Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/532

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��Popular Science Monthly

���A child can have no end of fun with these interlocking animals. The head of one can be exchanged for that of another and the raost outlandish freaks can be formed

Freaks of Nature — And How to Make Them at Home

MANY persons have had the opportuni- ty of seeing some of nature's freaks. But few have had the opportunity of mak- ing them! James J. Kennedy, of Brooklyn, New York, has, however, found a way by which they could do even that. With his wooden animals which have interlocking parts, one can take the parts of one animal and jumble them with those of another, and the freaks so formed may be even more outlandish than real ones.

Each of the animals of a set is cut from wood about an eighth of an inch thick. The animals are further cut up to form several joints which are used to connect their heads, legs, and other members with the animal's body. The sides of these interlocking joints fit closely together, so that the various parts can be held in place securely.

The joints are all of the same size. Hence it is a simple matter to unloosen some member of one animal and fit it into the body of another. A rooster's head could be placed where a giraffe's ought to be, or a giraffe's could take the place of a bird's! In fact the variety of figures that may be made is limited only by the number of pieces in the set and the child's imagination, as every piece may be made to fit into every other piece.

��Footprints on the Sands of Time? No; Handprints in Concrete

POETS and philosophers have given plenty of practical suggestions as to how to leave enduring ethical marks; but it remained for a contractor and builder of Los Angeles, Cal., to find a way to make our individual impress in the cement side- walks in front of our homes, so that even the passerby may feel the family spirit of the place.

While the builder was laying the side- walk in front of his new home, his small son availed himself of the privilege of an only child to get persistently in the way. Several times the trowel smoothed over, little footprints that marred the surface. At last the father thought of a way of taking the child into partnership on the job. He had the boy lay both hands deep down in the drying cement so as to make a well-defined impression, just in the center of the gate-opening. Underneath, the date was printed. Thus a mark was made which has defied time and weather and is full of suggestion to the immediate members of the family.

The idea which was so casually developed through the presence of a mischievous child, might be applied in other ways which would make it decorative and of value to anyone into whose hands the house might even- tually fall. A fern leaf or other similar object might be embedded in the concrete so that a definite outline would be obtained. On municipal property or in front of public buildings the seal or other emblem of the city might be used.

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���The baby hands were presspd deep into the drying concrete and the date printed under- neath to make a distinctive family mark

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