Fig. 3. PW F Fig. 4 shows the hammer and anvil of these bones and they make up the lever with the fulcrum at F. PF represents the foot, P being Fig.4. the heel and F the toes, the weight of the body coming between at W. When the muscles of the calf are contracted the strong tendon Achilles raises the heel and we stand on our toes. Suppose a man weighs 200 pounds. WF six inches, and WP two inches, then it is plain that this muscle must contract with sufficient force to raise 150 pounds to lift the heel from the floor. An example of the third kind of lever is seen in the use of the radius of the forearm. Here the biceps muscle is attached at one end to the shoulder and at the other to a point between the elbow and hand. Here the power comes between the other two points. This kind of a lever always results in a movement of the weight with greater speed but with less intensity. There is in the middle ear a delicate lever for the conveyance of sound vibration from the drumhead to the liquid of the inner ear. Almost every one knows of the existence of this minute chain of bones, but few seem to know how they are attached or how they operate. The point P is attached to the drumhead which, when it vibrates by action of sound waves, causes a backward and forward motion of W, with F as a still point. The stirrup is attached at W and by it this motion is conveyed to the liquid of the inner ear. The power-arm here, which is the distance from P to F, is nine and one-half mm. long, while the short arm, which is the distance from W to F, is six and one-third mm. long, so the power-arm is one and one-half times as long as the weight-arm, consequently the motion is increased in intensity one and one-half times at a sacrifice of distance. Every motion of the body involving the use of bones of the skeleton is a leverage of some sort, so that man, in this sense, may be defined as a combination of levers operated by the energy stored in muscle, which in turn is first stimulated by impulses sent out from a central nervous system. If a skeleton could play a piano it would appear as truly mechanical as the instrument itself. In many machines the lever is disguised, as in cogwheels, wheel and axle, all use of cranks, and the windlass, but a little reflection will show to any one that these are true levers and their advantage is to be calculated by the law for levers. The lever is the commonest machine in the world. If it were taken out of our factories and shops the whole industrial world would be in the throes of death inside of one hour. The best way to study the lever is to note its prevalence in our everyday experience. It will be interesting also to trace out other machines in a similar way, as, the inclined plane, the pulley, etc. We will close this article with a problem suitable to our subject, and which one person out of every three misses. "A log of uniform size is 40 feet long and is to be carried by three men. One man lifts one end; where must the other two place the handspike that each may carry one-third of the weight of the log?" GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF OHIO. BY F. B. PEARSON. Before going to Put-in-Bay in June we would do well to read the historical novel entitled "With British and Braves," written by L. K. Parks and published by Curts and Jennings, Cincinnati. It has to do It has to do with the war of 1812 and contains much that every citizen of Ohio ought to know. The romance is wild but the historic features are strong. The defence of Ft. Meigs, Perry's Victory, and Major Croghan's defence of Ft. Stephenson are portrayed in a vivid way, and are worthy of many readings. The memorable reply of General Harrison to Proctor's demand for the surrender of Ft. Meigs ought to be known by every school-boy. "Tell General Proctor that it will redound much more to his glory to capture Ft. Meigs than to have it surrendered." This book would make a valuable addition to every school library in the state, and if the teachers will read it, they will very soon give their pupils access to it. The reading of the one chapter relating to Perry's Victory ought to increase the attendance at the meetings of the State Association. While at Put-in-Bay we shall want to see the willow-tree that marks the last resting place of the heroes who fell in that gallant struggle, the sole monument to their gallantry. Here is the legend of this tree: "While the ox carts that had brought the bodies of the gallant sailors from the ships' boats, to the place where their comrades had hastily dug a trench in the sand, were standing there, a driver stuck a willow wand, with which he had been belaboring the patient oxen, into the ground, and when the ceremonies were over, went away and left it there. Was it fate, or was it the intuition that in after years these graves would be practically unmarked, that led this twig of willow to sprout, then grow, and finally become strong, and sturdy, so as to defy the nor'east gales and the scorching suns of the hot summers?" There are many famous trees in Ohio and there is, perhaps, no better source of information concerning them than the very interesting volume by Dr. N. E. Jones entitled "The Squirrel-Hunters of Ohio" which is published by Robert Clarke & Co. The author tells us of a grape-vine near Frankfort, in Ross county, that measured sixteen feet in circumference, ten feet from the ground; of the great elm tree, in Chillicothe, measuring twentyeight and a half feet in circumference, three feet from the ground; and of a large, hollow sycamore tree near Waverly which made a com modious blacksmith shop and horse-shoeing establishment for many years. He gives, also, the historic details connected with the famous "Logan Elm" and every one who has read Logan's speech ought to know this history. (Wonder how many of the boys and girls who have read the speech of Logan know that his Indian name was Tagahjute, and that he took the name "Logan" from James Logan, an intimate friend of William Penn?) Here is a composition which shows what they are doing at St. Marys in the way of studying the flora of that section, under the able guidance of Supt. Simkins. The celebrated Dr. Vincent said in a lecture some time since "If a child, at the age of three years, does not know at least twenty trees his education has been neglected." There are, probably, several threeyear-olds in Ohio who couldn't pass such an examination. We give, also, a composition from one of the high school boys at Delaware, which will be read with much interest. Mr. Henry T. Main, one of the able assistants of Supt. Stokes has a mind richly stored with legend and history, and also the happy faculty of inspiring pupils to investigate these subjects. So we shall now hear the messages from St. Marys and Delaware. FLORA OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO. We have been making a collection of woods in our county and perhaps you would be interested talpa, cotton wood, silver leaf poplar, Norway maple, tulip tree, pine, and tree of heaven. to know what we have learned. We find that many trees have made their homes here. There are thirty-nine families of trees and shrubs. All together there are one hundred and sixty-five trees and shrubs of which there are one hundred and twenty-eight that are not cultivated. In our room we have a collection of one hundred and nineteen woods of which eighty are not cultivated. The Willow Family has the most species having fifteen, while there are twelve families which have but one species. The pine tree has the simplest flowers. We can find the ripened seeds in the pine cones, and if we pull off one of the scales will see two little seeds, each having one wing. The Honeysuckle Family have the most highly developed or most highly specialized flowers. Five native trees or shrubs that I could recognize are maple, oak, raspberry, willow, and weeping willow. Among the trees used for wood are, hickory, ash, elm, beech, birch and sycamore. Some native trees used for lumber are oak, ash, walnut, cherry, and hickory. The trees we have now in our town that are used for shade are, locust, poplar, maple, willow, walnut, hickory, wild cherry, oak, ca By looking around the room you can see many different kinds of woods. My desk is made of maple. The wainscoting is pine, the map case is pine, my ruler is pine, the floor is pine, and the banister is ash. Names of some of the species used for food are: sugar maple, berry, peach, pear, hickory, apricot, cherry, walnut, plum, and currant. There are forty-two shade trees on the school ground; there are pine, locust and three kinds of maple. The woods used at the spoke works are hickory, ash, elm, poplar, and oak. At the handle factory, hickory, ash, walnut, and sycamore, and at the hoop factory they use hickory, linden, and elm. It is said that a tree has done well, if in its life time it gets one seed to grow. NINA SCOTT. 7th grade, West building, age 12 years. THE DELAWARES AND EARLY INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF DELAWARE. Long before the white man colonized the eastern shores of the North American continent, a certain tribe of Indians came from the far West and settled near the headwaters of Delaware Bay, in what is now eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. These called themselves the "Lenni Lenape," but later on became known as the Delawares. They were not great warriors and were easily subdued by the mighty Iroquois. Among other nations they were known as "Peacemakers," and it was with this nation that William Penn made his famous treaty. Being gradually pushed further west by their more warlike neighbors, about the middle of the eighteenth century, they settled in central Ohio, in the vicinity of the forks of the Muskingum and in the county to which they gave their name. The first settlers coming to Delaware county, found, belonging to this tribe, two villages on the present site of this city. One was situated near where the Hocking Valley station now stands; the other, upon the hills just east of the Olentangy river. Between these two was the famous cornfield of the Delawares which is said to have included four hundred acres. Upon the Horseshoe Bottoms, about three miles further north on the same stream, the Mingoes had a small village. Through Delaware passed the famous Sandusky trail, which extended from Chillicothe to Upper Sandusky. As late as 1820 it was possible to see Indians passing along this trail, carrying wild cranberries and plums to be exchanged for whisky in Delaware or Columbus. The present state road from Sandusky to Portsmouth almost exactly follows the paths of the old trail, Henry street in Delaware being laid out upon it. During the war of 1812 Delaware was one of the border counties as it then extended as far north as the present site of the city of Marion. For the purpose of defense three blockhouses were built -one at Norton, another in the eastern part of the county and a third within the village on the north-east corner of William and Sandusky streets. As a further precaution against Indian attacks, Capt. Wm. Drake raised a small company and soon afterwards started on a march to Sandusky. The captain was fond of practical joking and determined to get some amusement out of the campaign. So one night, while the company was encamped in the vicinity of Norton, unknown to his soldiers, he slipped out into the forest and gave several warwhoops, at the same time discharging his gun. The rest of his men, thinking the Indians were upon them, sprang from their tents and it required the utmost efforts of the captain to explain the deceit and to prevent the immediate stampede of all his followers. Without his knowledge, however, his panic-stricken lieutenant plunged into the woods and was soon out of hearing. With the rest Drake marched on to Sandusky, wholly unaware of the turmoil he had left behind. |