Various

“ Who sells a tool for truing up a crosshead wrist? Who sells tools for refitting steam valves without unscrewing them from the pipes? Who sells spoke-turning lathes? Who makes machinery for freeing wool of burrs and dirt? ”

“ And who can say that similar disasters may not come again and again to humanity?
Suppose a pestilence peculiarly fatal to the white race should fall upon the world to-day, crippling, perhaps exterminating, the now dominant civilized nations; how long would the material elements of our science and art or general culture remain with power to enlighten the barbarous tribes that would inherit the earth? ”

“ Work drives off discontent, provided there is compensation in proportion to the amount of labor performed. There must be a stimulant. God never intended a man should sweat without eating of the fruits of his labor—reaping a reward—more than he intended the idle man should revel in plenty and grow gouty on luxuries. Industry is a great peacemaker—a mind-your-own-business citizen. Something to do renders the despairing good-natured and hopeful—stops the cry of the hungry, and promotes all virtue. The best men are the most industrious; the most wealthy work the hardest. ”

“ In any supposable case between these extremes of progress or degradation, a legacy of art and learning, such as we might easily set apart for remote posterity, would certainly be acceptable, perhaps extremely useful. Besides, it might be possible for us to set such a worthy example to those who shall come after us that, come what might, humanity would never be left absolutely void of the means of instruction, nor any worthy human achievement be absolutely lost or forgotten. ”

“ By that time every structure, every machine, every book, every work of art, now in use or stored away in our libraries and galleries of art, will have disappeared, a prey to time, the elements, or the more destructive violence of man.
On the other hand, it may be that, through repeated disasters of one sort or another, mankind, three thousand years hence, will have lost all the knowledge men ever possessed, and be slowly struggling upward for the hundredth time from inherited barbarism. ”

“ We do not however, suggest that every one who endeavors to recognize the different species of moss, lichens, or fungi should necessarily do so through the medium of the microscope; but it will greatly add to the pleasure of making a collection out of doors if there be a good microscope at home, so that when the contents of the basket be turned out, after the winter's walk, there should be interest even in the fragments left, after a little pile of varied bits has been constructed, rivalling the choicest summer bouquet in beauty of form and color. ”

“ Whatever persons may do in a 'perfect condition of society' in sharing, without price, the fruits of their labors with others, it must be apparent to the dullest observer that the wonderful growth of the useful arts in this country is due, thus far, to the protection given by our Government to property in inventions—a property as sacred as any other class of property, and whose value is determined by the same general law of supply and demand. ”

“ That the glass is heated by the impact; and as the sun persistently emits more rays, there are more impacts and more heat. The glass gets hotter and hotter; but—mark the scientific acumen here—just as we are wondering whether it will reach the melting point, the pores open. It is the Turkish bath of Nature. Electricity and magnetism, no longer shut out, rush in between the separate molecules. ”

“ The foregoing shows that nearly all the fundamental principles, upon which woodcutting by machinery in its present development depends, were familiar to Sir Samuel Bentham, and though his name has been almost forgotten, it may be safely asserted that he gave to the world more useful inventions than any other man of his age. His work shows throughout a constant method and system of reasoning, which point rather to a life of persistent labor than to one of what would ordinarily be called genius. ”

“ When at work for himself, in a business which requires and demands foresight, economy, and industry, he will naturally develop the strong points of his character, and become self-reliant.
A glance at the business men of any community will show who have and who have not improved the opportunities of their earlier years. The former transact their business with ease, promptitude, and profit. They rely upon themselves, and execute what they have to do with energy and dispatch. ”

“ Every center of modern civilization would be submerged. The great social and political organizations of humanity would be broken up, and in the wreck of nations that would ensue very little of the glory and culture of the race could survive. The earth is dotted with vestiges of lost and forgotten empires. ”

“ To further their own immediate ends, or to secure some benefit to their immediate descendants, men frequently undertake great material enterprises, and sometimes the work so done remains for ages the source of perennial good. But very rarely, if ever, can it be said that any work of man was undertaken solely, or even chiefly, for the benefit of posterity—more rarely still, for remote posterity. ”

“ In such a case, what would not the scholars of, say the year 5000 A.D., or any other future age, be willing to give for a comprehensive picture of humanity as it exists to-day—for a reasonably complete library of our literature, science, and art? We may safely assume that nothing of the sort will be possible if matters are left to take their natural course. ”

“ If the circumference of a circular cutter be formed in the shape of any moulding, and projecting above the bench no more than necessary, the piece being shoved over the cutter will thus be cut to a moulding corresponding to the cutter—that is, the reverse of it, just as a plane iron cuts the reverse. If a plane cutter, such as that above spoken of for cutting a groove in the breadth of a piece, be made so thick, or, as we might be apt to say now, so broad, or so long, as to cover the whole breadth of the piece, it will present the idea of a roller. ”

“ Who can estimate the value of these and similar findings to us—the value of the revelations they bring of man's condition in those remote ages? Who can say how many or how few the ages will be ere the time comes when the antiquaries of the future will be rejoicing over equally fragmentary vestiges of the doings and possessions of our day? ”

“ Several bills tinkering at the patent laws are before Congress, and one of these (House Bill, No. 3,370) passed the House on the 30th ult. It has one section that may be made to work great harm to inventors, as it prevents infringers being sued for more than one year's damages previous to notice of infringement being given. By this bill, if it is allowed to become a law, a person will be able to build and use patented machines or processes for years in some out of the way place where the inventor cannot easily find him; and should he be discovered, he can only be sued for one year's damages. ”

“ The theory is that zinc, though subject to oxidization, has the peculiarity that the oxide does not scale off as from iron, but forms a permanent coating impervious to the action of the atmosphere. Some mechanics, however, assert that neither zinc, copper, nor lead will withstand the action of our atmosphere, as bituminous coal strongly impregnated with sulphur is almost the only fuel used. It is claimed by some that the sulphurous acid in the atmosphere tends to corrode zinc so as to make it worthless for roofs or gutter linings. ”

“ There is nothing more reassuring in these days, when new "isms" of the scientists are slowly sapping the foundations of cherished beliefs, than to remember that, after all, the much vaunted dicta of Nature are yet opposable by the sound operations of honest common sense. ”

“ He points out that rice contains an unusual amount of starch, namely, between 83 and 85 per cent; and that dates possess precisely the same nutritious substances as rice does, with the single difference that the starch is already converted into sugar. To live, therefore, on such food is not to satisfy hunger; and hunger, like all other cravings, even if partially satisfied, exercises control over the imagination. ”

“ The Cleveland Herald said, twenty years ago, during a stringency of the times, that moneyed men are the veriest cravens on earth: so timid, that on the least alarm they pull their heads, turtle-like, within their shells, and, snugly housed, hug their glittering treasure until all fear is removed. ”

“ As is well known, the motion of steel or iron in front of the poles of a magnet creates a current of electricity in coils surrounding the poles of the magnet, and the duration of this current of electricity coincides with the duration of the motion of the steel or iron moved or vibrated in the proximity of the magnet. When the human voice causes the diaphragm to vibrate, electrical undulations are induced in the coils environing the magnets, precisely analogous to the undulations of the air produced by that voice. ”

“ The present inventor has devised a new fire escape for theaters, concert halls, and other public places of amusement, by which the space at the upper parts of the entrances, halls, or vestibules of the buildings is utilized for the purpose of forming additional passage ways for the persons in the buildings, to be used in case of fire for the more convenient and less dangerous exit of the same. The invention consists, mainly, of a movable floor, suspended by chains, pulleys, and weights, near the ceiling of the entrances, and lowered in case of fire. ”

“ On the other hand, who can estimate the value of the knowledge lost beyond hope of recovery, or the checks to human progress experienced, in the repeated wiping out, so to speak, of the higher races and the civilizations they embodied? ”

“ New York and San Francisco: A. Roman & Co.
This book is a very metaphysical treatise on theories of government and the duties of citizens to the law, each other, and themselves. Theoretical politics are little in favor with thinking men of this day; and the social difficulties of our age will have to be solved by practical wisdom founded on experience. The people that knows that a certain course of legislation has destroyed an empire, and that a contrary policy has developed one, will care little as to whether or not "the will controls the feelings by mediate and indirect force." ”

“ Von Bezold, in his recent work on color, states that "the chemical processes in plants, as far as they are dependent upon light, are principally caused by the rays of medium and of lower refrangibility. The development of the green color of the chlorophyll, the decomposition of carbonic acid, as well as the formation of starch, etc., in the grains of the chlorophyll, are induced by the red, green, and orange rays." ”

“ Human progress has more than once been set back for centuries by such natural or unnatural causes, leaving the sites of once splendid civilizations to be overrun with barbaric hordes knowing nothing of the better times that went before. ”

“ The British Mercantile Gazette of January 15 states that the situation and prospects of the iron trade have not materially improved in the month of December, but some week or two must elapse yet before trade returns to its regular channels. In the north of England the tone of the market is tolerably cheerful, and prospects, though still vague, are considered encouraging. Makers of pig iron go into the next quarter with a good supply of orders on their books, and merchants and consumers are desirous of buying over the first half of the year. ”

“ C is a short screw which provides journal bearing for the screw, A, by a plain hole. It is screwed on the outside, and the plate in which it fits acts as its nut. It is fast to the handle, D, and is in fact operated by it. The handle or lever is provided with a catch, E, pivoted in the enclosed box, F, which also contains a means of detaining the catch in the notches of the wheel, or of holding it free from the same when it is placed clear. If, then, the lever, D, be moved back and forth the feed screw, A, and hence the three slide rests, will be operated ”

“ Having determined this point, and dug from the solid rock a chamber for the reception of our legacy, the next step would be the selection of its contents. Obviously the books to be preserved should embrace first of all lexicons and grammars of every known form of speech, since it is impossible to tell which of the dialects of to-day will be the parents of the dominant tongue of any distant future time; while we may be practically certain that some one or more of the languages of to-day will furnish a key to any language that men will ever use. ”