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diff --git a/old/36776.txt b/old/36776.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9be701c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/36776.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18502 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Inventions in the Century, by William Henry Doolittle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Inventions in the Century + +Author: William Henry Doolittle + +Release Date: July 18, 2011 [EBook #36776] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INVENTIONS IN THE CENTURY *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Stephanie Kovalchik and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + +Misspellings in the source text have been corrected. + +The oe-ligature is indicated with [oe] in this text version. + +Missing page entries for "Wooden shoes" was assigned a page number by +the transcriber. + +Index entry for "Stamfield, Jas." was removed since this name does not +occur in the main text. + + + + +THE NINETEENTH CENTURY SERIES + + + EDITOR: + JUSTIN McCARTHY. + + ASSOCIATE EDITORS: + REV. W. H. WITHROW, M.A., D.D., F.R.S.C. + CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS, M.A., F.R.C.I. + J. CASTELL HOPKINS, F.R.S.L. + T. G. MARQUIS, B.A. + REV. T. S. LINSCOTT, F.R.C.I. + + + + + +INVENTIONS IN THE CENTURY + +BY + +WILLIAM H. DOOLITTLE + + + +_Expert and Patent Solicitor, Ex-Examiner in the Patent Office and +Assistant Commissioner of Patents at Washington, Writer of Inventions, +Etc._ + + + + + + +THE LINSCOTT PUBLISHING COMPANY + +TORONTO AND PHILADELPHIA + + +W. & R. CHAMBERS, Limited + +LONDON AND EDINBURGH + +1903 + + + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year One Thousand Nine +Hundred and Two, by the Bradley-Garretson Co., Limited, in the Office +of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + +Entered, according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the Year One +Thousand Nine Hundred and Two, by the Bradley-Garretson Co., Limited, +in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. + + +_All Rights Reserved._ + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + +INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES. + + Inventions and Discoveries.--Distinctions and Contrast.--The + One, Useful Contrivances of Man; the Other, New Things Found + in Nature.--Galileo and the Telescope.--Newton and the Law of + Gravitation.--Often United as Soul and Body.--Inventions and + Discoveries do not Precede or Succeed in Order.--Inventions-- + Alphabetical Writing; Arabic Notation; The Mariner's Compass; + The Telescope; The Steam Engine.--Discoveries;--Attraction of + Gravitation; Planetary Motions; Circulation of Blood; Velocity + of Light.--Nineteenth Century Inventions and Discoveries.-- + Further Definitions.--Law of Development.--Contrivances, not + Creations.--Man Always an Inventor.--Prof. Langley on Slow + Growth of Inventions.--Inventions of this Century Outgrowth of + Past Ones.--Egyptian Crooked Stick, Precursor of Modern + Plough.--Hero of Alexandria and James Watt.--David's Harp and + the Grand Piano.--Electrical Science in 1600 and the Present + Day.--Evolution and Interrelation of the Arts.--Age of Machine + Inventions.--Its Beginning.--The Inducements to Invention.-- + Necessity not Always the Mother.--Wants of Various Kinds.-- + Accident.--Governmental Protection the Greatest Incentive.-- + Origin and Growth of Patent Laws.--Influence of Personal, + Political and Intellectual Freedom and Education.--Arts of + Civilization Due to the Inventor.--Macaulay's Estimate.-- + Will Inventions Continue to Increase or Decrease.--Effect of + Economic, Industrial and Social Life upon Inventions.--What + Inventions have Done for Humanity.--Thread of the Centuries.-- + The Roll of Inventions too Vast for Enumeration. 1 + + +CHAPTER II. + +AGRICULTURE AND ITS IMPLEMENTS. + + The Egyptians the Earliest and Greatest Agriculturists.-- + Rome and Farming.--Cato, Varro, Virgil.--Columella.--Pliny.-- + Palladius.--The Decline of Agriculture.--Northern Barbarism.-- + Lowest Ebb in the Middle Ages.--Revival in the Fifteenth and + Sixteenth Centuries.--With Invention of Printing.--Publications + then, Concerning.--Growth in Seventeenth and Eighteenth + Centuries.--Jethro Tull.--Arthur Young.--Washington.-- + Jefferson.--The Art Scientifically Commenced with Sir Humphry + Davy's Lectures on Soils and Plants, 1802-1812.--Societies.-- + "Book Farming" and Prejudice of Farmers.--A Revisit of Ruth + and Cincinnatus at Beginning of Nineteenth Century.--Their + Implements still the Common Ones in Use.--The Plough and its + History.--Its Essential Parts and their Evolution to Modern + Forms.--Originated in Holland.--Growth in England and + America.--Small, Jefferson, Newbold.--Lord Kames' Complaint.-- + The American Plough.--Cutting Disks.--Steam Ploughs: Implements + for Preparing the Soil for Planting.--Various Forms of Harrows. 13 + + +CHAPTER III. + +AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. + + The Sowing of Grain.--The Sower of the Parables.--His Art and + its Defects Lasted until Nineteenth Century.--The Problems to + be Solved.--Assyrian and Chinese Seeding Implements.--India.-- + Italy First to Introduce a Grain Sowing Machine, Seventeenth + Century.--Zanon's Work on Agriculture, 1764.--Austria and + England.--A Spaniard's Invention.--Don Lescatello.--The Drill + of Jethro Tull.--A Clergyman, Cooke's Machine.--Washington + and Others.--Modern Improvements in Seeders and their Operation + and Functions.--Force Feed and Gravity Feed.--Graduated Flow.-- + Divided Feeds for Separate Grains and Fertilizing Material.-- + Garden Ploughs and Seeders.--Gangs of Heavy Ones.--Operated by + Steam.--Corn Planters.--Walking and Riding.--Objects of Proper + Planting.--How Accomplished by Machinery.--Variety of + Machines.--Potatoes and the Finest Seeds.--Transplanters.-- + Cultivators.--Their Purposes and Varieties.--Primitive and + Modern Toilers.--Millet.--Tillers of the Soil no Longer + "Brothers of the Ox." 23 + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AGRICULTURAL INVENTIONS. + + Harvesting in Ancient Times.--The Sickle.--Pliny's Machine.-- + Now the Clover Header.--Palladius' Description.--Improved in + 1786.--Scotchman's Grain Cradle in 1794.--The Seven Ancient + Wonders and the Seven Modern Wonders.--The Modern Harvester + and the Cotton Gin.--Requirements of the Harvester.--Boyce.-- + Meares.--Plucknett.--Gladstone and the First Front Draft + Machine, 1806.--Salonen introduced Vibrating Knives over + Stationary Blades, 1807.--Ogle and Reciprocating Knife Bar, + 1822.--Rev. Patrick Bell, 1823, Cuts an Acre of Grain in an + Hour.--Mowers and Reapers in America in 1820.--Reaper and + Thresher combined by Lane, of Maine, 1828.--Manning's Harvester, + 1831.--Schnebly.--Hussey.--McCormick, 1833-34.--Harvesters and + Mowers at World's Fair, London, 1851.--Automatic Binders.--Wire + and Twine.--Advances Shown at Centennial Exhibition, 1876.-- + Inventions Beyond the Wildest Dreams of Former Farmers.--One + Invention Generates Another.--Lawn Mowers.--Hay Forks and + Stackers.--Corn, Cotton, Potato, Flax Harvesters.--Threshing.-- + The Old Flail.--Egyptian and Roman Methods.--The First Modern + Threshing Machine.--Menzies, Leckie, Meikle.--Combined + Harvesters and Threshers.--Flax Threshers and Brakes.--Cotton + Gins.--Eli Whitney.--Enormous Importance of this Machine in + Cotton Products.--Displacement of Labour. 32 + + +CHAPTER V. + +AGRICULTURAL INVENTIONS (_continued_). + + Harvest Ended, Comes the Preparation of Grain and Fruits for + Food.--Cleaning.--Separating.--Grinding.--Fanning Mills and + Sir Walter Scott.--The Rudimentary Mills.--Egyptian.--Hebrew, + Grecian, and Roman Methods, Prevailed until Middle of Eighteenth + Century.--The Upper and Nether Mill Stone in Modern Dress.-- + Modern Mills Invented at Close of Eighteenth Century.--Oliver + Evans of America, 1755-1819.--Evans' System Prevailed for Three + Quarters of a Century.--New System.--Middlings.--Low Milling.-- + High Milling.--Roller Mills.--Middlings Separators.--Dust + Explosions and Prevention.--Vegetable Cutters.--Choppers.--Fruit + Parers and Slicers.--Great Range of Mechanisms to Treat the + Tenderest Pods and Smallest Seeds.--Crushing Sugar Cane.-- + Pressing and Baling.--Every Product has its own Proper Machine + for Picking, Pressing, Packing, or Baling.--Cotton Compress.-- + Extensive and Enormous Cotton Crops of the World.--Cotton + Presses of Various Kinds.--Hay and its Baling.--Bale Ties.-- + Fruits and Foods.--Machines for Gathering, Packing, Preserving, + etc., all Modern.--Drying and Evaporating.--Sealing.-- + Transporting.--Tobacco.--Its Enormous Production.--The Interdict + of James I., and of Popes, Kings, Sultans, etc.--Variety of + Machines for its Treatment. 45 + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CHEMISTRY, MEDICINES, SURGERY, DENTISTRY. + + Chemistry among the Ancients.--Egyptians.--Ph[oe]nicians.-- + Israelites.--Greeks and Romans.--Chinese.--Became a Science in + the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.--Libavius.--Van + Helmont.--Glauber--Tachenius.--Boyle.--Lemery.--Becher.-- + Stahl.--Boerhaave.--Black.--Cavendish.--Lavoisier.--Priestley.-- + Chemistry of Nineteenth Century a New World.--Atomic and + Molecular Theories.--Light, Heat, and Electricity.--Correlation + and Conservation of Forces.--Spectrum Analysis.--Laws of + Chemical Changes.--John Dalton.--Wollaston.--Gay.--Lussac.-- + Berzelius.--Huygens'and Newton's Discoveries in Light in + Seventeenth Century.--Unfolded and Developed by Fraunhofer, + Kirchoff.--Bunsen in the Nineteenth.--Young of America.-- + Combination of Spectroscope and Telescope.--Huggins of England, + Spectrum Analysis of the Stars.--Heat and other Forces.--Count + Rumford.--Davy.--Mayer.--Helmholtz.--Colding.--Joule.--Grove.-- + Faraday.--Sir William Thomson.--Le Conte and Martin.--French + Revolution and Agricultural Chemistry.--Lavoisier, Berthollet.-- + Guyton.--Fourcroy.--Napoleon.--Sir Humphry Davy.--Liebig.-- + Fermentation.--Alcohol.--Yeast.--Malt.--Wines.--Beer.--Huxley's + Lecture on Yeast, 1871.--Protein.--Protoplasm.--Evolution from + one all-pervading Force.--Alcohol and Pasteur.--Manufacture of + Liquors.--Carbonating.--Soils and Fertilisers.--Liquids, Oils, + Sugar and Fats.--Bleaching and Dyeing.--Aniline Colours.-- + Perfumes.--Electro-Chemical Methods.--Applied to the Production + of Artificial Light.--Abradants.--Disinfectants.--Pigments.-- + Mineral Analysis.--Purification of Water and Sewage.-- + Electroplating Metals.--Chemicals and the Fine Arts.--Redemption + of Waste Materials.--Medicines and Surgery.--Their Growth from + Empiricism.--Anaesthetics.--Davy.--Morton.--Jackson.--Innumerable + Medical Compounds.--Antiseptic Treatment of Wounds.--Vast + Variety of Surgical Instruments Invented.--Four Thousand Patents + in United States Alone.--Dentistry.--Its Ancient Origin.-- + Account of Herodotus.--Revolution in, during Nineteenth + Century.--Instruments.--Artificial Teeth.--Vast Relief from Pain. 58 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +STEAM AND STEAM ENGINES. + + Prophecy of Dr. Darwin in Eighteenth Century.--Review of the Art + from Hero to James Watt.--Pumping Engines.--Road Carriages.-- + Watt.--Cugnot.--Rumsey.--Fitch.--Oliver Evans.--Read.-- + Symington.--Trevithick.--Locomotives.--Blenkinsop.--Griffith.-- + Bramah.--Horse Engine.--Hancock.--Blackett.--George + Stephenson.--Hackworth.--Braithwaite.--Ericsson.--Huskisson + First Victim of Railroad Accident.--Seguin.--John C. Stevens.-- + Horatio Allen.--Peter Cooper.--Symington.--Lord Dundas.--Fulton + and Livingston.--The First Successful Steamboat.--Transatlantic + Steam Navigation.--Scarborough of Georgia.--Bell of Scotland.-- + Cunard Line; Paddle Wheels.--Screw Propellers.--The Age of + Kinetic Energy.--Professor Thurston.--Variety of Engines and + Boilers.--Corliss.--Bicycle and Automobile Engines.--Napoleon's + Stage Trip and Present Locomotion.--Daniel Webster's Survey of + the Art. 73 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENGINEERING AND TRANSPORTATION. + + The Duties of a Civil Engineer.--Great Engineering of the + Past.--The Divisions.--Steam.--Mining.--Hydraulic.-- + Electrical.--Marine.--Bridge Making, Its Development.--First + Arched Iron Bridge.--Darby.--Telford.--Leading Bridges of the + Century.--Suspension.--Tubular.--Tubular Arch.--Truss.-- + Cantilever.--Spider's Web and Suspension.--Sir Samuel Brown.-- + The Tweed.--Menai Straits and Telford.--M. Chaley and + Fribourg.--J. K. Brunel and Isle of Bourbon.--British America + and the United States united in 1855--Niagara.--John A. + Roebling.--The Brooklyn Bridge.--Caissons and the Caisson + Disease.--Tubular Bridge at Menai.--"The Grandest Lift in + Engineering."--Robert Stephenson.--The Tubular Arch at + Washington.--Captain Meigs and Captain Eads.--St. Louis + Bridge.--Truss System and Vast Modern Bridges.--Cantilever + Succeeded the Suspension.--New Niagara and River + Forth.--Schneider.--Hayes.--Fowler and Baker.--Milton's + Description.--Lighthouses.--Smeaton.--Douglass.--Bartholdi.-- + Eiffel.--Excavating, Dredging, Draining.--Road-making.-- + Railroads.--Canals.--Tunnels.--Excavating.--Desert Lands + Reclaimed.--Holland and Florida Swamps.--The Tunnels of the + Alps.--Suez Canal.--Engineering, as seen from a Pullman + Car.--Cable Transportation.--Pneumatic Lock System.--Grain + Elevators--Progress in Civilisation. 93 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ELECTRICITY. + + Theories and Definitions.--Franklin's and a Modern One.-- + Varieties of the Force.--Generation.--Dynamic Energy.-- + Discoveries before the Nineteenth Century.--Magnetism and + Electricity.--Fathers of the Science.--Doctor Gilbert.--Otto + von Guericke.--Sir Isaac Newton.--Gray.--Dufay.--Professor + Muschenbroeck.--Cuneus.--Charles Morrison.--Franklin and + Galvani.--Volta.--The Door to Nineteenth Century Inventions + then Opened.--Fabroni.--Sir Humphry Davy, Wollaston, Nicholson, + and Carlisle.--Ritter Followed--Electrolysis.--Faraday and its + Laws.--Davy and the Electric Light.--Batteries.--Daniell.-- + Grove.--Bunsen.--Brilliant Discoveries from 1800 to 1820.-- + Oersted, Schweigger.--Magnetising Helix.--Indicators.--Arago + and Davy.--Ampere's Discoveries.--Sturgeon and the first + Electro-Magnet, 1825.--Telegraphy.--Gauss, Weber, Schilling.-- + Professor Barlow's Demonstration that Telegraphy was + Impracticable.--Joseph Henry.--Powerful Magnets.--Modern and + Ancient Telegraphy of Various Kinds.--The Third Decade.--George + Simon Ohm.--Steinheil.--Telegraph of Morse, Vail, Dana, Gale.-- + Wheatstone.--U.S. Supreme Court on Morse System.--His Alphabet + and Submarine Telegraph.--Michael Faraday and Science of + Magnets.--Steam and Magneto-Dynamo Machines.--Chemical Affinity + and Electricity.--Helmholtz, Faraday, Henry, and Pixii.-- + Ruhmkorff Coil.--Page.--Electrical Light.--Decomposition of + Water.--Professor Nollet.--First Practical Electric Light + Shone on the Sea, 1858.--Faraday and Holmes.--Lighthouse + Illumination.--Dr. W. Siemens.--Wilde's Machine.--Other + Powerful Magnetic Machines.--Field Magnets.--Z. Gramme.-- + The Various Ways and Means of Developing Electric Light.-- + Geissler Tubes.--First House Lighted in America.--Moses + G. Farmer.--Jablochoff's Candle.--French Regulators.--Outdoor + and Indoor Illumination.--Siemens, Farmer, Brush, Maxim, + Westinghouse, Edison, Swan, Lane--Fox and Others.--Arc Lamps + of Heffner von Alteneck.--Ocean Cables.--Cyrus W. Field.--John + Bright's Expression.--Weak Currents.--Thomson's Remedy.--Mirror + Galvanometer.--Centennial Exhibition and the Telephone.-- + Alexander Graham Bell, 1875.--The Telephone and Helmholtz' + Theory of Tone.--Scott's Phonautograph.--Page's Production of + Galvanic Music and Researches of Reis.--Its Slow Growth.--The + Ideas of Faraday and Henry still the Basis of the Great + Machines.--"Lines of Force."--Electric Railway.--Storage + Batteries.--Dynamos.--First Railway at Berlin, 1879.--Then + Saxony, Paris, London, New York.--Telpherage by Professor + Jenkin.--Problems Solved.--Electrical Magicians.--Edison and + Tesla.--Recent Improvements in Telegraphy.--The Talks Both Ways + at Same Time and Multiplied.--Printing Systems by Types and + Otherwise.--Electrical Elevators.--Microphone.--Ticks of a + Watch and the Tread of a Fly Recorded.--Musical Sounds from + Minerals and Other Substances.--Signalling and Other + Appliances.--The X Rays.--Wireless Telegraphy. 111 + + +CHAPTER X. + +HOISTING, CONVEYING, AND STORING. + + Drudgery of Ancient Times Relieved by Modern Inventions.-- + The Labour of Men and Beasts now Done by Steam Giants.-- + Labour-Saving Appliances for Transportation.--Tall Buildings + and Elevators.--Evolution Slow until 19th Century.--Carrying + of Weights.--The Pyramids.--Modern Methods.--Ship-Loading.-- + The Six Ordinary Powers Alone Used until the Time of Watt.-- + Elevator Mills of Oliver Evans.--The Hydraulic Press of + Bramah.--The Lifting of Tubular Bridge by Robt. Stephenson.-- + Compressed Air Elevator of Slade.--Counterbalance Lifts of + Van Elvean.--Modern Elevator of Otis, 1859.--Steam-Water.-- + Compressed Air.--Electricity: Elevators, how Controlled.-- + Store Service Conveyors.--Pneumatic Transmission: Dodge's + Air Blast Conveyor.--Mode of Switching Conveyors.--"Lazy + Tongs" Conveyors.--Buffers.--Endless Cables.--Clutches, + Safety.--Labour-Saving Devices and Derangement of Labour.-- + In One Sense, Inventions Labour-Increasing Devices. 152 + + +CHAPTER XI. + +HYDRAULICS. + + Old as the Thirst of Man.--Prehistoric Inventions.--China.-- + Pliny's Record.--Egyptian, Carthaginian, Greek and Roman Water + Works.--"Pneumatics of Hero."--Overshot, Undershot, and Breast + Wheels, Ancient.--Screw of Archimedes.--Frontinus, a Roman + Inspector.--1593, Serviere Invents the Rotary Pump.--1586, + Stevinus of Holland, Father of the Elementary Science.--Galileo, + Torricelli, Pascal, and Sir Isaac Newton in the Seventeenth + Century.--Bernoulli, D'Alembert, Euler, Abbe Bossut, Venturi, + and Eylewein in the Eighteenth.--Water Distribution then + Originated.--Peter Maurice and the London Bridge Pumps.--La + Hire's Double Acting Pump.--Dr. John Allen and David Ramsey of + England.--Franklin's Force Pump.--Water Ram of Whitehurst and + Montgolfier.--Nineteenth Century Opens with Bramah's Pumps.-- + Water and Steam.--Pumps the Strong Hands of Hydraulics.--Review + of Past Inventions: Pascal's Paradox.--Turbines of Forneyron.-- + Power of Niagara and Turbines there.--Jonval's.--Euler's Old + Centrifugal Pumps Revived.--Massachusetts and Appold Systems.-- + Lowlands of Holland, Marshes of Italy, Swamps of Florida, + Drained.--Injectors.--Giffard.--Intensifiers.--Hydraulicising.-- + Hydraulic Jack and Cleopatra's Needle.--Flow of Cold Metal.-- + Lead Pipe Made, and Cold Steel Stretched by Water Pressure.-- + Cotton Presses, Sir Wm. Armstrong's Inventions.--Tweddle and Sir + Wm. Fairbairn.--Water Motors.--Baths and Closets.--Results of + Modern Improvements.--Germ Theory and Filters. 164 + + +CHAPTER XII. + +PNEUMATICS AND PNEUMATIC MACHINES. + + The Slow March of the Human Mind.--Burke.--The Age of Mechanical + Inventions not until nearly Watt's Steam Engine.--Review of + "Learning" until that Time.--Motor Engines not Produced until + Seventeenth Century.--Suggested by the Bellows and the + Cannon.--Huygens and Papin.--Van Helmont the Author of the + Term "Gas," 1577-1644.--Robert Boyle and the Air Pump.--Law + of Gases.--Mariotte.--Abbe Hauteville, 1682.--The Heart and + a Motor.--Sun Burner.--Murdock, 1798, Uses Coal Gas for + Illumination.--John Barber and Carburetted Hydrogen.-- + Street's Heated Gas.--1801, Lebon Proposes Coal Gas Motor.-- + Investigations of Dalton and Gay-Lussac, 1810.--Heat engines: + Air, Gas, Steam, Vapor, Solar.--Explosive.--Temperature the Tie + that Binds them as One Family.--1823-26, Sir Samuel Brown.-- + Gunpowder and Gas Engine.--Davy and Faraday.--Gas to a Liquid + State.--Wright, 1833.--Burdett's Compressed Air Engine, 1838.-- + Lenoir's.--Hugon's.--Beau de Rohes' Investigations.--Oil Wells + of United States, 1860.--Petroleum Engines.--Brayton, Spiel.-- + Otto's Gas Engine and Improvements.--Ammoniacal Gas Engines.-- + Nobels' Inventions.--Storm's Gunpowder Engine.--Gas and Vapour + Compared with Steam.--Prof. Jenkins' Prediction.--Gas to + Supplant Steam.--Compressed Air Engines.--Innumerable + Applications of Pneumatic Machines.--A Number Mentioned.-- + Their Universal Application to the Useful and Fine Arts. 182 + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ART OF HEATING, VENTILATING, COOKING, REFRIGERATING AND LIGHTING. + + Prometheus and the Modern Match.--1680, Godfrey Hanckwitz + Invented First Phosphorous Match.--Other Forms of Matches.-- + Promethean Matches in 1820.--John Walker.--Lucifer.--Tons of + Chemicals, Hundreds of Pine Trees Yearly Made into Matches.-- + Splints and Machines.--Reuben Partridge.--Poririer.--Pasteboard + Box.--Machines for Assorting and Dipping, Drying and Boxing.-- + Cooking and Heating Stoves.--History of, from Rome to Ben + Franklin.--The Old-Fashioned Fireplace.--Varieties of Coal + Stoves.--Stove Fireplace.--Ventilation.--Hot Air Furnaces.-- + How Heat is Distributed, Retained, and Moistened.--Hot Water + Circulation.--Incubators.--Baking Ovens, the Dutch and the + Modern.--Vast Number of Stove and Furnace Foundries in United + States.--Ventilation.--Parliament Buildings and U. S. Capitol.-- + Eminent Scientific Men who have Made Ventilation a Study.--Best + Modes.--Its Great Importance.--Car Heaters.--Grass and Refuse + Burning Stoves.--Oil, Vapour, and Gas Stoves, their Construction + and Operation.--Sterilising.--Electric Heating and Cooking.-- + Refrigeration.--Messrs. Carre of France, 1870.--Artificial + Ice.--Sulphuric Acid and Ammonia Processes.--Absorption and + Compression Methods Described.--Refrigerating Cars.--Liquid Air. 199 + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +METALLURGY. + + The Antiquity of the Art.--The "Lost Arts" Rediscovered.-- + The Earliest Forms of Smelting Furnaces.--Ancient Iron and + Steel.--India and Africa.--Early Spain and the Catalan + Furnace.--The Armour of Don Quixote.--Bell's History of the + Art.--Germany.--Cast Iron Made by Ancients, Disused for 15 + Centuries.--Reinvented by Page and Baude in England, 1543.-- + German Furnaces.--Dud Dudley, the Oxford Graduate and his + Furnace, 1619.--Origin of Coke in England.--Use in United + States.--Revival of Cast Iron.--Cast Steel in England, Huntsman, + 1740.--Henry Cort and Puddling, 1784, and its Subsequent + Wonderful Value.--Steam Engine of Watt and Iron.--Refining of + Precious Metals.--Amalgamating Process.--Review of the 18th + Century.--Herschel's Distinction of Empirical and Scientific + Art.--The Nineteenth Century, Scientific Metallurgy.--Steam, + Chemistry, Electricity.--Rogers' Iron Floor.--Neilson's Hot Air + Blast, 1828, Patent Sustained.--Anthracite Coal.--Colossal + Furnaces.--Gas Producers.--Bunsen's Experiments.--Constituents + of Ores.--Squeezing Process.--Burden's Method.--Mechanical + Puddlers.--Rotary.--Henry Bessemer's Great Process--1855-1860.-- + Steel from Iron.--Holley's Apparatus.--Effects of and Changes in + Bessemer Process.--Old Methods and Means Revived and Improved.-- + Eminent Inventors.--New Metals and New Processes Discovered.-- + Harveyised Steel.--Irresistible Projectiles and Impenetrable + Armour Plate.--Krupp's Works.--Immense Manufactures in United + States.--Treatment of Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, etc.; Mining + Operations, Separation, Reduction.--Chemical Methods: + Lixiviation or Leaching.--MacArthur.--Forrest.--Sir Humphry + Davy.--Scheele.--Chlorine and Cyanide Processes.--Alloys.-- + Babbitting.--Metallic Lubricants.--Various Alloys and Uses.-- + Reduction of Aluminium and other Metals.--Electro-Metallurgy.-- + Diamonds to be Made.--All Arts have Waited on Development of + this Art. 218 + + +CHAPTER XV. + +METAL WORKING PROCESSES AND MACHINES.--TUBE MAKING.--WELDING.--ANNEALING +AND TEMPERING.--COATING AND METAL FOUNDING.--METAL WARE.--WIRE WORKING. + + Metal Working Tools One of the Glories of 19th Century.--Wood + Working and Metal Working.--Ancient and Modern Lathe.--Turning + Metal Lathe.--A Lost Art in Use in Egypt and in Solomon's + Time.--Revived in Sixteenth Century.--Forgotten and Revived + again in Eighteenth.--Sir Samuel Bentham and Joseph Bramah + Laid Foundation of Nineteenth Century Tools.--The Slide Rest + and Henry Maudsley.--Nasmyth's Description.--Vast Rolls, and + Most Delicate Watch Mechanisms, cut by the Lathe and its + Tools.--Metal Planing.--Eminent Inventors, 1811-1840.-- + Many Inventions and Modifications Resulting in a Wonderful + Evolution.--Metal-Boring Machines.--Modern Vulcan's Titanic + Work-Shop.--Screw Making.--Demand Impossible to Supply under + Old Method.--Great Display at London Exhibition, 1851, and + Centennial, Philadelphia, 1876.--J. Whitworth & Co., of England, + Sellers & Co., of America, and Others.--The Great Revelation.-- + Hoopes and Townsend and the Flow of Cold, Solid Metal.--Cold + Punching, etc.--Machine-Made Horse-Shoes.--The Blacksmith + and Modern Inventions.--Making of Great Tubes.--Welding by + Electricity, and Tempering and Annealing.--How Armour Plate + is Hardened.--Metals Coated.--Electro-Plating and Casting.-- + Great Domes Gilded.--Moulds for Metal Founding.--Machines + and Methods.--Steel Ingots.--Sheet Metal and Personal Ware.-- + Great Variety of Machines for Making.--Wire Made Articles.-- + Description of Great Modern Work-Shop. 240 + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ORDNANCE, ARMS, AMMUNITION, AND EXPLOSIVES. + + This Art Slow in Growth, but no Art Progressed Faster.--The + Incentives to its Development.--The Greatest Instruments in + the New Civilisation.--Peace and its Fruits Established by + them.--Its History.--Chinese Cannon.--India.--The Moors.-- + Arabs.--Cannon at Cordova in 1280.--The Spaniards and Gibraltar, + 1309.--The Spread of Artillery through Europe.--Description of + Ancient Guns.--Breech Loaders and Stone Cannon Balls.--Wrought + Iron Cannon and Shells in 15th Century.--Big Cannon of the + Hindoos and Russians.--Strange Names.--France under Louis + XI.--Improvements of the Sixteenth Century.--Holland's Mortar + Shells and Grenades in the Seventeenth.--Coehorn Mortars and + Dutch Howitzers.--Louis XIV.--French Artillery Conquers Italy.-- + Eighteenth Century.--"Queen Ann's Pocket Piece."--Gribeauval + the Inventor of the Greatest Improvements in the Eighteenth.-- + His System Used by Bonaparte at Toulon, the French Revolution, + and in Italy.--Marengo, 1800.--Small Arms, their History.--From + the Arquebus to the Modern Rifle.--Rifle, the Weapon of the + American Settler, and the Revolution.--Puckle's Celebrated + Breech-Loading Cannon Patent, and Christian and Turk Bullets.-- + 1803, Percussion Principle in Fire-arms, Invented by a + Clergyman, Forsyth.--1808, Genl. Shrapnel.--Bormann of + Belgium.--1814, Shaw and the Cap.--Flint Locks Still in Use, + 1847.--Colt's Revolvers, 1835-1851.--History of Cannon again + Reverted to.--Columbiads of Bomford.--Paixhan in 1822.--Shells + of the Crimea.--Kearsarge and Alabama.--Requirements of Modern + Ordnance.--Rodman One of the Pioneers.--Woodbridge's Wire Wound + Guns, Piezometer, and Shell Sabot.--Sir William Armstrong and + Sir Jos. Whitworth.--Krupp's Cannon and Works.--The Latest + Improvements.--Compressed Air Ordnance.--Constructions of + Metals and Explosives.--The "Range Finder."--Small Arms again + Considered.--History of the Breech Loader and Metallic + Cartridges.--Wooden Walls and Stone Forts disappeared.--Monitor + and Merrimac.--Blanchard and Hall.--Gill.--Springfield Rifle.-- + Machine Guns.--Electric Battery.--Gatling's, Hotchkiss'.-- + Explosives.--Torpedoes.--Effect of Modern Weapons. 252 + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +PAPER AND PRINTING, TYPEWRITING AND THE LINOTYPE. + + Paper-making Preceded the Art of Printing.--The Wasp Preceded + Man.--The Chinese, the Hindoos, Egyptians, and other Orientals + had Invented Both Arts.--History of Papyrus.--Parchment.-- + Twelfth Century Documents Written on Linen Paper still + Extant.--Water Marks.--Wall Paper, Substitute for Tapestry, + 1640.--Holland in Advance, Seventeenth Century.--Rittenhouse + of Holland Introduces Paper-Making in America, Eighteenth + Century.--Paper a Dear Commodity.--The Revolution of the + Nineteenth Century.--400 Different Materials now Used.-- + Nineteenth Century Opens with Robert's Paper-Making Machine.-- + Messrs. Fourdrinier.--Immense Growth of their System.--Modern + Discoveries of Chemists.--Soda Pulp and Sulphite Processes.-- + Paper Mills.--Paper Bag Machines, etc.--Printing.--Chinese + Invented Both Block and Movable Types.--European Inventors.-- + The Claims of Different Nations.--From Southern Italy to + Sweden.--Spread of the Art.--Printing Press and the + Reformation.--First Printing Press in New World Set up in + Mexico, 1536.--Then in Brazil.--Then in 1639 in + Massachusetts.--Types and Presses.--English and American.-- + Ramage and Franklin.--Blaew of Amsterdam.--Nineteenth Century + Opens with Earl of Stanhope's Hand Press.--Clymer of + Philadelphia, 1817.--The First Machine Presses.--Nicholson in + Eighteenth.--Konig and Bauer in Nineteenth Century, 1813.-- + London Times, 1814.--1815, Cowper's Electrotype plates.--1822, + First Power Press in United States.--Treadwell.--Bruce's Type + Casting Machines.--Hoe's Presses.--John Walter's.--German and + American Presses.--Capacities of Modern Presses.--Mail + Marking.--Typewriting.--Suggested in Eighteenth Century.-- + Revived by French in 1840.--Leading Features Invented in + U. S., 1857.--Electro-Magnet Typewriters.--Cahill.-- + Book-binding.--Review of the Art.--Linotype "Most Remarkable + Machine of Century."--Merganthaler.--Rogers.--Progress and + Triumphs of the Art. 273 + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TEXTILES. + + The Distaff and the Spindle, without a Change from Ancient + Days to Middle of Fourteenth Century.--Ancient and Modern Cloth + Making.--Woman the Natural Goddess of the Art.--The Ancient and + Isolated Weavers of Mexico.--After 40 Centuries of Hand-Weaving + Comes John Kay, of England, 1733.--The Spinning Machines of + Wyatt and Hargreaves.--1738-1769, Richard Arkwright.--The + "Spinning Jenny" and the "Throstle."--The Steam Engine and + Weaving.--1776, Crompton and the "Mule."--1785, Cartwright + and Power Looms.--1793, Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin.-- + 1793-1813, Samuel Slater, Lowell, and Cotton Factories of + America.--The Dominion of the Nineteenth Century.--What it + Comprises in the Art of Spinning and Weaving.--Description + of Operations.--Bobbins of Asa Arnold and the Ring Frame of + Jenks.--Spooling Machines.--Warping and Dressing and other + Finishing Operations.--Embroidery.--Cloth Finishing.--The + Celebrated Jacquard Loom.--Jacquard and Napoleon.--Bonelli's + Electric Loom.--Fancy Woollen Looms of George Crompton.-- + Bigelow's Carpet Looms.--Figuring, Colouring, Embossing.-- + Cloth Pressing and Creasing.--Felting.--Ribbons.--Comparison + of Penelopes of Past and Present.--Knitting Days of our + Grandmothers and Knitting Machines.--A Mile of Stockings.-- + Fancy Stocking and Embroidery Machines.--Netting and Turkish + Carpets.--Matting.--Spun Glass, etc.--Hand, and the Skilled + Labour of Machinery. 292 + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +GARMENTS. + + "Man is a Tool-using Animal, of which Truth, Clothes are + but one Example."--Form of Needle not Changed until 1775.-- + Weisenthal.--Embroidery Needle.--Saint's Sewing Machine, + 1790.--John Duncan's Tamboring Machine, 1804.--Eye Pointed + Needles for Rope Matting, 1807.--Madersperger's Sewing Machine, + 1814.--France and the Thimonnier Machine, 1830-1848-50, Made of + Wood.--Destroyed by Mob.--English Embroidering Machine, 1841.-- + Concurrent Inventions in Widely Separated Countries.--Thimonnier + in France, Hunt in America, 1832, 1834.--Elias Howe, 1846.-- + Description of Howe's Inventions.--Recital of his Struggles and + final Triumphs.--The Test of Priority.--Leather Sewing Machines + of Greenough and Corliss, 1842-43.--Bean's Running Stitch, + 1843.--The Decade of 1849-1859, Greatest in Century in Sewing + Machine Inventions.--Hood's "Song of the Shirt," a Dying + Drudgery.--Improvements after Howe.--Blodgett and Lerow's Dip + Motion.--Wilson's Four-Motion Feed.--Singer's Inventions, their + Importance, his Rise from Poverty to Great Wealth.--The Grover + and Baker.--The Display in 1876 at the Centennial.--Vast Growth + of the Industry.--Extraordinary Versatility of Invention in + Sewing and Reaping Machines, and Breech-Loading Fire-arms.-- + Commercial Success due to Division of Labour and Assembling + of Parts.--Innumerable Additions to the Art.--Seventy-five + Different Stitches.--Passing of the Quilting Party.--Embroidery + and Button-hole Machines.--Garment-cutting Machines.--Bonnets + and Inventions of Women.--Hat Making.--Its History.--Bonjeau's + Improvements in Plain Cloths, 1834.--Effect of Modern Inventions + on Wearing Apparel and Condition of the Poor.--The Epoch of Good + Clothes. 310 + + +CHAPTER XX. + +INDUSTRIAL MACHINES. + + Inventions Engender Others.--Co-operative Growth.--Broom + Making.--Crude Condition until the Modern Lathe, Mandrel, + Shuttle and Sewing Machine.--Broom Sewing Machines.--Effect + on Labour.--The Brush and Brush Machines.--A Hundred Species + of Brushes, each Made by a Special Machine.--First Successful + Brush Machine, Woodbury's, 1870.--Wonderful Operations.-- + Street-Sweeping Machines, 1831.--Most Effective Form.--Abrading + Machines.--Application of Sand Blast.--Nature's Machine + Patented by Tilghman in 1870.--Things Done by the Sand Blast + and How.--Emery and Corundum Machines.--Vast Application in + Cutting, Grinding, Polishing.--Washing and Ironing Machines.-- + Their Contribution to Cleanliness and Comfort.--Laundry + Appliances.--Old and the New Mangle.--Starch Applying.--Steam + Laundry Machinery.--Description of Work done in a Modern Laundry. 328 + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +WOOD-WORKING. + + Contrast of Prehistoric Labour and Implements and Modern + Tools.--The Ages of Stone, Bronze, Iron, and the Age of + Wood.--The Slow Growth of Wood-working Inventions.--Tools + of the Egyptians.--Saw of the Greeks.--Known to Hindoos + and Africans.--Accounts of Pliny and Ansonius as to Planes + and Marble Sawing.--Saw-mills of France, Germany, Norway, + Sweden.--Holland 100 Years ahead of England, and Why.--William + Penn Found Saw-mills in America in 1682.--What made Americans + Inventors.--Progress Unknown where Saw-mills are not.--Steam + and Saw Mills.--Splendid System and Inventions of Samuel + Bentham, Bramah and Branch at Close of Eighteenth Century.-- + First Decade of Nineteenth Century Produces Wonderful Inventor, + Thomas Blanchard.--His Life and Inventions.--Machines for + Turning Irregular Forms in Wood and Metal.--The Boring Worm + and Boring Machine.--Gun-making and Mortising Machines.-- + Complicated Ornamental Wood-cutting and Carving Machines.-- + Whatever Made by Hand can be Better Made by Machinery.-- + Pattern-Cutting Machines.--Xyloplasty.--Art of Hand Carving + Revived.--Bending of Wood by Fire and Steam.--The Problems + Solved by Wood-working Inventors.--Great Saws at the Vienna + Exposition, 1873.--Boring Tools, Augers, Planes, Lathes, etc. + How Improved and by Whom.--"The Universal Wood Workers."-- + Flexible Shafting.--Shingles and Tiles.--A Great Log, how + Turned into Bundles of Shingles.--Veneering.--What Pliny + Thought of It.--Brunel's Machines, 1805-1808.--Homes Made + Beautiful by Modern Wood-working.--Objects without and Within + a House, Made by Such Machinery.--Array of Wood-working + Machinery at International Expositions.--The Art of Forestry. 339 + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +FURNITURE.--BOTTLING, PRESERVING, AND LAMPLIGHTING. + + Universal Supply of Convenient and Ornamental Furniture Due + to Modern Inventions and Machinery.--The Furniture of the + Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.--Tables.--Modern Improvements.-- + Combined Tables, Desks, and Chairs.--Special Forms of Each.-- + Beds: Advance from the Ponderous Bedsteads of Former Times.-- + Modern, Ornamental, Healthful Styles.--Iron, Brass, Springs, + Surgical and Invalid Chairs and Beds.--Kitchen Utensils.--Vast + Amount of Drudgery Relieved.--Curtains, Shades, and Screens.-- + Great Changes Produced by Steaming and Bending Wood.--The + Bentwood Ware Factories of Austria, Hungary, Moravia (1870-73), + in Vast Beech Forests Followed in other Countries.--Modern + Chairs of Various Kinds.--The Dentist and the Theatre.--Bottle + Stoppers.--Enormous Demand for Cork Exhausting the Supply.-- + Modern Substitutes.--Fruit Jars, etc.--Lamplighting, Ancient + and Modern.--Revolution Produced by Petroleum.--Wickless and + Electric Lamps. 354 + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +LEATHER. + + Leather and Prehistoric Man.--Earliest Implements and Processes + Forerunners of Modern Inventions.--Modern Leather Unknown to + the Earliest Races.--Tanning.--Leathers of Different Nations.-- + Hand Tools and Variety of Operations.--Inventions of Nineteenth + Century--Labour-Saving Machinery and New Processes.--Epoch of + Modern Machinery.--1780, John Bull and his Scraping Machine, + Hide-mill, Pioneer Machine of Century.--Fleshing Machines.-- + Tanning Apparatus.--Reel Machines.--Tanning Processes and the + Chemists.--Machines for Different Operations.--Pendulum Lever + Machine.--Leather Splitting, and other Remarkable Machines.-- + Boots and Shoes, their Character before Modern Inventions.-- + Randolph's Riveting Machine of 1809.--Great Civil Engineer, + J. M. Brunel's Machines.--1818, Walker Invents the Wooden + Peg.--Peg-making Machines.--1858, Sturtevant's Great + Improvement.--Fifty-five Million Pairs of Boots and Shoes then + Annually Pegged.--Metal Wire, and Screw Pegs.--Last-turning + Machines of Blanchard.--McKay's Shoe Sewing Machine.-- + Revolution in Shoe Making.--Special Machines for Making Every + Part.--One Machine Makes 300 Pairs a Day.--Many Millions made + Daily.--Vast Increase of Labourers as the Art Advances.-- + Illustrations of Yankee Enterprise.--Modern and Ancient + Harnesses.--Embossed Leather.--Book Covers and the many Useful + and Beautiful Leather Articles.--The Vast and Important Leather + Manufactures. 361 + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +MINERALS.--WELLS. + + Ancient Tools and the Art of Building.--The Parthenon.-- + Aqueducts of Rome.--Tombs of India.--Halls of Alhambra.-- + Gothic Cathedrals.--Steam First Drew Coal, then Sawed Wood and + then Stone.--Stone-cutting Machinery.--Carving.--Dressing.-- + Drilling.--Tunnels.--Wonderful Work of Stone-Boring Machine + on Pillars of Ohio State Capitol.--Stone Drills and Compressed + Air.--Hell Gate.--Crushing Stones and Ores.--Blake's Crusher.-- + "Road Metal."--Different Form of Crushers.--Assorting Coal.-- + Steam and Coal, strong Brothers.--Compressed Air for Mining + Machinery.--Mighty Picks Driven by Air.--Electric Motor.-- + Machines for Screening, Loading, and Weighing.--Ore Mills.-- + Separators.--Centrifugal Action.--Ore Washing.--Amalgamators: + Electric, Lead, Mercury, Plate, Vacuum, Vapour, etc.--The + Revolution in Mining.--Well Boring an Ancient Art.--Artesian + Wells.--Coal Oil and Coal Wells.--Preceded by Discovery of + Paraffine and its Uses.--Reichenbach, Young.--Petroleum + Discovery.--New Industry.--Col. Drake and First Oil Well.-- + Sudden Riches of Farmers.--Boring Water Wells.--Green's Driven + Wells.--The Deserts Made to Bloom as the Rose. 373 + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +HOROLOGY AND INSTRUMENTS OF PRECISION. + + Time Measuring Instruments of Antiquity.--Sun-dial.--Clepsydra, + Hour-glass, Graduated Candle.--Plato's Bell.--The Clepsydra + of Ctesibius.--Incense Sticks of Chinese.--Sun-dials of Greeks + and Romans.--Candles of Alfred the Great.--Wonderful Clocks + of the Middle Ages.--Henry de Vick of France, 1370.--Two + Hundred Years without Advance.--Astronomers, Brache and + Valherius.--1525, Zech's Fusee.--Progenitors of Modern Watch, + 1500.--1582, Swinging Lamp of Galileo.--1639, Galileo's + Book.--Huygens and the Pendulum.--Dr. Hooke's and David Ramsey's + Inventions.--Hair-Spring Balances.--George the Third's Small + Time-Piece.--Eighteenth Century Division of Time Pieces into + Hours, Minutes and Seconds.--Stem Winders.--Astronomical + Discoveries and Chronometers.--Dutch, Leading Clockmakers; + Germany, Switzerland.--Systems Followed in these Countries.-- + Minute Sub-divisions of Labour.--Watch and Clock Making in the + United States.--American System.--Wonderful Machines for every + Part.--Watch factories.--Pope's Simile.--Revolution in + Nineteenth Century.--Electric System.--4000 Patents in U.S. + since 1800.--Registering Devices.--"A Mechanical Conscience."-- + Cash Registers.--Voting Machines.--Electrical Recorders.-- + Cyclometers.--Speed Indicators.--Weighing Scales and Machines, + History of.--The Fairbanks of Vermont, 1831.--Platform and other + Scales.--Spring Weighing.--Automatic Recorders of Weight and + Prices.--Testing Machines, English, German, American.--The Emery + Scales.--Gages, Dynamometers.--Hydraulic Testing.--Delicate + Operations.--Strength of a Horse-hair and Great Steel Beam, + Tested by Same Machine.--Effect on Public Works. 384 + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MUSIC, ACOUSTICS, OPTICS, PHOTOGRAPHY, FINE ARTS. + + Musical Instruments Old as Religion.--Abounded before the Lyre + of Apollo or the Harp of Orpheus.--Their Evolution.--To Meet + Wants and Growing Tastes.--Nineteenth Century and the Laws + of Helmholtz.--The Story of the Piano, the Queen, Involves + whole History of the Art of Music.--Ancient Harp and Growth.-- + Psaltery and Dulcimer of Assyrians and Hebrews.--No Inventions + by Greeks and Romans in this Art.--Fifteenth Century and the + Clavicitherium.--Sixteenth Century, the Virginal and the + Spinet.--Seventeenth Century, the Clavichord and Harpsichord.-- + Italian Cembello.--Bach, Mozart, Handel, Haydn.--Cristofori of + Florence, Schreiber of Germany and Modern Piano.--Eighteenth + Century, Pianos of Broadwood and Clementi of London, Erard of + Strasburg, Petzold of Paris and Others.--Two Thousand Years + Taken to Ripen the Modern Piano.--Description of Piano Parts.-- + Helmholtz's Great Work, 1862.--Effect on System of Music and + Musical Instruments.--The Organ, King in the Realm of Music.-- + History of, from Earliest Times.--Improvements of the Nineteenth + Century.--The Auto-harp.--Self-playing Instruments.--The Science + of Acoustics and Practical Applications.--Auricular Tubes.-- + Telephone, Phonograph, Graphophone, Gramophone.--Their + Evolution and their Inventors.--Optical Instruments.--Their + Growth.--Lippersheim, Galileo, Lieberkulm, John Dolland.--The + Improvements and Inventors of the Nineteenth Century.--Brewster + and the Kaleidoscope, Stereoscope.--Lenticular Lenses.-- + Lighthouse Illumination.--Faraday and Tyndall.--Abbe Moigno's + Troubles.--Ophthalmoscope.--Spectroscope.--Making of Great + Lenses.--Solarmeter.--Measuring the Position and Distances + of Unseen Objects.--Light Converted into Music.--Daguerre and + Photography.--History and Development.--Colour Reproduction.-- + Pencils.--Painting.--Air Brushes.--Telegraphic Photographs. 400 + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +SAFES AND LOCKS. + + Safes, how Constructed before this Century.--Classification.-- + Century Starts out to Make Safes Fireproof.--Scott in 1801.-- + Marr, 1834.--Result of Great Fire in New York, 1835.--Wilder's + and Herring's Safes.--Burglar-proof Safes, 1835.--Chubb, Newton, + Thompson, Hall, Marvin and Others.--Electricity.--Seal Locks + from 1815.--Locks of Various Kinds in Ancient Days.--Of + Ponderous Size.--Key of the House of David.--Lock of Penelope's + House.--Locks of the Middle Ages.--Letter Locks of the Dutch, + 1650.--Carew's Verse.--Eighteenth Century Locks.--Tumblers.-- + Joseph Bramah's Locks.--Combination, Permutation and Time + Locks.--Yale Locks.--Modern Locks Invented for Special Uses.-- + Master or Secondary Key Locks.--Value of Simple, Cheap, + Effective Locks.--Mail Locks and Others.--Greater General + Security for Property of all Kinds now Obtained. 420 + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +CARRIAGES AND CARRYING MACHINES GENERALLY. + + Review of Conveyances from Time of Ptolemy's Great Procession, + 270 B. C., until Nineteenth Century.--The Old Stage Coaches.-- + Coaches of the Rich, the Middle Classes and the Poor.--The Past + Art Compared with the Art as Exhibited at Centennial Exhibition + in 1876 at Philadelphia.--The Varieties of Different Vehicles + there Displayed by Different Nations.--Velocipedes and + Bicycles.--1800 to 1869.--French, German, English, Scotch.-- + The "Draisine" of Von Drais, 1816.--Johnson's "Curricle," + 1818.--Gompertz's "Dandy" and "Hobby Horse," 1821.--Michaux's, + 1863.--Lallement's of France, 1866, Crank and Pedal.--America + and Europe Adopts it, 1866, 1869.--Pneumatic Rubber Tire + Invented by Thomson, 1845.--Sleeps Forty Years.--Improvements + since 1869.--Motor Vehicles and Automobiles.--Traction + Engines.--Brakes, Railway, Air and Electric.--Automatic + Couplers, Buffers, and Vestibule Trains. 428 + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +SHIPS AND SHIP BUILDING. + + "Ships are but Boards."--"The Great Harry."--Noah's Ark the + Prototype of the Modern "Whale-back."--Ph[oe]nicians.-- + Northmen.--Dutch, French, English, and American Types.-- + Nineteenth Century, the Yankee Clippers.--Donald McKay.-- + "Great Republic."--Steam as Motive Power in Ships the Leading + Event in the Art.--Lord Dundas and Steam Canal Boats.--Iron + Ships in Place of Wood, 1829-30.--John Laird of Birkenhead.-- + Sir William Fairbairn.--Clyde Works.--Comparison of Wood and + Iron.--1844, the Great Britain.--John Ericsson.--Monitor and + Merrimac.--Composite Style of Vessels.--Marine Propulsion.-- + Paddle Wheels.--Screws.--1804, John Stevens.--1807, Fulton.-- + Screw Propeller of Ericsson.--The Ogden, the Stockton and the + Princeton, the First Naval Warship of its Kind.--The Two + Revolutions Produced by Ericsson.--Pneumatic Propellers.-- + Description of a Warship.--The Deutschland.--Torpedo Boats.-- + Franklin and Oil on the Waves.--Air Ships.--Count Zeppelin's + Boat.--Other Plans of Air Navigation.--The Problems to be Solved. 438 + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +ILLUMINATING GAS. + + What Artificial Light has done for Man.--Its Condition before + the Nineteenth Century.--Experiments of Dr Clayton, Hon. R. + Boyle, Dr. Hales, Bishop Watson, Lord Dundonald, Dr. Rickel, + and William Murdock in Eighteenth Century.--1801, Le Bon Makes + Gas, Proposes to Light Paris.--1803, English Periodicals + Discuss the Subject.--1806, Melville of Newport, U. S., Lights + House and Street.--1817, First Lighthouse Lit by Gas.--The + Beaver Tail on Atlantic Coast.--Parliament in 1813, London + Streets Lit in 1815, Paris, 1820, American Cities 1816-25.-- + Gas Processes.--Chemistry.--Priestley and Dalton.--Berthollet, + Graham, and Others.--Clegg of England and his Gas Machines.-- + Art Revolutionised by Invention of Water Gas, 1823-1847.-- + Donovan, Lowe, White.--T. S. C. Lowe, Anthracite Process, + 1873.--Competition with Electricity.--Siemens' Regenerative + System.--The Generators, Carburetors, Retorts, Mixers, + Purifiers, Meters, Scrubbers, Holders, Condensers, Governors, + Indicators, Registers, Chargers, Pressure Regulators, etc.-- + Portable Gas Apparatus.--Argand Burners.--Acetylene Gas.-- + Calcium Carbide.--Magnesium.--Bunsen Burner and Welsbach Mantle. 450 + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +POTTERY, PLASTICS, PORCELAINS, STONEWARE, GLASS, RUBBER, CELLULOID. + + Brickmaking from the Earliest Ages to Nineteenth Century.-- + Pottery, its Origin Unknown.--Its Evolution.--Women the First + Inventors in Ceramic and Textile Arts.--Progress of Man Traced + in Pottery.--Review of Pottery from Time of Homer to the + Wedgwood Ware of Eighteenth Century.--Labour-Saving Devices + of Nineteenth.--Operations in Brickmaking and Machinery.--The + Celebrated Pug Mill, the Pioneer.--Moulding and Pressing.-- + Drying and Burning.--The Slow Growth of Methods.--Useful + Contrivances never wholly Supplanted.--Modern Heat + Distributors.--Hoffman's Kilns.--Wedgwood's Pottery in + Eighteenth.--Siemens' Regenerators in Nineteenth, and other + Kilns.--Susan Frackelton's.--The Filter Press.--Chinese and + French Porcelains--Battam's Imitations of Marbles and Plaster + Moulds.--Faience.--Porcelain Moulding and Colours.--Atomisers + and Backgrounds.--Rookwood Pottery and Miss Fry.--Enamelled + Ware.--Artificial Stone.--Modern Cements.--Glass the Sister + of Pottery.--The Inventors of Blowing, Cutting, Trimming by + Shears and Diamond Cutting, Ancient and Unknown.--Glass Windows + and Mirrors Unknown to the Poor Prior to Eighteenth Century.-- + The Nineteenth Century the Scientific Age of Glass.--Its + Commercial Development.--Crystal Palace of 1851.--Description + of Modern Discoveries.--Materials.--Colours and Faraday's + Discovery in 1824.--Gaffield's Extensive Experiments in + Producing Colours.--The German Glass Works at Jena of Abbe + and Schott.--Methods Followed for Different Varieties.-- + Machines for Different Purposes.--Cut Glass and other + Beautiful Ware.--Cameo Cutting.--Porcelain Electroplating.-- + Rubber, History of, in Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth + Centuries.--Sketch of Goodyear.--His Inventions and Present + State of the Art.--Glass Wool of Volcano of Kilauea and Krupp's + Blast Furnaces. 457 + + + + +INVENTIONS IN THE CENTURY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY--INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES--THEIR DEVELOPMENT. + + +In treating of the subject of Inventions it is proper to distinguish +them from their scientific kindred--Discoveries. + +The history of inventions is the history of new and useful contrivances +made by man for practical purposes. The history of scientific +discoveries is the record of new things found in Nature, its laws, +forces, or materials, and brought to light, as they exist, either +singly, or in relation, or in combination. + +Thus Galileo invented the telescope, and Newton discovered the law of +gravitation. The practical use of the invention when turned to the +heavenly bodies served to confirm the truth of the discovery. + +Discovery and invention may be, and often are, united as the soul is to +the body. The union of the two produces one or more inventions. Thus the +invented electro-telegraph consists of the combination of discoveries of +certain laws of electricity with an apparatus, by which signs are +communicated to distances by electrical influence. + +Inventions and discoveries do not precede or follow each other in order. +The instrument may be made before the laws which govern its operation +are discovered. The discovery may long precede its adaptation in +physical form, and both the discovery and adaptation may occur together. + +Among the great _inventions_ of the past are alphabetical writing, +Arabic notation, the mariner's compass, the telescope, the +printing-press, and the steam-engine. Among the great _discoveries_ of +the past are the attraction of gravitation, the laws of planetary +motion, the circulation of the blood, and velocity of light. Among the +great inventions of the nineteenth century are the spectroscope, the +electric telegraph, the telephone, the phonograph, the railways, and the +steam-ships. Among the great discoveries of this century are the +correlation and conservation of forces, anaesthetics, laws of electrical +energy, the germ theory of disease, the molecular theory of gases, the +periodic law of Mendeljeff in chemistry, antiseptic surgery, and the +vortex theory of matter. This short enumeration will serve to indicate +the different roads along which inventions and the discoveries of +science progress. + +By many it is thought that the inventions and discoveries of the +nineteenth century exceed in number and importance all the achievements +of the kind in all the ages of the past. + +So marvellous have been these developments of this century that, not +content with sober definitions, men have defined _invent_, even when +speaking only of mechanical productions, as "creating what had not +before existed;" and this period has been described as an age of new +creations. The far-off cry of the Royal Preacher, "There is no new thing +under the sun: Is there anything whereof it may be said, see this is +new, it hath been already of old time which was before us," is regarded +as a cry of satiety and despair, finding no responsive echo in the array +of inventions of this bright age. + +But in one sense the Preacher's words are ever profoundly true. The +forces and materials of Nature always exist, awaiting man's discovery, +and at best he can but vary their relations, re-direct their course, or +change their forms. In a still narrower sense the truth of the +Preacher's declaration is apparent:-- + +In an address before the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1885, +the late Prof. F. A. Seely, of the United States Patent Office, set +forth that it was one of the established laws of Invention, that, + +"Every human invention has sprung from some prior invention, or from +some prior known expedient." + +Inventions, he said, do not, like their protectress, Pallas Athene, +spring forth full grown from the heads of their authors; that both as to +modern inventions and as to those whose history is unrecorded, each +exhibits in itself the evidence of a similar sub-structure; and that, +"in the process of elimination we go back and back and find no resting +place till we reach the rude set of expedients, the original endowment +of men and brutes alike." + +Inventions, then, are not creations, but the evolution of man-made +contrivances. + +It may be remarked, however, as was once said by William H. Seward: "The +exercise of the inventive faculty is the nearest akin to that of the +Creator of any faculty possessed by the human mind; for while it does +not create in the same sense that the Creator did, yet it is the nearest +approach to it of anything known to man." + +There is no history, rock-record, or other evidence of his existence as +man, which discloses a period when he was not an inventor. + +Invention is that divine spark which drove, and still drives him to the +production of means to meet his wants, while it illuminates his way. +From that inward spark must have soon followed the invention of that +outer fire to warm and cheer him, and to melt and mould the earth to his +desires. Formed for society, the necessity of communication with his +fellows developed the power of speech. Speech developed written +characters and alphabets. Common communication developed concert of +action, and from concert of action sprung the arts of society. + +But the evolution of invention has not been uniform. Long periods of +slowness and stagnation have alternated with shorter or longer periods +of prolific growth, and these with seasons of slumber and repression. + +Thus, Prof. Langley has said that man was thousands of years, and +possibly millions, in evolving a cutting edge by rubbing one stone on +another; but only a few thousand years to next develop bronze tools, and +a still shorter period tools of iron. + +We cannot say how long the period was from the age of iron tools to the +building of the pyramids, but we know that before those stupendous +structures arose, the six elementary mechanical powers, the lever, the +wheel, the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge and the screw, were +invented. And without those powers, what mechanical tool or machine has +since been developed? The age of inventions in the times of the ancients +rested mainly upon simple applications of these mechanical powers. The +middle ages slumbered, but on the coming of the fifteenth and sixteenth +centuries, the inventions of the ancients were revived, new ones added, +and their growth and development extended with ever-increasing speed to +the present time. + +The inventions of the nineteenth century, wonderful and innumerable as +they are, and marvellous in results produced, are but the fruit of the +seed sown in the past, and the blossom of the buds grown upon the stalks +of former generations. The early crude stone hatchet has become the keen +finished metal implement of to-day, and the latter involves in itself +the culmination of a long series of processes for converting the rough +ore into the hard and glistening steel. + +The crooked and pointed stick with which the Egyptian turned the sands +of the Nile has slowly grown to be the finished plough that is now +driven through the sod by steam. + +The steam-operated toys of Hero of Alexandria were revived in principle +and incorporated in the engines of Papin and the Marquis of Worcester in +the seventeenth century; and the better engines of Savery, Newcomen, and +more especially of James Watt in the eighteenth century, left the +improvements in steam-engines of the nineteenth century--great as they +are--inventions only in matter of detail. + +It has been said that electrical science began with the labours of Dr. +Gilbert, published in 1600. These, with the electrical discoveries and +inventions of Gray, Franklin, Galvani, and others in the next century, +terminating with the invention of his battery by Volta in 1800, +constituted the framework on which was built that world of flashing +light and earth-circling messages in which we now live. + +The study of inventions in any one or all eras cannot proceed +intelligently unless account is taken not only of their mode of +construction, and of their evolution one from another, but of the +evolution of distinct arts, their relation, their interdependence in +growth, and their mutual progress. + +The principles adopted by the ancients in weaving and spinning by hand +are those still in force; but so great was the advance of inventions +from hand-operated mechanisms to machines in these and other arts, and +especially in steam, in the last half of the eighteenth century, that it +has been claimed that the age of machine production or invention then +for the first time really began. + +When the humble lift became the completed elevator of to-day, the +"sky-scraper" buildings appeared; but these buildings waited upon the +invention of their steel skeletons, and the steel was the child of the +Bessemer process. + +The harp with which David stirred the dead soul of Saul was the +prototype of the sweet clavichord, the romantic virginal, the tinkling +harpsichord, and the grand piano. The thrumming of the chords by the +fingers was succeeded by the striking keys; and the more perfect +rendition of tones awaited the application of new discoveries in the +realm of musical sounds. The keys and the levers in the art of musical +instruments were transferred to the art of printing, and are found +to-day striking a more homely music on the type-writer and on those +other and more wonderful printing instruments that mould, and set, and +distribute the type. But these results of later days did not reach their +perfected operations and forms until many other arts had been discovered +and developed, by which to treat and improve the wood, and the wire, and +all the other materials of which those early instruments were composed, +and by which the underlying principles of their operations became known. + +Admitting that man possesses the faculty of invention, what are the +motives that induce its exercise? Why so prolific in inventions now? And +will they continue to increase in number and importance, or decrease? + +An interesting treatise of bulky dimensions might be written in answer +to these queries, and the answers might not then be wholly satisfactory. +Space permits the submission of but a few observations and suggestions +on these points:---- + +_Necessity_ is still the mother of inventions, but not of all of them. +The pressing needs of man in fighting nakedness and hunger, wild beasts +and storms, may have driven him to the production of most of his early +contrivances; but as time went on and his wants of every kind +multiplied, other factors than mere necessity entered into the problem, +and now it is required to account for the multiplicity of inventions +under the general head of _Wants_. + +To-day it is the want of the luxuries, as well as of the necessities of +life, the want of riches, distinction, power, and place, the wants of +philanthropy and the wants of selfishness, and that restless, inherent, +unsatisfied, indescribable want which is ever pushing man onward on the +road of progress, that must be regarded as the springs of invention. + +_Accident_ is thought to be the fruitful source of great inventions. It +is a factor that cannot be ignored. But accidents are only occasional +helps, rarely occurring,--flashes of light suddenly revealing the end of +the path along which the inventor has been painfully toiling, and +unnoticed except by him alone. They are sudden discoveries which for the +most part simply shorten his journey. The rare complete contrivance +revealed by accident is not an invention at all, but a discovery. + +The greatest incentive in modern times to the production of inventions +is governmental protection. + +When governments began to recognize the right of property in inventions, +and to devise and enforce means by which their author should hold and +enjoy the same, as he holds his land, his house, or his horse, then +inventions sprung forth as from a great unsealed fountain. + +This principle first found recognition in England in 1623, when +parliament, stung by the abuse of the royal prerogative in the grant of +exclusive personal privileges that served to crush the growth of +inventions and not to multiply them, by its celebrated Statute of +Monopolies, abolished all such privileges, but excepted from its +provisions the grant of patents "for the sole working or making of any +manner of new manufactures within this realm to the true and first +inventor" thereof. + +This statute had little force, however, in encouraging and protecting +inventors until the next century, and until after the great inventions +of Arkwright in spinning and James Watt in steam-engines had been +invaded, and the attention of the courts called more seriously thereby +to the property rights of inventors, and to the necessity of a liberal +exposition of the law and its proper enforcement. + +Then followed in 1789 the incorporation of that famous provision in the +Constitution of the United States, declaring that Congress shall have +the power "To promote the progress of science and useful arts by +securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right +to their respective writings and discoveries." + +In 1791 followed the law of the National Assembly of France for the +protection of new inventions, setting forth in the preamble, among other +things, "that not to regard an industrial invention as the property of +its author would be to attack the essential rights of man." + +These fundamental principles have since been adopted and incorporated in +their laws by all the nations of the earth. + +Inventions in their nature being for the good of all men and for all +time, it has been deemed wise by all nations in their legislation not to +permit the inventor to lock up his property in secret, or confine it to +his own use; and hence the universal practice is to enact laws giving +him, his heirs, and assigns, exclusive ownership to this species of his +property for a limited time only, adjudged sufficient to reward him for +his efforts in its production, and to encourage others in like +productions; while he, in consideration for this protection, is to fully +make known his invention, so that the public may be enabled to freely +make and use it after its exclusive ownership shall have expired. + +In addition to the motives and incentives mentioned inducing this modern +mighty outflow of inventions, regard must be had to the conditions of +personal, political and intellectual freedom, and of education. There is +no class of inventors where the mass of men are slaves; and when dense +ignorance abounds, invention sleeps. + +In the days of the greatest intellectual freedom of Greece, Archimedes, +Euclid, and Hero, its great inventors, flourished; but when its +political _status_ had reduced the mass of citizens to slaves, when the +work of the artisan and the inventor was not appreciated beyond the gift +of an occasional crown of laurel, when manual labour and the labourer +were scorned, inventions were not born, or, if born, found no +nourishment to prolong their lives. + +In Rome, the labourer found little respect beyond the beasts of burden +whose burdens he shared, and the inventor found no provision of +fostering care or protection in her mighty jurisprudence. The middle +ages carefully repressed the minds of men, and hid away in dark recesses +the instruments of learning. When men at length awoke to claim their +birthright of freedom, they invented the printing-press and rediscovered +gunpowder, with which to destroy the tyranny of both priests and kings. +Then arose the modern inventor, and with him came the freedom and the +arts of civilisation which we now enjoy. + +What the exercise of free and protected invention has brought to this +century is thus summarised by Macaulay: + +"It has lengthened life; it has mitigated pain; has extinguished +diseases; has increased the fertility of the soil; given new security to +the mariner; furnished new arms to the warrior; spanned great rivers and +estuaries with bridges of form unknown to our fathers; it has guided the +thunderbolt innocuously from heaven to earth; it has lighted up the +night with splendour of the day; it has extended the range of human +vision; it has multiplied the power of the human muscles; it has +accelerated motion; it has annihilated distance; it has facilitated +intercourse, correspondence, all friendly offices, all despatch of +business; it has enabled man to descend to the depths of the sea, to +soar into the air, to penetrate securely into the noxious recesses of +the earth; to traverse the land in carts which whirl along without +horses; to cross the ocean in ships which run many knots an hour against +the wind. Those are but a part of its fruits, and of its first fruits, +for it is a philosophy which never rests, which is never perfect. Its +law is progress. A point which yesterday was invisible is its goal +to-day, and will be its starting point to-morrow." + +The onward flow of inventions may be interrupted, if not materially +stayed, by the cessation of some of the causes and incentives which now +give them life. When comfort for all and rest for all, and a suitable +division of labour, and an equal distribution of its fruits are reached, +in that state of society which is pictured in the visions of the social +philosopher, or as fast as such conditions are reached, so soon will +cease the pricking of those spurs of invention,--individual rewards, the +glorious strife of competition, the harrowing necessities, and the +ambitions for place and power. If all are to co-operate and share alike, +what need of exclusive protection and fierce and individual struggle? +Why not sit down now and break the loaf and share it, and pour the wine, +and enjoy things as they are, without a thought for the morrow? + +The same results as to inventions may be reached in different but less +pleasant ways: When all the industries are absorbed by huge combinations +of capital the strife of competition among individuals, and the making +of individual inventions to meet such competition, will greatly +disappear. Or, the same results may be effected by stringent laws of +labour organisations, in restricting or repressing all individual +independent effort, prescribing what shall be done or what shall not be +done along certain lines of manufacture or employment. So that the +progress of future inventions depends on the outcome of the great +economic, industrial, and social battles which are now looming on the +pathway of the future. + +But what the inventions of the nineteenth century were and what they +have done for Humanity, is a chapter that must be read by all those now +living or to come who wish to learn the history of their race. It is a +story which gathers up all the threads of previous centuries and weaves +them into a fabric which must be used in all the coming ages in the +attainment of their comforts, their adornments, and their civilisations. + +To enumerate all the inventions of the century would be like calling up +a vast army of men and proclaiming the name of each. The best that can +be done is to divide the wide field into chapters, and in these chapters +give as best one may an idea of the leading inventions that have +produced the greatest industries of the World. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +AGRICULTURE AND ITS IMPLEMENTS. + + +The Egyptians were the earliest and greatest agriculturists, and from +them the art was learned by the Greeks. Greece in the days of her glory +greatly improved the art, and some of her ablest men wrote valuable +treatises on its different topics. Its farmers thoroughly ploughed and +fertilised the soil, used various implements for its cultivation, paid +great attention to the raising of fruits,--the apple, pear, cherry, +plum, quince, peach, lemon, fig and many other varieties suitable to +their climate, and improved the breeds of cattle, horse and sheep. When, +however, social pride and luxurious city life became the dominant +passions, agriculture was left to menials, and the art gradually faded +with the State. Rome in her best days placed farming in high regard. Her +best writers wrote voluminously on agricultural subjects, a tract of +land was allotted to every citizen, which was carefully cultivated, and +these citizen farmers were her worthiest and most honoured sons. The +condition and needs of the soil were studied, its strength replenished +by careful fertilisation, and it was worked with care. There were +ploughs which were made heavy or light as the different soils required, +and there were a variety of farm implements, such as spades, hoes, +harrows and rakes. Grains, such as wheat, barley, rye and oats, were +raised, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and great attention paid to +the breeding of stock. Cato and Varro, Virgil and Columella, Pliny and +Palladius delighted to instruct the farmer and praise his occupation. + +But as the Roman Empire grew, its armies absorbed its intelligent +farmers, the tilling of the soil was left to the menial and the slave, +and the Empire and agriculture declined together. + +Then came the hordes of northern barbarians pouring in waves over the +southern countries and burying from sight their arts and civilisation. +The gloom of the middle ages then closed down upon the European world. +Whatever good may have been accomplished in other directions by the +crusades, agriculture reached its lowest ebb, save in those instances +where the culture of the soil received attention from monastic +institutions. + +The sixteenth century has been fixed upon as the time when Europe awoke +from its long slumber. Then it was after the invention of the printing +press had become well established that publications on agriculture began +to appear. The _Boke of Husbandrie_, in 1523, by Sir Anthony +Fitzherbert; Thomas Tusser's _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_; +Barnaby Googe's _The Whole Art of Husbandry_; _The Jewel House of Art +and Nature_, by Sir Hugh Platt; the _English Improver_ of Walter Blithe, +and the writings of Sir Richard Weston on the husbandry of Brabant and +Flanders, were the principal torches by which the light on this subject +was handed down through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Further +awakening was had in the eighteenth century, the chief part of which was +given by Jethro Tull, an English agriculturist, who lived, and wrote, +and laboured in the cause between 1680 and 1740. Tull's leading idea was +the thorough pulverisation of the soil, his doctrines being that plants +derived their nourishment from minute particles of soil, hence the need +of its pulverisation. He invented and introduced a horse hoe, a grain +drill, and a threshing machine. + +Next appeared Arthur Young, of England, born in 1741, whose life was +extended into the 19th century, and to whom the world was greatly +indebted for the spread of agricultural knowledge. He devoted frequent +and long journeys to obtaining information on agricultural subjects, and +his writings attracted the attention and assistance of the learned +everywhere. His chief work was the making known widely of the beneficial +effects of ammonia and ammoniacal compounds on vegetation. Many other +useful branches of the subject, clearly treated by him, are found in his +_Annals of Agriculture_. It was this same Arthur Young with whom +Washington corresponded from his quiet retreat at Mount Vernon. After +the close of the War of Independence in 1783 and before the adoption of +the Constitution in 1789 and his elevation to the Presidency in that +year, Washington devoted very much of his time to the cultivation of his +large estate in Virginia. He took great interest in every improvement in +agriculture and its implements. He invented a plough and a rotary seed +drill, improved his harrows and mills, and made many inquiries relative +to the efficacy of ploughs and threshing machines made in England and +other parts of Europe. It was during this period that he opened an +interesting correspondence with Young on improvements in agriculture, +which was carried on even while he was President, and he availed himself +of the proffer of Young's services to fill an order for seeds and two +ploughs from a London merchant. He also wrote to Robert Cary & Co., +merchants in London, concerning an engine he had heard of as being +constructed in Switzerland, for pulling up trees and their stumps by the +roots, and ordered one to be sent him if the machine were efficient. + +Jefferson, Washington's great contemporaneous statesman and Virginia +planter, and to whom has been ascribed the chief glory of the American +patent system, himself also an inventor, enriched his country by the +full scientific knowledge he had gained from all Europe of agricultural +pursuits and improvements. + +The progress of the art, in a fundamental sense, that is in a knowledge +of the constituents, properties, and needs of the soil, commenced with +the investigations of Sir Humphry Davy at the close of the 18th century, +resulting in his celebrated lectures before the Board of Agriculture +from 1802 to 1812, and his practical experiments in the growth of plants +and the nature of fertilisers. Agricultural societies and boards were a +characteristic product of the eighteenth century in Europe and America. +But this birth, or revival of agricultural studies, the enthusiastic +interest taken therein by its great and learned men, and all its +valuable publications and discoveries, bore comparatively little fruit +in that century. The ignorance and prejudice of the great mass of +farmers led to a determined, and in many instances violent resistance to +the introduction of labour-saving machinery and the practical +application of what they called "book-farming." A fear of driving people +out of employment led them to make war upon new agricultural machines +and their inventors, as they had upon weaving and spinning inventions. +This war was more marked in England than elsewhere, because there more +of the new machines were first introduced, and the number of labourers +in those fields was the greatest. In America the ignorance took the +milder shape of contempt and prejudice. Farmers refused, for instance, +to use cast-iron ploughs as it was feared they would poison the soil. + +So slow was the invention and introduction of new devices, that if Ruth +had revisited the earth at the beginning of the nineteenth century, she +might have seen again in the fields of the husbandmen everywhere the +sickle of the reapers behind whom she gleaned in the fields of Boaz, +heard again the beating on the threshing floor, and felt the old +familiar rush of the winnowing wind. Cincinnatus returning then would +have recognised the plough in common use as about the same in form as +that which he once abandoned on his farm beyond the Tiber. + +But with the spread of publications, the extension of learning, the +protection now at last obtained and enforced for inventions, and with +the foundations laid and the guide-posts erected in nearly every art and +science by previous discoverers, inventors and writers, the century was +now ready to start on that career of inventions which has rendered it so +glorious. + +As the turning over and loosening of the sod and the soil for the +reception of seed was, and still is the first step in the art of +agriculture, the plough is the first implement to be considered in this +review. + +A plough possesses five essential features,--a frame or beam to which +the horses are attached and which is provided with handles by which the +operator guides the plough, a share to sever the bottom of a slice of +land--the furrow--from the land beneath, a mould board following the +share to turn the furrow over to one side, and a landside, the side +opposite the mould board and which presses against the unploughed ground +and steadies the plough. To these have been commonly added a device +called the coulter, which is a knife or sharp disk fastened to the frame +in advance of the share and adapted to cut the sod or soil so that the +furrow may be more easily turned, an adjustable gauge wheel secured to +the beam in advance of the coulter, and which runs upon the surface of +the soil to determine by the distance between the perimeter of the wheel +at the bottom and the bottom of the plough share the depth of the +furrow, and a clevis, which is an adjustable metal strap attached to the +end of the beam to which the draught is secured, and by which the pitch +of the beam and the depth and width of the furrow are regulated. The +general features, the beam, handles, and share, have existed in ploughs +from the earliest ages in history. A plough with a metal share was +referred to by the prophecy of Isaiah seven centuries before Christ, +"They shall beat their swords into plough-shares;" and such a plough +with the coulter and gauge wheel added is found in the Caylus collection +of Greek antiquities. The inventions of centuries in ploughs have +proceeded along the lines of the elements above enumerated. + +The leading features of the modern plough with a share and mould board +constructed to run in a certain track and turn its furrows one over +against the other, appear to have originated in Holland in the 18th +century, and from there were made known to England. James Small of +Scotland wrote of and made ploughs having a cast-iron mould board and +cast and wrought iron shares in 1784-85. + +In America, about the same time, Thos. Jefferson studied and wrote upon +the proper shape to be given to the mould board. + +Charles Newbold in 1797 took out the first patent in the United States +for a plough--all parts cast in one piece of solid iron except the beam +and handles. + +It is a favourite idea with some writers and with more talkers, that +when the necessity really arises for an invention the natural inventive +genius of man will at once supply it. Nothing was more needed and sought +after for thirty centuries among tillers of the soil than a good plough, +and what finally supplied it was not necessity alone, but improved +brains. Long were the continued efforts, stimulated no doubt in part by +necessity, but stimulated also by other motives, to which allusion has +already been made, and among which are the love of progress, the hope of +gain, and legislative protection in the possession of inventive +property. + +The best plans of writers and inventors of the eighteenth century were +not fully developed until the nineteenth, and it can be safely said that +within the last one hundred years a better plough has been produced than +in all of the thousands of years before. The defects which the +nineteenth century's improvements in ploughs were designed to remedy can +best be understood by first realising what was the condition of ploughs +in common use when the century opened. + +Different parts of the plough, such as the share and coulter, were +constructed of iron, but the general practice among farmers was to make +the beam and frame, handles and mould board of strong and heavy timber. +The beam was straight, long, and heavy, and that and the mould generally +hewed from a tree. The mould board on both sides to prevent its wearing +out too rapidly was covered with more or less thick plates of iron. The +handles were made from crooked branches of trees. "The beam," it is +said, "was set at any pitch that fancy might dictate, with the handles +fastened on almost at right angles with it, thus leaving the ploughman +little control over his implement which did its work in a very slow and +imperfect manner." It was some such plough that Lord Kames complained +about in the _Gentleman Farmer_ in 1768, as being used in Scotland--two +horses and two oxen were necessary to pull it, "the ridges in the fields +were high and broad, in fact enormous masses of accumulated earth, that +could not admit of cross ploughing or cultivation; shallow ploughing +universal; ribbing, by which half the land was left untilled, a general +practice over the greater part of Scotland; a continual struggle between +the corn and weeds for superiority." As late as 1820 an American writer +was making the same complaint. "Your furrows," he said, "stand up like +the ribs of a lean horse in the month of March. A lazy ploughman may sit +on the beam and count every bout of his day's work; besides the greatest +objection to all these ploughs is that they do not perform the work well +and the expense is enormous for blacksmith work." It was complained by +another that it took eight or ten oxen to draw it, a man to ride upon +the beam to keep it on the ground, and a man followed the plough with a +heavy iron hoe to dig up the "baulks." + +The improvements made in the plough during the century have had for +their object to lessen the great friction between the wide, heavy, +ill-formed share and mould board, and the ground, which has been +accomplished by giving to the share a sharp clean tapering form, and to +the mould board a shape best calculated to turn the furrow slice; to +improve the line of draught so that the pull of the team may be most +advantageously employed, which has been effected after long trials, +study and experiment in the arrangement of beam, clevis and draft rod, +setting the coulter at a proper angle and giving the landside a plane +and parallel surface; to increase the wear and lessen the weight of the +parts, which has been accomplished by ingenious processes in treating +the metal of which the parts are composed, and lessening the number of +parts; to render the plough easily repairable by casting the parts in +sets and numbering them, by which any part may be replaced by the +manufacturer without resort to the blacksmith. In short there is no part +of the plough but what has received the most careful attention of the +inventor. This has been evidenced by the fact that in the United States +alone nearly eleven thousand patents on ploughs were issued during the +nineteenth century. When it is considered that all the applications for +these patents were examined as to their novelty, before the grant of the +patent, the enormous amount of study and invention expended on this +article can be appreciated. Among the century's improvements in this +line is the use of disks in place of the old shovel blades to penetrate +the earth and revolve in contact therewith. Cutting disks are harnessed +to steam motors and are adapted to break up at one operation a wide +strip of ground. The long-studied problem of employing a gang of ploughs +to plough back and forth and successfully operated by steam has been +solved, and electricity is now being introduced as a motor in place of +steam. Thus millions of broad acres which never would have been +otherwise turned are now cultivated. The tired muscle-strained ploughman +who homeward plodded his weary way at night may now comfortably ride at +his ease upon the plough, while at the same time the beasts that pull it +have a lighter load than ever before. + +Next to the plough among the implements for breaking, clearing and +otherwise preparing the soil for the reception of seed, comes the +_harrow_. From time immemorial it has been customary to arm some sort of +a frame with wooden or iron spikes to scratch the earth after the +ploughing. But this century has greatly improved the old constructions. +Harrows are now found everywhere made in sections to give flexibility to +the frame; collected in gangs to increase the extent of operation; made +with disks instead of spikes, with which to cut the roots of weeds and +separate the soil, instead of merely scratching them. A still later +invention, curved spring teeth, has been found far superior to spikes or +disks in throwing up, separating and pulverising the soil. A harrow +comprising two ranks of oppositely curved trailing teeth is especially +popular in some countries. These three distinct classes of harrows, the +disk type, the curved spring tooth type, and gangs of sections of +concavo-convex disks, particularly distinguish this class of implements +from the old forms of previous ages. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. + + +It is wonderful for how many generations men were contented to throw +grain into the air as the Parable relates: + +"Behold, a sower went forth to sow, and when he sowed some seeds fell by +the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell on +stony places where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung +up, because they had no deepness of earth; and when the sun was up they +were scorched; and because they had no root they withered away. And some +fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them. But others +fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some +sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold." + +Here are indicated the defects in depositing the seed that only the +inventions of the century have fully corrected. The equal distribution +of the seed and not its wide scattering, its sowing in regular drills or +planting at intervals, at certain and uniform depths, the adaptation of +devices to meet the variations in the land to be planted, and in short +the substitution of quick, certain, positive mechanisms for the slow, +uncertain, variable hand of man. Not only has the increase an +hundredfold been obtained, but with the machines of to-day the sowing +and planting of a hundredfold more land has been made possible, the +employment of armies of men where idleness would have reigned, and the +feeding of millions of people among whom hunger would otherwise have +prevailed. Not only did this machinery not exist at the beginning of the +century, but the agricultural machines and devices in this line of the +character existing fifty years ago are now discarded as useless and +worthless. + +It is true that, as in the case of the ploughs, attempts had been made +through the centuries to invent and improve seeding implements. The +Assyrians 500 years B. C. had in use a rude plough in which behind the +sharp wooden plough point was fixed a bowl-shaped hopper through which +seed was dropped into the furrow, and was covered by the falling back of +the furrow upon it. The Chinese, probably before that time, had a +wheelbarrow arrangement with a seed hopper and separate seed spouts. In +India a drilling hopper had been attached to a plough. Italy claims the +honour among European nations of first introducing a machine for sowing +grain. It was invented about the beginning of the seventeenth century +and is described by Zanon in his _Work on Agriculture_ printed at Venice +in 1764. It was a machine mounted on two wheels, that had a seed box in +the bottom of which was a series of holes opening into a corresponding +number of metal tubes or funnels. At their front these tubes at their +lower ends were sharpened to make small furrows into which the seed +dropped. + +Similar single machines were in the course of the seventeenth and +eighteenth centuries devised in Austria and England. The one in Austria +was invented by a Spaniard, one Don Joseph de Lescatello, tested in +Luxembourg in 1662. The inventor was rewarded by the Emperor, +recommended to the King of Spain, and in 1663 and 1664 his machines were +made and sold at Madrid. The knowledge of this Spaniard's invention was +made known in England in 1699 by the Earl of Sandwich and John Evelyn. +Jethro Tull in England shortly after invented and introduced a combined +system of drilling, ploughing and cultivating. He sowed different seeds +from the same machine, and arranged that they might be covered at +different depths. Tull's machines were much improved by James Cooke, a +clergyman of Lancashire, England; and also in the last decade of the +eighteenth century by Baldwin and Wells of Norfolk, England. + +Washington and others in America had also commenced to invent and +experiment with seeding machines. But as before intimated, the +nineteenth century found the great mass of farmers everywhere sowing +their wheat and other grains by throwing them into the air by hand, to +be met by the gusts of wind and blown into hollows and on ridges, on +stones and thorny places,--requiring often a second and third repetition +of the same tedious process. + +In 1878 Mr. Coffin, a distinguished journalist of Boston, in an address +before the Patent Committee of the U. S. Senate, set forth the +advantages obtained by the modern improvements in seeders as follows: + +"The seeder covers the soil to a uniform depth. It sows evenly, and sows +a specific quantity. You may graduate it so that, after a little +experience, you can determine the amount per acre even to a quart of +wheat. They sow all kinds of grain,--wheat, clover, and superphosphate, +if need be, at once. They harrow at the same time. They make the crop +more certain. It is the united testimony of manufacturers and farmers +alike that the crop is increased from one-eighth to one-fourth, +especially in the winter wheat. Winter wheat, you are aware, in the +freezing and thawing season, is apt to heave out. It is desirable to +bury the seed a uniform and proper depth and to throw over the young +plant such an amount of soil that it shall not heave with the freezing +and thawing. Of the 360,000,000 bushels of wheat raised last year I +suppose more than 300,000,000 was winter wheat. One-eighth of this is +37,700,000 bushels." + +It would seem to many that after the adoption of a seed hopper, and +spouts with sharpened ends that cut the drill rows in the furrows and +deposited the seed therein, that little was left to be done in this +class of inventions; but a great many improvements were necessary. +Gravity alone could not be depended upon for feeding the seed. Means had +to be devised for a continuous and regular discharge from each grain +tube; for varying the quantity of the seed fed by varying the escape +openings, or by positive mechanical movements variable in speed; for +fixing accurately the quantity of seed discharged; for changing the +apparatus to feed coarse or fine seed; and for rendering the apparatus +efficient on different surfaces--steep hillsides, level plains, +irregular lands. + +An important step was the substitution of what is called the "force +feed" for the gravity feed. There is a variety of devices for this +purpose, the principle of one of them being a revolving feed wheel +located beneath the hopper, and above each spout, the two casings +between which the feed wheel revolves forming the outer walls of a +complete measuring channel, or throat, through which the grain is +carried by the rotary motion of the wheel, thus providing the means of +measuring the seed with as much accuracy as could be done by a small +measure. The quantity sown per acre is governed by simply increasing or +diminishing the speed of the feed wheel. In one form of device this +change of speed is altered by a system of cone gearing. A graduated flow +of the seed has also been effected by the employment of a cylinder +having a smooth and fluted part working in a cup beneath the hopper with +provision for adjustment of the smooth part towards and from the fluted +part to cut off or increase the flow. + +To avoid the use of a separate apparatus for separate sizes of grain and +other seed, the seed holder has been divided into parts--one part for +containing wheat, barley and other medium-sized grains, and another for +corn, peas and the larger seeds. And as these parts are used on separate +occasions, the respective apertures are opened or closed by a sliding +bottom and by a single movement of the hand. + +Rubber tubes for conducting the seed through the hollow holes were +introduced in place of the metal spouts that answered both as a spout +and a hoe. + +In place of the common hoe drill of a form used in the early part of the +century, the hoes being forced into the soil by the use of levers and +weights, what are known as "shoe drills" have largely succeeded. A +series of shoes are pivoted to the frame, extend beneath the seed box, +and are provided with springs for depressing or raising them. + +All kinds of seeds and fertilisers, separately or together, may be now +sown, and the broadcast sowing of a larger area than that covered by the +throw of the hand can now be given by machinery. + +Corn and cotton seed are thus also planted, mixed or unmixed with the +fertilising material. + +Not only have light ploughs been combined with small seed boxes and one +or more seed tubes, for easy work in gardens, but the arrangements +varied and graded for different uses until is reached that great machine +run by steam power, in which is assembled a gang of heavy harrows in +front to loosen and pulverise the soil, then the seed and fertilising +drill of capacious width for sowing the grain in rows, followed by a +lighter broad harrow to cover the seed, and all so arranged that the +steam lifts the heavy frames on turning, and all controlled easily by +the man who rides upon the machine. + +In planting at intervals or in hills, as corn and potatoes, and other +like larger seeds, no longer is the farmer required to trudge across the +wide field carrying a heavy load in bag or box, or compel his boys or +women folk to drop the seed while he follows on laboriously with the +hoe. He may now ride, if he so choose, and the machine which carries him +furnishes the motive power for operating the supply and cut-off of the +grain at intervals. + +The object of the farmer in planting corn is to plant it in straight +lines about four feet apart each way, putting from three to five grains +into each spot in a scattered and not huddled condition. These objects +are together nicely accomplished by a variety of modern machines. + +The planting of great fields of potatoes has been greatly facilitated by +machinery that first slices them and then sows the slices continuously +in a row, or drops them in separate spots or hills, as may be desired. +The finest seeds, such as grass and clover, onion and turnip seed, and +delicate seed like rice, are handled and sown by machines without +crushing or bruising, and with the utmost exactness. Just what seed is +necessary to be supplied to the machine for a given area is decided +upon, and the machine distributes the same with the same nicety that a +doctor distributes the proper dose of pellets upon the palm of his +patient. + +Transplanters as well as planters have been devised. These transplanters +will dig the plant trench, distribute the fertiliser, set the plant, +pack the earth and water the plant, automatically. + +The class of machines known as cultivators are those only, properly +speaking, which are employed to cultivate the plant after the crop is +above the ground. The duties which they perform are to loosen the earth, +destroy the weeds, and throw the loosened earth around the growing +plant. + +Here again the laborious hoe has been succeeded by the labour-saving +machine. + +Cultivators have names which indicate their construction and the crop +with which they are adapted to be used. Thus there are "corn +cultivators," "cotton cultivators," "sugar-cane cultivators," etc. +Riding cultivators are known as "sulky cultivators" where they are +provided with two wheels and a seat for the driver. + +If worked between two rows they are termed single, and when between +three rows, double cultivators. A riding cultivator adapted to work +three rows has an arched axle to pass over the rows of the growing +plants and cultivate both sides of the plants in each row. Double +cultivators are constructed so that their outside teeth may be adjusted +in and out from the centre of the machine to meet the width of the rows +between which they operate. A "walking cultivator" is when the operator +walks and guides the machine with the hands as with ploughs. Ordinary +ploughs are converted into cultivators by supplying them with double +adjustable mould boards. Ingenious arrangements generally exist for +widening or narrowing the cultivator and for throwing the soil from the +centre of the furrow to opposite sides and against the plant. The depth +to which the shares or cultivator blades work in the ground may be +adjusted by a gauge wheel upon the draught beam, or a roller on the back +of the frame. + +Disk cultivators are those in which disk blades instead of ploughs are +used with which to disturb the soil already broken. As with ploughs, so +with cultivators, steam-engines are employed to draw a gang of +cultivating teeth or blades, their framework, and the operator seated +thereon, to and fro across the field between two or more rows, turning +and running the machine at the end of the rows. + +Millet's recent celebrated painting represents a brutal, primitive type +of a man leaning heavily on a hoe as ancient and woful in character as +the man himself. It is a picture of hopeless drudgery and blank +ignorance. Markham, the poet, has seized upon this picture, dwelt +eloquently on its horrors, and apostrophised it as if it were a +condition now existing. He exclaims, + + "O masters, lords and rulers in all lands + How will the future reckon with this man?" + +The present has already reckoned with him, and he and his awkward +implement of drudgery nowhere exist, except as left-over specimens of +ancient and pre-historic misery occasionally found in some benighted +region of the world. + +The plough and the hoe are the chief implements with which man has +subdued the earth. Their use has not been confined to the drudge and the +slave, but men, the leaders and ornaments of their race, have stood +behind them adding to themselves graces, and crowning labor with +dignity. Cincinnatus is only one of a long line of public men in ancient +and modern times who have served their country in the ploughfield as +well as on the field of battle and in the halls of Legislation. We hear +the song of the poet rising with that of the lark as he turns the sod. +Burns, lamenting that his share uptears the bed of the "wee modest +crimson-tipped flower" and sorrowing that he has turned the "Mousie" +from its "bit o' leaves and stibble" by the cruel coulter. The finest +natures, tuned too fine to meet the rude blasts of the world, have +shrunk like Cowper to rural scenes, and sought with the hoe among +flowers and plants for that balm and strength unfound in crowded marts. + +But the dignity imparted to the profession of Agriculture by a few has +now by the genius of invention become the heritage of all. + +While prophets have lamented, and artists have painted, and poets +sorrowed over the drudgeries of the tillers of the soil, the tillers +have steadily and quietly and with infinite patience and toil worked out +their own salvation. They no longer find themselves "plundered and +profaned and disinherited," but they have yoked the forces of nature to +their service, and the cultivation of the earth, the sowing of the seed, +the nourishment of the plant, have become to them things of pleasurable +labour. + +With the aid of these inventions which have been turned into their hands +by the prolific developments of the century they are, so far as the soil +is concerned, no longer "brothers of the ox," but king of kings and lord +of lords. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AGRICULTURAL INVENTIONS. + + +If the farmer, toward the close of the 18th century, tired with the +sickle and the scythe for cutting his grass and grain, had looked about +for more expeditious means, he would have found nothing better for +cutting his grass; and for harvesting his grain he would have been +referred to a machine that had existed since the beginning of the +Christian era. This machine was described by Pliny, writing about A. D. +60, who says that it was used on the plains of Rhaetia. The same machine +was described by Palladius in the fourth century. That machine is +substantially the machine that is used to-day for cutting and gathering +clover heads to obtain the seed. It is now called a header. + +A machine that has been in use for eighteen centuries deserves to be +described, and its inventor remembered; but the name of the inventor has +been lost in oblivion. The description of Palladius is as follows: + +"In the plains of Gaul, they use this quick way of reaping, and without +reapers cut large fields with an ox in one day. For this purpose a +machine is made carried upon two wheels; the square surface has boards +erected at the side, which, sloping outward, make a wider space above. +The board on the fore part is lower than the others. Upon it there are a +great many small teeth, wide set in a row, answering to the height of +the ears of corn (wheat), and turned upward at the ends. On the back +part of the machine two short shafts are fixed like the poles of a +litter; to these an ox is yoked, with his head to the machine, and the +yoke and traces likewise turned the contrary way. When the machine is +pushed through the standing corn all the ears are comprehended by the +teeth and cut off by them from the straw and drop into the machine. The +driver sets it higher or lower as he finds it necessary. By a few goings +and returnings the whole field is reaped. This machine does very well in +plain and smooth fields." + +As late as 1786 improvements were being attempted in England on this old +Gallic machine. At that time Pitt, in that country, arranged a cylinder +with combs or ripples which tore off the heads of the grain-stalks and +discharged them into a box on the machine. From that date until 1800 +followed attempts to make a cutting apparatus consisting of blades on a +revolving cylinder rotated by the rotary motion of the wheels on which +the machine was carried. + +In 1794, a Scotchman invented the grain cradle. Above the blade of a +scythe were arranged a set of fingers projecting from a post in the +scythe snath. This was considered a wonderful implement. A report of a +Scottish Highland Agricultural Society about that time said of this new +machine: + +"With a common sickle, seven men in ten hours reaped one and one-half +acres of wheat,--about one-quarter of an acre each. With the new machine +a man can cut one and one-half acres in ten hours, to be raked, bound, +and stacked by two others." + +It was with such crude and imperfect inventions that the farmers faced +the grain and grass fields of the nineteenth century. + +The Seven Wonders of the ancient world have often been compared with the +wonders of invention of this present day. + +Senator Platt in an address at the Patent Centennial Celebration in +Washington, in 1891, made such a contrast: + +"The old wonders of the world were the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of +Babylon, the Phidian statue of Jupiter, the Mausoleum, the Temple of +Diana at Ephesus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Pharos of Alexandria. +Two were tombs of kings, one was the playground of a petted queen, one +was the habitat of the world's darkest superstition, one the shrine of a +heathen god, another was a crude attempt to produce a work of art solely +to excite wonder, and one only, the lighthouse at Alexandria, was of the +slightest benefit to mankind. They were created mainly by tyrants; most +of them by the unrequited toil of degraded and enslaved labourers. In +them was neither improvement nor advancement for the people." With some +excess of patriotic pride, he contrasts these with what he calls "the +seven wonders of American invention." They were the cotton-gin; the +adaptation of steam to methods of transportation; the application of +electricity to business pursuits; the harvester; the modern +printing-press; the ocean cable; and the sewing machine. "How +wonderful," he adds, "in conception, in construction, in purpose, these +great inventions are; how they dwarf the Pyramids and all the wonders of +antiquity; what a train of blessings each brought with its entrance into +social life; how wide, direct and far-reaching their benefits. Each was +the herald of a social revolution; each was a human benefactor; each was +a new Goddess of Liberty; each was a great Emancipator of man from the +bondage of labour; each was a new teacher come upon earth; each was a +moral force." + +Of these seven wonders, the harvester and the cotton-gin will only be +described in this chapter. "Harvester" has sometimes been used as a +broad term to cover both mowers and reapers. In a recent and more +restricted sense, it is applied to a machine that cuts grain, separates +it into gavels, and binds it. + +The difficulty that confronted the invention of mowers was the +construction, location and operation of the cutting part. To convert the +scythe or the sickle, or some other sharp blade into a fast +reciprocating cutter, to hang such cutter low so that it would cut near +the ground, to protect it from contact with stones by a proper guard, to +actuate it by the wheels of the vehicle, to hinge the cutter-bar to the +frame so that its outer end might be raised, and to arrange a seat on +the machine so that the driver could control the operating parts by +means of a lever, or handles, were the main problems to be solved. + +In 1799, Boyce, of England, had a vertical shaft with six rotating +scythes beneath the frame of the implement. This died with the century. + +In 1800, Meares, his countryman, tried to adapt shears. He was followed +there, in 1805, by Plucknett, who introduced a horizontal, rotating, +circular blade. Others, subsequently, adopted this idea, both in England +and America. It had been customary, as in olden times, to push the +apparatus forward by a horse or horses hitched behind. But, in 1806, +Gladstone had patented a front draft machine, with a revolving wheel +armed with knife-blades cutting at one side of the machine and a +segment-bar with fingers which gathered the grain and held the straw +while the knife cut it. + +Then, in 1807, Salonen introduced vibrating knifes over stationary +blades, fingers to gather grain to the cutters, and a rake to carry the +grain off to one side. + +In 1822, Ogle, also of England, was the first to invent the +_reciprocating_ knife-bar. This is the movement that has been given in +all the successful machines since. Ogle's was a crude machine, but it +furnished the ideas of projecting the cutter-bar at the side of a reel +to gather the grain to the cutter and of a grain platform which was +tilted to drop the sheaf. + +The world is indebted also to the Rev. Patrick Bell, of Scotland, who +had invented and built as early as 1823-26, a machine which would cut an +acre of grain in an hour, and is thus described by Knight: + +"The machine had a square frame on two wheels which ran loose on the +axle, except when clutched thereto to give motion to the cutters. The +cutter-bar had fixed triangular cutters between each of which was a +movable vibrating cutter, which made a shear cut against the edge of the +stationary cutter, on each side. It had a reel with twelve vanes to +press the grain toward the cutters, and cause it to fall upon a +travelling apron which carried away cut grain and deposited it at the +side of the machine. The reel was driven by bevel-gearing." + +It was used but a few years and then revived again at the World's Fair +in London, in 1851. + +In the United States, inventions in mowers and reapers began to make +their appearance about 1820. In 1822, Bailey was the first to patent a +mowing machine. It was a circular revolving scythe on a vertical axis, +rotated by gearing from the main axle, and so that the scythe was +self-sharpened by passing under a whet-stone fixed on an axis and +revolving with the scythe and was pulled by a horse in front. In 1828, +Lane, of Maine, combined the reaper and thresher. In 1831, Manning had a +row of fingers and a reciprocating knife, and in 1833, Schnebly +introduced the idea of a horizontal endless apron on which the grain +fell, constructed to travel intermittently so as to divide the grain +into separate parts or gavels, and deliver the gavels at one side. +Hussey, of Maryland, in 1833, produced the most useful harvester up to +that time. It had open guard fingers, a knife made of triangular +sections, reciprocating in the guard, and a cutter-bar on a hinged +frame. + +Then came the celebrated reaper of McCormick, of Virginia, in 1834, and +his improvements of 1845-1847, and by 1850 he had built hundreds of his +machines. Other inventors, too numerous to mention, from that time +pushed forward with their improvements. Then came many public trials and +contests between rival manufacturers and inventors. + +One of the earliest and most notable was the contest at the World's +Fair, in London, in 1851. This exhibition, the first of the kind the +world had seen, giving to the nations taking part such an astonishing +revelation of each other's productions, and stimulating in each such a +surprising growth in all the industrial and fine arts, revealed nothing +more gratifying to the lover of his kind than those inventions of the +preceding half-century that had so greatly lifted the farm labourer from +his furrow of drudgery. + +Among the most conspicuous of such inventions were the harvesters. +Bell's machine, previously described, and Hussey's and McCormick's were +the principal contesting machines. They were set to work in fields of +grain, and to McCormick was finally awarded the medal of honour. + +This contest also opened the eyes of the world to the fact that vast +tracts of idle land, exceeding in extent the areas of many states and +countries, could now be sown and reaped--a fact impossible with the +scythe and the sickle. It was the herald of the admission into the +family of nations of new territories and states, which, without these +machines, would unto this day be still wild wildernesses and trackless +deserts. + +This great trial also was followed by many others, State and +International. In 1852, there was in the United States a general trial +of reapers and mowers at Geneva, New York; in 1855, at the French +Exposition, at Paris, where again McCormick met with a triumph; in 1857, +at Syracuse, New York, and subsequently at all the great State and +International Expositions. These contests served to bring out the +failures, and the still-existing wants in this line of machinery. The +earlier machines were clumsy. They were generally one-wheeled machines, +lacked flexibility of parts and were costly. They cut, indeed, vast +tracts of grain and grass, but the machines had to be followed by an +army of men to bind and gather the fallen grain. This army demanded high +wages and materially increased the cost of reaping the crop, and sadly +diminished the profits. + +When the Vienna Exposition, in 1873, was held, a great advance was shown +in this and all other classes of agricultural machinery. Reapers and +mowers were lighter in construction, and far less in cost, and stronger +and more effective in every way. The old original machines of McCormick +on which he had worked for twenty years prior to the 1851 triumph, had +been succeeded by another of his machines, on which an additional twenty +years of study, experiment and improvement had been expended. An endless +number of inventors had in the meantime entered the lists. The frame, +the motive gearing, the hinged cutter-bar and knives, the driver's seat, +the reel, the divider, for separating the swath of grain to be cut from +the uncut, the raising and depressing lever, the self-raker, and the +material of which all the parts were composed had all received the +greatest attention, and now was awaiting the coming of a perfect +mechanical binder that would roll the grain on the machine into a +bundle, automatically bind it, and drop the bound bundles on the ground. +The latter addition came in an incomplete shape to Vienna. The best form +was a crude wire binder. In 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition at +Philadelphia, the mowers and reapers blossomed still more fully, but not +into full fruition; for it was not until two or three years thereafter +that the celebrated _twine_ binders, which superseded the wire, were +fully developed. + +Think of the almost miraculous exercise of invention in making a machine +to automatically cut the grain, elevate it to a platform, separate and +roll it into sheaves, seize a stout cord from a reel, wrap it about the +sheaf, tie a knot that no sailor could untie, cut the cord, and throw +the bound sheaf to one side upon the ground! + +So great became the demand for this binders' twine that great +corporations engaged in its manufacture, and they in turn formed a great +trust to control the world's supply. This one item of twine, alone, +amounted to millions of dollars every year, and from its manufacture +arose economic questions considered by legislators, and serious +litigation requiring the attention of the courts. + +At this Centennial Exhibition, besides twenty or more great +manufacturing firms of the United States who exhibited reapers and +mowers, Canada, far-away Australia, and Russia brought each a fine +machine of this wonderful class. And not only these countries, but +nearly all of Europe sent agricultural machines and implements in such +numbers and superior construction that they surpassed the wildest dreams +of the farmer of a quarter of a century before. + +Up to this time, about eleven thousand patents have been granted in the +United States, all presumably on separate improvements in mowers and +reapers alone. This number includes, of course, many patents issued to +inventors of other countries. + +Before leaving this branch of the subject the lawn-mower should not be +overlooked, with its spiral blades on a revolving cylinder, a hand lever +by which it can be pushed over a lawn and the grass cut as smooth as the +green rug upon a lady's chamber. + +It is the law of inventions that one invention necessitates and +generates another. Thus the vastly increased facilities for cutting +grass necessitated new means for taking care of it when cut. And these +new means were the hay tedder to stir it, the horse hay-rake, the great +hay-forks to load, and the hay-stackers. Harvesters for grass and grain +have been supplemented by Corn, Cotton, Potato and Flax Harvesters. + +The threshing-floor still resounds to the flail as the grain is beaten +from the heads of the stalks. Men and horses still tread it out, the +wooden drag and the heavy wain with its gang of wheels, and all the old +methods of threshing familiar to the Egyptians and later among the +Romans may still be found in use in different portions of the world. + +Menzies of Scotland, about the middle of the eighteenth century, was the +first to invent a threshing machine. It was unsuccessful. Then came +Leckie, of Stirlingshire, who improved it. But the type of the modern +threshing machine was the invention of a Scotchman, one Meikle, of +Tyningham, East Lothian, in 1786. Meikle threw the grain on to an +inclined board, from whence it was fed between two fluted rollers to a +cylinder armed with blades which beat it, thence to a second beating +cylinder operating over a concave grating through which the loosened +grain fell to a receptacle beneath; thence the straw was carried over a +third beating cylinder which loosened the straw and shook out the +remaining grain to the same receptacle, and the beaten straw was then +carried out of the machine. Meikle added many improvements, among which +was a fan-mill by which the grain was separated and cleaned from both +straw and chaff. This machine, completed and perfected about the year +1800, has seen no departure in principle in England, and in the United +States the principal change has been the substitution of a spiked drum +running at a higher speed for Meikle's beater drum armed with blades. + +In countries like California, says the U.S. Commissioner of Patents in +his report for 1895, "Where the climate is dry and the grain is ready +for threshing as soon as it is cut, there is in general use a type of +machine known as a combined harvester and thresher in which a thresher +and a harvester machine of the header type are mounted on a single +platform, and the heads of grain are carried directly from the harvester +by elevators into the threshing machine, from which the threshed grain +is delivered into bags and is then ready for shipment. Some of these +machines are drawn by horses and some have a portable engine mounted on +the same truck with the harvester propelling the machine, while +furnishing power to drive the mechanism at the same time. Combined +harvesters and threshers have been known since 1836, but they have been +much improved and are now built on a much larger scale." + +Flax-threshers for beating the grain from the bolls of the cured flax +plant, removing the bolls, releasing and cleaning the seed, are also a +modern invention. + +Flax and Hemp Brakes, machines by which the woody and cellular portion +of the flax is separated from the fibrous portion, produced in practical +shape in the century, and flanked by the improved pullers, cutters, +threshers, scutchers, hackles, carders, and rovers, have supplanted +Egyptian methods of 3,000 years' standing, for preparing the flax for +spinning, as well as the crude improvements of the 18th century. + +After the foundation of cotton manufacture had been laid "as one of the +greatest of the world's industries," in the 18th century by those five +great English inventors, Kay, who invented the fly-shuttle, Hargreaves, +the "Spinning Jenny," Arkwright, the water-frame, Crompton, the +spinning-mule, and Cartwright, the power-loom, came Eli Whitney in 1793, +a young school teacher from Massachusetts located in Georgia, who +invented the _cotton-gin_. His crude machine, worked by a single person, +could clean more cotton in a single day than could be done by a man in +several months, by hand. + +The enormous importance of such a machine began to be appreciated at the +beginning of the century, and it set cotton up as a King whose dominion +has extended across the seas. + +Prior to 1871, inventions in this art were mainly directed to perfecting +the structure of this primary gin. By that machine only the long staple +fibre was secured, leaving the cotton seed covered with a short fibre, +which with the seed was regarded as a waste product. To reclaim this +short fibre and secure the seed in condition for use, have been the +endeavours of many inventors during the last twenty years. These objects +have been attained by a machine known as the _delinter_, one of the +first practical forms of which appeared about 1883. + +In a bulletin published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1895, +entitled, "Production and Price of Cotton for One Hundred Years," the +period commences with the introduction of Whitney's saw gin, and ends +with the year mentioned and with the production in that year of the +largest crop the world had ever seen. No other agricultural crop +commands such universal attention. Millions of people are employed in +its production and manufacture. How insignificant compared with the +wonder wrought by this one machine seems indeed any of the old seven +wonders of the world! Although the displacement of labour occasioned by +the introduction of the cotton-gin was not severely felt, as it was +slave labour, yet that invention affords a good illustration of the fact +that labour-saving machines increase the supply of the article, the +increased supply lowers its price, the lower price increases the demand, +the increased demand gives rise to more machines and develops other +inventions and arts, all of which results in the employment of ten +thousand people to every one thousand at work on the product originally. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +AGRICULTURAL INVENTIONS (_continued_). + + +When the harvest is ended and the golden stores of grains and fruits are +gathered, then the question arises what shall be next done to prepare +them for food and for shipment to the distant consumer. + +If the cleaning of the grain and separating it from the chaff and dirt +are not had in the threshing process, separate machines are employed for +fanning and screening. + +It was only during the 18th century that fanning mills were introduced; +and it is related by Sir Walter Scott in one of his novels that some of +his countrymen considered it their religious duty to wait for a natural +wind to separate the chaff from the wheat; that they were greatly +shocked by an invention which would raise a whirlwind in calm weather, +and that they looked upon the use of such a machine as rebellion against +God. + +As to the grinding of the grain, the rudimentary means still exist, and +are still used by rudimentary peoples, and to meet exceptional +necessities; these are the primeval hollowed stone and mortar and +pestle, and they too were "the mills of the Gods" in Egyptian, Hebrew +and Early Greek days: the _quern_--that is, the upper running stone and +the lower stationary grooved one--was a later Roman invention and can be +found described only a century or two before the Christian era. + +Crude as these means were they were the chief ones used in milling until +within a century and a quarter ago. + +In a very recent bright work published in London, by Richard Bennett and +John Elton, on Corn Mills, etc., they say on this point: "The mill of +the last century, that, by which, despite its imperfections, the +production of flour rose from one of the smallest to one of the greatest +and most valuable industries of the world, was essentially a structure +of few parts, whether driven by water or wind, and its processes were +exceedingly simple. The wheat was cleaned by a rude machine consisting +of a couple of cylinders and screens, and an air blast passed through a +pair of mill-stones, running very close together, in order that the +greatest amount of flour might be produced at one grinding. The meal was +then bolted, and the tailings, consisting of bran, middlings and +adherent flour, again sifted and re-ground. It seems probable that the +miller of the time had a fair notion of the high grade of flour ground +from middlings, but no systematic method of procedure for its production +was adopted." + +The upper and the nether mill-stone is still a most useful device. The +"dress," which consists of the grooves which are formed in the meeting +faces of the stones, has been changed in many ways to meet the +requirements in producing flour in varying degrees of fineness. Machines +have been invented to make such grooves. A Swiss machine for this +purpose consists of two disks carrying diamonds in their peripheries, +which, being put in rapid revolution, cut parallel grooves in the face +of the stone. + +A great advance in milling was made both in America and Europe by the +inventions of Oliver Evans. Evans was born in the State of Delaware, +U.S., in 1755, and died in 1819. He was a poor boy and an apprentice to +a wheelwright, and while thus engaged his inventive powers were +developed. He had an idea of a land carriage propelled without animal +power. At the age of 22 he invented a machine for making card teeth, +which superseded the old method of making them by hand. Later he +invented steam-engines and steam-boats, to which attention will +hereafter be called. Entering into business with his brothers within the +period extending from 1785 to 1800, he produced those inventions in +milling which by the opening of the 19th century had revolutionised the +art. A description of the most important of these inventions was +published by him in 1795 in a book entitled _The Young Millwright and +Miller's Grist_. Patents were granted Evans by the States of Delaware, +Maryland and Pennsylvania in 1787, and by the U.S. Government in 1790 +and 1808. + +As these inventions formed the basis of the most important subsequent +devices of the century, a brief statement of his system is proper: + +From the time the grain was emptied from the waggon to the final +production of the finest flour at the close of the process, all manual +labour was dispensed with. The grain was first emptied into a box hung +on a scale beam where it was weighed, then run into an elevator which +raised it to a chamber over cleaning machines through which it was +passed, and reclaimed by the same means if desired; then it was run down +into a chamber over the hoppers of the mill-stones; when ground it fell +from the mill-stones into conveyors and as carried along subjected to +the heated air of a kiln drier; then carried into a meal elevator to be +raised and dropped on to a cooling floor where it was met by what is +called a hopper boy, consisting of a central round upright shaft +revolving on a pivot, and provided with horizontal arms and sweeps +adapted to be raised and lowered and turned, by which means the meal was +continually stirred around, lifted and turned on the floor and then +gathered on to the bolting hoppers, the bolts being cylindrical sieves +of varying degrees of fineness to separate the flour from its coarser +impurities, and when not bolted sufficiently, carried by a conveyor +called a drill to an elevator to be dumped again into the bolting +hoppers and be re-bolted. When not sufficiently ground the same drill +was used to carry the meal to the grind stones. It was the design of the +process to keep the meal in constant motion from first to last so as to +thoroughly dry and cool it, to heat it further in the meantime, and to +run the machines so slowly as to prevent the rise and waste of the flour +in the form of dust. + +The Evans system, with minor modifications and improvements, was the +prevailing one for three-quarters of a century. New mills, when erected, +were provided with this system, and many mills in their quiet retreats +everywhere awoke from their drowsy methods and were equipped with the +new one. + +But the whole system of milling has undergone another great change +within the last thirty years: + +During that time it has been learned that the coarser portion or kernel +of wheat which lies next to the skin of the berry and between the skin +and the heart is the most valuable and nutritious part, as it consists +largely of gluten, while the interior consists of starch, which when dry +becomes a pearly powder. Under the old systems this coarser part, known +as middlings, was eliminated, and ground for feed for cattle, or into +what was regarded as an inferior grade of flour from which to make +coarse bread. It was customary, therefore, under the old method to set +the grinding surfaces very close with keen sharp burrs, so that this +coarser part was cut off and mixed with the small particles of bran, +fine fuzz and other foreign substances, which was separated from the +finer part of the kernel by the bolting. + +The new process consists of removing the outer skin and adherent +impurities from the middlings, then separating the middlings from the +central finer part and then regrinding the middlings into flour. + +This middlings flour being superior, as stated, to what was called +straight grade, it became desirable to obtain as much middlings as +possible, and to this end it was necessary to set the grinding surfaces +further apart so as to grind _high_, hence the _high_ milling process as +distinguished from _low_ milling. For the better performance of the high +rolling process, roller mills were invented. It was found that the +cracking process by which the kernel could be cracked and the gluten +middlings separated from the starchy heart could best be had by the +employment of rollers or cylinders in place of face stones, and at the +same time the heating of the product, which injures it, be avoided. + +The rollers operate in sets, and successive crackings are obtained by +passing and repassing, if necessary, the grain through these rollers, +set at different distances apart. The operation on grains of different +qualities, whether hard or soft, or containing more or less of the +gluten middlings, or starchy parts, and their minute and graded +separation, thus are obtained with the greatest nicety. + +The Hungarians, the Germans, the Austrians, the Swiss, the English and +the Americans have all invented useful forms of these rollers. + +This process was accompanied by the invention of new forms of middlings +separators and purifiers, in which upward drafts of air are made to pass +up through flat, graded shaking bolts, in an enclosed case, by which the +bran specks and fuzz are lifted and conveyed away from the shaken +material. In some countries, such as the great wheat state of Minnesota, +U.S., where the wheat had before been of inferior market value owing to +the poorer grade of flour obtained by the old processes, that same wheat +was made to produce the most superior flour under the new processes, +thus increasing the yearly value of the crops by many millions of +dollars. + +Disastrous flour dust explosions in some of the great mills at +Minneapolis, in 1877-78, developed the invention of dust collectors, by +which the suspended particles of flour dust are withdrawn from the +machinery and the mill, and the air is cleared for respiration and for +the production of the finest flour, while the mill is kept closed and +comfortable in cold seasons. One of the latest forms of such a collector +has for its essential principle the vertical or rotatory air current, +which it is claimed moves and precipitates the finest particles. + +The inventions in the class of mills have so multiplied in these latter +days, that nearly every known article that needs to be cleaned and +hulled, or ground, or cracked or pulverized, has its own specially +designed machine. Wind and water as motive powers have been supplanted +by steam and electricity. It would be impossible in one volume to +describe this great variety. Knight, in his Mechanical Dictionary, gives +a list under "Mills," of more than a hundred distinct machines and +processes relating to grinding, hulling, crushing, pulverising and +mixing products. + +_Vegetable Cutters._--Modern ingenuity has not neglected those more +humble devices which save the drudgery of hand work in the preparation +of vegetables and roots for food for man and beasts, and for use +especially when large quantities are to be prepared. Thus, we find +machines armed with blades and worked by springs and a lever, for +chopping, others for cutting stalks, other machines for paring and +slicing, such as apple and potato parers and slicers, others for grating +and pulping, others for seeding fruits, such as cherries and raisins, +and an entire range of mechanisms, from those which handle delicately +the tenderest pod and smallest seed, to the ponderous machines for +cutting and crushing the cane in sugar making. + +_Pressing and Baling._--The want of pressing loose materials and packing +bulky ones, like hay, wool, cotton, hops, etc, and other coarser +products, into small, compact bales and bodies, to facilitate their +transportation, was immediately felt on the great increase of such +products in the century. + +From this arose pressing and baling machines of a great variety, until +nearly every agricultural product that can be pressed, packed or baled +has its special machine for that operation. Besides those above +indicated relating to agricultural products, we have cane presses, +cheese presses, butter presses, cigar and tobacco presses, cork presses, +and flour packers, fruit and lard presses, peat presses, sugar presses +and others. Leading mechanical principles in presses are also indicated +by name, as screw presses, toggle presses, beater press, revolving +press, hydraulic press, rack and pinion press, and rolling pressure +press and so on. + +There are the presses also that are used in compressing cotton. When it +is remembered that cotton is raised in about twenty different countries, +and that the cotton crop of the United States of 1897-98 was 10,897,857 +bales, of about 500 lbs. each; of India, (estimated) for the same +period, 2,844,000, of 400 lbs each; of China about 1,320,000, of 500 lbs +each, and between two and three million bales in the other countries, it +is interesting to consider how the world's production of this enormous +mass of elastic fibre, amounting to seventeen or eighteen million bales, +of four and five hundred pounds each, is compressed and bound. + +The screw press was the earliest form of machine used, and then came the +hydraulic press. Later it has been customary to press the cotton by +screw presses or small hydraulic presses at the plantation, bind it with +ropes or metal bands and then transport it to some central or seaboard +station where an immense establishment exists, provided with a great +steam-operated press, in which the bale from the country is placed and +reduced to one-fourth or one-third its size, and while under pressure +new metallic bands applied, when the bale is ready for shipment. This +was a gain of a remarkable amount of room on shipboard and on cars, and +solved a commercial problem. But now this process, and the commercial +rectangular bale, seem destined to be supplanted by roller presses set +up near the plantations themselves, into which the cotton is fed +directly from the gin, rolled upon itself between the rollers and +compressed into round bales of greater density than the square bale, +thus saving a great amount of cost in dispensing with the steam and +hydraulic plants, with great additional advantages in convenience of +handling and cost of transportation. + +It is so arranged also that the cotton may be rolled into clean, uniform +dense layers, so that the same may be unwound at the mill and directly +applied to the machines for its manufacture into fabrics, without the +usual tedious and expensive preliminary operations of combing and +re-rolling. + +It has also remained for the developed machine of the century to convert +hay into an export commodity to distant countries by the baling process. +Bale ties themselves have received great attention from inventors, and +the most successful have won fortunes for their owners. + +Most ingenious machines have been devised for picking cotton in the +fields, but none have yet reached that stage of perfection sufficient to +supplant the human fingers. + +_Fruits and Foods._--To prepare and transport fruits in their natural +state to far distant points, while preserving them from decay for long +times, is, in the large way demanded by the world's great appetites, +altogether a success of modern invention. + +To gather the fruit without bruising by mechanical pickers, and then to +place the fruit, oranges for instance, in the hands of an intelligent +machine which will automatically, but delicately and effectually, wrap +the same in a paper covering, and discharge them without harm, are among +the recent inventive wonders. In the United States alone 67 patents had +been granted up to 1895 for fruit wrapping machines. + +Inventions relating to drying and evaporating fruit, and having for +their main object to preserve as much as possible the natural taste and +colour of the fruit, have been numerous. Spreading the fruit in the air +and letting the sun and air do the rest is now a crude process. + +These are the general types of drying and evaporating machines: + +First, those in which trays of fruit are placed upon stationary ledges +within a heated chamber; second, those in which the trays are raised and +lowered by mechanical means toward or farther from the source of heat as +the drying progresses; third, those in which the fruit is placed in +imperforate steam jacketed pans. Many improvements, of course, have been +made in detail of form, in ventilation, the supplying and regulating of +heat and the moving of trays. + +The hermetically sealed glass or earthenware fruit jar, the lids of +which can be screwed or locked down upon a rubber band, after the jar is +filled and the small remainder of air drawn out by a convenient steam +heater, now used by the million, is an illustration of the many useful +modern contrivances in this line. + +_Sterilisation._--In preserving, the desirability of preventing disease +and keeping foods in a pure state has developed in the last quarter of a +century many devices by which the food is subjected to a steam heat in +chambers, and, by devices operated from the outside, the cans or bottles +are opened and shut while still within the steam-filled chamber. + +_Diastase._--By heating starchy matters with substances containing +diastase, a partial transformation is effected, which will materially +shorten and aid its digestion, and this fact has been largely made use +of in the preparation of soluble foods, especially those designed for +infants and invalids, such as malted milk and lactated food. + +_Milkers._--Invention has not only been exercised in the preservation +and transportation of milk, but in the task of milking itself. Since +1860 inventors have been seeking patents for milkers, some having tubes +operated by air-pumps, others on the same principle in which the vacuum +is made to increase and decrease or pulsate, and others for machines in +which the tubes are mechanically contracted by pressure plates. + +_Slaughtering._--Great improvements have been made in the slaughtering +of animals, by which a great amount of its repulsiveness and the +unhealthfulness of its surroundings have been removed. These +improvements relate to the construction of proper buildings and +appliances for the handling of the animals, the means for slaughtering, +and modes of taking care of the meat and transporting the same. +Villages, towns, and even many cities, are now relieved of the formerly +unsavoury slaughter-houses, and the work is done from great centres of +supply, where meats in every shape are prepared for food and shipment. + +It would be impossible in a bulky volume, much less in a single chapter, +to satisfactorily enumerate those thousands of inventions which, taking +hold of the food products of the earth, have spread them as a feast +before the tribes of men. + +_Tobacco._--Some of the best inventive genius of the century has been +exercised in providing for man's comfort, not a food, but what he +believes to be a solace. + + "Sublime Tobacco! which from East to West + Cheers the tar's labour or the Turkman's rest." + +In the United States alone, in the year 1885, there were 752,520 acres +of land devoted to the production of tobacco, the amount in pounds grown +being 562,736,000, and the value of which was estimated as $43,265,598. +These amounts have been somewhat less in years since then, but the +appetite continues, and any deficiency in the supply is made up by +enormous importation. Thus, in 1896, there were imported into the United +States, 32,924,966 pounds of tobacco, of various kinds, valued at +$16,503,130. There are no reliable statistics showing that, man for man, +the people of that country are greater lovers of the weed than the +people of other countries, but the annual value of tobacco raised and +imported by them being thus about $60,000,000, it indicates the strength +of the habit and the interest in the nurture of the plant throughout the +world. Neither the "Counterblaste to Tobacco" of King James I., and the +condemnations of kings, popes, priests and sultans, that followed its +early introduction into Europe, served to choke the weed in its infancy +or check its after growth. Now it is attended from the day of its +planting until it reaches the lips of the consumer by contrivances of +consummate skill to fit it for its destined purpose. Besides the +ploughs, the cultivators and the weeders of especial forms used to +cultivate the plant, there are, after the grown plant is cut in the +field, houses of various designs for drying it, machines for rolling the +leaves out smoothly in sheets; machines for removing the stems from the +leaves and for crushing the stem; machines for pressing it into shape, +and for pressing it, whether solid or in granular form, into boxes, tubs +and bags; machines for granulating it and for grinding it into snuff; +machines for twisting it into cords; machines for flavouring the leaf +with saccharine and other matters; machines for making cigars, and +machines of a great variety and of the most ingenious construction for +making cigarettes and putting them in packages. + +Samples of pipes made by different ages and by different peoples would +form a collection of wonderful art and ingenuity, second only to an +exhibition of the means and methods of making them. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CHEMISTRY. + + +Chemistry, having for its field the properties and changes of matter, +has excited more or less attention ever since men had the power to +observe, to think, and to experiment. + +Some knowledge of chemistry must have existed among the ancients to have +enabled the Egyptians to smelt ores and work metals, to dye their +cloths, to make glass, and to preserve their dead from decomposition; +so, too, to this extent among the Ph[oe]nicians, the Israelites, the +Greeks and the Romans; and perhaps to a greater extent among the +Chinese, who added powder to the above named and other chemical +products. Aristotle speculated, and the alchemists of the middle ages +busied themselves in magic and guess-work. It reached the dignity of a +science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, by the labours of +such men, in the former century, as Libavius, Van Helmont, Glauber, +Tachenius, Boyle, Lemery and Becher; Stahl, Boerhaave and Hamberg in +both; and of Black, Cavendish, Lavoisier, Priestley and others in the +eighteenth. + +But so great have been the discoveries and inventions in this science +during the nineteenth century that any chemist of any previous age, if +permitted to look forward upon them, would have felt + + "Like some watcher of the skies + When a new planet swims into his ken." + +Indeed, the chemistry of this century is a new world, of which all the +previous discoveries in that line were but floating nebulae. + +So vast and astonishingly fast has been the growth and development of +this science that before the century was two-thirds through its course +Watts published his _Dictionary of Chemistry_ in five volumes, averaging +a thousand closely printed pages, followed soon by a thousand-page +supplement; and it would have required such a volume every year since to +adequately report the progress of the science. Nomenclatures, formulas, +apparatuses and processes have all changed. It was deemed necessary to +publish works on _The New Chemistry_, and Professor J. P. Cooke is the +author of an admirable volume under that title. + +We can, therefore, in this chapter only step from one to another of some +of the peaks that rise above the vast surrounding country, and note some +of the lesser objects as they appear in the vales below. + +The leading discoveries of the century which have done so much to aid +Chemistry in its giant strides are the atomic and molecular theories, +the mechanics of light, heat, and electricity, the correlation and +conservation of forces, their invariable quantity, and their +indestructibility, spectrum analysis and the laws of chemical changes. + +John Dalton, that humble child of English north-country Quaker stock, +self-taught and a teacher all his life, in 1803 gave to the world his +atomic theory of chemistry, whereby the existence of matter in ultimate +atoms was removed from the region of the speculation of certain ancient +philosophers, and established on a sure foundation. + +The question asked and answered by Dalton was, what is the relative +weight of the atoms composing the elementary bodies? + +He discovered that one chemical element or compound can combine with +another chemical element, to form a new compound, in two different +proportions by weight, which stand to each other in the simple ratio of +one to two; and at the same time he published a table of the _Relative +weight of the ultimate particles of Gaseous and other Bodies_. Although +the details of this table have since been changed, the principles of his +discovery remain unchanged. Says Professor Roscoe: + + "Chemistry could hardly be said to exist as a science before the + establishment of the laws of combination in multiple proportions, and + the subsequent progress of chemical science materially depended upon + the determination of these combined proportions or atomic weights of + the elements first set up by Dalton. So that among the founders of our + science, next to the name of the great French Philosopher, Lavoisier, + will stand in future ages the name of John Dalton, of Manchester." + +Less conspicuous but still eminently useful were his discoveries and +labours in other directions, in the expansion of gases, evaporation, +steam, etc. + +Wollaston and Gay-Lussac, both great chemists, applied Dalton's +discovery to wide and most important fields in the chemical arts. + +Also contemporaneous with Dalton was the great German chemist, +Berzelius, who confirmed and extended the discoveries of Dalton. More +than this, it has been said of Berzelius: + + "In him were united all the different impulses which have advanced the + science since the beginning of the present epoch. The fruit of his + labors is scattered throughout the entire domain of the science. + Hardly a substance exists to the knowledge of which he has not in some + way contributed. A direct descendant of the school of his countryman, + Bergman, he was especially renowned as an analyst. No chemist has + determined by direct experiment the composition of a greater number of + substances. No one has exerted a greater influence in extending the + field of analytical chemistry." + +As to light, the great Huygens, the astronomer and mathematician, the +improver of differential calculus and of telescopes, the inventor of the +pendulum clock, chronometers, and the balance wheel to the watch, and +discoverer of the laws of the double refraction of light and of +polarisation, had in the 17th century clearly advanced the idea that +light was propagated from luminous bodies, not as a stream of particles +through the air but in waves or vibrations of ether, which is a +universal medium extending through all space and into all bodies. This +fundamental principle now enters into the explanation of all the +phenomena of light. + +Newton in the next century, with the prism, decomposed light, and in a +darkened chamber reproduced all the colours and tints of the rainbow. +But there were dark lines in that beam of broken sunlight which Newton +did not notice. + +It was left to Joseph von Fraunhofer, a German optician, and to the 19th +century, and nearly one hundred years after Newton's experiments with +the prism, to discover, with finer prisms that he had made, some 590 of +these black lines crossing the solar spectrum. What they were he did not +know, but conjectured that they were caused by something which existed +in the sun and stars and not in our air. But from that time they were +called Fraunhofer's dark lines. + +From the vantage ground of these developments we are now enabled to step +to that mountain peak of discovery from which the sun and stars were +looked into, their elements portrayed, their very motions determined, +and their brotherhood with the earth, in substance, ascertained. + +The great discovery of the cause of Fraunhofer's dark bands in the +broken sunlight was made by Gustave Robert Kirchoff, a German physician, +in his laboratory in Heidelberg, in 1860, in conjunction with his fellow +worker, Robert Bunsen. + +Kirchoff happened to let a solar ray pass through a flame coloured with +sodium, and through a prism, so that the spectrum of the sun and the +flame fell one upon another. It was expected that the well known yellow +line of sodium would come out in the solar spectrum, but it was just the +opposite that took place. Where the bright yellow line should have +fallen appeared a dark line. + +With this observation was coupled the reflection that heat passes from a +body of a higher temperature to one of a lower, and not inversely. +Experiments followed: iron, sodium, copper, etc., were heated to +incandescence and their colours prismatically separated. These were +transversed with the same colours of other heated bodies, and the latter +were absorbed and rendered black. Kirchoff then announced his law that +all bodies absorb chiefly those colours which they themselves emit. +Therefore these vapours of the sun which were rendered in black lines +were so produced by crossing terrestrial vapors of the same nature. + +Thus by the prism and the blowpipe were the same substances found in the +sun, the stars, and the earth. The elements of every substance submitted +to the process were analysed, and many secrets in the universe of matter +were revealed. + +Young, of America, invented a splendid combination of spectroscope and +telescope, and Huggins of England was the first to establish by spectrum +analysis the approach and retreat of the stars. + +It was prior to this time that those wonderful discoveries and labours +were made which developed the true nature of heat, which demonstrated +the kinship and correlation of the forces of Nature, their conservation, +or property of being converted one into another, and the +indestructibility of matter, of which force is but another name. + +The first demonstrations as to the nature of heat were given by the +American Count Rumford, and then by Sir Humphry Davy, just at the close +of the 18th century, and then followed in this the brilliant labours and +discoveries of Mayer and Helmholtz of Germany, Colding of Denmark, and +Joule, Grove, Faraday, Sir William Thomson of England, of Henry, Le +Conte and Martin of America, as to the correlation and convertibility of +all the forces. + +The French revolution, and the Napoleonic wars, isolating France and +exhausting its resources, its chemists were appealed to devote their +genius and researches to practical things; to the munitions of war, the +rejuvenation of the soil, the growing of new crops, like the sugar beet, +and new manufacturing products. + +Lavoisier had laid deep and broad in France the foundations of +chemistry, and given the science nomenclature that lasted a century. So +that the succeeding great teachers, Berthollet, Guyton, Fourcroy and +their associates, and the institutions of instruction in the sciences +fostered by them, and inspired in that direction by Napoleon, bent their +energies in material directions, and a tremendous impulse was thus given +to the practical application of chemistry to the arts and manufactures +of the century. + +The same spirit, to a less extent, however, manifested itself in +England, and as early as 1802 we find Sir Humphry Davy beginning his +celebrated lectures on the _Elements of Agricultural Chemistry_ before a +board of agriculture, a work that has passed through many editions in +almost every modern language. + +When the fact is recalled that agricultural chemistry embraces the +entire natural science of vegetable and animal production, and includes, +besides, much of physics, meteorology and geology, the extent and +importance of the subject may be appreciated; and yet such appreciation +was not manifested in a practical manner until the 19th century. It was +only toward the end of the 18th century that the vague and ancient +notions that air, water, oil and salt formed the nutrition of plants, +began to be modified. Davy recognized and explained the beneficial +fertilizing effects of ammonia, and analysed and explained numerous +fertilizers, including guano. It is due to his discoveries and +publications, combined with those of the eminent men on the continent, +above referred to, that agricultural chemistry arose to the dignity of a +science. The most brilliant, eloquent and devoted apostle of that +science who followed Davy was Justus von Liebig of Germany, who was born +in Darmstadt in 1803, the year after Davy commenced his lectures in +England. It was in response to the British Association for the +Advancement of Science that he gave to the world his great publications +on _Chemistry in its application to Agriculture, Commerce, Physiology, +and Pathology_, from which great practical good resulted the world over. +One of his favorite subjects was that of fermentation, and this calls up +the exceedingly interesting discoveries in the nature of alcohol, yeast, +mould--aging malt, wines and beer--and their accompanying beneficial +results. + +In one of Huxley's charming lectures--such as he delighted to give +before a popular audience--delivered in 1871, at Manchester, on the +subject of "Yeast," he tells how any liquid containing sugar, such as a +mixture of honey and water, if left to itself undergoes the peculiar +change we know as fermentation, and in the process the scum, or thicker +muddy part that forms on top, becomes yeast, carbonic acid gas escapes +in bubbles from the liquid, and the liquid itself becomes spirits of +wine or alcohol. "Alcohol" was a term used until the 17th century to +designate a very fine subtle powder, and then became the name of the +subtle spirit arising from fermentation. It was Leeuwenhoek of Holland +who, two hundred years ago, by the use of a fine microscope he invented, +first discovered that the muddy scum was a substance made up of an +enormous multitude of very minute grains floating separately, and in +lumps and in heaps, in the liquid. Then, in the next century the +Frenchman, Cagniard de la Tour, discovered that these bodies grew to a +certain size and then budded, and from the buds the plant multiplied; +and thus that this yeast was a mass of living plants, which received in +science the name of "torula," that the yeast plant was a kind of fungus +or mould, growing and multiplying. Then came Fabroni, the French +chemist, at the end of the 18th century, who discovered that the yeast +plant was of bag-like form, or a cell of woody matter, and that the cell +contained a substance composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. +This was a vegeto-animal substance, having peculiarities of "animal +products." + +Then came the great chemists of the 19th century, with their delicate +methods of analysis, and decided that this plant in its chief part was +identical with that element which forms the chief part of our own blood. +That it was protein, a substance which forms the foundation of every +animal organism. All agreed that it was the yeast plant that fermented +or broke up the sugar element, and produced the alcohol. Helmholtz +demonstrated that it was the minute particles of the solid part of the +plant that produced the fermentation, and that such particles must be +growing or alive, to produce it. From whence sprang this wonderful +plant--part vegetable, part animal? By a long series of experiments it +was found that if substances which could be fermented were kept entirely +closed to the outer air, no plant would form and no fermentation take +place. It was concluded then, and so ascertained, that the torulae in +the plant proceeded from the torulae in the atmosphere, from "gay motes +that people the sunbeams." Concerning just how the torulae broke up or +fermented the sugar, great chemists have differed. + +After the discovery that the yeast was a plant having cells formed of +the pure matter of wood, and containing a semi-fluid mass identical with +the composition which constitutes the flesh of animals, came the further +discovery that all plants, high and low, are made up of the same kind of +cells, and their contents. Then this remarkable result came out, that +however much a plant may otherwise differ from an animal, yet, in +essential constituents the cellular constructure of animal and plant is +the same. To this substance of energy and life, common in the minute +plant cell and the animal cell, the German botanist, Hugo von Mohl, +about fifty years ago gave the name "protoplasm." Then came this +astounding conclusion, that this _protoplasm_ being common to both plant +and animal life, the essential difference consisted only in the manner +in which the cells are built up and are modified in the building. + +And from that part of these great discoveries which revealed the fact +that the sugary element was infected, as it were, from the germs of the +air, producing fermentation and its results, arose that remarkable +theory of many diseases known as the "germ theory." And, as it was found +in the yeast plant that only the solid part or particle of the plant +germinated fermentation and reaction, so, too, it has been found by the +germ theory that only the solid particle of the contagious matter can +germinate or grow the disease. + +In this unfolding of the wonders of chemistry in the nineteenth century, +the old empirical walls between forces and organisms, and organic and +inorganic chemistry, are breaking down, and celestial and terrestrial +bodies and vapours, living beings, and growing plants are discovered to +be the evolution of one all-pervading essence and force. One is reminded +of the lines of Tennyson: + + "Large elements in order brought + And tracts of calm from tempest made, + And world fluctuation swayed + In vassal tides that followed thought. + + * * * * * + + One God, one law, one element, + And one far-off divine event + To which the whole creation moves." + +In the class of alcohol and in the field of yeast, the work of Pasteur, +begun in France, has been followed by improvements in methods for +selecting proper ferments and excluding improper ones, and in improved +processes for aging and preserving alcoholic liquors by destroying +deleterious ferments. Takamine, in using as ferment, koji, motu and +moyashi, different forms of mould, and proposing to do entirely away +with malt in the manufacture of beer and whiskey, has made a noteworthy +departure. Manufacturing of malt by the pneumatic process, and stirring +malt during germination, are among the improvements. + +_Carbonating._--The injecting of carbonic acid gas into various waters +to render them wholesome, and also into beers and wines during +fermentation, and to save delay and prevent impurities, are decided +improvements. + +The immense improvements and discoveries in the character of soils and +fertilisers have already been alluded to. Hundreds of instruments have +been invented for measuring, analysing, weighing, separating, +volatilising and otherwise applying chemical processes to practical +purposes. + +To the chemistry of the century the world is indebted for those devices +and processes for the utilisation and manufacture of many useful +products from the liquids and oils, sugar from cane and beets, +revivifying bone-black, centrifugal machinery for refining sugar, in +defecating it by chemicals and heat, in evaporating it in pans, in +separating starch and converting it into glucose, etc. + +_Oils and Fats._--Up to within this century the vast amount of cotton +seed produced with that crop was a waste. Then by the process, first of +steaming the seed and expressing the oil, now by the process of +extraction by the aid of volatile solvents, and casting off the solvents +by distillation, an immensely valuable product has been obtained. + +The utilising of oils in the manufacture of oilcloth and linoleum and +rubber, has become of great commercial value. Formerly sulphur was the +vulcanising agent, now chloride of sulphur has been substituted for pure +sulphur. + +Steam and the distillation processes have been applied with great +success to the making of glycerine from fat and from soap underlye and +in extracting fat from various waste products. + +_Bleaching and Dyeing._--Of course these arts are very old, but the old +methods would not be recognised in the modern processes; and those who +lived before the century knew nothing of the magnificent colours, and +certain essences, and sweet savours that can be obtained from the black, +hand-soiling pieces of coal. In the making of illuminating gas, itself a +finished chemical product of the century, a vast amount of once wasted +products, especially coal tar, are now extensively used; and from coal +tar and the residuum of petroleum oils, now come those splendid aniline +dyes which have produced such a revolution in the world of colours. The +saturation of sand by a dye and its application to fabrics by an air +blast; the circulation of the fluid colors, or of fluids for bleaching +or drying, or oxidising, through perforated cylinders or cops on which +the cloths are wound; devices for the running of skeins through dyes, +the great improvements in carbon dyes and kindred colours, the processes +of making the colours on the fibre, and the perfumes made by the +synthetic processes, are among the inventions in this field. + +The space that a list of the new chemical products of this age and their +description would fill, has already been indicated by reference to the +great dictionary of Watts. Some of the electro-chemical products will be +hereinafter referred to in the Chapter on Electricity, and the chemistry +of Metallurgy will be treated under the latter topic. + +_Electro-chemical Methods._--Space will only permit it to be said that +these methods are now employed in the production of a large number of +elements, by means of which very many of them which were before mere +laboratory specimens, have now become cheap and useful servants of +mankind in a hundred different ways; such as aluminium, that light and +non-corrosive metal, reduced from many dollars an ounce a generation +ago, to 30 and 40 cents a pound now; carborundum, largely superseding +emery and diamond dust as an abradant; artificial diamonds; calcium +carbide, from which the new illuminating acetylene gas is made; +disinfectants of many kinds; pigments, chromium, manganese, and +chlorates by the thousand tons. The most useful new chemical processes +are those used in purifying water sewage and milk, in electroplating +metals and other substances, in the application of chemicals to the fine +arts, in extracting grease from wool, and the making of many useful +products from the waste materials of the dumps and garbage banks. + +_Medicines and Surgery._--One hundred years ago, the practice of +medicine was, in the main, empirical. Certain effects were known to +usually follow the giving of certain drugs, or the application of +certain measures, but why or how these effects were produced, was +unknown. The great steps forward have been made upon the true scientific +foundation established by the discoveries and inventions in the fields +of physics, chemistry and biology. The discovery of anaesthetics and +their application in surgery and the practice of medicine, no doubt +constitutes the leading invention of the century in this field. + +Sir Humphry Davy suggested it in 1800, and Dr. W. T. Morton was the +first to apply an anaesthetic to relieve pain in a surgical operation, +which he did in a hospital in Boston in 1846. Both its original +suggestion and application were also claimed by others. + +Not only relief from intense pain to the patient during the operation, +but immense advantages are gained by the long and careful examination +afforded of injured or diseased parts, otherwise difficult or impossible +in a conscious patient. + +The exquisite pain and suffering endured previous to the use of +anaesthetics often caused death by exhaustion. Many delicate operations +can now be performed for the relief of long-continued diseases which +before would have been hazardous or impossible. How many before suffered +unto death long-drawn-out pain and disease rather than submit to the +torture of the knife! How many lives have been saved, and how far +advanced has become the knowledge of the human body and its painful +diseases, by this beneficent remedy! + +Inventions in the field of medicine consist chiefly in those innumerable +compositions and compounds which have resulted from chemical +discoveries. Gelatine capsules used to conceal unpalatable remedies may +be mentioned as a most acceptable modern invention in this class. +Inventions and discoveries in the field of surgery relate not only to +instrumentalities but processes. The antiseptic treatment of wounds, by +which the long and exhausting suppuration is avoided, is among the most +notable of the latter. In instruments vast improvements have been made; +special forms adapted for operation in every form of injury; in +syringes, especially hypodermic, those used for subcutaneous injections +of liquid remedies; inhalers for applying medicated vapours and devices +for applying volatile anaesthetics, and devices for atomising and +spraying liquids. In the United States alone about four thousand patents +have been granted for inventions in surgical instruments. + +_Dentistry._--This art has been revolutionised during the century. Even +in the time of Herodotus, one special set of physicians had the +treatment of teeth; and artificial teeth have been known and used for +many ages, but all seems crude and barbarous until these later days. In +addition to the use of anaesthetics, improvements have been made in +nearly every form of dental instruments, such as forceps, dental +engines, pluggers, drills, hammers, etc., and in the means and materials +for making teeth. Later leading inventions have reference to utilising +the roots of destroyed teeth as supports on which to form bridges to +which artificial teeth are secured, and to crowns for decayed teeth that +still have a solid base. + +There exists no longer the dread of the dentist's chair unless the +patient has neglected too long the visit. Pain cannot be all avoided, +but it is ameliorated; and the new results in workmanship in the saving +and in the making of teeth are vast improvements over the former +methods. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +STEAM AND STEAM ENGINES. + + "Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar + Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; + Or in wide waving wings expanded bear + The flying chariot through the field of air." + + +Thus sang the poet prophet, the good Dr. Darwin of Lichfield, in the +eighteenth century. Newcomen and Watt had not then demonstrated that +steam was not unconquerable, but the hitching it to the slow barge and +the rapid car was yet to come. It has come, and although the prophecy is +yet to be rounded into fulfilment by the driving of the "flying chariot +through the field of air," that too is to come. + +The prophecy of the doctor poet was as suggestive of the practical means +of carrying it into effect as were all the means proposed during the +first seventeen centuries of the Christian Era for conquering steam and +harnessing it as a useful servant to man. + +Toys, speculations, dreams, observations, startling experiments, these +often constitute the framework on which is hung the title of Inventor; +but the nineteenth century has demanded a better support for that proud +title. He alone who first transforms his ideas into actual work and +useful service in some field of man's labor, or clearly teaches others +to do so, is now recognised as the true inventor. Tested by this rule +there was scarcely an inventor in the field of steam in all the long +stretches of time preceding the seventeenth century. And if there were, +they had no recording scribes to embalm their efforts in history. + +We shall never know how early man learned the wonderful power of the +spirit that springs from heated water. It was doubtless from some sad +experience in ignorantly attempting to put fetters on it. + +The history of steam as a motor generally commences with reference to +that toy called the aeolipile, described by Hero of Alexandria in a +treatise on pneumatics about two centuries before Christ, and which was +the invention of either himself or Ctesibius, his teacher. + +This toy consisted of a globe pivoted on two supports, one of which was +a communicating pipe leading into a heated cauldron of water beneath. +The globe was provided with two escape pipes on diametrically opposite +sides and bent so as to discharge in opposite directions. Steam admitted +into the globe from the cauldron escaped through the side pipes, and its +pressure on these pipes caused the globe to rotate. + +Hero thus demonstrated that water can be converted into steam and steam +into work. + +Since that ancient day Hero's apparatus has been frequently reinvented +by men ignorant of the early effort, and the principle of the invention +as well as substantially the same form have been put into many practical +uses. Hero in his celebrated treatise described other devices, curious +siphons and pumps. Many of them are supposed to have been used in the +performance of some of the startling religious rites at the altars of +the Greek priests. + +From Hero's day the record drops down to the middle ages, and still it +finds progress in this art confined to a few observations and +speculations. William of Malmesbury in 1150 wrote something on the +subject and called attention to some crude experiments he had heard of +in Germany. Passing from the slumber of the middle ages, we are assured +by some Spanish historians that one Blasco de Garay, in 1543, propelled +a ship having paddle wheels by steam at Barcelona. But the publication +was long after the alleged event, and is regarded as apocryphal. + +Observations became more acute in the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries, experiments more frequent, and publications more full and +numerous. + +Cardan Ramelli and Leonardo da Vinci, learned Italians, and the +accomplished Prof. Jacob Besson of Orleans, France, all did much by +their writings to make known theoretically the wonderful powers of +steam, and to suggest modes of its practical operation, in the latter +part of the sixteenth century. + +Giambattista della Porta, a gentleman of Naples, possessing high and +varied accomplishments in all the sciences as they were known at that +day, 1601, and who invented the magic-lantern and _camera obscura_, in a +work called _Spiritalia_, described how steam pressure could be employed +to raise a column of water, how a vacuum was produced by the +condensation of steam in a closed vessel, and how the condensing vessel +should be separated from the boiler. Revault in France showed in 1605 +how a bombshell might be exploded by steam. + +Salomon de Caus, engineer and architect to Louis XIII, in 1615 described +how water might be raised by the expansion of steam. + +In 1629 the Italian, Branco, published at Rome an account of the +application of a steam jet upon the vanes of a small wheel to run it, +and told how in other ways Hero's engine might be employed for useful +purposes. + +The first English publication describing a way of applying steam +appeared in 1630 in a patent granted to David Ramseye, for a mode of +raising water thereby. This was followed by patents to Grant in 1632 and +to one Ford in 1640. During that century these crude machines were +called "fire engines." It seems to have been common in some parts of +Europe during the seventeenth century to use a blast of steam to improve +the draft of chimneys and of blast furnaces. This application of steam +to smoke and smelting has been frequently revived by modern inventors +with much flourish of originality. + +It is with a certain feeling of delight and relief, after a prolonged +search through the centuries for some evidence of harnessing this mighty +agent to man's use, that we come to the efforts of the good Marquis of +Worcester--Edward Somerset. He it was who in 1655 wrote of the +_Inventions of the Sixteenth Century_. He afterwards amplified this +title by calling his book _A Century of Names and Scantlings of such +Inventions as at present I call to mind to have tried and perfected_, +etc. + +There are about one hundred of these "Scantlings," and his descriptions +of them are very brief but interesting. Some, if revived now and put to +use, would throw proposed flying machines into the background, as they +involved perpetual motion. + +But to his honor be it said that he was the first steam-engine builder. +A patent was issued to him in 1663. It was about 1668 that he built and +put in successful operation at Raglan Castle at Vauxhall, near London, a +steam engine to force water upward. He made separate boilers, which he +worked alternately, and conveyed the steam from them to a vessel in +which its pressure operated to force the water up. Unfortunately he did +not leave a description of his inventions sufficiently full to enable +later mechanics to make and use them. He strove in vain to get capital +interested and a company formed to manufacture his engines. The age of +fear and speculation as to steam ceased when the Marquis set his engine +to pumping water, and from that time inventors went on to put the arm of +steam to work. + +In 1683 Sir Samuel Morland commenced the construction of the Worcester +engines for use and sale; Hautefeuille of France taught the use of gas, +described how gas as well as steam engines might be constructed, and was +the first to propose the use of the piston. The learned writings of the +great Dutch scientist and inventor, Huygens, on heat and light steam and +gas, also then came forth, and his assistant, the French physicist and +doctor, Denis Papin, in 1690, proposed steam as a universal motive +power, invented a steam engine having a piston and a safety valve, and +even a crude paddle steamer, which it is said was tried in 1707 on the +river Fulda. Then in 1698 came Thomas Savery, who patented a steam +engine that was used in draining mines. + +The eighteenth century thus commenced with a practical knowledge of the +power of steam and of means for controlling and working it. + +Then followed the combined invention of Newcomen, Cawley and Savery, in +1705, of the most successful pumping engine up to that time. In this +engine a cylinder was employed for receiving the steam from a separate +boiler. There was a piston in the cylinder driven up by the steam +admitted below it, aided by a counterpoise at one end of an engine beam. +The steam was then cut off from the boiler and condensed by the +introduction beneath the piston of a jet of water, and the condensed +steam and water drawn off by a pipe. Atmospheric pressure forced the +piston down. The piston and pump rods were connected to the opposite +ends of a working beam of a pumping engine, as in some modern engines. +Gauge cocks to indicate the height of water, and a safety valve to +regulate the pressure of steam, were employed. Then came the ingenious +improvement of the boy Humphrey Potter, connecting the valve gear with +the engine beam by cords, so as to do automatically what he was set to +do by hand, and the improvement on that of the Beighton plug rod. Still +further improved by others, the Newcomen engine came into use through +out Europe. + +Jonathan Hulls patented in England in 1736 a marine steam engine, and in +1737 published a description of a Newcomen engine applied to his system +for towing ships. William Henry, of Pennsylvania, tried a model +steamboat on the Conestoga river in 1763. + +This was practically the state of the art, in 1763, when James Watt +entered the field. His brilliant inventions harnessed steam to more than +pumping engines, made it a universal servant in manifold industries, and +started it on a career which has revolutionized the trade and +manufactures of the world. + +To understand what the nineteenth century has done in steam motive power +we must first know what Watt did in the eighteenth century, as he then +laid the foundation on which the later inventions have all been built. + +Taking up the crude but successful working engine of Newcomen, a model +of which had been sent to him for repairs, he began an exhaustive study +of the properties of steam and of the means for producing and +controlling it. He found it necessary to devise a new system. + +Watt saw that the alternate heating and cooling of the cylinder made the +engine work slowly and caused an excessive consumption of steam. He +concluded that "the cylinder should always be as hot as the steam that +entered it." He therefore closed the cylinder and provided a separate +condensing vessel into which the steam was led after it raised the +piston. He provided an air-tight jacket for the cylinder, to maintain +its heat. He added a tight packing in the cylinder-head for the +piston-rod to move through, and a steam-tight stuffing-box on the top of +the cylinder. He caused the steam to alternately enter below and above +the piston and be alternately condensed to drive the piston down as well +as up, and this made the engine double-acting, increasing its power and +speed. He converted the reciprocating motion of the piston into a rotary +motion by the adoption of the crank, and introduced the well-known +parallel motion, and many other improvements. In short, he demonstrated +for the first time by a practical and efficient engine that the +expansive force of steam could be used to drive all ordinary machinery. +He then secured his inventions by patents against piracy, and sustained +them successfully in many a hard-fought battle. It had taken him the +last quarter of the 18th century to do all these things. + +Watt was the proper precursor of the nineteenth century inventions, as +in him were combined the power and attainments of a great scientist and +the genius of a great mechanic. The last eighteen years of his life were +passed in the 19th century, and he was thus enabled to see his +inventions brought within its threshold and applied to those arts which +have made this age so glorious in mechanical achievements. + +Watt so fitly represents the class of modern great inventors in his +character and attainments that the description of him by Sir Walter +Scott is here pertinent as a tribute to that class, and as a delineation +of the general character of those benefactors of his race of which he +was so conspicuous an example:-- + +Says Sir Walter:-- + + "Amidst this company stood Mr. Watt, the man whose genius discovered + the means of multiplying our national resources to a degree, perhaps, + even beyond his own stupendous powers of calculation and combination; + bringing the treasures of the abyss to the summit of the earth--giving + to the feeble arm of man the momentum of an Afrite--commanding + manufactures to rise--affording means of dispensing with that time and + tide which wait for no man--and of sailing without that wind which + defied the commands and threats of Xerxes himself. This potent + commander of the elements--this abridger of time and space--this + magician, whose cloudy machinery has produced a change in the world, + the effects of which, extraordinary as they are, are perhaps only + beginning to be felt--was not only the most profound man of science, + the most successful combiner of powers and calculator of numbers, as + adapted to practical purposes, was not only one of the most generally + well-informed, but one of the best and kindest of human beings." + +The first practical application of steam as a working force was to +pumping, as has been stated. After Watt's system was devised, +suggestions and experiments as to road locomotives and carriages were +made, and other applications came thick and fast. A French officer, +Cugnot, in 1769 and 1770, was the first to try the road carriage engine. +Other prominent Frenchmen made encouraging experiments on small +steamboats--followed in 1784-86 by James Rumsey and John Fitch in +America in the same line. Watt patented a road engine in 1784. About the +same time his assistant, Murdock, completed and tried a model locomotive +driven by a "grasshopper" engine. Oliver Evans, the great American +contemporary of Watt, had in 1779 devised a high-pressure non-condensing +steam engine in a form still used. In 1786-7 he obtained in Pennsylvania +and Maryland patents for applying steam to driving flour mills and +propelling waggons. Also about this time, Symington, the Scotchman, +constructed a working model of a steam carriage, which is still +preserved in the museum at South Kensington, London. Symington and his +fellow Scotchmen, Miller and Taylor, in 1788-89 also constructed working +steamboats. In 1796 Richard Trevithick, a Cornish marine captain, was +producing a road locomotive. The century thus opened with activity in +steam motive power. The "scantlings" of the Marquis of Worcester were +now being converted into complete structures. And so great was the +activity and the number of inventors that he is a daring man who would +now decide priority between them. The earliest applications in this +century of steam power were in the line of road engines. + +On Christmas eve of 1801, Trevithick made the initial trip with the +first successful steam road locomotive through the streets of Camborne +in Cornwall, carrying passengers. In one of his trips he passed into the +country roads and came to a tollgate through which a frightened keeper +hastily passed him without toll, hailing him as the devil. + +Persistent efforts continued to be made to introduce a practical steam +road carriage in England until 1827. After Trevithick followed +Blenkinsop, who made a locomotive which ran ten miles an hour. Then came +Julius Griffith, in 1821, of Brompton, who patented a steam carriage +which was built by Joseph Bramah, one of the ablest mechanics of his +time. Gordon, Brunton and Gurney attempted a curious and amusing steam +carriage, resembling a horse in action--having jointed legs and feet, +but this animal was not successful. Walter Hancock, in 1827, was one of +the most persistent and successful inventors in this line; but bad roads +and an unsympathetic public discouraged inventors in their efforts to +introduce steam road carriages, and their attention was turned to the +locomotive to run on rails or tracks especially prepared for them. +Wooden and iron rails had been introduced a century before for heavy +cars and wagons in pulling loads from mines and elsewhere, but when at +the beginning of the century it had been found that the engines of Watt +could be used to drag such loads, it was deemed necessary to make a rail +having its top surface roughened with ridges and the wheels of the +engine and cars provided with teeth or cogs to prevent anticipated +slipping. + +In England, Blackett and George Stephenson discovered that the adhesion +of smooth wheels to smooth rails was sufficient. Without overlooking the +fact that William Hendley built and operated a locomotive called the +_Puffing Billy_ in 1803, and Hackworth one a little later, yet to the +genius of Stephenson is due chiefly the successful introduction of the +modern locomotive. His labours and inventions continued from 1812 for +twenty years, and culminated at two great trials: the first one on the +Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1829, when he competed with +Hackworth and Braithwaite and Ericsson, and with the _Rocket_ won the +race; and the second at the opening of the same road in 1830, when with +the _Northumbrian_, at the head of seven other locomotives and a long +train of twenty-eight carriages, in which were seated six hundred +passengers, he ran the train successfully between the two towns. + +On this occasion Mr. Huskisson, Home Secretary in the British Cabinet, +while the cars were stopping to water the engines, and he was out on the +track talking with the Duke of Wellington, was knocked down by one of +the engines and had one of his legs crushed. Placed on board of the +_Northumbrian_, it was driven at the rate of thirty-six miles an hour by +Stephenson to Eccles. Mr. Huskisson died there that night. This was its +first victim, and the greatest speed yet attained by a locomotive. + +The year 1829 therefore can be regarded as the commencement of the life +of the locomotive for transportation of passengers. The steam blast +thrown into the smokestack by Hackworth, the tubular boiler of Seguin +and the link motion of Stephenson were then, as they now are, the +essential features of locomotives. + +In the meantime America had not been idle. The James Watt of America, +Oliver Evans, in 1804 completed a flat-bottomed boat to be used in +dredging at the Philadelphia docks, and mounting it on wheels drove it +by its own steam engine through the streets to the river bank. Launching +the craft, he propelled it down the river by using the same engine to +drive the paddle wheels. He gave to this engine the strange name of +_Oruktor Amphibolos_. + +John C. Stevens of New Jersey was, in 1812, urging the legislature of +the State of New York to build railways, and asserting that he could see +nothing to hinder a steam carriage from moving with a velocity of one +hundred miles an hour. In 1829 George Stephenson in England had made for +American parties a locomotive called _The Stourbridge Lion_, which in +that year was brought to America and used on the Delaware and Hudson R. +R. by Horatio Allen. Peter Cooper in the same year constructed a +locomotive for short curves, for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. + +Returning now to steam navigation:--Symington again entered the field in +1801-2 and constructed for Lord Dundas a steamboat, named after his +wife, the _Charlotte Dundas_, for towing on a canal, which was +successfully operated. + +Robert Fulton, an American artist, and subsequently a civil engineer, +built a steamboat on the Seine in 1803, assisted by R. Livingston, then +American Minister to France. Then in 1806 Fulton, having returned to the +United States, commenced to build another steamboat, in which he was +again assisted by Livingston, and in which he placed machinery made by +Boulton and Watt in England. This steamboat, named the _Clermont_, was +130 ft. long, 18 ft. beam, 7 ft. depth and 160 tons burden. It made its +first trip on the Hudson, from New York to Albany and return, in August, +1807, and subsequently made regular trips. It was the first commercially +successful steamboat ever made, as George Stephenson's was the first +commercially successful locomotive. In the meantime Col. John Stevens of +New Jersey was also at work on a steamboat, and had in 1804 built such a +boat at his shops, having a screw propeller and a flue boiler. Almost +simultaneously with Fulton he brought out the _Ph[oe]nix_, a side-wheel +steamer having hollow water lines and provided with feathering paddle +wheels, and as Fulton and Livingston had a monopoly of the Hudson, +Stevens took his boat by sea from New York around to Delaware bay and up +the Delaware river. This was in 1808, and was the first sea voyage ever +made by a steam vessel. + +Transatlantic steamship navigation was started in 1819. A Mr. +Scarborough of Savannah, Ga., in 1818 purchased a ship of about three +hundred and fifty tons burden, which was named the _Savannah_. Equipped +with engine and machinery it steamed out of New York Harbour on the 27th +day of March, 1819, and successfully reached Savannah, Georgia. On the +20th of May in the same year she left Savannah for Liverpool, making the +trip in 22 days. From Liverpool she went to Copenhagen, Stockholm, St. +Petersburg, Cronstadt and Arundel, and from the latter port returned to +Savannah, making the passage in twenty-five days. + +But Scottish waters, and the waters around other coasts of the British +Islands, had been traversed by steamboats before this celebrated trip of +the _Savannah_. Bell's steamboat between Glasgow and Greenock in 1812 +was followed by five others in 1814; and seven steamboats plied on the +Thames in 1817. + +So the locomotives and the steamboats and steamships continued to +multiply, and when the first forty years of the century had been reached +the Iron Horse was fairly installed on the fields of Europe and America, +and the rivers and the oceans were ploughed by its sisters, the steam +vessels. + +It was in 1840 that the famous Cunard line of transatlantic steamers was +established, soon followed by the Collins line and others. + +A few years before, John C. Stevens in America and John Ericsson in +England had brought forward the screw propeller; and Ericsson was the +first to couple the engine to the propeller shaft. It succeeded the +successful paddle wheels of Fulton in America and Bell in England. + +The nineteenth century is the age of kinetic energy: the energy of +either solid, liquid, gaseous or electrical matter transformed into +useful work. + +It has been stated by that eminent specialist in steam engineering, +Prof. R. H. Thurston, that "the steam engine is a machine which is +especially designed to transform energy originally dormant or potential +into active and useful available kinetic energy;" and that the great +problem in this branch of science is "to construct a machine which shall +in the most perfect manner possible convert the kinetic energy of heat +into mechanical power, the heat being derived from the combustion of +fuel, and steam being the receiver and conveyor of that heat." + +Watt and his contemporaries regarded heat as a material substance called +"Phlogiston." The modern kinetic theory of heat was a subsequent +discovery, as elsewhere explained. + +The inventors of the last part of the eighteenth century and of the +nineteenth century have directed their best labours to construct an +engine as above defined by Thurston. + +First as to the boiler: Efforts were made first to get away from the +little old spherical boiler of Hero. In the 18th century Smeaton devised +the horizontal lengthened cylindrical boiler traversed by a flue. Oliver +Evans followed with two longitudinal flues. Nathan Read of Salem, +Massachusetts, in 1791, invented a tubular boiler in which the flues and +gases are conducted through tubes passing through the boiler into the +smokestack. Such boilers are adapted for portable stationary engines, +locomotives, fire and marine engines, and the fire is built within the +boiler frame. Then in the 19th century came the use of sectional +boilers--a combination of small vessels instead of a large common one, +increasing the strength while diminishing capacity--to obtain high +pressure of steam. Then came improved weighted and other safety valves +to regulate and control this pressure. The compound or double cylinder +high-pressure engine of Hornblower of England, in 1781, and the +high-pressure non-condensing steam engine devised by Evans in 1779, were +reconstructed and improved in the early part of the century. + +To give perfect motion and the slightest friction to the piston; to +regulate the supply of steam to the engine by proper valves; to +determine such supply by many varieties of governors and thus control +the speed; to devise valve gear which distributes the steam through its +cycles of motion by which to admit the steam alternately to each end of +the steam cylinder as the piston moves backward and forward, and exhaust +valves to open and close the parts through which the steam escapes; to +automatically operate such valves; to condense the escaping steam and to +remove the water of condensation; to devise powerful steam brakes--these +are some of the important details on which inventors have exercised +their keenest wits. Then again the extensive inventions of the century +have given rise to a great classification to designate their forms or +their uses: condensing and non-condensing, high-pressure or +low-pressure--the former term being applied to engines supplied with +steam of 50 lbs. pressure to the square inch and upward, and the latter +to engines working under 40 lbs. pressure--and the low pressure are +nearly always the condensing and the high pressure the non-condensing; +reciprocating and rotary--the latter having a piston attached to a shaft +and revolving within a cylinder of which the axis is parallel with the +axis of rotation of the piston. + +Direct acting, where the piston rod acts directly upon the connecting +rod and through it upon the crank, without the intervention of a beam or +lever; oscillating, in which the piston rods are attached directly to +the crank pin and as the crank revolves the cylinder oscillates upon +trunnions, one on each side of it, through which the steam enters and +leaves the steam chest. + +Then as to their use, engines are known as stationary, pumping, +portable, locomotive or marine. + +The best-known engine of the stationary kind is the Corliss, which is +very extensively used in the United States and Europe. + +Among other later improvements is the duplex pumping engine, in which +one engine controls the valve of the other; compensating devices for +steam pumping, by which power is accumulated by making the first half of +the stroke of the steam piston assist in moving the piston the other +half of the stroke during the expansion of steam; steam or air hand +hammers on which the piston is the hammer and strikes a tool projecting +through the head into the cylinder; rock drilling, in which the movement +of the valves is operated by the piston at any portion of its stroke; +shaft governors, in which the eccentric for operating the engine valves +is moved around or across the main or auxiliary shaft; multiple +cylinders, in which several cylinders, either single or double, are +arranged to co-operate with a common shaft; impact rotary, known as +steam turbines, a revival in some respects of Hero's engine. And then, +finally, the delicate and ingenious bicycle and automobile steam +engines. + +Then there are steam sanding devices for locomotives by which sand is +automatically fed to the rails at the same time the air brake is +applied. + +Starting valves used for starting compound locomotives on ascending +steep grades, in which both low and high pressure cylinders are supplied +with live steam, and when the steam, exhausted from either high or low +pressure cylinders into the receivers, has reached a predetermined +pressure, the engine works on the compound principle. Single acting +compound engines, in which two or more cylinders are arranged tandem, +the steam acting only in one direction, and the exhaust steam of one +acting upon the piston in the cylinder next of the series, are arranged +in pairs, so that while one is acting downward the other is acting +upward. + +Throttle valves automatically closed upon the bursting of a pipe, or the +breaking of machinery, are operated by electricity, automatically, or by +hand at a distance. + +Napoleon, upon his disastrous retreat from Moscow, anxious to reach +Paris as soon as possible, left his army on the way, provided himself +with a travelling and sleeping carriage, and with relays of fresh horses +at different points managed, by extraordinary strenuous efforts day and +night, to travel from Smorgoni to Paris, a distance of 1000 miles, +between the 5th and 10th of December, 1812. This was at the average rate +of about two hundred miles a day, or eight or nine miles an hour. It was +a most remarkable ride for any age by horse conveyance. + +Within the span of a man's life after that event any one could take a +trip of that distance in twenty-four hours, with great ease and comfort, +eating and sleeping on the car, and with convenient telegraph and +telephone stations along the route by which to comunicate by pen, or +word of mouth, with distant friends at either end of the journey. + +If Napoleon had deemed it best to have continued his journey across the +Atlantic to America he would have been compelled to pass several weeks +on an uncomfortable sailing vessel. Now, a floating palace would await +him which would carry him across in less than six days. + +Should mankind be seized with a sudden desire to replace all the +locomotives in the world by horse power it would be utterly impossible +to do it. It was recently estimated that there were one hundred and +fifty thousand locomotives in use on the railroads of the world; and as +a fair average would give them five hundred horse power each, it will be +seen that they are the equivalent of seventy-five million horses. + +Space and time will not admit of minute descriptions, or hardly a +mention, of the almost innumerable improvements of the century in steam. +Having seen the principles on which these inventions have been +constructed, enumerated the leading ones and glanced at the most +prominent facts in their history, we must refer the seeker for more +particulars to those publications of modern patent offices, in which +each regiment and company of this vast army is embalmed in its own +especial and ponderous volume. + +A survey of the field will call to mind, however, the eloquent words of +Daniel Webster:-- + +"And, last of all, with inimitable power, and with a 'whirlwind sound' +comes the potent agency of steam. In comparison with the past, what +centuries of improvement has this single agent compressed in the short +compass of fifty years! Everywhere practicable, everywhere efficient, it +has an arm a thousand times stronger than that of Hercules, and to which +human ingenuity is capable of fitting a thousand times as many hands as +belonged to Briareus. Steam is found triumphant in operation on the +seas; and under the influence of its strong propulsion, the gallant +ship, + + 'Against the wind, against the tide + Still steadies with an upright keel.' + +It is on the rivers, and the boatman may repose upon his oars; it is on +highways, and exerts itself along the courses of land conveyances; it is +at the bottom of mines, a thousand feet below the earth's surface; it is +in the mills and in the workshops of the trades. It rows, it pumps, it +excavates, it carries, it draws, it lifts, it hammers, it spins, it +weaves, it prints. It seems to say to men, at least to the class of +artisans: 'Leave off your manual labour, give up your bodily toil; +bestow but your skill and reason to the directing of my power and I will +bear the toil, with no muscle to grow weary, no nerve to relax, no +breast to feel faintness!' What further improvement may still be made in +the use of this astonishing power it is impossible to know, and it were +vain to conjecture. What we do know is that it has most essentially +altered the face of affairs, and that no visible limit yet appears +beyond which its progress is seen to be impossible." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENGINEERING AND TRANSPORTATION. + + +The field of service of a civil engineer has thus been eloquently stated +by a recent writer in _Chambers's Journal_: + +"His duties call upon him to devise the means for surmounting obstacles +of the most formidable kind. He has to work in the water, over the +water, and under the water; to cause streams to flow; to check them from +overflowing; to raise water to a great height; to build docks and walls +that will bear the dashing of waves; to convert dry land into harbours, +and low water shores into dry land; to construct lighthouses on lonely +rocks; to build lofty aqueducts for the conveyance of water, and +viaducts, for the conveyance of railway trains; to burrow into the +bowels of the earth with tunnels, shafts, pits and mines; to span +torrents and ravines with bridges; to construct chimneys that rival the +loftiest spires and pyramids in height; to climb mountains with roads +and railways; to sink wells to vast depths in search of water. By +untiring patience, skill, energy and invention, he produces in these +several ways works which certainly rank among the marvels of human +power." + +The pyramids of Egypt, the roads, bridges and aqueducts built by the +Chinese and by Rome; the great bridges of the Middle Ages, and +especially those built by that strange fraternal order known as the +"Brothers of the Bridge"; the ocean-defying lighthouses of a later +period--these, and more than these, attest the fact that there were +great engineers before the nineteenth century. + +But the engineering of to-day is the hand-maid of all the Sciences; and +as they each have advanced during the century beyond all that was +imagined, or dreamed of as possible in former times, so have the labours +of engineering correspondingly multiplied. No longer are such labours +classified and grouped in one field, called Civil Engineering, but they +have been necessarily divided into great additional new and independent +fields, known as Steam Engineering, Mining Engineering, Hydraulic +Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Marine Engineering. Within each +of these fields are assembled innumerable appliances which are the +offspring of the inventive genius of the century just closed. + +We have seen how one discovery, or the development of a certain art, +brings in its train and often necessitates other inventions and +discoveries. The development and dedication of the steam engine to the +transportation of goods and men called for improvements in the roads and +rails on which the engine and its load were to travel, and this demand +brought forth those modern railway bridges which are the finest examples +in the art of bridge making that the world has ever seen. + +The greatest bridges of former ages were built of stone and solid +masonry. Now iron and steel have been substituted, and these light but +substantial frameworks span wide rivers and deep ravines with almost the +same speed and gracefulness that the spider spins his silken web from +limb to limb. These, too, waited for their construction on that next +turn in the wheel of evolution, which brought better processes in the +making of iron and steel, and better tools and appliances for working +metals, and in handling vast and heavy bodies. + +The first arched iron bridge was over the Severn at Coalbrookdale, +England, erected by Abraham Darby in 1777. In 1793 one was erected by +Telford at Buildwas, and in the same year Burden completed an arch +across the weir at Sunderland. The most prominent classes of bridges in +which the highest inventive and constructive genius of the engineers of +the century are illustrated are known as the _suspension_, the _tubular_ +and the _tubular arch_, the _truss and cantilever_. + +Suspension bridges consisting of twisted vines, of iron chains, or of +bamboo, or cane, or of ropes, have been known in different parts of the +world from time immemorial, but they bear only a primitive and +suggestive resemblance to the great iron cable bridges of the nineteenth +century. The first notable structure of this kind was constructed by Sir +Samuel Brown, across the Tweed at Berwick, England, in 1819. Brown was +born in London in 1776 and died in 1852. He entered the navy at the age +of 18, was made commander in 1811, and retired as captain in 1842. We +have alluded to the spider's web, and Smiles, in his _Self Help_, +relates as an example of intelligent observation that while Capt Brown +was occupied in studying the character of bridges with the view of +constructing one of a cheap description to be thrown across the Tweed, +near which he lived, he was walking in his garden one dewy autumn +morning when he saw a tiny spider's web suspended across his path. The +idea immediately occurred to him of a bridge of iron wires. In 1829 +Brown also was the engineer for suspension bridges built over the Esk at +Montrose and over the Thames at Hammersmith. Before that time, a span in +a bridge of 100 feet was considered remarkably long. Suspension bridges +are best adapted for long spans, and have been constructed with spans +more than twice as long as any other form. Sir Samuel Brown's bridge had +a span of 449 feet. This class of bridges is usually constructed with +chains or cables passing over towers, with the roadway suspended +beneath. The ends of the chains or cables are securely anchored. The +cables are then passed over towers, on which they are supported in +movable saddles, so that the towers are not overthrown by the strain on +the cables. Nice calculations have to be made as to the tension to be +placed on the cables, the allowance for deflection, and the equal +distribution of weight. The floor-way in the earlier bridges of this +type was supported by means of a series of equidistant vertical rods, +and was lacking stiffness, but this was remedied by trussing the road +bed, using inclined stays extending from the towers and partially +supporting the roadway for some distance out from the tower. + +The next finest suspension bridge was constructed by Thomas Telford and +finished in 1826, across the Menai Strait to connect the island of +Anglesea with the mainland of Wales. Telford was born in Dumfriesshire, +Scotland, in 1757, and died in Westminster in 1834. Beginning life as a +stone mason, he rose by his own industry to be a master among architects +and a prince among builders of iron bridges, aqueducts, canals, tunnels, +harbours and docks. + +The Menai bridge was composed of chains or wire ropes, each nearly a +third of a mile in length, and which descended 60 feet into sloping pits +or drifts, where they were screwed to cast-iron frames embedded in the +rocks. The span of the suspended central arch was 560 feet, and the +platform was 100 feet above high water. Seven stone arches of 521/2 +feet span make up the rest of the bridge. + +But a suspension bridge was completed in 1834 by M. Challey of Lyon over +the Saane at Fribourg, Switzerland, which greatly surpassed the Menai +bridge. The span is 880 feet from pier to pier, and the roadway is 167 +feet above the river. It is supported by four iron wire cables, each +consisting of 1056 wires. It was tested by placing 15 pieces of +artillery, drawn by 50 horses and accompanied by 300 men crowded +together as closely as possible, first at the centre, and then at each +extreme, causing a depression of 391/2 inches, but no sensible +oscillation was experienced. + +Isambard K. Brunel was another great engineer, who constructed a +suspension bridge at the Isle of Bourbon in 1823, and the Charing Cross +over the Thames at Hungerford in 1845, which was a footbridge, having a +span of 675 feet, the longest span of any bridge in England. Then +followed finer and larger suspension bridges in other parts of the +world. It was across the Niagara in front of the great falls that in +1855 British America and the United States were joined by a magnificent +suspension bridge, one of the finest in the world, and the two English +speaking countries were then physically and commercially united. At the +opening of the bridge, one portion of which was for a railway, the +shriek of the locomotive and the roar of the train mingled with the roar +of the wild torrent 250 feet below. The bridge, 800 feet long, is a +single span, supported by four enormous cables of wire stretching from +the Canadian cliff to the opposite United States cliff. The cables pass +over the tops of lofty stone towers arising from these cliffs, and each +cable consists of no less than 4,000 distinct wires. The roadway hangs +from these cables, suspended by 624 vertical rods. + +The engineer of this bridge was John A. Roebling, a native of Prussia, +born there in 1806, and who died in New York in 1869. He was educated at +the Polytechnic School in Berlin, and emigrated to America at the age of +25. His labors were first as a canal and railway engineer, then he +became the inventor and manufacturer of a new form of wire rope, and +then turned his attention to the construction of aqueducts and +suspension bridges. After the Niagara bridge, above described, he +commenced another bridge of greater dimensions over the same river, +which was finished within two or three years. His next work was the +splendid suspension bridge at Cincinnati, Ohio, which has a clear span +of 1057 feet. In 1869, in connection with his son, Washington A. +Roebling, he commenced that magnificent suspension bridge to unite the +great cities of New York and Brooklyn, and which, by its completion, +resulted in the consolidation of those cities as Greater New York. The +Roeblings, father and son, were to the engineering of America what +George Stephenson and his son Robert were to the locomotive and railway +and bridge engineering of Great Britain. + +The Brooklyn bridge, known also as the East River bridge, was formally +opened to the public on the 24th of May 1883. Most enormous and +unexpected technical difficulties were met and overcome in its +construction. Its total length is nearly 6,000 feet. The length of the +suspended structure from anchorage to anchorage is 3,454 feet. A +statement of the general features of this bridge indicates the nature of +the construction of such bridges as a class, and distinguishes them from +the comparatively simple forms of past ages. This structure is supported +by two enormous towers, having a height of 276 feet above the surface of +the water, carrying at their tops the saddles which support the cables, +and having a span between them of 1,595 feet. The towers are each +pierced by two archways, 311/2 feet wide, and 1201/2 feet high, +through which openings passes the floor of the bridge at the height of +118 feet above high water mark. There are four supporting cables, each +16 inches in diameter, and each composed of about 5,000 single wires. +The wire is one-eighth size; 278 single wires are grouped into a rope, +and 19 ropes bunched to form a cable. The iron saddles at the top of the +lofty towers, and on which the cables rest, are made movable to permit +its expansion and compression--and they glide through minute distances +on iron rollers in saddle plates embedded and anchored in the towers, in +response to strains and changes of temperature. The enormous cables pass +from the towers shoreward to their anchorages 930 feet away, and which +are solid masses of masonry, each 132 x 119 feet at base and top, 89 +feet high, and weighing 60,000 tons. The bridge is divided into five +avenues: one central one for foot passengers, two outer ones for +vehicles, and the others for the street cars. The cost of the bridge was +nearly $15,000,000. + +Twenty fatal and many disabling accidents occurred during the +construction of the bridge. The great engineer Roebling was the first +victim to an accident. He had his foot crushed while laying the +foundation of one of the stone piers, and died of lockjaw. + +It was necessary to build up the great piers by the aid of caissons, +which are water-tight casings built of timber and metal and sunk to the +river bed and sometimes far below it, within which are built the +foundations of piers or towers, and into which air is pumped for the +workmen. A fire in one of the caissons, which necessitated its flooding +by water, and to which the son, Washington Roebling, was exposed, +resulted in prostrating him with a peculiar form of caisson disease, +which destroyed the nerves of motion without impairing his intellectual +faculties. But, although disabled from active work, Mr. Roebling +continued to superintend the vast project through the constant mediation +of his wife. + +_Tubular Bridges._--These are bridges formed by a great tube or hollow +beam through the center of which a roadway or railway passes. The name +would indicate that the bridge was cylindrical in form, and this was the +first idea. But it was concluded after experiment that a rectangular +form was the best, as it is more rigid than either a cylindrical or +elliptical tube. The adoption of this form was due to Fairbairn, the +celebrated English inventor and engineer of iron structures. The Menai +tubular railway bridge, adjacent to the suspension bridge of Telford +across the same strait, and already described, was the first example of +this type of bridge. Robert Stephenson was the engineer of this great +structure, aided by the suggestions of Fairbairn and other eminent +engineers. This bridge was opened for railway traffic in March, 1850. It +was built on three towers and shore abutments. The width of the strait +is divided by these towers into four spans--two of 460 feet each, and +two of 230 feet. In appearance, the bridge looked like one huge, long, +narrow iron box, but it consisted really of four bridges, each made of a +pair of rectangular tubes, and through one set of tubes the trains +passed in going in one direction, and through the other set in going the +opposite direction. These ponderous tubes were composed of wrought-iron +plates, from three-eighths to three-fourths of an inch thick, the +largest 12 feet in length, riveted together and stiffened by angle +irons. They varied in height--the central ones being the highest and +those nearest the shore the lowest. The central ones are 30 feet high, +and the inner ones about 22 feet. Their width was about 14 feet. They +were built upon platforms on the Caernarvon shore, and the great problem +was how to lift them and put them in place, especially the central ones, +which were 460 feet in length. Each tube weighed 1,800 pounds, and they +were to be raised 192 feet. This operation has been described as "the +grandest lift ever effected in engineering." It was accomplished by +means of powerful hydraulic presses. Another and still grander example +of this style of bridge is the Victoria at Montreal, Canada. This also +was designed by Robert Stephenson and built under his direction by James +Hodges of Montreal. Work was commenced in 1854 and it was completed in +December, 1859, and opened for travel in 1860. It consists of 24 piers, +242 feet apart, except the centre one, from which the span is 330 feet. +The tube is in sections and quadrangular in form. Every plate and piece +of iron was made and punched in England and brought across the Atlantic. +In Canada little remained to be done but to put the parts together and +in position. This, however, was in itself a Herculean task. The enormous +structure was to be placed sixty feet above the swift current of the +broad St. Lawrence, and wherein huge masses of ice, each block from +three to five feet in thickness, accumulated every winter. The work was +accomplished by the erection of a vast rigid stage of timber, on which +the tubes were built up plate by plate. When all was completed the great +staging was removed, and the mighty tube rested alone and secure upon +its massive wedge-faced piers rising from the bedrock of the flood +below. + +_The Tubular Arch Bridge._--This differs from the tubular bridge proper, +in that the former consists of a bridge the body of which is supported +by a tubular archway of iron and steel, whereas in the latter the body +of the bridge itself is a tube. The tubular arch is also properly +classed as a girder bridge because the great tube which covers the span +is simply an immense beam or girder, which supports the superstructure +on which the floor of the bridge is laid. A fine illustration of this +style of bridge is seen in what is known as the aqueduct bridge over +Rock Creek at Washington, D. C., in which the arch consists of two +cast-iron jointed pipes, supporting a double carriage and a double +street car way, and through which pipes all the water for the supply of +the City of Washington passes. General M. C. Meigs was the engineer. + +Another far grander illustration of such a structure, in combination +with the truss system, is that of the Illinois and St. Louis bridge, +across the Mississippi, of which Captain James B. Eads was the engineer. +There are three great spans, the central one of which has a length of +about 520 feet, and the others a few feet less. Four arches form each +span, each arch consisting of an upper and lower curved member or rib, +extending from pier to pier, and each member composed of two parallel +steel tubes. + +_Truss and truss arched bridges._--These, for the most part, are those +quite modern forms of iron or wooden bridges in which a supplementary +frame work, consisting of iron rods placed obliquely, vertically or +diagonally, and cemented together, and with the main horizontal beams +either above or below the same, to produce a stiff and rigid structure, +calculated to resist strain from all directions. + +Previous to the 19th century, the greatest bridges being constructed +mostly of solid masonry piers and arches, no demand for a bridge of this +kind existed; but after the use of wrought iron and steel became +extensive in bridge making, and as these apparently light and airy +frames may be extended, piece by piece across the widest rivers, +straits, and arms of the sea, a substitute for the great, expensive, and +frequent supporting piers became a want, and was supplied by the system +of trusses and truss arches. The truss system has also been applied to +the construction of vast modern bridges in places where timber is +accessible and cheap. Each different system invented bears the name of +its inventor. Thus, we have the Rider, the Fink, the Bollman, the +Whipple, the Howe, the Jones, the Linville, the McCallum, Towne's +lattice and other systems. + +What is called the cantilever system has of late years to a great extent +superseded the suspension construction. This consists of beams or +girders extending out from the opposite piers at an upward diagonal +angle, and meeting at the centre over the span, and there solidly +connected together, or to horizontal girders, in such manner that the +compression load is thrown on to the supporting piers, upward strains +received at the centre, and side deflections provided against. It is +supposed that greater rigidity is obtained by this means than by the +suspension, and, like the suspension, great widths may be spanned +without an under supporting frame work. Two fine examples of this type +are found, one in a bridge across the Niagara adjacent to the suspension +bridge above described and one across the river Forth at Queens Ferry in +Scotland. The Niagara Bridge is a combination of cast steel and iron. It +was designed by C. C. Schneider and Edmund Hayes. It was built for a +double-track railroad. The total length of the bridge is 910 feet +between the centres of the anchorage piers. The cantilevers rest on two +gigantic steel towers, standing on massive stone piers 39 feet high. The +clear span between the towers is 470 feet, and the height of the bridge, +from the mad rush of waters to the car track is 239 feet. + +Messrs Fowler and Baker were the engineers of the Forth railway bridge. +It was begun in 1883 and finished in 1890. It is built nearly all of +steel, and is one of the most stupendous works of the kind. It crosses +two channels formed by the island of Inchgarvie, and each of the channel +spans is 1710 feet in the clear and a clear headway of 150 feet under +the bridge. Three balanced cantilevers are employed, poised on four +gigantic steel tube legs supported on four huge masonry piers. The +height of the bridge above the piers is 330 feet. The cantilever portion +has the appearance of a vast elongated diamond. Steel lattice work of +girders, forms the upper side of the cantilever, while the under side +consists of a hollow curve approaching in form a quadrant of a circle +drawn from the base of the legs or struts to the ends of the cantilever. + +Such is the growth of these great bridges with their tremendous spans +across which man is spinning his iron webs, that when seen at night with +a fiery engine pulling its thundering train across in the darkness, one +is reminded of Milton's description, "over the dark abyss whose boiling +gulf tamely endured a bridge of wondrous length, from Hell continued, +reaching the utmost orb of this frail world." + +The _lighthouses_ of the century, in masonry, do not greatly excel in +general principles those of preceding ones, as at Eddystone, designed by +Smeaton. Nicholas Douglass, however, invented a new system of +dovetailing, and great improvements have been made in the system of +illuminating. + +Lighthouses are also distinguished from those of preceding centuries by +the substitution of iron and cast steel for masonry. The first cast-iron +lighthouse was put up at Point Morant, Jamaica, in 1842. Since then they +have taken the form of iron skeleton towers. + +One of the latest and most picturesque of lighthouses is that of +Bartholdi's statue of Liberty enlightening the world, the gift of the +French government to the United States, framed by M. Eiffel, the great +French engineer, and set up by the United States at Bedloe's Island in +New York harbor. It consists of copper plates on a network of iron. +Although the statue is larger than any in the world of such composite +construction, its success as a lighthouse is not as notable as many +farther seaward. + +In _excavating_, _dredging_ and _draining_, the inventions of the +century have been very numerous, but, like numerous advances in the +arts, such inventions, so far as great works are concerned, have +developed from and are closely related to steam engineering. + +The making of roads, railroads, canals and tunnels has called forth +thousands of ingenious mechanisms for their accomplishment. A half dozen +men with a steam-power excavator or dredger can in one day perform a +greater extent of work than could a thousand men and a thousand horses +in a single day a few generations ago. + +An excavating machine consisting of steel knives to cut the earth, iron +scoops, buckets and dippers to scoop it up, endless chains or cranes to +lift them, actuated by steam, and operated by a single engineer, will +excavate cubic yards of earth by the minute and at a cost of but a few +dollars a day. + +Dredging machines of a great variety have been constructed. Drags and +scoops for elevating, and buckets, scrapers and shovels, and rotating +knives to first loosen the earth, suction pumps and pipes, which will +suck great quantities of the loosened earth through pipes to places to +be filled--these and kindred devices are now constantly employed to dig +and excavate, to deepen and widen rivers, to drain lands, to dig canals, +to make harbours, to fill up the waste places and to make courses for +water in desert lands. + +Inventions for the excavating of clay, piling and burning it in a crude +state for ballast for railways, are important, especially for those +railways which traverse areas where clay is plentiful, and stones and +gravel are lacking. + +Sinking shafts through quicksands by artificially freezing the sand, so +as to form a firm frozen wall immediately around the area where the +shaft is to be sunk, is a recent new idea. + +Modern countries especially are waking up to the necessity of good +roads, not only as a necessary means of transportation, but as a +pre-requisite to decent civilisation in all respects. And, therefore, +great activity has been had in the last third of a century in invention +of machines for finishing and repairing roads. + +In the matter of sewer construction, regarded now so necessary in all +civilised cities and thickly-settled communities as one of the means of +proper sanitation, great improvements have been made in deep sewerage, +in which the work is largely performed below the surface and with little +obstruction to street traffic. + +In connection with excavating and dredging machines, mention should be +made of those great works in the construction of which they bore such +important parts, as drainage and land reclamation, such as is seen in +the modern extensions of land reclamation in Holland, in the Haarlem +lake district in the North part of England, the swamps of Florida and +the drainage of the London district; in modern tunnels such as the +Hoosac in America and the three great ones through the Alps: the Mont +Cenis, St. Gothard, and Arlberg, the work in which developed an entirely +new system of engineering, by the application of newly-discovered +explosives for blasting, new rock-drilling machinery, new +air-compressing machines for driving the drill machines and ventilating +the works, and new hydraulic and pumping machinery for sinking shafts +and pumping out the water. + +The great canals, especially the Suez, developed a new system of canal +engineering. Thus by modern inventions of devices for digging and +blasting, dredging and draining and attendant operations, some of the +greatest works of man on earth have been produced, and evinced the +exercise of his highest inventive genius. + +If one wishes an ocular demonstration of the wonders wrought in the 19th +century in the several domains of engineering, let him take a Pullman +train across the continent from New York to San Francisco. The distance +is 3,000 miles and the time is four days and four nights. The car in +which the passenger finds himself is a marvel of woodwork and +upholstery--a description of the machinery and processes for producing +which belongs to other arts. The railroad tracks upon which the vehicle +moves are in themselves the results of many inventions. There is the +width of the track, and it was only after a long and expensive contest +that countries and corporations settled upon a uniform gauge. The common +gauge of the leading countries and roads is now 4 feet 81/2 inches. A +greater width is known as a broad gauge, a less width as a narrow gauge. +Then as to the rail: first the wooden, then the iron and now the steel, +and all of many shapes and weights. The T-rail invented by Birkensaw in +1820, having two flanges at the top to form a wide berth for the wheels +of the rolling stock, the vertical portion gripped by chairs which are +spiked to the ties, is the best known. Then the frogs, a V-shaped device +by which the wheels are guided from one line of rails to another, when +they form angles with each other; the car wheel made with a flange or +flanges to fit the rail, and the railway gates, ingenious contrivances +that guard railway crossings and are operated automatically by the +passing trains, but more commonly by watchmen. The car may be lighted +with electricity, and as the train dashes along at the rate of 30 to 80 +miles an hour, it may be stopped in less than a minute by the touch of +the engineer on an air brake. Is it midwinter and are mountains of snow +encountered? They disappear before the railway snow-plough more quickly +than they came. It passes over bridges, through tunnels, across +viaducts, around the edges of mountain peaks, every mile revealing the +wondrous work of man's inventive genius for encompassing the earth with +speed, safety and comfort. Over one-half million miles of these railway +tracks are on the earth's surface to-day! + +Not only has the railway superseded horse power in the matter of +transportation to a vast extent, but other modes of transportation are +taking the place of that useful animal. The old-fashioned stage coach, +and then the omnibus, were successively succeeded by the street car +drawn by horses, and then about twenty years ago the horse began to be +withdrawn from that work and the cable substituted. + +_Cable transportation_ developed from the art of making iron wire and +steel wire ropes or cables. And endless cables placed underground, +conveyed over rollers and supported on suitable yokes, and driven from a +great central power house, came into use, and to which the cars were +connected by ingeniously contrived lever grips--operated by the driver +on the car. These great cable constructions, expensive as they were, +were found more economical than horse power. In fact, there is no +modernly discovered practical motive power but what has been found less +expensive both as to time and money than horse power. But the cable for +this purpose is now in turn everywhere yielding to electricity, the +great motor next to steam. The overhead cable system for the +transportation of materials of various descriptions in carriers, also +run by a central motor, is still very extensively used. The cable plan +has also been tried with some success in the propelling of canal boats. + +_Canals_, themselves, although finding a most serious and in some +localities an entirely destructive rival in the railroad, have grown in +size and importance, and in appliances that have been substituted for +the old-style locks. The latest form of this device is what is known as +the pneumatic balance lock system. + +It has been said by Octave Chanute that "Progress in civilisation may +fairly be said to be dependent upon the facilities for men to get about, +upon their intercourse with other men and nations, not only in order to +supply their mutual needs cheaply, but to learn from each other their +wants, their discoveries and their inventions." Next to the power and +means for moving people, come the immense and wonderful inventions for +lifting and loading, such as cranes and derricks, means for coaling +ships and steamers, for handling and storing the great agricultural +products, grain and hay, and that modern wonder, the _grain elevator_, +that dots the coasts of rivers, lakes and seas, receives the vast stores +of golden grain from thousands of steam cars that come to it laden from +distant plains and discharges it swiftly in mountain loads into vessels +and steamers to be carried to the multitudes across the seas, and to +satisfy that ever-continuing cry, "Give us this day our daily bread." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ELECTRICITY. + + +In 1900 the real nature of electricity appears to be as unknown as it +was in 1800. + +Franklin in the eighteenth century defined electricity as consisting of +particles of matter incomparably more subtle than air, and which +pervaded all bodies. At the close of the nineteenth century electricity +defined as "simply a form of energy which imparts to material substances +a peculiar state or condition, and that all such substances partake more +or less of this condition." + +These theories and the late discovery of Hertz that electrical energy +manifests itself in the form of waves, oscillations or vibrations, +similar to light, but not so rapid as the vibrations of light, +constitute about all that is known about the nature of this force. + +Franklin believed it was a single fluid, but others taught that there +were two kinds of electricity, positive and negative, that the like +kinds were repulsive and the unlike kinds attractive, and that when +generated it flowed in currents. + +Such terms are not now regarded as representing actual varieties of this +force, but are retained as convenient modes of expression, for want of +better ones, as expressing the conditions or states of electricity when +produced. + +Electricity produced by friction, that is, developed upon the surface of +a body by rubbing it with a dissimilar body, and called frictional or +static electricity, was the only kind produced artificially in the days +of Franklin. What is known as galvanism, or animal electricity, also +takes its date in the 18th century, to which further reference will be +made. Since 1799 there have been discovered additional sources, among +which are voltaic electricity, or electricity produced by chemical +action, such as is manifested when two dissimilar metals are brought +near each other or together, and electrical manifestations produced by a +decomposing action, one upon the other through a suitable medium; +inductive electricity, or electricity developed or induced in one body +by its proximity to another body through which a current is flowing; +magnetic electricity, the conversion of the power of a magnet into +electric force, and the reverse of this, the production of magnetic +force by a current of electricity; and thermal electricity, or that +generated by heat. Electricity developed by these, or other means in +contra-distinction to that produced by friction, has been called +dynamic; but all electric force is now regarded as dynamic, in the sense +that forces are always in motion and never at rest. + +Many of the manifestations and experiments in later day fields which, by +reason of their production by different means, have been given the names +of discovery and invention, had become known to Franklin and others, by +means of the old methods in frictional electricity. They are all, +however, but different routes leading to the same goal. In the midst of +the brilliant discoveries of modern times confronting us on every side +we should not forget the honourable efforts of the fathers of the +science. + +We need not dwell on what the ancients produced in this line. It was a +single fact only:--The Greeks discovered that amber, a resinous +substance, when rubbed would attract lighter bodies to it. + +In 1600 appeared the father of modern electricity--Dr. Gilbert of +Colchester, physician to Queen Elizabeth. He revived the one experiment +of antiquity, and added to it the further fact that many substances +besides amber, when rubbed, would manifest the same electric condition, +such as sulphur, sapphire, wax, glass and other bodies. And thus he +opened the field of electrodes. He was the first to use the terms, +electricity, electric and electrode, which he derived from the word +_elektron_, the Greek name for amber. He observed the actions of +magnets, and conjectured the fundamental identity of magnetism and +electricity. He arranged an electrometer, consisting of an iron needle +poised on a pivot, by which to note the action of the magnet. This was +about the time that Otto von Guericke of Magdeburg, Germany, was born. +He became a "natural" philosopher, and for thirty-five years was +burgomaster of his native town. He invented the air-pump, and he it was +who illustrated the force of atmospheric pressure by fitting together +two hollow brass hemispheres which, after the air within them had been +exhausted, could not be pulled apart. He also invented a barometer, and +as an astronomer suggested that the return of comets might be +calculated. He invented and constructed the first machine for generating +electricity. It consisted of a ball of sulphur rotated on an axis, and +which was electrified by friction of the hand, the ball receiving +negative electricity while the positive flowed through the person to the +earth. With this machine "he heard the first sound and saw the first +light in artificially excited electricity." The machine was improved by +Sir Isaac Newton and others, and before the close of that century was +put into substantially its present form of a round glass plate rotated +between insulated leather cushions coated with an amalgam of tin and +zinc, the positive or vitreous electricity thus developed being +accumulated on two large hollow brass cylinders with globular ends, +supported on glass pillars. Gray in 1729 discovered the conductive power +of certain substances, and that the electrical influence could be +conveyed to a distance by means of an insulated wire. This was the first +step towards the electric telegraph. + +Dufay, the French philosopher and author, who in 1733-1737 wrote the +_Memoirs of the French Academy_, was, it seems, the first to observe +electrical attractions and repulsions; that electrified resinous +substances repelled like substances while they attracted bodies +electrified by contact with glass; and he, therefore, to the latter +applied the term _vitreous_ electricity and to the former the term +_resinous_ electricity. In 1745 Prof. Muschenbroeck of Leyden University +developed the celebrated Leyden jar. This is a glass jar coated both +inside and outside with tinfoil for about four-fifths of its height. Its +mouth is closed with a cork through which is passed a metallic rod, +terminating above in a knob and connected below with the inner coating +by a chain or a piece of tinfoil. If the inner coating be connected with +an electrical machine and the outer coating with the earth, a current of +electricity is established, and the inner coating receives what is +called a positive and the outer coating a negative charge. On connecting +the two surfaces by means of a metallic discharger having a +non-conducting handle a spark is obtained. Thus the Leyden jar is both a +collector and a condenser of electricity. On arranging a series of such +jars and joining their outer and inner surfaces, and connecting the +series with an electrical machine, a battery is obtained of greater or +less power according to the number of jars employed and the extent of +supply from the machine. + +The principle of the Leyden jar was discovered by accident. Cuneus, a +pupil of Muschenbroeck, was one day trying to charge some water in a +glass bottle with electricity by connecting it with a chain to the +sparking knob of an electrical machine. Holding the bottle in one hand +he arranged the chain with the other, and received a violent shock. His +teacher then tried the experiment himself, with a still livelier and +more convincing result, whereupon he declared that he would not repeat +the trial for the whole Kingdom of France. + +When the science of static electricity was thus far developed, with a +machine for generating it and a collector to receive it, many +experiments followed. Charles Morrison in 1753, in the _Scots Magazine_, +proposed a telegraph system of insulated wires with a corresponding +number of characters to be signalled between two stations. Other schemes +were proposed at different times down to the close of the century. + +Franklin records among several other experiments with frictional +electricity accumulated by the Leyden jar battery the following results, +produced chiefly by himself: The existence of an attractive and a +repulsive action of electricity; the restoration of the equilibrium of +electrical force between electrified and non-electrified bodies, or +between bodies differently supplied with the force; the electroscope, a +body charged with electricity and used to indicate the presence and +condition of electricity in another body; the production of work, as the +turning of wheels, by which it was proposed a spit for roasting meat +might be formed, and the ringing of chimes by a wheel, which was done; +the firing of gunpowder, the firing of wood, resin and spirits; the +drawing off a charge from electrified bodies at a near distance by +pointed rods; the heating and melting of metals; the production of +light; the magnetising of needles and of bars of iron, giving rise to +the analogy of magnetism and electricity. + +Franklin, who had gone thus far, and who also had drawn the lightning +from the clouds, identified it as electricity, and taught the mode of +its subjection, felt chagrined that more had not been done with this +subtle agent in the service of man. He believed, however, that the +day-spring of science was opening, and he seemed to have caught some +reflection of its coming light. Observing the return to life and +activity of some flies long imprisoned in a bottle of Madeira wine and +which he restored by exposure to the sun and air, he wrote that he +should like to be immersed at death with a few friends in a cask of +Madeira, to be recalled to life a hundred years thence to observe the +state of his country. It would not have been necessary for him to have +been embalmed that length of time to have witnessed some great +developments of his favorite science. He died in 1790, and it has been +said that there was more real progress in this science in the first +decade of the nineteenth century than in all previous centuries put +together. + +Before opening the door of the 19th century, let us glance at one more +experiment in the 18th: + +While the aged Franklin was dying, Dr Luigi Galvani of Bologna, an +Italian physician, medical lecturer, and learned author, was preparing +for publication his celebrated work, _De viribus Electricitatis in Motu +Musculari Commentarius_, in which he described his discovery made a few +years before of the action of the electric current on the legs and +spinal column of a frog hung on a copper nail. This discovery at once +excited the attention of scientists, but in the absence of any immediate +practical results the multitude dubbed him the "frog philosopher." He +proceeded with his experiments on animals and animal matter, and +developed the doctrine and theories of what is known as animal or +galvanic electricity. His fellow countryman and contemporary, Prof. +Volta of Pavia, took decided issue with Galvani and maintained that the +pretended animal electricity was nothing but electricity developed by +the contact of two different metals. Subsequent investigations and +discoveries have established the fact that both theories have truth for +their basis, and that electricity is developed both by muscular and +nervous energy as well as by chemical action. In 1799 Volta invented his +celebrated pile, consisting of alternate disks of copper and zinc +separated by a cloth moistened with a dilute acid; and soon after an +arrangement of cups--each containing a dilute acid and a copper and a +zinc plate placed a little distance apart, and thus dispensing with the +cloth. In both instances he connected the end plate of one kind with the +opposite end plate of the other kind by a wire, and in both arrangements +produced a current of electricity. To the discoveries, experiments, and +disputes of Galvani and Volta and to those of their respective +adherents, the way was opened to the splendid electrical inventions of +the century, and the discovery of a new world of light, heat, speech and +power. The discoveries of Galvani and Volta at once set leading +scientists at work. Fabroni of Florence, and Sir Humphry Davy and +Wollaston of England, commenced interesting experiments, showing that +rapid oxidation and chemical decomposition of the metals took place in +the voltaic pile. + +By the discoveries of Galvani the physicians and physiologists were +greatly excited, and believed that by this new vital power the nature of +all kinds of nervous diseases could be explored and the remedy applied. +Volta's discovery excited the chemists. If two dissimilar metals could +be decomposed and power at the same time produced they contended that +practical work might be done with the force. In 1800 Nicholson and +Carlisle decomposed water by passing the electric current through the +same; Ritter decomposed copper sulphate, and Davy decomposed the +alkalies, potash and soda. Thus the art of electrolysis--the +decomposition of substances by the galvanic current, was established. +Later Faraday laid down its laws. Naturally inventions sprung up in new +forms of batteries. The pile and cup battery of Volta had been succeeded +by the trough battery--a long box filled with separated plates set in +dilute acid. The trough battery was used by Sir Humphry Davy in his +series of great experiments--1806-1808--in which he isolated the +metallic bases, calcium, sodium, potassium, etc. It consisted of 2000 +double plates of copper and zinc, each having a surface of 32 square +inches. With this same trough battery Davy in 1812 produced the first +electric carbon light, the bright herald of later glories. + +Among the most noted new batteries were Daniell's, Grove's and Bunsen's. +They are called the "two fluid batteries," because in place of a single +acidulated bath in which the dissimilar metals were before placed, two +different liquid solutions were employed. + +John Frederick Daniell of London, noted for his great work, +_Meteorological Essays_, and other scientific publications, and as +Professor of Chemistry in King's College, in 1836, described how a +powerful and constant current of electricity may be continued for an +unlimited period by a battery composed of zinc standing in an acid +solution and a sheet of copper in a solution of sulphate of copper. + +Sir William Robert Grove, first an English physician, then an eminent +lawyer, and then a professor of natural philosophy, and the first to +announce the great theory of the Correlation of Physical Forces, in 1839 +produced his battery, much more powerful than any previous one, and +still in general use. In it zinc and platinum are the metals used--the +zinc bent into cylindrical form and placed in a glass jar containing a +weak solution of sulphuric acid, while the platinum stands in a porous +jar holding strong nitric acid and surrounded by the zinc. Among the +electrical discoveries of Grove were the decomposition by electricity of +water into free oxygen and hydrogen, the electricity of the flame of the +blow-pipe, electrical action produced by proximity, without contact, of +dissimilar metals, molecular movements induced in metals by the electric +current, and the conversion of electricity into mechanical force. + +Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, a German chemist and philosopher and scientific +writer, who invented some of the most important aids to scientific +research of the century, who constructed the best working chemical +laboratory on the continent and founded the most celebrated schools of +chemistry in Europe, invented a battery, sometimes called the carbon +battery, in which the expensive pole of platinum in the Grove battery is +replaced by one of carbon. It was found that this combination gave a +greater current than that of zinc and platinum. + +A great variety of useful voltaic batteries have since been devised by +others, too numerous to be mentioned here. There is another form of +battery having for its object the storing of energy by electrolysis, and +liberating it when desired, in the form of an electric current, and +known as an accumulator, or secondary, polarization, or storage battery. +Prof. Ritter had noticed that the two plates of metal which furnished +the electric current, when placed in the acid liquid and united, could +in themselves furnish a current, and the inventing of _storage_ +batteries was thus produced. The principal ones of this class are +Gustave Plante's of 1860 and M. Camille Faure's of 1880. These have +still further been improved. Still another form are the _thermo-electric +batteries_, in which the electro-motive force is produced by the joining +of two different metals, connecting them by a wire and heating their +junctions. Thus, an electric current is obtained directly from heat, +without going through the intermediate processes of boiling water to +produce steam, using this steam to drive an engine, and using this +engine to turn a dynamo machine to produce power. + +But let us retrace our steps:--As previously stated, Franklin had +experimented with frictional electricity on needles, and had magnetised +and polarised them and noticed their deflection; and Lesage had +established an experimental telegraph at Geneva by the same kind of +electricity more than a hundred years ago. But frictional electricity +could not be transmitted with power over long distances, and was for +practical purposes uncontrollable by reason of its great diffusion over +surfaces, while voltaic electricity was found to be more intense and +could be developed with great power along a wire for any distance. Fine +wires had been heated and even melted by Franklin by frictional +electricity, and now Ritter, Pfaff and others observed the same effect +produced on the conducting wires by a voltaic current; and Curtet, on +closing the passage with a piece of charcoal, produced a brilliant +light, which was followed by Davy's light already mentioned. + +As early as 1802 an Italian savant, Gian D. Romagnosi of Trent, learning +of Volta's discovery, observed and announced in a public print the +deflection of the magnetic needle when placed near a parallel conductor +of the galvanic current. In the years 1819 and 1820 so many brilliant +discoveries and inventions were made by eminent men, independently and +together, and at such near and distant places, that it is hard telling +who and which was first. It was in 1819 that the celebrated Danish +physicist, Oersted of Copenhagen, rediscovered the phenomena that the +voltaic current would deflect a magnetic needle, and that the needle +would turn at right angles to the wire. In 1820 Prof. S. C. Schweigger +of Halle discovered that this deflecting force was increased when the +wire was wound several times round the needle, and thus he invented the +magnetising helix. He also then invented a galvano-magnetic indicator (a +single-wire circuit) by giving the insulated wire a number of turns +around an elongated frame longitudinally enclosing the compass needle, +thus multiplying the effect of the current upon the sensitive needle, +and converting it into a practical _measuring_ instrument--known as the +galvanometer, and used to observe the strength of currents. In the same +year Arago found that iron filings were attracted by a voltaic charged +wire; and Arago and Davy that a piece of soft iron surrounded spirally +by a wire through which such a current was passed would become magnetic, +attract to it other metals while in that condition, immediately drop +them the instant the current ceased, and that such current would +permanently magnetise a steel bar. The elements of the _electro-magnet_ +had thus been produced. It was in that year that Ampere discovered that +magnetism is the circulation of currents of electricity at right angles +to the axis of the needle or bar joining the two poles of the magnet. He +then laid down the laws of interaction between magnets and electrical +currents, and in this same year he proposed an electric-magneto +telegraph consisting of the combination of a voltaic battery, conducting +wires, and magnetic needles, one needle for each letter of the alphabet. + +The discoveries of Ampere as to the laws of electricity have been +likened to the discovery of Newton of the law of gravitation. + +Still no practical result, that is, no useful machine, had been produced +by the electro-magnet. + +In 1825 Sturgeon of England bent a piece of wire into the shape of a +horse-shoe, insulated it with a coating of sealing wax, wound a fine +copper wire around it, thus making a helix, passed a galvanic current +through the helix, and thus invented the first practical electro-magnet. +But Sturgeon's magnet was weak, and could not transmit power for more +than fifty feet. Already, however, it had been urged that Sturgeon's +magnet could be used for telegraphic purposes, and a futile trial was +made. In the field during this decade also labored the German professors +Gauss and Weber, and Baron Schilling of Russia. In 1829 Prof. Barlow of +England published an article in which he summarised what had been done, +and scientifically demonstrated to his own satisfaction that an +electro-magnetic telegraph was impracticable, and his conclusion was +accepted by the scientific world as a fact. This was, however, not the +first nor the last time that scientific men had predicted +impracticabilities with electricity which afterwards blossomed into full +success. But even before Prof. Barlow was thus arriving at his +discouraging conclusion, Prof. Joseph Henry at the Albany Institute in +the State of New York had commenced experiments which resulted in the +complete and successful demonstration of the power of electro-magnetism +for not only telegraph purposes but for almost every advancement that +has since been had in this branch of physics. In March 1829 he exhibited +at his Institute the magnetic "spool" or "bobbin," that form of coil +composed of tightly-wound, silk-covered wire which he had constructed, +and which since has been universally employed for nearly every +application of electro-magnetism, of induction, or of magneto-electrics. +And in the same year and in 1830 he produced those powerful magnets +through which the energy of a galvanic battery was used to lift hundreds +of tons of weight. + +In view of all the facts now historically established, there can be no +doubt that previous to Henry's experiments the means for developing +magnetism in soft iron were imperfectly understood, and that, as found +by Prof. Barlow, the electro-magnet which then existed was inapplicable +and impracticable for the transmission of power to a distance. Prof. +Henry was the first to prove that a galvanic battery of "intensity" must +be employed to project the current through a long conductor, and that a +magnet of one long wire must be used to receive this current; the first +to magnetise a piece of soft iron at a distance and call attention to +its applicability to the telegraph; the first to actually sound a bell +at a distance by means of the electro-magnet; and the first to show that +the principles he developed were applicable and necessary to the +practical operation of an effective telegraph system. + +Sturgeon, the parent of the electro-magnet, on learning of Henry's +discoveries and inventions, wrote: "Professor Henry has been enabled to +produce a magnetic force which totally eclipses every other in the whole +annals of magnetism; and no parallel is to be found since the miraculous +suspension of the celebrated oriental impostor in his iron coffin." +(_Philosophical Magazine and Annals_, 1832.) + +The third decade was now prepared for the development of the telegraph. +As to the telegraph in its broadest sense, as a means for conveying +intelligence to a distance quickly and without a messenger, successful +experiments of that kind have existed from the earliest times:--from the +signal fires of the ancients; from the flag signals between ships at +sea, introduced in the seventeenth century by the Duke of York, then +Admiral of the English fleet, and afterwards James II of England; from +the semaphore telegraph of M. Chappe, adopted by the French government +in 1794, consisting of bars pivoted to an upright stationary post, and +made to swing vertically or horizontally to indicate certain signals; +and from many other forms of earlier and later days. + +As to electricity as an agent for the transmission of signals, the idea +dates, as already stated, from the discovery of Stephen Gray in 1729, +that the electrical influence could be conveyed to a distance by the +means of an insulated wire. This was followed by the practical +suggestions of Franklin and others. But when, as we have seen, voltaic +electricity entered the field, electricity became a more powerful and +tractable servant, and distant intelligent signals became one of its +first labors. + +The second decade was also made notable by the discovery and +establishment by George Simon Ohm, a German professor of Physics, of the +fundamental mathematical law of electricity: It has been expressed in +the following terms: (a) the current strength is equal to the +electro-motive force divided by the resistance; (b) the force is equal +to the current strength multiplied by the resistance; (c) the resistance +is equal to the force divided by the current strength. + +The historical development and evolution of the telegraph may be now +summarized:-- + +1. The discovery of galvanic electricity by Galvani--1786-1790. + +2. The galvanic or voltaic battery by Volta in 1800. + +3. The galvanic influence on a magnetic needle by Romagnosi (1802) +Oersted (1820). + +4. The galvanometer of Schweigger, 1820--the parent of the needle +system. + +5. The electro-magnet by Arago and Sturgeon--1820-1825--the parent of +the magnet system. + +Then followed in the third decade the important series of steps in the +evolution, consisting of:-- + +_First_, and most vital, Henry's discovery in 1829 and 1830 of the +"intensity" or spool-wound magnet, and its intimate relation to the +"intensity" battery, and the subordinate use of an armature as the +signalling device. + +_Second_, Gauss's improvement in 1833 (or probably Schilling's +considerably earlier) of reducing the electric conductors to a single +circuit by the ingenious use of a dual sign so combined as to produce a +true alphabet. + +_Third_, Weber's discovery in 1833 that the conducting wires of an +electric telegraph could be efficiently carried through the air without +any insulation except at their points of support. + +_Fourth_, Daniell's invention of a "constant" galvanic battery in 1836. + +_Fifth_, Steinheil's remarkable discovery in 1837 that the earth may +form the returning half of a closed galvanic circuit, so that a single +conducting wire is sufficient for all telegraphic purposes. + +_Sixth_, Morse's adaptation of the armature and electro-magnet of Henry +as a recording instrument in 1837 in connection with his improvement in +1838 on the Schilling, Gauss and Steinheil alphabets by employing the +simple "dot and dash" alphabet in a single line. He was also assisted by +the suggestions of Profs. Dana and Gale. To which must be added his +adoption of Alfred Vail's improved alphabet, and Vail's practical +suggestions in respect to the recording and other instrumentalities. + +To these should be added the efforts in England, made almost +simultaneously with those of Morse, of Wheatstone and Cook and Davy, who +were reaching the same goal by somewhat different routes. + +Morse in 1837 commenced to put the results of his experiments and +investigations in the form of caveats, applications and letters patent +in the United States and in Europe. He struggled hard against +indifference and poverty to introduce his invention to the world. It was +not until 1844 that he reduced it to a commercial practical success. He +then laid a telegraph from Washington to Baltimore under the auspices of +the United States Government, which after long hesitation appropriated +$30,000 for the purpose. It was on the 24th day of May, 1844, that the +first formal message was transmitted on this line between the two cities +and recorded by the electro-magnet in the dot and dash alphabet, and +this was immediately followed by other messages on the same line. + +Morse gathered freely from all sources of which he could avail himself +knowledge of what had gone before. He was not a scientific discoverer, +but an inventor, who, adding a few ideas of his own to what had before +been discovered, was the first to combine them in a practical useful +device. What he did as an inventor, and what anyone may do to constitute +himself an inventor, by giving to the world a device which is useful in +the daily work of mankind, as distinguished from the scientific +discoverer who stops short of successful industrial work, is thus stated +by the United States Supreme Court in an opinion sustaining the validity +of his patents, after all the previous art had been produced before +it:-- + +"Neither can the inquiries he made nor the information or advice he +received from men of science in the course of his researches impair his +right to the character of an inventor. No invention can possibly be +made, consisting of a combination of different elements of power, +without a thorough knowledge of the properties of each of them, and the +mode in which they operate on each other. And it can make no difference +in this respect, whether he derives his information from books, or from +conversation with men skilled in the science. If it were otherwise, no +patent in which a combination of different elements is used would ever +be obtained, for no man ever made such an invention without having first +obtained this information, unless it was discovered by some fortunate +accident. And it is evident that such an invention as the +electro-magnetic telegraph could never have been brought into action +without it; for a very high degree of scientific knowledge and the +nicest skill in the mechanic arts are combined in it, and were both +necessary to bring it into successful operation. The fact that Morse +sought and obtained the necessary information and counsel from the best +sources, and acted upon it, neither impairs his rights as an inventor +nor detracts from his merits."--_O'Reilly vs. Morse, 5 Howard_. + +The combination constituting Morse's invention comprised a main wire +circuit to transmit the current through its whole length whenever +closed; a main galvanic battery to supply the current; operating keys to +break and close the main circuit; office circuits; a circuit of +conductors and batteries at each office to record the message there; +receiving spring lever magnets to close an office circuit when a current +passes through the main circuit; adjusting screws to vary the force of +the main current; marking apparatus, consisting of pointed pieces of +wire, to indent dots and lines upon paper; clockwork to move the paper +indented; and magnet sounders to develop the power of the pointer and of +the armatures to produce audible distinguishable sounds. + +It was soon learned by operators how to distinguish the signs or letters +sent by the length of the "click" of the armature, and by thus reading +by sound the reading of the signs on paper was dispensed with, and the +device became an electric-magnetic acoustic telegraph. + +What is known as the Morse system has been improved, but its fundamental +principles remain, and their world-wide use constitute still the daily +evidence of the immense value of the invention to mankind. + +Before the 1844 reduction to practice, Morse had originated and laid the +first submarine telegraph. This was in New York harbour in 1842. In a +letter to the Secretary of the United States Treasury, August 10, 1843, +he also suggested the project of an Atlantic telegraph. + +While Henry was busy with his great magnets and Morse struggling to +introduce his telegraph, Michael Faraday was making those investigations +and discoveries which were to result in the application of electricity +to the service of man in still wider and grander fields. + +Faraday was a chemist, and Davy's most brilliant pupil and efficient +assistant. His earliest experiments were in the line of electrolysis. +This was about 1822, but it was not until 1831 that he began to devote +his brilliant talents as an experimentalist and lecturer wholly to +electrical researches, and for a quarter of a century his patient, +wonderful labours and discoveries continued. It has been said that +"although Oersted was the discoverer of electro-magnetism and Ampere its +expounder, Faraday made the science of magnets electrically what it is +at the present day." + +Great magnetic power having been developed by passing a galvanic current +around a bar of soft iron, Faraday concluded that it was reasonable to +suppose that as mechanical action is accompanied by an equal amount of +reaction, electricity ought to be evolved from magnetism. + +"It was in 1831 that Faraday demonstrated before the Royal Society that +if a magnetized bar of steel be introduced into the centre of a helix of +insulated wire, there is at the moment of introduction of the magnet a +current of electricity set up in a certain direction in the insulated +wire forming the helix, while on the withdrawal of the magnet from the +helix a current in an opposite direction takes place. + +"He also discovered that the same phenomenon was to be observed if for +the magnet was substituted a coil of insulated wire, through which the +current from a voltaic element was passing; and further that when an +insulated coil of wire was made to revolve before the poles of a +permanent magnet, electric currents were induced in the wires of the +coil."--_Journal of the Society of Arts._ + +On these discoveries were based the action of all magneto-dynamo +electric machines--machines that have enabled the world to convert the +energy of a steam engine in its stall, or a distant waterfall, into +electric energy for the performance of the herculean labours of lighting +a great city, or an ocean-bound lighthouse, or transporting quickly +heavy loads of people or freight up and down and to and fro upon the +earth. + +As before stated, Faraday was also the first to proclaim the laws of +electrolysis, or electro-chemical decomposition. He expressed conviction +that the forces termed chemical affinity and electricity are one and the +same. Subsequently the great Helmholtz, having proved by experiment that +in the phenomena of electrolysis no other force acts but the mutual +attractions of the atomic electric charges, came to the conclusion, +"that the very mightiest among the chemical forces are of electric +origin." + +Faraday having demonstrated by his experiments that chemical +decomposition, electricity, magnetism, heat and light, are all +inter-convertible and correlated forces, the inventors of the age were +now ready to step forward and put these theories at work in machines in +the service of man. Faraday was a leader in the field of discovery. He +left to inventors the practical application of his discoveries. + +Prof. Henry in America was, contemporaneously with Faraday, developing +electricity by means of magnetic induction. + +In 1832, Pixii, a philosophical instrument-maker of Paris, and Joseph +Saxton, an American then residing in London, invented and constructed +magneto-machines on Faraday's principle of rendering magnetic a core of +soft iron surrounded with insulated wire from a permanent magnet, and +rapidly reversing its polarity, which machines were used to produce +sparks, decompose liquids and metals, and fire combustible bodies. +Saxton's machine was the well-known electric shock machine operated by +turning a crank. A similar device is now used for ringing telephone call +bells. + +Prof. C. G. Page of Washington and Ruhmkorff of Paris each made a +machine, well known as the Ruhmkorff coil, by which intense +electro-magnetic currents by induction were produced. The production of +electrical illumination was now talked of more than ever. Scientists and +inventors now had two forms of electrical machines to produce light: the +voltaic battery and the magneto-electric apparatus. But a period of +comparative rest took place in this line until 1850, when Prof. Nollet +of Brussels made an effort to produce a powerful magneto-electric +machine for decomposing water into its elements of hydrogen and oxygen, +which gases were then to be used in producing the lime light; and a +company known as "The Alliance" was organized at Paris to make large +machines for the production of light. + +We have seen that Davy produced a brilliant electric light with two +pieces of charcoal in the electric circuit of a voltaic battery. Greener +and Staite revived this idea in a patent in 1845. Shortly after Nollet's +machine, F. H. Holmes of England improved it and applied the current +directly to the production of electric light between carbon points. And +Holmes and Faraday in 1857 prepared this machine for use. + +On the evening of December 8, 1858, the first practical electric light, +the work of Faraday and Holmes, flashed over the troubled sea from the +South Foreland Lighthouse. On June 6, 1862, this light was also +introduced into the lighthouse at Dungeness, England. The same light was +introduced in French lighthouses in December, 1863, and also in the work +on the docks of Cherbourg. At this time Germany was also awake to the +importance of this invention, and Dr. Werner Siemens of Berlin was at +work developing a machine for the purpose into one of less cost and of +greater use. Inventors were not yet satisfied with the power developed +from either the voltaic battery or the magneto-electric machine, and +continued to improve the latter. + +In 1867, the same year that Faraday died, and too late for him to +witness its glory, came out the most powerful magneto-electric machine +that had yet been produced. It was invented by Wilde of London, and +consisted of very large electro-magnets, or field magnets, receiving +their electric power from the "lines of force" discovered by Faraday, +radiating from the poles of a soft iron magnet, combined with a small +magneto-electric machine having permanent magnets, and by which the +current developed in the smaller machine was sent through the coils of +the larger magnets. By this method the magnetic force was vastly +multiplied, and electricity was produced in such abundance as to fuse +thick iron wire fifteen inches long and one-fourth of an inch in +diameter, and to develop a magnificent arc light. Quickly succeeding the +Wilde machine came independent inventions in the same direction from +Messrs. G. Farmer of Salem, Mass., Alfred Yarley and Prof. Charles +Wheatstone of England, and Dr. Siemens of Berlin, and Ladd of America. +These inventors conceived and put in practice the great idea of +employing the current from an electro-magnetic machine to excite its own +electric magnet. They were thus termed "self-exciting." The idea was +that the commutator (an instrument to change the direction, strength or +circuit of the current) should be so connected with the coils of the +field magnets that all or a part of the current developed in the +armature would flow through these coils, so that all permanent magnets +might be dispensed with, and the machine used to excite itself or charge +its own field magnets without the aid of any outside charging or feeding +mechanism. + +Mr. Z. Gramme, of France, a little later than Wilde made a great +improvement. Previously, machines furnished only momentary currents of +varying strength and polarity; and these intermittent currents were hard +to control without loss in the strength of current and the frequent +production of sparks. Gramme produced a machine in which, although as in +other machines the magnetic field of force was created by a powerful +magnet, yet the armature was a ring made of soft iron rods, and +surrounded by an endless coil of wire, and made to revolve between the +poles of the magnet with great rapidity, producing a constant current in +one direction. By Faraday's discovery, when the coil of the closed +circuit was moved before the poles of the magnet, the current was +carried half the time in one direction and half in the other, +constituting what is called an alternating current. Gramme employed the +commutator to make the current direct instead of alternating. + +Dynamo-electric machines for practical work of many kinds had now been +born and grown to strength. + +In addition to these and many other electrical machines this century has +discovered several ways by which the electricity developed by such +machines may be converted into light. I. By means of two carbon +conductors between which passes a series of intensely brilliant sparks +which form a species of flame known as the _voltaic arc_, and the heat +of which is more intense than that from any other known artificial +source. II. By means of a rod of carbon or kaolin, strip of platinum or +iridium, a carbon filament, or other substance placed between two +conductors, the resistance opposed by such rod, strip, or filament to +the passage of the current being so great as to develop heat to the +point of incandescence, and produce a steady white and pure light. +Attempts also have been made to produce illumination by what is called +stratified light produced by the electric discharge passing through +tubes containing various gases. These tubes are known as Geissler tubes, +from their inventor. Still another method is the production of a +continuous light from a vibratory movement of carbon electrodes to and +from each other, producing a bright flash at each separation, and +maintaining the separations at such a rate that the effect of the light +produced is continuous. But these additional methods do not appear as +yet to be commercially successful. + +It must not be overlooked that before dynamo-magneto-electric machines +were used practically in the production of the electric light for the +purposes of illumination, the voltaic battery was used for the same +purpose, but not economically. + +The first private dwelling house ever lighted in America, or doubtless +anywhere else, by electricity, was that of Moses G. Farmer, in Salem, +Massachusetts, in the year 1859. A voltaic battery furnished the current +to conducting wires which led to two electric lamps on the mantel-piece +of the drawing-room, and in which strips of platinum constituted the +resisting and lighting medium. A soft, mild, agreeable light was +produced, which was more delightful to read or sew by than any +artificial light ever before known. Either or both lamps could be +lighted by turning a button, and they were maintained for several weeks, +but were discontinued for the reason that the cost of maintaining them +was much greater than of gas light. + +It was in connection with the effective dynamo-electric apparatus of +M. Gramme above referred to that the electric candle invented by +M. Paul Jablochoff became soon thereafter extensively employed for +electric lighting in Paris, and elsewhere in Europe. This invention, +like the great majority of useful inventions, is noted for its +simplicity. It consists of two carbon pencils placed side by side and +insulated from each other by means of a thin plate of some refractory +material which is a non-conductor at ordinary temperatures, but which +becomes a conductor, and consequently a light, when fused by the action +of a powerful current. Plaster of Paris was found to be the most +suitable material for this purpose, and the light produced was soft, +mellow, slightly rose-coloured, and quite agreeable to the eye. + +It having been found that carbon was better adapted for lighting +purposes than platinum or other metals, by reason of its greater +radiating power for equal temperatures, and still greater infusibility +at high temperatures, inventors turned their attention to the production +of the best carbon lamp. + +The two pointed pieces of hard conducting carbon used for the separated +terminals constitute the voltaic arc light--a light only excelled in +intense brilliancy by the sun itself. It is necessary in order to make +such a light successful that it should be continuous. But as it is found +that both carbons waste away under the consuming action of the intense +heat engendered by their resistance to the electric current, and that +one electrode, the positive, wastes away twice as fast as the opposite +negative electrode, the distance between the points soon becomes too +great for the current longer to leap over it, and the light is then +extinguished. Many ingenious contrivances have been devised for +correcting this trouble, and maintaining a continuously uniform distance +between the carbons by giving to them a self-adjusting automatic action. +Such an apparatus is called a _regulator_, and the variety of regulators +is very great. The French were among the first to contrive such +regulators,--Duboscq, Foucault, Serrin, Houdin, and Lontin invented most +useful forms of such apparatus. Other early inventors were Hart of +Scotland, Siemens of Germany, Thompson and Houston of England, and +Farmer, Brush, Wallace, Maxim, and Weston and Westinghouse of America. +Gramme made his armature of iron rods to prevent its destruction by +heat. Weston in 1882 improved this method by making the armature of +separate and insulated sheets of iron around which the coil is wound. +The arc light is adapted for streets and great buildings, etc.; but for +indoor illumination, when a milder, softer light is desirable, the +_incandescent_ light was invented, and this consists of a curved +filament of carbon about the size of a coarse horsehair, seated in a +bulb of glass from which the air has been exhausted. In exhausted air +carbon rods or filaments are not consumed, and so great ingenuity was +exercised on that line. Among the early noted inventors of incandescent +carbon filament lamps were Edison and Maxim of New York, Swan, and +Lane-Fox of England. + +Another problem to be solved arose in the proposed use of arc lamps upon +an extended scale, or in series, as in street lighting, wherein the +current to all lamps was supplied by a single wire, and where it was +found that owing to the unequal consumption of the carbons some were +burning well, some poorly, and some going out. It was essential, +therefore, to make each lamp independent of the resistance of the main +circuit and of the action of the other lamps, and to have its regulating +mechanism governed entirely by the resistance of its own arc. The +solution of this difficult problem was the invention by Heffner von +Alteneck of Germany, and his device came into use wherever throughout +the world arc lamps were operated. Westinghouse also improved the direct +alternating system of lighting by one wire by the introduction of two +conducting wires parallel to each other, and passing an interrupted or +alternating current through one, thereby inducing a similar and always +an alternating current through the other. Brush adopted a three-wire +system; and both obtained a uniform consumption of the carbons. + +In a volume like this, room exists for mention only of those inventions +which burn as beacon lights on the tallest hills--and so we must now +pass on to others. + +Just as Faraday was bringing his long series of experimental researches +to a close in 1856-59, and introducing the fruits of his labours into +the lighthouses of England, Cyrus W. Field of New York had commenced his +trials in the great scheme of an ocean cable to "moor the new world +alongside the old," as John Bright expressed it. After crossing the +ocean from New York to England fifty times, and baffled often by the +ocean, which broke his cables, and by the incredulous public of both +hemispheres, who laughed at him, and by electricity, which refused to do +his bidding, he at last overcame all obstacles, and in 1866 the cable +two thousand miles in length had been successfully stretched and +communication perfected. To employ currents of great power, the cable +insulation would have been disintegrated and finally destroyed by heat. +Therefore only feeble currents could be used. But across that long +distance these currents for many reasons grew still weaker. The +inventor, Sir William Thomson, was at hand to provide the remedy. First, +by his _mirror galvanometer_. A needle in the shape of a small magnet +and connected to the current wires, is attached to the back of a small +concave mirror having a hole in its centre; opposite the mirror is +placed a graduated scale board, having slits through it, and a lighted +lamp behind it. The light is thrown through the slits across to the hole +at the center of the mirror and upon the needle. The feeblest imaginable +current suffices to deflect the needle in one direction, which throws +back the little beam of light upon it to the graduated front of the +scale. When the current is reversed the needle and its shadow are +deflected in the other direction, and so by a combination of right and +left motions, and pauses, of the spots of light to represent letters, +the message is spelled out. Second, a more expeditious instrument called +the _syphon recorder_. In this the galvanometer needle is connected to a +fine glass syphon tube conducting ink from a reservoir on to a strip of +paper which is drawn under the point of the tube with a uniform motion. +The irregular movements given the galvanometer needle by the varying +current are clearly delineated on the paper. Or in writing very long +cables the point of the syphon may not touch the paper, but the ink by +electrical attraction from the paper is ejected from the syphon upon the +paper in a succession of fine dots. The irregular lines of dots and +dashes were translated into words in accordance with the principles of +the Morse telegraph. + +An instrument was exhibited at the Centennial International Exhibition +at Philadelphia in 1876, which was considered by the judges "the +greatest marvel hitherto achieved by the electric telegraph." Such was +the language used both by Prof. Joseph Henry and Sir Wm. Thomson, and +concurred in by the other eminent judges from America, Germany, France, +Austria and Switzerland. This instrument was the _Telephone_. It +embodied, for the practical purpose of transmitting articulate speech to +distances, the union of the two great forces,--sound and electricity. It +consisted of a method and an apparatus. The apparatus or means consisted +of an electric battery circuit, a transmitting cone placed at one end of +the line into which speech and other vocal sounds were uttered, a +diaphragm against which the sounds were projected, an armature secured +to or forming a part of the diaphragm, an electro-magnet loosely +connected to the armature, a wire connecting this magnet with another +precisely similar arrangement of magnet, armature, diaphragm, and cone, +at the receiving end. When speech was uttered in the transmitter the +sound vibrations were received on the diaphragm, communicated to the +electricised armature, from thence by induction to the magnet and the +connecting wire current, which, undulating with precisely the same form +of sound vibrations, carried them in exactly the same form to the +receiving magnet. They were then carried through the receiving armature +and reproduced on the receiving diaphragm, with all the same +characteristics of pitch, loudness and quality. + +The inventor was Alexander Graham Bell, by nativity a Scotchman, then a +resident of Canada, and finally a citizen of the United States. His +father was a teacher of vocal physiology at Edinburgh, and he himself +became a teacher of deaf mutes. This occupation naturally led him to a +thorough investigation of the laws of sound. He acknowledged the aid he +received from the great work of Helmholtz on the _Theory of Tone_. His +attention was called to sounds transmitted and reproduced by the +electric current, especially by the ease with which telegraph operators +read their messages by the duration of the "click" of their instruments. +He knew of the old device of a tightly-stretched string or wire between +two little boxes. He had read the publication of Prof. C. G. Page, of +America, in 1837, on the _Production of Galvanic Music_, in which was +described how musical notes were transmitted and reproduced by an +interrupted magnetic circuit. He became acquainted with the experimental +musical telephonic and acoustic researches of Reis, and others of +Germany, and those of celebrated scientists in France, especially the +phonautograph of Scott, a delicate instrument having a cone membrane and +pointer, and used to reproduce on smoked glass the waves of sound. He +commenced his experiments with magneto instruments in 1874, continued +them in 1875, when he succeeded in reproducing speech, but poorly, owing +to his imperfect instruments, and then made out his application, and +obtained a patent in the United States in July, 1876. + +Like all the other remarkable inventions recorded in these pages, this +"marvel" did not spring forth as a sudden creation, but was a slow +growth of a plant derived from old ideas, although it blossomed out +suddenly one day when audible sounds were accidentally produced upon an +apparatus with which he was experimenting. + +It is impossible here to narrate the tremendous conflict that Bell now +encountered to establish his title as first inventor, or to enumerate +the multitude of improvements and changes made which go to make up the +successful telephone of to-day. + +The messages of the voice are carried on the wings of electricity +wherever any messages are carried, except under the widest seas, and +this difficulty inventors are now seeking to overcome. + +The story of the marvellous inventions of the century in electricity is +a fascinating one, but in length and details it is also marvellous, and +we must hasten unwillingly to a close. Numerous applications of it will +be mentioned in chapters relating to other arts. + +In the generation of this mighty force improvements have been made, but +those of greatest power still involve the principles discovered by +Faraday and Henry seventy years ago. The ideas of Faraday of the "lines +of force"--the magnetic power streaming from the poles of the magnet +somewhat as the rays of heat issue on all sides from a hot body, forming +the magnetic field--and that a magnet behaves like an electric current, +producing an electric wave by its approach to or recession from a coil +of wire, joined with Henry's idea of increasing the magnetising effect +by increasing the number of coils around the magnet, enter into all +powerful dynamo electric machines of to-day. In them the lines of force +must flow around the frame and across the path of the armature; and +there must be a set of conductors to cut the lines of force twice in +every revolution of the cylinder carrying the armature from which the +current is taken. + +When machines had been produced for generating with some economy +powerful currents of electricity, their use for the world's business +purposes rapidly increased. Among such applications, and following +closely the electric lighting, came the _electric railway_. A substitute +for the slow animal, horse, and for the dangerous, noisy steam horse and +its lumbering locomotive and train, was hailed with delight. Inventors +came forward with adaptations of all the old systems they could think of +for the purpose, and with many new ones. One plan was to adapt the +storage battery--that silent chemical monster which carries its own +power and its own machine--and place one on each car to actuate a motor +connected to the driving wheels. Another plan was to conduct the current +from the dynamo machine at its station along the rails on one side of +the track to the motor on the car and the return current on the opposite +track; another was to carry the current to the car on a third rail +between the track, using both the other rails for the return; another to +use an overhead wire for the current from the dynamo, and connect it +with the car by a rod, one end of which had a little wheel or trolley +running on the overhead wire, to take up the current, the other end +being connected by a wire to the car motor; another plan to have a +trench made leading from the central station underneath the track the +whole length of the line, and put into this trench conducting wires from +the dynamo, to one of which the car motor should be connected by a +trolley rod or "brush," extending down through a central slot between +the rails of the track to carry the electric supply into the motor. In +all these cases a lever was supplied to cut off communication between +the conducting wire and the motor, and a brake lever to stop the car. + +All of these plans have been tried, and some of them are still being +tried with many improvements in detail, but not in principle. + +The first electrical railway was constructed and operated at Berlin in +1879, by Messrs Siemens and Halske. It was two thousand seven hundred +feet long and built on the third rail system. This was an experiment but +a successful one. It was followed very soon by another line near Berlin +for actual traffic; then still another in Saxony. At the Paris +Exposition in 1881, Sir Wm. Siemens had in operation a road about one +thousand six hundred feet in length, on which it is estimated +ninety-five thousand passengers were conveyed in seven weeks. Then in +the next year in London; and then in the following year one in the +United States near New York, constructed by Edison. And thus they +spread, until every important town and city in the world seems to have +its electric plant, and its electric car system, and of course its +lighting, telephone and telegraph systems. + +In 1882 Prof. Fleeming Jenkin of England invented and has put to use a +system called _Telpherage_, by which cars are suspended on an overhead +wire which is both the track and electrical conductor. It has been found +to be advantageous in the transportation of freight from mines and other +places to central stations. + +With the coming of the electric railway, the slow, much-abused horse, +the puffing steam engine blowing off smoke and cinders through the +streets, the great heavy cars, rails and roadbeds, the dangerous +collisions and accidents, have disappeared. + +The great problems to solve have related to generation, form, +distribution and division of the electric current at the dynamos at the +central stations for the purposes of running the distant motors and for +furnishing independent supplies of light, heat, sound and power. These +problems have received the attention of the keenest inventors and +electrical engineers and have been solved. + +The description of the inventions made by such electrical magicians as +Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla would fill volumes. + +The original plan of sending but one message over a wire at a time has +also been improved; and duplex, quadruplex and multiplex systems have +been invented (by Stearns, Farmer, Edison and others) and applied, which +have multiplied the capacity of the telegraphs, and by which even the +alleged all-talk-at-the-same-time habit of certain members of the great +human family can be carried on in opposite directions on the same wire +at the same time between their gatherings in different cities and +without a break. + +To understand the manner of multiplying messages or signals on the same +line, and using apparently the same electric current to perform +different operations, the mind must revert to the theory already +referred to, that a current of electricity does not consist of a stream +of matter flowing like water through a conductor in one direction, but +of particles of subtle ether, vibrating or oscillating in waves from and +around the conductor which excites them; that the vibration of this line +of waves proceeds at the rate of many thousand miles per second, almost +with the velocity of waves of light, with which they are so closely +related; that this wave current is susceptible of being varied in +direction and in strength, according to the impulse given by the initial +pressure of the transmitting and exciting instrument; and that some wave +currents have power by reason of their form or strength to penetrate or +pass others coming from an opposite direction. So that in the multiplex +process, for instance, each transmission having a certain direction or +strength and its own set of transmitting and receiving instruments, will +have power to give its own peculiar and independent signal or message. +Apparently there is but one continuous current, but in reality each +transmission is separated from the others by an almost inconceivably +short interval of time. + +Among the inventions in the class of Telegraphy should also be mentioned +the dial and the printing systems. Ever since the electric telegraph was +invented, attempts have been made to use the electric influence to +operate either a pointer to point out the letters of the message sent on +a dial, or to print them on a moving strip of paper; and also to +automatically reproduce on paper the handwriting of the sender or writer +of the message. The earliest efforts were by Cooke and Prof. Wheatstone +of London, in 1836-37; but it was not until 1839, after Prof. Henry had +succeeded in perfecting the electromagnet, that dial and printing +telegraphs were successfully produced. Dial telegraphs consist of the +combination with magnets, armatures and printed dial plate of a +clock-work and a pointer, means to set the pointer at the communicating +end (which in some instances has been a piano keyboard) to any letter, +the current operating automatically to indicate the same letters at the +receiving end. These instruments have been modified and improved by +Brequet and Froment of France, Dr. Siemens and Kramer, and Siemens and +Halske of Germany, Prof. Wheatstone of England, Chester and Hamblet of +America, and others. They have been used extensively upon private and +municipal lines both in Europe and the United States. + +The type-printing telegraph was coeval with the dial, and originated +with Morse and Vail as early as 1837. The printing of the characters is +effected in various ways; sometimes by clockwork mechanism and sometimes +by the direct action of an electromagnet. Wheatstone exhibited one in +1841. House of Vermont invented in 1845-1846 the first printing +telegraph that was brought into any extensive use in the United States. +Then followed that of David E. Hughes of Kentucky in 1855, aided by his +co-inventor George M. Phelps of Troy, New York, and which was +subsequently adopted by the French government, by the United Kingdom +Telegraph Co. of Great Britain, and by the American Telegraph Co in the +United States. The system was subsequently greatly improved by Hughes +and others. Alexander Bain of Edinburgh in 1845-46 originated the modern +automatic chemical telegraph. In this system a kind of punch was used to +perforate two rows of holes grouped to represent letters on a strip of +paper conducted over a metal cylinder and arranged so as to permit +spring levers to drop through the perforations and touch the cylinder, +thus forming an electrical contact; and a recording apparatus consisting +of a strip of paper carried through a chemical solution of an acid and +potash and over a metal roller, and underneath one or two styles, or +pens, which pens were connected by live wires with the poles of two +batteries at the sending station. The operation is such that colored +marks upon the paper were made by the pens corresponding precisely to +the perforations in the strip at the sending station. Siemens, +Wheatstone and others also improved this system; but none of these +systems have as yet replaced or equalled in extensive use the Morse key +and sounder system, and its great acoustic advantage of reading the +messages by the click of the instrument. The type-printing system, +however, has been recently greatly improved by the inventions of Howe, +C. L. Buckingham, Fiske and others in the United States. Special +contrivances and adaptations of the telegraph for printing stock reports +and for transmitting fire alarm, police, and emergency calls, have been +invented. + +The erection of tall office and other buildings, some to the height of +more than twenty stories, made practicable by the invention of the +elevator system, has in turn brought out most ingenious devices for +operating and controlling the elevators to insure safety and at the same +time produce economy in the motive power. + +The utility of the telephone has been greatly increased by the +inventions of Hughes and Edison of the _microphone_. This consists, in +one form, of pieces of carbon in loose contact placed in the circuit of +a telephone. The very slightest vibrations communicated to the wood are +heard distinctly in the telephone. By these inventions and certain +improvements not only every sound and note of an opera or concert has +been carried to distant places, but the slightest whispers, the minute +movements of a watch, even the tread of a fly, and the pressure of a +finger, have been rendered audible. + +By the aid of the electric current certain rays of light directed upon +the mineral selenium, and some other substances, have been discovered to +emit musical sounds. + +So wonderful and mysterious appear these communications along the +electric wire that each and every force in the universe seems to have a +voice awaiting utterance to man. The hope is indulged that by some such +means we may indeed yet receive the "touch of a vanished hand and the +sound of a voice that is still." + +In 1879 that eminent English scientist, Prof. Wm. Crookes, published his +extensive researches in electrical discharges as manifested in glass +tubes from which the air had been exhausted. These same tubes have +already been referred to as Geissler tubes, from the name of a young +artist of Bonn who invented them. In these tubes are inclosed various +gases through which the sparks from an induction coil can be passed by +means of platinum electrodes fused into the glass, and on the passage of +the current a soft and delicately-tinted light is produced which streams +through the tube from pole to pole. + +In 1895, Wm. Konrad Roentgen, professor of Physics in the Royal +University of Wuerzburg, while experimenting with these Crookes and +Geissler tubes, discovered with one of them, which he had covered with a +sort of black cardboard, that the rays emanating from the same and +impinging on certain objects would render them self-luminous, or +fluorescent; and on further investigation that such rays, unlike the +rays of sunlight, were not deflected, refracted or condensed; but that +they proceeded in straight lines from the point at which they were +produced, and penetrated various articles, such as flesh, blood, and +muscle, and thicknesses of paper, cloth and leather, and other +substances which are opaque to ordinary light; and that thus while +penetrating such objects and rendering them luminous, if a portion of +the same were of a character too dense to admit of the penetration, the +dark shadow of such obstacle would appear in the otherwise luminous +mass. + +Unable to explain the nature or cause of this wonderful revelation, +Roentgen gave to the light an algebraic name for the unknown--the X +rays. + +This wonderful discovery, at first regarded as a figment of scientific +magic, soon attracted profound attention. At first the experiments were +confined to the gratification of curiosity--the interior of the hand was +explored, and on one occasion the little mummified hand of an Egyptian +princess folded in death three or four thousand years ago, was held up +to this light, and the bones, dried blood, and muscle of the ancient +Pharaohs exhibited to the startled eyes of the present generation. But +soon surgery and medicine took advantage of the unknown rays for +practical purposes. The location of previously unreachable bullets, and +the condition of internal injuries, were determined; the cause of +concealed disease was traced, the living brain explored, and the +pulsations of the living heart were witnessed. + +Retardation of the strength of the electric current by the inductive +influence of neighboring wires and earth currents, together with the +theory that the electric energy pervades all space and matter, gave rise +to the idea that if the energy once established could be set in motion +at such point above the ordinary surface of the earth as would free this +upper current from all inductive disturbance, impulses of such power +might be conveyed from one high point and communicated to another as to +produce signals without the use of a conducting wire, retaining only the +usual batteries and the earth connection. On July 30th, 1872, Mahlen +Loomis of Washington, D. C., took out a patent for "the utilization of +natural electricity from elevated points" for telegraphic purposes, +based on the principle mentioned, and made successful experiments on the +Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia near Washington, accounts of which were +published in Washington papers at the time; but being poor and receiving +no aid or encouragement he was compelled to give it up. Marconi of Italy +has been more successful in this direction, and has sent electric +messages and signals from high stations over the English Channel from +the shores of France to England. So that now wireless telegraphy is an +established fact. + +It is certainly thrilling to realize that there is a mysterious, silent, +invisible and powerful mechanical agent on every side of us, waiting to +do our bidding, and to lend a hand in every field of human labour, and +yet unable to be so used without excitement to action and direction in +its course by some master, intermediate between itself and man. The +principal masters for this purpose are steam and water power. A small +portion of the power of the resistless Niagara has been taken, diverted +to turn the machinery which excites electricity to action, and this +energy in turn employed to operate a multitude of the most powerful +motors and machines of many descriptions. + +So great is the might of this willing agent that at a single turn of the +hand of man it rushes forth to do work for him far exceeding in wonder +and extent any labour of the gods of mythological renown. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +HOISTING, CONVEYING AND STORING. + + +Allusion has been made to the stupendous buildings and works of the +ancients and of the middle ages; the immense multitude of workers and +great extent of time and labour employed in their construction; and how +the awful drudgery involved in such undertakings was relieved by the +invention of modern engineering devices--the cranes, the derricks, and +the steam giants to operate them, so that vast loads which required +large numbers of men and beasts to move, and long periods of time in +which to move them, can now be lifted with ease and carried to great +heights and distances in a few minutes by the hands of one or of a few +men. + +But outside of the line of such undertakings there is an immense field +of labor-saving appliances adapted for use in transportation of smaller +loads from place to place, within and without buildings, and for +carrying people and freight from the lower to the upper stories of tall +structures. In fact the tall buildings which we see now in almost every +great city towering cloudward from the ground to the height of fifteen, +twenty and twenty-five stories, would have been extravagant and useless +had not the invention of the modern elevator rendered their highest +parts as easy of access as their lowest, and at the same time given to +the air space above the city lot as great a commercial value in feet and +inches as the stretch of earth itself. + +Many of the "sky-scrapers" so called, are splendid monuments of the +latest inventions of the century. + +It is by means of the modern elevator that the business of a whole town +may be transacted under a single roof. + +In the multiplicity of modern human contrivances by which the sweat and +drudgery of life are saved, and time economised for worthier objects, we +are apt to overlook the painful and laborious steps by which they were +reached, and to regard with impatience, or at least with indifference, +the story of their evolution; and yet no correct or profound knowledge +of the growth of humanity to its higher planes can be obtained without +noting to what extent the minor inventions, as well as the startling +ones, have aided the upward progress. + +For instance, consider how few and comparatively awkward were the +mechanical means before this century. The innumerable army of men when +men were slaves, and when blood and muscle and brain were cheap, who, +labouring with the beast, toiled upward for years on inclined ways to +lay the stones of the stupendous pyramids, still had their counterpart +centuries later in the stream of men carrying on their shoulders the +loads of grain and other freight and burdens from the shore to the holds +of vessels, from vessels to the shore, from the ground to high buildings +and from one part of great warehouses to another. Now look at a vessel +moved to a wharf, capable of holding fifty thousand or one hundred +thousand bushels of grain and having that amount poured into it in three +hours from the spouts of an elevator, to which the grain has been +carried in a myriad buckets on a chain by steam power in about the same +time; or to those arrangements of carriers, travelling on ropes, cords, +wires, or cables, by which materials are quickly conveyed from one part +of some structure or place to another, as hay and grain in barns or +mows, ores from mines to cars, merchandise of all kinds from one part of +a great store to another; or shot through pipes underground from one +section of a city or town to their destination by a current of air. + +True, as it has before been stated, the ancients and later generations +had the wedge, the pulley, the inclined plane, the screw and the +windlass, and by these powers, modified in form and increased in size as +the occasion demanded, in the form of cranes, derricks, and operated by +animal power, materials were lifted and transported; but down to the +time of the practical and successful application of steam by Watt in the +latter part of the 18th century, and until a much later period in most +places in the world, these simple means actuated alone by men or animals +were the best means employed for elevating and conveying loads, and even +they were employed to a comparatively limited extent. + +The century was well started before it was common to employ cups on +elevator bands in mills, invented by Oliver Evans in 1780, to carry +grain to the top of the mill, from whence it was to fall by gravity to +the grinding and flouring apparatus below. It was not until 1795 that +that powerful modern apparatus--the hydraulic, or hydrostatic, press was +patented by Bramah in England. The model he then made is now in the +museum of the Commissioner of Patents, London. In this a reservoir for +water is provided, on which is placed a pump having a piston rod worked +by a hand lever. The water is conveyed from the reservoir to a cylinder +by a pipe, and this cylinder is provided with a piston carrying at its +top a table, which rises between guides. The load to be carried is +placed on this table, and as the machine was at first designed to +compress materials the load is pressed by the rising table against an +upper stationary plate. The elevation of the table is proportionate to +the quantity of water injected, and the power proportionate to the +receptive areas of the pump and the cylinder. The first great +application of machines built on this principle was by Robert Stephenson +in the elevation of the gigantic tubes for the tubular bridge across the +Menai straits, already described in the chapter on Civil Engineering. +The century was half through with before it was proposed to use water +and steam for passenger elevators. + +In 1852 J. T. Slade in England patented a device consisting of a drum to +be actuated by steam, water, or compressed air, around which drum ropes +were wound, and to which ropes were attached separate cages in separate +wells, to counterbalance each other, the cages moving in guides, and +provided with brakes and levers to stop and control the cages and the +movement of the drum. Louis T. Van Elvean, also of England, in 1858 +invented counterbalance weights for such lifts. Otis, an American, +invented and patented in America and England in 1859 the first approach +to the modern passenger elevator for hotels, warehouses, and other +structures. The motive power was preferably a steam engine; and the +elevating means was a large screw placed vertically and made to revolve +by suitable gearing, and a cylinder to which the car was attached, +having projections to work in the threads of the screw. Means were +provided to start and to stop the car, and to retard its otherwise +sudden fall and stoppage. + +Elevators, which are now so largely used to raise passengers and freight +from the lower to the upper stories of high edifices, have for their +motive power steam, water, compressed air, and electricity. With steam a +drum is rotated over which a hoisting wire-rope is wound, to which the +elevator car is attached. The car for passengers may be a small but +elegantly furnished room, which is carried on guide blocks, and the +stationary guides are provided with ratchet teeth with which pawls on +the car are adapted to engage should the hoisting rope give way. To the +hoisting rope is attached a counterbalance weight to partly meet the +weight of the car in order to prevent the car from sticking fast on its +passage, and also to prevent a sudden dropping of the car should the +rope become slack. A hand rope for the operator is provided, which at +its lower end is connected with a starting lever controlling the valves +of the cylinders into which steam is admitted to start the piston shaft, +which in turn actuates the gear wheels, by which movement the ropes are +wound around the drums. + +In another form of steam elevator the drums are turned in opposite +directions, by right and left worms driven by a belt. + +In the hydraulic form of elevator, a motor worked by water is employed +to lift the car, although steam power is also employed to raise the +water. The car is connected to wire cables passing over large sheaves at +the top of the well room to a counterbalancing bucket. This bucket fits +closely in a water-tight upright tube, or stand-pipe, about two feet in +diameter, extending from the basement to the upper story. Near this +stand-pipe in the upper story is placed a water supply tank. A pipe +discharges the water from the tank into the bucket, which moves up and +down in the stand pipe. There is a valve in the tank which is opened by +stepping on a treadle in the car, and this action admits to the bucket +just enough weight of water to overbalance the load on the car. As soon +as the bucket is heavier than the car it descends, and of course draws +the car upward, thus using the minimum power required to raise each +load, rather than, when steam is employed, the full power of the engine +each and every time. The speed is controlled by means of brakes or +clamps that firmly clasp wrought-iron slides secured to posts on each +side of the well room, the operator having control of these brakes by a +lever on the car. When the car has ascended as far as desired, the +operator steps upon another treadle in the car connected with a valve in +the bottom of the bucket and thus discharges the water into the +receiving tank below until the car is heavier than the bucket, when it +then of course descends. The water is thus taken from the upper tank +into the bucket, discharged through the stand-pipe into the receiving +tank under the floor of the basement and then pumped back again to the +upper tank, so that it is used over and over again without loss. + +Various modifications have been made in the hydraulic forms. In place of +steam, electricity was introduced to control the hydraulic operation. +Again, an electric motor has been invented to be placed on the car +itself, with connected gearing engaging rack bars in the well. + +Elevators have been contrived automatically controlled by switch +mechanisms on the landings; and in connection with the electric motor +safety devices are used to break the motor circuit and thus stop the car +the moment the elevator door is opened; and there are devices to break +the circuit and stop the car at once, should an obstruction, the foot +for instance, be accidentally thrust out into the path of the car frame. +Columns of water and of air have been so arranged that should the car +fall the fall will be broken by the water or air cushion made to yield +gradually to the pressure. So many safety devices have been invented +that there is now no excuse for accidents. They result by a criminal +neglect of builders or engineers to provide themselves with such +devices, or by a most ignorant or careless management and operation of +simple actuating mechanisms. + +Between 1880 and 1890 there was great activity in the invention of what +is known as store service conveyors. One of the earliest forms, and one +which had been partly selected from other arts, was to suspend from a +rigid frame work connected to the floor, roof, or side of the building, +a long platform in the direction through the building it was desired the +road to run, giving this platform a slight inclination. On this platform +were placed tracks, and from the tracks were suspended trucks, baskets, +or other merchandise receptacles, having wheels resting on and adapted +to roll on the tracks. Double or single tracks could be provided as +desired. The cars ran on these tracks by gravity, and considerable +ingenuity was displayed in the feature alone of providing the out-going +and returning inclined tracks; in hand straps and levers for raising and +lowering the carriage, part or all of it, to or from the tracks, and in +buffers to break the force of the blow of the carriages when arriving at +their stopping places. + +Then about 1882-83 it was found by some inventors if moderately fine +wires were stretched level, and as tight as possible, they would afford +such little friction and resistance to light and nicely balanced wheels, +that no inclination of the tracks was necessary, and that the carriages +mounted on such wheels and tracks would run the entire length of a long +building and turn corners not too sharp by a single initial push of the +hand. In other arrangements a carrier is self-propelled by means of a +coiled spring on the carrier, which begins its operation as soon as the +carrier is given a start; and to meet the exhausted strength of such +spring, coiled springs at different points on the line are arranged to +engage and give the carrier an additional push. Before the carrier is +stopped its action is such as to automatically rewind its spring. + +A system of pneumatic transmission was invented, by which a carrier is +caused to travel through a tube by the agency of an air current, created +therein by an air compressor, blower, or similar device. The device is +so arranged that the air current is caused to take either direction +through the tube; and in some instances gravity may be used to assist a +vacuum formed behind the carrier. The tube is controlled at each end by +one or more sliding gates or valves, and the carrier is made to actuate +the gates, and close the one behind it, so that the carrier may be +discharged without permitting the escape of the air and consequent +reduction of pressure. + +An interesting invention has been made by James M. Dodge of Philadelphia +in the line of conveyors, whereby pea coal and other quite heavy +materials introduced by a hopper into a trough are subjected to a +powerful air blast which pushes the material forward; and as the trough +is provided with a series of frequently occurring slots or perforations +open to the outer air and inclined opposite the direction of travel, the +powerful current from the blower in escaping through such outlets tends +to lift or buoy the material and carry it forward in the air current, +thereby greatly reducing frictional contact and increasing the impelling +operation. The inventor claims that with such an apparatus many tons of +material per hour may be conveyed with a comparatively small working air +pressure. + +In order that a conveyor carriage may be automatically switched off at a +certain place or station on the line, one mode adopted was to arrange at +a gate or station a sort of pin or projection or other deflector to +engage some recess or corresponding feature on the carriage, so as to +arrest and turn the carriage in its new direction at that point. Another +mode was the adoption of electro-magnets, which would operate at a +certain place to arrest or divert the carriage; and in either case the +carriage was so constructed that its engaging features would operate +automatically only in conjunction with certain features at a particular +place on the line. + +Signals have been also adopted, in some cases operated by an electric +current, by which the operator can determine whether or not the +controlling devices have operated to stop the carrier at the desired +place. By electric or mechanical means it is also provided that one or +more loop branches may be connected with or disconnected from the main +circuit. + +The "lazy tongs" principle has been introduced, by which a long +lazy-tongs is shot forth through a tube or box to carry forward the +carriage; and the same principle is employed in fire-escapes to throw up +a cage to a great height to a window or other point, which cage is +lowered gently and safely by the same means to the ground. Buffers of +all kinds have been devised to effect the stoppage of the carrier +without injury thereto under the different degrees of force with which +it is moved upon its way, to prevent rebounding, and to enable the +carrier to be discharged with facility at the end of its route. + +Among the early mechanical means of transporting the carriage was an +endless cable moved continuously by an engine, and this adoption of +cable principle in store service was co-eval with its adoption for +running street cars. Also the system of switching the cars from the main +line to a branch, and in different parts of a city, at the same time +that all lines are receiving their motive power from the main line, +corresponds to the manner of conveying cash to all parts of a building +at the same time from many points. + +To the great department store or monstrous building wherein, as we have +said, the whole business of a town may be transacted, the assemblage and +conjoint use of elevators and conveyors seem to be actually necessary. + +A very useful and important line of inventions consists in means for +forming connections between rotary shafts and their pulleys and +mechanisms to be operated thereby, by which such mechanism can be +started or stopped at once, or their motion reversed or retarded; or by +which an actuating shaft may be automatically stopped. These means are +known as _clutches_. + +They are designed often to afford a yielding connection between the +shaft and a machine which shall prevent excessive strain and wear upon +starting of the shaft. They are also often provided with a spring +connection, which, in the rotation of the shaft in either direction, +will operate to relieve the strain upon the shaft, or shafts, and its +driving motor. Safety clutches are numerous, by which the machine is +quickly and automatically stopped by the action of electro-magnets +should a workman or other obstruction be caught in the machinery. + +Electric auxiliary mechanism has also been devised to start or stop the +main machine slowly, and thus prevent injury to small or delicate parts +of complicated machines, like printing presses for instance. Clutches +are arranged sometimes in the form of weights, resembling the action of +the weights in steam governors, whereby centrifugal action is relied +upon for swinging the weights outward to effect a clutching and coupling +of the shaft, or other mechanism, so that two lines of shafting are +coupled, or the machine started, or speeded, at a certain time during +the operation. In order to avoid the great mischief arising sometimes +from undue strain upon and the breaking of a shaft, a weak coupling +composed of a link is sometimes employed between the shaft and the +driven machine, whereby, should the force become suddenly too great, the +link of weaker metal is broken, and the connection between the shaft +thereby destroyed and the machine stopped. + +To this class of inventions, as well as to many others, the phrase, +"labour-saving", is applied as a descriptive term, and as it is a +correct one in most instances, since they save the labour of many human +hands, they are regarded by many as detrimental to a great extent, as +they result in throwing out of employment a large number of persons. + +This derangement does sometimes occur, but the curtailment of the number +of labourers is but temporary after all. + +The increased production of materials, resulting from cheaper and better +processes, and from the reduced cost of handling them, necessitates the +employment of a larger number of persons to take care of, in many ways, +the greater output caused by the increased demand; the new machinery +demands the labour of additional numbers in its manufacture; the +increase in the size and heights of buildings involves new modes of +construction and a greater number of artisans in their erection; new +forms of industry springing from every practical invention which +produces a new product or results in a new mode of operation, +complicates the systems of labour, and creates a demand for a large +number of employers and employees in new fields. Hence, it is only +necessary to resort to comparative, statistics (too extensive to cite +here) to show that the number of unemployed people in proportion to +the populations, is less in the present age than in any previous +one. In this sense, therefore, inventions should be classed as +labour-_increasing_ devices. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +HYDRAULICS. + + +The science of Hydraulics appears to be as old as the thirst of man. + +When prehistoric men had only stone implements, with which to do their +work, they built aqueducts, reservoirs and deep wells which rival in +extent many great similar works that are the boast of their modern +descendants. Modern inventors have also produced with a flourish nice +instrumentalities for raising water, agencies which are covered with the +moss of untold centuries in China. + +It was more than an ancient observation that came down to Pliny's time +for record, that water would rise to a level with its source. The +observation, however, was put into practical use in his time and long +before without a knowledge of its philosophical cause. + +Nothing in Egyptian sculpture portraying the arts in vogue around the +cradle of the human race is older than the long lever rocking upon a +cleft stick, one arm of the lever carrying a bracket and the other arm +used to raise a bucket from a well. Forty centuries and more have not +rendered this device obsolete. + +Among other machines of the Egyptians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, +and the Romans for raising water was the _tympanum_, a drum-shape wheel +divided into radial partitions, chambers, or pockets, which were open to +a short depth on the periphery of the wheel, and inclined toward the +axis, and which was driven by animal or manual power. These pockets +scooped up the water from the stream or pond in which the wheel was +located as the wheel revolved, and directed it toward the axis of the +wheel, where it ran out into troughs, pipes, or gutters. The _Noria_, a +chain of pots, and the screw of Archimedes were other forms of ancient +pumps. The bucket pumps with some modifications are known in modern +times as scoop wheels, and have been used extensively in the drainage of +lands, especially by the Dutch, who at first drove them by windmills and +later by steam. + +The division of water-wheels into overshot, undershot and breast wheels +is not a modern system. + +In the _Pneumatics of Hero_, which compilation of inventions appeared in +225 B. C., seventy-nine illustrations are given and described of simple +machines, between sixty and seventy of which are hydraulic devices. +Among these, are siphon pumps, the force pump of Ctesibius, a +"fire-pump," having two cylinders, and two pistons, valves, and levers. +We have in a previous chapter referred to Hero's steam engine. The fact +that a vacuum may be created in a pump into which water will rise by +atmospheric pressure appears to have been availed of but not explained +or understood. + +The employment of the rope, pulley and windlass to raise water was known +to Hero and his countrymen as well as by the Chinese before them. The +chain pump and other pumps of simple form have only been improved since +Hero's day in matters of detail. The screw of Archimedes has been +extended in application as a carrier of water, and converted into a +conveyor of many other materials. + +Thus, aqueducts, reservoirs, water-wheels (used for grinding grain), +simple forms of pumps, fountains, hydraulic organs, and a few other +hydraulic devices, were known to ancient peoples, but their limited +knowledge of the laws of pneumatics and their little mechanical skill +prevented much general progress or extensive general use of such +inventions. + +It is said that Frontinus, a Roman Consul, and inspector of public +fountains and aqueducts in the reigns of Nerva and Trajan, and who wrote +a book, _De Aquaeductibus Urbis Romae Commentarius_, describing the +great aqueducts of Rome, was the first and the last of the ancients to +attempt a scientific investigation of the motions of liquids. + +In 1593 Serviere, a Frenchman, born in Lyons, invented the rotary pump. +In this the pistons consisted of two cog wheels, their leaves +intermeshing, and rotated in an elliptical shaped chamber. The water +entered the chamber from a lower pipe, and the action of the wheels was +such as to carry the water around the chamber and force it out through +an opposite upper pipe. Subsequent changes involved the rotating of the +cylinder instead of the wheels and many modifications in the form of the +wheels. The same principle was subsequently adopted in rotary steam +engines. + +In 1586, a few years before this invention of Serviere, Stevinus, the +great engineer of the dikes of Holland, wrote learnedly on the +_Principles of Statics and Hydrostatics_, and Whewell states that his +treatment of the subject embraces most of the elementary science of +hydraulics and hydrostatics of the present day. This was followed by the +investigations and treatises of Galileo, his pupil Torricelli, who +discovered the law of air pressure, the great French genius, Pascal, and +Sir Isaac Newton, in the 17th century; and Daniel Bernoulli, d'Alembert, +Euler, the great German mathematician and inventor of the centrifugal +pump, the Abbe Bossut, Venturi, Eylewein, and others in the 18th +century. + +It was not until the 17th and 18th centuries that mankind departed much +from the practice of supplying their towns and cities with water from +distant springs, rivers and lakes, by pipes and aqueducts, and resorted +to water distribution systems from towers and elevated reservoirs. +Certain cities in Germany and France were the first to do this, followed +in the 18th century by England. This seems strange, as to England, as in +1582 one Peter Maurice, a Dutch engineer, erected at London, on the old +arched bridge across the Thames, a series of forcing pumps worked by +undershot wheels placed in the current of the river, by which he forced +a supply of water to the uppermost rooms of lofty buildings adjacent to +the bridge. Before the inventions of Newcomen and Watt in the latter +part of the 18th century of steam pumps, the lift and force pumps were +operated by wheels in currents, by horses, and sometimes by the force of +currents of common sewers. + +When the waters of rivers adjacent to towns and cities thus began to be +pumped for drinking purposes, _strainers_ and _filters_ of various kinds +were invented of necessity. The first ones of which there is any printed +record made their appearance in 1776. + +After the principles of hydraulics had thus been reviewed and discussed +by the philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries and applied, to the +extent indicated, further application of them was made, and especially +for the propelling of vessels. In 1718 La Hire revived and improved the +double-acting pump of Ctesibius, but to what extent he put it into use +does not appear. However, it was the double-acting pump having two +chambers and two valves, and in which the piston acted to throw the +water out at each stroke. + +In 1730 Dr. John Allen of England designed a vessel having a tunnel or +pipe open at the stern thereof through which water was to be pumped into +the air or sea--the reaction thus occasioned driving the vessel forward. +He put such a vessel at work in a canal, working the pumps by manual +labor, and suggested the employment of a steam engine. A vessel of this +kind was patented by David Ramsey of England in 1738. Rumsey of America +in 1782 also invented a similar vessel, built one 50 feet long, and ran +it experimentally on the Potomac river. Dr. Franklin also planned a boat +of this kind in 1785 and illustrated the same by sketches. His plan has +since been tried on the Scheldt, but two turbines were substituted for +his simple force pump. Further mention will be made later on of a few +more elaborate inventions of this kind. + +It also having been discovered that the fall of a column of water in a +tube would cause a portion of it to rise higher than its source by +reason of the force of momentum, a machine was devised by which +successive impulses of this force were used, in combination with +atmospheric pressure, to raise a portion of the water at each impulse. +This was the well-known _ram_, and the first inventor of such a machine +was John Whitehurst of Cheapside, England, who constructed one in 1772. +From a reservoir, spring, or cistern of water, the water was discharged +downward into a long pipe of small diameter, and from thence into a +shorter pipe governed by a stop-cock. On the opening of the stop-cock +the water was given a quick momentum, and on closing the cock water was +forced by the continuing momentum through another pipe into an air +chamber. A valve in the latter-mentioned pipe opened into the air +chamber. The air pressure served to overcome the momentum and to close +the chamber and at the same time forced the water received into the air +chamber up an adjacent pipe. Another impulse was obtained and another +injection of water into the chamber by again opening the stop-cock, and +thus by successive impulses water was forced into the chamber and +pressed by the air up through the discharge pipe and thence through a +building or other receptacle. But the fact that the stop-valve had to be +opened and closed by hand to obtain the desired number of lifts rendered +the machine ineffective. + +In 1796 Montgolfier, a Frenchman and one of the inventors of the +balloon, substituted for the stop-cock of the Whitehurst machine a loose +impulse valve in the waste pipe, whereby the valve was raised by the +rush of the water, made to set itself, check the outflow and turn the +current into the air chamber. This simple alteration changed the +character of the machine entirely, rendered it automatic in action and +converted it into a highly successful water-raising machine. For this +invention Montgolfier obtained a Gold Medal from the French Exposition +of 1802. Where a head can be had from four to six feet, water can be +raised to the height of 30 feet. Bodies of water greater in amount than +is desired to be raised can thus be utilised, and this simple machine +has come into very extensive use during the present century. + +Allusion was made in the last chapter to the powerful hydraulic press of +Joseph Bramah invented in 1795-1800, its practical introduction in this +century and improvements therein of others. After the great improvements +in the steam engine made by Watt, water, steam and air pressure joined +their forces on the threshold of this century to lift and move the +world, as it had never been moved before. + +The strong hands of hydraulics are pumps. They are divided into classes +by names indicating their purpose and mode of operation, such as single, +double-acting, lift or force, reciprocating or rotary, etc. + +Knight, in his celebrated _Mechanical Dictionary_, enumerates 100 +differently constructed pumps connected with the various arts. In a +broader enumeration, under the head of _Hydraulic Engineering and +Engineering Devices_, he gives a list of over 600 species. The number +has since increased. About nine-tenths of these contrivances have been +invented during the 19th century, although the philosophical principles +of the operation of most of them had been previously discovered. + +The important epochs in the invention of pumps, ending with the 18th +century, were thus the single-acting pump of Ctesibius, 225 B. C., the +double-acting of La Hire in 1718, the hydraulic ram of Whitehurst, 1772, +and the hydraulic press of Bramah of 1795-1802. + +Bramah's press illustrates how the theories of one age often lie +dormant, but if true become the practices of a succeeding age. Pascal, +150 years before Bramah's time, had written this seeming hydraulic +paradox: "If a vessel closed on all sides has two openings, the one a +hundred times as large as the other, and if each be supplied with a +piston which fits it exactly, then a man pushing the small piston will +equilibrate that of 100 men pushing the piston which is 100 times as +large, and will overcome the other 99." This is the law of the hydraulic +press, that intensity of pressure is everywhere the same. + +The next important epoch was the invention of Forneyron in 1823, of the +water-wheel known as the Turbine and also as the Vortex Wheel. If we +will return a moment to the little steam engine of the ancient Hero of +Alexandria, called the Eolipile, it will be remembered that the steam +admitted into a pivoted vessel and out of it through little opposite +pipes, having bent exits turned in contrary directions, caused the +vessel to rotate by reason of the reaction of the steam against the +pipes. In what is called Barker's mill, brought out in the 18th century, +substantially the same form of engine is seen with water substituted for +the steam. + +A turbine is a wheel usually placed horizontally to the water. The wheel +is provided with curved internal buckets against which the water is led +by outer curved passages, the guides and the buckets both curved in such +manner that the water shall enter the wheel as nearly as possible +without shock, and leave it with the least possible velocity, thereby +utilising the greatest possible amount of energy. + +In the chapter on Electrical inventions reference is made to the mighty +power of Niagara used to actuate a great number of electrical and other +machines of vast power. This utilisation had long been the dream of +engineers. Sir William Siemens had said that the power of all the coal +raised in the world would barely represent the power of Niagara. The +dream has been realised, and the turbine is the apparatus through which +the power of the harnessed giant is transmitted. A canal is dug from the +river a mile above the falls. It conducts water to a power house near +the falls. At the power house the canal is furnished with a gate, and +with cribs to keep back the obstructions, such as sticks. At the gate is +placed a vertical iron tube called a penstock, 71/2 feet in diameter +and 160 feet deep. At the bottom of the penstock is placed a turbine +wheel fixed on a shaft, and to which shaft is connected an electric +generator or other power machine. On opening the gate a mass of water +71/2 feet in diameter falls upon the turbine wheel 160 feet below. The +water rushing through the wheel turns it and its shaft many hundred +revolutions a minute. All the machinery is of enormous power and +dimensions. One electric generator there is 11 feet 7 inches in diameter +and spins around at the rate of 250 revolutions a minute. Means are +provided by which the speed of each wheel is regulated automatically. +Each turbine in a penstock represents the power of 5,000 horses, and +there are now ten or more employed. + +After the water has done its work on the wheels it falls into a tunnel +and is carried back to the river below the falls. Not only are the +manufactures of various kinds of a large town at the falls thus supplied +with power, but electric power is transmitted to distant towns and +cities. + +Turbine pumps of the Forneyron type have an outward flow; but another +form, invented also by a Frenchman, Jonval, has a downward discharge, +and others are oblique, double, combined turbine, rotary, and +centrifugal, embodying similar principles. The term _rotary_, broadly +speaking, includes turbine and centrifugal pumps. The centrifugal pump, +invented by Euler in 1754, was taken up in the nineteenth century and +greatly improved. + +In the centrifugal pump of the ordinary form the water is received at +the centre of the wheel and diverted and carried out in an upward +direction, but in most of its modern forms derived from the turbine, the +principle is adopted of so shaping the vanes that the water, striking +them in the curved direction, shall not have its line of curvature +suddenly changed. + +Among modern inventions of this class of pumps was the "Massachusetts" +of 1818 and McCarty's, in 1830, of America, that of some contemporary +French engineers, and subsequently in France the Appold system, which +latter was brought into prominent notice at the London Exposition of +1851. Improvements of great value were also made by Prof. James Thompson +of England. + +Centrifugal pumps have been used with great success in lifting large +bodies of water to a moderate height, and for draining marshes and other +low lands. + +Holland, Germany, France, England and America have, through some of +their ablest hydraulic engineers and inventors, produced most remarkable +results in these various forms of pumps. We have noted what has been +done at Niagara with the turbines; and the drainage of the marshes of +Italy, the lowlands of Holland, the fens of England and the swamps of +Florida bear evidence of the value of kindred inventions. + +That modern form of pump known as the _injector_, has many uses in the +arts and manufactures. One of its most useful functions is to +automatically supply steam boilers with water, and regulate the supply. +It was the invention of Giffard, patented in England in 1858, and +consists of a steam pipe leading from the boiler and having its nozzle +projecting into an annular space which communicates with a feed pipe +from a water supply. A jet of steam is discharged with force into this +space, producing a vacuum, into which the water from the feed pipe +rushes, and the condensed steam and water are driven by the momentum of +the jet into a pipe leading into the boiler. This exceedingly useful +apparatus has been improved and universally used wherever steam boilers +are found. This idea of injecting a stream of steam or water to create +or increase the flow of another stream has been applied in +_intensifiers_, to increase the pressure of water in hydraulic mains, +pipes, and machines, by additional pressure energy. Thus the water from +an ordinary main may be given such an increased pressure that a jet from +a hydrant may be carried to the tops of high houses. + +In connection with pumping it may be said that a great deal has been +discovered and invented during this century concerning the force and +utilisation of jets of water and the force of water flowing through +orifices. In the art of mining, a new system called _hydraulicising_ has +been introduced, by which jets of water at high pressure have been +directed against banks and hills, which have crumbled, been washed away, +and made to reveal any precious ore they have concealed. + +To assist this operation _flexible nozzles_ have been invented which +permit the stream to be easily turned in any desired direction. + +Returning to the idea of raising weights by hydraulic pressure, mention +must be made of the recent invention of the _hydraulic jack_, a portable +machine for raising loads, and which has displaced the older and less +efficient screw jack. As an example of the practical utility of the +hydraulic jack, about a half century ago it required the aid of 480 men +working at capstans to raise the Luxor Obelisk in Paris, whilst within +30 years thereafter Cleopatra's Needle, a heavier monument, was raised +to its present position on the Thames embankment by four men each +working one hydraulic jack. + +By the high pressures, or stresses given by the hydraulic press it was +learned that cold metals have plasticity and can be moulded or stretched +like other plastic bodies. Thus in one modification a machine is had for +making lead pipes:--A "container" is filled with molten lead and then +allowed to cool. The container is then forced by the pump against an +elongated die of the size of the pipe required. A pressure from one to +two tons per square inch is exerted, the lead is forced up through the +die, and the pipe comes out completed. Wrought iron and cold steel can +be forced like wax into different forms, and a rod of steel may be drawn +through a die to form a piano wire. + +By another modification of the hydraulic press pipes and cables are +covered with a coating of lead to prevent deterioration from rust and +other causes. + +Not only are cotton and other bulky materials pressed into small compass +by hydraulic machines, but very valuable oils are pressed from cotton +seed and from other materials--the seed being first softened, then made +into cakes, and the cakes pressed. + +If it is desired to line tunnels or other channels with a metal lining, +shield or casing, large segments of iron to compose the casing are put +in position, and as fast as the tunnel is excavated the casing is +pressed forward, and when the digging is done the cast-iron tunnel is +complete. + +If the iron hoops on great casks are to be tightened the cask is set on +the plate of a hydraulic press, the hoops connected to a series of steel +arms projecting from an overhanging support, and the cask is pressed +upward until the proper degree of tightness is secured. + +In the application of hydraulic power to machine tools great advances +have been made. It has become a system, in which Tweddle of England was +a pioneer. The great force of water pressure combined with comparatively +slow motion constitutes the basis of the system. Sir William Fairbairn +had done with steam what Tweddle and others accomplished with water. +Thus the enormous force of men and the fearful clatter formerly +displayed in these huge works where the riveting of boilers was carried +on can now be dispensed with, and in place of the noisy hammer with its +ceaseless blows has come the steam or the hydraulic riveting machine, +which noiselessly drives the rivet through any thickness of metal, +clinches the same, and smooths the jointed plate. The forging and the +rolling of the plates are performed by the same means. + +William George Armstrong of England, afterward Sir William, first a +lawyer, but with the strongest bearing toward mechanical subjects, +performed a great work in the advancement of hydraulic engineering. It +is claimed that he did for hydraulic machinery, in the storage and +transmission of power thereby, what Watt did for the steam engine and +Bessemer did for steel. In 1838 he produced his first invention, an +important improvement in the hydraulic engine. In 1840, in a letter to +the _Mechanics' Magazine_, he calls attention to the advantages of water +as a mechanical agent and a reservoir of power, and showed how water +pumped to an elevated reservoir by a steam engine might have the +potential energy thus stored utilised in many advantageous ways. How, +for instance, a small engine pumping continuously could thus supply many +large engines working intermittently. In illustration of this idea he +invented a crane, which was erected on Newcastle quay in 1846; another +was constructed on the Albert dock at Liverpool, and others at other +places. These cranes, adapted for the lifting and carrying of enormous +loads, were worked by hydraulic pressure obtained from elevated tanks or +reservoirs, as above indicated. But as a substitute for such tanks or +reservoirs he invented the _Accumulator_. This consists of a large +cast-iron cylinder fitted with a plunger, which is made to work +water-tight therein by means of suitable packing. To this plunger is +attached a weighted case filled with one or many tons of metal or other +coarse material. Water is pumped into the cylinder until the plunger is +raised to its full height within the cylinder, when the supply of water +is cut off by the automatic operation of a valve. When the cranes or +other apparatus to be worked thereby are in operation, water is passed +from the cylinder through a small pipe which actuates the crane through +hydraulic pressure. This pressure of course depends upon the weight of +the plunger. Thus a pressure of from 500 to 1,000 pounds per square inch +may be obtained. The descending plunger maintains a constant pressure +upon the water, and the water is only pumped into the cylinder when it +is required to be filled. With sensitive accumulators of this character +hydraulic machinery is much used on board ships for steering them, and +for loading, discharging and storing cargoes. + +_Water Pressure Engines_ or _Water Motors_ of a great variety as to +useful details have been invented to take advantage of a natural head of +water from falls wherever it exists, or from artificial accumulators or +from street mains. They resemble steam engines, in that the water under +pressure drives a piston in a cylinder somewhat in the manner of steam. +The underlying principle of this class of machinery is the admission of +water under pressure to a cylinder which moves the piston and is allowed +to escape on the completion of the stroke. They are divided into two +great classes, single and double acting engines, accordingly as the +water is admitted to one side of the piston only, or to both sides +alternately. Both kinds are provided with a regulator in the form of a +turn-cock, weight, or spring valve to regulate and control the flow of +water and to make it continuous. They are used for furnishing a limited +amount of power for working small printing presses, dental engines, +organs, sewing machines, and for many other purposes where a light motor +is desired. + +The nineteenth century has seen a revolution in _baths_ and accompanying +_closets_. However useful, luxurious, and magnificent may have been the +patrician baths of ancient Rome, that system, which modern investigators +have found to be so complete to a certain extent, was not nor ever has +been in the possession of the poor. It is within the memory of many now +living everywhere how wretched was the sanitary accommodations in every +populous place a generation or two ago. Now, with the modern water +distribution systems and cheap bathing apparatuses which can be brought +to the homes of all, with plunger, valved siphon and valved and washout +closets, air valve, liquid seal, pipe inlet, and valve seal traps, and +with the flushing and other hydraulic cleaning systems for drains and +cesspools, little excuse can be had for want of proper sanitary +regulations in any intelligent community. The result of the adoption of +these modern improvements in this direction on the health of the people +has been to banish plagues, curtail epidemics, and prolong for years the +average duration of human life. + +How multiplied are the uses to which water is put, and how completely it +is being subjected to the use of man! + +Rivers and pipes have their metres, so that now the velocity and volume +of rivers and streams are measured and controlled, and floods prevented. +The supplies for cities and for families are estimated, measured and +recorded as easily as are the supplies of illuminating gas, or the flow +of food from elevators. + +Among the minor, but very useful inventions, are _water scoops_ for +picking up water for a train while in motion, consisting of a curved +open pipe on a car, the mouth of which strikes a current of water in an +open trough between the tracks and picks up and deposits in a minute a +car load of water for the engine. _Nozzles_ to emit jets of great +velocity, and ball nozzles terminating in a cup in which a ball is +loosely seated, and which has the effect, as it is lifted by the jet, to +spread it into an umbrella-shaped spray, are of great value at fires in +quenching flame and smoke. + +Next to pure air to breathe we need pure water to drink, and modern +discoveries and inventions have done and are doing much to help us to +both. Pasteur and others have discovered and explained the germ theory +of disease and to what extent it is due to impure water. Inventors have +produced _filters_, and there is a large class of that character which +render the water pure as it enters the dwelling, and fit for all +domestic purposes. A specimen of the latter class is one which is +attached to the main service pipe as it enters from the street. The +water is first led into a cylinder stored with coarse filtering material +which clears the water of mud, sediment and coarser impurities, and then +is conducted into a second cylinder provided with a mass of fine grained +or powdered charcoal, or some other material which has the quality of +not only arresting all remaining injurious ingredients, but destroys +organisms, neutralises ammonia and other deleterious matter. From thence +the water is returned to the service pipe and distributed through the +house. The filter may be thoroughly cleansed by reversing the movement +of the water, and carrying it off through a drain pipe until it runs +clear and sweet, whereupon the water is turned in its normal course +through the filter and house. + +In a very recent report of General J. M. Wilson, Chief of Engineers, +U.S.A., the subject of filtration of water, and especially of public +water supplies in England, the United States, and on the Continent, is +very thoroughly treated, and the conclusion arrived at there is that the +system termed "the American," or mechanical system, is the most +successful one. + +This consists, first, in leading the water into one or more reservoirs, +then coagulating suspended matter in the water by the use of the +sulphate of alumina, and then allowing the water to flow through a body +of coarse sand, by which the coagulated aluminated matter is caught and +held in the interstices of the sand, and the bacteria arrested. All +objectionable matter is thus arrested by the surface portion of the sand +body, which portion is from time to time scraped off, and the whole sand +mass occasionally washed out by upward currents of water forced through +the same. + +By this system great rapidity of filtration is obtained, the rate being +120,000,000 gallons a day per acre. + +The English system consists more in the use of extended and successive +reservoirs or beds of sand alone, or aided by the use of the sulphate. +This also is extensively used in many large cities. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +PNEUMATICS AND PNEUMATIC MACHINES. + + +"The march of the human mind is slow," exclaimed Burke in his great +speech on "Conciliation with the Colonies." It was at the beginning of +the last quarter of the 18th century that he was speaking, and he was +referring to the slow discovery of the eternal laws of Providence as +applied in the field of political administration to distant colonies. +The same could then have been said of the march of the human mind in the +realms of Nature. How slow had been the apprehension of the forces of +that kind but silent Mother whose strong arms are ever ready to lift and +carry the burdens of men whenever her aid is diligently sought! The +voice of Burke was, however, hardly silent when the human mind suddenly +awoke, and its march in the realms of government and of natural science +since then cannot be regarded as slow. + +More than fifteen centuries before Burke spoke, not only had Greece +discovered the principles of political freedom for its citizens and its +colonies, but the power of steam had been discovered, and experimental +work been done with it. + +Yet when the famous orator made his speech the Grecian experiment was a +toy of Kings, and the steam engine had just developed from this toy into +a mighty engine in the hands of Watt. The age of mechanical inventions +had just commenced with the production of machines for spinning and +weaving. And yet, in view of the rise of learning, and the appearance +from time to time of mighty intellects in the highest walks of science, +the growth of the mind in the line of useful machinery had indeed been +strangely slow. "Learning" had revived in Italy in the 12th and 13th +centuries and spread westward in the 14th. In the 15th, gunpowder and +printing had been discovered, and Scaliger, the famous scholar of Italy, +and Erasmus, the celebrated Dutch philosopher, were the leading +restorers of ancient literature. Science then also revived, and +Copernicus, the Pole, gave us the true theory of the solar system. The +16th century produced the great mathematicians and astronomers Tycho +Brahe, the Dane, Cardan and Galileo, the illustrious Italians, and +Kepler, the German astronomer, whose discovery of the laws of planetary +motion supplemented the works of Copernicus and Galileo and illuminated +the early years of the 17th century. + +In the 17th century appeared Torricelli, the inventor of the barometer; +Guericke, the German, inventor of the air pump; Fahrenheit, the inventor +of the mercurial thermometer bearing his name; Leibnitz, eminent in +every department of science and philosophy; Huygens, the great Dutch +astronomer and philosopher; Pascal of France and Sir Isaac Newton of +England, the worthy successors of Kepler, Galileo and Copernicus; and +yet, with the exception of philosophical discoveries and a few +experiments, the field of invention in the way of motor engines still +remained practically closed. But slight as had been the discoveries and +experiments referred to, they were the mine from which the inventions of +subsequent times were quarried. + +One of the earliest, if not the first of pneumatic machines, was the +bellows. Its invention followed the discovery of fire and of metals. The +bladders of animals suggested it, and their skins were substituted for +the bladders. + +The Egyptians have left a record of its use, thirty-four centuries ago, +and its use has been continuous ever since. + +Mention has been made of the cannon. It was probably the earliest +attempt to obtain motive power from heat. The ball was driven out of an +iron cylinder by the inflammatory power of powder. Let a piston be +substituted for the cannon ball, as was suggested by Huygens in 1680 and +by Papin in 1690, and the charge of powder so reduced that when it is +exploded the piston will not be thrown entirely out of the cylinder, +another small explosive charge introduced on the other side of the +piston to force it back, or let the cylinder be vertical and the piston +be driven back by gravity, means provided to permit the escape of the +gas after it has done its work, and means to keep the cylinder cool, and +we have the prototype of the modern heat engines. The gunpowder +experiments of Huygens and Papin were not successful, but they were the +progenitors of similar inventions made two centuries thereafter. + +Jan Baptista van Helmont, a Flemish physician (1577-1644), was the first +to apply the term, _gas_ to the elastic fluids which resemble air in +physical properties. Robert Boyle, the celebrated Irish scholar and +scientist, and improver of the air pump, and Edwin Mariotte, the French +physicist who was first to show that a feather and a coin will drop the +same distance at the same time in a reservoir exhausted of air, were the +independent discoverers of Boyle's and Mariotte's law of +gases(1650-1676). This was that at any given temperature of a gas which +is at rest its volume varies inversely with the pressure put upon it. It +follows from this law that the density and tension, and therefore the +expansive force of a gas, are proportional to the compressing force to +which it is subjected. It is said that Abbe Hauteville, the son of a +baker of Orleans, about 1678 proposed to raise water by a powder motor; +and that in 1682 he described a machine based on the principle of the +circulation of the blood, produced by the alternate expansion and +contraction of the heart. + +The production of heat by concentrating the rays of the sun, and for +burning objects had been known from the time of Archimedes, and been +repeated from time to time. + +Thus stood this art at the close of the 17th century, and thus it +remained until near the close of the 18th. + +In England Murdock, the Cornish Steam Engineer, was the first to make +and use coal gas for illuminating purposes, which he did in 1792 and +1798. Its utilisation for other practical purposes was then suggested. + +Gas engines as motive powers were first described in the English patent +to John Barber, in 1791, and then in one issued to Robert Street in +1794. Barber proposed to introduce a stream of carbonated hydrogen gas +through one port, and a quantity of air at another, and explode them +against the piston. Street proposed to drive up the piston by the +expansive force of a heated gas, and anticipated many modern ideas. +Phillipe Lebon, a French engineer, in 1799 and in 1801 anticipated in a +theoretical way many ideas since successfully reduced to practice. He +proposed to use coal gas to drive a piston, which in turn should move +the shaft that worked the pumps which forced in the gas and air, and +thus make the machine double-acting; to introduce a charge of +inflammable gas mixed with sufficient air to ignite it; to compress the +air and gas before they entered the motor cylinder; to introduce the +charge alternately on each side of the piston; and he also suggested the +use of the electric spark to fire the mixture. But Lebon was +assassinated and did not live to work out his ideas. + +At the very beginning of the 19th century John Dalton in England, +1801-1807, and Gay-Lussac in France began their investigations of gases +and vapours. Dalton was not only the author of the atomic theory, but +the discoverer of the leading ideas in the "Constitution of Mixed +Gases." These features were the diffusion of gases, the action of gases +on each other in vacuum--the influence of different temperatures upon +them, their chemical constituents and their relative specific gravity. + +Gay-Lussac, continuing his investigations as to expansion of air and +gases under increased temperatures, in 1807-10, established the law that +when free from moisture they all dilate uniformly and to equal amounts +for all equal increments of temperature. He also showed that the gases +combine, as to volume, in simple proportions, and that several of them +on being compounded contracted always in such simple proportions as +one-half, one-third, or one-quarter, of their joint bulk. By these laws +all forms of engines which were made to work through the agency of heat +are classed as heat engines--so that under this head are included steam +engines, air engines, gas engines, vapour engines and solar engines. The +tie that binds these engines into one great family is temperature. It is +the heat that does the work. Whether it is a cannon, the power of which +is manifested in a flash, or the slower moving steam engine, whose +throbbing heart beats not until water is turned to steam, or the sun, +the parent of them all, whose rays are grasped and used direct, the +question in all cases is, what is the amount of heat produced and how +can it be controlled? + +It, then, can make no difference what the agent is that is employed, +whether air, or gas, or steam, or the sun, or gunpowder explosion, but +what is the temperature to be attained in the cylinder or vessel in +which they work. Power is the measure of work done in a given time. +Horse power is the unit of such measurement, and it consists of the +amount of power that is required to raise one pound through a vertical +distance of one foot. This power is pressure and the pressure is heat. +The unit of heat is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature +of a pound of distilled water one degree--from 39 degrees to 40 degrees +F. Its amount or measurement is determined in any instance by a +dynamometer. + +These were the discoveries with which Philosophy opened the nineteenth +century so brilliantly in the field of Pneumatics. + +Before that time it seemed impossible that explosive gases would ever be +harnessed as steam had been and made to do continual successful work in +a cylinder and behind a piston. As yet means were to be found to make +the engine efficient as a double-acting one--to start the untamed steed +at the proper moment and to stop him at the moment he had done his work. + +As Newcomen had been the first in the previous century to apply the +steam engine to practical work--pumping water from mines--so Samuel +Brown of England was the first in this century to invent and use a gas +engine upon the water. + +Brown took out patents in 1823 and 1826. He proposed to use gunpowder +gas as the motive power. His engine was also described in the +_Mechanics' Magazine_ published in London at that time. In the making of +his engine he followed the idea of a steam engine, but used the flame of +an ignited gas jet to create a vacuum within the cylinder instead of +steam. He fitted up an experimental boat with such an engine, and means +upon the boat to generate the gas. The boat was then operated upon the +Thames. He also succeeded experimentally in adapting his engine to a +road carriage. But Brown's machines were cumbrous, complicated, and +difficult to work, and therefore did not come into public use. + +About this time (1823), Davy and Faraday reawakened interest in gas +engines by their discovery that a number of gases could be reduced to a +liquid state, some by great pressure, and others by cold, and that upon +the release of the pressure the gases would return to their original +volume. In the condensation heat was developed, and in re-expansion it +was rendered latent. + +Then Wright in 1833 obtained a patent in which he expounded and +illustrated the principles of expansion and compression of gas and air, +performed in separate cylinders, the production of a vacuum by the +explosion and the use of a water jacket around the cylinder for cooling +it. + +For William Burdett, in 1838, is claimed the honour of having been the +first to invent the means of compressing the gas and air previous to the +explosion, substantially the same as adopted in gas engines of the +present day. + +The defects found in gas engines thus far were want of proper +preliminary compression, then in complete expansion, and finally loss of +heat through the walls. + +Some years later, Lenoir, a Frenchman, invented a gas engine of a +successful type, of which three hundred in 1862 were in use in France. +It showed what could be accomplished by an engine in which the fuel was +introduced and fired directly in the piston cylinder. Its essential +features were a cylinder into which a mixture of gas and air was +admitted at atmospheric pressure, which was maintained until the piston +made half its stroke, when the gas was exploded by an electric spark. A +wheel of great weight was hung upon a shaft which was connected to the +piston, and which weight absorbed the force suddenly developed by the +explosion, and so moderated the speed. Another object of the use of the +heavy wheel was to carry the machine over the one-half of the period in +which the driving power was absent. + +Hugon, another eminent French engineer, invented and constructed a gas +engine on the same principle as Lenair's. + +About this time (1850-60) M. Beau de Rohes, a French engineer, +thoroughly investigated the reasons of the uneconomical working of gas +motors, and found that it was due to want of sufficient compression of +the gas and air previous to explosion, incomplete expansion and loss of +heat through the walls of the cylinder, and he was the first to +formulate a "cycle" of operations necessary to be followed in order to +render a gas engine efficient. They related to the size and dimensions +of the cylinder; the maximum speed of the piston; the greatest possible +expansion, and the highest pressure obtainable at the beginning of the +act of expansion. The study and application of these conditions created +great advancements in gas engines. + +With the discovery and development of the oil wells in the United States +about 1860 a new fuel was found in the crude petroleum, as well as a +source of light. The application of petroleum to engines, either to +produce furnace heat, or as introduced directly into the piston cylinder +mixed with inflammable gas to produce flame heat and expansion, has +given a wonderful impetus to the utilisation of gas engines. + +G. H. Brayton of the United States in 1873 invented a very efficient +engine in which the vapour of petroleum mixed with air constituted the +fuel. Adolf Spiel of Berlin has also recently invented a petroleum +engine. + +Principal among those to whom the world is indebted for the revolution +in the construction of gas engines and its establishment as a successful +rival to the steam engine is Nicolaus A. Otto of Deutz on the Rhine. + +In the Lenair and Hugon system the expansive force of the exploded gas +was used directly upon the piston, and through this upon the other +moving parts. A great noise was produced by these constant explosions. +In the Otto system the explosion is used indirectly and only to produce +a vacuum below the piston, when atmospheric pressure is used to give the +return stroke of the piston and produce the effective work. The Otto +engine is noiseless. This is accomplished by his method of mixing and +admitting the gases. He employs two different mixtures, one a "feebly +explosive mixture," and the other "a strongly explosive mixture," used +to operate on the piston and thus prolong the explosions. + +The mode of operation of one of Otto's most successful engines is as +follows: The large fly wheel is started by hand or other means, and as +the piston moves forward it draws into the cylinder a light charge of +mixed coal gas and air, and the gas inlet is then cut off. As the piston +returns it compresses this mixture. At the moment the down stroke is +completed the compressed mixture is ignited, and, expanding, drives the +piston before it. In the second return stroke the burnt gases are +expelled from the cylinder and the whole made ready to start afresh. +Work is actually done in the piston only during one-quarter of the time +it is in motion. The fly-wheel carries forward the work at the outset +and the gearing the rest of the time. + +Otto was associated with Langen in producing his first machine, and its +introduction at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876 +excited great attention. Otto and E. W. and W. J. Crossley jointly, and +then Otto singly, subsequently patented notable improvements. + +Simon Bischof and Clark, Hurd and Clayton in England; Daimler of Deutz +on the Rhine, Riker and Wiegand of the United States, and others, have +made improvements in the Otto system. + +Ammoniacal gas engines have been successfully invented. _Aqua ammonia_ +is placed in a generator in which it is heated. The heat separates the +ammonia gas from the water, and the gas is then used to operate a +suitable engine. The exhaust gas is cooled, passed into the previously +weakened solution, reabsorbed and returned to the generator. In 1890 +Charles Tellier of France patented an ammoniacal engine, also means for +utilising solar heat and exhaust steam for the same purpose; and in the +same year De Susini, also of France, patented an engine operated by the +vapour of ether; A. Nobel, another Frenchman, in 1894, patented a +machine for propelling torpedoes and other explosive missiles, and for +controlling the course of balloons, the motive power of which is a gas +developed in a closed reservoir by the chemical reaction of metallic +sodium or potassium in a solution of ammonia. These vapour engines are +used for vapour launches, bicycles and automobiles. + +In 1851 the ideas of Huygens and Papin of two hundred years before were +revived by W. M. Storm, who in that year took out a gunpowder engine +patent in the United States, in which the air was compressed by the +explosions of small charges of gunpowder. About fifteen other patents +have been taken out in America since that time for such engines. In some +the engines are fed by cartridges which are exploded by pulling a +trigger. + +As to gas and vapor engines generally, it may now be said, in comparison +with steam, that although the steam engine is now regarded as almost +perfect in operation, and that it can be started and stopped and +otherwise controlled quietly, smoothly, instantaneously, and in the most +uniform and satisfactory manner, yet there is the comparatively long +delay in generating the steam in the boiler, and the loss of heat and +power as it is conducted in pipes to the working cylinder, resulting in +the utilisation of only ten per cent of the actual power generated, +whereas gas and vapour engines utilise twenty-five per cent of the power +generated, and the flame and explosions are now as easily and +noiselessly controlled as the flow of oil or water. The world is coming +to agree with Prof. Fleeming Jenkins that "Gas engines will ultimately +supplant the steam." + +The smoke and cinder nuisance with them has been solved. + +The sister invention of the gas engine is the air engine. There can be +no doubt about the success of this busy body, as it is now a swift and +successful motor in a thousand different fields. Machines in which air, +either hot or cold, is used in place of steam as the moving power to +drive a piston, or to be driven by a piston, are known generally as air, +caloric, or hot-air engines, air compressors, or compressed air engines, +and are also classed as pneumatic machines, air brakes, or pumps. They +are now specifically known by the name of the purpose to which they are +applied, as air ship, ventilator, air brake, fan blower, air pistol, air +spring, etc. + +The attention of inventors was directed towards compressed and heated +air as a motor as soon as steam became a known and efficient servant; +but the most important and the only successful air machine existing +prior to this century was the air pump, invented by Guericke in 1650, +and subsequently perfected by Robert Boyle and others. The original pump +and the Magdeburg hemispheres are still preserved. + +It is recorded that Amontons of France, in 1699, had an atmospheric fire +wheel or air engine in which a heated column of air was made to drive a +wheel. + +It has already been noted what Papin (1680-1690) proposed and did in +steam. His last published work was a Latin essay upon a new system for +raising water by the action of fire, published in 1707. + +The action of confined and compressed steam and gases, and air, is so +nearly the same in the machines in which they constitute the motive +power that the history, development, construction, and operation of the +machines of one class are closely interwoven with those of the others. + +Taking advantage of what had been taught them by Watt and others as to +steam and steam engines, and of the principles and laws of gases as +expounded by Boyle, Mariotte, Dalton, and Gay-Lussac, that many of the +gases, such as air, preserve a permanent expansive gaseous form under +all degrees of temperature and compression to which they had as yet been +subjected, that when compressed and released they will expand, and exert +a pressure in the contrary direction until the gas and outside +atmospheric pressure are in equilibrium, that this compressed gas +pressure is equal, and transmitted equally in all directions, and that +the weight of a column of air resting on every horizontal square inch at +the sea level is very nearly 14.6 pounds, the inventors of the +nineteenth century were enabled by this supreme illumination to enter +with confidence into that work of mechanical contrivances which has +rendered the age so marvellous. + +It was natural that in the first development of mechanical appliances +they should be devoted to those pursuits in which men had the greatest +practical interest. Thus as to steam it was first applied to the raising +of water from mines and then to road vehicles. And so in 1800 Thos. +Parkinson of England invented and patented an "hydrostatic engine or +machine for the purpose of drawing beer or any other liquid out of a +cellar or vault in a public house, which is likewise intended to be +applied for raising water out of mines, ships or wells. By the use of a +sort of an air pump he maintained an air pressure on the beer in an +air-tight cask situated in the cellar, which was connected with pipes +having air-tight valves, with the upper floor. The liquid was forced +from the cellar by the air pressure, and when turned off, the air +pressure was resumed in the cask, which "preserved the beer from being +thrown into a state of flatness." Substantially the same device in +principle has been reinvented and incorporated in patents numerous times +since. + +In the innumerable applications of the pneumatic machines and air tools +of the century, especially of air-compressing devices, to the daily uses +of life, we may, by turning first to our home, find its inner and outer +walls painted by a pneumatic paint-spraying machine, for such have been +made that will coat forty-six thousand square feet of surface in six +hours; and it is said that paint can be thus applied not only more +quickly, but more thoroughly and durably than by the old process. The +periodical and fascinating practice of house cleaning is now greatly +facilitated by an air brush having a pipe with a thin wide end in which +are numerous perforations, and through which the air is forced by a +little pump, and with which apparatus a far more efficient cleaning +effect upon carpets, mattresses, curtains, clothes, and furniture can be +obtained than by the time-honoured broom and duster. + +Is the home uncomfortable by reason of heat and summer insects? A +compressor having tanks or cisterns in the cellar filled with cool or +cold air may be set to work to reduce the temperature of the house and +fan the inmates with a refreshing breeze. + +Air engines have been invented which can be used to either heat or cool +the air, or do one or the other automatically. The heating when wanted +is by fuel in a furnace forced up by a working cylinder, and the cooling +by the circulation of water around small, thin copper tubes through +which the air passes to the cylinder. + +Do the chimes of the distant church bells lead one to the house of +worship? The worshipper goes with the comforting assurance that the +chimes which send forth such sweet harmonies are operated not by +toiling, sweating men at ropes, but by a musician who plays as upon an +organ, and works the keys, valves and stops by the aid of compressed +air, and sometimes by the additional help of electricity. + +Mention has already been made of office and other elevators, in which +compressed air is an important factor in operating the same and for +preventing accidents. + +If a waterfall is convenient, air is compressed by the body of +descending water, and used to ventilate tunnels, and deep shafts and +mines, or drive the drills or other tools. + +The pneumatic mail tube despatch system, by which letters, parcels, +etc., are sent from place to place by the force of atmospheric pressure +in an air-exhausted tube, is a decidedly modern invention, unknown in +use even by those who are still children. Tubes as large as eight inches +in diameter are now in use in which cartridge boxes are placed, each +holding six hundred or more letters, and when the air is exhausted the +cartridge is forced through the tubes to the distance sometimes of three +miles and more in a few minutes. + +In travelling by rail the train is now guided in starting or in stopping +on to the right track, which may be one out of forty or fifty, by a +pneumatic switch, the switches for the whole number of tracks being +under the control of a single operator. The fast-moving train is stopped +by an air brake, and the locomotive bell is rung by touching an air +cylinder. The "baggage smashing," a custom more honoured in the breach +than in the observance, is prevented by a pneumatic baggage arrangement +consisting of an air-containing cylinder, and an arm on which to place +the baggage, and which arm is then quickly raised by the cylinder piston +and is automatically swung around by a cam action carrying the baggage +out of or into the car. + +Bridge building has been so facilitated by the use of pneumatic machines +for raising heavy loads of stone and iron, and for riveting and +hammering, and other air tools, aided by the development in the art of +quick transportation, that a firm of bridge builders in America can +build a splendid bridge in Africa within a hundred days after the +contract has been entered upon. + +Ship building is hastened by these same air drilling and riveting +machines. + +The propelling of cars, road vehicles, boats, balloons, and even ships, +by explosive gases and compressed air is an extensive art in itself, yet +still in its infancy, and will be more fully described in the chapter on +carrying machines. + +The realm of Art has received a notable advancement by the use of a +little blow-pipe or atomiser by which the pigments forming the +background on beautiful vases are blown with just that graduated force +desired by the operator to produce the most exquisitely smooth and +blended effects, while the varying colours are made to melt +imperceptibly into one another as delicately as the mingled shade and +coloured sunlight fall on a forest brook. + +But to enumerate the industrial arts to which air and other pneumatic +machines have been adapted would be to catalogue them all. Mention is +made of others in chapters in which those special arts are treated. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ART OF HEATING, VENTILATING, COOKING, REFRIGERATION AND LIGHTING. + + +That Prometheus stole fire from heaven to give it to man is perhaps as +authentic an account of the invention of fire as has been given. It is +also reported that he brought it to earth in a hollow tube. If a small +stick or twig had then been dipped into the divine fire the suggestion +of the modern match may be supposed to have been made. + +But men went on to reproduce the fire in the old way by rubbing pieces +of wood together, or using the flint, the steel and the tinder until +1680, when Godfrey Hanckwitz of London, learning of the recent discovery +of phosphorus and its nature, and inspired by the Promethean idea, +wrapped the phosphorus in folds of brown paper, rubbed it until it took +fire, and then ignited thereat one end of a stick which he had dipped in +sulphur; and this is commonly known as the first invented match. There +followed the production of a somewhat different form of match, sticks +first dipped in sulphur, and then in a composition of chlorate potash, +sulphur, colophony, gum of sugar, and cinnabar for coloring. These were +arranged in boxes, and were accompanied by a vial containing sulphuric +acid, into which the match was dipped and thereby instantly ignited. +These were called chemical matches and were sold at first for the high +price of fifteen shillings a box. + +They were too costly for common use, and so our fathers went on to the +nineteenth century using the flint, the steel and the tinder, and +depending on the coal kept alive upon their own or their neighbour's +hearth. + +Prometheus, however, did reappear about 1820-25, when a match bearing +the name "Promethean" was invented. It consisted of a roll of paper +treated with sugar and chlorate of potash and a small cell containing +sulphuric acid. This cell was broken by a pair of pliers and the acid +ignited the composition by contact therewith. + +It was not until 1827-29 that John Walker, chemist, at +Stockton-upon-Tees, improved upon the idea of Prometheus and Hanckwitz +of giving fire to men in a hollow tube. He used folded sanded paper--it +may have been a tube--and through this he drew a stick coated with +chlorate of potash and phosphorus. This successful match was named +"Lucifer," whose other name was Phosphor, the Morning Star, and the King +of the Western Land. Faraday, to whom also was given Promethean +inspiration, procured some of Walker's matches and brought them to +public notice. + +In many respects the mode of their manufacture has been improved, but in +principle of composition and ignition they remain the same as Walker's +to-day. In 1845, Schrotter of Vienna discovered amorphous or allotropic +phosphorus, which rendered the manufacture of matches less dangerous to +health and property. Tons of chemicals and hundreds of pine trees are +used yearly in the making of matches, and many hundreds of millions of +them are daily consumed. + +But this vast number of matches could not be supplied had it not been +for the invention of machines for making and packing them. Thus in 1842 +Reuben Partridge of America patented a machine for making splints. +Others for making splints and the matches separately, quickly followed. +Together with these came match dipping and match box machines. The +splint machines were for slitting a block of wood of the proper height +downward nearly the whole way into match splints, leaving their butts in +the solid wood. These were square and known as block matches. Other +mechanisms cut and divided the block into strips, which were then dipped +at one end, dried and tied in bundles. By other means, a swing blade, +for instance, the matches were all severed from the block. Matches are +made round by one machine by pressing the block against a plate having +circular perforations, and the interspaces are beveled so as to form +cutting edges. + +Poririer, a Frenchman, invented a machine for making match boxes of +pasteboard. Suitable sized rectangular pieces of pasteboard rounded at +the angles for making the body of the box are first cut, then these +pieces are introduced into the machine, where by the single blow of a +plunger they are forced into a matrix or die and pressed, and receive by +this single motion their complete and final shape. The lid is made in +the same way. + +By one modern invention matches after they are cut are fed into a +machine at the rate of one hundred thousand an hour, on to a horizontal +table, each match separated from the other by a thin partition. They are +thus laid in rows, one row over another, and while being laid, the +matches are pushed out a little way beyond the edge of the table, a +distance far enough to expose their ends and to permit them to be +dipped. When a number of these rows are completed they are clamped +together in a bundle and then dipped--first, into a vessel of hot +sulphur, and then into one of phosphorus, or other equivalent +ingredients may be used or added. After the dipping they are subjected +to a drying process and then boxed. Processes differ, but all are +performed by machinery. + +In many factories where phosphorus is used without great care workmen +have been greatly affected thereby. The fumes of the phosphorus attack +the teeth, especially when decayed, and penetrate to the jaw, causing +its gradual destruction, but this has been avoided by proper +precautions. + +The greatly-increased facility of kindling a fire by matches gave an +impetus to the invention of _cooking and heating stoves_. Of course +stoves, generically speaking, are not a production of the nineteenth +century. The Romans had their _laconicum_ or heating stove, which from +its name was an invention from Laconia. It probably was made in most +cases of brick or marble, but might have been of beaten iron, was +cylindrical in shape, with an open cupola at the top, and was heated by +the flames of the _hypocaust_ beneath. The _hypocaust_ was a hot-air +furnace built in the basement or cellar of the house and from which the +heat was conducted by flues to the bath rooms and other apartments. The +Chinese ages ago heated their hollow tiled floors by underground furnace +fires. We know of the _athanor_ of the alchemists of the middle ages. +Knight calls it the "original base-burning furnace." A furnace of iron +or earthenware was provided on one side with an open stack or tower +which opened at the bottom into the furnace, and which stack was kept +filled with charcoal, or other fuel, which fed itself automatically into +the furnace as the fuel on the bed thereof burned away. Watt introduced +an arrangement on the same principle in his steam boiler furnace in +1767, and thousands of stoves are now constructed within England and the +United States also embodying the same principle. + +The earthenware and soapstone stoves of continental Europe were used +long before the present century. + +In Ben Franklin's time in the American Colonies there was not much of a +demand for stoves outside of the largest cities, where wood was getting +a little scarce and high, but the philosopher not only deemed it proper +to invent an improvement in chimneys to prevent their smoking and to +better heat the room, but also devised an improved form of stove, and +both inventions have been in constant use unto this day. Franklin +invented and introduced his celebrated stove, which he called the +Pennsylvania Fire Place, in 1745, having all the advantages of a +cheerful open fireplace, and a heat producer; and which consisted of an +iron stove with an open front set well into the room, in which front +part the fire was kindled, and the products of combustion conducted up a +flue, and thence under a false back and up the chimney. Open heat spaces +were left between the two flues. Air inlets and dampers were provided. +In his description of this stove at that time Franklin also referred to +the iron box stoves used by the Dutch, the iron plates extending from +the hearths and sides, etc., chimneys making a double fireplace used by +the French, and the German stove of iron plates, and so made that the +fuel had to be put into it from another room or from the outside of the +house. He dwells upon the pleasure of an open fire, and the destruction +of this pleasure by the use of the closed stoves. He also describes the +discomforts of the fireplace in cold weather--of the "cold draught +nipping one's back and heels"--"scorched before and frozen behind"--the +sharp draughts of cold from crevices from which many catch cold and from +"whence proceed coughs, catarrhs, toothaches, fevers, pleurisies and +many other diseases." Added to the pleasure of seeing the crackling +flames, feeling the genial warmth, and the diffusion of a spirit of +sociability and hospitality, is the fact of increased purity of the air +by reason of the fireplace as a first-class ventilator. Hence it will +never be discarded by those who can afford its use; but it alone is +inadequate for heating and cooking purposes. It is modernly used as a +luxury by those who are able to combine with it other means for heating. + +The great question for solution in this art at all times has been how to +produce through dwelling houses and larger buildings in cold and damp +weather a uniform distribution and circulation of pure heated air. The +solution of this question has of course been greatly helped in modern +times by a better knowledge of the nature of air and other gases, and +the laws which govern their motions and combinations at different +temperatures. + +The most successful form of heating coal stove of the century has been +one that combined in itself the features of base-burning: that is, a +covered magazine at the centre or back of the stove open at or near the +top of the stove into which the coal is placed, and which then feeds to +the bottom of the fire pot as fast as the coal is consumed, a heavy open +fire pot placed as low as possible, an ash grate connected with the +bottom of the pot which can be shaken and dumped to an ash box beneath +without opening the stove, thus preventing the escape of the dust, an +illuminating chamber nearly or entirely surrounding the fire pot, +provided with mica windows, through which the fire is reflected and the +heat radiated, a chamber above the fire pot and surrounding the fuel +chamber and into which the heat and hot gases arise, producing +additional radiating surface and permitting the gases to escape through +a flue in the chimney, or, leading them first through another chamber to +the base of the stove and thence out, and dampers to control and +regulate the supply of air to the fuel, and to cut off the escape or +control the course of the products of combustion. + +The cheerful stove fireplace and stove of Franklin and the French were +revived, combined and improved some years ago by Capt. Douglas Galton of +the English army for use in barracks, but this stove is also admirably +adapted for houses. It consists of an open stove or grate set in or at +the front of the fireplace with an air inlet from without, the throat of +the fireplace closed and a pipe extending through it from the stove into +the chimney. Although a steady flow of heat, desirable regulation of +temperature and great economy in the consumption of fuel, by reason of +the utilisation of so much of the heat produced, were obtained by the +modern stove, yet the necessity of having a stove in nearly every room, +the ill-ventilation due to the non-supply of pure outer air to the room, +the occasional diffusion of ash dust and noxious gases from the stove, +and inability to heat the air along the floor, gave rise to a revival of +the hot-air furnace, placed under the floor in the basement or cellar, +and many modern and radical improvements therein. + +The heat obtained from stoves is effected by radiation--the throwing +outward of the waves of heat from its source, while the heat obtained +from a hot-air furnace is effected by convection--the moving of a body +of air to be heated to the source of heat, and then when heated bodily +conveyed to the room to be warmed. Hence in stoves and fireplaces only +such obstruction is placed between the fire and the room as will serve +to convey away the obnoxious smoke and gases, and the greatest facility +is offered for radiation, while in hot-air furnaces, although provision +is also made to carry away the smoke and impure gases, yet the radiation +is confined as closely as possible to chambers around the fire space, +which chambers are protected by impervious linings from the outer air, +and into which fresh outdoor air is introduced, then heated and conveyed +to different apartments by suitable pipes or flues, and admitted or +excluded, as desired, by registers operated by hand levers. + +There are stationary furnaces and portable furnaces; the former class +enclose the heating apparatus in walls of brick or other masonry, while +in the latter the outer casing and the inner parts are metal structures, +separable and removable. In both classes an outer current of pure air is +made to course around the fire chamber and around among other flues and +chambers through which the products of combustion are carried, so that +all heat possible is utilised. Vessels of water are supplied at the most +convenient place in one of the hot-air chambers to moisten and temper +the air, and dampers are placed in the pipes to regulate and guide the +supply of heat to the rooms above. + +After Watt had invented his improvements on the steam engine the idea +occurred to him of using steam for heating purposes. Accordingly, in +1784, he made a hollow sheet-iron box of plates, and supplied it with +steam from the boiler of the establishment. It had an air-escape cock, +and condensed-water-escape pipe; and in 1799 Boulton and Watt +constructed a heating apparatus in Lee's factory, Manchester, in which +the steam was conducted through cast-iron pipes, which also served as +supports to the floor. Patents were also taken out by others in England +for steam-heating apparatuses during the latter part of the 18th +century. + +Heating by the circulation of hot water through pipes was also +originated or revived during the 18th century, and a short time before +Watt's circulation of steam. It is said that Bonnemain of England, in +1777, desiring to improve the ancient methods of hatching poultry by +artificial heat--practised by both ancient and modern Egyptians ages +before it became a latter day wonder, and taught the Egyptians by the +ostriches--conceived the idea of constructing quite a large incubator +building with shelves for the eggs, coops for holding the chickens, and +a tube for circulating hot water leading from a boiler below and above +each shelf, and through the coops, and back to the boiler. This +incubator contains the germs of modern water heaters. In both the steam +and water heating systems the band or collection of pipes in each room +may be covered with ornamental radiating plates, or otherwise treated or +arranged to render them sightly and effective. In one form of the +hot-water system, however, the collection of a mass of pipes in the +rooms is dispensed with, and the pipes are massed in an air chamber over +or adjacent to the furnace, where they are employed to heat a current of +air introduced from the outside, and which heated pure air is conveyed +through the house by flues and registers as in the hot-air furnace +system. + +The hanging of the crane, the turning of the spit, the roasting in ashes +and on hot stones, the heating of and the baking in the big "Dutch" +ovens, and some other forms of cooking by our forefathers had their +pleasures and advantages, and still are appreciated under certain +circumstances, and for certain purposes, but are chiefly honoured in +memory alone and reverenced by disuse; while the modern cooking stove +with its roasting and hot water chambers, its numerous seats over the +fire for pots, pans, and kettles, its easy means of controlling and +directing the heat, its rotating grate, and, when desired, its rotating +fire chamber, for turning the hot fire on top to the bottom, and the +cold choked fire to the top, its cleanliness and thorough heat, its +economy in the use of fuel, is adopted everywhere, and all the glowing +names with which its makers and users christen it fail to exaggerate its +qualities when rightly made and used. + +It would appear that the field of labour and the number of labourers, +chiefly those who toiled with brick and mortar, were greatly reduced +when those huge fireplaces were so widely discarded. This must have +seemed so especially in those regions where the houses were built up to +meet the yearning wants of an outside chimney, but armies of men are +engaged in civilised countries in making stoves and furnaces, where +three-quarters of a century ago very few were so employed. As in every +industrial art old things pass away, but the new things come in greater +numbers, demand a greater number of workers, develop new wants, new +fields of labour, and the new and increasing supply of consumers refuse +to be satisfied with old contrivances. + +In the United States alone there are between four and five hundred stove +and furnace foundries, in which about ten thousand people are employed, +and more than three million stoves and furnaces produced annually, which +require nearly a million tons of iron to make, and the value of which is +estimated as at least $100,000,000. + +The matter of _ventilation_ is such a material part of heating that it +cannot escape attention. There can be no successful heating without a +circulation of air currents, and fortunately for man in his house no +good fire can be had without an outflow of heat and an inflow of cooler +air. The more this circulation is prevented the worse the fire and the +ventilation. + +It seems to many such a simple thing, this change of air--only to keep +open the window a little--to have a fireplace, and convenient door. And +yet some of the brightest intellects of the century have been engaged in +devising means to accomplish the result, and all are not yet agreed as +to which is the best way. + +How to remove the heated, vitiated air and to supply fresh air while +maintaining the same uniform temperature is a problem of long standing. +The history of the attempts to heat and ventilate the Houses of +Parliament since Wren undertook it in 1660 has justly been said to be +history of the Art of Ventilation since that time, as the most eminent +scientific authorities in the world have been engaged or consulted in +it, and the most exhaustive reports on the subject have been rendered by +such men as Gay-Lussac, Sir Humphry Davy, Faraday and Dr. Arnott of +England and Gen. Morin of France. The same may be said in regard to the +Houses of Congress in the United States Capitol for the past thirty-five +years. Prof. Henry, Dr. Billings, the architect, Clark, of that country, +and many other bright inventors and men of ability have given the +subject devoted attention. Among the means for creating ventilation are +underground tunnels leading to the outer air, with fans in them to force +the fresh air in or draw the poor air out, holes in the ceiling, fire +places, openings over the doors, openings under the eaves, openings in +the window frames, shafts from the floor or basement with fires or gas +jets to create an upward draught, floors with screened openings to the +outer air, steam engines to work a suction pipe in one place and a blow +pipe in another, air boxes communicating with the outer air, screens, +hoods, and deflectors at these various openings,--all these, separately +or in combination, have been used for the purpose of drawing the +vitiated air out and letting the pure air in without creating draughts +to chill the sensitive, or overheating to excite the nervous. + +There seems to have been as many devices invented to keep a house or +building closed up tight while highly heating it, as to ventilate the +same and preserve an even, moderate temperature. + +The most approved system of ventilation recognises the fact that air is +of the same weight and is possessed of the same constituents in one part +of a room as at another, and to create a perfect ventilation a complete +change and circulation must take place. It therefore creates a draught, +arising from the production of a vacuum by a current of heat or by +mechanical means, or by some other way, which draws out of a room the +used up, vitiated air through outlets at different places, while pure +outer air is admitted naturally, or forced in if need be, through +numerous small inlets, such outlets and inlets so located and +distributed and protected as not to give rise to sensible draughts on +the occupants. + +The best system also recognises the fact that all parts of a house, its +cellars and attic, its parlours and kitchens, its closets, bathrooms and +chambers, should be alike clean and well ventilated, and that if one +room is infected all are infected. + +The laurels bestowed on inventors are no more worthily bestowed than on +those who have invented devices which give to our homes, offices, +churches and places of amusement a pure and comfortable atmosphere. + +_Car Heaters._--The passing away of the good old portable foot stove for +warming the feet, especially when away from home, and while travelling, +is not to be regretted, although in some instances it was not at first +succeeded by superior devices. For a long time after the introduction of +steam, railroad cars and carriages, in which any heat at all was used, +were heated by a stove in each car--generally kept full of red hot coal +or wood--an exceedingly dangerous companion in case of accident. Since +1871 systems have been invented and introduced, the most successful of +which consists of utilising the heat of the steam from the locomotive +for producing a hot-water circulation through pipes along the floor of +each car, and in providing an emergency heater in each car for heating +the water when steam from the locomotive is not available. + +_Grass-burning Stoves._--There are many places in this world where +neither wood nor coal abound, or where the same are very scarce, but +where waste grass and weeds, waste hay and straw, and similar +combustible refuse are found in great abundance. Stoves have been +invented especially designed for the economical consumption of such +fuel. One requisite is that such light material should be held in a +compressed state while in the stove to prevent a too rapid combustion. +Means for so holding the material under compression appear to have been +first invented and patented by Hamilton of America in 1874. + +Some means besides the sickle and scythe, hoe and plough, were wanted to +destroy obnoxious standing grass and weeds. A weed like the Russian +thistle, for instance, will defy all usual means for its extermination. +A fire chamber has been invented which when drawn over the ground will +burn a swath as it advances, and it is provided with means, such as a +wide flange on the end of the chamber, which extinguishes the fire and +prevents its spreading beyond the path. A similar stove with jets of +flame from vapour burners has been used to soften hard asphalt pavement +when it is desired to take it up. + +The art of heating and cooking by oil, vapour and gas stoves is one that +has arisen during the latter half of this century, and has become the +subject of a vast number of inventions and extensive industries. Stoves +of this character are as efficient and economical as coal stoves, and +are in great demand, especially where coal and wood are scarce and +high-priced. + +_Oil stoves_ as first invented consisted of almost the ordinary lamp, +without the glass shade set in the stove and were similar to gas stoves. +But these were objectionable on account of the fumes emitted. By later +inventions the lamp has been greatly improved. The wick is arranged +within tubular sliding cylinders so as to be separated from the other +parts of the stove when it is not lit, and better regulating devices +adopted, whereby the oil is prevented from spreading from the wick on to +the other parts of the stove, which give rise to obnoxious fumes by +evaporation and heating. Some recent inventors have dispensed with the +wick altogether and the oil is burned practically like vapour. +_Gasoline_, and other heavy oily vapours are in many stoves first +vapourised by a preliminary heating in a chamber before the gas is +ignited for use. These vapours are then conducted by separate jets to +different points in the stove where the heat is to be applied. The +danger and unpleasant flame and smoke arising from this vapourising in +the stove have been obviated by inventions which vapourise the fuel by +other means, as by carbonating, or loading the air with the vapour in an +elevated chamber and conducting the saturated air to the burners; or by +agitation, by means of a quick-acting, small, but powerful fan. + +_Sterilising._--The recent scientific discoveries and investigations of +injurious bacteria rendered it desirable to purify water by other means +than filtering, especially for the treatment of disease-infected +localities; and this gave rise to the invention of a system of heat +sterilising and filtering the water, in one process, and out of contact +with the germ-laden air, thus destroying the bacteria and delivering the +water in as pure and wholesome condition as possible. West in 1892 +patented such a system. + +_Electric Heating and Cooking._--Reference has already been made in the +Chapter on Electricity to the use of that agent in heating and cooking. +The use of the electric current for these purposes has been found to be +perfectly practical, and for heating cars especially, where electricity +is the motive power, a portion of the current is economically employed. + +The art of heating and cooking naturally suggests the other end of the +line of temperature--_Refrigeration_. + +A refrigeration by which ordinary ice is artificially produced, +perishable food of all kinds preserved for long times, and transported +for great distances, which has proved an immense advantage to mankind +everywhere and is still daily practised to the gratification and comfort +of millions of men, must receive at least a passing notice. The Messrs. +E. and F. Carre of France invented successful machines about 1870 for +making ice by the rapid absorption and evaporation of heat by the +ammonia process. The discoveries and inventions of others in the +artificial production of cold by means of volatile liquids, whether for +the making of ice or other purposes, constituted a great step in the art +of refrigeration. + +Vaporisation, absorption, compression or reduction of atmospheric +pressure are the principal methods of producing cold. By vaporisation, +water, ether, sulphuric acid, ammonia, etc., in assuming the vaporous +form change sensible heat to latent heat and produce a degree of cold +which freezes an adjacent body of water. The principle of making ice by +evaporation and absorption may be illustrated by two examples of the +Carre methods:--It is well known what a great attraction sulphuric acid +has for water. Water to be frozen is placed in a vessel connected by a +pipe to a reservoir containing sulphuric acid. A vacuum is produced in +this reservoir by the use of an air pump, while the acid is being +constantly stirred. Lessening of the atmospheric pressure upon water +causes its evaporation, and as the vapour is quietly absorbed by the +sulphuric acid the water is quickly congealed. It is known that ammonia +can be condensed into liquid form by pressure or cold, and is absorbed +by and soluble in water to an extraordinary degree. A generator +containing a strong solution of ammonia is connected by a pipe to an +empty receiver immersed in cold water. The ammonia generator is then +heated, its vapour driven off and conducted to a jacket around the +centre of the receiver and is there condensed by pressure of an air +pump. The central cylindrical space in the receiver is now filled with +water, and the operation is reversed. The generator is immersed in cold +water and pressure on the liquid ammonia removed. The liquid ammonia now +passes into the gaseous state, and is conducted to and reabsorbed by the +water in the generator. But in this evaporation great cold is produced +and the water in the receiver is soon frozen. + +Twining's inventions in the United States in 1853 and 1862 of the +compression machine, followed by Pictet of France, and a number of +improvements elsewhere have bid fair to displace the absorption method. +In dispensing with absorption these machines proceed on the now +well-established theory that air and many other gases become heated when +compressed; that this heat can then be drawn away, and that when the gas +is allowed to re-expand it will absorb a large amount of heat from any +solid or fluid with which it is brought in contact, and so freeze it. +Accordingly such machines are so constructed that by the operation of a +piston, or pistons, in a cylinder, and actuated by steam or other motive +power, the air or gas is compressed to the desired temperature, the heat +led off and the cold vapour conducted through pipes and around chambers +where water is placed and where it is frozen. By the best machines from +five hundred to one thousand pounds of ice an hour are produced. + +The art of refrigeration and of modern transportation have brought the +fruits of the tropics in great abundance to the doors of the dwellers of +the north, and from the shores of the Pacific to the Atlantic and across +the Atlantic to Europe. A train of refrigerator cars in California laden +with delicious assorted fruits, and provided with fan blowers driven by +the car axles to force the air through ice chambers, from whence it is +distributed by perforated pipes through the fruit chambers, and wherein +the temperature is maintained at about 40 deg. Fah., can be landed in New +York four days after starting on its journey of 3,000 miles, with the +fruits in perfect condition. + +But the public is still excited and wondering over the new king of +refrigeration--_liquid air_. + +As has been stated, the compression of air to produce cold is a modern +discovery applied to practical uses, and prominent among the inventors +and discoverers in this line have been Prof. Dewar and Charles E. +Tripler. + +Air may be compressed and heat generated in the process withdrawn until +the temperature of the air is reduced to 312 deg. below zero, at which point +the air is visible and to a certain extent assumes a peculiar material +form, in which form it can be confined in suitable vessels and used as a +refrigerant and as a motor of great power when permitted to re-expand. +It is said that it was not so long ago when Prof. Dewar produced the +first ounce of liquid air at a cost of $3,000, but that now Mr. Tripler +claims that he can produce it by his apparatus for five cents a gallon. + +Refrigeration is at present its most natural and obvious use, and it is +claimed that eleven gallons of the material when gradually expanded has +the refrigerating power of one ton of ice. Its use of course for all +purposes for which cold can be used is thus assured. It is also to be +used as a motor in the running of various kinds of engines. It is to be +used as a great alleviator of human suffering in lowering and regulating +the temperature of hospitals in hot weather, and in surgical operations +as a substitute for anaesthetics and cauterising agents. + +It was one of the marvellous attractions at the great Paris Exposition +of 1900. + +Lighting is closely allied to the various subjects herein considered, +but consideration of the various modes and kinds of lamps for lighting +will be reserved for the Chapter on Furniture for Houses, etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +METALLURGY. + + "Nigh on the plain, in many cells prepared, + That underneath had veins of liquid fire + Sluiced from the lake, a second multitude + With wondrous art founded the massy ore; + Severing each kind, and scumm'd the bullion dross; + A third as soon had formed within the ground + A various mould, and from the boiling cells + By strange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook; + As in an organ, from one blast of wind, + To many a row of pipes the sound board breathes." + --_Paradise Lost._ + + +Ever since those perished races of men who left no other record but that +engraven in rude emblems on the rocks, or no other signs of their +existence but in the broken tools found buried deep among the solid +leaves of the crusted earth, ever since Tubal Cain became "an instructor +of every artificer in brass and iron," the art of smelting has been +known. The stone age flourished with implements furnished ready-made by +nature, or needing little shaping for their use, but the ages of metal +which followed required the aid of fire directed by the hand of man to +provide the tool of iron or bronze. + +The Greeks claimed that the discovery of iron was theirs, and was made +at the burning of a forest on the mountains of Ida in Crete, about 1500 +B. C., when the ore contained in the rocks or soil on which the forest +stood was melted, cleansed of its impurities, and then collected and +hammered. Archeologists have deprived the Greeks of this gift, and +carried back its origin to remoter ages and localities. + +Man first discovered by observation or accident that certain stones were +melted or softened by fire, and that the product could be hammered and +shaped. They learned by experience that the melting could be done more +effectually when the fuel and the ore were mixed and enclosed by a wall +of stone; that the fire and heat could be alone started and maintained +by blowing air into the fuel--and they constructed a rude bellows for +this purpose. Finding that the melted metal sank through the mass of +consumed fuel, they constructed a stone hearth on which to receive it. +Thus were the first crude furnace and hearth invented. + +As to gold, silver and lead, they doubtless were found first in their +native state and mixed with other ores and were hammered into the +desired shapes with the hardest stone implements. + +That copper and tin combined would make bronze was a more complex +proceeding and probably followed instead of preceding, as has sometimes +been alleged, the making of iron tools. That bronze relics were found +apparently of anterior manufacture to any made of iron, was doubtless +due to the destruction of the iron by that great consumer--oxygen. + +What was very anciently called "brass" was no doubt gold-coloured +copper; for what is modernly known as brass was not made until after the +discovery of zinc in the 16th century and its combination with copper. + +Among the "lost arts" re-discovered in later ages are those which +supplied the earliest cities with ornamented vessels of gold and copper, +swords of steel that bent and sprung like whalebones, castings that had +known no tool to shape their contour and embellishments, and monuments +and tablets of steel and brass which excite the wonder and admiration of +the best "artificers in brass and iron" of the present day. + +To understand and appreciate the advancements that have been made in +metallurgy in the nineteenth century, it is necessary to know, in +outline at least, what before had been developed. + +The earliest form of a smelting furnace of historic days, such as used +by the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, and probably by the Hindoos and other +ancient peoples, and still used in Asia, is thus described by Dr Ure: + +"The furnace or bloomary in which the ore is smelted is from 4 to 5 feet +high; it is somewhat pear-shaped, being about 5 feet wide at bottom and +1 at top. It is built entirely of clay. There is an opening in front +about a foot or more in height which is filled with clay at the +commencement, and broken down at the end of each smelting operation. The +bellows are usually made of two goatskins with bamboo nozzles, which are +inserted into tubes of clay that pass into the furnace. The furnace is +filled with charcoal, and a lighted coal being introduced before the +nozzle, the mass in the interior is soon kindled. As soon as this is +accomplished, a small portion of the ore previously moistened with water +to prevent it from running through the charcoal, but without any flux +whatever, is laid on top of the coals, and covered with charcoal to fill +up the furnace. In this manner ore and fuel are supplied and the bellows +urged for three or four hours. When the process is stopped and the +temporary wall in front broken down the bloom is removed with a pair of +tongs from the bottom of the furnace." + +This smelting was then followed by hammering to further separate the +slag, and probably after a reheating to increase the malleability. + +It will be noticed that in this earliest process pure carbon was used as +a fuel, and a blast of air to keep the fire at a great heat was +employed. To what extent this carbon and air blast, and the mixing and +remixing with other ingredients, and reheating and rehammering, may have +been employed in various instances to modify the conditions and render +the metal malleable and more or less like modern steel, is not known, +but that an excellent quality of iron resembling modern steel was often +produced by this simple mode of manufacture by different peoples, is +undoubtedly the fact. Steel after all is iron with a little more carbon +in it than in the usual iron in the smelting furnace, to render it +harder, and a little less carbon than in cast or moulded iron to render +it malleable, and in both conditions was produced from time immemorial, +either by accident or design. + +It was with such a furnace probably that India produced her keen-edged +weapons that would cut a web of gossamer, and Damascus its flashing +blades--the synonym of elastic strength. + +Africa, when its most barbarous tribes were first discovered, was making +various useful articles of iron. Its earliest modes of manufacture were +doubtless still followed when Dr Livingstone explored the interior, as +they now also are. He thus describes their furnaces and iron: "At every +third or fourth village (in the regions near Lake Nyassa) we saw a +kiln-looking structure, about 6 feet high and 21/2 feet in diameter. It +is a clay fire-hardened furnace for smelting iron. No flux is used, +whether with specular iron, the yellow hematite, or magnetic ore, and +yet capital metal is produced. Native manufactured iron is so good that +the natives declare English iron "rotten" in comparison, and specimens +of African hoes were pronounced at Birmingham nearly equal to the best +Swedish iron." The natives of India, the Hottentots, the early Britons, +the Chinese, the savages of North and South America, as discovery or +research brought their labours to light, or uncovered the monuments of +their earliest life, were shown to be acquainted with similar simple +forms of smelting furnaces. + +Early Spain produced a furnace which was adopted by the whole of Europe +as fast as it became known. It was the Catalan furnace, so named from +the province of Catalonia, where it probably first originated, and it is +still so known and extensively used. "It consists of a four-sided cavity +or hearth, which is always placed within a building and separated from +the main wall thereof by a thinner interior wall, which in part +constitutes one side of the furnace. The blast pipe comes through the +wall, and enters the fire through a flue which slants downward. The +bottom is formed of a refractory stone, which is renewable. The furnace +has no chimneys. The blast is produced by means of a fall of water +usually from 22 to 27 feet high, through a rectangular tube, into a +rectangular cistern below, to whose upper part the blast pipe is +connected, the water escaping through a pipe below. This apparatus is +exterior to the building, and is said to afford a continuous blast of +great regularity; the air, when it passes into the furnace, is, however, +saturated with moisture."--_Knight._ + +No doubt in such a heat was formed the metal from which was shaped the +armour of Don Quixote and his prototypes. + +Bell in his history of Metallurgy tells us that the manufacture of +malleable iron must have fallen into decadence in England, especially +before the reign of Elizabeth and Charles I., as no furnaces equal even +to the Catalan had for a long time been in use; and the architectural +iron column found in ancient Delhi, 16 inches in diameter, about 48 feet +long and calculated to weigh about 17 tons, could not have been formed +by any means known in England in the sixteenth century. This decadence +was in part due to the severe laws enacted against the destruction of +forests, and most of the iron was then brought to England from Germany +and other countries. + +From time immemorial the manufacture of iron and steel has been followed +in Germany, and that country yet retains pre-eminence in this art both +as to mechanical and chemical processes. It was in the eighteenth +century that the celebrated Freiberg Mining Academy was founded, the +oldest of all existing mining schools; and based on developing mining +and metallurgy on scientific lines, it has stood always on the battle +line in the fight of progress. + +The early smelting furnaces of Germany resembled the Catalan, and were +called the "Stueckofen," and in Sweden were known as the "Osmund." In +these very pure iron was made. + +The art of making cast iron, which differs from the ordinary smelted +iron in the fact that it is _melted_ and then run into moulds, although +known among the ancients more than forty centuries ago, as shown by the +castings of bronze and brass described by their writers and recovered +from their ruins, appears to have been forgotten long before the +darkness of the middle ages gathered. There is no record of its practice +from the time the elder Pliny described its former use (40-79 A. D.), to +the sixteenth century. It is stated that then the lost art was +re-invented by Ralph Page and Peter Baude of England in 1543--who in +that year made cast-iron in Sussex. + +The "Stueckofen" furnace above referred to was succeeded in Germany by +higher ones called the "Flossofen," and these were followed by still +higher and larger ones called "Blauofen," so that by the middle of the +eighteenth century the furnaces were very capacious, the blast was good, +and it had been learned how to supply the furnaces with ore, coal and +lime-stone broken into small fragments. The lime was added as a flux, +and acted to unite with itself the sand, clay and other impurities to +form a slag or scoria. The melted purified iron falling to the bottom +was drawn off through a hole tapped in the furnace, and the molten metal +ran into channels in a bed of sand called the "Sow and pigs." Hence the +name, "pig iron." + +The smelting of ore by charcoal in those places where carried on +extensively required the use of a vast amount of wood, and denuded the +surrounding lands of forests. So great was this loss felt that it gave +rise to the prohibitory laws and the decadence in England of the +manufacture of iron, already alluded to. This turned the attention of +iron smelters to coal as a substitute. Patents were granted in England +for its use to several unsuccessful inventors. Finally in 1619 Dud +Dudley, a graduate of Oxford University, and to whom succeeded his +father's iron furnaces in Worcestershire, obtained a patent and +succeeded in producing several tons of iron per week by the use of the +pitcoal in a small blast furnace. + +This success inflamed the wood owners and the charcoal burners and they +destroyed Dudley's works. He met with other disasters common to worthy +inventors and discontinued his efforts to improve the art. + +It is said that in 1664 Sir John Winter of England made coke by burning +sea coal in closed pots. But this was not followed up, and the use of +charcoal and the destruction of the forests went on until 1735, when +Abraham Darby of the Coalbrookdale Iron Works at Shropshire, England, +commenced to treat the soft pit coal in the same way as wood is treated +in producing charcoal. He proposed to burn the coal in a smouldering +fire, to expel the sulphur and other impurities existing in the form of +phosphorus, hydrogen and oxygen, etc. while saving the carbon. The +attempt was successful, and thus _coke_ was made. It was found cheaper +and superior to either coal or charcoal, and produced a quicker fire and +a greater heat. This was a wonderful discovery, and was preserved as a +trade secret for a long time. It was referred to as a curiosity in the +_Philosophical Transactions_ in 1747. In fact it was not introduced in +America until a century later, when in 1841 the soft coal abounding +around Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and in the neighbouring regions of +Ohio was thus treated. Even its use then was experimental, and did not +become a practical art in the United States until about 1860. + +With the invention of coke came also the revival of cast iron. + +The process of making cast steel was reinvented in England by Benjamin +Huntsman of Attercliff, near Sheffield, about 1740. Between that time +and 1770 he practised melting small pieces of "blistered" steel (iron +bars which had been carbonised by smelting in charcoal) in closed clay +crucibles. + +In 1784 Henry Cort of England introduced the puddling process and +grooved rolls. Puddling had been invented, but not successfully used +before. The term "puddling" originated in the covering of the hearth of +stones at the bottom of the furnace with clay, which was made plastic by +mixing the clay in a puddle of water; and on which hearth the ore when +melted is received. When in this melted condition Cort and others found +that the metal was greatly improved by stirring it with a long iron bar +called a "rabble," and which was introduced through an opening in the +furnace. This stirring admitted air to the mass and the oxygen consumed +and expelled the carbon, silicon, and other impurities. The process was +subsequently aided by the introduction of pig iron broken into pieces +and mixed with hammer-slag, cinder, and ore. The mass is stirred from +side to side of the furnace until it comes to a boiling point, when the +stirring is increased in quickness and violence until a pasty round mass +is collected by the puddler. As showing the value of Cort's discovery +and the hard experience inventors sometimes have, Fairbairn states that +Cort "expended a fortune of upward of L20,000 in perfecting his +invention for puddling iron and rolling it into bars and plates; that he +was robbed of the fruits of his discoveries by the villainy of officials +in a high department of the government; and that he was ultimately left +to starve by the apathy and selfishness of an ungrateful country. His +inventions conferred an amount of wealth on the country equivalent to +L600,000,000, and have given employment to 600,000 of the working +population of our land for the last three or four generations." This +process of puddling lasted for about an hour and a half and entailed +extremely severe labour on the workman. + +The invention of mechanical puddlers, hereinafter referred to, +consisting chiefly of rotating furnaces, were among the beneficent +developments of the nineteenth century. + +Prior to Cort's time the plastic lump or ball of metal taken from the +furnace was generally beaten by hammers, but Cort's grooved rollers +pressed out the mass into sheets. + +The improvements of the steam engine by Watt greatly extended the +manufacture of iron toward the close of the 18th century, as powerful +air blasts were obtained by the use of such engines in place of the +blowers worked by man, the horse, or the ox. + +So far as the art of refining the precious metals is concerned, as well +as copper, tin and iron, it had not, previous to this century, proceeded +much beyond the methods described in the most ancient writings; and +these included the refining in furnaces, pots, and covered crucibles, +and alloying, or the mixture and fusion with other metals. Furnaces to +hold the crucibles, and made of iron cylinders lined with fire brick, +whereby the crucibles were subjected to greater heat, were also known. + +The amalgamating process was also known to the ancients, and Vitruvius +(B. C. 27) and Pliny (A. D. 79), describe how mercury was used for +separating gold from its impurities. Its use at gold and silver mines +was renewed extensively in the sixteenth century. + +Thus we find that the eighteenth century closed with the knowledge of +the smelting furnaces of various kinds, of coke as a fuel in place of +charcoal, of furious air blasts driven by steam and other power, of cast +iron and cast steel, and of refining, amalgamating, and compounding +processes. + +Looking back, now, from the threshold of the nineteenth century over the +path we have thus traced, it will be seen that what had been +accomplished in metallurgy was the result of the use of ready means +tested by prolonged trials, of experiments more or less lucky in fields +in which men were groping, of inventions without the knowledge of the +real properties of the materials with which inventors were working or of +the unvarying laws which govern their operations. They had accomplished +much, but it was the work mainly of empirics. The art preceding the +nineteenth century compared with what followed is the difference between +experience simply, and experience when combined with hard thinking, +which is thus stated by Herschel: "Art is the application of knowledge +to a practical end. If the knowledge be merely accumulated experience +the art is empirical; but if it is experience reasoned upon and brought +under general principles it assumes a higher character and becomes a +scientific art." + +With the developments, discoveries and inventions in the lines of steam, +chemistry and electricity, as elsewhere told, the impetus they gave to +the exercise of brain force in every field of nature at the outset of +the century, and with their practical aid, the art of metallurgy soon +began to expand to greater usefulness, and finally to its present +wonderful domain. + +The subject of metallurgy in this century soon became scientifically +treated and its operations classified. + +Thus the physical character and metallic constituents of ores received +the first consideration; then the proper treatment to which the ores +were to be subjected for the purpose of extracting the metal--which are +either mechanical or chemical. The mechanical processes designed to +separate the ore from its enclosing rock or other superfluous earthy +matter called _gangue_ became known as _ore dressing_ and _ore +concentrating_. These included mills with rollers, and stamps operated +by gravity, or steam, for breaking up the ore rocks; abrasion apparatus +for comminuting the ore by rubbing the pieces of ore under pressure; and +smelting, or an equivalent process, for melting the ore and driving off +the impurities by heat, etc. The chemical processes are those by which +the metal, whatever it may be, is either dissolved or separated from +other constituents by either the application to the ore of certain +metallic solutions of certain acids, or by the fusion of different ores +or metals in substantially the old styles of furnaces; or its +precipitation by amalgamating, or by electrolysis--the art of +decomposing metals by electricity. + +In the early decades of the century, by the help of chemistry and +physics, the nature of heat, carbon, and oxygen, and the great affinity +iron has for oxygen, became better known; and particularly how in the +making of iron its behaviour is influenced by the presence of carbon and +other foreign constituents; also how necessary to its perfect separation +was the proper elimination of the oxygen and carbon. The use of +manganese and other highly oxidisable metals for this purpose was +discovered. + +Among the earliest most notable inventions in the century, in the +manufacture of iron, was that of Samuel B. Rogers of Glamorganshire, +Wales, who invented the iron floor for furnaces with a refractory +lining--a great improvement on Cort's sand floor, which gave too much +silicon to the iron; and the _hot air blast_ by Neilson of Glasgow, +Scotland, patented in 1828. The latter consisted in the use of heated +air as the blast instead of cold air--whereby ignition of the fuel was +quickened, intensity of the heat and the expulsion of oxygen and carbon +from the iron increased, and the operation shortened and improved in +every way. The patent was infringed and assailed, but finally sustained +by the highest courts of England. It produced an immense forward stride +in the amount and quality of iron manufactured. + +By the introduction of the hot air blast it became practicable to use +the hard anthracite coal as a fuel where such coal abounded; and to use +pig iron, scrap iron, and refractory ore and metals with the fuel to +produce particular results. Furnaces were enlarged to colossal +dimensions, some being a hundred feet high and capable of yielding 80 or +100 tons of metal per day. + +The forms of furnaces and means for lining and cooling the hearth and +adjacent parts have received great attention. + +The discovery that the flame escaping from the throat of the blast +furnace was nothing else than burning carbon led Faber du Faur at +Wasseralfugen in 1837 to invent the successful and highly valuable +method of utilising the unburnt gas from the blast furnace for heating +purposes, and to heat the blast itself, and drive the steam engine that +blew the blast into the furnace, without the consumption of additional +fuel. This also led to the invention of separate gas producers. Bunsen +in 1838 made his first experiments at Hesse in collecting the gases from +various parts of the furnace, revealing their composition and showing +their adaptability for various purposes. Thus, from a scientific +knowledge of the constituents of ores and of furnace gases, calculations +could be made in advance as to the materials required to make pig iron, +cast iron, and steel of particular qualities. + +In the process of puddling difficulty had been experienced in handling +the bloom or ball after it was formed in the furnace. A sort of +squeezing apparatus, or tongs, called the alligator, had been employed. + +In 1840 Henry Burden of America invented and patented a method and means +for treating these balls, whereby the same were taken directly from the +furnace and passed between two plain converging metal surfaces, by which +the balls were gradually but quickly pressed and squeezed into a +cylindrical form, while a large portion of the cinders and other foreign +impurities were pressed out. + +We have described how by Cort's puddling process tremendous labour was +imposed on the workmen in stirring the molten metal by hand with +"rabbles." A number of mechanical puddlers were invented to take the +place of these hand means, but the most important invention in this +direction was the revolving puddlers of Beadlestone, patented in 1857 in +England, and of Heaton, Allen and Yates, in 1867-68. The most +successful, however, was that of Danks of the United States in 1868-69. +The Danks rotary puddler is a barrel-shaped, refractory lined vessel, +having a chamber and fire grate and rotated by steam, into which pig +iron formed by the ordinary blast furnaces, and then pulverised, is +placed, with the fuel. Molten metal from the furnace is then run in, +which together with the fuel is then subjected to a strong blast. +Successive charges may be made, and at the proper time the puddler is +rotated, slowly at some stages and faster at others, until the operation +is completed. A much more thorough and satisfactory result in the +production of a pure malleable iron is thus obtained than is possible by +hand puddling. + +But the greatest improvements in puddling, and in the production of +steel from iron, and which have produced greater commercial results than +any other inventions of the century relating to metallurgy, were the +inventions of Henry Bessemer of Hertfordshire, England, from 1855 to +1860. In place of the puddling "rabbles" to stir the molten metal, or +_matte_, as it is called, while the air blast enters to oxidise it, he +first introduced the molten metal from the furnace into an immense +egg-shaped vessel lined with quartzose, and hung in an inclined position +on trunnions, or melted the metal in such vessel, and then dividing the +air blast into streams forced with great pressure each separate stream +through an opening in the bottom of the vessel into the molten mass, +thus making each stream of driven air a rabble; and they together blew +and lifted the white mass into a huge, surging, sun-bright fountain. The +effect of this was to burn out the impurities, silicon, carbon, sulphur, +and phosphorus, leaving the mass a pure soft iron. If steel was wanted a +small amount of carbon, usually in the form of spiegeleisen, was +introduced into the converter before the process was complete. + +A. L. Holley of the United States improved the Bessemer apparatus by +enabling a greater number of charges to be converted into steel within a +given time. + +Sir Henry Bessemer has lived to gain great fortunes by his inventions, +to see them afford new fields of labour for armies of men, and to +increase the riches of nations, from whom he has received deserved +honours. + +The Bessemer process led to renewed investigations and discoveries as to +heat and its utilisation, the constituents of different metals and their +decomposition, and as to the parts played by carbon, silicon, and +phosphorus. The carbon introduced by the charge of pig iron in the +Bessemer process was at first supposed to be necessary to produce the +greatest heat, but this was found to be a mistake; and phosphorus, which +had been regarded as a great enemy of iron, to be eliminated in every +way, was found to be a valuable constituent, and was retained or added +to make phosphorus steel. + +The Bessemer process has been modified in various ways: by changing the +mode of introducing the blast from the bottom of the converter to the +sides thereof, and admitting the blast more slowly at certain stages; by +changing the character of the pig iron and fuel to be treated; and by +changing the shape and operation of the converters, making them +cylindrical and rotary, for instance. + +The Bessemer process is now largely used in treating copper. By this +method the blowing through the molten metal of a blast of air largely +removes sulphur and other impurities. + +The principles of reduction by the old style furnaces and methods we +have described have been revived and combined with improvements. For +instance, the old Catalan style of furnace has been retained to smelt +the iron, but in one method the iron is withdrawn before it is reduced +completely and introduced into another furnace, where, mixed with +further reducing ingredients, a better result by far is produced with +less labour. + +It would be a long list that would name the modern discoverers and +inventors of the century in the manufacture of iron and steel. But +eminent in the list, in addition to Davy and Bessemer, and others +already mentioned, are Mushet, Sir L. Bell, Percy, Blomfield, Beasley, +Giers and Snellus of England; Martin, Chennot, Du Motay, Pernot and +Gruner of France; Lohage, Dr. C. L. Siemens and Hoepfer of Germany; Prof +Sarnstrom and Akerman of Sweden; Turner of Austria; and Holley, Slade, +Blair, Jones, Sellers, Clapp, Griffiths and Eames of the United States. + +Some of the new metals discovered in the last century have in this +century been combined with iron to make harder steel. Thus we have +nickel, chromium, and tungsten steel. Processes for hardening steel, as +the "Harveyized" steel, have given rise to a contest between +"irresistible" projectiles and "impenetrable" armour plate. + +If there are some who regard modern discoveries and inventions in iron +and steel as lessening the number of workmen and cheapening the product +too much, thus causing trouble due to labour-saving machinery, let them +glance, among other great works in the world, at Krupp's at Essen, where +on January 1st, 1899, 41,750 persons were employed, and at which works +during the previous year 1,199,610 tons of coal and coke were consumed, +or about 4000 tons daily. Workers in iron will not be out of employment +in the United States, where 16,000,000 tons of coke are produced +annually, 196,405,953 tons of coal mined, 11,000,000 tons of pig iron +and about 9,000,000 tons of steel made. The increase of population +within the last hundred years bears no comparison with this enormous +increase in iron and fuel. It shows that as inventions multiply, so does +the demand for their better and cheaper products increase. + +As the other metals, gold, silver, copper and lead often occur together, +and in the same deposits with iron, the same general modes of treatment +to extract them are often applied. These are known as the dry and the +wet methods, and electro-reduction. + +Ever since Mammon bowed his head in search for gold, every means that +the mind of man could suggest to obtain it have been tried, but the +devices of this century have been more numerous and more successful than +any before. The ancient methods of simply melting and "skimming the +bullion dross" have been superseded. Modern methods may be divided into +two general classes, the mechanical and the chemical. Of the former +methods, when gold was found loose in sand or gravel, washing was the +earliest and most universally practised, and was called panning. In this +method mercury is often used to take up and secure the fine gold. +Rockers like a child's cradle, into which the dirt is shovelled and +washed over retaining riffles, were used; coarse-haired blankets and +hides; sluices and separators, with or without quicksilver linings to +catch the gold; and powerful streams of water worked by compressed air +to tear down the banks. Where water could not be obtained the ore and +soil were pulverised and dried, and then thrown against the wind or a +blast of air, and the heavier gold, falling before the lighter dust, was +caught on hides or blankets. For the crushing of the quartz in which +gold was found, innumerable inventions in stamp mills, rollers, +crushers, abraders, pulverisers and amalgamators have been invented; and +so with roasters, and furnaces, and crucibles to melt the precious +metal, separate the remaining impurities and convert it to use. + +As to chemical methods for the precious metals, the process of +_lixiviation_, or _leaching_, by which the ore is washed out by a +solution of potash, or with dilute sulphuric acid, or boiling with +concentrated sulphuric acid, is quite modern. About 1889 came out the +great cyanide process, also known as the MacArthur-Forrest process (they +being the first to obtain patents and introduce the invention), +consisting of the use of cyanide potassium in solution, which dissolves +the gold, and which is then precipitated by the employment of zinc. This +process is best adapted to what are known as free milling or porous +ores, where the gold is free and very fine and is attracted readily by +mercury. + +In 1807, Sir Humphry Davy discovered the metal potassium by subjecting +moistened potash to the action of a powerful voltaic battery; the +positive pole gave off oxygen and the metallic globules of pure +potassium appeared at the negative pole. It is never found uncombined in +nature. Now if potassium is heated in cyanogen gas (a gas procured by +heating mercury) or obtained on a large scale by the decomposition of +yellow prussiate of potash, a white crystalline body very soluble in +water, and exceedingly poisonous, is obtained. When gold, for instance, +obtained by pulverising the ore, or found free in sand, is treated to +such a solution it is dissolved from its surrounding constituents and +precipitated by the zinc, as before stated. + +Chlorine is another metal discovered by Scheele in 1774, but not known +as an elementary element until so established by Davy's investigations +in 1810, when he gave it the name it now bears, from the Greek +_chloras_, yellowish green. It is found abundantly in the mineral world +in combination with common salt. Now it was found that chlorine is one +of the most energetic of bodies, surpassing even oxygen under some +circumstances, and that a chlorine solution will readily dissolve gold. + +These, the cyanide and chlorination processes, have almost entirely +superseded the old washing and amalgamating methods of treating free +gold--and the cyanide seems to be now taking the lead. + +_Alloys._--The art of fusing different metals to make new compounds, +although always practised, has been greatly advanced by the discoverers +and inventors of the century. As we have seen, amalgamating to extract +gold and silver, and the making of bronze from tin and copper were very +early followed. One of the most notable and useful of modern inventions +or improvements of the kind was that of Isaac Babbitt of Boston in 1839, +who in that year obtained patents for what ever since has been known as +"babbitting." The great and undesirable friction produced by the rubbing +of the ends of journals and shafts in their bearings of the same metal, +cast or wrought iron, amounting to one-fifth of the amount of power +exerted to turn them, had long been experienced. Lubricants of all kinds +had been and are used; but Babbitt's invention was an anti-friction +metal. It is composed of tin, antimony, and copper, and although the +proportions and ingredients have since been varied, the whole art is +still known as babbitting. + +Other successful alloys have been made for gun metal, sheathing of +ships, horseshoes, organ pipes, plough shares, roofing, eyelets, +projectiles, faucets, and many and various articles of hardware, +ornamental ware, and jewelry. + +Valuable metals, such as were not always rare or scarce, but very hard +to reduce, have been rendered far less in cost of production and more +extensive in use by modern processes. Thus, aluminium, an abundant +element in rocks and clay, discovered by the German chemist Woehler, in +1827, a precious metal, so light, bright, and tough, non-oxidizing, +harder than zinc, more sonorous than silver, malleable and ductile as +iron, and more tenacious, has been brought to the front from an +expensive and mere laboratory production to common and useful purposes +in all the arts by the processes commencing in 1854 with that of St. +Clair Deoville, of France, followed by those of H. Rose, Morin, Castner, +Tissier, Hall, and others. + +_Electro-metallurgy_, so far, has chiefly to do with the decomposition +of metals by the electric current, and the production of very high +temperatures for furnaces, by which the most refractory ores, metals, +and other substances may be melted, and results produced not obtainable +in any other way. By placing certain mixtures of carbon and sand, or of +carbon and clay, between the terminals of a powerful current, a material +resembling diamonds, but harder, has been produced. It has been named +carbonundrum. The production of diamonds themselves is looked for. Steel +wire is now tempered and annealed by electricity, as well as welding +done, of which mention further on will be made. + +Thus we have seen how the birth of ideas of former generations has given +rise in the present age to children of a larger growth. Arts have grown +only as machinery for the accomplishment of their objects has developed, +and machinery has waited on the development of the metals composing it. +The civilisation of to-day would not have been possible if the +successors of Tubal Cain had not been like him, instructors "of every +artificer in brass and iron." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +METAL WORKING. + + +We referred in the last chapter to the fact that metal when it came from +the melting and puddling furnace was formerly rolled into sheets; but, +when the manufacturers and consumers got these sheets then came the +severe, laborious work by hand of cutting, hammering, boring, shaping +and fitting the parts for use and securing them in place. + +It is one of the glories of this century that metal-working tools and +machinery have been invented that take the metal from its inception, +mould and adapt it to man's will in every situation with an infinite +saving of time and labour, and with a perfection and uniformity of +operation entirely impossible by hand. + +Although the tools for boring holes in wood, such as the gimlet, auger, +and the lathe to hold, turn and guide the article to be operated on by +the tool, are common in some respects with those for drilling and +turning metal, yet, the adaptation to use with metal constitutes a class +of metal-working appliances distinct in themselves, and with some +exceptions not interchangeable with wood-working utensils. The +metal-working tools and machines forming the subject of this chapter are +not those which from time immemorial have been used to pierce, hammer, +cut, and shape metals, directed by the eye and hand of man, but rather +those invented to take the place of the hand and eye and be operated by +other powers. + +It needs other than manual power to subdue the metals to the present +wants of man, and until those modern motor powers, such as steam, +compressed air, gas and electricity, and modern hydraulic machinery, +were developed, automatic machine tools to any extent were not invented. +So, too, the tools that are designed to operate on hard metal should +themselves be of the best metal, and until modern inventors rediscovered +the art of making cast steel such tools were not obtainable. The +monuments and records of ancient and departed races show that it was +known by them how to bore holes in wood, stone and glass by some sharp +instruments turned by hand, or it may be by leather cords, as a top is +turned. + +_The lathe_, a machine to hold an object, and at the same time revolve +it while it is formed by the hand, or cut by a tool, is as old as the +art of pottery, and is illustrated in the oldest Egyptian monuments, in +which the god Ptah is shown in the act of moulding man upon the throwing +wheel. It is a device as necessary to the industrial growth of man as +the axe or the spade. Its use by the Egyptians appears to have been +confined to pottery, but the ancient Greeks, Chinese, Africans, and +Hindoos used lathes, for wood working in which the work was suspended on +horizontal supports, and adapted to be rotated by means of a rope and +treadle and a spring bar, impelled by the operator as he held the +cutting tool on the object. Joseph Holtzapffel in his learned work on +_Turning and Mechanical Manipulation_, gives a list of old publications +describing lathes for turning both wood and metal. Among these is +Hartman Schapper's book published at Frankfort, in 1548. A lathe on +which was formed wood screws is described in a work of Jacques Besson, +published at Lyons, France, in 1582. + +It is stated that there is on exhibition in the Abbott museum of the +Historical Society, New York, a bronze drinking vessel, five inches in +diameter, that was exhumed from an ancient tomb in Thebes, and which +bears evidence of having been turned on a lathe. It is thought by those +skilled in the art that it was not possible to have constructed the +works of metal in Solomon's Temple without a turning lathe. One of the +earliest published descriptions of a metal turning lathe in its leading +features is that found in a book published in London, in 1677-83, by +Joseph Moxon, "hydographer" to King Charles II., entitled, _Mechanical +Exercises, or the Doctrine of Handy Works_. He therein also described a +machine for planing metal. Although there is some evidence that these +inventions of the learned gentleman were made and put to some use, yet +they were soon forgotten and were not revived until a century later, +when, as before intimated, the steam engine had been invented and +furnished the power for working them. + +Wood-working implements in which the cutting tool was carried by a +sliding block were described in the English patents of General Sir +Samuel Bentham and Joseph Bramah, in 1793-94. But until this century, +and fairly within its borders, man was content generally to use the +metal lathe simply as a holding and turning support, while he with such +skill and strength as he could command, and with an expenditure of time, +labour and patience truly marvellous, held and guided with his hands the +cutting tool with which the required form was made upon or from the +slowly turning object before him. The contrivance which was to take the +place of the hand and eye of man in holding, applying, directing and +impelling a cutting tool to the surface of the metal work was the +_slide-rest_. In its modern successful automatic form Henry Maudsley, an +engineer in London, is claimed to be the first inventor, in the early +part of the century. The leading feature of his form of this device +consists of an iron block which constitutes the rest, cut with grooves +so as to adapt it to slide upon its iron supports, means to secure the +cutting tool solidly to this block, and two screw handles, one to adjust +the tool towards and against the object to be cut in the lathe, and the +other to slide the rest and tool lengthwise as the work progresses, +which latter motion may be given by the hand, or effected automatically +by a connection of the screw handle of the slide and the rotating object +on the lathe. + +A vast variety of inventions and operations have been effected by +changes in these main features. Of the value of this invention, Nasmyth, +a devoted pupil of Maudsley and himself an eminent engineer and +inventor, thus writes:--"It was this holding of a tool by means of an +iron hand, and constraining it to move along the surface of the work in +so certain a manner, and with such definite and precise motion, which +formed the great era in the history of mechanics, inasmuch as we +thenceforward became possessed, by its means, of the power of operating +alike on the most ponderous or delicate pieces of machinery with a +degree of minute precision, of which language cannot convey an adequate +idea; and in many cases we have, through its agency, equal facility in +carrying on the most perfect workmanship in the interior parts of +certain machines where neither the hand nor the eye can reach, and +nevertheless we can give to these parts their required form with a +degree of accuracy as if we had the power of transforming our-selves +into pigmy workmen, and so apply our labour to the innermost holes and +corners of our machinery." + +The scope of the lathe, slide-rest and operating tool, by its adaptation +to cut out from a vast roll of steel a ponderous gun, or by a change in +the size of parts to operate in cutting or drilling the most delicate +portions of that most delicate of all mechanisms, a watch, reminds one +of that other marvel of mechanical adaptation, the steam hammer, which +makes the earth tremble with its mighty blows upon a heated mass of +iron, or lightly taps and cracks the soft-shelled nut without the +slightest touch of violence upon its enclosed and fragile fruit. + +The adaptation of the lathe and slide to wood-working tools will be +referred to in the chapter relating to wood-working. + +Following the invention of the lathe and the slide-rest, came the +_metal-planing_ machines. It is stated in Buchanan's _Practical Essays_, +published in 1841, that a French engineer in 1751, in constructing the +Marly Water Works on the Seine in France, employed a machine for planing +out the wrought iron pump-barrels used in that work, and this is thought +to be the first instance in which iron was reduced to a plane surface +without chipping or filing. But it needed the invention of the +slide-rest and its application to metal-turning lathes to suggest and +render successful metal-planing machines. These were supplied in England +from 1811 to 1840 by the genius of Bramah, Clement, Fox, Roberts, +Rennie, Whitworth, Fletcher, and a few others. When it is considered how +many different forms are essential to the completion of metal machines +of every description, the usefulness of machinery that will produce them +with the greatest accuracy and despatch can be imagined. The many +modifications of the planing machine have names that indicate to the +workman the purpose for which they are adapted--as the _jack_, a small +portable machine, quick and handy; the _jim crow_, a machine for planing +both ways by reversal of the movement of the bed, and it gets its name +because it can "wheel about and turn about and do just so"; the key +groove machine, the milling machine with a serrated-faced cutter bar, +shaping machine and shaping bar, slotting machine, crank planer, screw +cutting, car-wheel turning, bolt and nut screwing, etc. + +As to the mutual evolution and important results of these combined +inventions, the slide-rest and the planer, we again quote Nasmyth:-- + +"The first planing machine enabled us to produce the second still +better, and that a better still, and then slide rests of the most +perfect kind came streaming forth from them, and they again assisted in +making better still, so that in a very short time a most important +branch of engineering business, namely, tool-making, arose, which had +its existence not merely owing to the pre-existing demand for such +tools, but in fact raised a demand of its own creating. One has only to +go into any of these vast establishments which have sprung up in the +last thirty years to find that nine-tenths of all the fine mechanisms in +use and in process of production are through the agency, more or less +direct, of the _slide rest and planing machine_." + +Springing out of these inventions, as from a fruitful soil, came the +metal-boring machines, one class for turning the outside of cylinders to +make them true, and another class for boring and drilling holes through +solid metal plates. The principle of the lathe was applied to those +machines in which the shaft carrying the cutting or boring tool was held +either in a vertical or in a horizontal position. + +Now flowed forth, as from some Vulcan's titanic workshop, machines for +making bolts, nuts, rivets, screws, chains, staples, car wheels, shafts, +etc., and other machines for applying them to the objects with which +they were to be used. + +The progress of screw-making had been such that in 1840, by the machines +then in use for cutting, slotting, shaving, threading, and heading, +twenty men and boys were enabled to manufacture 20,000 screws in a day. +Thirty-five years later two girls tending two machines were enabled to +manufacture 240,000 screws a day. Since then the process has proceeded +at even a greater rate. So great is the consumption of screws that it +would be utterly impossible to supply the demand by the processes in +vogue sixty years ago. + +In England's first great International Fair, in 1851, a new world of +metallurgical products, implements, processes, and metal-working tools, +were among the grand results of the half century's inventions which were +exhibited to the assembled nations. The leading exhibitor in the line of +self-acting lathes, planing, slotting, drilling and boring machines was +J. Whitworth & Co., of Manchester, England. Here were for the first time +revealed in a compact form those machines which shaped metal as wood +alone had been previously shaped. But another quarter of a century +brought still grander results, which were displayed at the Centennial +Exhibition at Philadelphia, in 1876. + +As J. Whitworth & Co. were the leading exhibitors at London in 1851, so +were William Sellers & Co., of Philadelphia, the leading exhibitors in +the 1876 exhibition. As showing the progress of the century, the +official report, made in this class by citizens of other countries than +America, set forth that this exhibit of the latter company, "in extent +and value, in extraordinary variety and originality, was probably +without parallel in the past history of international exhibitions." +Language seemed to be inadequate to enable the committee to describe +satisfactorily the extreme refinement in every detail, the superior +quality of material and workmanship, the mathematical accuracy, the +beautiful outlines, the perfection in strength and form, and the +scientific skill displayed in the remarkable assemblage of this class of +machinery at that exhibition. + +An exhibit on that occasion made by Messrs. Hoopes & Townsend of +Philadelphia attracted great attention by the fact that the doctrine of +the flow of solid metal, so well expounded by that eminent French +scientist, M. Tresca, was therein well illustrated. It consisted of a +large collection of bolts and screws which had been _cold-punched_, as +well as of elevator and carrier chains, the links of which had been so +punched. This punching of the cold metal without cutting, boring, +drilling, hammering, or otherwise shaping the metal, was indeed a +revelation. + +So also at this Exhibition was a finer collection of machine-made +horseshoes than had ever previously been presented to the world. A +better and more intelligent and refined treatment of that noble animal, +the horse, and especially in the care of his feet, had sprung up during +the last half century, conspicuously advocated by Mr. Fleming in +England, and followed promptly in America and elsewhere. Within the last +forty years nearly two hundred patents have been taken out in the United +States alone for machines for making horseshoes. Prejudices, jealousies +and objections of all kinds were raised at first against the +machine-made horseshoe, as well as the horseshoe nail, but the horses +have won, and the blacksmiths have been benefited despite their early +objections. The smiths make larger incomes in buying and applying the +machine-made shoes. The shoes are not only hammered into shape on the +machine, but there are machines for stamping them out from metal at a +single blow; for compressing several thicknesses of raw hide and +moulding them in a steel mould, producing a light, elastic shoe, and +without calks; furnishing shoes for defective hoofs, flexible shoes for +the relief and cure of contracted or flat feet, shoes formed with a +joint at the toe, and light, hard shoes made of aluminium. + +_Tube Making._--Instead of heating strips of metal and welding the edges +together, tubes may now be made seamless by rolling the heated metal +around a solid heated rod; or by placing a hot ingot in a die and +forcing a mandrel through the ingot. And as to tube and metal bending, +there are wonderful machines which bend sheets of metal into great +tubes, funnels, ship masts and cylinders. + +_Welding._--As to welding--the seams, instead of being hammered, are now +formed by melting and condensing the edges, or adjoining parts, by the +electric current. + +_Annealing and Tempering._--Steel wire and plates are now tempered and +annealed by electricity. It is found that they can be heated to a high +temperature more quickly and evenly by the electric current passed +through them than by combustion, and the process is much used in making +clock and watch springs. + +One way of hardening plates, especially armour plates, by what is called +the Harveyized process, is by embedding the face of the plate in carbon, +protecting the back and sides with sand, heating to about the melting +point of cast iron, and then hardening the face by chilling, or +otherwise. + +_Coating with Metal._--Although covering metal with metal has been +practised from the earliest times, accomplished by heating and +hammering, it was not until this century that electro-plating, and +plating by chemical processes, as by dipping the metal into certain +chemical solutions, and by the use of automatic machinery, were adopted. +It was in the early part of the century that Volta discovered that in +the voltaic battery certain metallic salts were reduced to their +elements and deposited at the negative pole; and that Wollaston +demonstrated how a silver plate in bath of sulphate of copper through +which a current was passed became covered with copper. Then in 1838, +Spencer applied these principles in making casts, and Jacobi in Russia +shortly after electro-gilded a dome of a cathedral in St. Petersburg. +Space will not permit the enumeration of the vast variety of processes +and machines for coating and gilding that have since followed. + +_Metal Founding._--The treatment of metal after it flows from the +furnaces, or is poured from the crucibles into moulds, by the operations +of facing, drying, covering, casting and stripping, has given rise to a +multitude of machines and methods for casting a great variety of +objects. The most interesting inventions in this class have for their +object the chilling, or chill hardening, of the outer surfaces of +articles which are subject to the most and hardest wear, as axle boxes, +hammers, anvils, etc., which is effected by exposing the red-hot metal +to a blast of cold air, or by introducing a piece of iron into a mould +containing the molten metal. + +In casting steel ingots, in order to produce a uniform compact +structure, Giers of England invented "soaking pits of sand" into which +the ingot from the mould is placed and then covered, so that the heat +radiating outward re-heats the exterior, and the ingot is then rolled +without re-heating. + +_Sheet Metal Ware._--Important improvements have been made in this line. +Wonderful machines have been made which, receiving within them a piece +of flat metal, will, by a single blow of a plunger in a die, stamp out a +metal can or box with tightly closed seams, and all ready for the cover, +which is made in another similar machine; or by which an endless chain +of cans are carried into a machine and there automatically soldered at +their seams; and another which solders the heads on filled cans as fast +as they can be fed into the machine. + +_Metal Personal Ware._--Buckles, clasps, hooks and eyelets, shanked +buttons, and similar objects are now stamped up and out, without more +manual labour than is necessary to supply the machines with the metal, +and to take care of the completed articles. + +_Wire Working._--Not only unsightly but useful barbed wire fences, and +the most ornamental wire work and netting for many purposes, such as +fences, screens, cages, etc., are now made by ingenious machines, and +not by hand tools. + +In stepping into some one of the great modern works where varied +industries are carried on under one general management, one cannot help +realising the vast difference between old systems and the new. In one +portion of the establishment the crude ores are received and smelted and +treated, with a small force and with ease, until the polished metal is +complete and ready for manipulation in the manufacture of a hundred +different objects. In another part ponderous or smaller lathes and +planing machines are turning forth many varied forms; in quiet corners +the boring, drilling, and riveting machines are doing their work without +the clang of hammers; in another, an apparently young student is +conducting the scientific operation of coating or gilding metals; in +another, girls may be seen with light machines, stamping, or burnishing, +or assembling the different parts of finished metal ware; and the motive +power of all this is the silent but all-powerful electric current +received from the smooth-running dynamo giant who works with vast but +unseen energy in a den by himself, not a smoky or a dingy den, but +light, clean, polished, and beautiful as the workshop of a god. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ORDNANCE, ARMS AND EXPLOSIVES. + + +Although the progress in the invention of fire-arms of all descriptions +seems slow during the ages preceding the 19th century, yet it will be +found on investigation that no art progressed faster. No other art was +spurred to activity by such strong incentives, and none received the +same encouragement and reward for its development. The art of war was +the trade of kings and princes, and princely was the reward to the +subject who was the first to invent the most destructive weapon. Under +such high patronage most of the ideas and principles of ordnance now +prevailing were discovered or suggested, but were embodied for the most +part in rude and inefficient contrivances. + +The art waited for its success on the development of other arts, and on +the mental expansion and freedom giving rise to scientific investigation +and results. + +The cannon and musket themselves became the greatest instruments for the +advancement of the new civilisation, however much it was intended +otherwise by their kingly proprietors, and the new civilisation returned +the compliment through its trained intellects by giving to war its +present destructive efficiency. + +To this efficiency, great as the paradox may seem, Peace holds what +quiet fields it has, or will have, until most men learn to love peace +and hate the arts of war. + +As to the Chinese is given the credit for the invention of gunpowder, so +they must also be regarded as the first to throw projectiles by its +means. But their inventions in these directions may be classed as +fireworks, and have no material bearing on the modern art of Ordnance. +It is supposed that the word "cannon," is derived from the same root as +"cane," originally signifying a hollow reed; and that these hollow reeds +or similar tubes closed at one end were used to fire rockets by powder. + +It is also stated that the practice existed among the Chinese as early +as 969 A. D. of tying rockets to their arrows to propel them to greater +distances, as well as for incendiary purposes. + +This basic idea had percolated from China through India to the Moors and +Arabs, and in the course of a few centuries had developed into a crude +artillery used by the Moors in the siege of Cordova in 1280. The +Spaniards, thus learning the use of the cannon, turned the lesson upon +their instructors, when under Ferdinand IV. they took Gibraltar from the +Moors in 1309. Then the knowledge of artillery soon spread throughout +Europe. The French used it at the siege of Puy Guillaume in 1338, and +the English had three small guns at Crecy in 1346. These antique guns +were made by welding longitudinal bars of iron together and binding them +by iron rings shrunk on while hot. Being shaped internally and +externally like an apothecary's mortar, they were called mortars or +bombards. Some were breech-loaders, having a removable chamber at the +breech into which the charge of powder was inserted behind the ball. The +balls were stone. These early cannon, bombards, and mortars were mounted +on heavy solid wooden frames and moved with great difficulty from place +to place. Then in the fifteenth century they commenced to make +wrought-iron cannon, and hollow projectiles, containing a bursting +charge of powder to be exploded by a fuse lit before the shell was +fired. In the next century cannon were cast. + +The Hindoos, when their acquaintance was made by the Europeans, were as +far advanced as the latter in cannon and fire-arms. One cannon was found +at Bejapoor, in India, cast of bronze, bearing date 1548, and called the +"Master of the Field," which weighed 89,600 pounds, and others of +similar size of later dates. Great cast bronze guns of about the same +weight as the Hindoo guns were also produced at St. Petersburg, Russia, +in the sixteenth century. + +Many and strange were the names given by Europeans to their cannon in +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to denote their size and the +weight of the ball they carried: such as the Assick, the Bombard, the +Basilisk, the cannon Royal, or Carthoun, the Culverin, Demi-culverin, +Falcon, Siren, Serpentine, etc. + +The bombards in the fifteenth century were made so large and heavy, +especially in France, that they could not be moved without being taken +apart. + +When the heavy, unwieldy bombards with stone balls were used, artillery +was mostly confined to castles, towns, forts, and ships. When used in +the field they were dragged about by many yokes of oxen. But in the +latter part of the fifteenth century, when France under Louis XI. had +learned to cast lighter brass cannon, to mount them on carriages that +could be drawn by four or six horses, and which carriages had trunnions +in which the cannon were swung so as to be elevated or depressed, and +cast-iron projectiles were used instead of stones, field artillery took +its rise, and by its use the maps of the world were changed. Thus with +their artillery the French under Charles VIII., the successor of Louis +XI., conquered Italy. + +In the sixteenth century Europe was busy in adopting these and other +changes. Cannon were made of all sizes and calibres, but were not +arranged in battle with much precision. Case shot were invented in +Germany but not brought into general use. Shells were invented by the +Italians and fired from mortars, but their mode of construction was +preserved in great secrecy. The early breech-loaders had been discarded, +as it was not known how to make the breech gas-tight, and the explosions +rendered the guns more dangerous to their users than to the enemy. + +In the seventeenth century Holland began to make useful mortar shells +and hand grenades. Maurice and Henry Frederick of Nassau, and Gustave +Adolphus, made many improvements in the sizes and construction of +cannon. In 1674, Coehorn, an officer in the service of the Prince of +Orange, invented the celebrated mortar which bears his name, and the use +of which has continued to the present time. The Dutch also invented the +howitzer, a short gun in which the projectiles could be introduced by +hand. About the same time Comminges of France invented mortars which +threw projectiles weighing 550 pounds. In this part of that century also +great improvements were made under Louis XIV. Limbers, by which the +front part of the gun carriage was made separable from the cannon part +and provided with the ammunition chest; the prolonge, a cord and hook by +which the gun part could be moved around by hand; and the elevating +screw, by which the muzzle of the gun could be raised or +depressed,--were invented. + +In the early part of the eighteenth century it was thought by +artillerists in England that the longer the gun the farther it would +carry. One, called "Queen Ann's Pocket Piece" still preserved at Dover, +is twenty-five feet long and carries a ball only twenty-five pounds in +weight. It was only after repeated experiments that it was learned that +the shorter guns carried the projectile the greatest distance. + +The greatest improvements in the eighteenth century were made by +Gribeauval, the celebrated French artillerist, about 1765. He had guns +made of such material and of such size as to adapt them to the different +services to which they were to be put, as field, siege, garrison, and +sea coast. He gave greater mobility to the system by introducing +six-pound howitzers, and making gun carriages lighter; he introduced the +system of fixed ammunition, separate compartments in the gun carriages +for the projectiles, and the charges of powder in paper or cloth bags or +cylinders; improved the construction of the elevating screw, adapted the +tangent scale, formed the artillery into horse batteries, and devised +new equipments and a new system of tactics. + +It was with Gribeauval's improved system that "Citizen Bonaparte, young +artillery officer," took Toulon; with which the same young "bronze +artillery officer" let go his great guns in the Cul-de-Sac Dauphin +against the church of St. Roch; on the Port Royal; at the Theatre de la +Republique; "and the thing we specifically call French Revolution is +blown into space by it, and became a thing that was." + +It was with this system that this same young officer won his first +brilliant victories in Italy. When the fruit of these victories had been +lost during his absence he reappeared with his favorite artillery, and +on the threshold of the century, in May 1800, as "First Consul of the +Republic" re-achieved at Marengo the supremacy of France over Austria. + +As to _small arms_, as before suggested, they doubtless had their origin +in the practice of the Chinese in throwing fire balls from bamboo +barrels by the explosion of light charges of powder, as illustrated to +this day in what are known as "Roman Candles." Fire-crackers and +grenades were also known to the Chinese and the Greeks. + +Among ancient fire-arms the principal ones were the arquebus, also +bombardelle, and the blunderbuss. They were invented in the fourteenth +century but were not much used until the fifteenth century. These guns +for the most part were so heavy that they had to be rested on some +object to be fired. The soldiers carried a sort of tripod for this +purpose. The gun was fired by a slow-burning cord, a live coal, a lit +stick, or a long rod heated at one end, and called a match. The +blunderbuss was invented in Holland. It was a large, short, +funnel-shaped muzzle-loader, and loaded with nails, slugs, etc. The +injuries and hardships suffered by the men who used it, rather than by +the enemy, rendered its name significant. Among the earliest fire-arms +of this period one was invented which was a breech-loader and revolver. +The breech had four chambers and was rotated by hand on an arbour +parallel to the barrel. The extent of its use is not learned. To ignite +the powder the "wheel-lock" and "snap-haunce" were invented by the +Germans in the sixteenth century. The wheel lock consisted of a furrowed +wheel and was turned by the trigger and chain against a fixed piece of +iron on the stock to excite sparks which fell on to the priming. The +snap-haunce, a straight piece of furrowed steel, superseded the +wheel-lock. The sixteenth century had got well started before the +English could be induced to give up the cross-bow and arrow, and adopt +the musket. After they had introduced the musket with the snap-haunce +and wooden ramrod, it became known, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, as +the "Brown Bess." + +The "old flint-lock" was quite a modern invention, not appearing until +the seventeenth century. It was a bright idea to fix a piece of flint +into the cock and arrange it to strike a steel cap on the priming pan +when the trigger was fired; and it superseded the old match, wheel-lock, +and snap-haunce. The flint-lock was used by armies well into the +nineteenth century, and is still in private use in remote localities. As +the arquebus succeeded the bow and arrow, so the musket, a smooth and +single-barrel muzzle-loader with a flint-lock and a wooden ramrod, +succeeded the arquebus. Rifles, which were the old flint-lock muskets +with their barrels provided with spiral grooves to give the bullet a +rotary motion and cause it to keep one point constantly in front during +its flight, is claimed as the invention of Augustin Kutler of Germany in +1520, and also of Koster of Birmingham, England, about 1620. Muskets +with straight grooves are said to have been used in the fifteenth +century. + +The rifle with a long barrel and its flint-lock was a favourite weapon +of the American settler. It was made in America, and he fought the +Indian wars and the war of the Revolution with it. + +It would not do to conclude this sketch of antique cannon and fire-arms +without referring to Puckle's celebrated English patent No. 418, of May +15, 1718, for "A Defence." The patent starts out with the motto: + + "Defending King George, your Country, and Lawes, + Is defending Yourselves and Protestant Cause." + +It proceeds to describe a "Portable Gun or Machine" having a single +barrel, with a set of removable chambers which are charged with bullets +before they are placed in the gun, a handle to turn the chambers to +bring each chamber in line with the barrel, a tripod on which the gun is +mounted and on which it is to be turned, a screw for elevating and +turning the gun in different directions, a set of square chambers "for +shooting square bullets against Turks," a set of round chambers "for +shooting round bullets against the Christians;" and separate drawings +show the square bullets for the Turks and the round bullets for the +Christians. History is silent as to whether Mr. Puckle's patent was put +in practice, but it contained the germs of some modern inventions. + +Among the first inventions of the century was a very important one made +by a clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Forsyth, a Scotchman, who in 1803 invented +the percussion principle in fire-arms. In 1807 he patented in England +detonating powder and pellets which were used for artillery. About 1808 +General Shrapnel of the English army invented the celebrated shell known +by his name. It then consisted of a comparatively thin shell filled with +bullets, having a fuse lit by the firing of the gun, and adapted to +explode the shell in front of the object fired at. This fuse was +superseded by one invented by General Bormann of Belgium, which greatly +added to the value of case shot. + +In 1814 Joshua Shaw of England invented the percussion cap. Thus, by the +invention of the percussion principle by Forsyth, and that little copper +cylinder of Shaw, having a flake of fulminating powder inside and +adapted to fit the nipple of a gun and be exploded by the fall of the +hammer, was sounded the death knell of the old flint-locks with which +the greatest battles of the world had been and were at that time being +fought. The advantages gained by the cap were the certain and +instantaneous fire, the saving in time, power, and powder obtained by +making smaller the orifice through which the ignition was introduced, +and the protection from moisture given by the covering cap. And yet so +slow is the growth of inventions sometimes that all Europe continued to +make the flint-locks for many years after the percussion cap was +invented; and General Scott, in the war between the United States and +Mexico in 1847, declined to give the army the percussion cap musket. The +cap suggested the necessity and invention of machines for making them +quickly and in great quantities. + +The celebrated "Colt's" revolver was invented by Colonel Samuel Colt of +the United States, in 1835. He continued to improve it, and in 1851 +exhibited it at the World's Fair, London, where it excited great +surprise and attention. Since then the revolver has become a great +weapon in both private and public warfare. The next great inventions in +small arms were the readoption and improvement of the breech-loader, the +making of metallic cartridges, the magazine gun, smokeless powder and +other explosives, to which further reference will be made. + +To return to cannons:--In 1812 Colonel Bomford, an American officer, +invented what is called the "Columbiad," a kind of cannon best adapted +for sea-coast purposes. They are long-chambered pieces, combining +certain qualities of the gun, howitzer and mortar, and capable of +projecting shells and solid shot with heavy charges of powder at high +angles of elevation, and peculiarly adapted to defend narrow channels +and sea-coast defences. A similar gun was invented by General Paixhans +of the French army in 1822. The adoption of the Paixhans long-chambered +guns, designed to throw heavy shells horizontally as well as at a slight +elevation and as easily as solid shot, was attended with great results. +Used by the French in 1832, in the quick victorious siege of Antwerp, by +the allies at Sebastopol, where the whole Russian fleet was destroyed in +about an hour, and in the fight of the Kearsarge and the doomed Alabama +off Cherbourg in the American civil war, it forced inventors in the +different countries to devise new and better armour for the defence of +ships. This was followed by guns of still greater penetrative power. +Then as another result effected by these greater guns came the passing +away of the old-fashioned brick and stone forts as a means of defence. + +In an interesting address by Major Clarence E. Dutton of the Ordnance +Department, U.S.A., at the Centennial Patent Congress at Washington in +1891, he thus stated what the fundamental improvements were that have +characterised the modern ordnance during the century: + +1. The regulation and control of the action of gunpowder in such a +manner as to exert less strain upon the gun, and to impart more energy +to the projectile. + +2. To so construct the gun as to transfer a portion of the strain from +the interior parts of the walls which had borne too much of it, to the +exterior parts which had borne too little, thus nearly equalising the +strain throughout the entire thickness of the walls. + +3. To provide a metal which should be at once stronger and safer than +any which had been used before. + +In the United States General Rodman, "one of the pioneers of armed +science," commenced about 1847 a series of investigations and +experiments on the power and action of gunpowder and the strains +received by every part of the gun by the exploding gases, of very great +importance; and in this matter he was assisted greatly by Dr. W. E. +Woodbridge, who invented an ingenious apparatus termed a "piezometer," +or a pressure measurer, by which the pressure of the gases at the +various parts of the gun was determined with mathematical certainty. + +Dr. Woodbridge also added greatly to the success of rifled cannon. The +success in rifling small arms, by which an elongated ball is made to +retain the same end foremost during its flight, led again to the +attempts of rifling cannon for the same purpose, which were finally +successful. But this success was due not to the spiral grooves in the +cannon bore, but in attachments to the ball compelling it to follow the +course of the grooves and giving it the proper initial movement. The +trouble with these attachments was that they were either stripped off, +or stripped away, by the gun spirals. Woodbridge in 1850 overcame the +difficulty by inventing an improved _sabot_, consisting of a ring +composed of metal softer than the projectile or cannon, fixed on the +inner end of the projectile and grooved at its rear end, so that when +the gun is fired and the ball driven forward these grooves expand, +acting valvularly to fill the grooves in the gun, thus preventing the +escape of the gases, while the ring at the same time is forced forward +on to the shell so tightly and forcibly that the projectile is +invariably given a rotary motion and made to advance strictly in the +line of axis of the bore, and in the same line during the course of its +flight. This invention in principle has been followed ever since, +although other forms have been given the sabot, and it is due to this +invention that modern rifled cannon have been so wonderfully accurate in +range and efficient in the penetrating and destructive power both on sea +and land. + +Woodbridge also invented the _wire-wound cannon_, and a machine for +winding the wire upon the gun, thus giving the breach part, especially, +immense strength. + +In England, among the first notable and greater inventors in ordnance +during the latter half of the century, a period which embraces the +reduction to practice of the most wonderful and successful inventions in +weapons of war which the world had up to that time seen, are Lancaster, +who invented the elliptical bore; Sir William Armstrong, who, commencing +in 1885, constructed a gun built of wrought-iron bars twisted into coils +and applied over a steel core and bound by one or more wrought-iron +rings, all applied at white heat and shrunk on by contraction due to +cooling, by which method smooth-bore, muzzle-loading cannon of immense +calibre, one weighing one hundred tons, were made. They were followed by +Armstrong, inventor of breech-loaders; Blakely, inventor of cannon made +of steel tubes and an outer jacket of cast iron; and Sir Joseph +Whitworth, inventor of most powerful steel cannon and compressed steel +projectiles. + +In Germany, Friedrich Krupp at Essen, Prussia, invented and introduced +such improvements in breech-loading cannon as revolutionised the +manufacture of that species of ordnance, and established the foundation +of the greatest ordnance works in the world. The first of his great +breech-loading steel guns was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1867. +A Krupp gun finished at Essen in the 70's was then the largest steel gun +the world had ever seen. It weighed seventy-two tons, and was thirty-two +feet long. The charge consisted of 385 pounds of powder, the shell +weighed 1,660 pounds, having a bursting charge of powder of 22 pounds, +and a velocity of 1,640 feet per second. It was estimated that if the +gun were fired at an angle of 43 deg. the shell would be carried a distance +of fifteen miles. It was in the Krupp guns, and also in the Armstrong +breech-loaders, that a simple feature was for the first time introduced +which proved of immense importance in giving great additional expansive +force to the explosion of the powder. This was an increase in the size +of the powder chamber so as to allow a vacant space in it unfilled with +powder. + +In the United States, Rodman, commencing in 1847, and Dahlgren in 1850, +and Parrott in 1860, invented and introduced some noticeable +improvements in cast-iron, smooth-bore, and rifled cannon. + +In France General Paixhans and Colonel Treuille de Beaulieu improved the +shells and ordnance. + +The latest improvements in cannon indicate that the old smooth-bore +muzzle-loader guns are to be entirely superseded by breech-loaders, just +as in small arms the muzzle-loading musket has given way to the +breech-loading rifle. + +A single lever is now employed, a single turn of which will close or +open the breech, and when opened expel the shell by the same movement. +Formerly breech-loaders were confined to the heaviest ordnance; now they +are a part of the lightest field pieces. + +As to the operation of those immense guns above referred to, which +constitute principally sea-coast defences and the heavy armament for +forts, gun carriages have been invented whereby the huge guns are +quickly raised from behind immense embrasures by pneumatic or hydraulic +cylinders, quickly fired (the range having been before accurately +ascertained) and then as quickly lowered out of sight, the latter +movement being aided by the recoil action of the gun. + +It is essential that the full force of the gases of explosion shall be +exerted against the base of the projectile, and therefore all escape of +such gases be prevented. To this end valuable improvements in _gas +checks_ have been made,--one kind consisting of an annular canvas sack +containing asbestos and tallow placed between the front face of the +breech block and a mushroom-shaped piece, against which the explosion +impinges. + +As among projectiles and shells for cannon those have been invented +which are loaded with dynamite or other high explosive, a new class of +_Compressed air ordnance_ has been started, in which air or gas is used +for the propelling power in place of powder, whereby the chances of +exploding such shells in the bore of the gun are greatly lessened. + +The construction of metals, both for cannon to resist most intense +explosives and for plates to resist the penetration of the best +projectiles, have received great attention. They are matters pertaining +to metallurgy, and are treated of under that head. The strife still +continues between impenetrable armour plate and irresistible +projectiles. Within the last decade or so shells have been invented with +the design simply to shatter or fracture the plate by which the way is +broken for subsequent shots. Other shells have been invented carrying a +high explosive and capable of penetrating armour plates of great +thickness, and exploding after such penetration has taken place. + +A great accompaniment to artillery is "The Range Finder," a telescopic +apparatus for ascertaining accurately the location and distance of +objects to be fired at. + +Returning to _small arms_,--at the time percussion caps were invented in +England, 1803-1814, John H. Hall of the United States invented a +breech-loading rifle. It was in substance an ordinary musket cut in two +at the breech, with the rear piece connected by a hinge and trunnion to +the front piece, the bore of the two pieces being in line when clamped, +and the ball and cartridge inserted when the chamber was thrown up. A +large number were at once manufactured and used in the U.S. Army. A +smaller size, called _carbines_, were used by the mounted troops. After +about twenty years' use these guns began to be regarded as dangerous in +some respects, and their manufacture and use stopped, although the +carbines continued in use to some extent in the cavalry. A +breech-loading rifle was also invented by Colonel Pauly of France in +1812, and improved by Dreyse in 1835; also in Norway in 1838, and in a +few years adopted by Sweden as superior to all muzzle-loading arms. +About 1841 the celebrated "Needle Gun" was invented in Prussia, and its +superiority over all muzzle-loaders was demonstrated in 1848 in the +first Schleswig-Holstein war. + +_Cartridges_, in which the ball and powder were secured together in one +package, were old in artillery, as has been shown, but their use for +small arms is a later invention. _Metallic_ cartridges, made of sheet +metal with a fulminate cap in one end and a rim on the end of the shell +by which it could be extracted after the explosion, were invented by +numerous persons in Europe and America during the evolution of the +breech-loader. Combined metal case and paper patented in England in +1816, and numerous wholly metallic cartridge shells were patented in +England, France, and United States between 1840 and 1860. M. Lefaucheux +of France, in the later period, devised a metal _gas check_ cartridge +which was a great advance. + +A number of inventors in the United States besides Hall had produced +breech-loading small arms before the Civil War of 1861, but with the +exception of Colt's revolver and Sharp's carbine, the latter used by the +cavalry to a small extent, none were first adopted in that great +conflict. Later, the Henry or Winchester breech-loading rifle and the +Spencer magazine gun were introduced and did good service. But the whole +known system of breech-loading small arms was officially condemned by +the U.S. Military authorities previous to that war. The absence of +machines to make a suitable cartridge in large quantities and vast +immediate necessities compelled the authorities to ignore the tested +Prussian and Swedish breech-loaders and those of their own countrymen +and to ransack Europe for muskets of ancient pattern. These were worked +by the soldiers under the ancient tactics, of load, ram, charge and +fire, until a stray bullet struck the ramrod, or the discharge of a few +rammed cartridges so over-heated the musket as to thereby dispense with +the soldier and his gun for further service in that field. However, +private individuals and companies continued to invent and improve, and +the civil war in America revolutionised the systems of warfare and its +weapons. The wooden walls of the navies disappeared as a defence after +the conflict between the Monitor and the Merrimac, and muzzle-loading +muskets became things of the past. + +Torpedoes, both stationary and movable, then became a successful weapon +of warfare. Soon after that war, and when the United States had adopted +the Springfield breech-loading rifle, the works at Springfield were +equipped with nearly forty different machines, each for making a +separate part of a gun in great quantities. Many of these had been +invented by Thomas Blanchard forty years before. That great inventor of +labour-saving machinery had then designed machines for the shaping and +making of gun stocks and for forming the accompanying parts. Blanchard +was a contemporary of Hall, and Hall, to perfect his breech-loader, was +the first to invent machines for making its various parts. His was the +first interchangeable system in the making of small arms. + +Army officers had come to regard "the gun as only the casket while the +cartridge is the jewel;" and to this end J. G. Gill at the U.S. Arsenal +at Frankford, Philadelphia, devised a series of cartridge-making +machines which ranked among the highest triumphs of American invention. + +The single breech-loader is now being succeeded by the magazine gun, by +which a supply of cartridges in a chamber is automatically fed into the +barrel. The Springfield, has been remodelled as a magazine loader. Among +later types of repeating rifles, known from the names of their +inventors, are the "Krag-Jorgensen," and the "Mauser," and the crack of +these is heard around the world. Modern rifles are rendered more deadly +by the fact that they can be loaded and fired in a recumbent position, +and with smokeless powder, by which the soldier and his location remain +concealed from his foe. + +The recoil of the gun in both large and small arms is now utilised to +expel the fired cartridge shell, and to withdraw a fresh one from its +magazine and place it in position in the chamber. _Compressed air and +explosive gases_ have been used for the same purpose. A small _electric +battery_ has been placed in the stock to explode the cartridge when the +trigger is pulled. + +Sporting guns have kept pace with other small arms in improvements, and +among modern forms are those which discharge in alternative succession +the two barrels by a single trigger. Revolvers have been improved and +the Smith and Wesson is known throughout the world. + +The idea of _Machine Guns_, or _Mitrailleuses_, was not a new one, as we +have seen from Puckle's celebrated patent of 1718. Also history mentions +a gun composed of four breech-loading tubes of small calibre, placed on +a two-wheeled cart used in Flanders as early as 1347, and of four-tubed +guns used by the Scotch during the civil war in 1644. The machine gun +invented by Dr. Gatling of the United States during the Civil War and +subsequently perfected, has become a part of the armament of every +civilised nation. The object of the gun is to combine in one piece the +destructive effect of a great many, and to throw a continuous hail of +projectiles. The gun is mounted on a tripod; the cartridges are +contained in a hopper mounted on the breech of the gun and are fed from +locks into the barrels (which are usually five or ten in number) as the +locks and barrels are revolved by a hand crank. As the handle is turned +the cartridges are first given a forward motion, which thrusts them into +the barrels, closes the breech and fires the cartridges in succession, +and then a backward motion which extracts the empty shells. The gun +weighs one hundred pounds and firing may be kept up with a ten-barreled +gun at one thousand shots a minute. + +The _Hotchkiss_ revolving cannon is another celebrated American +production named from its inventor, and constructed to throw heavier +projectiles than the Gatling. It also has revolving barrels and great +solidity in the breech mechanism. It has been found to be of great +service in resisting the attacks of torpedo boats. It is adapted to fire +long-range shells with great rapidity and powerful effect, and is +exceedingly efficient in defence of ditches and entrenchments. + +_Explosives._--The desire to make the most effective explosives for +gunnery led to their invention not only for that purpose but for the +more peaceful pursuit of blasting. _Gun Cotton_, that mixture of nitric +acid and cotton, made by Schoenbein in 1846, and experimented with for a +long time as a substitute for gunpowder in cannon and small arms and +finally discarded for that purpose, is now being again revived, but used +chiefly for blasting. This was followed by the discovery of +nitro-glycerine, a still more powerful explosive agent--too powerful and +uncontrollable for guns as originally made. They did not supersede +gunpowder, but smokeless powders have come, containing nitro-cellulose, +or nitro-glycerine rendered plastic, coherent and homogeneous, and +converted into rods or grains of free running powder, to aid the +breech-loaders and magazine guns, while the high explosives, gun-cotton, +nitro-glycerine, dynamite, dualine, etc., have become the favorite +agencies for those fearful offensive and defensive weapons, the +_Torpedoes_. From about the time of the discovery of gunpowder, +stationary and floating chambers and mines of powder, to be discharged +in early times by fuses (later by percussion or electricity), have +existed, but modern inventions have rendered them of more fearful +importance than was ever dreamed of before this century. The latest +invention in this class is the _submarine torpedo boat_, which, moving +rapidly towards an enemy's vessel, suddenly disappears from sight +beneath the water, and strikes the vessel at its lowest or most +vulnerable point. + +To the inquiry as to whether all this vast array of modern implements of +destruction is to lessen the destruction of human life, shorten war, +mitigate its horrors and tend toward peace, there can be but one answer. +All these desirable results have been accomplished whenever the new +inventions of importance have been used. "Warlike Tribes" have been put +to flight so easily by civilised armies in modern times that such tribes +have been doubted as possessing their boasted or even natural courage. +Nations with a glorious past as to bravery but with a poor armament have +gone down suddenly before smaller forces armed with modern ordnance. The +results would have been reversed, and the derision would have proceeded +from the other side, if the conditions had been reversed, and those +tribes and brave peoples been armed with the best weapons and the +knowledge of their use. The courage of the majority of men on the +battle-field is begot of confidence and enthusiasm, but this confidence +and enthusiasm, however great the cause, soon fail, and discretion +becomes the better part of valour, if men find that their weapons are +weak and useless against vastly superior arms of the enemy. The +slaughter and destruction in a few hours with modern weapons may not be +more terrible than could be inflicted with the old arms by far greater +forces at close quarters in a greater length of time in the past, but +the end comes sooner; and the prolongation of the struggle with renewed +sacrifices of life, and the long continued and exhausting campaigns, +giving rise to diseases more destructive than shot or shell, are thereby +greatly lessened, if not altogether avoided. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +PAPER AND PRINTING. + + +_Paper-making._--"The art preservative of all arts"--itself must have +means of preservation, and hence the art of paper-making precedes the +art of printing. + +It was Pliny who wrote, at the beginning of the Christian era, that "All +the usages of civilised life depend in a remarkable degree upon the +employment of paper. At all events the remembrance of past events." + +Naturally to the Chinese, the Hindoo, and the Egyptian, we go with +inquiries as to origin, and find that as to both arts they were making +the most delicate paper from wood and vegetable fibres and printing with +great nicety, long before Europeans had even learned to use papyrus or +parchment, or had conceived the idea of type. + +So far as we know the wasp alone preceded the ancient Orientals in the +making of paper. Its gray shingled house made in layers, worked up into +paper by a master hand from decayed wood, pulped, and glutinised, +waterproofed, with internal tiers of chambers, a fortress, a home, and +an airy habitation, is still beyond the power of human invention to +reproduce. + +Papyrus--the paper of the Egyptians: Not only their paper, but its pith +one of their articles of food, and its outer portions material for +paper, boxes, baskets, boats, mats, medicines, cloths and other articles +of merchandise. + +Once one of the fruits of the Nile, now no longer growing there. On its +fragile leaves were recorded and preserved the ancient literatures--the +records of dynasties--the songs of the Hebrew prophets--the early annals +of Greece and Rome--the vast, lost tomes of Alexandria. Those which were +fortunately preserved and transferred to more enduring forms now +constitute the greater part of all we have of the writings of those +departed ages. + +In making paper from papyrus, the inner portion next to the pith was +separated into thin leaves; these were laid in two or more layers, +moistened and pressed together to form a leaf; two or more leaves united +at their edges if desired, or end to end, beaten smooth with a mallet, +polished with a piece of iron or shell, the ends, or sides, or both, of +the sheet sometimes neatly ornamented, and then rolled on a wooden +cylinder. The Romans and other ancient nations imported most of their +papyrus from Egypt, although raising it to considerable extent in their +own swamps. + +In the seventh century, the Saracens conquered Egypt and carried back +therefrom, papyrus, and the knowledge of how to make paper from it to +Europe. + +Parchment manufactured from the skins of young calves, kids, lambs, +sheep, and goats, was an early rival of papyrus, and was known and used +in Europe before papyrus was there introduced. + +The softening of vegetable and woody fibre of various kinds, flax and +raw cotton and rags, and reducing it into pulp, drying, beating, and +rolling it into paper, seem to have been suggested to Europe by the +introduction of papyrus, for we learn of the first appearance of such +paper by the Arabians, Saracens, Spaniards and the French along through +the eighth, ninth, and tenth and eleventh centuries. Papyrus does not, +however, appear to have been superseded until the twelfth century. + +Public documents are still extant written in the twelfth century on +paper made from flax and rags; and paper mills began to put in an +appearance in Germany in the fourteenth century, in which the fibre was +reduced to pulp by stampers. England began to make paper in the next +century. Pulping the fibre by softening it in water and beating the same +had then been practised for four centuries. Rollers in the mills for +rolling the pulp into sheets were introduced in the fifteenth century, +and paper makers began to distinguish their goods from those made by +others by water marks impressed in the pulp sheets. The jug and the pot +was one favourite water mark in that century, succeeded by a fool's cap, +which name has since adhered to paper of a certain size, with or without +the cap. So far was the making of paper advanced in Europe that about +1640 wall paper began to be made as a substitute for tapestry; although +as to this fashion the Chinese were still ahead some indefinite number +of centuries. + +Holland was far advanced in paper-making in the seventeenth century. The +revolution of 1688 having seriously interrupted the art in England, that +country imported paper from Holland during that period amounting to +L100,000. It was a native of Holland, Rittenhouse, who introduced +paper-making in America and erected a mill near Philadelphia in the +early years of the eighteenth century, and there made paper from linen +rags. + +The Dutch also had substituted cylinders armed with blades in place of +stampers and used their windmills to run them. The Germans and French +experimented with wood and straw. + +In the latter part of the eighteenth century some manufacturers in +Europe had learned to make white paper from white rags, and as good in +quality, and some think better, than is made at the present day. The +essentials of paper making by hand from rags and raw vegetable fibres, +the soaking of fibres in water and boiling them in lyes, the beating, +rolling, smoothing, sizing and polishing of the paper, were then known +and practised. But the best paper was then a dear commodity. The art of +bleaching coloured stock was unknown, and white paper was made alone +from stock that came white into the mill. The processes were nearly all +hand operations. "Beating" was pounding in a mortar. The pulp was laid +by hand upon moulds made of parallel strands of coarse brass wire; and +the making of the pulp by grinding wood and treating it chemically to +soften it was experimental. + +The nineteenth century produced a revolution. It introduced the use of +modern machinery, and modern chemical processes, by which all known +varieties and sizes of paper, of all colours, as well as paper vessels, +are made daily in immense quantities in all civilised countries, from +all sorts of fibrous materials. + +Knight, in his _Mechanical Dictionary_, gives a list of nearly 400 +different materials for paper making that had been used or suggested, +for the most part within the century and up to twenty years ago, and the +number has since increased. + +The modern revolution commenced in 1799, when Louis Robert, an employee +of Francois Didot of Essones, France, invented and patented the first +machine for making paper in a long, wide, continuous web. The French +government in 1800 granted him a reward of 8,000 francs. The machine was +then exhibited in England and there tested with success. It was there +that Messrs. Fourdrinier, a wealthy stationery firm, purchased the +patents, expended L60,000 for improvements on the machine, and first +gave to the world its practical benefits. This expenditure bankrupted +them, as the machines were not at once remunerative, and parliament +refused to grant them pecuniary assistance. Gamble, Donkin, Koops, the +Fourdriniers, Dickenson, and Wilkes, were the first inventors to improve +the Robert machine, and to give it that form which in many essential +features remains to-day. They, together with later inventors, gave to +the world a new system of paper making. + +By 1872 two hundred and ninety-nine Fourdrinier machines were running in +the United States alone. In the improved Fourdrinier machine or system, +rags, or wood, or straw are ground or otherwise reduced to pulp, and +then the pulp, when properly soaked and drained, is dumped into a +regulating box, passing under a copper gate to regulate the amount and +depth of feed, then carried along through strainers, screeners or +dressers, to free the mass from clots and reduce it to the proper +fineness, over an endless wire apron, spread evenly over this apron by a +shaking motion, subjected to the action of a suction box by which the +water is drawn off by air-suction pumps, carried between cloth-covered +rollers which press and cohere it, carried on to a moving long felt +blanket to further free it from moisture, and which continues to hold +the sheet of pulp in form; then with the blanket through press rolls +adjustable to a desired pressure and provided with means to remove +therefrom adhering pulp and to arrest the progress of the paper if +necessary; then through another set of compression rollers, when the +condensed and matted pulp, now paper, is carried on to a second blanket, +passed through a series of steam cylinders, where the web is partially +dried, and again compressed, thence through another series of rollers +and drying cylinders, which still further dry and stretch it, and now, +finally completed, the sheet is wound on a receiving cylinder. The +number of rollers and cylinders and the position and the length of the +process to fully dry, compact, stretch and finish the sheet, may be, and +are, varied greatly. If it is desired to impress on or into the paper +water marks, letters, words, or ornamental matter, the paper in its +moist stage, after it passes through the suction boxes, is passed under +a "dandy" or fancy scrolled roll provided on its surface with the +desired design. When it is desired to give it a smooth, glossy surface, +the paper, after its completion, is passed through animal sizing +material, and then between drying and smoothing rollers. Or this sizing +may be applied to the pulp at the outset of the operation. Colouring +material, when desired, is applied to the pulp, before pressing. By the +use of machines under this system, a vast amount of material, cast-off +rags, etc., before regarded as waste, was utilised for paper making. + +The modern discoveries of the chemists of the century as to the nature +of fibres, best modes and materials for reducing them to pulp, and +bleaching processes, have brought the art of paper making from wood and +other fibrous materials to its present high and prosperous condition. + +What are known as the soda-pulp and the sulphite processes are examples +of this. The latter and other acid processes were not successful until +cement-lined digesters were invented to withstand their corroding +action. But now it is only necessary to have a convenient forest of +almost any kind of wood to justify the establishment of a paper mill. + +It was the scarcity of rags, especially of linen rags, that forced +inventors to find other paper-producing materials. + +It would be impossible and uninteresting in a work of this character to +enumerate the mechanical details constituting the improvements of the +century in paper-making machinery of all kinds. Thousands of patents +have been granted for such inventions. With one modern Fourdrinier +machine, and a few beating engines, a small paper mill will now turn out +daily as much paper as could be made by twelve mills a hundred years +ago. + +In moulding pulp into articles of manufacture, satisfactory machines +have been invented, not only for the mere forming them into shape, but +for water-proofing and indurating the same. From the making of a +ponderous paper car wheel to a lady's delicate work basket, success has +been attained. + +_Paper bag machines_, machines for making _paper boxes_, applying and +staying corners of such boxes, for making _cell cases_ used in packing +eggs and fruit, and for wrapping fruit; machines for affixing various +forms of labels and addresses, are among the wonders of modern +inventions relating to paper. It is wonderful how art and ingenuity +united about thirty years ago to produce attractive _wall papers_. +Previous to that time they were dull and conventional in appearance. Now +beautiful designs are rolled out from machines. + +_Printing._--We have already seen how paper making and printing grew up +together an indefinite number of centuries ago in the Far East. Both +block printing and movable types were the production of the Chinese, +with which on their little pages of many-coloured paper they printed +myriads of volumes of their strange literature in stranger characters +during centuries when Europeans were painfully inscribing their thoughts +with the stylus and crude pens upon papyrus and the dried skins of +animals. + +But the European and his descendants delight to honour most the early +inventors of their own countries. Italy refers with pride to the +printing from blocks practised by the Venetians, and at Ravenna, from +1280 to 1300; from type at Subiaco in the Roman territory in 1465, and +to the first Roman book printed in 1470; the Dutch to Laurens Coster, +whom they allege invented movable type in 1423. Some of the Dutch have +doubted this, and pin their faith on Jacob Bellaert, as the first +printer, and Gerard Leeu, his workman, who made the types at Haarlem, in +1483. The Germans rely with confidence on John Guttenberg, who at +Strasburg, as early as 1436, had wooden blocks, and wooden movable +types, and who, two or three years after, printed several works; on the +partnership of Faust and Guttenberg in 1450 at Mentz, and their Bible in +Latin printed in 1456 on vellum with types imitating manuscript in form, +and illustrated by hand; and, finally, on Peter Schoeffer of Gernsheim, +who then made matrices in which were cast the letters singly, and who +thereby so pleased his master, Faust, that the latter gave him his +daughter, Christina, in marriage. + +From Germany the art spread to Paris and thence to England. About 1474 +Caxton was printing his black-letter books in England. Spain followed, +and it is stated that in 1500 there were two hundred printing offices in +Europe. The religious and political turmoils in Germany in the sixteenth +century gave an immense impetus to printing there. The printing press +was the handmaid of the Reformation. In America the first printing press +was set up in Mexico in 1536, and in Lima, Brazil, in 1586. In 1639, +nineteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims on the bleak rock at +Plymouth, they set up a printing press at Cambridge, Mass. + +The art of printing soon resolved itself into two classes: first, +_composition_, the arranging of the type in the proper order into words +and pages; and second, _press work_; the taking of impressions from the +types, or from casts of types in plates--being a _facsimile_ of a type +bed. This was _stereotyping_--the invention of William Ged, of +Edinburgh, in 1731. + +Types soon came to be made everywhere of uniform height; that of England +and America being 92-100 of an inch, and became universally classified +by names according to their sizes, as pica, small pica, long primer, +minion, nonpareil, etc. + +After movable types came the invention of _Presses_. The earliest were +composed of a wooden frame on which were placed the simple screw and a +lever to force a plate down upon a sheet of paper placed on the bed of +type which had been set in the press, with a spring to automatically +raise the screw and plate after the delivery of the impression. This was +invented by Blaew of Amsterdam in 1620. Such, also, was the Ramage +press, and on such a one Benjamin Franklin worked at his trade as a +printer, both in America and in London. His London press, on which he +worked in 1725, was carried to the United States, and is now on +exhibition in Washington. This was substantially the state of the art at +the beginning of the century. + +Then Earl Stanhope in England invented a press entirely of iron, and the +power consisted of the combination of a toggle joint and lever. The +first American improvement was invented by George Clymer, of +Philadelphia, in 1817, the power being an improved lever consisting of +three simple levers of the second order. This was superseded by the +"Washington" press invented by Samuel Rust in 1829. It has as essential +parts the toggle joint and lever, and in the frame work, as in the +Stanhope, type bed, rails on which the bed was moved in and out, means +to move the bed, the platen, the tympan on which the sheet is placed, +the frisket, a perforated sheet of paper, to preserve the printed sheet, +an inking roller and frame. In this was subsequently introduced an +automatic device for inking the roller, as it was moved back from over +the bed of type on to an inking table. This, substantially, has been the +hand press ever since. + +With one of these hand-presses and the aid of two men about two hundred +and fifty sheets an hour could be printed on one side. The increase in +the circulation of newspapers before the opening of the 19th century +demanded greater rapidity of production and turned the attention of +inventors to the construction of power or machine presses. Like the +paper-making machine, the power press was conceived in the last decade +of the eighteenth century, and like that art was also not developed +until the nineteenth century. William Nicholson of England is believed +to have been the first inventor of a machine printing press. He obtained +an English patent for it in 1720. The type were to be placed on the face +of one cylinder, which was designed to be in gear, revolved with, and +press upon another cylinder covered with soft leather, the type cylinder +to be inked by a third cylinder to which the inking apparatus, was +applied, and the paper to be printed by being passed between the type +and the impression cylinder. These ideas were incorporated into the best +printing machines that have since been made. But the first successful +machine printing press was the invention of two Saxons, Koenig and Bauer, +in 1813, who introduced their ideas from Germany, constructed the +machine in London, and on which on the 28th of November, 1814, an issue +of the _London Times_ was printed. The _Times_ announced to its readers +that day that they were for the first time perusing a paper printed upon +a machine driven by steam power. What a union of mighty forces was +heralded in this simple announcement! The union of the steam engine, the +printing press, and a great and powerful journal! An Archimedean lever +had been found at last with which to move the world. + +The production of printed sheets per hour over the hand-press was at +once quadrupled, and very shortly 1800 sheets per hour were printed. +This machine was of that class known as cylinder presses. In this +machine ordinary type was used, and the type-form was flat and passed +beneath a large impression cylinder on which the paper was held by +tapes. The type-form was reciprocated beneath an inking apparatus and +the paper cylinder alternately. The inking apparatus consisted of a +series of rollers, to the first of which the ink was ejected from a +trough and distributed to the others. In 1815 Cowper patented in England +electrotype plates to be affixed to a cylinder. Applegath and Cowper +improved the Koenig machine in the matter of the ink distributing +rollers, and in the adaptation of four printing cylinders to the +reciprocating type bed, whereby, with some other minor changes, 5000 +impressions on one side were produced per hour. Again Applegath greatly +changed the arrangement of cylinders and multiplied their number, and +the number of the other parts, so that in 1848 the sheets printed on one +side were first 8000 and then 12,000 an hour. + +In the United States, Daniel Treadwell of Boston invented the first +power printing machine in 1822. Two of these machines were at that time +set up in New York city. It was a flat bed press and was long used in +Washington in printing for the government. David Bruce of New York, in +1838, invented the first successful type-casting machine, which, when +shortly afterward it was perfected, became the model for type-casting +machines for Europe and America. Previous to that time type were +generally made by casting them in hand-moulds--the metal being poured in +with a spoon. + +Robert Hoe, an English inventor, went to New York in 1803, and turned +his attention to the making of printing presses. His son, Richard March +Hoe, inherited his father's inventive genius. While in England in +1837-1840, obtaining a patent on and introducing a circular saw, he +became interested in the printing presses of the London Times. Returning +home, he invented and perfected a rotary machine which received the name +of the "Lightning Press." It first had four and then ten cylinders +arranged in a circle. As finally completed, it printed from a continuous +roll of paper several miles in length, and on both sides at the same +time, cutting off and folding ready for delivery, 15,000 to 20,000 +newspapers an hour, the paper being drawn through the press at the rate +of 1,000 feet in a minute. Before it was in this final, completed shape, +it was adopted by the _London Times_. John Walter of London in the +meantime invented a machine of a similar class. He also used a sheet of +paper miles long. It was first damped, passed through blotting rolls, +and then to the printing cylinders. It gave out 11,000 perfected sheets, +or 22,000 impressions an hour, and as each sheet was printed, it was cut +by a knife on the cylinder, and the sheets piled on the paper boards. It +was adopted by the London _Times_ and the New York _Times_. + +A German press at Augsburg, and the Campbell presses of the United +States, have also become celebrated as web perfecting presses, in which +the web is printed, the sheets cut, associated, folded, and delivered at +high speed. One of the latest quadruple stereotype perfecting presses +made by Hoe & Co. of New York has a running capacity of 48,000 papers +per hour. On another, a New York paper has turned off nearly six hundred +thousand copies in a single day, requiring for their printing +ninety-four tons of paper. Among other celebrated inventors of printing +presses in the United States were Isaac Adams, Taylor, Gordon, Potter, +Hawkins, Bullock, Cottrell, Campbell, Babcock, and Firm. + +_Mail-marking Machines_, in which provision is made for holding the +printing mechanism out of operative position in case a letter is not in +position to be stamped; address-printing machines, including machines +for printing addresses by means of a stencil; machines for automatically +setting and distributing the type, including those in which the +individual types are caused to enter the proper receptacle by means of +nicks in the type, which engage corresponding projections on a +stationary guard plate, and automatic type justifying machines. All such +have been invented, developed, and perfected in the last half century. + +Another invention which has added wonderfully to push the century along, +is the _Typewriter_. It has long been said that "The pen is mightier +than the sword," but from present indications, it is proper to add that +the typewriter is mightier than the pen. + +A machine in which movable types are caused to yield impressions on +paper to form letters by means of key levers operated by hand, has been +one of slow growth from its conception to its present practical and +successful form. + +Some one suggested the idea in England in a patent in 1714. The idea +rested until 1840, when a French inventor revived it in a patent. At the +same time patents began to come out in England and the United States; +and about forty patents in each of these two countries were granted from +that time until 1875. Since that date about 1400 patents more have been +issued in the United States, and a large number in other countries. It +was, however, only that year and before 1880, that the first popular +commercially successful machines were made and introduced. + +The leading generic idea of all subsequent successful devices of this +kind was clearly set forth in the patent of S. W. Francis of the United +States in 1857. This feature is the arranging of a row of hammers in a +circle so that when put in motion they will all strike the same place, +which is the centre of that circle. The arrangement of a row of pivoted +hammers or type levers, each operated by a separate key lever to strike +an inked ribbon in front of a sheet of paper, means to automatically +move the carriage carrying the paper roll from right to left as the +letters are successfully printed, leaving a space between each letter +and word, and sounding a signal when the end of a line is reached, so +that the carriage may be returned to its former position--all these and +some other minor but necessary operations may seem simple enough when +stated, but their accomplishment required the careful study of many +inventors for years. + +One of the most modern of typewriters has a single electro-magnet to +actuate all the type bars of a set, and to throw each type from its +normal position to the printing centre. By an extremely light touch +given to each key lever the circuit is closed and causes the lever to +strike without the necessity of pressing the key down its whole extent +and releasing it before the next key strikes. By this device, the +operator is relieved of fatigue, as his fingers may glide quickly from +one key to another, the printing is made uniform, and far greater speed +attained by reason of the quick and delicate action. Mr. Thaddeus Cahill +of Washington appears to be the first to have invented the most +successful of this type of machines. + +_Book-binding Machinery_ is another new production of the century. It +may be that the old hand methods would give to a book a stronger binding +than is found on most books to-day, but the modern public demands and +has obtained machinery that will take the loose sheets and bind them +ready for delivery, at the rate of ten or fifteen thousand volumes a +day. + +The "quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore," the Latin folios in +oak or ivory boards with brass clasps, or bound in velvet, or in crimson +satin, ornamented with finest needlework or precious stones, or the more +humble beech boards, and calf and sheep skins with metal edges and iron +clasps, in all of which the sheets were stoutly sewed together and +glued, when glue was known, to the covers, are now but relics of the +past. Machinery came to the front quite rapidly after 1825, at which +time cloth had been introduced as cheaper than leather, and as cheap and +a more enduring binder than paper. The processes in book-binding are +enumerated as follows; and for each process a machine has been invented +within the last sixty years to do the work: + + Folding the sheets; + Gathering the consecutive sheets; + Rolling the backs of folded sheets; + Saw cutting the backs for the combs; + Sewing; + Rounding the back of the sewed sheets. + Edge cutting; + Binding, securing the books to the sides, covering with muslin, + leather or paper. Tooling and lettering. + Edge gilting. + +One of the best modern illustrations of human thought and complicated +manual operations contained in automatic machinery is the _Linotype_. + +It is a great step from the humble invention of Schoeffer five hundred +and fifty years ago of cast movable type to that of another German, +Mergenthaler, in 1890-92. + +The Linotype (a line of type) was pronounced by the _London Engineering_ +"as the most remarkable machine of this century." It was the outcome of +twelve years of continuous experiment and invention, and the expenditure +of more than a million dollars. A brief description of this invention is +given in the report of the United States commissioner of patents for +1895 as follows: "In the present Mergenthaler construction there is a +magazine containing a series of tubes for the letter or character +moulds, each of which moulds is provided with a single character. There +are a number of duplicates of each character, and the moulds containing +the same character are all arranged in one tube. The machine is provided +with a series of finger keys, which, when pressed like the keys of a +typewriter, cause the letter moulds to assemble in a line in their +proper order for print. A line mould and a melting pot are then brought +into proper relation to the assembled line of letter moulds and a cast +is taken, called the linotype, which represents the entire line, a +column wide, of the matter to be printed. The letter moulds are then +automatically returned to their proper magazine tube. The Mergenthaler +machine is largely in use in the principal newspaper offices, with the +result that a single operator does at least the work of four average +compositors." + +Mr Rogers obtained a United States patent, September 23, 1890, for a +machine for casting lines of type, the principal feature of which is +that the letter moulds are strung on wires secured on a hinged frame. +"When the frame is in one position, the letter moulds are released by +the keys, slide down the wires by gravity and are assembled in line at +the casting point. After the cast is taken, the lower ends of the guide +wires are elevated, which causes the letter moulds to slide back on the +wires to their original position, when the operation is repeated for the +next line." Operated by a single person, the Mergenthaler produces and +assembles linotypes ready for the press or stereotyping table at the +rate of from 3,600 to 7,000 ems (type characters) per hour. It permits +the face or style of type to be changed at will and it permits the +operator to read and correct his matter as he proceeds. + +To the aid of the ordinary printing press came _electrotyping_, +stenographic colour printing, engraving, and smaller job and card +presses, all entirely new creations within the century, and of infinite +variety, each in itself forming a new class in typographic art, and a +valuable addition to the marvellous transformation. + +The introduction of the linotype and other modern machines into printing +offices has without doubt many times reduced and displaced manual +labour, and caused at those times at least temporary suffering among +employees. But statistics do not show that as a whole there are fewer +printers in the land. On the contrary, the force seems to increase, just +as the number of printing establishments increase, with the +multiplication of new inventions. As in other arts, the distress caused +by the displacement of hand-labour by machinery is local and temporary. +The whole art rests for its development on the demand for reading +matter, and the demand never seems to let up. It increases as fast as +the means of the consumers increase for procuring it. One hundred years +ago a decent private library, consisting of a hundred or so volumes, one +or two weekly newspapers, and an occasional periodical, was the badge +and possession alone of the wealthy few. Now nearly every reading +citizen of every village has piled up in some corner of his house a +better supply than that, of bound or unbound literature, and of a far +superior quality. Besides the tons of reading matter of all kinds turned +out daily by the city presses, every village wants its own paper and its +town library, and every one of its business men has recourse to the +typewriter and the printer for his letters, his cards, and his +advertisements. + +To supply the present demand for printed matter with the implements of a +hundred years ago, it would be necessary to draw upon and exhaust the +supply of labourers in nearly every other occupation. Printing would +become the one universal profession. + +The roar of the guns at Waterloo and the click of the first power +printing press in London were nearly simultaneous. The military Colossus +then tumbled, and the Press began to lead mankind. Wars still continue, +and will, until men are civilised; but the vanguard of civilisation are +the printers, and not the warriors. The marvellous glory of the +nineteenth century has proceeded from the intelligence of the people, +awakened, stimulated, and guided by the press. But the press itself, and +its servitors and messengers, speeding on the wings of electricity, are +the children of the inventors. + +These inventions have made the book and the newspaper the poor man's +University. They are mirrors which throw into his humble home +reflections of the scenes of busy life everywhere. By them knowledge is +spread, thought aroused, and universal education established. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TEXTILES. + + +_Spinning_:--A bunch of combed fibre fixed in the forked end of a stick +called a distaff, held under the left arm, while with the right +forefinger and thumb the housewife or maiden deftly drew out and twisted +a thread of yarn of the fibre and wound it upon a stick called a +spindle, was the art of spinning that came down to Europe from Ancient +Egypt or India without a change through all the centuries to at least +the middle of the fourteenth century, and in England to the time of +Henry VIII. Then the spinning wheel was introduced, which is said to +have also been long in use in India. By the use of the wheel the spindle +was no longer held in the hand, but, set upon a frame and connected by a +cord or belt to the wheel, was made to whirl by turning the wheel by +hand, or by a treadle. The spindle was connected to the bunch of cotton +by a cord, or by a single roving of cotton or wool attached to the +spindle, which was held between the finger and thumb, and as the spindle +revolved the thread was drawn out and twisted and wound by the spindle +upon itself. + +In the cloth of the ancient East the warp and weft were both of cotton. +In England the warp was linen and the weft was cotton. The warp was made +by the cloth and linen manufacturers, and the weft yarns furnished by +the woman spinsters throughout the country. By both these methods only a +single thread at a time was spun. The principle of the spinning +operation, the drawing out and twisting a thread or cord from a bunch or +roll of fibre, has remained the same through all time. + +The light and delicate work, the pure and soft material, and the beauty +and usefulness of raiments produced, have all through time made woman +the natural goddess, the priestess, the patroness, and the votary of +this art. The object of all modern machinery, however complicated or +wonderful, has simply been to increase the speed and efficiency of the +ancient mode of operation and to multiply its results. The loom, that +antique frame on which the threads were laid in one direction to form +the warp, and crossed by the yarns in the opposite direction, carried +through the warp by the shuttle thrown by hand, to form the woof, or +weft, comprised a device as old as, if not older than, the distaff and +spindle. + +The ancient and isolated races of Mexico had also learned the art of +spinning and weaving. When the Spaniards first entered that country they +found the natives clothed in cotton, woven plain, or in many colours. + +After forty centuries of unchanged life, it occurred to John Kay of +Bury, England, that the weaving process might be improved. In 1733 he +had succeeded in inventing the picker motion, "picker peg," or "fly." +This consisted of mechanical means for throwing the shuttle across the +web by a sudden jerk of a bar--one at each side--operated by pulling a +cord. He could thus throw the shuttle farther and quicker than by +hand--make wider cloth, and do as much work in the same time as two men +had done before. This improvement put weaving ahead of spinning, and the +weavers were continually calling on the spindlers for more weft yarns. +This set the wits of inventors at work to better the spinning means. + +At the same time that Kay was struggling with his invention of the +flying shuttle, another poor man, but with less success, had conceived +another idea, as to spinning. John Wyatt of Lichfield thought it would +be a good thing to draw out the sliver of cotton or wool between two +sets of rollers, one end of the sliver being held and fed by one set of +rollers, while the opposite end was being drawn by the other set of +rollers moving at a greater speed. His invention, although not then +used, was patented in 1738 by Lewis Paul, who in time won a fortune by +it, while Wyatt died poor, and it was claimed that Paul and not Wyatt +was the true inventor. + +About 1764 a little accident occurring in the home of James Hargreaves, +an English weaver of Blackburn, suggested to that observant person an +invention that was as important as that of Kay. He was studying hard how +to get up a machine to meet the weavers' demands for cotton yarns. One +day while Hargreaves was spinning, surrounded by his children, one of +them upset the spinning wheel, probably in a children's frolic, and +after it fell and while lying in a horizontal position, with the spindle +in a vertical position, and the wheel and the spindle still running, the +idea flashed into Hargreaves' mind that a number of spindles might be +placed upright and run from the same power. Thus prompted he commenced +work, working in secret and at odd hours, and finally, after two or +three years, completed a crude machine, which he called the spinning +jenny, some say after his wife, and others that the name came from +"gin," the common abbreviated name of an engine. This machine had eight +or ten spindles driven by cords or belts from the same wheel, and +operated by hand or foot. The rovings at one end were attached to the +spindles and their opposite portions held together and drawn out by a +clasp held in the hand. When the thread yarn was drawn out sufficiently +it was wound upon the spindles by a reverse movement of the wheel. Thus +finally were means provided to supply the demand for the weft yarns. One +person with one of Hargreaves' machines could in the same time spin as +much as twenty or thirty persons with their wheels. But those who were +to be most benefited by the invention were the most alarmed, for fear of +the destruction of their business, and they arose in their wrath, and +demolished Hargreaves' labours. It was a hard time for inventors. The +law of England then was that patents were invalid if the invention was +made known before the patent was applied for, and part of the public +insisted on demolishing the invention if it was so made known, so that +to avoid the law and the lawless the harassed inventors kept and worked +their inventions in secret as long as they could. Hargreaves fled to +Nottingham, where works were soon started with his spinning jennys. The +ideas of Kay, Wyatt and Hargreaves are said to have been anticipated in +Italy. There were makers of cloths at Florence, and also in Spain and +the Netherlands, who were far in advance of the English and French in +this art, but the descriptions of machinery employed by them are too +vague and scanty to sustain the allegation. + +And now the long ice age of hand working was breaking up, and the age of +machine production was fast setting in. Hargreaves was in the midst of +his troubles and his early triumphs, in 1765-1769, when Richard +Arkwright entered the field. Arkwright, first a barber, and then a +travelling buyer of hair, and finally a knight, learned, as he travelled +through Lancashire, Lichfield, Blackburn and Nottingham, of the +inventions and labours of Wyatt, Kay and Hargreaves. Possessed as he was +of some mechanical skill and inventive genius, and realising that the +harvest was ripe and the labourers few, entered the field of inventions, +and with the help of Kay, revived the old ideas of John Wyatt and Lewis +Paul of spinning by rollers, which had now slumbered for thirty years. +Kay and Arkwright constructed a working model, and on this Arkwright by +hard pushing and hard work obtained capital, and improved, completed and +patented his machine. The machine was first used by him in a mill +erected at Nottingham and worked by horses; then at Cromford, and in +this mill the power used to drive the spinning machine was a water +wheel. His invention was therefore given the name of the _water_ frame, +which it retained long after steam had been substituted for water as the +driving power. It was also named the _throstle_, from the fact that it +gave a humming or singing sound while at work; but it is commonly known +as the _drawing_ frame. Arkwright patented useful improvements. He had +to contend with mobs and with the courts, which combined to destroy his +machines and his patent, but he finally succeeded in establishing mills, +and in earning from the Government, manufacturers, and the public a +great and well-merited munificence. + +It is a remarkable coincidence that Watt's steam engine patent and +Arkwright's first patent for his spinning machine were issued in the +same year--1769. The new era of invention was dawning fast. + +Then, in 1776, came Samuel Crompton of Bolton, who invented a +combination of the jenny of Hargreaves and the roller water frame of +Arkwright, and to distinguish his invention from the others he named it +the "mule." The mule was a carriage on wheels to which the spindles were +attached. When the mule was drawn out one way on its frame the rovings +were drawn from bobbins through rollers on a stationary frame, stretched +and twisted into threads, and then as the mule was run back the spun +threads were wound on spools on the spindles. The mule entirely +superseded the use of the jenny. Notwithstanding the advantage in names +the mule did more delicate work than the jenny. It avoided the +continuous stretch on the thread of the jenny by first completing the +thread and then winding it. Crompton's mule was moved back and forth by +hand. Roberts subsequently made it self-acting. Next, followed in +England the Rev. Edward Cartwright, who, turning his attention to +_looms_, invented the first loom run by machinery, the _first power +loom_, 1784-85. Then the rioters turned on him, and he experienced the +same attentions received by Hargreaves and Arkwright. The ignorance of +ages died in this branch of human progress, as it often dies in others, +with a violent wrench. But the age of steam had at last come, and with +it the spinning machine, the power loom, the printing press, and the +discovery among men of the powers of the mind, their freedom to exercise +such powers, and their right to possess the fruits of their labours. + +The completed inventions of Arkwright and others, combined with Watt's +steam engine, revolutionised trade, and resulted in the establishment of +mills and factories. A thousand spindles whirled where one hummed +before. The factory life which drew the women and girls from their +country homes to heated, and closely occupied, ill ventilated buildings +within town limits, was, however, not regarded as an improvement in the +matter of health; and it was a long time before mills were constructed +and operated with the view to the correction of this evil. + +The great increase in demand for cotton produced by these machine +inventions could not have been met had it not been for Eli Whitney's +invention of the saw gin in America in 1793. The cleaning of the seed +from the cotton accomplished by this machine produced as great a +revolution in the culture of cotton in America as the inventions of +Arkwright and others accomplished in spinning and weaving in England. +America had also learned of Arkwright's machinery. Samuel Slater, a +former employee of Arkwright, introduced it to Rhode Island in 1789, and +built a great cotton mill there in 1793. Others followed in +Massachusetts. Within twenty years after the introduction of Arkwright's +machines in the United States there were a hundred mills there with a +hundred thousand spindles. + +As has been said, it was customary for weavers to make the warp on their +looms at one place, and the spinners to furnish the yarns for the weft +from their homes, and even after the spinning machines were invented the +spinning and weaving were done at separate places. It remained for +Francis C. Lowell of Boston, who had been studying the art of spinning +and weaving in England and Scotland and the inventions of Arkwright and +Crompton, to establish in 1813 at Waltham, Mass., with the aid of Paul +Moody, machinist, the first factory in the world wherein were combined +under one roof all the processes for converting cotton into cloth. + +The task of the century in this art has been to greatly extend the +dominion of machinery in the treatment of cotton and wool in all stages, +from the reception of the raw material at the door of the factory to its +final completion in the form of the choicest cloth, and to increase the +capacity of machines sufficiently to meet an ever-increasing and +enormous consumption. There are from twenty to forty separate and +distinct operations performed both in spinning and weaving and the +completion of a piece of cloth from cotton or wool, and nearly all of +these operations are accomplished by machinery. + +The century's improvements and inventions in machines for treating and +spinning cotton comprise machines for first opening and tearing the +matted mass apart as it is taken from the bales, then cleaning, carding, +drawing, roving, stretching, spinning, winding, doubling, dressing, +warping, weaving, etc. Formerly, the opening machines were simply +cylinders armed with spikes, to which the cotton was led through nipping +rollers, and then delivered in a loose, fluffy condition. When such a +machine was associated with a blowing machine to blow out the dust and +cleanse the fibre, the loose and scattered condition in which the cotton +was left gave rise to a great danger from fire, and destructive fires +often occurred. The object of the later opening machinery is to confine +the cotton within a casing in its passage through the machine, during +which passage it is thoroughly stretched, beaten and blown and then +rolled into a continuous sheet or lap. At the same time, by nice +devices, it is evened, that is, freed from all knots, and made of +uniform thickness, while a certain quantity only of cotton of known +weight is allowed to pass through to constitute the required lap. +Finally the lap is wound upon a roller, which when filled is removed to +the carder. Although the cotton is now a white, soft, clean, downy +sheet, still the fibres cross each other in every direction, and they +require to be straightened and laid parallel before the spinning. This +is done by carding. Paul, Hargreaves, Robert Peel, and Arkwright had +worked in constructing a machine to take the place of hand carding, and +it was finally reduced by Arkwright, towards the close of the 18th +century, to its present form and principle. + +But to make those narrow, ribbon-like, clean, long lines of rolled +cotton, known as slivers, by machinery with greater precision and +uniformity than is possible by hand, and with a thousand times greater +rapidity, has been the work of many inventors at different times and in +different countries. The machine cards are cylinders clothed with +leather and provided with separate sets of slender, sharp, bent fingers. +The different cards are arranged to move past each other in opposite +directions, so as to catch and disentangle the fibres. Flat, overhead +stationary cards are also used through which the cotton is carried. As +one operation of carding is not sufficient for most purposes the cotton +is subjected to one or more successive cardings. So ingenious is the +structure in some of its parts that as the stream of cotton passes on, +any existing knots do not fail to excite the attention of the machine, +which at once arrests them and holds them until disentangled. In +connection with the cards, combers and strippers are used to assist in +further cleaning and straightening the fibre, which is finally removed +from the cards and the combs by the doffer. The cotton is stripped from +the doffer by the doffer knife and in the form of delicate, flat narrow +ribbons, which are drawn through a small funnel to consolidate them, and +finally delivered in a coiled form into a tall tin can. The material is +then carried to a drawing frame, which takes the spongy slivers, and, +carrying them through successive sets of rollers moving at increased +speed, elongates, equalises, straightens and "doubles" them, and finally +condenses them into two or more rolls by passing the same through a +trumpet-shaped funnel. As the yarns still need to be twisted, they are +passed through a roving frame similar to a drawing frame. An ingenious +device connected with the winding of the roving yarns upon bobbins may +be here noted. Formerly the bobbins on which the yarns were wound +increased in speed as they were filled, thus endangering and often +breaking the thread, and at all times increasing the tension. In 1823 +Asa Arnold of Rhode Island invented "a differential motion" by which the +velocity of the bobbin is kept uniform. The roving having been reduced +to proper size for the intended number of yarns, now goes to the +spinning machine, to still further draw out the threads and give to them +a more uniform twist and tenuity. The spinning machine is simply an +improved form of Crompton's mule, already described. + +Great as have been the improvements in many matters in spindle +structure, the drawing, the stretching and the twisting still remain +fundamentally the same in principle as in the singing throstle of +Arkwright and the steady mule of Crompton. And yet so great and rapid +has been the advancement of inventions as to details and to meet the +great demand, that the machinery of half a century ago has been almost +entirely discarded and supplanted by different types. A great +improvement on the spinning frame of the 18th century is the ring frame +invented by Jenks. In this the spindles, arranged vertically in the +frame, are driven by bands from a central cylinder, and project through +apertures in a horizontal bar. A flanged ridge around each aperture +forms a ring and affords a track for a little steel hoop called a +traveller, which is sprung over the ring. The traveller guides the +thread on to the spool. As the spindles revolve, the thread passing +through the traveller revolves it rapidly, and the horizontal bar rising +and falling has the effect of winding the yarn alternately and regularly +upon the spools. + +The bobbins of the spindle frame were found not large enough to contain +a sufficient amount of yarn to permit of a long continuous operation +when the warp came to be applied, and besides there were occasional +defects in the thread which could not be detected until it broke, if the +yarn was used directly from the bobbins. So to save much time and +trouble spooling machines were invented which wind the yarn from the +bobbins holding 1200 to 1800 yards, to large spools, each holding 18,000 +to 20,000 yards; and then by passing the yarn through fine slots in +guides which lead to the spool, lumps or weak places, which would break +the yarns at the guide, could at once be discovered and the yarn retied +firmly, so that there would be no further breaking in the warper. After +the yarn is finally spooled it is found that its surface is still rough +and covered with fuzz. It is desirable, therefore, that it shall be +smoothed out and be given somewhat of a lustre before weaving. These +final operations are performed by the warping and dressing machines. In +the warping machine the threads are drawn between rollers, the tension +of which can be regulated, and then through a "reed," a comb-shaped +device which separates the threads, and then finally wound upon a large +cylinder. In this machine a device is also arranged which operates to +stop the machine at once if any thread is broken. When the cylinder is +filled it is then taken to the dresser, which in its modern and useful +form is known as the "slusher," by which the yarns are drawn through hot +starch, the superfluous starch squeezed out, and the yarns, kept +separated all the time, dried by passing them around large drying +cylinders, or through a closed box heated by steam pipes, and then wound +upon the loom beam or cylinder. + +In weaving, as in spinning, however advanced, complicated and improved +the means may be beyond the hand methods and simple looms of past ages, +the general principles in the process are still the same. These means, +generally and broadly speaking, consist of a frame for two sets of +threads, a roller, called the warp beam, for receiving and holding the +threads which form the warp, a cloth beam upon which the cloth is wound +as it is woven, the warp threads, being first laid parallel, carried +from the warp beam and attached to the cloth beam; means called heddles, +which with their moving frames constitute "a harness," consisting of a +set of vertical strings or rods having central loops through which the +threads are passed, two or more sets of which receive alternate threads, +and by the reciprocation of which the threads are separated into sets, +_decussated_, forming between them what is called a shed through which +the shuttle is thrown; means for throwing the shuttle; and means, called +the batten, lay or lathe, for forcing or packing the weft tight into the +angle formed by the opened warp and so rendering the fabric tight and +compact, and then the motive power for turning the cloth beam and +winding the cloth as fast as completed. It is along these lines that the +inventors have wrought their marvellous changes from hand to power +looms. + +Prior to 1800, in the weaving of figures into cloths, it was customary +to employ boys to pull the cords in the loom harness in order to arrange +the coloured threads in their relative positions. In that year appeared +at the front Joseph Marie Jacquard, a French mechanician and native of +Lyons, whose parents were weavers, a prolific inventor in his youth, a +wayward wanderer after fortune and a wife, a soldier in the Revolution, +losing a son fighting by his side, eking out a poor living with his +wife's help at straw weaving, finally employed by a silk manufacturer, +and while thus engaged, producing that loom which has ever since been +known by his name. This loom was personally inspected by Napoleon, who +rewarded the inventor with honours and a pension. It was then demolished +by a mob and its inventor reviled, but it afterward became the pride of +Lyons and the means of its renown and wealth in the weaving of silks of +rich designs. + +The leading feature of the Jacquard loom consists of a chain of +perforated pattern cards made to pass over a drum, through which cards +certain needles pass, causing certain threads of the warp to rise and +fall, according to the holes in the cards, and thus admitting at certain +places in the warp coloured weft threads thrown by the shuttle, and +reproducing the pattern which is perforated in the cards. The Jacquard +device could be applied to any loom, and it worked a revolution in the +manufacture of figured goods. The complexity and expensiveness of +Jacquard's loom were greatly reduced by subsequent improvements. In 1854 +M. Bonelli constructed an electric loom in which the cards of the +Jacquard apparatus are superseded by an endless band of tin-foiled +paper, which serves as an electrical conductor to operate the warp +thread needles, which before had each been actuated by a spiral spring. +The Jacquard loom was also greatly improved by the English inventors, +Barlow, Taylor, Martain and others. + +Radcliffe and Johnson, also of England, had invented and introduced the +machines for dressing the yarns in one operation before the weaving; +Horrocks and Marsland of Stockport greatly improved the adaptation of +steam to the driving of looms, and Roberts of Manchester made striking +advances in their mechanical parts and in bringing them to their present +state of wonderful efficiency. + +In America, in 1836, George Crompton of Taunton, Massachusetts, +commenced a series of inventions in power looms for the manufacture of +fancy woollen goods, and in the details of such looms generally, +particularly in increasing the speed of the shuttle, which vastly +increased the production of such goods and gave to his looms a +world-wide reputation. + +E. B. Bigelow of Massachusetts in 1848 invented a power loom, which was +exhibited at the Exhibition at London in 1851, and astonished the world +by his exhibition of carpets superior to any woven by hand. By the later +improvements, and the aid of steam power, a single American Bigelow +carpet loom can turn out now one hundred yards of Brussels carpet in a +day, far superior in quality to any carpet which could possibly be made +by hand, when a man toiled painfully to produce five yards a day. Mr. +Bigelow was also a pioneer inventor of power machines for weaving coach +lace, and cotton checks and ginghams. James Lyall of New York invented a +power loom applicable either to the weaving of very wide and heavy +fabrics, such as jute canvas for the foundation of floor oil cloth, or +to fabrics made of the finest and most delicate yarns. + +It would be interesting, if space permitted, to describe the great +variety of machines that have been invented for dressing, finishing and +treating cloths after they are woven: The _teasling_ machine, by which +the nap of woollen cloth is raised; the cloth _drying_ machine, with +heated rollers, over which the cloth is passed to drive off the moisture +acquired in dyeing, washing, etc., the cloth _printing_, _figuring_, +_colouring_ and _embossing_ machines, with engraved cylinders; cloth +pressing and _creasing_ machines, and the _cloth_ cutting machines for +cutting the cloth into strips of all lengths, or for cutting piles of +cloth in a single operation into parts of garments corresponding to the +prearranged pattern; machines for making _felt_ cloth, and stamping or +moulding different articles of apparel from felt, etc., etc. + +For the making of ribbons and other kind of narrow ware, the needle +power loom has been invented, in which the fine weft thread is carried +through the web by a needle instead of a shuttle. This adaptation of the +needle to looms has placed ribbons within the reach of the poor as well +as the rich girl. + +What a comparison between the work of the virtuous Penelopes and the +weavers of a century ago and to-day! Then with her wheel, and by walking +to and from it as the yarn was drawn out, and wound up, a maiden could +spin twelve skeins of thread in ten hours, producing a thread a little +more than three miles in length, while the length of her walk to and fro +was about five miles. Now one Penelope can attend to six or eight +hundred spindles, each of which spins five thousand yards of thread a +day, or, with the eight hundred spindles, four million yards, or nearly +twenty-one hundred miles of thread in a day, while she need not walk at +all. + +It was when the weaver threw the shuttle through the warp by hand that +Job's exclamation, "My days are like a weaver's shuttle" was an +appropriate text on the brevity of human life. It may be just as +appropriate now, but far more striking, when it is realised that +machines now throw the shuttle one hundred and eighty times a minute, or +three times a second. Flying as fast as it does, when the shuttle +becomes exhausted of yarn a late invention presents a new bobbin and a +new supply of yarn to the shuttle without stopping the machine. + +As to _knitting_, the century has seen the day pass when all hosiery was +knit by hand. First, machines were invented for knitting the leg or the +foot of the stocking, which were then joined by hand, and then came +machines that made the stocking complete. The social industry so quietly +but slowly followed by the good women in their chimney corners with +their knitting needles, by which a woman might possibly knit a pair a +day, was succeeded a quarter of a century ago by machines, twelve of +which could be attended to by a boy, which would knit and complete five +thousand pairs a week. Such a machine commences with the stocking at the +top, knits down, widening and narrowing, changes the stitch as it goes +on to the heel, shapes the heel, and finishes at the end of the toe, all +one thread, and then it recommences the operation and goes on with +another and another. Fancy stockings, with numerous colours blended, are +so knit, and if the yarn holds out a mile of stockings may be thus knit, +without a break and without an attendant. By these machines the +astounding result was reached of making the stockings at the cost of +one-sixth of a mill per pair. + +The wonderful reduction in the cost of all kinds of textile fabrics due +to the perfection of spinning and loom mechanisms, and its power to meet +the resulting enormous increase in demand, has enabled the poor of +to-day to be clad better and with a far greater variety of apparel than +it was possible for the rich a hundred years ago; and the increased +consumption and demand have brought into these fields of labour, and +into other fields of labour created by these, great armies of men and +women, notwithstanding the labour-saving devices. + +The wants of the world can no longer be supplied by skilled hand labour. +And it is better that machines do the skilled labour, if the product is +increased while made better and cheaper, and the number of labourers in +the end increased by the development and demands of the art. + +Among the recent devices is one which dispenses with the expensive and +skilful work by hand of drawing the warp threads into the eyes of the +heddles and through the reed of the loom. + +Cane-backed and bottomed chairs and lounges only a few years ago were a +luxury of the rich and made slowly by hand. Now the open mesh cane +fabric, having diagonal strands, and other varieties, are made rapidly +by machinery. Turkish carpets are woven, and floors the world over are +carpeted with those rich materials the sight of which would have +astonished the ordinary beholder a half century ago. Matting is woven; +wire, cane, straw, spun glass; in fact, everything that can be woven by +hand into useful articles now finds its especially constructed machine +for weaving it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +GARMENTS. + + +"Man is a tool-using animal. Weak in himself, and of small stature, he +stands on a basis, at most for the flattest-soled, of some half square +foot, insecurely enough; has to straddle out his legs lest the very wind +supplant him. Feeblest of bipeds! Three quintals are a crushing load for +him; the steer of the meadow tosses him aloft, like a waste rag. +Nevertheless he can use tools, can devise tools; with these the granite +mountain melts into light dust before him; he kneads glowing iron as if +it were paste; seas are his smooth highway, winds and fire his +unwearying steeds. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools +he is nothing, with tools he is all.... Man is a tool-using animal, of +which truth, clothes are but one example."--_Sartor Resartus._ + +In looking through the records of man's achievements to find the +beginnings of inventions, we discover the glimmering of a change in the +form of the immemorial needle, in an English patent granted to Charles +F. Weisenthal, June 24, 1775. It was a needle with a centrally located +eye, and with both ends pointed, designed for embroidery work by hand, +and the object of the two points was to prevent the turning of the +needle end for end after its passage through the cloth. But it was not +until the 19th century that the idea was reduced to practice in sewing +machines. + +To Thomas Saint, a cabinet maker by trade, of Greenhills Rents, in the +Parish of St. Sepulchre, Middlesex County, England, the world is +indebted for the first clear conception of a sewing machine. Saint's +attention was attracted to the slow way of sewing boots and shoes and +other leather work, so he determined to improve the method. He took out +a patent September 17, 1790, and although the germs of some of the +leading parts of the modern sewing machine are there described, it does +not appear that his patent was applied to practice. In fact, it +slumbered in the archives of the British patent office for two +generations, and after the leading sewing machines of the century had +been invented and introduced, before it was rediscovered, and its +contents appreciated in the light of more recent developments. Probably +Saint's machine, if constructed in accordance with his plans, would not +have done much good work, certainly not with woven cloth, as he proposed +to employ a hooked needle to carry a loop through the material, which +would have been snarled by the cloth threads; but from his drawings and +description it is clearly established that he was first to conceive of a +vertically reciprocating needle for forming a seam from a continuous +thread drawn from a spool; a seam in which each loop is locked, or +enchained with a subsequent loop, to form what is known as the chain, or +single thread stitch; and a horizontal sliding plate, to support the +material to be sewed, and by which the material was also moved sideways +after each stitch. + +May 30, 1804, John Duncan received an English patent for "tamboring on +cloth." He proposed to employ a series of hooked needles attached in a +straight line to a horizontal bar, which, when threaded, were first +thrust forward and their hooked ends carried through the cloth, where +each needle hook was supplied with a thread by a thread carrier. Then +the motion of the bar was reversed, which drew the thread back through +the cloth in the form of loops, and through the loops first formed, thus +producing a chain stitch. The cloth was automatically shifted to +correspond to the pattern to be produced, and thus was chain stitch +embroidery first manufactured. From this point of time successful +embroidery machines were made. + +In 1807 another Englishman patented a machine for making a sort of rope +matting, in which he describes two eye-pointed, thread-carrying, +perforating needles, each held in a reciprocating needle bar, and +designed to unite several small ropes laid parallel, by a reciprocating +movement. + +A German publication, the _Kunst_ and _Generbe Blatt_, for 1817, and +_Karmarsch's History of Technology_, made mention of a sewing machine +invented by one Mr. Joseph Madersperger of Vienna, formerly from +Kuefstein in the Tyrol, and for which he received royal letters patent +in 1814. From these descriptions it appears Madersperger used a needle +pointed at both ends, and the eye in the centre, invented many years +before by Weisenthal, as above stated, which was moved vertically up and +down, piercing alternately the top and bottom of the stuff, and which +carried a short thread, enough to make about one hundred and thirty +stitches, which machine was driven by a crank and handle, on which +sewing was made of many different shaped forms, by slight changes, and +which sewed with far greater accuracy and rapidity than hand work. The +inventor was striving to simplify the machine, but to what extent it had +been used or had been improved, or what finally became of it, does not +appear. Yet it is a bit of evidence showing that Germany came next to +England in the earlier ideas, conceptions of, and struggles after a +sewing machine. + +France then entered the list, and it was in 1830 that Barthelmy +Thimonnier there produced and patented a sewing machine, which he +continued to improve and to further patent in 1848 and in 1850 in +France, England, and the United States. The Thimonnier resembled in some +prominent respects the machine that had been described in the Saint +patent, but unlike Saint's, it was reduced to successful practice, and +possessed some points in common with more modern machines. These were +the flat cloth plate, vertical post, overhung arm, vertically +reciprocating needle, and continuous thread. The crochet or barbed +needle was worked by a treadle, and upon pushing the needle down through +the cloth, it there caught a thread from a carrier, carried the loop to +and laid it upon the upper surface of the cloth. Again descending, it +brought up another loop, enchained it with the one last made, making a +chain stitch, consisting of a series of loops on the upper side. + +Thimonnier made quite a large number of machines, constructed mostly of +wood, and which were used to make army clothing at Paris. They were best +adapted to work on leather and in embroidering. They were so far +successful as to arouse the jealousy and fear of the workmen and working +women, and, as in the case of Hargreaves, Jacquard, and others, a mob +broke into his shop, destroyed his machines, ruined his business, and he +died penniless in 1857. + +In the meantime an English patent, No. 8948, of May 4, 1841, had been +issued to Newton and Archbold for a machine for embroidering the backs +of gloves, having an eye-pointed needle, worked by a vibrating lever, +and adapted to carry a thread through the back of the glove, held on a +frame--the frame and glove moving together after each stitch. + +The germs of inventions often develop and fructify simultaneously in +distant places, without, so far as any one can ascertain, the slightest +mutual knowledge or co-operation on the part of the separate inventors. +Between 1832 and 1834, while Thimonnier was in the midst of his early +struggles in Paris, Walter Hunt was inventing a sewing machine in New +York, which he completed at that time and on which he sewed one or two +garments. But as it was experimental in form, and Hunt was full of other +inventions and schemes, he put it aside, and it probably would never +have been heard of had not Elias Howe of Massachusetts, ten years after +Hunt had abandoned his invention, but without knowledge of Hunt's +efforts, made the first practical successful sewing machine for +commercial purposes the world had ever seen, obtained his patent, and +made claims therein which covered not only his special form of +improvements, but Hunt's old device as well. + +Howe's patent was issued September 10, 1846. In that he claimed to be +the first and original inventor of "A sewing machine, constructed and +operated to form a seam, substantially as described." + +Also "The combination of a needle and a shuttle, or equivalent, and +holding surfaces, constructed and operating substantially as described." + +Also "The combination of holding surfaces with a baster plate or +equivalent, constructed and operating substantially as described." + +Also "A grooved and eye-pointed needle, constructed and adapted for +rapid machine sewing substantially as described." + +When the machine commenced to be a practical success this patent was +infringed, and when Howe sued upon it a few years after its issue, it +woke up Hunt and all other alleged prior inventors; and all prior +patents and publications the world over, relating to sewing machines, +were raked up to defeat Howe's claims. + +But the courts, after long deliberation, held that although, so far as +Hunt was concerned he had without doubt made a machine in many respects +like Howe's machine, that it had a curved, eye-pointed needle similar to +Howe's operated by a vibrating arm and going through the cloth, a +shuttle carrying the thread that passed through the loop made by the +needle thread, thus making a lock stitch by drawing it up to one side of +the cloth, and that this machine did, to a certain extent, sew, yet that +it ended in an experiment, was laid aside, destroyed, and never +perfected nor used so as to give to the public the knowledge and benefit +of a completed invention, and was not therefore an anticipation in the +eye of the law of Howe's completed, more successful and patented +machine. + +Public successful use is the fact in many cases which alone establishes +the title of an inventor, when all other tests fail. And this is right +in one sense, as the laws of all countries in respect to protection by +patents for inventions are based upon the primary condition of benefit +to society. This benefit is not derived from the inventor who hides his +completed invention for years in his closet, or throws it on a dust +heap. As to previous patents and publications, some were not published +before Howe's inventions were made, and others were insufficient in +showing substantially the same machine and mode of operation. And as to +prior use abroad, it was not regarded under the law of his country as +competent evidence. + +Seldom have the lives of great inventors presented a more striking +example of the vicissitudes, the despair, and the final triumphs of +fortune, which are commonly their lot, than is shown in the case of +Howe. A machinist with a wife and children to support, his health too +feeble to earn hardly a scanty living, he watches his faithful wife ply +her constant needle, and wonders why a machine cannot be made to do the +work. The idea cannot be put aside, and with such poor aids as he can +command he commences his task. + +At last, amid the trials of bitter poverty, he brings his invention to +that stage in which he induces a friend to advance some money, by the +promise of a share in the future patent, and thereby gains a temporary +home for his family and a garret for his workshop. Day after day and +night after night he labours, and finally, in April, 1845, the rather +crude machine is completed, and two woollen suits of clothing are sewed +thereon, one for a friend, and one for himself. + +Then came the effort to make more machines and place them on the market. +People admired the machines as a curiosity, but none were induced to buy +them or help him pecuniarily. Finally, in September, 1846, he obtained +his patent, but by that time his best friends had become discouraged, +and he was compelled to return with his family to his father's house in +Cambridge, Mass. To earn his bread he sought and found employment on a +railway locomotive. By some means his brother sold one of his machines +to Mr. William Thomas, a corset maker of London, and Howe was induced to +go there to make stays, and his machines. He took his wife and children +with him. The arrangement made with his employer was not such as to +enable him to keep his family there, and he soon sent them home. + +Unable to sell his machines, he was soon reduced to want. He pawned his +patent and his last machine, and procured money to return to New York, +where he arrived penniless in 1849. He then learned that his wife was +dying of consumption at Cambridge. He was compelled to wait until money +could be sent him to pay his passage home, and reached there just before +his wife's death. + +He then learned that during his absence his patent and machine had +attracted attention, that others had taken the matter up, added their +improvements to his machines, and that many in various places were being +made and sold which were infringements of his patent. A great demand for +sewing machines had sprung up. He induced friends to again help him. +Suits were commenced which, although bitterly fought for six years, were +finally successful. + +Now fortune turned her smiling face upon him. Medals and diplomas, the +Cross of the Legion of Honour, and millions of money became his. When +the great civil war broke out in 1861, he entered the army as a private +soldier, and advanced the money to pay the regiment to which he +belonged, when the Government paymaster had been long delayed. His life +was saddened by the fact that his wife had not lived to share his +fortune. He died in Brooklyn, New York, October 3, 1867, in the midst of +life, riches, and honour, at the comparatively early age of forty-eight. + +In referring to the early inventors of sewing machines in America who +entered the field about the same time with Howe, mention should be made +of J. J. Greenough and George Corliss, who had machines patented +respectively in 1842 and 1843, for sewing leather, with double pointed +needles; and the running stitch sewing machine used for basting, made +and patented by B. W. Bean in 1843. About this time, both in England and +America, machines had been devised for sewing lengths of calico and +other cloths together, previous to bleaching, dyeing or printing. The +edges of the cloths were first crimped or fluted and then sewed by a +running stitch. + +The decade of 1849-1859, immediately following the development of the +Howe machine, was the greatest in the century for producing those +successful sewing machines which were the foundation of the art, +established a new industrial epoch, and converted Hood's "Song of the +Shirt" into a lament commemorative of the miseries of a slavish but +dying industry. + +It was during that decade that, in the United States, Batcheller +invented the perpetual feed for moving the cloth horizontally under and +past the needle. In Howe's the cloth could be sewed but a certain +distance at a time, and then the machine must be readjusted for a new +length. Then Blodgett and Lerow imparted to the eye-pointed needle what +is called the "dip motion,"--the needle being made to descend completely +through the material, then to rise a little to form a loop; the shuttle +then entered the loop, the needle descended again a short distance, +while the shuttle passed through the loop of the needle thread, and then +the needle was raised above the cloth. + +It was then that Allen B. Wilson invented the still more famous +"four-motion feed" for feeding the cloth forward. He employed a bar +having saw like teeth on one edge which projected up through a slotted +plate and engaged the cloth. He then first moved the bar forward +carrying the cloth; second, dropped the bar; third, moved it back under +the plate; and fourth, raised it to its first position to again engage +the cloth. These motions were so timed with the movement of the needle +and so quickly done that the cloth was carried forward while the needle +was raised, the passage and quick action of the needle was not +interfered with, and the feeding and the sewing seem to be simultaneous. +The intermittent grasp and feed of the cloth were hardly perceptible, +and yet it permitted the cloth to be turned to make a curved seam. +Wilson also invented the rotating hook which catches the loop of the +upper thread, and drops a disk bobbin through it to form the stitch. The +shuttle was thus dispensed with, and an entirely new departure was made +in the art. These with other improvements made up the celebrated +"Wheeler and Wilson" machine. + +Now also appeared "the Singer," consisting chiefly of the invention of +T. M. Singer. He improved the operation of the needle bar, devised a +roughened feed wheel, as a substitute for Wilson's serrated bar, +introduced a spring presser foot, alongside the needle, to hold the work +down in proper position while permitting it to be moved forward or in +any other direction. A "friction pad" was also placed between the cloth +seam and the spool, to prevent the thread from kinking or twisting under +the point of the descending needle. He was the first to give the shuttle +an additional forward movement after it had once stopped, to draw the +stitch tight,--such operation being taken while the feed moved the cloth +in the reverse direction, and while, the needle completed its upward +motion, so that the two threads were simultaneously drawn, and finally a +spring guide upon the shuttle to control the slack of the thread, and +prevent its catching by the needle. + +By reason of these improvements it is thought by many that Singer was +the first to furnish the people with a successful operating and +practical sewing machine. At any rate, the world at last so highly +appreciated his machines, that it lifted him from poverty to an estate +which was valued at between eight and ten millions of dollars at the +time of his death in 1875. Singer was also the first to invent the +"ruffler," a machine for ruffling or gathering cloth, and a device which +laid an embroidering thread upon the surface of the cloth under the +needle thread. + +The "Grover and Baker" another celebrated American machine, was invented +by William O. Grover and William E. Baker in 1851. By certain changes +they made in the thread carrier and connections, they were enabled to +make a double looped stitch. This required more thread, but the stitch +made was unexcelled in strength. + +And so the work went on, from step to step, and from the completion of +one machine after another, until when the Centennial Exhibition came to +be held in Philadelphia in 1876, a fine array of excellent sewing +machines was had, from the United States, principally, but also those of +inventors and manufacturers in Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, +Belgium, Sweden and Denmark. + +Up to that time about twenty-two hundred patents had been granted in the +United States, all of which, with the exception of a very few, were for +inventions made within the preceding quarter of a century. And during +the last quarter of the century about five thousand more United States +patents have been issued for devices in this art. This number includes +many, of course, to inventors of other countries. When it is remembered +that these patents were issued only after an examination in each case as +to its novelty, and although slight as may have been the changes or +additions, yet substantially different they must have been in nearly all +respects, it may to some extent be realized how great and incessant has +been the exercise of invention in this useful class of machines. + +On this point of the exercise of invention in sewing machines, as well +as on some others growing out of the subject, Knight, writing in his +_Mechanical Dictionary_, about twenty years ago, remarks: "If required +to name the three subjects on which the most extraordinary versatility +of invention has been expended, the answer would be without hesitation, +the _sewing machine_, _reaping machine_ and _breech-loading firearm_. +Each of these has thousands of patents, and although each is the growth +of the last forty years, it is only during the last twenty-five years +that they have filled any notable place in the world. It was then only +by a combination of talents that any of these three important inventions +was enabled to achieve remarkable success. The sewing machine previous +to 1851, made without the admirable division of labour which is a +feature in all well conducted factories, was hard to make, and +comparatively hard to run. The system of _assembling_, first introduced +in the artillery service of France by General Gribeauval in 1765 and +brought to proximate perfection by Colonel Colt in the manufacture of +the revolver at Hartford, Connecticut, has economised material and time, +improved the quality as well as cheapened the product. There is to-day, +and in fact has been for some years, more actual invention in the +special machines for _making_ sewing machines than in the machines +themselves. The assembling system, that is, making the component parts +of an article in distinct pieces of pattern, so as to be +interchangeable, and the putting them together, is the only system of +order. How else should the Providence Tool Company execute their order +for 600,000 rifles for the Turkish Government? How otherwise could the +Champion Harvesting Machine Company of Springfield, Ohio, turn out an +equipped machine every four minutes each working day of ten hours? Or, +to draw the illustration from the subject in hand, how by any other than +the nicest arrangement of detail can the Singer Sewing Machine Company +make 6,000 machines per week at Elizabethport, New Jersey?" + +When sewing machines were so far completed as to be easily run by a hand +crank, or treadle, the application of power to run them singly, or in +series, and to run machines of a larger and more powerful description, +soon naturally followed--so that garment-making factories of all kinds, +whether of cloth or leather, have been established in many countries--in +which steam or electric power is utilised as the motor, and thus human +strain and labour saved, while the amount of production is increased. + +No radical changes in the principle or mode of operation of sewing +machines have been made in the last twenty-five years; but the efforts +of inventors have been directed to improve the previously established +types, and to devise attachments of all kinds, by the aid of which +anything that can be sewed, can be sewed upon a machine. Tucking, +ruffling, braiding, cording, hemming, turning, plaiting, gaging, and +other attachment devices are numerous. Inventors have rivalled one +another in originating new forms of stitches. About seventy-five +distinct stitches have been devised, each of which must of course be +produced by a change in mechanism. + +When sewing machines were in their infancy, and confined to sewing +straight seams and other plain sewing, it was predicted that it was not +possible to take from the hands of women the making of fine embroidery +from intricate patterns, or the working of button-holes, and the +destruction of the quilting party was not apprehended. Nor was it +expected that human hands could be dispensed with in the cutting out of +garments. And yet these things have followed. Machines, by a beautiful +but complex system of needles, working to some extent on the Jacquard +system of perforated card boards, and by the help of pneumatic or +electrical power, will work out on most delicate cloths embroidery of +exquisite patterns. + +The button-hole machines will take the garment, cut the button-hole at +the desired point, and either, as in one class of machines, by moving +the fabric about the stitch-forming mechanism, or, as in another class, +moving the stitch-forming mechanism about the button-hole, complete the +delicate task in the nicest and most effective manner. + +Quilting machines have their own bees, consisting of a guide which +regulates the spaces between the seams, and adjusts them to any width, +and a single needle, or gang of needles, the latter under the control of +cams which force the needles to quilt certain desired patterns. + +And as to cutting, it is only necessary to place the number of pieces of +fabric desired to be cut in cutting dies, or upon a table, and over them +an "over-board" cutter, which comprises a reciprocating band-saw, or a +rotary knife, all quick, keen and delicate, in an apparatus guided by +hand, in order to produce in the operation a great pile of the parts +formerly so slowly produced, one at a time, by scissors or shears. + +If men were contented with that single useful garment of some savages, a +blanket with a slit cut in it for the passage of the head and neck, not +only would a vast portion of the joys and sorrows of social philosophy +have been avoided, but an immense strain and trouble on the part of +inventors of the century would have been obviated. + +But man's propensity for wearing clothes has led to the invention of +every variety of tools for making them faster, cheaper, and better. + +No machine has yet been invented that will take the place of the deft +fingers of women in certain lines of ornamentation, as in final +completion and trimming of their hats. The airy and erratic demands of +fashion are too nimble to be supplied by the slow processes of +machinery, although the crude ground-work, the frame, has been shaped, +moulded and sewed by machines; and women themselves have invented and +patented _bonnet frames_ and _patterns_. + +But no such difficulty in invention has occurred in _hat-making_ for +men. From the treating and cutting of the raw material, from the outer +bound edge, and the band about the body, to the tip of the crown, a +machine may be found for performing each separate step. Especially is +this the case with the hard felt and the high silk hats. + +Seventy-five years ago the making of hats was by hand processes. Now in +all hat factories machines are employed, and the ingenuity displayed in +the construction of some of them is marvellous. It is exceedingly +difficult to find many of the old hand implements existing even as +relics. + +Wool and fur each has its special machines for turning it into a hat. +The operations of cleaning and preparing the material, felting the fur, +when fur is used, shaping the hat body, and then the brim, washing, +dying, hardening and stiffening it, stretching, smoothing, finishing, +sizing, lining, trimming, all are now done by machines devised for each +special purpose. A description of these processes would be interesting, +but even in an abbreviated form would fill a book. + +The wonderful things done in the manufacture of boots and shoes and +rubber goods will be referred to in subsequent chapters. + +Although it was old from time immemorial to colour cotton goods, and the +calico power printing cylinder was invented and introduced into England +in the latter part of the 18th century and began to turn out at once +immense quantities of decorated calicoes and chintz, yet _figured_ woven +goods were a novelty sixty years ago. + +In 1834, Mr. Bonjeau, a prominent wool manufacturer in Sedan, France, +and an _eleve_ of the Polytechnic School, conceived the idea of +modifying the plain cloths, universally made, by the union of different +tints and patterns. This he was enabled to do by the Jacquard loom. The +manufacture of fancy woven cloths, cassimeres, worsted coatings, etc., +of great beauty, combined with strength of fabrication, followed in all +civilised countries, but their universal adoption as wearing apparel was +due in part to the lessening of the expense in the making them into +garments by the sewing machine. + +As to the effect of modern inventions on wearing apparel, it is not +apparent that they were necessary to supply the wardrobes of the rich. +The Solomons and the Queen of Sheba of ancient days, and all their small +and great successors in the halls of Fortune, have had their rich robes, +their purple and their fine linen, whether made in one way or another; +but modern inventions have banished the day when the poor man's hard +labour of a long day will not suffice to bring his wife a yard of +cheapest cloth. Toil, then, as hard as he and his poor wife and children +might, their united labours would hardly suffice to clothe them in more +than the poorly-dressed skins of animals and the coarsest of homespun +wool. + +Now, cottons and calicoes are made and sold at a profit for three cents +a yard; and the poorest woman in the land may appear in neat, +comfortable and tasteful dress, the entire cost of material and labor of +which need not exceed fifty cents. The comfort, respectability and +dignity of a large family, which depend so much on clothes, may be +ensured at the cost of a few dollars. + +And as to the condition of the sewing woman, trying and poor as it is in +many instances, yet she can earn more money with less physical +exhaustion than under the old system. + +The epoch of good clothes for the people, with all that it means in the +fight upward from degradation, began in this century, and it was due to +the inventions which have been above outlined. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +INDUSTRIAL MACHINES. + + +One invention engenders another, or co-operates with another. None +lives, or stands, or dies, alone. + +So, in the humble but extensive art of _broom-making_, men and women +worked along through ages binding with their hands the supple twigs of +trees or bushes, or of corn, by thongs, or cords, or wire, upon the +rudely-formed collar of a hand-smoothed stick, until the modern lathe +and hollow mandrel armed with cutters, the power-driven shuttle, and the +sewing machine, were invented. + +The lathe and mandrel to hold the stick while it was cut was used +before, but it was long within the century that a hollow mandrel was +first invented, which was provided internally with cutting bevelled +knives, and into which the stick was placed, carried through +longitudinally, and during its passage cut smooth and finished. As broom +corn became the chief product from which brooms are made, it became +desirable to have a machine, after the corn had been scraped of its +seed, to size and prepare the stems in regular lengths for the various +sizes of brooms, and accordingly such a machine was invented. Then a +machine was needed and invented to wind the corn-brush with the cord or +wire and tie it in a round bunch, preparatory to flattening and sewing +it. + +Then followed different forms of broom-sewing machines. Among the +pioneers was one which received the round bunch between two compressing +jaws, and pressed it flat. While so held a needle with its coarse thread +was forced through the broom above the binding and the cord twined +around it. Then a shuttle, also carrying a stout thread, was thrown over +the cord, the needle receded and was then forced through the broom again +_under_ the binding cord. Thus in conjunction with the shuttle the +stitches were formed alternately above and below the binding twine, the +holding jaws being raised intermittently for that purpose. As each +stitch was formed the machine fed the broom along laterally and +intermittently. By another ingenious device the cord was tied and cut, +when the sewing was completed. + +It is only by such machines which treat the entire article from the +first to the last step, that the immense number of brooms now necessary +to supply the market are made. True it is that at first labour was +displaced. At one time seventeen skilled workmen would manufacture five +hundred dozen brooms per week. + +They had reduced the force of earlier times by making larger quantities +by better processes. Then when the broom-sewing machines and other +inventions got fairly to work, nine men would turn out twelve hundred +dozen brooms per week. Thus, while the force was reduced nearly +one-half, the quantity of product was more than doubled. But as the cost +of labour decreased and the product increased, the product became more +plentiful and cheaper, the demand and use became greater, more +broom-corn was raised, more broom-factories started, and soon the +temporary displacement of labour was succeeded by a permanent increase +in manufacture and in labourers, an increase in their wages, and an +improvement in their condition. + +Useful and extensive as is its use, the broom does not compare in +variety and wide application to the _brush_. The human body, cloth, +leather, metals, wood and grains, everything that needs rubbing, +cleaning, painting and polishing, meets the acquaintance of the brush. +Nearly a hundred species of brushes might be enumerated, each having an +especial construction for a particular use. + +Although the majority of brushes are still made by hand, yet a few most +ingenious machines have been made which greatly facilitate and speed the +operation, and many mechanical appliances have been invented in aid of +hand-work. These machines and appliances, together with those which cut, +turn, bore, smooth, and polish the handles and backs, to which the brush +part is secured, have greatly changed and improved the art of +brush-making during the last fifty years. + +The first machine which attracted general attention was invented by +Oscar D. and E. C. Woodbury of New York, and patented in 1870. As in +hand-making and before subjected to the action of the machine, the +bristles are sorted as to length and color. A brush-back, bored with +holes by a gang of bits, which holes do not extend, however, all the way +through the back, is placed in the machine under a cone-jointed plunger, +adapted to enter the hole in the brush-back. A comb-shaped slitted plate +in the machine has then each slit filled with bristles, sufficient in +number to form a single tuft. When the machine is started, the bristles +in a slit are forced out therefrom through a twisted guideway, which +forms them into a round tuft, and which is laid horizontally beneath a +plunger, which, descending, first doubles the tuft, and as the plunger +continues to descend, forces the double end down into the hole. The +plunger is supplied with a wire from a reel, turns as it descends, and +twists the wire around the lower end of the tuft, the wire being +directed in that way by a spiral groove within the plunger. The +continuing action of the plunger is such as to screw the wire into the +back. The wire is cut when the rotary plunger commences its descent, and +when the tuft is thus secured the plunger ascends, the block is moved +for another hole, and another set of bristles is presented for +manipulation. Brushes with 70 holes can be turned out by this machine at +the rate of one a minute. + +Another most ingenious machine for this purpose is that of Kennedy, +Diss, and Cannan, patented in the United States in 1892. In this, brush +blocks of varying sizes, but of the same pattern, are bored by the same +machine which receives the bristles, and the tufts are inserted as fast +as the holes are bored. Both machines are automatic in operation. + +_Street-sweeping machines_ began to appear about 1831 in England, +shortly after in France, and then in cities in other countries. + +The simplest form and most effective sweeper comprises a large cylinder +armed with spiral rows of splints and hung diagonally on the under side +and across a frame having two or four wheels. This cylinder is connected +by bevelled gearing with the wheels, and in revolving throws the dirt +from the street into a ridge on one side thereof, where it is swept into +heaps by hand sweepers, and is then carted off. King of the United +States was the inventor. + +A more recent improvement consists in the use of pneumatic means for +removing the dust that is caused by the use of revolving brooms or +brushes, such removal being effected by means of a hood that covers the +area of the street beneath the body of the machine, and incloses an air +exhaust, the sweepings being drawn through the exhaust mechanism and +deposited in a receptacle for the purpose, or in some instances +deposited in a furnace carried by the machine and there burned. + +In cities having hard, smooth, paved streets and sufficient municipal +funds, the most effective, but most expensive way, has been found to +keep a large force of men constantly at work with hoes, shovels, brooms, +bags and carts, removing the dirt as fast as it accumulates. + + +_Abrading Machines._ + +One of the most striking inventions of the century is the application of +the sand-blast to industrial and artistic purposes. + +For ages the sands of the desert and wild mountain plains, lifted and +driven by the whirling winds, had sheared and polished the edges and +faces of rocks, and cut them into fantastic shapes, and the sands of the +shore, tossed by the winds of the sea, had long scratched and bleared +the windows of the fisherman's hut, before it occurred to the mind of +man that here were a force and an agent which could be harnessed into +his service. + +It was due finally to the inventive genius of B. F. Tilghman of +Philadelphia, Pa., who, in 1870, patented a process by which common +sand, powdered quartz, emery, or other comminuted sharp cutting +material, may be blown or driven with such force upon the surface of the +hardest materials, as to cut, clean, engrave, and otherwise abrade them, +in the most wonderful and satisfactory manner. + +Diamonds are abraded; glass depolished, or engraved, or bored; metal +castings cleaned; lithographic zinc plates grained; silverware frosted; +stone and glass for jewelry shaped and figured; the inscriptions and +ornaments of monuments and tombstones cut thereon; engravings and +photographs copied; steel files cleaned and sharpened, and stones and +marble carved into forms of beauty with more exactness and in far less +time than by the chisel of the artisan. + +The gist of the process is the employment of a jet of sand or other hard +abrading material, driven at a high velocity by a blast of air or steam, +under a certain pressure, in accordance with the character of the work +to be done. The sand is placed in a box-like receptacle into which the +air or steam is forced, and the sand flowing into the same chamber is +driven through a narrow slit or slits in the form of a thin sheet, +directly on to the object to be abraded. + +By one method the surface of the object is first coated with tinfoil on +which the artist traces his design, and this is then coated with melted +transparent wax. Then when the wax is hardened it is cut away along the +lines already indicated, and seen through the wax. The object now is +subjected to the blast, and as the sand will not penetrate a softened +material sufficient to abrade a surface beneath, the exposed portions +alone will be cut away. The sand after it strikes is carried off by a +blast to some receptacle, from which it is returned to its former place +for further use. Other means may be used in the place of a slitted box, +as a small or larger blow-pipe; but the driving of the sand, or similar +abrading material, with great force by the steam or air blast, is the +essential feature of the process. + +_Emery_, that variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of crystalline +alumina, resembling in appearance dark, fine-grained iron ore, ranking +next to the diamond in hardness, and a sister of the sapphire and the +ruby, has long been used as an abradant. The Eastern nations have used +corundum for this purpose for ages. Turkey and Greece once had a +monopoly of it. Knight says: "The corundum stone used by the Hindoos and +Chinese is composed of corundum powdered, two parts; lac resin, one +part. The two are intimately mixed in an earthen vessel, kneaded and +flattened, shaped and polished. A hole in the stone for the axis is made +by a heated copper rod." + +However ancient the use of artificial stones for grinding and polishing, +nevertheless it is true that the solid emery wheel in the form that has +made it generally useful, in machines known as _emery grinders_, is a +modern invention, and of American origin. + +In the manufacture of such machines great attention and the highest +scientific skill has been paid, first, to the material composing the +wheel, and to the cementing substances by which the emery is compacted +and bound in the strongest manner, to prevent bursting when driven at +great speed; secondly, to the construction of machines and wheels of a +composition varying from the finest to the coarsest; and thirdly, to the +proper balancing of the wheels in the machines, an operation of great +nicety, in order that the wheel may be used on delicate tools, when +driven at high speed, without producing uneven work, marking the +objects, or endangering the breaking, or bursting of the wheel. + +Such machines, when properly constructed, although not adapted to take +the place of the file, other steel-cutting tools, and the grindstone for +many purposes, yet have very extensively displaced those tools for +cutting edges, and the grinding and polishing of hardened metals, by +reason chiefly of their greater convenience, speed, and general +adaptability. Not only tools of all sizes are ground and polished, but +ploughshares, stove and wrought-iron plates, iron castings, the inner +surfaces of hollow ironware, the bearings of spindles, arbours, and the +surfaces of steel, chilled or cast-iron rolls, etc. + +In the great class of Industrial Mechanics, no machines of the century +have contributed more to the comfort and cleanliness of mankind than +those by which wearing apparel in its vast quantities is washed and +ironed more thoroughly, speedily, and satisfactorily in every way than +is possible by the old hand systems. When it is remembered how under the +old system such a large part of humanity, and this the weaker part, +devoted such immense time and labour to the universal washing and +ironing days, the invention of these machines and appliances must be +regarded as among the great labour-saving blessings of the century. + +True, the individual washerwoman and washerman, and ironers, have by no +means disappeared, and are still in evidence everywhere, yet the +universal and general devotion of one-half the human race to the +wash-tub and ironing-table for two or more days in the week is no longer +necessary. And even for the individual worker, the convenient appliances +and helps that have been invented have greatly relieved the occupation +of pain and drudgery. + +Among modern devices in the laundry, worked by hand, is, first, the +_washing-machine_, in which the principle is adapted of rolling over or +kneading the clothes. By moving a lever by hand up and down, the clothes +are thoroughly rubbed, squeezed and lifted at each stroke. Then comes +the _wringer_, a common form of which consists of two parallel rolls of +vulcanized and otherwise specially treated rubber, fitted to shafts +which, by an arrangement of cog-wheels, gearing and springs in the +framework at the ends of rolls, and a crank handle, are made to roll on +each other. The clothes are passed between the rollers, the springs +permit the rollers to yield and part more or less, according to the +thickness of the clothes. + +Then the old-fashioned, or the new-fashioned mangle is brought into +play. The old-style mangle had a box, weighted with stone, which was +reciprocated on rollers, and was run back and forth upon the clothes +spread upon a polished table beneath. One of the more modern styles is +on the principle of the wringer above described, or a series of rollers +arranged around a central drum, and each having a rubber spring +attached, by which means the clothes are not subjected to undue pressure +at one or two points, as in the first mentioned kind. + +Starch is also applied by a similar machine. The cloth is dipped into a +body of starch, or the same is applied by hand, and then the superfluous +starch squeezed out as the clothes are passed through the rollers. + +But for hotels and other large institutions washing is now done by +steam-power machinery. + +It is an attractive sight to step into a modern laundry, operated with +the latest machinery on the largest scale. The first thing necessary in +many localities is to clarify the water. This is done by attaching to +the service pipe tanks filled with filtering material, through which the +water flows before reaching the boiler. The driving engine and shafting +are compactly placed at one end or side of the room, with boilers and +kettles conveniently adjacent. The water and clothes are supplied to the +washing-machine, and operated by the engine. Steam may be used in +addition to the engine to keep it boiling hot, or steam may be +substituted entirely for the water. + +The machine may be one of several types selected especially for the +particular class of goods to be washed. There is the dash-wheel, +constructed on the principle of the cylinder churn; the outer case being +stationary and the revolving dash-wheel water-tight, or perforated, +which is the preferred form for collars and cuffs. In place of the +dash-wheel cylinders are sometimes used, having from sixty to seventy +revolutions a minute. Another form has vibrating arms or beaters, giving +between four hundred and five hundred strokes a minute, and by which the +clothes are squeezed between rubbing corrugated boards. The rubbing +boards also roll the clothes over and over until they are thoroughly +washed. In another form a rotating cylinder for the clothes is provided +with an arrangement of pipes by which either steam, water or blueing can +be introduced as desired, into the cylinder, through its hollow +journals, so that the clothes can be washed, rinsed, and blued without +removal from the machine. + +Another type has perforated, reciprocating pistons, between which the +clothes are alternately squeezed and released, a supply of fresh water +being constantly introduced through one of the hollow cylinder journals, +while the used water is discharged through the opposite journal; and in +still another the clothes are placed in a perforated cylinder within an +outer casing, and propeller blades, assisted by other spiral blades, +force a continuous current of water through the clothes. + +In ironing, hollow polishing rolls of various sizes are used, heated +either by steam or gas. The articles to be ironed are placed in proper +position upon a table and carried under and in contact with the rolls. +Or the goods are ironed between a heated cylinder and a revolving drum +covered with felting, and the polishing effected by the cylinder +revolving faster than the drum. Ingenious forms of hand-operated ironing +machines for turning over and ironing the edges of collars, and other +articles, are in successful use. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +WOOD-WORKING. + + +In surveying the wonderful road along which have travelled the toiling +inventors, until the splendid fields of the present century have been +reached, the mind indulges in contrasts and reverts to the far gone +period of man's deprivations, when man, the animal, was fighting for +food and shelter. + + "Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, + That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, + How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, + Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you + From seasons such as these?" + --_King Lear III, IV._ + +When the implements of labour and the weapons of war were chiefly made +of stone, or bronze, or iron, such periods became the "age" of stone, or +bronze, or iron; and we sometimes hear of the ages of steam, steel and +electricity. But the age of wood has always existed, wherever forests +abounded. It was, doubtless, the earliest "age" in the industries of +man, but is not likely to be the latest, as the class of inventions we +are about to consider, although giving complete dominion to man over the +forests, are hastening their destruction. + +As in every other class of inventions, there had been inventions in the +class of wood-working through the ages preceding this century, in tools, +implements and machines; but not until near the close of the eighteenth +century had there been much of a break in the universal toil by hand. +The implements produced were, for the most part, the result of the slow +growth of experience and mechanical skill, rather than the product of +inventive genius. + +True, the turning-lathe, the axe, the hammer, the chisel, the saw, the +auger, the plane, the screw, and cutting and other wood-shaping +instruments in simple forms existed in abundance. The Egyptians used +their saws of bronze. The Greeks deified their supposed inventor of the +saw, Talus, or Perdix, and they claimed Theodore of Lamos as the +inventor of the turning-lathe; although the main idea of pivoting an +object between two supports, so that it could be turned while the hands +were free to apply a tool to its shaping, was old in the potter's wheel +of the Egyptians, which was turned while the vessel resting upon it was +shaped and ornamented by the hand and tools. It appears also to have +been known by the Hindoos and the Africans. + +Pliny refers to the curled chips raised by the plane, and Ansonius +refers to mills driven by the waters of the Moselle for sawing marble +into slabs. Early records mention saw-mills run by water-power in the +thirteenth century in France, Germany and Norway; and Sweden had them in +the next century. Holland had them one hundred years at least before +they were introduced into England. + +Fearful of the entire destruction of the forests by the wood used in the +manufacture of iron, and incited by the opposition and jealousy of hand +sawyers, England passed some rigid laws on the subject in the sixteenth +and seventeenth centuries, which, although preserving the forests, gave +for a long time the almost exclusive manufacture of iron and lumber to +Germany and Holland. Even as late as 1768, a saw-mill, built at +Limehouse, under the encouragement of the Society of Arts, by James +Stansfield, was destroyed by a mob. Saw-mills designed to be run by +water-power had been introduced into the American colonies by the Dutch +more than a century before they made their appearance in England. +William Penn found that they had long been at work on the Delaware when +he reached its shores in 1682. + +It was nothing indigenous to the climate or race that rendered the +Americans inventors. The early colonists, drawn from the most civilised +countries of Europe, carried to the new world knowledge of the latest +and best appliances known to their respective countries in the various +arts. With three thousand miles of water between them and the source of +such appliances, and between them and the source of arbitrary power and +laws to hamper efforts and enterprise, with stern necessity on every +hand prompting them to avail themselves of every means to meet their +daily wants, all known inventions were put to use, and brains were +constantly exercised in devising new means to aid, or take the place of, +manual labour, which was scarce. Surrounded, too, by vast forests, from +which their houses, their churches and their schools must be +constructed, these pioneers naturally turned their thoughts toward +wood-working machinery. The attention to this art necessarily created +interest in and developed other arts. Thus constant devotion to pursuits +strenuously demanding labour-saving devices evolved a race of keen +inventors and mechanics. So that when Watt had developed his wonderful +application of steam to industrial purposes, America was ready to +substitute steam for water-power in the running of saw-mills. + +Steam saw-mills commenced to buzz with the opening of the century. + +As to the relation of that humble machine, the saw-mill, to the progress +of civilisation, it was once said: "The axe produces the log hut, but +not until the saw-mill is introduced do framed dwellings and villages +arise; it is civilisation's pioneer machine; the precursor of the +carpenter, wheelwright and turner, the painter, the joiner, and legions +of other professions. Progress is unknown where it is not. Its +comparative absence in the Southern American continent was not the least +cause of the trifling advancement made there during three centuries and +a half. Surrounded by forests of the most valuable and variegated +timber, with water-power in mountain streams, equally neglected, the +masses of the people lived in shanties and mud hovels, not more +commodious than those of the aborigines, nor more durable than the +annual structures of birds. Wherever man has not fixed and comfortable +homes, he is, as regards civilisation, stationary; improvement under +such circumstances has never taken place, nor can it." + +Miller, in England, in 1777, had described in his patent a circular saw, +and Hatton, in 1776, had vaguely described a planing machine; but the +inception of the marvellous growth in wood-working machinery in the +nineteenth century occurred in England during the last decade of the +eighteenth. It was due to the splendid efforts of General Samuel +Bentham, and of Bramah and Branch, both as to metal-working and +wood-working machinery. + +General Bentham, a brother of the celebrated jurist, Jeremy Bentham, had +his attention drawn to the slow, laborious, and crude methods of working +in wood, while making a tour of Europe, and especially in Russia, and +engaged in inspecting the art of ship-building in those countries, in +behalf of the British Admiralty. On his return, 1791-1792, he converted +his home into a shop for making wood-working machines. These included +"Planing, moulding, rabbeting, grooving, mortising, and sawing, both in +coarse and fine work, in curved, winding, and transverse directions, and +shaping wood in complicated forms." + +Of the amount of bills presented to and paid for by the Admiralty for +these machines, General Bentham received about L20,000. + +These machines were developed and in use just as the new century +approached. Thus, with the exception of the saw-mill, it may be again +said that prior to this century the means mankind had to aid them in +their work in metals and in wood were confined to hand tools, and these +were for the most part of a simple and crude description. + +The ground-work now being laid, the century advanced into a region of +invention in tools and machinery for wood-working of every description, +far beyond the wildest dreams of all former carpenters and joiners. Not +only were the machines themselves invented, but they gave rise in turn +to a host of inventions in metal-working for making them. + +In the same line of inventions there appeared in the first decade of the +century one of the most ingenious of men, and a most fitting type of +that great class of Yankee inventors who have carved their way to renown +with all implements, from the jack-knife to the electrically-driven +universal shaping machine. + +Thomas Blanchard, born in Massachusetts in 1788, while a boy, was +accustomed to astonish his companions by the miniature wind-wheels and +water-wheels that he whittled out with his knife. While attending the +parties of young people who gathered on winter evenings at different +homes in the country to pare apples, the idea of a paring machine +occurred to him, and when only thirteen years of age, he invented and +made the first apple-paring machine, with which more apples could be +pared in a given time than any twelve of his girl acquaintances could +pare with a knife. + +At eighteen, while working in a shop, driving the heads down on tacks, +on an anvil, with a hammer, he invented the first tack-forming machine, +which, when perfected by him, made five hundred tacks a minute, and +which has never since been improved in principle. He improved the steam +engine, and invented one of the first envelope machines. He made the +first metal lathe for cutting out the butts of gun-barrels. But his +greatest triumphs were in wood-working machinery. + +Challenged to make a machine that would make a gun stock, always before +that time regarded an impossible task, its every part being so irregular +in form, he secluded himself in his workshop for six months, and after +constant labour and experiments he at the end of that time had produced +a machine that more than astonished the entire world, and which worked a +revolution in the making of all irregular forms from wood. This was in +1819. This machine would not only make a perfect gun-stock, but shoe +lasts, and ships' tackle-blocks, axe-handles, and a multitude of +irregular-shaped blocks which before had always required the most expert +hand operatives to produce. This machine became the subject of +parliamentary inquiry on the part of England, and so great were the +doubts concerning it, that successive commissions were appointed to +examine and report upon it. Finally the English government ordered eight +or ten of such machines for the making of gun-stocks for its army, and +paid Blanchard about $40,000 for them. He was once jestingly asked at +the navy department at Washington if he could turn a seventy-four? He at +once replied, "Yes, if you will furnish me the block." Of course +infringers appeared, but he maintained his rights and title as first and +original inventor after the most searching trials in court. + +The generic idea of Blanchard's lathe for turning irregular forms +consists in the use of a pattern of the device which is to be shaped +from the rough material, placing such pattern in a lathe, alongside of +the rough block, and having a guide wheel which has an arm having +cutters, and which guide follows all the lines of the pattern, and which +cutters, extending to the rough material, chip it away to the depth and +in the direction imparted by the pattern lines to the guide, thus +producing from the rough block a perfect representation of the pattern. + +In the midst of his studies in the construction of his inventions +Blanchard's attention was drawn to the operations of a boring worm upon +an old oak log. Closely examining and watching the same by the aid of a +microscope, he gained valuable ideas from the work of his humble +teacher, which he incorporated into his new cutting and boring machines. + +His series of machines in gun-making were designed to make and shape +automatically every part of the gun, whether of wood or metal. His +machines, and subsequent improvements by others, for boring, mortising +and turning, display wonderful ingenuity. A modern mortising machine, +for instance, is adapted to quickly and accurately cut a square or +oblong hole to any desired depth, width, and length by cutting blades; +to automatically reciprocate the cutters both vertically and +horizontally in order to cut the mortise, both as to length and depth, +at one time, and to automatically withdraw the cutters when they have +finished cutting the mortise. They are provided with simple means for +setting and feeding the cutters to do this work, and while giving the +cutters a positive action, ample clearance is provided for the removal +of the chips as fast as they are cut. + +From what such inventions will produce in the way of complicated and +ornamental workmanship we may conclude that it is a law of invention +that whatever can be made by hand may be made by a machine, and made +better. + +_Carving Machines_ made their appearance early in the century. In 1800 a +Mr. Watt of London produced one, on which he carved medallions and +figures in ivory and ebony. Also subsequently, John Hawkins of the same +city, and a Mr. Cheverton, invented machines for the same purpose. +Another Englishman, Braithwaite, in 1840, invented a most attractive +carving process in which, instead of cutting tools, he employed +_burning_ as his agent. Heated casts of previously carved models were +pressed into or on to wet wood, and the charcoal surfaces then brushed +off with hard brushes. + +After Blanchard's turning-lathes and boring apparatus, appeared machines +in which a series of cutters were employed, guided by a tracing lever +attached to a carved model, and actuating the cutter to reproduce on +material placed upon an adjusting table a copy of the model. + +Machines have been invented which consist of hard iron or steel rollers +on the surface of which are cut beautiful patterns, and between which +wood previously softened by steam is passed, and designs thus impressed +thereon. A similar process of embossing, was devised in Paris and called +Xyloplasty, by which steam-softened wood is compressed in carved moulds, +which give it bas-relief impressions. + +But in the carving of wood by hand, a beautiful art, which has been +revived within the past generation, there are touches of sentiment, +taste and human toil, which, like the touches of the painter and the +master of music, appeal to cultivated minds in a higher than mechanical +sense. The mills of the modern gods, the inventors, grind with exceeding +and exact fineness, but the work of a human hand upon a manufactured +article still appeals to human sympathy. + +The bending of wood when heated by fire or steam had been known and +practised to a limited extent, but Blanchard invented a _clamping +machine_, to which improvements have been added, and by which ship +timbers, furniture, ploughs, piano frames, carriage bows, stair and +house banisters and balusters, wheel rims, staves, etc., etc., are bent +to the desired forms, and without breaking. Bending to a certain extent +does not weaken wood, but stretching the same has been found to impair +and destroy its strength. + +The principal problems which the inventors of the century have solved in +the class of wood-working have been the adaptation to rapid-working +machinery of the saw and other blades, to sever; the plane to smooth, +the auger, the bit and the gimlet to bore, the hammer to drive, and a +combination of all or a part of these to shape and finish the completed +article. + +It was a great step from the reciprocating hand saw, worked painfully by +one or two men, to the band saw, invented by a London mechanic, William +Newbury, in 1808. This was an endless steel belt serrated on one edge, +mounted on pulleys, and driven continuously by the power of steam +through the hardest and the heaviest work. Pliable, to conform to the +faces of the wheels over which it is carried, it will bend with all the +sinuosities of long timber, no time is lost in its operation, and no +labour of human hands is necessary to guide it or the object on which it +works. + +At the Vienna Exposition in 1873, the first mammoth saw of this +description was exhibited. The saw itself was made by the celebrated +firm of Perin & Co., of Paris, upon machinery the drawings of which were +made by Mr. Van Pelt of New York, and constructed by Richards, Loudon +and Kelly of Philadelphia. The saw was fifty-five feet long, and sawed +planks from a pine log three feet thick, at the rate of sixty +superficial feet per minute. The difficulty of securing a perfectly +reliable weld in the endless steel band was overcome by M. Perin, who +received at the Paris Exhibition in 1867 the Grand Cross of the Legion +of Honour. Now gangs of such saws may be found in America and elsewhere, +and circular saws have also been added. Saws that both cut, form, and +_plane_ the boards at the same time are now known. + +_Boring tools_, both for hand and machinery, demanded improvement. +Formerly augers and similar boring tools had merely a curved sharpened +end and a concavity to hold the chips, and the whole tool had to be +withdrawn to empty the chips. It was known as a _pod_ auger. In 1809, +L'Hommedieu, a Frenchman, invented an auger with two pods and cutting +lips, a central screw and a twisted shank. About the same time Lilley of +Connecticut made a twisted auger, and these screw-form, twisted, cutting +tools of various kinds, with their cutting lips, and by which the +shavings or chips were withdrawn continuously from the hole as the +cutting proceeded, became so improved in the United States that they +were known as the American augers and bits. The planing machines of +General Bentham were improved by Bramah, and he and Maudsley also +greatly improved other wood-working machines and tools in +England--1802-1810. + +We have before, in the chapter on metal-working, shown the importance of +the _slide-rest_, _planer_ and _lathe_, _when combined_, and which also +are extensively adapted to wood-working. In Bramah's machine, a vertical +spindle carried at its lower extremity a horizontal wheel having +twenty-eight cutter blades, followed by a plane also attached to a +wheel. A board was by these means perfectly trimmed and smoothed from +end to end, as it was carried against the cutters by suitable moving +means. William Woodworth of New York, in 1828, patented a celebrated +planing machine which became so popular and its use was regarded so +necessary in the wood-working trades, that the patent was looked upon as +an odious monopoly. It consisted of a combination of rollers armed with +cutters, attached to a horizontal shaft revolving at a great speed, and +of means for feeding the boards to the cutters. With Bentham's, +Bramah's, Blanchard's, and Woodworth's ideas for a basis, those +innumerable improvements have been made in machinery, by which wood is +converted with almost lightning rapidity into all the forms in which we +see it, whether ornamental or useful, in modern homes and other +structures. + +Some machines are known as "Universal Wood Workers." In these a single +machine is provided with various tools, and adapted to perform a great +variety of work by shifting the position of the material and the tools. +The following operations can be performed on such a machine:--Planing, +bevelling, tapering, tenoning, tongueing and grooving (grooves straight, +circular or angular), making of joints, twisting and a number of other +operations. + +The later invention by Stow of Philadelphia of a _flexible_ shaft, made +up of a series of coils of steel wire, given a leather covering, and to +which can be attached augers, bits, or metal drills, the tool applied to +its work from any direction, and its direction varied while at work, has +excited great attention. + +_Shingles_ are as old in the art as the framework of buildings. Rome was +roofed with shingles for centuries, made of oak or pine. + +Tiles, plain and fancy, and slates, have to a certain extent superseded +wood shingling, but the wood will always be used where it can be found +in plenty, as machines will now turn them out complete faster than they +can be hauled away. A shingle is a thin piece of wood, thicker at one +end than at the other, having parallel sides, about three times as long +as it is wide, having generally smooth surfaces and edges. All these +features are now given to the shingle by modern machines. + +A great log is rolled into a mill at one end and soon comes out at the +other in bundles of shingles; the logs sawed into blocks, the blocks +split or sawed again into shingle sizes, tapered, planed in the +direction of the grain of the wood, the complete shingles collected and +bound in bundles, each operation by a special machine, or by a series of +mechanisms. + +_Veneering_, that art of covering cheap or ordinary wood with a thin +covering of more ornamental and valuable wood, known from the days of +the Egyptians, has been vastly extended by modern machinery. The +practice, however, so emphatically denounced centuries ago by Pliny, as +"the monstrous invention of paint and dyes applied to the woods or +veneers, to imitate other woods," has yet its practitioners and +admirers. + +T. M. Brunel, in 1805-1808, devised a set of circular saws run by a +steam engine, which cut sheets of rosewood and mahogany, one-fourteenth +of an inch thick, with great speed and accuracy. Since that day the +veneer planing machine, for delicately smoothing the sheets, the +straightening machine, for straightening scrolls that have been cut from +logs, the polishing machines for giving the sheets their bright and +glossy appearance, the pressing machine for applying them to the +surfaces to which they are to be attached, the hammering machine for +forcing out superfluous glue from between a veneer and the piece to +which it is applied; all of these and numerous modifications of the same +have been invented, and resulted in placing in the homes everywhere many +beautiful ornamental articles of furniture, which before the very rich +only could afford to have. + +Special forms of machinery for making various articles of wood are about +as numerous as the articles themselves. + +We appear before the house and know before entering that its doors and +sills, clapboards and window frames, its sashes and blinds, its +cornices, its embrasures and pillars, and shingles, each or all have had +a special machine invented for its manufacture. We enter the house and +find it is so with objects within--the flooring may be adorned with the +beautiful art of marquetry and parquetry, wood mosaic work, the +wainscoting and the frescoes and ceilings, the stairs and staircases, +its carved and ornamental supporting frames and balusters, the charming +mantel frames around the hospitable fireplaces, and every article of +furniture we see in which wood is a part. So, too, it is with every +useful wooden implement and article within and without the house,--the +trays, the buckets, the barrels, the tubs, the clothes-pins, the +broom-handles, the mops, the ironing and bread boards; and outside the +house, the fences, railings and posts--many of these objects entirely +unknown to the poor of former generations, uncommon with the rich, and +the machinery for making them unknown to all. + +It was a noble array of woodwork and machinery with which the nations +surprised and greeted the world, at each of its notable international +Expositions during the century. Each occasion surpassed its predecessor +in the beauty of construction of the machines displayed and efficiency +of their work. The names of the members of this array were hard and +uncouth, such as the axe, the adze, and the bit, the auger, bark-cutting +and grinding machines, blind-slat boring, and tenoning, dovetail, +mortising, matching and planing, wood splitting, turning, wheeling and +planing, wood-bending, rim-boring dowelling, felly-jointing, etc., etc. +These names and the clamour of the machines were painful to the ear, but +to the thoughtful, they were converted into sweeter music, when +reflection brought to mind the hard toil of human hands they had saved, +the before unknown comforts and blessings of civilisation they had +brought and were bringing to the human race, and the enduring forms of +beauty they had produced. + +To the invention of wood-working machinery we are also indebted for the +awakening of interest in the qualities of wood for a vast number of +artistic purposes. It was a revelation, at the great Philadelphia +Exposition of 1876, to behold the specimens of different woods from all +the forests of the earth, selected and assembled to display their +wonderful grain and other qualities, and showing how well nature was +storing up for us in its silent shades those growths which were waiting +the genius of invention to convert into forms of use and beauty for +every home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +FURNITURE. + + +So far as machinery is concerned for converting wood into furniture, the +same has been anticipated in the previous chapter, but much remains to +be said about the articles of furniture themselves. + +Although from ancient days the most ancient countries provided by hand +elaborate and beautiful articles of furniture of many descriptions, yet +it has been left for modern advances in machinery and kindred arts to +yield that universal supply of convenient and ornamental furniture which +now prevails. + +The Egyptians used chairs and tables of a more modern form than the +Greeks or Romans, who lolled about on couches even at their meals; but +the Egyptians did not have the convenient section tables built in +sliding sections, which permit the table to be enlarged to accommodate +an increased number of guests. And now recently this modern form of +table has been improved, by arranging the sections and leaves so that +when the sections are slid out the leaves are automatically raised and +placed in position, which is done either by lazy-tongs mechanism, or by +a series of parallel links: Tables constructed with folding detachable +and adjustable legs, tables constructed for special purposes as sewing +machines, and typewriting machine tables, by which the machine head may +be dropped beneath the table top when not in use; tables combined with +desks wherein the table part may be slid into the desk part when not in +use and the sliding cover pulled down to cover and lock from sight both +the table and desk; surgical tables, adapted to be raised or lowered at +either end or at either side and to be extended; "knock down" tables, +adapted to be taken all apart for shipment or storage; tables combined +with chairs to be folded down by the side of the chair when not in use; +and many other useful forms have been added to the list. + +Much ingenuity has been displayed in the construction of desks, to save +and economise space. Mention has been made of a combined folding desk +and extensible table. Another form is an arrangement of desk drawers, +whereby when one drawer is locked or unlocked all the rest are locked or +unlocked automatically. Whatever shape or function anyone desires in a +desk may be met, except, perhaps, the performance of the actual work of +the occupant. + +In the matter of _beds_, the principal developments have been due to the +advancement of wood-working machinery, and the manufacture of iron, +steel, and brass. The old-fashioned ponderous bedsteads, put together by +heavy screws, have given way to those mortised and tenoned, joined and +matched, and by which they can easily be put up and taken down; and to +iron and brass bedsteads, which are both ornamental and more healthful. +No bed may be without an inexpensive steel spring frame or mattress for +the support of the bedding. Folding beds made to economise space, and +when folded upright become an ornamental bureau; and invalid bedsteads, +designed for shifting the position of the invalid, are among the many +modern improvements. + +_Kitchen Utensils._--A vast amount of drudgery in the kitchen has been +relieved by the convenient inventions in labor-saving appliances: coffee +and spice mills, can-openers, stationary washtubs, stopper extractors, +superseding the old style of hand-corkscrews where large numbers of +bottles are to be uncorked; refrigerators and provision safes, attaching +and lifting devices and convenient culinary dishes and utensils of great +variety. + +_Curtains_, _shades_ and _screens_ have been wonderfully improved and +their use made widely possible by modern inventions and new adaptation +of old methods. Wood, cotton, silk, paper, combined or uncombined with +other materials, in many novel ways unknown to our ancestors, have +rendered these articles available in thousands of homes where their use +was unknown and impossible a century ago. Among the most convenient +attachments to shades is the spring roller, invented by Hartshorn of +America, in 1864, whereby the shade is automatically rolled upon its +stick to raise or lower it. + +Window screens for the purpose of excluding flies, mosquitoes, and other +insects, while freely admitting the air, are now made extensible and +adjustable in different ways to fit different sizes of windows. Curtains +and shades are provided with neat and most attractive supporting rods, +to which they are attached by brass or wooden rings, and provided with +easily manipulated devices to raise and securely hold them in any +desired position. + +The art of steaming wood and bending it, by iron pattern forms +adjustable to the forms desired, as particularly devised in principle by +Blanchard in America in 1828-1840, referred to in Wood-working, has +produced great changes in the art of furniture making, especially in +chairs. A particularly interesting illustration of the results of this +art occurred in Austria. About forty years ago the manufacture in +Germany and Austria of furniture by machinery, especially of bent +wood-ware, became well established there; and by the time of the Vienna +Exposition in 1873, factories on a most extensive scale for the +construction of bed furniture were in operation among the vast mountain +beech forests of Moravia and Hungary. The greatest of these works were +located in Great Urgroez, Hungary, and Bisritz, Moravia, with twenty or +more auxiliary establishments. Between five and six thousand work people +were employed, the greater part of whom were females, and it was +necessary to use steam and water motors, to the extent of many hundred +horse power. + +The forests were felled, and the tree-tops removed and made into +charcoal for use in the glass works of Bohemia. The trunks were hauled +to the mills and sawed into planks of suitable thickness by gang-saws. +The planks in turn were cut with circular saws into square pieces for +turning, and then the pieces turned and cut on lathes, to give them the +size required and the rounded shape; the pieces then steamed while in +their green state for twenty-four hours in suitable boilers, then taken +out and bent to the desired shape on a cast-iron frame by hand, then +subjected, with the desired pattern, to the pattern-turning table, and +cut; then kept locked in the pattern's iron embrace until the pieces +were dried and permanently set in shape, then clamped to a bench, filed, +rasped, stained, and French polished by the deft hands of the women; +then assembled in proper position in frames of the form of the chair or +other article to be made, their contact surface sawed to fit at the +joints, and then finally the parts glued together and further secured by +the addition of a few screws or balls. + +Chairs, lounges and lighter furniture were thus made from bent pieces of +wood with very few joints, having a neat and attractive appearance, and +possessing great strength. The art has spread to other forests and other +countries, and the turned, bent, highly polished and beautiful furniture +of this generation would have been but a dream of beauty to the +householder of a century ago. + +Children's chairs are made so that the seat may be raised or lowered, or +the chair converted into a perambulator. Dentist's chairs have been +developed until it is only necessary for the operator to turn a valve +governing a fluid, generally oil, under pressure to raise or lower the +chair and the patient. In the more agreeable situation at the theatre or +concert one may hang his hat on the bottom of the chair, upturned to +afford access to it through a crowded row, and turning down the chair, +sit with pleasure, as the curtain is rolled up by compressed air, or +electricity, at the touch of a button. + +To the unthinking and unobserving, the subject of _bottle stoppers_ is +not entrancing, but those acquainted with the art know with what long, +continuous, earnest efforts, thousands of inventors have sought for the +best and cheapest bottle stopper to take the place of corks--the +enormous demand for which was exhausting the supply and rendering their +price almost prohibitive. + +One of the most successful types is a stopper of rubber combined with a +metal disk, and hung by a wire on the neck of the bottle, so that the +stopper can be used over and over again; another form composed of glass, +or porcelain, and cork; another is a thin disk of cork placed in a thin +metal cap which is crimped over a shoulder on the neck of the bottle, +and still another is a thin disk of pasteboard adapted for milk bottles +and pressed tightly within a rim on the inside of the neck of the +bottle. + +In this connection should be mentioned that self-sealing fruit jar, +known from its inventor as "Mason's fruit jar," which came into such +universal use--that combination of screw cap, screw-threaded jar-neck +and the rubber ring, or gasket, on which the cap was screwed so tightly +as to seal the jar hermetically. + +In lamplighting, what a wonderful change from the old oil lamps of +former ages! The modern lamp may be said to be an improved means of +grace, as it will hold out much longer, and shed a far more attractive +light for the sinner, whose return, by its genial light, is, even to the +end, so greatly desired. + +The discovery of petroleum and its introduction as a light produced a +revolution in the construction of lamps. Wicks were not discarded, but +changed in shape from round to flat, and owing to the coarseness and +disagreeable odour of coal oil, especially in its early unrefined days, +devices first had for their object the easy feeding of the wick, and +perfect combustion. To this end the burner portion through which the +wick passed was perforated at its base to create a proper draft, and +later the cap over the base was also perforated. But with refined oil +the disagreeable odour continued. It was found that this was mainly due +to the fact that both in lamps and stoves the oil would ooze out of the +wick on to the adjacent parts of the lamps or stove, and when the wick +was lit the heat would burn or heat the oil and thus produce the odour. +Inventors therefore contrived to separate the oil reservoir and wick +part when the lamp or stove were not in use; and finally, in stoves, to +dispense with the wick altogether. As wickless oil stoves are now in +successful use the wickless lamp may be expected to follow. + +The lamp, however, that throws all others into the shade is that +odourless, heatless, magic, mellow, tempered light of electricity, that +springs out from the little filament, in its hermetically sealed glass +cage, and shines with unsurpassed loveliness on all those fortunate +enough to possess it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +LEATHER. + + +It is interesting to speculate how prehistoric man came to use the skin +of the beasts of the field for warmth and shelter. Originally no doubt, +and for untold centuries, the use was confined to the hairy, undressed, +fresh, or dried skins, known as pelts. Then came the use of better +tools. The garments have perished, but the tools of stone and of bronze +survived, which, when compared with those employed among the earliest +historic tribes of men, were found to be adapted to cut and strip the +hairy covering from the bodies of animals, and clean, pound, scrape and +otherwise adapt them to use. + +And ever since the story of man began to be preserved in lasting records +from farthest Oriental to the northernmost limits of Europe and America, +memorials of the early implements of labour in the preparation of hides +for human wear have been found. The aborigines knew how to sharpen bones +of the animals they killed to scrape, clean, soften or roughen their +skins. They knew how to sweat, dry, and smoke the skins, and this crude +seasoning process was the forerunner of modern tanning. But leather as +we know it now, that soft, flexible, insoluble combination of the +gelatine and fibrine of the skin with tannic acid, producing a durable +and imputrescible article, that will withstand decay from the joint +attack of moisture, warmth and air, was unknown to the earlier races of +men, for its production was due to thorough tanning, and thorough +tanning was a later art. + +When men were skin-dressed animals they knew little or nothing of +tanning. Tannic acid is found in nearly every plant that grows, and its +combination with the fresh skins spread or thrown thereon, may have +given rise to the observation of the beneficial result and subsequent +practice. But whether discovered by chance, accident or experience, or +invented from necessity, the art of tanning should have rendered the +name of the discoverer immortal. The earliest records, however, describe +the art, but not the inventor. + +From the time the Hebrews covered the altars of their tabernacles with +rams' skins dyed red, as recorded in Exodus; when they and the Egyptians +worked their leather, currying and stretching it with their knives, +awls, stones, and other implements, making leather water buckets, +resembling very much those now made by machinery, covering their harps +and shields with leather, ornamental and embossed; from the days of the +early Africans, famous for their yellow, red and black morocco; from the +days of the old national dress of the Persians with their leather +trousers, aprons, helmets, belts and shirts; from the time that the +ancient Scythians utilised the skins of their enemies, and Herodotus +described the beauty and other good qualities of the human hide; from +the early days of that peculiar fine and agreeable leather of the +Russians, fragrant with the oil of the birch; from the days of the white +leather of the Hungarians, the olive-tanned leather of the Saracens; +from the time of the celebrated Cordovan leather of the Spaniards; from +the ancient cold periods of the Esquimaux and the Scandinavians, who, +clad in the warm skins of the Arctic bears, stretched tough-tanned +sealskin over the frame work of their boats; from the time of the +introduction of the art of the leather worker to the naked Briton, down +to almost the nineteenth century, substantially the same hand tools, +hard hand labour, and the old elbow lubricant were known and practised. + +Hand tools have improved, of course, as other arts in wood and iron +making have developed, but the operations are about the same. There were +and must be fleshing knives to scrape from off the hide the adherent +flesh and lime,--for this the hide is placed over the convex edge of an +inclined beam and the work is called beaming; the curriers' knife for +removing the hair; skiving, or the cutting off the rough edges and +fleshy parts on the border of the hide; shaving and flattening; the +cutting away of the inequalities left after skiving; _stoning_, the +rubbing of the leather by a scouring stone to render it smooth; +_slicking_, to remove the water and grease; or to smooth and polish, by +a rectangular sharpened stone, steel or glass tool; _whitening_, to +shave off thin strips of the flesh, leaving the leather thinner, whiter +and more pliable; _stuffing_, to soften the scraped and pounded hides +and make them porous; _graining_, the giving to the hair or grain side a +granular appearance by rubbing with a grooved or roughened piece of +wood; _bruising_ or boarding to make the leather supple and pliable by +bringing the two flesh sides together and rubbing with a graining board; +_scouring_, by aid of a stream of water to whiten the leather by rubbing +with a slicking stone or steel. + +The inventions of the century consist in labour-saving machinery for +these purposes, new tanning and dressing processes, and innumerable +machines for making special articles of leather. + +As before stated, the epoch of modern machinery commenced with the +practical application of water power to other than grinding mills, and +of steam in place of water, contemporaneously with the invention of +spinning and weaving machinery in the last half of the eighteenth +century. These got fairly to work at the beginning of the century, and +the uses of machinery spread to the treatment of leather. John Bull was +the appropriate name of the man who first patented a scraping machine in +England, about 1780, and Joseph Weeks the next one, some years later. + +One of the earliest machines of the century was the hide mill, which, +after the hand tools had scraped and stoned, shaved and hardened the +hides, was used to rub and dub them, and soften and swell them for +tanning. Pegged rollers were the earliest form for this purpose, and +later corrugated rollers and power-worked hammers were employed. +Hundreds of hides could be softened daily by these means. + +Then came ingenious machines to take the place of the previous +operations of the hand tools,--the fleshing machine, in one form of +which the hides are placed on a curved bed, and the fleshy parts scraped +off or removed by revolving glass blades, or by curved teeth of steel +and wood in a roller under which a table is given a to-and-fro movement; +tanning apparatus of a great variety, by which hides, after they are +thoroughly washed and softened, and the pores opened by swelling, are +subjected to movements in the tanning liquor vats, such as rocking or +oscillating, rotary, or vertical; or treated by an air exhaust, known as +the vacuum process; in all of which the object is to thoroughly +impregnate in the shortest time all the interstices and pores of the +skin with the tannic acid, by which the fibrous and gelatinous matter is +made to combine to form leather, and by which process, also, the hide is +greatly increased in weight. + +Reel machines are then employed to transfer the hides from one vat to +another, thus subjecting them to liquors of increasing strength. Soaking +in vats formerly occupied twelve or eighteen months, but under the new +methods the time has been greatly reduced. And now since 1880, the +chemists are pushing aside the vegetable processes, and substituting +mineral processes, by which tanning is still further shortened and +cheapened. The new processes depend chiefly on the use of chromium +compounds. + +Then came scouring machines, in which a rapidly revolving stiff brush is +used to scour the grain or hair side, removing the superfluous colouring +matter, called the bloom, and softening and cleansing the hide; the +slicking or polishing machines to clean, stretch and smooth the leather +by glass, stone, or copper blades on a rapidly-moving belt carried over +pulleys; whitening, buffing, skiving, fleshing and shaving machines, all +for cutting off certain portions and inequalities of the leather, and +reducing its thickness. + +In one form of this class of machines an oscillating pendulum lever is +employed, carrying at its end a revolving cylinder having thirty or more +spiral blades. The pendulum swings to and fro at the rate of ninety +movements a minute, while the cylinder rolls over the leather at the +rate of 2780 revolutions per minute. Scarfing, skiving, chamfering, +bevelling, feather-edging, appear to be synonymous terms for a variety +of machines for cutting the edges of leather obliquely, for the purpose +chiefly of making lap seams, scarf-joints, and reducing the thickness +and stiffness of leather at those and certain other points. + +Then there are leather-splitting machines, consisting of one or more +rollers and a pressure bar, which draw and press the leather against a +horizontally arranged and adjustable knife, which nicely splits the +leather in two parts, and thus doubles the quantity. This thin split +leather is much used in making a cheap quality of boots and shoes and +other articles. + +There are also corrugating, creasing, fluting, pebbling, piercing and +punching machines; machines for grinding the bark and also for grinding +the leather; machines for gluing sections of leather together, and +machines for sewing them; machines for rounding flat strips of leather, +for the making of whips and tubes; machines for scalloping the edges; +and a very ingenious machine for assorting leather strips or strings +according to their size or thickness. + +The most important improvements of the century in leather working relate +to the manufacture of boots and shoes. It could well be said of boots +and shoes, especially those made for the great mass of humanity, before +the modern improvements in means and processes had been invented: "Their +feet through faithless leather met the dirt." + +It is true that in the eighteenth century, both in Europe and America, +the art of leather and boot and shoe making had so far advanced that +good durable foot wear was produced by long and tedious processes of +tanning, and by careful making up of the leather into boots and shoes by +hand; the knife, the awl, the waxed thread, the nails and hammer and +other hand tools of the character above referred to being employed. But +the process was a tedious and costly one and the articles produced were +beyond the limits of the poor man's purse. Hence the wooden shoes, and +those made of coarse hide and dressed and undressed skins, and of coarse +cloth, mixed or unmixed with leather. + +In 1809, David Mead Randolph of England patented machinery for riveting +soles and heels to the uppers instead of sewing them together. + +The celebrated civil engineer, Isambard M. Brunel, shortly thereafter +added several machines of his own invention to Randolph's method, and he +established a large manufactory for the making chiefly of army shoes. +The various separate processes performed by his machines involved the +cutting out of the leather, hardening it by rolling, securing the welt +on to the inner sole by small nails, and studding the outer sole with +larger nails. Divisions of men were employed to work each separate step, +and the shoes were passed from one process to another until complete. + +Large quantities of shoes were made at reduced prices, but complaints +were made as to the nails penetrating into the shoe and hurting the +feet. The demand for army shoes fell off, and the system was abandoned; +but it had incited invention in the direction of machine-made shoes and +the day of exclusive hand labour was doomed. + +About 1818 Joseph Walker of Hopkinston, Massachusetts invented the +wooden peg. Making and applying pegs by hand was too slow work, and +machines were at once contrived for making them. As one invention +necessitates and begets others, so special forms of machines for sawing +and working up wood into pegs were devised. + +Such machinery was for first sawing the selected log of wood into slices +across the grain a little thicker than the length of a peg and cutting +out knots in the wood; then planing the head of the block smooth; +grooving the block with a V-shaped cutting tool; splitting the pegs +apart, and then bleaching, drying, polishing and winnowing them. + +It took forty or fifty years to perfect these and kindred machines, but +at the end of that time there was a factory at Burlington, Vermont, +which from four cords of wood, made every day four hundred bushels of +shoe pegs. + +About 1858 B. F. Sturtevant of Massachusetts made a great improvement in +this line. He was a very poor man, getting a living by pegging on the +soles of a few pair of shoes each day. He devised a pegging machine, and +out of his scanty earnings and at odd hours, with much pain and labour, +and by borrowing money, he finally completed it. The machine made what +was called "peg wood," a long ribbon strip of seasoned wood, sharpened +on one edge and designed to be fed into the machine for pegging shoes. +The shoes were punctured by awls driven by machinery, and then as the +peg strip was carried to it the machine severed the strip into +chisel-edged pegs, and peg-driving mechanism drove them into the holes. +Nine hundred pegs a minute were driven. It soon almost supplanted all +other peg-driving machines, and after the machines were quite generally +introduced, there were made in one year alone in New England fifty-five +million pairs of boots and shoes pegged by the Sturtevant machines. + +Other forms of pegs followed, such as the metal screw pegs, and machines +to cut them off from a continuous spiral wire from which they were made. +Lasts on which the shoes were made had been manufactured by the hundred +thousand on the wood-turning lathes invented by Blanchard, described in +the chapter on Wood-Working. + +In 1858 also, about the same time the Sturtevant pegging machine was +introduced, the shoe-sewing machine was developed. The McKay Shoe-Sewing +Machine Co. of Massachusetts after an expenditure of $130,000, and three +years' time in experiments, were enabled to put their machines in +practical operation. The pegging machines and sewing machines worked a +revolution in shoemaking. + +A revolution in the art of shoemaking thus started was followed up by +wondrous machines invented to meet every part of the manufacture. +Lasting machines for drawing and fitting the leather over lasts, in +which the outer edges of the leather are drawn over the bottom of the +last and tacked thereto by the hands and fingers of the machine instead +of those of the human hand, were invented. + +_Indenting machines_:--The welt is known as that strip of leather around +the shoe between the upper and the sole, and machines were invented for +cutting and placing this, indenting it for the purpose of rendering it +flexible and separating the stitches, all a work until recently entirely +done by hand. Machines for twining the seams in the uppers, and forming +the scallops; machines especially adapted to the making of the heel, as +heel trimming and compressing, rounding and polishing, and for nailing +the finished heel to the boot or shoe; machines for treating the sole in +every way, rolling it, in place of the good old way of pounding it on a +lap stone; trimming, rounding, smoothing, and polishing it; machines for +cutting out gores; machines for marking the uppers so that at one +operation every shoe will be stamped by its size, number, name of +manufacture, number of case, and any other convenient symbols; machines +for setting the buttons and eyelets; all these are simply members in the +long line of inventions in this art. + +The old style of boot has given way to the modern shoe and gaiter, but +for the benefit of those who still wear them, special machines for +shaping the leg, called boot trees, have been contrived. + +So far had the art advanced that twenty years ago one workingman with +much of this improved machinery combined in one machine called the +"bootmaker," could make three hundred pairs of boots or shoes a day. +Upward of three thousand such machines were then at work throughout the +world; and one hundred and fifty million pairs of boots were then being +made annually thereon. Now the number of machines and pairs of boots and +shoes has been quadrupled. + +And the world is having its feet clothed far more extensively, better +and at less cost than was ever possible by the hand system. The number +of workers in the art, both men and women, has vastly increased instead +of being diminished, while their wages have greatly advanced over the +old rates. + +As an illustration of how rapidly modern enterprise and invention +proceeds in Yankeeland, it has been related that some years ago in +Massachusetts, after many of these shoe-making machines had got into +use, a factory which was turning out 2400 pairs of shoes every day was +completely destroyed by fire on a Wednesday night. On Thursday the +manufacturer hired a neighbouring building and set carpenters at work +fitting it up. On Friday he ordered a new and complete outfit of +machinery from Boston; on Saturday the machinery arrived and the men set +it up; on Monday work was started, and on Tuesday the manufacturer was +filling his orders to the full number of 2400 pairs a day. + +There are very many people in the world who still prefer the hand-made +shoe, and there is nothing to prevent the world generally from going +back to that system if they choose; but St. Crispin's gentle art has +blossomed into a vaster field of blessings for mankind under the +fruitful impetus of invention than if left to vegetate under the simple +processes of primitive man. + +Horses, no less than man, have shared in the improvement in leather +manufacture. The harnesses of the farmer's and labouring man's horses a +century ago, when they were fortunate enough to own horses, were of the +crudest description. Ropes, cords, coarse bands of leather were the +common provisions. Now the strength and cheapness of harnesses enable +the poor man to equip his horse with a working suit impossible to have +been produced a hundred years ago. + +To the beautiful effects produced by the use of modern embossing +machines on paper and wood have been added many charming patterns in +_embossed_ leather. Books and leather cases, saddlery and household +ornamentation of various descriptions have been either moulded into +forms of beauty, or stamped or rolled by cameo and intaglio designs cut +into the surface of fast-moving cylinders. + +The leather manufactures have become so vastly important and valuable in +some countries, especially in the United States--second, almost to +agricultural products--that it would be very interesting to extend the +description to many processes and machines, and to facts displaying the +enormous traffic in leather, now necessarily omitted for want of space. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +MINERALS--WELLS. + + Dost thou hear the hammer of Thor, + Wielded in his gloves of iron? + + +As with leather, so with stone, the hand tools and hard labour have not +changed in principle since the ancient days. The hammer for breaking, +the lever for lifting, the saw for cutting, rubbing-stones and irons for +smoothing and polishing, sand and water for the same purpose, the mallet +and chisel, and other implements for ornamenting, the square, the level, +and the plumb for their respective purposes, all are as old as the art +of building. + +And as for buildings and sculpture of stone and marble made by hand +tools, we have yet to excel the pyramids, the Parthenon of Athens, which +"Earth proudly wears as the best gem upon her zone," the palaces, +coliseums, and aqueducts of Rome, the grand and polished tombs of India, +the exquisite halls of the Alhambra, and the Gothic cathedrals. + +But the time came when human blood and toil became too dear to be the +possession solely of the rulers and the wealthy, and to be used alone to +perpetuate and commemorate riches, power and glory. + +Close on the expansion of men's minds came the expansion of steam and +the development of modern inventions. The first application of the steam +engine in fields of human labour was the drawing of water from the coal +mines of England; then in drawing the coal itself. + +It was only a step for the steam engine into a new field of labour when +General Bentham introduced his system of wood-sawing machinery in 1800; +and from sawing wood to sawing stone was only one more step. We find +that taken in 1803 in Pennsylvania, when Oliver Evans of Philadelphia +drove with a high-pressure steam engine, "twelve saws in heavy frames, +sawing at the rate of one hundred feet of marble in twelve hours." How +long would it have taken hand sawyers of marble at ancient Paros and +Naxos to have done the same? + +_Stone-cutting_ machines of other forms than sawing then followed. + +It was desired to divide large blocks generally at the quarries to +facilitate transportation. Machines for this purpose are called +stone-channelling machines. They consist of a gang of chisels bound +together and set on a framework which travels on a track adjacent to the +stone to be cut, and so arranged that the cutters may be set to the +stone at desired angles, moved automatically forward and back in the +grooves they are cutting, be fed in or out, raised or lowered, detached, +and otherwise manipulated in the operation. + +Other stone-cutting machines had for their objects the cutting and +moulding the edges of tables, mantels and slabs; and the cutting of +circular and other curved work. In the later style of machine the cutter +fixed on the end of a spindle is guided in the desired directions on the +surface of the stone by a pointer, which, attached to the cutter +spindle, moves in the grooves of a pattern also connected to the +rotating support carrying the cutter. + +Other forms of most ingenious stone-dressing and carving machines have +been devised for cutting mouldings, and ornamental figures and devices, +in accordance with a model or pattern fixed to the under side of the +table which carries the stone or marble to be dressed; and in which, by +means of a guide moving in the pattern, the diamond cutter or cutters, +carried in a circular frame above the work and adjusted to its surface, +are moved in the varying directions determined by the pattern. A stream +of water is directed on the stone to clear it of the dust during the +operations. The carving of stone by machinery is now a sister branch of +wood carving. Monuments, ornamentation, and intricate forms of figures +and characters are wrought with great accuracy by cutting and dressing +tools guided by the patterns, or directed by the hand of the operator. + +For the dressing of the faces of grindstones, special forms of cutting +machines have been devised. + +It was a slow and tedious task to drill holes through stone by hand +tools; and it was indeed a revolution in this branch of the art when +steam engines were employed to rotate a rod armed at its end with +diamond or other cutters against the hardest stone. This mode of +drilling also effected a revolution in the art of blasting. Then, +neither height, nor depth, nor thickness of the stone could prevent the +progress of the drill rod. Tunnels through mountain walls, and wells +through solid quartz are cut to the depth of thousands of feet. + +One instance is related of the wonderful efficiency on a smaller scale +of such a machine: The immense columns of the State Capitol at Columbus, +Ohio, were considered too heavy for the foundation on which they rested. +The American Diamond Rock Boring Company of Providence, Rhode Island, +bored out a twenty-four inch core from each of the great pillars, and +thus relieved the danger. + +In the most economical and successful stone drills _compressed air_ is +employed as the motive power to drive the drills, which may be used +singly or in gangs, and which may be adjusted against the rock or quarry +in any direction. When in position and ready for work a few moments will +suffice to bore the holes, apply the explosive and blast the ledge. The +cleaning away of submarine ledges in harbours, such as the great work at +Hell Gate in the harbour of New York, has thus been effected. + +_Crushing_:--Among the most useful inventions relating to stone working +are machines for crushing stones and ores, and assorting them. The old +way of hammering by hand was first succeeded by powerful stamp hammers +worked by steam. Both methods of course are still followed, but they +demand too great an expenditure of force and time. + +About a third of a century ago, Eli Whitney Blake of New Haven, +Connecticut, was a pioneer inventor of a new and most successful type of +stone breaking machine, which ever since has been known as the "Blake +Crusher." This crusher consists of two ponderous upright jaws, one fixed +and the other movable, between which the stones or ores to be crushed +are fed. Each of the jaws is lined with the hardest kind of chilled +steel. The movable jaw is inclined from its lower end from the fixed jaw +and at its upper end is pivoted to swing on a heavy round iron bar. The +movable jaw is forced toward the fixed jaw by two opposite toggle levers +set, in one form of the crusher, at their inner ends in steel bearings +of a vertical vibrating, rocking lever, one of the toggles bearing at +its outer end against the movable jaw and the outer toggle against a +solid frame-work. The rocking lever is operated through a crank by a +steam engine, and as it is vibrated, the toggle joint forces the lever +end of the movable jaw towards the fixed jaw with immense force, +breaking the hardest stone like an eggshell. + +The setting of the movable jaw at an incline enables the large stone to +be first cracked, the movable jaw then opens, and as the stone falls +lower between the more contracted jaws, it is broken finer, until it is +finally crushed or pulverized and falls through at the bottom. The +movable jaw is adjustable and can be set to crush stones to a certain +size. + +As the rock drill made a revolution in blasting and tunnelling, so the +Blake crusher revolutionised the art of road making. "Road metal," as +the supply of broken stones for roads is now called, is the fruit of the +crusher. Hundreds of tons of stone per day can be crushed to just the +size desired, and the machine may be moved from place to place where +most convenient to use. + +Other crushers have been invented, formed on the principle of abrasion. +The stones, or ore, fall between two great revolving disks, having +corrugated steel faces, which are set the desired distance apart, and +between which the stones are crushed by the rubbing action. In this +style of machine the principle of a gradual breaking from a coarse to a +finer grade, is maintained by setting the disks farther apart at the +centre where the stone enters, and nearer together at their peripheries +where the broken stone is discharged. Large smooth or corrugated +rollers, conical disks, concentric rollers armed with teeth of varying +sizes, and yet so arranged as to preserve the feature of the narrowing +throat at the bottom or place of discharge, have also been devised and +extensively used. + +A long line of inventions has appeared especially adapted to break up +and separate coal into different sizes. To view the various monstrous +heaps of assorted coals at the mouth of a coal mine creates an +impression that some great witch had imposed on a poor victim the +gigantic and seemingly impossible task of breaking and assorting a vast +heap of coal into these separate piles within a certain time--a task +which also seems to have been miraculously and successfully performed +within such an exceedingly short time as to either satisfy or confuse +the presiding evil genius. + +Modern civilisation has been developed mostly from steam and coal, and +they have been to each other as strong brothers, growing more and more +mutually dependent to meet the demands made upon them. + +The mining of coal, and its subsequent treatment for burning, before the +invention of the steam engine, were long, painful, and laborious tasks, +and the steam engine could never have had its modern wants supplied if +its power had not been used to supplement, with a hundredfold increased +effect, the labour of human hands. + +It being impracticable to carry steam or the steam engine to the bottom +of the mine for work there, compressed air is there employed, which is +compressed by a steam engine up at the mouth. By this compressed air +operated in a cylinder to drive a piston, and a connecting rod and a +pick, a massive steel pick attached to the rod may be driven in any +direction against the wall of coal at the rate of from ninety to one +hundred and twenty blows per minute; and at the same time the discharged +compressed, cold, pure, fresh air flows into and through the mine, +affording ventilation when and where most needed. + +In addition to these great drills, more recent inventors have brought +out small machines for single operators, worked by the electric motor. + +After the coal is lifted out, broken and assorted, it needs to be washed +free of the adhering dust and dirt; and for this purpose machines are +provided, as well as for screening, loading and weighing. The operations +of breaking, assorting and washing are often combined in one machine, +while an intermediate hand process for separating the pieces of slate +from the coal may be employed; but additional automatic means for +separating the coal and slate are provided, consisting in forcing with +great power water through the coal as it falls into a chamber, which +carries the lighter slate to the top of the chamber, where it is at once +drawn off. + +The chief of machines with _ores_ is the _ore mill_, which not only +breaks up the ore but grinds or pulverises it. + +Some chemical and other processes for reducing ores have been referred +to in the Chapter on Metallurgy. + +Other mechanical processes consist of _separators_ of various +descriptions--a prominent one of which acts on the principal of +centrifugal force. The crushed material from a spout being led to the +centre of a rapidly rotating disk is thrown off by centrifugal force; +and as the lighter portions are thrown farther from the disk, and the +heavier portions nearer to the same, the material is automatically +assorted as to size and weight. As the disk revolves these assorted +portions fall through properly graded apertures into separate channels +of a circular trough, from whence they are swept out by brushes secured +to a support revolving with the disk. + +Many forms of ore washing machines have been invented to treat the ore +after it has been reduced to powder. These are known by various names, +as jiggers, rifflers, concentrators, washing frames, etc. A stream of +water is directed on, into, and through the mass of pulverised ore and +dirt, the dirt and kindred materials, lighter than the ore, are raised +and floated towards the top of the receptacle and carried away, while +the ore settles. + +This operation is frequently carried on in connection with amalgamated +surfaces over which the metal is passed to still further attract and +concentrate the ore. An endless apron travelling over cylinders is +sometimes employed, composed of slats the surface of each of which is +coated with an amalgam, and on this belt the powdered ore is spread +thinly and carried forward. The vibrations of the belt tend to shake and +distribute the ore particles, the amalgam attracts them, the refuse is +thrown off as the belt passes down over the cylinder, while the ore +particles are retained and brushed off into a proper receptacle. +_Amalgamators_ themselves form a large class of inventions. They are +known as electric, lead, mercury, plate, vacuum, vapour, etc. + +By the help of these and a vast number of other kindred inventions, the +business of mining in all its branches has been revolutionised and +transformed, even within the last half century. With the vast increase +in the output of coal, and of ores, and the incalculable saving of hand +labour, the number of operators has been increased in the same +proportion, their wages increased, their hours of labour shortened, and +their comforts multiplied in variety and quantity, with a diminished +cost. The whole business of mining has been raised from ceaseless +darkness and drudgery to light and dignity. Opportunity has been created +for miners to become men of standing in the community in which they +live; and means provided for educating their children and for obtaining +comfortable homes adorned with the refinements of civilisation. + +_Well boring_ is an ancient art--known to the Egyptians and the Chinese. +Wells were coeval with Abraham when his servant had the celebrated +interview with Rebecca. "Jacob's well at Sychar--the ancient +Shechim--has been visited by travellers in all ages and has been +minutely described. It is nine feet in diameter and one hundred and five +feet deep, made entirely through rock. When visited by Maundrel it +contained fifteen feet of water."--_Knight._ Some kind of a drill must +have been used to have cut so great a depth through rock. The Chinese +method of boring wells from time immemorial has been by the use of a +sharp chisel-like piece of hard iron on the end of a heavy iron and wood +frame weighing four or five hundred pounds, lifted by a lever and turned +by a rattan cord operated by hand, and by which wells from fifteen +hundred to eighteen hundred feet in depth and five or six inches in +diameter have been bored. + +This method has lately been improved by attaching the chisel part, which +is made very heavy, to a rope of peculiar manufacture, which gives the +chisel a turn as it strikes, combined with an air pump to suck up from +the hole the accumulating dirt and water. + +Artesian wells appear to have first been known in Europe in the province +of Artois, France, in the thirteenth century. Hence their name. The +previous state of the art in Egypt, China and elsewhere was not then +known. + +Other modern inventions in well-making machinery have consisted in +innumerable devices to supplant manual labour and to meet new +conditions. + +_Coal Oil_:--Reichenbach, the German chemist, discovered paraffine. +Young, soon after, in 1850, patented paraffine oil made from coal. These +discoveries, added to the long observed fact of coal oil floating on +streams in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, led to the search for its natural +source. The discovery of the reservoirs of petroleum in Pennsylvania in +1855-1860, and subsequently of gas, which nature had concealed for so +long a time, gave a great impetus to inventions to obtain and control +these riches. With earth-augurs, drills, and drill cleaning and clearing +and "fishing" apparatus, and devices for creating a new flow of oil, and +tubing, new forms of packing, etc., inventors created a new industry. + +Colonel E. Drake sank the first oil well in Pennsylvania in 1859. Since +then, 125,000 oil wells have been drilled in that and neighbouring +localities. The world has seldom seen such excitement, except in +California on the discovery of gold, as attended the coal oil discovery. +The first wells sunk gushed thousands of barrels a day. Farmers and +other labouring men went to bed poor and woke up rich. Rocky +wildernesses and barren fields suddenly became Eldorados. The burning +rivers of oil were a reflection of the golden treasures which flowed +into the hands and pockets of thousands as from a perpetual fountain +touched by some great magician's wand. + +Old methods of boring wells were too slow, and although the underlying +principle was the same, the new methods and means invented enabled wells +to be bored with one-tenth the labour, in one-tenth the time, and at +one-tenth the cost. Many great cities and plains and deserts have been +provided with these wells owing to the ease with which they can now be +sunk. + +Another ingenious method of sinking wells was invented by Colonel N. W. +Greene at Cortland, New York, in 1862. It became known as the "driven +well," and consisted of a pointed tube provided with holes above the +pointed end, and an inclosed tube to prevent the passage of sand or +gravel through the holes in the outer tube. When the pointed tube was +driven until water was reached the inner tube was withdrawn and a pump +mechanism inserted. This well, so simple, so cheap and effective, has +been used in all countries by thousands of farmers on dry plains and by +soldiers in many desert lands. With these and modern forms of artesian +wells the deserts have literally been made to blossom as the rose. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +HOROLOGY AND INSTRUMENTS OF PRECISION. + + "Time measures all things, but I measure it." + + +So far as we at present know there were four forms of time-measuring +instruments known to antiquity--the sun-dial, the clepsydra or water +clock, the hour-glass, and the graduated candle. + +The sun-dial, by which time was measured by the shadow cast from a pin, +rod or pillar upon a graduated horizontal plate--the graduations +consisting of twelve equal parts, in which the hours of the day were +divided, were, both as to the instrument and the division of the day +into hours, invented by the Babylonians or other Oriental race, set up +on the plains of Chaldea, constructed by the Chinese and Hindoos--put +into various forms by these nations, and adapted, but unimproved, by the +learned Greeks and conquering Romans. It appears to have been unknown to +the Assyrians and Egyptians, or if known, its knowledge confined to +their wise men, as it does not appear in any of their monuments. + +The clepsydra, an instrument by which in its earliest form a portion of +time was measured by the escape of water from a small orifice in the +bottom of a shell or vase, or by which the empty vase, placed in another +vessel filled with water, was gradually filled through the orifice and +which sank within a certain time, is supposed by many to have preceded +the invention of the sun-dial. At any rate they were used +contemporaneously by the same peoples. + +In its later form, when the day and night were each divided into twelve +hours, the vessel was correspondingly graduated, and a float raised by +the inflowing water impelled a pointer attached to the float against the +graduations. + +Plato, it is said, contrived a bell so connected with the pointer that +it was struck at each hour of the night. But the best of ancient +clepsydras was invented by Ctesibius of Alexandria about the middle of +the third century B. C. He was the pupil of Archimedes, and adopting his +master's idea of geared wheels, he mounted a toothed wheel on a shaft +extending through the vessel and carrying at one end outside of the +vessel a pointer adapted to move around the face of a dial graduated +with the 24 hours. The vertical toothed rod or rack, adapted to be +raised or lowered by a float in a vessel gradually filled with water, +engaged a pinion fixed on another horizontal shaft, which pinion in turn +engaged the larger wheel. It was not difficult to proportion the parts +and control the supply of water to make the point complete its circuit +regularly. Then the same inventor dispensed with the wheel, rack, and +pinion, and substituted a cord to which a float was attached, passing +the cord over a grooved pulley and securing a weight at its other end. +The pulley was fixed on the shaft which carried the hour hand. The float +was a counterbalance to the weight, and as it was lifted by the water +the weight stretched the cord and turned the pulley, which caused the +pointer to move on the dial and indicate the hour. The water thus acted +as an escapement to control the motive power. In one form the water +dropped on wheels which had their motion communicated to a small statue +that gradually rose and pointed with a rod to the hour upon the dial. + +Thus the essential parts of a clock--an escapement, which is a device to +control the power in a clock or watch so that it shall act +intermittently on the time index, a motive power, which was then water +or a weight, a dial to display the hours, and an index to point them +out--were invented at this early age. But the art advanced practically +no further for many centuries. + +The hour-glass is too familiar to need description. + +The incense sticks of the Chinese, the combustion of which proceeded so +slowly and regularly as to render them available for time measures, were +the precursors of the graduated candles. + +With the ungraduated sun-dial the Greeks fixed their times for bathing +and eating. When the shadow was six feet long it was time to bathe, when +twice that length it was time to sup. The clepsydra became in Greece a +useful instrument to enforce the law in restricting loquacious orators +and lawyers to reasonable limits in their addresses. And in Rome the +sun-dials, the clepsydras and the hour-glass were used for the same +purpose, and more generally than in Greece, to regulate the hours of +business and pleasure. + +The graduated candles are chiefly notable as to their use, if not +invention, by Alfred the Great in about 883. They were 12 inches long, +divided into 12 parts, of which three would burn in one hour. In use +they were shielded from the wind by thin pieces of horn, and thus the +"horn lantern" originated. With them he divided the day into three equal +parts, one for religion, one for public affairs, and one for rest and +recreation. + +Useful clocks of wondrous make were described in the annals of the +middle ages, especially in Germany, made by monks and others for Kings, +monasteries and churches. The old Saxon and Teutonic words _cligga_, and +_glocke_, signifying the striking of a bell, and from which the name +clock is derived, indicates the early combination of striking and +time-keeping mechanism. The records are scant as to the particulars of +inventions in horology during the middle ages and down to the sixteenth +century, but we know that weights, and trains of wheels and springs, and +some say pendulums, were used in clockwork, and that the tones of hourly +bells floated forth from the dim religious light of old cathedrals. They +all appear to have involved in different forms the principle of the old +clepsydra, using either weights or water as the motive power to drive a +set of wheels and to move a pointer over the face of a dial. + +Henry de Vick of France about 1370 constructed a celebrated clock for +Charles V., the first nearest approach to modern weight clocks. The +weight was used to unwind a cord from a barrel. The barrel was connected +to a ratchet and there were combined therewith a train of toothed wheels +and pinions, an escapement consisting of a crown wheel controlled by two +pallets, which in turn were operated alternately by two weights on a +balanced rod. An hour hand was carried by a shaft of the great wheel, +and a dial plate divided into hours. This was a great advance, as a more +accurate division of time was had by improving the isochronous +properties of the vibrating escapement. But the world was still wanting +a time-keeper to record smaller portions of the day than the hour and a +more accurate machine than Vick's. + +Two hundred years, nearly, elapsed before the next important advance in +horology. By this time great astronomers like Tycho Brahe and Valherius +had divided the time-recording dials into minutes and seconds. + +About 1525 Jacob Zech of Prague invented the fusee, which was +re-invented and improved by the celebrated Dr. Hooke, 125 years later. + +Small portable clocks, the progenitors of the modern watch, commenced to +appear about 1500. It was then that Peter Hele of Nuremberg substituted +for weights as the motive power a ribbon of steel, which he wound around +a central spindle, connecting one end to a train of wheels to which it +gave motion as it unwound. + +Then followed the famous observation of the swinging lamp by the then +young Galileo, about 1582, while lounging in the cathedral of Pisa. The +isochronism of the vibrations of the pendulum inferred from this +observation was not published or put to practical application in clocks +for nearly sixty years afterward. In 1639 Galileo, then old and blind, +dictated to his son one of his books in which he discussed the +isochronal properties of oscillating bodies, and their adaptation as +time measures. He and others had used the pendulum for dividing time, +but moved it by hand and counted its vibrations. But Huygens, the great +Dutch scientist, about 1556 was the first to explain the principles and +properties of the pendulum as a time measurer and to apply it most +successfully to clocks. His application of it was to the old clock of +Vick's. + +The seventeenth century thus opened up a new era in clock and watch +making. The investigations, discoveries, and inventions of Huygens and +other Dutch clock-makers, of Dr. Hooke and David Ramsey of England, +Hautefeuille of France, and a few others placed the art of clock and +watch making on the scientific basis on which it has ever since rested. + +The pendulum and watch-springs needed to have their movements controlled +and balanced by better escapements. Huygens thought that the pendulum +should be long and swing in a cycloidal course, but Dr. Hooke found the +better way to produce perfect isochronous movements was to cause the +pendulum to swing in short arcs, which he accomplished by his invention +of the anchor escapement. + +The fusee which Dr. Hooke re-invented consists of a conical +spirally-grooved pulley, around which a chain is wound, and which is +connected at one end to a barrel, in which the main actuating spring is +tightly coiled. The fusee is thus interposed between the wheel train and +the spring to equalise the power of the latter. + +To Dr. Hooke must also be credited the invention of that delicate but +efficient device, the hair-spring balance for watches. His inventions in +this line were directed to the best means of utilising and controlling +the force of springs, his motto being "_ut tensio sic vis_," (as the +tension is so is the force.) Repeating watches to strike the hours, +half-hours and quarters, made their appearance in the seventeenth +century. In the next century Arnold made one for George III., as small +as an English sixpence. This repeated the hours, halves and quarters, +and in it for the first time in the art a jewel was used as a bearing +for the arbors, and this particular one was a ruby made into a minute +cylinder. + +After the discovery and practical application of weights, springs, +wheels, levers and escapements to time mechanisms, subsequent +inventions, numerous as they have been, have consisted chiefly, not in +the discovery of new principles, but in new methods in the application +of old ones. Prior to the eighteenth century, however, clocks were +cumbrous and expensive, and the watches rightly regarded as costly toys; +and as to their accuracy in time-measuring, the cheaper ones were hardly +as satisfactory as the ancient sun-dials. + +With the coming of the machine inventions and the new industrial and +social ideas of the eighteenth century came an almost sudden new +appreciation of the value of time. Hours, minutes and seconds began to +be carefully prized, both by the trades and professions, and the demand +from the common people for accurate time records became great. This +demand it has been the office of the nineteenth century to supply, and +to place clocks and watches within the reach of the poor as well as the +rich. While thus lessening the cost of time-keepers their value has been +enhanced by increasing their accuracy and durability. + +Among the other ideas for which the eighteenth century was famous in +watch-making was that of dispensing with the key for winding, thus +saving the losing of keys and preventing access of dust, an idea which, +however, was perfected only in the last half of the nineteenth century. + +The eighteenth century was chiefly distinguished by its scientific +improvements in time-keepers, to adapt them for astronomical +observations and for use at sea, in not only accurately determining the +time, but the degrees of longitude. Chronometers were invented, +distinguished from watches and clocks, by means by which the fluctuation +of the parts caused by the variations in temperature are obviated or +compensated. In clocks what are known as the mercurial and gridiron +pendulums were invented respectively toward the close of the eighteenth +century by Graham and Harrison, and the latter also subsequently +invented the expanding and contracting balance wheel for watches. The +principle in these appliances is the employment of two different metals +which expand unequally, and thus maintain an uniformity of operation. + +The Dutch, with Huygens in the lead, were long among the leading +clock-makers. Germany ranked next. It was in the seventeenth century +that a wonderful industry in clock-making there commenced, which lasted +for two centuries. The Black Forest region of South Germany became a +famous locality for the manufacture of cheap wooden clocks. The system +adopted was a minute division of labour. From fourteen to twenty +thousand hands twenty years ago were employed in the Schwarzwald +district. Labour-saving machines were ignored almost entirely. The +annual production finally reached nearly two million clocks, of the +value of about five million dollars. + +Switzerland in watch-making followed precisely the example of Germany in +clock-making. It commenced there in the seventeenth and culminated in +the nineteenth century. Many thousands of its population were engaged in +the business and it flourished under the fostering care of the +government--by the establishment of astronomical observations for +testing the adjustment of the best watches, the giving of prizes, and +the establishment and encouragement of schools of horology conducted on +thorough scientific methods. A quarter of a century ago it was estimated +that in Switzerland 40,000 persons out of a population of 150,000 were +engaged in watch-making, and that the annual production sometimes +reached 1,600,000 completed movements. The whole world was their market. +The United States alone was in 1875 importing 134,000 watches annually +from that country. + +As in Germany, so one characteristic of the Swiss system was a minute +sub-division of the labour. Individuals and entire families had certain +parts only to make. It is said that the Swiss watch passed through the +hands of one hundred and thirty different workmen before it was put upon +the market. The use of machines was also, as in Germany, ignored. By +this national devotion to a single trade and its sub-division of labour, +the successful production of complicated watches became great and their +prices comparatively low. + +The United States in the commencement of its career and at the opening +of the century had no clocks or watches of its own manufacture. But it +soon followed the example of Germany and Switzerland and established +cheap clock manufactories, first of wood, and then of metal, which +became famous and of world-wide use. But it could make no headway +against the cheap labour of Europe in watch-making, and the country was +flooded with watches of all qualities, principally from Switzerland and +England. Finally, at the half-way mark in the century, the inquiry arose +among Americans, why could not the system of the minute sub-division of +human labour followed in watch-making countries so cheaply and +profitably, be accomplished by machinery? The field was open, the prize +was great, and the government stood ready to grant exclusive patents to +every inventor who would devise a new and useful machine. The problem +was great, as the fields abroad had been filled for generations by +skilled artisans who had reduced the complicated mechanism of +watch-making to a fine art. Fortunately the habit had been established +in America in several of the leading industries, principally in that of +fire-arms, of fabricating separate machinery for the independent making +of numerous parts of the same implement, whereby uniformity and +interchangeability were established. Under such a practice, which was +known as the American system, a duplicate of the smallest part of a +complicated machine, lost or worn out thousands of miles from the +factory, could soon be furnished by simply sending the number or name of +such required part to the manufacturer, or to the nearest dealer in such +machines. + +With such encouragement and example the scheme of watch-making was +commenced. Soon large factories were built, and by the time of the +Centennial Exhibition in 1876, the American Watch Company of Waltham, +Massachusetts, were enabled to present an exhibit of watch movements +made by machinery, which astonished the world. Other great companies in +different parts of the country soon followed with the same general +system. Machines, working with the apparent intelligence and facility of +human minds and hands, and with greater mathematical accuracy than was +possible with the hands, appeared:--for cutting out the finest teeth +from blank wheels stamped out from steel or brass; for making and +cutting the smallest, finest threaded screws by the thousands per hour +and with greatest uniformity and accuracy; for jewel-making; for cutting +and polishing by diamonds, or sapphire-armed tools, the rough, +unpolished diamond and ruby, crysolite, garnet, or aqua-marine, and for +boring, finishing and setting the same; for the formation of the most +delicate pins or arbors; for the making of the escapements, including +forks, pallets, rollers, and scape wheels; for making springs and +balances, including the main-springs and hair-springs; for making and +setting the stem-winding parts; for making the cases, and engraving the +same, etc. The list would be too long to simply name all the ingenious +machines there exhibited and subsequently invented for every important +operation. + +It was the aim of these manufacturers to locate every great factory in +some quiet and attractive spot, free from the dust of town, and city, +and divide it into many departments, from the blacksmithing to the +packing and transportation of the completed article; and to conduct +every department with the best mechanical and mathematical skill that +money and brains could provide. + +The same system was followed with equal success in producing the +first-class pocket-chronometer for the nicest work to which chronometers +can be put. + +Thus with every watch and its every part made the exact duplicate of its +fellow, uniformity in time-keeping has been established; and the simile +of Pope is no longer so correct, "'Tis with our judgments as our +watches, none go just alike, yet each believes his own." A simple +statement of this system illustrates with greater force than an entire +volume the revolution the nineteenth century has produced in the useful +art of horology. And yet the story should not omit reference to the +application of the electric system to clocks, whereby clocks at distant +points of a city or country are connected, automatically corrected and +set to standard time from a central observatory or other time station. + +Great as were the advances in horology during the seventeenth and +eighteenth centuries, the number of inventions that have been made in +the nineteenth century is evidenced by the fact that in the United +States alone about 4,000 patents have been granted since 1800, which, +however, represent not only American inventors but very many of other +countries. + +_Registering Devices._--Devices for recording fares and money have +employed the keenest wits of many inventors and is an art of quite +recent origin. Attention was first directed to fare registers in public +vehicles, the object of which is to accurately report to the proper +office of the company at the end of a trip, or of the day, the number of +passengers carried and the fares received. Portable registers, to be +carried by the conductor and operated in front of the passenger have +been almost universally succeeded by stationary ones set up at one end +of the vehicle in open view of all the passengers and operated by a +strap and lever by the conductor. These fare registers have been called +"A mechanical conscience for street car conductors." + +_Cash Registers_, intended to compel honesty on the part of retail +salesmen, are required to be operated by them, and when the proper +lever, or levers, or it may be a crank handle, is or are touched, the +machine automatically records the amount of the sale, the amount of +change given, and the total amount of all the sales and money received +and paid out. + +_Voting Machines_--designed to overcome the difficulties, expenditure of +time, and the commission of errors and frauds experienced in the reading +and counting of votes--have received great attention from inventors, and +are not yet in a satisfactory condition. The problem involves the +dispensing of printing the ballots, the prevention of fraudulent +deposition of ballots, the automatic correct counting of the same, and a +display of the result as soon as the balloting is closed. + +Successful electrical devices have been made for recording the votes of +a great number of persons in a large assembly by the touch of an "aye" +or "nay" button at the seat of the voter and the recording of the same +on paper at a central desk. + +The invention and extensive use of bicycles, automobiles, etc., have +given rise to the invention of _cyclometers_, which are small devices +connected to some part of the vehicle to indicate to the rider or driver +the rate at which he is riding, and the number of miles ridden. + +_Speed Indicators._--Many municipalities having adopted ordinances +limiting the rate of speed for street and steam cars, bicycles, +automobiles, and other vehicles, a want was created, which has been met, +for devices to indicate to the passengers, drivers or conductors the +rate at which the vehicle is travelling, and to sound an alarm in case +of excess of speed, so that brakes can be applied and the speed reduced. +Or to relieve persons of anxiety and trouble in this respect, ingenious +devices have been contrived which automatically reduce the speed when +the prescribed limit has been exceeded. + +_Weighing Scales and Machines._--"Just balances and just weights" have +been required from the day of the declaration, "a false weight is an +abomination unto the Lord." And therefore strict accuracy must always be +the measure of merit of a weighing machine. To this standard the +inventions of the century in weighing scales have come. Until this +century the ordinary balance with equal even arms suspended from a +central point, and each carrying means for suspending articles to be +weighed, or compared in weights, and the later steelyard with its +unequal arms, with its graduated long arms and a sliding weight and +holding pan, were the principal forms of weighing machines. Platform +scales were described in an English patent to one Salman in 1796, but +their use is not recorded. The compound lever scale on the principle of +the steelyard, but arranged to be used with a platform, was invented and +came into use in the United States about 1831. Thaddeus and Erastus +Fairbanks of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, were the inventors, and it was +found to meet the want of farmers in weighing hemp, hay, etc., by more +convenient means than the ordinary steelyard. They converted the +steelyard into platform scales. The leading characteristics of such +machines are, first, a convenient platform nicely balanced on knife +edges of steel levers, and second, a graduated horizontal beam, a +sliding weight thereon connected by an upright rod at one end to the +beam, and at its opposite end to the balance frame beneath the platform. + +The modification in size and adaptation of this machine for the weighing +of different commodities amounted to some 400 different +varieties--running from the delicately-constructed apparatus for +weighing the fraction of a grain, to the ponderous machines for weighing +and recording the loaded freight car of fifty or sixty tons, or the +canal-boat or other vessel with its load of five or six hundred tons. +The adaptation of a balance platform on which to place a light load, or +to drive thereon with heavy loads, whether of horses, steam, or water +vehicles, was a great blessing to mankind. No wonder that they were soon +sold all over the world, and that monarchs and people hastened to heap +honors on the inventors. + +Spring weighing scales have recently been invented, which will +accurately and automatically show not only the weight but the total +price of the goods weighed, the price per unit being known and fixed. + +In the weighing of large masses of coarse material, such as grain, coal, +cotton seed, and the like, machines have been constructed which +automatically weigh such materials and at the same time register the +weight. + +Previous to this century no method was known, except the exercise of +good judgment in the light of experience, of accurately testing the +strength of materials. Wood and metals were used in unnecessarily +cumbrous forms for the purpose to which they were put, in order to +ensure safety, or else the strength of the parts failed where it was +most needed. + +The idea of testing the tensile, transverse, and cubical resisting +strength of materials has been applied to many other objects than beams +and bars of wood and metals; to belts, cloths, cables, wires, fibres, +paper, twine, yarn, cement, and to liquids. Kiraldy, Kennedy, and others +of England, Thomasset of France, Riehle of Germany, and Fairbanks, +Thurston and Emery of the United States, are among the noted inventors +of such machines. + +In the Emery system of machines, consisting of scales, gages, and +dynamometers, the power exerted on the material tested is transmitted +from the load to an indicating device by means of liquid acting on +diaphragms. The same principle is employed in his weighing machines. + +By one of these hydraulic testing machines the tensile strength of +forged links has been ascertained by the exertion of a power amounting +to over 700,000 pounds before breaking a link, the chain breaking with a +loud report. + +The most delicate materials are tested by the same machine--the tensile +strength of a horsehair, some of which are found to stand the strain of +one and two pounds. Eggs and nuts are cracked without being crushed, and +the power exerted and the strain endured automatically recorded. Steel +beams and rods have been subjected to a strain of a million pounds +before breaking. + +Governments, municipalities, and the people generally are thus provided +with means by which they can proceed with the greatest confidence in the +safe and economical construction and completion of their buildings and +public works. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MUSIC, ACOUSTICS, OPTICS, FINE ARTS. + + +Neither the historic nor prehistoric records find man without musical +instruments of some sort. They are as old as religion, and have been +found wherever evidence of religious rites of any description have been +found, as they constituted part of the instrumentalities of such rites. +They are found as relics of worship and the dance, ages after the +worshippers and the dancers have become part of the earth's strata. They +have been found wherever the earliest civilisations have been +discovered; and they appear to have been regarded as desirable and +necessary as the weapons and the labour implements of those +civilisations. They abounded in China, in India, and in Egypt before the +lyre of Apollo was invented, or the charming harp of Orpheus was +conceived. + +There was little melody according to modern standards, but the musical +instruments, like all other inventions, the fruit of the brain of man, +were slowly evolved as he wanted them, and to meet the conditions +surrounding him. + +There were the conch shell trumpet, the stone, bone, wood and metal +dance rattles, the beaks of birds, and the horns and teeth of beasts, +for the same rattling purpose. The simple reed pipes, the hollow wooden +drums, the skin drum-heads, the stretched strings of fibre and of +tendons, the flutes, the harps, the guitars, the psalteries, and +hundreds of other forms of musical instruments, varied as the skill and +fancy of man varied, and in accordance with their taste and wants, along +the entire gamut of noises and rude melodies. The ancient races had the +instruments, but their voices, except as they existed in the traditions +of their gods, were not harmonious. + +As modern wants and tastes developed and music became a science the +demands of the nineteenth century were met by a Helmholtz, who +discovered and explained the laws of harmony, and by many ingenious +manufacturers, who so revolutionised the pianoforte action, and the +action of musical instruments constructed on these principles, that +their predecessors would hardly be recognised as prototypes. + +The story of the piano, that queen of musical instruments, involves the +whole history of the art of music. Its evolution from the ancient harp, +gleaned by man from the wind, "that grand old harper, who smote his +thunder harp of pines," is too long a story to here recite in detail. It +must suffice to say, it started with the harp, in its simplest form, +composed of a frame with animal tendons stretched tight thereon and +twanged by the fingers. Then followed strings of varied length, size, +and tension, to obtain different tones, soon accompanied by an +instrument called the plectrum--a bone or ivory stick with which to +vibrate the strings, to save the fingers. This was the harp of the +Egyptians, and of Jubal, "the father of all such as handle the harp and +the organ," and half-brother of Tubal Cain, the great teacher "of every +artificer in brass and iron." Then the harp was laid prostrate, its +strings stretched over a sounding board, and each held and adapted to be +tightened by pegs, and played upon by little hammers having soft pellets +or corks at their ends. This was the psaltery and the dulcimer of the +Assyrians and the Hebrews. + +The Greeks derived their musical instruments from the Egyptians, and the +Romans borrowed theirs from the Greeks, but neither the Greeks nor the +Romans invented any. + +Then, after fourteen or fifteen centuries, we find the harp, both in a +horizontal and an upright position, with its strings played upon by +keys. This was the _clavicitherium_. In the sixteenth century came the +virginal, and the spinet, those soft, tinkling instruments favoured by +Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, and which, recently brought from +obscurity, have been made to revive the ancient Elizabethan melodies, to +the delight of modern hearers. These were followed in the seventeenth +century by the clavichord, the favourite instrument of Bach. Then +appeared the harpsichord, a still nearer approach to the piano, having a +hand or knee-worked pedal, and on which Mozart and Handel and Haydn +brought out their grand productions. The ancient Italian cembello was +another spinet. + +Thus, through the centuries these instruments had slowly grown. By 1711 +in Italy, under the inventive genius of Bartolommeo Cristofori of +Florence, they had culminated in the modern piano. The piano as devised +by him differed from the instruments preceding it chiefly in this, that +in the latter the strings were vibrated by striking and pulling on them +by pieces of quills attached to levers and operated by keys, whereas, in +the piano there were applied hammers in place of quills. + +In the 1876 exhibition at Philadelphia, a piano The Greeks derived their +musical instruments from the Egyptians, and the Romans borrowed theirs +from the Greeks, but neither the Greeks nor the Romans invented any. + +Then, after fourteen or fifteen centuries, we find the harp, both in a +horizontal and an upright position, with its strings played upon by +keys. This was the clavicitherium. In the sixteenth century came the +virginal, and the spinet, those soft, tinkling instruments favoured by +Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, and which, recently brought from +obscurity, have been made to revive the ancient Elizabethan melodies, to +the delight of modern hearers. These were followed in the seventeenth +century by the clavichord, the favourite instrument of Bach. Then +appeared the harpsichord, a still nearer approach to the piano, having a +hand or knee-worked pedal, and on which Mozart and Handel and Haydn +brought out their grand productions. The ancient Italian cembello was +another spinet. + +Thus, through the centuries these instruments had slowly grown. By 1711 +in Italy, under the inventive genius of Bartolommeo Cristofori of +Florence, they had culminated in the modern piano. The piano as devised +by him differed from the instruments preceding it chiefly in this, that +in the latter the strings were vibrated by striking and pulling on them +by pieces of quills attached to levers and operated by keys, whereas, in +the piano there were applied hammers in place of quills. + +In the 1876 exhibition at Philadelphia, a piano was displayed which had +been made by Johannes Christian Schreiber of Germany in 1741. + +Then in the latter part of the eighteenth century Broadwood and Clementi +of London and Erard of Strasburg and Petzold of Paris commenced the +manufacture of their fine instruments. Erard particularly made many +improvements in that and in the nineteenth century in the piano, its +hammers and keys, and Southwell of Dublin in the dampers. + +By them and the Collards of London, Bechstein of Berlin, and Chickering, +Steinway, Weber, Schomacher, Decker and Knabe of America, was the piano +"ripened after the lapse of more than 2,000 years into the perfectness +of the magnificent instruments of modern times, with their better +materials, more exact appliances, finer adjustments, greater strength of +parts, increase of compass and power, elastic responsiveness of touch, +enlarged sonority, satisfying delicacy, and singing character in tone." + +A piano comprises five principal parts: first, the framing; second, the +sounding board; third, the stringing; fourth, the key mechanism, or +action, and fifth, the ornamental case. To supply these several parts +separate classes of skilled artisans have arisen, the forests have been +ransacked for their choicest woods, the mines have been made to yield +their choicest stores, and the forge to weld its finest work. Science +has given to music the ardent devotion of a lover, and resolved a +confused mass of more or less pleasant noises into liquid harmonies. In +1862 appeared Helmholtz's great work on the "Law and Tones and the +Theory of Music." He it was who invented the method of analysing sound. +By the use of hollow bodies called _resonators_ he found that every +sound as it generally occurs in nature and as it is produced by most of +our musical instruments, or the human voice, is not a single simple +sound, but a compound of several tones of different intensity and pitch; +all of which different tones combined are heard as one; and that the +difference of quality or _timbre_ of the sounds of different musical +instruments resides in the different composition of these sounds; that +different compound sounds contain the same fundamental tone but +differently mixed with other tones. He explained how these fundamental +and compound tones might be fully developed to produce either harmonious +or dissonant sensations. His researches were carried farther and added +to by Prof. Mayer of New Jersey. These theories were practically applied +in the pianos produced by the celebrated firm of Steinway and Sons of +New York; and their inventions and improvements in the iron framing, in +laying of strings in relation to the centre of the sounding-board, in +"resonators" in upright frames, and in other features, from 1866 to +1876, produced a revolution in the art of piano making. + +If the piano is properly the queen of musical instruments, the organ may +be rightly regarded, as it has been named, "King in the realm of music." +It is an instrument, the notes of which are produced by the rush of air +through pipes of different lengths, the air being supplied by bellows or +other means, and controlled by valves which are operated by keys, and by +which the supply of air is admitted or cut off. + +The earliest description appears to be that in the "Spiritalia" of Hero +of Alexandria (150-200 B. C.) and Ctesibius of Alexandria was the +inventor. A series of pipes of varying lengths were filled by an +air-pump which was operated by a wind-mill. Organs were again originated +in the early Christian centuries; and a Greek epigram of the fourth +century refers to one as provided with "reeds of a new species agitated +by blasts of wind that rush from a leathern cavern beneath their roots, +while a robust mortal, running with swift fingers over the concordant +keys, makes them smoothly dance and emit harmonious sounds." + +The same in principle to-day, but more complicated in structure, "yet of +easy control under the hands of experts, fertile in varied symphonious +effects, giving with equal and satisfying success the gentlest and most +sympathetic tones as well as complete and sublimely full utterances of +musical inspiration." + +The improvements of the century have consisted in adding a great variety +of stops; in connections and couplers of the great keyboard and pipes; +in the pedal part; in the construction of the pipes and wind chests; and +principally in the adaptation of steam, water, air, and electricity, in +place of the muscles of men, as powers in furnishing the supply of air. +Some of the great organs of the century, having three or four thousand +pipes, with all the modern improvements, and combining great power with +the utmost brilliancy and delicacy of utterance, and with a blended +effect which is grand, solemn and most impressive, render indeed this +noble instrument the "king" in the realm of music. + +In the report of 1895 of the United States Commissioner of patents it is +stated that "the _autoharp_ has been developed within the past few +years, having bars arranged transversely across the strings and provided +with dampers which, when depressed, silence all the strings except those +producing the desired chords. + +"An ingenious musical instrument of the class having keyboards like the +piano or organ has been recently invented. All keyboard instruments in +ordinary use produce tones that are only approximately correct in pitch, +because these must be limited in number to twelve, to the octave, while +the tones of the violin are absolute or untempered. The improved +instrument produces untempered tones without requiring extraordinary +variations from the usual arrangement of the keys." + +Self-playing musical instruments have been known for more than forty +years, but it is within the past twenty-five years that devices have +been invented for controlling tones by pneumatic or electrical +appliances to produce expressions. Examples of the later of these three +kinds of musical instruments may be found in the United States patents +of Zimmermann in 1882, Tanaka, 1890, and Gally, 1879. + +The science of _acoustics_ and its practical applications have greatly +advanced, chiefly due to the researches of Helmholtz, referred to above. + +When the nature and laws of the waves of sound became fully known a +great field of inventions was opened. Then came the telephone, +phonograph, graphophone and gramophone. + +The telephone depends upon a combination of electricity and the waves of +the human voice. The phonograph and its modifications depend alone on +sound waves--the recording of the waves from one vibrating membrane and +their exact reproduction on another vibrating membrane. + +The acoustic properties of churches and other buildings were improved by +the adaptation of banks of fine wires to prevent the re-echoing of +sounds. _Auricular tubes_ adapted to be applied to the ears and +concealed by the hair, and other forms of aural instruments, were +devised. + +The _Megaphone_ of Edison appeared, consisting of two large funnels +having elastic conducting tubes from their apices to the aural orifice. +Conversation in moderate tones has been heard and understood by their +use at a distance of one and a half miles. The megaphone has been found +very useful in speaking to large outdoor crowds. + +But let us go back a little: In 1845, Chas. Bourseuil of France +published the idea that the vibrations of speech uttered against a +diaphragm might break or make an electric contact, and the electric +pulsations thereby produced might set another diaphragm vibrating which +should produce the transmitted sound waves. In 1857, another Frenchman, +Leon Scott, patented in France his _Phonautograph_--an instrument +consisting of a large barrel-like mouth-piece into which words were +spoken, a membrane therein against which the voice vibrations were +received, a stylus attached to this vibrating membrane, and a rotating +cylinder covered with blackened paper, against which the stylus bore and +on which it recorded the sound waves in exact form received on the +vibrating diaphragm. Then came the researches and publications of +Helmholtz and Koenig on acoustic science, 1862-1866. Then young Philip +Reis of Frankfort, Germany, attempted to put all these theories into an +apparatus to reproduce speech, but did not quite succeed. Then in +1874-1875, Bell took up the matter, and at the Philadelphia exhibition, +1876, astonished the world by the revelations of the telephone. In +April, 1877, Charles Cros, a Frenchman, in a communication to the +Academy of Sciences in Paris, after describing an apparatus like the +Scott phonautograph, set forth how traced undulating lines of voice +vibrations might be reproduced in intaglio or in relief, and reproduced +upon a vibrating membrane by a pointed stylus attached thereto and +following the line of the original pulsations. The communication seems +to have been pigeon-holed, and not read in open session until December, +1877, and until after Thomas A. Edison had actually completed and used +his phonograph in the United States. Cros rested on the suggestion. +Edison, without knowing of Cros' suggestion, was first to make and +actually use the same invention. Edison's cylinder, on which the sounds +were recorded and from which they were reproduced, was covered by tin +foil. A great advance was made by Dr Chichester A. Bell and Mr. C. S. +Tainter, who in 1886 patented in the United States means of cutting or +engraving the sound waves in a solid body. The solid body they employed +was a thin pasteboard cylinder covered with wax. This apparatus they +called the _graphophone_. Two years thereafter, Mr. Emile Berliner of +Washington had invented the _gramophone_, which consists in etching on a +metallic plate the record of voice waves. He has termed his invention, +"the art of etching the human voice." He prepares a polished metal +plate, generally zinc, with an extremely thin coating of film or fatty +milk, which dries upon and adheres to the plate. The stylus penetrates +this film, meeting from it the slightest possible resistance, and traces +thereon the message. The record plate is then subjected to a +particularly constituted acid bath, which, entering the groove or +grooves formed by the stylus, cuts or etches the same into the plate. +The groove thus formed may be deepened by another acid solution. When +thus produced, as many copies of the record as desired may be made by +the electrotyper or print plater. + +The public is now familiar with the different forms of this wonderful +instrument, and like the telephone, they no longer seem marvellous. Yet +it is only within the age of a youth or a maiden when the allegations or +predictions that the human voice would soon be carried over the land, +and reproduced across a continent, or be preserved or engraven on +tablets and reproduced at pleasure anywhere, in this or any subsequent +generation, were themselves regarded as strange messages of dreamers and +madmen. + +_Optical Instruments._--There were practical inventions in optical +instruments long before this century. Achromatic and other lenses were +known, and the microscope, the telescope and spectacles. + +The inventive genius of this century in the field of optics has not +eclipsed the telescope and microscope of former ages. They were the +fruits of the efforts of many ages and of many minds, although Hans +Lippersheim of Holland in 1608 appears to have made the first successful +instrument "for seeing things at a distance." Galileo soon thereafter +greatly improved and increased its capacity, and was the first to direct +it towards the heavens. And as to the microscope, Dr. Lieberkulm, of +Berlin, in 1740, made the first successful solar microscope. As well +known, it consisted essentially of two lenses and a mirror, by which the +sun's rays are reflected on the first lens, concentrated on the object +and further magnified by the second lens. + +The depths of the stars and the minutest mote that floats in the sun +beam reflect the glory of those inventions. + +The invention of John Dolland of London, about 1758, of the achromatic +lens should be borne in mind in connection with telescopes, microscopes, +etc. He it was who invented the combination of two lenses, one concave +and the other convex, one of flint glass and the other of crown glass, +which, refracting in contrary ways, neutralised the dispersion of colour +rays and produced a clear, colourless light. + +Many improvements and discoveries in optics and optical instruments have +been made during the century, due to the researches of such scientists +as Arago, Brewster, Young, Fresnel, Airy, Hamilton, Lloyd, Cauchy and +others, and of the labours of the army of skilled experts and +mechanicians who have followed their lead. + +Sir David Brewster, born in Scotland in 1781, made (1810-1840) many +improvements in the construction of the microscope and telescope, +invented the kaleidoscope, introduced in the stereoscope the principles +and leading features which those beautiful instruments still embody, and +rendered it popular among scientists and artists. + +It is said that Prof. Eliot of Edinburgh in 1834 was the first to +conceive of the idea of a stereoscope, by which two different pictures +of the same object, taken by photography, to correspond to the two +different positions of an object as viewed by the two eyes, are combined +into one view by two reflecting mirrors set at an angle of about 45 deg., +and conveying to the eyes a single reflection of the object as a solid +body. But Sir Charles Wheaton in 1838 constructed the first instrument, +and in 1849 Brewster introduced the present form of lenticular lenses. + +Brewster also demonstrated the utility of dioptric lenses, and zones in +lighthouse illumination; and in which field Faraday and Tyndall also +subsequently worked with the addition of electrical appliances. The +labours of these three men have illuminated the wildest waters of the +sea and preserved a thousand fleets of commerce and of war from awful +shipwreck. + +As illustrating the difficulties sometimes encountered in introducing an +invention into use, the American Journal of Chemistry some years ago +related that the Abbe Moigno, in introducing the stereoscope to the +savants of France, first took it to Arago, but Arago had a defect of +vision which made him see double, and he could only see in it a medley +of four pictures; then the Abbe went to Savart, but unfortunately Savart +had but one eye and was quite incapable of appreciating the thing. Then +Becquerel was next visited, but he was nearly blind and could see +nothing in the new optical toy. Not discouraged, the Abbe then called +upon Puillet of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. Puillet was much +interested, but he was troubled with a squint which presented to his +anxious gaze but a blurred mixture of images. Lastly Brot was tried. +Brot believed in the corpuscular theory of light, and was opposed to the +undulatory theory, and the good Abbe not being able to assure him that +the instrument did not contradict his theory, Brot refused to have +anything to do with it. In spite, however, of the physical disabilities +of scientists, the stereoscope finally made its way in France. + +Besides increasing the power of the eye to discover the secrets and +beauties of nature, modern invention has turned upon the eye itself and +displayed the wonders existing there, behind its dark glass doors. It +was Helmholtz who in 1851 described his _Ophthalmoscope_. He arranged a +candle so that its rays of light, falling on an inclined reflector, were +thrown through the pupil of the patient's eye, whose retina reflected +the image received on the retina back to the mirror where it could be +viewed by the observer. This image was the background of the eye, and +its delicate blood vessels and tissues could thus be observed. This +instrument was improved and it gave rise to the contrivance of many +delicate surgical instruments for operating on the eye. + +The _Spectroscope_ is an instrument by which the colours of the solar +rays are separated and viewed, as well as those of other incandescent +bodies. By it, not only the elements of the heavenly bodies have been +determined, but remarkable results have been had in analysing well-known +metals and discovering new ones. Its powers and its principles have been +so developed during the century by the discoveries, inventions and +investigations of Herschel, Wollaston, Fraunhofer, Bronsen and Kirchoff, +Steinheil, Tyndall, Huggins, Draper and others, that spectrum analysis +has grown from the separation of light into its colours by the prism of +Newton, to what Dr. Huggins has aptly termed "a new sense." + +We have further referred to this wonderful discovery in the Chapter on +Chemistry. + +The inventions and improvements in optical instruments gave rise to +great advances in the making of lenses, based on scientific principles, +and not resting alone on hard work and experience. Alvan Clark a son of +America, and Prof. Ernst Abbe of Germany, have within the last third of +the century produced a revolution in the manufacture of lenses, and +thereby extended the realms of knowledge to new worlds of matter in the +heavens and on earth. + +_Solarmeter._--In 1895 a United States patent was granted to Mr. Bechler +for an instrument called a solarmeter. It is designed for taking +observations of heavenly bodies and recording mechanically the parts of +the astronomical triangle used in navigation and like work. Its chief +purpose is to determine the position of the compass error of a ship at +sea independently of the visibility of the sea horizon. If the horizon +is clouded, and the sun or a known star is visible, a ship's position +can still be determined by the solarmeter. + +_Instruments for Measuring the Position and Distances of Unseen +Objects._--Some of the latest of such instruments will enable one to see +and shoot at an object around a corner, or at least out of sight. Thus a +United States patent was granted to Fiske in 1889, wherein it is set +forth that by stationing observers at points distant from a gun, which +points are at the extremities of a known base line, and which command a +view of the area within the range of the gun, the observers discover the +position and range of the object by triangulation and set certain +pointers. By means of electrical connection between those pointers and +pointers at the gun station based on the system of the Wheatstone +bridge, the latter pointers, or the guns themselves serving as pointers, +may be placed in position to indicate the line of fire. By a nice +arrangement of mirror and lenses attached to a firearm the same object +may be accomplished. Similar apparatuses in which the reflectory +surfaces of mirrors mounted on an elevated frame-work, and known as +_Polemoscopes_ and _Altiscopes_ and _Range-Finders_, have also been +invented, and used with artillery. But such devices may be profitably +used for more peaceful and amusing purposes. + +Born with the ear attuned to music and the eye to observe beauty, the +hand of Art was to trace and make permanent the fleeting forms which +melody and the eye impressed upon the soul of man. + +In fact modern science has demonstrated that tones and colours are +inseparable. Bell and Tainter with their _photophone_ have converted the +undulatory waves of light into the sweetest music. Reversing the +process, beautiful flashes of light have been produced from musical +vibrations by the _phonophote_ of M. Coulon and the _phonoscope_ of +Henry Edmunds. + +Entrancing as the story is, we can only here allude to a few of those +discoveries and inventions that have become the handmaidens of the art +which guided the chisel of Phidias and inspired the brush of Raphael. + +_Photography._--The art of producing permanent images of the "human face +divine," natural scenes, and other objects, by the agency of light, is +due more to the discoveries of the chemist than to the inventions of the +mechanic; and to the chemists of this century. At the same time a +mechanical invention of old times became a necessary appliance in the +reduction of the theories of the chemists to practice:--The _Camera +Obscura_, that dark box in which a mirror is placed, provided also with +a piece of ground glass or white cardboard paper, and having a +projecting part at one end in which a lens is placed, whereby when the +lens part is directed to an object an image of the same is thrown by the +rays of light focused by the lens upon the mirror, and reflected by the +mirror to the glass or paper board, was invented by Roger Bacon about +1297, or by Alberta in 1437, described by Leonardo da Vinci in 1500 as +an imitation of the structure of the eye, again by Baptista Porta in +1589, and remodelled by Sir Isaac Newton in 1700. Until the 19th century +it was used only in the taking of sketches and scenes on or from the +card or glass on which the reflection was thrown. + +Celebrated chemists such as Sheele of the 18th century, and Ritter, +Wollaston, Sir Humphry Davy, Young, Gay-Lussac, Thenard, and others in +the early part of the 19th century, began to turn their attention to the +chemical and molecular changes which the sunlight and its separate rays +effected in certain substances, and especially upon certain compounds of +silver. In sensitising the receiving paper, glass, or metal with such a +compound it must necessarily be protected from exposure to sunlight, and +this fact, together with the desire to sensitise the image produced by +the camera, not only suggested but seemed to render that instrument +indispensable to photography. Nevertheless the experiments of chemists +fell short of the high mark, and it was reserved for an artist to unite +the efforts of the sun and the chemists in a successful instrument. + +It was Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, born at Corneilles, France, in +1789, and who died in 1851, who was the first to reduce to practice the +invention called after his name. He was a brilliant scene painter, and +especially successful in painting panoramas. In 1822, assisted by +Bouton, he had invented the _diorama_, by which coloured lights +representing the various changes of the day and season were thrown upon +the canvasses in his beautiful panoramas of Rome, London, Naples and +other great cities. Several years previous to 1839 he and Joseph N. +Niepce, learning of the efforts of chemists in that line, began +independently, and then together, to develop the art of obtaining +permanent copies of objects produced by the chemical action of the sun. +Niepce died while they were thus engaged. Daguerre prosecuted his +researches alone, and toward the close of 1838 his success was such that +he made known his invention to Arago, and Arago announced it in an +eloquent and enthusiastic address to the French Academy of Sciences in +January 1839. It at once excited great attention, which was heightened +by the pictures produced by the new process. The French Government, in +consideration of the details of the invention and its improvements being +made public and on request of Daguerre, granted him an annuity and one +also to Niepce's son. + +At first only pictures of natural objects were taken; but in learning of +Daguerre's process Dr. John William Draper of New York, a native of +England and adopted son of America, the brilliant author of _The +Intellectual Development of Europe_, and other great works, in the same +year, 1839, took portraits of persons by photography, and he was the +first to do this. Draper was also the first in America to reveal the +wonders of the spectroscope; and he was first to show that each colour +of the spectrum had its own peculiar chemical effect. This was in 1847. + +The sun was now fairly harnessed in the service of man in the new great +art of Photography. Natural philosophers, chemists, inventors, +mechanics, all now pressed forward, and still press forward to improve +the art, to establish new growths from the old art, and extend its +domains. Those domains have the generic term of _Photo-Processes_. +Daguerreotypy, while the father of them all, is now hardly practised as +Daguerre practised it, and has become a small subordinate sub-division +of the great class. Yet more faithful likenesses are not yet produced +than by this now old process. Among the children of the Photo-Process +family are the _Calotype_, _Ambrotype_, _Ferreotype_, _Collodion_ and +_Silver Printing_, _Carbon Printing_, _Heliotype_, _Heliogravure_, +_Photoengraving_ (relief intaglio-Woodburytype), _Photolithography_; +_Alberttype_; _Photozincograph_, _Photogelatine-printing_; +_Photomicrography_ (to depict microscopic objects), _Kinetographs_, and +_Photosculpture_. A world of mechanical contrivances have been +invented:--_Octnometers_, _Baths_, _Burnishing tools_, _Cameras and +Camera stands_, _Magazine and Roll holders_; _Dark rooms_ and _Focussing +devices_, _Heaters_ and _Driers_; _Exposure Meters_, etc. etc. + +The _Kinetograph_, for taking a series of pictures of rapidly moving +objects, and by which the living object, person or persons, are made to +appear moving before us as they moved when the picture was taken, is a +marvellous invention; and yet simple when the process is understood. +Photography and printing have combined to revolutionise the art of +illustration. Exact copies of an original, whether of a painting or a +photograph, are now produced on paper with all the original shades and +colours. The long-sought-for problem of photographing in colours has in +a measure been solved. The "three _colour processes_" is the name given +to the new offspring of the inventors which reproduces by the camera the +natural colours of objects. + +The scientists Maxwell Young and Helmholtz established the theory that +the three colours, red, green, and blue, were the primary colours, and +from a mixture of these, secondary colours are produced. Henry Collen in +1865 laid down the lines on which the practical reduction should take +place; and within the last decade F. E. Ives of Philadelphia has +invented the _Photochromoscope_ for producing pictures in their natural +colours. The process consists in blending in one picture the separate +photographic views taken on separate negative plates, each sensitised to +receive one of the primary colours, which are then exposed and blended +simultaneously in a triple camera. + +Plates and films and many other articles and processes have helped to +establish the Art of Photography on its new basis. + +Among the minor inventions relating to Art, mention may be made of that +very useful article the lead _pencil_, which all have employed so much +time in sharpening to the detriment of time and clean hands. Within a +decade, pencils in which the lead or crayon is covered instead of with +wood, with slitted, perforated or creased paper, spirally rolled +thereon, and on which by unrolling a portion at a time a new point is +exposed; or that other style in which a number of short, sharpened +marking leads, or crayons, are arranged in series and adapted to be +projected one after the other as fast as worn away. + +_In Painting_ modern inventions and discoveries have simply added to the +instrumentalities of genius but have created no royal road to the art +made glorious by Titian and Raphael. It has given to the artists, +through its chemists, a world of new colours, and through its mechanics +new and convenient appliances. + +_Air Brushes_ have proved a great help by which the paint or other +colouring matter is sprayed in heavy, light, or almost invisible showers +to produce backgrounds by the force of air blown upon the pigments held +in drops at the end of a fine spraying tube. Made of larger proportions, +this brush has been used for fresco painting, and for painting large +objects, such as buildings, which it admits of doing with great +rapidity. + +A description of modern methods of applying colours to porcelain and +pottery is given in the chapter treating of those subjects. + +_Telegraphic pictures_:--Perhaps it is appropriate in closing this +chapter that reference be made to that process by which the likeness of +the distant reader may be taken telegraphically. A picture in relief is +first made by the swelled gelatine or other process; a tracing point is +then moved in the lines across the undulating surface of the pictures, +and the movements of this tracer are imparted by suitable electrical +apparatus to a cutter or engraving tool at the opposite end of the line +and there reproduced upon a suitable substance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +SAFES AND LOCKS. + + +Prior to the century safes were not constructed to withstand the test of +intense heat. Efforts were numerous, however, to render them safe +against the entrance of thieves, but the ingenuity of the thieves +advanced more rapidly than the ingenuity of safe-makers. And the race +between these two classes of inventors still continues. For with the +exercise of a vast amount of ingenuity in intricate locks, aided by all +the advancement of science as to the nature of metals, their tough +manufacture and their resistance to explosives, thieves still manage to +break in and steal. The only sure protection against burglars at the +close of the nineteenth century appears to consist of what it was at the +close of any previous century--the preponderance of physical force and +the best weapons. Among the latest inventions are electrical connections +with the safe, whereby tampering therewith alarms one or more watchmen +at a near station. + +A classification of safes embraces, _Fire-proof_, _Burglar-proof_, _Safe +Bolt Works_, _Express and Deposit Safes and Boxes_, _Circular Doors_, +_Pressure Mechanism_, and _Water and Air Protective Devices_. + +The attention of the earliest inventors of the century were directed +toward making safes fire-proof. In England the first patent granted for +a fire-proof safe was to Richard Scott in 1801. It had two casings, an +inner and outer one, including the door, and the interspace was filled +in with charcoal, or wood, and treated with a solution of alkaline salt. + +This idea of interspacing filled in with non-combustible material has +been generally followed ever since. The particular inventions in that +line consist in the discovery and appliance of new lining materials, +variations in the form of the interspacing, and new methods in the +construction of the casings, and the selection of the best metals for +such construction. + +In 1834 William Marr of England patented a lining for a double metallic +chest, filled with non-combustible materials such as mica, or talc clay, +lime, and graphite. Asbestos commenced to be used about the same time. + +The great fire in New York City in 1835, destroying hundreds of millions +of dollars' worth of property of every description, gave a great impetus +to the invention of fire-proof safes in America. + +B. G. Wilder there patented in 1843 his celebrated safe, now extensively +used throughout the world. It consisted of a double box of wrought-iron +plates strengthened at the edges with bar iron, with a bar across the +middle; and as a filling for the interspaces he used hydrated gypsum, +hydraulic cement, plaster of paris, steatite, alum, and the dried +residuum of soda water. + +Herring was another American who invented celebrated safes, made with a +boiler-iron exterior, a hardened steel inner safe, with the interior +filled with a casting of franklinite around rods of soft steel. Thus the +earth, air and water were ransacked for lining materials, in some cases +more for the purpose of obtaining a patent than to accomplish any real +advance in the art. Water itself was introduced as a lining, made to +flow through the safes, sometimes from the city mains, and so retained +that when the temperature in case of fire reached 212 deg. F. it became +steam; and an arrangement for introducing steam in place of water was +contrived. Among other lining materials found suitable were soapstone, +alumina, ammonia, copperas, starch, Epsom salts, and gypsum, paper, +pulp, and alum, and a mixture of various other materials. + +After safes were produced that would come out of fiery furnaces where +they had been buried for days without even the smell of fire or smoke +upon their contents, inventors commenced to direct their attention to +burglar-proof safes. + +Chubb, in 1835, patented a process of rendering wooden safes burglar +proof by lining them with steel, or case-hardened iron plate. Newton in +1853 produced one made of an outer shell of cast iron, an interior +network of wrought iron rods, and fluid iron poured between these, so +that a compound mass was formed of different degrees of resistance to +turn aside the burglar's tools. Chubb again, in 1857, and in subsequent +years, and Chartwood, Glocker, and Thompson and Tann and others in +England invented new forms to prevent the insertion of wedges and the +drilling by tools. Hall and Marvin of the United States also invented +safes for the same purpose. Hall had thick steel plates dovetailed +together; and angle irons tenoned at the corners. Marvin's safe was +globeshaped, to present no salient points for the action of tools, made +of chrome steel, mounted in this shape on a platform, or enclosed in a +fire-proof safe. Herring also invented a safe in which he hinged and +grooved the doors with double casings, and which he hung with a +lever-hinge, provided the doors with separate locks and packed all the +joints with rubber to prevent the operation of the air pump--which had +become a dangerous device of burglars with which to introduce explosives +to blow open the doors. + +Still later and more elaborate means have been used to frustrate the +burglars. Electricity has been converted into an automatic warder to +guard the castle and the safe and to give an alarm to convenient +stations when the locks or doors are meddled with and the proper +manipulation not used. Express safes for railroad cars have been made of +parts telescoped or crowded together by hydraulic power, requiring heavy +machinery for locking and unlocking, and this machinery is located in +machine shops along the route and not accessible to burglars. + +About 1815 inventors commenced to produce devices to show with certainty +if a lock had been tampered with. The keyhole was closed by a revolving +metallic curtain, and paper was secured over the keyhole. As a further +means of detection photographs of some irregular object are made, one of +which is placed over the keyhole and the other is retained. This +prevents the substitution of one piece of paper for another piece +without detection. A large number of patents have been taken out on +glass coverings for locks which have to be broken before the lock can be +turned. These are called seal locks. + +Locks of various kinds, consisting at least of the two general features +of a bolt and a key to move the bolt, have existed from very ancient +days. The Egyptians, the Hebrews and the Chinese, and Oriental nations +generally had locks and keys of ponderous size. Isaiah speaks of the key +of the house of David; and Homer writes sonorously of the lock in the +house of Penelope with its brazen key, the respondent wards, the flying +bars and valves which, + + "Loud as a bull makes hills and valley ring, + So roared the lock when it released the spring." + +The castles, churches and convents of the middle ages had their often +highly ornamental locks and their warders to guard and open them. Later, +locks were invented with complex wards. These are carved pieces of metal +in the lock which fit into clefts or grooves in the key and prevent the +lock from being opened except by its own proper key. + +As early as 1650 the Dutch had invented the Letter lock, the progenitor +of the modern permutation lock, consisting of a lock the bolt of which +is surrounded by several rings on which were cut the letters of the +alphabet, which by a prearrangement on the part of the owner were made +to spell a certain word or number of words before the lock could be +opened. Carew, in verses written in 1621, refers to one of these locks +as follows:-- + + "As doth a lock that goes with letters; for, till every one be known, + The lock's as fast as though you had found none." + +The art had also advanced in the eighteenth century to the use of +_tumblers_ in locks, the lever or latch or plate which falls into a +notch of the bolt and prevents it from being shot until it has been +raised or released by the action of the key. Barron in England in 1778 +obtained a patent for such a lock. + +Joseph Bramah, who has before been referred to in connection with the +hydraulic press he invented, also in 1784 invented and patented in +England a lock which obtained a world-wide reputation and a century's +extensive use. It was the first, or among the first of locks which +troubled modern burglars' picks. Its leading features were a key with +longitudinal slots, a barrel enclosing a spring, plates, called sliders, +notched unequally and resting against the spring, a plate with a central +perforation and slits leading therefrom to engage the notches of the +slides simultaneously and allow the frame to be turned by the key so as +to actuate the bolt. Chubb and Hobbs of England made important +improvements in tumbler locks, which for a long time were regarded as +unpickable. + +Most important advances have been made during the century in +_Combination_ or _Permutation Locks_ and _Time Locks_. For a long time +permutation or combination locks consisted of modifications of one +general principle, and that was the Dutch letter lock already referred +to, or the wheel lock, composed of a series of disks with letters around +their edges. The interior arrangement is such as to prevent the bolt +being shot until a series of letters were in line, forming a combination +known only to the operator. Time locks are constructed on the principle +of clockwork, so that they cannot be opened even with the proper key +until a regulated interval of time has elapsed. + +Among the most celebrated combination and time locks of the century are +those known as the Yale locks, chiefly the inventions of Louis Yale, +Jr., of Philadelphia. The Yale double dial lock is a double combination +bank or safe lock having two dials, each operating its own set of +tumblers and bolts, so that two persons, each in possession of his own +combination, must be present at a certain time in order to unlock it. If +this double security is not desired, one person alone may be possessed +of both combinations, or the combinations may be set as one. In their +time locks a safe can be set so as to not only render it impossible to +unlock except at a predetermined time each day, but the arrangement is +such that on intervening Sundays the time mechanism will entirely +prevent the operation of the lock or the opening of the door on that +day. + +Another feature of the lock is the thin, flat keys with bevel-edged +notchings, or with longitudinal sinuous corrugations to fit a narrow +slit of a cylinder lock. To make locks for use with the corrugated keys +machines of as great ingenuity as the locks were devised. In such a lock +the keyhole, which is a little very narrow slit, is formed sinuously to +correspond to the sinuosities of the key. No other key will fit it, nor +can it be picked by a tool, as the tool must be an exact duplicate of +the key in order to enter and move in the keyhole. + +Of late years numerous locks have been invented for the special uses to +which they are to be applied. Thus, one type of lock is that for safety +deposit vaults and boxes, in which a primary key in the keeping of a +janitor operates alone the tumblers or guard mechanism to set the lock, +while the box owner may use a secondary key to completely unlock the box +or vault. + +Master, or secondary key locks, are now in common use in hotels and +apartment-houses, by which the key of the door held by a guest will +unlock only his door, but the master key held by the manager or janitor +will unlock all the doors. This saves the duplication and multiplicity +of a vast number of extra keys. + +The value of a simple, cheap, safe, effective lock in a place where its +advantages are appreciated by all classes of people everywhere is +illustrated in the application of the modern rotary registering lock to +the single article of mail bags. Formerly it was not unusual that losses +by theft of mail matter were due in part to the extraction of a portion +of the mail matter by unlocking or removing the lock and then restoring +it in place. + +The United States, with its 76,000,000 of people, found it necessary to +use in its mail service hundreds of thousands of mail pouches, having +locks for securing packages of valuable matter. But these locks are of +such character that it is impossible for anyone to break into the bag +and conceal the evidence of his crime. The unfortunate thief is reduced +to the necessity of stealing the whole pouch. Losses under this system +have grown so small "as to be almost incapable of mathematical +calculation." + +Safe and convenient locks for so very many purposes are now so common, +even to prevent the unauthorised use of an umbrella, or the unfriendly +taking away of a bicycle or other vehicle, that notwithstanding the +nineteenth century dynamite with which burglars still continue to blow +open the best constructed safes and vaults, still a universal sense of +greater security in such matters is beginning to manifest itself; and +not only the loss of valuables by fire and theft is becoming the +exception, but the temptation to steal is being gradually removed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +CARRYING MACHINES. + + +The reflecting observer delights occasionally to shift the scenes of the +present stage and bring to the front the processions of the past. That +famous triumphal one, for instance, of Ptolemy of Philadelphus, at +Alexandria, about 270 B. C., then in the midst of his power and glory, +in which there were chariots and cumbrous wagons drawn by elephants and +goats, antelopes, oryxes, buffaloes, ostriches, gnus and zebras; then a +tribe of the Scythians, when with many scores of oxen they were shifting +their light, big round houses, made of felt cloth and mounted on road +carts, to a new camping place; next a wild, mad dash of the Roman +charioteers around the amphitheatre, or a triumphal march with chariots +of carved ivory bearing aloft the ensigns of victory; and now an army of +the ancient Britons driving through these same charioteers of Caesar with +their own rude chariots, having sharp hooks and crooked iron blades +extending from their axles; now a "Lady's Chair" of the fourteenth +century--the state carriage of the time--with a long, wooden-roofed and +windowed body, having a door at each end, resting on a cumbrous frame +without springs, and the axles united rigidly to a long reach; next +comes a line of imposing clumsy state coaches of the sixteenth century, +with bodies provided with pillars to support the roof, and adorned with +curtains of cloth and leather, but still destitute of springs; and here +in stately approach comes a line of more curious and more comfortable +"royal coaches" of the seventeenth century, when springs were for the +first time introduced; and now rumbles forward a line of those famous +old English stage coaches originated in the seventeenth century, which +were two days flying from Oxford to London, a distance of fifty-five +miles; but a scene in the next century shows these ponderous vehicles +greatly improved, and the modern English stage mail-coaches of Palmer in +line. Referring to Palmer's coaches, Knight says: "Palmer, according to +De Quincey, was twice as great a man as Galileo, because he not only +invented mail-coaches (of more general practical utility than Jupiter's +satellites), but married the daughter of a duke, and succeeded in +getting the post-office to use them. This revolutionised the whole +business." The coaches were built with steel springs, windows of great +strength and lightness combined, boots for the baggage, seats for a few +outside passengers, and a guard with a grand uniform, to protect the +mail and stand for the dignity of his majesty's government. + +By the system of changing horses frequently great speed was attained, +and the distance from Edinburgh to London, 400 miles, was made in 40 +hours. Other lines of coaches, arranged to carry double the number of +passengers outside than in, fourteen to six, were made heavier, and took +the road more leisurely. + +The carts and conveyances of the poor were cumbrous, heavy contrivances, +without springs, mostly two-wheel, heavy carts. + +The middle classes at that time were not seen riding in coaches of their +own, but generally on horseback, as the coaches of the rich were too +expensive, and the conveyances of the poor were too rude in +construction, and too painful in operation. + +Let the observer now pass to the largest and most varied exhibition of +the best types of modern vehicles of every description that the world +had ever seen, the International Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, and +behold what wonderful changes art, science, invention, and mechanical +skill had wrought in this domain. Here were the carriages of the rich, +constructed of the finest and most appropriate woods that science and +experience had found best adapted for the various parts, requiring the +combination of strength and lightness, the best steel for the springs, +embodying in themselves a world of invention and discovery, and splendid +finish and polish in all parts unknown to former generations. + +Here, too, were found vehicles of a great variety for the comfort and +convenience of every family, from the smallest to the largest means. + +The farmer and the truckman were especially provided for. One +establishment making an exhibition at that time, employed some six +hundred or seven hundred hands, four hundred horse-power of steam, +turning out sixty wagons a day, or one in every ten minutes of each +working day in the year. + +Here England showed her victoria, her broughams, landaus, phaetons, +sporting-carts, wagonettes, drays and dog-carts; Canada her splendid +sleighs; France her superb barouches, carriages, double-top sociables, +the celebrated Collinge patent axle-trees and springs; Germany the best +carriage axles, springs and gears; Russia its famous low-wheeled +fast-running carriages; Norway its carryalls, or sulkies, and sleighs +strongly built, and made of wood from those vast forests that ever +abound in strength and beauty. One ancient sleigh there was, demurely +standing by its modern companions, said to have been built in 1625, and +it was still good. America stood foremost in carriage wheels of best +materials and beautiful workmanship, bent rims, turned and finished +spokes, mortised hubs, steel tires, business and farm wagons, carts and +baby carriages. Each trade and field of labour had its own especially +adapted complete and finished vehicle. There were hay wagons and +hearses; beer wagons and ice carts; doctors' buggies, express wagons, +drays, package delivery wagons; peddlers' wagons with all the shelves +and compartments of a miniature store, skeleton wagons, and sportsmen's, +and light and graceful two and four "wheelers." Beautiful displays of +bent and polished woods, a splendid array of artistic, elegant, and +useful harnesses, and all the traps that go to make modern means of +conveyance by animal power so cheap, convenient, strong and attractive +that civilisation seemed to have reached a stop in principles of +construction of vehicles and in their materials, and since contents +itself in improving details. + +To this century is due the development of that class of carriages, the +generic term for which is _Velocipedes_--a word which would imply a +vehicle propelled by the feet, although it has been applied to vehicles +propelled by the hands and steered by the feet. This name originated +with the French, and several Frenchmen patented velocipedes from 1800 to +1821. + +Tricycles having three wheels, propelled by the hands and steered with +the feet, were also invented in the early part of the century. + +The term _Bicycle_ does not appear to have been used until about 1869. + +Although such structures had been referred to in publications before, +yet the modern bicycle appears to have been first practically +constructed in Germany. In 1816 Baron von Drais of Manheim made a +vehicle consisting of two wheels arranged one before the other, and +connected by a bar, the forward wheel axled in a fork which was swiveled +to the front end of the bar and had handles to guide the machine, with a +seat on the bar midway between the two wheels, and arranged so that the +driver should bestride the bar. But there was no support for the rider's +feet, and the vehicle was propelled by thrusting his feet alternately +against the ground. This machine was called the "Draisine" and +undoubtedly was the progenitor of the modern bicycle. Denis Johnson +patented in England in 1818 a similar vehicle which he named the +"Pedestrian Curricle." Another style was called the "Dandy Horse." +Another form was that of Gompertz in England in 1821, who contrived a +segmental rack connected with a frame over the front wheel and engaging +a pinion on the wheel axle. With some improvements added by others, the +vehicle came into quite extensive and popular use in some of the cities +in Europe and America. It was also named the "Dandy" and the "Hobby +Horse." Treadles were subsequently applied, but after a time the machine +fell into disuse and was apparently forgotten. In 1863, however, the +idea was revived by a Frenchman, Michaux, who added the crank to the +front wheel axle of the "Draisine" (also called the "celerifere.") In +1866 Pierre Lallement of France, having adapted the idea of the crank +and pedal movement and obtained a patent, went to America, where after +two years of public indifference the machine suddenly sprung into +favour. In 1869 a popular wave in its favour also spread over part of +Europe, and all classes of people were riding it. + +But the wheels had hard tires, the roads and many of the streets were +not smooth, the vehicle got the name of the "bone-breaker" and its use +ceased. During the few years following some new styles of frames were +invented. Thus some very high wheels, with a small wheel in front, or +one behind, wheels with levers in addition to the crank, etc., and then +for a time the art rested again. + +Some one then recalled the fact that McMillan, a Scotchman, about +1838-1841, had used two low wheels like the "Draisine" with a driving +gear, and that Dalzell, also of Scotland, had in 1845 made a similar +machine. Parts of these old machines were found and the wheel +reconstructed. Then in the seventies the entire field was thrown open to +women by the invention in England of the "drop frame," which removed +completely the difficulty as to arrangement of the skirts and thus +doubled the interest in and desire for a comfortable riding machine. But +they were still, to a great degree, "bone-breakers." + +Then J. B. Dunlop, a veterinary surgeon of Belfast, Ireland, in order to +meet the complaints of his son that the wheel was too hard, thought of +the _pneumatic rubber tire_, and applied it with great success. This was +a very notable and original re-invention. A re-invention, because a man +"born before his time" had invented and patented the pneumatic tire more +than forty years before. It was not wanted then and everybody had +forgotten it. This man was Robert William Thomson, a civil engineer of +Adelphi, Middlesex county, England. In 1845 he obtained a patent in +England, and shortly after in the United States. In both patents he +describes how he proposed to make a tire for all kinds of vehicles +consisting of a hollow rubber tube, with an inner mixed canvas and +rubber lining, a tube and a screw cup by which to inflate it, and +several ways for preventing punctures. To obviate the bad results of +punctures he proposed also to make his tire in sectional compartments, +so that if one compartment was punctured the others would still hold +good. He also proposed to use vulcanised rubber, thus utilising the then +very recent discovery of Goodyear of mixing sulphur with soft rubber, +and to apply the same to the canvas lining. + +And, now, when the last decade of the century had been reached, and +after a century's hard work by the inventors, the present wonderful +vehicle, known as the "safety bicycle," had obtained a successful and +permanent foothold among the vehicles of mankind. Proper proportions, +low wheels, chain-gearing, treadles, pedals and cranks, cushion and +pneumatic tires, drop frames, steel spokes like a spider's web, +ball-bearings for the crank and axle parts, a spring-supported cushioned +seat which could be raised or lowered, adjustable handles, and the +clearest-brained scientific mechanics to construct all parts from the +best materials and with mathematical exactness--all this has been done. +To these accomplishments have been added a great variety of tires to +prevent wear and puncturing, among which are _self-healing_ tires, +having a lining of viscous or plastic rubber to close up automatically +the air holes. Many ways of clamping the tire to the rim have been +contrived. So have brakes of various descriptions, some consisting of +disks on the driving shaft, brought into frictional contact by a touch +of the toe on the pedal, as a substitute for those applied to the +surface of the tire, known as "spoon brakes"; saddles, speed-gearings, +men's machines in which by the removal of the upper bar the machine is +converted into one for the use of women; the substitution of the direct +action, consisting of beveled gearing for the sprocket chain, etc., etc. + +The ideas of William Thomson as to pneumatic and cushioned tires are +now, after a lapse of fifty years, generally adopted. Even sportsmen +were glad to seize upon them, and wheels of sulkies, provided with the +pneumatic tires, have enabled them to lower the record of trotting +horses. Their use on many other vehicles has accomplished his objects, +"of lessening the power required to draw carriages, rendering the motion +easier, and diminishing the noise." + +It is impossible to overlook the fact in connection with this subject +that the processes and machinery especially invented to make the various +parts of a bicycle are as wonderful as the wheel itself. Counting the +spokes there are, it is estimated, more than 300 different parts in such +a wheel. The best and latest inventions and discoveries in the making of +metals, wood, rubber and leather have been drawn upon in supplying these +useful carriers. And what a revolution they have produced in the making +of good roads, the saving of time, the dispatch of business, and more +than all else, in the increase of the pleasure, the health and the +amusement of mankind! + +It was quite natural that when the rubber cushion and pneumatic tires +rounded the pleasure of easy and noiseless riding in vehicles that +_Motor vehicles_ should be revived and improved. So we have the +_Automobiles_ in great variety. Invention has been and is still being +greatly exercised as to the best motive power, in the adaption of +electric motors, oil and gasoline or vapour engines, springs and air +pumps, in attempts to reduce the number of complicated parts, and to +render less strenuous the mental and muscular strain of the operator. + +_Traction Engines._--The old road engines that antedated the locomotives +are being revived, and new ideas springing from other arts are being +incorporated in these useful machines to render them more available than +in former generations. Many of the principles and features of motor +vehicles, but on a heavier scale, are being introduced to adapt them to +the drawing of far heavier loads. Late devices comprise a spring link +between the power and the traction wheel to prevent too sudden a start, +and permit a yielding motion; steering devices by which the power of the +engine is used to steer the machine; and application of convenient and +easily-worked brakes. + +An example of a modern traction engine may be found attached to one or +more heavy cars adapted for street work, and on which may be found +apparatus for making the mixed materials of which the roadbed is to be +constructed, and all of which is moved along as the road or street +surface is completed. When these fine roads become the possession of a +country light traction engines for passenger traffic will be found +largely supplanting the horse and the steam railroad engines. + +_Brakes_, railway and electric, have already been referred to in the +proper chapters. In the latest system of railroading greater attention +has been paid to the lives and limbs of those employed as workmen on the +trains, especially to those of brakemen. And if corporations have been +slow to adopt such merciful devices, legislatures have stepped in to +help the matter. One great source of accidents in this respect has been +due to the necessity of the brakemen entering between the cars while +they are in motion to couple them by hand. This is now being abolished +by _automatic couplers_, by which, when the locking means have been +withdrawn from connection or thrown up, they will be so held until the +cars meet again, when the locking parts on the respective cars will be +automatically thrown and locked, as easily and on the same principle as +the hand of one man may clasp the hand of another. + +The comfort of passengers and the safety of freight have also been +greatly increased by the invention of _Buffers_ on railroad cars and +trains to prevent sudden and violent concussion. Fluid pressure car +buffers, in which a constant supply of fluid under pressure is provided +by a pump or train pipe connected to the engine is one of a great +variety. + +Another notable improvement in this line is the splendid vestibule +trains, in which the cars are connected to one another by enclosed +passages and which at their meeting ends are provided with yieldingly +supported door-like frames engaging one another by frictional contact, +usually, whereby the shock and rocking of cars are prevented in starting +and stopping, and their oscillation reduced to a minimum. + +As collisions and accidents cannot always be prevented, car frames are +now built in which the frames are trussed, and made of rolled steel +plates, angles, and channels, whereby a car body of great resistance to +telescoping or crushing is obtained. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +SHIPS AND SHIP-BUILDING. + + "Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, + Survey our empire, and behold our home." + + +"Ships are but boards," soliloquised the crafty Shylock, and were this +still true, yet this present period has seen wonderful changes in +construction. + +The high castellated bows and sterns and long prows of _The Great +Harry_, of the seventeenth century, and its successors in the +eighteenth, with some moderation of cumbersome matter, gave way to +lighter, speedier forms, first appearing in the quick-gliding Yankee +clippers, during the first decade of the nineteenth century. + +Eminent naval architects have regarded the proportions of Noah's ark, +300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad and 30 cubits high, in which the length +was six times the breadth, and the depth three-fifths of the breadth, as +the best combination of the elements of strength, capacity and +stability. + +Even that most modern mercantile vessel known as the "whale-back" with +its nearly flat bottom, vertical sides, arched top or deck, skegged or +spoon-shaped at bow and stern, straight deck lines, the upper deck +cabins and steering gear raised on hollow turrets, with machinery and +cargo in the main hull, has not departed much from the safe rule of +proportions of its ancient prototype. + +But in other respects the ideas of Noah and of the Ph[oe]nicians, the +best of ancient ship-builders, as well as the Northmen, the Dutch, the +French, and the English, the best ship-builders of later centuries, were +decidedly improved upon by the Americans, who, as above intimated, were +revolutionizing the art and building the finest vessels in the early +part of the century, and these rivalled in speed the steam vessels for +some years after steamships were ploughing the rivers and the ocean. + +Discarding the lofty decks fore and aft and ponderous topsides, the +principal characteristics of the American "clippers" were their fine +sharp lines, built long and low, broad of beam before the centre, sharp +above the water, and deep aft. A typical vessel of this sort was the +clipper ship _Great Republic_, built by Donald McKay of Boston during +the first half of the century. She was 325 feet long, 53 feet wide, 37 +feet deep, with a capacity of about 4000 tons. She had four masts, each +provided with a lightning rod. A single suit of her sails consisted of +15,563 yards of canvas. Her keel rose for 60 feet forward, gradually +curved into the arc of a circle as it blended with the stern. Vessels of +her type ran seventeen and eighteen miles an hour at a time when steam +vessels were making only twelve or fourteen miles an hour, the latter +speed being one which it was predicted by naval engineers could not with +safety be exceeded with ocean steamships. + +These vessels directed the attention of ship-builders to two prominent +features, the shape of the bow and the length of the vessel. For the old +convex form of bow and stern, the principal of an elongated wedge was +substituted, the wedge slightly hollowed on its face, by which the +waters were more easily parted and thrown aside. + +A departure was early made in the matter of strengthening the "ribs of +oak" to better meet the strains from the rough seas. In 1810 Sir Robert +Seppings, surveyor of the English navy, devised and introduced the +system of diagonal bracing. This was an arrangement of timbers crossing +the ribs on the inside of the ship at angles of about 45 deg., and braced by +diagonals and struts. + +Of course the great and leading event of the nineteenth century in the +matter of inventions relating to ships was the introduction of steam as +the motive power. Of this we have treated in the chapter on steam +engineering. The giant, steam, demanded and received the obeisance of +every art before devoting his inexhaustible strength to their service. +Systems of wood-working and metal manufacture must be revolutionised to +give him room to work, and to withstand the strokes of his mighty arm. +Lord Dundas at the beginning of the century had an iron boat built for +the Forth and Clyde Canal, which was propelled by steam. + +But the departure from the adage that "ships are but boards" did not +take place, however, until about 1829-30, when the substitution of iron +for wood in the construction of vessels had passed beyond the +experimental stage. In those years the firm of John Laird of Birkenhead +began the building of practical iron vessels, and he was followed soon +by Sir William Fairbairn at Manchester, and Randolph, Elder & Co., and +the Fairfield Works on the Clyde. + +The advantage of iron over wood in strength, and in power to withstand +tremendous shocks, was early illustrated in the _Great Britain_ built +about 1844, the first large, successful, seagoing vessel constructed. +Not long thereafter this same vessel lay helpless upon the coast of +Ireland, driven there by a great storm, and beaten by the tremendous +waves of the Atlantic with a force that would have in a few hours or +days broken up and pulverised a "ship of boards," and yet the _Great +Britain_ lay there several weeks, was finally brought off, and again +restored to successful service. + +Wood and iron both have their peculiar advantages and disadvantages. +Wood is not only lighter, but easily procured and worked, and cheaper, +in many small and private ship-yards where an iron frame and parts would +be difficult and expensive to produce. It is thought that as to the +fouling of ships' bottoms a wooden hull covered with copper fouls less, +and consequently impedes the speed less; that the damage done by shocks +or the penetration of shot is not so great or difficult to repair, and +that the danger of variation of the compass by reason of local +attraction of the metal is less. + +But the advantages of iron and steel far outnumber those of wood. Its +strength, its adaptability for all sizes and forms and lines, its +increased cheapness, its resistance to shot penetration, its durability, +and now its easy procurement, constitute qualities which have +established iron ship-building as a great new and modern art. In this +modern revolution in iron-clad ships, their adaptation to naval warfare +was due to the genius of John Ericsson, and dates practically from the +celebrated battle between the iron-clads the _Merrimac_ and the +_Monitor_ in Hampton Roads on the Virginia coast in the Civil war in +America in April, 1862. + +Although the tendency at first in building iron and steel vessels, +especially for the navy, was towards an entire metal structure, later +experience resulted in a more composite style, using wood in some parts, +where found best adapted by its capacity of lightness, non-absorption of +heat and less electrical conductivity, etc., and at the same time +protecting such interior portions by an iron shell or frame-work. + +One great improvement in ship-building, whether in wood or metal, +thought of and practised to some extent in former times, but after all a +child of this century, is the building of the hull and hold in +compartments, water-tight, and sometimes fire-proof, so that in case of +a leakage or a fire in one or more compartments, the fire or water may +be confined there and the extension of the danger to the entire ship +prevented. + +In the matter of _Marine Propulsion_, when the steam engine was made a +practical and useful servant by Watt, and men began to think of driving +boats and ships with it, the problem was how to adapt it to use with +propelling means already known. Paddle-wheels and other wheels to move +boats in place of oars had been suggested, and to some extent used from +time to time, since the days of the Romans; and they were among the +first devices used in steam vessels. Their whirl may still be heard on +many waters. Learned men saw no reason why the screw of Archimedes +should not be used for the same purpose, and the idea was occasionally +advocated by French and English philosophers from at least 1680, by +Franklin and Watt less than a century later, and finally, in 1794, +Lyttleton of England obtained a patent for his "aquatic propeller," +consisting of threads formed on a cylinder and revolving in a frame at +the head, stern, or side of a vessel. + +Other means had been also suggested prior to 1800, and by the same set +of philosophers, and experimentally used by practical builders, such as +steam-pumps for receiving the water forward, or amidships, and forcing +it out astern, thus creating a propulsive movement. The latter part of +the eighteenth century teemed with these suggestions and experiments, +but it remained for the nineteenth to see their embodiment and +adaptation to successful commercial use. + +The earliest, most successful demonstrations of screw propellers and +paddle wheels in steam vessels in the century were the construction and +use of a boat with twin screws by Col. John Stevens of Hoboken, N. J., +in 1804 and the paddle-wheel steamboat trial of Fulton on the Hudson in +1807. + +But it was left to John Ericsson, that great Swedish inventor, going to +England in 1826 with his brain full of ideas as to steam and solar +engines, to first perfect the screw-propeller. He there patented in 1836 +his celebrated propeller, consisting of several blades or segments of a +screw, and based on such correct principles of twist that they were at +once adopted and applied to steam vessels. + +In 1837-1839 the knowledge of his inventions had preceded him to +America, where his propeller was at once introduced and used in the +vessels _Frances B. Ogden_ and the _Robert E. Stockton_ (the latter +built by the Lairds of Birkenhead and launched in 1837). In 1839 or 1840 +Ericsson went to America, and in 1841 he was engaged in the construction +of the U.S. ship of war _Princeton_, the first naval screw warship built +having propelling machinery under the water line and out of reach of +shot. + +The idea that steamships could not be safely run at a greater speed than +ten or twelve miles an hour was now abandoned. + +Twice Ericsson revolutionised the naval construction of the world by his +inventions in America: first by the introduction of his screw-propeller +in the _Princeton_; and second, by building the iron-clad _Monitor_. + +Since Ericsson's day other inventors have made themselves also famous by +giving new twists to the tail of this famous fish and new forms to its +iron-ribbed body. + +_Pneumatic Propellers_ operated by the expulsion of air or gas against +the surrounding body of water, and chain-propellers, consisting of a +revolving chain provided with paddles or floats, have also been invented +and tested, with more or less successful results. + +A great warship as she lies in some one of the vast modern ship-yards of +the world, resting securely on her long steel backbone, from which great +ribs of steel rise and curve on either side and far overhead, like a +monstrous skeleton of some huge animal that the sea alone can produce, +clothed with a skin, also of steel; her huge interior, lined at bottom +with an armoured deck that stretches across the entire breadth of the +vessel, and built upon this deck, capacious steel compartments enclosing +the engines and boilers, the coal, the magazines, the electric plant for +supplying power to various motors for lighting the ship and for +furnishing the current to powerful search-lights; having compartments +for the sick, the apothecary shop, and the surgeon's hospital, the men's +and the officers' quarters; above these the conning tower and the +armoured pilot-house, then the great guns interspersed among these +various parts, looking like the sunken eyes, or protruding like the bony +prominences of some awful sea monster, is a structure that gives one an +idea of the immense departure which has occurred during the last half +century, not only from the wooden walls of the navies of all the past, +but from all its mechanical arts. + +What a great ocean liner contains and what the contributions are to +modern ship-building from other modern arts is set forth in the +following extract from _McClure's Magazine_ for September, 1900, in +describing the _Deutschland_. "The _Deutschland_, for instance has a +complete refrigerating plant, four hospitals, a safety deposit vault for +the immense quantities of gold and silver which pass between the banks +of Europe and America, eight kitchens, a complete post-office with +German and American clerks, thirty electrical motors, thirty-six pumps, +most of them of American and English make, no fewer than seventy-two +steam engines, a complete drug store, a complete fire department, with +pumps, hose and other fire-fighting machinery, a library, 2600 electric +lights, two barber shops, room for an orchestra and brass band, a +telegraph system, a telephone system, a complete printing establishment, +a photographic dark room, a cigar store, an electric fire-alarm system, +and a special refrigerator for flowers." + +We have seen, in treating of safes and locks, how burglars keep pace +with the latest inventions to protect property by the use of dynamite +and nitro-glycerine explosions. The reverse of this practice prevails +when those policemen of the seas, the _torpedo boats_, guard the +treasures of the shore. It is there the defenders are armed with the +irresistible explosives. These explosives are either planted in harbours +and discharged by electricity from the shore, or carried by very swift +armoured boats, or by boats capable of being submerged, directed, and +propelled by mechanisms contained there and controlled from the shore, +or from another vessel; or by boats containing all instrumentalities, +crew, and commander, and capable of submerging and raising itself, and +of attacking and exploding the torpedo when and where desired. The +latter are now considered as the most formidable and efficient class of +destroyers. + +No matter how staunch, sound and grand in dimensions man may build his +ships, old Neptune can still toss them. But Franklin, a century and a +half ago, called attention to his experiments of oiling his locks when +in a tempestuous mood, and thus rendering the temper of the Old Man of +the Sea as placid as a summer pond. Ships that had become unmanageable +were thus enabled, by spreading oil on the waves from the windward side, +to be brought under control, and dangerous surfs subdued, so that boats +could land. Franklin's idea of pouring oil on the troubled waters has +been revived during the last quarter of the century and various means +for doing it vigorously patented. The means have varied in many +instances, but chiefly consist of bags and other receptacles to hold and +distribute the oil upon the surrounding water with economy and +uniformity. + +At the close of the century the world was still waiting for the +successful _Air-ship_. + +A few successful experiments in balloon navigation by the aid of small +engines of different forms have been made since 1855. Some believe that +Count Zeppelin, an officer of the German army has solved the great +problem, especially since the ascent of his ship made on July 2, 1900, +at Lake Constance. + +It has been asserted that no vessel has yet been made to successfully +fly unless made on the balloon principle, and Count Zeppelin's boat is +on that principle. According to the description of Eugen Wolf, an +aeronaut who took part in the ascent referred to and who published an +account of the same in the November number of _McClure's_, 1900, it is +not composed of one balloon, but of a row of them, and these are not +exposed when inflated to every breeze that blows, but enclosed and +combined in an enormous cylindrical shell, 420 feet in length, about 38 +feet in diameter, with a volume of 14,780 cubic yards and with ends +pointed like a cigar. This shell is a framework made up of aluminium +trellis work, and divided into seventeen compartments, each having its +own gas bag. The frame is further strengthened and the balloons stayed +by a network of aluminium wire, and the entire frame covered with a soft +ramie fibre. Over this is placed a water-tight covering of pegamoid, and +the lower part covered with light silk. An air space of two feet is left +between the cover and the balloons. Beneath the balloons extends a +walking bridge 226 feet long, and from this bridge is suspended two +aluminium cars, at front and rear of the centre, adapted to hold all the +operative machinery and the operator and other passengers. + +The balloons, provided with proper valves, served to lift the structure; +large four-winged screws, one on each side of the ship, their shafts +mounted on a light framework extending from the body of the ship, and +driven backward and forward by two light benzine engines, one on each +car, constituted the propelling force. Dirigibility (steering) was +provided for by an apparatus consisting of a double pair of rudders, one +pair forward and one aft, reaching out like great fins, and controlled +by light metal cords from the cars. A ballast of water was carried in a +compartment under each car. To give the ship an upward or a downward +movement the plane on which the ship rests was provided with a weight +adapted to slip back and forth on a cable underneath the balloon shell. +When the weight was far aft the tip of the ship was upward and the +movement was upward, when at the forward end the movement was downward, +and when at the centre the ship was poised and travelled in a horizontal +plane. The trip was made over the lake on a quiet evening. A distance of +three and three-quarter miles, at a height of 1300 feet, was made in +seventeen minutes. Evolutions from a straight course were accomplished. +The ship was lowered to the lake, on which it settled easily and rode +smoothly. + +The other great plan of air navigation receiving the attention of +scientists and aeronauts is the aeroplane system. Although the cohesive +force of the air is so exceedingly small that it cannot be relied upon +as a sufficient resisting medium through which propulsion may be +accomplished alone by a counter-resisting agent like propeller blades, +yet it is known what weight the air has and it has been ascertained what +expanse of a thin plane is necessary without other means to support the +weight of a man in the air. + +To this idea must be added the means of flight, of starting and +maintaining a stable flight and of directing its course. Careful +observation of the manner of the flight of large heavy birds, especially +in starting, has led to some successful experiments. They do not rise at +once, but require an initiative force for soaring which they obtain by +running on the ground before spreading their wings. The action of the +wings in folding and unfolding for maintaining the flight and +controlling its direction, is then to be noted. + +It is along these lines that inventions in this system are now working. +An initiative mechanism to start the ship along the earth or water, to +raise it at an angle, to spread planes of sufficient extent to support +the weight of the machine and its operators on the body of the air +column, light engines to give the wing-planes an opening and closing +action, rudders to steer by, means for maintaining equilibrium, and +means when landing to float upon the water or roll upon the land, these +are the principal problems that navigators of the great seas above us +are now at work upon. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +ILLUMINATING GAS. + + "How wonderful that sunbeams absorbed by vegetation in the primordial + ages of the earth and buried in its depths as vegetable fossils + through immeasurable eras of time, until system upon system of slowly + formed rocks have been piled above, should come forth at last, at the + disenchanting touch of science, and turn the light of civilised man + into day."--_Prof. E. L. Youmans._ + + "The invention of artificial light has extended the available term + of human life, by giving the night to man's use; it has, by the + social intercourse it encourages, polished his manners and refined + his tastes, and perhaps as much as anything else, has aided his + intellectual progress."--_Draper._ + + +If one desires to know what the condition of cities, towns and peoples +was before the nineteenth century had lightened and enlightened them, +let him step into some poor country town in some out-of-the-way region +(and such may yet be found) at night, pick his way along rough +pavements, and no pavements, by the light of a smoky lamp placed here +and there at corners, and of weeping lamps and limp candles in the +windows of shops and houses, and meet people armed with tin lanterns +throwing a dubious light across the pathways. Let him be prepared to be +assailed by the odours of undrained gutters, ditches, and roads called +streets, and escape, if he can, stumbling and falling into them. Let him +take care also that he avoid in the darkness the drippings from the +overhanging eaves or windows, and falling upon the slippery steps of the +dim doorway he may be about to enter. Within, let him overlook, if he +can, in the hospitable reception, the dim and smoky atmosphere, and +observe that the brightest and best as well as the most cheerful +illuminant flashes from the wide open fireplace. Occasionally a glowing +grate might be met. The eighteenth century did have its glowing grates, +and its still more glowing furnaces of coal in which the ore was melted +and by the light of which the castings were made. + +It is very strange that year after year for successive generations men +saw the hard black coal break under the influence of heat and burst into +flames which lit up every corner, without learning, beyond sundry +accidents and experiments, that this _gast_, or _geest_, or _spirit_, or +_vapour_, or _gas_, as it was variously called, could be led away from +its source, ignited at a distance, and made to give light and heat at +other places than just where it was generated. + +Thus Dr. Clayton, Dean of Kildare, Ireland, in 1688 distilled gas from +coal and lit and burned it, and told his learned friend, the Hon. Robert +Boyle, about it, who announced it with interest to the Royal Society, +and again it finds mention in the _Philosophical Transactions_ fifty +years later. Then, in 1726, Dr. Hales told how many cubic inches of gas +a certain number of grains of coal would produce. Then Bishop Watson in +1750 passed some gas through water and carried it in pipes from one +place to another; and then Lord Dundonald in 1786 built some ovens, +distilled coal and tar, burned the gas, and got a patent. In the same +year, Dr. Rickel of Wuerzburg lighted his laboratory with gas made by the +dry distillation of bones; but all these were experiments. Finally, +William Murdock, the owner of large workshops at Redruth, in Cornwall, a +practical man and mechanic, and a keen observer, using soft coal to a +large extent in his shops, tried with success in 1792 to collect the +escaping gas and with it lit up the shops. Whether he continued steadily +to so use the gas or only at intervals, at any rate it seems to have +been experimental and failed to attract attention. It appears that he +repeated the experiment at the celebrated steam engine works of Boulton +and Watt at Soho, near Birmingham, in 1798, and again illuminated the +works in 1802, on occasion of a peace jubilee. + +In the meantime, in 1801, Le Bon, a Frenchman at Paris, had succeeded in +making illuminating gas from wood, lit his house therewith, and proposed +to light the whole city of Paris. + +Thus it may be said that illuminating gas and the new century were born +together--the former preceding the latter a little and lighting the way. + +Then in 1803 the English periodicals began to take the matter up and +discuss the whole subject. One magazine objected to its use in houses on +the ground that the curtains and furniture would be ruined by the +saturation produced by the oxygen and hydrogen, and that the curtains +would have to be wrung out the next morning after the illumination. +There doubtless was good cause for objection to the smoky, unpleasant +smelling light then produced. + +In America in 1806 David Melville of Newport, Rhode Island, lighted with +gas his own house and the street in front of it. In 1813 he took out a +patent and lighted several factories. In 1817 his process was applied to +Beaver Tail Lighthouse on the Atlantic coast--the first use of +illuminating gas in lighthouses. Coal oil and electricity have since +been found better illuminants for this purpose. + +Murdoch, Winser, Clegg and others continued to illuminate the public +works and buildings of England. Westminster Bridge and the Houses of +Parliament were lighted in 1813, and the streets of London in 1815. +Paris was lighted in 1820, and the largest American cities from 1816 to +1825. But it required the work of the chemists as well as the mechanics +to produce the best gas. The rod of Science had touched the rock again +and from the earth had sprung another servant with power to serve +mankind, and waited the skilled brain and hand to direct its course. + +Produced almost entirely from bituminous coal, it was found to be +composed chiefly of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen; but various other gases +were mixed therewith. To determine the proper proportions of these +gases, to know which should be increased or wholly or partly eliminated, +required the careful labours of patient chemists. They taught also how +the gas should be distilled, condensed, cleaned, scrubbed, confined in +retorts, and its flow measured and controlled. + +Fortunately the latter part of the eighteenth century and the early part +of the nineteenth had produced chemists whose investigations and +discoveries paved the way for success in this revolution in the world of +light. Priestley had discovered oxygen. Dalton had divided matter into +atoms, and shown that in its every form, whether solid, liquid, or +gaseous, these atoms had their own independent, characteristic, +unalterable weight, and that gases diffused themselves in certain +proportions. + +Berthollet, Graham, and a host of others in England, France, and +Germany, advanced the art. The highest skilled mechanics, like Clegg of +England, supplied the apparatus. He it was who invented a gas purifier, +liquid gas meter, and other useful contrivances. + +As the character of the gas as an illuminator depends on the quantity of +hydro-carbon, or olefiant elements it contains, great efforts were made +to invent processes and means of carbureting it. + +The manufacture of gas was revolutionised by the invention of water gas. +The main principle of this process is the mixture of hydrogen with the +vapour of some hydro-carbon: Hydrogen burns with very little light and +the purpose of the hydro-carbon is to increase the brilliancy of the +flame. The hydrogen gas is so obtained by the decomposition of water, +effected by passing steam through highly heated coals. + +Patents began to be taken out in this line in England in 1823-24; by +Donovan in 1830; Geo. Lowe in 1832, and White in 1847. But in England +water gas could not compete with coal gas in cheapness. On the contrary, +in America, especially after the petroleum wells were opened up, and +nature supplied the hydro-carbon in roaring wells and fountains, water +gas came to the front. + +The leading invention there in this line was that of T. S. C. Lowe of +Morristown, Pennsylvania, in 1873. In Lowe's process anthracite coal +might be used, which was raised in a suitable retort to a great heat, +then superheated steam admitted over this hot bed and decomposed into +hydrogen and carbonic oxide; then a small stream of naphtha or crude +petroleum was thrown upon the surface of the burning coal, and from +these decompositions and mixtures a rich olefiant product and other +light-giving gases were produced. + +The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in 1886 awarded Lowe, or his +representatives, a grand medal of honour, his being the invention +exhibited that year which in their opinion contributed most to the +welfare of mankind. + +A number of inventors have followed in the direction set by Lowe. The +largest part of gas manufacture, which has become so extensive, embodies +the basic idea of the Lowe process. + +The competition set up by the electricians, especially in the production +of the beautiful incandescent light for indoor illumination, has spurred +inventors of gas processes to renewed efforts--much to the benefit of +that great multitude who sit in darkness until corporations furnish them +with light. + +It was found by Siemens, the great German inventor of modern gas +regenerative furnace systems, that the quality of the gas was much +improved, and a greater intensity of light obtained, by heating the +gases and air before combustion--a plan particularly adapted in lighting +large spaces. + +To describe in detail the large number of inventions relating to the +manufacture of gas would require a huge volume--the generators, +carburetors, retorts, mixers, purifiers, metres, scrubbers, holders, +condensers, governors, indicators, registers, chargers, pressure +regulators, etc., etc. + +It was a great convenience outside of towns and cities, where gas mains +could not be laid, to have domestic plants and portable gas apparatus, +worked on the same principles, but in miniature form, adapted to a +single house, but the exercise of great ingenuity was required to render +such adaptation successful. + +In the use of liquid illuminants, which need a wick to feed them, the +_Argand burner_--that arrangement of concentric tubes between which the +wick is confined--although invented by Argand in 1784, yet has occupied +a vast field of usefulness in connection with the lamps of the +nineteenth century. + +A dangerous but very extensively used illuminating liquid before coal +oil was discovered was camphene, distilled from turpentine. It gave a +good light but was not a safe domestic companion. + +Great attention has recently been paid to the production of _acetylene_ +gas, produced by the reaction between _calcium carbide_ and water. The +making of the calcium carbide by the decomposition of mixed pulverised +lime and coal by the use of a powerful electric battery, is a +preliminary step in the production of this gas, and was a subsequent +discovery. + +The electric light, acetylene, magnesium, and other modern sources of +light, although they may be more brilliant and intense than coal gas, +cannot compete in cheapness of production with the latter. Thus far +illuminating coal gas is still the queen of artificial lights. + +After gas was fairly started in lighting streets and buildings its +adaptation to lamps followed; and among the most noted of gas lamps is +that of Von Welsbach, who combined a bunsen gas flame and a glass +chimney with a "_mantle_" located therein. This mantle is a gauze-like +structure made of refractory quartz, or of certain oxides, which when +heated by the gas flame produce an incandescent glow of intense +brilliancy, with a reduced consumption of gas. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +BRICK, POTTERY, GLASS, PLASTICS. + + +When the nineteenth century dawned, men were making brick in the same +way for the most part that they were fifty centuries before. It is +recorded in the eleventh chapter of Genesis that when "the whole earth +was of one language and one speech, it came to pass as they journeyed +from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they +dwelt there, and they said to one another, Go to, let us make brick and +burn them thoroughly, And they had brick for stone, and slime had they +for mortar." Then commenced the building of Babel. Who taught the trade +to the brick-makers of Shinar? + +The journey from the east continued, and with it went brick making to +Greece and Rome, across the continent of Europe, across the English +channel, until the brick work of Caesar, stamped by the trade mark of his +legions, was found on the banks of the Thames, and through the fields of +Caerleon and York. + +Alfred the Great encouraged the trade, and the manufacture flourished +finely under Henry VIII., Elizabeth and Charles I. + +As to Pottery:--Could we only know who among the peoples of the earth +first discovered, used, or invented fire, we might know who were the +first makers of baked earthenware. Doubtless the art of pottery arose +before men learned to bake the plastic clay, in that groping time when +men, kneading the soft clay with their fingers, or imprinting their +footsteps in the yielding surface and learning that the sun's heat +stiffened and dried those forms into durability, applied the discovery +to the making of crude vessels, as children unto this day make dishes +from the tenacious mud. But the artificial burning of the vessels was no +doubt a later imitation of Nature. + +Alongside the rudest and earliest chipped stone implements have been +found the hollow clay dish for holding fire, or food, or water. "As the +fragment of a speech or song, a waking or a sleeping vision, the dream +of a vanished hand, a draught of water from a familiar spring, the +almost perished fragrance of a pressed flower call back the singer, the +loved and lost, the loved and won, the home of childhood, or the parting +hour, so in the same manner there linger in this crowning decade of the +crowning century bits of ancient ingenuity which recall to a whole +people the fragrance and beauty of its past." _Prof. O. T. Mason._ The +same gifted writer, adds: "Who has not read, with almost breaking heart, +the story of Palissy, the Huguenot potter? But what have our witnesses +to say of that long line of humble creatures that conjured out of +prophetic clay, without wheels or furnace, forms and decorations of +imperishable beauty, which are now being copied in glorified material in +the best factories of the world? In ceramic as well as textile art the +first inventors were women. They quarried the clay, manipulated it, +constructed and decorated the ware, burned it in a rude furnace and wore +it out in a hundred uses." + +From the early dawn of human history to its present noonday civilisation +the progress of man may be traced in his pottery. Before printing was an +art, he inscribed on it his literature. Poets and painters have adorned +it; and in its manufacture have been embodied through all ages the +choicest discoveries of the chemist, the inventor and the mechanic. + +It would be pleasant to trace the history of pottery from at least the +time of Homer, who draws a metaphor from the potter seated before his +wheel and twirling it with both hands, as he shapes the plastic clay +upon it; to dwell upon the clay tablets and many-coloured vases, covered +with Egyptian scenes and history; to re-excite wonder over the arts of +China, in her porcelain, the production of its delicacy and bright +colours wrapped in such mystery, and stagnant for so many ages, but +revived and rejuvenated in Japan; to recall to mind the styles and +composition of the Ph[oe]nician vases with mythological legends burned +immortally therein; the splendid work of the Greek potteries; to lift +the Samian enwreathed bowl, "filled with Samian wine"; to look upon the +Roman pottery, statues and statuettes of Rome's earlier and better days; +the celebrated _Faience_ (enamelled pottery) at its home in Faenza, +Italy, and from the hands of its master, Luca della Robia; to trace the +history of the rare Italian majolica; to tread with light steps the +bright tiles of the Saracens; to rehearse the story of Bernard Palissy, +the father of the beautiful French enamelled ware; to bring to view the +splendid old ware of Nuremberg, the raised white figures on the deep +blue plaques of Florence, the honest Delft ware of Holland; and finally +to relate the revolution in the production of pottery throughout all +Europe caused by the discoveries and inventions of Wedgwood of England +in the eighteenth century. All this would be interesting, but we must +hasten on to the equally splendid and more practical works of the busy +nineteenth century, in which many toilsome methods of the past have been +superseded by labour-saving contrivances. + +The application of machinery to the manufacture of brick began to +receive attention during the latter part of the eighteenth century, +after Watt had harnessed steam, and a few patents were issued in England +and America at that time for such machinery of that character, but +little was practically done. + +The operations in _brickmaking_, to the accomplishment of which by +machines the inventors of the nineteenth century have devoted great +talent, relate: + +First, to the preparation of the clay.--In ancient Egypt, in places +where water abounded, it appears that the clay was lifted from the +bottoms of ponds and lakes on the end of poles, was formed into bricks, +then sun-dried, modernly called _adobes_. The clay for making these +required a stiffening material. For this straw was used, mixed with the +clay; and stubble was also used in the different courses. Hence the old +metaphor of worthlessness of "bricks without straw," but of course in +burning, and in modern processes of pressing unburnt bricks, straw is no +longer used. Sand should abound in the clay in a certain proportion, or +be mixed therewith, otherwise the clay, whether burned or unburned, will +crumble. Stones, gravel and sticks must be removed, otherwise the +contraction of the clay and expansion of the stones on burning, produce +a weak and crumbling structure. + +Brick clay generally is coloured by the oxide of iron, and in proportion +as this abounds the burned brick is of a lighter or a deeper red. It may +be desired to add colouring matter or mix different forms of clay, or +add sand or other ingredients. Clay treated by hand was for ages kneaded +as dough is kneaded, by the hand or feet, and the clay was often long +subjected, sometimes for years, to exposure to the air, frost and sun to +disintegrate and ripen it. As the clay must be first disintegrated, +ground or pulverised, as grain is first ground to flour to make and +mould the bread, so the use of a grinding mill was long ago suggested. +The first machine used to do all this work goes by the humble name of +_pug mill_. + +Many ages ago the Chilians of South America hung two ponderous solid +wood or stone wheels on an axis turned by a vertical shaft and operated +by animal power; the wheels were made to run round on a deep basin in +which ores, or stones, or grain were placed to be crushed. This Chilian +mill, in principle, was adopted a century or so ago in Europe to the +grinding of clay. The pug mill has assumed many different forms in this +age; and separate preliminary mills, consisting of rollers of different +forms for grinding, alone are often used before the mixing operation. In +one modern form the pug mill consists of an inverted conical-shaped +cylinder provided with a set of interior revolving blades arranged +horizontally, and below this a spiral arrangement of blades on a +vertical axis, by which the clay is thoroughly cut up and crushed +against the surrounding walls of the mill, in the meantime softened with +water or steam if desired, and mixed with sand if necessary, and when +thus ground and tempered is finally pressed down through the lower +opening of the cylinder and directly into suitable brick moulds beneath. + +Second.--The next operation is for moulding and pressing the brick. To +take the place of that ancient and still used mode of filling a mould of +a certain size by the hands with a lump of soft clay, scraping off the +surplus, and then dumping the mould upon a drying floor, a great variety +of machines have been invented. + +In some the pug mill is arranged horizontally to feed out the clay in +the form of a long horizontal slab, which is cut up into proper lengths +to form the bricks. Some machines are in the form of a large horizontal +revolving wheel, having the moulds arranged in its top face, each mould +charged with clay as the wheel presents it under the discharging spout +of the grinding mill, and then the clay is pressed by pistons or +plungers worked by a rocking beam, and adapted to descend and fit into +the mould at stated intervals; or the moulds, carried in a circular +direction, may have movable bottom plates, which may be pressed upwards +successively by pistons attached to them and raised by inclines on which +they travel, forcing the clay against a large circular top plate, and in +the last part of the movement carrying the pressed brick through an +aperture to the top of the plate, where it is met by and carried away on +an endless apron. + +In some machines two great wheels mesh together, one carrying the moulds +in its face, and the other the presser plate plungers, working in the +former, the bricks being finally forced out on to a moving belt by the +action of cam followers, or by other means. + +In others the moulds are passed, each beneath a gravity-descending or +cam-forced plunger, the clay being thus stamped by impact into form; or +in other forms the clay in the moulds may be subjected to successive +pressure from the cam-operated pistons arranged horizontally and on a +line with the discharging belt. + +Third, the drying and burning of the brick.--The old methods were +painfully slow and tedious. A long time was occupied in seasoning the +clay, and then after the bricks were moulded, another long time was +necessary to dry them, and a final lengthy period was employed to burn +them in crude kilns. These old methods were too slow for modern wants. +But they still are in vogue alongside of modern inventions, as in all +ages the use of old arts and implements have continued along by the side +of later inventions and discoveries. + +No useful contrivances are suddenly or apparently ever entirely +supplanted. The implements of the stone age are still found in use by +some whose environment has deprived them of the knowledge of or desire +to use better tools. The single ox pulling the crooked stick plough, or +other similar ancient earth stirrer, and Ruth with her sickle and +sheaves, may be found not far from the steam plough and the automatic +binder. + +But the use of antiquated machinery is not followed by those who lead +the procession in this industrial age. Consequently other means than the +slow processes of nature to dry brick and other ceramics, and the crude +kilns are giving way to modern heat distributing structures. + +Air and heat are driven by fans through chambers, in which the brick are +openly piled on cars, the surplus heat and steam from an engine-room +being often used for this purpose, and the cars so laden are slowly +pushed on the tracks through heated chambers. Passages and pipes and +chimneys for heat and air controlled by valves are provided, and the +waste moisture drawn off through bottom drains or up chimneys, the draft +of which is increased by a hot blast, or blasts of heated air are driven +in one direction through a chamber while the brick are moved through in +the opposite direction, or a series of drying chambers are separated +from each other by iron folding-doors, the temperature increasing as +cars are moved on tracks from one chamber to another. + +Dr. Hoffmann of Berlin invented different forms of drying and burning +chambers which attracted great attention. In his kiln the bricks are +stacked in an _annular_ chamber, and the fire made to progress from one +section of the chamber to another, burning the brick as the heat +advances; and as fast as one section of green brick is dried, or burned, +it is withdrawn, and a green section presented. Austria introduced most +successful and thorough systems of drying brick about 1870. In some +great kilns fires are never allowed to cease. One kiln had been kept +thus heated for fifteen years. Thus great quantities of green brick can +at any time be pushed into the kiln on tracks, and when burned pushed +out, and thus the process may go on continuously day and night. + +To return to pottery: As before stated, Wedgwood of England +revolutionised the art of pottery in the eighteenth century. He was +aided by Flaxman. Before their time all earthenware pottery was what is +now called "soft pottery." That is, it was unglazed, simply baked clay; +_lustrous_ or _semi-glazed_ and _enamelled_ having a harder surface. +Wedgwood invented the hard porcelain surface, and very many beautiful +designs. To improve such earthenware and to best decorate it, are the +objects around which modern inventions have mostly clustered. + +The "_regenerative_" principle of heating above referred to employed in +some kilns, and so successfully incorporated in the regenerators +invented since 1850 by Siemens, Frank, Boetius, Bicheroux, Pousard and +others, consisting in using the intensely hot wasted gases from +laboratories or combustion chambers to heat the incoming air, and +carrying the mingled products of combustion into chambers and passages +to heat, dry or burn materials placed therein, has been of great service +in the production of modern pottery; not only in a great saving in the +amount of fuel, but in reduction in loss of pieces of ware spoiled in +the firing. + +The old method of burning wood, or soft coal, or charcoal at the bottom +of a small old-fashioned cylindrical fire brick kiln attended to by +hand, and heating the articles of pottery arranged on shelves in the +chamber above, is done away with to a great extent in large +manufactories for the making of stone and earthenware--although still +followed in many porcelain kilns. + +Inventions in the line of pottery kilns have received the aid of woman. +Susan Frackelton of the United States invented a portable kiln for +firing pottery and porcelain, for which she obtained a patent in 1886. + +As in drying clay for brick, so in drying clay for porcelain and pottery +generally, great improvements have been made in the drying of the clay, +and other materials to be mixed therewith. A great step was taken to aid +drying by the invention of the _filter press_, in which the materials, +after they are mixed and while still wet, are subjected to such pressure +that all surplus water is removed and all air squeezed out, by which the +inclosure of air bubbles in the clay is prevented. + +Despairing of excelling the China porcelain, although French +investigators having alleged their discovery of such methods, modern +inventors have contented themselves in inventing new methods and +compositions. Charles Aoisseau, the potter of Tours, born in 1796, +rediscovered and revived the art of Palissy. About 1842, Thomas Battam +of England invented the method of imitating marble and other statuary by +a composition of silica, alumina, soda, and traces of lime, magnesia, +and iron, reducing it to liquid form and pouring it into plaster moulds, +forming the figure or group. His plaster casts soon became famous. In +the use of materials the aid of chemists was had in finding the proper +ingredients to fuse with sand to produce the best forms of common and +fine _Faience_. + +_Porcelain Moulding_, and its accompanying ornamentation and the use of +apparatus for moulding by compression and by exhaustion of the air has +become since that time a great industry. + +_Porcelain Colours._--Chemists also aided in discovering what metallic +ingredients could best be used when mixed with the clay and sand to +produce the desired colours. As soon as a new metal was discovered, it +was tested to find, among other things, what vitrifiable colour it would +produce. In the production of metallic glazes, the oxides generally are +employed. The colours are usually applied to ware when it is in its +unglazed or _biscuit_ form. In the _biscuit_ or _bisque_ form pottery is +bibulous, the prepared glaze sinks into its pores and when burned forms +a vitreous coating. + +The application of oil colours and designs to ware before baking by the +"bat" system of printing originated in the eighteenth and was perfected +in the nineteenth century. It consists of impressing oil pictures on a +bat of glue and then pressing the bat on to the porous unbaked clay or +porcelain which transferred the colours. This was another revolution in +the art. + +One manner for ages of applying colours to ware is first to reduce the +mixture to a liquid form, called "slip," and then, if the Chinese method +is followed, to dip the colour up on the end of a hollow bamboo rod, +which end is covered with wire gauze, then by blowing through the rod +the colour was sprayed or deposited on the ware. Another method is the +use of a brush and comb. The brush being dipped into the coloured +matter, the comb is passed over the brush in such manner as to cause the +paint to spatter the object with fine drops or particles. A very recent +method, by which the beautiful background and blended colours of the +celebrated Rookwood pottery of Cincinnati, Ohio, have become +distinguished, consists in laying the colour upon the ware in a cloud or +sheet of almost imperceptible mist by the use of an air atomiser blown +by the operator. By the use of this simple instrument, the laying on a +single colour, or the delicate blending and shadings of two or more +colours in very beautiful effects is easily produced. + +This use of the atomiser commenced in 1884, and was claimed as the +invention of a lady, Miss Laura Fry, who obtained a patent for thus +blowing the atomised spray colouring matter on pottery in 1889; but it +was held by the courts that she was anticipated by experiments of +others, and by descriptions in previous patents of the spraying of paint +on other objects by compressed air apparatus known as the air brush. +However, this introduction of the use of the atomiser caused quite a +revolution in the art of applying colours to pottery in the forming of +backgrounds. + +Enamelled ware is no longer confined to pottery. About 1878 Niedringhaus +in the United States began to enamel sheet iron by the application of +glaze and iron oxide, giving such articles a granite appearance; and +since then metallic cooking vessels, bath tubs, etc., have been +converted in appearance into the finest earthenware and porcelain, and +far more durable, beautiful and useful than the plain metal alone for +such purposes. + +When we remember that for many centuries, wood and pewter, and to some +extent crude earthenware, were the materials from which the dishes of +the great bulk of the human family were made, as well as their table and +mantel ornaments, and compare them in character and plenteousness with +the table and other ware of even the poorest character of to-day, we can +appreciate how much has been done in this direction to help the human +family by modern inventions. + +_Artificial Stone._--The world as yet has not so far exhausted its +supply of stone and marble as to compel a resort to artificial +productions on a great scale, and yet to meet the demands of those +localities wherein the natural supplies of good building stones and +marble are very scarce, necessitating when used a long and expensive +transportation, methods have been adopted by which, at comparatively +small cost, fine imitations of the best stones and marbles have been +produced, having all the durable and artistic qualities of the +originals, as for the most part, they are composed of the same materials +as the stone and marbles themselves. + +The characteristic backgrounds, the veins and shadowings, and the soft +colours of various marbles have been quite successfully imitated by +treating dehydrated gypsum with various colouring solutions. Sand stones +have been moulded or pressed from the same ingredients, and with either +smooth or undressed faces. When necessary the mixture is coloured, to +resemble precisely the original stones. + +One of the improvements in the manufacture and use of modern _cements_ +and artificial stones consists in their application to the making of +streets and sidewalks. Neat, smooth, hard, beautiful pavements are now +taking the place everywhere of the unsatisfactory gravel, wood, and +brick pavements of former days. We know that the Romans and other +ancient peoples had their hydraulic cements, and the plaster on some of +their walls stands to-day to attest its good quality. Modern inventors +have turned their attention in recent years to the production of +machines to grind, crush, mix and set the materials, and to apply them +to large wall surfaces, in place of hand labour. _Ready-made plaster_ of +a fine quality is now manufactured in great quantities. It needs only +the addition of a little water to reduce it to a condition for use; and +a machine operated by compressed air may be had for spreading it quickly +over the lath work of wood or sheet metal, slats, or over rough cement +ceilings and walls. + +_Glass._--The Sister of Pottery is Glass. It may have been an accidental +discovery, occurring when men made fire upon a sandy knoll or beach, +that fire could melt and fuse sand and ashes, or sand and lime, or sand +and soda or some other alkali, and with which may also have been mixed +some particles of iron, or lead, or manganese, or alumina to produce +that hard, lustrous, vitreous, brittle article that we call _glass_. + +But who invented the method of blowing the viscid mass into form on the +end of a hollow tube? Who invented the scissors and shears for cutting +and trimming it when soft? Or the use of the diamond, or its dust, for +polishing it when hard? History is silent on these points. The tablets +of the most ancient days of Egypt, yet recovered, show glass blowers at +work at their trade--and the names of the first and original inventors +are buried in oblivion. Each age has handed down to us from many +countries specimens of glass ware which will compare favourably in +beauty and finish with any that can be made to-day. + +Yet with the knowledge of making glass of the finest description +existing for centuries, it is strange that its manufacture was not +extended to supply the wants of mankind, to which its use now seems so +indispensable. And yet as late as the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries glass windows were found only in the houses of the wealthy, in +the churches and palaces, and glass mirrors were unknown except to the +rich, as curiosities, and as aids to the scientists in the early days of +telescopy. Poor people used oiled paper, isinglass, thinly shaved +leather, resembling parchment, and thin sheets of soft pale crystalised +stone known as talc, and soapstone. + +The nineteenth century has been characterised as the scientific century +of glass, and the term commercial, may well be added to that +designation. + +Its commercial importance and the advancement in its manufacture during +the first half of the century is illustrated in the fact that the +Crystal Palace of the London Industrial Exhibition of 1851, although +containing nearly 900,000 square feet of glass, was furnished by a +single firm, Messrs. Chance & Co. of London, without materially delaying +their other orders. In addition to scientific discoveries, the +manufacture of glass in England received a great impetus by the removal +of onerous excise duties which had been imposed on its manufacture. + +The principal improvements in the art of glass-making effected during +the nineteenth century may be summarised as follows: + +First, Materials.--By the investigations of chemists and practical +trials it was learned what particular effect was produced by the old +ingredients employed, and it was found that the colours and qualities of +glass, such as clearness, strength, tenacity, purity, etc., could be +greatly modified and improved by the addition to the sand of certain new +ingredients. By analysis it was learned what different metallic oxides +should be employed to produce different colours. This knowledge before +was either preserved in secrecy, or accidentally or empirically +practised, or unknown. Thus it was learned and established that lime +hardens the glass and adds to its lustre; that the use of ordinary +ingredients, the silicates of lime, magnesia, iron, soda and potash, in +their impure form, will produce the coarser kinds of glass, such as that +of which green bottles are made; that silicates of soda and lime give +the common window glass and French plate; that the beautiful varieties +of Bohemian glass are chiefly a silicate of potash and lime; that +crystal or flint glass, so called because formerly pulverised flints +were used in making it, can be made of a suitable combination of +potassia plumbic silicate; that the plumbic oxide greatly increases its +transparency, brilliancy, and refractive power; that _paste_--that form +of glass from which imitations of diamonds are cut, may be produced by +adding a large proportion of the oxide of lead; that by the addition of +a trace of ferric oxide or uranic acid the yellow topaz can be had; that +by substituting cobaltic oxide the brilliant blue sapphire is produced; +that cuperic oxide will give the emerald, gold oxide the ruby, manganic +oxide the royal purple, and a mixture of cobaltic and manganic oxides +the rich black onyx. + +Professor Faraday as early as 1824 had noticed a change in colour +gradually produced in glass containing oxide of manganese by exposure to +the rays of the sun. This observation induced an American gentleman, Mr. +Thomas Gaffield, a merchant of Boston, to further experiment in this +direction. His experiments commenced in 1863, and he subjected eighty +different kinds of glass, coloured and uncoloured, and manufactured in +many different countries, to this exposure of the sun's rays. He found +that not only glass having manganese as an element, but nearly every +species of glass, was so affected, some in shorter and some in longer +times; that this discoloration was not due to the heat rays of the sun, +but to its actinic rays; and that the original colour of the glass could +be reproduced by reheating the same. + +Mr. Gaffield also extended his experiments to ascertain the power of +different coloured glasses to transmit the actinic or chemical rays, and +found that blue would transmit the most and red and orange the least. + +Others proceeded on lines of investigation in ascertaining the best +materials to be employed in glass-making in producing the clearest and +most permanent uncoloured light; the best coloured lights for desired +purposes; glasses having the best effects on the growth of plants; and +the best class for refracting, dispersing and transmitting both natural +lights and those great modern artificial lights, gas and electricity. + +Another illustration of modern scientific investigation and success in +glass-making materials is seen at the celebrated German glass works at +Jena under the management of Professors Ernst Abbe and Dr. Schott, +commenced in 1881. They, too, found that many substances had each its +own peculiar effect in the refraction and dispersion of light, and +introduced no fewer than twenty-eight new substances in glass making. +Their special work was the production of glass for the finest scientific +and optical purposes, and the highest grades of commercial glass. They +have originated over one hundred new kinds of glass. Their lenses for +telescopes and microscopes and photographic cameras, and glass and +prisms, and for all chemical and other scientific work, have a worldwide +reputation. + +So that in materials of composition the old days in which there were +substantially but two varieties of glass--the old-fashioned standard +crown, and flint glass--have passed away. + +_Methods._--The revolution in the production of glass has been greatly +aided also by new methods of treatment of the old as well as the new +materials. For instance, the application of the Siemens regenerative +furnace, already alluded to in referring to pottery, in place of +old-fashioned kilns, and by which the amount of smoke is greatly +diminished, fuel saved, and the colour of the glass improved. Pots are +used containing the materials to be melted and not heated in the +presence of the burning fuel, but by the heated gases in separate +compartments. + +Another process is that of M. de la Bastie, added to by others, of +toughening glass by plunging it while hot and pasty and after it has +been shaped, annealed, and reheated, into a bath of grease, whereby the +rapid cooling and the grease changes its molecular condition so that it +is less dense, resists breaking to a greater degree, and presents no +sharp edges when broken. + +Another process is that of making plate glass by the cylinder +process--rolling it into large sheets. + +Other processes are those for producing hollow ware by pressing in +moulds; for decorating; for surface enamelling of sheet glass whereby +beautiful lace patterns are transferred from the woven or netted fabric +itself by using it as a stencil to distribute upon the surface the +pulverised enamel, which is afterwards burned on; of producing +_iridescent_ glass in which is exhibited the lights and shadows of +delicate soap bubble colours by the throwing against the surface of +hydrochloric acid under pressure, or the fumes of other materials +volatilised in a reheating furnace. + +Then there is Dode's process for platinising glass, by which a +reflecting mirror is produced without silvering or otherwise coating its +back, by first applying a thin coating of platinic choride mixed with an +oil to the surface of the glass and heating the same, by which the +mirror reflects from its front face. The platinum film is so thin that +the pencil and hand of a draughtsman may be seen through it, the object +to be copied being seen by reflection. + +Again there is the process of making _glass wool or silk_--which is +glass drawn out into such extremely fine threads that it may be used for +all purposes of silk threads in the making of fabrics for decorative +purposes and in some more useful purposes, such as the filtration of +water and other liquids. + +We have already had occasion to refer to Tilghman's sand blast in +describing pneumatic apparatus. In glass manufacture the process is used +in etching on glass designs of every kind, both simple and intricate. +The sand forced by steam, or by compressed air on the exposed portions +of the glass on which the design rests, will cut the same deeply, or +most delicately, as the hand and eye of the operator may direct. + +_Machines._--In addition to the new styles of furnaces, moulds and +melting, and rolling mills to which we have alluded, mention may be made +of annealing and cooling ovens, by which latter the glass is greatly +improved by being allowed to gradually cool. A large number of +instruments have been invented for special purposes, such as for making +the beautiful expensive cut glass, which is flint glass ground by wheels +of iron, stone, and emery into the desired designs, while water is being +applied, and then polished by wheels of wood, and pumice, or +rottenstone; for grinding and polishing glass for lenses; and for +polishing and finishing plate glass; for applying glass lining to metal +pipes, tubes, etc.; for the delicate engraving of glass by small +revolving copper disks, varying in size from the diameter of a cent down +to one-fifteenth of an inch, cutting the finest blade of grass, a tiny +bud, the downy wing of an insect, or the faint shadow of an exquisite +eyebrow. + +_Cameo_ cutting and incrustation; porcelain electroplating and moulding +apparatus, and apparatus for making porcelain plates before drying and +burning, may be added to the list. + +It would be a much longer list to enumerate the various objects made of +glass unknown or not in common use in former generations. The reader +must call to mind or imagine any article which he thinks desirable to be +made from or covered with this lustrous indestructible material, or any +practicable form of instrument for the transmission of light, and it is +quite likely he will find it already at hand in shops or instruments in +factories ready for its making. + + +_Rubber--Goodyear._ + +The rubber tree, whether in India with its immense trunk towering above +all its fellows and wearing a lofty crown, hundreds of feet in +circumference, of mixed green and yellow blossoms; or in South America, +more slender and shorter but still beautiful in clustered leaves and +flowers on its long, loosely pendent branches; or in Africa, still more +slender and growing as a giant creeper upon the highest trees along the +water courses, hiding its struggling support and festooning the whole +forest with its glossy dark green leaves, sweetly scented, pure white, +star-like flowers, and its orange-like fruit--yields from its veins a +milk which man has converted into one of the most useful articles of the +century. + +The modes of treating this milky juice varies among the natives of the +several countries where the trees abound. In Africa they cut or strip +the bark, and as the milk oozes out the natives catch and smear it +thickly over their limbs and bodies, and when it dries pull it off and +cut it into blocks for transportation. In Brazil the juice is collected +in clay vessels and smoked and dried in a smouldering fire of palm nuts, +which gives the material its dark brown appearance. They mould the +softened rubber over clay patterns in the form of shoes, jars, vases, +tubes, etc., and as they are sticky they carry them separated on poles +to the large towns and sea ports and sell them in this condition. It was +some such articles that first attracted the attention of Europeans, who +during the eighteenth century called the attention of their countrymen +to them. + +It was in 1736 that La Condamine described rubber to the French Academy. +He afterward resided in the valley of the Amazon ten years, and then he +and MM. Herissent, Macquer, and Grossat, again by their writings and +experiments interested the scientific and commercial world in the +matter. + +In 1770 Dr. Priestley published the fact that this rubber had become +notable for rubbing out pencil marks, bits of it being sold for a high +price for that purpose. About 1797, some Englishman began to make +water-proof varnish from it, and to take out patents for the same. This +was as far as the art had advanced in caoutchouc, or rubber, in the +eighteenth century. + +In 1819 Mr. Mackintosh, of Glasgow, began experimenting with the oil of +naphtha obtained from gas works as a solvent for India rubber; and so +successfully that he made a water-proof varnish which was applied to +fabrics, took out his patent in England in 1823, and thus was started +the celebrated "Mackintoshes." + +In 1825 Thomas C. Wales, a merchant of Boston, conceived the idea of +sending American boot and shoe lasts to Brazil for use in place of their +clay models. This soon resulted in sending great quantities of rubber +overshoes to Europe and America. + +The importation of rubber and the manufacture of water-proof garments +and articles therefrom now rapidly increased in those countries. But +nothing that could be done would prevent the rubber from getting soft in +summer and hard and brittle in the winter. Something was needed to +render the rubber insensible to the changes of temperature. + +For fifty years, ever since the manufacturers and inventors of Europe +and America had learned of the water-proof character of rubber, they had +been striving to find something to overcome this difficulty. Finally it +became the lot of one man to supply the want. His name was Charles +Goodyear. + +Born with the century, in New Haven, Connecticut, and receiving but a +public school education, he engaged with his father in the hardware +business in Philadelphia. This proving a failure, he, in 1830, turned +his attention to the improvement of rubber goods. He became almost a +fanatic on the subject--going from place to place clad in rubber +fabrics, talking about it to merchants, mechanics, scientists, chemists, +anybody that would listen, making his experiments constantly; deeply in +debt on account of his own and his father's business failures, thrown +into jail for debt for months, continuing his experiments there with +philosophical, good-natured persistence; out of jail steeped to his lips +in poverty; his family suffering for the necessaries of life; selling +the school books of his children for material to continue his work, and +taking a patent in 1835 for a rubber cement, which did not help him +much. Finding that nitric acid improved the quality of the rubber by +removing its adhesiveness, he introduced this process, which met with +great favour, was applied generally to the manufacture of overshoes, and +helped his condition. But his trials and troubles continued. Finally one +Nathaniel Haywood suggested the use of sulphurous acid gas, and this was +found an improvement; but still the rubber would get hard in winter, and +although not so soft in summer, yet the odour was offensive. Yet by the +use of this improvement he was enabled to raise more money to get +Haywood a patent for it, while he became its owner. In the midst of his +further troubles, and while experimenting with the sulphur mixed with +rubber he found by accidental burning or partly melting of the two +together on a stove, that the part in which the sulphur was embedded was +hard and inelastic, and that the part least impregnated with the sulphur +was proportionately softer and more elastic. At last the great secret +was discovered! + +And now at this later day, when $50,000,000 worth of rubber goods are +made annually in the United States alone, the whole immense business is +still divided into but two classes--hard and soft--hard or vulcanized +like that called "ebonite," or soft, it may be, as a delicate wafer. And +these qualities depend on and vary as a greater or less amount of +sulphur is used, as described in the patents of Goodyear, commencing +with his French patent of 1844. + +Then of course the pirates began their attacks, and he was kept poor in +defending his patents, and died comparatively so in 1860; but happy in +his great discovery. He had received, however, the whole world's +honours--the great council medal at the Nations Fair in London in 1851 +the Cross of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon III., and lesser tributes +from other nations. + +It can be imagined the riches that flowed into the laps of Goodyear's +successors; the wide field opened for new inventions in machines and +processes; and the vast added comforts to mankind resulting from +Goodyear's introduction of a new and useful material to man.--A material +which, takes its place and stands in line with wood, and leather, and +glass, and iron, and steel! + +But rubber and steel as we now know them are not the only new fabrics +given to mankind by the inventors of the Nineteenth Century. + +The work of the silk worm has been rivalled; and a _wool_ as white and +soft as that clipped from the cleanest lamb has been drawn by the hands +of these magicians from the hot and furious slag that bursts from a +blast furnace. + +The silk referred to is made from a solution of that inflammable +material of tremendous force known as gun-cotton, or pyroxylin. Dr. +Chardonnet was the inventor of the leading form of the article, which he +introduced and patented about 1888. The solution made is of a viscous +character, allowed to escape from a vessel through small orifices in +fine streams; and as the solvent part evaporates rapidly these fine +streams become hard, flexible fibres, which glisten with a beautiful +lustre and can be used as a substitute for some purposes for the fine +threads spun by that mysterious master of his craft--the silk worm. + +The gusts of wind that drove against the molten lava thrown from the +crater of Kilauea, producing as it did, a fall of white, metallic, +hairy-like material resembling wool, suggested to man an industrial +application of the same method. And at the great works of Krupp at +Essen, Prussia, for instance, may be witnessed a fine stream of molten +slag flowing from an iron furnace, and as it falls is met by a strong +blast of cold air which transforms it into a silky mass as white and +fine as cotton. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Abbe, Prof. Ernst, 412, 473. + + Abbott Museum, N.Y., 242. + + Abrading machines, 332. + + Acetylene, 70, 456. + + Accumulators, 177. + + Achromatic lens, 410. + + Acoustics, 406. + + Addressing machines, 285. + + Aeolipile, 74. + + Affixers, 285. + + African inventions, 340, 476. + + Agriculture, Chap. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. + + Agricultural chemistry, 64. + + Agricultural societies, 16. + + Aeronautics. (See Air Ships and Balloons, 169, 445, 448.) + + Air Atomizers, 467. + + Air brakes, 89, 108, 193. + + Air Brushes, 195, 418. + + Air Compressors and propellers, 195. + + Air Drills, 194. + + Air Engines, 89, 193, 194. + + Air propellers. (See Pneumatics.) + + Air Pumps, 55, 113, 194, 195, 196, 197, 404. + + Air Ships, 446, 449. + + Airy, 410. + + "Alabama," The, 261. + + Alarm Locks. (See Locks.) + + Alchemistry and alchemists. (See Chemistry.) + + Alcohol, 65. + + Alfred the Great, 386, 457. + + Alembert, D., 167. + + Alhambra, 373. + + Allen, Horatio, 83. + + Allen, Dr. John, 168. + + Allotropic phosphorus. (See Matches.) + + Allen and Yates. (See Puddling.) + + Alloys, 237, 238. + + Altiscope, 413. + + Aluminium, 238. + + Amalgamators, 380. + + American Inventions, 341. + + Ammonia, 191, 215. + + Ammoniacal gas engines, 191. + + Ampere, 122, 130. + + Amontons air engines, 193. + + Ancient smelting. (See Metallurgy.) + + Anaesthetics, 2, 71. + + Aniline dyes, 69. + + Annealing and tempering, 248. + + Antiseptics, 2, 72. + + Antwerp, Siege of, 261. (See Ordnance.) + + Aoisseau, Chas., 466. + + Apollo, 400. + + Applegath, 283, 284. + + Aqueducts, 93, 166, 167. + + Arabs, 253, 274. + + Arabic notation, 2. + + Arago, 122, 410, 411, 416. + + Arc Lamps, 137. + + Archimedes, 9, 165, 185, 442. + + Aristotle, 58. + + Argand burner, 456. + + Arkwright, Richard, 42, 296, 298, 301. + + Arlberg tunnel, 107. + + Armor, plate, 262, 264, 265, 266. + + Arnold, Asa, 301. + + Arnold, watchmaker, 389. + + Armstrong, Sir William G., 176, 263, 264. + + Arquebus. (See Ordnance.) + + Artesian Wells, 38. + + Artificial Stone. (See Pottery.) + + Artificial Silk. (See Glass.) + + Arts, Fine, 197, 347, 353, 371, 400, 414, 418. + + Art, Scientific, 228. + + Artificial Teeth. (See Dentistry.) + + Artillery. (See Ordnance.) + + Asbestos, 421. + + Assembling machines and system. + (See Sewing machines, Watch, and Ordnance.) + + Assyrians, 24. + + Astronomical inventions, 390. (See Horology and Optics.) + + Athens. (See Greece.) + + Athanor, Alchemist's stone. (See Chemistry.) + + Atmospheric and Gas pressure, 194. + + Atoms--atomic theory, 59, 60, 453. + + Atomizer, 197, 467. + + Attraction of Gravitation, 2. + + Augurs, 348, 349. + + Auricular instruments, 406. + + Australia, 40. + + Austria, 24, 50, 358. + + Autoharps, 405. + + Automobiles, 89, 435. + + Axes, 340. + + + B. + + Babbitt, Isaac, metal, 237. + + Babylonians, 384. + + Bach. (See Pianos.) + + Bacon, Roger, 214. + + Bacteria, 213. + + Bailey, 1822; 37. + + Bain, Alex., 147. + + Baling and Bale ties, 51, 52, 53. + + Balloons, 169, 446. + + Band Saw, 348. + + Barber, John, 185. + + Barker's Mill, 171. + + Barlow looms, 305. + + Barlow, Prof., 123. + + Barrel making. (See Wood Working.) + + Bartholdi, 105. + + Bastie, 473. + + Batcheller, 318. + + Baths--closets, 178. + + Bath system, Porcelain, 466. + + Battam, Thomas, artificial marble, 466. + + Baude, Peter, 224. + + Beadlestone, metallurgist, 231. + + Bean, B. W., 318. + + Beaulieu, Col. (Ordnance), 264. + + Beating engines. (See Paper.) + + Becher, 58. + + Bechler, 413. + + Becquerel, 44. + + Beds, 355. + + Bed--printing, 282. + + Beer. (See Chemistry.) + + Bellaert, Jacob, 280. + + Bell, Alex. Graham, 140, 141, 142, 407, 414. + + Bell, C. A., 408. + + Bell, Sir L., metallurgy, 223. + + Bell's history of metallurgy, 223. + + Bell, Rev. Patrick, 36, 38. + + Bells and Bell making--Metallurgy. + + Bending wood, 349, 357. (See Woodworking.) + + Bennett, Richard, 46. + + Bentham, Sir Sam'l, 242, 342, 349, 374. + + Bergman, 61. + + Berliner, Emile, 408. + + Bernoulli, D., 167. + + Berthollet, 64, 454. + + Berzelius, 60. + + Bessemer, Henry, and process, 176, 232, 233. + + Besson, Prof. J., 75, 242. + + Bicheroux, potter, 465. + + Bicycles, 431. + + Bigelow, E. B., 305. + + Billings, Dr., 210. + + Binding books. (See Printing.) + + Binders, grain and twine, 39. + + Bicycles, 431 to 435. + + Bischof, Simon, 191. + + Blacksmithing. (See Metallurgy.) + + Blaew of Amsterdam, 281. + + Black, chemist, 58. + + Blair, iron and steel, 234. + + Blakely Gun. (See Ordnance.) + + Blake, Eli. W., Blake crusher, 376, 377. + + Blanchard, Thos., 268, 343, 344, 350, 356, 369. + + Blasting, 107. + + Blast, steel. (See Bessemer.) + + Blauofen furnace. (See Metallurgy.) + + Bleaching and Dyeing, 69. + + Blenkinsop, 82. + + Blithe, Walter, 14. + + Block Printing. (See Printing.) + + Blodgett & Lerow, sewing machines, 318. + + Bloomaries. (See Metallurgy.) + + Blunderbuss, 257. + + Bobbins--spinning, 302. + + Boerhaave, 58. + + Boetius, 365. + + Bohemia, 357. + + Boilers. (See Steam Engineering.) + + "Boke of Husbandry," 1523, 14. + + Bollman bridge, 103. + + Bolting. (See Milling.) + + Bolt making. (See Metal Working.) + + Bombards, 254. + + Bombs. (See Ordnance.) + + Bomford, Col., 260. + + Bonaparte, 89, 90, 256. + + Bonnets and ladies' hats, 324. + + Bonjeau, M., 325. + + Bonelli, M., 305. + + Book making and binding, 287, 288. + + Boots and shoes, 366 to 371. + + Boring machines, 345, 348. + + Boring square holes, 346. + + Bormann, Genl., 259. + + Bottle stoppers, 358. + + Boulton and Watt, 84, 452. + + Bouton, 415. + + Bourseuil, Chas., 407. + + Boyce, 1799, 35. + + Boyle, Robert, 58, 184, 193, 194. + + Box making. (See Woodworking Machinery.) + + Braiding. (See Sewing Machines.) + + Braithwaite, 83. + + Brakes, bicycle, 433-436. + + Brakes, steam, Railway and Electric, 87, 436. + + Brakes and gins, 297. + + Bramah, Jos., 82, 154, 170, 242, 244, 342, 349, 424. + + Branch, 342. + + Branco, 75. + + Brahe, Tycho, 183, 388. + + Brass, 219. + + Brayton, G. H., 190. + + Brazil, 281, 476, 477. + + Breech-loaders, 257, 263, 264, 265, 269.(See Ordnance.) + + Brewster, Sir David, 410. + + Brickmaking machines, kilns and processes, 457, 464. + + Bridges and Bridge Building, 93 to 104, 197. + + Bright, John, 138. + + Broadwood piano, 403. + + Bronsen, 412. + + Broom-making, 328, 329. + + Brot, 411. + + Brothers of the Bridge, 94. + + Bronze, 218, 219. + + Brooklyn bridge, 98, 99. + + Brown, Sir Saml., 95, 187, 188. + + "Brown Bess," 258. + + Bruce, David, 284. + + Brunel, I. K., 97. + + Brunel, I. M., 351, 367. + + Brunton, 82. + + Brush--Brush light, 137. + + Brushes and Brush making, 330. + + Buchanan's Practical Essays, 244. + + Buckingham, C. L., 148. + + Buffing machines, 365. + + Builders' hardware, 250. + + Buildings, tall, 152, 153. + + Buffers, 437. (See Railways, Elevator, etc., 160, 161.) + + Bunsen, Robt. W., 119, 120, 230. + + Bunsen light, 456. + + Burden, Henry, 95. + + Burdett, Wm., 188. + + Burke, Edmund, 182. + + Burns, Robert, 31. + + Butter, 54, 55. + + Button-hole machines, 323. + + Bunsen. (See Chemistry.) + + + C. + + Cable transportation, 109. + + Caesar, 457. + + Cahill, Thaddeus, 287. + + Caissons, 100. + + Calcium-carbide, 70, 456. + + Calico making and printing, 325, 326. + + California, 382. + + Cameo cutting, 475. + + _Camera obscura_, 414. + + Campbell printing press, 285. + + Canada, 40, 430. + + Canals, and boats for, 84, 106, 107, 109, 110, 440. + + Canal locks, 110. + + Cane woven goods, 308. + + Cannons and firearms, 252-272. + + Cantilever bridges, 103, 104. + + Caoutchouc. (See Rubber, 476.) + + Caps,--gun, 259. + + Car heating, 211. + + Cars, sleeping, 431. (See Railways.) + + Car tracks, 108. + + Car rails, 108. + + Car wheels, 108. + + Carbines, 266. (See Ordnance.) + + Carbon--chemistry. + + Carbonating, 68. + + Carborundum, 70. + + Cardan, 183. + + Carding, 298, 300. + + Cardova. (See Leather.) + + Carlyle, 310. + + Carnot. (See Ordnance.) + + Carpentry, 339, 352. + + Carpets and Looms, 305. + + Carre Brothers, 214. + + Carriages and carrying machines, 82, 428-437. + + Carthagenians, 164. + + Carts. (See Coaches and Waggons.) + + Cartridges, 267. + + Cartwright, Rev. Edwd., 297. + + Carving machinery, 346. + + Case-shot. (See Ordnance.) + + Cash registers, 395. + + Cast iron, 223. + + Catalan furnace, 222. (See Metallurgy.) + + Cauchy, 410. + + Caus, Salomon de, 75. + + Cavendish, 58. + + Caxton, 280. + + Centennial Exhibition. 1876; 38, 39, 40, 140, 246, 320, + 352, 353, 393, 402, 430. + + Centrifugal machines (pumps), 172, 173. + + Charcoal. (See Metallurgy.) + + Chairs. (See Furniture.) + + Chaff separator. (See Milling.) + + Chain wheels--hydraulics, 156. + + Chairs, tables, desks, etc. (See Furniture, 351, 358.) + + Challey, M., 97. + + "Champion harvesters"--Harvesters. + + Chance & Co., Glass makers, 470. + + Channelling shoes. (See Leather.) + + Chanute, Octave, 110. + + Chappe, M., 125. + + Charles I. (See Ordnance; + Charles II., 242; + Charles V., 387; + Charles VIII., 265.) + + Chemistry, 58, 70. + + Chemical Telegraph. (See Telegraphy.) + + Chester-dial telegraph, 146. + + Chili, 461. + + Chill hardening, 250. + + Chickering pianos, 403. + + Chimes, 196. + + China and Chinese inventions, 24, 52, 165, 222, 241, 253, + 257, 273, 275, 280, 384, 386, 400, 423, 465. + + Chlorates, 70. + + Chlorine, 237. + + Chlorination, 237. + + Chromium, 70. + + Chronometers, 390, 394. + + Chubb-safes, 422, 425. + + Cigar and cigarette machines, 56, 57. + + Cincinnati Bridge. (See Engineering.) + + Cincinnatus, 17, 31. + + Circulation of blood, 2. + + Civil Engineering, 93-110. + + Clark, Alvan, 412. + + Clavichord, 402. + + Clayton, Dr., 1688, 451. + + Clay, Treatment of. (See Brick and Pottery making.) + + Cleaning grain, etc. (See Mills.) + + Clement, metal worker, 244. + + Clementi, pianist, 403. + + Clepsydra, 384, 385, 386. + + "Clermont." (See Steam Ships.) + + Clippers, Ships, 439. + + Clocks, 384. (See Horology.) + + Clocks, Essential parts of, 386. + + Closets. (See Baths.) + + Cloth, Making, Finishing, 306; + Drying, 306; + Printing, 306; + Creasing and pressing, 306; + Cutting, 306-324; + Fancy woven, 205-306. + + Clothes. (See Garments.) + + Clover Header, 32. + + Clutches, 161-162. + + Clymer, of Philadelphia, press, 282. + + Coaches, stages, mail, etc., 428-431. + + Coach lace, 306. + + Coal, 225, 378, 380; + Coal breakers and cleaners, 378-380. + + Coal gas, 450; + Coal tar colors. (See Chemistry.) + + Coal mining. (See Ores.) + + Coaling Ships, 110. + + Coehorn, shell, 255. + + Coffin, journalist, 25. + + Coke. (See Metallurgy.) + + Cold metal punching, working and rolling, 246-247. + + Colding of Denmark, 63. + + Collards, pianos, 403. + + Collen, Henry, 417. + + Collins line. (See Steam Ships.) + + Collinge, 430. + + Coloring cloth, 325. + + Colors and coloring, 464-467. + + Color process. (See Photography, 417, Printing, 290.) + + Colt, revolvers, 260, 267, 322. + + Columbiad, 261. + + Colossus of Rhodes, 34. + + Comminges of France, 255. + + Comminuting machines. (See Grinding.) + + Compartment vessels, 442. + + Compass, 2. + + Compensating devices, 391. + + Compound engines, 87-89. + + Compressed air drills, 376. + + Compressed air and steam, 193, 194, 378. + + Compressed air ordnance, 265, 269. + + Condensers, 87. + + Condamine, 477. + + Conservation of forces, 2. + + Constitution, U.S., 8. + + Convertibility of forces, 2. + + Containers, 175. + + Conveyors, transportation, 152, 153, 154, 158, 159, 160. + + Cook, Telegraphy, 127, 146. + + Cooke, Prof. J. P., 59. + + Cooke, James, 25. + + Cooking. (See Stoves.) + + Cooper, Peter, 84. + + Coopering. (See Wood Working.) + + Copernicus, 183. + + Copper, 218, 219, etc. + + Corliss, 88. + + Corn: Cultivators, 29-30; + Mills, 46; + Planters, 28. + + Correlation of forces, 2. + + Cort, Henry, 226-231. + + Corundum, 70, 334. + + Coster, 280. + + Cotton, 42, 43; + Gin, 42, 43, 297; + Harvester, 40. + + Cotton seed oil, 69. + + Cotton and wool machinery, 298. (See Textiles.) + + "Counterblast to Tobacco," 155. + + Couplers, 437. + + Cowper, 31. + + Cowper, printer, 283. + + Cowley, 77. + + Cradle, grain, 33. + + Cranes and derricks, 110, 152, 153, 171. + + Crecy, (1346). (See Ordnance.) + + Cristofori, pianist, 402. + + Crompton, Saml., 42, 297, 298, 301. + + Crompton, George, 305. + + Crookes, Prof. Wm., 149. + + Crooke tubes, 149. + + Cros, Charles, 407. + + Crushers, stone and ore, 376. + + Crystal Palace, 470. + + Ctesibius, 74, 165, 168, 385. + + Cultivators, 29, 30. + + Curtet, 121. + + Cugnot, 1769, 81. + + Culverin. (See Cannon.) + + Cunard line, 86. + + Cuneus, 115. + + Curtains Shades and Screens, 356. + + Cyanide. Cyanide process, 236. + + Cyclometers, 396. + + + D. + + Daguerre, 415-416. + + Daguerreotype, 415. + + Dahlgren, Cannon, 264. + + Danks, Rotary puddler, 231. + + Dalton, John, 59-60, 186, 194, 453. + + Damascus Steel, 221. (See Metallurgy.) + + Dana, Prof., 126. + + Daniell's battery, 119, 126. + + Darby, Abraham, 1777, 95, 225. + + Darwin, Dr., 18th cent., 73. + + Davy, Humphry, Sir, 16, 63, 64, 70, 118, 122, 125, + 188, 209, 236, 415. + + David's harp, 6. + + Decker, piano, 403. + + Delinter, 43. + + Dentistry, 72. + + Dental Chairs, 72, 358; + Drills, 72; + Engines, 72; + Hammers, 72; + Pluggers, 72. + + Deoville, St. Clair, 238. + + Derricks, 110. + + "Deutschland," The, 445. + + Desks, 355. + + De Susine, 192. + + Dewar, Prof., 216. + + Dial Telegraphs. (See Telegraphy.) + + Diamonds. (See Milling; Polishing; Artificial, 70.) + + Diamond Drill, 375. + + Diana, Temple of, 34. + + Diastase, 54. + + Didot, Francois, 1800, 276. + + Dickenson, 277. + + Digesters. (See Chemistry.) + + Differential motion, 301. + + Dioptric Lens, 410. + + Diorama, 415. + + Direct Acting Engines, 88. + + Direct Feed Engines, 88. + + Discoveries, distinct from inventions, 1, 2. + + Disk Plows, 21, 30. + + Distaff and Spindle. (See Textiles, 292.) + + Dodge, James M., 159. + + Doffers, 301. + + Dog Carts. (See Carriages.) + + Dollond, John, 410. + + Donkin, 277. + + Donovan, 454. + + Don Quixote, 222. + + Douglass, Nicholas, 105. + + Draining, 105, 106, 107. + + Drags and Drays. (See Waggons, 430-431.) + + Drais, Baron Von, 432. + + Drake, E. S., Col., 382. + + Draper, J. W., Prof., 412, 416, 450. + + Drawing Machines, Spinning, 296, 298, 301. + + Dredging, 105, 106, 107. + + Dressing; of thread and cloths, 299, 302; + of skins. (See Leather.) + + Drills, seeders, 20, 27. + + Drills, stone ore and iron, 375, 378. + + Drying apparatus. (See Kilns.) + + Dreyse, 266. + + Dualine, 270. + + Duboscq, 137. + + Dudley, Dud, 224. + + Duncan, John, 311. + + Dundas, Charlotte, 84. + + Dundonald, Lord, 451. + + Dundas, Lord, 83, 440. + + Dunlop, J. B., Bicycles, 433. + + Duplex Engines, 88. + + Dulcimer. (See Music.) + + Dust Explosions and Collectors, 50. + + Dutch Paper, 277; + Printing, 280. + + Dutch Canals, 107. + + Dutch Clocks, 388, 391. + + Dutch Furnaces and Stoves, 203. + + Dutch Locks, 424. + + Dutch Ships, 439. + + Dutch Ware, 459. + + Dutton, Maj. C. E., 261. + + Dynamometer, 187, 398. + + Dynamite, 270. + + Dynamo Electric Machines, 130, 134, 251. + + + E. + + Eads, James B., 102. + + Eames of U. S., 234. + + East River Bridge, 98, 99. + + Eddystone Lighthouse, 105. + + Edison, 137, 144, 145, 148, 407, 408. + + Egyptian agriculture, arts and inventions, 5, 13, 42, 45, 58, + 164, 184, 220, 241, 273, 292, 340, 354, 400, 402, 423, + 457, 460, 470. + + Eiffel, M., 105. + + Electricity, 5, 111-151. + + Electric Alarms. (See Locks.) + + Electric Batteries, 117-132. + + Electric Cable, 138. + + Electric Heating, 213. + + Electric Lighting, 108, 119, 121 to 137, 360, 456. + + Electro-Chemistry, 70. + + Electro-magnets, 120-133. + + Electro Metallurgy, 70, 238, 249. + + Electrodes, 113, 135. + + Electrolysis, 129, 131. + + Electrometer, 113, 122. + + Electrical Music, 148. + + Electro Plating, 249. + + Electric Railway, 143, 144. + + Electric Signals and Stops, 160, 162. + + Electric Telegraphy, 2, 114, 122, 123, 145, 146, 147. + + Electrotyping, 283, 290. + + Electric Type Printing, 147, 148. + + Electric Type Writer, 287. + + Electric Voters, 396. + + Elevators, 6, 148, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157. + + Eliot, Prof., 410. + + Elizabeth, Queen, 402. + + Elton, John, 46. + + Elvean, Louis T. van, 155. + + Embossing, 346, 347. + + Embossing, weaving, 306. + + Embroidery, 310, 313. + + Emery, abrading, 70, 334. + + Emery, testing machines, 398. + + England, 8, 17, 25, 50, 188. + + Engraving Machines, 290. + + Enamelling. (See Pottery.) + + Enamelled Ware, 459, 468. + + Engineering. (See Civil.) + Electric, 143; + Hydraulic, 168; + Marine, 442; + Mining, 373; + Steam, 2. + + Eolipile. (See Hero.) + + Erard, pianist, 403. + + Erasmus, 183. + + Ericsson, John, 83, 86, 441, 443, 444. + + Euclid, 9. + + Euler, 167, 173. + + Evans, Oliver, 1755-1819; 46, 47, 48, 81, 83, 87, 154, 374. + + Evaporating, 52. + + Evelyn, John, 1699; 25. + + Evolution of modern inventions, 153. + + Excavating, 105, 106. + + Explosives, 270. + + Eylewein, 167. + + + F. + + Fabroni, 66, 118. + + Faience, 459, 466. + + Fairbairn, Sir Wm., 100, 176, 226, 440. + + Fairbanks, scales and testing, 397. + + Fahrenheit, 183. + + Fanning Mills, 45. + + Faraday, Michael, 63, 118, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 138, + 188, 209, 411, 472. + + Fan mills, 41. + + Fare registers, 395. + + Farmer, Moses G., 133, 135, 145. + + Factory life, 298. + + Faure, M. Camille, 120. + + Faur, Faber du, 230. + + Faust, 280. + + Felt making, 325. + + Fermentation, 65, 66, 67. + + Fertilizers--machines and compositions. (See Agriculture.) + + Field, Cyrus W., 138. + + Filament-carbon, 360. + (See Electric Lighting.) + + Filters, filtering, 167, 180, 181. + + Filter Press, 465. + + Fink bridge, 103. + + Fire-arms, 252-272. + + Fire crackers, 252. + + Fire engines, 76. + + Fire place, 205. + + Fiske, range finder, 266. + + Fiske, 148, 413. + + Fitch, John, 1784, 81. + + Fitzherbert, Sir A., 1523, 14. + + Fireproof safes. (See Locks.) + + Flax machines, 42. + + Flax brakes, 42. + + Flaxman, 464. + + Flax-threshers, 41, 42. + + Fleming, 247. + + Fleshing machines, 364. + + Fletcher, 244. + + Flexible shafts, 350. + + Florence, 459. + + Flour. (See Mills.) + + Fly Shuttle. (See Spinning and Weaving.) + + Foods, preparation of, 53, 54. + + Force feed-seeders, 26. + + Forneyron, 171, 172. + + Forsythe, Rev. Mr., 259, 260. + + Foucault, 137. + + Fourcroy, 64. + + Fourdrinier, 277. (See Paper making.) + + Frackelton, Susan, portable kiln, 465. + + France, 63, 203, 253, 274, 275, 313. + + Francis, S. W., 286. + + Frank, pottery, 463. + + Franklin, Benj., 5, 111, 112, 115, 116, 117, 121, 125, + 168, 203, 281, 446. + + Franklin Institute, 455. + + Fraunhofer, von, Jos., 61, 412. + + Frederick, Henry, 255. + + Freiberg Mining Academy, Metallurgy, 223. + + Fresnel, 410. + + Frictional Electricity, 111. + + Frieburg Bridge. (See Bridges.) + + Frogs, R. R., 108. + + Flintlock, firearms, 258. + + Froment, 146. + + Frontinus, on Roman aqueducts, 166. + + Fruits, Preparation of, 51, 53. + + Fruit jars, 359. + + Fry, Laura, 467. + + Fulton, Robt., 84-85. + + Furnaces, hot air; hot water, 206, 207. + + Furniture, 351, 354, 359. + + Furniture machinery, 351, 352. + + Fuses, 259. + + + G. + + Gaffield, Thos., glass, 472. + + Gale, Prof., 126. + + Galileo, 1, 166, 183, 388, 409. + + Gally, self-playing pianos, 406. + + Galton, Capt. Douglas, 205. + + Galvani, 5, 117, 118, 125. + + Galvanism, 112,121. + + Galvanic batteries, 121, 122. + + Galvanic music, 148, 406. + + Galvanometer, 122, 139. + + Gamble, 277. + + Garay, Blasco de, 75. + + Garments, 310-327. + + Gas, 450; + illuminating, 69, 185, 450-456. + + Gases, motors, 188, 190. + + Gas checks, 266. + + Gas engines, 76, 18, 184-194. + + Gasoline and stoves, 213. + + Gas pumps, 190. + + Gatling, Dr., gun, 269. + + Gaul, 32, 33. + + Gauss, 126. + + Gay-Lussac, 60, 185, 194, 209. + + Ged, Wm., 281. + + Geissler tubes, 135, 149. + + Generator, Electric, 113. + + Gentleman Farmer, 1768, 20. + + George III., 389. + + German inventions, 50, 203, 255, 313, 387, 391, 430, 473. + + Germ theory, 67. + + German clock and watch making, 387. + + Gibraltar, 253. + + Giffard-injector, 173. + + Gilbert, Dr., 1600, 5, 113. + + Gill, J. G., 268. + + Giers, 234, 250. + + Gin-cotton, 297. + + Gladstone, inventor, 1806, 35. + + Glass, 469, 474. + + Glass, wool, and silk, 474, 480. + + Glazes, 475. (See Porcelain.) + + Glauber, 58. + + Glycerine, 69. + + Gold. (See Metallurgy.) + + Goodyear, Chas., 434, 476, 478, 479, 480. + + Googe, Barnaby, 14. + + Gompertz, 432. + + Gordon, 82. + + Gothic architecture, 373. + + Governors, 87. + + Graham (chemist), 391. + + Graham. (See Horology.) + + Grain Binder. (See Harvesters.) + + Grain cradles, drills, and seeders. (See Agriculture.) + + Grain elevator, 110. + + Grain Separators, 49. + + Gramme, Z., 134, 136, 137. + + Gramophone, 406, 408. + + Graphophone, 406, 408. + + Grass burning stoves, 211. + + Gray, Elisha. (See Electricity.) + + Gray, S., 1729, 114, 125. + + "Great Britain," The, 440. + + "Great Republic," The, 439. + + Great Urgroez, 357. + + Greece and Greek antiquities and inventions, 9, 13, 18, 45, + 74, 113, 164, 182, 218, 257, 340, 386, 457, 459. + + Grenades, 255. + + Green, N. W., driven well, 383. + + Greenough, J. J., 318. + + Gribeauval, 256. + + Griffith, Julius, 82. + + Griffiths of U. S., 234. + + Grinding by stones, 45 to 49. + + Grinding glass, 475. + + Grindstones, 375. + + Grossat, 477. + + Grover and Baker sewing mach., 320. + + Grooving, 245. + + Grove, Sir Wm. Robert, 119. + + Gruner, 234. + + Gun carriages. (See Ordnance.) + + Gun cotton, 270. + + Gun making, 345. + + Gunpowder, 253, 262, 263, 270. + + Gunpowder eng., 192. + + Gun-stock, 345. + + Guericke, Otto von, 113, 183, 193. + + Guillaume, Puy, 253. + + Gurney, 82. + + Guttenberg, John, 280. + + + H. + + Hales, Dr., 451. + + Hall, John H., 267. + + Hall safes, 422. + + Hamberg, 58. + + Hamblet, 146. + + Hamilton (stove inventor), 212. + + Hammers, steam and air, 88, 244. + + Hanckwitz, Godfrey, 1680, 199. + + Hancock, Walter, 82. + + Handel, 402. + + Hanging Gardens, 34. + + Hardening metals, 249. + + Hardware. (See Metal Working.) + + Hargreaves, Jas., 42, 294, 297. + + Harnesses, 431. + + Harp, The, and the Harpsichord, 6, 402. + + Harvesters, 32, 33, 35, 39, 40, 41, 322. + + Hartshorn, spring roller shades, 356. + + Harveyized steel, 234, 249. + + Harrows, 22, 28. + + Hautefeuille, 77. + + Hauteville, Abbe, 185, 389. + + Hat making, 325. + + Haydn, 402. + + Hay, rakes and tedders, 15, 40. + + Headers, 32. + + Heat as power, 186, 187. + + Heating, 86, 199, 210. + + Hebrews, 45, 362, 423. + + Hele, P., 388. + + Helmont, J. van, 58, 184. + + Hell Gate, 107. + + Helmholtz, 66, 131, 141, 403, 406, 407, 411, 417. + + Hendley, Wm., 82. + + Henry, Joseph, 63, 123, 124, 126, 131, 146, 210. + + Henry, rifle, 267. + + Henry, Wm., 78. + + Herissent, M., 477. + + Hermetical sealing, 359. + + Herodotus, 362. + + Hero of Alexander, 5, 9, 74, 76, 87, 89, 165, 171, 404. + + Herring, safes, 421. + + Herschel, 228, 412. + + Hides, treatment of. (See Leather.) + + Hide mills, 364. + + High and low pressure engines, 87, 88. + + Hindoos, 220, 241, 254, 273, 292, 340, 384. + + Hodges, James, of Montreal, 101. + + Hoe, Robert, and son, R. M., 284. + + Hoe drill-seeders, 27. + + Hoes, 29, 30. + + Hoffman, Dr., 464. + + Hoisting, conveying, and storing, 152-163. + + Holland, 18, 255, 257, 275. + + Holley, A. L., 232. + + Holtzapffel, J., 241. + + Homer, 459. + + Hooke, Dr., 388, 389. + + Hoopes and Townsend, 247. + + Hoppers. (See Mills.) + + Hopper boy. (See Mills.) + + Hoosac tunnel, 107. + + Hornblower, 1781, 87. + + Horrocks, 305. + + Horse power, 187. + + Horseshoes, 248. + + Horology, 384-395. + + Hot air engines, 185. + + Hot air blast, 231. + + Hot furnaces. (See Heating.) + + Hot water circulation. (See Heating.) + + Hotchkiss gun, 270. + + Houdin regulator, 137. + + Houses, their construction, 351, 352. + + Houston. (See Telegraphy.) + + Howe, Elias, 314-318. + + Howe bridge, 103. + + Howitzer. (See Ordnance.) + + Hunt, Walter, 314, 315. + + Hungary, 357. + + Huggins, Dr., 63, 412. + + Hughes, D. E., 147. + + Hugon, 189. + + Hulls, Jonathan, 78. + + Huntsman, Benj., 225. + + "Husbandry, The whole art of." (See Agriculture.) + + Huskisson, 83. + + Hussey, 1833, 37, 38. + + Huxley, 65. + + Huygens, 61, 77, 183, 184, 192, 388, 391. + + Hydraulicising, 174. + + Hydraulic elevators, 156, 157, 164, 165, 166. + + Hydraulic jacks, 174. + + Hydraulic motors, 164-181; + pumps, rams, 166, 168; + press, 52, 53, 154, 155, 168, 171, 175; + testing, 398, 399. + + Hydrogen gas, 454. + + Hydrostatic engines and presses, 166, 190, 194. + + + I. + + Ida, mountains of, iron, 218. + + Illuminating gas. (See Gas.) + + Impulse pump. (See Ram.) + + Incandescent light, 135, 456. + + Incubators, 207. + + India, 373, 400. + + Industrial mechanics, 328-338. + + Injectors, 173. + + Intensifiers, 174. + + International Exposition, London, 246, 352. + + Invention, what it is, how induced, distinctions, growth, + protection of, 1-8. + + Iron, 218. + + Iron Ships. (See Ships.) + + Iridescent glass, 474. + + Ironing machines, 338. + + Italy, 255, 280. + + Ives. F. E. (three-color process), 417. + + + J. + + Jablochoff, M. Paul, 136. + + Jacks, 245. + + Jacobi, of Russia, 249. + + Jackson, C. T., Dr., 71. + + Jacquard Loom, The, 304, 323, 326. + + Jacquard, Joseph Marie, 304, 305. + + Jenk's ring frame, 302. + + Jenkins, Prof. F., 192. + + Jefferson, Thos., 16,18. + + Jenkin, Prof. Fleeming, 144. + + Jewelry, 333. + + "Jimcrow," 245. + + Johnson, Denis. (See Bicycle.) + + Jones, iron and steel, 234. + + Jonval, 172. + + Joule, 2. + + Jupiter, statue of, 34. + + + K. + + Kaleidoscope, 410. + + Karnes, Lord, 1768, 20. + + Kaolin. (See Lighting.) + + Kay, John, 293, 295. + + "Kearsarge," The, 261. + + Kepler, 183. + + Kennedy, Diss and Cannan, 331. + + Kilns, 463, 464, 465. + + Kinetic energy, Age of, 86. + + Kinetograph, 417. + + Kirchoff, G. R., 62, 412. + + Kitchen and table utensils, 356. + + Knabe piano, 403. + + Knight, Edward, 36, 51, 170, 202, 232, 276, 321, 429. + + Knitting, 307, 308. + + Koenig and Bauer, 283. + + Koenig, acoustics, 407. + + Koops, 277. + + Koster, 1620, rifle, 258. + + Krag-Jorgensen rifle, 268. + + Kramer, 146. + + Krupp, steel, 234. + + Krupp, Fredk., guns, 264. + + Krupp, glass, 480. + + Kutler, Augustin, 258. + + + L. + + La Condamine, 477. + + Labor organizations, 11. + + Labor, how affected by inventions; reducing, and increasing, + 152, 153, 162, 163, 293, 308, 380, 381, 460. + + Lace making, 306. + + Laconium, 202. + + Ladd electric machine, 133. + + La Hire, 167, 170. + + Laird, John, 440, 443. + + Lallement, P. (See Bicycle.) + + Lamps and lamp lighting, 359, 450. + + Lancaster, cannon, 263. + + Land reclamation, 107. + + Lane, 1828, 37. + + Lane-Fox light, 137. + + Langen and Otto. (See Gas Engine.) + + Langley, Prof., 4. + + L'Hommedieu, 348. + + Lapping-cotton, 299, 300. + + Lasts, making of, 344, 345. + + Lathes, 241-243, 340, 345, 349; + for turning irregular forms of wood, 344. + + Lattice work bridges, 103. + + Laundry, 335. + + Lavoisier, 58, 60, 63. + + Lawn mowers, 40. + + Lazy tongs mechanism, 160. + + Le Bon, 1801, 185, 452. + + Leaching, 236. + + Lead, 219. (See Metallurgy.) + + Leather, 361-372. + + Leeuwenhoek of Holland, 65. + + Leeu, 280. + + Leckie, 41. + + Le Conte, 63. + + Lefaucheux, M., 267. + + Leibnitz, 183. + + Lenoir, 189. + + Lesage, 121. + + Lescatello, 1662, 24. + + Leyden jar, 114. + + Libavius, 58. + + Liebig, 64. + + Lieberkulm, Dr., 409. + + Light, 2. + + Lighting. (See Lamps and Gas.) + + Light Houses, illumination, 105, 410. + + Linotype, 288, 289, 290. + + Linville bridge, 103. + + Lippersheim, 409. + + Liquid air, 216, 217. + + Livingstone, Dr., 221. + + Livingston, Robt., 84, 85. + + Lixiviation, 236. + + Locks, 420-427. + + Locomotives, 82, 83, 84, 88. + + Looms, 293, 297, 302. (See Textiles.) + + Loomis, Mahlen, 150. + + "London Engineering," 288. + + London exhibition, 1851, 470. + + London Times, 283, 285. + + Lontin regulator, 137. + + Lost arts, 219. + + Louis XI., XIV., 254, 255. + + Lowell, Francis C., 298. + + Lowe, T. S. C., gas, 454, 455. + + Lubricants, 237. + + Lyall, James, 306. + + Lyttleton, 442. + + + M. + + MacArthur-Forrest, cyanide process, 236. + + Macaulay, Lord, 10. + + Mackintosh, of Glasgow, 477. + + Machine guns, 269. + + Madersperger, Jos., 312. + + Magdeburg, 193. + + Magic lantern. (See Optics.) + + Magnets and Magnetic Electricity, 112, 122, 123, 124, 130, 133. + + Mail bags and locks, 427. + + Mail service, 427. + + Mail marking, 285. + + Majolica. (See Pottery.) + + Malt, 65, 66. + + Man a tool-using animal, 310. + + Manning, 1831, 37. + + Marble, artificial, 468, 469. + + Marine propulsion, 442. + + Marconi, 151. + + Mariotte's law of gases, 184, 194. + + Markers and cutters, 324. + + Markham, 30. + + Marsland, looms, 301. + + Marr, Wm., 421. + + Martin, Prof., 63. + + Marvin's safes, 421. + + McClure's Magazine, 445, 447. + + McCormick reaper, 37, 38. + + McCallum bridge, 103. + + McKay, ships, 439. + + McKay, shoe machines, 369. + + McMillan bicycle, 433. + + Mary, Queen, 402. + + Mason, Prof. O. T., 458. + + Massachusetts, mills, 298, 369. + + Massachusetts, shoe making, 370. + + Master locks, 423, 426. + + Matches, 199, 200, 201. + + Matting, 309, 312. + + Maudsley, Henry, 243, 349. + + Maurice of Nassau, 255. + + Maurice, Peter, 167. + + Mauser rifle, 269. + + Mausoleum, 34. + + Maxim electric light, 137. + + Maxwell, 417. + + Mayer, Prof., 404. + + Meares, 1800, 35. + + Meat, Preparation of, 55. + + Mechanical powers, 4. + + Medicine and surgery, 70, 71, 72. + + Meigs, General M. C., 102. + + Meikle, 1786, 41. + + Megaphone, 407. + + Melville, David, 452. + + Menai Straits bridges, 96. + + Mendeljeff, 2. + + Menzies of Scotland, 41. + + Mergenthaler, 288. + + Merrimac and Monitor, 268, 441. + + Metals and Metallurgy, 218-239. + + Metal founding, 249. + + Metal working and turning, 240; + boring, planing, 251; + hammering, shaping, 240; + modern metal + working plant, 250. + + Metal, personal ware, buckles, clasps, hooks, buttons, etc., + 250. + + Meters, gas and water, 178. + + Mexico, 281, 292. + + Microphone, 148. + + Microscope, 409. + + Middlings purifier, 49, 50. + + Milk, milkers, 54, 55. + + Millet, 30. + + Mills, 45 to 51. + + Milling, high, low, 49. + + Miller, wood working, 342. + + Miller and Taylor, 81. + + Millwright, The Young, 47. + + Milton, 105, 218. + + Mineral wool, minerals and mining, 373-383. + + Minneapolis mills, 50. + + Mitrailleuses, 269. + + Modern machinery, its commencement, 364. + + Mohl, von, Hugo, 67. + + Moigno, Abbe, 411. + + Mold, aging. (See Chemistry.) + + Moulding. (See Wood-working and Glass making.) + + Monks, 387. + + "Monitor," The, 268, 441. + + Montgolfier, 169. + + Moody, Paul, 298. + + Moors, 253. + + Morin, Genl., 209, 238. + + Morland, Sir Sam'l, 77. + + Morrison, Chas., 115. + + Morse, S. B. F., 126, 127, 128, 129. + + Mortars, 253. + + Mortise making, 345. + + Morton, Dr. W. T. G., 71. + + Motor vehicles, 435. + + Mont Cenis Tunnel, 107. + + Mowers, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39. + + Moxon, Jos., 242. + + Mozart, 402. + + Murdock, Wm., 185, 452. + + Music, 400-406. + + Musical instruments, 6, 400. + + Musical electrical apparatus, 406. + + Muschenbroeck, Prof., 1745, 114, 115. + + Mushet, iron and steel, 234. + + Muskets. (See Ordnance.) + + Muzzle loaders, 263, 264. + + + N. + + National Assembly, France, 9. + + Napoleon. (See Bonaparte.) + + Naphtha, 454. + + Nasmyth, 243, 245. + + Needle, 310, 313. + + Needle gun, 266. + + Niedringhaus, 468. + + Netting. (See Spinning.) + + Newcomen, 5, 77, 78, 79, 167, 187. + + Newbold, Chas., 19. + + Newbury, Wm., 348. + + Newton, Sir Isaac, 9, 11, 61, 114, 167, 183, 414. + + Niagara bridges, 97, 98, 104. + + Niagara power, 171, 172. + + Nicholson and Carlisle, 118. + + Nicholson, Wm., of England, 282. + + Nickel. (See Metallurgy.) + + Niepce, Jas. N., 415. + + Nitro-glycerine, 270. + + Noah's Ark, 438. + + Nobel, A., 192. + + Nollet, Prof., 132. + + Noria, The, 165. + + Norway, 266, 430, 439. + + Nozzles, flexible, 174; + water, 179. + + + O. + + Oersted, 121, 130. + + Ogle, 1822, 36. + + Ohm, G. S., 125. + + Oils and fats, 69. + + Oil cloth, 306. + + Oil lamps, 359. + + Oil stoves and furnaces, 190, 212. + + Oiling waves, 446. + + Oil wells, 190, 382. + + Omnibus. (See Stages and Carriers.) + + Opening and blowing machines, cotton, 299. + + Opthalmoscope, 411. + + Optical instruments, 409-412. + + Ordnance, arms, explosives, 252 to 272. + + Ores, treatment of, 229, 250, 251, 373 to 380. + + Ore separators, 379. (See Metallurgy.) + + Organs, 404. + + Ornamental iron work. (See Metal Working.) + + Ornamental wood work. (See Wood Working.) + + Oscillating engines. (See Steam.) + + Osmund furnaces. (See Metallurgy.) + + Otis elevators, 155. + + Otto, Nicolaus A., Otto engine, 190, 191. + + Oxygen, 58, 453. (See Priestley.) + + + P. + + Paddle wheels and vessels, 443. + + Paints, 466. + + Painting, 418, 419, 459. + + Painting machines, 193, 418, 467. + + Paixhans, Genl., 261, 264. + + Page, Prof. C. G., 132, 141. + + Page, Ralph, 224. + + Palissy, Bernard, 458. + + Palmer, stage-coaches, 429. + + Palladius, 32. + + Panoramas, 415. + + Paper and printing, 273-291. + + Paper bag machinery, 279. + + Papin, 5, 77, 184, 192, 193. + + Papyrus, 273, 274. + + Paraffine. (See Oils.) + + Parchment, 274. + + Parkinson, Thos., 194. + + Parliament, House of, 209. + + Parquetry. (See Wood-working.) + + Parrott, gun, 264. + + Parthenon, 373. + + Partridge, Reuben, matches, 200. + + Pascal, 166, 168, 170, 183. + + Pasteur, 68. + + Patents, their origin and purpose, 8, 21. + + Pattern making. (See Wood, Metal, and Textiles.) + + Pauley, Col., 266. + + Pegs, 367, 368. + + Pencils, 418. + + Pendulum. (See Horology.) + + Pendulum machines, 365. + + Penelope, 306. + + Pennsylvania fireplace, 203. + + Percussion caps, 259, 260. + + Percy. (See Metallurgy.) + + Permutation locks, 425. + + Pernot, 234. + + Perin & Co., saws, 348. + + Persians, 362. + + Petroleum, 359, 382. + + Petzold, 403. + + Pfaff, 121. + + Pharos of Alexandria, 34. + + Phelps, G. M., 147. + + Ph[oe]nicians, 439, 459. + + "Ph[oe]nix," The. (See Ships.) + + Phonautograph, 141, 407. + + Phonograph, 2, 406. + + Phonophone, 414. + + Phonoscope, 414. + + Photophone, 414. + + Phosphorus matches, 200. + + Photochromoscope, 417. + + Photography, 410, 414, 416, 418. + + Photo-processes, 417. + + Piano, 6, 401-404. + + Picking machine, 298, 299. + + Picker-motion, looms, 297. + + Piezometer, 262. + + Pigments, 70. + + Pitt, inventor, 1786, 33. + + Pixii, 131. + + Planes, 340, 350. (See Wood-working.) + + Planing machines, 245, 349, 350. (See Wood-working.) + + Plante, G., 120. + + Planters. (See Chap. III.) + + Plaster, 469. + + Plato, 385. + + Platt, Sir Hugh, 14. + + Platt, Senator, 35. + + Pliny, 32, 164, 223, 227, 273, 340. + + Ploughs, 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, + 28, 29, 30. + + Plucknett, 1808, 35. + + Pneumatics, 165, 182 to 198. + + Pneumatic machines, 195, 197, 198. + + Pneumatic propellers, 444. + + Pneumatic tires, 433. + + Pneumatic tubes and transmission, 159, 196. + + Polemoscope, 413. + + Polishing glass, 475. + + Pope, Alexander, 394. + + Porcelain, 465, 466. + + Poririer (match machine), 201. + + Porta Baptista, 414. + + Porta G. della, 75. + + Portable engines, 88. + + Potato planters, 28. + + Potassium, 236. + + Potter, Humphrey, 78. + + Pottery, 457-469. + + Pousard, 465. + + Powder, 253. + + Power, measure of, 187. + + Prehistoric inventions. (See beginning of each Chapter.) + + Pressing machines, 51, 52, 53. + + Priestley, 58, 453, 477. + + "Princeton," The, 443. + + Printing press, 2, 6, 273-291. + + Prince of Orange, 255. + + Projectiles, 253-270. + + Prometheus, 199, 200. + + Protoplasm, 67. + + Prussia, 266. + + Providence, R. I., Tool Co., 322. + + Psalteries, 401. + + Ptah, 241. + + Puckle's patent breech loader, 258, 259. + + Puddling, 226, 227, 231. + + Pug mills, 461. + + Pullman car, 107. + + Pulp, 275-279. + + Pumps, 187. + + Ptolemy, 428. + + Puillet, 411. + + Puy Guillaume, battle of, 1338, 258. + + Pyramids, 34, 93. + + + Q. + + Quadruplex telegraphy. (See Telegraphy.) + + "Queen Ann's Pocket Piece," 256. + + Queen of Sheba, 326. + + Quern, 45. + + Quilting machine, 324. + + + R. + + Radcliffe, 305. + + Radiation and radiators, 205, 206. + + Railways, rails and tracks, 106, 108; + cars, 108, 109; + frogs, 108. + + Railway cars, 436, 437. + + Rakes. (See Agriculture.) + + Ramage Press, 281. + + Ramseye, David, 1630, 76. + + Ramelli, Cardan, 75. + + Ramsey, David, 1738, 168, 389. + + Ram, water. (See Pumps.) + + Randolph, David M., 367. + + Randolph, Elder and Co., 440. + + Ranges. (See Stoves.) + + Range finder, 413. + + Raphael, 418. + + Rawhides. (See Leather.) + + Read, Nathan, 1791, 87. + + Reapers. (See Harvesters, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38.) + + Reichenbach, 382. + + Reis, Prof., 141, 407. + + Refining metals, 227. + + Refrigeration, 213, 214, 216. + + Regenerators, 465. + + Regenerative furnace. (See Metallurgy, also, 464.) + + Registers, 395. + + Regulators, Electric, 137; + time, 137. + + Rennie, 244. + + Repeating watches, 389. + + Reservoirs, 166, 180. + + Resonators, 404. + + Revault, 1605, 75. + + Revolvers. (See Fire Arms.) + + Rhode Island, 298. + + Ribbon making, 306. + + Rickel, Dr., 451. + + Rider bridge, 103. + + Riehle, testing mach., 398. + + Rifles, 258, 259, 260. + + Rifled cannon, 262, 263. + + Ring frame-spinning, 302. + + Ritter, 118, 121. + + Riveting, 176. + + Road carriage, steam, 83. + + Roads, 106, 107. + + Road making, 106. + + Robia, Luca della, 459. + + Robert, Louis, 276. + + Roberts, 244. + + Rock drilling, 107. + + Rockers, ore, 235. + + Rockets, 253. + + Rodman, General, gun, 264. + + Roebling, John A., engineer, 98, 99. + + Roebling, Washington, 98, 100. + + Roentgen, X rays, 149. + + Rohes, M. Beau de, 189. + + Rogers, Saml. B., metallurgist, 229, 230. + + Rogers, type maker, 289. + + Roller press, 283, 284. + + Roman arts, inventions, etc., 10, 13, 14, 45, 93, 164, 166, + 178, 202, 274, 457, 459. + + Rookwood pottery, 467. + + Romagnosi, G. D., 121. + + Roscoe, Prof. (See Chemistry.) + + Rose, H., 238. + + Rotary engines. (See Steam.) + + Rotary printing press, 284. (See Printing.) + + Rotary pumps. (See Water and Steam Eng.) + + Roving, spinning, 298, 299. + + Rubber, 69, 434. + + Ruhmkorff coil, 132. + + Rumford, Count, 63. + + Rumsey, James, 81, 168. + + Russia, 40, 254, 430. + + Russian leather, 362. + + Rust, Saml., 282. + + Ruth, 16. + + + S. + + Sabot, projectiles, 262, 263. + + Safes and locks, 420-427. + + Safety valves, 87. + + Saint, Thomas, sewing machine, 311. + + Salman, scales maker, 396. + + Salonen, 1807, mower, 36. + + Samians and Samos, 459. + + Sand blast, 332, 334, 475. + + Sand filters. (See Filters.) + + Sandwich, Earl, 1699, 25. + + Saracens, 274. + + Sarnstrom, Prof., 234. + + Savery, Thos., 5, 77. + + Saws, 340, 341, 342, 348, 351. + + Saw mills, 341, 342. + + Saxton, Jos., 131. + + Scales, 395. + + Scaliger, 183. + + Scandinavians, 363. + + Scarborough, 85. + + Schilling, Baron, 126. + + Schoenbein, 270. + + Schapper, Hartman, 241. + + Schoeffer, Peter, 270. + + Schreiber, 403. + + Schrotter (matches), 200. + + Schweigger, S. C., 126. + + Scoops, 178. + + Scotland, 19, 20, 33. + + Scott, phonautograph, 141, 407. + + Scott, Sir Walter, 45, 80. + + Scott, Gen. W., 260. + + Scott, Rich'd, 420. + + Scouring machines. (See Leather and Cloth, and Grain.) + + Screw, Archimedean. (See Ships and Propeller.) + + Screw, press, 52. + + Screw propeller, 85, 443. + + Screw making, 245, 246. + + Scythians, 362, 428. + + Scythes, 32, 33, 35. + + Seed drills, 24, 25, 26, 27. + + Seely, F. A., 3. + + Self-playing Instruments, 406. + + Seguin, 83. + + Sellers, Wm., 234, 247. + + Separators, Grain, 48, 49; + milk, 54; + ore, 379. (See Mills.) + + Seppings, Sir Robert, 440. + + Serrin, 137. + + Serviere, 166. + + Seward, Wm. H., 3. + + Seven Wonders, The, 34, 35. + + Sewing machines, 311-323. + + Sewer construction, 107. + + Shades and screens, 356. + + Shaping machines, 245. + + Sharp's carbine, 267. + + Shaw, Joshua, 260. + + Sheele, 415. + + Sheet metal ware, 250. + + Shells, 264. + + Shingle making, 350. + + Shinar, Brick making in, 457. + + Ships, war, and others, 261, 343, 438-449. + + Shoes and machinery, 365-371. + + Sholes, inventor, type writing, 286. + + Shrapnel, 259. + + Shuttles, 293. (See Textiles.) + + Sickle, 32, 33. + + Side wheel steamboats, 85. + + Siemens, Dr. Werner, 133. + + Siemens, Wm., Sir., 144, 171. + + Siemens and Halske, 144, 146. + + Siemens, C. L., 147, 234, 465. + + Silk making. (See Spinning.) + + Silk, artificial. (See Glass.) + + Silver, 219. + + Singer, sewing machine, 319, 320. + + Sinking shafts, Mode of, 106, 107. + + Skiving. (See Leather.) + + Slade, J. T., 155. + + Slater, Thomas, 298. + + Slaughtering, 55. + + Sleighs, 430, 431. + + Slide, rest, 243, 349. + + Slotting machines, 245. + + Small arms, 266. (See Ordnance.) + + Small, Jas., 1784, 18. + + Smeaton, 87, 105. + + Smelting, 220. (See Metallurgy.) + + Smiles, Self Help, 95. + + Smith & Wesson, revolvers, 269. + + Snellus, 234. + + Snow ploughs, 109. + + Soda, pulp, 278. + + Solarmeter, 413. + + Solomon's temple, 242. + + Somerset, Marquis of Worcester. (See Steam.) + + Sound, 406. (See Acoustics.) + + Sowing, 23. + + Spanish inventions, 25, 75, 253, 274, 280, 292. + + Spectacles. (See Optics.) + + Spectrum, analysis, 60, 61, 62, 63, 412. + + Spectroscope, 2, 412. + + Speed Indicators, 396. + + Spencer, gun, 267. + + Spencer, metal coating, 249. + + Spinet, 402. + + Spinning, 6, 292, 296, 300. (See Textiles.) + + "Spinning Jenny," 297. + + Spinning Mule, 297, 300. + + "Spiritalia," 404. + + Splitting, leather, 366. + + Spooling, 302. + + Springfield musket, 268. + + Spun glass. (See Spinning and 474.) + + Stamp mills and metal working, 236, 250. + + Standard time, 394. + + Stanhope, Earl, 282. + + St. Gothard tunnel, 107. + + St. Louis bridge, 102. + + Steam engines, 2, 5, 73 to 95; + boilers, 86; + heating, 207; + pumps, 79, 81, 88. + + Steam ships, 2, 84, 85, 440. + + Stearns, 145. + + Steel, manufacture of. (See Metallurgy.) + + Steinheil, 126, 412. + + Steinway, pianos, 403. + + Stenographing, 290. + + Stereoscope, 410, 411. + + Stereotyping, 281. + + Sterilisation, 54, 213. + + Stephenson, Geo., 82, 83, 84, 85, 98. + + Stephenson, Robert, 98, 100, 101, 155. + + Stevens, John C., 84, 85, 86, 443. + + Stevinus, 166. + + Stitching machines. (See Sewing.) + + Stocking making, 307. + + Stone cutting, carving and dressing, 374, 375. + + Stone crushing, 376. + + Stone, artificial, 468. + + Storage battery, 120. + + Storm, W. M. (Gunpowder Engine,) 192. + + Store service, 152, 153, 158, 159. + + Stoves, 200-206. + + Street, Robert, 185. + + Street sweeping, 331. + + Stow, 350. + + Stueckofen, metallurgy, 224. + + Sturgeon, inventor, 122, 123, 124. + + Sturtevant, B. F. (shoes), 368. + + Submarine blasting, etc., 107. + + Suez canal, 107. + + Sugar, 69. + + Sun-dial, 384. + + Subdivision of labor, 392. (See Ordnance and Sewing Machines.) + + Surgery and instruments, 70. + + Suspension bridges, 95, 96-100. + + Swan, light, 137. + + Sweden, 266. + + Sweeping machines, 331. + + Swiss manufactures, (See Watches, etc.) + + Switzerland, 16, 46, 391. + + Symington, 81, 83, 85. + + Syphon recorder, 139. + + + T. + + T-rail, 108. + + Tables, 354. (See Furniture.) + + Tachenius, 58. + + Tack making, 344. + + Tainter, C. S., 408, 414. + + Takamine, 68. + + Talus, or Perdix, saw inventor, 340. + + Tanning. (See Leather.) + + Tapestry, 275. + + Teasling, 306. + + Tedders, 40. + + Telegraph, 124-128, 139, 140. + + Telegraphic pictures, 419. + + Telephone, 2, 140, 141, 142, 406. + + Telescope, 2, 409. + + Telpherage, 144. + + Telford, 95, 96. + + Tennyson, 67. + + Tesla, 145. + + Testing machines, 398. + + Textiles, 292-309. + + Thermo-electricity, 112, 120. + + Theodore of Samos, 340. + + Thimonnier, 313. + + Thomson, Sir Wm., 63, 139. + + Thompson, Robt. Wm., 433, 435. + + Thompson & Houston, 137. + + "Three color process," 417. + + Thread making. (See Spinning.) + + Threshing machines, 40, 41. + + Throstle, 296. + + Thurston, Prof. R. H., 86. + + Tiles, 350. + + Tilghman, B. F., sand blast, 332, 475. + + Time locks, 425. + + Time measuring of the ancients, 384. + + Tissier, 238. + + Tobacco and machinery, 55, 56, 57. + + Tools, primitive, 310, 328, 339. + + Torpedo vessels, 271, 445. + + Torpedoes, 271. + + Torricelli, 166, 183. + + Tour, Cagniard de la, 65. + + Towne's lattice bridge, 103. + + Traction railways and engines, 436. + + Transplanters, 29. + + Transportation, 107, 109. + + Treadwell, Daniel, 284. + + Tresca, M., 247. + + Trevithick, Richard, 81, 82. + + Tripler, C. E., liquid air, 216. + + Trolley lines. (See Electric, etc.) + + Trough batteries. (See Electricity.) + + Truss bridges, 102, 103. + + Tubal Cain, 218, 239. + + Tubes and tubing, making, 248. + + Tubular bridges, 100, 102. + + Tull, Jethro, 1680-1740, 14, 25. + + Tungsten. (See Metals.) + + Tunnels, 106, 107. + + Turbines, 89, 168, 171, 172. + + Turning, Art of, 242, 339, 344. + + Tusser, Thomas, 14. + + Tweddle, 176. + + Twine binders. (See Harvesters.) + + Twinings (inventor, refrigerator), 215. + + Tympanum, 164. + + Tyndall, John, 411, 412. + + Type, 280, 281. + + Type Distributor, 279. + + Type setter, 278, 279. + + Type writers, 6, 286. + + + V. + + Vail, Alfred, 126. + + Valerius, 388. + + Valves, valve gear, 87, 89. + + Vapor engines, 190-192. + + Vapor stoves, 200-206, 212. + + Varley, Alfred, 133. + + Varro, 32. + + Vegetable cutters, 51. + + Velocipedes, 431. + + Venetians, 280. + + Ventilation, 209. + + Veneering, 351. + + Vestibule cars, 437. + + Vick, Henry de, clockmaker, 387. + + Victoria bridge. (See Bridges.) + + Vienna, 38. + + Vienna exposition, 348. + + Vince, Leonardo de, 75. + + Virgil, 32. + + Virginal, 6, 402. + + Vitruvius, 227. + + Volta, voltaic electricity, 112, 117, 118, 112 to 120, 125, 133, 134, + 249. + + Von Alteneck, H., 138. + + Von Drais, 432. + + Vortex theory, 2; + Vortex wheel, 171. + + Voting machines, 395. + + Vulcan, 246. + + Vulcanisation. (See Rubber.) + + + W. + + Waggons, 431. + + Walker, John (matches), 200. + + Walker, Joseph, 367. + + Wales, Thos. C., 477. + + Wallace and Maxim, 137. + + Wall paper, 275, 279. + + Walter, John, 285. + + Watches, 391. (See Clocks.) + + Waltham watches, 393. + + War, effect on by inventions, 271, 272. + + Washington, 15, 16. + + Washing and ironing machines, 335-338. + + Wasp, first paper maker, 273. + + Watches. (See Horology.) + + Water. (See Hydraulics.) + + Water clocks, 385, 386. + + Water closets, 178. + + Water distribution, 167, 178; + gas, 454. + + Water wheels, 165; + mills, 167; + engines, 178. + + Water frame. (See Spinning.) + + Water metres, 178; + scoops, 178. + + Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry, 59. + + Watt, James, 5, 8, 78, 79, 80, 81, 86, 154, 167, 170, 176, + 182, 203, 206, 296, 341, 460. + + Watson, Bishop, 451. + + Weaving, 6, 292, 304. (See Textiles.) + + Weaver's shuttle, 307. + + Weber piano, 403. + + Webster, Daniel, 91. + + Wedgwood, 459, 460, 464. + + Weeks, Jos., 364. + + Weighing, scales, etc., 396, 397, 398. + + Weisenthal, C. F., 310, 312. + + Welding, 248. + + Wellington, Duke of, 83. + + Wells, making and boring of, 373, 379-383; + driven, 382; + Artesian, 381. + + Welsbach lamp, 456. + + Westinghouse, electric light, 137, 138. + + Weston, Sir Richard, 14. + + Weston, electrician, 137. + + West (destroyer of bacteria), 213. + + Whaleback ships, 438. + + Wheat, its cultivation, 25, 26. + + Wheatstone, Chas., 127, 133, 146, 147, 410. + + Wheeler and Wilson, 319. + + Wheelbarrow, seeder, 24. + + Whewell, 166. + + Whitehurst, Geo., 168. + + Whitney, Eli, cotton gin, 42, 43, 297. + + Whitworth, Sir J., 244, 246, 263. + + Wilde, electric magnet, 133. + + Wilder, safes, 421. + + Wilkes, 277. + + William of Malmesbury, 75. + + Wilson, A. B., sewing machinery, 319. + + Wilson, Genl. John M., 180. + + Winchester rifle, 267. + + Wind mills, wheels, etc., 404. (See Mills.) + + Window glass, window screens, 359. + + Wine making. (See Chemistry.) + + Winter, Sir John, 225. + + Wire working, 250. + + Wire wound gun, 263. + + Wireless telegraphy, 150, 151. + + Wolf, aeronaut, 447. + + Woehler, chemist, 238. + + Wollaston, 60, 249, 412. + + Woodbridge, Dr. W. E., 262, 263. + + Woodbury, Oscar D. and E. C., 330. + + Woodworth, Wm., planing machinery, 349. + + Wood, lathe turning, 344. + + Wood, bending and trenting of, 347, 352, 356. + + Wood working machinery, 242, 339, 352, 369. + + Woods, variety and beauty, 352. + + Wood carving, 346. + + Wool. (See Spinning, Weaving, Textiles.) + + Wool, mineral, 474, 480. + + Wooden shoes, making of, 367. + + Worcester, Marquis of, 5, 75, 77, 81. + + Work shop, a modern, 251. + + World's fair, 1851, 36, 38. + + Woven goods, variety of, 308, 309. + + Wright (gas engine), 188. + + Wren, architect, 209. + + Wyatt of Lichfield, 294, 295. + + + X. + + X rays, 149, 150. + + Xyloplasty, 347. + + + Y. + + Yale, Linus, Jr., locks, 425. + + Yankee clippers, 438. + + Yarn. (See Weaving, etc.) + + Yeast, 65. + + York, Duke of, 124, 125. + + Young of America, 63, 417. + + Young, Arthur, 1741-1800, 14, 15. + + Youmans, Prof., 450. + + + Z. + + Zanon, 1764, 24. + + Zech, Jacob, 388. + + Zeppelin, Count, 446. + + Zimmermann, self-playing pianos, 406. + + Zinc, 236. + + Zinc batteries. (See Electricity.) + + + + +THE NINETEENTH CENTURY SERIES. + +_Price 5s. each net._ + + + Religious Progress in the Century. + By W. H. Withrow, M. A., D. D., F. R. S. C. + + Literature of the Century. + By Professor A. B. de Mille, M. A. + + Progress of South Africa in the Century. + By George McCall Theal, D. Lit., LL. D. + + Medicine, Surgery, and Hygiene in the Century. + By Ezra Hurlburt Stafford, M. D. + + Progress of India, Japan, and China in the Century. + By Sir Richard Temple, Bart., LL. D., &c. + + Progress of the United States of America in the Century. + By Prof. Wm. Peterfield Trent, M. A., LL. D. + + Continental Rulers in the Century. + By Percy M. Thornton, LL. B., M. P. + + British Sovereigns in the Century. + By T. H. S. Escott, M. A. + + Progress of British Empire in the Century. + By James Stanley Little. + + Progress of Canada in the Century. + By J. Castell Hopkins, F. S. S. + + Progress of Australasia in the Century. + By T. A. Coghlan, F. S. S., and Thomas T. Ewing. + + Progress of New Zealand in the Century. + By R. F. Irvine, M. A., and O. T. J. Alpers, M. A. + + Political Progress of the Century. + By Thomas Macknight. + + Discoveries and Explorations of the Century. + By Professor C. G. D. Roberts, M. A. + + Economic and Industrial Progress of the Century. + By H. de Beltgens Gibbins, D. Lit., M. A., F. R. G. S. + + Inventions of the Century. + By William H. Doolittle. + + Wars of the Century, and the Development of Military Science. + By Professor Oscar Browning, M. A. + + Naval Battles of the Century. + By Rear-Admiral Francis John Higginson. + + Naval Development of the Century. + By Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, K. C. B. + + Presidents of the United States in the Century (from Jefferson to + Fillmore). + By Francis Bellamy. + + Presidents of the United States in the Century (from Pierce to + McKinley). + Francis Knowles. + + The Fine Arts in the Century. + By William Sharp. + + Progress of Education in the Century. + By James Laughlin Hughes and Louis R. Klemm, Ph. D. + + Temperance and Social Progress of the Century. + By the Hon. John G. Woolley, M. A. + + Progress of Science in the Century. + By Professor J. Arthur Thomson, M. A. + + + + +Edinburgh: + +Printed by W. & R. Chambers, Limited. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Inventions in the Century, by +William Henry Doolittle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INVENTIONS IN THE CENTURY *** + +***** This file should be named 36776.txt or 36776.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/7/36776/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Stephanie Kovalchik and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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