of food into that state which it assumes after reaching the stomach. The two main objections to the victuals are, that in place of salt, sugar is used, until everything is so sweet that it soon turns an inexperienced appetite uphill; and the sauce which is used on all fish, meats, fowl and raw vegetable is so unnatural a substitute for the ordinary seasoning sauces and gravies, that both myself and companion have had to eliminate it from our diet list. We were indeed fortunate to have rice and fish; for, were it not for these two articles, I think I would have preferred to fast rather than attempt the other things. Plain boiled rice is not, in itself, very palatable, but when one learns how to mix it with other foods, it becomes an excellent substitute for bread. Generally, when people picture to themselves the peculiarities of Chinese or Japanese life, the substitution of chop-sticks for knives, forks, and spoons, is perhaps the first thing that enters their minds. Possibly these same people wonder how anyone can eat such things as soup, and soft boiled eggs, with chop-sticks, and it is indeed a question that puzzles the foreigner when he has it to do for the first time. In reality, chop-sticks do not take the place of those table implements which to us are necessary while eating the foods mentioned. The Japanese apply a means of their own. They drink the soup right out of the dish; loosen the egg from the shell with one of their sticks, and turn it out into their rice, or suck it from the shell itself: they take up a piece of meat with the sticks, and bite off as much as can be easily masticated at one time, never taking the trouble to break it into smaller pieces on their plate; they hold the rice bowl up to their lips with the left hand, and, with the chop-sticks in the right, they roll the rice out of the bowl into their mouths. The same bowl in which the rice is served is also used as the drinking utensil. It would be considered impolite, if not insulting, if a person refused to drink from his ricebowl; therefore, in no instance is a cup or glass prepared, even for a foreigner. At first, the maid who waited on us had great sport watching our awkward manner of rolling the rice into our mouths and picking the bones out of the fish with the chop-sticks. Quite often we noticed her laughing up her sleeve at the expression on our faces, as we nibbled timidly at the different kinds of food. But at this writing, our eating is no longer interesting to the observer, as we have become skillful in the manipulation of the chop-sticks, and can suck the food into our mouths with as charming a sound, and with an equal relish, as can those who have been raised on Oriental chow from childhood. When the first meal in our new home was finished, Mr. Hiroi bade us good-bye, saying that he felt like "he was leaving two helpless babes to fight their way alone." This was indeed a fit expression; for, knowing very little of the language spoken by those around us, we were certainly on a par with the children who make their wants known by grunts and signs. (To be concluded in May number.) TO THE LOSER. So you've lost your race, lad? Ran it clean and fast? Shrink not, clasp it coolly,-end as you began; Smile, and close your eyes, lad,—and take it like a man! -SELECTED THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. BY PROF. W. H. CHAMBERLIN OF THE BRIGHAM YOUNG COLLEGE, LOGAN. At the present time, when much is being said in regard to an Isthmian canal, something in regard to the place which the Isthmus of Panama occupies in the economy of our earth, is in order. Doubtless many have wondered at its existence, and have regarded it as an obstruction to commerce, compelling the circumnavigation of South America, in order to reach a point which otherwise might have been reached in a few hours. But the more the earth's surface is studied, the stronger grows the conviction that marked geopraphic features, such as this, are not accidents, but essential parts of a grand organic unity. Just as the sea and the deserts, protecting the fertile valley of the Nile, made a cradle for civilization in Egypt; just as the mountains of Macedonia and the lofty Alps, by protecting Greece and Italy from the invasion of barbarian hordes from the north, made possible the magnificent growth of civilization among the peoples of Greece and in the republic and empire of Rome; so the strip of land connecting the two Americas, with other remarkable geographic features between them, has, by developing the most remarkable ocean current in the world, the Gulf stream, providing the United States, England and western Europe with their warm and moisture-laden winds, made possible that fuller development of civilization which the world now enjoys. The Gulf stream originates in two vast, wind-made currents of the Atlantic ocean, which, flowing parallel with the equator, approach the western continent. The southern current would be turned to the south along the coast of South America by the rota tion of the earth, were not the eastern corner of South America so placed as to divide the current and turn the larger portion toward the north. The portion thus turned aside is directed by the northern shores of South America into the Carribean sea. There, under the direct rays of the sun, and shut off, by a submarine range of mountains running from the West Indies to Trinidad, from the cold waters that prevail in all oceans at moderate depths, it is thoroughly warmed, as it piles up against the shores of Central America. It is a rise here of several feet above the ordinary level of the ocean, made possible by the existence of the narrow strip of land we are discussing, that forces the current through the strait between Yucatan and Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico. There it piles up still higher while its temperature continues to increase. From that great reservoir, it can pass out through only one place, the strait between Florida and Cuba. This strait acts like the nozzle of a hose, concentrating the current and giving it a velocity of about four miles an hour. From this strait, the stream would naturally take a course to the southeast. But the North Atlantic current, mentioned above, having been forced along the West Indies, meets the Gulf stream in front of Florida strait and forces it around to the north, so that, after passing along the eastern shores of the United States with considerable swiftness, it proceeds under the influence of the prevailing westerly winds, and the earth's rotation, far to the north and east, until it strikes the shores of Europe. There it divides, one part going south; the other part, after bathing the shores of France and the British Isles, passes along the Scandinavian peninsula and is lost in the Arctic regions. The influence of the Gulf stream on the climate of these lands is more fully understood when we observe that England, with her delightful climate, is as far north as bleak and barren Labrador, and that the peninsula which has produced the hardy Scandinavian people lies in the same latitude as southern Greenland with its Arctic climate. Without the wonderful arrangement of lands and seas about the Gulf of Mexico, the North Atlantic ocean would have received the waters of a warm stream from the south, just as the North Pacific ocean now receives them; but it could not possibly have been so warm as the latter's Japan current, which, notwithstanding its warmth, is not able to make habitable the south Alaskan shores and islands, although these lie no farther north than Scotland and Denmark. We ought, then, to cease to wonder at such an apparent obstruction as the Isthmus of Panama, and wonder at its narrowness, inviting, as it does, an application of man's powers and ingenuity to provide for the wants of a latter-day civilization, as the land connection has heretofore provided a means of communication adequate to the needs of the peoples who have dwelt upon the western continent. The importance of the stream that warms the waters of the North Atlantic ocean can be still better appreciated when we consider the relationship of this ocean to the land areas of the earth. About one-fourth of the entire surface of the earth is land. Most of this land is embraced in the four great continents, Eurasia, North America, South America and Africa, which surround the North Atlantic to form the land hemisphere. The high mountains and plateaus of these four continents, without exception, are on the side furthest from the Atlantic; and they constitute a rim to bound the world, and to direct its attention to the North Atlantic. Any nation is thus caused to face all the others. A good relief map of the earth will make this clear. The. high mountains and plateaus of Eurasia border the Pacific and the Indian oceans. The highest mountains of Africa border the Indian ocean, and the great rivers coming from them, such as the Nile and the Congo, carry the products of Africa easily into the Atlantic ocean. In South America the high Andes, being on the side farthest from the Atlantic, the rivers of the continent enter that ocean. The Orinoco and the great Amazon continually pour the products of that land into the North Atlantic. The products of North America are carried naturally into the same ocean, by its great navigable rivers, the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence; while its high western mountains and plateaus turn the attention of the people toward the east. The rivers, bays and seas of Europe find natural outlet into the North Atlantic. The attention of the peoples of the far East are turned to the same ocean, and communication with it is rendered easy by the Suez canal. The West will yet have easy access to it through an Isthmian canal. This ocean, then, is, and of |