INTRODUCTION. Definition of Soap—Properties—Hydrolysis—Detergent Action. It has been said that the use of soap is a gauge of the civilisation of a nation, but though this may perhaps be in a great measure correct at the present day, the use of soap has not always been co-existent with civilisation, for according to Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxviii., 12, 51) soap was first introduced into Rome from... more...

SECTION I."By Nature's swift and secret working handThe garden glows, and fills the liberal airWith lavish odors.There let me drawEthereal soul, there drink reviving gales,Profusely breathing from the spicy grovesAnd vales of fragrance."—Thomson. Among the numerous gratifications derived from the cultivation of flowers, that of rearing them for the sake of their perfumes stands... more...

CHAPTER I COLVERSHAM "Oh, say, Bobbie, quit that algebra and come on out! You've stuck at it a full hour already. What's the use of cramming any more? You'll get through the exam all right; you know you always do," protested Van Blake as he flipped a scrap of blotting paper across the study table at his roommate. Bob Carlton looked up from his book. "Perhaps you're... more...

PREFACE The plan of the following Classification and Index was developed early in 1873. It was the result of several months' study of library economy as found in some hundreds of books and pamphlets, and in over fifty personal visits to various American libraries. In this study, the author became convinced that the usefulness of these libraries might be greatly increased without additional... more...

COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA Justin Winsor [Part of Chapter IX., “The Final Agreement and the First Voyage” from “Christopher Columbus and How He Received and Imparted the Spirit of Discovery,” copyright by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York, 1892.] So, everything being ready, on the 3rd of August, 1492, a half-hour before sunrise, he unmoored his little fleet in the stream, and,... more...

NATURE'S FINER FORCES One of the most common mistaken conceptions of the average student of the occult sciences, and of so-called "psychic phenomena" in general, is that which may be expressed by the term "supernatural." This term, as you know, is used to express the idea of "that which is outside of the realm of Nature, and of Nature's laws." Knowledge Versus Faith As... more...

Preface. In publishing the present work, the Author rests his hopes of its favourable reception chiefly upon the fact that its subject is comparatively new. Although touched upon by other writers in narratives of Arctic discovery, and in works of general information, the very nature of those publications prohibited a lengthened or minute description of that everyday life whose delineation is the chief... more...

INTRODUCTORY THE STORY OF THE NEEDLE The story of embroidery includes in its history all the work of the needle since Eve sewed fig leaves together in the Garden of Eden. We are the inheritors of the knowledge and skill of all the daughters of Eve in all that concerns its use since the beginning of time. When this small implement came open-eyed into the world it brought with it possibilities of... more...

A COVNTER-BLASTE TO TOBACCO. That the manifolde abuses of this vile custome of Tobacco taking, may the better be espied, it is fit, that first you enter into consideration both of the first originall thereof, and likewise of the reasons of the first entry thereof into this Countrey. For certainely as such customes, that haue their first institution either from a godly, necessary, or honorable ground,... more...

I.—INTRODUCTION. At present marriage is easily the most dangerous of all our social institutions. This is partly due to the colossal ignorance of the public in regard to sex, and partly due to the fact that marriage is mainly controlled by lawyers and priests instead of by women and doctors. The legal and religious aspects of marriage are not the primary ones. A marriage may be legal—and miserable;... more...