Transcriber’s Notes Words, letters and phrases printed in boldface or italics in the source document have been transcribed between =equal signs= and _underscores_ respectively. Small capitals have been transcribed as ALL CAPITALS. Phrases between ~tildes~ represent side notes. ^o stands for a superscript o. More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text. THE BOOK OF WONDERS [Illustration: HOW MAN BURROWS UNDER THE WATER This is a picture of a section of one of the world’s greatest tunnels, showing how man has learned to construct great tubes of steel beneath the surface of the water and land, in which to run the swiftly moving trains which carry him rapidly from place to place.] THE BOOK OF WONDERS GIVES PLAIN AND SIMPLE ANSWERS TO THE THOUSANDS OF EVERYDAY QUESTIONS THAT ARE ASKED AND WHICH ALL SHOULD BE ABLE TO, BUT CANNOT ANSWER FULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH HUNDREDS OF EDUCATIONAL PICTURES WHICH STIMULATE THE MIND AND GIVE A BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF THE WONDERS OF NATURE and the WONDERS PRODUCED BY MAN Edited and Arranged by RUDOLPH J. BODMER Fully Indexed 1915 PRESBREY SYNDICATE, INC. 456 Fourth Avenue NEW YORK Copyright, 1914 BY PRESBREY SYNDICATE, Inc. Introduction No truly great book needs an explanation of its aim and purpose. A great book just grows, as has this Book of Wonders. It began with the attempt of a father to answer the natural questions of the active mind of a growing boy. It developed into a nightly search for plain, understandable answers to such questions as “What makes it night?” “Where does the wind begin?” “Why is the sky blue?” “Why does it hurt when I cut my finger?” “Why doesn’t it hurt when I cut my hair?” “Why does wood float?” “Why does iron sink?” “Why doesn’t an iron ship sink?” on through the maze of thousands of puzzling questions which occur to the child’s mind. It has grown until the answers to the mere questions cover practically the entire range of every-day knowledge, and has been arranged in such a form that any child may now find the answer to his own inquiries. As the mind of the child matures, the questions naturally drift toward the things which the genius of man has provided for his comfort and pleasure. We have become so accustomed to the use and benefits of these wonders produced by man that we generally leave out of our books the stories of our great industries, and yet the mind of the child wonders and inquires about them. We have so long worn clothes made of wool or cotton, that we have forgotten the wonder there is in making a bolt of cloth. Every industry has a fascinating story equal to that of the silkworm, which moves its head sixty-five times a minute while spinning his thousand yards of silk.