No other thing can scratch or mar the polished facets and sharp corners of the diamond. It is the hardest of all known things. While all diamonds are of practically the same hardness, this is not, however, absolutely true, as stones from wet diggings or rivers are slightly harder than those from dry diggings. All diamonds are infusible and unaffected by acids or alkali. The heat of a burning building will not affect them, they can be raked from the ashes uninjured and can only be burned in oxygen under a scientifically produced intense heat of 4000° F. While the hardest known thing, the diamond is brittle and can be crushed to a powder. It is the only absolutely pure gem, being composed of crystallized carbon—all others are composed of two or more elements.
The term “Shibboleth” has come to mean a countersign or password of a secret society since the Biblical days, when the Ephraimites, who had been routed by Jephthah, tried to pass the Jordan. They were made to pronounce the word “Shibboleth” and were easily detected as enemies when they pronounced it “Sibboleth.”
Why do We Get Hungry?
Hunger is a sensation partly arising in the stomach, since it may be relieved temporarily by the introduction into the stomach of material which is incapable of yielding any nutriment to the body. It may be due to a condition of fulness of the vessels of the stomach, relieved by any stimulus which, acting on the lining membrane, induces a flow of fluid from the glands. But it also arises from a condition of the system, since the introduction of nutriment into the blood, apart altogether from the stomach, will relieve it. This is also evident from the fact that hunger may be experienced even when the stomach is full of food, and when food is supplied in abundance, if some disease prevents the absorption of the nourishment, or quickly drains it from the blood. Hunger may be partially allayed by sleep or by the use of narcotics, tobacco and alcohol, all of which tend to diminish the disintegration of tissues.
The Story in the Modern Lifting Magnet[72]
Nearly every boy has had among his treasured possessions a small horseshoe magnet, painted red, with bright ends, and has spent many happy hours picking up needles, steel pins or other small objects, and finally tired of it because of its small lifting capacity and dreamed of one which would lift a hammer, or possibly even the family flatiron. Little did he know at that time of the long and interesting history of magnetism, the many stories and superstitions based on its strange power; or of its intimate relation to the wonderful growth of electricity within the last hundred years. His wildest dreams of lifting power would be realized if he could see a modern electric lifting magnet which has only come into use within the last ten years and is meeting with instant approval in nearly every industry where iron and steel is handled in any quantity.