726 



Popular Science Monthly 



Ringing the bells of St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, 

 in honor of the great Allied victory at Carnbrai 



Ringing Out the Victory of Cambrai 

 from the Great Bells of St. Paul's 



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OT every one can ring the great bells 

 church towers. It takes skill 

 and it takes strength. In the accom- 

 panying illustration we see the bell 

 ringers of St. Paul's, London, preparing 

 to ring joy bells in honor of the successful 

 Cambrai offensive. 



The upward swing of the bells is so 

 strong that the ringers are very often 

 pulled off their feet. On the rebound, 

 each man lands on a small, flat cushion 

 in front of him, by which his fall is 

 broken. The small loops to be seen on 

 the boxes are foot braces. 



According to an old English 

 custom, no bell ringer may 

 wear a hat while at 

 work. Judging by the 

 expressions on the faces 

 of the men here pho 

 tographed, they 

 would uncover 

 without any aid 

 from precedent, 

 for they are bring- ' 

 ing to the occasion 

 a deep solemnity, 

 conscious of the cost 

 of victory. 



Campanology is one 

 of the most interesting 

 and most intricate arts 

 practised. Change-ring- 

 ing is exceedingly diffi- 

 cult and very exhausting. 



Various peculiar types of feathers 

 in the process of becoming scales 



When Is a Feather Not a 

 Feather? When It's a Hair 



OUR picture shows several 

 midground types of feath- 

 ers in course of evolution. They 

 are midway between scales and 

 feathers. 



Crossing in the center are two 

 hairlike forms called "filo- 

 plumes." Sloping up to the 

 right is one found in abundance 

 on poultry. It is practically a 

 true hair with its tip divided 

 into several slender prongs, some 

 of which have a suggestion of 

 feather-down near their bases. 

 The one crossing it, noticeably 

 more plumose, is from an owl. 

 The form to the right with the many 

 pointed black tip is from one of the very 

 rare toucans. It is from midway on the 

 neck and shows an intermediate stage 

 between the true feathers on the back and 

 the scalelike forms topping the head 

 where the feathers have changed wholly 

 into thin, horny plates or scales, seen at 

 top of picture. Barely enough feather- 

 down remains to suggest its origin. 



To the left side of the picture is a 

 unique intermediate stage between feather 

 and scale — strongly suggesting a fish 

 scale. This would be the normal trend 

 of evolution owing to the aquatic life of 

 the penguin from whose wing this was 

 taken. So nearly midway between scale 

 and feather, it claims both names 

 is called squamipennis 

 scale-feather. 



The throat of the 

 humming bird supplies 

 the form at bottom. 

 These are true 

 feathers and take 

 their name not 

 from any mimetic 

 form of structure, 

 but from their col- 

 lective appearance 

 which is strikingly 

 scalelike. They are 

 called squama. 



It is such transitory 

 stages as this, observed 

 repeatedly, that lend 

 color to the evolution 

 theory.— C. B. Davis. 



