Chapter 7
Section 7 of 1000 Things Worth Knowing. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Joshua Loak.
1000 Things Worth Knowing by Nathaniel C. Fowler Jr. Certified Checks. A personal check becomes certified when across it is written certified with the name of the bank and the signature of the cashier or other official. The bank then becomes liable for the amount of the check.
If the maker of a check has his check certified, he is jointly responsible with the bank for its payment. But if the receiver of the check has it certified, the maker of the check is released from all responsibility. Chemical Composition of Man.
Huxley's table on the chemical composition of man of the average weight of 154 pounds was for years the standard. But it has recently been superseded by a new one compiled by the French Academy of Sciences. The table is appended. There are 111 pounds 8 ounces of oxygen.
21 pounds 6 ounces of hydrogen. 21 pounds of carbon. 3 pounds 10 ounces of nitrogen. 1 pound 2 ounces and 88 grains of phosphorus. 2 pounds of calcium.
219 grains of sulfur. 47 grains of chlorine. 116 grains of sodium or salt. 100 grains of iron. 290 grains of potassium.
12 grains of magnesium. And 2 grains of silica. Chess. Chess is one of the oldest and probably the most scientific game known. Its origin is mysterious.
It was mentioned in oriental literature about 2000 BC. It was originally played in India, Persia and Arabia and subsequently was known in Spain and Western Europe. It is said that it was invented in order to teach the art of war. Christmas.
A festival commemorating the birth of Christ said to have been observed as early as 98. Some of the early Christians celebrated the event in May, others in April and in June. In the 5th century it was generally observed on the 25th of December. Circulation of the blood. Although even the savage had seen and spilled blood, the circulation of the blood and the
part that it plays in the human machine was not discovered until about 1616 by the English physiologist William Harvey. Climate and temperature. Climate conditions are dependent upon heat, moisture and altitude. The greatest heat is at the equator and diminishes as one approaches either pole.
But a place of high altitude near the equator may be cooler than another farther removed from it and occupying a shut-in or low position. It is warm at times even near the poles. The climate is also affected by the winds and very greatly by the ocean and especially currents.
Take England for example. It is considerably further north than Boston or New York City and yet its climate is much warmer or milder due to its proximity to the Gulf Stream. Land near the ocean is likely to be cooler in summer on account of its prevailing winds and warmer in winter because a large body of water reduces the cold.
It is well known that towns on the seashore do not suffer from extreme cold as much as do those in the same latitude further inland. The altitude has much to do with climate. Even in the warmest countries, where the heat is intense, the tops of high mountains are clothed through a snow.
Forests by their shade reduce the temperature. End of section 7
