BEAM 



BEAN 



colored, are familiar objects in the kindergar- 

 ten. 



Beads have been commonly used for cen- 

 turies as barter among savage races. The In- 

 dians who traded with the New England col- 

 onists made beads of wampum (which see) so 

 beautiful that they had a fixed price, three 

 black beads or six white ones being worth one 

 Kimli>h penny. The wampum beads t 

 drilled out of a shell by means of a wooden 

 shaft which had a point of jtuspor or flint. The 

 Western Indians fashioned beads of rainbow- 

 colored abalone shells, found along the Pacific 



coast. 



b, beans and berries are natural beads 

 that the children love to string into chains. 

 Black-eyed Susans and tiny scarlet beans 

 tipped with black make especially gay neck- 

 laces. Job's-tears, the hard, tear-shaped seeds 

 of the grass known by that name, ranging in 

 color from pearly white to black, are perhaps 

 the most commonly used of nature's beads. 



The girl who Is Interested In bead work will 

 fiml simple ami clt-.-ir directions for usiiii? ln-a<ls 

 In the book, Three Hundred Things A Bright Girl 

 Can Do. , 



BEAM, bccm, a horizontal timber or bar of 

 iron or steel, supporting weight in a structure 

 of any sort. In the article BRIDGE will be 

 found pictures illustrating the way in which 

 beams break under loads, and showing why 

 steel beams are commonly given the form of 

 the letter I. 



There are several minor uses of the word 

 beam. In the familiar expression describing a 

 rolling ship as on its beam ends, the reference 

 is to the beams on which the deck rests. The 

 beam of a balance is the bar which supports 

 the scales; see BALAM K. where there is an 

 t ration. A loom has a wooden cylinder 

 on which the weaver wind- tin- warp previous 

 to weaving, and one on which the woven cloth 



Carbohydrates, 7. 



rot ei n, 2. 3 

 at, 0.3 

 sh,Q8 



is rolled; both are called beams. The bar 

 which draws a plow is a beam. 



BEAN, the name given to various plants 

 which provide one of the most important veg- 

 etable foods for man, as well as excellent 

 forage for cattle and nitrogen for the soil. 

 Some bean plants are short, stocky shrubs, 

 others are climbing vines, and the seeds, also 

 called beans, vary in size, shape and color. 

 The flowers, however, whatever their color and 

 sixe, are alike in shape, the most insignificant 

 blossom on the garden bean being almost 

 actly like the bright-red winged flowers of the 

 scarlet runner, which is grown not for its seed 

 but for its beauty. The seeds of all varieties 

 are borne in pods, and this, with the butterfly 

 shape of the blossoms, shows that the bean 

 belongs to the same family as the pea the 

 pulse family. 



Food Value. As stated above, beans, whether 

 green or dried, have a high food value, and it 

 has been estimated that in no other form can 

 so much nutriment be bought at so low a 

 price as in the so-called navy beans. It is for 

 this reason that these beans form one of the 

 staples dealt out by charity organizations to 

 their dependents. Because beans are rich in 

 protein (which see), they are particularly well 

 adapted to take the place of meat, and when 

 baked beans are served it is wise to omit meat 

 from the bill of fare. Frequently the state- 

 ment is heard that the Japanese and Chinese 

 live largely upon rice, and thus have a diet 

 deficient in protein, but the soy bean in some 

 form, perhaps merely as a sauce for the nee. 

 is present at almost every meal and supplies 

 the very necessary protein element. 



Kinds of Beans. In the United States and 

 Canada the best-known of all beans is prob- 

 ably the kidney bean, of which many varieties 

 are cultivated. These include not only the 

 familiar red kidney bean, but almost all of the 



Protein, 22.5 

 Water 12.6. 



AVK OOD VALUES 



At left : Green string beans. At right : Dry navy 



