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simple wiki

Manhattan_Project

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project

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The Manhattan Project was the program based in the United States which tried to make the first nuclear weapons. The project went on during World War II and was run by the U.S. Army. The head of the project was General Leslie R. Groves, who had led the building of the Pentagon. The top scientist on the project was Robert Oppenheimer, a famous physicist. The project cost $2 billion and created many secret cities and bomb-making factories, such as a laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, a nuclear reactor in Hanford, Washington, and a uranium processing plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Manhattan Project had to find solutions to two difficulties. The first difficulty is how to make the special isotopes of uranium or plutonium. This process is called separation and is very slow. The United States built very big buildings with machines for separation. They made enough fissionable special isotopes for a few nuclear weapons. The second difficulty was how to make a bomb that will produce a big nuclear explosion every time. A weapon with a broken design will often make a much smaller nuclear explosion. This is called a "fizzle".

wikipedia

Habitat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat

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A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population. A habitat is made up of physical factors such as soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity as well as biotic factors such as the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions in which it will thrive, but some are tolerant of wide variations while others are very specific in their requirements. A habitat is not necessarily a geographical area, it can be the interior of a stem, a rotten log, a rock or a clump of moss, and for a parasitic organism it is the body of its host, part of the host's body such as the digestive tract, or a single cell within the host's body.

Arthur Henderson Smith

Village Schools and Traveling Soldiers

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https://www.commonlit.org/texts/village-schools-and-traveling-soldiers

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The necessity of confining one's attention to study alone, leads to the selection of one or more of the sons of a family as the recipient of an education. The one who is chosen is clothed in the best style which his family circumstances will allow, his little cue neatly tied with a red string, and he is provided, as we have seen, with a copy of the Hundred Surnames and of the Trimetrical Classic. This young Confucianist is the bud and prototype of the adult scholar. His twin brother, who has not been chosen to this high calling, roams about the village all summer in the costume of the garden of Eden, gathering fuel, swimming in the village mud-hole, busy when he must be busy, idle when he can be idle. He may be incomparably more useful to his family than the other, but so far as education goes he is only a "wild" lad. If the student is quick and bright, and gives good promise of distinguishing himself, he stands an excellent chance of being spoiled through thoughtless praises.

Jack London

Winged Blackmail

CLD

https://www.commonlit.org/texts/winged-blackmail

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The library door opened, and a slender, middle-aged man, weak-eyed and eye glassed, entered. In his hands was an envelope and an open letter. As Peter Winn's secretary it was his task to weed out, sort, and classify his employer's mail. "This came in the morning post," he ventured apologetically and with the hint of a titter. "Of course it doesn't amount to anything, but I thought you would like to see it." "Read it," Peter Winn commanded, without opening his eyes. The secretary cleared his throat. "It is dated July seventeenth, but is without address. Postmark San Francisco. It is also quite illiterate. The spelling is atrocious. Here it is: "Mr. Peter Winn, SIR: I send you respectfully by express a pigeon worth good money. She's a loo-loo—" "What is a loo-loo?" Peter Winn interrupted. The secretary tittered. "I'm sure I don't know, except that it must be a superlative of some sort. The letter continues: "Please freight it with a couple of thousand-dollar bills and let it go. If you do, I won't never annoy you no more. If you don't you will be sorry. "That is all. It is unsigned. I thought it would amuse you."

simple wiki

Hundred_Years%27_War

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War

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History

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The Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England during the late Middle Ages. It lasted 116 years from 1337 to 1453. The war started because Charles IV of France died in 1328 without a son. Edward III of England then believed he had the right to become the new king of France through his mother. The French did not want a foreign king, so Philip VI of France said he ought to be king because by the Salic law women could not rule or transmit the right to rule to their sons. The two countries went to war because of this disagreement. At the beginning of the war France was the stronger of the two countries. France had about 17 million people while England had only about 4 million people. France had an alliance with Scotland against England, and England tried to ally with parts of the Low Countries. The English won a great victory at sea in the Battle of Sluys in 1340 which prevented France from invading England. After that the war was fought almost totally in France.

Jr. Horatio Alger

From Farm Boy to Senator

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53382/53382-h/53382-h.htm

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Daniel was but eight years old, a boy of striking appearance, with black hair and eyes, and a swarthy complexion. He was of slender frame, and his large dark eyes, deep set beneath an overhanging brow, gave a singular appearance to the thin face of the delicate looking boy. He was a farmer's son, and lived in a plain, old-fashioned house, shaded by fine elms, and separated from the broad, quiet street by a fence. It was situated in a valley, at the bend of the Merrimac, on both sides of which rose high hills, which the boy climbed many a time for the more extended view they commanded. From a high sheep-pasture on his father's farm, through a wide opening in the hills, he could see on a clear day Brentney Mountain in Vermont, and in a different direction the snowy top of Mount Washington, far away to the northeast.

Jacob Abbott

Rollo in Rome

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23430/23430-h/23430-h.htm

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The diligences in France are very large, and are divided into different compartments, with a different price for each. There are usually three compartments below and one above. In the Italian diligences, however, or at least in the one in which Mr. George and Rollo travelled to Rome, there were only three. First there was the interior, or the body of the coach proper. Directly before this was a compartment, with a glass front, containing one seat only, which looked forward; there were, of course, places for three persons on this seat. This front compartment is called the coupé. It is considered the best in the diligence. There is also a seat up above the coupé, in a sort of second story, as it were; and this was the seat which Mr. George and Rollo usually preferred, because it was up high, where they could see better. But for the present journey Mr. George thought the high seat, which is called the banquette, would not be quite safe; for though it was covered above with a sort of chaise top, still it was open in front, and thus more exposed to the night air.

Rosario Del Carmen Flores-Vallejo, Jorge Luis Folch-Mallol, Alexandre Cardoso-Taketa, Maria Luisa Villarreal, Ashutosh Sharma

Hidden Microbial Helpers Living Inside Plants: Getting to Know Endophytes and Some of Their Applications in Our Daily Lives

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00011

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Endophytes live inside all plant species. They have been found in plants living on the sea, like green algae and plants that live on land, such as the dandelions growing near the sidewalk. Endophytes can live in plants from places with high temperatures and little water, like cacti, or inside tropical palm trees and mangroves from the coastal shores, or in ferns and mosses that live in the cold Antarctic zone. If endophytes live in every plant, how do we choose which plant to study for its endophytes? While it is true that every plant contains at least one relevant endophyte, the relevance of an endophyte relies on the function that it carries out on the plant and the benefits that the endophyte provides (e.g., help its plant host to resist drought). Some endophytes develop a very close association with their plant host and contribute to different processes crucial for the survival of the plant. In order to study the biological activity that endophytes carry on inside their plant, first we must select a plant specimen.

George A. Warren

The Banner Boy Scouts on a Tour

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20985/20985-h/20985-h.htm

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"Give the assembly call, Number Three!" Presently, in answer to Paul's order, the clear, sweet notes of a bugle sounded through the big gymnasium under the church. More than a score of lads of all sizes began to pass in from the outside, where they had been chattering like so many magpies; for it was now Summer, with vacation at hand. After telling the bugler to sound the call for the meeting, Paul, who often had charge in place of the regular scoutmaster, Mr. Gordon, watched the coming of the boys through the open basement door. "Everybody on hand tonight, I guess, Paul," observed his chum Jack, as he laid his hand on the shoulder of the leader of the Red Fox patrol. Thus far there were three patrols in Stanhope troop. As the first to organize had chosen to be known as the Red Fox, it pleased the others simply to call their patrols by the names of Gray and Black Fox.

Matthew D. Tietbohl, David Kamanda Ngugi, & Michael L. Berumen

A Unique Bellyful: Extraordinary Gut Microbes Help Herbivorous Fish Eat Seaweeds

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00058

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There is, however, a big problem these herbivorous fishes face when they eat algae. It is not easy to digest! Algae, like all living things, are made up of cells, with each specialized for a certain role. The cells of algae hold complex, large chains of sugars, called polysaccharides (pronounced, "pol-ee-sack-ah-ride"). Different algae have their own, unique composition of these large sugar chains within their cells. To get energy from algae, herbivorous fishes need to break down these large chains. Inside the guts of fish are molecules known as enzymes (think of them as molecular or chemical scissors) that can break these sugar chains into smaller parts fish can absorb into their bodies. There are many different types of these enzymes, functioning like different workers on a construction team. Each enzyme has a specific job in breaking down different parts of algae. However, not all fish have the right kinds of enzymes to break down algae. So, how are they able to get nutrients from algae that are hard to digest?

Lucretia P. Hale

Solomon John Goes for Apples

Junior Classics, Vol 6

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6577/pg6577-images.html

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The horse was brought round to the door. Now he had not ridden for a great while; and, though the little boys were there to help him, he had great trouble in getting on the horse. He tried a great many times, but always found himself facing the wrong way, looking at the horse's tail. They turned the horse's head, first up the street, then down the street; it made no difference; he always made some mistake, and found himself sitting the wrong way. "Well," said he, at last, "I don't know as I care. If the horse has his head in the right direction, that is the main thing. Sometimes I ride this way in the cars, because I like it better. I can turn my head easily enough, to see where we are going." So off he went, and the little boys said he looked like a circus-rider, and they were much pleased. He rode along out of the village, under the elms, very quietly. Pretty soon he came to a bridge, where the road went across a little stream.

R.M. Ballantyne

Six Months at the Cape

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21704/21704-h/21704-h.htm

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A glorious sensation of freedom came over me as I felt my horse's springy step,—a sensation which brought powerfully back the memory of those days when I first galloped over the American prairies. Surely there must be a sympathy, a mesmeric influence, between a horse and his rider which sends a thrill through each. Hobson had lent me his own favourite horse, Rob Roy. He was a charming creature; well made, active, willing, and tender in the mouth, but, best of all, he "trippled" splendidly. Trippling is a favourite gait in South Africa, especially among the Dutch farmers. It is something between pacing and ambling, a motion so easy that one scarce rises at all from the saddle. We trippled off into the vast plain towards the horizon, each horseman diverging a little from his comrades, like a fleet of fishing-boats putting out to sea. Most of the party rode without coats, for the sky was cloudless, and we looked for a broiling day. Brownarms, I observed, had his sleeves rolled up, as usual, to the shoulder. Six-foot Johnny rode a cream-coloured pony, which, like himself, enjoyed itself intensely, and seemed ready for anything.

QUINCY ALLEN

THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14130/pg14130-images.html

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Jerry had perched himself on the forward rail, where he could survey the scenery. Will had his camera in his hand, and seemed ready to snap off any remarkable picture that presented itself to his vision. He was keen on taking some views that would embrace the weird, hanging Spanish moss, though Frank told him to have patience, and any number of these would come in time. There was not the least warning when the shock came. The boat suddenly brought up with a bang on some hidden snag, and as Frank involuntarily shut off the power he had a rapid view of poor Jerry taking a header over the rail. Immediately after, a tremendous splash announced that he had struck the water all right; indeed, as he sprawled with hands and legs outstretched, one would half suspect it was a gigantic frog that leaped from the boat into the deep river.

Arthur M. Winfield

The Rover Boys out West or, The Search for a Lost Mine

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6071/pg6071-images.html

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There was nothing to keep Dick in Cedarville any longer, and he prepared to return to the Stanhope cottage with the mare. But before going he entered the leading drug store, and here purchased a box of choice chocolates for Dora, for he, fortunately, had his spending money with him, or at least the balance left over from the football celebration. When Dick reached the cottage, he found both the washwoman and the carpenter at work, one in the wash-house and the other finishing up the new barn. The money taken from the bank had been turned over to Mr. Gradley, so Mrs. Stanhope no longer had this to worry her. Feeling that he could do little at school for the balance of that day, Dick resolved to hunt through the woods for some trace of Josiah Crabtree, and went off shortly after giving Dora the chocolates, over which the girl was greatly pleased. He followed the road in the direction of the lake at first and was about to plunge into the brushwood when a distant voice hailed him.

Rudyard Kipling

DYMCHURCH FLIT'

PUCK OF POOK'S HILL

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/557/557-h/557-h.htm#weland

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They settled themselves, as usual, on the sack-strewn cot in front of the fires, and, when Hobden drew up the shutter, stared, as usual, at the flameless bed of coals spouting its heat up the dark well of the old-fashioned roundel. Slowly he cracked off a few fresh pieces of coal, packed them, with fingers that never flinched, exactly where they would do most good; slowly he reached behind him till Dan tilted the potatoes into his iron scoop of a hand; carefully he arranged them round the fire, and then stood for a moment, black against the glare. As he closed the shutter, the oast-house seemed dark before the day's end, and he lit the candle in the lanthorn. The children liked all these things because they knew them so well. The Bee Boy, Hobden's son, who is not quite right in his head, though he can do anything with bees, slipped in like a shadow. They only guessed it when Bess's stump-tail wagged against them.

Theodore Roosevelt

American Preparedness

The European War, Vol 2, No. 5

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22460/22460-h/22460-h.htm

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Preparedness against war does not invariably avert war any more than a fire department in a city will invariably avert a fire; and there are well-meaning foolish people who point out this fact as offering an excuse for unpreparedness. It would be just as sensible if after the Chicago fire Chicago had announced that it would abolish its fire department as for our people to take the same view as regards military preparedness. Some years ago I was looking over some very old newspapers contemporaneous with the early establishment of paid fire departments in this country, and to my amusement I came across a letter which argued against a paid fire department upon the ground that the knowledge of its existence would tend to make householders careless, and therefore would encourage fires. Greece was not prepared for war when she went to war with Turkey a score of years ago. But this fact did not stop the war. It merely made the war unsuccessful for Greece. China was not prepared for war with Japan twenty-odd years ago, nor for war with the Allies who marched to Peking fifteen years ago.

Mr. JOHN GJERS

SOAKING PITS FOR STEEL INGOTS.

Scientific American Supplement, Nos. 360

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8559/8559-h/8559-h.htm#1

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It is well understood that in the fluid steel poured into the mould there is a larger store of heat than is required for the purpose of rolling or hammering. Not only is there the mere apparent high temperature of fluid steel, but there is the store of latent heat in this fluid metal which is given out when solidification takes place. It has, no doubt, suggested itself to many that this heat of the ingot ought to be utilized, and as a matter of fact, there have been, at various times and in different places, attempts made to do so; but hitherto all such attempts have proved failures, and a kind of settled conviction has been established in the steel trade that the theory could not possibly be carried out in practice. The difficulty arose from the fact that a steel ingot when newly stripped is far too hot in the interior for the purpose of rolling, and if it be kept long enough for the interior to become in a fit state, then the exterior gets far too cold to enable it to be rolled successfully.

A. L. SYKES

THE WEE HARE AND THE RED FIRE

Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25359/25359-h/25359-h.htm#Page_179

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Good Papa Hare took his nap, and Mama Hare took her nap. The Wee Hare shut his eyes, and put his ears down, but he took no nap. By and by he went out of the door, and ran and ran till he came to the wood. Then he ran and ran in the wood, but he did not come to the RED FIRE, and he ran and ran and ran till his feet were sore, but he did not come to the RED FIRE, and he ran and ran and ran and ran till he was not able to run any more, and no RED FIRE did he see. He lay down to rest in a bush, and very soon his eyes were shut, and he did not see or hear, for it was long past the hour for his nap. When he woke SNOW lay on all the open ways of the wood. The Wee Hare gave a leap from his bush, for he knew that SNOW can grow deep and deep, and a wee hare cannot walk in it. How he did wish he was at home!

Alfred Esinyen, Marleen Visser

A Curse or a Blessing?

African Storybook Level 3

https://www.africanstorybook.org/#

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For many months, the skies were dry. Lomongin, the famous rain-maker, talked to his gods. People gathered outside his home, anxiously waiting for a message of hope. When he came out, he assured people that the creator was going to give them rain soon. They would be able to plant their crops. Children played outside as we waited for the rains. Later that day, we saw big white clouds in the far east. I knew they were rain clouds. People were still thinking about what the rain-maker said. Mother shouted loudly, "There! The clouds are now dark. Come inside." The rain poured down. We had waited for the rains! At first,we rejoiced. But the rains did not stop. There was water everywhere. The bridge linking our village to the mainland was washed away. Houses were washed away by floods. What was a blessing, was now a disaster for us? Everybody had prepared for planting. But now they could not plant. People of my village had longed for rain but now they did not want it anymore. We had no bridge to cross on. Many had no homes.

Oliver Optic

Taken by the Enemy

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18579/18579-h/18579-h.htm

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Paul Vapoor was a genius, and that accounted for his position as chief engineer at the age of twenty-two. He was born a machinist, and his taste in that direction had made him a very hard student. His days and a large portion of his nights, while in his teens, had been spent in studying physics, chemistry, and, in fact, all the sciences which had any bearing upon the life-work which nature rather than choice had given him to do. His father had been in easy circumstances formerly, so that there had been nothing to interfere with his studies before he was of age. Up to this period, he had spent much of his time in a large machine-shop, working for nothing as though his daily bread depended upon his exertions; and he was better qualified to run an engine than most men who had served for years at the business, for he was a natural scientist.

Joseph A. Altsheler

The Masters of the Peaks: A Story of the Great North Woods

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11311/11311-h/11311-h.htm

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Then he made a very comfortable cushion of fallen leaves to sit upon, and remained there a long time, his rifle across his knees. His eyes were wide open, but no part of his body stirred. He had acquired the gift of infinite patience, and with it the difficult physical art of remaining absolutely motionless for a long time. So thorough was his mastery over himself that the small wild game began to believe by and by that he was not alive. Birds sang freely over his head and the hare hopped through the undergrowth. Yet the hunter saw everything and his very stillness enabled him to listen with all the more acuteness. The sun which had arisen great and brilliant, remained so, flooding the world with golden lights and making it wonderfully alluring to Willet, whose eyes never grew weary of the forest's varying shades and aspects. They were all peaceful now, but he had no illusions. He knew that the hostile force would send out many hunters. So many men must have much game and presently they would be prowling through the woods, seeking deer and bear. The chief danger came from them.

simple wiki

Mythology

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology

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CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL

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Mythology can refer to the collected myths of a group of people—their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs. It can also refer to the study of such myths. A myth is a story which is not true. The definition of the word myth is still subject to debate. Myths may be very old, or new (for example: urban myths). There may not be records or other proof that they happened, but at least some parts of myths may be true. We know about them from older people telling them to younger people. Some myths may have started as 'true' stories but as people told and re-told them, they may have changed some parts, so they are less 'true'. They may have changed them by mistake, or to make them more interesting. All cultures have myths. Stories about the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses are myths. Many people once believed in mythological animals and gods. These animals or gods may have control or has power over a part of human or natural life. For example, the Greek god Zeus had powers over lightning and storms.

A.

DAISY

The Nursery, February 1878, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28141/28141-h/28141-h.htm#Page_37

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Mrs. S. had a new cook; and one day she set a pan of custard on the back porch to cool. When she went out to get it, an hour or two after, she found nothing but the empty pan. Molly ran to Mrs. S. in great distress, and told her of the loss of the custard. "Ah!" said Mrs. S., "then Daisy has eaten it." And, sure enough, Daisy was the thief. Another time the naughty colt put her head in the kitchen-window, and ate up some apple pies that were on the table. All this was very bad indeed, but Daisy was always forgiven because she was so lovely and gentle. She would follow any of the family about the grounds, and rub her head against them to show how much she loved them. One day a man came to Mr. S.'s house to make a visit. He was not in the habit of visiting the family, and so had not made Daisy's acquaintance.

Mark Cartwright

Greek Society

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https://www.commonlit.org/texts/greek-society

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Greek society included a significantly larger proportion of laborers. These were semi-free workers, wholly dependent on their employer. The most famous example is the helot class of Sparta. These dependents were not the property of a particular citizen — they could not be sold as a slave could — and they often lived with their families. Generally, they formed arrangements with their employer such as giving a quantity of their produce to the farm owner and keeping the rest for themselves. Sometimes the quota required may have been high or low, and there may also have been some extra benefits to the serfs such as protection and safety in numbers. However, the serf-class or helots could never achieve any real security as they were given little or no legal status and harshly treated in order to instill a fear which would ensure continued subordination to the ruling class.

simple wiki

Columbian_Exchange

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_Exchange

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History

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The Columbian Exchange, sometimes called the Grand Exchange, is one of the most important events in history. It was the exchange of goods and ideas from Europe, Africa, and Asia and goods and ideas from the Americas. It also spread different diseases. It started in 1492 when Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies (North America). This exchange of plants and animals changed European, American, African, and Asian ways of life. Foods that had never been seen before by people became a major part of what they ate. For example, before 1492, no potatoes were grown outside of South America. By the 1840s, Ireland was so dependent on the potato that a diseased crop led to the devastating Irish Potato Famine. The first European import to the Americas, the horse, changed the lives of many Native American tribes on the Great Plains, letting them to change to a nomadic lifestyle based on hunting bison on horseback. Italy became famous for its Tomato sauce, made from New World tomatoes, while coffee from Africa and sugarcane from Asia became the main crops of very large Latin American plantations.

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THE THOMSON-HOUSTON ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEM

Scientific American Supplement, No. 388

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15417/15417-h/15417-h.htm

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The commutator is peculiar, consisting of only three segments of a copper ring, while in the simplest of other continuous current generators several times that number exist, and frequently 120! segments are to be found. These three segments are made so as to be removable in a moment for cleaning or replacement. They are mounted upon a metal support, and are surrounded on all sides by a free air space, and cannot, therefore, lose their insulated condition. This feature of air insulation is peculiar to this system, and is very important as a factor in the durability of the commutator. Besides this, the commutator is sustained by supports carried in flanges upon the shaft, which flanges, as an additional safeguard, are coated all over with hard rubber, one of the finest known insulators. It may be stated, without fear of contradiction, that no other commutator made is so thoroughly insulated and protected. The three commutator segments virtually constitute a single copper ring, mounted in free air, and cut into three equal pieces by slots across its face.

Edward Sylvester Ellis

THAT HORNET'S NEST

The Jungle Fugitives and Others

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16805/16805-h/16805-h.htm#link2H_4_0037

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But, somehow or other, Mr. Lathrop was different from the teachers that had preceded him. He never spoke angrily or shouted, and his first act on entering the schoolroom was to break up the long tough hickory "gad" lying on his desk and to fling it out of the window. The next thing he did, after calling the school to order, was to tell the gaping, open-eyed children the most entertaining story to which they had ever listened. The anecdote had its moral too, for woven in and out and through its charming meshes was the woof of a life of heroic suffering, of trial and reward. At its conclusion, the teacher said to the pupils that if they were studious and transgressed no rules, he would be glad to tell them another story the next day, if they would remain a few minutes after the hour of dismissal. The treat was such a rare one that all the girls and most of the boys resolved to earn the right to enjoy it.

Danielle Bruckert

All About Chinchillas

https://freekidsbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FKB-Chinchilla.pdf

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Chinchillas are in the rodent family. This means they are cousins to mice, rats, squirrels, and Guinea pigs. Chinchillas are shy yet friendly creatures with soft fur and big ears. They are clean animals and very lovable. Chinchillas used to be found in all areas of Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia, but widespread over-hunting has led to them becoming nearly extinct. The species is listed as critically endangered, as of 2016. Chinchillas are mostly nocturnal, preferring to come out at night, like cats and many other rodents. Their fur is very soft and valued for the fur trade which was almost deadly for the species. The fur industry nearly brought Chinchillas to extinction, but now it is responsible for their increasing numbers. While there are only around 10,000 Chinchillas left in the wild, while there are around 80,000 Chinchillas in farms. Many animal rights organizations complain about conditions and killing methods in chinchilla farms. Chinchillas can make great pets; they are friendly and clean. But they need dental care, a special diet, and an environment that is not too hot. Chinchillas are omnivores but mostly enjoy a vegetable diet.

H. B.

WHAT A LITTLE BOY IN ENGLAND SAYS

The Nursery, February 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 2 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28130/28130-h/28130-h.htm#Page_42

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In winter, my Aunt Emily has a pole, about four feet high, stuck in the ground near this tree. Across the top of the pole, a light bamboo stick is fastened, not quite as long as the pole is high. On strings tied at the ends of the bamboo stick, netted bags, filled with fat or suet, are hung. Now, tom-tits are, I think, the only birds in England that can cling to a thing with their heads hanging down; and they are very fond of fat. So they come to aunty's bags, cling to them as they sway to and fro in the wind, and eat to their little hearts' content. We watch them from the windows, and see what is going on. Sometimes other birds try very hard to get a share of the feast, particularly when the weather is very cold, and they cannot find much else. Then they will stand on the ground, looking at the bags, and now and then make an awkward spring at them, sometimes snatching a piece of suet, but generally failing to reach it.

?

The Goddess of the Silkworm

The Child's World Third Reader

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15170/15170-h/15170-h.htm#silkworm

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One morning Hoangti and his wife were in the beautiful palace garden. They walked up and down, up and down, talking of their people. Suddenly the emperor said, "Look at those worms on the mulberry trees, Si-ling. They seem to be spinning." Si-ling looked, and sure enough, the worms were spinning. A long thread was coming from the mouth of each, and each little worm was winding this thread around its body. Si-ling and the emperor stood still and watched the worms. "How wonderful!" said Si-ling. The next morning Hoangti and the empress walked under the trees again. They found some worms still winding thread. Others had already spun their cocoons and were fast asleep. In a few days all of the worms had spun cocoons. "This is indeed a wonderful, wonderful thing!" said Si-ling. "Why, each worm has a thread on its body long enough to make a house for itself!"

Howard Payson

The Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12112/12112-h/12112-h.htm

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Lit

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G

The dark growth of scrub oak and pine parted suddenly and the lithe figure of a boy of about seventeen emerged suddenly into the little clearing. The lad who had so abruptly materialized from the close-growing vegetation peculiar to the region about the little town of Hampton, on the south shore of Long Island, wore a well-fitting uniform of brown khaki, canvas leggings of the same hue and a soft hat of the campaign variety, turned up at one side. To the front of his headpiece was fastened a metal badge, resembling the three-pointed arrow head utilized on old maps to indicate the north. On a metal scroll beneath it were embossed the words: "Be Prepared." The manner of the badge's attachment would have indicated at once, to any one familiar with the organization, that the lad wearing it was the patrol leader of the local band of Boy Scouts.

Louisa M. Alcott

The Skipping Shoes

THE LOUISA ALCOTT READER A Supplementary Reader for the Fourth Year of School

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7425/7425-h/7425-h.htm#iv

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Once there was a little girl, named Kitty, who never wanted to do what people asked her. She said "I won't" and "I can't," and did not run at once pleasantly, as obliging children do. One day her mother gave her a pair of new shoes; and after a fuss about putting them on, Kitty said, as she lay kicking on the floor,-- "I wish these were seven-leagued boots, like Jack the Giant Killer's, then it would be easy to run errands all the time. Now, I hate to keep trotting, and I don't like new shoes, and I won't stir a step." Just as she said that, the shoes gave a skip, and set her on her feet so suddenly that it scared all the naughtiness out of her. She stood looking at these curious shoes; and the bright buttons on them seemed to wink at her like eyes, while the heels tapped on the floor a sort of tune.

Stephen Crane

The Open Boat

CLD

https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-open-boat

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A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats. In a ten-foot dingey one can get an idea of the resources of the sea in the line of waves that is not probable to the average experience which is never at sea in a dingey. As each salty wall of water approached, it shut all else from the view of the men in the boat, and it was not difficult to imagine that this particular wave was the final outburst of the ocean, the last effort of the grim water. There was a terrible grace in the move of the waves, and they came in silence, save for the snarling of the crests. In the wan light, the faces of the men must have been grey. Their eyes must have glinted in strange ways as they gazed steadily astern. Viewed from a balcony, the whole thing would doubtlessly have been weirdly picturesque.

Kavita Singh

A Special Nest

https://www.digitallibrary.io/en/books/read/3783/91894

Lit

Lit

start

CC BY 4.0

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Winter is approaching. A bird decides to build a nest. She gathers little twigs and builds her nest carefully. After a lot of care and hard work, the nest is ready. It is warm and cozy. The bird is happy. She lies down and begins day-dreaming of a comfortable winter. As she is about to fall asleep, she feels something shaking. The bird thinks, "Maybe the wind is shaking the nest a little." But the nest shakes and trembles and shakes some more. The bird flies out of the nest. The next moment, the nest falls to the ground. The bird sees an elephant using the tree to scratch her back. She is quite annoyed. "This is so rude of you, elephant!" she says to her angrily, and flies away. She begins to search for a new place. A place where elephants can't reach her.

Thomas Chandler Haliburton

Metaphysics

The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19923/19923-h/19923-h.htm#xlviii

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Old Doctor Sobersides, the minister of Pumpkinville, where I lived in my youth, was one of the metaphysical divines of the old school, and could cavil upon the ninth part of a hair about entities and quiddities, nominalism and realism, free-will and necessity, with which sort of learning he used to stuff his sermons and astound his learned hearers, the bumpkins. They never doubted that it was all true, but were apt to say with the old woman in Molière: "He speaks so well that I don't understand him a bit." I remember a conversation that happened at my grandfather's, in which the Doctor had some difficulty in making his metaphysics all "as clear as preaching." There was my grandfather; Uncle Tim, who was the greatest hand at raising onions in our part of the country, but "not knowing metaphysics, had no notion of the true reason of his not being sad"; my Aunt Judy Keturah Titterwell, who could knit stockings "like all possest," but could not syllogise; Malachi Muggs, our hired man that drove the oxen; and Isaac Thrasher, the district schoolmaster, who had dropped in to warm his fingers and get a drink of cider.

Wiehan de Jager

The talking bag

African Storybook Level 3

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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One of the girls said, "My mother loves me most." Another said, "My father loves me most." But the third one said, "I am loved by both parents." The giant asked the girl loved by both parents to help her carry firewood. So, the girl followed the giant.They walked for some distance. The girl asked the giant, "Where is your firewood?" The giant replied, "It is near those trees over there!" When they reached the trees, the girl asked again, "Where is your firewood?" The giant answered, "Not far now!" They met a man along the way. He asked the giant, "What is the name of your child?" The giant replied, "She is called the talking bag." The girl burst out singing. She sang, "I am not called the talking bag. My name is Kaamungei! Oh! My mother, whom I love. Oh! My father, whom I love. Oh! My calabash, which I use to drink milk!" When the man heard what the girl sang, he rescued her and took her back to her parents. The story ends there!

Alice Edui, Catherine Groenewald

Ekai's First Day In School

African Storybook Level 3

https://www.africanstorybook.org/#

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One early morning, Ekai was woken up by his mother. He was in a deep sleep and he could not wake up immediately. His mother kept calling him, "Ekai! Ekai-i-i." Ekai was very annoyed because that was unusual thing to him. His mother had prepared breakfast for him and warm water for bathing. Ekai woke up, took a bath and breakfast. Ekai's mother brought him new school uniform and a pair of black shoes with grey pair of socks. He was surprised to see his father holding a blue bag full of books. He knew that his time to start school had reached. Ekai and his father left the house. He waved to his mother and held his father's hand. They walked to the bus stop. They found a bus that was ready to leave. They boarded the bus. After a few minutes, they reached a place where there were many buildings and children.

Howard Roger Garis

Uncle Wiggily's Adventures

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15281/15281-h/15281-h.htm

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At first, after he found himself shut up in the bear's dark closet, where we left him in the story before this, poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know what to think. He just sat there, on the edge of a chair, and he tried to look around, and see something, but it was too black, so he couldn't. "Perhaps this is only a joke," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "though I never knew a black bear to joke before. But perhaps it is. I'll ask him." So Uncle Wiggily called out: "Is this a joke, Mr. Bear?" "Not a bit of it!" was the growling answer. "You'll soon see what's going to happen to you! I'm getting the fire ready now." "Getting the fire ready for what; the adventure, or for my fortune?" asked the rabbit, for he still hoped the bear was only joking with him. "Ready to cook you!" was the reply. "That's what the fire is for!" and the bear gnashed his teeth together something terrible, and, with his sharp claws, he clawed big splinters off the stump, and with them he started the fire in the stove, with the splinters, I mean, not his claws.

simple wiki

Cathode_ray_tube

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube

Info

Technology

start

CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL

PG

The cathode ray tube or CRT was invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun. It was the most common type of display for many years. It was used in almost all computer monitors and televisions until LCD and plasma screens started being used. A cathode ray tube is an electron gun. The cathode is an electrode (a metal that can send out electrons when heated). The cathode is inside a glass tube. Also inside the glass tube is an anode that attracts electrons. This is used to pull the electrons toward the front of the glass tube, so the electrons shoot out in one direction, like a ray gun. To better control the direction of the electrons, the air is taken out of the tube, making a vacuum. The electrons hit the front of the tube, where a phosphor screen is. The electrons make the phosphor light up. The electrons can be aimed by creating a magnetic field.

Louisa May Alcott

Kitty's Class Day and Other Stories

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10360/pg10360-images.html

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If a clock with great want of tact hadn't insisted on telling them that it was getting late, Kitty never would have got home, for both the young people felt inclined to loiter about arm in arm through the sweet summer night forever. Jack had meant to say something before she went, and was immensely surprised to find the chance lost for the present. He wanted to go home with her and free his mind; but a neighborly old gentleman having been engaged as escort, there would have been very little satisfaction in a travelling trio; so he gave it up. He was very silent as they walked to the station with Dr. Dodd trudging behind them. Kitty thought he was tired, perhaps glad to be rid of her, and meekly accepted her fate. But as the train approached, she gave his hand an impulsive squeeze, and said very gratefully,— "Jack, I can't thank you enough for your kindness to your silly little cousin; but I never shall forget it, and if I ever can return it in any way, I will with all my heart."

Lyman P. Powell

The Art of Natural Sleep

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/62492/62492-h/62492-h.htm

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mid

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When sleeplessness can be directly traced to mental causes, the Emmanuel treatment, if experiments made both in Boston and Northampton are to be trusted, is as surely a specific as quinine for malaria. If in any instance medical diagnosis can find no physical reason for the sleeplessness, Emmanuel treatment is at once in order. The sufferer is admitted to the Rector's study. The very atmosphere encourages frank speaking. Concealment of any fact or circumstance which bears upon the case is prejudicial to improvement. I have once after three treatments refused again to see a patient who had failed to give me her whole confidence, until she was willing to speak out with greater freedom. The physical habits are invariably considered and corrected whenever there is need. Deep breathing is prescribed. Dr. Learned's method is sometimes suggested, and always Dr. Noble's. Drugs are from the first withheld. Tea, coffee, and all other stimulants which act directly on the brain are banished from the evening meal.

Rachel Bell Ashleigh M. Maxcey Elizabeth F. Loftus

Crime Solving: Can You Correctly Report What You Saw?

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2018.00021

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Lit

mid

CC BY 4.0

PG

If you are at the same place where a criminal is and you see them run off with a lady's purse, do you think you would be able to tell a police officer what the thief looked like? Reporting what you saw to the police is called an eyewitness account. An eyewitness account is telling someone, like a police officer, exactly what you saw during a crime or other event. This report would include information such as what the thief looked like and what you saw him or her do. Although accurately telling the officers what happened may seem easy, your eyewitness account can have mistakes. For example, in eyewitness accounts, people sometimes report that a criminal is taller than they actually are in real life. Such error is a problem because police work can rely on eyewitness accounts to help solve some crimes. In order to understand why such eyewitness account errors happen, first we need to understand the stages of memory.

FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER

THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FORESTERS

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18874/18874-h/18874-h.htm

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One night, returning from a hard day, on which he had not only ridden his fire patrol, but had also spent a couple of hours rolling big rocks into a creek to keep it from washing out a trail should a freshet come, he found a large party of people at his camp. There was an ex-professor of social science of the old régime, his wife and little daughter, a guide, and a lavish outfit. Although the gate of Wilbur's corral was padlocked and had "Property of the U. S. Forest Service" painted on it, the professor had ordered the guide to smash the gate and let the animals in. Wilbur was angry, and took no pains to conceal it. "Who turned those horses into my corral?" he demanded. The professor, who wore gold-rimmed eyeglasses above a very dirty and tired face, replied: "I am in charge of this party, and it was done at my orders."

wikipedia

Coral_reef

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef

Info

Science

start

CC BY-SA 3.0

PG

Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems held together by calcium carbonate structures secreted by corals. Coral reefs are built by colonies of tiny animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps belong to a group of animals known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which support and protect the coral polyps. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. Often called "rainforests of the sea", shallow coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, tunicates and other cnidarians. Paradoxically, coral reefs flourish even though they are surrounded by ocean waters that provide few nutrients.

simple wiki

Lithosphere

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithosphere

Info

Science

start

CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL

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There are two types of lithosphere: Oceanic lithosphere, which is associated with oceanic crust and exists in the ocean basins. Oceanic lithosphere is typically about 50–100 km thick Continental lithosphere, which is associated with continental crust. Continental lithosphere has a range in thickness from about 40 km to perhaps 200 km, of which about 40 km is crust. The lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates, which move gradually relative to one another. Oceanic lithosphere thickens as it ages and moves away from the mid-ocean ridge. This thickening occurs by conductive cooling, which converts hot asthenosphere into lithospheric mantle, and causes the oceanic lithosphere to become increasingly dense with age. Oceanic lithosphere is less dense than asthenosphere for a few tens of millions of years, but after this becomes increasingly denser than asthenosphere. When a continental plate comes together with an oceanic plate, at a subduction zones, the oceanic lithosphere always sinks beneath the continental. New oceanic lithosphere is constantly being produced at mid-ocean ridges and is recycled back to the mantle at subduction zones.

Nicola Rijsdijk & Maya Marshak

A Tiny Seed The Story of Wangari Maathai

https://freekidsbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/FKB-Stories-A-Tiny-Seed-The-Story-of-Wangari-Maathai.pdf

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Bio

mid

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In a village on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, a little girl worked in the fields with her mother. Her name was Wangari. Wangari loved being outside. In her family's food garden, she broke up the soil with her machete. She pressed tiny seeds into the warm earth. Her favorite time of day was just after sunset. When it got too dark to see the plants, Wangari knew it was time to go home. She would follow the narrow paths through the fields, crossing rivers as she went. Wangari was a clever child and couldn't wait to go to school. But her mother and father wanted her to stay and help them at home. When she was seven years old, her big brother persuaded her parents to let her go to school. She liked to learn! Wangari learned more and more with every book she read. She did so well at school that she was invited to study in the United States of America. Wangari was excited! She wanted to know more about the world. At the American university Wangari learned many new things. She studied plants and how they grow.

Mangkonephet Sayasane

An Adventure with a Water-Snake

https://www.digitallibrary.io/en/books/read/3747/91208

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Lit

mid

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PG

Suddenly, Khan's fishing rod began to shake! He woke up immediately. What could it be? A creature was struggling to free itself from the fishing rod! The creature tugged and pulled on the rod with such great force that Khan fell into the water. The creature pulled him deep into the sea. Khan realized the creature was actually a massive water snake! Khan saw all kinds of animals living in the sea. Khan and the water snake swam in the sea together. The water snake took Khan to a rock and spoke to Khan. "My egg is stuck below this huge rock!" she said. Khan pushed and pushed, but the rock was too heavy to move! Khan had an idea. He opened the bag of rice that was on his shoulder. The nearby sea animals swam up to Khan and wanted to eat the rice. Khan requested all the animals that wanted the rice to help him free the egg from the rock. All the sea animals agreed to help. They began their journey to the rock. When they reached the rock, they pushed and pushed with all their might. After a lot of effort, the rock finally moved.

Mary Okere

Locusts

African Storybook Level 2

https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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One day we saw a strange black cloud move in from far away. It was a swarm of locusts, headed for our village. The locusts attacked farms and ate the crops. We tried to chase the locusts away. But they would not go. We made noises and screamed, "Wuwi, wuwi!" But the locusts would not go. We hit tins and metal pots. But the locusts would not go. We lit fires to chase the locusts away. But they would not go. They settled on trees. Branches broke because of the weight of all the locusts. Then we remembered that roasted locusts are good to eat! Everyone started to collect the locusts in sacks and nets. Children brought gourds and filled them with locusts. We roasted locusts and fried them. We even dried locusts for the cold season. But still, there were so many locusts. Then, the next morning, the locusts flew away. The cloud left our village. When the farmers saw their farms, they moaned loudly: "Our farms are destroyed!" The villagers cried, "What will we eat this year? What have the locusts left us?"

John Ruskin

Of the Mystery of Life

The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19923/19923-h/19923-h.htm#lxxxvii

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In all other paths, by which that happiness is pursued, there is disappointment, or destruction: for ambition and for passion there is no rest—no fruition; the fairest pleasures of youth perish in a darkness greater than their past light; and the loftiest and purest love too often does but inflame the cloud of life with endless fire of pain. But, ascending from lowest to highest, through every scale of human industry, that industry worthily followed, gives peace. Ask the laborer in the field, at the forge, or in the mine; ask the patient, delicate-fingered artisan, or the strong-armed, fiery-hearted worker in bronze, and in marble, and with the colors of light; and none of these, who are true workmen, will ever tell you, that they have found the law of heaven an unkind one—that in the sweat of their face they should eat bread, till they return to the ground; nor that they ever found it an unrewarded obedience, if, indeed, it was rendered faithfully to the command—"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do—do it with thy might."

?

Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front

http://www.online-literature.com/anonymous/diary-nursing-sister/1/

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Tuesday, 8 P.M., August 18th. -- Orders just gone round that there are to be no lights after dark, so I am hasting to write this. We had a great send-off in Sackville Street in our motor-bus, and went on board about 2 P.M. From then till 7 we watched the embarkation going on, on our own ship and another. We have a lot of R.E. and R.F.A. and A.S.C., and a great many horses and pontoons and ambulance wagons: the horses were very difficult to embark, poor dears. It was an exciting scene all the time. I don't remember anything quite so thrilling as our start off from Ireland. All the 600 khaki men on board, and every one on every other ship, and all the crowds on the quay, and in boats and on lighthouses, waved and yelled. Then we and the officers and the men, severally, had the King's proclamation read out to us about doing our duty for our country, and God blessing us, and how the King is following our every movement.

Elizabeth Harrison

The Story of Christopher Columbus for Little Children

Junior Classics Vol. 7

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6302/pg6302-images.html

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There were all sorts of strange and absurd ideas afloat as to the shape of the earth. Some people thought it was round like a pancake and that the waters which surrounded the land gradually changed into mist and vapor and that he who ventured out into these vapors fell through the mist and clouds down into—they knew not where. Others believed that there were huge monsters living in the distant waters ready to swallow any sailor who was foolish enough to venture near them. But Christopher Columbus had grown to be a very wise and thoughtful man, and from all he could learn from the maps of his father-in-law and the books which he read, and from the long talks which he had with some other learned men, he grew more and more certain that the world was round like an orange, and that by sailing westward from the coast of Portugal one could gradually go round the world and find at last the wonderful land of Cathay, the strange country which lay far beyond the sea, the accounts of which had so thrilled him as a boy.

original text by Stephen Whitt adapted by Jessica Fries-Gaither

At Home in the Cold

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears

http://static.ehe.osu.edu/sites/beyond/penguins/downloads/feature-stories/at-home-23-text.pdf

Info

Science

start

CC BY-SA 3.0

G

The Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean are at the top and bottom of the world. The water there is very, very cold. But many animals live there. Penguins, whales, and walruses all call these cold places home. How can they survive? All of these animals make their own heat. Their bodies turn the food they eat into heat. Your body does the same thing! But these animals have a problem. Their bodies lose heat all the time. How can they stay warm? The answer is insulation. These animals’ bodies have a thick layer of fat called blubber. Blubber helps hold in heat. It keeps the animals warm, even in the cold water. What about animals like snakes, turtles, and fish? Their bodies don’t make their own heat. They need the environment to keep them warm. Most of these animals don’t live in the Arctic or Antarctic. They can’t stay warm in these cold places. But some fish do live in the cold oceans.

USHistory.org

Egyptian Social Structure

CLD

https://www.commonlit.org/texts/egyptian-social-structure

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Lit

mid

CC BY 4.0

G

Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. At the top were the gods, such as Ra, Osiris, and Isis. Egyptians believed that the gods controlled the universe. Therefore, it was important to keep them happy. They could make the Nile overflow, cause famine, or even bring death. The Egyptians also elevated some human beings to gods. Their leaders, called pharaohs, were believed to be gods in human form. They had absolute power over their subjects. After pharaohs died, huge stone pyramids were built as their tombs. Pharaohs were buried in chambers within the pyramids. Because the people of Egypt believed that their pharaohs were gods, they entrusted their rulers with many responsibilities. Protection was at the top of the list. The pharaoh directed the army in case of a foreign threat or an internal conflict. All laws were enacted at the discretion of the pharaoh. Each farmer paid taxes in the form of grains, which were stored in the pharaoh's warehouses. This grain was used to feed the people in the event of a famine.

Henry Augustin Beers

19th Century: A History of English Romanticism

http://www.online-literature.com/henry-augustin-beers/nineteenth-century-romanticism/1/

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Lit

mid

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In several of his poems Wordsworth handled legendary subjects, and it is most instructive here to notice his avoidance of the romantic note, and to imagine how Scott would have managed the same material. In the prefatory note to "The White Doe of Rylstone," Wordsworth himself pointed out the difference. "The subject being taken from feudal times has led to its being compared to some of Sir Walter Scott's poems that belong to the same age and state of society. The comparison is inconsiderate. Sir Walter pursued the customary and very natural course of conducting an action, presenting various turns of fortune, to some outstanding point on which the mind might rest as a termination or catastrophe. The course I attempted to pursue is entirely different. Everything that is attempted by the principal personages in 'The White Doe' fails, so far as its object is external and substantial. So far as it is moral and spiritual it succeeds."

GEORGE NICHOLSON

THE ZELKOWAS

Scientific American Supplement No. 417

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9163/9163-h/9163-h.htm#20

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Z. acuminata is one of the most useful and valuable of Japanese timber trees. It was found near Yeddo by the late Mr. John Gould Veitch, and was sent out by the firm of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons. Maximowicz also found the tree in Japan, and introduced it to the Imperial Botanic Gardens of St. Petersburg, from whence both seeds and plants were liberally distributed. In the Gardeners' Chronicle for 1862 Dr. Lindley writes as follows: "A noble deciduous tree, discovered near Yeddo by Mr. J. G. Veitch, 90 feet to 100 feet in height, with a remarkably straight stem. In aspect it resembles an elm. We understand that a plank in the Exotic Nursery, where it has been raised, measures 3 feet 3 inches across. Mr. Veitch informs us that it is one of the most useful timber trees in Japan. Its long, taper-pointed leaves, with coarse, very sharp serratures, appear to distinguish it satisfactorily from the P. Richardi of the northwest of Asia."

Richard Le Gallienne

The Haunted Orchard

Famous Modern Ghost Stories by Dorothy Scarborough et al.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15143/15143-h/15143-h.htm

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After a winter in the town, to be dropped thus suddenly into the intense quiet of the country-side makes an almost ghostly impression upon one, as of an enchanted silence, a silence that listens and watches but never speaks, finger on lip. There is a spectral quality about everything upon which the eye falls: the woods, like great green clouds, the wayside flowers, the still farm-houses half lost in orchard bloom—all seem to exist in a dream. Everything is so still, everything so supernaturally green. Nothing moves or talks, except the gentle susurrus of the spring wind swaying the young buds high up in the quiet sky, or a bird now and again, or a little brook singing softly to itself among the crowding rushes. Though, from the houses one notes here and there, there are evidently human inhabitants of this green silence, none are to be seen. I have often wondered where the countryfolk hide themselves, as I have walked hour after hour, past farm and croft and lonely door-yards, and never caught sight of a human face.

simple wiki

Babylon

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon

Info

History

mid

CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL

PG

Babylon threw off the Assyrian rule in 612 BCE and became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Chaldean Empire. With the recovery of Babylonian independence, a new era of building followed, and Nebuchadnezzar II (604–561 BCE) made Babylon into one of the wonders of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar ordered the complete reconstruction of the imperial grounds, including rebuilding the Etemenanki ziggurat and the construction of the Ishtar Gate — the most spectacular of eight gates that ringed the perimeter of Babylon. All that was ever found of the Original Ishtar gate was the foundation and scattered bricks. Nebuchadnezzar is also credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), said to have been built for his homesick wife Amyitis. Whether the gardens did exist is a matter of dispute. Historians disagree about the location, and some believe it may have been confused with gardens in Nineveh.

Sarah Parsons Doughty

The Little Match Boy

Playing Santa Claus and Other Christmas Tales

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54803/54803-h/54803-h.htm#little

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Pleasant visions of tea and bread, and even of a pound of butter, passed before Ernest's eyes; but then an unexpected difficulty arose. Where was the sum necessary for the outfit to come from? It certainly did not need a very extensive capital; but dollars, or even shillings, were hard to find. Ernest had not answered the question to his satisfaction, when he found himself at the door of the building, where he was to obtain the work for his mother. There was little trouble in making the desired arrangement. Mrs. Lawrence was well known at the establishment as an excellent workwoman; and the work, and the dollar in advance, were readily furnished. Encouraged by this success, Ernest involuntarily exclaimed, "Oh, how I wish that some one would lend me a dollar!" "And what would you do with a dollar, my little man?" inquired a gentleman standing by, attracted by the earnestness of the boy's manner. Ernest blushed deeply, but answered, in a firm tone, "I would buy a basket and some matches, and other things, and sell them in the street; and then my poor mother would not have to work so hard."

wikipedia

Big_memory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_memory

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Big memory is a software and hardware approach that facilitates storing/retrieval/processing of large data sets (terabytes and higher). The term is akin to big data and in some instances is a form of big data processing architecture implemented in memory rather than in disks/storage. Different caches are one of the usage of the big memory. The computer memory, namely RAM, works orders of magnitude faster than hard drives or even solid state drives, which is usually due to higher raw data throughput from tighter coupling of CPU and RAM chips (wider bus, CPU and RAM are usually installed on the same motherboard). Locality of reference is another important characteristic for caches and fast access. The price of the computer memory chips has significantly declined since the late 2000s, as of 2015 it is affordable to have 256 gigabytes of RAM on a server. Currently, not many vendors have solid software big memory solutions while there are plentiful hardware options (i.e. cheap RAM planks). Terracotta has developed an "in-memory data management suite"

Emperor of the French Napoleon III

HISTORY OF JULIUS CÆSAR. Vol. I.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45456/45456-h/45456-h.htm

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Historic truth ought to be no less sacred than religion. If the precepts of faith raise our soul above the interests of this world, the lessons of history, in their turn, inspire us with the love of the beautiful and the just, and the hatred of whatever presents an obstacle to the progress of humanity. These lessons, to be profitable, require certain conditions. It is necessary that the facts be produced with a rigorous exactness, that the changes political or social be analysed philosophically, that the exciting interest of the details of the lives of public men should not divert attention from the political part they played, or cause us to forget their providential mission. Too often the writer represents the different phases of history as spontaneous events, without seeking in preceding facts their true origin and their natural deduction; like the painter who, in re-producing the characteristics of Nature, only seizes their picturesque effect, without being able, in his picture, to give their scientific demonstration. The historian ought to be more than a painter; he ought, like the geologist, who explains the phenomena of the globe, to unfold the secret of the transformation of societies.

ALFRED R. WALLACE

MONKEYS

Scientific American Supplement, No. 344

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8717/8717-h/8717-h.htm#10

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Another striking difference between monkeys and men is that the former never walk with ease in an erect posture, but always use their arms in climbing or in walking on all-fours like most quadrupeds. The monkeys that we see in the streets dressed up and walking erect, only do so after much drilling and teaching, just as dogs may be taught to walk in the same way; and the posture is almost as unnatural to the one animal as it is to the other. The largest and most man-like of the apes--the gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan--also walk usually on all-fours; but in these the arms are so long and the legs so short that the body appears half erect when walking; and they have the habit of resting on the knuckles of the hands, not on the palms like the smaller monkeys, whose arms and legs are more nearly of an equal length, which tends still further to give them a semi-erect position.

John Stuart Mill

Utilitarianism

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11224/11224-h/11224-h.htm

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The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure. To give a clear view of the moral standard set up by the theory, much more requires to be said; in particular, what things it includes in the ideas of pain and pleasure; and to what extent this is left an open question. But these supplementary explanations do not affect the theory of life on which this theory of morality is grounded—namely, that pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things (which are as numerous in the utilitarian as in any other scheme) are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain.

?

THE VARYING SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO POISONS AND DISEASES.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 303

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8296/8296-h/8296-h.htm

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The true social peril, hardly discovered before we became aware how to conjure it, lies in those legions of animalcules or microbes that surround us and in the middle of which we live. M. Pasteur has revealed them to us as the factors in infectious diseases. Claude Bernard has demonstrated the community which exists between animals and vegetables--phenomena of movement, of sensibility, of production of heat, of respiration, of digestion even, for there are the Drosera and kindred carnivorous plants. Iron cures chlorosis in vegetables as well as in animals, and chloroform and ether render both insensible. There resemblances are more striking still between animals. After Baudrimont, insects are, in presence of alcohols, chloroform, and irrespirable gases, similarly affected as man. Many maladies, too, are common to man and several species of animals; and this organic identity is best illustrated in the relationship between epidemics and epizootias, cancer, asthma, phthisis, smallpox, rabies, glanders, charbon, etc., afflict alike man and many species of animals.

Edith Wharton

The Age of Innocence

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/541/541-h/541-h.htm

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She lifted her thin black eyebrows. "Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought it so straight up and down—like Fifth Avenue. And with all the cross streets numbered!" She seemed to guess his faint disapproval of this, and added, with the rare smile that enchanted her whole face: "If you knew how I like it for just THAT—the straight-up-and-down-ness, and the big honest labels on everything!" He saw his chance. "Everything may be labelled—but everybody is not." "Perhaps. I may simplify too much—but you'll warn me if I do." She turned from the fire to look at him. "There are only two people here who make me feel as if they understood what I mean and could explain things to me: you and Mr. Beaufort." Archer winced at the joining of the names, and then, with a quick readjustment, understood, sympathized and pitied. So close to the powers of evil she must have lived that she still breathed more freely in their air. But since she felt that he understood her also, his business would be to make her see Beaufort as he really was, with all he represented—and abhor it.

Dietsje Jolles & Linda Van Leijenhorst

Want to Train Your Brain? Read This Article!

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00071

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But what about being "smart" or "talented" in school? Research has shown that excelling in school has a lot to do with what are called executive functions. Executive functions are a set of abilities that help you do complex tasks, such as planning your schoolwork, completing assignments, and having control over your emotions and frustrations. One of the most important executive functions is called working memory. Working memory allows you to hold information in mind and perform mental operations, for example, adding large numbers in your mind. Another important executive function is inhibition, which helps you to resist distractions and temptations, for example, the temptation to eat the entire jar of cookies. A third executive function is cognitive flexibility, which helps you to quickly shift your attention back and forth between different tasks, like switching back and forth between your homework and your YouTube feed. To measure executive functions, researchers have designed a number of games that can be played on the computer. It turns out that children who do better at these games also do better at school.

Wikibooks

BASIC BOOK DESIGN How to Make Your Book, Document, Or Newsletter Look Professional

https://freekidsbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/FKB-Basic_Book_Design-Wiki-YA-high_school_lessons.pdf

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But another sign of amateur design is bad hyphenation. Follow these rules: • Hyphenate only between syllables. • Don't hyphenate across a turned page, i.e., from a recto to a verso. • The Chicago Manual Of Style doesn't allow more than three successive lines to end in hyphens. In my opinion, this is too liberal; I don't end two lines in a row with hyphens. • Never hyphenate a website URL. If it's too long for a line, make a URL into an extract and break the URL at a backslash. The Chicago Manual Of Style lists four pages of additional rules for word division, e.g., not dividing personal names. The Chicago Manual Of Style allows dividing words with two letters (but never one letter) before the division. It doesn't allow leaving two letters after the division. This makes no sense to me. The reader should be able to recognize the word from the part before the division. The part after the division doesn't affect the reader's recognition of a word. I suggest instead trying to keep four or five letters before the division, and accepting two letters after a division.

David W. Bone

"The Man o' War's 'Er 'Usband"

Modern Essays SELECTED BY CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38280/38280-h/38280-h.htm

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Our drill, that provided for lowering the boats with only half-complements in them, will not serve. We pass orders to lower away in any condition, however overcrowded. The way is off the ship, and it is with some apprehension we watch the packed boats that drop away from the davit heads. The shrill ring of the block-sheaves indicates a tension that is not far from breaking-point. Many of the life-boats reach the water safely with their heavy burdens, but the strain on the tackles — far beyond their working load — is too great for all to stand to it. Two boats go down by the run. The men in them are thrown violently to the water, where they float in the wash and shattered planking. A third dangles from the after fall, having shot her manning out at parting of the forward tackle. Lowered by the stern, she rights, disengages, and drifts aft with the men clinging to the life-lines. We can make no attempt to reach the men in the water.

Alice B. Emerson

Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures Or Helping The Dormitory Fund

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14635/14635-h/14635-h.htm

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Ruth was excited. In the first place, as to most girls of her age, a "real live actress" was as much of a wonder as a Great Auk would have been; only, of course, Hazel Gray was much more charming than the garfowl! Ruth Fielding was interested in moving pictures—and for a particular reason. Long before she had gained the reward for the return of the pearl necklace to Nettie Parsons' aunt, Ruth had thought of writing a scenario. This was not a very original thought, for many, many thousand other people have thought the same thing. Occasionally, when she had been to a film show, Ruth had wondered why she could not write a playlet quite as good as many she saw, and get money for it. But it had been only a thought; she knew nothing about the technique of the scenario, or how to go about getting an opinion upon her work if she should write one.

E. P. B.

BIRDIE AND BABY

The Nursery, November 1877, Vol. XXII. No. 5 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28139/28139-h/28139-h.htm#Page_153

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Not a note would he sing. Aunt Minnie could not coax him with green leaf or seed. He would insist on making himself unhappy until baby was taken out for an airing. Then he would burst into song again, and seem to feel that he was in his old place,—the only treasure. It was a long time before the poor little bird found out that Aunt Minnie's heart was large enough to love him and her precious baby too. But he is learning it now, and likes to have baby held up to his cage. When Aunt Minnie lets him out into the room, he hops close by the baby; and baby laughs, and stretches out his dimpled hands to catch him; but he is wise enough to keep out of baby's way. Don't you think it is nice for Aunt Minnie to have such treasures?

Letter from an officer's wife

The Relief of Lucknow

The Ontario Readers: Third Book

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18561/18561-h/18561-h.htm#Relief

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We women strove to encourage each other, and to perform the light duties which had been assigned to us, such as conveying orders to the batteries, and supplying the men with provisions, especially cups of coffee, which we prepared day and night. I had gone out to try to make myself useful, in company with Jessie Brown, the wife of a corporal in my husband's regiment. Poor Jessie had been in a state of restless excitement all through the siege, and had fallen away visibly within the last few days. A constant fever consumed her, and her mind wandered occasionally, especially that day when the recollections of home seemed powerfully present to her. At last, overcome with fatigue, she lay down on the ground, wrapped up in her plaid. I sat beside her, promising to awaken her when, as she said, her "father should return from the ploughing." She fell at length into a profound slumber, motionless and apparently breathless, her head resting in my lap. I myself could no longer resist the inclination to sleep, in spite of the continual roar of the cannon.

Allen Chapman

Fred Fenton on the Track or, The Athletes of Riverport School

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23763/23763-h/23763-h.htm

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The more Fred thought of it the stronger became his conviction that Buck and Billy would be a long time in finding the lonely Masterson farmhouse, that was off the main road. They had left him going in a direction that was really at right angles to the shortest way there. But then possibly Buck knew of another route. And after all it was none of his business. Evening had now settled down in earnest. There would be a moon later; but darkness was beginning to shut out the last expiring gleams of daylight. Fred was feeling pretty "chipper" as he himself expressed it. So far as he could ascertain no serious result had accompanied his fall into that hole, and the exposure that followed the mishap. His muscles having come back to their old condition, he was running as easily as ever before; and he believed himself to be in splendid condition.

A. T. Quiller-Couch

The Lamp and the Guitar

Shakespeare's Christmas and other stories

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54274/54274-h/54274-h.htm#Page_291

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In Portugal just then Lord Wellington was fencing, so to speak, with the points of three French armies at once. On the south he had Soult, on the north Dorsenne, and between them Marmont's troops were scattered along the valley of the Tagus, with Madrid as their far base. Being solidly concentrated, by short and rapid movements he could keep these three armies impotent for offence; but en revanche, he could make no overmastering attack upon any one of them. If he advanced far against Soult or against Dorsenne he must bring Marmont down on his flank, left or right; while, if he reached out and struck for the Tagus Valley, Marmont could borrow from right and left without absolutely crippling his colleagues, and roll up seventy thousand men to bar the road on Madrid. In short, the opposing armies stood at a deadlock, and there were rumours that Napoleon, who was pouring troops into Spain from the north, meant to follow and take the war into his own hands.

Joana Ferrolho Joana Couto Gustavo Seron Sanches Sandra Antunes Ana Domingos

The Secret Life Inside Ticks

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2018.00035

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Ticks ingest the host's blood, and in the blood, there are cells that contain the disease-causing microbes. We call them infected cells. Once the infected cells are ingested, their first stop will be the tick's guts, which function as the tick's stomach, where these microbes start their journey through the tick's body. Depending on the disease-causing microbe, they can stay in the guts shorter or longer periods of time, for example, for only a few hours, for days, or for weeks. From the guts, the microbes travel through the gut wall to go for a swim in a liquid called haemolymph, a fluid that circulates inside of the tick's body. This liquid is rich in "little soldiers," the cells of the tick's immune system, which are constantly patrolling and preventing invaders from harming the tick.

Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz, Agustín Estrada-Peña, James J. Valdés, and José de la Fuente

Be Aware of Ticks When Strolling through the Park

Frontiers for Young Minds

https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2016.00024

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The way ticks develop and interact with their environment is complicated, but it is important to understand how ticks develop and search for hosts. Any information about how ticks live is the basis for understanding the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases, meaning how these diseases spread and how we can control them. Since ticks are blood feeders, they must ingest large amounts of blood to completely develop. An adult female I. solitarius may ingest as much as 5–10 times their weight in blood in one feeding. After the female feeds on a host and mates, she drops to the ground and finds shelter in leaves or other natural material to lay thousands of eggs. Temperature controls egg development. The higher the temperature, the faster the eggs develop. There is an optimal temperature that varies among tick species, but 20°C is a good average temperature for egg development. Temperatures higher than 20°C increase the chance that the eggs will die. The immature tick that hatches out of the egg is called a larva. The larvae must then find a host.

wikipedia

Cabinet_(government)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_(government)

Info

History

start

CC BY-SA 3.0

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A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the top leaders of the executive branch. They are usually called ministers, but in some jurisdictions are sometimes called secretaries. The functions of a cabinet are varied: in some countries it is a collegial decision-making body with collective responsibility, while in others it may function either as a purely advisory body or an assisting institution to a decision making head of state or head of government. In some countries, the cabinet is called "Council of Ministers" or "Government Council" or lesser known names such as "Federal Council" (in Switzerland), "Inner Council" or "High Council". These countries may differ in the way that the cabinet is used or established. In some countries, particularly those that use a parliamentary system (e.g., the UK), the Cabinet collectively decides the government's direction, especially in regard to legislation passed by the parliament. In countries with a presidential system, such as the United States, the Cabinet does not function as a collective legislative influence; rather, their primary role is as an official advisory council to the head of government.