Part 91

We know now that every activity of our body registers itself on the brain. When we move an arm or leg a great many times we soon feel tired. Every time you move your arm the movement is registered in the brain, and after a number of these movements are registered the tired feeling in the arm appears. It is said that every movement of any part of the body really produces certain defective cells and that these accumulate in the blood. When these reach a certain number the tired feeling takes possession of us, and when we rest, the blood under the guidance of the brain, goes to work and rebuilds these defective cells. We know that a change takes place in the blood when we become tired because, if you take some of the blood from an animal that shows unmistakable signs of fatigue and inject it into an animal that shows no tired feeling at all, the second animal will begin to show signs of fatigue even though it is not active at all.

We used to think that being tired indicated that our bodies were in need of food and that the way to overcome it was to eat a big meal. We did not stop to think that even when we are hungry the human body has sufficient food supply stored up to keep it going for days without taking in new food. Of course, this mistake was made because we knew that our power and energy came as a result of the food we took into our systems, but this belief was exploded when it was found that a really tired person could hardly digest food while tired, and that it is best for people who are very tired to eat only a light meal.

Why Are Most People Right-Handed?

Most people are right-handed because they are trained that way. Being right-handed or left-handed depends largely on how we get started in that connection. When we are young we form the habit generally of being either right-handed or left-handed, as the case may be. Most people correct their children when it appears they are likely to become left-handed, as we have come to think that it is better to be right-handed than left, and that is the reason why most people are right-handed. As a matter of fact, if we were trained perfectly, we should all be both right-handed and left-handed also. Some people are so trained and, when we refer to their ability to do things equally well with both hands and wish to bring out this fact, we say they are ambidextrous. It is not natural that one hand should be trained to do things while the other is not.

Why Are Some Faculties Stronger Than Others?

All of our senses are capable of being developed so that our ability along these lines would be about equal. The trouble is that we soon begin to develop one or more of our faculties in an unusual manner at the expense of the development of others. Many people have a keener sense of observation than others because they have had more and better training along that line. It is a pity that more attention is not given to the development of the power of observation in children, because it is one of the most valuable accomplishments that we can possess ourselves of. With the sense of observation developed to the highest degree, many of the other faculties need not be developed so strongly because, if we notice every thing that it is possible for us to see, we do not have the need of the development of other powers to the same extent.

It is said that it would be possible to so train an infant and bring him up to maturity with all his faculties developed and in practically an even way. If we did that we would have a wonderfully intelligent being.

The Story in a Cup and Saucer

~HOW CHINA IS MADE~

Many different kinds of raw materials are required to produce the clay from which china is formed, and these ingredients come from widely separated localities. Clays from Florida, North Carolina, Cornwall and Devon. Flint from Illinois and Pennsylvania. Boracic acid from the Mojave Desert and Tuscany. Cobalt from Ontario and Saxony. Feldspar from Maine. All these and more must enter into the making of every piece.

These materials are reduced to fine powder and stored in huge bins. Between these bins, on a track provided for the purpose, the workmen push a car which bears a great box. Under this box is a scale for weighing the exact amount of each ingredient as it is put in, for too much of one kind of clay or too little of another would seriously impair the quality of the finished china.

From bin to bin this car goes, gathering up so many pounds of this material and so many pounds of that, until its load is complete. Then it is dumped into one of the great round tanks called “blungers,” where big electrically driven paddles mix it with water until it has the consistency of thick cream. From the blungers this liquid mass passes into another and still larger tank, called a “rough agitator,” and is there kept constantly in motion until it is released to run in a steady stream over the “sifters.”

These sifters are vibrating tables of finest silk lawn, very much like that used for bolting flour at the mills. The material for china making strains through the silk, while the refuse, including all foreign matter, little lumps, etc., runs into a waste trough and is thrown away. From the sifters the liquid passes through a square box-like chute, in which are placed a number of large horseshoe magnets, which attract to themselves and hold any particles of harmful minerals which may be in the mixture.

After leaving the magnets the fluid is free from impurities, and is discharged into another huge tank called the “smooth agitator.” While the fluid is in this tank a number of paddles keep it constantly in motion.

From the smooth agitator the mixture is forced under high pressure into a press where a peculiar arrangement of steel chambers packed with heavy canvas allows the water to escape, filtered pure and clear, but retains the clay in discs or leaves weighing about thirty pounds each. From the presses this damp clay is taken out to the “pug mills,” where it is all ground up together, reduced to a uniform consistency, and cut into blocks of convenient size. It is now ready to use. Automatic elevators carry it to the workmen upstairs.

~HOW THE DISHES ARE SHAPED~

The exact process of handling the clay differs with articles of different shapes. Some are molded by hand in plaster of paris molds of proper shape, while others are formed by machine. To make a plate, for example, the workman takes a lump of clay as large as a teacup. He lays this on a flat stone, and with a large, round, flat weight, strikes it a blow which flattens the material out until it resembles dough rolled out for cake or biscuits, only instead of being white or yellow it is of a dark gray color. A hard, smooth mold exactly the size and shape of the inside of the plate is at hand. Over this the workman claps the flat piece of damp clay. Then the mold is passed on to another workman, who stands before a rapidly revolving pedestal, commonly known as the potter’s wheel. On this wheel he places the mold and its layer of clay. He then pulls down a lever to which is attached a steel scraper. As the plate rapidly revolves, this scraper cuts away the surplus clay, and gives to the back of the plate its proper form. The plate, still in its mold, is placed on a long board, together with a number of others, and shoved into a rack to dry. One workman with two helpers will make 2,400 plates per day. It is fascinating to watch the molders’ deft hands at work swiftly changing a mass of clay into perfectly formed dishes. Such skilled workmen are naturally well paid.

When the clay is sufficiently dry, the plate is taken from its mold, the edge smoothed and rounded, and any minor defects remedied. It is then placed in an oval shaped clay receptacle called a “sagger,” together with about two dozen of its fellows, packed in fine sand, and placed in one of the furnaces or kilns. Each kiln will contain on an average two thousand saggers. When the kiln is full the doorway is closed and plastered with clay, the fires started, and the dishes subjected to terrific heat for a period of forty-eight hours. The fuel used is natural gas, piped one hundred miles from wells 2,000 feet deep. Natural gas gives an intense heat, and yet is always under perfect control--features which are vital in producing uniformly good china.

When the plate is taken from the kiln after the first baking, it is pure white, but of dull, velvety texture, and is known as bisque ware.

In order to give it a smooth, high finish, the plate is next dipped into a solution of white lead, borax and silica, dried, placed in a kiln and again baked. When it is taken out for the second time it has acquired that beautiful glaze which so delights the eye. In this condition it is known as “plain white ware,” and is finished, unless some decoration is to be added.

~HOW CHINA IS DECORATED~

Most people are surprised to learn that the greater part of the gold which adorns dishes is put on by a simple rubber stamp. Two preparations of gold are used. One is a commercial solution called “liquid bright gold,” the other is very expensive, and is simply gold bullion melted down with acids to the right consistency.

Decorating in colors is now done almost exclusively by decalcomania art transfers. These are made principally in Europe.

After the gold and colors are applied, the China must again go through the oven’s heat for a period of twelve hours. Then the piece finished at last, is ready to grace your table. The dull gray clay has become beautifully finished china, which will delight alike the housekeeper and her guests.

How Do Birds Find Their Way?

The most interesting phase of the movement of animals from place to place is found in the flight of birds during the spring and fall. In the spring the birds come north and in the fall they go south. This is called “migration” and the reason given for the ability of some birds to come back every year to build a nest in the same tree is usually attributed to the “instinct of migration,” and yet that is more a statement of fact rather than an explanation of the wonderful ability of the birds to do this.

How Does a Captain Steer His Ship Across the Ocean?

Man, the most intelligent animal, can also find his way about, but he has had to learn to do this step by step. When an explorer first travels into the unexplored forest, he carries a compass which tells him in what direction he is traveling, but this is not sufficient to tell him the exact path he came and return the same way. In order that he may do this, he must make marks on the trees and other objects to find his way back. When these marks are once made, other men can follow the path by their aid, and eventually a path becomes worn so that men can find their way back and forth without the aid of the marks especially.