CHAPTER I

I SET OFF UPON MY JOURNEY TO THE HOUSE OF SHAWS

I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father's house. The sun began to shine upon the summit of the hills as I went down the road; and by the time I had come as far as the manse, the blackbirds were whistling in the garden lilacs, and the mist that hung around the valley in the time of the dawn was beginning to arise and die away.

Mr. Campbell, the minister of Essendean, was waiting for me by the garden gate, good man! He asked me if I had breakfasted; and hearing that I lacked for nothing, he took my hand in both of his and clapped it kindly under his arm.

"Well, Davie, lad," said he, "I will go with you as far as the ford, to set you on the way." And we began to walk forward in silence.

"Are ye sorry to leave Essendean?" said he, after awhile.

"Why, sir," said I, "if I knew where I was going, or what was likely to become of me, I would tell you candidly. Essendean is a good place indeed, and I have been very happy there; but then I have never been anywhere else. My father and mother, since they are both dead, I shall be no nearer to in Essendean than in the Kingdom of Hungary, and, to speak truth, if I thought I had a chance to better myself where I was going I would go with a good will." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Where were they leaving?
2. DId he regret it?
3. Was it a bad area?
4. Were his parents alive?
5. Where was the kingdom?
6. Where was he going?
7. When did the trip start?
8. What time of day?
9. Which house was he traveling to?
10. Was it sunny?
11. Who was watching for him?
12. What's his position?
13. Where was he?
14. Was he evil?
15. Had the boy eaten yet?
16. What was his name?
17. How far would the pastor travel with him?
Answer: 1. Essendean
2. yes
3. no
4. no
5. Hungary
6. he didn't know
7. 1751
8. morning
9. his father's
10. yes
11. Mr. Campbell
12. the minister of Essendean
13. by the garden gate
14. no
15. yes
16. Davie
17. as far as the ford

Cladistics (from Greek , "klados", i.e., "branch") is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized based on shared derived characteristics that can be traced to a group's most recent common ancestor and are not present in more distant ancestors. Therefore, members of a group are assumed to share a common history and are considered to be closely related.

The techniques and nomenclature of cladistics have been applied to other disciplines. (See phylogenetic nomenclature.)

The original methods used in cladistic analysis and the school of taxonomy derived from the work of the German entomologist Willi Hennig, who referred to it as phylogenetic systematics (also the title of his 1966 book); the terms "cladistics" and "clade" were popularized by other researchers. Cladistics in the original sense refers to a particular set of methods used in phylogenetic analysis, although it is now sometimes used to refer to the whole field.

What is now called the cladistic method appeared as early as 1901 with a work by Peter Chalmers Mitchell for birds and subsequently by Robert John Tillyard (for insects) in 1921, and W. Zimmermann (for plants) in 1943. The term "clade" was introduced in 1958 by Julian Huxley after having been coined by Lucien Cuenot in 1940, "cladogenesis" in 1958, "cladistic" by Cain and Harrison in 1960, "cladist" (for an adherent of Hennig's school) by Mayr in 1965, and "cladistics" in 1966. Hennig referred to his own approach as "phylogenetic systematics". From the time of his original formulation until the end of the 1970s, cladistics competed as an analytical and philosophical approach to phylogenetic inference with phenetics and so-called evolutionary taxonomy. Phenetics was championed at this time by the numerical taxonomists Peter Sneath and Robert Sokal and the evolutionary taxonomist Ernst Mayr. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. What is the main topic?
2. What's the word's country of origin?
3. What is it?
4. How long ago did it appear?
5. By who?
6. How?
7. Did anyone else write about it?
8. Who was next?
9. How many years later?
10. What was his focus?
11. Who was next?
12. What was his focus?
13. When?
14. How are organisms classified under this approach?
15. Who coined "clade"?
Answer: 1. Cladistics
2. from Greek , "klados"
3. an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized based on shared derived characteristics that can be traced to a group's most recent common ancestor and are not present in more distant ancestors
4. as early as 1901
5. by Peter Chalmers Mitchell
6. with a work about birds
7. yes
8. Robert John Tillyard
9. 20
10. insects
11. W. Zimmermann
12. plants
13. 1943
14. organisms are categorized based on shared derived characteristics that can be traced to a group's most recent common ancestor and are not present in more distant ancestors
15. Julian Huxley

In South America, the rich soil of the Amazon River basin in Brazil is known as "black gold". Scientists found that the secret of this rich soil was charcoal . Local people made it from animal bones and tree branches. They mixed the charcoal with the soil about 1.500 years ago.

Now, scientists in the United States have done a modern demonstration. They say charcoal fertilization offers a revolutionary way to improve soil quality for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Mingxin Guo and his team at Delavare State University heated tree leaves, corn stalks , small pieces of wood and poultry waste into "biochar" . They reported their findings at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans.

Biochar could be good news for farmers with poor soil and hungry populations to feed. Professor Guo says it could even help against global warming. Intensive farming and overuse of chemical fertilizer give out carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Biochar does the opposite, he says. It traps carbon in the ground.

The researchers planted winter wheat in containers of soil in a greenhouse -- some with biochar, some without. Professor Guo says the wheat grows much better in the pots with biochar. The soil was added two percent charcoal to. But he says even a one percent treatment will increase productivity.

The results demonstrated that biochar can increase organic matter in soil. Loss of nutrients in soil is an increasing problem worldwide as farmers try to grow more food for growing populations.

Next, the team will carry out a five-year study of biochar with spinach , green peppers and tomatoes.

Mingxin Guo says he learns about the "black gold" in Brazil from a magazine story. He explains that it was discovered in the jungle, in the area where waters flow to the Amazon, in the 1960's. But it was not until recent years that scientists began to bring public attention to it. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Where is the Amazon River basin located?
2. What kind of soil if found there?
3. What is the rich soil also known as?
4. Who made the soil the way it is?
5. Using what?
6. When did they do this?
7. What country is doing modern demonstrations of this method?
8. Who is the scientist that is heading this project?
9. Does he work alone?
10. What school does he work for?
11. How did he learn about black gold?
12. Where was black gold discovered?
13. When?
Answer:
1. Brazil
2. the secret of this rich soil was charcoal
3. black gold
4. Local people
5. animal bones and tree branches
6. 1.500 years ago
7. United States
8. Mingxin Guo
9. Mingxin Guo and his team at Delavare State University
10. Delavare State University
11. heated tree leaves, corn stalks , small pieces of wood and poultry waste into "biochar"
12. Amazon River basin in Brazil
13. in the 1960's