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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



no small task when the mirror is of 

 large size, such as the sixty-inch, five 

 feet across the opening-. The total value 

 of the mirrors supplied to the Exposition 

 is nearly $50,000. 



In addition to the mirrors, the com- 

 pany supplied 325 cylindrical diverging 

 glass fronts for use in the doors of the 

 searchlight. Proiected through these 

 special fronts, the beam of light in each 

 becomes divergent and thus more spec- 

 tacular in its illuminating- effect. 



At the entrance of the yacht harbor 

 is a great battery of searchhghts called 

 the "Scintillator," which in effect repro- 

 duces the aurora borealis as seen in 

 the far north — a procession of colored 

 lights extending across tlie skv almost 

 from horizon to horizon and spreading 

 for miles in every direction. This bat- 

 tery has a combined total of 2,600,000,- 

 000-candle power. 



The exhibit of the Bausch & Lomb 

 Company in the Palace of Liberal Arts 

 is of interest to professional men of all 

 classes and to the public generally for 

 the variety of scientific instruments on 

 display. This includes microscopes, en- 

 gineering instruments, balonticons ('or 

 projecting lanterns), photographic 

 lenses, photomicrographic apparatus, 

 equatorial telescopes, stereo prism bin- 

 oculars and laboratory equipment. The 

 walls are hung with a collection of pho- 

 tographs shown as examples of the work 

 done with Bausch & Lomb-Zeiss photo- 

 graphic lenses. 



In the center of the exhibit is a ball 

 nearly fifteen feet in circumference, dec- 

 orated with thousands of lenses of dif- 

 ferent colors which are used in eye- 

 glasses and spectacles. The ball is made 

 to revolve by an electric motor in the 

 base. Around the middle of the ball is 

 a strip carrying the inscription. "Bausch 

 & Lomb Optical Company, Rochester. 

 N. Y.," set in silvered lenses, not one of 

 which is more than one-quarter inch in 

 diameter. 



Recent estimates show that dust .from 

 the western deserts is being blown into 

 the Mississippi Valley faster than the 

 river and its tributaries are carrying 

 rock-waste to the sea; with the result 

 that the great central valley of the con- 

 tinent, instead of being still farther ex- 

 cavated, is actually filling up. 



An Ideal Pencil. 



\Ye have tried many kinds of pencils 

 with many experiences and many unsat- 

 factory experiences. These trials remind 

 me of what I was told when I inquired 

 about the hotels in a small village : "Try 

 either one and you will be sorry that you 

 did not try the other." This may often 

 and truthfully be said of the pencils in a 

 miscellaneous assortment. But the ^li- 

 kado, made by the Eagle Pencil Com- 

 pany, is a neat pencil, agreeable to hold 

 and look at and pleasing to use. 



The Joke with a Double Laugh. 



A cigar salesman in the lobby of a ho- 

 tel, intending to be generous toward his 

 fellow guests and also to do a little ad- 

 vertising, passed cigars. Among the 

 guests were an American comedian and 

 an Englishman. The salesman enthusi- 

 astically said: "I am selling these cigars 

 and anyone who smokes three thousand 

 of them gets a grand piano." The 

 smokers puffed away in silence for a 

 minute or so. Then the comedian, curl- 

 ing upward a beautiful ring of smoke, 

 inquired : "Did I understand you to say 

 that if anybody smokes three thousand 

 of these cigars he will get a grand 

 piano?" "Yes, and a pretty good piano 

 it is." Another period of silence and tvv^o 

 or three more puffs by the comedian. 



Then said the actor: "I think there 

 must be a mistake somewhere. If any 

 one smokes three thousand of these cigars 

 it is not a piano that he will need but a 

 harp." Hearty laughter from everybody 

 excei:)t the Englishman, who smoked on 

 in silence. 



About an hour afterwards he burst 

 out in uproarous laughter as only an 

 Englishman can laugh. Then to the 

 comedian he said "I hope you will ex- 

 cuse me for not laughing at your first- 

 rate joke. I did not at once see the 

 point but now I understand it. A friend 

 has just told me that you are a funny 

 man on the stage and — of course I was 

 stupid not to see the joke. You could 

 not take a piano around with you from 

 place to place. The harp would be nnich 

 l^etter for transportation." 



Then everybody else laughed, but it is 

 doubted whether the Englishman has yet 

 discovered the cause of that laugh. 



