Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/775

 Popular Science Monfhiij

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��No Race Suicide Among the Bacteria

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��with almost incredible rapidity," says George W. Hunter in "A Civic Biolo- gy" (American Book Com- pany). It is estimated that a single bacterium, by a process of division called fission (dividing itself into two parts) will give rise to over 16,700,000 others in twenty-four hours. Under unfavorable conditions they stop dividing and form round- ed bodies called spores. These are exceedingly diffi- cult to injure or destroy.

���© Underwood and Underwood

They will not vivisect him. Ke tried to argue with the horseshoer, so they had to persuade him

��War Provides an Expensive Clothes-Rack

THE queer thing in the middle of the picture, which resembles a monster porcupine used as a clothes-rack, is the stump of a tree which grew "somewhere in France" until a German shell struck it and cut the trunk of the m.agnificent tree in two. The exploding shell splintered the wood in such a manner that the stump, with its radi- ating big splinters was used by the French soldiers en- camped there as a rack upon which they hung their clothes and military equipment. The rack may be con- venient for the soldiers, but this is really too expensive a method of making clothes-racks. Be- sides, stumps are not always handy, and then the shell may miss them or they may splinter in some inconveni- ent manner. After all, the regular pat- tern cannot be beat- en for "steady " use.

���(Q) Underwood and l^nderwood

How a German shell provided a very convenient clothes-rack for French soldiers

��Army Horses Must Be Good- Tempered

IT'S a weary, wicked world if you are an army horse. You may or may not approve of shoes, but you've got to have them just the same. The French author- ities have an ingenious contrivance which so pinions a horse that he has absolutely nothing to say in the matter. It holds his head, and holds his feet and holds his body, and forcibly prevents him from expressing an opinion, or choos- ing his shoes, or making a protest in any way. If they would only let a fellow get in just one real horse- size kick one could — but what's the use. In the mean- time the farrier gets in his fine work, and then it is too late. Yes, it's a hard, cold, cruel world, so it is! Still, shoes are not so bad and they give a dandy heft to one's hind hoofs in arguments later on in the camps.

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