Decatur Democrat, Volume 1, Number 7, Decatur, Adams County, 11 April 1899 — Page 4

OUR ORIGINAL COLOR. Professor Thompson Seems to Think That Adam Was a Xeg”u. In the first of a series of articles upon anthropological data which Professor Arthur Thompson is writing for Knowledge he discusses the original color of mankind and weighs some evidence bearing upon the question whether the earliest races were black or white. At the same time he mentions Alfred Russell Wallace’s idea that primitive man was a Mongol. This would infer that our original color was yellow, and when we consider the civilization of remote times which existed among the Chinese, that the people of Europe sprang from Asiatic stock and that the identity of the earliest cave dwellers in this country and in France with the Eskimos (also Mongols) has been demonstrated, this view does not seem so very unlikely. Professor Thompson characterizes the theory as suggestive, but goes into none of these outside details, confining himself to a study of skin, hair and their pigments. Sorby, he says, isolated three pigments,using hair as the more convenient subject for experiment. In light colored hair brown, red and yellow pigments occur, to which, in black hair, a black coloring matter is added, and it is a remarkable fact that there may be in a negro's “wool” as much red pigment as in the European variety sometimes alluded to as “carrots.” Again, when a piece of white skin is grafted (as is often done in modern surgery) upon a black man, it becomes black, while black upon a white man loses its pigment. This, Professor Thompson thinks, supports the theory that man has developed a w-bite skin from a black rather than the other alternative. Other interesting points are brought forward. For instance, there is always a certain amount of pigment in the skin of even fair people—that is, of the red and yellow kinds found in their hair, but not enough to prevent the blood in the vessels, which do not come nearer the surface than the true skin, showing through the semitransparent layers of the epidermis. Bronzing through exposure to the sun is due to an increased blood supply and a corresponding development, freckles and pigmented spots, similar in structure to the general skins of darker races, while darker complexioned individuals among us have, in addition to the ordinary pigments, a trace of the black color of the negro, more commonly present in onr hair. There is not, however, enough to destroy the racial fairness of our skin, though in exceptional situations (such as in the arm pits) its presence may be very evident. As to the use of a dark skin. Darwin hinted that it might have been developed in correlation with the immunity from malarial disease which “darkies' enjoy, r.s it is true that white sufferer' acquire a darker complexion. In support cf the idea that the ancestors <f negroes and white men more nearly resembled the latter in color, a point not mentioned by Professor Thompson might be brought forward, and that is that “pickaninnies” at their birth are not black in color, but cf a dirty gray If original man were black, just as the original lion was spotted, we should expect to find in the negrc infant the black color as we find in the young cub the traces of spots. A British Sun Worshiper. Some months ago a bouse was rented near Hastings by an old English gentleman whose marked eccentricities excited the curiosity of his neighbors. Every day at noon the occupant parades in his front garden, arrayed in extraordinary attire. On his bead he wears a turban fashioned of cloth of gold and costly materials of Indian fabrication. His body is perfectly naked, with thv exception of a babba or cooly loin cloth. His feet are shod with richly wrought sandals, the binding straps of which are embellished with priceless gems, which Hash and sparkle with rare and dazzling brilliancy. On emerging from his house he first prays to the sun. which he apostrophizes as the Father of Light and Good. Subsequently he prostrates himself before a quaint little structure in which a grotesque idol, with diamond eyes, is enshrined. A large number of people witness these odd daily devotions. To some of them the old gentleman has volunteered the information that his prayers are offered for the conversion of England to Buddhism.

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Tt Maul Be Torture. Dr. Nachtigal, the celebrated African explorer, was the guest of a rich HamI burg merchant. The merchant’s son, a young man of a somewhat sentimental ■ temperament, said among other things that his dearest wish was to ride across I the desert on the back of a camel. He i thought such a ride must be very poetI ical indeed. “My dear young friend,” replied the I explorer, “I can tell you how you can get a partial idea of what riding a camel on the deserts of Africa is like. Take an office stool, screw it up as high as possible and put it in a wagon without any springs. Then seat yourself on the stool and have it driven over rocky and uneven ground during the hottest weather of July or August and after you have not had anything to eat or drink for 24 hours, and then you will get a t’aint idea of how delightfully poetic it is to ride on a camel in the wilds cf Africa. ” Csiiitt the Left Hand. The superiority of Japanese drawing can probably be traced to the custom of that End to make the children practice I painting and drawing without the use' of any stick or supporting device for the hand. They are taught to draw at the | same time they are taught to write the ■ letters of the alphabet, and they are | taught to use both hands equally in the task. The natural preference given to the right qrm has been explained physiologically by the construction of rhe veins and nerves that enter the arms, those of the right arm being more prominent The reverse is the case in the few who are naturally left handed. His Criticism. When the first edition of the “Seasons” came out, the poet sent a handsomely bound copy to Sir Gilbert Elliott of Minto, who had shown him kindness. Sir Gilbert took the book to his gardener, a relative of Thomson, who turned it over and over in his hands, gazirg at it in admiration. Sir Gilbert said ■ “Well, David, what do you think of Jamen Thomson now? There’s a book that will make him famous the world over and immortalize his name." “In truth,” said David, “it is a grand book. I did na think the lad had ingenuity enow to ha’ done sich a neat piece o' handicraft.” Old Slavery Times. The Columbia (S. C.) Herald recently republished this interesting item, which it originally printed in the slavery days before the war: “Negroes sell as high as heretofore, but they are hired out at lower rates. For a 12-year-cld girl SSO is given, and an 8-year-old boy goes at sl. Peter, belonging to the Mary Shock estate, is hired out for $202; J. S. Clarkson’s Mary, 23 years old, sold for $1,100; Alex, belonging to the estate of the Rev. D. Hall, brings $336; J. H. Waugh buys Willis for $310; negroes of W H. Irwin are sold on 12 months’ credit, and T. C. Parker buys Eliza and child for $1,111; Robert Lemon buys John, a 10-year-old. for $5lO, and Jack, a 0-year-old, for $606; H. R. C. Cowden pays $l,lOO for A. Sublett’s Mary.” Hogs and Cholera. A western farmer, feeding his hogs upon the ash pile of a deserted sawmill, lost none of his hogs from cholera, while his neighbors were all losing heavily One of his neighbors, remembering how fond bogs were of ashes and charcoal, hauled ashes and made a bed on which to do his feeding, and when cholera came again he was likewise spared from its ravages.—lndiana Farmer Attain t A young English attache of the legation in Washington remarked to an American belle some ywrs ago: "I am really sorry that the Bering sea affair is not likely to be amicably adjusted, for of course, with our superior navy, we could just wipe you off the face of the earth. ” She replied with one word, “Again?’ —Christian Register. Unhappy Illustration. “Johnny. ” said a teacher to a sonth side grocery man’s 6-year-old. "a lie can be acted as well as told. Now, if your father w’ould put sand in his sugar and sell it he would be acting a lie and doing very wrong. ’ ’ “That’s what mother told him. ” said Johnny impetuously, “and he said he didn't care. ” —Ohio State Journal Tumblers resembling in shape and dimensions those employed today have been found in great Cambers in Pompeii They were matte of gold, silver, glass, marble, agate and precious stones The necessary expenses of a Japanese I student at the University of Tokyo are estimated at from $7 to sl2 a month.

FOR THE FARMER. — Rape and Its Culture Sola Beans and Field Peas —Large Experiments In Feeding. Prcfessor Henry, in a letter to The Breeder’s Gazette, says that rape can be sown on any land of fair quality from April to August, either broadcast or in drills, using four or five pounds of seed in the former case and two to three pounds in the latter. Two pounds of rape seed sown a few days after oats are sown and harrowed in with a light drag properly managed will in nowise injure the springing oat plants, and the growing rape will be enough behind the oats not to interfere with their growth. After harvesting the oats the rape will come on rapidly if there is moisture and furnish a large amount of feed, produced at nominal cost. Where broadcasted by itself have clean land If the land is foul, grow the rape in drills the same as rutabaga turnipsand cultivate frequently until the plants 1 shade the ground. No thinning is reI quired. Rape does not make hay. but I must be fed off by sheep, hogs or cattle, I its usefulness to these animals being highest for the sheep and less for cattle, i Every sheep and swine grower should ; grow’ a piece of rape. The soja bean is a beanlike legume with rather stiff stems growing two or three feet high. Sow immediately after corn planting on a warm soil in drills and cultivate the same as beans. This plant will give some forage, but will not prove as valuable in this particular as the cowpea, which is another warm climate plant that will grow with our correspondent quite successfully. The beans or seeds are rich in both protein and oil and are useful to mix with corn for pig feeding. The field pea requires a cool climate for its highest development. Sow’ as early as possible in the spring, not worrying even if some frosts should come after the plants have appeared above ground. Cover the seed i at least an inch deep in heavy soil and two or three inches deep in light, sandy soil. This is for the purpose of getting the roots down where the ground is cool and moisture abundant. Sow a bushel and a half of peas to the acre, and if desired a half bushel of oats additional to afford some support to the vines. Peas can be fed off by hogs or cut for hay. They are also useful for green forage. Large Experiments In Feeding-. One aim of the Kansas experiment station, says Professor Haney, is to make experiments on a large enough scale and by methods of sufficiently lowcost to compare with actual business conditions, so that the results will in- I dicate what may be done by the farmer who is doing the same work for the purpose of making a living Recently some important experiments in feeding have been going on. Sixty head of hogs were experimentally fed and marketed Twenty head of these were given a fin ishing period of three weeks, and 50 haurt mnra have iust been nut on fwd

! i !t ’’ r- • i not the rT**) number ICf of pounds \ A Cll you get! m\ T here’s a difference fWr WW\W WaOlb \ nm in the value v '^" ? of bicycle pounds. In the Rambler factory are built wheels of one grade only, cne quality, one price TIIE B E ST. THECH EA PE ST. x„ BICYCLES “for the Best Ramblers ever built” which is saying muci as am bless have always been considered ‘‘the leaders," at whatever price. , ASK TO SEE THEM. GET A CATALOGUE-FREE. J John H. Fetzer Cycle House, Monroe Street.

making in all 130 head fed this winter These hogs were bought of far “® rs the vicinity and fed in bunches of ten 1 each under ordinary farm conditions, which makes the results practical, press bulletin has been issued on the first experiment, which was in *eeding > Kaffir in different ways and with alfalfa - i hay This experiment shows that the • influence of alfalfa added to the feed of . dry Kaffir meal makes the alfalfa eaten i worth over S2B per ton. Apple Scab. ! Experiments at the Ohio station have ! 1 demonstrated clearly that the apple scab is the chief factor in the destruction of ' the apple crop and that this fungus can be kept under control by spraying t our ' splendid successive crops were produced on the sprayed trees at the station, while the fruit on the unsprayed trees in the same and neighboring orchards wa.i worthless. The director. Professor ( Tht'rne. however calls attention to the fact that exhaustion of soil fertility, warte of water and insect ravages may ail Co-operate with scab or other fungous growth in shortening the crop and says “If cur orchards areagain to produce the great crops of earlier days, we must, in so far as possible, restore the , soil conditions to those days We must avoid the waste of water in those sections where rainfall is scanty by preventing the growth under the trees of weeds or grass and by keeping the surface in such condition as to prevent evaporation." More Productive Than Clover. In the localities where it succeeds, which are mainly in the arid regions of the west, alfalfa is much more productive than clover It has also the advan tage that once the ground is seeded with it the plant will live for years The chief drawback is that it takes longer to get a start, the plant not making much growth until late the first season It is very impatient of wet and cannot be grown where the ground during spring and late in winter is flooded I After the first year three crops of hay may be cut in a year, and as the plant I has the power of disintegrating air in the soil by the nodules grown on its roots the soil increases in nitrogenous fertility But of course mineral fertilizers must be supplied when they are needed, as no disintegration of the air can furnish any of these. —Boston Cui tivator Diversified Crops. The Texas Stockman says that the idea of crop diversification is taking root among farmers as the only relief from 4 cent cotton North Texas farmers are in favor of diversification of crops, and in consequence less cotton and more grain and forage crops will ! fee planted this year Handsome Horses Wanted. The maintainance of prices for large, handsome horses should urge stockmen to breed for beauty The highest value of an English postage stamp is $25. The stamp is of oblong shape and very seldom used. I

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