A QUEER TRAIT OE TH 



l.'.MAX MIX!) 



XI 



A Queer Trait of the Human Mind. 



Modern scientists have tried to tell us 

 wliv we are afraid in the dark, saying that 

 this defect comes to ns from the cave 

 man. Still others ask why a dot;- turns 

 and why he howls in pain or in delight 

 around several times before he lies down, 

 when certain musical notes are repeatedly 

 sounded. It may be that these traits are 

 inherited from the primitive wolf-dog 

 that made its bed in the forest for the 

 night, and that the notes arouse inherited 

 recollections that extend over innumer- 

 able generations to the primitive note of 

 the barking wolf-like dogs. 



It is interesting to select some such 

 characteristic and to discover or at least 

 to try to ascertain the plausible explana- 

 tion. For twenty-five years I have been 

 trying to find the cause of an etymologi- 

 cal idiosyncrasy of the human mind. I 

 have made my observations among the 

 illiterate and the cultured, the young and 

 the old, and find that the misspelling of 

 the terminal syllable of the word stereop- 

 ticon is almost universal. 



Everybody pronounces it "con," but 

 most people spell it "can." I wish some 

 of our scientists wdio are fond of investi- 

 gating the causes, w-ould tell me whether 

 the original cave man had a "can" that he 

 later developed into a stereopticon. I 

 should like to know whether the first 

 stages of the man that succeeded the 

 "missing link" had what is called a "can- 

 can dance." Something must have hap- 

 pened somewhere along the line to ex- 

 plain that "can" in relation to the seeing 

 of objects projected on the screen. 



Recently, at least six correspondents, 

 all familiar with the stereopticon and 

 some of them extensive users of the in- 

 strument, or at least of stereopticon 

 slides, have overflowed with this "can" 

 idea. We have kindly pointed out, in 

 somewhat emphatic terms, that there is 

 no authority for such spelling of this 

 word. 



So I have concluded, that like the ro- 

 tating action of the dog. it must revert to 

 some previous event in human experience. 

 I therefore make especial request in be- 

 half of compositors, printers, proof read- 

 ers, stenographers, and others interested, 

 that our archaeologists and our paleon- 

 tologists think deeply and carefully and 

 seek a specimen of the j^rimitive "can" 



man of "the growler" ages. 



SPRATTS PATENi 

 "TERRIER" 



TRADE X MARK 



MEAT FIBRINE 



DOC CAKES 



f OR 



MEDIUM SIZED BREEDS 



Send 2c Stamq for "DOG CULTURE" 



SPRATTS PATENT, Ltd. Newark. N. J. 



among prehistoric bones he will find cir- 

 cumstantial evidence of the "can-can 

 dance" that still .TOes merrilv on. 



The familiar "ripple marks" formed 

 by the wind blowing across an area of 

 dry sand have been found to travel for- 

 ward, under a strong breeze, as fast as 

 seven feet an hour. 



Sand dunes do most of their shifting 

 during the winter. A ridge which ad- 

 vances only one or two inches a day 

 during the summer may speed up to 

 five feet a day in the cold months. 



In each special region of blown 

 sands, the front faces of the advancing 

 dunes seems to stand at a character- 

 istic angle, according to the size and 

 character of the sand grains and 

 amount of moisture in the soil and air. 

 Those at Ipswich, Massachusetts, make 

 always an angle of thirty-two degrees 

 with the horizon. 



The characteristic aroma of hops 

 grown in different parts of the world 

 proves not to be due to soil or climate, 

 but to be a fixed quality of the several 

 strains. Bohemian and .\merican hops 

 grown side by side in Denmark each 

 manifested its distinctive and peculiar 

 Possibly odor. 



