THE public attitude toward speculation is generally hostile. Even those who venture frequently are prone to speak discouragingly of speculative possibilities, and to point warningly to the fact that an overwhelming majority of speculative commitments result in loss, while those who venture not at all, and consequently are incompetent to judge, dismiss the subject with the statement that marginal trading is gambling, pure and simple, and is therefore pernicious.
Those who enter into the subject a little farther, and attempt to adduce more specific argument against speculative possibilities, lay stress upon the statement that manipulation, trickery and wholesale deception render it impossible for the outsider to enter the field safely or intelligently. These statements, usually unsupported, and frequently insupportable, are accepted by the prejudiced multitude as gospel truth, without any attempt being made to examine their foundation or correctness.
So far as the question of gambling is concerned, it would be entering a very large field to attempt to define just what is and what is not gambling.
The idea that the man who buys a certain stock outright invests, while he who buys on margin gambles, is a popular fallacy. The speculator purchases in the hope of an advance, and if two purchases are made for parallel reasons, one for cash, and one on margins, both purchases are speculative.
That speculative fluctuations are largely used as a basis for gambling operations, is unquestionably true, and possibly an acceptable dividing line may be drawn on the following hypothesis: gambling, in the general acceptance of the term, is founded upon blind chance, the equal possibility of certain events occurring or not occurring; this is modified in some cases by the exercise of superior skill in such games as admit of skill; but fundamentally, gambling is wholly dependent upon the equal chances of two or more opposed individuals.
The trader, therefore, who takes “flyers” with no knowledge of his subject or the properties in which he deals merely gambles on the ultimate rise and fall of the market; but the trader who after careful investigation and study purchases a property either outright or on margins because he has reasons for believing it to be cheap and that it will enhance in value is a speculator.
Those composing the gambling element are in the majority and it is, needless to say are the greatest losers; in fact their losses foot up almost the sum total of speculative deficiency and consequently the sum total of the gains reaped by the real speculator.
The statement that most public commitments are made on no better foundation than a mere guess may seem a trifle bold and the counter statement may be made that few people purchase a stock without some reason for so doing. This is admitted on the same basis that the man who bets on a certain number at roulette because it has not recently appeared or in hope of an immediate repetition considers that he has a reason for his action. Thus a great number of amateur or semiprofessional traders buy a certain commodity for no better reason than that the stock has declined or more frequently from a participation in a period of speculative intoxication. They can give reasons for their ventures, but they are without foundation, and are no more worthy of consideration than the reasons given by the roulette player for “staking” upon a certain number.
On the other hand, the speculator, with a carefully acquired knowledge of the normal value of certain properties, fully posted on conditions in general, and those affecting, or liable to affect his favorite property in particular, patiently waits the opportunity to buy, not at a normal price, but at a price far below the actual value of his property. He knows that speculative prices move in cycles, more or less pronounced and prolonged, and in the revolution of this cycle he will be given an opportunity not only to purchase at a price far below a normal valuation, but to sell at a price far above it.
This looks simple enough in the telling, and is merely the operation of Anselm Rothschild’s famous advice, “buy cheap and sell dear.” But when the statement is made that over 90% of public purchases are made at the approximate high tide of a market and about the same percentage of sales at the approximate low tide, in short, that the most simple and reasonable methods of making money are not only disregarded, but actually reversed, a great field for analysis and discussion presents itself.
Manipulation and trickery are vastly overestimated: popular prejudice continually accords to such causes events which were brought about almost wholly by the composite folly of public participators in speculative affairs, and which could not possibly have been effected by any individual interests.
That these stages of undue depression and inflation are to some extent assisted by the shrewd minority is true; but the great work is that of the public itself.
That the money-making minorities foresee, and take advantage of these extremes, is unquestionable. They are the cause of all speculative movements of importance, and through the errors and losses of the lambs the accumulations of successful operators are made possible.
After a careful examination, covering a period of ten years, and a study of the methods of successful and unsuccessful traders as shown in some thousands of speculative accounts, the following facts are adduced:
1st – The greatest causes of loss in speculation are ignorance, over-speculation, and carelessness, of importance in the order named.
2nd – The popular fallacy that business methods are not applicable to speculation is wholly erroneous.
3rd – Not one speculator in a thousand applies ordinary business precautions to his trades, nor founds his ventures upon knowledge of any value.
4th– The correct trader has little to fear, and much to gain from manipulative tactics.
5th – While extremes of prices move in irregular cycles, no “system” for judging changes is possible, or tenable, as such mechanical attempts to forecast price changes do not contemplate changed conditions, or provide for accident. The advocates of the “Chart System” are legion, and yet it is impossible to find a single permanent and substantial gain made by this method.
6th – The general idea that the actual value, and probable future of a property cannot be intelligently based, is erroneous.
7th – The greatest speculative profits are made in stocks, and the greatest speculative losses, in staples: wheat, corn, cotton, etc.
8th – There are certain technical stages, or conditions of markets which are followed by certain invariable results, the study and recognition of which is valuable, and not difficult. These “ear-marks” are in some cases very plain, and do not in any way smack of the “systems” deprecated above, but are more or less visible signs of effects following certain causes.
9th -Almost every general idea of speculation is the exact reverse of the truth. Sometimes this is caused by false reasoning, but most frequently by the innate false appearance of the market quotations. For example, greatest activity and interest in a market occurs around top prices; while dullness and stagnation are invariable when properties are unreasonably low in price.
10th – Persistent short selling of stocks is fashionable in a certain class of semi-professional traders, and almost invariably results in loss.
11th – Tips are illogical. Any wide-spread dissemination of advance information as to a projected movement would defeat its own object. The so-called “tip'” is usually mere guess work. The general consensus of public opinion on this subject is correct, i. e., tips are valueless; and yet the public continues to use them largely as a basis of trading.
12th – Too great facilities for obtaining information and executing orders, is, to the ordinary trader, of no advantage, and is frequently a source of loss. (The accounts mentioned above show the most intelligent trading to have been done by traders who were without facilities to interfere with their own original plans through fright or confusion.)
13th – Speculation is a safe business when business methods are applied to it. The changes in prices of standard properties offer yearly greater opportunities for profit than any other field. That is to say, for reasonable profits, not for the amassing of fortunes on small capital, in a brief period, but for steady accumulation of money and valuable knowledge. So great are the opportunities offered by speculative changes that with proper methods and self-control, the poor man cannot afford to overlook them.
To make these rather radical statements ill a general way is wholly insufficient; each statement must be supported by the presentation of convincing precedent and clear reasoning, and it is the purpose of these articles to point out the reasons for the failure of the majority, as well as the methods by which the minority succeed. This done, the knowledge so gained must be insulated into useful channels, and combined into flexible rules, and inflexible laws.
It is not claimed that it is possible to set down in print a formula for speculative success: much depends upon the individual. A man is not a machine, and will be frequently swerved into paths which he, himself, knows to be dangerous, and an individual incapable of clear thinking and correct application of accrued knowledge, would not succeed at this, or any other business.
The most that may be hoped for, consequently, is to point out certain facts which will lead to a correct line of thinking, or open the way to profitable discussion. To this end, the various causes of loss mentioned will be discussed in turn.
IGNORANCE, OVER-SPECULATION, ETC.
IGNORANCE, over-speculation, and the innate false appearance of market stages are the principal causes of speculative loss, and are, in truth, the principal causes of the great cycles of speculative extremes. These extremes are variously attributed to specific causes, affecting certain securities, to good or bad business conditions, or to accident or manipulation; but the fact of the matter is that the wide swings of the market are brought about almost wholly by the errors and ignorance of the great body of traders known as the public.
Conditions change, accidents occur, and manipulation exists, and all have their effect; but unless these factors were supplemented by alternate waves of general over-confidence, and subsequent undue depression, the fluctuations in market quotations for standard properties would be confined to such narrow limits that the repeated opportunities to purchase such properties at prices far below, and to sell them at prices far above a normal value, would be eliminated.
Almost all the commitments made by public traders are made on faith, or on misleading surface appearances. The advice of people absolutely incapable of passing intelligent opinions, is eagerly listened to and frequently acted upon; large dividends on low-priced stocks are made the basis of optimistic views and shallow arguments; the fact that a certain stock has dragged back in a generally strong market,—usually the best evidence in the world of something radically wrong with that particular stock,—incites what may be very undesirable purchases. The development of certain long-heralded events, such as the payment, or increase of a dividend, is considered a good reason for the purchase of the security affected, when in fact it is no reason at all, as Wall Street always anticipates and discounts probable good news. These and a hundred and one other reasons, mostly ill-founded, are the groundwork of the great bulk of public ventures, and the individuals who operate on these unreliable signs, with full knowledge of the fact that the public has been misled by them time and again, seldom attempt to investigate the intrinsic value of the property in which they have assumed and paid cash for a proprietary interest. Such an investigation is usually considered useless or impossible. If this were true any participation whatever in speculative affairs would be folly, but fortunately this common opinion is itself the result of ignorance.
Over-speculation, the composite result of ignorance, greed, and false appearances, may be classed as the primary cause of wide variations in prices, for as much too high as a market is carried by rash participation at high prices, just as much too low will it sink in the ensuing decline. The ill-advised traders who rush in at high prices with inadequate capital are the first to suffer; their overthrow topples over other weak accounts, and so on down the line, until the last of the wobbly row of bricks has fallen.
It might be contended that when this process of elimination had brought prices of good properties to a fair valuation, purchasers would be easily found, and such might be the case, were it not for the fact that the great lights of speculative finance know full well that the technical position of the market is still bad; that many venturers, already financially weakened by the decline from abnormal to normal prices, are in a position which they can be forced to abandon; that the pendulum of prices Will swing to the other extreme, and they refrain from buying at normal prices for the good and simple reason that they know they can eventually buy at prices that are very low. Perhaps these low prices will come about unaided, through the internal rottenness of the technical situation; perhaps the desirable consummation will require a little assistance, such as the passing of a dividend or two, the closing of a few mills or the laying off of a few men, all of which actions can in the future be pointed out as good and conservative business moves, but which will be received by the public with anger and disgust; for so dense is general ignorance on this one subject that the payment of a dividend is always considered good, and the reduction or passing of a dividend is always considered bad; a bond issue, for whatever purpose, is an unmixed evil, and so following.
The professional bear element also assists in the final downfall of prices. They will be well aware of the assailable condition of the weakened long interest, and will attack the market for the purpose of reaching stop-loss orders or forcing crippled speculators to sell. These same bears may later be hoist with their own petard, for a chronic bear is a chronic loser, but meanwhile they assist the successful campaigners materially by forcing a temporarily lower level of prices and supplanting weak long accounts with a short interest, which is in itself a great advantage to the bull element.
So familiar is the experienced speculator with public weakness that he is usually found operating in direct reversion to prevailing sentiment. He knows by careful and clear-headed investigation the normal value of the property or properties in which he trades, and at such time as he finds the current quotations far below this fixed point and the public inveighing bitterly against his favorite issues, he begins his purchases. It does not require much shrewdness to deduce, the fact that if a certain standard security has passed out of public, or weak hands, it has of necessity been concentrated in the strong hands of the giants of finance, and that the purchaser at such periods is at least in good company. He has no fear of any abnormal shrinkage in the value of his holdings, as such sudden shrinkages are the result of panic or financial necessity, to which the present holders are not subject. He also knows that any manipulation must now be for the purpose of creating higher prices as the next great speculative move will be to resell the cheaply purchased properties at high prices and the public being absent there is no one to manipulate against. He is certain that unless all precedents fail he will at some future time see high prices and general good feeling supplant the present depression.
As has been stated the innate false appearance of speculative surroundings does much to influence public participation at the wrong period. When stocks are low in price the brokerage offices are deserted, the newspapers say little of speculative affairs, transactions are limited, and those who have been worsted in the preceding decline speak in pessimistic terms of the future. A long period of dullness almost invariably follows a severe decline. New lambs must be born and the old ones suffered to grow a new fleece and dullness is always unattractive. But at the crest of a great movement all is activity. Excited groups gather about the tickers and predict future events founded principally on illusions or hope, and stories of quickly acquired gains are heard on every hand. A fever of speculation fills the air and men who had no thought of venturing during the time of depression and low prices, now purchase anything and everything at prices that are very high.
The mistakes discussed above—ignorance; the belief that speculative riches are the result of luck rather than of judgment, over-speculation and misleading surface appearances, combine to make it possible for the shrewd and successful minority to buy and sell periodically to great advantage by an almost exact reversal of public methods and beliefs. Their operations are not founded on such reversion, but on study and knowledge of past precedent, present conditions and future probabilities. The fact that public opinion is diametrically opposed to
their views may be cheerfully considered as excellent proof of the correctness of their deductions, as the public is usually wrong.
If the statements made above are admitted to be correct the lesson they teach is obvious. To result successfully, speculative ventures must be based on sound reasoning and a knowledge of correct normal values; on a willingness to confine operations to reasonable limits and upon emancipation from the moving influences of general exhilaration or depression. The individual who begins or pursues his operations on these great fundamental principles has taken a great step toward the goal of success.
I am extremely happy to be a Baby-Boomer as it is unlikely I will be alive the day millions of Chinese drones swarm the nation and force the subjugation of the American population.
If that thought puts the fear of God in you, it should. If it does not, you [...] Read more →
In my previous article I presented my hypothesis as to why I suspected that my UPS packages were not being delivered. Three days after writing said article (see article below), all three of my missing packages showed up on one day or on Wednesday December 28th, 2022. I was at [...] Read more →
When one thinks of the English countryside or rural France replete with rambling country house estates and fairly tale chateaus sitting alongside grand chapels and country church spires, one might imagine a realm of manners, neighborly love, and country gentlemen. However, history informs us [...] Read more →
Bird hunters will tell you that a wing shot or one single buckshot spiraling out of the barrel of a large bore shotgun can bring down a high flying bird.
CZ, the CEO of Binance is apparently under high delusion to believe that contagion from the collapse of FTX will [...] Read more →
Bankers have dreamed of a digital dollar based cashless financial system long before Bitcoin. A decent enough history on the subject is available at Amazon.com with a book entitled: The Book of Payments: Historical and Contemporary Views on the Cashless Society ISBN: 978-1-137-60231-2
With the widespread adoption of the internet, [...] Read more →
Verum usque in præsentem diem multa garriunt inter se Canonici de abscondito quodam istius Abbatis Thomæ thesauro, quem sæpe, quanquam adhuc incassum, quæsiverunt Steinfeldenses. Ipsum enim Thomam adhuc florida in ætate existentem ingentem auri massam circa monasterium defodisse perhibent; de quo multoties interrogatus ubi esset, cum risu respondere solitus erat: “Job, [...] Read more →
On the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ, the countries of Northern Europe were left almost destitute of a national government. Numerous chiefs, more or less powerful, held local sway, as far as each [...] Read more →
It has been said by a thoughtful writer that the subject of witchcraft has hardly received that place which it deserves in the history of opinions. There has been, of course, a reason for this neglect—the fact that the belief in witchcraft is no longer [...] Read more →
Money box in shape of a temple, from house 25 in Priene; 2nd century B.C.. , Photo by Marcus Cyron
Reprinted from Bitcoin.org
Be careful with online services
You should be wary of any service designed to store your money online. Many exchanges and online wallets suffered from security breaches in the [...] Read more →
There are well over 10,000 crypto currencies available for sale as July 2022. One might think this makes for a rich market place with lots of opportunity for speculative trading, investment, and wealth creation. It might be pointed out that in 1899 there were over thirty auto manufacturers in the United States. [...] Read more →
Ponzi schemes and MLM schemes are by design corrupt. They are designed to confuse and or hoodwink the investor or participant into believing he is buying into a surefire road to riches.
When a computer programmer designs and programs a computer program, or in the case of the crypto-world, a [...] Read more →
I have always enjoyed the rants of Max Keiser, he is quite entertaining. In fact, he makes his money by entertaining the masses, especially those prone to living in alternative “fiat-free” realities such as the cryptocurrency universe with the hope of subverting the power of “the Man” or the manipulative central banking [...] Read more →
The Tulip Folly, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1882. A nobleman guards an exceptional bloom as soldiers trample flowerbeds in a vain attempt to stabilise the tulip market by limiting the supply.
Mark Zuckerberg has become the poster boy of modern Tulip mania. It is not clear as to whether or not he is [...] Read more →
Are you dissatisfied with the Savings Account and CD Interest Rates your bank currently has on offer?
If so, go to https://www.treasurydirect.gov and open an account. The U.S. Government’s iBonds are currently earning 9.62% interest through October of this year.
Individuals may purchase $10,000 worth of iBonds per [...] Read more →
The rude awakening over the past year of increasingly high food and gas prices has been quite the shock for the American consumer. The U.S. Federal Government and Federal Reserve Bank’s sluggish reaction to growing consumer price inflation certainly have not helped. If history is to be our guide, there is more [...] Read more →
Listening to MicroStrategy CEO Saylor’s naive proclamations about Bitcoin on MSBC this morning remind me of why stupid people go broke faster.
MicroStrategy—a money losing business software developer that trades under Ticker MSTR—is currently trading for an inflated price of around $168 per share. This share price could soon collapse. [...] Read more →
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION16 CFR Part 23Guides for the Jewelry, PreciousMetals, and Pewter Industries
The US Government has laws guiding the business practices of the Jewelry and Precious Metals Industries. If you are unclear as a seller as to your obligations under the law as related to any [...] Read more →
Prisons as places of detention are very ancient institutions. As soon as men had learned the way to build, in stone, as in Egypt, or with bricks, as in Mesopotamia, when kings had many-towered fortresses, and the great barons castles [...] Read more →
Country House Essays, the book is now in print. This is an eclectic collection of both original, and historical essays, poems, books, and articles created for our loyal reader hear at CountryHouseEssays.com. It is jam packed with reprints of articles from this website. The cost is $49.95 for this massive [...] Read more →
Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary [...] Read more →
Harvey Wiley, Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture’s Division of Chemistry (third from the right) with his staff, not long after he joined the division in 1883. Wiley’s scientific expertise and political skills were a key to passage of the 1906 Food and Drugs Act and the creation of the FDA.
“Saint John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, the main gateway to the Priory of Saint John of Jerusalem,” black and white photograph by the British photographer Henry Dixon, 1880. The church was founded in the 12th century by Jordan de Briset, a Norman knight. Prior Docwra completed the gatehouse shown in this photograph in 1504. The gateway [...] Read more →
The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee has a long heralded tradition of assisting farmers and growers through it’s Agricultural Extension Service. The following bulletin entitled Grape Growing in Tennessee discusses the Muscadine variety of grapes among others. Muscadine grapes are often found growing wild in Tennessee. On my grandfather’s West Tennessee [...] Read more →
Resolution adapted at the New Orleans Convention of the American Institute of Banking, October 9, 1919:
“Ours is an educational association organized for the benefit of the banking fraternity of the country and within our membership may be found on an equal basis both employees and employers; and in full appreciation [...] Read more →
Reprinted from FineModelShips.com with the kind permission of Dr. Michael Czytko
The SAN FELIPE is one of the most favoured ships among the ship model builders. The model is elegant, very beautifully designed, and makes a decorative piece of art to be displayed at home or in [...] Read more →
By the death of Mr. Scarth on the 5th of April, at Tangier, where he had gone for his health’s sake, the familiar form of an old and much valued Member of the Institute has passed away. Harry Mengden Scarth was bron at Staindrop in Durham, [...] Read more →
A Lecture Delivered at the Guildhall, March 2, 1853 by Rev. H.M. Scarth, M.A., Rector of Bathwick.
To understand the ancient history of the country in which we live, to know something of the arts and manners of the people who have preceded us, to ascertain what we owe to [...] Read more →
Eadweard Muybridge was a fascinating character. Click here to learn how Eadweard committed “Justifiable Homicide” after shooting his wife’s lover in 1874.
The arsenicals (compounds which contain the heavy metal element arsenic, As) have a long history of use in man – with both benevolent and malevolent intent. The name ‘arsenic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘arsenikon’ which means ‘potent'”. As early as 2000 BC, arsenic trioxide, obtained from smelting copper, was used [...] Read more →
Photo Caption: The Marquis of Zetland, KC, PC – otherwise known as Lawrence Dundas Son of: John Charles Dundas and: Margaret Matilda Talbot born: Friday 16 August 1844 died: Monday 11 March 1929 at Aske Hall Occupation: M.P. for Richmond Viceroy of Ireland Vice Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Lord – in – Waiting [...] Read more →
Listening to MicroStrategy CEO Saylor’s naive proclamations about Bitcoin on MSBC this morning remind me of why stupid people go broke faster.
MicroStrategy—a money losing business software developer that trades under Ticker MSTR—is currently trading for an inflated price of around $168 per share. This share price could soon collapse. [...] Read more →
Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary [...] Read more →
Add 3 quarts clover blossoms* to 4 quarts of boiling water removed from heat at point of boil. Let stand for three days. At the end of the third day, drain the juice into another container leaving the blossoms. Add three quarts of fresh water and the peel of one lemon to the blossoms [...] Read more →
Eadweard Muybridge was a fascinating character. Click here to learn how Eadweard committed “Justifiable Homicide” after shooting his wife’s lover in 1874.
Group of Thuggee – From Harpers Magazine – Dec. 12, 1837
The existence of large bodies of men having no other means of subsistence than those afforded by plunder, is, in all countries, too common to excite surprise; and, unhappily, organized bands of assassins are not peculiar to India! The associations of [...] Read more →
It is a pity that the traditions and literature in praise of fly fishing have unconsciously hampered instead of expanded this graceful, effective sport. Many a sportsman has been anxious to share its joys, but appalled by the rapture of expression in describing its countless thrills and niceties he has been literally [...] Read more →
What follows is a chapter from Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward’s 1852 treatise on terrarium gardening.
ON THE NATURAL CONDITIONS OF PLANTS.
To enter into any lengthened detail on the all-important subject of the Natural Conditions of Plants would occupy far too much space; yet to pass it by [...] Read more →
Reprint from The Sportsman’s Cabinet and Town and Country Magazine, Vol I. Dec. 1832, Pg. 94-95
To the Editor of the Cabinet.
SIR,
Possessing that anxious feeling so common among shooters on the near approach of the 12th of August, I honestly confess I was not able to [...] Read more →
Four Seasons fill the measure of the year; There are four seasons in the mind of man: He has his lusty spring, when fancy clear Takes in all beauty with an easy span; He has his Summer, when luxuriously Spring’s honied cud of youthful thoughts he loves To ruminate, and by such dreaming high [...] Read more →
In this essay we are examining another form of matter otherwise known as national literary matters, the three most important of which being the Matter of Rome, Matter of France, and the Matter of England.
Our focus shall be on the Matter of England or [...] Read more →
Bankers have dreamed of a digital dollar based cashless financial system long before Bitcoin. A decent enough history on the subject is available at Amazon.com with a book entitled: The Book of Payments: Historical and Contemporary Views on the Cashless Society ISBN: 978-1-137-60231-2
With the widespread adoption of the internet, [...] Read more →
Four times the nuptial bed she warm’d, And every time so well perform’d, That when death spoil’d each husband’s billing, He left the widow every shilling. Fond was the dame, but not dejected; Five stately mansions she erected With more than royal pomp, to vary The prison of her captive When Hardwicke’s towers shall bow [...] Read more →
Stoke park was the first English country house to display a Palladian plan: a central house with balancing pavilions linked by colonnades or screen walls. Palladio was the 16th-century Italian architect on whose work the design was based. The Paladian style became [...] Read more →
The arsenicals (compounds which contain the heavy metal element arsenic, As) have a long history of use in man – with both benevolent and malevolent intent. The name ‘arsenic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘arsenikon’ which means ‘potent'”. As early as 2000 BC, arsenic trioxide, obtained from smelting copper, was used [...] Read more →
Buying a book for a serious collector with refined tastes can be a daunting task.
However, there is one company that publishes some of the finest reproduction books in the world, books that most collectors wouldn’t mind having in their collection no matter their general preference or specialty.
By the death of Mr. Scarth on the 5th of April, at Tangier, where he had gone for his health’s sake, the familiar form of an old and much valued Member of the Institute has passed away. Harry Mengden Scarth was bron at Staindrop in Durham, [...] Read more →
THE SNIPE, from the Shooter’s Guide by B. Thomas – 1811
AFTER having given a particular description of the woodcock, it will only. be necessary to observe, that the plumage and shape of the snipe is much the same ; and indeed its habits and manners sets bear a great [...] Read more →
On the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ, the countries of Northern Europe were left almost destitute of a national government. Numerous chiefs, more or less powerful, held local sway, as far as each [...] Read more →
It has been said by a thoughtful writer that the subject of witchcraft has hardly received that place which it deserves in the history of opinions. There has been, of course, a reason for this neglect—the fact that the belief in witchcraft is no longer [...] Read more →
Awakened to mild rumbles of thunder and pounding rain washed down by a steady drizzle and more downpour coating asphalt with mirrored reflections of oily alluvial runoff easing back into a soothing pattern of velvety rain drops drizzling down the foliage encased wrought iron balcony rails
The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Wound Healing Experimental Study and Review of the Literature
Steven L. Henry, MD, Matthew J. Concannon, MD, and Gloria J. Yee, MD Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Missouri Hospital & Clinics, Columbia, MO Published July 25, 2008
Notes on the intaglio processes of the most expensive book on birds available for sale in the world today.
The Audubon prints in “The Birds of America” were all made from copper plates utilizing four of the so called “intaglio” processes, engraving, etching, aquatint, and drypoint. Intaglio processes [...] Read more →
“Saint John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, the main gateway to the Priory of Saint John of Jerusalem,” black and white photograph by the British photographer Henry Dixon, 1880. The church was founded in the 12th century by Jordan de Briset, a Norman knight. Prior Docwra completed the gatehouse shown in this photograph in 1504. The gateway [...] Read more →
This beautifully illustrated New Testament based on the 1611 KJV Bible is published in Limited Edition of 500 Copies World Wide. Included at the end of the text is an unabridged copy of Albert J. Edmunds 1917 classic work, The Oldest Resurrection Documents. Edmunds’ book on the Resurrection utilized source [...] Read more →
Felix Weihs de Weldon, age 96, died broke in the year 2003 after successive bankruptcies and accumulating $4 million dollars worth of debt. Most of the debt was related to the high cost of love for a wife living with Alzheimer’s. Health care [...] Read more →
“The Leda, in the Colonna palace, by Correggio, is dead-coloured white and black, with ultramarine in the shadow ; and over that is scumbled, thinly and smooth, a warmer tint,—I believe caput mortuum. The lights are mellow ; the shadows blueish, but mellow. The picture is painted on [...] Read more →
Take the large blue figs when pretty ripe, and steep them in white wine, having made some slits in them, that they may swell and gather in the substance of the wine.
Then slice some other figs and let them simmer over a fire in water until they are reduced [...] Read more →
Mudlarks of Victorian London in the River Thames, from “The Headington Magazine” 1871
Mudlarking along the Thames River foreshore is controlled by the Port of London Authority.
According to the Port of London website, two type of permits are issued for those wishing to conduct metal detecting, digging, or searching [...] Read more →
Money box in shape of a temple, from house 25 in Priene; 2nd century B.C.. , Photo by Marcus Cyron
Reprinted from Bitcoin.org
Be careful with online services
You should be wary of any service designed to store your money online. Many exchanges and online wallets suffered from security breaches in the [...] Read more →
Verum usque in præsentem diem multa garriunt inter se Canonici de abscondito quodam istius Abbatis Thomæ thesauro, quem sæpe, quanquam adhuc incassum, quæsiverunt Steinfeldenses. Ipsum enim Thomam adhuc florida in ætate existentem ingentem auri massam circa monasterium defodisse perhibent; de quo multoties interrogatus ubi esset, cum risu respondere solitus erat: “Job, [...] Read more →
Every home should have one to be opened in spring A jar that sits on the table full of baseball dreams
Inside will be found there pennants and things The smell of fresh cut grass and pinstriped rings A pair of old tickets to the game never played, Do you remember how cold it [...] Read more →
The arsenicals (compounds which contain the heavy metal element arsenic, As) have a long history of use in man – with both benevolent and malevolent intent. The name ‘arsenic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘arsenikon’ which means ‘potent'”. As early as 2000 BC, arsenic trioxide, obtained from smelting copper, was used [...] Read more →
There are well over 10,000 crypto currencies available for sale as July 2022. One might think this makes for a rich market place with lots of opportunity for speculative trading, investment, and wealth creation. It might be pointed out that in 1899 there were over thirty auto manufacturers in the United States. [...] Read more →