will ; 

 and, spite of sundry gentle remonstrances on the part of the owner of 

 the tail, persisted until he elicited a very deep growl of disapproval. 

 Then he let go, sprang upon the tiger's back, curled himself up, and 

 went off to sleep. Such friendships are, it must be owned, liable to 

 come to a tragic ending, like that recorded by an ancient writer, who 

 tells how a lion, a dog, and a bear, lived together for a long time on 

 the most affectionate terms, until the dog, accidentally putting the bear 

 out of temper, had the life put out of his body ; whereupon Leo, en- 

 raged at losing his favorite, set upon Bruin and made an end of him 

 too. — Chamheris Journal. 



-♦♦♦- 



THE SCIENCE OF EA8Y-CHAIES. 



THERE is a reason for everything, if we can only find it out ; but 

 it is sometimes very hard to discover the reasons of even the very 

 simplest things. Every one who has traveled much, and even those 

 who have merely looked through books of travels, must have been 

 struck by the variety of attitudes assumed by the people of different 

 countries. The Hindoo sits down en the ground with his knees drawn 

 up close to his body, so that his chin will almost rest upon them ; the 

 Turk squats down cross-legged ; the European sits on a chair ; while 

 the American often raises his feet to a level with his head. Nor are 

 the postures assumed by the same people under varying circumstances 

 less diverse. Climate or season, for example, will cause considerable 

 alteration in the posture assumed, as was well shown by Alma-Tadema, 

 in his pictures of the four seasons exhibited in the Academy a year ago. 

 In his representation of " Summer," he painted a woman leaning back- 

 ward on a ledge, with one leg loosely hanging down, while the other 

 was drawn up so that the foot was on a level with the body. In the 

 picture of " Winter," on the other hand, we saw a figure with the legs 

 drawn up in front of the belly. The reason for these different postures 

 has been explained by Rosenthal. The temperature of the body, as is 

 well known, is kept up and regulated by the circulation of the blood 

 through it, and a great proportion of tlie blood contained in the whole 

 body circulates in the vessels of the intestines. Now, the intestines are 

 only separated from the external air by the thin abdominal walls, and 

 therefore any change of temperature in the atmosphere will readily act 

 upon them, unless they be guarded by some additional protection. The 

 Hindoos are well aware of this, and they habitually protect the belly 

 by means of a thick shawl or cummerbund, thus guarding themselves 

 against any sudden change of temperature. This precaution is also 



