252 



Popiihir Science Monthly 



Exit the Dinner-Bell; Enter the 

 Flashing Mirror 



FARMER'S \vi\'cs in the great south- 

 west, where ranches are miles in- 

 stead of acres in extent, have a novel 

 means of signaling the men in the field. 

 Flags, bells and horns are used to an- 

 nounce dinner, but 

 where the distance 

 is too great these 

 means fail, and the 

 farmer's wife re- 

 sorts to a mirror 

 and the heliograph 

 method. 



"On a tour of 

 inspection," writes 

 a telephone man, 

 "I happened to 

 stop at a farm- 

 house for dinner. 

 The woman who 

 came to the door 

 said that she would 

 call her husband. 

 Upon inquiring 

 where he was she 

 handed me a pair 

 of binoculars and 

 pointed down the 

 valley. I looked 

 and could see the big caterpillar pulling 

 two headers. As it rounded the end of 

 the cutting on its return trip the woman 

 flashed a mirror into the eyes of the 

 dri\'er three times. As I watched I could 

 see the machine come to a stop and 

 presently I saw him coming up the road 

 in his runabout car. He was working five 

 miles away. The woman explaineil that 

 she learned this heliograph method from 

 the Indians." But suppose it's cloudy? 



THE 

 wai 



Calling the men to dinner by signaling 

 with a mirror. But what if it rains? 



Why You Can See Two Sides of a 

 Thing at the Same Time 



IF you spin a quarter and watch it you 

 will see both .sides of the coin at the 

 same time. This is exi)lained by the fact 

 that the senses of man retain impressions 

 a little time. It is, indeed, the explana- 

 tion of motion-picUires. Your \-ision 

 persists and >our percejition of objects is 

 continued after the object itself has dis- 

 appeared. This allows you to see two 

 parts of a thing — even such ojipositcs as 

 the front and back — simultaneously. 



War will Diminish the Stature and 

 Vigor of the Human Race 



most striking end effect of 

 ir is race deterioration," com- 

 ments Dr. (Jeorge W. Crile, a member of 

 the American Ambulance who served 

 during the first stages of the conflict 

 abroad ("A Me- 

 chanistic View of 

 War and Peace," 

 T h e M a c m i 1 1 a n 

 Company). 



"The effect of 

 war on the race is 

 seen in the effect 

 of emigration on 

 New England. In 

 stature, in energy, 

 and in enterprise, 

 the New England 

 farmer has deteri- 

 orated by losing 

 so many of his fit- 

 test sons. It has 

 been stated that 

 Napoleon short- 

 ened the stature 

 of the French by 

 several inches. The 

 human animal is 

 not unlike other 

 animals — no one breeds from scrub 

 stock. This war will diminish the stature 

 and vigor of the human race to the extent 

 that the killed were larger and stronger 

 than those who remained at home. 



"The birthrate at the end of the war 

 will be changed. It will be increased 

 among the victors, decreased among the 

 vancjuished. In this respect man reacts 

 like animals. Animals brcetl best amidst 

 plenty, less when food ami shelter are 

 inadequate, and least of all w hen harassed 

 in captivity." 



Plants on National Forest Ranges 

 Which Kill Cattle 



five pier 



API'ROXIMATELY eighty-f 

 . cent of the losses of cattle on the 

 National Forest ranges clue to poisonous 

 plants is caused b\- tall larkspur. Death 

 canias, lupine, lamel, sneeze weed, and 

 rubber weed are responsible for sheep 

 losses from such cause, while loco weed 

 is the principal poisonous plant affecting 

 horses which graze about freely. 



