Popular Science Monthly 



165 



What the First Aerial Bombs . 

 Were Made Of 



IT may be remembered that Garros came 

 to the United States in 191 1 and amazed 

 vast audiences by his audacious flights. 

 From here he went to Mexico to entertain 

 the populace there. It occurred to him on 

 arriving that, since fighting seemed to be 

 the favorite pastime of his Latin brethren, 

 he would making a lasting '"hit" with them 

 if he could only arrange for an aerial 

 sham-battle. To his good luck, he found 

 the general in command of the army, then 

 in Mexico City, a willing listener. Accord- 

 ingly, one day he was seen flying over the 

 Mexican batteries, armed with baskets of 

 juicy oranges that the quartermaster had 

 given him. Suddenly the batteries opened 

 fire and sent shot after shot after him. The 

 immense crowd became wildly enthu- 

 siastic, although they knew, of course,that 

 only blank cartridges were being used. 

 Garros then started to let go the oranges 

 upon the artiller>'men. To his surprise al- 

 most immediately they began to scatter 

 in every direction. The quartermaster had 

 not realized that a juicy orange dropped 

 from so great a height would rival a small 

 bomb. The first aerial fight unquestiona- 

 bly was won by bombs of ripened oranges. 



A Tree Root That Resembles 

 a Young Deer 



WHILE clearing the way 

 through a Wisconsin forest 

 for a railroad, a construction gang 

 pulled up a curious bit of ^ree 

 root. One of the men saw a 

 resemblance in it to a young deer, 

 and accordingly took it 

 back with him to camp. 

 Merely by cutting away 

 the surplus branches, 

 the root was formed 

 into a fairly good-look- 

 ing deer; that is, if 

 such matters as a bandy- 

 leg and full-grown horns 

 may be overlooked as 

 desirable members of a 

 very young deer. The 

 eyes, nose and ears were 

 formed by the knots 

 when the branches were 

 cut away. 



The deer stands three 

 feet high and 

 prized curiosity. 



IS a 



Woodsmen in a Wisconsin forest found 

 this curious tree-trunk which they 

 imagined resembles a very young deer 



An incisor tooth covered with a sohdified 

 matter which has eaten the gxun away but 

 has preserved the tooth from bacteria 



i Peculiar Disease of the Teeth Which 



Disables and Yet Preserves Them 

 ''J^HE peculiar infection which dentists 

 call "salivary calculus" will, if left to 

 itself, cause a person to lose his 

 entire set of teeth. Yet when this 

 happens, the teeth themselves will 

 --^ often be in a perfect state of 

 preservation. The organic and 

 inorganic matter, derived from 

 the saliva in the mouth, 

 solidifies and forms a hard 

 deposit upon the teeth. The 

 mechanical irritation of 

 the deposit causes the 

 jums to become exposed 

 to chemical deteriora- 

 tion of the salivary de- 

 posit. The deposit then 

 absorbs the gum tissue 

 and interferes with the 

 building up processes of 

 the bony roots, so that 

 the teeth finally become 

 completely exposed and 

 must drop out because 

 of their lack of support. 



