Introduction
Edward Stone was a mathematician and a Fellow of the Royal Society, so when he discovered something interesting about willow bark, he thought he would write to the President and tell him about it.
THE bark of the willow tree was used to treat fever as far back as the days of Hippocrates in the 4th century BC, but Western medicine had forgotten it until Edward Stone, walking one day past a willow tree, casually nibbled on a chip of wood.
The bitter taste and damp habitat of the willow reminded him of the Peruvian cinchona tree, from which we get quinine, and he wondered whether the willow might have similar therapeutic properties.
Stone collected about a pound of the bark, and dried it for three months next to a baker’s oven. Then he cautiously administered it to more than fifty patients suffering from stubborn fevers over the course of five years, with great success.
In 1763, Stone wrote to the Royal Society advising them of his discovery. He made no attempt to profit financially from it: that was left to German pharmaceutical company Bayer, who later refined and marketed his drug as ‘Aspirin’.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Company. Oven. Royal.
2 Left. Make. Might.
3 Bitter. Century. No.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Treat. 2 Wonder. 3 Chip. 4 Make. 5 Pound. 6 Back. 7 Profit. 8 Market. 9 Leave.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Prepositions Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below may be followed by one or more prepositions. Compose your own sentences to show which they might be. Some prepositions are given underneath.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Walk. 2. Use. 3. Write.
Selected Prepositions
About. Against. Among. At. By. For. From. In. Into. Of. On. Out. Over. Through. To. Towards. Upon. With.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
sprs (11+1)
aspires. spares. spars. sparse. spears. spires. spores. sprees. spurious. spurs. supers.
spoors.
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