Part 6

=Partnership.=--A partnership is an agreement, usually written, between two or more persons, for the doing of business or for the carrying out of any contract or for the accomplishment of any work. The partners may have equal ownership, or it may be unevenly divided. In the equal partnerships, each partner has the same financial interest and share in the profits, and also the same right of control. In other partnerships, the financial investment or interests are unevenly divided; and the one who holds more than half interest controls the business, unless otherwise provided for in the partnership agreement. Partners may be in name only, and not own any of the property. Active partners are those who give practically all of their time to the conducting of the business. Silent partners are not likely to take any active part in the management of the business, but they may control it, if their financial interest is sufficient. Under common law, no partner has a right to engage in any other business which would injure the partnership, unless permitted to do so by the other partners. The acts of one partner bind all of the rest. If one partner commits fraud in the name of the firm, the others are financially responsible, although they may have had no knowledge of his action. The partnership or business may or may not be liable for the private debts of any one partner. Usually a partner cannot be held for more than his interest in the firm. Partnerships may be dissolved by mutual agreement or by judicial act, and it is usual to publish the dissolution of partnership in one or more of the local newspapers, and to send notices of it to the trade. A limited partnership does not hold any partner or the concern itself liable for more than the amount of the property in the business, but a partnership will not be considered limited unless it is publicly announced.

Patent Medicines

It has been said, and with some degree of truth, that Americans are self-dosers, and that they are prone to attempt to cure themselves, even of serious diseases, without consulting a physician.

The sale of patent medicines is enormous, although I think it is diminishing in volume, due to the exposures which have appeared in many periodicals, and to the better education of the people.

A patent medicine, technically speaking, is a concoction or drug, or combination of drugs, claimed to be a remedy or cure for a specific ill or for all of the ills that the human flesh is heir to. It is manufactured in large quantities, and bottled or put up with attractive labels, with more or less directions given for its use. Many of the patent medicines are either absolutely ineffective or are positively dangerous. Many of them contain a large percentage of alcohol, which acts as a transient tonic, and produces an exhilaration which the sufferer is likely to consider beneficial. The effect of the alcohol soon wears off, and the taker is much worse for having swallowed it.

Other patent medicines contain cocaine and other dangerous drugs, which never should be taken without the advice of a physician. The effect of some patent medicines is likely to be immediate and to appear to be efficacious. Some patent medicines, however, are made of pure drugs, and are really valuable. I am, however, opposed to the use of patent medicines, even of those which are carefully and scientifically compounded.

It is obvious that the layman cannot diagnose his trouble, and the label on the bottle, or the pamphlet accompanying it, is likely to confuse him, and in many cases makes him feel that he is suffering from an ailment or disease which does not exist.

Headache powders, cough medicines, tonics of all kinds, soothing syrup for babies, should be conscientiously avoided, unless prescribed by a physician. They are likely to contain dangerous drugs, and may have no medicinal properties at all.

Because a certain medicine has worked well with one person should not be taken as evidence that another can take it to his advantage. Similar symptoms may exist, and yet the root of the trouble be entirely different.

Even if every patent medicine were pure and scientifically compounded, I would advise against their use, unless recommended by a physician, who is likely to diagnose correctly the trouble and to apply the right remedy.

Physicians are not infallible, but every reputable physician is a graduate of a medical school, a reader of current medical magazines, and is constantly in touch, by experience, with other physicians and with human ailments. Even if he is not an expert, his close proximity to disease makes him far more reliable than the label on the medicine bottle.

I would advise no one to place himself in the hands of any physician who is not a member of one of the great medical associations, maintained by both the allopathic and homeopathic schools.

These associations will not admit into membership any one who has not been properly instructed, and who is not reliable. Any physician of standing, and with a sufficient knowledge of the human body, can obtain membership in these associations, and those who are not members may be looked upon with suspicion, although it is quite likely that some of them are reliable; but as they are outside of the associations, they cannot have the facilities of consultation and experience, which are given to those in regular standing in an association.

It is obvious that one of even ordinary ability, who is educated in the profession, is more reliable than one who doctors by his wits, even though he may appear to be successful. Although there are some charlatans in the profession, who practice in their own interest more than in that of their patients, the average physician represents the highest order of civilization. He knows at the start that his profession is not likely to bring him heavy financial return. He goes into it with his eyes open. He is under the strictest rules and regulations, and cannot maintain his standing in the associations, or with the public, if he does not practice legitimately. He has every facility at his command, and although he is not always successful, he is far better able to produce results than is one who has not been properly educated, and who lacks experience and association with other doctors, and who has not had hospital practice. Every reputable physician has not only graduated from a medical school, but was given opportunity to practice in hospitals and elsewhere before he became a family physician. The so-called specialist began as a family physician, and gives his time somewhat exclusively to one disease or to surgery. The surgeon, while a regular physician, specializes in surgery, and comparatively few family practitioners will handle a serious surgical case, except in emergencies. They refer the patient to the skilled surgeon.

The physician is both a curer and preventor of disease. I would advise every one, no matter how healthy he may be, to consult a reputable physician once a year, and to be overhauled, so to speak. Most troubles can be obviated if taken in time. A symptom seemingly serious to the one having it may be of little consequence, and yet it may be the forerunner of an incurable disease. If a good physician is consulted in time, he may either obviate the trouble or prevent its rapid increase. No one should attempt to diagnose his own condition. Even the physician will not do so for himself, because no one can tell by his feelings exactly what is the matter with him or what would better be done. The physician when sick, consults other physicians, if his trouble is of any seriousness. The expense of an annual examination need not exceed two or three dollars, and some physicians will make it for a dollar. They are likely to locate any trouble, although it may have just appeared and the symptom be slight. They will prescribe a treatment, which cannot fail to be of benefit to those who consult them. Therefore, I say, visit a good physician at least once a year, irrespective of your health.

In every city, and in many of the towns, are practicing alleged physicians or doctors, who claim to be unusually expert and able to cure where others fail, or even to cure what cannot be cured. Some of them are graduates of medical schools, and are really good physicians, but most of them are irresponsible and without real ability. Their method frequently makes the patient feel that he is being cured, and cured rapidly. They use appliances and drugs which have an immediate effect, usually to the patients' injury; or they practice the same as regular physicians do and give the patient false encouragement. It seems to me obvious that no so-called outside practitioner, who is not a member of the associations, can possibly possess any information or know of any method of treatment with which the regular physicians are unfamiliar. These charlatans play upon the feelings of the patient, and it is said that some of them keep him sick for financial reasons. Therefore, I warn the reader against any physician who is not a member of one of the two great associations, and who is not recognized by the profession at large. Even though some of them are skillful, it is safer to employ a physician of standing than to take one who makes a business of practicing, and who is not answerable to the rules and regulations enforced by the associations, and who cannot, because of his removal from them, obtain and enjoy the privilege of consultation with other members of his craft. Do not take chances with your body. Better risk the few mistakes made by physicians than by your own doctor.

=Perpetual Motion.=--Scientists, particularly early ones, made frantic and continuous endeavors to invent what was supposed to be perpetual motion; that is, a machine which will keep perpetually in motion without being replenished or supplied with outside energy. About 60 years ago scientific bodies refused to consider it, as it was proved to be impossible. The "Scientific American," many years ago, likened perpetual motion to an energy which will permit a man to lift himself by his boot-straps.

=Petroleum Industry.=--The annual production is considerably more than 9,000,000,000 gallons a year.

=Philippine Islands.=--The Philippine Islands consist of over 3,000 islands, having an area of about 115,000 square miles. The population exceeds 7,500,000; and the density of population is about 67 to the square mile, as against 26 to the square mile in the United States. The climate is tropical.

=Pianoforte.=--The piano or pianoforte is said to have been invented in Italy and to have appeared in 1714. Germany, however, claims the honor of its invention. It was introduced into England in 1766.

=Plate Glass.=--The sand, out of which glass is made, is melted until it is of about the consistency of molasses. It is then poured into a casting trough or a table mounted on wheels so it can be run close to the mouth of the furnace. The molten glass is poured into the trough through a sluice-way, and before it hardens, heavy rollers pass over it, reducing it to the required thickness. It is rolled to about 9-16 of an inch, and then by further rolling and polishing it is reduced to the required thickness. It further passes through a smelting oven which thoroughly hardens it. Then, it is again polished.

=Playing Cards.=--The origin is unknown, although they appeared in Europe in 1350. It is claimed that the Arabs used playing cards at a much earlier date. It is estimated that over sixteen million packs of playing cards are made annually in the United States.

=Pole Star.=--This is a star of the second magnitude, found at the extremity of the handle of the Little Dipper.

Population and Land Area of the United States

Land area Geographic Division Population, (square and State 1910 miles), 1910

CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES 91,972,266 2,973,890

GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS: New England 6,552,681 61,976 Middle Atlantic 19,315,892 100,000 East North Central 18,250,621 245,564 West North Central 11,637,921 510,804 South Atlantic 12,194,895 269,071 East South Central 8,409,901 179,509 West South Central 8,784,534 429,746 Mountain 2,633,517 859,125 Pacific 4,192,304 318,095 ---------- --------

NEW ENGLAND: Maine 742,371 29,895 New Hampshire 430,572 9,031 Vermont 355,956 9,124 Massachusetts 3,366,416 8,039 Rhode Island 542,610 1,067 Connecticut 1,114,756 4,820 MIDDLE ATLANTIC: New York 9,113,614 47,654 New Jersey 2,537,167 7,514 Pennsylvania 7,665,111 44,832 EAST NORTH CENTRAL: Ohio 4,767,121 40,740 Indiana 2,700,876 36,045 Illinois 5,638,591 56,043 Michigan 2,810,173 57,480 Wisconsin 2,333,860 55,256 WEST NORTH CENTRAL: Minnesota 2,075,708 80,858 Iowa 2,224,771 55,586 Missouri 3,293,335 68,727 North Dakota 577,056 70,183 South Dakota 583,888 76,868 Nebraska 1,192,214 76,808 Kansas 1,690,949 81,774 SOUTH ATLANTIC: Delaware 202,322 1,965 Maryland 1,295,346 9,941 District of Columbia 331,069 60 Virginia 2,061,612 40,262 West Virginia 1,221,119 24,022 North Carolina 2,206,287 48,740 South Carolina 1,515,400 30,495 Georgia 2,609,121 58,725 Florida 752,619 54,861 EAST SOUTH CENTRAL: Kentucky 2,289,905 40,181 Tennessee 2,184,789 41,687 Alabama 2,138,093 51,279 Mississippi 1,797,114 46,362 WEST SOUTH CENTRAL: Arkansas 1,574,449 52,525 Louisiana 1,656,388 45,409 Oklahoma 1,657,155 69,414 Texas 3,896,542 262,398 MOUNTAIN: Montana 376,053 146,201 Idaho 325,594 83,354 Wyoming 145,965 97,594 Colorado 799,024 103,658 New Mexico 327,301 122,503 Arizona 204,354 113,810 Utah 373,351 82,184 Nevada 81,875 109,821 PACIFIC: Washington 1,141,990 66,836 Oregon 672,765 95,607 California 2,377,549 155,652

Population Per Square Mile

=Continental United States.=--The following summary shows, for continental United States, the total population, land area in square miles, and population per square mile of land area at each census from 1790 to 1910, inclusive:

Land area Population Census Year Population (square per miles) sq. mile

1910 91,972,266 2,973,890 30.9 1900 75,994,575 2,974,159 25.6 1890 62,947,714 2,973,965 21.2 1880 50,155,783 2,973,965 16.9 1870 38,558,371 2,973,965 13.0 1860 31,443,321 2,973,965 10.6 1850 23,191,876 2,944,337 7.9 1840 17,069,453 1,753,588 9.7 1830 12,866,020 1,753,588 7.3 1820 9,638,453 1,753,588 5.5 1810 7,239,881 1,685,865 4.3 1800 5,308,483 867,980 6.1 1790 3,929,214 867,980 4.5

According to the census of 1910, there are in continental United States, on the average, 30.9 inhabitants to each square mile of land area, or nearly seven times the number per square mile shown for the much smaller area of 1790, and nearly three times the number shown for 1860. The decrease in the average number of inhabitants per square mile at the census of 1810 and 1850 was due in each case to large accessions of thinly populated territory during the decade preceding the census.

In the order of their density of population the nine geographic divisions of the country rank as follows: Middle Atlantic, 193.2 inhabitants per square mile; New England, 105.7; East North Central, 74.3; East South Central, 46.8; South Atlantic, 45.3; West North Central, 22.8; West South Central, 20.4; Pacific, 13.2; and Mountain, 3.1. The changes in density from census to census correspond precisely with the changes in area and the total number of inhabitants. It may be noted, however, that on account of the rapid increase in their population the Pacific states in 1910 for the first time are approaching, in density of population, conditions found in the states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.

=Porto Rico.=--Porto Rico contains about 3,600 square miles, and has a population of considerable more than a million. The climate is tropical and the land is extremely fertile.

=Postage Stamps.=--They were invented in 1834, and were introduced into America in 1847.

=Poultry and Egg Industry.=--Nearly 500,000,000 of poultry, including chickens, turkeys, geese, and pigeons, are raised in the United States annually. The total value is about $203,000,000. Each year the production of eggs is about 1,600,000,000 dozen. The people of the United States eat about 5-1/2 fowls per year per capita, and a little over 17 dozen eggs.

Presidents of the United States

(1) George Washington. (2) John Adams. (3) Thomas Jefferson. (4) James Madison. (5) James Monroe. (6) John Quincy Adams. (7) Andrew Jackson. (8) Martin Van Buren. (9) William Henry Harrison. (10) John Tyler. (11) James K. Polk. (12) Zachary Taylor. (13) Millard Fillmore. (14) Franklin Pierce. (15) James Buchanan. (16) Abraham Lincoln. (17) Andrew Johnson. (18) Ulysses S. Grant. (19) Rutherford B. Hayes. (20) James A. Garfield. (21) Chester A. Arthur. (22) Grover Cleveland. (23) Benjamin Harrison. (24) William McKinley. (25) Theodore Roosevelt. (26) William H. Taft. (27) Woodrow Wilson.

Principal Countries of the World

COUNTRY CAPITAL SQ. MILES POPULATION

Abyssinia Addis Abeba 200,000 11,000,000 Afghanistan Kabul 250,000 4,750,000 Argentina Buenos Aires 1,135,840 6,210,428 Australia 2,974,581 4,197,037 Austria-Hungary Vienna, Budapest 241,333 45,176,230 Belgium Brussels 11,373 6,693,548 Bolivia Sucre 605,400 1,953,916 Brazil Rio de Janeiro 3,292,991 17,388,556 British Empire London 11,343,706 394,246,882 Bulgaria Sofia 38,080 4,035,623 Canada Ottawa 3,745,574 6,153,789 Chile Santiago 307,620 3,399,928 Chinese Empire Peking 4,277,170 426,047,325 Colombia Bogota 505,000 4,303,000 Costa Rica San Jose 18,400 351,176 Cuba Havana 44,000 2,048,980 Denmark Copenhagen 15,592 2,605,268 Ecuador Quito 116,000 1,400,000 Egypt[A] Cairo 400,000 11,189,978 France Paris 207,054 39,252,245 Germany Berlin 208,780 60,641,278 Great Britain & Ireland London 121,390 44,538,718 Greece Athens 25,014 2,631,952 Guatemala New Guatemala 48,290 1,882,992 Haiti Port au Prince 10,204 1,500,000 Honduras Tegucigalpa 46,250 650,000 India Calcutta 1,776,517 294,317,082 Italy Rome 110,550 33,909,776 Japanese Empire Tokyo 175,000 50,000,000 Luxemburg Luxemburg 998 236,543 Mexico Mexico 767,005 13,605,919 Montenegro Cettinie 3,630 250,000 Morocco Fez, Morocco 219,000 5,000,000 Netherlands The Hague 12,648 5,747,269 Nicaragua Managua 49,200 500,000 Norway Christiania 124,129 2,240,032 Panama Panama 31,571 300,000 Paraguay Asuncion 157,000 631,347 Persia Teheran 628,000 9,500,000 Peru Lima 695,733 4,609,999 Portugal Lisbon 35,490 5,423,132 Roumania Bukharest 50,720 5,956,690 Russia St. Petersburg 8,647,657 152,009,300 Salvador San Salvador 7,225 1,700,000 San Marino San Marino 38 11,439 Santo Domingo Santo Domingo 18,045 610,000 Servia Belgrade 18,650 2,493,882 Siam Bangkok 195,000 6,686,846 Spain Madrid 190,050 18,618,086 Sweden Stockholm 172,876 5,377,713 Switzerland Bern 15,976 3,463,609 Turkey and trib. states[B] Constantinople 1,165,020 25,414,300 United South Africa Pretoria. C. T. 473,184 5,450,217 United States Washington 3,567,563 88,566,034 Uruguay Montevideo 72,210 1,140,799 Venezuela Caracas 364,000 2,646,835

[A] Under suzerainty of Turkey, but actual administration controlled by Great Britain.

[B] Exclusive of Egypt.

=Printing Presses.=--There are three distinct classes of printing presses: (1) The ordinary job press which is used for the printing of cards, letter-heads, billheads, and other small matter. It is run by power or by a foot treadle. Each card or piece of paper is fed into the press by hand and removed by hand. The average speed is from 1,000 to 1,200 an hour, but the most expert feeders can handle about 1,500 cards an hour, and the record is not far from 2,000. (2) The cylinder press. This press is used for the printing of weekly newspapers, books, catalogues, and other large work. The type is placed upon a flat bed having a lateral movement, and the paper is fed by hand onto a cylinder which revolves over the moving bed. These presses have a speed of from 1,000 to 2,000 an hour, but comparatively few hand-feeders can handle more than 1,500, or 1,600 sheets in an hour. (3) The perfecting press. This press is used exclusively for the printing of large city newspapers, and some books, and catalogues are printed upon it. The type matter is cast into to a cylinder. The paper to be printed upon stereotypes of circular form which are attached is in a continuous roll and passes between the stereotype cylinder and another roller. The paper is fed into the press automatically, and is automatically folded and counted. The largest perfecting press in the world will print, fold, and count both sides of an eight-page paper at the rate of 300,000 copies an hour, but the average perfecting press does not deliver more than 75,000 copies an hour. The perfecting presses used for books, magazines, and catalogues run at a much slower speed.

=Production of Books.=--In 1911, 8,183 books were produced by American authors of which 1,024 were fiction; 917 were on theology and religion; 919 of essays and literature; 527 on hygiene; 734 juvenile; 685 of poetry and drama; 300 educational; 196 were devoted to the fine arts; and 86 to music.

=Public Debt of the United States.=--The interest-bearing debt of the United States is $964,631,630, and the non-interest-bearing debt is $375,974,389. The United States has issued $946,242,270 in gold certificates, $482,367,666 in silver certificates, and treasury notes to the amount of $2,846,260. At the last accounting the United States treasury had on hand in cash $1,564,416,169.

=Public Schools.=--The public school system originated in Massachusetts and Connecticut shortly after the settlement of those States. Schools were not entirely free when originally established. They have now become common all over the United States, and their maintenance is required by law.

=Pure Food.=--Pure food laws enacted by the United States Government, and by State and City Governments, are supposed to protect the consumer against adulterated foods. The United States law, however, has no jurisdiction over food manufactured or put out in any of the States, unless it is carried from one State to another. The local food laws have to do only with the communities covered. The present law does not appear to be sufficient to protect the public fully. The statement written on many food packages, reading "Guaranteed Under The Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906. No. ----," must not be considered as proof positive of purity. It simply means that the contents of the package or bottle is according to the prescription or formula registered with the Government, and does not stand for quality or purity. Benzoate of soda and other preservatives may be legally used, provided a statement to that effect is made upon the package. Chemists differ as to the injurious effect of benzoate of soda, but it is not advocated by any eminent authority. Most of the pure food experts are opposed to its use, irrespective of any injurious effect it may have upon the consumer, because this preservative will effectively kill the odor of putrefaction and disguise the taste and smell of rotten or spoiled fruit and other products. The consumer will do well to refuse to purchase any article or food containing benzoate of soda or other preservative, for first-class and healthy meat, fruit, and vegetables do not require a chemical preservative. Artificial coloring may not be injurious, as so little of it is required, but food artificially preserved may be dangerous, and very likely is impure, and may not have been fresh when canned.

=Pyramids.=--the pyramids were supposed to have been constructed between the fifth and twelfth dynasties in Middle Egypt, and not to have been used for tombs. They are built upon a square base, with sides facing the points of the compass, and the earlier pyramids were constructed of horizontal layers of rough blocks fastened together with mortar. In the center of the pyramid, near the base, was built a chamber reached by a passage from the north side. It is said that some of them contain emblems or symbols, which are now used in masonry. Whether or not there were masons at the time they were built, has not yet been discovered. Many of the stones weigh as much as thirty tons each, and no one has yet been able to ascertain the power used for their transmission.