The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-07-10

means Of instructing children 10 read,
yet the latter-day delUge Of books and
papers has swept away almost the ira
dition. and il has been with difficulty
that an English antiquarian, Mr.. An
drew w. Tuer, has collected materials
for a History Of the Horn Book"
The horn book or tablet seems 10 have
originated with some tired scribe, who
sought 10 preserve his parchment by
fastening it 10 slab Of wood ana COW
ering il with horn. The earliest rec
ord Of horn books found is 1850, at
which time they were printed in black
letter. although this was changed 10
Roman soou after the Introduction Of
the latter in I457. The first horn
books contained only the alphabet,
which was sometimes written and
sometimes carved in the wood. Devo-
tional booklets for children, opening
with A y T. followed, the earliest ex-
amp.es being in Latin and emanating
frcm the Church Of Rome. Tie horn
book in English appeared about the
time Of the Reformation. Horn books
finally went out Of use near the Begin
ming Of the present century, a large
wholesale dealer being quoted as hav-
ing received his last order about 1893
the previous sales Of himself and his
predecessor having been several mill
lion horn books in sixty years. The
British Museum contains but three
horn books, one not genuine, and Dir.
Tuer has been able TO learn Of about
80. The horn book until lately in the
BatemaD Museum, Youlgrave, Derby
shire, was sold for E65, the original
having cost but one penny.
A swerving Of rifle bullets by heavy
electric currents in steel cables along
eide shooting range Is reported from
Switzerland. The DETECTION was 20
feet in a range Of 20 yards, and with
artillery 1t reached IA degrees III 1900
yards.
The recent finding Of young cells in
an eleyated lake Of the APPS, which has
not been stocked since 1857, throws
doubt on the generally accepted idea
that fresh-water eels spawn only ia the
sea.
If we look back only few years,
says DR.. Maxwell T. Masters in N0-
tire, we shall see how much larger a
share plants have now in our lives
than they had then. We shall see,
moreover, that while there has been
enormous numerical Increase, there
has also been III many cases continued
progression in form and other attri-
butes The garden roses of to-day, for
II. ff
years ago, and the sorts grown by our
fathers and grandlathers shave, with
some few exceptions, utterly gone. 1t
IL the same with peaG and potatoes,
and other plants grown on a large
scale. The two methods made Use Of
by plant-raisers for improvement are
selection and cross breeding-the latter,
az far as results are concerned, only d
modification Of the first The object
in the backgrounds OF seedmen is pTi-
marlly TO secure pure STOCK" and
secondarily to perpetuate any desirable
variations that may appear. Every
care is taken, on the one hand, to ''pre
serve the breed" and to neutralize
variation so that the seed may scome
true" while, on the other hand, the
occurrence Of the variation is quickly
noted, and the plant is either rejected
as "rOgue' or il preserved for further
trial If promising. Seed is carefully
obtained from the plants in
which the desired features are
most marked, and the variety
thus becomes "fixed," though this
is obviously only relative term.
Trade rivalry forbIds the growers to re-
lax their efforts, and thus it happens
that the pea or potato of to-day is not
the same, even though called by the
a.
gardener takes advantage of variations
iii buds, as well as iii seed. The buds
taken from the base of plant not I'M
frequently differ rom those higher up,
and these differences are perpetuated
by cuttings or gratis. "Sportsu are
form of bud-variation, affording utter
estlng but only partly solved problems
Some of the most astonishing results of
the gardeners art are due 10 repeated
Decentralization, which may occur in
all degrees from the case where the
pollen Of one flower is transferred. by
insect or other agency, to the stigma of
another on the same branch, to that in
which the transfer is to flower on
different species. The first OF the arii-
fetal hybrids on record is that of a
pink, which was produced in 1919 by
Fairchild, nurseryman at Hoxton.
A national investigation Of diphthe-
ria in Switzerland, which was begun
March Let, is to continue two years
Local sanitary authorities are notified
of every case, and weekly reports are
made to the Swiss health office at
Berne, physicians being allowed
small fee for every return.
A curious case OF nervous disease. in
which fits of laughter constitute the
most striking sympt6nH has been
brought before the HsYchiatric and
Neurological Society okIVienna. The
patient was thirty years old, and for
three years had been subject to the
outbreaks, which gradually increased
from one in two or three months TO
sixteen a day. The attacks usually
came on at night or early in the day,
being most frequent between five and
half-past six in the morning, but no
hour was quite free from liability to
them. Between the attacks the health
appeared to be good. The first warn
ing of the paroxysm was tickling sem
sation of the toes of the left foot, and
then he would fall to the ground If not
in place where he could lie down.
When the feeling reached the breast