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<v Speaker 1>Section twenty four of Birds and All Nature, Volume seven,

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<v Speaker 1>n two, February nineteen hundred. This is a LibriVox recording.

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<v Speaker 1>All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more

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<v Speaker 1>information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording

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<v Speaker 1>by Betty B. The Young Naturalists, Sahara Ce. Much of

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<v Speaker 1>the Great Desert of Sahara is below the level of

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<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic. It is proposed that the water be let

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<v Speaker 1>in the space covered would be big enough to warrant

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<v Speaker 1>us in speaking of it as an ocean. There would

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<v Speaker 1>be islands in it, as there are places that are

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<v Speaker 1>of considerable elevation. So much water would make a difference

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<v Speaker 1>in climate in all directions from the present desert. It

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<v Speaker 1>is thought the vineyards of southern Europe would be injured,

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<v Speaker 1>as they are dependent on the dry winds that come

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<v Speaker 1>across the meadows terranean from the Great Desert. The rainfall

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<v Speaker 1>and at least one third of the inhabited parts of

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<v Speaker 1>the globe would be affected by this great change in

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<v Speaker 1>the amount of water on the surface. Ships would be

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<v Speaker 1>able to sail to ports at the south of Morocco

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<v Speaker 1>and Algiers, where now are shifting sands and few people

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<v Speaker 1>and new cities would spring into being far to the

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<v Speaker 1>south where the new coastline would be formed. There are

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<v Speaker 1>other low and barren spots on the Earth's surface that

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<v Speaker 1>are below sea level. They would form useful basins of

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<v Speaker 1>water if the proper canals were dug. A company has

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<v Speaker 1>been formed to let water into the Yuma Desert in

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<v Speaker 1>southern California, where thirteen thousand square miles of land with

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<v Speaker 1>no inhabitants lies below the sea level, some of it

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<v Speaker 1>as much as one thousand feet. A great desert in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of Australia is also low. If it were flooded,

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<v Speaker 1>it would make of Australia a great rim of coon

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<v Speaker 1>reaching round an immense sea. One scientist has advocated the

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<v Speaker 1>making of the Red Sea into a great fresh water

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<v Speaker 1>lake by changing the course of the Nile so as

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<v Speaker 1>to make that sea its outlet instead of the Mediterranean.

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<v Speaker 1>By preventing the flow of salt water from the north

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<v Speaker 1>through the Suez Canal and building an embankment at the south,

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<v Speaker 1>it has been estimated that the Red Sea would become

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<v Speaker 1>fresh in the course of time. The Red Sea project

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<v Speaker 1>is not at all likely to be carried out, but

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<v Speaker 1>those for California and the Sahara may soon be made effective.

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<v Speaker 1>When the world of commerce comes to realize what the

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<v Speaker 1>Sahara Sea will mean for its enterprise, there will be

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<v Speaker 1>a lively prospect of much digging and plenty of fighting

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<v Speaker 1>over the damages done to existing interests and the rights

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<v Speaker 1>of the various European nations to the new sea board

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<v Speaker 1>that will be formed. Feeding. One of the duties of

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<v Speaker 1>the teamster is to see that his horses are well fed.

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<v Speaker 1>Where the team must be on the road at five

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<v Speaker 1>in the morning, it is the business of the man

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<v Speaker 1>who feeds them to get up at four to give

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<v Speaker 1>them time to eat. Incidentally, he rubs them down and

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<v Speaker 1>gets his own breakfast in a leisurely manner. An Ohio

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<v Speaker 1>man has an electric device which will give the teamster

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<v Speaker 1>a chance to lie a little longer in the morning.

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<v Speaker 1>He is arranged an alarm clock, which may be set

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<v Speaker 1>for any hour, so that instead of striking the hour,

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<v Speaker 1>it will make an electric connection. This connection lets fall

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<v Speaker 1>a bag that is placed the night before over the

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<v Speaker 1>manger of the horse to be fed at that hour

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<v Speaker 1>in the morning, the first sound that greets the air

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<v Speaker 1>of the horse is not the teamster coming to open

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<v Speaker 1>the stable, but the rattle of oats into his feed box,

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<v Speaker 1>and he has ample time to eat and begin the

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<v Speaker 1>operation of digestion before he sees the man who used

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<v Speaker 1>to be so welcome. Possibly he will not greet the

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<v Speaker 1>man so affectionately in the future, when his coming means

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<v Speaker 1>not food for a hungry stomach but a hard day's work.

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<v Speaker 1>But those who know the horse best are inclined to

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<v Speaker 1>believe that the horse will always greet his master affectionately

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<v Speaker 1>in the morning, regardless of the state of his stomach. Rubber.

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<v Speaker 1>The use of rubber has grown wonderfully in the last

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<v Speaker 1>ten years. Every year a rubber famine is predicted, and

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<v Speaker 1>every year someone announces that a substitute has been found

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<v Speaker 1>that is just as good as the real article. The

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<v Speaker 1>facts seem to indicate that neither the famine nor the

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<v Speaker 1>substitute is really at hand. Rubber plantations are being extended

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<v Speaker 1>in Mexico to meet the demands of the growing trade,

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<v Speaker 1>but the bulk of our rubber still comes from the

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<v Speaker 1>Amazon country in South America, and that country is almost

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<v Speaker 1>limitless in its supplies of this article. It is true

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<v Speaker 1>that the trees along the banks of the rivers have

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<v Speaker 1>been tapped until their product is much inferior to what

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<v Speaker 1>it once was. But this condition exists only for a

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<v Speaker 1>distance of two or three miles along the river banks.

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<v Speaker 1>There are plenty of magnificent trees standing untouched a little

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<v Speaker 1>farther back. All that is needed to get more rubber

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<v Speaker 1>is to get more men into these forests gathering it.

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<v Speaker 1>The real difficulty is to get the men to do

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<v Speaker 1>the work. The finest rubber forests remaining near the river

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<v Speaker 1>fronts are along the Puris, one of the large rivers

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<v Speaker 1>flowing into the Amazon from the south. Sunshine caught. For

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<v Speaker 1>thousands of years, men have tried to use the heat

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<v Speaker 1>of the sun's rays in the place of fire. It

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<v Speaker 1>is now claimed that doctor William Calver of Washington has

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<v Speaker 1>finished an invention which will bring into the space of

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<v Speaker 1>a few inches all the rays of heat from the

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<v Speaker 1>sun that would naturally fall upon one acre of ground.

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<v Speaker 1>By bringing so many rays to a focus, he gets

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<v Speaker 1>such a powerful heat that iron and steel melt in

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<v Speaker 1>it like icicles. A magnifying glass or lens of almost

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<v Speaker 1>any sort held in the sunshine makes a bright warm spot.

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<v Speaker 1>Doctor Calver's machine gets the same effect, only more powerfully.

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<v Speaker 1>He has secured a temperature of several thousand degrees fahrenheit

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<v Speaker 1>to make his machine useful for heating houses and making

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<v Speaker 1>steam for factories. He has invented a reservoir to store

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<v Speaker 1>the heat gathered while the sun is shining, so that

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<v Speaker 1>it may be used at night or on dark days.

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<v Speaker 1>Men of science have been looking for such a machine

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<v Speaker 1>for a long time, and if doctor Calver and his

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<v Speaker 1>friends are not much mistaken, his invention will be as

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<v Speaker 1>great a help to civilization as the harnessing of Niagara

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<v Speaker 1>falls for electric work. His laboratory is in the outskirts

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<v Speaker 1>of Washington, d c. End of Section one, twenty four