FAMILY FUN

New Zealand Tablet, 27 September 1906, Page 38

FAMILY FUN

Why is a book like a king ?— Because is has many pages. Why are two laughing boys like a chicken's wing ? — Because they have a merry thought between them. Why is a clock a most modest piece of furniture ? —Because it runs down its own works. Why was the elephant the last animal to come out of the ark ?— Because he had his trunk to pack. Why is a zebra like a convict ?— Because he wears stripes.

Some night when the moan is at its full and the air is free from haze go outdoors with a hand mirror and hold it so . that the moon's image windfall on it. Make the experiment, preferably, when the moon is well up in the heavens. Instead of seeing one image as you will expect, you will see four. One of these images will be very bright, but the other three will be dull, like unburnished silver. -, - They will be in a straight line, one of the dull images on one side of the bright image, and two oh the other side of it. Turn the mirror slowly around, and the images will appear to "revolve around on • a common centre. The explanation of this queer little phenomenon may be found in the fact that there are - two surfaces in a mirror, one in front and the other in the back, where the quicksilver is. The brightest of the images is from the moon itself. .The others are what are known as secondary images, reflected from the front to the back of the' mirror and thence to the eye. A similar experiment may be made with the placets Venus, Jupiter, and Mars, or with, any of the first magnitude stars. -.The " planets and the stars, how^ over, make only three images, the number of images depending -on the breadth of the object. A perfectly clear night is essential.