  | 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, SUR
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 1
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