From time immemorial, the inhabitants of some distant regions have carried on their nocturnal or underground manufactures by natural gas, obtained through a hollow reed thrust into the earth. Arriving at modern times, navigation by the Archimedes screw, as a propeller, through the means of steam, attracted the notice of the Scottish Society of Arts in 1840; but, above twenty years previously, an experiment with similar screws, adapted to a boat, on the lake Lochend, by Mr. Whytock, a member of the Society, proved the efficiency of the invention, though on a small scale. In Scotland, an Agricultural Society was established in 1723; a thrashing-machine appeared in 1735; and a reaping-machine in 1765.