Popular Science Monthly 



869 



The checkered chart is a new and painless device, which quickly teaches the mysteries of 

 multiplication, division and subtraction to the most reluctant pupil 



Learning Arithmetic With a 

 Woman's Invention 



THE reason we honor Miss Albertina 

 Bechmann this month is because 

 she has invented a painless way of 

 learning the multiplication, division and 

 subtraction tables. 



Her invention consists of a board on 

 which are printed rows of figures from 

 o to 144. The rows are separated by 

 grooves. If you want to find out what 

 6 times 4 is, all you have to do is to find 

 the figure 6, at the top of the board, and 

 the figure 4 at the side, and to place a 

 ruler in the groove nearest 6, as shown 

 in the photograph, and another ruler in 

 the groove nearest 4. In the corner made 

 by the two rulers you will find your 

 answer, 24. 



If you would divide 24 by 6, you place 

 one ruler between 6 and 24 and the 

 other ruler in the groove running at 

 right angles to 24, and, presto! you 

 have your answer, 4, at the outside end 

 of the second ruler. Also, by Miss 

 Bechmann's painless system, 8 times o 

 is never 8, as many children think. It 

 invariably shows that 8 times o is o. 



If you would know what 6 plus 18 is, 

 you hunt up the 6 column, and under- 



neath the 18 you will find your answer, 24. 

 I f you would subtract 6 from 24 you would 

 find your answer, 18, right above 24. 



Austria Exhibits Paper Substitutes 

 for Cloth 



IT was announced last November by 

 the Austrian Ministry of War that 

 paper v'ests and foot coverings had been 

 received for the forces in the field, and 

 that the officials should instruct the men 

 that paper, as a poor conductor of heat, 

 was an excellent protection against cold. 

 Attention was also called to the hospitals 

 that paper was a good substitute for 

 fabric, and that cellulose wadding af- 

 forded a sanitary dressing for wounds. 

 Later, at the suggestion of Ma.x: 

 Schuschny% an exposition of paper prod- 

 ucts designed as protection against cold 

 and a substitute for cloth, was held. 

 The invitation to exhibitors brought 

 fifty, and within five days twenty 

 thousand persons had visited the exposi- 

 tion. Of all the useful articles exhibited, 

 perhaps the most important was the 

 "Danish quilt," consisting of crumpled 

 newspapers. These coxerlets have been 

 used extensively for hospital purposes 

 in the royal palace of Austria. 



