XX 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 19 13 



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OWNERS AND BUILDERS 



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THE CLEVERNESS OE A WASP 



IN his book, "Two Bird-Lovers in Mex- 

 ico," Mr. C. W. Beebee, the author, de- 

 scribes the manner in which a wasp towed 

 by water a load of freight too heavy to be 

 borne through the air. The incident makes 

 plain why water carriage is cheaper than 

 carriage by land. 



Picking up a stone from near the water 

 one day, I alarmed a brown spider, which 

 rushed out from beneath it. Instantly a 

 metallic green wasp, less than an inch in 

 length, darted down, and the two struggled 

 fiercely together. The contest was short, 

 and the spider's legs soon hung paralyzed 

 and helpless. 



The wasp first flew five or six feet into 

 the air, circled round once or twice, then 

 returned, and laboriously dragged its prey 

 (which was larger than itself) to the top of 

 a rock, and then tumbled headlong down the 

 opposite slope into the water. "A very fool- 

 ish wasp," quoth I. "But wait ; we know 

 not what to expect of these tropical crea- 

 tures." 



Without an instant's hesitation, as if it 

 were an every-day habit or instinct, the 

 wasp stretched out its four front legs upon 

 the surface of the water, grasped the float- 

 ing spider with its two hind legs, spread its 

 wings, and buzzed merrily up-stream over 

 the ripples ! The insect could not possibly 

 have flown with this heavy burden. But the 

 end was yet to come. 



The wasp evidently wished to reach a 

 large boulder some two feet from shore, 

 past which the water swirled rapidly. After 

 several ineffectual attempts to tow its bur- 

 den across, it clambered up along a rock on 

 the shore, dragging the spider just clear of 

 the water until it came to a spot where the 

 stream ran with less force. Here it again 

 launched out, keeping close to shore. 



This time it reached a point a foot or two 

 upstream above the boulder. Then the wasp 

 turned abruptly outward, redoubled its 

 efforts, and instantly was tumbled and 

 rocked about in the midst of the ripples — 

 which, to it, were waves of no mean size. 

 It was carried swiftly downstream, but by 

 aiming toward the rock and working its 

 wings frantically so that they were merely 

 a dim haze, it succeeded in reaching and re- 

 maining in the eddy below the boulder — 

 still water — across which it easily ferried its 

 burden. 



The fact of the little wasp using the water 

 as a medium upon which to propel its. bur- 

 den was marvelous enough, but the quick 

 succession of complex events, met with so 

 much seeming intelligence and with such 

 apparent resource of expedient and such 

 despatch, left us astonished beyond expres- 

 sion. Whether blind instinct, or a chain 

 of coincidences, or any higher phase of 

 thought prompted the actions of the wasp, 

 I will not attempt to say, but to the observer 

 able to watch the whole scene of operations 

 and to see at a glance all the attending 

 causes and effects, the apparent philosophy 

 in the actions of the insect is startling. 



PURIFYING THE AIR IN ROOMS 



TO purify the air of offices or sick rooms 

 soak a few pieces of brown paper in 

 a solution of saltpeter and allow them to 

 dry. When desired for use, lay a hand- 

 ful of flowers of lavender, which can be 

 gotten at any drug store, on a tin pan with 

 a few pieces of the paper and light. The 

 aroma is refreshing and agreeable and 

 drives away insects. If hot water is pro- 

 curable a few drops of oil of lavender in 

 a glass of very hot water is good. It puri- 

 fies the air at once and effectually rids the 

 room of flies and insects of all kinds. 



VALUABLE PAPERS ON 



CONCRETE 



REINFORCED CONCRETE 



and CONCRETE 



BUILDING BLOCKS 



Scientific American Supplement 1543 



contains an article on Concrete by 

 Brysson Cunningham. The article 

 clearly describes the proper compo- 

 sition and mixture of concrete and 

 gives the results of elaborate tests. 



Scientific- American Supplement 153S 

 gives the proportion of gravel and 

 sand to be used in concrete. 



Scientific American Supplements 1507, 

 1568, 1509, 1570 and 1571 contain an 

 elaborate discussion by Lieut. Henry 

 J. Jones of the various systems of 

 reinforcing concrete, concrete con- 

 struction and their applications. 

 These articles constitute a splendid 

 text book on the subject of rein- 

 forced concrete. Nothing better has 

 been published. 



Scientific American Supplement 997 

 contains an article by Spencer New- 

 berry, in which practical notes on 

 the proper preparation of concrete 

 are given. 



Scientific American Supplements 150S 

 and 150!) present a helpful account 

 of the making of concrete blocks by 

 Spencer Newberry. 



Scientific American Supplement 1534 

 gives a critical review of the engin- 

 eering- value of reinforced concrete. 



Scientific American Supplements 1547 

 and 154S give a resume in which the 

 various systems of reinforced con- 

 crete construction are discussed and 

 illustrated. 



Scientific American Supplements 1564 

 and 1565 contain an article by Lewis 

 & Hicks, in which the merits and de- 

 fects of reinforced concrete are ana- 

 lyzed. 



Scientific American Supplement 1551 

 contains the principles of reinforced 

 concrete with some practical illus- 

 trations by Walter Loring Webb. 



Scientific American Supplement 1573 

 contains an article by Louis H. Gib- 

 son on the principles of success in 

 concrete block manufacture, illus- 

 trated. 



Scientific American Supplement 1574 

 discusses steel for reinforced con- 

 crete. 



Scientific American Supplements 1575, 

 1570 and 1577 contain a paper by 

 Philip L. Wormley, Jr., on cement 

 mortar and concrete, their prepara- 

 tion and use for farm purposes. The 

 paper exhaustively discusses the 

 making- of mortar and concrete, de- 

 positing of concrete, facing concrete, 

 wood forms, concrete sidewalks, de- 

 tails of construction of reinforced 

 concrete posts, etc. 



Scientific American Supplement 15S6 

 contains a review of concrete mixing 

 machinery by William L. Larkin. 



Scientific American Supplement 15S3 

 gives valuable suggestions on the 

 selection of Portland cement for con- 

 crete blocks. 



Scientific American Supplement 15S1 

 splendidly discusses concrete aggre- 

 gates. A helpful paper. 



Scientific American Supplement 1595 

 and 1596 present a thorough discus- 

 sion of sand for mortar and concrete 

 by Sanford E. Thomson. 



Scientific American Supplement 1586 

 contains a paper by William L. Lar- 

 kin on Concrete Mixing Machinery, 

 in which the leading types of mixers 

 are discussed. 



Scientific American Supplement 1626 

 publishes a practical paper by Henry 

 H. Quimby on Concrete Surfaces. 



Scientific American Supplement 1624 

 tells how to select the proportions for 

 concrete and gives helpful sugges- 

 tions on the Treatment of Concrete 

 Surfaces. 



Scientific American Supplement 1634 

 discusses Forms of Concrete Con- 

 struction. 



Scientific American Supplement 1639 

 contains a paper by Richard K. 

 Meade en the Prevention of Freez- 

 ing in Concrete by Calcium Chloride. 



In Scientific American Supplement 1605 

 Mr. Sanford E. Thomson thoroughly 

 discusses the proportioning of Con- 

 crete. 



Scientific American Supplement 157S 

 tells why some fail in the Concrete 

 Block business. 



Scientific American Supplement 1608 

 contains a discriminating paper by 

 Ross F. Tucker on the Progress and 

 Logical Design of Reinforced Con- 

 crete. 



<I Each number of the Supplement costs 10 cents. 

 <JA set of papers containing all the articles above 

 mentioned will be mailed for $3 40. flSend for a 

 copy of the 1910 Supplement Catalogue. flFree to 

 any address <]]Order from your Newsdealer or from 



MUNN & CO., Inc., Publishers, 

 361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 



