CHAPTER IX.

THE MACHINE-TOOL LABORATORY.

The Foundery and Smithy are Ancient, the Machine-tool Shop is Modern. -- The Giant, Steam, reduced to Servitude. -- The Iron Lines of Progress. -- They converge in the Shop; its triumphs from the Watchspring to the Locomotive. -- The Applications of Iron in Art is the Subject of Subjects. -- The Story of Invention is the History of Civilization. -- The Machine-maker and the Tool-maker are the best Friends of Man. -- Watt’s Great Conception waited for Automatic Tools; their Accuracy. -- The Hand-made and the Machine-made Watch. -- The Elgin (Illinois) Watch Factory. -- The Interdependence of the Arts. -- The making of a Suit of Clothes. -- The Anteroom of the Machine-tool Laboratory. -- Chipping and Filing. -- The File-cutter. -- The Poverty of Words as compared with Things. -- The Graduating Project. -- The Vision of the Instructor. 78