WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 



6210 



WASP 



self. Churches are well represented by memo- 

 rial tablets, and such societies as the Masons 

 and the Odd Fellows sent like contributions. 

 The interior of the shaft is lighted by elec- 

 tricity, and may be ascended either by means 



WASHINGTON MONUMENT 

 The tallest shaft ever erected to honor the 

 memory of a man. 



of the 900 steps, or by a spacious elevator. At 

 a height of 504 feet above the ground there are 

 openings which afford a splendid view of the 

 surrounding country and of the city which lies 

 below; beyond this point visitors cannot as- 

 cend. A.MC c. 



WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, at Saint 

 Louis, Mo., is a coeducational school, chartered 

 in 1853. It was first organized by Dr. William 

 Greenleaf Eliot, who stipulated that it was to 

 be nonsectarian and nonpartisan. The original 

 name, Eliot Seminary, was by the founder's re- 

 quest changed to Washington University. The 

 work of the school was carried on in several 

 different parts of the city until 1905, when all 



departments were removed to the present loca- 

 tion. As early as 1894 a large tract of land, 

 then outside the city limits, was purchased, and 

 by 1902 there had been erected ten beautiful 

 granite buildings. These and the grounds were 

 leased to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. 

 At its close they were occupied by the univer- 

 sity, and are now the western portion of beauti- 

 ful Forest Park, a part of the splendid park and 

 boulevard system* of Saint Louis. 



The university is organized into the college 

 of arts and sciences (including engineering and 

 architecture), school of law, medicine, dentistry, 

 fine arts and social economy, and the Henry 

 Shaw School of Botany. Professional degrees 

 in engineering are not conferred until after at 

 least three years of successful active practice. 

 There are about 230 instructors, and the stu- 

 dent registration is over 2,000. The number of 

 volumes in the library' exceeds 161,500. 



WASHITA, or OUACHITA, wahsh'itaw, 

 RIVER, a river which rises in Western Arkan- 

 sas, flows east and then south into Louisiana, 

 and joins the Red River about fifteen miles 

 above the Mississippi. It is navigable for about 

 350 miles, as far as Camden, Ark., the year 

 round. Smaller boats, and large boats for eight 

 months of the year, can ascend seventy miles 

 farther to Arkadelphia. The Washita is about 

 500 miles in length. 



WASP, a flying insect which commonly is 

 found in colonies which live only one summer. 

 Wasps are usually black, with yellow markings ; 

 those called hornets have a reddish tinge. The 

 females have a powerful sting. In the fall a 

 colony deserts its nest, and #11 

 the members perish except a 

 few females, which are to be- 

 come mothers of new colonies. 

 These pass the winter beneath 

 stones or in hollow trees. In 

 the spring the mother builds 

 a nest of chewed wood or pa- 

 per in a tree, or under the ground. She first 

 hangs a pillar, then attaches at the bottom 

 three cuplike cells, and lays an egg in each. 

 She then builds more cells and lays more eggs, 

 and as the eggs hatch into grubs, she keeps 

 them supplied with food, consisting of chewed 

 insects or honey. As fast as the larvae become 

 wasps their cells are cleaned and more eggs are 

 laid. The wasps hatched during the first half 

 of the summer are imperfectly developed ; they 

 are workers, and help build the nest and feed 

 the larvae. In a season of warm weather and 

 plentiful food a wasp nest may contain 30,000 



FACE OF A 

 WASP 



