The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1902-05-09
matician introduced the line called

ma tlclan introduced the line called
the vinculum, used for tying numbers
together. Girarde, another distin-
guished mathematician. dispensed
with the vinculum and substituted
parenthesis, but either are proper
William Oughtred, an Englishman, in
1851 invented st Andrews cross, X, to
signify multiplication. AS the Eas-
tern hemisphere has given to the
world such grand scientific works and
ideas pertaining to the mathematical
mind so it has aggrandised itself as the
birth place of the Saviour, the pro-
clamatiOn of the Ten Commandments,
the landing or resting place of the Ark,
the creation and home of Adam and
Eve, and the birth, home and burial
place of a great many illuStriOus and
good men, who 1abored in the cause OF
their Heavenly Father.
Wonderful indeed is the thought
that the Almighty should choose or.se-
lect just that part of Asia, whereby He
might people the earth; 1T being cen
trail He no doubt calculated them to go
north, south, east and west and SO
people the whole earth. Again, His
Ten Commandments being proclaimed
by Moses right here in the center, is
indicative that they should proceed
bearing the armor of Gods will. Again
Noah and his family should have rested
on Mt Ararat, about one hundred
1n
Ten Commandments and between Mt
Ararat and Mt Sinai the Saviour was
born into the world. Why this part of
the earth was selected for all this, we
have faint ideas. We might suggest
because it was central, and its climate
was good, being on the latitude of Sa-
vannah and New York, 81 North to Al
North.
Mt Ararat in Armenia is IL, 200 feet
high, q miles and l36 feet). The Hyma-
laya mountains are 29,OO2 feet high,
Is miles and 27O feet) Imagine a
building $50 feet long, Is feet wide and
IS feet high, elevated into the air
three miles and 136 feet, and located on
top of mountain. What a grand
phenomenon this must have been to
behold; yet there were only eight peo-
pie in the world to witness it. How
they and the animals descended to the
level earth from that exceeding high
point, I'll not state here. 1t is mani
fest that the mountains were covered
with waters, for otherwise the dove
would have found resting place for
the sole of her foot. July II, the six
hundredth year, did the.Ark rest on
Ararat. Then the whole population
of the earth were four men and four
women. 53O6 years ago the population
of the earth was eight. What is the
population of the earth to-day? What
would be the population If the dead
could rise to their feet? There would
not be standing room for them and
the living on land and water. quad
rillions, 1872 trillions, CAT. billions, 139
millions, GIL thousand, 85O4 square
feet on the surface of the earth. Now
if each person would occupy one square
foot, there would be just as many in
habitants as there are square feet. In
computing this we are obliged to fall
back onto that wonderful invention of
the HindOos. In fact we are totally
lost without it. Contemplate if you
please, and note that few simple
characters, ten in number, would in
volve the incalculable expansion as
these few characters. So few that they
can be compacted into space, that a
small shot when flattened would OBJ
scure it from sight. Yet any number,
however large or however small, or I'M
der any fractional value, can be ex-
pressed. Tell me We men of science,
ye men of deep thought, what little
kteing beneath a flattened shot, can
easure the earth, and even the sun,
in inches, or can shade the unit into
infinitesimal size, that its value would
not bear enough measurement to be
assignable quantity? Worlds may re-
volve, oceans may roll, earthquakes
may open the earth, volcanoes may
emit its lava, and the violent wind
may sweep the earth, but these ten
little characters can measure the rev.