April, 1914 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
JX 
GEORGE WASHINGTON AS A 
SURVEYOR 
T hat George \\ ashington was at onetime 
engaged in surveying is well known ; 
but it has remained for the modern engineer, 
working with the present instruments of 
j)recision. to show that in spite of the crude 
instruments of his day, Washington was a 
most careful and accurate surveyor. The 
attention which has recently been directed 
to this matter has called forth a wide- 
spread appreciation of the fact that he 
showed in this work of his youthful days 
many of those qualities which, in after life, 
served to make him one of the leading fig- 
ures of his age. 
SQUIRRELS OR FOOLS? 
T O the Washington Star we are indebted 
for the following derivation of the 
expression “the woods are full of them.” 
A very deaf old man was shooting squir- 
rels in the woods near Wiscasset, Maine, 
when a stranger happened along. 
“Which is the road to Wiscasset?” asked 
the stranger. 
The deaf old man, failing to understand, 
replied : 
“Thar’s one — thar’s a squirrel — sittin’ up 
there on the tree ! See him ?” 
“I didn’t ask you about the squirrels,” said 
the stranger, impatiently. “I asked you 
which was the road to Wiscasset?” 
“Yep,” said the old man, “thar’s another, 
too, jest a-peekin' outer that knot-hole.” 
Then the stranger lost his patience. 
“You’re a fool!” he cried. 
The old huntsman gazed into the trees ; 
then he looked innocently at the stranger. 
“Yep,” he said, complacently, “the woods 
are full of them.” 
ACCIDENTAL INVENTIONS 
A n alchemist, experimenting in earths 
for the making of crucibles, found that 
he had invented porcelain, says the Vouth's 
Companion. A watchmaker’s apprentice, 
holding a spectacle-glass between his thumb 
and forefinger, noticed that through it the 
neighboring buildings appeared larger, and 
thus he discovered the adaptability of the 
lens to the telescope. 
A Nuremberg glass-cutter by accident one 
day dropped a little aqua fortis upon his 
spectacles. He found that it corroded and 
softened the glass, and he conceived the 
idea of etching. He drew figures upon the 
glass with varnish, applied the fluid, and cut 
away the glass about the drawing. When 
he removed the varnish the figures ap- 
peared, raised on a dark ground. 
The process of whitening sugar was never 
known until a hen walked through a clay- 
puddle, and then strayed into a sugar-house. 
Her tracks were left in the piles of sugar, 
and when it was noticed that the spots 
where she had stepped were whiter than the 
rest, the first step in the process of bleach- 
ing sugar with clay was taken. 
The wife of an English papermaker one 
day dropped a blue-bag into a vat of pulp. 
When the workmen saw the colored paper, 
they were astonished, and their employer 
was so angry at the mischance that his wife 
did not dare to confess her part in bringing 
it about. The paper was stored for years 
as a damaged lot, and finally the manufac- 
turer sent it to his agent in London, and told 
him to get rid of it at any price. Fashion at 
once marked it for her own. It was rapidly 
sold at a high price, and the manufacturers 
found it difficult to supply the great demand 
for colored paper. 
THE 
LONG-LIFE 
I ITTLE Blessed’s 
hands arc soft and 
J pink tajid perhaps a 
little black?) but 
they do a deal of harm to 
improperly finished wood- 
work. 
It is baby’s business to in- 
vestigate things. And this 
wanderlust often destroys the 
mother’s peace of mind. Vit- 
ralite, the Long-Life H'hite 
fnamel eliminates worry. It 
can be washed time and again 
without even dulling the finish. 
Vitralite stays, while tlie little 
finger marks disappear. A 
lasting, porcelain-like surface 
that will not crack nor chip, 
whether used inside or outside, 
on wood, metal or plaster. 
Shows no brush marks and will 
not turn yellow. Send for 
Booklet and Two Sample Panels 
one finished with Vitralite and 
the other with “61” FloorVar- 
nish, the varnish tlut is heel- 
proof, mar-proof and water- 
proof. Hit it with a hammer! 
You may dent the wood but 
the varnish wont crack. 
Tht quality of F L. I'arnlih Fntluai 
hai aJtuayi htm llirir itntigiit guar.intit. 
Our etijilllSifti poll<y It full lalhjartien or 
mtntj rtfundrd. 
Prati A L.-miben Varnieb Producu are 
used by paiiilers. specilied by arebiterts. 
and sold by paint and hardware dealers 
everywhere. 
Address all ingairies to Pratt & Lam* 
bert-Lic. 119 Tonawanda St., Bolialo, 
N. Y. in Canada, 63 Conrtwrigbt St., 
Bridfebarg, Oalario. 
PRATT & LAMBERT VARNISHES 
tiivYoR* buoLo Chic C : Established 65 Years 
buioccHuAt: Canada 
giftiON fACTonica 
LuNOON Paris 
HAMOUR 6 
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL 
BOOKS 
#1T WE HAVE JUST ISSUED A 
^ NEW CATALOGUE of scientific 
and technical books, which contains the titles 
and descriptions of 3300 of the latest and 
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|7f OUR "BOOK DEPARTMENT" 
^ CAN SUPPLY these books or any 
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fH SEND US YOUR NAME AND 
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this catalogue will be mailed to you, free of 
charge. 
MUNN & CO., Inc., T^ubUshers 
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN OFFICE 
361 Broadway New York Cily 
Locks 
Builders' Hardware 
Chain Blocks 
Yale & Towne Mfg. Co. 
9 EAST doth STREET 
NEW YORK 
