88 SMITHSONIAN.COM | September 2019 Illustration by Eugenia Mello
T’S AS COMMON as it is cute, says
Craig Saff oe, curator of the Great
Cats, Andean bears and Kids’ Farm
areas at the National Zoo. Goats’ nat-
ural inclination is to jump and climb
wherever their hoofs take them. Domesticated goats
are incredibly sure-footed, probably a taxonomic
evolutionary trait from when they lived in moun-
tains. Just as with people, the kids tend to be more
playful and jumpy than the grown-ups.
Q: What are the largest denominations of
U.S. currency ever issued?
Anonymous
THAT’S THE $100,000 question (and answer). In
1934, the federal government printed gold certifi -
cates in that amount, but the notes were only for use
within the Federal Reserve System— not by private
citizens, says Ellen Feingold, curator at the National
Numismatic Collection. The largest denomination
ever circulated as legal tender was the $10,000 bill.
Before widespread access to banking systems and
credit, it was used for big purchases like property.
But it also became a target for counterfeiters and
criminal enterprises hoping to keep large, illicit pur-
chases anonymous. The Treasury and the Federal
Reserve discontinued the note in 1969.Q: Is climate change driving human migra-
tion from Central America?
Betty Wood | HonoluluMANY MIGRANTS to Mexico and the United States a r e
originally from countries in the Central American
Dry Corridor, such as Honduras, El Salvador and
Guatemala. This area has an intrinsically variable cli-
mate that alternates between fl ooding and drought,
explains Scott Wing, research geologist and curator
of paleobotany at the National Museum of Natural
History. It is likely that climate change is making
the rainfall even less regular and the temperatures
even more extreme. As a result, rural farmers are
struggling to grow their crops and food insecurity
is spreading. Some migrants fi rst try to fi nd work in
their nations’ cities but frequently encounter high
rates of crime and poverty, so they continue their
migration north.Q: I’ve heard that the author William Faulk-
ner had a great-grandfather who was a
Confederate colonel in the Civil War (and
something of a local legend). Can the family
line be documented?
Jean W. Hanson | Avon, OhioTHAT’S RIGHT, says Nancy Bercaw, curator at the Na-
tional Museum of American History’s Division of Po-
litical and Military History. William C. Falkner, who
spelled his last name without the “u,” was born in
Tennessee in 1825 (or 1826) and supported the South
during the Civil War. At the time, offi cers for the Con-
federacy generally had to be elected and Falkner lost
his position as colonel in the second year of the war.
Furious, he resigned and joined his local militia. Af-
ter the South lost, he dedicated himself to spreading
the myth of the “Lost Cause” and exaggerated his
own record. It worked: A memorial was constructed
in Ripley, Mississippi, in his honor and his great-
grandson grew up to idolize him, even writing char-
acters based on him into some of his books.Q: You can waste a lot of time watching
internet videos of goats jumping.
But how common is that four-legged
behavior in real life?
Chase Carter | Washington, D.C.ask smithsonian
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