as narrower. It requires no wide ranging of the eye, no shifting of the point of attention. It is not weakened by its own diffusion. You may carry this principle over into the philosophy of life. The short horizon—which is, for the most part, the average—has its distinct advantage. You will doubtless get more out of life at the average altitude than if you live always in some extraordinary height.
(175)
B
BABIES, NAMING
In Japan a curious custom is in vogue with
respect to the naming of babies. The newborn
is taken to the temple, when it has attained
the age of two weeks, and to the
priest who receives him the father of the
little one suggests three names deemed to be
appropriate. The priest writes these three
names on slips of paper. He holds these slips
of paper for a few minutes, and then throws
them over his shoulder, sending them as
high in the air as possible. The slip that
reaches the ground last contains the name
that is conferred on the waiting baby.
The next step in the process is for the priest to copy the name on a piece of silk or fine paper, which is handed to the proud parent, with these words:
"So shall the child be named."—Harper's Weekly.
(176)
Baby, Captivated by a—See Child, Saved by a.
Baby's Thinking—See Thinking, How
Coordinated.
BACKBONE
Any good quality needs backbone to make
it effective. The little boy who read aloud,
"Now Daniel had an excellent spine in him,"
when the letters spelled "spirit," was not so
far from the truth after all. All of God's
servants need spine.—James M. Stifler, "The
Fighting Saint."
(177)
BACKGROUND OF LIGHT
There is often great advantage in a position of obscurity from which to look out on the world. The lace-weavers of Nottingham founded a great industry in caves, as described below:
This great (lace) industry here began in
this way: There is, or was, originally, a
long, high bank of very soft sandstone on
the north bank of the river Trent, pointing
to the sun. In this soft sandstone the early
Britons dug caves. They dug them deep and
wide and wonderful in construction. It is
said that even now the city of caves under
the ground is almost as large as the broad
and populous city on top of the ground. In
case of invasion or conquest these cave-dwellers
would retreat underground and defy
pursuit. It is the boast of the people of
Nottingham that their ancestors were never
really conquered by any one. The weaving
of laces came about here in this way: The
half or wholly savage women sitting at the
mouths of these caves and holding their
threads against the sun with the darkness behind
them could see the fine threads better,
and so could do finer and better work than
any other women in western Europe. And
their immunity from conquest and consequent
interruption in their peculiar industry
fastened it here and kept it well forward.—Joaquin
Miller, The Independent.
(178)
Backslider Regained—See Warmth, Lost.
Bacteria—See Cleansing, Difficulty of.
BADGES
Everywhere on the streets one meets men,
from the gray-haired veteran to the half-developed
beau, all parading on breast or
coat lapel some distinctive mark of membership
in some association. There are medals
with ribbons, medals without ribbons, and
ribbons without medals. There are buttons;
big buttons and little buttons; silk buttons
and metal buttons. There are pins, gold and
silver and plated; every imaginable kind of
pin. And these are worn by ladies and
misses of all rank and quality, down to the
little silver cross of the King's Daughters, so
familiar everywhere. Nobody seems ashamed
to own membership in these various societies
and alliances. Men parade the streets under
banners and flags, with uniforms, and distinctive
feathers in their caps, and are not
ashamed to acknowledge their favorite or-
