The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-04-12
MANS INVENTIONS.
Many OF the Idcns Used Were stolen
Directly From NATURE

Many OF the Idcns Used Were stolen
Directly From Nature.
Houses are not the invention of man.
The idea was borrowed from the swal-
low
When the world was young its lnhab.
itants were troglodyates They dwelt In
holes In cliffs. One savage, more enter
prlslng than his fellows, puzzled his
brains TO find out way to construct II
cozy dwelling. On one occasion he
caught sight of a bird gathering bits of
clay with It's beak. It was swallow,
and he watched 1t build n nest on n
ledge Of rock
Wonderful" said he. "I'll do like
wise"
lie set TO work at once and built
clay hut. lI~ neighbors called him the
"mudhole dweller" and laughed at his
house. But, when they discovered that
he was more snug than they, up went
other huts.
The savagcs lived in mud huts until
the beaver came TO visit them In build
Ing house for himself he gave early
man n lesson in architecture. The bea-
yer not only showed him how to build
houses that would stand all kinds OF
weather, but instructed him In the art
of dam and bridge building.
The gentlemen of the stone age had
boats. This has been proved by the
things left behind them It Is doubt
full, however whether they invented
vessels themselves.
A well known antiquarian declares
that the savage stole the idea for the
sailing boat from a small shellnsh hav-
ing kind Of fin attached to its back.
BY resting on a wave and erecting the
fin it can skim over the waters at great
speed when the wind Is behind It.
II is generally believed that man In
vented the thatch to keep barns and
rcks dry. AS matter of fact, 1t was
the weaver bird that gave the idea to
him. With its beak it constructs per
fectly made, large, ralnproof shelter, or
thatch over Its nest. The Zulu huts
In the Transvaal are rooted In almost
the same way today.
Dame Nature was a glassmaker long
before man was created. Natural glass
resembled the glass of which beer bot
ties are made, and 1t Is to be found In
Iceland, Spain, Italy, Sardinia and al
most every locality in which volcanoes
have been at work. Its proper name IS
obsldan, and there are enough cliffs of
glass to fill all the window frames In
Great Britain.
Mica Is another form OF natural glass
and is largely used in the making Of
chimneys for incandescent gaslights
1t is dug out of the ground, will stand
great heat and needs nothing but split
ting TO be made use of at once.
Old brown Windsor soap, so common
ly used for the toilet, is not the real
thing at all, but merely an imitation.
The only soap of that name is not
made but comes from the bulbs Of the
Porto Rico soap plant, and it was used
for washing purposes long before man
thought of manufacturing soap from
fat and other substances. Its smell Is
exactly the same as London made old
brown Windsor, and there is no doubt
whatever thai the latter is an exact i'm
itation of the natural soap.
At one time the world was lighted at
night with "farthing dips" long sticks
of compressed fat with n thin string
through the center. Before this the
seeds of the tallOw tree, which grows
in Algeria, Sumatra and China, were
used for lighting purposes. The seeds,
which are of good size, need but
wick to burn with a clear, white flame.
1t will therefore be seen that the idea
for both ancient and modern candles
was stolen directly from nature.-Pear-
sons Weekly.