Monkey Vengeance

I love the idea of people using animals to take revenge on their enemies. In Japan and India, monkeys are revered and allowed to do as they wish. This old article is a perfect example of 'Who, ME?';

"Monkeys in India are more or less objects of superstitious reverence, and are, consequently, seldom or ever destroyed. In some places they are even fed, encouraged, and allowed to live on the roofs of the houses.

If a man wished to revenge himself for any injury committed upon him, he has only to sprinkle some rice or corn upon the top of his enemy's house, or granary, just before the rains set in, and the monkeys will assemble upon it, eat all they can find outside, and then pull off the tiles to get at that which falls through the crevices.

This, of course, gives access to the torrents which fall in such countries, and house, furniture, and stores are all ruined."

Charity instead of Pomp

I see people with money so consumed with personal vanity that they dissipate what could help so many others much less fortunate.

Lavish weddings, vacations/trips, jewelry/bling, gadgets, multiple homes, pampering/spoiling kids, etc., etc, AD NAUSEUM.

Mostly to get attention and be noticed as well I suspect as some sick idea that this proves they are better than others.

Every now and then, someone comes along and does something marvelous...they exhibit beneficence without need of thanks or payback.

Such a case I found in an old book where poor and starving people were helped for a few days on the death of a decent man of some means;

"According to the 'Annual Register' for August, 1760, there were expended at the funeral of Farmer Keld, of Whitby, in that year,

one hundred and ten dozen of penny loaves,
eight large hams,
eight legs of veal,
twenty stone of beef (fourteen pounds to the stone),
sixteen stone of mutton,
fifteen stone of Cheshire cheese,
and thirty ankers of ale,

besides what was distributed to about one thousand poor people, who had sixpence each in money given them."

Faith and Mob-Wisdom

I've seen a quote, "Public opinion is but the average stupidity of mankind." This has never been so well proven as the cult following for the current president. So I found an analogous story;

"A singular instance of a mob cheating themselves by their own headlong impetuosity, is to be found in the life of Woodward, the comedian.

On one occasion, when he was in Dublin, and lodged opposite the Parliament House, a mob who were making the members swear to oppose an unpopular bill, called out to his family to throw them a Bible out of the window.

Mr. W. was frightened, for they had no such book in the house, but he threw out a volume of Shakespeare, telling the mob they were welcome to it.

They gave him three cheers, swore the members upon this book, and afterwards returned it without discovering its contents."

Thou Shalt not practice 'Daggering'

Representatives of some hospitals revealed that more men have been fracturing their penises in recent months than any other time in Jamaica. Checks with urologists in some of the country's major hospitals have revealed that the "noticeable increase" in the number of cases where men fracture their members is largely attributed to the men's obsession with daggerin', aka rough sex.

Another surgeon from that facility said the majority of cases that come to the hospital are a result of extremely vigorous sex or, in most recent popular terms, 'daggeration'. "It's possibly daggerin' people tend to have a predisposition to rough sex," the surgeon said.

"(So) during very rigorous intercourse, the penis slips out and in an attempt to ram it back in, the man hits the woman's pubic bone and pops the penis." The doctors could not confirm if any of the cases regarding the broken penis took place when the men were doing the dance version of daggerin' as opposed to rough intercourse.

In a story published last September, Dr Alverston Bailey, a past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica, warned that men who suffered a penile fracture should immediately seek medical assistance as leaving it unattended might cause the penis to be permanently deformed or they might become impotent.

Bailey continued that when the penis was fractured there was a loud popping sound, followed by excruciating pain and significant swelling, causing the penis to appear deformed. He noted that in some cases, blood might be seen coming from the organ.

Yes, I know, human penises don't have bones but apparently the cartilage breaks. Oddly enough that is one of the two key things that indicate humans don't originate from planet earth, but probably came from Mars when we screwed up that homeworld.

Only animals have bones in their penii and if a human is placed in an artificial light environment without any sunlight..such as a cave, the daily cycle will be 25 hours, not 24. Just so happens a Martian day is 25.1 hours which could mean that we originated there. - Source

The Telepathic Nose

There are researchers who claim body parts, though separated, remain connected over distance...unlimited distance. But as the tissues decay, the link is quenched. This article caught my interest;

"Van Helmont tells a story, of a person who applied to Taliacotius to have his nose restored. This person, have a dread of an incision being made in his own arm, for the purpose of removing enough skin therefrom for a nose, got a labourer, who, for a remuneration, suffered the skin for the nose to be taken from his arm.

About thirteen months after, the adscitious nose suddenly became cold, and, after a few days, dropped off, in a state of putrefaction.

The cause of this unexpected occurrence having been investigated, it was discovered that, at the same moment in which the nose grew cold, the labourer at Bologna expired."

Losing weight by restricting intake

A diet that makes sense from an old book;

"A gentleman, of great respectability in the mercantile world, who weighed thirty-two stone nine pounds, put himself upon a strict diet of four ounces of animal food, six ounces of bread, and two pounds of liquid, in twenty-four hours.

In one week he lost thirty pounds weight, and in six months he was diminished the astonishing quantity of one hundred and thirty pounds. His health and spirits were much improved, and considering his remaining size of twenty-three stone, he was very active."

I think by animal food he just means meat but no specifics.

A stone is about 14 pounds so initially he was 32 X 14 = 448 + 9 = 457 pounds.

At the end of the ariticle he weighed 23 X 14 = 322 pounds.

So he lost 135 pounds. Not too shabby.

The Hypnotic Gaze of Snakes

A few weeks ago, there was in the news an article about the discovery of a device to detect beams from the eyes. This article might have some connection to the use of such eyebeams to fascinate and paralyze a victim;

"Some animals are held in universal dread by others, and not the least terrible is the effect produced by the rattle-snake. Mr. Pennant says, that this snake will frequently lie at the bottom of a tree, on which a squirrel is seated.

He fixes his eyes on the animal, and from that moment it cannot escape; it begins a doleful outcry, which is so well known that a passer by, on hearing it, immediately knows that a snake is present.

The squirrel runs up the tree a little way, comes down again, then goes up and afterwards comes still lower. The snake continues at the bottom of the tree, with his eyes fixed on the squirrel, and his attention is so entirely taken up, that a person accidentlly approaching may make a considerable noise, without so much as the snake's turning about.

The squirrel comes lower, and at last leaps down to the snake, whose mouth is already distended for its reception.

Le Vaillant confirms this fascinating terror, by a scene he witnessed. He saw on the branch of a tree a species of shrike trembling as if in convulsions, and at the distance of nearly four feet, on another branch, a large species of snake, that was lying with outstretched neck and fiery eyes, gazing steadily at the poor animal.

The agony of the bird was so great that it was deprived of the power of moving away, and when one of the party killed the snake, it was found dead upon the spot-and that entirely from fear-for, on examination, it appeared not to have received the slightest wound.

The same traveller adds, that a short time afterwards he observed a small mouse in similar agonizing convulsions, about two yards from a snake, whose eyes were intently fixed upon it; and on frightening away the reptile, and taking up the mouse, it expired in his hand."

Real Life Benjamin Button

Wonderful movie though very bizarre so it was surprising to find this historical tidbit with a similar story...born old;

"Margaret Krasiowna, of the village of Koninia, Poland, died 1763, aged 108. The following extraordinary circumstances are stated, by Eaton, as connected with the life of this woman: 'At the age of ninety-four she married her third husband, Gaspard Raycolt, of the village of Ciwouszin, then aged one hundred and five.

During the fourteen years they lived together she brought him two boys and a girl; and, what is very remarkable, these three children, from their very birth, bore evident marks of the old age of their parents-their hair being grey, and a vacuity appearing in their gums, like that which is occasioned by the loss of teeth, though they never had any.

They had not strength enough, even as they grew up, to chew solid food, but lived on bread and vegetables, they were of a proper size for their age, but their backs were bent, their complexions sallow, with all the other external symptoms of decrepitude.'

'Though most of the particulars', he adds, 'may appear fabulous, they are certified by the parish registers. The village of Ciwouszin is in the district of Stenzick, in the palatinate of Sendonier. Gaspard Raycolt, the father, died soon after, aged 119."

Another take on Spontaneous Generation

There is a phenomenon where fish bearing lakes and ponds dry up, leaving only cracked, dusty earth with no moisture. Yet when water returns to refill these reservoirs, so too do the fish.

One of the claims is that fish eggs are buried deeply underground where there might be sufficient moisture to keep them fertile, just waiting for the waters to return.

I happened on this alternate version which could also explain it;

"It is generally well known that birds are very active agents in the extension of vegetation, and that fruit and flowers are, to a great extent, rendered prolific by the insects which visit their blossoms; but few people are aware of the means through which fish are formed in lakes and ponds, which are not connected with other waters.

Here, also, an insect is the principal agent. The large water-beetle, which is in the habit of feeding upon the spawn of fish, occasionally in the evening climbs up the stems of rushes, etc. out of the water, sufficiently high to enable it to take wing; in these circumstances it has been caught, and putting it into water, has been found to give out the spawn with which it had gorged itself previous to taking flight, both in a digested and undigested state; so that, on trial, it has been found that it produced fish of various kinds."

In one of my very favorite and most inspiring old books, 'The Annotated Dweller on Two Planets', which I just happen to sell as a downloadable ebook for $6.00, there is a wealth of claims about ancient civilizations with incredible inventions. One of these is the vailx, a flying ship claimed to be very common at the time.

The book is quite fascinating and would make an excellent movie. It is a wonderfully explicit illustrated science fantasy written in 1883-1884. It describes many fascinating concepts including the NAVAZ force which today we call aether/zpe, how transmutation was done, sound and video broadcasting, curing criminals with magnetic fields, 'praying' matter into existence, altering matter with concentrated thought, the VAILX flying cylinders, condensing gallons of water from the air using the NAVAZ force and a wealth of other material that you will correlate to modern discoveries.

Cryptic comments such as, 'Night is as pregnant as day', 'NAVAZ the night-side of nature', 'repulsion by levitation', 'vibration of the One Substance' and 'treasures of the hail (cold)'. Also included is a missing chapter explaining how matter is 'tuned' to lockin and become the different elements as well as additional supporting material. - 315 page eBook - $6.00

As these vailx airships traversed the earth, the book says it was common practice for the passengers to throw out seeds of many plants as an offering to Zania, goddess of the harvest, so that plants not native to a region could be spread the more easily.

Odd notes from History

Every so often you might chance on a list of peculiar events of note...so this list caught my eye though I have removed what I consider the boring parts;

From Arthur Hopton's 'Concordancie of Years, 1615'

1077 - A blazing star on Palm Sunday, nere the sun.
1116 - The moone seemed turned into bloud.
1128 - Men wore haire like women.
1231 - Thunder lasted fifteen daies; beginning the morrow after St. Martin's day.
1233 - Four sunnes appeared, beside the true sunne, of a red colour.
1292 - The Jewes corrupting England with usury, had first a badge giuen them to weare, that they might be knowne, and after were banished to the number of 150,000 persons.
1361 - Men and beasts perished in diuers places with thunder and lightning, and fiends were seene speake unto men as they trauelled.
1401 - Pride exceeding in monstrous apparrell.

Ufos? Celestial events? Peculiar weather? And that weird one about the Jews getting kicked out for practicing usury...apparently history repeats...would that we didn't have usury these days, the world would I think be a much better place.

Definition of Usury;

1. The practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate.
2. An excessive or illegally high rate of interest charged on borrowed money.

The credit card companies should be bound by this no usury idea!

I believe usury is also forbidden in the Koran, but have to check if that is true for the Bible.

From the Koran

The Quran forbids usury, not interest. Quite a few states in USA have laws against usury. Usury is defined as excessive interest. A Dictionary defines usury as "an excessive or inordinate premium for the use of money borrowed", "extortionate interest", or "the practice of taking exorbitant or excessive interest." The Arabic language also makes distinction between interest (Fa'eda) and usury (Reba). The Quran forbids Reba or usury.

From the Bible

25 " If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.
'Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.
37 'You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. (Leviticus 25:35-37)
You shall not charge interest to your brother -- interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest.
20 "To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess. (Deuteronomy 23:19,20)

What is the Secret in the Thighs?

Today there is much research done in the field of stem cells which act as undifferentiated tissue to match the form of surrounding tissues and grow new healthy tissue. So this peculiar comment caught my attention;

"Bridget Behan, of Castle-waller, in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, retained the use of all her powers of body and mind to the close of her long life, 110 years, in 1807. About six years preceding her death she fell down stairs, and broke one of her thighs.

Contrary to all expectation, she not only recovered from the effects of the accident, but actually, from thence, walked stronger on this leg, which, previously to the accident, had been a little failing than she had done for many years before.

Another remarkable circumstance relating to this fracture was, that she became perfectly cured of a chronic rheumatism of long standing, and from which on particular occasion she had suffered a good deal of affliction. A short while before her death she cut a new tooth."

Beggars as Sistine Chapel models

So famous painters often used beggars and indigents as models for their most famous paintings. Perhaps because poor people have a harder life and so might have more interesting features reflecting their tribulations.

Fuseli, in his life of Michael Angelo, says that 'a beggar rose from his hand the patriarch of poverty.' The same artist, in one of his lectures, delivered at the Royal Academy, also observes, that 'Michael Angelo ennobled his beggars into Patriarchs and Prophets, in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.'

Annibal Caracci frequently drew subjects in low life. His 'Cries of Bologna', etched by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli; published in 1660, in folio, are evidently from real characters. It will also be recollected, that some of the finest productions of Murillo, Jan Miel, and Drogsloot, are beggars. Callot's twenty-four beggars are evidently from nature; and among Rembrandt's etchings are to be found twenty-three plates of this description.

Sir Joshua Reynolds frequently painted from beggars, and from these people have originated some of his finest pictures, particularly his 'Mercury as a Pickpocket,' and 'Cupid as a Link-boy.' His Count Ugolino was painted from a pavior (street paver), soon after he had left St. George's Hospital, from a severe fever. Mr. West painted the portrait of a beggar, on the day when he became a hundred years old; and considered him as a pensioner for several years afterwards.

Walking on water, an Old Thing

I have always found it of interest that in the legends of Jesus, he showed no miracles until he disappeared at the age of 13 and came back 17 years later at the age of 30. Only then was he able to carry out the miracles mentioned in the bible.

There are stories that he traveled around the world through a vast network of underground tunnels, which allowed him to visit other cultures and learn their magickal techniques...kind of a trick swapping trip.

In Tibet there is a bible much like the early christian bible and claimed to have been written by a Saint Issa, a stranger from a faroff land who came to live and study with the Tibetans.

In Mexico there is a similar legend of Quetzalcoatl who also came from afar to study the secrets of local magic.

So I found a peculiar book that tells of India having a very old tradition of men walking on water as Jesus is said to have done;

"The act of walking on water is in India to be regarded merely as one of several ways of crossing water magically, all of which are frequently illustrated in the literature. The other ways are to walk through water that has magically been reduced in depth, and to fly across the water (or, to disappear and suddenly reappear across the water).

These three ways are not marked off from one another by hard and fast divisions, but sometimes in variants of the same story are interchangeable. They come from a period of great antiquity, the earliest instances appearing in the Rigveda and being therefore not later than 800BC and are again all securely founded on native Indian metaphysical doctrines.

These doctrines provide four means of accomplishing the miracle: first, religious act; second, the magic power of truth, being a specialized variant of the first; third, the psychic power of levitation; and fourth, the magic aid of the Buddha-this last means having affinities to the first and third...

There is another point to be observed in connection with these legends. As far as the text gives us specific information the rivers became passable not because they ceased flowing and provided passage on dry land, as did the Jordan for the Hebrews, not because they became solid as we shall later see the Euphrates did for Alexander, not because the men obtained some magic power that enabled them to overcome the law of gravity and walk on the surface of the water, as did Jesus, Peter, and many Indian characters, but because their depth was lessened and they were made fordable.

Of all the ways that rivers coud be crossed magically, this is the simplest and the one most likely to be inspired in literature by some actual occurrence...

In the same way the Hebrew legend of passing through the Red Sea is explained as based on the rising of a mighty wind that blew back the waters, a possible historical incident to which later tradition added supernatural elements, with the result that we not only find one miracle of divided waters in the Old Testament, but others secondarily derived from it concerning the Jordan, which can have no such rational basis."

For my money, I think Jesus learned how to reduce or cancel body weight from the Tibetan technique of Lung Gom Pa. If one could reduce body weight to almost nothing, walking across water without sinking would be a piece of cake.

Nicotine as a cure for various illnesses

Years ago, when I was a teenager working as a carhop, I burned my thumb and it hurt like hell. The wife of the boss didn't have any medicine handy but said she would use something her grandmother used on them.

She took a piece of regular paper, wadded it up and burned it in a coffee dish. When it was completely burned, she blew the ashes away and there remained an oily brown residue. She rubbed this on my thumb and the pain stopped a few minutes later and it healed up with no problems.

The lady said it is the paper in cigarettes which cause cancer and that is why people who smoke cigars don't get cancer, because the paper is made from tobacco leaves which also contain nicotine as in the tobacco being smoked. Now of course, that was probably some kind of creosote in the paper she burned but it worked and I experienced it myself.

Creosote Bush - Dissolves Kidney and Bile Duct Stones, Used to Fight Rheumatism and Favors the Rapid Healing of Wounds.

Aztec Method of Use

To Dissolve Stones: Boil 5 grams of leaves to 1/4 liter of water, drink 1 to 2 cups a day.
For Rheumatic Pain: Rub on the affected area the same mixture described above.
For Rapid Healing of Wounds: Foment warm on affected area the same mixture as above.

So I was browsing for goodies and found this REALLY OLD article about the origins of tobacco smoking but it is written in very old english...so I am going to snip out the useful parts and translate to modern english. Noli me tangere as used in the document is Latin and means 'don't touch me';

"Master John Nicot, Counselor to the King, being Ambassador for the King in Portugal, in the years of our lord 1559, 60 and 61, went one day to see the person of the King of Portugal, and a gentleman being the keeper of the said prisons presented him this herb, as a strange plant brought from Florida;

the same Master Nicot, having caused the said herb to be set in his garden, where it grew and multiplied marvelously, was upon a time advertised, by one of his pages, that a young man, a kin to that page,

made a poultice of that herb bruised, both the herb and the juice together upon an ulcer which he had upon his cheek near unto his nose, coming of a Noli me tangere which had taken root already at the gristles of the nose, wherewith he found himself marvellously eased.

Therefore the said Master Nicot caused the sick young man to be brought before him, causing the said herb to be continued to be applied to the sore for eight or ten days, this aforesaid Noli me tangere, was utterly extinguished and healed; and he had sent it, while this cure was working, to a certain physician of the King of Portugal of the most fame, for to see the further working and effect of the said Nicotine, and sending for the same young man at the end of ten days, that the said Noli me tangere was utterly extinguished, as in deed he never felt it since.

Within a while after, one of the cooks of the said Ambassador having almost cut off his thumb, with a great chopping knife, the steward of the house of the said gentleman, used the said Nicotine plant, and dressed him (the cook) with the poultice five or six times, and so in the end thereof he was healed; from that time forward this herb began to be famous throughout all Lisbon, where the court of the King of Portugal was at that present, and the virtue of this said Ambassador's herb!

Wherefore there came certain days after, a gentleman of the country, father to one of the pages of the Ambassador, who was troubled with an ulcer in his leg, having had the same for two years, and demanded of the said Ambassador for his herb, and using the same in such order as is before written, at the end of ten or twelve days he was healed.

From that time forth the fame of that herb increased in such sort, that many came from all places to have that same herb. Among all others there was a woman that had her face covered with a ringworm rooted, as though she had a 'visour/visor' on her face, to whom the said L Ambassador caused the herb to be given her, and told how she should use it, and at the end of eight or ten days, this woman was thoroughly healed, she came and showed herself to the Ambassador, showing him of her healing.

After there came a captain to present his son, sick of the Kings 'euill' (scrofula) to the said Ambassador, for to send him to France, unto whom there was made a poultice of the Nicotine, which in a few days did begin to show great signs of healing, and finally was altogether healed of the kings 'euill'.

The Ambassador seeing so great effects proceeding of this herb, and having heard say that the Lady Montigny that was died at Saint Germans, of an ulcer bread in her breast, that did turn to a Noli me tangere, for which there could never a remedy be found, and likewise that the Countess of Ruffe, had sought for all the famous physicians of the realm, for to heal her face, unto whom they could give no remedy, he thought it good to communicate the same into France, and did send it to King Frances the 2nd; and to the Queen Mother, and to many other Lords of the Courts with the manner of using the same; and how to apply it unto the said diseases, even as he had found it by experience; and chiefly to the Lord of Jarnac, governor of Rogell, with whom the said Lord Ambassador had great amity for the service of the King.

The which Lord of Jarnac, told one day at the Queens table, that he had caused the said Nicotine to be distilled, and caused the water to be rdunk, mingled with water Euphrasie, otherwise called 'Eyebright', to one that was short breathed, and was therewith healed." - Joyfull News out of the newe found worlde, 1577 - Black Letter

And after typing all this up, I did a search and found a URL for the medicinal uses of tobacco that you might find of further interest.

I find it fascinating that nicotine is claimed to cause cancer and yet here it seems to cure diseases, possibly cancer in a kind of homeopathic, 'law of similars' reverse way.

Law of Similars - A pharmacologically active substance administered to a person in good health triggers a series of symptoms. When these same symptoms appear in a sick person they can be cured by administering the same substance in a micro dose. A very common example of this is Ipecac. When taken in a large doses Ipecac causes vomiting; when taken in a very small dose it is one of the best remedies for nausea and vomiting. This principle was known to two ancient physicians, Hippocrates (400 B.C.) and Paracelsus (1493), but it was not until the last quarter of the 18th century that it was actively investigated.

Wonder if you drink the juice and apply a poultice to breast and other cancers, if it might help to cure it?

I don't trust much written these days since who knows how many are in the employ of the tobacco companies who just want you to buy their cigarettes. Getting some tobacco leaves would make this very easy to test for a variety of sores and maybe even cancers...if I catch something, have to remember to try this!

A 'new' take on Perpetual Lights

I have always been fascinated by stories of perpetual lights oft discovered in tombs which have been sealed for hundreds of years. Reports say when they are exposed to daylight, they are quenched and no longer function.

No one has ever offered a satisfactory explanation let alone duplicated the effect. They could use tritium which produces a dim light but only for about 12-20 years or so.

So I was intrigued by mention of this mysterious glowing water and how to produce it taken from the notes of Albertus Magnus (the spelling is exactly as written);

"If thou wylt make a Carbukle stone, or a thyng shyning in the nyght. - Take verye many of the lyttle beastes shyninge by nyghte, and put them beaten smale in a bottel of glasse, and close it, and burye it in hoate horses doung, and let it tary xv dayes, afterwarde thou shalte destyll water of them Peralembicum, which thou shalt put in a vessel of Christal or glasse. It giueth so great clearnesse, that every man may reade and write in a darke place where it is. Some men make this water of the gall of a snale, the gal of a weasel, the gall of a feret, and of a water dogge: they burie them in doung and destyll water out of them."

Sounds like the beasties that shine in the night are fireflies which contain luciferase as the ingredient which glows but why bury in horse-dung and wait 15 day...

Not a clue what Peralembicum unless it is a description of lab glassware like a retort or alembic to make a still for concentrating the effect into drops.

It is also possible that a short term, self-illuminating phosphorescence is produced from the materials mentioned. I didn't see where it had to be recharged by exposure to sunlight or other light.

Hair Transplants in 1826

And I thought this was a new thang;

"Signor Nardo recounts the results of experiments made on his own person in the transplantation of hair, and relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, with its root, from a pore of his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished by

widening the pore somewhat with the point of a needle, introducing the root with nicety,

and exciting within the pore itself, by friction, a slight degree of inflammation,

the hair takes root, continues to vegetate, and grows; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and falls."

Belling the Rat

We know about putting a bell on a cats neck to warn animals of its approach but a RAT?

"A gentleman traveling through Mecklenburgh, some years since, witnessed a singular association of incongruous animals. After dinner, the landlord of the inn placed on the floor a large dish of soup, and gave a loud whistle.

Immediately there came into the room a mastiff, an Angora cat, an old raven, and a remarkably large rat, with a bell about its neck.

They all four went to the dish, and without disturbing each other, fed together; after which the dog, cat and the rat, lay before the fire, while the raven hopped about the room.

The landlord, after accounting for the familiarity of these animals, informed his guest that the rat was the most useful of the four; for the noise he made had completely freed his house from the rats and mice with which it was before infested."

Coal Pit water for Embalming

An odd news item from the register of St. Andrew's, in Newcastle states;

"April 24th, 1695, were buried James Areher and his son Stephen, who, in the month of May, 1658, were drowned in a coal-pit in the Galla-Flat, by the breaking in of water from an old waste.

The bodies were found entire, after they had lain in the water 36 years and 11 months."

Manning up a boy Child

In the education of their children, the Anglo-Saxons only sought to render them dauntless and apt for the two most important occupations of their future lives-war and the chase.

It was a usual trial of a child's courage, to place him on the sloping roof of a building, and if, without screaming or terror he held fast, he was styled a stout 'herce', or brave boy. - Howel

The Cat Clock

This is an intriguing bit of lore that is worth posting;

One day when we went to pay a visit to some families of Chinese Christians peasants, we met, near a farm, a young lad, who was taking a buffalo to graze along our path. We asked him carelessly, as we passed, whether it was yet noon. The child raised his head to look at the sun, but it was hidden behind thick clouds, and he could read no answer there.

"The sky is so cloudy," said he; "but wait a moment;" and with these words he ran towards the farm, and came back a few minutes afterwards with a cat in his arms. "Look here," said he, "it is not noon yet;" and he showed us the cat's eyes, by pushing up the lids with his hands.

We looked at the child with surprise, but he was evidently in earnest; and the cat, though astonished, and not much pleased at the experiment made on her eyes, behaved with most exemplary complaisance.

"Very well," said we; "thank you;" and he then let go the cat, who made her escape pretty quickly, and we continued on our route.

To say the truth, we had not at all understood the proceeding; but we did not wish to question the little pagan, lest he should find out that we were Europeans by our ignorance. As soon as ever we reached the farm, however, we made hast to ask our Christians whether they could tell the clock by looking to the cat's eyes.

They seemed surprised at the question; but as there was no danger of confessing to them our ignorance of the properties of the cat's eyes, we related what had just taken place. That was all that was necessary; our complaisant neophytes immediately gave chase to all the cats in the neighborhood.

They brought us three or four, and explained in what manner they might be made use of for watches. They pointed out that the pupil of their eyes went on constantly growing narrower until twelve o'clock when they became like a fine line, as thin as a hair, drawn perpendicularly across the eye, and that after twelve the dilation recommenced.

When we had attentively examined the eyes of all the cats at our disposal, we concluded that it was past noon, as all the eyes perfectly agreed upon the point.

Incredible Strength of Fleas

I'm always interesting in personal flight and from the following article, maybe the Incredible Hulk is a mutation of a flea which allows him to jump so far using incredibly strong leg muscles.

The mexican jumping bean is another curiosity and a proof of inertial, unidirectional propulsion.

"In an old book called 'Invisible World' by M. de Fonvielle, he writes that a flea can raise itself from the ground to a height equal to two hundred times its stature.

At this rater, he says, a man would only make a joke of jumping over the towers of Notre-Dame or the heights of Montmartre. A prison yard would be useless unless the walls were more than a quarter of a mile in height."

You might have seen the new pogosticks which use super elastic bands to allow people to jump 6-10 feet.

In the past, people have used gasoline engines to drive pogo sticks as shown in the attached photo.

And I have a contact who claims he built a piezo electrically driven pogo stick that could break your leg if you didn't ride it at the correct rhythm. His design was very interesting.

When you hit a crystal, it produces electricity using the piezoelectric effect. So when you apply a high voltage pulse to a crystal, it produces a very strong mechanical thrust.

This is the principle for ultrasonic cleaning machines and the piezoelectric flat plates that produce most of the beeps and sounds we hear in our portable devices and computer related toys and devices.

My inventor friend wrapped a coil of wire around the base of a pogo stick. Then he connected a crystal and a very strong magnet.

The magnet was on the sliding rod of the pogo stick so when you pushed it down really hard with your weight, the magnet would induce a current in the coil which would be stored.

When the pogo stick pushed back to throw you into the air, the accumulated current would be applied to the piezo crystal to produce a very strong thrust to push you up with great force.

Cobras as Assassins

We've heard the stories about cobras mating for life and if you kill one of them, it's mate will track your sorry butt down and kill you in revenge. That came to mind when I found this old story;

"One barbarism of Hindostan used a peculiar form of assassination. The murderer would kill one of a pair of cobras, and drag the body of the snake along the ground into the bungalow, over the floor, and into the very bed of the intended victim.

After a few moments, the dead snake, having accomplished the purpose of leaving an odorous trail directly to the sleeping couch of the intended victim, would be thrown away.

The dead cobra's living mate would infallibly follow the trail to the bed, where it would coil itself at rest, waiting to strike the sleeper."

Tree Oysters

This interesting anecdote is certainly worth checking up on. Imagine oyster farms where you harvest when the tide is low.

A Mr. C.H. Williams, tells us how oysters inhabit the mangrove woods in Cuba; "For several years I resided in that island, and have several times come across scenes and objects which may people would consider great curiosities-one in particular. Oysters grow on trees, in immense quantities, especially in the southern part of the island.

I have seen miles of trees, the lower stems and branches of which were literally covered with the, and many a good meal have I enjoyed with very little trouble in procuring it. I simply placed the branches over the fire, and when opened, I picked out the oysters wit a fork or pointed stick.

These peculiar shell-fish are indigenous in lagoons and swamps on the coast, and as far as the tide will rise and the spray fly so will they cling to the lower parts of the Mangrove trees, sometimes four or five deep, the Mangrove being one of the very few trees that flourish in salt water."

Detecting the Guilty by lack of Chewing

From an old book, 'It is a common practice, in many parts of India, to oblige persons suspected of crimes to chew dry rice in the presence of officers of the law.

Curious as it may appear, such is the intense influence of fear on the salivary glands, that, if they are actually guilty, there is no secretion of saliva in the mouth, and chewing is impossible.

Such culprits generally confess without any further efforts. On the contrary, a consciousness of innocence allows of a proper flow of fluid for softening the rice.'

Using currents for discovery

Years ago I read about a mathematician who was conversant in fluid mechanics and understood how to calculate fluid flows, vortices, etc.. As I recall, the guy was a university professor and as a proof to his students of how one could use mathematics for creative purposes, he made a 3D computer model of the city center of Chicago. He then collected meteoroligical data showing wind velocity and directions, then used the placement of buildings to determine where vortices would coalesce and in the doing, perhaps collect lost items like paper money and other items of value.

From this calculate map, he took his students out to each spot where they found pockets of loose bills that netted him several thousand dollars. The students were both delighted and intrigued with this novel project and no doubt it inspired them to concentrate of their studies with regard to practical applications.

I was reminded of this vortices story when I chanced upon this brief article in a very old book;

"In the 'Gentleman's Magazine' (February 8th, 1767), is a curious notice of the mode of discovering the body of a drowned person: "An inquisition was taken at Newbury, Berks, on the body of a child nearly two years old, who fell into the river Kennet, and was drowned. The body was discovered by a very singular experiment.

After diligent search had been made in the river for the child, to no purpose, a two-penny loaf, with a quantity of quicksilver put into it, was set floating from the place where the child, it was supposed, had fallen in, which steered its course down the river upwards of half a mile, before a great number of spectators,

when the body, happening to lay on the contrary side of the river, the loaf suddenly tacked about and swam across the river, and gradually sunk near the child, when both the child and the loaf were brought up with grabbers ready for that purpose."

A case of Inordinate Self-Esteem

No doubt we all have encountered people very full of themselves who think the world revolves around them and everyone should bow to their magnificence. I found this comment in an 18th century book that expresses this very well. Note it is very old and could be any race of people, it was just the way things were written back them;

Some Frenchmen who landed on the coast of Guinea, found a negro prince seated under a tree on a block of wood for his throne, and three or four negroes, armed with wooden spears, for his guards. His sable majesty anxiously inquired; "Do they talk much of me in France?"

I think its hilarious and well stated.

Cocaine Detecting Flashlight

What a great invention. Just what we need to further stuff our prison systems… I happen to believe in legal drugs though I don’t use any of it, I think people have the right to use if it they choose and can do it responsibly…hurt no one and damage no property that doesn’t belong to you… If you want to get high by drink or drugs or whatever, its YOUR business, no one elses.

"Police are shining 'magic torches' into clubbers' faces to check for tiny traces of cocaine – and now employers and parents are being encouraged to follow suit. Forces across the country are buying the £40 torches which can make any microscopic particles of cocaine or amphetamine that are invisible to the naked eye appear bright green. Officers say the UV lights work as well as ones costing ten times as much and make it easy to spot the tin­iest traces of cocaine on nasal hair.Sgt Alan Clayton said: 'This simple piece of equipment will have a big impact on drug use in pubs and clubs. 'Traces of cocaine are also left on the cheeks and chin that are not visible to the naked eye and these show up bright green, too. It really is amazing.' The torches are produced by Wrexham-based JNE Marketing, intending them to be used to show markings on stolen property. It only realised they could be used to spot drugs when police officers starting asking about them. They will detect cocaine that is at least 87 per cent pure and 78 per cent pure amphetamine of, including some, but not all, Ecstasy pills." - Source

Free Noise

Check out this website, it offers online noise generation and free downloads. I particularly like the red/brown noise and use the oscillation feature;

"Choose from white noise, pink noise, or brown/red noise. Oscillating or not. Uses of White Noise: * Aid Sleep * Enhance Privacy * Block Distractions * Mask Tinnitus * Configure Audio Equipment * Soothe Migraines * and more..." - - Source

Time Travel Ad

Odd News Clippings, The page is dated January 15th, 2009 so the adventure might still be open, let me know if anything happens.

Do Not Send Teabags, Only the Labels

From the Glen Beck Interview

“Bob Basso became a viral sensation in March of 2009 when his two YouTube videos depicting the intellectual British pamphlet writer Thomas Paine garnered over three million viewers. The videos are in response to the banking bailouts, and feature Basso dressed as Common Sense writer Thomas Paine. He offers his political commentary via discussions on the stimulus package and calls for a second American Revolution.

Note: Basso says he was contacted by Congressional Security and told they were so far inundated by teabags which they are throwing in the trash unopened for fear of poisons or controlled substances…

So he says DO NOT SEND A COMPLETE TEABAG, just send the paper handle (label) part so they will get the message. You can also inundate the White house with a Toll Free Call to 1-866-340-9281 which is the Congressional Switchboard that will patch you to your representatives.”

and check out these inspiring videos urging a 2nd American Revolution.

You can send your teabag labels and correspondence to;