CHAPTER XI

INVENTION AND GROWTH OF LIBERAL GOVERNMENT, AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

While the period from 1800 to 1850 was alive with inventions of many sorts, it was alive also with the economic changes which the inventions caused and with political changes also. It was in the United States of America that the greatest changes of all kinds came. This was to be expected from the fact that before 1800 the United States were considerably behind the countries of Europe from which their own civilization had been derived; whereas in 1850, they had been able to get abreast of them, by reason of the quickness of transportation and communication that ocean steamers gave, and the energy and enterprise of the new American nation. During the period from 1800 till 1850, the United States went through three successful wars; one with Great Britain, one with Algiers and one with Mexico. They expanded also over a considerably greater territory, acquired a much greater population, added new states, and showed such aptitude in scientific discovery and invention as to achieve a place in the first rank of nations in this particular.

The Constitution of the United States may be characterized as a great invention, in the meaning of the word which is used in this book; and until 1850, it had worked with a success that surprised many of the statesmen and scholars of Europe. The problems placed before the nation had been many, various and difficult; but all had been solved with a sufficient degree of success for practical purposes; and the resulting situations had, on the whole, been met with courage, energy and intelligence. The Monroe Doctrine had been treated with respect, if not with entire acquiescence; the conduct of the Navy in the War of 1812 had demonstrated to Europe the fighting ability of our people; our scientific men, such as Franklin and Henry, ranked as high as any who had ever lived in any country; certain of our statesmen such as Franklin, held equal rank with statesmen anywhere; and the invention and first use of the electric telegraph had put America ahead of every other country in inventions of a basic kind.

When we realize the rapid growth of the United States in the half century 1800-1850, and realize also that it was a growth almost _ab initio_, and note that the engineering materials of all kinds and all the knowledge of science in the country had come from Europe, we must admit that it is to the influence of invention, more than to any other one thing, that we owe the rapid progress of our country. As is the case with individuals, nations are prone to extol their own successes, and to take the entire credit for them. Americans are apt to thank themselves only for their amazing progress; but, in fairness, they should admit that without the inventions made in Europe and by Europeans, they would have had no means for even starting. The first locomotive used in the United States was brought from England.

In Great Britain, the wars with France were under full headway in 1800, and her statesmen knew that she was faced with a danger so great that only the most strenuous exertions, and the utmost naval and military skill could overcome it. This danger was not overcome till the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Thereafter, the progress of the nation was fairly quiet and assured, the main difficulties centering in the deplorable condition of the working classes, serious disturbances in Ireland and the mutiny in India.

In few matters has the influence of invention been greater than in the relations between Great Britain and India. In 1564 a company called the Merchant Adventurers had been formed for competing with the merchants of Spain, Venice, Holland and other countries. A company coming into existence shortly afterward was the East India Company, formed for trading with India, Persia, Arabia and the islands in the Indian Ocean. The company was chartered by the Crown and had a monopoly of a certain territory. The object was that the company should not only make money for itself, but promote the welfare of Great Britain and her subjects, by taking out manufactured goods, and bringing back raw materials and coin. During the seventeenth century, naval wars took place with Holland, and in the eighteenth century with France; both originating in commercial and colonial rivalry--especially in regard to India. Both wars were won by Great Britain. The Seven Years' War in particular ended to the advantage of Great Britain, as regards India; for France was left with only a few trading stations. By 1773, the East India Company was in virtual control of India; but in 1784 William Pitt secured political control of it by the Government. Napoleon realized the importance of India and sent an army there to recover control, but without success. The Crimean War that began in 1853 between Russia and Turkey was joined by Great Britain in 1854 because she feared that Russia would flank the British route to India through the projected Suez Canal. This war ended to the advantage of Great Britain, and the danger to India was removed.

Now the whole area of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is only about 121,000 square miles, while that of India is about 1,803,000, nearly fifteen times as great. The population of the United Kingdom in 1917 was about 45,370,000, while that of India was about 315,156,000, or nearly seven times as great. Yet Great Britain has secured the complete mastery of India! How has she been able to do it? The easiest answer would be that the British are a "superior" people. Even if they are, such an answer would explain nothing, unless the means be indicated by which the superiority was made effective in conquering India. The superiority evidently did not consist in courage or physical strength, which were obvious factors in achieving the victories in the field that were necessary, for those qualities were shown equally by the Indians. But if we should answer that the British succeeded for the reason that they could bring to bear superior weapons, equipments, means of transportation, means of communication, methods of organization and methods of operation, we evidently would explain what happened adequately and convincingly. Now all these facilities the British had available; they had been invented and were ready.

One of the important influences of invention on history therefore, has been to give Great Britain control of India.

In France, the changes in economic and political conditions rivaled the changes that one sees take place in Sir David Brewster's kaleidoscope. In 1800 Napoleon had been First Consul, in 1804 emperor, in 1814 an emperor and then an exile, in 1815 an emperor and then an exile. France was a kingdom from then until 1848, and then a republic till 1852, when she again became an empire, under Napoleon III. The virtual anarchy following the Revolution had been crushed out and replaced with order; and the menace to republican institutions had been removed by the genius of Napoleon I, who then established an autocracy of a kind that, though arbitrary, was so wise and broad-viewed as to be beneficent on the whole. The result of all was that in 1850, France was in a condition of civilization and prosperity that was amazing to one who remembered the conditions of 1800.

When we analyze the causes of the evolution of order and prosperity out of the conditions of 1793, and the later conditions of 1800, we can hardly fail to realize the greatest single cause was the same cause as that of Napoleon's victories. It was the mind that conceived and developed and brought forth; the mind that invented so amazingly.

That many other causes may be named need hardly be pointed out. In the complex affairs of human life, every result is the resultant of many causes; but in most of those affairs, most of those causes are always present; so that we have to find an unusual cause to explain an unusual condition or event. It would be easy to say that the cause of France's return to a condition of law and order was that the condition of anarchy was abnormal; and that France simply returned to her normal state, as a wave does after it has risen above or fallen below the level of the sea. But would this be true? Is the condition of anarchy more abnormal than the condition of law and order? Which was the condition of primitive man? Which is an artificial product of man's invention? Is it not logical to conclude from the record of invention's influence that it was man's inventions that brought into existence the artificial condition of law and order which existed in France prior to 1793, and that it was also man's inventions that restored it afterward? Three ideas were conceived in France and developed into the Revolution: these ideas were the principles of equality, of the sovereignty of the people and of nationality. After the overthrow of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna met to readjust the affairs of Europe. The Congress seems to have conceived the idea of preventing the carrying out of those principles as their first starting point, and to have developed that idea with fixed determination. The Commissioners endeavored to restore everything to its condition before the Revolution, and to discredit the principles conceived and developed in France. They succeeded in accomplishing their intent, so far as remaking political boundaries, etc., was concerned; but they did not succeed in discrediting the principles. A great picture had been made in the minds of men, and the Commissioners could not wipe it out. As a result, three revolutions took place in 1820, 1830 and 1848, of which the second was more important than the first, and the third was more important than the second.

Shortly after the fall of Napoleon, the Czar Alexander, with the emperor of Austria and the king of Prussia, invented the Holy Alliance. It was in pretense an alliance to advance the cause of religion, and to reduce to practice in political affairs the teachings of Christ; but it was in intention a league against the spread of the ideas embodied in the French Revolution. The League was not successful in the end, for the picture of liberty made in the minds of men was too brilliant and too deeply printed to be wiped out. One of the results of the Holy Alliance was the invention by the United States of the Monroe Doctrine which was made to prevent that intervention in affairs on the American continent which the proceedings of the Alliance foreshadowed.

Italy was very harshly treated by the Congress of Vienna, two of her largest provinces in the north being given to Austria, who forthwith proceeded then to try to control the entire peninsula. In 1820, a revolution broke out in Italy, but it was soon suppressed. Another broke out in 1830, simultaneous with that in France; and this was also suppressed. The third, in 1848, met a similar fate. But the revolutions in France were successful; the one of 1848 resulting in the formation of a republic. At the same time, a sympathetic revolution in Germany was in a measure successful also.

In Germany, the formation of the German Confederation in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna was the formation of a kind of political body that has never lasted long; for no political body has ever lasted long, except an actual and definite nation. The various components of the German Confederation were too loosely bound together. This invention, like others of mechanical machines, was not a practical invention because the machine invented was too easily thrown out of adjustment. The Customs Union was invented in 1828 to supply the necessary element of coherency. It was hardly adequate for its task, at the time; but it made the people think of national union; an idea that was finally developed in 1871.

In Russia, considerable progress was made from 1800 to 1850, though not so much as in the countries farther west. An adequate reason would seem to be that there were too few minds, in proportion to the entire population, that were able to conceive and develop the ideas that are needed to make progress.

During this half-century, while the names of many men stand out as having done constructive work in invention and discovery, and while many great statesmen existed, the names of three statesmen stand out more brightly than the rest: Pitt, Talleyrand and Metternich. Each had the mind to conceive, develop and produce; and each did conceive, develop and produce. Of the three, William Pitt was, according to almost any accepted standard by far the greatest, and Talleyrand was second. Without the force and guidance of such a mind as Pitt possessed and utilized, it is hard to estimate what would have been the rôle of England in the Napoleonic wars, and what would have been her fate. In the actual course of events, it was England that announced the "mate in four moves" to Napoleon at Trafalgar, and that finally checkmated him at Waterloo. True, Pitt died long before Waterloo; but the policy which he conceived and developed was the policy which was followed; and the influence of his mind lived in almost unabated strength after his poor, frail body had ceased to live.

Talleyrand seems to have been what I have asked permission to call an "opportunistic inventor"; quick to conceive, develop and produce plans for meeting difficult situations as they arose, but without any ultimate objective, or any moral or other principles of any kind. Metternich, on the other hand, though lacking the brilliancy of Talleyrand, exerted his talents devotedly to the interests of his country, as he saw them. But he failed to realize how deep the ideas of the French Revolution had been engraved in the minds of men, and finally saw the Machine of the Austrian Government almost destroyed in 1848. He himself was forced to flee; and the Emperor was forced to abdicate in favor of his nephew, who granted the people a Constitution, in order to save the Machine. In Prussia, affairs went almost as far as in Austria, though not nearly so far as in France. The Machine in Prussia was saved by the promise of the granting of a constitution.

The main ultimate political result of the agitations of all kinds during the half century 1800 to 1850, was the granting to greater numbers of people of a part in directing the affairs of State. In France, the whole Machine of Civilization had been menaced with destruction in the years just previous to 1800; but destruction had not resulted, and actual improvement had been begun by 1800, though in an experimental and tentative way. During the fifty years now under consideration, the idea conceived and developed in France spread to all other civilized countries; and in all those countries it exercised its benignant influence, especially in the new nation across the Atlantic, the United States of America. Reciprocally, the news of the formation of that republic, and the adoption of its Constitution in 1787, had exercised considerable influence in giving support to the idea of the people of France, although the United States of America was very far away indeed, and her experiment in government was as yet untried. Then, as the years went by, between 1800 and 1850, and as the American experiment became increasingly successful, and as the ocean steamships brought prompt and adequate information about all of its developments, the American idea joined with the French idea, to advance the cause of government by the people.

It may be pointed out here that the discoveries in the physical sciences and the utilization of those discoveries in the invention of material instruments and mechanisms were more fruitful in creations of a permanent and definite character than were the achievements of statesmen, generals, admirals and "opportunistic inventors" in general. The same remark is true of discoveries and inventions in systems of government, ethics and religion. These also have developed monuments of extraordinary permanency; witness, for instance, the inventions of the kingdom, of democracy and of the Buddhist, Shinto, Taoist, Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan religions. The distinctive feature in securing permanency seems to have been the intent to secure it. The sudden conception, development and production of a campaign, political maneuvre or business enterprise, seems to have produced a creature that was merely a temporary expedient, adapted only to meet emergencies that themselves were temporary.

This does not mean that the influence of these temporary expedients has not sometimes been great: it does not mean, for instance, that the influence of the victory at Salamis was not great. It does not mean to deny the plain fact that it has been the succession of the results of temporary expedients that has brought affairs to the condition in which they are today. It does mean, however, that the actual pieces of the existing Machine of Civilization are the permanent inventions which have been made; while the opportunistic inventions have in some cases prevented, and in other cases have furthered, the making of those inventions, and the incorporation of them in the Machine. The invention of printing, for instance, produced an actual part of the Machine; while the successful wars waged by civilized nations with the gun against savages, barbarians and peoples of a lower order of civilization, made possible the further development of printing, and its continual use in upbuilding the Machine. The use of the opportunistic inventions seems to have been in assisting the inventors of permanent creations and in directing the efforts of the operators of the Machine.

An analogue can be found in the case of the invention, development and operation of the smaller machines of every-day life: the inventor of each machine merely invents that machine; when he has done this his work is virtually finished. When his machine is put to work (say, an electric railroad) the operators carry on the various routine tasks; just as the president of a bank operates his bank, or the president of a nation administers the affairs of the nation. But there arise occasions when something goes wrong, when something besides supplying coal and oil and electricity is necessary for the successful running of the railroad, when something more than routine administration is required of the president of the bank, or the president of the nation. Then the ingenious and bright mechanic or electrician invents a practical scheme for circumventing the difficulty with the railroad; or Napoleon invents a campaign to save the French Republic.

In 1855 Taupenot made the important invention of dry-plate photography, by which dry plates can be prepared and kept ready for use when needed, and Michaux invented the bicycle. Both of these were fairly important contributions of a practical kind; so was Woodruff's invention of the sleeping-car, and so was Perkins's discovery of aniline dyes, both of which came in 1856. None of these was a brilliant invention, though each was a useful one. But they were immediately followed by one of a high order of brilliancy and usefulness, Siemens's regenerative furnace, in which the waste heat of the combustion gases was utilized to heat the air or gas just entering. In the same year, Kingsland invented a refining engine for use in making paper pulp. In the following year the first ocean-going iron-clad ship of war, _La Gloire_, appeared, and in 1858 the first cable car, invented by E. A. Gardner.

In the same year Giffard invented his famous injector, which performs the feat (seemingly impossible at first thought) of using steam at a certain pressure in a boiler to force water into that same boiler against its own pressure! The explanation of course is that the area of the stream of water that enters the boiler is less than the area of the stream of steam that leaves the boiler. This invention was one of a very high order of brilliancy of conception, excellence of construction and usefulness of final product. It was a valuable contribution to the Machine.

In the same year Cyrus Field of New York succeeded in laying the first Atlantic cable between Ireland and Newfoundland. It is difficult to declare whether this achievement constituted an invention or not, and it may not be so classed by many people. Nevertheless, it created something that had not existed before, and it progressed by the same three stages of conception, development and production by which all inventions progress. It was a contribution of enormous value to the Machine, moreover; for though the first cable was not a practical success, and though the second cable broke while being laid in 1865, it was recovered and re-laid and afterward operated successfully. Since that time, submarine cables have been multiplied to such an extent that there were more than 1800 in operation in 1917, and they formed a network under all the seas. Such important parts of the Machine of Civilization have these submarine cables become that the Machine as it is could not exist without them. That is, it could not have existed before the wireless telegraph came. The wireless telegraph has made the Machine less dependent on submarine cables than it was before, and yet not wholly independent.

In 1858 the _Great Eastern_ was launched, the largest steamship built up to that time. The case of the _Great Eastern_ is interesting from the fact that she was too large to fit in the Machine as it then existed, and that by the time that the Machine had grown large enough the _Great Eastern_ was obsolete!

About 1859, Kirchhoff and Bunsen invented the spectroscope, an optical instrument for forming and analyzing the spectra of the rays emitted by bodies and substances. In 1860 Gaston Planté invented his famous "secondary battery," formed by passing an electric current through a cell composed of two sheets of lead immersed in dilute sulphuric acid, the two sheets separated by non-conducting strips of felt. The acid being decomposed, hydrogen formed on one plate, while oxygen attacked the other plate and formed peroxide of lead. There being now two dissimilar metals in an acid solution, a Voltaic battery had been created, that gave a current which passed through the liquid in a direction the reverse of the current ("charging current") that had caused the change. Planté's secondary battery was an important and practical contribution to the Machine; but the credit for the basic invention does not belong to Planté, but to Sir William Grove, who had invented the "Grove's gas battery." In this battery, two plates of platinum were immersed in dilute acid, and submitted to a charging current that decomposed the liquid and formed an actual though practically ineffective "secondary battery"; the two elements being oxygen and hydrogen.

In the next year Philip Reis invented the singing telephone, by which he could transmit _musical tones_ over considerable distances. Whether or not Philip Reis invented the speaking telephone has been a much controverted question, for the reason that speech was occasionally transmitted over Reis's telephone,--though not by intention. The invention that Reis conceived, developed and produced was a singing telephone only; the apparatus by which he sometimes transmitted speech was his singing telephone, slightly disadjusted. That Reis should have failed to invent the telephone is amazing, in the same sense that it is amazing that Galileo did not invent the thermometer and the barometer; and the fact is extremely instructive in enabling us to see distinctly what constitutes invention. To make an invention, a man must himself create a thing that is new, and produce it in a concrete form, such that "persons skilled in the art can make and use it." Reis did not do this: and yet Philip Reis's telephone could be made to speak in a few seconds, by simply turning a little thumb-screw! Reis did not know this, and consequently could not give the information to "persons skilled in the art." Reis did not invent the speaking telephone, for the fundamental reason that his original conception, although correct for his singing telephone, was wholly incorrect for a speaking telephone; because the speaking telephone requires a continuous current, while Reis's conception included an intermittent current.

Apologies are tendered for going into what may seem a technicality at such great length; but the author wishes to utilize this example to emphasize the importance of the original conception, the image pictured on the mind by the imagination. This original conception is of paramount importance in making inventions, not only of material mechanisms, but of all other things that can be invented, such as religions, laws, systems of government, campaigns, books, paintings, etc., etc. The final product cannot be better than the original conception, except by chance; for even if the development be absolutely perfect, the invention finally brought forth can be only equal to the original conception. It is obvious that the simpler the invention is the more easily it can be made equal to the original conception, and vice versâ. For this reason the stethoscope is a more efficient embodiment of the original conception than is that very inefficient product--the steam engine.

The fact that the final product cannot be better than the original conception (except by chance) is the bottom reason for placing men of fine minds at the head of important organizations. It is the ideas conceived by the man at the head in any walk of life, that are developed by his assistants: at least, this is the intention, in all organizations, and the only efficient procedure. We see an analogue in the actual life of every individual. Now the conception is the work of the imagination, and not of the reasoning faculties: the reasoning faculties develop and construct what the imagination conceives. It is because of this that men of fine mentality sometimes devote their talents to evil ends: their imaginations have conceived evil pictures. Sometimes this is the result of a bad environment in childhood. The environment of Talleyrand's childhood, for instance, caused the conception in his imagination of evil aims.

In 1860 Carré made the important invention of the manufacture of ice with the use of ammonia. In 1861 Craske improved stereotyping by making it possible to reproduce curved printing plates from flat forms of type. Green invented the driven-well in the same year, and McKay invented the shoe-sewing machine.

The most important event of 1861 was the outbreak of the Civil War in America, when the invention of the American Constitution was put to its severest test. It had been known ever since the adoption of the Constitution that the instrument was faulty in not defining clearly the relative rights of the Federal Government and the separate states; but it had been found impossible to secure the assent of a sufficiently large body of citizens to any proposition that defined them clearly; and so the machine of Government had operated for nearly three-quarters of a century, with the disquieting knowledge in the minds of its operators that conditions might put it to a test that would break it down, and perhaps destroy it totally. The most dangerous condition was seen to be the one associated with the question of slavery in the Southern States. This question, and the consequent condition of antagonism between the North and the South, became rapidly worse during the period from 1846 to 1861, when war between them finally broke out.

The war was ultimately decided in favor of the North, despite the fact that the South was much the better prepared; in fact, that the North was wholly unprepared. The main weakness in the Confederate situation was the fact that cotton was virtually the only product with which she could raise money for feeding and equipping her army, that she had to get the equipments from Europe, and that the line of communication to Europe was across the Atlantic Ocean, 3000 miles wide. The weakness seemed, during a period of about twenty-four hours, to be removed by the invention of the iron-clad _Merrimac_; for the _Merrimac_ destroyed the _Cumberland_ and _Congress_, two of the finest warships on the Union side, without the slightest difficulty in one forenoon, and threatened the destruction of all the other Union ships. The Union ships having been destroyed or made to flee to port, complete freedom from blockade of the Confederate coast would follow immediately. The _Monitor_ had been invented years before; but no steps had been taken to build her, despite the insistence of the great inventing engineer, John Ericsson. News of the work of constructing the _Merrimac_ had reached the North, however, and stimulated the northern imagination to the extent that it was able to see in the _Monitor_ a savior (and the only savior) from the _Merrimac_. By the exercise of amazing engineering skill, Ericsson constructed his invention with such speed and precision that the _Monitor_ was able to meet and defeat the _Merrimac_ the very day after she had destroyed the Union ships.

The result was an immediate and absolute reversal of conditions. It was the North now that controlled the sea and the South that was to be blockaded. And not only this; for the fact that the North possessed a warship that was not only the most formidable in the world, but was of such simple construction that many of them could be launched in a very short time, showed to those European powers who were deliberating as to whether or not they should recognize the Confederacy, the futility of their attempting to carry into effect on the American coast any naval policy of a character unfriendly to the United States. The victory of the _Monitor_ was the announcement of the "mate in four moves." Victory for the South became immediately impossible, no matter how long the final checkmate might be delayed. We know, of course, that checkmate was delayed until April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

In few cases has the influence of invention on history shone more clearly than in the case of the _Monitor_. The _Monitor_ was the deciding factor in the Civil War. This does not mean that the _Monitor_ alone won the Civil War. No one event or person or maneuver won the Civil War: for the Civil War was won by the resultant effect of many events, persons and maneuvers. It does mean, however, that the victory of the _Monitor_ made it virtually impossible for the issue to be otherwise than it eventually was; provided, of course, that a course of conduct not wholly unreasonable was pursued by the North. All the other factors in the war were what might be called usual: the _Monitor_ alone was unusual. The _Monitor's battle was the only battle in which the light of genius shone, on either side_.

The _Monitor's_ victory emphasizes a truth previously pointed out in this book: the truth that the influence of invention has been to advance the cause of civilization, by giving victory in wars, as a rule, to the side possessing the higher civilization. This was clearly the case in our Civil War; for the South was far more an agricultural and primitive community than the North. It was for this reason that Ericsson lived in the North. We can hardly imagine Ericsson coming from England and going to live in the South; for the simple reason that Ericsson, the dynamic, inventive Ericsson, could not possibly have lived a life even approximately satisfying to him in the South. There was no opportunity in the South for him to exercise his powers. It has been said sometimes that the _Monitor_ might have been produced by the South, and the _Merrimac_ by the North. Of course, anything is possible that is not wholly impossible; but history shows that inventions have, as a rule, been produced by people like those of the North, and not by people like those of the South.

The influence of invention on history has been to bring about such victories as that of the _Monitor_ over the _Merrimac_; and the influence of those victories has been to enhance the advantages possessed by the more highly civilized. Furthermore, the victory of the more civilized has given civilization greater assurance in its struggle to go still higher, just as defeat has made it pause and sometimes retreat. The issue of the Civil War, for instance, was more than a victory over slavery and the tendency to dissipation of energy by a division into two parts of the forces of the country; for it removed permanently a highly injurious obstruction and started the rejuvenated republic along that career of progress which it has followed since so valiantly.

In 1861 E. G. Otis invented the passenger elevator. Possibly this was not an invention of the first order of brilliancy, but certainly it was an invention of the first order of utility. Can anyone imagine the New York of today without passenger elevators? The Otis elevator has not made it possible to grow two blades of grass where one blade grew before; but it has made it possible to operate hotels and office buildings of more than twice as many stories as could be operated before. Few inventions have had more immediate influence on contemporary history than the passenger elevator.

In the same year was invented the barbed-wire fence. The production of carbide of calcium followed in 1862, and also the invention of the Gatling gun. This was the first successful machine gun, and an invention of a high order of brilliancy of conception, excellence of construction and practical usefulness. Few inventions have been more wholly unique than this machine: so beautiful and harmonious and simple in principle--though devoted superficially merely to the killing and wounding of men. Like all inventions in the gun class, it contributed to the self-protectiveness of the Machine.

An invention in a similar class, smokeless gunpowder was invented by Schultze in 1863, for use as a sporting powder. Being based on the action of nitric acid on cellulose, it was somewhat like gun-cotton, and therefore a chemical compound; rather than a mechanical mixture like the old gunpowder. It gave out but little smoke when fired. Smokelessness would be such an obvious advantage in military operations, that the study of this powder was prosecuted carefully, with a view to obtaining a smokeless powder suitable for military purposes. This was accomplished in 1886 by Vieille in France. The invention of smokeless powder was not one of a high order of brilliancy for the reason that it was the result of a long series of painstaking investigations and not of any luminous idea. It was nevertheless a contribution of the highest usefulness to the self-protectiveness of the Machine, and therefore to Civilization.

In 1864 Behel invented the automatic grain binder, an invention of the same class of practical and concrete usefulness as McCormick's reaper, and a distinct contribution to the Machine. It expedited the binding of grain, tended to insure accuracy and efficiency, and stimulated the agricultural classes to a study of mechanism, and therefore of physics and the arts depending on it. In other words, this invention performed the double service that many other inventions have performed, of contributing to the material necessities of men, and inspiring their intellects as well. In the following year, Martin invented his process for improving the manufacture of fine steel.

In the same year (1865) Lister brought out his method of antiseptic surgery. It would be difficult to specify any invention which has contributed more in half a century to the direct welfare of mankind. It has effected such a change in surgery as to make the surgery before Lister's time seem almost barbarous. It made a greater change in surgery than any change ever made before: one is tempted to declare that it has brought about a greater change in surgery than all the previous changes put together. Now, it is interesting to realize that all these changes, extending over all the civilized world, and affecting countless human beings, were caused by "a mere idea." They were caused by a picture made by the imagination of Lister on his mental retina, that must have covered a very small area of his brain. It is interesting also to realize that if that part of his brain had become impaired from any cause, the picture could not have been imprinted there. And was his brain always in condition to receive such a picture, or only seldom? Knowing as we do that even the most brilliant minds are brilliant only rarely, may we not infer that conditions of the brain permitting such pictures as this of Lister occur but rarely?

It was also in 1865 that Bullock invented his web-feeding printing press, and Dodge invented the automatic shell-ejector for firearms. In 1866 Siemens and Martin invented the open-hearth process for steel making, Burleigh the compressed air rock-drill, and Whitehead the automobile torpedo.

The Whitehead torpedo was an invention of the highest order of brilliancy of conception; but, unlike many other inventions of this class, it has been a matter of the utmost difficulty to develop it. The possible usefulness suggested was so great that the principal European nations, especially the Germans and English, went about its development at once; but the practical difficulties encountered were so many and so great, and the opportunities of testing out its usefulness in actual warfare were so few, that it was not until after its successful and important use in the war between Russia and Japan in 1904-1905, that the torpedo was accepted as a major weapon. This invention is one of the most important contributions ever made to the self-protectivity of the Machine of Civilization; not only because of its immediate usefulness in war, but because its complexity necessitates such skill and knowledge in the operators, and its cost is so great, that only the most wealthy and highly civilized nations are able to use it successfully. As has been pointed out repeatedly in this book, one of the influences of invention on history has been to urge nations to a high degree of civilization, under pain of greater or less subjection to nations more highly civilized.

In 1866 Wilde in England and Siemens in Germany invented dynamo electric machines, in which the magnetic field was made, not by permanent steel magnets, but by electro-magnets of soft iron that were energized by the current which the machine itself produced. This was an invention of the utmost practical value; but who was the actual inventor does not seem to be exactly known. Its main value is in its ability to produce a much more powerful current than could be produced when using permanent magnets; caused by the fact that electro-magnets can create a "magnetic field" much stronger than steel magnets can.

In 1867 Tilghman invented his sulphite process for pulp making, and in 1868, Moncrief invented his famous disappearing gun-carriage. This was an invention requiring a high order of conception and constructiveness; it resulted in a considerable improvement in the art of sea-coast defense, and therefore in the self-protectiveness of the Machine, by keeping the guns safe behind fortifications except when actually being fired. Moncrief's carriage, although originally very good, has been improved upon from time to time; whenever the progress of the mechanic arts has made it possible, and some inventor has realized the fact.

Attention is here requested to the last clause in the last sentence. As civilization has progressed and various inventions have been made, the whole field of possible future invention has been narrowed, but a field of clear though limited opportunity has been mapped out. Each invention narrows the field by removing the opportunities for making that especial invention: after the printing press had been invented, for instance, the number of possible inventions was reduced by one; but see what a field for future invention was mapped out, and what immeasurable opportunities were suggested! Nevertheless, opportunity does not produce inventions, it merely invites them; and we have occasionally noted in this book that the opportunity to make a certain invention had existed for ages before it was realized: for instance, the sewing-machine and the little stethoscope.

In 1868 Sholes invented what is usually considered the first practical typewriting machine. The machine that Thurber had invented in 1843 had never been developed to a practical stage, and, consequently, it was not itself a direct contribution to the Machine. Whether it paved the way for Sholes's is a debatable point; if it did, it was an indirect contribution, like Hero's engine. Not for several years after 1868 did the typewriter take its place in the Machine: but now it plays an exceedingly useful, if not conspicuous, part in making it operate day after day.

In the same year Nobel contributed another of his notable inventions, and called it dynamite. It was the development of an exceedingly brilliant and original idea; and, as often happens with conceptions of that kind, it was easily developed into a concrete, usable and useful thing. It consisted merely in mixing nitro-glycerin with about an equal quantity of very finely divided earth. The resulting mixture was much less sensitive to shock and therefore much safer to handle than nitro-glycerin. It supplied the factor needed to render the utilization of nitro-glycerin possible, and therefore it was a valuable contribution to the Machine. In the same year, Mege invented oleomargarine, a comparatively inexpensive substitute for butter, and therefore an important factor in furthering the health and comfort of the poorer classes and a considerable forward step.

Shortly after 1866, Mrs. Eddy declared to many people that she had made a discovery which enabled her to cure the sick with Divine aid, and without the use of drugs. She healed many people and gradually gathered followers. In a few years, she developed a religion that is now called Christian Science; and in 1875 she published a book called "Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures." Since then, the number of her followers has increased enormously, and Christian Science Churches have been erected in all the civilized countries of the world. Though the doctrines of Christian Science have not been accepted by many Christians, the great opposition directed toward them at first has now been largely overcome; and it is admitted by most fair-minded people that Christian Science seems to have made an important contribution to the spiritual, mental and physical welfare of mankind.

In 1868, Westinghouse made his epochal invention, the railway air-brake. It was the result of a brilliant mental conception that was put into practical form without very serious difficulty. At first sight, this invention might not be considered of very great importance, because one might assume that its only office was to prevent collisions and consequent loss of life and property. Doubtless that was its only direct effect; but its indirect effect was to increase the confidence of the people in the safety of railway travel, consequently the number of people who traveled, consequently the prosperity of the railway companies, consequently the faith of people in railway investments, consequently the number and magnitude of railway projects, consequently the number and length of railways, consequently the speed and general excellence of transportation and communication over the land in every civilized country, and consequently the coherency and operativeness of the entire Machine.