Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-03-01

Chree form clrcle--then. as the SWal-
lowing process continues, the circle
evidently grows smaller and smaller
Now, if they thus continue to swallow
each other, what wiH eventually become
of the snates?
OF course, it is clear that either the
swallowing process must stop some
where, or that the snakes will vanish
down each others's throats. Al wtat
point then, will the swallowing ceasep
If the reader finds himself ready on
the spot with clear and precise an
swer TO this question he will have
proved himself of reader wit than
the guest of the aforementioned
wine-party. A little consideration,
however, will probably be sufficient TO
clear up the mystery, and. like the
preceding enigma of the railway. the
problem may safely be left to the ex-
animation of the ingenious.
(which, of any given moment. is
moving forward fastest, the top of a
coach-whecl or the bottomP' To this
apparently very simple question nine
persons out Of ten, asked at random.
will give an incorrect reply. For at
first sight it appears evident that both
the top and bottom of the wheel must
OF necessity be moving forward at the
same rate, namely, the speed at which
the carriage is travelling But little
thought will show that this is far from
being the case. A point on the bot
tom of the wheel is, in fact. by the di-
rection of its motion round the axis.
moving backward, in an opposite di-
rection 10 that in which the carriage
is progressing, and is consequently
stationary in space; while point on
the top of the wheel is moving for
ward, with the double velocity of its
own motion round the axis and the
speed at which the carriage moves.
The following paradox, which has
given rise to much discussion, is some-
what akin to the preceding: "How can
a ship sail faster than the windP'
Every yachtsman knows that ship
can sail faster than the wind; that is
to say, if the wind is blowing ten
knots an hour, a ship may be making
twelve or fifteen knots an hour. Now,
it is obvious that if the ship is sailing
straight before the wind it can not at
the utmost, travel faster than the
wind itself is blowing-as matter of
fact it will travel much more slowly.
II, on the other hand, the ship is sail
ing at an angle with the wind, itseems
at first sight that the wind must act
with less effect than before. and the
ship in consequence sail moro slowly
still. But as matter Of fact, the ship
not only sails more quickly than be-
fore, but more quickly than the wind
itself is blowing. This is a paradox
which few. even OF those who are well
acquainted by experience with the
fact, have found themselves able to
explain.
Let us consider the difficulty in the
light Of the following experiment.:
Place a ball at one side of a billiard
table, and with the long cue held
lengthwise. from end to end of the
table, push the ball across the cloth.
The cue here represents the wind. and
the ball the ship sailing directly before
| it; only as there is here no waste OF
energy, which in the case Of the wind
and ship is very great, the ball, OF
course, travels at the same rate as the
cue-evidently it can not possibly
travel faster Now, suppose groove
to be cut diagonally across the table,
from one corner pocket to the other,
in which the ball may roll. If the
ball be now placed at one end of the
groove, and the cue held horizontally
and moved forward as before, the bal
will travel along the groove (and
along the cue) in the same time as the
cue takes to move across the table.
This is the case of the ship sailing al
an angle with the direction of the
wind. The groove is considerably
longer than the width of the table,
more than double as long. in fact
The ball. therefore. travels much fast
er than the cue which impels it sin &C
it covers more than double the dis.
tance in the same time. 1t is in precise
ly the same manner that tackine
ship is enabled to sail faster than the
wind.
The foregoing mysteries of motion
bring to mind the famous paradox o.
Zeno, by which he sought to prove thai
all motion is impossible. IA body
thus argues the ingenious philoso'
pher, ''must move either in the place
where it is. or in the place where it i:
not. Now. body in the place where
it is is stationary, and can not be in
motion; nor, obviously, can it be in
motion in the place where it is not.
Therefore. it can not move at all" i
was Of this paradox it was said, solvitul
mbulando-'It is solfed by walk
ing" A more practical solution could
hardly be required.
Another paradox familiar to tn,
Greeks-that of Achilles and the tor
toise--is we'll known. Achilles 9TH,
swift-footed) allows the tortoise {
hundred yards start and runs ter
yards while the tortoise runs one
Now, when Achilles has run a hun
dred yards the tortoise has run tel
yards, and is, therefore. still that dis
tance ahead. When Achilles has rm
these ten yards the tortoise has ruI
one yard. When Achilles has run thu
one yard; the tortoise has run one
tenth of yard. And when Achille
has run the one-tenth of ayard tn
tortoise has run one-hundredth. 1t
only necessary to continue the sam
process of reasoning to prove tha
| Achilles can never overtake the tor
toise.