SCIENCE DISCOVERS TERMITES DIG THEIR OWN WELLS
The mystery of how the termite ants of Africa keep up their water supply during years of drouth, a problem that has perplexed science since Dr. Livingstone first suggested the little insects must extract water from the atmosphere, has been solved by accident. Exploring a sixty-five foot dry well, a naturalist discovered a termite shaft which went on down to water some distance below. The ant nest, which is frequently built up for many feet above the plain, rose alongside the well. In digging the shaft, the workers had uncovered the ants' well. The ants had closed up the breaks, but by reopening them, the naturalist could watch continuous files of workers going down for water and coming back up. He colored occasional ones with dye, and found they averaged one round trip every half an hour. The termites live mainly on fungus, and maintain fungus seed-beds far underground, near the water supply, bringing up fresh seed daily to replace that destroyed by heat in the nest gardens. The artist's sketch on the opposite page shows, at the left, the termite well in relation to the dug shaft, while the larger drawings at the right give a section of the nest.
BOOK CONCEALED IN RING CONTAINS LONG POEM
So small that it can be carried under the setting of a ring, a tiny book contains the complete Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam with pictures. While this is said to be one of the smallest books in the world, there are thousands of midget volumes in existence, and a collectors' society has been organized to gather and study them. During the war, the British government had half a million copies of the Koran printed in a size so small that Mohammedan soldiers could wear them over the breast as an amulet.
LATE STYLES IN ARCHITECTURE FEATURE FRENCH CITY
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Where Modern Architectural Ideas Have Been Given Full Sway; the Church of New City near Paris
Examples of modern architecture are seen in many places, but near Paris, the French are building an entire city to exemplify the latest ideas in ornament and design. Its church illustrates how radically the modern architect has departed from some of the older ideas. The main entrance is behind a single arch that spans almost the entire width of the structure. Figures used for decorations on the exterior are unusually large, and the steeple is a tapering "shaft of angles."
CRYSTAL MINE YIELDS LENSES FOR ULTRAVIOLET RAYS
Cast aside during the gold rush of 49, large crystals taken from a California mine are now sought for the making of lenses and fused quartz for ultraviolet-ray instruments. Several years ago, a single crystal, weighing 2,200 pounds, was dug out of gravels, where, it is said, more than $2,000,000 in gold was taken during the famous rush period. Many of the crystals weigh 100 pounds and more.
