1874 ] 
67 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
TOYS 4 ©©MJMMo 
A Beautiful and Curious Stone. 
Do you recollect that in speaking of the different forms 
of limestone in November last, I said, '‘In some lime¬ 
stone regions crystals are found, some of which are as 
transparent as glass ? ” This most beautiful kind of 
limestone is found in the greatest perfection in Iceland, 
and it is called Iceland spar wherever it may be fonnd. 
Our neighbors, Rohbeck and Goebler, dealers in chemical 
articles, No. 4 Murray street, bought the finest specimen 
BGXS pm G\§A§ 
■HHf 
Fig. 1 .— DOUBLE REFRACTION. 
that was sent from Iceland to the great Vienna exhibi¬ 
tion. It was something like a foot long and about four 
inches thick, and “ as clear as a crystal.” The shape of 
this crystal is a rhomb (which you must look in your 
dictionary for), and when broken—it breaks very easily— 
all the pieces, however small, are rhombs. Is not it 
strange that this crystal, so perfectly transparent, should 
be just the same thing as limestone or marble ? “ Look 
through it ? ” Yes, you can not only see through it, but 
you can see double. If you place it over a line on a 
paper you will see two lines, and if over a word two 
words will appear as in figure 1. This is called double re¬ 
fraction. This makes it necessary to explain refraction, 
which means bending. When light passes through the 
air it goes in straight lines ; if it passes from the air 
through glass or through water it is refracted, or bent 
out of the straight line. You have no doubt noticed 
that a straight stick placed partly in the water appears 
as if bent at the surface, and you have seen how curiously 
out of shape things look when seen across a hot stove, 
the light going through the air, made thin by the heat of 
the stove, gets bent or refracted. In fig. 2 is shown a 
knife upon which is placed a coin and immersed in a glass 
of water ; the knife appears bent as shown by the 
dotted lines. This is simple refraction, of which you 
may see cases frequently. Now the Iceland spar and 
some other minerals possess the remarkable power of 
doubly refracting. The light in passing through it is 
split into two parts, which are separated by the crystal, 
and in looking through it we see two things instead of 
one. This property which this crystal has of splitting 
up light in this way has enabled men to learn much 
more about light than they would otherwise have known, 
and I hope that when you get old enough you will read 
about the wonderful discoveries this has led to. 
The Doctor. 
Slow Baisimess is Bone Under tfi&e 
Sea. 
Every boy and girl knows that there are several tele¬ 
graphic cables between this country and Europe, and 
that we are able to read in our evening papers what 
was done in London and Paris during the day. There 
are also many business messages sent as well a9 those 
relating to private and family matters. Just think of 
that bundle of slender wires surrounded by gutta¬ 
percha called the cable. How it rests upon the sea 
bottom, far, far down below the waves and storms ; liow 
it lies in low valleys and hangs over mountain peaks, 
for the bottom of the ocean is as rugged as the land. 
Just think how wonderful it is that news of wars, news 
of banks and markets and news of deaths and births, of 
safe arrivals and of losses at sea, can be sent along this 
wire for thousands of miles and travel faster than the 
time kept by the sun. It costs much to lay these wires, 
and much to keep them at work; hence those who use 
them have to pay a large sum for sending messages. 
At one time it cost £1, or $5 a word, but it is very much 
cheaper now, but not so cheap that it is not necessary 
for those who use it much to arrange plans to make 
the words as few as possible. 
Merchants doing business devise what they call a tele¬ 
graphic code Let us suppose that you are doing busi¬ 
ness in London and that we arc upon this side and that 
we are engaged in selling cotton. We agree by letter 
that certain words to which each has the key shall mean 
certain things. For instance, “Box nix" we have 
agreed shall mean “ cotton is higher, do not sell,” and 
so on. We can give you an idea of a code actually in 
use. A ljrge seed establishment furnishes its dealers 
with its code. Each principal variety of seed is repre¬ 
sented by a short word and the pounds or bushels by let¬ 
ters—thus A. B. C. D. stand for 5,10,15,20 lbs, or 1, 2,3, 4 
bushels and so on. 
McLean’s Advancer Pea is represented by Smith, so a 
dealer instead of telegraphing 11 Please send me one hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five bushels of McLean’s Advancer Pea,” 
simply telegraphs “ T. L. E. Smith.” The clerk who re¬ 
ceives this by looking at the printed code sees at once 
what is wanted. Counting each letter as a word we have 
only four to express the whole order which in the usual 
way would require fifteen words, and as such messages 
are charged so much a word a great saving is made. 
Other kinds of business have similar codes. 
Aboist “English Currants.” 
Wyna, aged 11, is a girl whom I like. I never saw her, 
but she “ wants to know,” and that is why I like her. 
She has seen English currants used in cake and other 
cookery, and noticing that they were not like the cur¬ 
rants that grow in the garden, she wishes to know more 
about them. Being unable to get the information else¬ 
where, she comes to the old doctor with the questions, 
“Where do English currants come from? how do they 
grow? and how cured?” In the first place, English 
currants are so called because they are neither “ Eng¬ 
lish ” nor “ currants.” This is not a very promising 
start, but let me explain. In “old times” most foreign 
things came to this country by the way of England, and 
the name English was given to things that came from 
other parts of Europe. For some of these things the 
name is kept to the present time—thus the grocers keep 
English walnuts and English currants, and the painters 
use English vermilion, and some farmers sell English 
hay. The “English” currants come from Greece ; and 
as they were sent from Corinth, they were in former 
times called Corinths, and it was the easiest thing in the 
world to say Corinths, Corrints, Currants. So much for 
the name. Now, what are they ? They are small, im¬ 
perfect, seedless grapes, not just like the grape that wo 
have, but the European grape, such as raisins are made 
out of, and such as you see sometimes imported fresh 
in sawdust. For some reason or other, the grape which 
is so fine in other parts of Europe has degenerated in 
parts of Greece; it has no seeds, and remains very 
small, and when dried in the sun makes the currants. 
It is said that sometimes bunches come on the vine, the 
grapes on which have seeds in them, and grow to be 
good-sized berries, and no longer of use as currants. It 
is also said that the vines which produce these poor lit¬ 
tle currant-like grapes, when taken to other countries, 
no longer bear the little berries, but go back to the 
original state. So you see “English currants” are 
really very poor grapes from Greece. Now I wish all the 
boys and girls to follow the example of Wyna, and 
when they get “ puzzled ” about such things, as she 
says she was. to ask their friend, The Doctor. 
---* -— 
Aunt Same’s 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
1. I am composed of sixteen letters. 
My 3, 15, 1 is often sought by laborers. 
My 1, 4, 5, 0 is a half statue. 
My 10, 12,14 is a Sabbath-day cooler. 
My 5, 16, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 9 is an ensign. 
My 3, 2, 11, 13 is to scoff. 
My whole is a good maxim. W. E. H. 
2. I am composed of twelve letters. 
My 8, 9,10, 11, 12 may be seen on a house. 
My 1. 4, 6, 3 is a relative. 
My 5, 2, 7, 11 is an animal. 
My whoje come in the fall of the year. 
Amanda Velsob. 
CROSS-WORDS. 
1. My first is in lamb but not in sheep 
My next is in wake but not in sleep. 
My third is in study but not in play. 
My fourth is in March but not in May. 
My fifth is in taste but not in smell. 
My whole is a name not hard to spell. 
Hattie Ketchtjm. 
2. My first is in sirloin but not in chop. 
My next is in dandy but not in fop. 
My third is in Tom but not in Bill. 
My fourth is in luck but not in skill. 
My fifth is in verb but not in noun. 
My sixth is in village but not in town. 
And now if the letters right you take, 
The name of a gentleman they will make. 
Minnie. 
ALPHABETICAL ARITHMETIC. 
KATS)CANNOTEAT(ERCFCF 
CNRA 
M. L. 
S. F. Starkey. 
KF 
SQUARE-WORD. 
1. The farmer’s friend. 
2. A jovial fellow. 
3. A proclamation. 
4. Much used in schools. 
5. Worn by a lady. 
HIDDEN NAMES OF ANCIENT GRECIAN DEITIES. 
1. The oven used to get red-hot. 
2. James cast or molded some feet for the stove. 
3. It was a turning point in his life. 
4. Lucy, be less rough in your manners. 
5. The odor is refreshing. 
G. That ship going out to the ocean used to be owned 
by my uncle. William P. Albright. 
ORNITHOLOGICAL AMPUTATIONS. 
1. Behead a bird, transpose, and leave a lofty place. 
2. Behead a bird and leave a friend. 
3. Behead a bird, transpose, and leave “ to languish.’' 
4. Curtail a bird, transpose, and leave apolitical party. 
O. A. Gage. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE DECEMBER NUMBER- 
NUMERICAL Enigma.— Washington. 
Diamond Puzzle.— W 
AIR 
MANLY 
WINDING 
PROTOTYPE 
TRUSTWORTHY 
CATTLEGRAZING 
WINDOWGARDENING 
UNCONTR O L LING 
FRIENDSHIPS 
GARDEN I N G 
COUNT RY 
ALICE 
AND 
G 
Riddle. —Noise. 
Chemical Puzzle.— Nitrogen. 
Anagrams— 1. Personate. 2. Everlasting. 3. Accom¬ 
plished. 4. Balconies. 6. Magnificent. 6. Endear¬ 
ments. 7. Unpresentable. 8. Affiliate. 9. Influential. 
10. Contribute. 
Alphabetical Arithmetic.— 
310)920754(2913 (Key: Wild monkey.) 
Concealed Seas, Gulfs, Bays, etc.— 1. Siam. 2- 
Black. 3. North, Dover. 4. White. 5. Lengai. 
AUNT SUE’S NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Thanks for letters, puzzles, etc., to W. E. H., Jr.,. 
L. N., Fred S., J. T. D.. Ellen, and Emma W. A. 
Aunt Sue’s address is Post-Office Box 111. Brook¬ 
lyn, N. Y. 
Some time ago some one asked me how to press flow¬ 
ers for making floral ornaments. I wrote an answer to 
